Field Trip to the Dentist

 Field Trip attempt #2 went a little better.  The dentist office was actually opened.  It was fun to watch Callie interact with all the kids, especially the boys since she doesn't like to talk about them when at home.  She has been to the dentist a couple times so she was a pro at answering questions, sitting in the chair and listening to the hygienist.  It was a VERY short field trip (Callie later told me it was "a little boring") but I thought it was just right.

Shrove Tuesday-One Week Late

 Callie and Annabelle kept asking me when we could flip pancakes outside like last year.  I remembered that it was in March last year so I kept telling her it was coming soon.  After my crazy week of birthdays I decided to finally look it up and found out that it had actually been on Nathan birthday.  WHOOPS!  Luckily my kids understand our crazy life isn't perfect all the time.  They liked how we actually had pancakes on Nathan's birthday per his request and then we just used Yorkshire puddings from Thinking Day as our "pancakes."  They may not have flipped as well, but we did it and everyone was happy.  Next year I will try to remember to look up the date earlier:)

The Library

I have been taking my children to the local library for over a decade.  Miss Linda has been there the whole time starting with Nathan at age 2:)  In the early years I brought two rambunctious boys who would listen and wrestle and then listen again.  Then I slowly transitioned to crazy Ryan and shy Annabelle.  Still lots of fun but just a different dynamic.  Next came two little girls.  Those were the calm times.  The girls would calmly sit and participate.  Even Miss Linda commented on how different they were.  I was surprised she remembered my busy boys and a little sad that she remembered their wildness.  But then I shrugged if off and enjoyed my sweet girls even more.  Now it is just me and Callie.  We try to bring friends every time, to give Callie a friend and to help other moms with babies out.  I love it.  This last week they told me they might cancel the one time a week we are able to go.  I was so sad!  Maybe my pleading will help them to change their mind because Callie loves story time and I know I will miss the season of my life.  They also announced that they are in need of new story-time leaders.  My ears perked up at that and while I am unable to do that right now, that may be something I could see myself doing sometime in the future. 

Rubix Master

My son is a Rubix master.  He has a couple "normal" ones that he can do pretty easily, but for his birthday Tyler gave him this doosey.  It is a dodecahedron (12 sides) and was very intimidating to Nathan and his dad.  Greg and I were so impressed, but not surprised, when he completed it.  This guy has some brains!

Daddy's Book

Greg wrote a novel and is finally ready and willing to read it to his kids.  The past two nights the kids have been so anxious to hear his story and I know that Greg is so excited with their enthusiasm.  I got to hear it as he wrote it but it has now been edited once by his sister and so I am also excited to hear it in a more complete and fluent way.  It will take us some time, but what a fun adventure we will have together.

Jr. Jazz

Sadly this is the only picture I have of Ryan playing basketball this year.  He did great though.  He made lots of baskets and got better each game.  One game and he had a loose tooth so he had his hand in his mouth the first 5 minutes until it popped out (thank goodness).  Another time he hurt his foot and had a hard time running.  It was fun to watch and while I only did get one picture, I love this one of him with his little sister looking at him so adoringly.

World Thinking Day

 February 22nd marks World Thinking Day for Girl Scouts all across America.  It is something I remember from my childhood and have been excited about these past two years of being a girl scout leader.  The only down side is that it always falls on the weekend around the boys birthdays.  It makes for a crazy week.  This year we choose England.  Mckenna's grandma came to our girl scout meeting one day and told us all about growing up in England.  I had told her just 15-20 minutes but she took the entire time.  She pictures, cue cards, artifacts and treats.  There was no way I could interrupt her.  We made Yorkshire Puddings for our snack (way too many) and then made little pipe cleaner guards for our SWAPS.  The craft at our table was to make little tea cups out of toilet paper rolls.  It was a bit tricky since the tape didn't always stay, but they were cute and the girls all seemed to like it.

 Why oh why did they do a pinata?  I dislike pinatas immensely.  There was a huge line and as soon as you heard the candy hit the floor there was a giant dog pile.  I am surprised no on e got hurt, at least that I know of. 

 

 I love that Annabelle enjoys Girl Scouts so much.  I do enjoy being her leader and watching her and her friends learn and grow.  I do wish she would come out of her shell a little more.  Getting her to talk and teach is like pulling teeth.  Once she starts though, she does much better.  It is the initial engaging with someone that is so hard for her.  Annabelle is gung-ho on doing girls scouts for years to come so hopefully we will see more and more of her getting over the shyness.

Space Center

 14 teenagers are a lot of loudness and craziness.  I am so glad we decided to go somewhere this year.  I don't think we could have picked a better place.  The Christa McCauliffe Space Center was an amazing experience for them all.  First we did the traditional opening of presents and eating cake.  My boys were nice enough to be okay with my wanting to make the cake a little more than plain cupcakes.  Just a simple moon and rocket, nothing too cheesy. Nathan is totally okay with the fact that this is his last birthday party.  In the future I told him we can do late nights and pizza, but no friend gifts or expensive parties.  Thirteen seems like a good age to end all of that.

 We got there a bit early since you never know with traffic and so the boys had a hard time waiting.  They were all so excited.  The older boys had been there before but only Ryan had of the younger set and while some of them had older siblings who had gone, they really didn't know what to expect.

 

 Greg and I stayed with the boys until their flight commanders took them back and then we headed home.  We came back 20 minutes before their mission was completed so we could watch from behind the scenes.  It was so fun to watch these teenagers and young adults working there--what a fun job!  Both groups were near the end so lots of problems were coming up that needed to be solved.  The teams were working together and running around a little crazy trying to shoot down other ships and get zombie brains or get the right code to stop the bomb from exploding.  It was SO fun to watch, I wonder how I would have enjoyed something like this as a child.

 Team Odyssey

 Team Galileo

 It was really fun to listen to the boys talk about their missions afterwards.  Ryan's group's mission was a lot more intense and scary-it affected one of the boys a little too much.  Both groups animatedly talked about how awesome and cool and stressful their missions were and all can't wait to come again.  The boys piano teacher told me that when she asked about the party they couldn't contain their excitement and enthusiasm.  While it was pricey for a party, it was totally worth it and we will definitely send the boys back there on their own again.

Springy Sunshine

 We have been having some beautiful weather around here.  So much sunshine and outside play.  Many of my flowers are coming up, way too early, but not unappreciated.  I love seeing the colors and only home that they won't disappear too soon. 

 

 After playing outside for a while Callie insisted that we come in for a tea party.  She was so happy to make her and I a nice spread.  I love my sweet little girls.

Happy #11 Ryan!!

 

 Double ones!! This boy is growing up and such a sweetheart!   i am always so proud of this young man and look forward to seeing that big grin every chance I can take. For his birthday he was very understanding when it came to his gifts-all of his scout stuff and the quilt that he knew I had been making for him. 
Over a year ago we were at the Christmas Tree Festival and we were admiring all the beautifully made quilts.  Ryan asked me if I would make a quilt for the following year.  When I told him that I couldn't make one as professional he assured me that i could and then challenged me to make one.  I thought about that challenge many times over the years, but never tried to complete it.  Around November I pulled out all of my old scraps and started cutting.  I cut hundreds of long strips of many different colors of fabric.  The entire top of the quilt is made of scraps.  Ryan saw the top completed but never saw the completed project.  When he asked me about displaying it at the Festival I assured him again that it wasn't up to snuff and that we would never see it again.  He liked the idea of keeping it and anxiously encouraged me to complete it.
Even though he knew that he was getting the quilt, he LOVED it!  He wraps himself in it every day after school and at bedtime.  I love seeing him happy with it.

 Callie and I took Wendy's to Ryan for lunch.  We had so much fun eating and playing together.  Callie loved being there with Ryan and his friends and didn't want to leave.  It was so cute to watch the two of them playing and running around together.

 

Dinner was ravioli and bread sticks.  Nice and easy.  Breakfast was also easy, egg sandwiches:)
 Ryan wanted to try waffleluv for his birthday treat.  He hadn't tried it before but was anxious to see if I was telling the truth about how wonderful they are.  Ryan got his own and the rest of us shared 2 others.  Everyone agreed with me at their deliciousness and at the same time agreed that half was plenty:)