Caleb's Awana award

Caleb was so excited to finish his first Truth and Training handbook this week at Awana. For those that don't know, that is 80 verses memorized in a year. 
Here he is receiving his gold medal award.   We pray those verses of scipture will bring forth spiritual fruit in your future. Way to go Caleb!

Snow fort

Winter has been absolutely unbearable this year. We have had so many below zero days that no outside play time has been possible.  Until the first week of March, when we had 3 days in a row in the upper 20's. It felt like a heatwave.

We all went outside to make a giant snow fort. This was no ordinary snow fort. This fort had a roof, 2 sitting area benches and a chair. David improved the height by installing a pole support to lift the tarp ceiling higher.

The fort lasted about 2 weeks and then we had a few days in the upper 30's. Alas, we slowly watched it melt away. It was fun while it lasted.

Nathan finishes his Sparks book, review and extra credit

Nathan is very studious.
Yesturday at Awana club he finished his Wingrunner book review and extra credt cards. This was a huge day for him. We are so proud of his accomplishment. 
He was recognized on stage and was all smiles. Way to go Nathan!

Rollerblading and Ice Skating

In February we were really getting sick of winter.  In order to get out of this house we tried both rollerblading and ice skating.

It turns out all 3 kids are pretty steady on blades and skates. So much so that noone needed mom to lean on or be caught by. It was a bit weird at first, but then I decided I would put on some skates too. What a good thigh workout!

We mostly stayed on our feet and had a good time trying something new.  It didn't help winter go by faster, but it did help winter go by happier. We really needed that.

Caleb's solar system

Here is a picture of a recent science project completed by Caleb. He is really interested in all things science. 

He also loves food experiments and often is found inventing new food recipes in the kitchen. If he likes the taste he will write the recipe in my cookbook.

David's Language Arts Assignment

Below is an assignment David completed for his  Language Arts 7 class.  

The current unit is a complex study on our societies view of heroes. 

He did this assignment 100% independently, no help from me or his instructor.

I just got a chance to read it today.

It is one thing for him to write this content, but entirely another proud moment to know that he posted this assignment to his discussion blog for his JEDI public school class to review and grade. All his fellow students will be required to read and comment on his paragraphs.  

Here is the Assignment:

Discuss your thoughts on heroes and heroines. To keep things simple, we can use the word hero to mean both male and females. Answer the following questions in your discussion: 

• What makes someone a hero?
• Do heroes have special qualities?
• Did heroes only live a long time ago? 
• Are true heroes superhuman?  
• Do they have to be? 
• What heroes do you know about?
• What makes them heroes? 

Comment on some of the entries of your classmates

Here is his post:

What I think makes someone a hero is that he must do the right thing at all costs. Heroes are here even today. Even people that just help out other people are heroes in my opinion. They don’t have to be superhuman to be a hero. They just need to do the right thing. Jesus is my hero. He came from heaven as a baby and never did a sin in his whole life. He healed people, performed miracles, and even raised others and himself from the dead. He taught others what we should do, should not do, and much more. He died because he was crucified by the Pharisees who were being hypocrites and wanted the people to follow their laws and not God’s. They also wanted to believe that they were better than everyone else. Jesus was the ultimate hero.  I think Jesus should be #1 in the hero’s hall of fame.

The first miracle that Jesus did is this. Jesus is at a wedding when the servants tell him that they are out of wine. So he stands up, walks over to the barrels of water and turns the water into wine. That was his first miracle. Some of his other ones include him healing the blind, deaf, people who are unable to speak, injured, leapers, and even raising the dead. He once was walking on a path when he came to a fig tree but it didn’t have any fruit on it so he said to it, “wither up and never grow again!” and it did.

David Guitar Solo Ensemble

I am so proud of David. He competed in his first graded guitar competition.  He performed 2 songs: Adrian and Graduation.

He recieved these remarks from the judge :"Awesome! You have some good confidence when you play. Great Job!"

He received the highest score possible and was graded superior. 

His daily practice really paid off. He wasn't even nervous. I remember doing solo ensemble as a girl and I was always freakin' out. David was cool as a cucumber. 

He noticed many other participants trying to cram for their performance time.  He commented to me: "Hey, if they aren't ready by now one last run thru isn't going to help much." Ahhh, now all he needs is to realize that the same  concept applies to most responsibilities in life.

So proud of him, not just because he got a top score, but because he really has great character inside.  He makes his momma proud.