Track Meet

Usually the 3rd-5th grade track meet is all day long at the High School, but this year they did all of the preliminary races at the elementary school earlier in the month and then had only the finalists come to the High School.  Jared was a finalist in the 800.  We came and watched him and he had a great run and came in third place.  Way to go Jared!  His was the first race and so we left after that.  But I have to admit I kind of miss hanging out all day at the track meet watching everyone run!

Science Fair Winner!!

Jaiden (age 6) got FIRST PLACE in the Science fair in the first grade division!  Surprise, surprise!  She got a trophy, a ribbon, AND a T-shirt!  She was excited!  She also gets to go on to District.  Way to go, Jaiden!  She had a very simple project since we wanted an experiment that she could do on her own.  We  were actually a little surprised it won first place. Of course so much depends on the age group, the number of people participating, the presentation, and so forth.

But Janelle (age 8) was really sad because she didn't win anything with her project.  She won second place last year and so I think she was expecting to come away with something.  But there were TONS of amazing projects.  I would really hate to be the judge choosing between so many great ones.  We had a nice long mother/daughter talk about how the science fair and other competitions are provided so that students can get excited about learning something new.  

I reminded her of all of the fun we had making and flying the paper airplanes to see how far they would fly.  I pointed out that she learned how to apply the scientific method.  We talked about sharing in the joy of others when they win (even if we don't).  It is fun to win, but kids also learn by not winning. And while those disappointments can seem crushing at the time, it is all part of life and growing up. I just hope our children have a sense of worth that is not dependent on external factors but of knowing that they are loved and a child of God.

Science Fair Projects

The kids' got their projects done and turned in.  I brought Josh and Jenna to so see all of the projects -- there were some really cool ones!  They liked all of the ones that involved bugs.  Below is a picture of them watching ants build tunnels in gel and in salt.  Jenna was interested in all of the projects that had candy on them (until she found out she couldn't actually eat the candy.)

 

Janelle's Second Grade Program

Janelle was really excited for us to come see her second grade program, "Geology Rocks!" tonight!  They did great!

Paper Airplanes

I told the girls we would work on their science fair projects during Spring Break, but we had so many things to catch up on that it didn't happen.   Jaiden had already done her experiment with band-aids and just needed to put together the poster so we did manage to get hers done.  We had done an experiment with Janelle with strawberries but it didn't really work out and so we needed to find something else.

Tonight I asked her, "Would you be sad if you didn't do a project?  The Science Fair is in two days and we haven't even started."  Well, she burst into tears.  So I sighed and started searching the Internet for EASY ideas that we could do quickly with materials that we already had on hand.  I suggested testing paper airplanes and she said that sounded fun.  So, after a nice dinner and FHE lesson by Elder Lee, we started working on the project.  We looked up on the Internet how to make different paper airplanes.  She was going to test five different kinds to see which flew the farthest, but it took so long that we just went with the first two (actually four since she tested one with cardstock and one with regular paper).  So instead of putting on pajamas and brushing teeth, the kids were all outside in the lovely spring evening prancing around, throwing paper airplanes! They had so much fun; it made me smile.  Janelle flew all four planes five different times and we measured the distance of each one with a tape measure.  She recorded the results in order to put together her poster the next evening.

Registered for Kindergarten!!

I was reading one of my friend's blogs about how she just got her son all registered for kindergarten and I panicked slightly.  I was ready to get Josh registered, but had completely forgotten about the required immunizations.  I hurried and set up an appointment and luckily there were some openings.  Well, today was the big day -- we were going to the doctor for his check-up and shots.  I was a little nervous because Josh can be quite temperamental and unpredictable and so I wondered how he would handle it.  All day he went back and forth saying, "When are we going to the doctor?" and "I don't want to go to the doctor!"  He brought his dragon with him to help him be brave. 

Well, we went and he was SO good!  I was so proud of him.  He cooperated and did everything the doctor asked him to do and when he got his shots he sat quietly on my lap and didn't cry or complain or anything!!  Yeah, Josh!  Jenna was good too and seranaded the doctor with a few songs "ABC's" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." 

A few days ago we went to the elementary school for his registration.  They gave Josh the little pre-kindergarten test and he did very well on it.  He did all of his counting and recited all of his letters and sounds.  He is just starting to read a few words.  He can write his name but we really need to work on his grip.  It's funny because Jenna is only two and naturally holds the pencil correctly.  But Josh holds it in his fist in his left hand as he writes his letters.  We have been working on it though and he is getting better and better.  I think he will be able to have the correct grip by the time kindergarten starts.  So anyway, I finished filling out all of the paperwork and dropped it off to the school and so he is officially registered!  Hooray!

 

Kids Playing!

 

Institute Choir Trip

Last Saturday night Rick's Institute Choir and Brother Ellsworth's Institute Show Choir, "Inspiration" was traveling to the Cedar City Institute for a combined performance/get-together with SUU's groups.  Our whole family was invited to come.  I remember when I was in the Institute show choir, the LD Singers, at Snow College and we invited the USU group, Sounds of Zion, to come to Ephraim to join us in a combined performance activity like this.  It was a blast!

So anyway, Rick wanted us to join him tonight and so we did.  Although I did feel bad missing the General Young Women's Broadcast.  Janika opted to stay home and go to the broadcast with her Young Women's leader.  The rest of us went up to Cedar City.  The kids were so excited to ride in a big bus!  Jenna kept standing up and jumping up and down.  We were in the very front row of seats and I worried that she might topple over right on top of the bus driver's head.  (Thankfully that didn't happen.).

We arrived and had dinner.  Well everyone ate dinner but me.  Every single food item inthe meal (spagetti, pasta salad, garlic bread, assortment of cookies and cakes) had gluten in it and so I was stuck eating the carrot sticks,  apple slices, and bag of peanuts that I had hurriedly threw into my purse "just in case."   Then we went into the chapel and each of the choir groups performed a few songs.  Then everyone went back into the cultural hall for games:  "Do you love your neighbor," "Lightning (speed)," and some other games.  The college kids were good about including our kids and Jase won fourth place in speed.  I didn't join in the games since I was trying to finish up my Sunday School lesson for the next morning.  It was a fun trip but a little difficult with a two year old!

 

 

 

 

 

Stolen Goods

Rick brought Josh and Jenna with him grocery shopping this morning (Thanks, honey!) Well, they came home and we found a bottle pop candy in Josh's pocket that he had swiped from the store.  Of course all of my kids were just besides themselves with shock.  "Josh just STOLE something from the store!!!"  They were all ranting and raving and it definitely made an impact on Josh because he burst into tears.  Rick and I explained how we don't take things that don't belong to us and that he would need to bring it back to the store and apologize to the store manager.  Poor Josh was mortified.  We did bring him back to the store and Rick brought him in to do the deed.  He humbly said that he was sorry.  Hopefully it is a lesson that he will never forget.  This is the first time that any of our kids have ever taken something from the store like that (and hopefully the last)!   

Bok Choy Boys

These little guys demonstrate another phase my boys are going through.  They collect these things!   These little plastic figurines have Chinese earth signs that represent Fire, Water, Love, Peace, Day, Night, Power, Moon, Luck, Star, Sky, and Snow.  First the Korean Dachi (next post) and then plastic toys with Chinese earth signs.  I wonder what will be next?

 

Dachi

This is the newest craze amongst my kids.  They tell me that each of these square things made out of folded paper is called a dachi.  I can't find anything on the Internet about it, but according to my kids, it is a Korean game that was introduced earlier this year by the Korean interns at their elementary school.  You throw your dachi and try to flip over the opponent's dachi.  Jared demonstrated each of his to me and told me which ones are better for offense and which are better for defense.  The kids have gotten really creative making all kinds of different ones using everything from cardboard to capri-sun wrappers.  Some of the kids even purchased different kinds of cool duct tape to decorate them.  The thing I like about this game is that it is all free (except for those who bought the duct tape) and allows creativity on the part of the kids.  They experiment with different sizes and thickness to see which will work best.  Janelle even named hers.  So when I am inside and I hear what sounds like gun shots outside my front door, it is really just Jared throwing one of his dachi's on the cement patio as hard as he can to try and flip over another one!

 

 

Service

Our past couple of family home evening lessons have been about service.  To kick off the service theme, Rick read the story, "The Giving Tree," and then announced that for the next week I would take pictures of the kids when I saw them doing service.  Then the next week we had another lesson on service and checked out all of the pictures.  Here are some of the service activities our kids did for our family this week...

Jaiden cutting oranges and sharing with Josh

Okay, so that last one is a little posed and so is the next one.  They weren't supposed to be, but sometimes I missed my photo opportunity and said, "Wait, do that again!"  And of course it is difficult to find a time where Jared is not making a face!  So here he is "posing" with his usual goofy face!    

 Jared buckling Jenna in her car seat.  He does this for me EVERY morning and I REALLY appreciate it!

Jared giving Jenna a bath...

 Josh making popcorn for his movie-watching brothers and sisters!

Josh being nice to Jenna!

 

Janika cooking for the family (and no she wasn't posing).  She loves to cook and does it quite often (for which I am grateful!) 

Janika also does her sister's hair.  I keep forgetting to get a picture of her in the process of doing their hair, but here is Jaiden demonstrating one of her sister's creations.

Here is Jaiden making a snack for Josh (umm....tortillas and butter?)

 

Janelle getting cereal for Jenna.  Jase playing games with Janelle and Josh.  

Janelle and Jaiden unloading the dishwasher (and Jenna helping).  Our cupboards are an embarrassing chaotic assortment of mismatched plastic cups and plates.  Maybe someday we will actually have a set of dishes that match and stack neatly. 

 

Jase cooking scrambled eggs for the kids and vacuuming. 

 

And there you go -- our service pictures for the week!