January 2009

#4 learned to dance the Haleelula, aka hula, at preschool.

We had the PINEWOOD DERBY. The boys' cars are the gold ones. #1's is a lightning bolt, and #2's was a design he drew. One cute story happened when #2's buddy was crying over his car. #2 told him they should go say a prayer for it. They went into the hall to do so together. When they came back in, #2 told him he'd keep a prayer in his heart also. Heavenly Father helped them feel better, but didn't necessarily move them up the ranks. ;)

#2 has worked so hard this year that he earned his wolf early on and has earned 6 arrow points as well as several belt loops!
#1 earned his chess pin, a couple of activity badges, etc. He's well on his way to earning all the badges offered in Webelos. He'll earn his arrow of light before our next pack meeting as well. Fun to have Dad as his scout leader--and to have Dad earn his own new square knot at the meeting!#1 got drawn to bring home the class pet for a weekend. #5 is utterly infatuated with this "goggie" named Snowball and has spent considerable time making his terrific big brother sit with him to watch it.

#1 is working on his Science Project. Here are the samples of organic tissue (meat) before he put the additives in to watch how they affect the meat over a week's time. Turns out it's really true--alcohol's effect was almost instant, turning its piece a dark grey, shrinking it to a tiny, hard ball. Why put that inside? That's the question we want all the boys asking themselves.

We spent more time on math, from algebra to binary--and ordered our hamburgers using binary code given the above system. Then each boy took another boy's code to decipher and build his hamburger. Lots of fun!

We took another trip to the Zoo--and #1 made countless runs through these tunnels to please #5. So did #s 2 & 3. #5 doesn't tire easily. :) Great big brothers! Mom actually made a run herself since #6 (our cousine...nobody panic!) needed more than cousin support. Do I get brownie points toward being a cool aunt??

#3 lost his first tooth, and was THRILLED that the Tooth Fairy came!

We had incredible weather and enjoyed lots of outside time! Of course, last week we went from 70s or 80s to ice storm that cancelled school and all the way back again...

We had another martial arts test that resulted in 2 red belts! FYI, after red comes advanced red, probationary black (which doesn't require a test), and BLACK BELT IN JUNE! We're over half way through our 20 hours community service, have started our 7 Habits book reports, but still need to begin our 20 page papers and intense physical training.

Quote of the Month: After going through a carwash, Mike spoke in spanish with one of the workers. Fascinated, #3 asked if he could learn spanish on the way home. He asked how to say, "I don't no." Mike told him it's "no se." He was quite pleased and told Mike, "OK. The next time I'm in trouble and you ask me what happened, that's what I'll say." For more quotables, click here or here or here.