Saturdays

My plan for today was to sleep in, workout, and work on my gardens….. but I forgot I had kids.

As it turned out, 2 kids had soccer games, 4 kids had 2 different playdates, 1 kid went to a birthday party, 1 kid got dropped off at work, 2 kids hosted some friends for an ice cream party… and Pete and I spent a lot of time driving.  

I did get some gardening in, too, so all in all, it was a good day.

Things they said today

I don't know if today was particularly funny around here, or if I was just paying more attention than usual.

***

Colsen just asked me, “Have you ever gotten the feeling that every time you do something, someone comes and un-does what you just did?”

#ONLYALLDAYEVERYDAY

 ***

Me:  Miles, you have to wash your hands!

Miles:  Fine.  You can make me wash my hands, but you can’t make me do it with dignity!!

***

Me, going through Strider’s room:  Is this shirt too small for you now?

Strider:  No, it just has wrinkle problems.

Me:  Wrinkle problems?  Like, it needs to be ironed?

Strider: Yeah, that.

***

Miles, riding in a wheelbarrow:  It’s been ages since I’ve done this!  It makes me feel 10 years younger!

Snowy day

It only lasted a few hours, but was beautiful while it was here!

Post-dinner activity

Pete wasn't so thrilled with this, but I thought it was kind of funny...

A Visit to the Billy Graham Library

Visiting this place never disappoints.  We love going to see all the beauty and hearing about how God can use just one life for so much!

Jinna Rai's favorite parts were meeting Bessie the Cow....

 ... and visiting the China room!

Krista and David visit!

Cousin Krista decided to come visit all the way from Minnesota for her spring break!  And coincidentally, David also came this weekend since he has a conference to attend here in Charlotte this coming week.  It has been fun having them here!  The kids, of course, are LOVING all the extra attention.  Krista and David are both VERY good sports.

We had a couple extra 20-somethings over for lunch, too...
We love hanging out with the young folks!

Odyssey of the Mind

Colsen, Miles and 5 other kids have comprised Arborbrook's Odyssey of the Mind team this year, and I was the rather overwhelmed coach.  For the last 6 months have met weekly to practice exercises in creativity, teamwork and problem solving, and it was pretty cool to see how they all grew so much in these areas.

The last 2 months or so have become much more intense as we focused on the March 4th deadline.  Their "problem" to solve was to build a structure out of balsa wood that held as much weight as possible, while being within height and weight constraints, and also not weighing more than 15 grams (which, it turns out, is VERY light).    In addition, they had to come up with an 8-minute performance that focused on the theme of "precision," and included making an additional structure out of recycled materials that was an enlarged representation of their balsa wood structure.  AND, they also had to make a third object out of whatever they wanted, all of which tied into the same story.  It was a little complicated to say the least!

And, they did it!  We had several weekend practices and our garage, and several rooms in the house, were littered with pieces of balsa wood for weeks and in the end they pulled it off.

This is what the floor of the boys' bedroom has
looked like for longer than I care to remember

Their presentation went really well, and they all had so much fun!

And after the scores were totaled at the end of the day, including the additional "Spontaneous problem" component, it turned out the team WON!!  It felt like quite the underdog story, since our team was very young compared to others, and completely inexperienced.

So now they head to the State competition!  Back to the balsa wood constructing for a few more weeks...

Rayna's Cotillion Ball

The final event of Rayna's Jr. Cotillion classes this year was the Black and White Ball.  All of the girls wore white dresses and the boys wore tuxes!  It was quite a classy affair, and Rayna, of course, loved every minute.

She came home with a corsage and a little gift and certificate.  As she proudly held up the certificate to show me, she announced, "I won Cotillion!"

It was a very good experience for her.  :)