The Cubing Fanaticism that has seized our house

A few friends in our Classical Conversations group brought some Rubik's Cubes in one week and showed how they could solve them and that is all it took for our boys to get hooked!  Both Colsen and Miles quickly memorized all the algorithms and got faster and faster at solving their cubes.  They've bought several different kinds now (including "speed cubes") and are always thinking of ways to challenge themselves.  Colsen and his friend Gibson even got together 3 weeks in a row, just to "cube" together.

I, of course, am thrilled with this -- for the most part.  My uncle taught me how to solve the cube when I was in about 4th grade -- back when one had to purchase and learn from an obscure book.  Strider carried on the family tradition a few years ago.  So I like that Cole and Milo like to do the cube, too.... although all the clicking and turning can get a little irritating when it won't ever stop, even during our school time!

Miscellany

Some of the other random things we've been doing over the past month...

Playing soccer::

Attending a bridal shower for Rachel and Daniel:

Hanging out with friends:

Doing some things for others:

Blessing strangers in memory of Killian

Union County Community Shelter

Little brother doing some pedicures

Big brother doing some teaching

And one of my favorite memories -- listening to the kids worship together.  I told the boys to lead the girls with some Bible time one Sunday afternoon, and then I heard them singing together and preaching sermons and reading verses together.... Made me so happy.

When multiple observances collide

What does a family do when Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, Valentine's Day, Rayna's half-birthday, and Chinese New Year's Eve all occur on the same day??

Answer:  They walk around confused all day.  Should we fast? Should we celebrate?  Should we be serious?  Should we dress up?

The only things we knew for certain is that we could celebrate the theme of LOVE that permeates all of it, and that we should eat chocolate.

So, we put ashes on our foreheads, made up an Ash Wednesday song, read all of the "love" notes that we'd written to each other, started our Lenten eating plan -- and made the immediate exception to eat chocolate.

Writing Valentine notes to each other

Remembering Mor-Mor

On the weekend she would have turned 97, we gathered to celebrate Mor-Mor's life.  Family came from New Jersey, California, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Maryland, and local friends joined us as well.  We all kept commenting about how delighted she would have been to see us all together in such an unprecedented way!

We had 2 dinners at my parents' house with all the relatives and it was really good to catch up with everyone, and in some cases, introduce some members to others.  There were a lot of, "So, are you my second cousin, once-removed, or my third cousin-in-law?" types of conversations.

On the Saturday in between we all met in a large room at a church nearby and had a "service" of sorts.  It wasn't your typical memorial service because there was no pastor residing and we were all sitting at tables -- and there was plenty of "audience participation."  She would have loved all of that, too.  Various family members spoke and emotions ran the gamut.  (I cried pretty much entire time, but sometimes the tears were happy and sometimes they were sad)   Mom did an amazing job hosting and planning the whole thing.

The final part of the "service" was the singing of "This Little Light of Mine" by all the great-grandchildren with flashlights.  Flashlights were the very last gifts Mor-Mor gave them all this past Christmas.

After lunch the family all stayed to share more stories of her life and legacy and we laughed and cried some more.  What a full life she led.

Golden Miles-stone

On the 9th of February Miles celebrated his 9th birthday, and since he was born in '09, too, it felt like an extra special GOLDEN BIRTHDAY.

 We told him we couldn't go crazy on his actual birthday since relatives were arriving from out of town for Mor-Mor's memorial service, so we spread out the excitement for the whole month.  :)   Special trips were planned for the upcoming weeks:  lunch out with Nonna, going skiing with Dad (which ended up being a trip to TopGolf instead since the weather didn't cooperate), and a trip to Discovery Place to see the engineering exhibit.

On the actual birthday he had plenty of sMiles, too...  Gifts from his aunts and uncles were exciting to play with (marble roller coasters, build-your-own cars, a remote-control boat) and he got to have donuts for breakfast and ice cream cake in the afternoon, followed by his requested macaroni-and-cheese.

We have loved seeing this littlest boy of ours grow from a little kid to a medium-sized kid.  He is so curious and clever and sometimes feels like a walking cartoon with his funny faces and voices.  He is bound and determined to be an engineer someday, and we see him building and creating things often, so maybe he really knows what's in his future.  We'll see........  In the meantime, we are thoroughly enjoying our days with this snuggly, cheerful, active boy.

Chinese New Year

Our family attended our first CNY celebration this year -- and it was huge!  A small Chinese-American church around here apparently hosts this big event and we have no idea how they do it on such a grand scale.  Everything was free and there were dozens of table with food samples and drinks and crafts and activities for everyone to try.

There was also a giant stage from which performers sang/danced/spoke in both English and Chinese.  They also called all of the children on stage at point where they were given traditional red envelopes with dollars inside!

We were all a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, and pretty quickly Jinna Rai was ready to leave.   I'm sure the whole concept was pretty bewildering to her!