MARCH 6, 2013: BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

MARCH 6, 2013

The "long awaited" cub scout Blue and Gold Banquet finally arrived!!!

Daniel has been so excited to receive his Webelos badge and his "Super 20" patch! The scheduled banquet was cancelled due to a snow storm so it has been a long wait!

First item of business was making cakes!  Rachel showed her talents as she helped David make a "bear badge" for his cake.  David did the yellow M&M's and Rachel free-handed that bear with frosting!  I was impressed!

Rachel and David

Daniel was quite excited for his basketball cake that was topped with 

Reese's Pieces!  Yummy!!! 

Daniel and David -- boy scout brothers!

Daniel receives his "Super Patch" for completing ALL of the Webelos pins!

  

David earned 2 beads towards his bear patch!

MARCH 1, 2013: SUBMARINES

SUBMARINES

MARCH 1, 2013

Today we tried out a new approach.  Today, instead of handing the kids an instruction sheet for building a submarine with the supplies that I had purchased, we took a different approach, thanks to the inspiration of a video produced on TED TALKS at this link:

 "Build a School in the Cloud"

We started our session by watching a short video.

It was pretty cool and got the kids attention!

I then informed the kids that their adventure was to learn how submarines work, to build a model with the supplies that were out on our kitchen counter, then show what they learned on a poster.

There was some frustration from a few at first because they weren't "hand fed" but eventually they joined the others in their excitement and it was really amazing to see what they learned through their "Student Organized Learning Environment (SOLE)."

We are going to do something like this at least a couple of times a month and hopefully more as I get better at teaching this way!

Bethany jumped in, Rachel is a bit stressed at the beginning ---

Benjamin took the "English Grandmother" role

Supplies for the submarine model

Asking questions and gathering knowledge

Bethany, Daniel and David with their submarine model

 Joseph Rachel and Rebecca had a hard time getting their sub to sink completely.

Rachel would not give up and  despite "defeat" from siblings, she kept at it with her ideas and .....

It worked!  Joseph saw her success and said, "How did you do that?"

A great success moment for Rachel!

Mason wants to have a try, too!!!

Rachel and Rebecca working on their sub model

Watching it sink on its own as it fills up with water.

Rachel blowing air into her submarine to displace the water so it will rise up again!

 Working on their poster!

FEBRUARY 26, 2013 -- WEAVING AWAY

WEAVING AWAY

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

We started a new project for some "hands on" activity.  We took an outing to Hobby Lobby and let everyone choose a skein of yarn and I started them all on weaving either a hat or a scarf.  There was excitement, frustration, a few tears over yarn that wouldn't stay where it was supposed to, etc.  But in the end, everyone figured out how to succeed and they are working away on their projects!  A couple are finished and others still in progress! 
One of the best parts of this all was hearing Rebecca say, 
"I am so proud of myself!"

Mason still loves green!

Daniel had some frustrations at first, but is now a pro!

JANUARY 9, 2013: HYRUM'S MISSION CALL

HYRUM'S MISSION CALL

JANUARY 9, 2013

I received a text from Hyrum saying, 

"I'm now holding it in my hands.  Its rather surreal."

Hyrum's mission call had arrived.  He made plans to open it that evening.

Robert, Alison, Melissa and a few cousins were able to be there and it was quite exciting!!!  Here in Arkansas, we were all gathered around a laptop computer on Skype.  

Thanks to our son-in-law, Robert, we have pictures and video to 

enjoy!!  In the video, you will see a couple of girls at a desk holding a phone -- that is us watching from Arkansas!!! And then he talks to 

us to make sure we heard everything!!

Hyrum has been called to serve the Lord for 2 years in the Taipai, Taiwann mission.  We are so excited for him and all the adventure and learning and growth that lie ahead.

We love you Hyrum!!!

 

FEBRUARY 24, 2013 -- MASON AND THE BABY DOLL

MASON AND THE BABY DOLL -- A GRANDMA MOMENT

FEBRUARY 24, 2013

Today on the way home from church, I had a "grandmother moment!"

Out beside the road was a white bassinet that was in really good condition!

I stopped and the home owner happened to be in the driveway and I asked if it was for the taking and he said yes so Benjamin and I loaded it up!

The kids were so excited!  We will clean it up and see if Robert and Alison would like to have it!

In the mean time, Mason is making sure it gets warmed up for our new sweet granddaughter -- baby Clawson!

Bethany helped him find a baby doll and some blankets and Mason named her "Camera."  What a sweet little guy Mason is!

Mason giving "Camera" a kiss!

FEBRUARY 20, 2013 -- SNOW FOR MOM'S BIRTHDAY!

SNOW FOR MOM'S BIRTHDAY

FEB 20-21, 2013

Dad was so sweet this year to order in our first snowstorm for my birthday!!!!

What a great husband!!!

The kids loved salvaging what snow they could to build igloos.

Rachel was hilarious in her 5 layers of socks with her "toe socks" on the outside with no toes in them!

This our Arkansas version of a snow storm!

Rachel and David's igloo with help from our neighbor

Daniel had his own igloo going

FEBRUARY 18, 2013: FAMILY TREASURE HUNT

FAMILY TREASURE HUNT

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

We had been waiting for over a week for a free and  DRY  afternoon for our treasure hunt!

Finally, it was time!  Each child created a map for someone else and hid a personalized treasure that I had purchased from the dollar store.  It was fun to see how much fun the kids -- young to old -- had running around and finding their treasures!  Mason, of course, was in heaven as he got to read a MAP just like on Dora the Explorer!

David loved his fingerprinting kit!

The "Jacob's Ladder" toy was a hit!