Spring break

Ah, Spring break.  We had some great camping plans.  Then we changed them thinking we would need to be studying for the State Science Olympiad; and we had things we needed to be doing around the house.  Maybe we'd just enjoy some local activities we had been wanting to get to while taking care of those other things?  Then we got sick.

Our first Spring break activity was going to get manure for the garden.  Fun!  Those that were feeling well (and were interested in going) had a good time checking out the alpacas and watching the tractor loading the manure.

There was plenty of free time for those feeling well enough to play.  It was fun to see what they came up with.

I managed to get out almost every day for a bit of quiet reading time.  Miss E enjoyed joining me too.

Between his savings and birthday money from Nana; Mr R was able to pay for 1/2 of a new mind storms set.  We had agreed to pay the other 1/2 for his birthday gift.  It was ordered a bit early so that he could use the spring break time to enjoy it.

We had been asked to help with the Christian Elder Care conference that was being put on in town.  We had planned to help as a family, but we still had some sick-oes.  Mr. M and Mr. S went along with daddy to help.

Well, it wasn't what we had planned for Spring break; looking back though it was good.  The time at home to rest and and work on some smaller projects was good.  The kids enjoyed the free time.  We were able to focus on some things that needed attention as well.  God knows best, I'm glad we were able to just trust and enjoy what "life" threw at us..

A trip to the doctor

We've had a virus.  Its just a cold/cough.  Some of our kids have a harder time being sick than others.  Mr. S seemed to be having a very hard time with this virus, but he had some extra symptoms as well.  He had an icky tummy.  It progressed to abdominal pain one evening.  He had a fever as well.  He had a rough evening but by morning he seemed to be doing better with the home remedies that we were trying.  However; by late morning he was feeling awful again.  The fever combined with the abdominal pain (think curled up crying type pain) prompted a call to the advice nurse.  She recommended that he be seen in the next 3 hrs.  The base clinic had an opening with his doctor.  His primary concern was the possibility of appendicitis (same as the nurse's).  Blood work and an ultrasound were ordered.  Then we waited....

Daddy was able to meet us there since classes were over for the day and spring break had begun.

The good news?  His lab work looked good!  The good/bad news?  They could not find his appendix during the ultrasound.  This means appendicitis could not be officially ruled out; but that a badly infected appendix would have stuck out.  He went home to rest.  Turns out that he was just having a harder time with this virus than the rest of the kids.  A few days later he had recovered fully.

Happy Pi Day!

In celebration of Pi Day Miss E made some "Pie" cupcakes for a Pi Day party some friends were throwing.

Signs of spring

While I don't believe for a minute that we're done with snow for the winter, it is so nice to see (and feel) the temperatures rising, the snow in our yard is (nearly) all melted and the first bulbs are already blooming!  We've been enjoying this past week's warmer weather by heading out to work in the yard.

The older kids are working the ground to get it ready to plant our garden and preparing the little hen house for new chicks.

The little kids are enjoying some play time, but are also helping out quite a bit as well.

Our chickens are loving the warmer weather.

I loved enjoying our view while sipping my coffee the other morning.

One of the most exciting signs of spring?  New chicks!  Just a few; more will be coming later in the summer.

Science Olympiad Regionals

It's competition day!  Lets go check it out!

Playing with the robots a bit.

Miss C loved hanging out with her favorite buddy on the team.

Waiting for big brother's rocket to launch.

I think Mr. S would like to compete in gliders next year.  He is enjoying getting some practice in here.

While Miss E was testing and the big boys were playing outside the littles enjoyed some play time inside.

We enjoyed getting to watch Mr. R fly his glider.  They did a great job!

Waiting for the awards ceremony to start.  The ceremony is the best part.

Getting their medals.  Miss E and her partner(s) got 2nd in Anatomy and 3rd in Disease Detectives/Epidemiology.  Mr R and his partner(s) got 1st in Bottle Rockets and 2nd in Elastic Launch Gliders.  Both of our Sr. and Jr. High teams placed 1st all around for the competition.  This is the only Homeschooling team in the state.  I believe there were about 30 High School teams competing and about as many Jr. High.

***While it is VERY exciting to see them doing well and earning awards; the most important lessons are the long term character development.  Good sportsmanship and working together are stressed in this team.  Perseverance, diligence, and growing relationships have been great to see not only in these two, but in other team members and some of our younger kids as well.  We are so thankful for the leadership of this team that work so hard to make it successful.  What a blessing it has been to our family to come into this wonderful group of people and receive so much help and encouragement.

Getting ready for Regionals

Miss E and Mr R had been studying like crazy for the Science Olympiad Southern Colorado Regionals.  The rest of the family was is full swing support mode.  We were all super excited about this first real competition; especially after having experienced the invitational.

Miss A was all ready to load up the van.  This whole thing looked very exciting to her. :)

"What?  Cookies are involved in this?"  Miss E made some special cookies for our tea party with our special guest.

Nana came for regionals!  I had to run some quick errands Friday morning.  When I got home just before lunch I found this sweet sight....

Miss A does not go to many people and falling asleep on them is even less likely.

We stayed in a hotel near the venue.  Miss E and Mr R needed to be there super early.  Miss A didn't mind that mommy and daddy needed to get up early, she was happy to have the whole bed to herself.  Since Nana was there, Miss A got to sleep in and enjoy the bed a bit more. 

Snapshots from a couple of crazy weeks

Its been a crazy couple of weeks.  We've been busy, and had lots of fun.

She just loves him so much!

We had a couple of study sessions with TI calculators and probes that were on loan.

"What?  The kitty does not like me holding her?  Say it ain't so."

Miss E learned to French braid.  

Someone's hair had a run in with some scissors.  Lesson learned...When your hair is sticking up funny; use water not scissors or talk to mommy about it. :/

Cute kids hanging out reading.

Messing around after AWANA.