Magic Fire

Tonight we made a campfire for s'mores.  My new favorite is using cookies and cream chocolate, yum!  Other favorites are good old classic hershey's and reese's peanut butter cups. 
We ended the fire by making a magic fire.  It doesn't show up well in the picture, but if you look closely you can see some of the colors in the flame.  You make it with a copper pipe with holes drilled in it and a garden hose.  The chemical reaction makes the flames of the fire turn colors.  It's a lot of fun. 
Oh, and Kent got a tick! 

3rd grade music show

Tonight was McKinley's 3rd grade music show. She didn't want to do it. She says she doesn't like performing, "it's embarassing". Her class represented American folk songs, and they sang home on the range.
The part she did like was that Grandma and Grandpa Korth came into town today for spring break, so they got to come and see her.

Science Fair

Tonight was Sawyer's first grade Science Fair. I asked him what he wanted his project to be on. It was something about cars. We settled on "What makes the best racetrack". Then we built a test track with one curvy long track, and one shorter straight track. He tested with his brand new Jimmie Johnson diecast cars. I think he was in heaven!
He got to choose his seat in the car on the ride to the school and back. He said it was his special day.
It's nice to be able to focus some sole attention on this little guy sometimes.

Books

My baby will be 6 months old on Friday, and I finally read a book. Two actually!

The first one was a book club selection, "Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey". And while I didn't go to the book club, I love watching Downton Abbey on PBS so the book really appealed to me.
It's non-fiction, and reads like one. These are obviously harder for me to get through than fiction, but it was good. I was very interested in the role that Highclere played in WWI and the discovery of King Tut! There were so many parallels between the Highclere Castle and Downton Abbey, including the characters.
If you like Downton Abbey, no, if you LOVE Downton Abbey then you'll enjoy this book.



Next I read this book by Amy Julia Becker, "A good and perfect gift: faith, expectations, and a little girl named Penny." The family welcomes their first baby into their family, and are confronted with the information that she has Down Syndrome. A true account by the mother of Penny.
There's a lot of good in this book. I learned. I fell in love with Penny.
Like Amy Julia who learned to not compare her child or base how she felt about Penny on her accomplishments, or her delays, I feel recommited to love my children for who they are.

The ants are marching

The one unspoken rule in our house is that you don't mention the lack of bugs or it will jinx it. Kent broke that rule last night. Sure enough, this morning while Sawyer was getting ready for school he informed me of the giant ant infestation in the "sunroom"(aka the stinky room). I spent the morning and into the afternoon clearing them out (hopefully). They had taken over the crafting dresser. I had to remove papers and crayons one by one while they scurried to the next dark hiding place. They are terrifyingly big, and bite!

I had to soak the ants with poison before their giant exoskeletons stopped crawling around like nothing had happened.

The stinky room wreaks of poison now, which is actually an improvement :)

They'd better stay away! Grrr!!

Easter fun

The kids woke up at 6:00 and were sequestered in their rooms until 7:00 which is a much more decent hour.
They checked out their Easter baskets that had a book, silly putty, a chocolate bunny, peeps and money (a couple dollar bills). I had their new Easter clothes laid out (and ironed!---it was an Easter miracle!)
Then off to church where I had sharing time this week.
After church McKinley planned and carried out a picnic outside. We tossed a football and then did some archery, and read our books.
We finished off the night eating a Roasted Chicken, and then decorating our Easter eggs.

McKinley does pretty well with the bows and arrows.

Kent got the "bunny"!

Josh hung out in his swing for a few minutes before he needed to be held.

We decorated our eggs. Tonight we'll eat them in our dinner (Egg-la-golden-rod)!

Happy Easter!