Science Fair

I think Drew was excited about the science fair as soon as it was announced.  And he knew what he wanted to do from the get-go.  He wanted something with batteries, and the idea evolved into making his own simple motor.  Boy, did that Drew work his little heart out on that project.  They made 4 or 5 models before there was any success.  There was not one bit of procrastination on that project, yet still it was two days before the fair that the project finally worked!  Hannah has been sleeping in Drew's room for the last couple weeks, and you could tell this science project was taking a toll on her.  Extra cranky outbursts during the day....etc.  I give total credit for the outbursts to her lack of sleep and many late nights due to this science project thing.  We joked a lot about it and made lots of reference back to the movie "Meet the Robinson's"......"that's what you get when you have a science geek for a roommate."  :)

The final project was awesome and they fixed it up just right so it would be easy to run at school.

Drew could not wait.

 I helped him take the project into school, I love taking my kids to school--those little moments of extra time with those big kids is one of my favorite things, as simple as that is.  

There were tons of "ooohs" and "aaahhhs" as we walked the halls.  I heard one boy behind me, "That is awesome!  I don't know what it is, but it's awesome!!!"

I'm pretty sure Drew was just beaming.

 He worked hard on his poster, he made sure he explained how it worked well enough that people with simple brains, such as myself, could understand it all.  :)  (I'm kind of embarrassed to admit....but I sure learned a lot during the course of this project).

 There was only one unfortunate event.  Drew had the chance to show his classmates how everything worked before the fair, then he went to lunch.  Some kid decided to mess around with his project and he drained all the battery while Drew was out to lunch.  

Poor Drew was pretty bummed.  By the time the science fair started, his project didn't work at all.

So when I saw him at the science fair, he looked at me and I could tell he was trying not to let those disappointed emotions surface.  I wanted so bad to sprout wings or something and get him a new battery!  By the time I could get somewhere and back there would be about 10 minutes left.  I also wanted Jed to come super quick to see if he could remedy the situation somehow.  Drew's awesome dad took off an hour or so off work so he could come see him--and he did help remedy the situation by putting both his batteries together to come up with just enough power to make it work to some extent. 

All in all, it was a good experience.  A lesson in perseverence, in hard work, in trying to make the most of a disappointing situation, and a lesson in guarding and protecting your hard work!

Drew's grandparents popped in to support him too.   What a lucky guy to have so many people support him!

The experimenting has continued even though the fair is over.  He has had fun seeing what else this little motor of his can run.  

Good work Drew!!

Changes.

 Things have changed a lot for me lately.  One month ago, I was released from my much loved calling in Young Women.  It was a hard release for me.  I love those girls I got to know so much!!  Still do.  But I knew it was time and knew I was needed somewhere else.  I got to meet with my husband in our home for him to extend a release and new call for me.  That was different.  And I knew exactly where I was needed before I was given the call.

I am now serving in the Bear den, the den which Drew will be coming into shortly.  He was so excited to have me be his den leader, that sure helped with my tough emotions of leaving the YW.  I know it's not going to last forever that he actually thinks it is cool to have his mom be his leader.  So I'm going to savor every last bit of being his den leader.

Jumping in to the steep learning curve of scouting has also helped take my mind off of YW too. 

 I know it sounds crazy that it was so hard to leave, but I liken it to leaving your mission when it is time to go home (not that I've been on one....it's just how I imagine it would be).  You just grow to love those you served and care so much for their futures.  Those girls would come over to my house to visit and they were always so excited to see me.....oh, fun times.

And, my goodness, it has been tough to get into the swing of things with scouting.  My first den meeting went so smoothly.  I thought this was going to be a piece of cake.  Then the next was not so pretty....I felt like I would never get the hang of it.  But, Heavenly Father blesses you and stretches you all at the same time.  Scouts is going to be a lot of fun.  And I work with the most amazing lady ever....so she is carrying us both through!

 A couple weeks ago, we had our Blue and Gold banquet.  We looked like such a cute little scouting family with the three of us dressed up in scouting attire.  :)  The above picture isn't that great, but I love that it shows how seriously Drew took the uniform inspection.  ;)

 His dad was the inspector.

 Drew also earned his wolf, the world conservation patch, four arrows...I know there are five pictured but they gave him an extra one, plus the scouting month patch and the pinewood derby and blue and gold little patches.  He is going to be all decked out once his running to and fro mom can sit down and sew those things on.

 He sure does have that scouting spirit.  He loves it.

 The banquet was a western theme, and the scoutmaster taught us some line dancing.  Drew was so funny.  He was pretty hesitant to dance with me.  It sure took him out of his comfort zone and he kept asking "What are we doing?  What is this?"  when I was asking to come have some fun with me.

I think he loosened up and had a good time by the end.

Good work Drew.  You are an awesome worker and I love ya!
Post edit:  Drew did indeed earn 5 arrow points, my mistake.  They just were not marked in his book, but after updating his book he sure did earn those.  So glad that scout leaders are on top of things when mothers are not!!

elder and sisters

A couple of sundays ago we hosted 40+ people in our home for a bishop's fireside.  Since it was in our home, my children wanted to attend, so they snuck in.  From the fireside they learned quite a bit about the ins and outs of missionary work.  But after it was all said and done, they still had several questions.  So we decided we would have a missionary FHE.  Ooooh, I had fun quickly coming up with ideas for it......from the food to the games.

I made empanadas, which are Jed's favorite food from his mission and I attempted to make some peachy drink with wheat berries, another favorite from his mission....  Well the drink didn't go well (I didn't have any whole dried peaches on hand and tried to make do with canned peaches...hey, the kids didn't know any different at least), but the empanadas turned out extremely good.  Jed was in heaven.  I have now officially found the winning empanada recipe.

On to the festivities:

 The kids were in companionships:

 Not a very traditional male/female companionship....

 Hannah was english speaking and Madelyn was spanish speaking....it all works out somehow :)

Their first game was to deliver Books of Mormon to a "house" across the house whilst avoiding rabid dogs (Jed, Claire, and myself).  You had to stick with your companion at all costs and preferably not have any wet pants after going through doggie central.  ;)  It ended up being pretty hilarious.  Drew was pretty much dragging Lily along and dodging the rabid dogs....oh my goodness... 

 There is daddy dog and a cutie pants baby.

 The next game we had each missionary eat a spoonful of mustard.  After it was all swallowed each missionary had to politely say "thank you."  The first companionship to complete the task won the event.

 Madelyn's loving it can't you tell?  Hannah's kind of poking at it....

 Drew did it quickly.

 Lily on the other hand flat out said she wasn't going to do it...but she eventually came around.  

For the next game, we had a game of cooperation and communication.

We tied the companions hands together and gave each missionary 10 skittles that they were to feed the opposite missionary only using the tied up hands.

 Madelyn and Hannah were able to cooperate and didn't cheat too much....I caught Hannah in this picture using the wrong hand.... :)

 These two on the other hand were too hilarious to watch.  Lily didn't care for the rules whatsoever, and pretty much ate all 20 skittles single handedly with a few exceptions that hit Drew's lip then tumbled to the floor.  We all had good laughs about that one.

See Lily shoving her own mouth full?  Yep.  But Drew was good and patient with his companion and we got to laughingly explain that your companions might not always do what you would want them to.... ;)

Oh, it was a good night.  Lots of good fun with our family.

Great date...

 So the day before Valentine's day, I had gotten everyone sent off to school and walked in my room and to my surprise I found it messier than I had anticipated.... :)

There was string everywhere with instructions in my husbands handwriting to wind it all up.  So I did, and I found another note asking me if I was at the end of my "rope" and if I wanted to go dancing.  

It was very cute.  I answered him with a string that led to our back door and I painted a great big YES in the snow.  

So the day after Valentine's we went on our date with our good friends Brett and Leslie:

 Jed and Brett relived their first date from their high school days but this time with the most exceptional and totally awesome dates.  ;)

 We went to McDonald's and got happy meals and ate them in the car.

(shhh...don't tell my children)

 Then we went and played some laser tag (a mild adaption from their first high school date.  On their first date they took their happy meal toys and shot at them with BB guns, which was an option for us as well, but after negotiating and discussing the cold and where we would go we opted for the laser tag option).

Then we hit our former stake's dance and had a great time dancing the night away.  Well kind of....we don't really remember much from our college swing days....but we had fun trying!

Then afterwards we went to our friends house, where all of the children were and we all had a ginormous sleepover!!  We stayed up and played games until early morn, while most of the children went to bed.  I say most, because Claire was there with us until the end, 2 AM!!  Oh my.....

We had such a fun time, and you know you have good friends when they house your family of 7 for a night! (Thanks!!)

Leslie outdid herself and completely spoiled us with a large delicious breakfast!

Thanks for the fun and memorable time, it was grand!!