February Forever

To be the shortest month, I always feel like February takes forever to get through. But we did get through it! Here are the highlights:

Weston developed a case of cellulitis (on top of poison ivy)
and had to spend some quality time at the clinic.  

Super Bowl Party

Clay's Scout den visited the police station,
and he got to sit in a squad car and get a mugshot.

Brothers and friends!

Ruth, Weston, Jeff, and I got to go bowling at Main Event

Meanwhile, these guys were building bonfires at Mimi and Grandpa's house.

Jeff and I had a day of dates which included a visit to the Haltom City farmer's market,
brunch at the Omni Ft. Worth, a quick stroll through the Ft. Worth water garden,
and a wonderful cultural experience at Mercado 369, where we heard an artist,
whose preferred medium is coffee, give a speech and demonstrate his craft, enjoyed
coffee samples from a craft roaster, and viewed many forms of Latin American art.

Jeff and Weston tried out VR gaming at Source Gaming Lounge.

We played lots and lots of games!

We helped pack and deliver boxes for Lovepacs of Lewisville.

We celebrated my half-birthday with singing, sushi, and tulips.

Weston was chosen to be the MC for the Scouts' Court of Honor at the last minute,
and he was completely nonplussed, even though he had had no time to prepare.
He was also recognized for his most recent merit badges and his latest rank of Life Scout.

Valentine's Day Celebration:
Movie and a Chik-fil-A bouquet for the kids,
fancy dinner at J2 steakhouse for the grown-ups

The younger boys and I traveled to Seguin to celebrate my nephew's birthday.

First track meet of the season, where Ruth ran in the 100M, 200M, the 4x200.
Her relay team captured third place!

Ruth's CyberPatriot team had their end-of-season party.

Sometimes it was hard to get through the school day. 😴

Weston and Clay had a brother rodeo.

Spring tried half-heartedly to make an appearance

Clay helped me work through some of the projects that will be included
in my soon-to-be-published Explore Australia book.

Clay got to be part of the Color Guard at his Scout pack meeting

The Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet was fun for everyone!
Max helped pass out tickets, and Weston helped
welcome the boys bridging over to Boy Scouts.

We took advantage of one of the really lovely days to have a cookout and picnic.

Max officially joined the Boy Scouts.

We had a field trip to Medieval Times with the boys' Arrow history classes.

Day Seven in D.C.

Ruth, Weston, and I headed over to the Holocaust Memorial Museum this morning, while the rest of our group went over to the National Building Museum. (The Holocaust Museum has a recommended age of 11 for their main exhibit, which is why we decided to divide and conquer today.) The Holocaust Museum was chilling but was beautifully done, and we were able to take our time and really appreciate it. 

A hauntingly beautiful exhibit

Broken Jewish gravestones

When we were done, Jeff and I exchanged text messages, in which he declared the younger boys were so happy in the hands-on room of the Building Museum that they hadn't even been willing to have lunch, and they certainly weren't interested in leaving any time soon. So, we agreed to just meet them there. The Building Museum is housed inside a lovely building, and truly the hands-on exhibit was fantastic. We ended up staying until closing time. (The boys did eventually scarf down their sandwiches as quickly as possible, so they could get back to playing.)

The National Building Museum with an impressive CANstruction display

This boy loves to build!

Clay's little house

Getting in a good workout

Weston's car

Max's fortress

Clay's canon-firing dune buggy

Upon leaving the museum, we headed over to Busboys and Poets for dinner. It was such a cool place--a bookstore/coffee shop/bar/restaurant--with a really fun vibe. And the food was excellent! Sadly, this was our last day in D.C. There is always more to see and do in this city than is possible on such a short trip, but I think we've made the most of our time and did pretty well. I hope we'll have a chance to visit again!

Busboys and Poets bookstore

 

Crab cakes over crab grits with lobster sauce

A parting treat: banana bread pudding with coconut ice cream

The mother of all homeschool days

I think I can say with some certainty that there will never be a homeschool day as epic as this one. I seriously doubt the stars will ever align again where we experience scissors, glue, a fire set purposely in a sink, and lunch from an oven set up in the backyard all on the same day.  In fact, I may just retire now so I can go out on my highest possible note. 

It just so happened that we had three big projects scheduled for today in three different classes. Clay has been desperate recently to add scissors and glue to art class and has not been satisfied with my suggested drawing activities. He has also been hinting at paint, so I decided I better take my chances with what seems to me possibly the lesser of the two evils. I ended up doing most of the cutting because "the pieces [were] too small," but Clay was 100% in charge of the glue, which still wasn't dry several hours after the completion of the project. He did produce a cute little pizza though and was very proud of his work.

Pizza Project

The younger boys have been studying about the Great Fire of London this week in history. Today, our project was to demonstrate the rapid spread of the fire through the densely packed city by coloring a picture of some houses set very close together and then setting it on fire. The boys were delighted and somewhat shocked that I deliberately set fire to their coloring pages in the sink. I have no pictures of this event, because I was playing an active fireman role and just didn't have a chance to grab my phone. Priorities, you know. 

Max and Weston have been learning about various forms of energy in science and have spent the last couple of days building a solar oven. They finished up just before lunch and were happy to be able to make quesadillas in their creation. 

Edible Science

The Scouting Report

A couple of weeks ago, Weston joined a local Boy Scout troop and this afternoon took off on his first weekend campout. He is so pumped up about being part of this group and about checking things off his list to earn the merit badges. Everything about scouting seems to be right up his alley, and I'm so excited that he has this opportunity.

Inspired by his big brother, Clay decided to join Cub Scouts. We went to the first meeting last night, and today he got to go to the Scout Shop to pick up his uniform and accessories. Man, does he feel big, even though he's nowhere near big enough to actually fill out his uniform, which was the smallest size they had! This afternoon, he got to paint his boat for the Raingutter Regatta happening on Sunday, and he started working on the activities in his book. He's so proud of himself, and I'm glad I get to be his Tiger Adult Partner.

I'm proud of my guys and am eager to see how they learn and grow through these experiences!

My big Boy Scout, ready for the camping trip

My little Tiger Cub

Moab

We left Park City this morning and headed to Moab, the last stop of our Epic Summer Road Trip. We are breaking with our camping ways, sort of as a last hurrah, and are staying in a very nice condo here. The boys were quick to find the amenities and spent some time playing on the playground and swimming in the pool this afternoon. Later, we had dinner at Zax, before heading over to the Moab Backyard Theater for a magic show. Everyone got to participate in various tricks, and we all had a great time!

Cannonball King

Little bitty cannonball

Always adding his own style

View from the pool

The obvious thing to do at a restaurant
that gives you bandanas for napkins

Stunned cowboy at the
Backyard Theater

Crazy Cowboy

Funny. There wasn't a hole in
Clay's shirt before.

The Max Trick

Just after the magician sarcasticly said,
"Don't feel bad about messing up the trick.
It's really my fault since I asked you to come up here."

"Throw the cards in the air."

Even Dad got some stage time