Saturday 25 April 2015

Whale Carrot vs. Pink Mustache

I find it is best to keep a camera handy during meal times, since there's something about the context of a polite gathering that seems to inspire silliness. I don't post nearly as many of these pictures as I probably should - maybe because they don't necessary group together coherently. Anyhow, without further ado, I present The Time Tommy Found a Carrot Shaped Like a Whale and Didn't Want to Eat It Because It Was Too Awesome followed by The Time Kenny Rubbed His Upper Lip So Raw That He Gave Himself a Mustache Which He Wore Proudly For About a Week


Ahab's Carrot


I have a pink mustache

Friday 24 April 2015

Happy Birthday Tommy!

Sometimes I'm not sure how we got here, but we now officially have a seven year old! We celebrated Tommy on his birthday with his family presents, highlights below include a Lego set and a talking Ninja Turtle card (and, not pictured because he has to pick it out still, a hand-brake bike). Tommy has grown a great deal this year, both in height and personally. I appreciate his helpfulness with his brothers and around the house. Recently I contracted some kind of flu at the exact same time that Jeff had beamtime and was completely unable to help, and Tommy took care of his brothers almost all day. They watched a lot of TV, wore strange outfits, and might have only eaten yogurt and pretzels...but they all survived thanks to his intervention. He was so sweet bringing me cups of water and, when I could finally keep something down, pretzels. The experience, while terrible for us all, certainly demonstrated to me how much he has grown in his ability to handle responsibility.

He continues to love sports, especially football, but he has been playing soccer and baseball. He also participates in Cub Scouts and, of course, in church activities. He is showing much more maturity in these areas as well, and has started asking very good questions about God...and also some strange ones. His school teacher tells me he is a very hard worker, a great reader, and a leader in the classroom. At a conference she told me that she randomly chose him to demonstrate how to have a conversation about a book (an exercise she does every year), and the dialogue she had with him was the best she has had with a student. The book was The Cat in the Hat, and I can't even remember the last time we read it, so I was certainly impressed that he did such a good job. All that said, his favorite part of school is recess. He is constantly bursting with energy, so classrooms are not his natural habitat. Tommy mainly goes to school to socialize, but we are happy that he is learning as well.

Speaking of socializing, Tommy had a friend birthday party too. He loves his birthday, and starts discussing his party and invite lists months in advance (which is nice because it usually starts with "I want to invite the entire school!" and it takes time to narrow it down). I love that he wants to include everyone he knows, even though it is wildly impractical. This year we really hit the jack-pot when Tommy entered a drawing for a free birthday party and won! Thus he got to have his first (and ONLY) outside-of-our-house party. It was at a Karate studio, which was a big hit with the seven-year-old boy crowd. He had a great time, and so did Kenny, as you will observe in the videos. Nic was there too, but wild crowds are just not his style.

Happy Birthday Tommy! We are so proud of you and are blessed to be your parents!












Tuesday 21 April 2015

Catching Up Pt. 1: Easter

Here are a few pictures from our Easter festivities - the egg hunt after church, our impromptu backyard picnic (because it was such a beautiful day that the kids begged to eat outside), and our neighborhood egg hunt in the park. It was a wonderful day!














Saturday 4 April 2015

Cub Scout Fun

Tommy has really been loving cub scouting. It has been fun to try so many new things, and the while family has been enjoying the outings and pack meetings. Here are some pictures from the Pinewood Derby. He and Jeff crafted his car to look like Jeff's "cool car." It didn't win, but it sure was fun to watch!





We had an outing to a living history museum in our area to fulfill an advancement requirement, and we had a great time watching a blacksmith work, looking at old maps of our city, visiting a "trading post," and watching maple sap collection.








Thursday 2 April 2015

Science Fair 2015

Tommy really wanted to do an experiment on electricity for the science fair, and Jeff made an heroic attempt to help him do that, but in the grand tradition of science, it didn't work out as he planned. Thankfully, Tommy had has a pretty cool science kit, so we pulled an experiment from that which he had previously worked on, and had him do it again for the fair. In truth, the science kit experiment was probably a little more flashy, and it certainly made Tommy happy and was fun for the other kids to see. Win-win. He also had some fun exploring the other kids projects and having some one-on-one time with dad (the little guys were out of sorts so we stayed home).