February 2015

Easton loves to be in the spotlight.  He loves to give talks at church, be in charge, present things at school, etc.  This was his second chance to participate in the science fair, so naturally, he was in!

I think I ended up doing 90% of the project, but I figure that's ok.  He was able to present it to his peers and teachers at school...and helped me cut and paste the board together!  I explained the science to him as best as I could, and maybe he even learned something from it as well...maybe.

The experiment was on air density.  As shown by his body...air pressure is all around us.

Air pressure is constantly pushing on our bodies.  If we did not have air in our bodies, we would be squished like bugs.  If you compared the force of air pressure on our bodies from the atmosphere, it is equivalent to an elephant standing on a school desk.  

Hopefully I will get back to this and post an actual picture of his tri-fold.  His visual experiment was an empty pop can sitting inside a mug.  If you blow down between the mug and the pop can, the pop can actually jumps out (and can land in a second mug)...all due to air pressure.  The kids that stopped by his booth were able to do the experiment and everyone had a good time.

Easton's best friend, David just got baptized!  David is 3 months younger and 6 inches taller than Easton!

David with his mom, Katie.  My best friend :)  Katie is pregant with her 4th...a baby girl. 

We finally set the goal to have family scripture study.  I bought some clearance giant-sized Hershey kisses and told the boys if they read family scriptures for 30 days without missing, they could have their reward.  Imagine this...30 days later...they enjoyed their chocolate reward!  (And of course rewards in heaven!)

Body art.  Temporary. 

Our resident wood pecker...black body, red head.

Another great visit from the Ball family.  They came and enjoyed their Spring Break with us.  I had planned on taking the kids out of school for the week, but due to a snow storm, all they missed was one - 6 hour day (usually 8 hours, but was delayed 2 hours...the other 4 days were cancelled all together)  Although they were trying to escape the snow of the upper northeast (and didn't), at least the boys were entertained by each other.

A moment where the snow clothes and boots were not scattered all over the entryway.  

The contents of one pocket of Easton's jacket.
I should take more pictures of what I pull out of the laundry!

The many 'hats' worn by a mom...today it included professional shield-maker.  I was equipping the boys with shields for Easton's scout troup's annual sock war tournament.  The top shield was Easton's shield from last year.  The gold shield was his shield this year...followed by Xander's pink X shield, Cache's silver shield, and Declan's green shield.  I went with a boy scout / wolf rank theme.

Our key to a good shield - a milk carton handle.

January 2015

I wonder why I can never keep the house clean.  With 4 children who love to build forts - or in this case - barracades - I'm lucky to be able to walk around the house without tripping over something!  

The other day Cache fell off the playground from the upper platform by the fireman's pole.  He is a type of silent sufferer, but couldn't seem to recover from this fall.  I didn't find any marks, but he had no desire to play the rest of the time.  A few days later I saw what I had missed - I giant inflamed bump on his triceps.  You have to hit pretty hard to get a bruise like this!

I've probably posted this before, but shaving cream art remains one of my favorite crafts to do with the kids.  I am always amazed by how cool it turns out.  We use a tin containers, shaving cream, and liquid watercolors.  Swirl the colors around, put in a piece of paper and pull it out...let it sit for a few minutes then gently scrape off the shaving cream and wallah! 

Boys sure can be sweet when they are not fighting!

Xander was walking around the house with his 'beautiful dress'...aka giant blanket over his head.  But we don't worry about him...if you touch his dress he will punch you.  He's still boy.

Xander and Declan with their good friend, Sarah.  Building a marble tower.

Easton's manly marble tower.

Can we say, WAY TOO MUCH TV this winter!

Also, WAY TOO MUCH SNOW!

Easton building a snow man with some of the neighbor boys...Jonathan and Tyler.  

We are lucky to have such great neighbors.

Declan is a funny kid. 

 He honestly watched his whole show while wearing his stud-man green star glasses.

While Xander demands to be the one to play the ipad, Declan is usually ok with just watching.

On the way to Washington DC we pass a footbridge that leads to 'Theodore Roosevelt Island'.  Every time we are headed into the city we have a plan...when we are headed home, we are so exhausted that stopping to check out the island is out of the question.  Finally, years later, we made a special trip to see the island!  Behind the boys is Georgetown.

Easton, my firstborn, is always the best to pose for my pictures.  He has been well-trained!

It makes sense, but I didn't realize this was another Washington DC monument....obviously...to Theodore Roosevelt.

The planes fly pretty low as they approach Reagan Airport.

The island is surrounded by the Potomac River.

Half of the hike is on the raised foot path.  The surrounding area was basically a wetland.

I love that 3 of the boys are holding highly-coveted rocks and the 4th is holding a walking stick.  These boys are outdoor boys!

These are roots of the tree growing up!  It has something to do with the water density of the ground and the roots needing more air...but basically it just looks cool.

We passed by an overpass that lead into DC.

An awesome leaf with an awesome slug.

Someone spotted a purple rock in the ground...which then lead to 10 minutes of the boys digging to get it out...which then lead to Xander grabbing it first and everyone else being sad.  Oh well, can't please them all the time!

A cool tree.  Of course I took the time to tell the kids not to carve into trees.  

A view from the island of the city of Rosslyn, VA.

A view from the island of Georgetown, DC.

The beginning of another snow day!

Declan playing marbles with our friend, Joel. 

Our neighbor, Skye.  Xander and Skye have been hanging out a lot lately.  

Bubbles indoor...why not?

This year the big boys did indoor soccer at Dulles Sportsplex.  It was just 1 hour a week on Saturdays.  They both really enjoy soccer and it was a good chance for them to run around for an hour on a cold day! 

Cache in green.

Easton in orange.

Xander and Declan spent their time climbing on things and riding their balance bikes along the super smooth ground throughout the 2nd floor viewing area.  

The pinewood derby contest, take 2.  Last year David and Easton won it all.  This year...

They did it again!!!

A proud Easton and Dad!