Updates

I need to add a couple of updates from my previous posts. Events that happened recently of note in our family. The first is Science Fair. Nate went on to the Region level competition two weeks ago. Of course it was a very busy day and so I tried to talk him out of attending the awards assembly at the close of the competition, since I was needed at the stake center all night to conduct Futsal games. I figured he was lucky to make it to the region level, and that would be the extent of any recognition he would receive. Nate's teacher thought differently and talked me into having Nate attend the awards event that evening. Luckily he did, because Nate ended up getting 2nd place in the Junior Division of Medicine and Health. His trophy and certificates are still sitting on the piano, and he is already talking about what his project will be next year.

The other item to update is the Geography Bee. Nate scored high enough on the exam to qualify for the state competition, which took place on Friday. He was nervous the morning of the event, but not as nervous as I was-as I forgot to even take the camera for pictures of Nate in the competition. (Steve couldn't believe that I would neglect something so important, but it was all nerves!) He got through the preliminary rounds and ended up in the tie-breaker rounds to determine the ten finalist. His last question knocked him out of the round, and he still is upset because the first answer he wrote down, then scratched out was the correct answer. Oh well, we think he did great as he ended up being in 13th place out of the 100 kids who made it to state, out of the many thousands of kids who participated in their own geography bees in their schools. (Sorry for the big bragging there, but I couldn't help it.) Anyway, here is the question that ended up taking Nate out of the competition, see how you would answer it:

Which country that is not part of the European Union, and is bordered by Belaurus and Ukraine, recently tightened its border patrols because of problems caused by immigration?

Caleb Turns Twelve

Caleb turned twelve this month and was ordained last Sunday. I think it is perfect timing, since now he will be able to go with Steve and Nate to the Priesthood Session of General Conference, instead of staying home with the girls.

It is hard for me to imagine that it has actually been 12 years since he was born; and Steve and I were trying to figure out what would be a good name for a red-headed boy. Caleb was not our first choice-it was actually #5 on our list. He could have been a Trenton, Preston, Truman or Clayton. A nurse heard us discussing names and she jokingly suggested we watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, since there were seven red-headed boys in that movie and we could pick from seven different names...and that's how Caleb got his name.

Our Own March Madness

This month has been extra busy. Each week there is a BIG project that we need to work on (Science Fair, the Kindy 500, Caleb's Ordination/birthday). This week was no exception. Lauren's Achievement Days group decided they wanted to do a Powderpuff Pinewood Derby race. Steve was adamant that he had already built six Pinewood Derby cars for the boys, so it was my turn to make them for the girls. But the proposition of having a wife with only nine fingers was enough to convince him to help again.

Lauren had a difficult time deciding on what kind of car she wanted. She finally opted for a red Radio Flyer wagon. Steve and David spent half of their Saturday working on cutting out the car. It took four attempts before they had a successful model. The night before the race, as we were working out how to make and attach the handle, a comment was made that the wagon looked like a bathtub. That put a smile on Lauren's face and she immediately changed her mind and decided that her wagon would now be a bathtub.

So, we changed gears and began brainstorming on how to make a cute bathtub. We decided on a white tub with a brushed nickel faucet & handles, a bear with a shower cap & brush, water with a few bubbles, and of course we needed a yellow rubber ducky to finish it off. We put the finishing touches on her car just minutes before the race began. (In fact, the realistic water that we used in the tub, which hardens but has the look of water, was more liquid than hard during the race.) I was pretty pleased with the final project and all the little details we added...until a six year old friend of Ashlyn's looked at the car and commented, "There's no drain." Okay, I completely missed that small detail.

Who is Your Favorite Aunt?

This is a warning to all the aunts...Tricia is making her move to dethrone everyone as the favorite aunt, and make that title exclusively hers. Her recent outings with the kids have shown that she is declaring open war. She is no longer relying on the old grab bag of trinkets and toys to win their favor-nope, she's taking it to a whole other level. Her recent outings have been: the circus (with an elephant ride thrown in for extra points), the Bean Museum, and a sold-out BYU basketball game vs. UNLV.

Kindy 500 Kar

Ashlyn has a wonderful kindergarten teacher who thinks up many creative ways for the students to learn the curriculum. One of her favorite activities is the Kindy 500, where unwilling parents get to help their overly excited child make a vehicle from a cardboard box. All the kindergarten students then come and drive around to different locations to learn about some of the more prominent landmarks and historical figures in our country; receiving a souvenir at each stop.

We've been lucky enough to have this same teacher for all of the kids, so this Kindy 500 was our 4th (and final) time to experience this event. The smartest plan would have been to save Nate's car and recycle it for Caleb, Lauren and Ashlyn. But, each of the cars went in the garbage bin a couple weeks after the event, necessitating that I start from scratch each time. I am now proficient in turning cardboard boxes into: taxis, post office trucks, ice cream trucks, and ambulances.

The best part of the Kindy 500 was just after we visited the Statue of Liberty. We were in the hall, going to our next station, and a reporter from the newspaper was there talking to the kids. He stopped Ashlyn and asked her where the Statue of Liberty was located. She quickly responded, "Over there," as she pointed to the room we just came out of. We'll have to wait and see if those geography genes are dormant or non-existent.

Science Fair

Ugh! It's that time of year that makes me want to crawl back into bed and not come out...it's Science Fair. Nate started looking at projects in November, but all of his ideas seemed beyond the scope and access to our non-scientific family. His first plan was to measure the air quality before and after snowstorms and rainstorms, to see which type of storm did a better job of cleaning the air. That was quickly nixed. Good idea, but no access to the necessary tools to come to a definite conclusion.

Round two he decided to make a maglev train-or for those who are like me and don't know what that is, it is a train that levitates and moves along with the help of magnets and electricity. I loved this idea, but the problem came when Nate's science teacher expected a hypothesis (go figure). We tried for two weeks to think of a hypothesis before we gave up and started looking for another idea. Nate's third idea was to shoot bullets into different types of liquids to see if they stopped the bullet faster or slower. I said "no" right at the start. Nate didn't like that answer and went to his gun advocate father who also said "no." That is probably the first time Steve and I have ever agreed on the subject of guns.

Nate, in desperation, with only three weeks away before science fair, came home from school and said, "If I can't shoot for my experiment, then it has to be something that either explodes or crashes." Hence our last and final idea resulted in helmet safety. Lots of crashes and a few heads that exploded. Not the most original project, and that is why I was surprised that Nate was chosen as one of those to move on to the regional science fair. In the end, after a lot of work and some amazing results (needless to say that all of us will wear helmets for biking, skateboarding and on scooters-the results were enough to scare me into complete submission), I've come to the conclusion that I still hate Science Fair.

Fun in the Sun

It's been a cold and snowy January and February. We've had three sunny days total for the last two weeks. Instead of sun we've had snow nearly everyday. (Great skiing if anyone wants to visit!) So, for a little relief Steve and I spent a few days in Oahu. To go from single digits to the eighties was heavenly...not to mention seeing colors again, instead of variations of white and gray.

While we were there, we enjoyed taking a few classes to learn some of the native arts. We are now semi-proficient in making leis and poi balls, ukulele playing, and hula dancing. Okay, semi-proficient is an exaggeration for me, since the only thing I mastered was lei making. I can also make the poi balls, but when I try to swing them all I do is hit myself in the head. The ukulele was fun, but if you tried to dance the Hukilai while I accompanied, it might take thirty minutes. I'm not even going to tell you how bad I was at the hula. I quickly decided to spare my husband the embarrassment and found the video camera instead; so I could embarrass him in another way. So, enjoy the clip of Steve learning his first hula dance at the Polynesian Cultural Center. You can see the real professionals right after Steve finishes his dance. (just what you wanted-to see someone's vacation videos.)