Holy Saturday Egg Hunt

We took the kids to an egg hunt at our old parish this morning. We arrived slightly after the event began and it looked like there were plenty of eggs to go around.  Unfortunately, by the time we went inside, dropped off our food shelf donations and went back outside, all but a couple of eggs had been collected.  I felt pretty bummed for my kids (especially since other children were walking around with baskets over-flowing with eggs) but they didn’t seem to mind.  I really am proud of their behavior in situations like that.  They could have easily thrown a tantrum or gotten emotional over not being able to find any eggs, but instead, they just rolled with it and moved on.  Perhaps one silver-lining that they discovered once we went back in the building to have a treat and work on a couple of crafts, is that this year, they had REAL bunnies for the kids to have their photo taken with.

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Spring cleaning

Shecklet #1 designed his own vacuum hanging contraption to use while he cleaned out my truck this afternoon.

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Meanwhile, Shecklet #2 gave me a hand with cleaning the salt and sand off of the rubber floor mats.

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Science Fair 2015

We survived our first science fair!

Maybe I should rephrase that. We survived our first science fair where one of our kids was responsible for completing a project on their own and not part of a class.  During kindergarten and 1st grade, students complete a project as a class. They have the option of doing a project on their own, but we never went that route. Once they hit 2nd grade, they’re all on their own (or with 1 other friend, if they choose.) Knowing schedules are hectic, we didn’t even propose that option to Shecklet #1. That enabled us to do things at our own pace, which was a good way to ease into the world of elementary school science fair projects.

Shecklet #2’s class project involved discovering what happens to gummy bears when they are submerged in different liquids. He thought it was pretty cool that vinegar disintegrated the gummy bear.

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Shecklet #1’s research question was “Which materials are the best conductors?” He did research that involved talking to Papa and looking up definitions in the dictionary. He worked with Jake to set up his experiment and typed up the information for the poster board he designed. He learned a lot, including that sometimes research leads to more questions, not just answers.

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All clean!

Shecklet #1 received his First Reconciliation this morning.  Such an awesome day for him!

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Snow turtle

Three brothers in a suburb near our old house built an enormous snow turtle in their front yard.  (Apparently they have made several snow sculptures in the past – wish we had known when we lived in the area!)  I had the older Shecklets with me while I picked up Shecklet #3 from preschool today, so I decided to make a slight detour on our way home to see the turtle in person.  The kids were pretty impressed!

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Student of the Month!

Shecklet #1 was given the student of the month award for December (awarded in January) for displaying the character trait, respect.  Here’s what his teacher had to say about why she chose him:

“When I think of a student that is always respectful, I think of this student.  Whether the activity is easy or hard, he respectfully raises his hand for help or asks someone quietly.  He is respectful of his friends, allowing all kids to play what he is playing.  He uses his manners with the staff at school and his classmates.  This kid is kin and caring here at school and that is why (Shecklet #1) has been named student of the month for the character trait of respect.  We are lucky to have you in our second grade class.  Thanks for being a great role model.”

Jake and I were able to attend the assembly to see him receive his award.  He was all smiles!wpid-imag1675_burst002_cover.jpg

Christmas #3

Christmas at my parents’ house was lovely…tasty food, fun with family, laughter and surprises…

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…until about 8:30, when we discovered that our dog, Cooper, was not feeling well. We quickly discovered that he had found a stash of chocolate somewhere in the house…enough to fill this tin:

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After speaking with the after-hours emergency vet, we decided that we needed to bring him in. Since we had only driven one car to my parents’ house, my dad offered to take Cooper and me to the vet so Jake and the kids could stay and finish desert.

I’ll spare the details, but suffice it to say, we left two hours later with a dog with an empty stomach who, though he was shaking due to the caffeine in the chocolate, was going to be ok.  Christmas 2014…one for the memory books!

Christmas #2

We spent Christmas morning & afternoon at home. It was so nice to start the day at a relaxing pace.

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Christmas Eve 2014

We attended our first Christmas Eve mass at our new parish this evening.  (We made the change back in July and have gradually been experiencing several “firsts.”)  My parents joined us again this year.  We have been able to attend mass with them on Christmas Eve for at least the last 3 years.  It’s a tradition I hope we’re able to continue.

After mass, we attempted to get group shots of everyone in their Christmas attire.  We gave it our best shot!

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Tubing

While I went for a much needed haircut (I chopped off 7 1/2 inches!) apparently the kids were busy at home wrapping presents and making gift tags with Aunt Larissa.

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After wrapping, the boys got their snow gear together and Larissa took them to meet up with Aunt Kari to do some snow tubing.  They said they had a blast! (Not surprisingly, Shecklet #1 selected a red tube and Shecklet #2 selected a green tube.)

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