22 March 2015 - School Achievements

This week Jessica was inducted into the National Honor Society.  They had a nice candle lighting ceremony at the school and each kid got a rose (even the boys).

Meanwhile, Madeline was busy building a leprechaun trap.  For her science class, she was required to use simple machines to invent a trap that could catch leprechauns if they try to steal a treasure.

On Wednesday the girls did glow-in-the-dark volleyball for their Young Women's activity.  They said it was lots of fun but hard to see the ball because it didn't glow.

15 March 2015 - Project Linus

Right now I am supervising a student who is an intern for Project Linus, a non-profit that collects blankets for underprivileged children in the United States.  Joanne decided she wanted to help with the Project Linus campaign that my student has organized on campus, so she got busy quilting.  This is an animal themed baby blanket.

For her second blanket, she did a Winnie the Pooh theme.  She used her Christmas gift to embroider several of the patches with Pooh Bear figures.

Here's a close-up of one of the embroidered patches.

This is a different quilt she's been working on.  It was too big so she had to piece it together on the living room floor.

8 March 2015 - Winter Champs Swim Meet

This weekend was the Winter Championship swim meet.  All three girls had qualifying times for the meet, which was held at the Nampa Rec Center.  They had a great meet, improving several of their event times.  If you won your heat you got a ducky.  This is Emily's 'Sir Ketchup' duck from winning her 100 Fly heat.

Joanne caught a good action shot of Emily doing the butterfly.  She's in the middle here.  She's behind at this point but caught up in the second 50 to win the heat.

For Wednesday's youth activity, the kids played human Hungry, Hungry Hippos.  You can get the idea from the photo.

1 March 2015 - Madeline's Birthday

Well, it seemed like it took forever (to Madeline), but her birthday finally arrived this week.

 Joanne made Madeline a Pineapple cake and Madeline always likes to light the candles.

Here's a close up of the cake before being cut to pieces and eaten.

Opening presents is always a party for Madeline, and stuffed animals are a winning option.

As are movies -- we've added Maleficent and Mr. Peabody and Sherman to our collection.

Madeline also got a new balaclava for skiing, or for exercising ninja skills when necessary.

Joanne made cupcakes earlier in the week for Madeline's birthday as well.

Saturday was the regional swim championships in Boise.  In between events, we passed the time by racing cars.

Hard to tell, but Jessica is on the left in this photo, doing backstroke.

22 February 2015 - New Beginnings, More Swim

February is usually a busy month for swim meets.  March and April are usually Regional and National tournaments, so February is the last chance for swimmers to get qualified.  We had another meet this week, and Jessica and Emily both qualified in several events for the regional meet.  Here is Emily coiled up and ready to spring.

This week was also New Beginnings, so Joanne was super-busy.  She themed it "Port Faith", and had the girls and some leaders set up tables around the gym where we went on a cruise through the Young Women's Values.  I didn't take any pictures, which bummed me out a little bit, but at least here is the logo Joanne made for the main theme of the night.  It was very successful.

15 February 2015 - Cakes!

This week we were invited over to Eric and Lara's because Shaylee had made Valentine's heart cakes.  Everyone got to decorate their own.

Here is Jessica (her hands at least), working diligently on her cake, which she promptly ate.

Madeline had a school ski outing, so we took advantage of the opportunity to get in a little more skiing as well.  If you look at the background behind Jessica and Emily, you can see how badly we need some additional snow.

I didn't get any pictures, but I did take Joanne on a Valentine's date.  We went to dinner at a local Caldwell steakhouse, then saw Into the Woods, on the stage, not the movie that's currently out (although we did see that one as well).