Week 8: Baby animals

There was no school Monday for President's Day. Sunday evening we visited a family with a farm full of animals! Their boy is in Zach's class and their twin girls are in Charlotte's class, and Zach stayed the night with his friend. But not before we had a tour! We saw lambs and baby goats, lots of chickens, horses, donkeys, and alpacas. The kids collected eggs and we took them home.

The teachers went on strike (again! for a good cause) Tuesday and Wednesday. We found ways to occupy ourselves at home, like getting four totes of stuffed animals out of the storage room to rediscover ones they'd been missing. And making banana bread muffins. Charlotte went to dance as usual, and Zach attempted to teach his patrol to solve the rubik's cube during a meeting. He was so thrilled for the opportunity.

Luckily school was open on Thursday, because we had planned a drive up to IKEA. We had a few things on our list, including a desk and curtains for the living room.

Weeks 6 & 7: Activities

Lots going on; we're just trying to keep up.

Working on Cub Scout requirements. He's learning knife safety and how to whittle.

Practicing her sight words.

Working on Valentines.

Cub Scout project--it's a holder for the belt loops he earns.

I helped with Charlotte's class Valentine's Day party.

Zach received his Arrow of Light award at the Blue & Gold banquet. It is the highest honor for a Cub Scout. He will step up to Boy Scouts at a camp ceremony next month.

Weeks 4 & 5: Breaks from school

It's our usual winter story: in the last two weeks the kids have been off school for one holiday, three two-hour delays due to cold/snow/ice, two polar vortex days (the "feels like" temps were down to -11 or so), and one real snow day. And Zach stayed home one day for a sore throat that, luckily, did not turn into anything else. So it's been a lot of Minecraft, playing around the house, and doing art. They spent time during the polar vortex doing packets of school work that had been set aside for such days.

Zach and another boy from his Cub Scout den chose to participate in a Boy Scout skills day at camp, and the cold didn't stop him from having a great time (Frank spent as much time as possible tending the fire). For some reason the younger boys were excluded from building fires but not throwing axes. Zach and Gabe worked on their Pinewood Derby cars and raced them on Saturday. They had some good speeds and finishes, but weren't quite fast enough for trophies.

Her fall/winter collection

Week 3: Surviving the cold

Snow ball maker

Charlotte's dance costumes for the recital in June

Cauliflower soup

Sleeping in the guest room, for fun and warmth, during a couple of extra cold nights. We needed to use the boys' heater in the basement to keep our water pipe warm!

A very large tent, with escape hatch under Zach's bed