Isn’t making Easy Mac supposed to be easy? Well, apparently for our 9 year old, it’s quite challenging.
She attempted the task last Saturday. She removed the top, put it in the microwave, programmed the correct cook time, and forgot to add WATER!
In no time at all, she was yelling for Tanya as smoke poured out of the microwave.
Teachable moment? Yup.
It’s time for our annual Mother’s Day survey!
Dad: What is your favorite activity to do with Mom?
Zoe: Cook cookies.
Megan: Make sugar cookies. Tell super scary, funny stories!
Dad: What is your favorite thing Mom makes for you to eat?
Zoe: Pancakes and tacos.
Megan: Tacos and pizza.
Dad: What does Mom do for work all day?
Zoe: Graphic Designing. Kissing me. She gets tired, I guess.
Megan: Graphic Design every second of the day.
Dad: What animal is Mom most like?
Zoe: A dog. Because she likes to sleep in.
Megan: A turtle. Because she’s not fast.
Dad: What does Mom like to do for fun?
Zoe: Play games like Dog-opoly and Sorry!
Megan: She likes to go to lunch at Jimmy Johns with her friends.
Dad: What part of Mom’s body do you think is the most beautiful? Why?
Zoe: Her pinky. Because it’s tiny like she is.
Megan: Her green eyes. Because they’re unique from the rest of the family.
Dad: If you had all the money in the world and could buy Mom something, what would it be?
Zoe: Tootsie Rolls! Or whatever she wants. Maybe a puppy.
Megan: Two horses for us to share!
Dad: What are you thankful for about Mom?
Zoe: She makes the best lunches ever!
Megan: Because she gives me allowance.
Dad: What do you do that makes Mom happy?
Zoe: Do what she says. Be nice to Megan.
Megan: Be nice to Zoe.
Dad: What do you do that makes Mom sad?
Zoe: Disobey her. Karate kick Megan.
Megan: Be mean to Zoe.
Dad: If you had to pick one word to describe Mom, what would it be?
Zoe: Lovable!
Megan: Shrimp! She once told me she was a shrimp because she was small.
Dad: Why do you love Mom?
Zoe: Because she gives me hugs and kisses.
Megan: Because she takes us out to places to eat.
We thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Tanya and are so blessed by her each and every day.
We had fun celebrating 7 1/2 years of life last week!
I posted two weeks ago about Megan finishing Memory Level 1 in Bible Blast and receiving her bible as a prize. Well, the entire year of BB wrapped up on Sunday with the Finale celebration.
So what were we celebrating? Well, all year we’ve been reading through a Picture Bible as a family and the girls would have to remember/memorize about 25-30 questions on the large chunk of the bible we read. During Bible Blast on Sundays, they would get quizzed on about 5-7 of the 30 questions. It took a lot of discipline to get through it each week, but they really enjoyed it.
The big surprise of the morning came when Zoe was called up on stage as the 2nd place girl “quizzer” in her age group! We had no idea she had done so well.
Megan was then called up with all the kids (from all grades) that achieved Memory Level 1.
After the finale, we took them outside for a few trophy shots. This was Take 1. Apparently, someone thought it was a tad too chilly.
And then after a, “Good grief Megan, please just smile – it’s not THAT cold,” I got a half smile as shown below. I don’t think Zoe moved a muscle in that amount of time!
Last week we came across a website put out by Cornell University that features two webcams in bird nests in Ithaca, NY. One of them is a red tailed hawk, and the other is a Great Blue Heron. These cameras are live 24/7, so you can tune in at anytime to see what’s happening in the nest.
After watching for a few hours,Tanya started to bond and decided to call the mommy hawk Penny (even though the Cornell folks call her Big Red). The mommy heron has been named Nickel by our family.
In just a few days, we saw eggs hatch and have watched many feedings of baby hawks & herons. Let’s just say they have two completely different styles of feeding! Penny feeds her babies whatever the daddy hawk, Ezra, brings home for dinner. That could be a mouse, vole, rabbit, pigeon, chipmunk, or squirrel. Nickel feeds her babies whatever she can regurgitate. If you get to watch a feeding, it’s really cool – and a bit graphic!
Click the links below to meet Penny, Nickel, and their families! Warning: It becomes quite entertaining and you may find yourself checking in on them frequently!
Penny – The Red Tailed Hawk (Click here to see her live)
Nickel – The Great Blue Heron (Click here to see her live)
The roller coaster that is coaching soccer for nine year old girls is coming to an end. We only have two more weeks left.
One of the joys of this season has been the opportunity to coach my niece, Katie. She’s a tough cookie out on the field and this past Saturday scored not one, but TWO goals!
I’ll often have brief moments where I look out there and see Katie & Megan running up and down the field and can’t help but get a bit nostalgic.
Tell me this picture below is not over 8 years old!
Last Sunday was a special day at church. Megan & Zoe have been in a program this year called Bible Blast. One component is scripture memory. Megan began last fall in her quest to complete Memory Level I. They don’t make it easy as she had to memorize all of the following:
There were several prizes along the way, but after knocking out the Romans passage and completing the program, Megan was awarded a special Bible with her name inscribed on it. Check out the presentation below.
This Spring I’ve been getting out on many early morning runs in the foothills. My favorite part has always been the moment the sun just pokes its head above the horizon. Thankfully that has been getting earlier and I’m not needing my headlamp much any longer!
Here’s another from Mt. Falcon taken earlier in the week.
I remember learning to read in the first grade. The books I read were quite simple. ”See Dick run.” ”See Jane jump.” I’m pretty sure I didn’t touch a chapter book until third grade.
Following in her sisters steps, Zoe has really taken a liking to reading and she’s not afraid to pick up a BIG book. The other day, she launched into a Little House book from the library.
She couldn’t put it down. Every so often I ask her what’s happening and she’ll give a recap that clearly shows she’s getting it!
As of tonight, she only has a few pages to go.
234 pages! That’s just awesome to me and we’re going to celebrate when she’s done!
How hard can braiding hair really be? Come to find out….quite hard! I gave it a shot the other day and Megan was a gracious participant.
You need cool shades to go with a cool braid!
The lean to the left is the newest style in braiding...