30 September 2012

Sofi made a mobile this week to illustrate dark energy.  Dark energy is the force that causes the universe to expand.  It's the opposite of gravity.  Sofi used styrofoam balls to represent the changing universe.  Her mobile is an elegant representation of an abstract idea.

Abe received his Bear award at pack meeting this week.  He worked hard on his bear requirements all summer.

We ask Abe to put his soccer gear on the back porch to air out after games and practices.  The odor can be overwhelming.  Abe calls it "The smell of skill."

We are still harvesting lots of tomatoes from our garden.  This Saturday we experimented with making ketchup.  The recipe we used called for lemon, grapefruit and orange juice along with sugar, salt and vinegar.  The final product is a little suspect.  Sofi says it tastes okay as long as you don't think of it as ketchup.

23 September 2012

Brandan has been building a compost bin out of recycled wood kindly donated by a friend.  The kids had fun squeezing the trigger on the nail gun.  Brandan showed the kids how to use the the lines in the cement to make the frame square.

A little more to do, but the compost bin has two sections, side-by-side, and has plenty of room for yard and kitchen waste.  The tops of the bin are hinged and the fronts can slide out to make it easy to remove the finished compost.

Here are 3 crazy kids on a walk this afternoon.  Gib dressed up like a superhero.  Helen didn't want to dress up, but thought goggles looked like a good idea.  Abe brought along a soccer ball to kick while wearing flip flops.

16 September 2012

Gibson started school this week.  He got right on the bus the first day and hasn't looked back.  He surprised us all by drawing a trapezoid and calling it by the right name after his first week.  Kindergarten isn't what it used to be!

The kids like to stop by the garden after school for a snack of raspberries and cherry tomatoes.  

We may not make raspberry jam this year, but it's hard to feel too bad.  The kids are so cute as they graze along the fence.

Brandan and Becky helped at a stake service project on Saturday.  Our stake built enough raised garden beds to cover an empty weed patch that was 2/3 of an acre and filled the boxes with dirt.  The city is going to turn the area into a community garden.  The project felt a little like an ant colony -- lots of activity, all of it well organized.  

9 September 2012

On Monday we celebrated Labor Day by rafting down the Rogue with a few friends.  The water level was fairly low which made some of our favorite rapids disappear.  Even with the shallow water on a hot day, the water was freezing.  It was a good day.  The photo below shows the kids playing in the river after lunch.

Tuesday was the first day of school.  Sofi is taking early morning seminary for the first time this year.  Before you feel sorry for her, you should know her class starts at 7:30 am.  We dropped her off at seminary before walking Abe and Helen to their school.

Helen is in second grade this year.  She loves her teacher and loves having lots of friends in her class.

Abe is in 4th grade and is on the big kid side of the school.  He needed a bigger backpack this year to fit his binder and books in.

The kindergartners don't go to school the first week so Gibson spent the week home with Becky.  Friday was Gibson's last day home alone, so Becky and Gibson met Brandan for lunch.  Gibson has spent a lot of time at the school in his 5 years and is very ready for kindergarten.

Abe got brackets on his front four top teeth this week.  He had a crossbite.  The orthodontist had him wear a retainer for 2 weeks which pushed his teeth together evenly in the front.  He'll wear the brackets for about 3 months to help everything stay in place.  Every orthodontic dilemma should be so easy to fix.

2 September 2012

Becky sewed 8 tutus this week for a friend's daughter's ballerina birthday party.  Helen tried on all 8 tutus at the same time.

Abe finished the model airplane he started building 2 years ago.  For most of that time, the airplane has been sitting on top of our refrigerator.  The airplane flies on its own, propelled by a rubber band.    

For our last Friday hike, we hiked to the top of Grizzly Peak.  Becky picked this hike because it was nearby and easy to summit, and was pleasantly surprised that it was so scenic.  She expected that we'd be climbing a dry, brown hill.  Instead, we hiked through a beautiful forest.  The photo shows the kids at the tip top, an easy mile hike up.

After reaching the top, we hiked a loop around the top of the mountain before heading back down for a total of 5.4 miles.  This was our longest hike of the summer.  Helen and Gibson are growing up to be sturdy hikers.

A friend of a friend called Becky this week to see if she wanted to join a relay team for a 100K race.  A local podiatrist who was sponsoring the race, and who is a runner as well, had learned he could enter a team for free because he was a sponsor.  He called his team the Last Minute Runners, which was a good description.  We got lost twice, but overall it was good fun and a great way to see the valley from end to end.  The rest of the family met Becky at the finish line.