Ski Jump Concentration

In Ben's PE class, they are working on circuit training. In this picture, Ben is doing the "ski jump." He has to imagine he is jumping with skis from side to side. Each station takes 45 seconds. He is really concentrating on this station - complete with his tongue sticking out! Last month his PE teacher focused on bowling, and they set up temporary bowling lanes in the gym. The PE class is one of his favorite parts of the homeschool classes he takes each week.

Misery and Dispair

Yesterday Becky was hit hard with a horrible cold with a pathetic cough. February has not started off well for us. She has been out of commision, and will probably be miserable for a few days. Clint surprised her with some "get-well" flowers, and Ben made a cheery card. She doesn't go far without a box of tissues, and keeps going back to bed. We can tell where she is at all times by following the sound of her cough. Yuck! None of the rest of the family wants this sickness, so we're trying to avoid her. Maybe the flowers and card will be just what she needs to get well again.

Ben's in Gymnastics!

Ben was excited to learn we could sign him up for gymnastics classes through his homeschool group. We are back at the local college where we have taken gymnastics off-and-on since he was three years old. He's with his buddy, Kristian, and they are really enjoying all the activities. The hour goes by very quickly! Cartwheels are his favorite thing to do. They are already doing the balance beams and uneven bars, plus headstands. The classes will last another month or so. We'll keep you posted on his progress.

Snow Fun at Home

Today we played in the snow at home since it has not melted and we were determined to make snowmen. It was a day off school for conferences. Yes, it does often seem we have too many days off school. But we didn't complain today. It was very pretty outside and the snow stuck together really well for snowmen and snowballs! Will this be our last snow this year?

What's a Snow Day?

When we heard from Sarah's school that she would have a snow day, we weren't surprised. We had more than 8 inches of snow on Sunday over a thick layer of ice from the night before. The roads were a mess! When we told Sarah, she asked, "What's a snow day?" Guess she missed out on snow days as a homeschool kid for years! Ben's homeschool classes were delayed in the morning, but we did brave the roads for him. Sarah tried to make a snowman, but he didn't stick together well and turned out fairly small.

After her piano lesson, we met up with friends at a nearby snow hill. The kids had a blast sledding over and over again. We weren't the only ones to think of this idea. Lots of people were there, and even after 8:00 at night we drove by and saw people sledding and tubing. It was a great first snow day! Back to school on Tuesday...

Seek and Find

Ben & Sarah love seek-and-find books or hidden picture puzzles. Here is a puzzle for you. Can you find the boy in this picture? During our story time tonight, Ben seemed to disappear behind some of his snuggly friends.

More Snow Fun

This Sunday we were excited to see snow falling right after breakfast. It was just one week since our last snow. The flakes were so large we were excited to catch the flakes, and watch it pile up outside. Before we knew it, Ben's feet had disappeared somewhere in the front yard. The ice in the road under the snow made it fun to "ice skate" with our neighbor friend. Everyone was happy, wet and cold. Soon we headed inside for hot chocolate!

Bountiful Bread

Hurrah! We have the new bread machine ordered for Christmas. It has been about 2 years since we have had nice homemade bread, so this is a treat. Our first loaf was a Honey Whole Wheat and we set it to be ready at breakfast. It was wonderful, and even better with a bit of strawberry jam. Becky wanted to know if it tasted like "real" bread, and everyone gave a thumbs-up. Tonight Ben and Becky branched out and made raisin bread, and pizza dough is next on the list. If you need some yummy, homemade bread, just let us know.

Pet Snow!

Perhaps we should reconsider the idea of getting a dog for these kids! Today they came inside with their "pet snow." Ben's is named Snower, and Sarah's is Snowball. They are living in our freezer now. Imagination is good, right? We are the proud owners of some fish, but had been considering a dog for a family pet. Now I'm thinking this pet snow might be a better idea! Easy to feed, no vet bills, quiet... The problem is it isn't very friendly or cuddly. In any case, the new pets make us smile.

Snowy Holiday

The kids were home from classes for the holiday, and we were excited to wake up to some snow! It wasn't a lot, but the kids had a blast playing anyway. Ben made a snow angel in our front yard, and they started a fort using snow they shoveled off the sidewalk. Later we met friends at a sledding hill and managed to have big fun in the little snow. It was nice to come home and warm up by the fire!

Serious and Silly

Today was full of church activities all morning. Clint & Becky were leading out in Sarah's class, and later we were blessed with outstanding music during the main service. After church, we headed home and thought we should take a couple of family photos while we had the chance. We managed to take one nice photo with everyone all posed and smiling. Then we just lost control and the second photo showed what we were really feeling! Ben thought he was the most important part of the silly photo, but we reminded him the people holding on to him were pretty important too. Once our photo session was complete, we enjoyed haystacks with Clint's marvelous guacamole. Yummy...

Model Magic Mania

For those of you without young children, you're missing out if you haven't played with Model Magic. Sarah was working on a school project, and we had the Model Magic out. She finished her project, and then the kids just had fun with the leftovers. The little white bowls on the fringed mats are for Sarah's stuffed kitty. Ben made a face which we've been instructed to make into a magnet. If you roll it into a ball, it will bounce well and delight the kids too.

Thoughts from Ben

"Grown up Daddies are always good to talk to because they have the best advice. Grown up Mommies like to talk, talk, talk which is good because the kids get to play, play, play."

As we pondered Ben's wisdom, Sarah contributed her thoughts, "Well, I don't know if Daddies have the best advice, because when you ask them a question they usually have to check with the Mommies." :)

Skate Night

Ice skating was on the schedule for tonight. Becky had been busy planning an ice skating night and included all of the children's classes at our church. We had 76 skaters attend! What a great surprise to have a big turnout. We had all ages - babies strapped to their parents, preschoolers, elementary kids, older kids and parents too.

The skating was fun, but the hot chocolate was the best part since everyone needed to be warmed up. Ben has become fond of hockey skates, and talked his Dad into trying them tonight. Clint thought they were good except he had to work on stopping in a different way. It was a fun time for everyone.

Great Dad

On what might have been an ordinary Friday to most people, Ben woke up with a mission. He came to Mom asking if he could get his Dad some flowers and a card to thank him for being such a great Dad. Well, how can you say "no" to that? We found some flowers and Ben wrote a card, and Clint was definitely surprised. The boys were both smiling the rest of the evening.
Here is Ben's note: Dear Dad, Thank you for being such a great DaD. Love: Ben P.S. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Plus Lots Plus 100

Walking Boxes

In case there was any doubt, the boxes of Christmas gifts are really more exciting than the gifts! I was personally excited about some new pots for Christmas, but Ben wasted no time trying to find uses for the box. Today he was walking around like this - with no holes for eyes. It was a lot of fun to watch him bumping into everything. Later he took a black marker and drew a giant smiley face on the box so it would be happy. Anyway, my new pots are working great and maybe the family will enjoy better homecooking this year!

The Day After

Here are a few photos from "the day after." They are both near our street. The one with the large pine blocking the road, was just down the block in front of a home of some friends from church. The family has three small children and didn't have power for several days. A neighbor ran an extension cord from their generator to the home so they could at least have heat. Their tree took out power for the street too. The second photo is several blocks over, but very close to some other friends. My neighbor shared these photos since we didn't venture out with our camera today. We did go to church earlier and went walking in the afternoon to see the nearby damage. It is upsetting, yet we have so much to be thankful for as we listen to everyone's stories.

Windy City

Today we survived a terrible wind storm in our valley. We were lucky at our house, because although power flickered periodically, we did not lose power or water. Our neighbors just a block or two away, were not so lucky. Many were without power for a day or more. The wind blew down trees, ripped off roof shingles, and sent anything outside for a ride. The trees took out power lines, smashed homes and blocked roads. The shingles were flying around the streets, and one friend even had car damage from the shingles scraping her van. One neighbor was wandering the streets looking for their missing trash can. Schools, stores and businesses were closed early, but Clint had to stay at work since he is so essential. :)

My neighbor came to help me evaluate the roof shingles in my front yard, and he discovered they were off of the very top of our roof. He helped me gather them, and when Clint came home he discovered I had all of them and they weren't damaged. He climbed up although it was nearly dark, and put them back on before night. Reports had rain in the forecast which would not be good.

Earlier in the day, some friends were out of power but had already started a crockpot in the morning. They brought it over, dodging powerlines and trees, and later came back for supper at our place. Their power did come back on which is great. Ethan is a good friend we don't get to see enough, and the kids were up to their usual silliness.

Since we've lived in various parts of the country, we couldn't help feel like we were in a hurricane. Becky and kids decided not to venture outside. The winds were sustained at over 50 mph, with gusts at hurricane force at over 80 mph. We're thankful we had a warm house and with lights.

Happy New Year!

We said goodbye to 2007 with some blowers and some loud celebrating in our living room. Our tradition the last couple of years has been to celebrate the New Year on Boston's timezone. That way we don't have to keep the kids up to midnight, although it turns out to be a late night anyway. We played Dutch Blitz which was a gift to Becky for Christmas. Loads of fun! We have been enjoying it and several other new games while the kids have been on Christmas vacation.

Christmas Day

What a wonderful Christmas 2007! We really enjoyed all of the ornaments on our tree this year. Both Sarah and Ben made new ornaments at school, and we had plenty of ornaments with memories from earlier Christmas days. We sort of had a red theme going today.

Cache #100

We had a goal to find 100 geocaches by the end of the year, and we made it on Christmas Eve! This was site of the original geocache placed in 2000 by Dave Ulmer, which started this whole crazy adventure of geocaching. His original 5-gallon tub is no longer there, but "concerned geocachers" have put a tribute plaque at the location. It is in the Portland, OR vicinity, but we did do a lot of driving on backroads to find it in a wooded area. Now that we've found 100 geocaches, what will we do now?

Grammie's Christmas

We drove to see Clint's mom at her home for the weekend before Christmas. This is her first Christmas in this home, and we could all feel the Christmas spirit in the air. Outside was frequently raining though. We felt like we had some good family time. You may notice Sarah is trying to grow as tall as her Grammie! Merry Christmas a couple of days early!

SkipBo with Grandma

On a visit to Clint's Grandma's home, we enjoyed taking her out to lunch. She surprised us with a few Christmas gifts. Sarah was tickled pink with her ballerina Barbie, and Ben enjoyed a new game - SkipBo. We asked Grandma to show us how to play. We had a great time and she won! Ben wanted it to be clear he didn't let her win because he really wanted to win. Honestly, Grandma is a pro at this game, so we had to stay on our toes to play with her. We'll practice at home, and try to get ready for a rematch the next time we visit her.

Sledding Day

We took a weekend to visit our friends, Zachary & Samantha. They have a great hill so the kids couldn't pass up the chance for sledding in their backyard.

Fall Trail

A lovely fall afternoon pulled us outside to go geocaching. We found a new trail and stopped to try to catch leaves falling off of the trees. Along the way we saw horses, dogs, cattle and even a beaver dam near the trail parking area.