Pinewood Derby 2010

The annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby took place on February 26th. Our boy's car was the 3rd fastest car in his Bear Den!!

The Blizzard of 2010

The storm began on February 5th, with a second round of snow on the 9th. Nearly 4 ft. of snow fell on us in a one week period, and we were officially buried! In fact, it's still white out there and our schools remain closed. The kids have enjoyed sledding and building forts, and we've all had plenty of opportunity to shovel and shovel some more....

Wax Museum

Guess who's third grade class did a "wax museum" project? They researched an influential person, wrote a speech, assembled costumes and props (with family help) and then performed their wax museum. Visitors to the museum pressed a star-shaped button on the wax figure, and the figure came to life and shared their biography. It was a learning experience not only for the students who participated as wax figures, but also their families and other visitors.

The White House

The highlight of our January was a trip to D.C. that the kids and I made to tour The White House with some dear friends who were kind and generous enough to include us in their adventure! As an added blessing, our good friend Kim joined us and helped us navigate the big city. We were able to park right on Constitution Ave. instead of taking the Metro.

Security was tight. We were required to submit our names, birth dates and social security numbers in advance, and there were two checkpoints where we presented our photo I.D. while they checked our names off of their list. A third checkpoint was similar to what they have in airports. We weren't allowed to bring anything but our cell phones and car keys. Though I managed to take some pictures with my phone while outside The White House, all phones had to be turned completely off before entering and there was no photography at all allowed inside.

This tour was of the East side of The White House, and we only saw eight rooms, many of which were roped off so that we could only peek in. It was fascinating, though, and we are now anxious to further our studies of American History.

The Best Christmas Gift!

The weekend before Christmas brought us a snowstorm, complete with 2 feet of the white fluffy stuff! The sledding hill in our backyard got lots of use, but the best gift that resulted from the storm was three days off of school. We were able to spend the entire week of Christmas together, playing in the snow, baking, listening to music, playing games, and simply spending time with family and friends!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Happy Birthday Marc!

Yes, we had a birthday celebration today. How old you ask? Uh, I don't know if I can count that high! The favorite gift, for givers and receiver, was a set of organic chemistry "toys" used to create molecules. Marc and the kids spent the morning creating molecules and learning about science.