Hair!

Evie has been asking for me to do braids in her hair, so I finally. I did it last Friday, but then she said she wanted beads on it and the braids weren't thin enough for braids, so I had to redo it over Monday and Tuesday.

And 121 braids later she was done! 

Hannah also decided to cut her own hair this past weekend.....

This is what she cut off the top of her head. I don't think she understand the full impact of how long it will take to grow back.......I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but she I think was frustrated because Evie took her hair style...she wouldn't let me do beads this week......

Turkeys!!!

Last week we had turkeys walking down our road several days in a row. The first day there were four and the kids ran after them and threw snowballs at them. The next day we had seven!

The kids chased these as well and then they flew into some trees.

Homeschool Celebration Night

Thursday was celebration night for our homeschool group. Kaleb had taken a skit class and his class performed during the celebration. The kids enjoyed hanging out with friends and eating some yummy food as well.

The program started with all the kids singing America the Beautiful

And here is Kaleb as a sheep in the Boy Who Called Wolf. He's the tallest sheep in this picture.

Evie took a class called Road Scholars where they learned about things from rocks, to rainbows to maple syrup. Hannah took a class called Facing Giants where they learned about people who had overcome obstacles in their lives. And Damen took a class on agriculture where he learned about plants and got to play in dirt. I helped out with a craft class for teens again and we had a lot of fun. Now we're one step closer to summer!

Pi Day!

Last Wednesday (3/14) was Pi Day. We brought five pies to Wednesday programs and everyone had fun as we enjoyed them!

Evie helped make signage for the table along with Nathan

Apple pie!

And chocolate!!

Science Olympiad

This year Nathan coached the thermodynamics team which he really enjoyed. The kids he coached placed first in the event at regionals. The homeschool group took 14 out of 23 first places, 11 second places and two 5th places. They are headed to states in April.

Nathan with his team, and their mascot, which is a gray form dog. The thin crafting foam came with their official building kit they ordered. They did not use that for their thermos box. But used it to make a mascot instead :-) Nathan has agreed to buzz his head (to match the kids) if they place in the top ten at states.  :-) 

Snowmobile rides!

When we got a lot of snow our neighbor came over and gave the kids rides with his snowmobile. The boys went on it with him while the girls were pulled behind it on their sled. The road was plowed before our neighbor came out which was kind of a bummer because we couldn't snowmobile on that so he had to use the field next to our house which isn't very big.

Kaleb is on the snowmobile with Damen running behind

Kaleb helping drive!

Damen's turn!

Hannah getting ready to go!

Having fun going in circles!

And off Evie goes!

Having fun!

The boys birthday!

Damen and Kaleb are now 7! The week before their birthday we ended up with about 12 inches of snow, so after church on their birthday we went sledding with some friends, enjoyed a bonfire, hot chocolate and some cake balls. We continued celebrating their birthday Monday as well with some ice cream cake.

Cake and singing!

Opening gifts!

These masks came in cards from Aunt Rachel and the boys had great fun with them!

Latest Sermon

Nathan had the opportunity to preach on Feb. 25th. Our lead pastor was stick so it was determined Thursday that he'd preach Sunday, not the lead time he's used to, but he did well.

He starts in at about 33 minutes. 

Maple Syrup

We went on a maple syrup field trip a few weeks ago and got to see how maple syrup is made. The kids enjoyed the ice cream with maple syrup and playing in the woods with their friends, but weren't too thrilled about the actual process for making the syrup

Eating syrup covered popcorn and ice cream while learning how maple syrup is made. 

Learning how the sap is collected

Having fun with friends!

A Winter Walk

One beautiful winter day we headed to a local part and took a walk out onto the lake. The ice formations are amazing and we have an "ice tree" that we all enjoyed exploring.

Hanging out on the ice!

Having fun walking across the lake

Ice on the shore mixed with sand

Collecting ice!

Evie's special piece of ice

This ice you could easily break apart with your hands into shards 

Love the patterns in the ice here!

All smiles!

Huge pieces of ice!

The ice tree!

Trying to climb the base!

In the tree

And sliding down!

Yes, Hannah was with us, she was not too keen on going out on the lake, so she stayed on solid grown and used her rip stick, she did play at the ice tree with us, but apparently I didn't get any picture of her on her own.....

Last Swim Meet

Evie had her last meet on Feb. 10th and she was super excited to swim the 500 free (20 lengths of the pool), she finished in 10 minutes and 31 seconds. Not bad for her first time swimming it and only being 9! She also swam the 200 free, 50 back and 50 breast.

Evie had fun with her friends and some sharpies :-) 

Swimming her 500!

A couple weeks later was the end of season banquet. 

Hanging out with friend at the banquet

Evie had a fun season  and can't wait to swim again next year!

Valentines Cookies

Since Valentine's Day was on a Wednesday we had a great excuse to make lots of cookies. I have been bring goodies every week to our Wednesday night programs. The kids were excited and did all the cutting and decorating of the cookies!

Here the kids are hard at word decorating

And all smiles! 

You can see the green M&M on the table, as I didn't have time to go to the store and buy decorations we used what we had on hand. I made pink, white and red frosting we had some purple sprinkles and used the red M&Ms from the Christmas M&Ms we bought on sale. :-) 

Here is how they turned out!