Timothy has been a busy Cub Scout this month. One morning he took a break from school to lead the pledge at a community breakfast. The color guard was the ROTC from a local high school. It was impressive and quiet Timothy’s voice was clear and strong.
January is also the month of Pinewood Derby preparation. Preparing wheels, axles, and designing a car take a lot of time.
Our kitchen table has been a work bench for the past few weeks. Timothy and Richard finished the car last night.
Wish us luck tomorrow at the Pinewood Derby. His car looks great.
If I had a clock like Mrs. Weasley from Harry Potter, the hands for Richard, Daniel, Timothy, and Mark would be pointing to “Mortal Peril” on our vacations. You should google “Mrs. Weasley’s clock” and see the fun clocks people have designed.
Our family clock would be a little less exciting. A mood clock would probably be more appropriate today. If I had such a device, the mood would be “grumpy” for Timothy, “tired” for Daniel, “overwhelmed” for Paige, “frustrated” for Richard, “happy” for Mark, and “pensive” for me.
Vroom, vroom. It’s time to take charge of this day. Wish us luck.
Surrounded by friends, we watched Paige’s dance studio perform The Nutcracker this weekend. I decided that it’s better to watch her when I’m not looking through a camera, so I don’t have many photos, and I have no photos of three of her numbers. I lived the experience instead of trying to preserve it and share it, because ballet is very emotional and best enjoyed live.
We loved the snowflakes.
Paige closed the first act with this pose and snow falling all around her. The show could have ended there because it was so beautiful.
Richard and Daniel were on the technical crew this year. Daniel manned the spotlight and Richard filmed the performance.
Sarah and Bryan were able to come. It’s nice to have family to cheer you on.
Daniel played ball this fall. More accurately, he practiced more than he played. Once we signed up and got the schedule we realized that all but three games were played on Sunday. Daniel chose to practice with the team even though he would not be playing Sunday games with them.
We have fewer photos of his season than we usually take. He’s a great all-around player, doing well on base, as shortstop, and pitcher and he can still hit well.
He makes it look easy to pitch and he’s smart. I got to see 2 of his games. Good job, Daniel!
I thought we were going to have an easy birthday party for Daniel. We planned to meet his friends at the pizza restaurant up the street and we would stuff ourselves, sing, and go home. We had to change plans when the restaurant told us that “buffet night” is not the best time to try to get seating for a party at their restaurant. In normal towns with more than one boy-friendly restaurant, you could just go somewhere else. It is not so easy in Sahuarita.
We decided to do takeout and hold the party on the back patio. I spent the afternoon on the ladder, hanging lights and festive things. This is what I really enjoy doing, though, so I didn’t feel too sorry for myself.
There was no time to make up creative party games, so we pulled out Twister. It was a hit.
B. always seemed to get trapped.
We ate dinner under the lanterns. Richard is rolling his eyes that I didn’t adjust the settings on the camera before taking this. This is why people hire photographers when they are trying to host a party.
Who needs fancy party games when you can jump on the trampoline?
It’s not recommended that you let 5 boys jump on the trampoline in the dark all at once, but when they’re holding glow sticks, it’s pretty spectacular to watch. We let them do this for about 2 minutes.
Did you read that article about playgrounds being so safe that they are boring? The see-saws are gone, as are most swings, merry-go-rounds, or anything with moving parts. When my boys play on the playground, I usually catch them climbing on the Outside of the tube slides because it’s more manly.
This summer we tried to be really deliberate in our choices for the kids. We chose our vacation and summer activities with the idea that we wanted to provide adventure and opportunities for them to grow. In other words, we didn’t want a homogenized curvy-edged playground summer; we wanted an old fashioned teeter-totter-jungle gym-monkey bridge summer.
For Paige, this meant some time with grandparents on her own and a two week ballet camp where she lived in the dorms.
4th of July Parade. Expression doesn't capture her enthusiasm.Character danceShe's somewhere in this photo on the right.Roommate
For Daniel, adventure meant a tennis camp around the corner and then 9 days with my parents on his own. Daniel kept a journal of his trip which he read to me. Wow. What a good, busy time.
Grandma made sure he felt welcome.Collecting dead woodFire!Concrete work
Most of Timothy’s adventures involved rocks, water, and cousins. This kid loved riding the tube behind the wave runner and really improved his swimming skills.
treasure hunt
And now we come to Mark, who found adventures aplenty.
Bicycle rides through mud puddlesYes, he crossed this rickety bridge over the raging river, but he was tethered to his dad when he did it. This bridge looks like it came out of an Indiana Jones movie. All the boys crossed this again and again.
As the summer activities come to an end, I reflect on the value of getting out of the desert so we could spend time outdoors, build relationships with extended family, and experience adventure and even risk to help us grow and develop. It has been a good summer for the Ross family.
If anything can cure summertime blues, it’s a fresh garden tomato. The boys love picking them but they won’t eat ’em. (That’s not a real snake beside Mark.)
Daniel is off having “experiences and adventures” with the Sanchez grandparents this week. Lucky!
Paige returned from Girls Camp Spiritual Retreat in New Mexico just as sunburned as when she camps in the mountains.
I’m reading Democracy in America by de Tocqueville since I have always wanted to do that.
I’m trying to gather enough courage to open the box of animals I ordered for Paige to dissect. Strange, given the fact I have dissected just about every animal you can think of. I’ve even dissected a shark… and worked with cadavers. You have a new disgusting respect for me now, don’t you? Back to my box dilemma: the specimens showed up in a package on the doorstep from a hot truck. I have a serious case of the willies. WHERE are we going to dissect these? This sort of dilemma keeps my mind busy.
I’m going to make this cake, sans the green frosting and trap.
I’m watching Bride and Prejudice while I ride the exercise bike. The music is so weird, it’s wonderful. I guess I’m on an India kick. Last weekend we watched Gandhi. It was very quotable…and an essential classroom tool I will incorporate next time we talk about Indian independence. I also bought a book of henna tattoos from a local gift shop. It’ll be a couple of years before we study this, but I’m always planning ahead.
I discovered this source for science supplies. The products appear to be high quality and the prices are good. There are chemistry supplies, too, which I have had trouble finding. I’m excited to order a bunch of prepared microscope slides.
I finished our family scrapbook for 2010. Hooray for the unscheduled month of June!
