Loving Robotics

2/21/10

Oscar loved being on the Robotics team at school so much that he has continued on with two other students.  He is trying to learn the programming even more and build different robots, each with a different function.  He wanted even more time to work with them, so his teacher allowed him to bring the materials home for the weekend!

One of our good friends Shane Dittrich does this type of work as a career, so Oscar wanted to pick his brain.  Shane came over today to help Oscar with the programing and building and seeing it from a different perspective.  Oscar had a Blast!!

Here is his robot he was working with.  It's funtion is suppose to be able to pick up a ball and place it in a box/bucket.

I can tell he really enjoys when there is problem solving involved.  Way to go Oscar!!

Jump Rope Competition

2/18/10

Zachary has been practicing and practicing and practicing waiting for this day to finally get here. He made the Parkridge Jump Rope Team and was excited to do the speed forward bounce. There were five elementary schools all together Parkridge, Endeavor, Greenhurst, Ronald Reagan, and Snake River, 4th and 5th grade students.

Zachary was 1st up with the forward bounce. You had to jump as fast as you can for 1 minute, and you got to go twice. There was one judge watching the time and three judges counting your jumps. If you messed up, you had to quickly start jumping again. I could tell Zachary was taking this pretty seriously.

After speed rope was done, he kept practicing to do the criss cross jump. In this one you were not timed, you just kept jumping the criss cross until you messed up. You had two chances, the judges used your highest number. He was clear on the other side of the gym (thank goodness for a good zoom lens) but we were able to count how many he did, 40!!!! WOW!! His highest at home was mid 20's! We were very happy for him.

After that we just had to sit and watch and wait for the results, we had to wait for the 5th graders to go. So we watched Zayne Sedrick, and Morgan Dribnak, and a few others we recognized. Apparently during this time Zachary's P.E. teacher Mr. Johnson was persuading him to enter the cup stacking competition. So he did a couple of practice rounds, and then entered. He got two tries and they take your best time, which was 7 something seconds! We had no idea he was doing this or we would have had pictures.

Award time.......Here he is anxiously awaiting the results....

He placed 3rd in the speed forward bounce, I'd say he's a bit happy?!

Uhhh a little to happy. He tried to slide across the floor but his shoe stuck and he almost ate the floor *wink*

Group of them...

He placed 3rd in the 3-6-3 cup stacking....

He was awarded King of the Criss Cross for the 4th Grade Boys....

I think he had some awesome support!!! *smile*

When we all got home, we commented how our ears were still ringing from all the screaming, and cheering those Parkridge girls were making. *smile* It was a lot of fun to see their enthusiasm.

Congratulations Zachary!! You worked hard and it paid off, we're very proud of you!

Happy Valentines Day

2/14/10

Happy Valentines Day! Today it landed on a sunday so we got the whole day together. I really didn't have a bunch planned except for dinner. We bought our heart shaped pizzas the day before we just couldn't have Valentine dinner without it.

This morning I tried a new receipe I was given from a friend, called Hootenani pancakes. After cooking them I thought maybe I should have put red food coloring in them. *wink* They were a hit, so at least we went to church with smiles on our faces, and full tummies. *smile*

Mason discovered his LOVE of Fun Dip this year. Although this time he didn't want me to document the experience *wink*

Here is Lily getting her shot at the Valentines Candy! Daddy is a little too encouraging at times *wink* In the end she was put in her high chair and had to play with an unopened wrapper.

Until next year.......

Making Cupcakes

2/2/10

Mason, Lily and I were making cupcakes today to take to pack meeting this evening. I can rarely make anything without my little helpers! Aren't they just a couple of cutie pies?!

Even though it's takes me longer with help, it is always fun! Plus I get to have conversations with Mason that just make me giggle *smile*

Decade Party

2/6/10

Tonight Oscar and I were invited to a progressive dinner decade party. What FUN we had. We choose the 70's as our decade and dressed up like hippies. I have to say Oscar would have fit in perfectly in that era *wink*

Here is a group shot. (click to enlarge)

Everyone looked so awesome!! We had a great time visiting with friends, traveling to different homes for goodies, and playing games. This will be something that will need to be repeated!!

Happy Birthday Honey Part 2

1/28/10

So today Mason, Lily and I made brownies to celebrate daddy's birthday.

Then we were all ready to sing 'Happy Birthday' when daddy came home from work. I put the older boys in charge of decorations, so they got out the banner, blew up some balloons, and put out the transformers tablecloth. Oscar and Zachary decided we all needed to wear birthday hats too! Daddy had a great big smile on his face when he got home.

Are you mocking me?? *wink*

We had a great dinner and of course all the boys were most excited about getting some brownies. Here he is blowing out his candle (I didn't have 37 so I improvised), notice his helpers?

Happy Birthday Honey, we hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration! *smile*

Elder's Quorum Cookoff

1/23/10

So Oscar was at it again for the cook off this year! He even planned ahead, and started cooking a few days before!! His buddies were treated to a special preview earlier in the week. This year it was all about the presentation *smile*

Here's out it all started out......preparation

Cooking..... (bacon explosion)

Making it look pretty......

Now just make it to the church on time!! Here are his awards...

Congratulations Honey!! We're so proud of you! Next year he said he was just going to bring ice cream and he'd win by a landslide! All the kids voted for ice cream, even though the dessert was an apple cobbler and the ice cream went with it. Too funny.