Winter Retreat

February 24-26~ This was our 6th year in a row going to Sunriver with the high school group, and as always it was a blast!  There was SO much snow--it was beautiful!  We had an awesome group of high schoolers and leaders...we all had a great time hanging out together!

The Girl Leaders: Torre, me, Brittany, Deena, Hannah, & Lindsey

The Guys: Eric, Josh, Aaron, Gavin, Jason & Keaton

(:

Icicles!

These pictures are a little out of order...but here are some from the drive home:

Back in Sunriver:

Josh's icicle weapon

View from the house:

Lindsey and Torre cooked for us the whole weekend

Hangin' Out

Getting Real

Brady, Alexander, & Luke leading worship

2nd Grade Projects

2/8/12~ Ronan had his first experience with public speaking when he had to recite a poem in front of his class.  He worked very hard at memorizing the poem (in Spanish) and practicing it in front of us at home.  He was very nervous, but he did an excellent job!  Part of the assignment was to create a poster that went along with the poem, Sobre el Mar (On the Sea).  His teacher and classmates then were able to ask questions and  critique him afterward.  I felt nervous for him, but he really impressed me with his ability to understand everything and reply using his Spanish.  

A few days later it was our turn to be in front of the class.  Each student is assigned one week where they are the Star of the Week (Estrella de la Semana)--Ronan had to bring in an item each day to share with the class and then on Friday the parents had to come up with something to demonstrate to the class.  We were able to do our presentation in English (thank goodness!), but we still had about 40 minutes to an hour of being "ON" with the kids.  Josh took on most of the project after he & Ronan decided to do a presentation on energy. (:  I got to be the assistant, which was just fine with me!

Josh talked about a few sources of energy (wind, solar, hydro..) and brought some props from work to help demonstrate how to generate electricity.

Solar Panels

Josh built little houses and wired them with lights and fans.  The kids got to turn the crank to generate power to the houses.  They all had a lot of fun with it!

Each kid also got to make a little motor using a battery, a magnet, wire, and a rubber band.

Whew!  We were sure glad when that week was over. (:  It was fun, but a lot of work too!

Another Break

On the evening of February 9th Tate fell off the couch and hurt his right arm. ):  When I picked him up I knew something was wrong because of the way he was holding his arm.  At first I thought he had dislocated his shoulder, but then Josh and I saw that his wrist/arm looked swollen and kind of bent.  Ugh...not again!!  Ronan had fallen off a chair at that age and broke his arm (Josh also broke his arm around the same age by falling off a small chair!?!).  I was really hoping that Tate's arm would be fine.  I took him to Urgent Care for an x-ray and found out that he did indeed have a greenstick fracture. ):  He was such a trooper!  He didn't cry at all the whole time we were there, and even seemed to enjoy getting his cast on a few days later.  I'm so glad he handled it all so well and didn't seem to be in any pain!   

Cutest little sling--thankfully he only had to wear it while waiting for the splint to harden!

We went to our pediatrician on Feb.13th to get a hard cast put on.  It ended up falling off a few hours later, so we had to go in the next day for another cast.  That one was just right and stayed on for 3 weeks. (:

When his cast fell off I was so glad that I had kept the original splint!  We just wrapped his arm until we went back to the doctor.

Still such a happy boy!

Tate had some special visitors (:

Above: "Auntie" Kelly and her sister Sarah

Below: Grammie & Grandpa brought Tate a huge bear balloon!  He LOVES balloons (: 

His arm didn't slow him down much!  He still wanted to climb and play and  move like normal.

We found Ronan's old cast, and then Griffin wanted me to wrap his arm like Tate's (Griffin was feeling a little left out because he hasn't broken a bone before.  Then I reminded him that he's the only one that has had stitches...and that made him feel better.) (:  

comparing casts

Just trying it out...

Tate sportin' his new tight-fitting cast.

Tate pointing to his arm when I asked, "Where's your owie?"

Play ball?

Great Grammie & Grandpa "Lovey Dovey" came by for a visit

Grandpa was tickling & "getting" the kids, so they got a little hyped up.(:  Tate got into it, too.

Ronan & Griffin were hiding from Grandpa and Tate liked finding them and trying to wrestle (which basically means sitting on them). 

Griffin is such a good sport (: (:

Basketball

1/21/12~ Ronan played YMCA basketball this winter!  It was his first time being on a team and playing real games (the past two years he participated in YMCA skill clinics), and he had a lot of fun with it!  We were so proud of him for trying hard all the time and keeping a smile on his face. (:  He learned a lot and grew so much in his confidence and knowledge of the game. 

Go #1!