Sunday: shenanigans

#1:
Last night Ben put in color changing light bulb that is controlled through the phone in one of the lamps.  We both woke up around the same time, after the kids, and proceeded to turn it on and have it change colors.  They were stunned.  There was a lot of screaming, "what??!!"  Ben turned it off.  He turned it on again, only to more screaming.  He turned it off.  I went out to see what was going on, but didn't believe them after waiting a bit for it to turn back on.  I went back into the bedroom, only to have it turn back on...and off before I came out.  Then Ben and I were in the kitchen, but we were conveniently getting things from the fridge/behind the counter when it turned on, and by the time we looked it was off.

Ben finally had pity on them and showed them what was going on.

#2:
During rest time (i.e., rest time for Ben and me, play time for kids) the boys seemed to be having more fun than normal.  I was in the basement and heard almost continuous laughter, Ben was trying to take a nap but the fan wasn't drowning out their laughter well.  They had been playing some game that, once again, involved taking all the pillows and blankets and sheets that they could find to make a path.

However, that is not the game they ended up playing with all the laughter.  Apparently, they were getting their socks wet and throwing them on the floor, making puddles.  Which made the floor really slippery and Joshua fell a lot.  ("But it was so fun!" he said.)  Ben got up and told them to clean up, which they did without complaint.

I might have let it go longer, but then it probably would have ended in tears and that is never a fun ending.  It doesn't seem like the safest activity, but it sure was fun to listen to.

Saturday: Lego League

Today was our big Lego League Jr. Expo.  While I didn't know completely what to expect, what did happen was pretty much along my expectations.  It also ended up being a good ending to the season.

We got there and put some finishing touches on the poster and the moon base.  (The kids kept touching it all morning...I kept telling them to stop, but they just couldn't help themselves.)

This was our poster.  I was rather afraid it was lacking in content, but it was about the same as most of the other groups' posters.  Under it is our moon base.  It is mostly a greenhouse, with a workroom and kitchen/sleeping/game room.  There is a close up of a hydroponic system and a bunch of solar panels.  While the adults did do a significant amount of the poster, the kids did the moon base...they really all of it themselves with a bit of adult directing.  I think that might be a bit odd, as one of the leaders was asked how long they were up the previous night finishing the model.

Therefore, the kids really could talk about the model well.  They did have note cards, but if asked questions they could answer them easily.  And they were able to point out the different parts...they knew the model well.

 The group.  (Sidebar: I think we were the only school to have a racially diverse group.  I was a bit surprised, but perhaps it is reflective of the student populations??  It was one reason we chose Eagle Crest though.)

We brought some extra Legos in case of emergency.  The emergency ended up being bored kids, and we were so glad to have brought them!  It entertained them many times.

Isaac presenting.

Isaac was in charge of one of the solar panels.  It was motorized, so he was also in charge of the program that motorized it.  We had made a nice and simple program...it did two small jogs and then rotated around to the beginning to symbolize one day/night cycle and then it did it again.  He could tell all about the program and how it worked.  I was proud of him.

It was very loud in here.  I guess two years ago there were only four teams in a carpeted room...hopefully next year they can change some things up so that only the team(s) presenting are in the room.

Ben and Joshua came to look for a bit and then looked at the robots for the older Lego League.

After presenting (three times) they made a moon craft.

And they had a team building activity.  Here they're just playing with a ball, waiting to get in.  But the activity was that they had to do a 34 pc puzzle, and once they touched a piece no one else could touch it.  The moderator said that we were the biggest group (you're supposed to have a max of six kids), but our group was one of the best listeners, obeyed the rules, had a leader and co-leader but the leaders didn't take control, laughed/made jokes while working to lighten the mood, and did a good job of including everyone.  I was very proud of them.

Isaac is sad that Lego League is finished and wants to do it again next year!  (I was on the fence.  Some of the lessons were good, but there were a few at the end that weren't so good.  If I'm a head coach again next year I might try to spread things out a bit so that we're not just making a poster on the last day.  However, this was a nice ending.)

Friday: Thanksgiving feast

I went to Isaac's school to help out with their Thanksgiving feast.  They dress up as pilgrims, the 2nd graders dress up as Native Americans, and they eat together from food that was sent in.

It was a little crazy, but I think most things are with that many students.  We had plenty of food and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Thursday: a conversation

I finally put the batteries in the alphaberry again and Joshua's been enjoying it.

Joshua: How do you spell monkey?
Amanda: M
alphaberry: N R P O S W A M
Amanda: O
alphaberry: O
Amanda: N
alphaberry: Z V B D G H K L G F W A I B C X R W M Q I P E F X L N
Amanda: K
alphaberry: B H I W E K Y T M W F E X Z K
Amanda: E
alphaberry: W T B D E
Amanda: Y
alphaberry: Z Y
Amanda: Yay!  You spelled monkey!

Wednesday: typo

I was grading this morning (yawn, yawn) and I found this typo...

"For the potential energy of the spring the x0Pos had to be sued  for position..."

Oh dear!!  X0Pos had to be sued!!  I thought this was a physics lab.  (They meant to say 'used'.)

Tuesday: laughing

We watched some funny cat videos at dinner today.

Sunday: home

Ben came home today!

He had gone with his Dad and brother for a long weekend.  He had a great time but I'm also very glad that he's back.