Monday: up and down

Oh my goodness, the kids' emotions went up and down today.

1. Down: Isaac accidently took apart part of a LEGO contraption while we were cleaning the basement.  Joshua kept it together but it was close.

2. Up: I had both of the kids work on putting the contraption back together while I continued to clean the basement and Joshua was very grateful for the time.

3. Up: the basement got very clean!

4. Up: I had a coupon from Isaac and I used it to have Isaac make an easy lunch for Joshua Tuesday and Thursday.  Joshua hates making his lunch and was again very grateful.

5. Up: we went rock climbing with some friends and then they came to our house to play

6: Down: Joshua took Isaac's spot in the basement and apparently that was not ok

7: Down: Apparently Joshua didn't have fun rock climbing.  I know it isn't his favorite activity, but it seemed like he was mostly enjoying himself

8: Down: Apparently the kids get really bored for the last twenty minutes of playing.  Really bored.  (They didn't sound really bored.)

9: Up: we did forms in karate tonight

Sunday: He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!  Happy Easter!

It was a nice day.  We watched church from home today, partially because church was going to be crowded and partially to be with Ben.

The boys and I went on a walk/scooter ride after nap time because they haven't been out of the house in a few days.  However, Joshua hit a pothole about 1/3 of the way around the lake and faceplanted.  Really, the fall wasn't too bad.  A small scratch on his knee, a very small scratch near his hip, and a small patch of skin on his hand was peeled off.  There was blood, but not too much.  Ben came and picked up all up.

Luckily, we were decorating our graham cracker creations after that and so the injuries were mostly forgotten.

Amanda - an Easter basket with a book and grass around the outside.  The book reads "Once upon a time there was a sea serpent.  The sea serpent was flung a land preserver, so that it could go up on the land and smell the flowers."

Ben - a skyscraper with a King Bear attacking it:

Joshua - a castle with a draw bridge:

Isaac - a climbing gym with a path around it and a bear arch:

Saturday: Holy Saturday

 As always, Holy Saturday is a weird liminal day.  Jesus has died but has not yet risen but we know he will!  We did our secular Easter activities.

Isaac and Joshua dyed Easter eggs.  I didn't get a picture of the results yet, but they had fun.  Isaac had been planning on only doing a few eggs, but he did his whole allotment.  They also got out some pipettes and dotted a few of the eggs with mixed results.

We also started our graham cracker houses!  Hmm, I guess this is usually Christmas thing, but Isaac gave up candy and store-bought baked goods for Lent so by the time we found a free weekend after Christmas he wouldn't have been able to eat the house.  We did the structure today and will decorate tomorrow.  Joshua made a classic mansion, Ben a skyscraper, Isaac a sculpture, and I an Easter basket (with a book).  We went through more graham crackers than I expected and I had to go get some more frosting today so that we could have enough colors tomorrow.

Thursday: stuff

It was still spring break for me, but I didn't really do anything special.  I got a few chores done (or at least started) that have been hanging around for a while, so that was nice.  There was very rainy today, which was excellent.  I also joined a friend for rock climbing during Isaac's last team practice - there are several good routes right now and several routes that we need to work on.

Wednesday: sweet potato hash

Tonight I attempted to make a dish that we had in Disney - a sweet potato hash with chicken and a creamy herb sauce.

I found it delicious.  Ben said it was ok, Isaac started out ok and decreased it over time, and Joshua didn't like it at all.  (Although he did like the mango boba that is part of the recipe.)  I also spent a bit of effort to velvet the chicken well so that it was nice and tender.

I'll probably make it again - although I might try with pasta for other people in the family.

Tuesday: Science Fair

Isaac had his science fair tonight.  The project as a whole was pretty nice - most of the work was done at school.  The last few days he did a lot of work at home, but not really too much.

Isaac did an experiment to see if changing the height between the starting and ending reservoirs in a siphon changed how quickly an amount of water moved to the ending reservoir.

With his friend Edward

Explaining to everyone

Monday: new house

I finally got to see Dad and Pat's new house.  It is a very nice place and I got a lovely tour.

It was also a beautiful day today.  I had hoped to clean two windows in the basement, but only managed to clean one.  I'm sure there is plenty to do though, so I'll just wait for the other one until it gets nice again...it might be about two weeks.

We just got Joshua's derby picture on Sunday too.