Scenes from February

We bought this fun tent from my friend's cousin. He makes them, and my kids love it. It has been warm enough about twice for them to play with it outside since we received it. But soon enough, the heat will stay!

One night, we thought it would be funny to put socks on Trooper. He was not amused, but he will take any attention he can get. He is very loved.

Miles' teacher snapped this and sent it to me on Valentine's Day. Love this little dude.

 

My friend, Delia, and I helped out with the Stuff the Bus project for a weekend. I organized the volunteers and served when I could. We collected over 50,000 pounds of food for local families in need.

 The morning clouds were really interesting one morning. They looked like fabric; it was lovely!

This is where you can find Parker most afternoons. He used his own money to buy this bass guitar, and he LOVES IT. Sounding pretty good, too!

Sky Ranch

The fourth graders at our school are a lucky bunch. They get to spend a couple of days with the counselors from Sky Ranch, a fun educational camp in East Texas. The fourth grade classes as recently as Audrey's year were able to travel to Sky Ranch and spend two nights and almost three days away from home and school, sleeping in cabins, and learning all about the native outdoors and history. The district has recently changed policy and overnight field trips for kids this age are no longer allowed. Luckily, though, our principal is a kind lady and has allowed for an adjustment of sorts so that the Sky Ranch program wasn't scrapped altogether, like it was at other schools. Now, the counselors travel to our school for one day, the kids spend the whole school day outside learning and having fun in their "tribes," and the next day, they get to go to East Texas for the day. That second day, they are gone from 5:30 am to 10:30 pm, and they had a blast! Luckily, Neal was able to chaperone the first day and I was able to go the second day. We loved it!

Parker and his bud, Tyler (from church, school class and band). They are good friends.

Neal, enjoying himself with the kids on the first day.

Learning about limnology on the second day.

Parker with his teacher and class. We love Mrs. Fritzenmeier!

Jumping on the big bouncy pillow during rec time. 

Signing t-shirts. 

 Parker and I, listening to the actor portraying the explorer, LaSalle.

Raging Buffalo telling us about grinding corn and living in a tipi.

Parker and Blake. It was in the 30s and 40s that day. Brr!

Grinding corn.

Archery

Being inducted into the tribe as Grey Hawk.

Parker and Tyler. 

Having fun.

 Campfire skit before heading home.

Destination Imagination, Regional Tournament

Smart kids rule, that's all there is to it! Audrey's DI team took first place at the Regional Meet in Colleyville this weekend! Her team worked really hard on their structure challenge. It was a really difficult one, and at times, their presentation and team were quite close to imminent dissolution. But they persevered and dominated! They ended up receiving the highest Instant Challenge score of any team all day (including high school kids), and their bamboo, aluminum foil, cork, and super glue structure was the strongest all day. It weighed less than 50 grams and held nearly 250 POUNDS! These kids are incredible. Scenes from the day and days leading up to the meet. We are off to state in Katy in April!

Details of the challenge they chose. More detailed requirements here.:

Challenge E: Twist-O-Rama

Let’s do the twist! It goes like this: Build a structure that can survive a serious hit while holding weight. That’s what we are torqueing about!

Points of Interest

- Build a structure made entirely of glue and materials the team chooses from a list

- Test the structure by placing weights on it, and by subjecting it to torque-inducing impacts

- Produce a list the materials used in your structure, and provide samples of these materials

- Produce a prop or costume made of all the materials used in the structure

- Tell a story about something or someone that causes an unexpected twist or surprising change

A late-night team meeting, testing the structure.

Right after competing. Phew!

Right after they found out they WON!

Celebrating with froyo with our families afterward.

Talent Show

Parker and Miles both performed in the school talent show last night. Parker played keyboards with his band, The Cold Bombers, and Miles sang a solo version of "Everybody's Changing" by Keane. We were so proud, and they did a fabulous job. Miles was really nervous beforehand. He was on the verge of tears for a good ten minutes before showtime. He and I said a little prayer, and before we knew it, it was time for him to take the stage! Here are the photos and videos, below.

Miles H singing "Everybody's Changing" by Keane. Feb 22, 2013 from lesliehorn on Vimeo.

After party!

Beehives!

In just a few short weeks, Audrey will turn twelve and will join my Beehive class. I just can't believe this is really happening, but I am so proud of the girl she is and I know she will have a great time in Young Women. It doesn't hurt that there are seven other girls in her class that will eventually join her as well! These are all precious girlies, I can't wait to get to know them better as they grow up!

Last night, we had our New Beginnings night where we introduced our almost-twelve-year-olds and celebrated the awesomeness that is the LDS Young Women Program. It was beautiful, and I know they all felt so special.

Nights out with Mom and Dad

Parker and I took in the symphony performing John Williams music a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty cool: Star Wars, Superman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, the Olympics song. I think Parker liked it, and then we got cheeseburgers on the way home.

Audrey and Neal had a Decades with Dad night with church friends. They went as people from the 40s and looked awfully adorable.

Then this past weekend, Audrey and I went to the symphony and sat in the choral terrace, which is always fun because you get to see what the sheet music for the tuba player looks like.

We love these kiddos and spending one-on-one time with them!

Nelson's Birthday

We had fun celebrating cousin Nelson's first birthday last night! He is such a funny boy. We had a great time and are so grateful that we have some cousins close by!

Neal's brother, John, came over for the weekend from Louisiana. We were only missing Shelby!

Brothers, Jackson and Nelson. Jackson is 18, Nelson is 1!

Blowing out candles with mom, Patience.