Trees Down, Mulch Spread

The week started off with a fun day for the kids.  They had One Day House Camp at Look-Up Lodge.  It was both a fun and competitive day.  Josiah is not a fan of the house system at school.  He says it causes division instead of unity.  They had interesting games - in one there was a rope fairly high and they had to get all their team members over it without touching it.  They played ultimate frisbee but within the game they had to gather letters and make words.  My three were quick to say that, though their house did not win any of the games, they were at least honest and did not cheat (like that one house who always cheats!).  In their free time they did a lot.  Caroline said she swam in the lake, rode a paddleboat, went down a big slide, rode the zipline a few times, and the "swing" which is a loose term because there was nothing to sit on.  She said they were strapped into a harness and just 'swung'.  They came home tired and sunburnt.  We had one box of toiletries that never made it to SC.  I swear it had all our essentials because every time I think I have something, we don't.  Monday morning, it was the suntan lotion that we didn't have.  Josiah has been enjoying the aloe ever since.  He somehow burned his knees and the tops of his feet the most.

Caroline's science and math teacher started a Pickle Ball and Bible study group through the month of May.  They play first and then Bible study after.  She missed the first week because she was sick, but she had a good time this week.  She said her teacher was very good at pickle ball.  They have been learning about Daniel in Bible study.

Mid-week, we had lambs visit us in the preschool.  We have one grandmother who has a ton of animals and she periodically brings them by to show to the kids.  This time she brought three lambs and they were so much fun.  They ran around the playground and we were able to catch quick pets of their incredibly soft wool coats as they walked by.  

That evening we celebrated Josiah's play performance and Henry's set contributions.  We told the boys they could pick a real restaurant, but instead they chose Culver's.  Caroline chose to stay home with the agreement that we would bring food back.  

At the end of the week, there was an Awards Chapel and Josiah got a pin for drama.  It was a happy surprise.  Josiah says he wants to buy a "jock jacket" next year so he can put his pin on it.  

We were back at school in the evening to watch the Senior Thesis Presentation.  I wanted to go this year because the senior class has only 7 students.  Next year's class has 14.  The 7 students took almost 3 hours to present, but it was very good.  Henry and Caroline came along as well.  They said they only understood a few of the presentations.  Henry got bonus points in his English class for coming, so that was his motivation.  At the back of the room, they had a display of the art projects.  We finally got to see Josiah's artwork.  His inspiration was a street corner near our house in Texas before they leveled it for commercial use, when it was still filled with cows and horses.  Josiah Cockerel, just how my students pronounce our name.

On Thursday, I took one last picture of our trees because on Friday, they were finally taken down.  When the hurricane hit last fall, our big tree fell into these two, which left the pine tree leaning ever since.  If it fell, it was headed in the direction of our neighbor's house, which we did not want to happen.  It is a big relief to have it down.  That was always my biggest concern whenever we had storms.  We had a few other limbs taken down as well - we did not want any to hit our house or block our street.  As part of the process, they mulched the trees and dumped it before they left.  And then Saturday came.  It was supposed to rain in the late morning, so we all got out there and tried to move as much mulch as we could.  We were out there for hours.  It did not take long for the wheelbarrow to loose its luster and the complaining to commence.  But with the rain coming, we pushed through.  I think when we felt the first drops around 11 a.m., it was the most welcome rain ever.  Quitting time.  We still have a slight pile, but it's going to be a rainy week ahead.  

Caroline helped, too, but she purposefully stayed out of frame...

For Mother's Day I got a funny mug - Jael driving a nail into the head of Sisera from the book of Judges.  It was during the time of Deborah, the judge, who Caroline had to present on not too long ago.  Caroline also made me a bookmark in school.  It was very fitting.  We got Chinese food for dinner because not having to cook is one of the best gifts of all.