Parents, Pets, & Pastors

Monday was our last day of Fall Break.  Caroline wanted to play some pickle ball, so the four of us headed to the Civic Center.  Every court was taken by adults playing.  Shouldn't you be at work right now?.... We headed to Target instead because all of Henry's pants were getting short.  And that was where all three kids decided they were shoppers.  They got a lesson in finance at Target that day.  Clothes aren't cheap.  

To get their exercise in, Henry and Caroline tossed the football in the backyard, before turning it into Lazy Man's Toss.  

Henry spent the rest of the week not feeling the best.  He stayed home Thursday with a sore throat, but was back in school on Friday.  Friday was Lunch on the Lawn and they had inflatables all day.  They were originally for Back to School Night, but that got rained out.  Caroline's class helped out when the kindergarten and first graders got their turn.  Caroline and a friend stood at the entrance to one of those inflatable obstacle courses.  She kept them in check and said, "1, 2, 3, Go!"  She had a taste of adulthood because once they got to a certain spot on the course, she couldn't see them anymore, and was concerned for their safety.  Yep.  One girl asked if Caroline was a mom.  Nope.  She did enjoy interacting with them.  She said they were funny.  

For Lunch on the Lawn, the kids were allowed to wear jeans and a jersey/sports team shirt.  Josiah started drawing a Peyton Manning Colt's jersey at 9:30 p.m. the night before.  He stayed up late finishing it, but decided the next morning not to wear it.  It didn't look official enough.  Here is the one and only picture.  They are hard to come by these days.  

Josiah's class is participating in the national Google art contest.  If they win, it is a significant amount of scholarship money for themselves as well as money for their school.  Josiah does not have a finished idea just yet, but he's drawn out one sketch.  He's so clever.  

This weekend I made a quick trip up to see my parents and it was a bonus to see the pets.  

Maggie is a little lady.  

Rocky is a lion.  And Moose is a contemplative old man.

The menfolk spent their Saturday raking.  The first of many Saturdays for the foreseeable future. 

Later Henry and Caroline made peanut butter cookies.  Teamwork.  

Josiah did make it to a costume party this evening with the youth ministry.  He dressed as the pastor of the church.  The pastor is bald, so I did offer to shave his head.  Alas, Caroline still had a stocking cap from the wig she wore for Faces of History a few years ago.  It fit like a glove.  Josiah has asked that I not show the picture, so I altered it slightly.  

  

Celebrating Quarter 1

The kids made it to the last home volleyball game.  It was against a school that has year-round volleyball, so they were quite good.  I think of the three games played, we won only one set, but the sets were exciting because we were cheering hard for each point.  It was House Shirt night and Henry was tasked with keeping track of all the Rountree shirts.  

Wednesday was Picture Day at school.  It was a very good week for outside pictures.  The photographer had the kids sit next to a pumpkin for their pictures.  Caroline was not a fan because the yearbook comes out in the spring.  Not pumpkin season.  We keep checking the website to see how they turned out, but so far nothing has been posted.  

We took Benson out one evening, looked up, and saw a hot air balloon.  It seems to be a thing here - hot air balloons.  Benson spied it and immediately started barking and lunging towards it.  I'm not sure what sort of depth perception he currently has, but he wasn't anywhere close to that balloon.  

Thursday was our last day of school before Fall Break.  In my class, I had three different kids come up to me by 10:30 a.m. asking how much longer because they wanted to go home and take a nap.  I know....we all do.  One more hour.  Report cards were emailed that afternoon and the kids did quite well.  We went out for ice cream that evening to celebrate.  The following morning, Todd took the kids to Krispy Kreme.  You get a free glazed donut per A (up to 6 donuts).  The rules state: donuts are only for A pluses and A's, no A minuses.  Henry was pleased they did not look closely at the grading scale, so he got a full box of 6.    What we learned from this experience was that book smart does not translate to opening-a-donut-box smart.  Two out of three ripped the top in half to get to their donuts.  We'll add Opening Boxes to the Life Skills lessons we do over the summer.  

Friday evening Henry had a pasta dinner with the cross country team because Saturday morning was the State Competition.  It was up in Greenville again at one very big school.  I remember driving there last year and there comes a point where the roads get very hilly.  The course was rough.  Very big hills, not a lot of flat course, and it was a late morning race, so it was sunny and warm.   Henry pushed himself, but no PR this time.  

Both boys and girls teams won third place overall.  

We celebrated the end of cross country, and their report cards again, with a Chipotle dinner.  Todd had a catered Chipotle meal at work a few weeks ago.  It came with a lot of food, so he put in an order for our family.  The kids were quite happy as Chipotle is a favorite.  So far, it has been dinner, breakfast, and dinner again.  

We had church at the Civic Center this morning.  It was our Fall Family Fun Festival.  It was supposed to be outside, but the rain pushed everything in.  We all sat in lawn chairs and worshipped together.  They had hamburgers and hot dogs and then lots of things for the kids.  Josiah, our kid at heart, wanted a balloon animal so I walked with him into this area where they had all the kid things.  He waited in line.  I waited with him.  When the lady made him the balloon dog, she talked to him like he was four.  Make sure you give your dog a name.  I think she thought he was special.  Josiah just enjoys his youth.  We did not stay for the trunk or treat, because we've aged-out.  

On our drive home from church, Henry suggested we play a game.  We had to go around and say why we loved each other.  He went first.  I love you, mom, because you're my mom.  Alright.  Descriptive.  Each round, we picked who we talked about and why we loved them.  The kids started with Todd and I.  When it came time for them to say why they loved each other, they said:

Josiah and Henry love Caroline because she speaks loudly so we always know what she is saying.  She knows exactly what she wants and she'll do whatever it takes to get that. 

Henry and Caroline love Josiah because he is so good at not having anyone speak for too long by using the phrase, 'shut up.'  He loves air so much that he wants to savor it.  He says 'shut up' so no one uses up all the air.  

Josiah and Caroline love Henry because he is so confident about his looks and his smarts.  They love how popular he is at school and how kind he talks to his friends and they wish he would reflect that at home.  

It was a real love fest.  

We have played games, we completed some projects.  Josiah had friends over to make another film.  We are excited to have another day off tomorrow.  

Cross, Volley, Cross, Volley

The first quarter of school ended on Friday, so the kids had a bunch of tests this week.  All the teachers were trying to get everything in before grades were due.  Caroline had to give a presentation about the country she invented, Karcoa.  Her teacher scheduled her for the first day of presentations, which Caroline did not like.  She would have preferred to watch a few so she could tweak her own.  She was told to have a visual aid besides her map and flag.  It was the night before, so choices were limited.  She printed out pictures of the natural resources on her island, but pictures Caroline-style.  A sheep with it's tongue stuck out.  Chicken, but already plump and juicy on a plate.  Potatoes in the form of waffle fries.  She did well and she's glad it's over.

Henry had a race at the start of the week.  It was Palmetto, which he's already raced once this season.  The coach at this high school had walked the course the morning of the race.  All was clear.  But when they checked the trail that afternoon, a tree had fallen, blocking the course.  They delayed the JV race, hoping to clear it.  After some time, they announced there was still a tree on the course and they'd have to go over it.  They followed up those instructions by saying there was also a guy with a chainsaw hoping to clear the tree while they raced.  So, maybe, the warning should have been more about the guy with the chainsaw.  Henry ran the last race of the evening and the tree was still there.  I never did hear a chainsaw.  Maybe they thought better of it.  Henry ran with Chase the whole way again.   This race finishes on the track, and when Henry and Chase rounded the final corner, they booked it.  It was an exciting finish.  Henry and Chase not only ran in tandem, but they lost their dinners in tandem as well.  Henry said at least he can check that off his cross country bucket list.    

While I was with Henry at his race, Todd took Josiah and Caroline to the volleyball game.  It was pink-out night.  

All three went later in the week for Pirate and Princess night.  That evening, Josiah took his phone and 'interviewed' people.  He asked them their favorite thing about the school.  But before each 'interview' he asked them to do a mic check by saying, 'Josiah.'  He then went home and compiled all the mic checks so that everyone's favorite thing about school was "Josiah, Josiah, Josiah Cockrell, Josiah..."  He does intend to make a video with all the actual things they liked about the school, too.  

We celebrated the end of the semester with a Costco cake.  Months ago, Todd added Josiah to our grocery list app.  He was always asking to put stuff on the list, so this seemed like an easier way to handle it.  Josiah was told to put real foods that we actually needed on the list.  He complies 80% of the time.  We went to Costco and besides giant stuffed teddy bear, he added:

I appreciated his details.  

We had a busy end of the week.  Josiah went to a birthday party.  They did an airsoft battle and Josiah went layered up.  He came back with a few hits on his body, but he said he was very glad his face was small enough that the mask and goggles covered him well.  The birthday boy, who has a fuller face, had a line of hits all around the outside of his face.  

Henry had his Cavalier Relay Saturday morning.  This is the race with just our school where they pair up the fastest with the slowest runner, 2nd fastest with 2nd slowest, and on down the line.  Henry was right in the middle of the pack in terms of times.  They take their fastest 5k times and then give them all handicaps.  In a perfect world, they would all end the race at the same time.  Henry was paired up with Thomas.  It was a 1k course.  Henry ran the first lap, then Thomas, Henry, Thomas, until they had both gone for a full 5k.  They finished in third place, which beat last year's standing by a lot.  Because it was a relay, this is the only race where Chase is not in every picture with Henry.

Caroline spent her Saturday at SWU.  Todd took her to watch the women's volleyball game so she could see how it was played on the collegiate level.  She was impressed by their speed and the number of spikes they hit.  And apparently, they're all very tall.  Before the game, they grabbed some very good looking subs.  

Josiah helped the family out by changing the air filter under the house.  He did not want to do this so I told him to ask his father how much he'd pay him and I'd double it.  Todd said he'd give him a hug.  Josiah negotiated up.  Josiah has the gift of persistence.  But it also meant Todd didn't have to go under the house, so we appreciated the help.  

Henry took Benson out and they were gone for a while.  We looked outside and saw them contemplating life.  

Next week is a short one.  Fall Break starts on Friday, so we're looking forward to getting some good sleep.  

Butter Chicken, Not Butter for Bread

We started the week out with Todd's birthday.  He wanted pumpkin bread as his cake, so we made it that afternoon.  Because it was his birthday, and only for that reason, I handed him the butter to put on the bread.  He can desecrate the bread, without comment, only on his birthday.  I was slightly proud of Caroline when she asked him why he was ruining the bread by putting butter on it.  That's my girl.  

And what did we do the evening of Todd's birthday, but make another cake.  Josiah came home and wanted to make a red velvet cake for his teacher whose birthday was the following day.  We tried a new recipe (never a good idea when you're bringing it somewhere).  It said it would cook for 30 minutes.  We checked ours at 30 and it was still jiggly all over, so we cooked it for 45 minutes total. I was worried it would be dry.  Josiah tasted it in class the following day and said it was the best red velvet cake he's ever had.  He made it.  He also made the cream cheese icing which was very, very good.  

Henry had a cross country meet midweek.  Those are the hardest for the kids because they're already tired from school.  Henry paced himself with Chase again and they ran the entire race together.  Henry had another PR 26:21.  He's 6 minutes faster than his slowest race last year.  He's come a long way.  He has a few more races before the season is over.  

Caroline had a good week.  Her friend from last year came to town and the girls in her class got together.  They tried out the new Panera in town and then hung out at a friend's house.  When I picked her up, they were deep in a game of sardines outside in the dark.  They got together the following day to cheer on the JV volleyball game.  The boys were able to catch up with her brother, too.  They did one (very) short video together as we left them that night.  

Caroline was tasked at creating a flag for the country she invented.  Everything had to have meaning.  She typically does very well at working on projects early, but this was a busy week, and she started the wheel in the middle around 9pm the day before it was due.  It was a late night.  The blue represented truth, green represented agriculture, white was religion, and the wheel was black for the dark past of the people (and they got there by ship).

Henry had a good weekend.  I have had "Butter Chicken" on the menu for about six weeks now.  All the recipes I found were not super simple, so it kept getting put off.  This weekend we finally made it.  He was quite happy.  We also made naan bread to go with it.  I made the dough, but made a mess of things trying to roll out the individual breads.  I called in my backup, and Henry took over naan making and cooking.  He flipped that pan like it was nobody's business.  The dish was a hit.  We all liked it more than expected.  Henry now wants to make naan every day.  

I survived my first two parent-teacher conferences.  Since we homeschooled, I've only ever been to one (last year), so I was winging it and slightly nervous.  Fortunately, in preschool, they're easier.  

Our week ahead is not nearly as jam packed as this one was, thank goodness.  It also finishes out the first quarter of the year, which doesn't seem possible.