March Recap

March was busy with spring break and birthdays, but we also fit in time for books, cooking, and, of course, lots of school activities.  Here's a peek at some of what we did in March:  

Will wanted to read nonfiction so we went to Barnes and Noble.  Henry found the newest Stuart Gibbs novel,

and Will picked out this giant tome about World War I from the adult section. He has been diligently reading it, loving it, and learning so much.  

At school, our first and second graders were treated to an author visit by the amazing Christian Robinson. His new book, Another, came out the day he visited West U.  It's an incredible wordless picture book that I bet will win at least a Caldecott Honor next year.  

Name That Book wrapped up right before spring break, and we celebrated our kids' hard work with cookies and bingo. Henry won the first round of bingo and selected The Cardboard Kingdom as his prize.  

Will and I worked on decorating birthday signs for the Kinkaid 7th grade fundraiser.

Henry and I bought packages of new underwear for West U's last service project, which benefited Undies for Everyone.  

And Will participated in the Ethics Bowl competition at Kinkaid. Ethics Bowl is a little like debate, and the Kinkaid team did really well, bringing home the civility award.  

Henry is my weekly buddy at the farmers market and we love our new rolling cart.  It holds so much and makes it easy to transport our fresh food back to the car.  

Dinner prep with Dad -- wine roast was on the menu.

I promised Henry ice cream after his 11-year-old shots.   

We also made it to the science museum for a members' night and got to see the new exhibit, "The Art of the Hunt." 

 March, as always, was a fun, full month! 

January Recap

Now that it's March, it's time for a January recap.  The past couple of months have been pretty busy around here! 

Back on New Year's Day, we took a First Day hike at the Houston Arboretum. It was a gorgeous day and it was so good to get outside.  Nature always makes me happy.  

We also visited Brazos Bookstore for their Yappy New Year celebration. It's always fun when you can bring your dog to the book store!

January was pretty full of book events. Author Chitra Soundar visited West U to talk to our second and third graders.  She was the third author to visit while I was the substitute librarian!

The annual Bluebonnet Breakfast also happened while I was subbing.  Henry received an award for reading all 20 Bluebonnet nominees.  

The winner at our school was Refugee by Alan Gratz.

In other happenings, Henry made some really cool art

and I cracked my computer screen 

which led to quality work time on the upstairs computer with the cat on my lap.  

Henry has been creating a dungeon for D&D.  

Henry and I attended his last International Festival at West U

and Henry also said the Pledge of Allegiance at Sorcha Landau's investiture as Justice in the Court of Appeals.  

Finally, we had a big pep rally at school for the start of the Souper Bowl of Caring. 

Our school donated over 45,000 pounds of food to the Houston Food Bank!  Fifth grade always brings in the most amount of food.  

That's a wrap for January!

Lately: Where'd Fall Go?

We are well into December and counting down the days 'til Christmas, and yet my phone is full of pictures from late November and early December that have never made it onto the blog. Here's a quick recap of some of our non-holiday happenings of late.

We got some new furniture. It looks nice but our order was completely wrong! The sofa was upholstered in the wrong fabric, the chair is missing the brass nailheads and our drapes were never ordered. What a nightmare!

Boys' night = pizza night

The boys found new bowls at the farmers market to support Empty Bowls Houston.

Friday night dinner out at Mia's Table

An afternoon snack on a chilly day: crunchy nutty muffins, apple slices and hot cocoa.

Henry chose Denmark for his heritage project.

Of course we had to get out Will's Portugal tripanel too!

Swedish meatballs with my favorite fifth grader after a middle school interview 

Wine and Icees at Little Matt's after a particular rough day.

This one is a goofball. She dropped her dirty tennis ball in the dishwasher and couldn't get it out!

It feels like we've been doing Scouts nonstop around here. Our favorite service project is the Jingle Bell Express where we package up bags of food for families in need.

Cub Scout campout last weekend at Galveston Island State Park

And finally, Freyja in the sun.   

What have you been up to lately?