Lately: Getting Out and About

Houston has been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather lately, and we've been outside a lot lately! Here's a quick peek at some of what we've been doing.

Earlier this month, Henry's Cub Scout den lead a trash pick up at our elementary school. The boys, along with their parents and siblings, filled up eight large trash bags in an hour and half. The school grounds are constantly littered with cups, snack bags, and more. Henry found a $20 bill during the clean up!

We discovered a new-to-us nature park. Edith M. Moore Nature Sanctuary is just 20 minutes from our house, and it's a peaceful sanctuary in the midst of the bustling city.

After our hike, we picnicked at Bear Creek Pioneer Park. The boys and I had been there before, but it was new to Gene. The boys played and we visited the wildlife, including owls and bison.

The Harris County War Memorial is also in the park.

Back at home, the birds are out in force. We had a hawk in the backyard one day, and later that day, a large flock of cedar waxwings perched in the front trees and gobbled up berries from our yaupon tree. 

Freyja likes Will's piano lesson and often hops on the bench while he's playing.

And a friend asked if we still had Weezie. She's 14 1/2, diabetic and arthritic, but we have her on glucosamine, which does wonders for her stiff joints.

Last week was teacher appreciation week at school. We love our teachers and showered them with gifts. A couple friends helped me make this sign for our librarian. She's our favorite!

Here's one of the books she hooked us on: 

And finally, here are a couple of pictures from last week's pack meeting. 

Will was the first Webelo in his pack to earn the Webelos badge! He has worked so hard and we are so very proud of him!

Lately: Celebrations, Art, and the Pinewood Derby

Oh, what a month January was! Gene was literally gone for half of January with three separate trips, including a trip to DC during the blizzard. We managed well at home but sure missed having him around!

Here's a peak at some of what we did during the second half of January:

While Gene was stuck in DC, the boys and I visited the Houston Arboretum for Arbor Day. It was a beautiful cool day, perfect for meeting Johnny Appleseed and taking a hike.

Will and I also enjoyed frozen yogurt one afternoon while Henry was at a birthday party. Reading and eating, of course!

Both boys had big projects in January. We have taken to making weekend to-do lists so we don't forget something. Note Will's numerous reminders to make pie for Pie Day (January 23).  

Will researched and wrote an expository paper about komodo dragons and Henry created a presentation about the Caldecott-winning Snowflake Bentley.

Both boys learned about abstract artists during Hands On Art last week. Henry used oil pastels to create art in the style of Wassily Kandinsky. 

And Will learned all about Piet Mondrian.

Henry has the most creative teacher this year. She is so much fun and makes learning come alive for the kids. She held a reading competition in January, and divided the class into two teams, the North Pole and the South Pole. During the Snowball Blitz reading challenge, kids recorded how much they read and raced to read the most each day. Henry's team, the North Pole, lost by only 18 minutes but he racked up the most minutes -- over 1400 minutes in three weeks! We were SO proud of him!

After three weeks of incredible reading, the class celebrated with an actual snowball fight! Henry's teacher gets "snow" from the Galleria's ice rink after the zamboni cleans the rink at night. WOW! What an amazing teacher to plan such a memorable experience for these little Houstonians who rarely get to see snow.

Henry had "snow" much fun!

After the snowball fight, the kids celebrated with snowman soup (homemade hot cocoa) and snowflake cookies. What a beautiful way to encourage reading!

Will also had a reading celebration on Friday. Each year, the Bluebonnet Award is given to a book chosen by the students of Texas. Any student in grades 3-6 who reads at least 5 of the 20 titles is eligible to vote for his favorite. Our school celebrates with a Bluebonnet Breakfast and the votes are tallied.

Will voted for The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles. The overall winner for the school was Zane and the Hurricane, but Will's favorite came in second.  

Will was also honored along with 44 other students for reading all 20 Bluebonnet books. Way to go, Will!

Last Saturday was our Cub Scout pack's Pinewood Derby. This year, we had seven cars racing -- the boys each built a speed car, a demolition car and a boy-built car, and Gene made a leader car.

This is Big Dog, Gene's leader car.

Gene was the MC for the event and I photographed as much as I could.

Henry's demolition car is on the left. It ended up coming in third place for the Wolves.

Will's demolition car also placed third for the Webelos.

The Pinewood Derby is a lot of work but it is so much fun for the boys!