Jan/Feb Highlights

My weather app tells me it will be 60 degrees today and almost 70 tomorrow.  I notice daffodils and crocus coming up (and blooming in some areas) and track season began last week.  I think spring is officially here in Boise, so here are the last of the "winter" highlights.

After returning to Boise from Matthias' funeral and treasured time with family, Anna and I flew out again a few days later for the scheduled Distinguished Scholar interviews at Dordt University.  Thankfully, we arrived before the snowstorm and planned to leave a few days after the storm/wind ended so our flights were not affected.  I know others that interviewed were not so fortunate.  The one negative was that several of the activities we had planned on attending that weekend were canceled--the Texas Tenors concert with NISO (Nicolas plays cello in the orchestra) and Dordt's home indoor track meet (Nicolas runs and Caleb coaches).  We were still able to watch nephew Caden play basketball for Dordt, however, and Anna and I spent lots of time with Caleb and Nicolas.  Because of the events the week before, spending time with my older boys was a precious gift.  While there, Anna officially signed to run track at DU.  A week or so later Anna found out that she was one of the distinguished scholar recipients!

Family picture at Matthias' funeral

Keith and Beth family

Renee and Andy family

The Herman family's former pastor came to the visitation.  This was a very moving reunion.

Playing games and spending time with cousins at the hotel in Des Moines

Caleb took us out to eat at the Ridge where he worked last summer.

Shortly after we returned home, Anna Grace celebrated her 18th birthday.  Hard to believe that three of my five children are officially adults.

After dealing with a sore toe since our Stanley hike last September, Lydia finally allowed me to take her to the doctor.  The doctor had some concerns about the viability of the big toe nailbed so she referred Lydia to a podiatrist who removed the nail.  A few days of soreness and a few weeks of saltwater soaks and she no longer has problems that big toe!

Seth and I keep plugging away at homeschool.  Last semester when we studied the Civil War, we spent quite a bit of time reading books about slavery such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.  We watched Ken Burns' Civil War series, and Seth wrote a paper answering the question "Can words start a war?" He read primary source documents reviewing Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address to help answer this question.  This semester we read To Kill a Mockingbird and are spending time studying the Civil Rights Movement answering the question "Does racism still exist in America today?" We watched the movie "Selma" and read excerpts from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  We read varying opinions of the Supreme Court's action in 2013 stating that a portion of the Act was unconstitutional.  We are currently watching "Eyes on the Prize," a history of the Civil Rights Movement.  When studying WW2 we spent some time looking at various propaganda.  This "required" a trip to the Warhawk Museum to look at all the different posters they had on display so he could classify them into different propaganda categories.  

A perfect picture of the homeschooled boy.  He'll miss this next year!

Seth also teamed up with a friend from church for National History Day.  His friend attends a charter school and was required to submit an entry based on someone in history who broke a barrier.  She decided to do a poster presentation on Martin Luther and asked Seth to help her.  Although Seth contributed a bit, his friend did most of the heavy lifting in this project.  

Seth spent several days on Bogus skiing.  Friends from church have season passes and love to take him up when they go.  I drove him up four times, three of those he just skied on his own, and the last time I borrowed equipment from a friend, used one of Seth's buddy passes, and skied with him!  The weather was gorgeous that day and we had a great time.  

Other than about a dozen "Baby Yodas," I also crocheted a few cute animals for some friends at church.  I also created a pattern for Anna's Dordt University blanket.  Since the boys both have a crocheted Dordt blanket, I figured she needs one too!  

I've made a Huck Finn before, but I added arms on this one.