Triathlon

On May 3rd, Sophie and Reese completed their first triathlon. It was so exciting to watch the determination on their faces as they raced through the four parts of the event: swimming, biking, running and transitions. Because Reese turns 13 this year, he had to compete in the Senior Division. The swim was 400 meters, the bike route was 6 miles and the run, 1 mile. Sophie, in the junior division, completed half those distances in each category. If you aren't familiar with a triathlon, the transition is the time between swimming and biking and then again between the biking and running. It is crucial that the time spent in transition be as short as possible as that contributes to your final time. For example, when they came out of the pool they had to run to the transition area, dry off, get some shoes on, a bike helmet etc. and run their bikes to the starting line of the bike portion. There was a timing chip attached to their ankle which recorded times as they started and finished each portion of the race. The chip worked in conjunction with mats that they crossed over at each entry and exit point and at the final finish line.

Both children had many friends also competing and my favorite part of the whole day was watching them all support and encourage one another. Reese's friend, Zach, finished before Reese but decided to go back and run alongside Reese in the final stretch to encourage him to put forth that extra effort. Sophie and her friends also gathered at the finish line to cheer Reese on. (The younger children had finished their races earlier in the day as they were grouped by age.)

Reese is excited to find another kid's triathlon to start training for soon.
Sophie said she would like to do the running and biking but not the swimming. Guess we better work on that.

A House Divided

Mark 3:25 states, "A house divided against itself cannot stand".

Our house has been divided against itself lately. The bickering between the three children is non-stop. In an effort to teach them a lesson, provide positive enforcement and allow them to see how often they mistreat their siblings, I decided to try an idea I read about in the book: Creative Correction, by Lisa Whelchel. (Remember the show The Facts of Life from the 80's?, She played the rich girl, Blair)

The idea was to give each child the same number of lego blocks with which to build a simple structure. As the day progressed, I would award or remove blocks from their structure for either building each other up or tearing each other down. The one with the most legos at the end of the day, wins.

Reese won the first day and was awarded a special dinner with mommy at one of his favorite restaurants. He likes to go to European Street Cafe and get beer cheese soup. Sophie won one day and had a few hours out with Daddy. He totally spoiled her. Drew also won one night and he got a new DS game that I had picked up at a garage sale.

They all three have memorized the verse and I plan to keep up the contests until we get some joy and love in this house! Now that we have them hooked we'll have to make the rewards a little more inexpensive, but it is amazing how this simple exercise changed the tone in the house.

I'd love to hear what you do at your house when the bickering gets out of hand.

My Scout

Several times a year the Boy Scouts host a Court of Honor ceremony to award achievements that the boys have completed. This was the first time we had attended a ceremony and Reese was to receive multiple awards. First, he received his Tenderfoot Badge. Next it was his First Class badge. These are the first two ranks on his way to Eagle Scout. The ranks are Tenderfoot, First Class, Second Class, Star, Life and Eagle.

I was in for a surprise when they called the mothers of the scouts onto the stage. Reese had to use the microphone to thank me for something I do that helps him with scouts. He said he was thankful for sewing on all his badges. Then he "pinned" me with the mother's pins for the two ranks he received. Finally, my favorite part, he had to give me a big kiss!

I'm proud of my Boy Scout!

Giotto Bondone

Today at Classical Conversations, we learned about the artist Giotto Bondone. He made paint from egg yolks and water mixed with crushed minerals, berries and even bugs! He was also one of the first artists skilled in making thing look life-like due to his skill in 3-dimensional art. He began life as a shepherd boy tending sheep for his father but after a meeting with the artist Ciambue, his father was convinced to let him study art.

Here are some shots of Drew's class, which I tutor, using the egg paint we made. We crushed colored chalk as our "minerals" and mixed it with an egg yolk wash.

Back To School

After a long break, we are back to work at the DFCA (Davis Family Christian Academy). And what better way to get back to school than a field trip?
Today we did some thrifty economics and math by taking a trip to Dunkin' Doughnuts. The children sought out coupons and decided what was the best deal. We figured out how much we'd save using the coupon versus paying regular price. We talked about advertisements and why companies would use coupons to get you into the store.

We also talked about nutrition and good choices. Doughnuts are not healthy so they made the wise choice not to eat them all. Mommy had a non-fat latte and chose NOT to partake in the doughnuts. :-)

Love Your Neighbor

We are currently reading the book, Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. (This is an excellent book, one of my favorites, so if you haven't read this with your children, I highly recommend.)

There is a chapter in which Betsy decides to help out a poor boy by making some clothes for him. Betsy and her friends begin to chatter about the best way to deliver the clothes so that the boy will be able to show his gratitude. Aunt Abigail overhears this conversation and wisely steers the girls into realizing that their motives for helping the boy may not be proper. Are they looking to help him or just receive credit for the service? Betsy realizes her mistake and decides wisely to leave the gift on the porch of the house anonymously. It is this night that she first truly prays to God from her heart.

After this chapter, Sophie decided she wanted to make cookies and leave them secretly on our neighbor's doorstep. As I type she is outside with Drew "making the drop". We put the verse, Matthew 22:39, on the bag holding the cookies.

Sophie's Sweets

After successfully selling hand-made pipe cleaner bracelets yesterday, Sophie decided she would try a lemonade and cookie stand today.

We made our special chocolate chip cookies and some pink lemonade. She picked out special bags at the dollar store and decided to sell the cookies in a bag at 4 for a $1.00. I helped her with a tag and sign to advertise her new business called, "Sophie's Sweets".

Here are some shots I took of the action. The first shot is of her great-grandparents, who just happened to stop by. :-)