Last Call for the Polo Shirt

I took this picture Sunday morning before church to mark the end of an era. By the time next Sunday rolls around, Jordan will be 12 and will be required to don a white shirt and tie...forever more. Given the look on his face, you are safe to assume this is not something he is looking forward to.

A Fond Farewell to Betta

One day last June, near the end of the school year, the phone rang. I was surprised to hear Jordan on the other end, calling from school. The situation was dire. The class Betta fish (creatively named "Betta") had no place to go once the school year was over. "Can we keep him, Mom?"

We had already cared for said fish over Spring Break, and since we had found him to be an agreeable little fish, I consented. (Not to mention a fish is easier, cheaper, and cleaner than a dog, and I secretly hoped this fish might count as a pet.) Jordan and his sisters were thrilled. A bigger tank, some tank accessories, and a new electrical outlet later, Betta was settled into our home.

Sadly, about a month ago, Betta seemed to be in a funk. He gradually stopped eating and even swimming. Very pitiful. We finally consulted a nice employee at Petsmart who suspected the tank water had gotten too cool. Unfortunately, the advice (and the newly-purchased heater) came a little too late.

Happy ending: We now have a new Betta fish (creatively named "Betta Jr") swimming in a much warmer tank.

Geo-City Project

Now it was Alyssa's turn for a school project, and she was excited about doing it! Her class has been studying geometry this quarter, so the project was to design a "geo" city. In addition to her different geometric buildings (Cube Mall, the Cylinder Food Court, and Rectangular Prism McDonald's), she also had to include a quadrilateral park and playground, as well as roads of different sized angles (like Right Angle Way and Acute Lane). She worked hard on it, and it came out great!

The Birthday Dad

We celebrated Jason's birthday last week. How old is he? Let's just say he's closer to 40 than he is to 30!! =)

This is one of the things Jason really wanted - the BYU Football Vault. It's a giant history/scrapbook of the BYU football program and is apparently the perfect gift for someone who loves BYU football as much as Jason does.

I told Jason he looks really happy in this picture. He responded, "Hey, it's a cake." I guess I don't make cake as often as Jason would like. =)

More Snow (sort of)

We had our second day of snow last week...big news here in Charlotte. It was just enough to close school for the day but not enough to do much else. The girls bundled up and headed out, but as you can see from the picture, a snowman was pretty much out of the question. The driveway was already dry and clear by 10 a.m. so they biked and roller bladed instead.

A School Project Even a Mom Can Love

I don't know if it's middle school in general or just the middle school Jordan attends, but this year seems to be constant projects!! This one, however, wasn't a problem for either Jordan or his mom. Why? Because it involved Legos! Jordan was highly motivated and happy to work on it, and the only thing required of me was to help him box it up to transport it to school. Definitely a win-win situation!

The interior is just as cool, and he even made a Lego Wii for the living room!

A Trip to Discovery Place

Earlier this month, we went to see the new circus exhibit at our local kids' museum.

Our first stop was a clown show, then we went upstairs where the fun really began!

They had a place where you could dress up in different circus costumes. (Notice the absence of Courtney and Dad who did not join in our fun.)

There was a very cool exhibit where you got to try walking a tightrope. Here's Alyssa stepping onto the rope. (It was up fairly high - about 10-12 feet off the ground.)

Here's Jordan taking a turn

Courtney wasn't tall enough for the tightrope, so she and her Webkinz Mary enjoyed the non-circus origami exhibit instead.

Then it was time to try some acrobatics. Here's Alyssa being lifted up on the bungee cords.

And here's Jordan...

Jordan was a little more daring... Here he is doing a flip!

Sigh...this time Courtney didn't weigh enough, so she and Mary rode the air chair instead.

It was a fun day (though Courtney might not have enjoyed it quite as much as Jordan and Alyssa did).