I took the dog for a long walk the other morning.  When I returned, this is what I came home to:

A candlelit french toast breakfast, prepared by the third-born child. He is loves to feed the family.

Ever since the new neighbors moved in, some people in our family have been scheming how to persuade them to relocate.

After loading mousetraps with peanut butter, we were confident that they would reconsider their choice of nesting spots.

Jake was surprisingly unafraid to approach their dwelling in order to strategically place the tools of deterrence.

The rest of us hid behind the closed window in case the neighbors protested in their oh-so unique and distinct way.

The next day, it was observed that the peanut butter was missing from the un-triggered traps.  We were outsmarted by the new neighbors.  Back to the drawing board.

My wonderful husband, always up for a challenge, decided to throw his hat into the ring of a recipe contest.

Though the contest is called Meat Madness, he created (literally, thought up the recipe in his head) a delicious cookie recipe that uses the grill. It was a long shot, but surprisingly the Traeger people chose his recipe to compete among the other 63 recipes!

As of right now, he is losing by hundreds of votes to a rib recipe entered by a guy who owns a restaurant…but you can still cast your vote!

Click here and scroll down to Jim’s picture.

Within minutes of reading the news story to the kids about the St. Patricks Day Solar Storm, Jake was outside with the telescope trained on the sun.

And class moved outside as the rest of the kids lined up to see the large dark sun spot.

Even the dog wanted in on the action.

Everyone wanted to stay up late to hopefully catch a glimpse of the northern lights, which the news article predicted would be visible as far south as Oklahoma. Peter exclaimed that this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. They were told to go to sleep and Jake would wake them up if he was able to spot them. Sadly, the auroras were nowhere to be seen in Aurora, IL.

Ruthie has been going through the book that taught two of her older brothers how to read. Though she is far from finished with it, I thought I’d see how she would do reading a real book.

The library had a book about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that seemed to be at Ruthie’s reading level, so I brought it home. The precious girl labored through the entire book, and when she got to the end, I had to suppress the laughter when she read, “Snow White and the Seven Dorks.”

Yep. It’s the remaking of a classic.

It’s that time of year. When one mascot is matched against another, vying for all the NCAA basketball glory.

Some picks require more thought than others.

But one little girl in this family is confident in her bracket. May the best mascot win.

After a long, cold winter, the temperature finally reached above 50 degrees.

The kids wasted no time and literally sprinted out to the trampoline to burn off the pent-up energy which they had stored up over the winter.

The Science Olympiad season has come to an end for the Learning Vine homeschool team. In true David vs. Goliath fashion, this team of 5-10 (depending on people’s availability) fearlessly competed against some of the largest schools in the Chicago area. Most recently, they competed in the Regionals invitational and came in 8th out of 14 teams, just two slots short of making it to the State competition.

I’m especially proud of these two guys, who persevered through failure early on with their Air Trajectory apparatus, and finished the season in first place, beating schools like IMSA and University of Chicago Lab School!

Most of the events are written tests behind closed doors. Even if spectators were allowed in, it wouldn’t exactly be exciting to watch (did you see how he filled in that scantron bubble? Amazing). However, the evens which required building are spectator-friendly. Here is a glimpse into the Wright Stuff event.

Well done, Learning Vine!

Peter and Jeremy gave up the hockey sticks in exchange for some ice drama with Hannah. They planned their program off the ice.

Then they figure skated around the rink.

While all this was going on in the background, Derek worked with Sam on how to pass and shoot the hockey puck. There was to be no figure skating for these guys.

Peter and Jeremy also got in a couple hockey games with their friends. Each team consisted of one older brother and one younger brother.

Jeremy and Anthony had let out a fun chant whenever they scored.

Resting between periods.

As of yesterday, the ice is no longer dependable enough to skate on, so the kids declared the trampoline officially open and have moved their energy there.

Happy birthday, Peter!

This guy had one last hoorah on the ice this morning. Some in our family circle would have been a bit nervous at the sight of this kid walking around on the crackly, soon to melt ice, but it didn’t phase him in the least.

This represents his personality so well–cool cucumber with a tolerance for risk.

Last Ice Hoorah from James on Vimeo.

I love the life that Peter adds to this family! Happy birthday, buddy!

For the inspiration behind the title of this post, watch this clip. We now have one that goes to eleven!

This kid puts the pow in power nap. He can literally sleep anywhere, anytime. The siblings are jumping around, the dog is barking, the phone is ringing, and there’s Jake, catching flies on the couch.

And I am all for it!

This kid is out the door before 5:30 every morning for sports practice, has a full extra-curricular plate of Bible study, youth group, and Science Olympiad, in addition to his academic schedule. So if he wants to crash on the couch for an hour, go right ahead. This is an interesting article on the benefits of napping. Plus, there are many famous men throughout history who are known for their napping skills.

I often think back to his toddler days, and how much he loved sleeping back then. He could barely even walk yet, and he would hold onto the rail of his crib, whining to go in. I’m convinced that Jake’s large amount of sleep has contributed to his tall stature!

As you can imagine, the males in this household have thoroughly enjoyed learning about World War II. They are not only interested in the nuts and bolts of the war–like the weapons and the locations–but also the strategy and tactics, the backstories and biographies. The other morning, here’s what caught my eye as I meandered down to the basement.

They had taken the models they’ve made over the years to reenact various aspects of the war.

It didn’t take long to recognize the German blitzkrieg method of warfare.

And then there was the the Pacific theater.

And the dogfights.

It’s history coming to life…with model airplanes and army guys!