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!

We continue to redeem the cold temperatures by taking frequent recesses out on the frozen pond. These guys can strap on skates in no time flat. They have an ongoing series between the birth order odds vs. evens.

Ruthie just enjoys being outside, unaffected by the cold. She lent Jim a hand the other night, spraying hot water onto the ice.

After a while, the boys reclined off the ice to rest and stargaze.

Can you solve this mystery?

Son fiddling with the hot water heater.

Hose connected to hot water heater.

Hose traveling through the window,

to the below freezing outdoors,

into the hands of husband,

who is on the ice, making it smooth. He’s filling in the valleys and diminishing the mounds. All so that his children may skate with ease.

Mystery solved.

Time to bring the hose inside.

What better way to reinforce Irish history from the early 20th century than to bake a batch of colorful cupcakes?

First we frosted them green and orange.

Then we separated them, with green representing Ireland and orange representing Great Britain.

But alas, there was the oddball cupcake from Northern Ireland.

Where did it belong? With the Catholic Irish, or the Protestant English?

The Brits claimed it for themselves, making Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom.

Then Jeremy claimed the conflicted cupcake for himself and ate it up.

Yum history!

Two kids lost teeth on the same day!  Ruthie’s tooth has been loose for ages, and she’s been so hesitant to pry it out, not wanting to inflict pain on herself.  But once she saw Peter’s tooth come out, she went to town.

Ruthie’s first tooth, Peter’s tenth.

A bonding moment.

Our study of World War I fresh on our minds, the boys have utterly transformed the front yard into a battlefield.

They each worked to build their own fortress.

Derek gets by with a little help from his dog.

The skies dumped a foot and a half of snow on the ground last weekend.

The weathermen called it Winter Storm Linus. We called it an opportunity to play outside! Ruthie couldn’t wait to step into the freshly fallen snow when we got home from church.

As excited as the kids were, though, Molly was hands down the most animated when her paws hit the snow.

She was more rambunctious than I’d seen her in a long time, going from one kid to another, romping on their forts.

Jake rather enjoyed egging her on.

The boys transported snow from one part of the yard to another so they could build forts and walls for future snowball fights.

Then Jeremy and Ruth helped the neighbors build their own fort.

What to do when the wind is whipping around outside?  Cover the dining room table and hold an impromptu class on aviation!

The project lasted two days, with Jake as the instructor.  He has learned a a thing or two about how to build a model propellor plane from Science Olympiad.

He told everyone how long to cut each piece, then they got to work.

Ruthie insisted on cutting hers by herself, but Daddy’s common sense prevailed.

Meanwhile, the instructor roamed around the table answering questions

and built the propellors for everyone’s planes.  He used the plastic from a pop bottle…so resourceful.

At one point, I looked next to me and saw that Ruthie went rogue from the project and was coloring and gluing pieces of wood at random.  At least there were no sharp objects involved.

The planes really began to come together, and everyone was anxious to test theirs out.

Introducing…the Hello Kitty Hawk!

Weary of gazing upon holes, dents and knicks in the walls, we declared today Spackle Saturday. Derek and Peter were armed with spackle knives and charged with filling and smoothing the imperfections.

Until we find the time to paint, we shall gaze upon smooth, albeit polka-dotted walls.

We celebrated Molly’s sixth birthday this week.

It just now dawned on me that in dog years, she has caught up to me in age.  In a strange way, it makes me feel young.

She celebrated her special day by: eating birthday pancakes with kibbles, opening presents, and gobbling up a peanut butter/kibble/carrot “cake” after dinner.

At dinner last night, Jim read and commented on a recent chapter that he and the boys read in their Bible study homework.

It was Numbers 7.

The context is Moses consecrating the tabernacle.  The chapter describes the offerings brought to the tabernacle by each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Moses goes into repetitive detail about exactly what the offerings consisted of.  Twelve times.

We couldn’t help but chuckle, picturing Moses getting a hand cramp as he painstakingly wrote the same list 12 times, and then one of the boys said,  “Too bad Moses couldn’t just copy-paste the list!”

Over the past couple years, thanks to Science Olympiad competitions and Physics classes, Jake has learned a few things about what makes a good bridge. As we are driving, he will often comment on the style and structure of the bridges we pass by.

(This is ironic, given my fear of bridges since I was little. I try not to think too much about how a bridge is built as I drive over it.)

For the second year in a row, Jake won a bridge building competition at Metea and was invited to compete with other highschoolers in the area at IIT. Jim escorted him, so we actually have footage of the competition.

First he sets up his bridge in the box. If only the bridge had thoughts of its own, it would be trembling right now, knowing that it was facing certain doom.

Then he loads the bucket down below with weights until the bridge can’t hold together any longer and breaks. Unfortunately, this was not his best performance. The bridge broke sooner than he had hoped. But still a good, growing experience!

Swim season has been in full swing for a while, and I’ve neglected to post anything about it on the blog. This mostly due to the fact that Metea’s fan section is up in a balcony, fairly removed from the pool deck. Of all the schools at which Jake has competed, the most recent was the most conducive to photography, hence the present post. I felt like I was part of the action!

Jake really likes his coach. He seems to connect with the kids well.

He usually participates in a relay or two. In this particular one, he was swimming freestyle, getting ready for his teammate to touch the wall so he could dive in.

As much as he enjoys the relays, his favorite–and fastest–stroke is the backstroke.