Lego Robotics

Our school has an awesome 4H program. It is basically run by one amazing woman, Deb Ivie. She is truly an unbelievably lady with amazing children! I just adore her! This year, they started the Lego Robotics Club, and Austin has been in heaven! They build robots made out of Lego and then program them to do different things. Then, they get together and compete against other teams. A few weeks ago, we spent the entire Saturday at Salt Lake Community College at the tournament. It could have been an episode out of "Big Bang Theory," but it was fun and pretty cool what all these kids learned throughout the year.

The teams spent the morning talking to judges and practicing and making last minute changes. Sadly, one of the dad's got involved with Austin's team and tried to re-program the entire vehicle right before competition. It was simply not enough time and their poor vehicle ended up not doing anything. It was like the Pinewood Derby on steroids for these dads. Sadly, it backfired. They ended up in second-to-last place (at least they beat the team that didn't show up)! But, it was still a good experience. We learned a lot, and Austin is super excited to do it again next year.

It's always good for a family to support each other! (On a side note, Paige has taken to dressing herself lately. She's really great at it!)

The kids and I spent time in between the competition jumping off the stairs. We did this for about a half an hour. I love the ways that kids find to entertain themselves. My kids are really loud, especially when they are in a giant, empty room! I learned that I am incapable of taking pictures of people in motion. Not one of them is in focus!

Points

This boy...

The young one, not the old one

He has a beautiful mind.

So, he had to go on a 10 mile bike ride for scouts. Saturday was absolutely beautiful, so the two of us rode to my parents house, got a quick drink and snack, and rode back. We were about a mile into our ride, and Austin came up with a "game" that we could play while we rode. We would try to ride over potholes. The big ones are worth 5 points, the little ones are worth 10 points, and the square utility ones are worth 15.

My score: 565
Austin's score: 630 (of course, he did start playing before he told me about it)

Only on a bike ride with Austin, would we be doing math while riding a bike. Always academically multitasking, that kid!!!

Three Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Seven Days

My Little Miss turned 9 today! I'm not going to be able to call her "Little Miss" much longer. She's growing up so fast! She has all of us wrapped right around her little finger. We went to Yogurtland (just the two of us), and I did a little "Birthday Interview" while we were sitting there. One of the questions I asked her was about her favorite thing about her teacher, Mrs. Bogenshutz. Macy told me that she loves it when she reads her stories "because she always reads them with passion." That's exactly the way I would describe Macy: So much passion!

Macy is so much like her Daddy. They both love life, and they love to "play." They both get so excited about things, and they just can't contain their excitement. They are both loving and cuddly. She loves to give/get back scratches. Neither one of them have any fear, and they love thrill and excitement. Heaven for them is an amusement park; the higher, faster, and scarier...the better! She loves to try new things, and experience life to the fullest. They both have a bit of a temper, but they snap out of it just as fast as they get upset. They both have an adorable mischievous side, and they don't really care that much about getting in trouble. I tell Greg that he adores her so much because he "gets" her. They seriously have some telepathic connection. They even have the same sense of humor, like to be silly, and find the same things funny. I tell Greg that I adore her so much because she is his carbon copy. I just love them both!

 Macy is definitely 9 going on 16 (of course, she's been going on 16 for about 7 years now). She's the perfect combination of little girl and pre-teen. She still loves all the girl toys like Barbie, Lalaloospy, Monster High, American Girl. But she definitely loves being "grown up" as well. She is very into doing her own hair and putting together her own outfits. She is definitely into music. She loves the techno station on Pandora and One Direction and Justin Beiber and Taylor Swift. She likes to have music on 24/7.

Snippets from her Birthday Interview:
Favorite Subject in School: Art. I draw something and I write a little bit about it in the corner.
Least Favorite Subject in School: Math and Spelling
Who is your BFF (at school): Bellamy, Abby, Skylie...well, I asked everybody in my class, and they're all my friend.
Me: Who is your favorite boyfriend?
Macy: Here or at school?
Me: At school.
Macy: Weston.
Me: Weston? What makes Weston so special?
Macy: He's cute and he's funny.
Me: He's cute and he's funny? What does he do that's so funny?
Macy: He does everything funny.
Me: Give me an example. Did he do anything funny today?
Macy: Well, one time, when we had music, she accidentally started playing the song, and Weston did a funny dance, and it was so weird.

Me: Who is your best boyfriend here?
Macy: Jaren
Me: What do you like about Jaren?
Macy: He's good at sports. He's cute. He's funny.
Me: Who do you want to marry?
Macy: That's a hard decision.
Me: It is? What makes it hard?
Macy: They're both cute and funny.
Me: So, it's between Weston and Jaren? Who you're going to marry?
Macy: (nods)
Me: What if you grow up and change your mind?
Macy: Then I'm going to be really mad at myself.

What is your favorite thing that you did when you were eight years old? Probably getting baptized or snowboarding.
What is your dream for 9 years old? What do you want to do this year? I want to learn how to draw realistic drawings.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Paris
Why Paris? To see the Eiffel Tower and learn how to paint.
If you could meet anyone in the whole world, who would you meet? Probably a person who knows a lot about...like...inspiring yourself.
What is your favorite food? Macaroni and cheese
What is your favorite nail color? aqua, black, and pink
What is your favorite thing about Dad? That's hard! I have a lot of things I like about Dad.
What is your favorite song? "You Don't Know You're Beautiful." It's an awesome song! I keep singing it at school to annoy the boys and because it's fun.
How come you like to annoy boys? Because they go like "Ahhh...Stop it!"
Tell me your favorite thing about Dad. He's funny and cute.
That's the same thing as Weston! No wonder you want to marry Weston! He must be just like Daddy!
What do you want to be when you grow up? A famous artist.
Do you know that lots of people love you? (with a nod) Um-humm! Lots of them!