The Weekend Update

Luke's class has been doing math lessons about money and restaurants.  Here is Luke taking an order from his restaurant -- there are dishes like Crab and Steak for $50.00 and Sushi for $30.05.  

Friday afternoon was the 2nd and 3rd grade Grit assembly, where Luke won an award.  I love that his "happy heart" is on his certificate. 

Here are the winners, about 3 from every classroom.  I took about 10 pictures and this is the best one. It's like herding cats!

Little stinker wouldn't smile for me. 

Friday evening the boys went to the middle school carnival by themselves.  It was kind of a huge deal to me as a parent.  I kind of hate the carnivals -- too much stimulation for me - but I know the kids love it. I've gone to one for the last 6 years.  And this year, I just sent them with money and told them to walk home when they were ready.  Wow.

Our neighbor sent me these pictures because she was volunteering at this booth.  I love Josh's smile in this one.

Saturday was Luke's last basketball game.  His team was a bunch of fun kids, but we especially liked that he got to play with Rogen (they're arm in arm here).  

Team Pictures.  

Saturday night we went to a charity event for YMCA.  I had too much to drink by the time the live auction started, and I thought it was super funny to take a picture of Derek bidding on a lawn care package. We won the only thing we bid on, a Red Chair package with a gift card there, two tee shirts and a cribbage board.  We can't wait to teach the kids how to play cribbage. 

Bridger Bowl got just dumped on this weekend.  They got 39" in 48 hours.  Josh and Daddy went both days (Luke went Saturday morning before his basketball game too!).  This is from Sunday -- Josh is standing on the ground and his skis are off.  I feel claustrophobic looking at this, but they assure me it's a lot of fun.  

This is the lift line for the ridge terrain area -- where only expert skiers can go.  They said it was an hour long wait.  What an epic weekend, and one that the boys will never forget. 

Valentines and Milestones

Happy Valentines Day!  These two asked me if I remembered back when I used to make pink heart pancakes (last year) and so I did it for them again this year.  They were happy!

Luke's class had a kind of wild holiday party -- lots of dancing and wandering around eating candy.  

Wednesday Josh crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts. It's a big night, he's been working toward this goal for five years.  Such a big night he even tucked in his shirt. 

He looks so old! 

This is his whole den holding their Arrows of Light that they earned.  Of the six kids, only one is looking at the camera.  And this is the best shot I had.  

Thursday night was middle school registration night!  How is he old enough to choose German as a preferred elective, but still not know that when you sign your name you sign first and last names?  We were shocked that he chose art and German as high ranked electives, but we love it.  

Friday Gramma Wright was in town.  Grampa was home in Kalispell, feeling too sick to travel.  Gramma thought U-swirl would be a good idea after school, and she was right! 

Saturday Josh and Daddy went skiing after Luke's basketball game and after Gramma left for Butte.  They had a great day with a lot of fun jumps and some sunshine!

Saturday night we had an intense game of 31, which I won.  I beat Mike, and I think it should be noted here clearly and for the record. 

Sunday we went to Showdown -- outside of Great Falls. It was a great day with a ton of fresh snow falling on us as we skied, and we even ran into Mike's high school friend Brian Nichols and his family!  In the afternoon it got sunny and we let the boys take this cliff jump into the fresh powder.  This is Josh mid-air, isn't that a steep approach and landing? 

And that's Luke almost landing...he did a great job too!  He's not as experienced as Josh is, mostly just because he's a little younger, so it's cool to see him stretching and trying more challenging jumps and stuff. 

Attention to Detail

In Luke's class they're working on biographies, and this is the opening paragraph that Ada wrote.  They were encouraged to write an opening sentence that really grabs the audience. I can't read it without laughing -- I feel like such a good parent because my 8 year old is quoting Lampoons Christmas Vacation. 

Tuesday night we had some friends over, and this is how we found the dishwasher loaded by the kids.  I posted it on Facebook and found out that there are two types of people in the world.  The type that is bothered by this, and the type that isn't.  I'm the first type. 

Check out my new Family Ring!  Mike got me a gift card at a jeweler in town so I could get the ring I've been wanting since Luke was born. I found it on Pinterest, brought it to the jeweler and they had it ready in 2 weeks.  

Wednesday afternoon was the fifth grade band and orchestra concert. Josh and his bestie Aden dressed up for the occasion, which I love so much!  Mike was out of town, so Josh tied his own tie on the first try!  The concert was great, they did such a good job!

Saturday morning basketball again.  It's so much fun to watch Luke's games.  I love this open mouth shot picture.  His team won again, but only by one basket. 

Saturday afternoon I brought some heart shaped cookies and a jar of frosting home.  Luke was more than happy to help me decorate them. 

Date night for Valentine's Day was Saturday too!  We went to our favorite, Red Chair, and had a lovely dinner together. 

Sunday we went to the laundromat because our washer is broken.  the boys brought plenty of things to do, but their mobile devices and science fair projects kept them busy. 

Luke decided to wear the full face mask on his rip stick.  It was so sunny out!  We went to the Ryles' house to interview them for Josh's science fair project. He is trying to find out if boys and girls see optical illusions differently.  

Look at this!  Such a gorgeous day, sunny and in the 40s.  

Super Bowl and Skiing

Monday was Josh's last intramural basketball session.  Here he is with his peer coach's award.  He had a rough season as far as wins/losses and his teammates, but he had a lot of fun and improved his skills. That's what matters. 

Tuesday Josh started BAM (Bozeman After-school Music) program.  He gets to practice with one other trombone player and an MSU student teacher.  He said he loved it, and came home to immediately search the sheet music for "star wars music" so that's a good sign, right? 

Luke's class was doing partnered compare and contrast work. I think there is a stark contrast between the two students.  Look at her sweet, compliant little face and Luke's goofball expression. 

Saturday Luke had another basketball game.  His team won!  They were very excited!

Saturday afternoon we went to see Turner's son run indoor track at MSU.  Turns out that the track meet was super duper slow, so we didn't get to see Drew run, but they did spend the night with us both weekend nights, so that's fun. 

Saturday night we went to a Lester Rocks concert -- my friend Anika's husband is the band leader. It was fun, and not our typical evening so we loved it. 

Sunday Josh and Mike went to the Ridge.  They hiked to the Ridge and skied down, and they loved it.  If you look really closely you can see the town of Bozeman in the background.
It was the last day of their lessons, and they both moved up to the next level!