Simple Machine??

Well, maybe not so simple.  The third grade Simple Machine Fair was yesterday!  On Saturday James and Robbie spent most of the day building this beautiful catapult that included four simple machines.  James moaned and groaned about the parent project and came very close, VERY to going over the $5 limit.  We played with it all weekend and it worked great!  Then the afternoon of the fair, Robbie got it all set up in the gym and a little friend from his class decided to try it out and . . .  you guessed it! broke it.  First of all no one is suppose to touch anyone else's machine.  It is a grand thing to have your mom at the school and it just so happens that mom has a student teacher and had a little bit of free time to try to fix the machine before the entire school came to the fair.  However seeing how mom didn't build it in the first place, she didn't do such a great job fixing it.  By the end of the fair it was all mangled and twisted and had to have major repairs before the parent night.  James trudged off to the hardware store again and sorry to say now we went OVER the $5 limit so that the machine would function for the evening shindig!  Well  Robbie's "Flinger"  was better than ever!  Robbie stated that the purpose for his "Flinger" was to shoot things at your annoying brother and sister!  Because it now has a second life, we will see how well it fulfulls it's purpose!!

Happy Birthday Robbie!

All I want for my birthday is:

A Four-Wheeler

Ipod Touch

Digital Camera

A Trip to Snow Canyon With Four Friends

Crab Dinner

You can't do that?  Okay, I'll just give Grandma a call!  He is goofy but we love him!  Nine years old going on teenager!  I guess that is what happens when you live in a house full of them!  

What a Beautiful World?!!

Zions and Bryces

We spent the weekend in St. George. We played in Zion's National Park and did some killer hikes.  Angel's Landing, the Emerald Pools, and Canyon View.  There was a lot of snow and ice so some of the trails were scary.  Jamie came along as well.  We also ate at IN and OUT, watched Cayson play soccer and visited Bryces and Cove Fort.  It was freezing at Bryces.  It was amazing to see some of the beauty of ice and snow.  What a beautiful world we live in!

The Super Bowl

I should have taken a picture of the food--it was better than the game.  At least the company was great!  Check out James and Erik in those fancy 3D glasses.  Erik said his first Super Bowl was too long!  I agree!

Flours Anyone?

Jamie came for our annual MLK day sleepover.  Normally we watch James Bond films and hang out but McKenzie wanted to play this old game from my childhood.  The flour game!  We played several rounds and Jamie and Austin seemed to be the players most eager to get flour on their faces.  We had to play however until Robbie got his turn.  It was pretty fun!  Later we played Curses, a game that we gave Erik for Christmas.  It was pretty funny!  Today we plan on watching at least one James Bond flick!

Playing Some Ball!

Robbie started Basketball this month.  It is fun to watch and he says it is his favorite sport so far.  His team is the "Trailblazers" and they practice on Wednesday nights and he has a game every Saturday morning.  They have these arm bands that help them to know who they can guard.  They don't call double dribbling so it drives James crazy to watch but Robbie is enjoying playing!