punishing boards for their intransigence

As faithful followers of this humble blog know well, these kids have a lot of activities. Liam plays baseball in the summer and basketball in the winter (as well as other basketball events/camps sprinkled here and there on the calendar). Max prefers soccer as his spring/early summer sport of choice. The older boys take swiming and tennis lessons in the summer, and they have both been involved in 4H. Max got a guitar for Christmas from his grandmother (thanks, Mom!), and he's now taking guitar lessons. Hmm, did I miss anything? Or anyone?

 

Ah yes. Henry. Poor, neglected child. He wants to do everything his older brothers do, but he's just not old enough yet (although I think he may be able to take swimming lessons this summer). He has preschool for a few hours, two days a week, but that's it. So what were his already overextended parents to do?

Actually, Henry (unwittingly) decided for us. He loves watching the endless iterations of the Power Rangers on Netflix (a hobby his dad both tolerates and absolutely detests), and he constantly tells friends, family members, squirrels, Lowe's employees, trees, strangers at the grocery store, and clouds that he's a kung fu master. So we thought he might enjoy and excel at some actual martial arts instruction.

Thus, Henry is now training at Plymouth Family Taekwondo. He loves it, and in addition to the benefits of the physical activity, we hope the lessons of discipline, respect, and responsibility incorporated by the masters there resonate with him. So far, so good.

During Henry's most recent session, Master Castle brought out the board-breaking equipment and gave Henry the opportunity to practice what he had learned. Henry didn't disappoint on his first attempt:

winter break/crafty beavers

Having all three boys home for two weeks for Christmas break while Mike and I still have to work can be a challenge. Having them home pretty much every weekday for the next two weeks *after* break because of snow/extreme cold brings the challenge to a whole other dimension. Our strategy is usually to try to keep them as busy as possible. It doesn't always work, and there is still plenty of time left for them to play video games and run wild through the house (and outside if it's warm enough) and bicker constantly. But at least we're trying.

We built a tin can robot with Liam.

 We made ice cream out of snow.

We broke geodes open with hammers and screwdrivers.

We helped Liam put together a 1,000-piece puzzle. (And Max and Henry put together 100-piece floor puzzles.)

Max built some model airplanes.

We made sand art.

We made and "erupted" a volcano.

We grew crystals.

We excavated dinosaur bones.

We also set up a whole room as a "crime scene" for Liam to investigate with a CSI kit he got from Johnny and Erin for Christmas. He had to use blacklight to find and take fingerprints, string up crime scene tape, and make a record of the thing. But we were too busy subjecting ourselves to printing and booking, so we didn't take any pictures.

At this point, we are just plain out of ideas, and so far beyond ready for winter to end. Too bad spring is still so far away...