Our son was selected to be part of his school’s National Junior Honor Society for next year. (If you don’t know what that is, go here.)
Our son’s name is calledDavid receives his certificate of induction into the NJHS
I’ll be honest here: I was not an NJHS member in junior high. I got decent grades, but I was not leadership material at that time and I was so shy that I would literally run away if you talked to me and I didn’t want to talk to you. My husband wasn’t part of NJHS either, but his school was small enough that they didn’t offer it.
Anyhow, I could not be prouder of my son. (I’m tearing up again as I type this.) He is such a good, smart, wonderful boy.
My NJHS member and I
The ceremony was beautiful, the gym looked lovely, and they had a wonderful, encouraging speaker, too. Getting cookies at the reception afterward was an adventure, but all three boys managed to get them AND get back to me without spilling a drop of punch. 🙂
When we were planning Spring Break originally, Nick wasn’t taking time off. I’d thought about going to see my parents or staying here…and then at the weekend we had a Teen Regional Weekend for church. Plans changed.
Nick looked at the schedule and realized this was a great time to a) do our family vacation (a mini one this year due to other travel going on later in the year) and b) to go see the Magna Carta (on display in Houston). So we added that to the schedule.
Meanwhile I realized that my much postponed visit to see my bff needed to happen during that week, too.
So our break became one long car ride with interruptions here and there.
We started off our break with a Holcomb Family Dinner at Nick’s parents house.
Cousins all watching a movie
Adults all talking about “boring stuff” (according to the kids)
Saturday, this happened:
There’s free time! We should Bedazzle something! What do we Bedazzle? Our Phineas & Ferb shirt!
Saturday morning Pokemon obsessing
Floppy David is floppy
Then on Sunday we started the first leg of our journey… to College Station, where I spent a lot of time sitting around while the kids went exciting places, like the ice skating rink.
Ben & Greg start off pretty close to the wall.
David is a speeding blur!
Now Ben’s got it going on.
I did break free and run off with Steph for a while to do some catching up and shopping. My favorite thing we saw:
I am absolutely certain that we do.
While I was gone:
Time for Poker!
Then on Tuesday we drove down to Houston to tour the Houston Museum of Natural Science and to see the 1217 copy of the Magna Carta.
At the Magna Carta exhibit, there were many good things for the kids to do hands on.
The chained books made the kids excited: “It’s just like your Library screensaver!”
The Writ of the Magna Carta (the instructions that travel with it)
The 1217 Magna Carta
The parts of this chair that look like wood are actually carved and polished stone.
TRILOBYTES are EVERYWHERE!!
Alligator?
Mineral that formed in the shape of a dragon
We had lunch nearby at a place that only did sliders and sides.
Our skyline view
These chili fries taste weird. Yeah, that’s cause they taste like curry!
Sliders, sliders, and more sliders
On Wednesday, we drove back to Tyler, dropped Nick off, then the kids and I drove to Quitman to visit the cousins at the park near their new house.
Teeter-tottering with the cousins
Wandering down the nature trail
Sitting on the cute front porch of the historical building.
That’s a really tall slide!
On Thursday, we did a bunch of laundry, repacked, and headed up to Colleyville to see Kay. Unfortunately, she was unexpectedly still in Houston. We spent several hours trying to amuse ourselves on our own before she made it back.
On Kay’s trampoline
In Kay’s backyard
Then the girls had to go to gymnastics class (and yes, at this point we were wondering why we were even invited up, and by the end of the visit there was unpleasantness), so we took the kids to the park.
Climbing at the park
My spider boy
David in a teacup?
The sleeping arrangements were weird because the bed we were supposed to sleep in was broken.
The next morning we had a muffin cook-off.
Iron Chef: Muffin Battle
Our plan for the rest of the day involved the ginormous amount of books to go through and then take to sell at Half Price Books.
These are the books I took home. There were about 20 other bags & boxes that I didn’t take home, but did dig through.
After Half Price, we went to Cost-co to celebrate Pi day the cheap way.
Happy Pi day!
Then we went back to the house for movies and a frantic search for my debit card.
Sometimes it’s easier to take photos of kids when they are facing the other way.
In the evening before bed we had one final bit of happy Pi-ness:
Happy Pi Day!
Saturday we got up and drove over to McKinney for the Dallas UCG Regional Teen Weekend.
Church a la research center
We had church and a Bible study earlier in the day, then in the evening there were separate dinners for the pre-teens/families and for the teens. After dinner, the teens had a dance and the pre-teens/families were left on their own for entertainment.
This is so obviously my kid. We sat across from each other and read. People thought it was weird. 😉
Savage Raccoon Greg
Sweet Owl Greg
Rainbow Loom bracelet making station.
Our dinner companions
Touring the Heard Museum – they were sweet and let us tour as long as we had enough adults to take all the kids through. Nick and I took some extra kids whose parents were chaperoning the dance.
Our hotel for the night. The younger kids and I went back early for sleep while Nick stayed behind and waited for David’s dance to be done. Ben thought our hotel room was beautiful.
The next morning we got up and had breakfast back at the Heard Museum before going for a little hike on the nature trails.
The Heard Museum’s Research Center
Part of the Bluestem Walking Trail
Part of the Bluestem Walking Trail
After the trail (which the kids didn’t go on because it was FREEZING!), we headed out to Garland to the Skatium.
Roller skating fun
David is a blur on roller skates, too
After the skating, we had one last meal together before we left for home.
David’s on day 3, Greg’s on day 1. If the cycle continues, I’ll probably have all three home tomorrow. I also have the sore throat and the cough is starting. Nick seems impervious. Yay for Nick!
This morning Greg and I were snuggling on the couch and he tells me “I’m going to go live in the backyard soon.” Which was totally unrelated to our conversation. I was puzzled, too, because it is winter and not really the best time of year to be in the elements. I asked him how he was going to deal with the cold and without batting an eye, he launched into a description of how he was going to put solar panels on the roof for electricity and use a rain barrel to catch water for his bathing needs. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to ask him how he planned to cook his meals. I am imagining a little cottage made from one of those sheds you see everywhere in our neighborhood (older houses lack storage, naturally) with rain gutters and solar panels on top and I am still giggling over it.
1. The sign says 5 days until visit the Popes. David says “We’re going to see the Pope? More than one?” Me: “Yes, we’re becoming Catholic. It’s a big deal.” (No, we aren’t really. Yes, people have asked. No, just no.)
2. Picasa recognizes me in pictures regardless of what’s on my head. (I apparently put a lot of silly things on my head.)
3. No one wanted to go to school today, not even Ben. Ben always wants to go to school. He pretended he was a cat for 20 minutes and ignored me (with appropriate head turnings and pawing.)
At Nick’s church there is definitely a “more is better” philosophy going on when it comes to events. If a chili supper for the whole church is fun, adding a sing-a-long is better. If a potluck isn’t quite enough, a game night makes it even better. So therefore if there’s an International Dinner, a Variety Show must follow. (Not that this is all bad…I’m just a one-thing-at-a-time kind of gal.)
Nick and his mom getting ready to help serve at the Greek table
So, no heat for us today. Or rather, we have replaced a part that will temporarily allow us a bit of heat, but at much lower temps than we are used to…because another part is broken, which made the “engine” (for lack of better word) of the heater overheat…and that could break any time now. Unfortunately, everyone up to and including the company that makes the heater seems to be out of that particular part, so who knows when it can be fixed. Oh the joy. Fortunately, the children and I are blanket hoarders.
Actual kid conversation at breakfast: B: “Sometimes being smart bums me out.” Me: “For example?” B: “Rainbows. They’re supposed to be all magic and cool, but I know they’re really refracted light.” D: “Yeah, science ruins magic.” Me: “But sometimes science lets you see so far down into things that you find more magic!” Them: *silence*
I couldn’t find my other shoe this morning (of any pair — Rose keeps running off with them) and it’s too cold for bare feet. David shouts to me from the other room “You only need one shoe to put the pedal to the metal, Mom!”
I was talking about one of my Christmas presents, a writer’s toolbox, and telling them that we’d play with it later. Two kids were interested in doing it while the third said “I have a great idea! You write the stories and I will sell them for you!”
