Elementary Egg Drop - 2008

Our elementary has a fun tradition that the girls love, the annual Egg Drop. Each year, the students are given an opportunity to create some kind of package for an egg. The key is to make it strong enough so that the egg doesn't crack when it is dropped from an airplane! (And boy, do they drop!) The planes make about 10 passes, dropping some each time. The kids love to watch them all fly through the air and bounce when they hit. It's a wonder any eggs make it through at all! Once the eggs are all dropped, the kids run out on the field to find their egg, and then take them to the "judges" who open up the packages to see how the egg fared. It's really fun to watch them open up all the boxes, etc. and see all of the creative ideas! We've done this now for three years, every year since Ryenne started Kindergarten. So far, we've only made it through without cracking 1 of the 3 years! (Guess we need to work on our engineering!) But the girls just love it!

Each family gets one try, so Courtney and the girls put their heads together again this year to come up with a creative, formidable packaging for their eggs. This year Ryenne and Kate decided putting the egg in jello would a great way to go. Because we didn't know if the eggs were kept refrigerated, Courtney brought some stuff home from work that starts as a liquid, but sets up like a jello consistency. Court was a little worried because it ended up being really heavy! But the girls were optimistic. . .


. . .however, Dad was right! The package was so heavy that when it dropped, both the top and the bottom of the container became unattached! We thought we could see yolk and the judges confirmed it! Mrs. Goodliffe, the school librarian had to dig through the goop to make sure. We laughed when she said, "This one is creeping me out!" Sadly, our poor egg didn't make it this year!
However, we're already at work thinking about next year's idea! Better luck next time!

Girls Day Out

I have been so excited for the girls to have a few days out of school for spring break, so we decided to live it up with an outing to the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden. The girls called it our "Girls Day Out". We started it all off with Happy Meals from McDonalds (the usual peanut butter sandwiches are much too ordinary for a girls day out). Once we arrived at the museum, we had a hard time deciding which activities to do first! There were so many fun things to explore!The girls loved the dolls,of course. There was a cute doll house with all kinds of furniture.

They went right to work!

We created masterpieces at the Art Garden. . .
. . .and Ryenne loved the little old fashioned school house. She decided this was her favorite part! She was a very good student and finished her reading, writing, and arithmetic before we had to go. Kate was the teacher!
Emmy was a big girl at school, too!
Kate. . Future President of the United States?

The Treehouse was a definite success! We decided to go back another day and try out all of the things we didn't have time for. We had to stop at Farr's for an ice cream cone, of course. A perfect ending to our "Girls Day" on the town!

Rexburg's New Look

A weekend or so ago, we went to Rexburg, Idaho for a family baby blessing, and I couldn't believe how much it has changed since the last time I was in town (about 11 years ago!). I've only driven past on the highway, but haven't been up to campus since leaving Ricks College in 1997. We had to go take a look at the new temple and all of the changes to now BYU-Idaho. I couldn't believe it!

For all you Ricks girls, I just have to say- it hardly looks like the same place! There were many familiar sights that brought back memories (hogi-yogi and Maverick. . .frozen yogurt,anyone?). but so much of it has changed. The temple is so beautiful, and stands near campus near the old blue water tower. I remember when I used to run up there- nothing but empty fields! Now there are apartment buildings, ball fields, and houses all over the hill. So many new buildings on campus too! (We were able to spy on LOTS of starry-eyed coeds whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears all over the temple grounds. I'm sure the temple has definitely upped the romance capacity of all of those ready-to-find-the-right-gal returned missionaries!)
Had to include a picture of the old stompin' grounds! Some places never change! When we drove into Baronessa to show the girls where I used to live, Courtney was laughing that they would wonder who this old guy in a mini-van was stalking the apartment building full of girls.
Apartment C-6! My how time flies!

Diagnosis: Spring Fever

The other day the girls got home from school, excited to have some sunshine. Ryenne immediately asked if they could put on shorts and play barefoot in the mud. (We have lots of mud at our house!) I tried to explain that even though the sky was blue and the sun was shining, it was still too cold to play in bare feet, and that the mud had actually been covered in ice that morning. Of course, Ryenne thought I was the meanest mom in the world for making them wear boots and snow coats outside to play. They were only outside a few minutes when Emmy came inside after having an accident. I got her in the tub and decided I'd better check on Ryenne and Kate. Well, you can guess what I found! Both girls had rolled their pants roll up to their knees and were past their ankles (bare ankles, of course) in the mud. And they were loving every minute of it!

I immediately began to rant, "Ryenne Ashleigh Wood, what are you thinking?" when I stopped. I realized I just had to laugh. And I definitely had to take a picture. The best was the look of relief on the girls faces when they realized I was laughing.

I had my suspicions, but now they are confirmed. We have a full blown case of Spring Fever at our house.

Super Emmy to the Rescue

Alas, there is no need to fear. . .Super Emmy is here!

(We thought this was one of Emmy's better dress-up creations. Shortly thereafter, she proceeded to create a tornado throughout the entire house. But luckily, I now know that this turmoil is only caused by an effort to search out and destroy any evil villains that may be lurking about. I feel much better now.)

Valentine Day Fun

(This is a bit slow, but since I use this as our family journal, I'm going to go ahead and put it in!)


Each year at Valentine's Day, the girls like to do something to surprise my Aunt Andrea. She is their favorite babysitter and does so much to help us! This year we made a big sign for her door and hung it up before school started so she would be surprised. It was pretty cold but the girls were so excited they didn't even care! The knocked on the door and hid and Andrea was sure surprised! This is one of our most fun Valentine traditions.

Way to go Ryenne!

Ryenne has had a big month at school! She has a wonderful 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Barrus, and has made so much improvement this year. We are so proud of her and how hard she is trying.

Ryenne was so excited for us to come and see her 2nd grade program. Century is so lucky to have a wonderful music teacher, Mrs. Stewart, who Ryenne just adores. The program this year was about all of the fun things the kids can be, including themselves! It was called "Free to be Me!" Each student was able to dress up like what they might want to be when they are older. Ryenne dressed up like a nurse, just like Grandma Jones. It was so much fun to watch her program. Daddy was even able to come and see it!

Ryenne has been trying very hard at school this year and is even finding out she is great at math, which she hadn't liked as well in the past. She is doing much better at digging in and getting her homework done without a complaint, which is also great news for Mom! We were excited and proud of her when she earned the Outstanding Academic Star Award for her class this trimester. Great work Ryenne!

Ryenne loves art! She entered a visual arts entry in the Reflections contest this fall. The theme was "I can make a difference. . ." For her picture, Ryenne chose to draw how she could make a difference by following the Golden Rule. (Mrs. Barrus talks about the Golden Rule in their class a lot!) She was thrilled when she won the visual arts category at her school level. Last week we were able to go to an awards program for the council level, which she also won. She was so excited! She was asked to go up in front of everyone and tell a little bit about her picture and why she chose to draw about that. What a brave girl she was! She did a great job and didn't seem a bit scared once she got up there.