Splish, Splash, no water for the bath...

Here is a link to an article about a recent endeavor Becca and some classmates participated in. Read all about it! It was in the local paper.

www.chaskaherald.com/sites/chaskaherald.com/print_edition/jpg/pnt-03-18-10-p06.jpg

Be Prepared...

I must preface this post by saying that I am an emotional person. I cry at Extreme Home Makeover, Hallmark commercials, and sappy Lifetime movies. That being said, I wasn't prepared for being emotional last night as Harry bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. I mean after all, Boy Scouts is far from being sappy. And yet, when the lights went down and they started to beat the drum in the "Arrow of Light" ceremony, the tears started to stream from my eyes. It was very official and ceremonial. Real arrows were handed to the boys and then plaques were given to them by their leaders as a gift so they could mount their new arrows. I was super glad about the plaque because I was unsure what we would do with the arrow. An arrow in Harry's room without a purpose could lead to bodily harm.

After the "Arrow of Light" ceremony, the boys had to walk across a wooden bridge to symbolize their move on to Boy Scouts. I had to walk on the bridge with Harry and halfway across, I had to take off his cub scout neck scarf, while two boy scouts stood on either side of him and put on his new boyscout shoulder tags (I'm sure there is an official term for these, but I'm not sure what it is). Erick had to travel at the last minute to Boston, so I was left to handle this emotional moment on my own. Becca was not feeling well, so Bella was left to take pictures of the event. She was so cute with the huge camera, trying her best to capture memories. I have included one of her pictures and I will leave it to you to figure out which one she took.

After it was all said and done, all I could think was there is no way I'm making it through high school graduations.

Well, I'd Like to Visit the Moon...

Today was History Day for Bella. All of the kids in her class chose a topic to research a few weeks ago and today they put them up in the class for parents/family to come visit. We had been working on a space unit the last month (in homeschool) and Bella was really interested in the moon, so she chose to do her research on Neil Armstrong. She did a very nice job! She drew a picture of the moon and she also used a book to write down interesting facts about Neil Armstrong. I even learned something from her research. Apparently, the famous quote of Neil Armstrong, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," was supposed to be, "one small step for a man", but the "a" got lost in the transmission. Bella worked very hard to copy words out of her book. Over the last few months, copying has become a little easier for her, but the process of looking up and down and not losing her place or forgetting various letters in words is still a struggle.

Some of the kids dressed up in costumes to add some flair to their research. Harry made her a "space suit" out of a white shirt which was just like the one he wore for Destination Imagination. Bella was so proud of her shirt! Two other children in her class studied Neil Armstrong also. One of them had a full orange NASA suit that he had received for Christmas. Bella was pretty impressed by his suit, but she still liked her shirt the best!

Time Flies

Wow, February kind of flew by! Can't believe that March is here is already, but happy with the hope of warm temperatures.

Let's see what have the Rowes' been up to the past few weeks?

Last Friday was the carnival at Harry's school. It was quite the event. Games and food everywhere! One thing that seems to have changed in the carnival scene since I went to school: a trend toward a more "store like" atmosphere. Sure, there were the little prizes given out at the various games, but the really good prizes? Those were at the "ticket store". Kids could trade 10-50 tickets in for items such as giant nerd glasses, Scooby Doo dogs on a leash, and superballs the size of your hand that were filled with glitter and lit up. Not sure if you can read too much into the ticket store, but it does seem to reflect a little on the "instant gratification" and the "bigger is better" mentality of our society.

My time has been spent at the gym lately. I am happy to say that I am still working on my New Year's resolution. I am bound and determined to get in shape. I turn 40 in a year and kind of feel like if I don't do it now, it may never happen. Over the last month and a half I have discovered how much time and energy getting in shape takes. Not fun, but hopefully worth it in the end.

Also in my spare time (insert laugh here), I am helping to start a Venturing Crew with Becca's best friend's father. Venturing is a part of Scouts that is for girls and boys 14 and up and focuses on leadership. Learning as I go, but it seems like a good program for Becca to develop important life skills. Will share more as it goes along. We have a first meeting next Friday to share more information with girls and boys interested in joining.

Bella has spent the last week delivering all the girl scout cookies she sold. She has been a trooper, but has discovered that selling them was easier than the delivery process. Also, she gave up dessert for Lent so she is disappointed that she has to wait another month before she can enjoy the ones we bought. Also, regarding Lent...Becca gave up her Ipod touch, and Harry gave up his Wii again. In our house the Easter Bunny always brings something related to what you gave up, which seems to encourage my children. For better or worse, I guess...

Well, I'm off to continue clean up in the backyard. The 40 degree temps have been nice, but have also uncovered the dog poop that was easy to ignore under the snow the last few months. YUCK! And I can't even have my favorite Shamrock shake at McDonald's to motivate me!