Nearing the Finish Line for School

Heather is nearing the finish line with school. I hung her uniform up to dry for the last time and had a sentimental moment. She is working on some service hours for her government class. Heather is already receiving a service cord for service rendered over the past two years, but government wants the service in the time frame of the semester she's in government. So, Heather has added some activities. She helped feeding grandpa this month, she helped box some clothes for a shelter, and she has been working with her former first grade teacher, Miss Ashlock/Mrs. Hunter. It's cute to see her being teacher grading papers and organizing, and super cute that she's doing it for her first grade teacher. Although I'm a little bugged that the Government teacher was so particular about the service the kids logged, I'm happy Heather has had this experience to reach out, outside of church, and serve in the community.

Jenna's Piñata

Jenna's piñata project is finally finished. Heather had these same projects when she took Spanish 1, but I guess I blocked them out. They get assigned, and we end up using our school breaks to work on them. That's the part I hate. I wish school breaks could be just that--breaks from school. But Jenna did a great job on her piñata. Now we have to clean up. Yikes.

Hippie Day in History

Heather dressed as a hippie for her History class today to act out a scene. She was playing the role of a teenager in the 60's for some extra credit. She rocked it! And it was fun to be working in the office to take a pic!

Baking for Mom and for Science

I woke up this morning to breakfast, all made and presented by Jenna. She had been feeling the stress of Heather being down with the weird headache, and she decided to do something nice for me. Tender mercies and what a lift to my heart!

Yesterday, Jenna and Kenzie worked on baking their cake for their science class cell model. The requirement was that it had to be edible. This afternoon they decorated their cake with all the yummy goods Kenzie and her mom had shopped for.  I was so grateful that they were willing to shop since Heather was down and out, and they were grateful that we could make the cake at our house and decorate it here as well.  The cell model turned out spectacularly! I loved how self-directed these two were, and their hard work and effort paid off with a very nice grade!

Heather's Photography Project

Heather had a project due for her photography class, so she and Kelly went over by the trail to get some shots.  They took turns acting as the subject after deciding which locations would be best for the requirements.  The perspective shot in the boot with Kelly as the subject was awesome.  I don't remember what all the requirements were, but Kelly got some sweet shots of our daughter that ended up being a bonus from the experience.  Perhaps my opinion is biased, but I say she could easily be a print model.

Earthquake

Normally I wouldn't post about earthquakes.  It's California, they happen.  This one was pretty jarring.  We were watching an action movie and didn't realize we were having an earthquake right away.  It was a 5.3 near La Habra, so good size and kind of close.  The blog worthy part about this earthquake was that Heather was in the middle of a science experiment, and her group had set up their dominoes for the next day's recording.  The dominoes were all over the yard.  We were worried about rain, but of course that ended up not being the issue.  The earthquake started the chain reaction on the carefully laid out dominoes.  What can you do? They were all set up again the next day, and the experiment was recorded successfully.  At least we have a fun story to tell, right?

The Diva & First Track Meet

Heather's bottle rocket, The Diva, was launched today.  She designed and constructed it by herself.  The name was inspired by the pink duct tape we had.  It was a successful launch!

Today was also Heather's first official Sunset League track meet with Canyon High School.  She placed 3rd in the Frosh/Soph 400m, and did not fall or come in last on the 300m hurdles.  Considering she has been sick for two weeks, she was feeling good about her achievement.

Science Fair Project

Jenna and Micaela have been working on their science project for weeeeeks!  So many hours have gone into it, and trying to get together with two busy schedules was challenging.  But they did it!  Five different brands of baggies were tested for durability and freshness. A slice of bread was placed in each baggie, and an Oreo cookie was placed in another set of baggies. The bread and Oreos were left in the baggies for a week and then tasted and observed for freshness. The baggies were also filled with water and dropped several times from a two-foot height to test the strength of the zipper and durability of the plastic.  In the end, on brand came out on top for freshness (Stater Bros), and one brand for durability (Fresh and Easy).  The girls one an honorable mention for their project which was really nice.  It wasn't first, second or third place, but more like fourth.  They'll take it since many projects were not recognized with ribbons. The hard work paid off!  Good work girls!

On one of the project nights after Jenna had been working really hard, we all went out to dinner at Islands to relax.  I took this cute picture of Heather and Kelly, and it reminds me that these two have great, easy-going personalities that render them nearly always happy.  They are both fun to be around, and they add a great balance for Jenna and I who tend not to be super "up" all the time.  Oh, and the Tardis cracked me up.  This was what Heather doodled on her Kid's Menu as she waited for dinner.  Very creative Heather.

Heather's Odyssey

Heather had her Honors English group over to film their project for The Odyssey.  I have to say that I loved their creativity and preparation.  Everyone came with their props and script, and filming took just two sessions.  The video was great, and their teacher laughed out loud.  Success!

The Birds

We planted our hanging basket after the dove chicks grew and flew away.  Little did we know that Doves can have six broods in one season.  They were back just after planting, digging away at one of the flowers to make room for their nest.  We tried to shoo them away, but they don't fly far.  The second photo shows them waiting on the neighbor's roof for us to leave for school in the morning.  I guess we'll be hosting more chicks.  

Speaking of birds and their habits, Heather is busy editing the Yearbook video for middle school.  Grace came to help out Sunday night.  The video should be great.  It's a movie trailer titled, The Seagulls.  It's a play-on-words resembling Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds.  There is a huge seagull problem at the middle school, so the student body should find the clip pretty entertaining.

The past week in review...

 Soccer practice is going well with Jenna on a team with several friends.  It was cold during practice, around 46 degrees after starting out the morning at 37 degrees.  Funky weather!

 A random photo, but an event worth mentioning.  Heather has taken to making her dad lunch after church.  She came home and put together this toasted sandwich complete with a crispy cheese fry. There were several steps and several ingredients, and it was quite impressive.

 Reports and projects due on Thursday. Jenna had her Iron mobile and presentation due, and Heather had her summary on Night due along with a History report.  I think I got about four hours of sleep the last two nights, but it's all done.  Heather has been out of school with a cold Tuesday and Wednesday, and we managed to keep her caught up on some major due dates.

We went to Daisy's play Friday night along with Grace and Sheryl.  Daisy was Bob The Sheep, and she did an outstanding job. 

After church yesterday, I had to take a photo of the day.  It was 75 degrees on Sunday, quite different from Tuesday morning's 37 degrees.  We're supposed to be in the 70's this week, and back to the 60's by the weekend.  Crazy.

Queen Heather of Egypt

Queen Heather and her loyal subjects took 1st place in the Mummy Wrap competition. I neglected to mention that this was not a graded project, just a contest. The sarcophagus was extra and not actually required. Outstanding effort for this crew! I am so happy for my girl!!!

Mummy Burial

Sixth grade social studies is so much fun! When I student taught in sixth grade, I was there for the Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt units. This week, Heather's class had a group contest to see who could come up with something that was indicative of ancient Egyptian society. Her group was a bit of a downer since no one really participated, but that did not deter Heather. With our recent water heater purchase, the box became the beginnings of a sarcophagus. Heather and Kelly designed and constructed the box, I painted the base, and Heather drew and painted Osiris, God of the Dead, on the lid along with a message in hieroglyphics.

sarcophagus - a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone; the wealthy had sarcophagi made from solid gold with hieroglyphics and images carved or painted on the surface

canopic jar - used by Ancient Egyptians during the mummification process to store and preserve the viscera of their owner for the afterlife

Loading it in the car...

A close-up of the gold glitter paint which worked better on the neckbandsthan the overall box...

The canopic jar filled with entrails (cotton balls soaked in food coloring/water)...

The artist and designer...

Heather was chosen to be the mummy entombed in the sarcophagus...