It's a new year....

Even though it's been cold.... really really cold....  we have found several things to do indoors.

Mercer is playing basketball again this season.  He's becoming more comfortable and playing a bit more aggressively.  He's been doing the tip-offs at the beginning of the game and he's getting a lot of rebounds.  He still throws the ball right back up when he gets it -- still a bit anxious, but it looks like he's getting the hang of it.  

He's developing a move where he flails his arms around to distract the kid on the other team with the ball. It's a little comical to watch.  Another thing that was quite comical during a game:  he was trying to make a basket and the ball got stuck on top.  Literally.  They had to stop the game to get it down!  

He likes basketball & it's starting to show.  There's a dad on the team that pulled Todd aside and talked about how much HEART Mercer has... he said he would like to help Mercer work on his shooting skills but was admiring his passion for the game.  :) 






Todd and the kids made their final Pinewood Derby cars.  This is Mercer's last year in the Cub Scouts and the final time Isabella got to race her "outlaw" car.  

At various points in the day, they both got to see their name on the leaderboard in the top spot.  Overall - of the Webelos (4th and 5th graders), Mercer did get a 3rd place medal.  Not a bad way to go out on his last race!

School has still been very busy.  Cub Scout science stuff is going strong too.  I am combining them as much as possible.  We will be hosting a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) event at our house in a couple of weeks. I'm going to use some of the activities I've done at my past school and current school at the event.  

Also - Mercer is earning a badge for an earth science topic - geology... which I need to learn about / is my next unit to teach.  We have a geology Cub Scout thing we're doing soon too!

Also - just for fun - I invited some of the Cub Scouts to our house so they could look at the fossils I borrowed from a for my 6th grade unit on fossils.  






I took a friend of Mercer's to the museum while we picked up the fossils so that he could have a good time exploring things he wanted to explore while I spent time with Isabella in the kid's area.  (Last time we went, they fought over which activities to do).  Here, she is following the directions in order to light a circuit.

We need to conduct a science project for Cub Scouts (he has to do one for school anyways).  Next month we have a camping trip planned.  The science and camping stuff should wrap up his Cub Scout career.

We held two soup nights this month.  We are still wondering if we should do it or not.  The first had 2 attendees.  The second had more than 20.  Hard to say if we'll do it next year.  It's our 17th or 18th year doing it but it has definitely fizzled on average. Glad we're not doing it 4 Saturday's a month still.

Isabella is having bit of a hard time with behavior at school (and home) sometimes.  But - one thing that is super-impressive:  she took her first "national" test at school called MAP (my old private school used this test too).  She scored 30-40 points above what other kids in Kindergarten are getting in math and reading... It topped her out at the 99th percentile.  She scored where 3rd graders - on average - score in both reading and math!  We've always known she was a smart kid... we just wish she'd make smart decisions about behavior issues.  Whew!










































One more interesting science thing we did this month:  viewing of a total lunar eclipse.  We woke Mercer up close to midnight so he could watch; he popped out a few times to look at it, but it was pretty chilly.  My pictures aren't that great of the eclipse, but it was memorable.  

It was not a big deal to wake Mercer that late on a school night... the following day was MLK Jr day so there was no school.  One of Isabella's classmates had a birthday party on the holiday.  I was out of school with them, so we went.  It was at a bouncy house place and the hosts were gracious to allow Mercer to attend as well.  They had a great time -- especially in this tower of elastic bands.  I tried climbing it... and made it to the top after awhile.  I have to admit:  it was harder to climb than it looked!

Another thing that's memorable that is gearing up right now:  the Super Bowl is being hosted in Atlanta tomorrow.  It is so interesting to see all of the hype here in our fair city / see all of the spots on TV about the new stadium and things of interest around town.   We will not be in the area downtown, however, we will be watching for those great commercials!



Pretty exciting!!