Activity Girls Pinewood Derby

I am the Activity Girls leader at our church, meaning that I plan biweekly activities for the 8-11 year old girls. We had a Pinewood Derby for the girls this weekend. We joined with another ward/congregation for the races. I was a little nervous about planning it because I heard the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby got pretty competitive and often ended in tears. But it when so well. No tears. Everyone seem to have a great time. I planned a brunch for the 70 people in attendance but had way too much food. But I think we will make this an annual thing so I can make adjustments next year.

Adelle's car was shaped like a whale, thus not fast, but she did it all on her own and didn't seem upset about being fuel efficient instead of speedy. Hers is the second one on the left in the top photo

Science Fair

The girls entered the county science fair this month. Adelle's experiment was about what the best thing to remove tea stains from eggs was. She found that if you put baking soda on your toothbrush and put a little hydrogen peroxide on it then brush your teeth, that is the most effective way to remove tea stains from your teeth. When she entered the school science fair in second grade she got first place, based pretty much on the fact that she had hand written her entire report (meaning her parents did not do it for her). She got second place this time and was a little disappointed. But I was super excited for her because there was a lot more competition.
This was Maeve's first science fair. We chose her experiment out of an elementary science book we found at the library but did not get the results that we were suppose to. She poured different liquids into cups of raisins to see if the raisins would float. Her hypothesis was that the raisins would float in the plain water because boats float in water. The raisins were suppose to float in the club soda but almost nothing happened. She determined that nothing happened because the raisins did not have air in them, like ducks. She was excited to have a participant ribbon until Adelle went on the stage to be recognized and she did not. Not like she would have gone anyway...
Even though I am not good at math or science I am really trying to help the girls to be better in those areas. Maybe they will grow up to choose different careers than artists or social workers. :)

Bowling with the cousins

My sister brought her kids to play from Texas for president's day weekend. We had a fun time with 3 adults and 8 children in our apartment! We started the weekend with dollar bowling at Jaybowl. Michelle was shocked at how empty the place was. Apparently the wilkinson center at BYU would not be that empty on a Friday night when games and shoes are a dollar!

McKinley won. At least it was a 5 year old that won this time and not a 3 year old. But Jude bowled in our lane without bumpers or he might have been able compete. He has a new technique now-- he pushes the ball off the dinosaur with his elbow. That is only when he can get there before Roman pushes his ball down for him.

It was fun to take the Bakers to the KU vs Missouri women's basketball game, except we lost and Roman fell on the bleachers and hit his head on the concrete. No lasting damage so far but I did get some looks from people around us that I interpreted as, "you are the worst parent ever." :)

Thanks Michelle for a fun weekend!!

Adelle's music concert

Adelle's school music concert was last week. Clearly this child did not get her musical abilities from me! She has rhythm for starters. She played this instrument which she spelled for me as "gon kogey" but googling that did not come up with anything so it must be spelled differently. Anyway look at my little star leading the group! I am pretty proud of her. She works really hard and is very self motivated. She is taking piano lessons, clarinet lessons, and singing in the school and church choirs. I did NOT overschedule her. She arranged the choirs and the piano lessons on her own. If I was not sure that she came out of my uterus I would not think this was my child!
We all know where that talent came from and she was very happy that her dad was able to be to this school concert, a first for him.

Grandma Jenneth

Grandma Jenneth, Joel's maternal grandmother, passed away on January 11. So glad that we made the trip to New Jersey to meet her last March. Such a sweet Christian lady. Her service was beautiful. She attended a predominately African American Baptist church so her minister and several members of her congregation made the trek to West Virginia for her funeral. It was great to hear the "Amen" and other supportive comments during the service. My favorite hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing", was sang. And so many wonderful stories were told. And, of course, testimonies were shared of how this life is not the end. We will see her again because of Jesus Christ!

We had the chance to meet lots of new family members and see some historical sites for our Remke family. The children were great during the services and the 1800 mile drive. It was a trip well worth taking. 1. Joel's early childhood street, 2. Joel and his parents in front of the house he lived in as a baby in Charleston, WV, 3. Bruce in front of the house his parents lived in when he was born in Charleston, WV, 4. Bruce's childhood home, 5. WV Capitol Building, 6. Aunt Judy and Uncle Warren, 7. Cousin Cody, 8. Aunt Norma and Uncle Dale, 9. Uncle Steven, Aunt Karen, Sarah, and Joy
1. Jennifer and Alex, 2. Aunt Cleo and Donna, 3. Aunt Lois, 4. Uncle Dale and Aunt Betsy, 5. Uncle David, Donna, Aunt Norma, Aunt Betsy, and Uncle Boyd, 6. Cemetary in Jane Lew, WV, 7. Headstone for Grandpa and Grandma, 8. Bruce and his brothers in law

Christmas 2011

1. Christmas 2011, 2. Super Boys, 3. Christmas dinner 2011, 4. Roman, 5. Fish are friends not food, 6. Christmas Nativity 2011

We had a quiet Christmas at home this year. Over the course of my two weeks of work, everyone was sick except Adelle and I. Sadly our main photographer was sick on Christmas so we have few pictures but it was still a pleasant Christmas Sunday. We took our time opening gifts, allowing the children to play with toys as they opened them. I liked it this way, it made the fun last longer. Our Annual Christmas Eve Nativity was interesting with random costumes coming from the dress up box. It makes it difficult to tell who is playing what. But the spirit was still there as we read the Christmas story from the Bible.The children are growing up so fast. Some days it makes me sad, other days I think time has stopped and they will be young and dependent on me forever!

Adelle in the news

Adelle was in the news. Granted it was in November but we just watched it today. She did a great job! So proud. Click here for the video