An Obsession with the Titanic

Caleb has a new obsession....the Titanic!

A few months ago, Caleb found my Magic Treehouse books on our bookshelf.  We owned the first 8 books and he LOVED them!  Since then we have been reading all the books in order.  We are currently on number 43.  Book 17 is Tonight on the Titanic.  After reading this book, he became obsessed with the Titanic.  We did all sorts of research online with him, looking at what the boat looked like and what an iceberg was.  He found the Magic Treehouse Titanic research guide and checked out other books he could find about this ship.  The Titanic has become quite the research topic at our house.  

While we were in Dallas flying out for the funeral, we noticed signs for a Titanic Exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.  We didn't have any big plans for Spring Break, so we decided to make a day trip to Forth Worth to see the Titanic Exhibit as our big Spring Break Adventure.

This museum was so much fun and we were so excited to have our friends the Murray's join us for the day.  Everything is more fun with great friends!  While we waited for our time to enter the Titanic Exhibit, we checked out some of the other fun exhibits.

Shadow Screen

Fun Glow in the Dark Coloring Pads

A HUGE Light Bright!  I loved these when I was a kid (well mine was normal sized).

Can you see Caleb's multi-colored shadow?  So cool!

Making and Launching Paper Airplanes with Dad

The Titanic Exhibit

A very excited boy!  This was a great place to get a picture.  No pictures were allowed in the exhibit so this is one of the few pictures we could take.

As we entered the exhibit, we were each given a boarding pass.  On the back of the pass, there was information about the passenger we represented and information about them.  The kids loved learning about the passengers.  

Caleb's Card

Brydon's Card

Jennifer's Card

It was a beautiful exhibit and Caleb wanted to read every sign and every description by all the items.  He was fascinated by the artifacts and was excited by all the things he already knew.  The set up was really amazing.  The first area of the exhibit focused on the designing and building of the Titanic, then we went to 1st class quarters and so saw artifacts and displays about what this area looked like.  Then to 3rd class quarters and the boiler rooms.  Each part displayed the few artifacts that they had found in those areas.  Then we came to the fateful iceberg crash.  They actually brought in a huge chunk of ice that you could touch and talked about icebergs.  There was also a really good video of how the Titanic most likely hit the iceberg and then sank.  The next part focused on how the remains of the Titanic were found and some of the neat discoveries.  The last section allowed you view a passenger list of everyone that survived or died.  We each looked up our passenger.  Both Caleb and I survived, poor Brydon was a single male and did not make it.

Caleb picked out another book about the Titanic as his souvenir.  It was so fun to take Caleb to a museum exhibit that he was really interested in.

We did get this fun picture!

"I'm the King of the World!"

Our friends had to leave us after the Titanic but b\we decided to stay and check out a few more of the exhibits. 

An outdoor water splash area and play area

A Texas Cattle Driver

Digging up Dinosaur Bones

Checking out Dinosaur Bones and Learning about Natural Gas in Texas

The Fort Worth Museum was so much fun and it was a great day!  

Trying Out Basketball

In the spring, we were introduced to Upward Sports through soccer.  We loved Upward and the focus that this organization has on sportsmanship and Christian values.  So when Caleb asked to play basketball this winter, we decided to give Upward basketball a try.  We still love Upward and it was a good experience but very different than soccer. 

Caleb was put on the 1st and 2nd grade boys team.  It was a new experience to have my son be one of the smallest and youngest on a very male dominant team.  Basketball turned out to be a learning experience for our entire family.

I would describe our family as an athletic family.  We love sports and being outside and both Brydon and I played sports during high school.  However, we don't watch any sports on television and don't follow any sports teams.  I don't know if Caleb has ever even seen a basketball game.  Both Brydon and I enjoy the sportsmanship lessons and exercise habits that sports can instill but there are a lot of things about competitive sports we don't like.  We don't like the push to win at any cost, the male "show-off" mentality, the push to do your best and sacrifice your team, and the push to be an aggressive male.  So we often find ourselves in a love hate relationship with team competitive sports.  

We ended up up having a love/hate relationship with Basketball.

Caleb did have a kind coach and they were a cute group of boys.  Because basketball was so new, Caleb spent the first few practices watching and was a bit timid but he started to get into more.  However he just couldn't understand why the boys kept fighting over the ball and running into each other and not following all the rules.  

Due to a funeral and illness, Caleb missed the first two basketball games, so his first game was game 3.  We were excited because Grandma Manning got to come watch his game.  She even got him a pair of Air Jordan's that matched his cute uniform, and he was excited to play but a bit nervous.  

Nervous but ready to try!

 

Caleb's first game was a bit difficult.  He had never seen a basketball game before, practices had only been half court, and all the particulars of the game were not very clear.  And unfortunately Caleb was aware enough to know that he was a bit confused. 

(Can I just say heart breaking for Mom!)

Caleb is quite the rule follower when it comes to school and sports.  He will do pretty much exactly what he is told in these situations.  This was a bit problematic in basketball.  First the team played on the same court they practiced on.  Only in practice, the team had to play half court and the rule was that they could not cross the half court line.  Caleb had a hard time letting go of this rule during the full court game.  The boy did not want to cross that line!

It was a tough first game but we made it through.  We were so proud of him for getting through that game.  The rest of the games got better but Caleb was pretty nervous and never really loved it.  His basketball skills improved but he was unfortunately on a team of boys that never passed the ball and didn't work as a team.  Caleb always passed the ball and only got to shoot a basket once the whole season.  He really struggled with his team not playing as a team and working together.  

 

It is so hard as a Mom to watch your son not be the best at something and really struggle doing it.  It was so hard to watch him struggle!  But I was so proud of him for working hard.  He tried his best every game, he was always a team player and passed the ball, and never gave up.  I have to admit that in the end, I was more proud to have a kind, hard working, team player then the All-Star basketball player. 

We made it to the FINAL GAME!!

 

For the last quarter of the final game, they had the parents play against the kids.  It was a silly game, but the boys sure had fun.  Unfortunately, Brydon had to work that Saturday and so missed the entire last game.  I was not brave enough to be the only Mom to play basketball.

Caleb's 1st Grade teacher was kind enough to come to his game.  She is so sweet!

Caleb's Coaches

I love that all the Upward coaches are really great and never push the kids too hard.

Celebrating the final game with some ice-cream.

I can't tell you how proud I am of him for making it through the season.  He never came to love basketball, was not the star player, didn't score a basketball, but he did it.  

I have to admit that watching him be his own wonderful self, sure made me proud.  

One of those moments that you look at your son, and can say

"He is turning out to be the kind of man I always hoped he would be."

So we will see if we try basketball again for a while.

Caleb's 1st Grade Program

Caleb had his first school performance recently.  We were of course the crazy parents that couldn't wait to see his cute performance.  Caleb told us about these fun sticks he got to use and this cute song he sings.  However, we were a bit surprised by the program.  This program was put on by the PE coach and each 1st grade class did a special presentation focusing on agility skills.  Not the normal music performance.  One class used hula hoops, another scarves, and another basketballs,  

Caleb's class used the rhythm sticks.

It was so cute when he came out with his class, however, we were a bit surprised when only 4 class members showed up.  They were a brave little group to perform on their own.

Such a cute performance!

All those sweet 1st graders!

The kids sure do love Coach O!  

He is an amazing PE Coach and we are lucky to have a man like him working with our kiddos. 

A Day of Love

February is one of the best months ever!  Between my birthday and Valentine's day, I have always loved February and love lots of pink and heart foods.  This year I had to try some fun new foods and I am pretty excited about how they turned out.

For Breakfast, I made heart shaped blueberry muffins and this really cute heart toast.  We had never made anything like this before and it was a hit.  

I found this really great recipe on Pinterest, I just had to try for Valentine's day.  And oh my goodness!!!  They are amazing!  I made a bunch for Brydon to take to work and it was a good thing I gave a bunch away, otherwise I would have eaten them all.  

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

They are so yummy, moist and the perfect mixture of sweet and sour.  Everyone at work found them to be interesting.  Instead of a nice vanilla or strawberry flavor, they got a tangy surprise!

You can check out the recipe here.

I "Wheelie" Like You!

Caleb had a lot of fun picking out his Valentine's idea on Pinterest.  That kid loves to look at Pinterest with me!  This was such a cute boy idea and I liked the idea of not giving out candy.  I got the cars at the dollar store and then Caleb helped me design the card. 

Before Brydon and I went on our very unusual Valentine's date (hopefully more to come on that), we had a fun little family dinner.  I made some stuffed shells and chocolate covered strawberries.  And we added some yummy dipping bread, asparagus, and Jones Strawberry soda.  

It was a fun little family meal!

Hope you had as much fun on Valentine's Day as we did.  

I love a day that you get to celebrate the people you love most just for fun!

Another Year Older & Hopefully Wiser too

Well the time came again to have another birthday.  I have to admit the 30's are still pretty great and since I can still claim early 30's we are doing good!

This year it was meant to be a small quiet birthday but I did get a fun surprise!  My Primary Presidency and I have a tradition of doing a potluck lunch for each other's birthdays.  Due to timing and a crazy week, we decided to eat out at a wonderful local cafe and keep it simple.  Well when I showed up for lunch, a lot of other women did too!  It was a great surprise and we even got a private room.  I love the Hickory Street Cafe and it such a treat to be there with so many of the amazing women I have met here.

My birthday was on a Saturday this year, and so Caleb was so excited to treat me to breakfast in bed.  He had planned out the menu the night before and snuck into our room early to wake up Dad.  It was super super sweet.

No better way to wake up!

The Bradshaw's made me a yummy birthday dinner.  It was a dinner in a Japanese nebemono called Shabu Shabu!  So much fun! 

And Brydon made my Grandmother's "Strawberry Goop Cake" (as he likes to call it).  I do love Strawberries and this is one of my favorite cakes!

Here's to another new year!

Wonder what this year will bring?

No More Glasses for Daddy

Out With the Old

 &

In With the New

It's official!  No more glasses!

Did you know that it is actually cheaper for the Military to fix your eyesight then to try to provide glasses and the multitude of inserts for gas masks?  Well we were surprised (pleasantly surprised) to learn this.  And it just so happens that there is a great eye surgeon stationed at Lackland in San Antonio. So we decided this would be a great time to get Brydon's eyes corrected.  He ended up getting PRK and not lasik done but it was still a simple procedure.  We made 3 trips down to San Antonio in a week and two of the trips began at 2 am, so it was a long week, but well worth it.  Brydon and I really enjoyed the time together and on the last trip down even made a stop in Fredericksburg!  What a cute town!  I didn't take any pictures but we most definitely have plans to go again sometime.  

Fortunately Brydon's Mom was able to fly down to help us out for the week so Caleb didn't have to miss school.  She got to hang out with the kiddo and be on school duty.  It was so nice to have her here.    I think she even discovered a new talent!  Caleb was quick to introduce her to the new Kinect and Skylanders.  She jumped right in and got into the video game world.  Brydon was a bit jealous because she never played video games with him.  

Always fun with Grandma!  Thank you for coming to visit us and help us out!