Winning idea

Carter and his friend Colton were offered the opportunity to participate in the Regional Invent Iowa competition this year. Of course they jumped on the chance to work together and put their heads together to come up with their invention of the iJacket. 

The iJacket is apparently what everyone needs.  It has a special pocket on the inside of a coat that holds a small set of speakers and another clear pocket for your iPod or iPhone with an opening to connect to the speakers. That way you can rock out with your friends and keep your hands free!

They had a ton of fun putting the idea together, creating the prototype, as well as designing a survey to give to all of the 5th grade classes at their school.  The surveys helped determine whether there would be a market for the iJacket and a price that others would be willing to pay for it. 

During the competition, the boys had to present to two sets of judges and explain the entire process they went through and defend the need for their specific invention.  

They must have been impressive as they walked away with medals for their invention and an invitation to participate in the state competition.  

The smiles on their faces were well worth the time and energy put into this.

Tough Cookie

Sometimes things have to look worse before they can get better.  This boy of mine is one tough cookie who's been experiencing the colors of the rainbow on his face!

Day 1 - quite puffy with a mama worried about a concussion

Day 2  - eye swollen shut and a few colors showing up

Day 3 - hey he can see  

Day 4 - adding some new colors in and not as thrilled with my daily picture taking of his war wound   

Day 5 - making progress  

Day 7 - oops...I missed a day but it looks like he'll recover and be back to normal by the end of this week!  

He's definitely our tough cookie...and is insisting I bake him some cookies today.  I guess that little face is worth it!

May I recommend

sticking your nose in a book or two?  You may remember that my delightful hubby refers to these as my nerd manuals.  He was even so gracious as to get me a lovely nerd shirt for my birthday which he's refused to let me wear outside of the house.  

I sense he may be poking fun at me.  It's a good thing I turned mature and can handle it now!

Anyhoo...I just finished two amazing reads that I wanted to pass on to you.  The first is The Racketeer by John Grisham.  Fast-paced, intriguing, and filled with twists and turns that keep you guessing will keep you turning the pages one right after another.  I might be a little embarrassed to tell you that I finished it in three settings (each of those that I should have been doing something a bit more productive around the house).  Oh well...one must keep the brain nice and juicy by using it on a regular basis!

Defending Jacob by William Landay is my book club's selection for this month.  This book club likes to make me stretch out of my reading comfort zone (murder, the law, and mystery), but this selection was spot on and packed with everything I love.  Jacob is a teenage boy accused of murdering a classmate.  Jacob's father is the district attorney who must take a leave of absence due to the conflict of interest.  Is Jacob innocent?  Does a father's love for his son allow him to see the truth?  It's a quick read with an ending you won't see coming.

Homework Helper

I had a fun little visitor tonight while his brother had basketball practice.  This cutie patootie had some homework that he needed to do. 

 

Needless to say he found Carter to be a much more exciting teacher than Aunt Lisa. He sure knows how to break my heart.  I think he rather enjoys it too!

It was so cute watching the two of them work together.  I absolutely love the hand on Braden’s head in concentration while he’s soaking up what Carter is telling him!  

Champions

Congratulations to the 5th grade Ames Little Cyclones!  They came away as champions of the Lincoln Rails Tournament in Des Moines this weekend. It was a crazy run of intense basketball in which the boys triumphed over several worthy opponents. They should be very proud of their teamwork and determination. 

Unfortunately, Carter looks pretty battered and bruised after this weekend.  He hurt his wrist on Friday playing basketball at recess.  A trip to the dr. for some xrays let us know it was only sprained, which was a good thing.  The dr. put a splint on and it didn't seem to slow Carter down during the tourney.   

The one thing that did slow him down was an opponent during the championship game.  Carter was rolling on a pick and roll and smacked heads with another player.  Both boys went down on the floor, and it wasn't long before I was summoned by coach. This was my first "you need to come mom" signal in the stands from a coach and my heart nearly stopped.  Thankfully it looked worse than it was.  A broken blood vessel above the eye and a pounding headache would round out Carter's injuries for the week.  

I'm pretty sure Carter would tell you it was all worth it to have that medal hanging around his neck!   

Acts of kindness v.3

Act of kindness 9

Aaron and I spent a good chunk of time going through the boys outdoor winter clothing (coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, boots).  The original plan was simply to take it to Goodwill until it dawned on me that there are so many kids in our school system who are in need of these items.  So, I arranged to take them to Carter's elementary school and gave them to the counselor to pass on to kids in need.  She was definitely appreciative of the two full garbage bags full of items that are needed by so many with the snow and cold weather in full swing.

Act of kindness 10

There is a co-worker of mine who has been having a really rough go of it for quite awhile.  She's doing her best to keep her chin up every day, but it isn't always easy.  It's been hard watching her struggle and many prayers have been said on her behalf.  I purchased Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts with her in mind.  It's a terrific book to help you realize that God blesses us on a daily basis if we simply open our eyes and hearts to what's around us.   

I didn't want her to necessarily know it was from me so I had Carter do the writing on the card and envelope for me. (I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know I have a blog, so I'm thinking my secret is safe! ~ If not, oh well!) I couldn't seem to manage to sneak it into her room without getting busted by her or a student who would rat me out, so I resorted to putting it in her mailbox one night when everyone else had left the building.  I sure hope it brought a smile to her face and put a spring in her step to know that someone was thinking of her.

10 down...30 to go

Acts of kindness v.2

Acts of kindness 7-8

Many weekends we gladly suffer from bleacher butt to watch our children participate in a multitude of activities.  Right now, it’s Carter we are watching shoot, defend, and rebound his way through basketball tournaments.  However, the days can get a little bit long depending on how many games there are and how much time in between games you have in which to pass the time. 

I have noticed that several little brothers and sisters are brought along for these all day tournaments which can be trying.  Because of this, I created 2 little goodie bags to be left in different places in the facility as random acts of kindness.  Austin was so sweet as to make the first drop and left it up to me to do the last one!  I think he's a bit smoother than me as I'm pretty sure I was busted by a scowling lady for "leaving something behind" :)  Hopefully a smile came to her face after she realized what I left behind!  Next time I probably need to leave the "sneaking" to the kids!