Rockets

The snow has melted and the sun is out. It's time for rockets again.

This V2 has a hybrid engine that runs on liquid nitrous oxide and plastic. It was about 6' tall and weighed 50 lbs. It made it up to 6,000 ft on an M. The separation ripped out the shock cord mount bulkhead and the body returned to earth sans chute. The nosecone landed 3.5 miles away.

Easter Weekend

JP got her new kitchen table on Friday. It seats 10 comfortably, but we don't have the chairs yet. Next month. They will be the wood version of the white chair.

Valentine loves the kids. She also loves being on the counter and licking silverwear, and playing with her bell toy all nite.

We restained the deck on Saturday. It was somewhat warm, but the wind blew hard all day and wore everyone out. Just non stop wind all day & nite here.

Spring Break

CP finished off school with the 5th grade science fair. His project was on static electricity.

JP took the boys to Nana's house for spring break.



They went to a waterpark in Dubuque, IA, to burn off some energy.

Valentine

Valentine has settled right into our family. She sleeps with the rest of the pack and has learned to purr.

Cub Scout Graduation

Friday night CP graduated from Cub Scouts after 5 years in the program. He is now a boy scout.

Cat Season

The video game store downtown has a resident cat that likes JP. She bent down to pet him and he jumped up on her back.

Katrina likes my slippers.

JP has been talking and talking about getting a new kitty so we got one for Valentines Day. This is our new cat, Valentine. She is 10 months old and came from the Beatrice animal shelter. She has never lived in a house before, so everything is new and exciting for her. She is facinated by everything: the TV, the drain in the sink, and especially a freshly poured glass of pop with bubbles in it.

Maggie & Katrina are getting along well with her.

Pinewood Derby 2010

This was CP's last year for the Pinewood Derby. I cannot believe that the time has flown by so quickly. This year, the boys did everything on their cars except for the band saw cuts.

CP made it to the semi-finals and then on to the finals, so we got to hang out ALL day long. We were initially excited that our dens were the first to run in the day and we could move on and do something else that day.

Fire Hazard

This year JP hit the big 40. Due to the craziness of our daily lives, I did not get a huge party put together. We had a nice family party with a blazing cake.

You could actually feel the heat of the candles from across the room. Rather than black decorations, we did pink.

New Year's Eve

We had the neighbors over for New Year's Eve. We all piled into a minivan and went to the Shogun Japanese resturant for dinner and then retired to our living room for a night of Wii Dance.

Christmas Snow

Christmas Day

At half past dark-thirty, the boys were ready for Christmas morning.

We got a little bit of snow. Feet in some places and bare grass in others. I think the official total was eight inches. I'm glad everyone made it here before the snow set in.

Christmas Eve Excitement

Everyone has arrived safe & sound for Christmas before the weather set in. We have Nana and Gramma & Grampa P here with us. I'm off work for four days and I received a good grade in my class @ UNL. I am ready to relax.

The boys made a Bethlehem diorama, but it quickly took on their sense of realism with tanks & infantry.

We loaded up our old swingset into a u-haul trailer hitched to G&G P's Buick. It's ready for the trip to Mississippi to be planted in cousin MB's yard. It was 20 with no wind when we got the trailer this morning. In the hour it took us to load it, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. We are now at 16 °F with blowing snow and 28 mph sustained winds with gusts expected up to 50 mph. I'm glad we are all here and have nowhere to go today or tomorrow.

Snow Days

The urban legend at school is that if you wear your pajamas inside out and put a spoon under your pillow, we will have a snow day the next day. The boys must have some powerful mojo, as their trick worked before they even went to bed. They were off Tuesday when it started snowing and also today as the city dug out from all the drifts.

When I left for work yesterday, I told CP that there would be some money for him if he were to shovel the driveway. He did it twice during the day, and I did it again when I got home. The boys spent the day sledding and snowboarding on the little hill at the bottom of our street.

We even had to shovel a path for the dog so she would go out.