Winter???

This is really some wacky weather we're having! Short sleeves in January two weekends in a row, with a day or two of cold in between. I'm wishing I'd gotten peas and such in the ground last August. We'd have had fresh peas for Christmas, New Years, and so forth. We did actually have a salad with greens from the garden last week. With no protection whatsoever. Next winter we'll be using hoop houses, but I can't hope for two mild winters in a row.

What are the kids up to?
Tori's between semesters, having made Dean's List last semester. You go, Girl! She's job hunting, since her current waitressing job at J Paul's, in downtown Baltimore, is providing neither sufficient income nor activity. She loves the place she's living, and has a wonderful circle of friends. It's just that job thing, and figuring out where her passion lies to direct her studies for a few years. On the horizon-a trip to visit her "little" sister in Hungary at the end of the semester. (That's a real motivator for finding a new job.)

Liza's doing the "Sound of Music" thing hiking the hills of Austria this weekend. It was supposed to be a ski trip, but they're having a mild winter also. Unfortunately for our warmth-loving kid, warm there means no scarf needed, but don't leave home without the down-filled, calf-length parka. Language skills are coming along, and she actually got text books for school this month! With her interest in the Foreign Service, and after having worked so hard to get the Hungarian language, Liza's applying to study at BYU next year. With all those missionaries, BYU has one of the largest groups of Hungarian speakers of any US university, and the Kennedy Center is a great place to study International Relations.

Kyle has lettered in marching band for his second year. That required memorizing all the music, and perfect attendance for the whole season. Good for you, Kyle! Academics still aren't high on his list of priorities, but he's enjoying the class they're doing at school to prepare for next summer's trip to Italy.

Samuel and Miriam just finished science projects- done separately, of course. And with their individual approaches. Samuel was intense whenever he worked on it. Miriam seemed to regard it more as another social opportunity.

Samuel is wrapping up the loose ends of the last few merit badges he needs to complete to make Eagle Scout. The project has been declared an April through June endeavor, with paperwork to be completed this summer. You're all invited to his Court of Honor next fall, sometime. He'll be heading to Conservation Camp at the specialty camp week at our local BSA camp at the end of July, and will wrap up most of the merit badges he needs for his Hornaday medal at that point. Then he'll have another 3-4 projects to finish for that, but no rush. He has until his 18th birthday, and is planning to do one a summer until then.
Marching band lost out to kung fu for his freshman year of high school. Testing for that is a 6-12 month process, and marching band requires so much time that he'd have a hard time doing both. He'll be trying out for jazz band, and taking classes.

Miriam considered continuing her sisters' tradition of color guard in the BHS marching band, but is leaning more toward theater. We'll see where she goes. Right now, approaching 14, she mostly goes to her room to read! I'd be concerned, but both of the older girls did that also, and I sure like the way they're turning out. So for now all I have to worry about is where she hid the book I was looking to read?!?

James is in the midst of his part of the living room remodeling project. Since he doesn't like the feel of paint on his hands (Thanks, Mom!), I get to do that after he finishes the sanding and mudding piece of the project. Then he wraps up with replacing all the electical boxes-switches and outlets- in the room. We're getting it down to a routine. The hardest part for both of us seems to be the getting started. Moving furniture, figuring out where to store things for the time it takes to work on the room, and dreading the disorder. Once we get going, it gets to looking better so quickly that we enjoy the work.