Moment of the Week

We hit out 100th day of school!

Our cuckoo clock is back from The Clock Shop.

It's been providing lots of entertainment.

We've been trying to stay occupied this week as Dave is gone for training.

 The weather has been amazing.

Sunny and spring like temps.

The dogs are still sad though because Dad is gone.

Boxwork

This morning we drove across the prairie to the Adventures in Nature field trip. 

Since Dave is in Texas for a class we have been using his truck and Nate thinks it's pretty fun.

This week we learned more about cave exploration and what to be careful of in the cave and what to look out for.  Along with a fascinating explanation about how boxwork is formed. 

 I think he said 95% of the world's boxwork is found in Wind Cave.

(it might have been 90%, I was parenting/listening)

 After stations we went in the cave.  

Nate nearly chickened out!

I didn't think I was going to be able to talk him into it.

Thank goodness I did, I have been very anxious to see Wind Cave!

 It was incredible!

I can't wait for the next class, hopefully we keep having great weather every other Tuesday! 

Moment of the Week

 Announcer

 Timekeeper

Our view of Nate's game 

Weird gloomy weather which lead to a beautiful forecast for the weekend.

We went to see Norm of the North on Tuesday night.

It's a perk of homeschooling.

Moment of the Week

Hockey

Science

Quilting

Spring break is booked

Sadly this week we said goodbye to our hamster Oreo/Shadow.

Luckily it was 40 degrees on the day of his passing, so the ground wasn't too frozen.

We held a little funeral for him.

It was very sad.

Field Trip

This morning we headed south to Hot Springs for the first Adventure in Nature of the year.

The park rangers are so good with the kids.  

The program is well planned and the kids really have a lot of fun.

Nate really had fun learning about cave history and a bit about the Lakota history.

And he got to feel the wind from the natural entrance to the cave.

Next time we will get to go in the cave.

(but we don't have to enter through that hole)

I love this program. This year I would like to make it regularly.

Moment of the Week

The carpets were cleaned, so we did school in the kitchen.  It was kinda fun.

I got new glasses.

The Christmas cactus is still flowering.

He's a nut.

Nate is doing so well in hockey.

We've had beautiful frost freeze.  It feels like winter is here for sure!

A New Year And The Winter Classic

We had a very nice slow paced week.  

Dave almost had the whole week off.

Nate had hockey and karate.

We did a couple days of school.

We went to see Star Wars.

Mostly we relaxed.

We spent New Years Eve at home.

I made berry brisket.

We went to the fireworks after dinner.

We did a fake countdown on Netflix then Nate went to bed.

Dave and I stayed up watching New Years Eve specials while I did three loads of laundry.

We were running out of clothes, and who wants to go into a new year like that?

We work up early this morning and headed for the hills.

Nate had a hockey game at the KOA in Hill City at 10.

It was a beautiful day!

Abundant sunshine.

It wasn't too cold either.

Just a bit chilly.

But it was so sunny it felt warmer.

It was great fun watching the little mites playing.

The kids had fun.

After the game we headed back to Rapid.  

We had just 45 minutes to grab lunch and try to dry out Nate's gear.

He had a game at the Thunderdome too!

Nate loves his Winter Classic hoodie which has his name on the back.

It's pretty cute.

Our new year started with a fun busy day.

We have high hopes for a great 2016.

We are planning a Yosemite adventure in June, plotting out how we want to expand our garden, can't wait to meet a new nephew, Dave is going to start fishing again, and we are going to spend our 15th anniversary someplace warm and relaxing.

Who knows what else is in store for our family.  

But if we are all together that should be and improvement from 2015.

Looking Back

I can't help but look back every year.

You miss the big picture of how great things are when you are busy with the day to day.

2015 was much better than I expected.

Dave was promoted.

We went to Disney.

We stayed strong.

We got out and did stuff.

We got out and saw stuff.

Friends kept us busy.

I didn't take the things around me for granted.

Nate learned to swim.

Nate lost a bunch of teeth.

The dogs kept us busy.

We met someone that has been to the moon.

We had fun learning.

And playing around.

I learned something new.

We started our third year of homeschooling.

 The Beckers came to visit.

 Grandma and Grandpa McMath came to visit.

Grandma and Grandpa Brinker came to visit.

 We were reunited.

We got back to being a family again.

 Nate became a mini mite.

We redid our kitchen.

 Even though Dave missed half of 2015 it doesn't feel like it.

It went so fast it just feels like a blip, or even like it happened a year ago.

I am really proud of how we handled the deployment, and this year in general.

But I am looking forward to spending 2016 together as a family!