End of the (school) year

Mason receives his end-of-the-year awards from his principal

This week marked the end of another school year. Mason and Spencer both had awards ceremonies. Spencer was deemed the "best scientist." Mason garnered a long list of awards including being commended on two sections of the TAKS tests and making the all-A honor role. At the end of the ceremony the top 10 Accelerated Reader scores for the grade were honored. Mason had the top score for the grade—by far. We are certainly proud of his accomplishments at school. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Spencer's accomplishments as well, seeing as he has been doing reading and math with the first graders for much of the year. OK, so I'm bragging a little—I can't help being proud of their success at school.

Fun with fish

My sister Andrea and her family are not the only ones who have been fishing lately. I have been out camping (though not in a fancy cabin) and fishing, too. The first weekend, Mason and I went out, he caught six fish. Mason had reeled in three fish before I had time to set up my own pole.

Mason was pretty pleased with his fishing success

Spencer and I went out the next week. He was determined to catch as many fish as Mason did, but we got skunked in the morning—possibly because the worms I brought were all dead. The campground host saw us out walking later that morning and suggested we come to the fishing competition at 9 am. I figured Spencer was bored of fruitless fishing, but when he heard there were door prizes, he was ready to try it again. Fortunately, the organizers of the event were able to provide some life bait.

It may just be a baby bluegill, but just one fish makes for a much more successful fishing trip

I had a great time going out individually with the boys and can't wait to do it again soon.

Oh, and I managed to catch a few fish of my own, too

Dr. Coconut

Sam has decided to call himself Dr. Coconut

For the past several weeks, Sam has taken to calling everyone "coconuts." Then he turned things around and started calling himself "Dr. Coconut." It was so endearing that Teressa had to get Sam a real coconut. From the time it came home, Sam started asking to open it up. So I drilled a hole, threw in a straw and Sam went to town. It seems to have become a habit. This week when we were grocery shopping, Sam noticed the coconuts on display and wanted another one. It seems that Dr. Coconut is nuts for coconuts.

Say it ain't so, Diego

Sam has become a big fan of Go, Diego, Go (among other TV shows). But after we had this conversation, I'm starting to wonder about the educational content. I'm guessing condors probably like to eat more than rocks. Before I started filming, Sam was quite adamant that condors do not like flying. I'm sure that's a common misconception.

From the vault

I know there are many of you out there who have seen this, but I have been going through my collection of home videos and figured this would be worth posting. If there is one thing you can take away from this video, it's an understanding of just how bored I was while I was sitting around in Iraq. And yes, my sense of humor is a little odd. I'm glad you noticed.

Over the airwaves

Antennas have certainly gotten more attractive since the last one we bought

It is time for another installment of how can Ethan use alternate technology (in this case much older technology) to avoid paying out to the cable company. This episode was inspired by the news that the BYU vs San Diego State basketball game would be airing on CBS. Since that is a network that actually broadcasts its content, I went out Saturday morning and purchased a new antenna. They do some nice things with antennas these days. In fact, I wouldn't even recognize the thing as an antenna if it didn't say so on the box. Where are the rabbit ears?

Right after soccer games, we came home and I hooked the antenna up. We caught the whole second half of the ballgame. Go BYU! The picture was fantastic. There were some times when the signal would break up momentarily, but overall things were much better than they used to be on our analog sets. Hopefully, I will be able to watch plenty of NCAA tournament games the same way.

Winter weather

This morning we were greeted with the sight of a cold, white, crystalline substance that is reportedly called "snow"

After seeing so many photos of blizzards and snowstorms this winter, we've been feeling left out. Fortunately Mother Nature finally decided to grace us with some winter weather. As you can see from the photo above, for the first time since we moved to San Antonio, we actually received some snowfall. Granted, the amount of snow can't be considered impressive when it doesn't even cover the grass, but it's a big deal for our area. As you can see, the weather was cold enough that the snow stuck to the sidewalks and roads. And before the snow started falling last night, we also had a light coating of freezing rain, so underneath that layer of snow is a layer of ice. And when south central Texas has to deal with ice, this is what happens:


Traffic is snarled during the attempted morning commute. The freeway was closed from this point on

I knew that getting to work this morning would be interesting. I nearly turned around and went home after seeing five cars that had been abandoned on the side of the road in the mile between our house and the freeway. But I forged ahead because I grew up in Idaho, and we don't let a little ice get in the way. What I didn't foresee was every freeway running through San Antonio being closed. I made it partway into work before I had to give up, turn around and come back home. The kids also got a day off from school. I can safely say that this is the first time I have gotten a snow day for an accumulation of about half-an-inch of snow.