Academic Fair, Family, and Blessings!

Brothers...Nate and Roger 

April 1st

The first day of April greeted us with about 5 inches or more of wet, sloppy snow! I have to admit it was beautiful, but I'm also ready to see the leaves on the trees start to bud also! Thankfully, although the weather was mostly wet and damp last week, the snow did disappear rather quickly. Now we have  mud, and I mean, lots of mud! But the good thing about children and mud is that children can be washed clean again and mud dries. I'm thankful that the children like to be  outside, and they certainly sleep better when they've been outdoors for a while.

Last week was such a busy week that it both flew by and dragged on for forever at the same time, and yes, that is possible! 🙂 We started off on Monday with both feet on the ground as Travis and Wyatt both had to bring in their completed academic fair projects to school. I have to admit transporting delicate clay projects, a model airplane and runway, homemade yogurt, and four back boards for presentation skills was a bit crazy! However, nothing was broken...hooray! On Monday morning we just had to transport the stuff for Travis and Wyatt, so at least the trips of valuable items were broken up. Chandler and I spent Monday evening making homemade yogurt. Chandler's academic fair topic was on Americas Dairyland. He had to make a project to go along with his topic, so he picked yogurt. He found a simple recipe on Pinterest, and he happily mixed it all together in the crockpot. It was a new experience for both of us, but I was pleased with how he figured out the directions. When it came time to taste test the yogurt the next morning, he insisted that we wait for Roger. I think he wanted Roger to be his ginea pig to try it out.😜

Garett's project 

Chandler's project 

Wyatt and his friend, Levi 

Travis's Project 

Tuesday is a day that I try to go to a ladies Bible study at a different church in our area. But last Tuesday, I was asked to fill in for music classes. I knew that I would have to miss Bible study, but I also wanted to be a blessing to the music teacher by filling in. So I taught music class on Tuesday morning, did lunch duty, came home and prepared supper, went back to pick up the big boys, and came home to finish getting dinner ready. We invited Roger's boss and his wife to come to dinner last Tuesday evening, and it was a time of good company and lots of stories. We have come to love and appreciate Roger's boss, and his wife is a very dear lady. I'm thankful that we had the opportunity to have them in our home for a meal, and it's something that I hope we can do again soon. The boys told them  all about their academic fair projects, and they agreed to try to come on Thursday night to see the presentations. It was a later night than normal for the kids, but this couple is dear and sweet to us and it was worth the bit of a later bedtime.

Wednesday was the morning for our monthly parent group meeting. Roger had off today, so he did errands while Emma and I attended the meeting. After the meeting, we went to pick up Travis. However, the school secretary mentioned that they were short on lunchroom volunteers for lunch duty. I don't like to see the teachers have to use their valuable time to supervise lunchduty if it can be helped. So, Roger and I did stayed for lunch duty. I also ended up with a very hoarse voice today, so I was happy to go home and take a rest with Emma. I was feeling fine, but I could hardly talk and I was a bit tired. Many kids have been sick at school this week, so we've been trying to use lots of disinfectant and hand washing to keep germs at bay!

Thursday was the day of the academic fair. Chandler and Roger taste tested the yogurt, and Chandler decided to add some strawberry jam to give it extra flavor. Chandler was not crazy about the taste, but Roger thought it was really good. Chandler was happy to have his project done though, so he wa just happy the yogurt was edible!

I spent part of the morning with my friend, Allison. We shopped for paper products for the refreshments that would be served after the academic fair. We managed to make good time on finding some that would work, so we wisely used the remainder of our time sipping coffee and fellow shipping! 🙂 I have come to love and appreciate her friendship to me, and I'm thankful that God brought a much needed friend into my life at just the right time.


After picking up Travis on Thursday morning, we headed home to clean our house. Roger's brother, Nate, his wife, and four kids would be flying in this afternoon for a short visit. I had all the boys take the sheets off of their beds this morning, and Chandler told me "I'm not too dirty, Mom. We don to need to wash my sheets!" 😳I assured him that we would wash them anyways. I still have a very hoarse voice, but I don't have any other symptoms of sickness. Praise the Lord!

We managed to get clean sheets on all the beds, make a snack for the refreshment table, and get everyone's chapel clothes laid out before returning to pick up the boys from school. After school we came home for a bit of downtime, but the boys were pretty wired both about the academic fair and that their cousins were coming to visit.

The academic fair started at six-thirty pm., but the kids needed to be there a little earlier. Since this is our first time having the academic fair experience, we were all anxious to see what it would be like. Each of the classes had set up their presentation around the room. We moved from room to room interacting with the students and asking  them about their projects. All the students did a great job, and it was so rewarding to see all of their hard work come together. Nate and Ruth ended up meeting us directly at the school, and the boys were delighted to see their cousins. Roger's boss, Kevin, and his wife, Terri, were also able to come to the academic fair, and I know that meant a lot to the boys. It was a long day, but I knew that the next day would be  Friday! We had already decided to take the boys out of school around noon, so that they could have some time to spend with their cousins.

Cousins 

Friday was another full day with a half day of school for the boys, a trip to a small town with the cousins, lots of outdoor play, and even a supper date  for the adults. After we picked up the boys from school, we went home where the boys immediately dug out all their nerf guns to play with Landon and Emma. Nate and Ruth have an "Emma" too, so we had two Emma Robertson at our house. The two Emma's are separated by quite a few years between them though! Charis is two, and  our Emma greatly enjoyed having a younger child around. We ended up going up to Camden, which is a quaint little town up the road. The kids had  a good time walking along the harbor, and running around with their cousins.

Roger had to work part of the day on Saturday. But it gave Nate's family a chance to see where Roger works.  Also  on Saturday we visited a lighthouse with Nate, Ruth, and their family. After all, it would be a shame to come all the way to Maine and not visit a light house! Although we didn't have great weather while they were here, I'm thankful that it wasn't pouring down rain. We did have to dress up a bit warmly , but we were able to be outside. Nate and Ruth had to leave on Sunday morning, so it was a really quick visit. However, it is always nice to see family, and I'm thankful that they made the effort to come see us.

So there it is in writing...a crazy busy week! Want to know a special blessing? Someone anonymously put $200.00 on our  school bill!  I had a hard time not skipping out of the office on Friday after the secretary told me that! God is so good! Just when it's hard not to be overwhelmed, God gives us a special tangible reminder that He knows exactly where we are at! I had many blessings last week among them being a meal shared with Rogers boss,  having family come to visit, and someone being used of God to encourage us. We are blessed! I don't know who put money on our school bill, and they might not even read the blog, but I am so very thankful for your generosity!

Have a wonderful day!
Sarah