Recent Activities

As you know if you were on Google a couple weeks ago, May 19 was the 40th anniversary of the Rubik's cube! All the cubers in our house had to celebrate... 

Knut's current speed cube record is 15.16 seconds, and he's averaging around 22 seconds for a solve. He's also solved his cube underwater, single-handed, and even achieved a blind solve. :D 

10 different types of cubes/twisty puzzles: mirror cube (shapeshifting), void, pyramid, 5x5, megaminx, sudoku cube, 2x2, 4x4, 3x3, and 3x3 speed cubes 

A "cube brownie cake"

Our great-grandma Friesen, Mom's grandma, died last week. She was 101 and had lived quite a full life, and she was ready and longing to go home to be with the Lord, so we're very happy for her. :) 

Our family traveled to Ontario, Canada for the funeral... 

Papa singing "Children of the Heavenly Father" with Mom, Sylvia, and Cecily accompanying

While in Canada, we took an extra day for some family time. We went out to Point Pelee...

The southernmost part of the Canadian mainland

Random tomatoes...

At the marina in Leamington

In the meantime, everyone but Sylvia has finished up school (finished high school, but still working on college stuff...hoping to finish that by Thanksgiving! :)) and is ready for summer! :)  Most kids are working for Papa on our #5 rental house, getting it fixed up and ready to rent out. 

Knut is planning to attend a One Year Adventure Novel summer workshop at the end of June, driving out with a friend's family. 

Cecily's busy earning money by mowing lawns and working for Papa, using her free time to apply red duct tape to practically everything she owns. 

Other activities include Drama Club, yard saling, making sure Leif doesn't climb high objects and fall down and break his neck (Mom's full-time job right now...), and graduation party after graduation party after graduation party for all the homeschooled high school grads we know...and being as crazy as usual. 

Cecily: And they shouted to the people of Dan...
Thor: Hey, Dude! Your shoe's untied!

Sylvia: Putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them...
Cecily: Putting the little ones and the livestock and the goats in front of them...

Sylvia: Never seek retaliation on Knut when he's closer to the swords than you are!
Cecily: Well, yeah! But _I_ have a bow. You know, I need target practice...
Sylvia: !?!? 

Knut: Water's not food! It's a beverage. Juice isn't food! It's a liquid. Cheese isn't food--it's heaven!

Cecily: Do not touch the boat! That boat is not for being a boat. It is for being a prop. A prop that is a boat. Oh, whatever. 

Mom: But Knut, when you apply to this great college and they ask you if you really did two years of French, you can say...
Knut: J'ai etudier francais. Je deteste. (I studied French. I hate [it].)

Rosemary: There's no epidermus on my food.

Knut: No, it's not our world; it's MY world!

Papa: Sylvia, what would be the ideal day, in your mind, for tomorrow?
Sylvia: Not dying, and not getting called "short" once.

(As Cecily, Thor, and Gloria are marching around the house with sunglasses, weird hats, belts, and swim shorts over their other clothes)
Sylvia: Please tell me I was adopted!
Mom: I'm afraid not... you were the firstborn; you kind of set the trend.
Sylvia: WHAT!? 

Mom: Okay--Rosemary, you need to go upstairs and wash that leg. ...And that leg.
Sylvia: Oh Mommy, can she wash her other legs too, or can she only wash those two?
Mom: Well, maybe the feet too...

Cecily: You have to use a lot of "thees" and "thous" and "eths." Like, I wisheth we could watch Studio C...eth...no; I doth wisheth....wait; how do you talk like that??

(While waiting in line to cross the border; Cecily points out a cemetery by the road)
Cecily: Welcome to Canada! *points to cemetery* Here are all the people who didn't make it.

Yard Saling, as described by Papa on Facebook...

Friday night: 
Family is prepped and ready to slaughter the Mascoutah Community Yard Sales tomorrow. We're breaking up into three commando units, complete with armaments, communications, and acquisition experts. Vehicles are fueled, car-seats are placed, and assignments made. Our objectives are known to all, and we will cross-reference our findings to specify our objective targets. We shall be victorious!

Saturday afternoon: 
Commando Unit Alpha, led by Captain Sylvia with Lt. Gloria, departed early in the most-terrain vehicle to scout the objectives and make advance guerilla raids at various garage sales. Command Unit Bravo, led by General Moustache (with 1st Lt. Knut, 2nd Lt. Cecily, Sgt. Thor, and Private Bjorn), departed at T-minus 15 to obtain additional funds from the bank before the main assault. Commando Unit Charlie, led by Supreme Commander Nancy, guarded the rear supply base until Captains Leif and Rosemary finished their much needed slumber after a night of watchfulness on night guard. Charlie Unit left at T-plus 2 hours for mop-up operations on the remaining yard sales that survived the first two assaults.

A thorough victory has been declared, and appropriate celebrations are in progress with a lunch of mac-n-cheese with sliced hot-dogs.