Odyssey of the Mind - Regional Competition

Will and six other students from his school have been working hard as a team to bring a project to the Odyssey of the Mind competition. Each team is required to have a parent be one of the competition judges, and that was what I got to do. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't get to actually watch my own child compete (I was not allowed to judge the set that he was competing in, and I was not able to line up my break with their performance time.) Allen, the three littles, and Allen's parents did get to see it all, though. The good news: they are moving on to the state competition in April! The bad news: I can't share details of what they did ... yet :)

I can tell you that these kids are in third, fourth, and fifth grades, and this is the problem they worked on:

Teams will design and build a structure made up of separate components stacked on top of one another. The structure components will be made of only balsa wood and glue, and will be tested by balancing and supporting weights after they are stacked. Teams will be scored for the number of components they use in their final structure. Before they are stacked, the separate components will be integrated into an artistic representation of Earth. The team will include the stacking of the components, placement of the weights, and Earth into the theme of its performance. Cost limit: $145 USD.

After talking with many other volunteer judges, it Will's team is the only one I heard of that had teachers participating as coaches -- usually, the teams are parent-coached and working in home garages. Will's team did have a parent coach, too, but two teachers coordinated a lot of it. These kids have had a lot of support from the school, and that makes it even more rewarding for the team. I will share more when it isn't top secret!

A Home of Lego

This week has been a bit of a tough one at home. I expected that we would get back into our school routine and be refreshed after a week off. Unfortunately, the week off was cold and rainy, and none of us saw much sun. We were cooped up and tired of being inside. This week was more cold, cranky weather, and it seemed to suck all the patience out of each of us. Wednesday, school was cancelled for Will because there was a lot of ice. Ben, Maddie, and Jon and I did a few lessons, but cut the school day short. Thursday, the weather started to warm up, and Friday was beautiful! I really wanted to send the kids outside to play, but the three younger ones started working together on building a big Lego home and I didn't want to interrupt the collaboration and teamwork, so I let them keep going. After about three hours of getting along perfectly, they asked me to take pictures of their giant creation. They took turns explaining the rooms to me as I snapped pictures.

Looking into the garage

This is the workbench in the garage. There are lots of tools and gems because the people who live here are miners.

This is the living room. Notice the sofas have cup holders with coffee mugs. There is also a TV remote on the TV stand.

This is the TV in the living room.

The Minecraft playroom for the kids.

This is the girl's room. Notice the teddy bear, pillow, purse on the nightstand, and the floor lamp.

This is the fireplace in the bedroom.

The vanity and swivel seat in the girl's room. Her purses are stored in the pink drawer, and the flowers add a nice touch.

The girl's room also has a built in mini-fridge and washing machine.

The kitchen table has food on it!

The view from above!

February 14th

 

Today, I celebrate the 20th Valentine's Day with this handsome guy!

Delivering Valentines

Last week, our American Heritage Girls troop made Valentine cards for hospitalized children and elderly adults in nursing homes. Since my kiddos weren't at the meeting, I took the supplies with me when I went to Waco. We stayed busy crafting cards one cold afternoon. Today, Ben, Maddie, Jon, and I took the ninety-five Valentine cards to the radio station that heads up the project. One of the employees at the station gave the kids a tour (and pencils and bracelets). The on-air host, Susan, even took a few minutes to show the kids the studio equipment and record the kids talking (though I don't think they played it on-air... let's just say they were not polished speakers.)

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This week, Will was off for Winter Break. Add to the week that I needed a break and had another appointment with the audiologist, and it seemed like a great time to call for help. Saturday, Allen and I took the kids and met my parents for the swap. The kiddos went to Gramma and Granddad's for a few days, while we came home for a bit of quiet. Allen and I went to the grocery store on the way home, then came home to a home {and I NEVER thought I'd say this} that was TOO quiet. We enjoyed a couple days "off" from our regular routine. I slept in each day (but only by about 15 minutes), I did my Bible study while I drank my morning coffee (instead of cramming it all into Sunday afternoon and Monday evening), and we had a few meals out.

One of the places we went had an AWESOME dessert, so I came home to search the internet for a recipe. The next  day, I picked up the ingredients to try it, and I made a few adjustments so I wouldn't get a tummy ache. I started with a recipe and tweaked it just a tad. The result was just as amazing as the one at the restaurant. It is now my favorite cake! {Note: I did make only 1/3 of the recipe and used a souffle dish instead of my springform pan -- the recipe divided quite well and gave us several days of rich chocolatey yumminess.}

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake

For the Cake:

• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (I used salted since that's all I had -- still delish!)
• 18 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 6 eggs

For the Ganache:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (Dairy foods don't like me, so I used coconut milk instead)
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 300° convection, 350° conventional.  Place shelf in middle of oven.
   
2. Butter a 10" springform pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper (it will stick on thanks to the butter).  Wrap pan in several layers of aluminum foil to keep out the water from the water bath in which the cake will be baked.
3. Fill a tea kettle and bring water to a boil.  If it boils before you're ready to stick your cake in the oven, just set the kettle aside.  The water will stay hot enough.  Locate a roasting pan that is wide and deep enough to accommodate your springform pan.
4. Combine the 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar in a small pan and bring to a boil over medium.  Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring until sugar dissolves.  This is really just a simple syrup with a little less sugar than the typical 1:1 ratio of water to sugar.  Remove from heat.
5. Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave in one-minute increments, stirring well after each minute and watching to avoid the chocolate burning.  We use chocolate discs which do not require any chopping before melting.  If you are starting with a block or bar, chop up before trying to melt in the micro.
6. Add simple syrup to chocolate mixture, whisk well, then allow to cool enough to add eggs.  Whisk in eggs and combine well.  Pour batter into springform pan.
7. Place cake pan in center of roasting pan, place in oven, then add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come up to the middle of the cake  pan.
8. Bake until cake is set in the center, about 40 minutes in our oven.  Remove from water bath and cool completely on a rack.

Ganache

1. Melt chocolate and cream together in the microwave in a glass dish.  Whisk until smooth, then pour over cooled cake (still in the springform) and distribute evenly.  
2. Refrigerate immediately, or once ganache is set. Allow ganache to set completely before removing from springform pan and cutting into cake.