Olivia just started her new science book. She has really enjoyed it. The first experiment she tried was building this fettucine and marshmallow structure and then simulating earthquakes. She made it so strong, it survived all of her mock earthquakes (even though the couch may have suffered a bit). Maybe she will be an engineer when she grows up. Or maybe the marshmallows were just way too old and tough.
Saveia and Owen started on their 4H garden boxes with their Master Gardener volunteer. The boxes were made out of rough hewn hemlock, which apparently is better than pine, but not as good as cedar. The kids all wanted to help out, but they had to be content to watch since this is solely Owen and Saveia's project. The nailed the pieces together and then filled them up with about 75 gallons of dirt each.
Zoey has been LOVING her sandbox. Summer, Dylan and Saveia also really enjoy it, but they can only fit two people in at a time.
Dylan has been having fun working on his handwriting...sort of. His customary comment is, "I CAN'T DO THIS!" but he does like coloring in the pictures, cutting on the dotted line and stapling the pages together. He also really likes me helping him work on it.
Summer is working on the same handwriting worksheets, but she's tearing it up in the reading section. She is probably at the same level as Saveia, and while Saveia is unmotivated Summer is exceedingly eager to read, so I expect Summer to surpass Saveia's capabilities in the next few months. And that is fine for both of them.
On Mother's Day, the family came over and hung out. We had nachos and artichoke dip in the evening, and were serenaded with karaoke songs.
After all the stall tactics of the Romney Campaign on Saturday, we were simply expecting to have to listen to a barrage of point-of-orders at every turn. However, their mode of "attack" was worse. After Brent Tweed, the convention Chair, issued a warning about dilatory and improper motions (p 342 of Robert's Rules of Order, new revised 11th ed), the paid hands abandoned that ship. However, unbeknownst to the majority, they were executing a different tactic in the ballot counting room: the Mitt Romney lawyers were simply challenging every ballot that was counted in their presence. Who knows how many times the counters had to recount the votes? They were in there for HOURS.
This was everyone's favorite point-of-orderer...and by "favorite" I mean loathed.
Jonathan hard at work distributing ballots for Portland.
Voting for our delegates in the First District.
Hours and hours of waiting, and praying to get all the agenda finished before we had to adjourn the caucus...
Shepard went from Delegate Chair of Hollis to Advisor to the Chair. ;) See him on the stage?
In the end, by following the rules, and sticking to our guns, we had victory! State Senator Roger Katz read the results of the District One Caucus, to delegates of District One, at 9pm.
These final moments were like giving birth! Tears in my eyes, with a sense of exhaustion, relief and JOY! It was awesome. You can clearly see me and Jonathan in the background at 5:57 into the video.
So it looks like Jonathan is going to Tampa!!!
I love what he says at the end...'when the left they wer Paul guys!'
A Wing Nut and Screw.
Charlie Webster, Maine GOP State Chairman, called us Ron Paul supporters wing nuts. I don't mind being called a wing nut because I believe in personal liberty and financial responsibility and want my representatives and president to reflect my values. I'm happy to work to keep those screws in place. ;)
Prior to the convention, we had a Ron Paul delegate meeting. Kurt and Sharon joined us to find out what our strategy would be for the convention. They really had no idea what they were getting into.
After welcoming the Romeny spies, we listened to Eric Brakey talk about our convention goals. They sounded so simple! ;) They would require patience and fortitude. After the meeting, we went out to eat with some Ron Paul friends.
Owen started baseball practices a week ago and had his first game yesterday. Auntie, Uncle, Nana, Papa and cousins came out to enjoy the sunshine with us, as we watched his team play.
Who's on first?
And who's on third?
Running home!
It was nice to have the sun shining after so many days of Oregon-like rain. I guess the April showers decided they would wait until May this year. :( I was hoping to skip them entirely.
