Science Fair

We usually host our science fair in February, but this year I got behind on the preplanning stages and the thought of trying to make it happen in February quite literally brought me to tears. I ended up deciding that if I felt like it would cause significant stress and struggle - it wasn't worth pushing for it just because that's what we usually do. People were understanding and supportive when I canceled the science fair with the hope of being able to reschedule later in the spring. When we canceled, I wasn't sure that we would even be able to reschedule - but everything fell into place once I had a little more time and breathing room. We held the science fair kickoff and the science fair in the Kimber Acedemy building and the whole thing was a success. 

Science Fair Kickoff - March 25, 2023
We did a rotation for each of the steps of the scientific method. Question, Hypothesis, Experiment, Data, Conclusion. Each rotation had a small lesson about why that step was important and a small activity for the kids to do together. Then we came back together at the end for a group discussion to get the kids excited about doing their own science project. 

(note: next year I want to have one single science project and break into as many groups as we need but do one project from start to finish)

Prepping for Science Fair/ Projects
The kids did some great projects this year and I felt really satisfied with the amount of effort and the total experience. I am going to write a blog post for each science project with more details and pictures, but wanted to do an overview here. 

Caleb - Mrs. Peters Birthday Cake 

Caleb was unconvinced that Austin's previous science experiment truly replicated the book's instructions and wanted to try again. I loved this science project the first time so I was happy to do it again with Caleb. 

Austin - Popcorn Volume 

Austin was excited to test different cooking methods of popcorn to see if it affected the volume of popcorn. This was sparked because I've been making popcorn in the microwave in a brown paper sack lately and then once I made it on the stovetop for the kids. We noticed the texture was a little different and decided that volume would be the best variable to test. We ate a lot of popcorn this week. 

Lydia - Density of Liquids

Lydia really struggled to nail down a science experiment she wanted to do. She has such big ideas and I wasn't sure we could make some of her more extravagant thoughts happen, however, it was important to her that she not already know the answer to the question - she wanted to really discover the answer. Finally, I decided to present her with a science fair challenge where she had three practice attempts exploring the density of different liquids and then had to try to create a rainbow of liquid using their density as separation. 

Science Fair - April 22, 2023
The kids did great on their presentations and we had a great turnout. I love my kids having this experience and think it's such a valuable part of their education so I am thrilled that it came together this year. I had enough time/energy to print all of the materials for the day - but the real magic is when everyone shows up and shares the things that they have been working on. 

I had four judges come and I split the projects into two rooms, two judges per room. The only thing that I think I will change from here on out is the way that medals are awarded. When I first started doing the science fair I read a bunch of articles and blog posts about "How to host a science fair!" One of the things that was repeatedly mentioned was the importance of having a science fair winner. There were lots of different ways that you could determine that winner, and we ultimately decided to take a popular vote. We were a small group and my judges didn't feel confident in their ability to pick winners. It worked fine, but with each passing year it's felt more like a popularity contest than people judging for the best projects. I would like to change next year to have a gold silver broze for popular vote and a gold silver bronze "Judges Choice".  I've felt it was important to have outside feedback for the projects and have consistently had judges fill out rubrics for the projects and it makes sense to have them pick their top 3. I wish I would have implemented that this year, but I didn't and it's okay - we keep learning and adjusting as we do. 




Austin and Caleb both won medals in their age group; 

Austin 2nd Place Silver  (9+)
Caleb 3rd Place Bronze (8 and Under) 

I can not express the level of relief when the science fair was over and everything had gone relatively smoothly. It was a push to make the science fair happen this year, but we rode it out and it all came together. On the way home we stopped at Arctic Circle for Ice Cream which turned into ice cream and a massive amount of french friends. The kids played on the playground while I sipped a soda and listened to my audio book on headphones and took deep breaths. We stayed for a long time and it felt so good. 

Grief in the Peace and Faith and Joy

 This is an only-slightly-edited transcript of a Marco Polo I sent to a friend. She had asked me several times how I was doing and when I repeatedly failed to really give a response - only responding with other things we needed to discuss - she sent me a message asking me how I was truly doing and genuinely requesting a response. This response, while a little messy, sums up so perfectly how I am feeling right now and the beauty and complexity of faith and grief. 

(Pic from several years ago. I am so grateful for this woman.)

Sent to Ali Middleton on April 9, 2024 at 6:15 p.m.

I am really, really happy - but I am also struggling with a whole load of things. Now, sometimes I have been struggling and have been internally upset as I am working through difficult emotions. However, right now I feel so happy even though I am struggling. Things are going so well, almost the best they've ever been (overly dramatic). Everything is going so well with my kids,with homeschool, and with David. My inner peace has been feeling so good lately. 

And at the same time, I am sad ALL the time. Not sad like depression sad; sometimes things feel sad and they feel really dark, but things don't feel dark right now. Things feel beautifully bright and wonderful...  and also my emotions are really close to the surface. If someone asks "How are you doing?", I will immediately burst into tears. I can't even tell you how many times I have burst into tears in the most random of situations - not even friends who are like "really tell me how you're doing?" but friends who are just like "Hey, how is it going?" and then I BURST into tears, just full-on crying. My emotions are just really, really close to the surface in a way that feels almost a little out of control. 

I was at a Relief Society General Broadcast at my Relief Society Presidents house with a group of relief society sisters and the whole thing was really great. The testimonies were beautiful, the environment was so sweet. And then all the sudden it hit me - not just a little "I'm feeling the spirit and I'm feeling emotional" (which I WAS! I was feeling the spirit and was feeling emotional. I wasn't sad and I wasn't upset) but  a huge wave of emotion. I was having a hard time controlling my emotions and I was sobbing. I had to leave to go into the bathroom and just cry in the bathroom and then I made a hasty exit like "peace out - I got to go" and then I sobbed the entire time I walked home, like wracking sobs - just so so so so sad. Not because anything was said that was sad, just because... I don't know. 

I have lost many grandparents and have always been sad and there have been times that I have cried a lot with the loss of a grandparent. But losing a parent has just been so sad. Not in a bitter way or a faith-crisis way, I feel the spirit so strong: such peace and faith and joy in the plan of salvation and gratitude for the wonderful mother Sue was to David and to me. Everything about it is happy. It is just that the grief of her not being here is so strong. 

I feel like it has been harder than expected. I always have a thousand balls that I'm juggling all the time and it's been harder to juggle those balls but in some ways it feels kind of healthier too. I'm letting go of a lot of things, I'm prioritizing the things that matter. So even though dropping the balls feels frustrating, it's also been good to slow down a little.

The question "How are you doing?" is just so multi-faceted, because I'm doing great. And also I'm very sad... in a... longer way. I don't even know if that makes any sense. Just, I am very sad. This piece of me is very sad and just probably will be for a really long time, which is how it should be. 

But I am feeling better than I was even a couple of weeks ago. 

The sunshine is out and I have really tried to just let myself feel the feelings. Feel the grief and feel the sorrow and feel the peace and feel the joy and feel the gratitude - feel it all.  I have tried to be present in that and I feel like that has been really good for me to acknowledge it and let it take its time. 

It sounds silly to say "It's taken me longer to get over it than I thought it would", because you never get over it. But I have been surprised at how far reaching the effects of the grief have been. I haven't been able to be as present in other things, Like did you know that I had flowers to bring to you for your surgery and then never brought them to you and then they died! And that was sad because they got to the point where I was like "I cannot bring these flowers to anyone because they're so wilted." I've just been dropping a lot of things and haven't been there for people that I wish I could be there for. So the sitting in the grief and the feelings has consequences - but like I said, the sun is coming and I am feeling like the weight of the grief has eased a lot. The sadness is still there but it doesn't feel as heavy. 

 I feel like it has helped me put some things in perspective about where I am spending my time and what I want to spend my time doing and being and I am looking forward to the next year thinking about what things I can let go of and what things I need to prioritize a little bit better. 

The dropping of the balls, that's kind of helped. I've had some clarity with that and I feel like that's been good. I feel so grateful for so many things and have felt so much goodness in my life right now. I'm so happy and so sad and it's all happening at the same time and that's a lot of emotion. But there is healing there, too. 

March Madness 2024

We had so much fun watching March Madness this year. The best part was that Utah State made the tournament and won their first March Madness game since 2001. We had a lot of celebration and enjoyed watching the entire tournament (but were disappointed when Utah State lost to the #1 seed and eventually 2nd place team).

This year Caleb was our March Maddness Champion and had the best bracket. Caleb correctly picked the Uconn Husies to win it all and won the big prize. He ended up with 1,420 points (and finished in the 99.2% of all brackets on ESPN). Austin took 2nd, Shantel took 3rd, I was 4th, Lydia was 5th and Lucy was 6th.