OM Competition

Prep - The Stahl house is always extra busy the day before the competition packing up all the needed supplies, getting and loading the Uhaul, and finishing up the paperwork that should have been done already...this led to a long day and late evening. This time we also had to add purchasing tarps because there was a chance of rain...oh and don't forget Makin changing up one vehicle and a team rehearsal! ;)  Yep, we were tired.

Competition day dawned cold, cloudy, and with a chance of freezing rain. We were very relieved it was not raining as we unloaded - SO, SO thankful for this. We arrived a couple hours before our performance time so that the kids could prepare as well as fix up any props as needed. We were a bit cramped as we had assigned locations to put our props in the hallway, but we survived.

The team did a great job presenting, with only a few minor "kinks" that the coaches and kids knew about, but overall we knew they did very well.

The kids did their "cheese chant" and loved that the judge came over and said,
 "after I heard that chant I just had to come over and meet you."

After the presentation, the judges go and talk to the students,
asking them lots of questions to see how they solved their problem.

They rushed off to their Spontaneous as soon as their long-term was done (this ran late, which made them rush even more!) and felt they did a great job at Spontaneous. In case you aren't familiar, this is a percentage of their scoring and they have to answer a problem in a certain amount of time - it is great for those quick-thinking skills. Judges look for creative answers - those receive more points.

So proud of them!!!

After the Spontaneous, we had time for a quick birthday cookie cake because it was Brittany's birthday. Then Christine and I put in our volunteer shift while Brad and the kids watched the elementary students perform our problem. We then had to head home to wait for scores (the scores were behind, so we had to wait for an email we got around 10 pm) and planned to watch the results together Sunday evening. (Covid precautions - no in-person awards ceremony...)

The kids brought their pins and did a little pin trading among themselves.

Then we watched the results...

FIRST PLACE!!! State, here we come!

(State is the second weekend in April...so more OM workdays to try and improve until then, but shouldn't be QUITE so crazy around here... ;) )

February Fun

Harry Potter Movie

The local theater shows one "oldie" or so a week. This month they had the second HP movie and the kids were so excited to see their first HP movie in the theater! Lorelei even had the full experience with Butterbeer! (Makin chose chocolate milk since he only likes frozen Butterbeer.)

Snow!

We were so excited for a snow day!

"Look mom, I'm a penguin!"

Funday Friday At The Lake

We had a warm Friday and enjoyed meeting friends at the lake! (Oh the ups and downs of winter here! A week after all that cold we can enjoy warm weather at the lake!)

Friend Time

We had special friend time including meeting pets, Nerf, games, and a dip in the hot tub!

Olympics/Cool Runnings

We have watched the Winter Olympics in short spurts this month. Brad chose a favorite to go with that theme for movie night - Cool Runnings!

Valentine's Day

We enjoyed extra sweet treats and keeping our tradition of chocolate strawberries! (The first year in forever with NO valentines...but it was really ok with me for some reason?!)

A quick holiday writing assignment for Makin.

OM Workdays

February is a huge push on all things OM so we put in lots of hours of overtime this month!

(As you can see on the left, the house is a pretty chaotic mess through this process!)

Lots of time figuring out vehicles.

Paper mache.

House is hopping with projects.

Had to add the second layer Sunday afternoon.

Time to make some gears.

Their favorite tool this season.

They used free paint samples for the outside of the clock.

Cutting gears as the sun goes down.

Working on the numbers for inside the clock.

Painting the second batch of gears.

Outside clock face.

Adding a pistachio shell border.

Coffee grounds to make the numbers...

Finally rehearsal time!

Crazy hat.

Finishing up the outside clock face, which included adding coffee beans for the hands.

Mostly finished inside...

Last-minute vehicle changes the morning before the competition
as we re-read the rules and discovered we needed to make a change.
Not something you enjoy but SO glad we figured it out before the competition!

Competition here we come!