Jadon in FIRST LEGO League

So several months ago Jadon joined a homeschooling team of boys to enter in to their first LEGO league challenge. I happen to be lucky enough to be one of the two coaches. They called themselves Out of the Box. None of us really knew what to expect from this and we were in for a fun ride!!!


"FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a global program created to get kids excited about science and technology. Geared for ages 9-14 (up to 16 outside of the U.S. and Canada), FLL utilizes theme-based Challenges to engage kids in research, problem solving, and engineering. The cornerstones of the program are its Core Values, which emphasize contributions of others, friendly sportsmanship, learning, and community involvement."

Each year has its own theme (This years theme was called Climate Connections.)and there are four major components of FLL that they boys work on. There is Teamwork, Technical (how you design your robot), Challenge table (where the robot needs to perform tasks/missions for points) and Research Presentation/Project. We first met at the end of August/beginning of September to decide to do this.

The boys were all excited about working at the table and getting the robot to do the tasks. They were NOT excited about doing research. Climate was a hard topic for them. They decided (after much debate) to do honeybees and how they are affected by the NH Climate and what is happening to them. They met with a local beekeeper and found out a lot about bees. They also met with the State Climatologist.


Fast forward to November 14th. The date of the regional competition. We are all excited. It was finally here. The boys had perfected their presentation, figured out how to get the robot to do 10 or so missions on the table out of 20 and really came together as a team. No matter what happened we were doing this again next year!!

It was a SUPER long day for all the boys (and this coach as I was SO excited I woke up at 1AM that morning:-) As a rookie team they blew EVERYONE away when they were the first team to get 100 points on the table portion!! We could not believe it...we were SO surprised! they ended up in 4th place on the table out of 16 teams. Then the closing ceremonies came..."For project presentation...the award for the team that truly was thinking out of the box...team 5899 Out of the Box!!!" We were shocked again! So much for not knowing what we are doing!! This ment they were off to the State Competition on Dec. 6th. Words can not tell you how surprised we all were to be going to States. The boys were full of ideas and ready to get more missions done on the table. They did a bit more work on their presentation and even got into the local paper.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081206/NEWS01/812060329&template=single

Then, off to Nashua for the State Competition!There were 51 teams in all. We were gone from the house for 12 hours and we were extremely tired when we returned home. BUT the boys (and I) learned SO much by being in the company of all these teams. They watched how other built their robots, they saw how some teams were doing so many missions they were getting 200-300 points on the table. In the end they were awarded 2nd place for their project presentation and I could NOT have been more proud of them. They were they little rookie team that could. We are now going to look into sponsors for next year and we borrowed most of our equipment this year including the robot and a laptop.
I can't wait for next year!!

Were have the Rienstras gone???

I know, I know...it has been over a month since I posted. We have been SO crazy busy that I have not had a moment to sit down and write. So here is the scoop. The last 4 weekends have been none stop action for Jadon and I. I have been selling my bags at various craft fairs and Jadon is on the rookie Out of the Box team for the First Lego League Robotics competition. I will post seperatly about that because it is VERY exciting and I have pictures to share. Bag business was good this fall season. I had a couple of fairs that were VERY slow because of the economy I think. I am still loving the reaction I get when people walk by...stop...back up after reading my signs that these bags are made from plastic bags...then come to check them out for themselves. It is fun to watch over and over again. I attending Bow High School craft fair Nov. 22nd


and the Nashua Area Artisan Market Nov. 29th and 30th.

Next weekend I will be at the Loudon craft fair Dec. 13th 8-noon. Then rest, rest, rest and enjoy Christmas with family!!!

Halloween Fun!

This year we decided to go trick or treating as the Rienstra Family Rockers. We are SO COOL! We sure had a lot of fun. The weather was nice. I thought it might be to cold but it turned out just chilly. I was the only one who ended up putting on a coat after dark:-) Clara the dog even had a little shirt on with a ghost that lit up as she walked. She wasn't crazy about it but she sure was a good sport! We now have SO much candy that I think we will be eating it until next year!!!! :-)

Fall Foliage in NH

We have been out and about lately and you can't help but notice the wonderful foliage that is all around us. Okay, Clara is NOT a big fan but she did pose for this picture. What a good sport:-)


There are trees that are red/orange and some that are all yellow. It is so beautiful!!

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Well we are all VERY tired and have sore feet but we have just completed the 5 mile Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk here in Concord. The sun was shining and it was a bit cool but it made it really nice to walk in. It was nice to talk and laugh with friends and other familiar faces in the crowd of pink. More importantly though as I looked around it is hard not to notice the woman wearing the "survivor" sashes as we walked. We were all there for one cause but for several different people who have touched our lives. I heard over the loud speaker that it was a record breaking year for money raised. May many lives benefit from that:-)

I am SO very proud of the kids. At times they were pretty tired and at one point Lillian even decided she wanted to go home (we had gone a mile) but I have to say they really did not complain and they did the whole thing. The boys even wore a pink ribbon t-shirt I made for them without complaint even though they "don't like pink". After the walk there was loads of food which the kids really loved.

After we were all done and we were walking to the van I said "Are you guys ready to do this next year?"
They all said "yes" Do I have the best kids or what??

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

The kids and I are participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on October 19th. We are very excited to be a part of it this year. Please help us reach our fundraising goal of $500. Follow this link below to visit my personal page and donate today!! Thanks:-) Kathi

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kathirienstra

Grant makes dinner!

So this week has been a tough one for the school part of our life. We all seem to be rather interested in doing anything but school work. Well this week Grant and I were reading about Monks in Britian in the Middle Ages. He was facinated that they wrote books by hand. They could only make 2 to 3 books a year and worked 8 hours a day. One of the activities was to make "Monk Soup". So Grant helped cut up the carrots and celery. (Yes, I let him use a sharp knife:-) He tore up the spinach and added the spices. He had such a great time that I think they should help out more with dinner:-) He was very proud of himself. It tasted delicious!!!!

Lillian singing

Lillian was sorting some plastic bags for me this morning and she suddenly breaks out in this song that she made up. The video is only a minute but she could have gone on for about 10 more. SO cute!

Monarch Caterpillar

A few weeks ago we were very lucky to find a caterpillar munching on some milkweed in our front yard. We took it in and watched it munch away on some more milkweed. Soon it brought itself to the top of the jar and started to curl in a J shape.



Just a few short hours later...



It has been about a week and a half and today we noticed how you could see the wing shape through the cocoon. I took this picture about 10:30AM this moring.



JUST 45 MINUTES later we saw this...





We were all so excited to see the beautiful Monarch butterfly. Soon it was itching to be released from the jar. We opened the jar lid one last time and watched it for a while. Now it is out exploring the big world. Thank you little caterpillar for showing us your amazing transformation!

Third Fire Tower - Mt. Belknap

We discovered our third fire tower in NH. No toads (and thankfully no bears) but a beautiful view of Lake Winnipesaukee. We saw loads of boaters enjoying the long weekend. Got some great family pics this time. Our next stop???We are thinking Red Hill in Moultonboro....stay tuned!!

Oak Hill Fire tower hike

We decided to take advantage of a Sunday were we didn't have to run off anywhere and take a hike. David found a local trail called Oak Hill. It has a fire tower at the top and it is our second time visiting one of the local fire towers. (We went up Mt. Kearsarge before.) This hike was smaller which makde it perfect for an afternoon family outing.

Worm Hunt

Each summer we set up our little 3 foot pool in the back yard for the kids. We have already had some pretty chilly nights and a LOT of rain which makes the pool water very cold. So Friday I decided that it was time to empty the pool after the kids had one last swim. Each year as the water empties out of the pool it is fun for the kids to find all the earthworms that come out of the ground as their holes fill up with water. This year our earthworm hunt found over 200 worms!! The kids had a great time "rescuing" the earthworms from the chlorinated water that covered the ground. We took them to dry parts of the yard and gardens. Each time we looked there were more swimming around. I even joined in on the fun (after I grabbed the camera of course).

Ready for the beach

This summer we have spent some time at Elm Brook here in NH. It has a small beach and when we go early enough we have the whole beach to ourselves. The kids enjoy swimming of course but the BEST part has to be looking for the fish. Jadon has tried (unsuccessfully) to get them with buckets. He has even used his turtle tank net. So we went out today and I got each of the kids their own net. Then we saw the goggles on sale! Well as you can see they are MORE than excited to head back to beach. So excited in fact that they HAD to try on the goggles in the van and yes, Grant is wearing a sweater with his goggles. It is a bit chilly this morning:-)

Kathi's hair cut!

I have had enough with the heat and the frizz of my hair...10 inches donated to charity!! Woo hoo!!!

Lillian reading with Grant

Okay, so the kids were sitting down going through some books that the neighbors brought over. Lillian starts to read and with Grant over her shoulder and she read the entire book! It was so great to see her reading. She is really getting the hang of it. By the time I grabbed my camera she was near the end of the book but here it is...ENJOY!!

Overcast Thursday afternoon water gun fight

Okay, so we are usually quite a busy family with all the things we are currently involved in. Thursdays are one of those days when we have no extra children and although we catch up on errands we really have a more settled day. Today is a little cooler after yesturday's long awaited rain. The sky is still cloudy but you would never know it looking at my silly children! On Tuesday, the kids and I went to a birthday party and they each recieved a water gun. So this afternoon they all decided that after lunch they would go outside and have a water gun fight. Jadon and Lillian decided it was a perfect opportunity to get into their swimsuits! So much fun!!

Here is Lillian finishing up her candy necklace..."I don't want anyone to get it wet!"


"Its raining, its pouring!" Grant decided to spray into the air and then he would open his mouth to "catch" some of the water.


Then the water fight began! Lillian and Jadon were laughing SO hard! Then Grant grabbed a "shield" (the toy box cover)