2015 Week 19: Celebrations

Today sweet messages flow between family members and friends celebrating mothers and all women who give life and nurture.
On this Mother's Day I share with all of you this beautiful greeting piece created by son Stephan.

And now about our week:
Monday, at Stephan and Karen's, we checked out all that was new to us: an outhouse they built and set up in the back of their property; nine new little chicks; and several growing bunnies.

Tuesday was the BIG day--the annual robotics team social!
There was no way Mike could get our yard under control and looking presentable in time for the celebration, so we hired the owner of New Life Landscaping, our very own Kristie! She says she loves this kind of work, but admits that long day was a killer workout!

The crowd began to arrive mid afternoon. The indoor and outdoor fun continued till 11:00 at night:

The swing

The slack line

Piano Talent

Story telling

And my favorite photo:

Hannah, much like Yehudi Menuhin

After the talent show, each team member received one or two certificates recognizing their strengths and contributions.
Then we proceeded outdoors where the students honored their mentors with an award ceremony in the style of FIRST events where each one received a certificate describing their contribution to the team and then high-fived every one in the team line up.

Team 1720 preparing to honor their mentors; Senior Ryan presenting the awards; the Grande Finale

The final award was for their lead mentor. Imitating one of FIRST's highest awards (the Woodie Flowers' Award), they named it the Mike Koch Award, and gave him a certificate and a banner!

There were a couple of humorous awards. You'll have to ask Mike about the stories behind the car and the safety glasses. (smile)

I was going to suggest we were in recovery-mode the rest of the week. That would only be partly true. Mike was back in robot-design mood and mode very soon after.

Friday we had another Game Night. Karen chose Apples to Apples, and won both games!

However, Rebecca remained the center of attention.

Saturday Mike was on Greenway bike mechanic duty, and I enjoyed taking Elijah to his soccer games, so mom could go to a landscaping job.

His team won and we had a fun adventurous afternoon together.