March Madness

March began with a big mess, a necessary mess, but a mess nonetheless. The flooding problem in our basement window well needed to be fixed, so we had to have the concrete jack hammered and removed.

Underneath we found that the the dirt had settled and created a big cavern where the water would collect and flood into the window well. The contractor that back filled our foundation did not compact the dirt as he should have (i.e. not at all), and thanks to him we had a huge problem on our hands. He has been doing the work of removing the concrete, replacing the window well, and refilling the dirt for free since it was his fault, but he is doing it at a snail's pace. (We are now in June, and he is still not finished!)

This picture shows the airspace between the concrete and gravel base. There had been about a foot of settling.

Here you can see how far the dirt settled in the corner where the window well and foundation meet. It was a good 18 inches down. That was where all the water was flowing into the window well.

 

 What a mess!

On a fun note, Megan had a biography project due in March. She chose to read about Claude Monet. They had to write a monologue and create a puppet. They had to memorize the monologue and use the puppet to say it in front of the class. It was a lot of fun creating her puppet together. She did a great job on her performance and enjoyed learning about Monet's artwork.

St. Patrick's Day quickly approached, and Megan kept reminding me about the "Magic Treasure Box." This is a box that we have had since the kids were little that they put out the night before St. Patrick's Day. Then the "leprechauns" fill the box with treasure and hide it. If the humans can find it the next day, the treasure is theirs to keep. However, unbeknownst to the leprechauns, they leave a trail of green wherever they go. They leave many false trails, so the seeker has to try them all. I think it's cute that Megan still loves all the holiday traditions we started when they were little, and insists on continuing them...so what's a tired, old leprechaun to do?

 Those sneaky little guys hid the loot in an extra dresser we are storing in our basement!

Brooke had a group assignment in Health Science to create an amusement park with a theme of the digestive system. I was thinking how crazy their teacher was for making that dumb of an assignment, but I was pleasantly surprised at how creative Brooke and her group were. They had to make a map of their attraction--"Gastro World Fair"--with descriptions of all the rides and stands.

Here are some of my favorites...the "Mastication Station" where you could board the train and go to all the attractions...

 ...the rides "Esophogeal Wheel," the "Ruginator," and "Intestines of Insanity."

Liver on a Stick (like Hot Dog on a Stick) was one of their food stands (gross!). Another was IHOP--International House of Pancreas. I thought they did a great job and were extremely witty with all their names and descriptions. Of course, they got an A!