Project 18 to 18: Day 5

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens - Ecclesiastes 3

Verse one of chapter 3 of the book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a "season for every activity under the heavens" including, in verse 7 a time to tear and a time to mend.

This verse strongly reminds me of these first few weeks of school for Wonder Boy. The first month of school, at least since he started high school, has always been this way, but as it has done every year, the workload has yet again increased. And as such, the Boy has found himself with hours of homework every night of the week.

Unexpectedly, this weekend marks a start departure from that pattern! He has a few small assignments, but nothing taxing and so today is a day of rest and renewal - in other words, a time to mend.

For the Boy, that means some alone time surrounded by a few of his favorite things: his guitar, his phone, his PlayStation, and his laptop along with some snacks and a Gatorade for refreshment.


Back in 2005 he was ALL ABOUT play time! In fact, most of his day was play time. Of course, in 2005, play time was also his time to learn and discover. Wonder Boy always gravitated to building toys most often. He liked to create, to tear things down and figure out how best to put them back together and then how to make something entirely new by combining old ideas and materials.

Today is a day of rest. A time to turn off his brain or at the very least to engage it in a completely different manner than what happens with the demands of academic life. And that is A-OK with us! We know that this time of rest is what prepares him for the next onslaught of assignments!

Project 14 to 14: Day 8

If you haven't noticed it already, there are a lot of sides to my favorite nearly-14 year old! He is a young man of many talents. And he demonstrates one particular skill that always leaves me in awe:


He's a Rubick's cube-style puzzle MASTER!

He started with a pyramid-shaped puzzle, just a little marketing freebie Wonder Dad brought home from a conference. From there he moved on to the classic 3x3 puzzle. And by the time he had that mastered, there was no stopping him. He has a 4x4 cube, a 5x5 cube, a 6x6 cube, a 7x7 cube, another pyramid-shaped puzzle called a "professor pyraminx." And some other odd-shaped, twisty puzzles as well. I can't name them all (I can't recall the names, truth be told). But I LOVE to watch the Boy whiz through them. He can do elaborate patterns and likes to time his efforts to solve even the most mixed-up jumble his Dad or I can produce.

In our look back today, we see what is probably the last of the Super roles the Boy assumed in his youth: Iron Man!


I'll bet you didn't even know Iron Man was a soccer star, did you? I loved that the boy didn't care what he was wearing - if there was a chance for a bit of soccer practice, he was ON IT. He's still that way when it comes to his favorite sport.

The Things We Do For Entertainment

It's a rainy Monday night. Wonder Boy has so much energy it's practically oozing out of his ears. Wonder Dad and I are both exhausted. Long day at work. Tough workout to boot. But the Boy is just so excited about this old style toy he made at camp (a ball in cup) that he can't sit still.

He's already mastered the basic play so next he starts taking requests for more difficult maneuvers.

Wonder Dad challenges ... "bet you can't do it with your mouth?" thinking this might occupy him for a few minutes. Yeah. Not so much. But we all had a good laugh anyway.


Ball in Cup Challenge

He went on to try clasping the stick between his toes. That one took a bit longer and he had to sit on a bar stool for best results. He tried balancing it on his shoulder (holding it down w/ his chin) as well. But I had to call a halt when they started considering inserting the pencil in his nostril. You gotta have boundaries, right?

They're forecasting more rain tomorrow (& we need it so I really hope we get it). But I am not sure this toy will survive the week at this rate!

Build-a-Bird

Wonder boy has several 'loves' and one of those is building things. It doesn't matter if he's building with Legos, wood and nails, or even sugar cubes. He just likes to build things, to create. It's been a lifelong fascination for him. And it's something we both truly admire about him.

Yet another 'love' of his is video games. Typical kid. No big surprise. And right now, one game he particularly enjoys is Angry Birds. You know, the cell phone phenomenon.



The structure featured here is a combination of these two particular loves .... he used Jenga blocks and dominoes to build an Angry Birds scene. The dominoes represent the evil pigs. And he uses a super ball as his Angry Bird of choice. We take turns bouncing our birdie across the hallway toward the evil ones until the structure topples and the pigs are defeated once again. Then it's time to rebuild and start anew.

We also took a little time to make a papier mache Angry Bird to decorate his room.



Not a bad way to 'unplug' and still enjoy your favorite game.