Al fresco dining, anyone?

You can see why there has been no school and no work for the McKenzie family this past week!  Even Steven got the chance to opt out of work for a couple of days.

What do people do when they are snowed in?  A 2000-piece puzzle, of course.  Actually, we did that puzzle over Christmas break but I forgot to post it earlier, so I thought I'd sneak it in now, clever person I am.

National History Day presentations finally arrived.  Michael chose not to enter the competitive part, although if you saw his poster, you know he'd have advanced to the next round.  100% confident of that.


In science, Michael and his group created a beautiful, efficient marble roller coaster.  All three class trials worked!  He brought it home and Elizabeth and I liked picking out (and eating) candy that we thought would work during the videotaping for the blog, as marbles were really heavy and thus made the trial last only 1 second.  Check out the video Michael and Steven made with catchy background music.  Cherry candies make the trials last 3 seconds - you're welcome!

Zoe continues to do what she does best - hang out in front of the pantry awaiting treats.

Niki and Michael are showing you the paper chain that counts down the days until I get to go to LAS!!!

And here's Elizabeth!!!

Stuart Sprague

Today I went to a lecture about the Underground Railroad as part of our college's Black History Month celebration.  Peggy Overly and Jerry Gore were the speakers.  Oh, Jerry Gore's voice was soooo familiar to me.  Their presentation was amazing, very interactive, full of spirituals (Peggy) and emotional stories (Jerry).  At one point, members of the audience were brought to the front of the stage and had to lie down as if they were slaves on a slave ship and two white men (including our college's campus minister) laid chains across them.  It was very powerful.  Afterward, Jerry Gore approached our president and said, "Is Stuart Sprague's daughter still here?"  I said, "Yes!"  He said, "I thought that was you!"  And we had a few moments together, both of us trying to explain the relationship between Jerry and Dad to the president.  Peggy was also so kind about Dad.  I was so thankful to have gone, to spend that hour reflecting on dad and slavery and dad's work and the horrors of inequality.

In a couple of my lectures I include photos of Dad. That always makes me happy.