Piano Recital

This past summer Rebecca started taking piano lessons from a friend of ours who is extremely accomplished and very good with tween/teens.  Saturday was the recital ... a dozen students each played 2-3 pieces.  

Rebecca performed three pieces near the end of the recital.  

I don't think Rebecca had any real idea what to expect - actually it's obvious when you watch her performance.  Heavens, she wanted to go in jeans and a t-shirt.  The only hint I had that she might be a tinge nervous or at all apprehensive was that she would only allow one of us to attend and I think she would have preferred us to just drop her off.  GR took the middle two to a chess tournament and I took Becca and the little ones to the recital.

She's doing really well and is continuing to stick with it. She is so excited to start playing Christmas music and it's time to get a little metronome to help her with her counting - so purest, I suggest not hitting the play button below.  

What happens when Dad's been Bishop nearly your entire life ...

Anna, GR and I had this little conversation this morning when GR walked into the kitchen wearing his suit ...

Anna:  Is it a church day? 

Me:  Yep, it's a church day.
 
Anna:  {inquisitively} Dad's day?
 
Me: {totally confused!??}  Huh, Dad's day?  Honey we're all going to church. 


Anna:  {very excitedly} Guys, it's a church day for all of us!  Yea, it's a church day for all of us. 

This picture was taken back in October. 
Anna and Alex were helping me with a project.

3rd Grade Music Program

Last night was the 3rd Grade Musical. They did sang about a dozen movie tunes, and once again did a fantastic job. This performance was fantastic because of how well the kids sang the songs, and because of the sheer number of songs they sang.

Sam was given a speaking line to help introduce "I'm a Believer" from Shrek. So we dressed him up as Shrek. It took me a couple of musicals to realize that typically, kids dressed up on their own, not because the music teacher asked them dress as a specific character. She encouraged the kids to dress up as a character from one of the songs they were going to sing.

Before we got his speaking assignment we talked about the different characters he could dress up.  The one he and I liked the most was Michael from Mary Popins ... simple and straight from wardrobe, and not likely to be done by many other kids -- which proved to be true - Adam's Family was by far the favorite! 

But when we got his speaking assignment and realized he would be helping to introduce Shrek, it only made sense to try and dress him up like Shrek.  I made the ears/horns using felt - they are about an inch too long - and attached them to a felt sleeve that went over one of the girls thin headbads.  The vest was made using these instructions.  It would have fit better if I taken one more measurement ... across the lower shoulder blade, around under his arms.  I needed an extra inch or so under his arms to help the vest fit better.  

He wanted nothing ... nothing to do with this costume.  In the end he left the ear/horns down in the audience.  I tried to tell him that the ears were what made the costume ... were what told everyone who he was.  He realized that after the performance and the next day apologized for not wearing them.

We "celebrated" by going out for pizza.  That's the other thing I've learned after years of music programs.  I can typically help get kids ready and/or in costumes and out the door on time OR feed them and get them out the door on time, not all three.  Hiring out dinner the night of the program ... we'll be doing that again.   

Here's their "I'm a Believer Performance":

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween! 

 

Cleopatra, Obi-wan Kenobi, Athena

Ballerina, Policeman

Anticipation

Rebecca and Emily are huge Percy Jackson fans.  We've been waiting nearly a year for book 2 of his 2nd Olympian series.  As a family we listened to book 1 on our way to DC for the Rally and to spend Halloween with GR's sister. 

We pre-odered it through the last school book order and I had to resist the temptation to buy it from the bookstore over the long weekend.  She got it today and the race is on.  Becca's done nothing else since the school bell rang ... nothing else, and I'm looking the other way.  GR couldn't wait and purchased the eBook for his phone a few days ago.  They will likely finish at about the same time.  I'm hoping the audiobook waiting list moves quickly so I can get in on the fun soon too!

Choir Concert

The 6th grade had a small performance this evening at the middle school.  It was one of the shortest performances I've been too, but it was delightful.  Anna and I went, as two others had soccer this evening and GR played Currier.  The theater was packed and thanks to some friends Anna and I got decent enough seats to record most of the two songs Rebecca's music class prepared.  We quickly learned that it is simply impossible for even half the parents to have a seat in the auditorium, making me extra glad that the entire family did not attempt to attend.

Tomato Tomato

Anna's preschool class did the Bible Story today.  They talked about all the amazing creatures God created.  A third of the class had flying creatures, a third of the class had water creatures, and a third of the class had land animals.  Anna's had land animals.  They were each given an chance to say what two animals they had in the hands.  Anna had a "reindeer" (aka moose) and "little lamb."

This picture is of her and her friend K, discussing after this portion of the group "presentation."  Shortly after she had to go to the bathroom and while we washed hands I asked her what she and K were talking about.  

"K says it is a sheep, but it isn't a sheep.  It's a little lamb." 

Picking Pumpkins with Preschoolers

We got to go to a new to us pumpkin patch this year.  Anna got a preview of it Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa, as it was one of the farms they stopped at on the farm tour.  

One of the little extras this farm has is a butterfly house filled with all the flowers butterflies love.  They mostly had monarch and swallowtail butterflies.  We got a great hands-on lesson about the butterflies, what plants to look for to find eggs and teeny tiny baby caterpillars, where to find big fat caterpillars ready to go into their J formation and form a chrysalis and which caterpillar would turn into which butterfly.  It was really cool for the kids to see butterflies in every stage of life. I posted a couple of my butterfly pictures here.

Here is Anna with her friend J.  They are playing with a Woolly-bear caterpillar.  Did you know they turn into moths?  

Anna really really wanted to ride on the tricycles, she tried every bike they had, looking for one she could easily ride, and never did find one she could master.  All the kids really miss having a paved driveway and street to ride their bikes on.  I keep hoping they will get over it and just ride them anyway, but it hasn't happened yet.  

The "pool" of corn kernels was where she spent most of her time, as did many of the other kids.  They had so much fun covering limbs, digging down deep and "landing" in the kernels.   

It took a little bit but she finally settled on a beautiful squatty pumpkin she is quite proud of.  We're getting quite a nice assortment of pumpkins at the house.  Alex's Kindergarten class went yesterday and he brought home a nice oval shaped pumpkin.  I'm waiting to get some big carving pumpkins so they don't rot waiting to be carved.   But we're looking forward to having friends over for an afternoon of carving. 

We were to BOOS (Bring our own snack) and took a trail mix of popcorn, pretzels, cheez-its, raisins, M&Ms and candy corns.  Very tasty and easy to put together for classroom parties. 

Family Farming

This weekend was one of our families favorite activities - the local farm tour. We've managed to visit new farms each year and it's always a great mix of education and fun.  The girls went with Grandma and Grandpa after Emily's early morning soccer game and spent most of the morning and early afternoon visiting seven different farms.  

The boys went with us to two farms after Sam's early afternoon game.  Our favorite stop was a family run beef and pork farm.  If was their first year participating in the tour and they did a fabulous job. 

These little piglets are about a week old.  I am always surprised at how quickly animals grow in comparison to humans.  By 5-6 weeks the piglets are weened and by 6 months they are considered adults.  The flip side is that by about 4 they are considered done and sent to market. 

Like many Kansas farms, this is a family run operation with multiple generations and families working together to make the operation work.  They've raised hogs for fifty years or so, and recently a branch of the family added beef to the farm's offerings.  They raise a pure bread of cows from Germany that can be used for both beef and milk (though they only use them for beef).  They grow their own hay and corn so they can prepare their own feed mix for the animals. 
 

They send all their bulls to market to maintain genetic diversity.  This guy was getting a hair cut while we were there.  Getting all preened for the American Royal.  
 

Sam and Alex were really excited when the farmer said it was okay for them to climb the bails of hay.  So while the adults asked questions about the cows, farm and how to order their meat, the boys climbed and jumped and climbed and jumped until it was time to get back on the tracker and move on.

 

A Day on the Farmstead

The kids have been in school for two weeks and Anna starts preschool tomorrow. Anna has missed having siblings around to play with and is really looking forward to preschool. We spent our first day off from school, on a family adventure with Diane, going to a children's farm we haven't been to in a while. 

It has really changed in the last couple of years.  Lots of new additions with hands-on exhibits that help kids see what a turn of the century working farm might have been like.  We were excited to see the new additions but also very grateful our old favorites were still around.  We started at the fishing pond where everyone got a fishing poll and can of worms.  Sam did some fishing this summer with his day camp and has wanted to go again ever since.  He had no problem baiting his hook, but really struggled to catch a fish.  We've decided the fish are very good a eating the bait and not getting caught. 

Diane, using Alex's poll, caught our only fish for the morning.  As you can tell, she was ecstatic, and so were all of us!  It was terribly exciting.  I did find it a bit ironic that the woman who spent her honeymoon fishing (never mind the fact that it was nearly 40 years ago), made me unhook the fish and throw it back.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I managed to get the hook out -- fish movie around a lot, and hooks weren't really made to come out easily -- and we're pretty sure the fish survived the experience. 

Anna and Alex both got to take a short little ride a pony. 

This past summer we went to Grants Farm in St. Louis and fed the goats there.  The kids really enjoyed it, but it quickly got to be a bit overwhelming for those that went inside the gate and were among the goats.  I was really glad that here, it was just fine to keep the fence between you and the goats.  Children really do love to feed other living things don't they, especially when it's in a bottle. 

We spent a little time in the one room school house and then headed out to the playground to run and feed the ducks and see some of the original part of the farm.  We finished our late morning with lunch at Sonic, meeting up with GR for a little while and being able to eat lunch outside!  The weather has been so hot for so much of the end of summer, it's nice to have cooler temperatures, we were actually a little chilly sitting in the shade.  What a nice change!!  
 

Sabbath Day S'mores

We had such a wonderful Sunday.  Two good friends found themselves back in town for the holiday weekend and came back to their "old ward" for a visit.  We had a great time catching up with Matt and Camie and Harold and Andrea, reminiscing of when we were younger mothers together, settling back into the same comfortable grooves of friendship we had before.  I cherish these friendships and am so grateful to have had a chance to visit with these good women whom I love dearly.  

Andrea and Harold joined us for dessert ... s'mores of course.  The summer has been so blasted hot, we've hardly spent anytime around the fire pit, and it was high time we changed that.  It was great to pull out all the s'mores supplies and enjoy the late evening together.

An Evening on the Lake

GR made arrangements for us to spend Friday evening on the lake, tubing.  GR typically gets out with Joe a couple times a year to go tubing, but as a family this was our first invitation.  The kids were so excited.  To insure the life jackets would fit the kids, Joe brought a bunch by Wednesday night.  It was all I could do to keep the kids from wearing them constantly before we got to shore.  

We had so much fun out on the water!  And at least for me, it feels like it's been ages since we've all had pure fun together.  

I was really, really impressed with how quickly the kids acclimating to the tube and as you can see from the huge smiles on each face, they loved every second of it. 

When it was Alex's turn, we quickly discovered that he was not big enough to distribute his weight enough to keep the tube upright.  So Becca and GR served as counter weights while the two little ones took a turn around the lake.  GR said Alex kept switching from grinning from ear to ear to saying, "oh dear ... oh dear...  oh dear."  Love it!

We followed up the evening with Culvers frozen custard.  And came home to a house full of family who arrived for Sam's baptism in the morning.  It's gonna be a wonderful and busy weekend. 

I'm participating in a Photography Challenge ... 20 weeks, 20 different subject challenges to photograph.  I'm hoping it will help me improve my photography skills and force me to learn how to use my camera more.  I used this last photo for this weeks submission (week 2, smile).  

Happy Birthday Alexander!

This cute sweet boy turns five today. F.I.V.E!

To celebrate we went to an exhibit of LEGO sculptures by the artist Nathan Sawaya.  So many amazing structures!  The museum had a children's hands-on art room set up in the basement.  They had thousands of LEGOs set out on tables for kids to create their own sculptures.  We spent ages in there, building and building with the available LEGOs, then went to Stake-n-Shake for lunch. 

I made Angry Bird's cupcakes.  At first he wanted an Angry Bird's cake like his friend Andrew, but since fondant is not something I'm familiar with, I went a different route.  I'm really pleased with how well they turned out, and Alexander was very gracious to love them too.  The rope black licorice was really hard to find.  And absolutely makes or breaks the cupcakes.  Without the licorice, they look like Sesame Street characters.  Thankfully, Diane was able to find some for me at our favorite candy shop. 

The candles are held up with playdough. 

Hard to believe this boy will be heading off to Kindergarten in a few short weeks.  That is going to be so different for all of us.  He's terribly excited and while I'm looking forward to it, Anna and I are going to miss him at home.   

St. George, Utah ... part 1

The kids and I flew out for a family reunion of sorts in Southern Utah, the afternoon of the fourth.  We met up with my parents and brothers family who arrived the day before, and a day later Barb and Stuart arrived.  We had a grand week seeing the sights of Southern Utah, seeing some of my extended family.  One of the highlights was getting to see my grandfather and his wife Ruth.  Oh how we love them and miss them!!  

I would not recommend visiting St. George in July ... dry heat or not, it was blazing hot -- it's no wonder we got a steal of a deal on the condos we rented.  But we stayed at a great resort with lots of good accommodations for the group we had. 

Here are a few highlights from our trip::

Because we were with my Dad and brother in country that screams, "hike me," "explore me," we did lots and lots of both. 

We geocached as often as we could.  We are still looking for a good accurate geocache Android app.  If you know of any, let me know. 

We really enjoyed hiking in Snow Canyon.  On Tuesday we explored the Pioneer Names trail.  It is possible that the Samuel Wittwer listed is my father's great grandfather.  But we have no record or proof of it and consequently are skeptical of it's authenticity.  None the less, it was a lot of fun and I'm really proud of how well the little ones did climbing up the very steep slope.  

Facing the Pioneer Names slope, is large rock/boulder everyone scrambled up for pictures.  

Thursday morning we went to Jenny's Canyon, also in Snow Canyon and another very kid friendly hike.  These pockets in the rock were all throughout the canyon.