Outstanding Achievement

Earlier this month representatives from the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution came to the elementary school and distributed certificates of participation to the fifth grade students who submitted essays to their American History Essay Contest earlier this year.  We were thrilled to learn that Emily, took 2nd place!  It's a great essay ... each of the winners essays were written in letter format.  Emily wrote it all on her own and it wasn't until the librarian (pictured right) read her essay to the group (all the girls were too shy to read them aloud themselves), that we heard it for the first time.  So thrilling.  

Emily really loves history and reading historical fiction.  She had really wanted to base her essay on a woman from the American Revolution, but she got really discouraged when she couldn't find one.  Despite that little set back early on in her research, she had a great time researching the time period and history and writing her essay (which I've included at the bottom).  

The three winners, along with their parents, were invited to attend the chapters end of the year luncheon this morning to have lunch and read their essays to the group.  Diane and I attended with Emily and were so proud of her willingness to read her essay to a couple dozen women after sitting through a long chapter meeting.  She was nervous, but did such a great job and read with great pose and maturity.  

We sat with a delightful woman who has lived in the area for many years, but is a relatively new member of the DAR and was instated in the chapters 2012-2013 leadership at the end of the meeting.  She made the entire morning so enjoyable thanks to her warm and friendly personality.  She also did a fabulous job of telling us about the DAR and what they do locally and nationally.  It was fascinating to sit in on one of their meeting.  They do a lot of good work, but the rituals, and rules seem a little over the top to an outsider.  If Emily ever wanted to she could join the DAR she could via Diane's line ... Nathaniel Babcock.   Diane was a junior member as a girl and left upon principle - given their antics during the civil rights era, it's quite impressive an 11 year-old saw through the politics and racism and choose to walk away.     

Emily with the outgoing Chapter Regent, Ms. Johnson & the incoming Chapter Regent, Ms. Meyers. 

Emily's Essay: 

October 14th, 1816

Dear Family,

Sorry I have not written in so long. I would have gladly written a long while before, but I had no time. So much has been going on in New Orleans. Ever since I moved here three years ago, news of the war that so recently ended has just begun to stop as well. Now I have some good news, and I do not wish to say any more bad, but I may bring some up as I talk about the man I met a few weeks ago. He is magnificent, tall and proud, with a few scars on his head and his left hand. When he saw me, I was very shy indeed. He said that his name was Andrew Jackson, and that his nickname was Old Hickory, because once one of his soldiers said he was as tough as hickory.

He was born on March 15, 1767, a few weeks after his father died. He had no more family except for his wife. Then I finally got the courage to ask about his scars. He said when he was 14; he and his brother, Robert, were captured during the fighting of the Revolutionary War. The British commander wanted his boots cleaned, and he instructed that Andrew should do so. “I said then I refused, having rights of a prisoner of war,” Andrew said. I then gasped, and said “You refused a British commander! But what does that have to do with your scars?” “I haven’t finished yet. The commander lashed out his sword, for his anger had gotten a hold on him. It cut to the bone, and the officer also lashed my head. That is how I got my scars.” Afterward, he and his brother both caught a case of smallpox, and Robert died. A short time later, his mother died from helping sick and wounded soldiers. I can’t believe he went through so many deaths. I feel so bad for him. I wish so much to be able to help him.

When he fought in the war, Andrew once fought against a band of Creek Indians with 2,000 soldiers on his side. He said earlier, he was told to reinforce troops in New Orleans, and when he got to Natchez, Mississippi, he was told to demobilize his forces on the spot. Andrew said he was so furious and frustrated, for he had been sent no pay, food, transportation, or medicine for his reinforcements. So he led his troops through 500 miles of wilderness back to their homes. That was also where he got his nickname, Old Hickory. During the Battle of New Orleans, he killed thousands of British soldiers with the Kentucky Army and the Tennessee Militiamen. Then I realized why he was being honored so. They were all being perfect, some even bowing. I hope you have enjoyed this letter. I wish I could have written more, but I have guests coming over shortly, and I have much cooking to do.

Your loving daughter,

Anna

Last Day of School

Emily, Sam and Alex after their last day of school.  They each had a very successful academic year

Alex's class had a fiesta on the last day of school ... so much fun, and so amazed at the great school year he had! 

Alex with his classmates from his table this school year.

Alex and Mrs. C - We're 4 for 4, and love her!

Alex with classmates K and A.

Emily, as an outgoing 5th grader got spent the day playing with friends at PTA sponsored activities.  They bowled, ate pizza for lunch and played basketball and in the rec room at a local community center.  We got word last night that Emily scored high enough on her state assessment test to be in the advanced 7th grade math class next year.  She is so excited and so are we!   

Barb and Stu stayed with us this last night.  They are on their way to San Francisco for Stu's 4 year residency.   So exciting and yet a little sad to see go so far from home.  Closing one chapter and begin to open a new chapter so many miles away.  

Stuart is a huge board game fan and the kids really enjoy playing any and every game they can with him.  Tonight it was Monopoly.  It was a great game, and in true Stuart fashion he completely wiped everyone out!  At one point in the game, fairly early on, I hear Stuart explain to Sam ...

"If you want a game of revenge, play SORRY. This is a game of business."  

My Miracle Day

2am go to bed after preparing, cleaning, straightening, etc.  for a lunch picnic/gathering with Anna's music class.
6:15am - alarm goes off and I simply cannot get my eyes to open enough to wake up.
6:45am - drag myself out of bed. And help Emily put together her Louisa May Alcott costume, complete with hair for the 5th grade Wax Museum.
7:52am - drop elementary school kids off _ late
7:58am - drop Becca off at middle school
8:08am - back at elementary school to observe wax museum
8:50am - pass off Anna to Grandma for Music Class
9:05am - stop at grocery store for a bag of ice for a party I'm hosting for Annas music class in 90 minutes, and a few basic groceries.
9:30am - after putting away groceries and a few other things, realize I forgot the bag of ice I'd paid for and I start to weigh whether or not I really need the ice - there is so much I need to still get done for the picnic.
9:46am - phone call from school nurse that Sam got hurt on the playground and while it isn't serious he is in a lot of pain and the nurser feels it might be best for me to come and get him.
10:00am - get Sam from school, tie up loose ends there, and pick up bag of ice on way home.
10:34am - arrive back home at the same time the party/picnic guests begin to arrive.  I spent 30 minutes getting last minute things taken care of and then join the party.  Great group of women and kids.  Really glad Diane suggested it and that I went ahead and said yes.
12:35pm - the last guests leave and I start a batch of cookies ... need to deliver 6 dozen to the school at 3pm.
2:35pm - the last dozen come out of the oven (the batch made 7 dozen - best recipe ever when needing cookies for the masses.)
2:45pm - cookies are packed, container labeled and we are in the car, on our way.
3:15pm - home from getting kids and delivering cookies, sit down for a minute with a magazine, never mind that it's 2 years old, it's a magazine and I can't remember the last time I did that.
4:00pm - pick up Becca from piano
4:13pm - pull on to our street just in front of my Sister and her husband who are stopping in on their way to CA to start his residency program.  


Rarely does my day fall into sync, everything matching up perfectly, like it did today, and honestly like it has been for a bit.  A sweet and quite reminder that God is watching over me and aware of my needs and desires.  Don't get me wrong, the stress and intensity of the schedule is immense, add to it that GR working at the office this week, and I am super grateful that things are falling into place easily and quickly, especially when we are double, triple and sometimes even quadruple booked in a single evening and everything must work like clockwork.

Louisa May Alcott

This morning was Emily's 5th Grade Wax Museum.  2 months ago the kids were all assigned a historical person to research, write a paper on, then condense the paper down to a 90 second/150 word speech.  Emily was very excited to be assigned Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. 

At Emily's last parent teacher conference her teacher and I were discussing the need to find more challenging books for Emily to read that were also age appropriate.  We both felt Little Women was a good fit for Emily - she loves historical fiction, it's age appropriate, and it's LONG!  Something my fast reader needs.  So I picked it up at the library along with a stack of other books that I thought she'd enjoy and Emily and Rebecca both read it and loved it!  Love it when we have a book success!  Emily is now on to the Harry Potter series -- we finally have a child interested in reading Harry Potter!  Ha!

Back to the wax museum ... If you'll remember when Becca did this last year, part of the assignment was also to dress up at the historical person you were assigned.  This is one of my favorite parts of the assignment, because they are encouraged not to purchase items for the costume, but to use what they have around them and I love seeing what kids put together.  I saw one of Emily's friends in football pants and his mothers suit blazer; another wore an old prom dress from an older sibling, another used a short blue bathrobe to resemble a military jacket, another used a winter hat for a fight hat.  

The students are spread throughout the hallways of the school for one hour.  Students from younger grades, parents, and visitors move from student to student, and press a faux button (on the card taped to the wall to Emily's right in the picture below).  Upon pressing the button the 5th grader in front of you "comes to life" and recites their 150 word speech about themselves.  Emily recited hers over 30 times!  It's a really fun and impressive project that the students and family's really enjoy each year.   

For Emily's costume, we used on of my shirts and Becca's skirt I had made for the cultural celebration earlier in the month, then we tied up her hair and she started to resemble some of the pictures we'd seen of Louisa May Alcott.  

I would really love to know how women did their hair back in Louisa's day.
This poor attempt took 16 Bobbie pins.  

Flying head-on into a Tornado

This was Suzanne's facebook status Friday morning "I'm flying head-on into a family tornado. Giddy-up!"  And it was so true.  Almost all of us were all in town for a very short weekend packed with lots of family fun! 

Joe and Katy had a beautiful baby girl earlier this month and we couldn't wait to meet her and smoother her with cuddles.  Isn't she beautiful! 

My brother-in-law graduated from SLU's Med School Friday. He and Barb are packing up their apartment this weekend and moving to CA for his residency.  We're super excited for them, and super excited for Suz cause they'll practically be neighbors, but it's hard to imagine them all living so far away!

We helped my father clean out the garage.  A very small part of that process was Suz and I building a wood pile.  The wood had formerly been stored in the garage and needed to get moved out of the garage.  We teased Daddy that we were trying to make up for the fact that he only had two sons and four daughters.  

The garage clean out was so we could move furniture my parents drove out from my grandparents home this week.  Last weekend they and my dad's siblings and their spouses spent the weekend cleaning out my grandparents home, dividing up the contents among the descendants and load them up into two trucks ... one truck doing the western US, one truck doing the eastern US.  Mom and Dad made a quick stop at our house to unload a few things and catch a night's sleep before heading to St. Louis Thursday.  And Saturday after cleaning and organizing, we moved the furniture staying in St. Louis onto pallets in their garage until Mom decides where to put them inside.  

Joe and Suz also got Mom's impatient bed planted ... one of "our" traditional Mother's Day gifts to her that my brother is so good at making sure happens each year.  

It's been a while since we've done a super quick visit to the parents like this ... Some of the kids and I arrived Friday night, GR brought our two soccer players who had tournaments, Saturday evening (driving my parents car that they'd left at our place), and then we all headed back to KS Sunday afternoon for our last week of school! ... but it was so worth it to see everyone, visit and help my parents get a good chunk of the work they wanted to get done, done this weekend.