Music & Missing Teeth

May 7 was a big day for Miss Maggie. She had her first violin recital after just about 6 weeks of formal violin lessons. She played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" quite well, for a crowd of about forty adults and children.

As we walked back towards the car, Maggie's wiggly bottom tooth fell right out! See that little white speck in the ziploc bag? Baby teeth are tiny! (You kind of forget.) She's pointing to the gap, but pushed her lip up so you can't see.

Well, the very next day that gap got bigger. The tooth right next to it fell out! The Tooth Fairy came two nights in a row, a new event at our house.

Spring Music Concert

We still have the good fortune of having a consistent music program at our elementary school. There is a full-time music teacher and every class goes to music twice a week. Each spring there is a concert to showcase what the students have learned.

The first two years we went (Adah's kindergarten and first grade years) the songs for each grade were exactly the same. It was the same program, just sung by kids who had grown up one year. So, while we do have a full-time music teacher, it appeared that the teacher was getting a little burned out. We were very happy when we arrived this year to see a mostly-new song list on the playbill. We even got there early enough for Adah to help hand out programs at the door.

The kindergarteners were up first. Their finale was an oldie (we'd heard it before), but still pretty much a goodie: Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me! Maggie's there on the top row, second from the left. This was the only photo we had where she didn't have red eyes. (Our good camera's lens broke, so now we're using the girls' less-good cameras.)

The 2nd-graders went last. Adah's that short one on the top row. I had three thoughts as I looked at her up there: 1. I didn't know Adah was so short for her age; 2. How did she get in the same row with the tall kids? and, 3. How did we get such a short kid? It was seriously a surprise for me.

Holly enjoyed eating Cheerios as much as she enjoyed the concert, I think. It was a little tricky keeping her with us since she'd started walking within a few days before the concert. I'll have to look for some photo footage of that. Four months later, now, it seems so normal to have her toddling around everywhere. The concert was 8 days before her birthday.

Annual Silent Auction

April 29 was the Annual Silent Auction at the girls' school. I help out every year making phone calls to local businesses to ask for donations and then I help with the gift certificate display sheets. That usually means a very late night before the auction and then hours at the school the day of the auction getting everything hung up and looking great. It's always a colorful combination of kids' art as decorations and tons of items on display for bidding. The last 2 years Damon has contributed by making a couple of apple pies that bring in some good cash for the school.

While parents are bidding, kids get to play at themed parties. Maggie, of course, chose the Fairy Princess party and loved being there with her best buddy. Adah attended the Mad Science party and Gunnar went to Dr. Seuss. Holly got to ride around in the stroller with us.

Two of my friends got pretty competitive bidding over a piece of artwork created by their children's class. In the end, they split the winning bid and gifted the piece to the teacher whose husband passed away during this school year. I think that whole classroom had really come together in support of their teacher this year.

This was the best auction year yet. We raised over $17,500!!!!

Super Easter

I sewed super-hero capes for the 3 big kids and put them in their Easter baskets. I actually had planned to make them for Christmas, but just ran out of time in December. No matter. They had plenty of Christmas gifts and waiting was just perfect because in the finer weather they were able to gallavant around the yard in their capes for the Easter Egg hunt. (Also, the capes made a nice substitute in the baskets for that Easter "grass" that just gets all over the place so that you're still finding it three months later. Not this year!)
The Easter Bunny visits our house on the Saturday before Easter so that we can spend Easter Sunday remembering Jesus Christ and celebrating the Resurrection. We think it helps the kids enjoy the fun of the holiday while really understanding and focusing on its true origin.
Super-Maggie was ready to fly!

Unfortunately (for me), Gunnar got a hand-me-down Batman shirt and cape just the week before Easter, so he was initially more interested in wearing that than the one I gave him. He still had a super time looking for eggs and warmed up to his new cape later on.

Hmmm....where are those eggs?

Found one!

The Super-Kids love to gang up on the local criminal element: Daddy.

"Instant" Results of Our Spring Garden Party

One of advantage of being four months behind on the blog is that I can see the amazing results of our spring gardening efforts outside my front door right now. In many ways it is a vivid contrast, when you compare our raised garden beds in July and August to what they were in April. The grass, I have to say, was a bit greener in the spring, but I think Damon's done a pretty good job of keeping the lawn looking lovely.

By the end of April it was time to get the yard and garden in shape after a long winter. We got all the kids to come out and help in a family gardening day.

Here's Damon gathering weeds from around the blueberry bushes, . . .

April

. . . which now are full of leaves and have already had their berries harvested. Below them is a jungle of squash vines.

July

Holly was definitely interested in those sweet blueberries.

August

Adah almost looks like someone out of "American Gothic."

April

Now below, you see the spot where Adah was standing from a different angle. The biggest change is in the full leaves on the trees, the purple wildflowers growing, and the wardrobe. Adah was in fleece in April. Maggie's comfortable in her leotard and chiffon skirt. (She was having a little photo shoot; don't ask.)

July

Gunnar and Maggie were obviously hard at work here. The children had been charged with cleaning up all the bricks, sticks, jumpropes, buckets, and other paraphernalia that had gone into building "Bird City" in a thicket behind Gunnar.

April

This must be Maggie's "Statue of Liberty Pose." Our winters (and sometimes springs) may be a bit dull and gray, as far as the sky goes, but man oh man do we get green grass or what? Now, look way behind Maggie back by the fence. See that vague brown flat area? Those are our raised garden beds.

April

Check them out in late July! This is about a month ago. Those plants under Adah's elbow are basil plants. They are now about as high as her waist! Mmm-mmm, pesto. Now we just need to start growing pine nuts and garlic.

July

I love that we have a garden. After several years doing some major landscape projects, it's nice to mostly be in the maintaining stage where we can just devote 1-2 weekends with each season change to the big stuff and then the day-by-day care is not so overwhelming.

Stay tuned for a more summer garden photos. The raspberries are almost worthy of a post all their won.

The Cute Kids of April

Here's a small collection of the cute things that happened around our place in April.

Batman on his Batmobile

Adah taught Holly a few scales.

Gunnar really took to writing and drawing a lot this spring. One day he came up to me with an envelope and asked, "Mommy, what does this say?" as though he were teaching me something. I looked down and he had written his name! I was astonished. I had no idea that he could do that. I nearly cried and asked if I could have the envelope. It's tucked away in a scrapbook, along with his earliest drawings of tigers and Perry the Platypus. He's a little skeptical of being observed while at work.

As is this one.

And this one is totally unaware of being observed. Maggie was already reading a bit when she began kindergarten, but she really mastered it during the school year. She loves Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems and Fancy Nancy, which are great vocabulary-builders.

Adah loves to read as well. She stays up way too late and will read just about anything. This year she discovered The Frog Princess series by E. D. Baker. I found The Dragon Princess for her at the library and she's been working her way haphazardly through the series ever since, intermingled with books on many other subjects, from dog and horse care to Little Women, which she started this summer and hopes to finish by her birthday.

In April Holly was standing up and cruising around on furniture, but pretty much crawling anywhere she wanted to get quickly.

Bookmarks & Balloons

Maggie entered a bookmark design in our library's annual bookmark contest. She drew a lion next to a stack of books and wrote, "Read out loud with a lion roar!" She won an honorable mention award at our local branch. (I think she didn't win because librarians really don't want any roaring in the library, but who's to say?)

In mid-April there was a small party to honor all the winners.

The library wanted some balloon artists at the party, and word got out (on Facebook, I think) that I can twist balloons. Well, my friend at the library did some twisting of her own (of my arm) and I agreed to my first real gig. I learned a few new animals for the event, got some practice at Christian's birthday party, and brought Adah along because she's pretty good at it, too.

Adah wore an elephant hat and I wore mouse ears to make things a little more playful. We had fun twisting balloons for all the little party-goers and I now feel much more confident in my artistic abilities. At least when it comes to balloons.