Look out world...here I come!

Chloe's first little crawl happened Sunday night - right after Grammy got here for a visit. We think she hadn't started crawling yet because she was waiting for Grammy. :)
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Academic Meet

Yesterday was academic meet for the IACS high schools. We had to leave at 6 am to be there in time for the opening meeting. Ugh. My apologies to the people who had to see me at 6 am.

Anyway, we had a great day. I accompanied some of the solos and groups and was able to hear my piano students perform. So, long story short, we are now planning a trip to BJU in a few weeks because my students placed 1st!!! One of my students got 1st in classical piano, another got 3rd in sacred piano, and the two of them got 1st in classical piano duet. Yeah! I am so proud of them and how hard they have worked this year. They are both seniors and will present a senior recital together later this spring. I will miss them next year! Another student placed 2nd in sacred piano duet and has done very well this year as well.

Going to academic meet always reminds me of good ol' MACS. There was so much rivalry of who would place 1st in choir. I remember you playing sacred piano, Ruthy! You were always so good. Remember all the time we would spend "practicing" for smaller groups in the assembly room? We would spend most the time talking (sometimes while I played the piano so that no one would get suspicious that we weren't really practicing), then practice a little while so we could say we practiced. :)

Good memories.

Pippi Longstocking

Today I was able to go with Noah's class to a production of the play Pippi Longstocking. Noah enjoyed the play very much. Pippi acts silly enough to capture and keep a five-year-old's attention for over an hour. I haven't read the book in a very long time, so it was fun for me to get reacquainted with the story.

This is Noah's little class with his teacher Mrs. Rucano.

Waiting for the play to begin.
After the play with a few members of the cast.

They Start Young

So, last night we were eating our usual get-some-food-get-out-the-door dinner of frozen pizza before heading off to church. I thought I'd make it a bit more healthy and add some apple slices, which Noah scarfed down (he's my healthy eater) and Olivia barely touched. All right, I guess she did touch them so she could move them around her plate to make it look like she was eating some of them.

Anyway, Olivia says "We probably shouldn't have any dessert tonight since we will be having treats at Cubbies." I was thinking of how I must be getting through to her about not eating too many sweets, etc. when she says "I think we're having apples tonight in Cubbies."

Aha. Caught ya. Trying to get out of eating those apples.

What do I have in store for me?

Happy Thoughts

Here are some random things that have made me happy this week:

1. I was outside shoveling the sidewalk this afternoon, and I heard water flowing through the gutters as the snow was melting. I also heard birds!!! I have a sneaking suspicion that spring is on its way, although I cannot be sure, as I have made the mistake before of getting spring fever early and have had my hopes dashed to pieces.

2. Daylight savings time starts on Sunday! It is early this year, and I am okay with that. We get to have daylight longer into the evening, which is soooo wonderful. Also, my kids will sleep later in the morning as it will not be light until 8:15 instead of 7:15. Ahhh, another hour of sleep on Saturdays!

3. Our new kids' DVD of Bible songs. It has animated characters acting out the stories of songs such as Arky, Arky; Peter, James and John in a Sailboat; Who Did Swallow Jonah, etc. The kids love it and are reinforcing their knowledge of Bible stories.

4. Emergen-C. This stuff is GREAT. I have taken it many times this winter when I felt a cold coming on, and usually it has worked to stop the cold from developing any further. Last week I felt a cold coming on while we were in Chicago, so I didn't have any Emergen-C on hand. But I did take some when we got home the next day, and also took some for the next few days and my cold only lasted four days! And the symptoms were pretty mild as well. I cannot recommend this product highly enough. My mom bought a case of it for me - I think she got it at Target. They also make it for kids, too.

Tinker Toy Boy

For this five year old, there is nothing much better than Tinker Toys. Noah plays with them almost every day. Here are some of his latest creations, complete with his descriptions for them.

"Holder"

"Bridge"

"Fancy"
"Lawn Mower"
"Monkey Chain"

Trip to Chicago

We took a quick vacation to Chicago -went on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday. It was a sort of celebration that the girls' basketball season is over! Yay!!! We visited the Shedd Aquarium for a short time - we got there a little late so we didn't have time to see all the exhibits. But the kids still loved seeing all the unique fish and sea life.

Noah was brave enough to touch a snake.
Noah with a very large fish.
The best part of the day - CANDY!

Had to get a shot of Chloe in there - she mostly sat in her stroller and snacked on Cheerios.