Piano Recital - 2014

Here is the group of piano and voice students who performed at this year's piano recital.

I got one blurry picture of William.

The boys' teacher is the tallest lady in the picture on the far right.  And for a sample, you can listen below to the duet that she gave to Sam and Will to work on.  It is a polka and they so enjoyed playing it together.

Quiet Time, Painting and Braids

 A beautiful spring day called for outside quiet time.  See that spot in the middle of the hill?

 I'm not sure why she chose to sit on the dirt instead of the grass, but she enjoyed herself coloring and reading out there.

 Eli enjoyed playing on the top deck.

 His Lego towers.

 Cecily stretched out to color on the lower deck.

 Here's the whole view.  Ben and Cal were working on a painting project to paint and sell these bed frames.

 Speaking of painting, Ben got the girls and Elijah involved one day.  He asked if it was alright and then he made them all painting smocks out of garbage bags and played an excellent foreman as he wandered around instructing and overseeing them.

 They absolutely loved this task!  A rare treat.  I don't let them near paint very often.

 The girls requested recently that I braid their hair while it was wet so that it would be wavy all over. 

 It took a little time, but it was a fun thing to do.

 Here are the waves the next day.  :) 

Yep.  It turned out to be as much fun as we thought.  They loved having wavy hair.

Sunday Afternoon and Spring Flowers

 Church dresses a couple of weeks ago.

 It's nice to make the switch to cheerful spring/summer clothes.

 A gap!  She actually lost another tooth since this picture, but she sure was excited about losing this first one!

 We got around to planting some bulbs last fall and so we got to enjoy some tulips this spring.

And some grape hyacinth.  Girls and flowers make me happy.  :)

Preschool for Elijah

First sentences!

Amelia brought this to me a few days after her birthday.  I think she may have asked her brothers about the spelling of some words, but basically she worked this out all on her own and she isn't even fully reading yet.  I was totally amazed.  

It says:  "I turned 7 on Tuesday.  On my birthday me and mom went to the mall.  We had a fun time at the mall.  Then we went home and had fried chicken and muffins and broccoli salad.  Then I opened presents then went to bed."

Something tells me she will keep a journal someday.  I think she's going to love writing and recording events.  Sounds like someone else I know.

Bonnets

 Two reasons for these pictures:  1)We actually got Bronwyn to keep a hat on!  She's old enough to be desirous of being like her sisters and so she wore it and left it on.  2) I haven't had the camera out at all.  I needed some kind of update to put on here!

 I was glad too, to get the opportunity to take a picture of the "pocket."  Thank you, Shannon, for thinking of us!  The girls have had such fun with this this week.  Another mother passed this Colonial Williamsburg pocket on to us from her girls.  It ties around the waist and was worn by ladies in colonial times underneath their dress, where they could reach it through a slit in the dress.   It is astonishing how many things you can carry in it.

Amelia had a small story book in there that Bronwyn is enjoying and a small notebook and pencil for spare-time drawing or writing.  :-)

I love these spring days where we are able to be inside and outside all throughout the day with doors open.  So nice.