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.

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.

Ice Skating 2013

A lot of my posts have an annual update.  :)  If you've read my blog for a while then you've seen our pictures from past ice skating trips.  We try to go at least once a year, as there is a homeschooling day at the rink once a week during the winter.  I'm hoping in future years to possibly go more like once a month.  It would be nice for the kids to actually develop some skill at it, which is pretty near impossible to do when going only once a year.

Amelia got right out on the ice this year.  It helped that this older girl decided to stay by her side and helped her.  I think this girl was about 10 years old and she was so sweet.  This picture of them holding hands only happened about half way through the skating time.  In the beginning Millie just went around the rink holding onto the wall.  After the first hour she really started to feel confident and would turn in circles holding onto this girl's hands and skating on her own without holding onto anything or anyone.  Yeah, Amelia!  A great start for her.  I think she's got it down now.

Samuel works a little on his technique now that he doesn't have to worry about just staying off of his seat!

Go Millie!

I couldn't convince Cecily or Calvin to try the ice.  They both put on skates and confidently went out to the rink, only to decide there was NO way they could try it.  :(  I hadn't paid to get skates myself, as I needed to stay with Bronwyn.  Elijah was at home napping while Dad was working, but Bronwyn had come along.  What ended up happening, is that Will's skates bothered him and he got frustrated and wanted a break.  I tried on his skates and since they fit me, he stayed with Bronwyn and I went out on the ice long enough to help Cecily and Calvin get a start.  Funny, but that was all they needed.  Little girls came to help Cecily right away and she started having a great time, although she mostly stayed on the wall.  At least she got comfortable with it. 

I think I say this every year, but Ben RACES the entire two hours.  You see he has taken off his sweatshirt now because he gets so hot.  He might go around the rink about 3 times in a sixty second period!  Not really, but close.  He sleeps like a rock the night after and his legs are killing him the next day.  He doesn't do most things part way.  I just try to make sure he's careful of the other skaters!!

Calvin got the hang of it too.  For my most cautious child, I was pleased that he finally got pretty steady and enjoyed it.

Takes some concentration, but he's got it!  Will was bummed out most of the afternoon, so I didn't end up getting a picture of him this year.  We may go again this coming week.  Maybe he'll do better this time. 

This and That

She's neither bald nor blonde, as this picture makes her look.  :)

Elijah:"yijah.  yijah."     Me:"Yes, I'll take your picture too."

I spy...

...a little boy hiding!

Peek-

a-boo!

You might be noticing a pattern here.  Someone has learned how to "hide."

Little Miss Ingenuity took it upon herself to cut a picture of a crown out of her preschool workbook and glue it onto the baby's head.  Luckily this is the old baby that was replaced with a new one at Christmas.

Learning to read!  The first picture above is of a certificate that she got for reading her first words!  The bottom one is a worksheet she did for phonics.  Could someone look more pleased about reading?

New dolls from Grandma Betty.  (Yes, Millie slept in those braids for a few days.  One day I'll look back and see that I let her do that and say, "What was I thinking?")

It's not Valentine's Day yet?  Bronwyn got confused.

While we were waiting to leave to go sledding with friends on New Year's Eve, Will rocked The Sweetheart to sleep.

Can you have too many pictures of a sleeping baby?  OK.  Maybe you can.

Here's where she does most of her snoozing.

And yes, she's sucking her thumb these days, just like most all of my kids have done.

I just love this purple outfit.

Enjoying a school holiday, the kids did some dressing up the week of New Year's.

If you know the Toy Story movies, Millie is very Jessie-like to me in this picture.

Best flying goggles and hat, ever.  Thanks Mom.

Warrior-at-heart is my Benny.  He got that plastic knife in his stocking for Christmas.

Cecily tries, but doesn't make a very scary "Shee-tah."  (Cheetah)

Math, Lunch, Tintin & Cookies / *Everyday Life*

 This has been an unusual summer.  We have actually added to the school load and have neglected much of the normal summer activity we usually engage in.  This is due to: 1)moving this school year and losing a lot of time, 2)a new baby arriving this fall, also causing a certain amount of school time lost, and 3)younger kids ready to move up a level and get going on some new curriculum. 

 Not much is different for Sam and Will.  They are doing some catch up on a few subjects that they are a little behind on.  But Ben has started grammar and we are trying to fly through the first year curriculum to get him started on the second year for this upcoming school year.  He was suddenly *ready* to take off this spring and so we are schooling away.  Also, I ordered new math curriculum for he and Calvin.  After years of using the same math for all of the boys, I finally re-invested and got Saxon.  So glad I did.  I had avoided it because it is so involved.  Now I see that I just need to put in the time because it is so worth it and the results are astounding.  They are loving it.  I started Calvin and Ben at the same level because I wanted Ben to re-learn certain things, properly.  Because of this we are also trying to get a lot of this done so that Ben can catch up and be at his capability level as soon as possible.  

And Amelia.  :)  She can't stand to see all this school going on and not be included.  She was SO ready that I couldn't put it off anymore.  We ordered her Kindergarten phonics and the first level of Saxon math for her to start.  Yes, she's loving it and I am full-up-to-my-eyebrows with lessons with children this summer!  

The pictures show everyone jumping in on a math lesson using their new *balance*.  One of the delights and benefits of Saxon is the heavy use of math manipulatives.  So hands on, so much fun.

 Lunch for Eli.  (In his "new" chair)

 Ah yes, peanut butter finger food.  Usually indicative of a nap next. 

Just watching an episode of an old, animated Tintin series on Netflix, on the computer.  A fun treat.

 Cookies.  For a picnic.  Thanks, Will!  And great job including your little brother who had a wonderful time!

Our rule is that if you cook it, you get to taste some at the end, if you want to. Yum!