Winding down

Fortunately, this week was not nearly as busy as last... at least for the boys & me.  Michael is a completely different story! 

Last Wednesday night was the Residency Showcase at the school and it was a MAD house.  Though our school is beautiful, performance space is limited.  Because the main arts residency was with Libbi Pennington, a local artist, the showcase had to be at the school to truly show off all of the amazing mosaics that now decorate the building.  They are huge pieces of art that adorn the walls and deserved to be showcased.  However, there was also a "side" residency that popped up at the last minute with Verb Ballet out of Cleveland and so grades k-4 also had dances to showcase.  The large dance room (the small gym...) just couldn't accommodate all of the family & friends who wanted to see the performance.  It was definitely SRO and  a fabulous problem to have (though this would not be the opinion of most of the people in attendance...) - so much support that there isn't room for everyone.  This is a learning year for everyone and so, the administration and teachers are already brainstorming creative ways to show off our talented kids while still utilizing our building.  Because of the crowd and because I was the official PTS seller of Scrip that night, there are no pictures to show.  They had discouraged cameras anyway, so I didn't even bring mine.  Fortunately, they made a video a few days later that I will share parts of if it allows me to do so.  I did see Noah playing piano with the steel drum ensemble when they did the re-record and got a picture of that.  :) 

Thursday was the final soccer game and once again, the Cobras had a shut-out victory, making them the only 2nd-3rd grade team that never had a goal scored on.  It was a great season and not just because they won but because the kids had a great time - and looked like they were having a great time!  There are pictures of Noah with his soccer medal that was handed out after the game.

Monday was an honors assembly at school.  Noah received ribbons for Steel Drum Ensemble, Touring Company, Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance in the last quarter. 

Tuesday was a water party for the 3rd graders at the end of the school day and though I didn't attend, it sounds like they had a great time.  :)

It looks as though last week's pictures did not show up in the shared folder, so hopefully you'll be able to see them this week.  There should be four folders to view when you click here.

Have I mentioned how busy we are???

As promised, this has been another whirlwind week with a field trip, a field day, a soccer game, a piano recital and lots of playing outside.
Last Thursday, I got to go on the 3rd grade field trip to the Ohio Caverns with Noah & his class.  As you may recall, Noah & I went there with Gummy a few years ago and this trip was just as amazing.  Ohio Caverns is a definite "must-see" if you ever make it to Ohio.  After our tour through the cave, we spent some time in the gift shop and then enjoyed the beautiful day with a picnic lunch and a few minutes on the playground.  When we returned to school, Noah & I painted a large Twister board on the field behind the school and purchased a few last minute items for the school's "Spring Fling" field day that took place on Friday.  Then it was home to change and back in the car to head to another soccer game.  The Cobras once again dominated the field, winning 10-0, with Noah scoring his first ever goal!  He was SO excited and has been working really hard to score this entire season.  The McClarens went to the game as well and brought their camera!  So some really great shots of Noah on the field and Josiah just being cute.  One of those pictures was right before Noah kicked his goal but I'm not really sure which one.  :)  Take your pick!  lol

And that was just THURSDAY.  Friday was a busy day for me and a super fun day for Noah and the kindergarten-fourth graders at the school.  We had 11 stations for Spring Fling, including a dunk tank, Twister, parachute games, giant volleyball, a water game and lots of other fun activities.  In the past, I have just shown up and helped at a station but this year, I learned just how much it takes to put one of these fun days together.  Phew, am I glad that it's OVER.  :)  But it certainly was fun for everyone and the weather once again was perfect.

Click here for pictures from some of these fun activities.

As for the recital on Sunday, Noah was awesome!  He played two pieces - "He's a Pirate" from Pirates of the Caribbean and also "Tropical Fish."  Unfortunately, I missed a portion of "Tropical Fish" but Noah's bow at the end makes it worth it to watch anyway.  :)  He never disappoints - what a character!!!

Don't blink!

This was one of those whirlwind weeks in which we did a million things and never stopped moving.  This will continue through next week and then, hopefully, during the last week of school, we'll return to the still chaotic but less frantic "normal."  Since the last post, Noah has had two Touring Company shows, two soccer games and all the regular day-to-day stuff.  We also went to Touch-a-Truck at the library on Saturday and Monday was Teacher Appreciation at Noah's school.  This didn't really involve the boys, but I was busy!  :)

At one of the Touring Company shows, parents were welcome, so Josiah & I went again and this time got a closer view of Noah's spectacular "Hey Jude" solo.

Josiah now sings Hey Jude with the additional rock star scat at the end.  :)  He clams up when I attempt to record it though.  I did get some video of him mowing - he seriously is going to wear the wheels off his little toy mower.  He was upset that the bubbles weren't coming out so I told him he had to go a little faster.  This was the result:

Touch-a-Truck wasn't quite as exciting as it's been in the past.  Noah is pretty much over the whole truck thing and Josiah just wasn't all the interested this year.  We did get pictures of most of the trucks and Michael even got to come along, so it wasn't a total loss.  I think next year, I'll leave Noah home and see if Josiah is more excited about it.

May photos

not a picture in sight

Despite another busy week, I don't have a picture to show for it!  I do have a video from Noah's Touring Company show but I posted it on Facebook, so most of you have already seen it.  I was too busy doing the video from the back to get good pictures up close.  Maybe at one of the upcoming shows I'll be able to get a few pictures.  The show is all Beatles songs and is really fun.  Here is the video of Noah's solo:

Along with that Touring Company performance, Noah also had another soccer game on Saturday and it was another shut-out victory with 5 goals scored by the Cobras.  Noah assisted on at least two (he claims more..) by kicking the ball to the person who actually scored the goal.  We managed to finish up the game with moments to spare before the rain and sleet began.  Josiah wore snow pants and his winter coat and I wore longjohns and several more layers in our attempts to stay warm.  Today is warm & humid so hoping that we're done with the snow pants and longjohns for the rest of the soccer season!  :)  Only four more games to go.

After the soccer game we all went to see The Lorax at the dollar theater.  It was cute and almost held Josiah's attention.  Despite the fact that he was bopping around for the last 30 minutes or so, we still managed to enjoy the movie.  I think it will be awhile before we try taking Josiah again - he's just not that excited about the big screen...


And that about sums up our week.  :)