Try Outs!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the kindergarten center to register Claire for school.  She was able to go to one of the classrooms and play in there.  They had teachers and aids in the rooms with the children.  They also took them on a bus ride.  There was a school bus right outside the door and they went around the block and talked about bus safety (the school district busses all of the kindergartners in town to one school).

While she was in the classroom, I was in another room with parents listening to the principal and several teachers tell about the different things that happen at school.  It was my third time sitting through it, but it was Claire's first time there.

After the registration, we went to the preschool.  We were in the office with the secretary, and I told Claire to tell her what we did.  She said, "I tried out for kindergarten."  The reply from the secretary was a little giggle and then she asked, "Did you make it?"  Claire responded, "Yes, and I get to go in the fall."

Very sweet.

As a side note, the picture of Claire was taken this past weekend.  She wanted to have hair like the competition group that Caleb is in.  It's "Thriller" hair.

OLD TOYS

Yesterday I went to a rummage sale and I bought two old tape recorders.  The children are amazed by it.  I taught Caleb how to use it last night, and this morning I heard him while he was showing Eli how to use it.  He said something like, "Eli, you've gotta see this.  It is really cool."  Then he recorded himself.  They were singing into it and now the girls are sitting on the couch laughing at their voices that they just recorded.

It is the same type of things we were entertained by 30 years ago.

Oh, the simplicity of it all.  Oh, how it stimulates their imagination.  I think it was a good investment!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

We have been very busy with dance.  We have had two competitions so far, and we have one more on Saturday.  The first one we went to is called Starpower.  It was a big competition with some big dance studios.  Eli's group - Funky Town - got an elite gold.  It is so fun to watch him dance.  These pictures are from Cathy Roe's competition.

Won't you take me to Funky Town?

The girls showing off Eli.

Dancing his little heart out.

Strike a pose.  The final pose in his dance.

Posing on Stage for pictures before awards.

Caleb does two group dances and a duet.  All of them got elite golds.  I'll have to put some pictures in later.

Both of the boys were asked to go to Ohio in July to be runway models for a dancewear catalogue.  They were excited, I not sure at this point what we be doing.

Performing at the Mall

Caleb and Eli did a pre-competition performance. The groups they dance with performed at the mall. A couple of my friends took some pictures - YAY for friends. There are only pictures of Caleb doing his duet. Here are the pictures:

This is Caleb with his duet partner. They dance to Tiny Dancer by Elton John.

This is the line where the song says, "Only you, and you can hear me..."

Here they are getting ready to do a lift. It is a pretty cool move.

Almost at the end. They are going in for the finale.

The last pose, as the music ends.

When we were looking at pictures, Caleb, who has to focus on holding his partner, said, "Wow! That looks cool!" He has never seen it from this angle (either have I for that matter, I get to sit on the side of the studio and watch their practices). They have a lot of fun dancing together.

Eyes

Caleb has had glasses for a couple of weeks, and he has wanted me to take a picture and put

it on my blog. So, here he is. He had told us for a couple of months that he was having a hard time seeing the board during class, and that he had to come to the front of the room. We finally broke down and took him to the eye doctor. His eyes are just at the point when they start to put children in glasses. He really likes them, and he takes really good care of them.

Winter in Minnesota

It's winter in Minnesota

And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At forty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Minnesota

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

(Thanks papa for the poem)

Beautiful Birthday

The Saturday before my birthday, Brett and I went to the church early. He went to play basketball, and I went to do some visiting teaching work on the church computer. When we got home, Caleb had orchestrated some breakfast for me. Juice and muffins. Yummy!

This is what we came home to. It was very thoughtful of them.

Then on Sunday, we were invited to a friend's house for a Superbowl party and a joint birthday party. Noah's birthday is the same day as mine, just 10 years later. We bought my pie, and Ashley made Noah's cake. She insisted on putting in all of the candles.

Noah wasn't feeling very well, so he posed for the pictures, but he wouldn't blow out the candles, so I got to blow out the candles. I got most of them in one breath, I think I missed two. Can't believe the smoke detector didn't go off with all of the smoke. Also, some of the chocolate started burning on my pie. Yummy!

Then, on my actual birthday, Brett took care of dinner. He went to Perkins and brought home a salad, some appetizers, three entrees, and another French silk pie (Eli left the other one out on the counter, so it melted and we had to throw the left overs away). So, Brett served up dinner and dessert. Yummy!

Yes, my birthday was all about eating. YUMMY!

Brett also brought home a bouquet of tulips. They are beautiful, and NO, I didn't eat them.

Swimming Sixth Grader

Caleb decided to go out for swimming this year. The high school allows the middle school students to swim with them. In sixth grade, the boys only get to swim at home meets, and then they get to swim before the meet in an exhibition 50. Caleb really enjoyed swimming this year. The guys on the swim team are very good about including everyone.

Here is a video of Caleb swimming. I missed the start - haven't totally figured out my camera. He is in lane 5 and in second place the entire time. The boy who took first has been on swim teams for years, so Caleb is really going to try to catch him next year. Watch out!

POP!

Eli did a science experiment, and he was judged on Tuesday. He tested how soda decays chalk. He wanted to do teeth, but there are too many forms to fill out if working with human tissue.

His conclusion was that Coka-Cola Classic and Mug Root Beer have equal decay, and Sprite has slightly less decaying power than tap water.

It was fun to see him excited about science.

Snow Biz

Yesterday was a beautiful day. When I saw it was 34 degrees I made the children go out to play. They played for a while and then Caleb had to go some where. When we got home, they decided to go outside again. They played outside in the snow for several hours.

The temperatures actually got up into the low 40s. The snow and ice on the driveway was melting. The snow in the yard was fun to play with - it stuck together.

Emily and Claire made a snow man early on, it was too warm though because the rock eyes kept melting the snow around them and they kept falling out.

The children all worked on snow forts in the front yard, and then they had a snowball fight. Brett went out and joined them.

I was able to lay down in my bed and not be interrupted.

It was a beautiful day.