Farm Field Trip

Bryson missed his Kindergarten field trip this year because it was cancelled twice due to rainy weather. He was so bummed! So I pulled him out of school the other day so that we could go on the farm field trip just us. The only thing I couldn't provide for him was the bus transportation back and forth, which he was looking forward to so much! (He's never been on a school bus.)

Riding the train

Pony rides

Austin next to a sheep

Big sand pile--kids' favorite part, parents' worst nightmare.

Spring 2019 Baseball

Caleb and Carter had a great baseball season!

Caleb was the lead-off batter and played shortstop. He was the youngest player on his team and some of the 13-year-olds were almost twice his size.

Caleb's team ended up as the champion in their division. The team played well, but the outstanding pitching by the team's best pitcher really helped to seal the win.

(showing off their championship rings) 

 Carter batted 2nd in his line-up and played shortstop, 3rd base and left field. His team ended up in 2nd place in their division.

Carter with his coach. Matt enjoyed coaching the team.

Now we're gearing up for one more month of baseball since both boys made the all-star team for their division. Final stretch.

Level 2 Graduation Recital

In the Suzuki method they have certain graduate levels. To be a level 1 graduate, you have to finish the 2nd Suzuki book and be at a certain point in the 3rd book. To be a level 2 graduate, you have to finish the 3rd Suzuki book and be a certain point in the 4th book etc. The idea behind this is to be at a skill level past the pieces you actually perform in order to show greater mastery of the easier songs.

Caleb recorded 3 songs from book 3 to submit to a judge who graded and commented on different skills. Then he picked one of the songs to perform at the graduation recital. Caleb played Sonatina in C Major Op. 36, No. 3 by Clementi and played so beautifully. Excellent scale runs, trills, control, dynamics, and technique. I don't love everything about the Suzuki method, but overall this has been the best fit for Caleb to push him in this natural-born talent that he was given. The method has taught him to pay attention to the tiniest details; it has taught him more about technique than I ever learned as a piano student!

The students who performed in the recital

Caleb and his Suzuki piano teacher (and also a great family friend!)

Neighborhood Carnival

Our HOA fees at work... We actually love how many fun activities our neighborhood does throughout the year. In May, they do a carnival.

Petting zoo

Pony ride

Bubbles

Cotton Candy

Face painting

(Austin is a bunny rabbit--he asked for Batman, which wasn't an option)

I didn't catch any pictures of Caleb and Carter because they were running off doing their own thing. They enjoyed plenty of pizza, cotton candy, a snow cone and playing some of the sports games. (There was a pitching game that they loved and a basketball shot.)

Random Pictures

Austin loves finding tree frogs in the backyard!

These two are great friends! Austin asks to play with his cousin, Morgan, most every day.

Mother's Day 2019

Matt made crepes for breakfast for Mother's Day.

Me and my boys

I led the Primary children in singing a mother's day medley of "Love is Spoken Here" and "Mother Tell Me the Story." After church, we met up at my mom's house for dinner. Clayton smoked a brisket and the other men helped with the sides.

Carter's Mother's Day gift

Bryson's Mother's Day gift

Some things harder to decipher:

Favorite food-- cookies

Drink-- orange juice

Favorite TV Show and Movie-- "America's Got Talent"

Song-- Living in this world (first line of "I Will Be What I Believe," a song I'm teaching at church)

Heavy May Rains

We had 2 crazy thunderstorms in one week! 

Friday afternoon in early May, the rain came down heavy and quickly. This is what our backyard looked like after about an hour.

School pick-up was delayed. Fortunately I was about 25 cars into the line and was able to get my boys home safely before they stopped the car rider line due to thunder/lightning. Some kids didn't get picked up until over an hour after school got out! In other areas of the city, some students/teachers had to spend the night at their school.

Then the following Tuesday it happened again! Heavy downpour. The drains couldn't keep up with the rapid rate and soon the streets were flooded and it was creeping up the driveways.

Front yard (notice the river flowing from our backyard on the left)

Backyard--creeping over the basketball court

There were heavy rains again a few days later on Thursday night. Because some areas of the district were flooding preventing teachers and some students from traveling safely, they went ahead and cancelled school about 5am on Friday morning. The boys were happy to wake up to the news that there was no school. It ended up being a beautiful, sunny day. We headed to Pump It Up in the afternoon for some fun and exercise.

Needless to say, we had no baseball practices/games this week! It was nice to have a break and catch our breath!