"Bremen Town Musicians"

Here are a couple of pictures from the play that I directed for part of Molly's class. The play, The Bremen Town Musicians, is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale and the second graders read it in their reading book. Molly had the part of the donkey and she stole the stage, as far as I was concerned! The kids had a ball with the entire production -- from learning their lines, to helping with their costumes, to making the scenery. It really was loads of fun!

Memorial Day

We had a nice Memorial Day this year. It started with the community parade, in which Molly and Paul walked. Molly's baseball team was invited by their sponsor to walk and pass out candy and they did just that. The weather held out nicely for that morning and Molly (and Paul) had great fun participating in the parade. Then we went home and had a family cookout in our backyard. The sun didn't show itself much that day, and it was not warm enough for the swim club pool, but we spent time outside at home instead. It was a nice change of pace to just kick back and be together without much of a schedule!

Spring Band Concert

Abby had her spring school band concert in May. Abby plays the clarinet and this year she was chosen for the first chair position. Last year she was third chair, so she's progressing nicely in her instrument! Abby takes private lessons and this summer will add learning the tenor sax, as her band teacher wants her to play that instrument when she plays for jazz band next year at school. She will continue to play the clarinet for regular band, and the tenor sax for jazz band. Before we know it, Abby might become a one man (girl) band!

Piano Recital

Molly participated in her third piano recital in May. This year she played two songs. In years past, she has only played one, so this was something new. She played great! Her first song was nearly flawless. The second song was a bit tougher and she made a few mistakes, but she played it better than I would have! When I asked her after the performance about playing she was commenting on the few goofs in the second song, "I realized during the first song how hard it is to play in front of people." I guess that's called nerves! I'm hoping to become technologically savvy enough to figure out how to post videos on this blog and may be able to upload Molly playing at the recital.

Sparks Award

Molly is holding her own when it comes to her awards at AWANA as well. In May she received the Sparks Award, which is presented to students who have completed the three Sparks handbooks, which includes memorizing 107 verses. Sparks is the part of AWANA for kids in kindergarten through second grade. Molly not only completed the handbooks for all three years, but she also completed the extra workbook for two of those years. We hope Molly will also hide those Bible verses in her heart just like her big sister.

Timothy Award

Abby has made us proud once again! In May she received the Timothy Award at AWANA at church. AWANA is a program that focuses on Bible verse memorization and a program our family became involved with when Abby was a preschooler. The Timothy Award is presented to students who have completed any four of the handbooks for students 3rd through 12th grade. Abby received this at the end of 6th grade, which means she has completed one book each year, which is no easy task. Having completed those four handbooks means she has memorized 286 verses throughout those books. Way to go Abby! We hope she will bury those verse in her heart.

Spring-Summer Catch Up

Now that summer is officially here, it's once again time for me to catch up on the happenings of our family. May into June was somewhat a blur for all of us. The kids were wrapping up school, I was wrapping up several programs at church, I took on the (self-imposed) challenge of making a quilt for Molly's teacher who was retiring, I directed a play with Molly's class, Paul was in the midst of teaching, and then on the last day of school we left for Florida for a vacation! More of that in upcoming posts. I'm hoping to be a little more diligent in posting more frequently, now that our schedule is a little looser...Let's see if my intentions turn into anything worthwhile!