Science Fairs and Fairy Tales

So much going on here that I can't remember what I still need to post, so I'll just cut right to the two most recent events I have photos for. :-)

Allyson participated in the first science fair at her school last week. It was completely voluntary, but the science teacher offered a 100% test grade to her students who entered, so we strongly encouraged Ally to do a project. In the end, Ally was thrilled because she won 4th place (honorable mention) out of 37 entrants (a bonus because we weren't expecting anything other than that test grade!). Woohoo...way to go Ally!

Claire's class had a Fairy Tale Museum last week as well. Each child was asked to dress up and write a short paragraph about their character. When other students came to view their "display" and "push their button", the fairy tale character came *alive* and read their paragraph. We suggested that Claire dress as Snow White, but then couldn't find the costume. (The girls have lots of dress-up things, but this costume seemed to be in hiding.) Claire then decided to dress as Rapunzel. We had a dress that worked, but she needed long hair so I ordered a wig online. We waited and waited, but the wig didn't arrive on time...so it was mom to the rescue. :-) The night before the museum, I frantically cut the legs off a pair of tights, cut long pieces of yarn, and sewed them onto the base (tights). We then braided the "hair" and Claire instantly became Rapunzel! Not a bad job if I do say so myself! LOL By the way, the real wig arrived the following afternoon...a little too late. :-(

Chapman Tragedy

I just read that the youngest daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman died yesterday in a horrible accident. Apparently, her older brother was driving the family car, and accidentally hit the 5 year old.
This is just a sad, sad story. My heart aches for this family - I don't have words to express my sadness for them. Everyone please pray for this precious family. Here is the link to the news article.

North to Alaska!

Randy went to Alaska last week on business (poor guy!). I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to go along as well. :-( I have a "secret obsession" with the Discovery show "Deadliest Catch"...and would have LOVED to visit Dutch Harbor, and to see the crab boats. OK, so my secret is out...but surely I'm not the only woman who likes this show..right?
Randy did have some down time, and was able to get a few pictures for us. Check out the price of watermelons!

The Alaska pipeline....much smaller than I pictured in my mind.

Silver Dollar City

Our kids just love going to Silver Dollar City. They love the rides...we love the fact that the park is close enough to drive up and back in the same day. Since the park has added new rides, it's even more enjoyable. Our first trip this year was during World Fest, where they had performers from around the world. We waited in a LONG line, but we were finally able to get good seats to watch the "Feet of Fire" from Ireland. Lots of great dancers there. We then waited in another long line to watch the acrobats from China. Those guys were truly amazing! The only problem was that the show was just too short!
We visited SDC again this past weekend, along with Emily's school choir. Since the weather was warmer, the water rides were up and running. Since I tend to look like a drowned rat when I'm wet, I opted out of the "wet" rides...that meant that dad had to ride with the girls. After only one ride, the girls looked like they had bathed with their clothes on. The girls had a great time though, and had pretty much dried off by the time we left at the end of the day.
We're already looking forward to Kid's Fest this summer.

Music??

Does the music on my blog bug anyone? I know that I've opened several blogs (even my own) lately and find myself immediately turning my speakers down. Sometimes, the music really bugs me....guess I can't read and listen at the same time! :-)

China Earthquake

I'm sure everyone is aware of the horrible earthquake in China. Such a sad, sad thing. It just breaks my heart to hear of the loss of life in this tragedy.
If you are interested in helping in the recovery efforts, I would love to offer a suggestion. Half the Sky is an organization that is already established in China to help the orphanages. They are getting daily updates on the damage, as well as current needs of the orphanages. You can go to their website (here) to read the updates. Should you choose to make a donation, you can click on the button on their website. Also, if you happen to be an employee of Ford Motors, your donation will be matched by your company!! (Note: I am NOT affiliated with this agency in any way...I just appreciate all they do for the orphanages.)

Tired

I mentioned in the previous post about how BUSY we are this month. This photo proves it. Claire has never been one to take naps...I'd say she's taken less than 10 naps total since coming home in 2002. (Believe me, a nap is something I would have LOVED for her to do, but it just never happened...even at the daycare they could only get her to "rest", but never nap.)
This is how I found Claire last night a few minutes after her bath...at only 6:45 p.m. She was completely zonked out, with all three of her blankies surrounding her.

Month of May

I think the month of May is quickly becoming my least favorite month of the year.:-( While I love the fact that May means the end of school is near, I dislike all of the "busy-ness" that comes during the month. We have SOOOO much going on this month: children's choir performance at church, field trips, school choir performances, field trips, piano recitals, field trips, school band tryouts, book fairs, school plays, fun and field day, an eye surgery for dh, dentist appointments x4, orthodontist appointments, doctor appointments x2, lab work dates, oh and another field trip or two thrown in for good measure. I'm sure there are a few other things on the calendar as well, but I've just forgotten them. :-(
No wonder I'm so tired. :-O
OK, enough complaining....headed off to video a school performance now. whoosh!

No Video

Well, I haven't had any luck uploading a video from the recital. :-( I'll keep working on it - hopefully, I'll get it to work soon.
On a different note, Emily is going to sing a duet with Randy at church on Father's Day. They've chosen a song and have begun practicing. I took a short video of their practice, and HOPE to post it on the blog as well. Fingers and toes crossed!

Recital

Emily and Allyson had their first piano recital last night. The girls have only been taking piano lessons since September of '07, but they've learned so much! After all 24 students had performed, the teacher awarded prizes in four categories (practice time, scales, workbook, and memory). Since our girls are the newest students, we really didn't expect them to win anything...but we were all pleasantly surprised to hear their names called! Emily won first place in both scales and memory; and second place in workbook. Allyson won second place in workbook; and third place in scales. I'm going to *try* to upload a short video of their performance if I can figure out how (w/o using YouTube).