Piano Recital

Sarah, John and Janine had a piano recital this morning. It was for all 30 students of Mrs. Scott, their piano teacher. Each student played a piece that he had chosen and practiced, none more than three minutes long. The pieces varied from beginner's exercises to Bach partitas.

Here's John at the baby grand. Click here for video of his piece. It's from a recent Harry Potter movie. Because John likes everything Star Wars, he really likes John Williams, and by extension Harry Potter.

Please note that each child introduced himself by stating his name, number of years taking piano and the title and composer of the piece he will play. Due to the limitations of the microphone on the digital camera, you can't really hear the introductions. The recital was held at a nearby church.

Here's Sarah with Nana. Sarah choose "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Grieg. While she was sometimes reluctant to practice, she practiced anyway and I think she did very well. But of course I'm her Dad. Click here for video of Sarah's piece.


Of all three Janine went first. In fact she was the second overall. Click here for a video of Janine's performance. Janine played an exercise piece called, "Dancing." She was very brave going so early and was very good sitting quietly next to her friend Kaitlyn for the rest of the performances.

Here they are after the recital. Sarah and Janine both changed their clothes almost immediately after their performances. In typical fashion, John kept his blazer on until we went out for lunch.

Overall, Sarah, John and Janine all worked very hard, practicing their music until they could perform it dressed up, in front of an audience. Mrs. Scott was very pleased. Mommy and Daddy were very proud. I have to leave the final complement for my wife. She rode herd for them to practice at home. She even arranged for them to practice their introductions and play the piano at our church earlier this past week. Kudos Mommy!

Nature Path

This past Sunday Janine and I walked to church. Not only was it a fantastic morning, sunny and about 55 degrees, but we got to use the new nature path running behind our house. Here's Janine on it. Note that she is holding not only her purse, but her two favorite Care Bears.

The big story is that the township is building a nature park on the empty land behind our house. Originally the school district owned the property. All sorts of rumors went around that they would build everything from a new school (good) to a bus barn (bad). About 10 years ago the township bought the property. Then the rumors shifted to lighted ball fields and all night softball leagues.

Finally the township parks director drew up a plan for a nature park and presented it to all of us skeptics who lived next to the land. (About 300 feet of our lot fronts it.) We gave it our grudging approval. The parcel is too small to be developed for houses profitably while meeting township requirements. We all also knew that it would be developed someday, so why not now? Besides, a nature park would pose the fewest potential problems.

It's still under construction from last fall, but they have put in about a mile of walking path, the base for the small parking lot and leveled the land for the all-purpose field. The plan also calls for a tennis court, playground, rest rooms and a sand volleyball court. The parks director tells me that they are building it as the funds become available, so I'm not holding my breath for sand volleyball. We'll keep you posted.

(It's been a hectic week so it took a few days to get this posted.)

Sisters

Sarah and Janine have been having a lot of fun lately playing piggyback. John captured this moment of silliness this past Sunday. Thankfully nobody was hurt and nothing was broken. Shortly thereafter Sarah was off to youth group at church and Janine had Nana to herself. But moments like this are like gold.

I love it when they enjoy each other like this. It reminds me of how much fun I had with my brother and sisters growing up.

Erin Go Braugh

Happy St. Patrick's day! We celebrated yesterday with the tried and true corned beef and cabbage. Yes, it's another food picture, but don't you think it is nicely presented and appetizing?

OK, OK so I did cook the meal, that is if you can call two Crock Pots and two pots of boiling water cooking.

Now comes the best part, leftovers! corned beef hash and reubens that is. Don't worry there will be no chance for photos. It will all get eaten very fast.

Chalk Lines

Yesterday while Bobbie was doing the Latin lesson with Sarah and John, Janine was busy. She quietly got to work on the chalk board and finished with this multi-media "installation."

You see, Janine is counting the days to the first day of spring next week. It's part of her Math lesson to each day write the date and day of the week and draw a picture if it is sunny, cloudy, raining, snowing, etc. (I don't think she has a picture for an occluded front.)

With spring on her mind after a beautiful sunny day Monday, she had the inspiration to draw. Here it is; a spring day with trees, flowers and a bird. That's Twee-twee, the squeaky bird toy, taped to the scene.

Fierce Birthday

Sunday was Sarah's birthday so she got to choose the dinner. We all enjoyed lamb chops, risotto, spinach salad. All three of our kids prefer pie to cake so we had apple pie for dessert.

Here's the pie held up by a rather fierce Sarah. She is at the age during which she doesn't like to have her picture taken so she either mugs or runs away. In this one I think she wants to mug me!

Note the properly browned crust on that pie. It was flakey throughout and the filling was not overpowered by any one spice. But the final proof was in the very small amount of leftover pie which Sarah claimed Monday morning for breakfast. Great job Bobbie!

Skating Show

This past Monday night was the skating show. It's hard to believe that this is the sixth year that the kids have participated in this event. Starting with the Tiny Tots six years ago, now Sarah is the anchor of the Alpha group and is ready to move up next year.

Here she is with her friend Karissa (aka Hermine Hilton) who is on the skating team. I think Sarah would like to participate, but she is concerned about the time commitment. Skate Team members skate three to four times per week, year 'round at odd times when ice is available. I think Sarah likes to have some spare time from three days a week at the ballet studio.


John grinned it up for his photo. Janine and John are both in the pre-Alpha group and it's a big one. There must have been about 30 kids on the ice for their number. So there were two large loops of about 12 kids each with John and the tallest kids (including one adult) in the center. Thankfully as the kids have grown, the costumes no longer obscure their faces so it's a lot easier to spot them on the ice. The kids are almost lost in the videos of the early performances. I just set the lens on wide angle and let them skate. Now I can track them much more easily.

Finally, there's Janine mugging on the ice. She is the one who rules the roost among the little girls. When I took them over for practice Janine had them all running around and giggling. But that just seems to be her nature. The greatest contrast was watching her run around with her friends then reach into her backpack for her favorite teddy bear for a quick break, then return to her buddies. She seems to switch between the two and back so effortlessly. I don't know what to think about it other than simply remind myself that I am watching one of the wonders of childhood.

Haircut

John and I needed a haircut the other day so we went to the barbershop up the street from the ballet studio. As a baby boomer who grew up on 1960s TV the likeness of Floyd the Barber on the sign attracted me.

For the non Baby Boomers, Floyd was the barber in the town of Mayberry, NC where the Andy Griffith show was set. He was played by an longtime character actor named Howard McNear. Click here for more.

As you can see John liked his haircut, and wants to go back there the next time. John gave Eron the barber his greatest endorsement, "he really knows how to cut my hair."

John has not had great haircutting experiences in the past. Other barbers just chopped and combed it away. Because Eron paid attention to John's thick hair and dual crown, he will get our repeat business.

Kid's Book Club

Last Wednesday was Kid's book club at our house. That's Kathy leading the boys group in the top photo, and Dawn taking care of the little girls below. The young ladies were sequestered in Sarah's room and did NOT allow photos to be taken.

The boys all read A Grain of Rice, a story about an intrepid Chinese boy who charms the Emperor and wins his daughter's hand. But we got One Grain of Rice, a story set in India about a young girl who asks the local pasha for one grain of rice during a famine, and then twice as much the next day for 30 days. John liked the story a lot because it was about numbers. Kathy was great because she lead the discussion for both books.

Dawn did a nice job of reading several books to the little girls who later retired to Janine's room for dress-up. I volunteered to help out and found myself playing trains with the little guy in the green shirt in the top photo. Yes I'm 50 and I love Brio train sets.

The best part was that all of the kids got along so well and really looked out for one another, for which we are all thankful.

Self Portrait

Here is another self portrait of the Small Blond Woman. She drew it herself this morning while she was waiting for her reading lesson.

As you can see, her older sister helped when she braided and put barettes in Janine's hair.

Not a bad likeness, don't you think?

Shakespeare Festival

This past Monday Sarah and John participated in the youth Shakespeare recitation festival along with several other groups of kids from a nearby homeschool study center. Almost all of the performances were from A Midsummer Night's Dream, so John got to play his favorite character, Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck. Sarah played a fairy who encounters Puck in the first scene of the second act.

They were among the very youngest kids participating in the festival which is open for grades 4 to 12.They knew their lines cold thanks to Mommie's insistence on daily practice. In fact all of the study center kids did very well. They knew their lines, they faced the audience and several could even fill the theatre with their voices.

Sarah and several of her friends take ballet and carried themselves onstage very nicely. Impressed, the theatre director complemented the entire study center group.

Click here for a rehearsal video.

What's more, one of the scenes has advanced to the finals tomorrow night. Mommie will be taking Sarah and John downtown to cheer them on.

...and yes, that's Sarah giving the Bard a pair of bunny ears.

More from the Skating Party

Here's some more photos from the homeschooling skating party.

There's Nathan on top showing that nuclear physicists also know how to skate. He told me that the cap was really warm as well as being fun to wear. Note the bin next to him. It's empty now, but it carrys the skates for all five of their kids. Well not quite five yet. The youngest is just two.

John is modeling his matching black and gold helmet and gloves in the lower photo. He has done a great job to stick with skating. He is far from the fastest one on the ice, but he sure is the steadiest. He took a few laps around the rink, then came inside for hot cocoa and snacks.

Me? I just had the hot cocoa and the snacks.

Finally Snow

Now that we finally have snow we also have to shovel it. Janine is a big help in this area. She takes care of the level part next to the garage, while I do the hill. Of course after shoveling she likes to ride her sled down the hill. But the best part is the hot cocoa when she comes inside.

Just before I took this photo, Janine asked if she could shovel other peoples' driveways. I told her yes, but just as long as she finished ours first.

Why do I feel like Tom Sawyer with my own daughter?

Hmm, I have to start working on Sarah and John as well!

Skating Party

Our local home school network had a pizza party at the local skating rink yesterday. There were almost 80 people at the event. Most of them skated, except me. That's a skill I have yet to master.

Sarah has been doing well with skating lessons this winter. She is almost ready to move to the next level but needs to work on her crossovers. Here she is in the middle of the pack. Of all three kids, Sarah is always the first on the ice and the last off of it.

This was a hard photo to get because she was at the very center of the rink and people kept skating in front of me. But at least it's finally cold enough to skate outdoors.

Fun at the Museum

Here's what the three of them were doing while Nana sat patiently.

They were overcome by a display snake.

John got into the aquarium.

No wonder they were so tired that evening.