May Day 2011

Yesterday was May Day at the boys school.

They always start off with the 4th graders (that is the last grade at our school) being introduced as they come in. Then they wrap the May Pole (I remember doing this as a 6th grader at the same school!)

Each grade learns a dance. The 4th graders do their dance then they go over to their teachers who are sitting on the side lines. Once the students are with their teachers, they are able to do the dances that the younger grades are doing (only on the side lines).

The third graders then go up to their dance. They were doing a dance called the Woka Woka (the spelling may not be correct, but that is how it sounded). It was a new dance. I tried to get some pictures of Austin doing the dance, however he was not in the front. So nothing really turned out.

Soon it was time for the first graders to go up and do their dance. They were also doing a new dance. They did a Russian dance called the Troyka (again, not sure of the spelling). They did the dance in a group of 3.

Adam is on the left. His best friend, Desirae is in the middle, and another friend, Jamil, is on the right.

After Kindergarten does their dance, the parents and teachers are invited to come down to the field and do singing in the rain with all the children. I had to get a picture of Austin doing this song. I waited until almost the last verse. He had is thumbs up, shoulders back, bottom out, tongue out, he just needed to add eyes closed.

It is such a fun time. The kids enjoy the dancing, I enjoy watching, and it is nice that they get out 1 hour early-since I take them home after the program.

Zoo Field Trip

At the school that my boys attend, 1st graders get to take a field trip to the D.C. zoo.

Yesterday, was our zoo day! I was able to go with Adam. We were at school by 6:40 a.m. and were soon loaded onto a bus. I thought, earlier in the week, that we might have rain. We did not have any rain, but it was HOT!

The pandas thought it was hot!

The lions thought it was hot!

And the tiger thought it was hot!

I was just glad they decided to rest were we could still see them.

We were able to go into some air conditioned buildings and still see animals. We saw this pretty little bird in the bird house.

As we were going from one place to another, we passed a small pond. There were several ducks on this pond with lots of little ducks. Even though we can see baby ducks here, they are always cute!

We went by an exhibit of a Wattled Crane. He just happened to be walking by the edge. It was great to get an up close look at him.


We went into the reptile house. They had all kinds of snakes, and creepy things. They also had some pretty neat looking lizards (I'm sure I would not think they were so neat if they were loose, however there was a nice piece of glass between us.)

I loved the coloring on this lizard.

This one was just huge!


They also had turtles. These turtles had really long necks. Some of the children I had thought they looked like snake necks.

These were just an amazing size.

Adam wanted to fly by a lot of these exhibits, because he was hot and tired. He had to slow down because there were 4 other children and 2 adults that he needed to wait on. However, by waiting he was able to see some of the cool animals that he would have missed otherwise.

We knew the children were extremely hot. So the other mom and I agreed that we would try to find something to cool them down a bit. They had an ice cream vending machine, but it was $3.50 or so for each ice cream bar. We decided maybe getting water and letting them stand in a mister for a little would work. We found a water vending machine but, again, it was $3.00 for each bottle of water. As I walked away from the machine telling the other mom what the price was, a lady was walking by me (and was pulling a wagon) and heard me telling her this. She asked if I would like some free water. She said that she had been pulling water bottles around in wagon and she would be happy to get rid of it. Every got a nice cold drink of water. Then they went and stood in a mister. We all seemed much happier then. I don't know who that lady was, but she a blessing to our group!

I decided when we got on the bus that Adam and I needed to have a picture taken together.

I did it myself. It's not perfect, but that's okay!

The bus driver gave a quick driving tour of D.C. He took us by the Washington Monument, we saw the White House from distance, the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Adam was asleep on my lap before the tour started. We may just have to go to D.C. again to be able to see these things when he is awake.

It was an exhausting day, but we had a wonderful time!

Daddy Pulled The Trigger

Well, maybe I should backup a bit and explain the story.

Austin has had a loose tooth for some time. Last night it had gotten to the point that he was uncomfortable eating. It really needed to come out. He decided that maybe it would be a good idea to shoot the tooth out with a Nerf gun (as we have done before). He got the floss and a gun. I tied the floss to a dart and the other end to his tooth. He stood with the gun in his hand, we could hear him trying to talk himself into pulling the trigger. then he would back out, and in a bit try again. Mike told him to close his eyes, count to 3 and pull the trigger. He closed his eyes, counted to 3, and Mike walked by and pulled the trigger for him. The tooth came out!



He was very happy to be able to eat the rest of his dinner without the trouble of a loose tooth.
Austin had to call Mamaw and Papaw and tell of his latest adventure. He started the conversation with "Well, this is kind of exciting..." After that call he had to call my nephew, Eamon, and tell him the latest news!

He tried really hard to get a picture of the tooth. They didn't really turn out, but this gives a fair idea.

All City Strings Festival

Yesterday Austin was able to participate in the All City Strings Festival. They had students from all 5 Elementary Schools, 2 Middle Schools, and 1 High School. The students got together after school and practiced some songs.


They had several fiddle songs, so their teachers gave them bandannas to wear for the program--to make them look more country.

The songs were really beautiful! I was very impressed what the group sounded like.

I am so very proud of the progress that Austin has made in violin this year. In October when he started he knew nothing! Now he is playing in programs like this!

(Note: I have a new to me camera. I was trying to change something on the camera and it went to video. I was happy that I could get stills again. However, as a result of me messing with the camera, the pictures did not turn out great. At least we have something to remember the night.)

One Of My Favorite Things About Spring

Spring is my favorite season. There are so many things to love about this season. The weather starts getting warmer, school will soon come to en end (which means a more relaxed schedule for the summer), and things are in bloom. One of my favorite things I love that blooms at our house, is my clematis.



It's beautiful, isn't it?

All In The Name Of Science

Last Sunday, for Mother's day, Adam gave me some bath salts (with a coupon for a 1 hour bath). I have not had a chance to use the salts yet. (A 1 hour bath does not come that easily when you have so much to do)

This week for homework Adam read a book called Greg's Microscope. He really enjoyed this book. It was about a boy who's Father got him a microscope, however he did not buy the prepared slides. So Greg had to make his own. He took all kinds of items around the house and made slides.

This got the boys to thinking. They decided to get out the microscope that we have. I was trying to clean and they would come asking for salt, a drop or two of mint tea, milk (I gave them dry milk), then they wanted a fly. They were fortunate in that there has been a fly in our house for a few days that has been driving me CRAZY!! Austin needed it for science, he got it! (Thank You Science!) They came out and informed me that they were creating acid. (YIKES). Then Adam came and asked if he could have a little bit of the bath salts that he gave me last Sunday. Of course, I agreed--he could have some. However, when I saw the bag that had the salts later, it was almost empty. I guess they went to science--that is a good cause, right?

CrAzY hAiR dAy

Today, at the boy's school, was crazy hair day. Last night before bed, the boys talked of their plans and what they were going to do with their hair. They came up with some pretty creative ideas.

This morning, I had no problem with them getting ready for school (the only condition in which they could do their crazy hair).

Austin took some color spray (temporary, thank goodness!). First he was going to do part red and part white, then he decided to go all white.
Adam decided that he did not want to do colors, like he had talked about last night. He decided that he wanted to wear a wig.

Austin was outside spraying his hair and he walked by a window and saw Adam. At first glance he thought it was me. (due to the curly hair) My only comment to that was that I hope my hair is not that out of control. If it is, maybe it is time to go get my hair styled differently!! The boys got a real kick out of the fact that Austin mistook Adam for me!

We went outside to get some pictures. Of course, with crazy hair day we need a picture of the boys being...

...CrAzY!

Spring Recital

Adam has been taking piano lessons this year. He was not able to go to the winter recital, due to us all being sick. However, Tuesday was the spring recital.

Adam wanted to wear clothes that were "just right." He picked out one of Mike's ties that had a keyboard and music notes on it. We built an outfit around that.

He was about to leave the house without his music. He insisted that he did not need it. I grabbed the music and we went for the recital. He even told my mom that he might even do the recital blindfolded.

When he was going up on stage I handed him the books, and he reluctantly took them.

He played his first piece, one that he has had memorized for some time. He did a great job!

His teacher had, apparently, been talking to all the children about what it means to be a composer. Some of the children wanted to compose their own music for the recital. Adam chose to compose a song called Dreamland. He started to play it correctly, then lost his place (note: he is still not looking at his music!), so he made up something. I guess the good thing is that since he is the composer, no one could tell him it was wrong.

Adam's third and final song was Our God Is An Awesome God. He did not have this one memorized, but he was trying. He got a fairly good start then lost where he was. He played some filler music, and ended it on the right note.

As I listened to him play, the mother in me wanted to run on stage, pull the music and show him where he was. But, I didn't.

Adam never seemed phased by this at all! He sat with us and after a few of the other students played, he lay on the chairs and fell asleep.

For a first recital, and the situation he was in, I think he handled it with grace!

Creativity & Construction

Today in church, Austin took a notebook that we had packed in the "church bag" and started to draw. I have to say, Mike and I were very impressed by what he did!


He drew a creature from some game that they play. (that is not the part that impressed us) We were impressed by the way he did shadowing on the creature, and how he drew the shadow on the ground. I was never very good at that type of thing, so the fact that he is doing this so young just blows me away! (I claim that he gets that ability from Mike!)

After lunch, Mike decided that he was going to work on the shelves for the basement. When the boys and I got home he was really working at the shelves.

The boys soon decided that they wanted to work on a project as well.

Austin hammered nails, Adam filed. And then they switched.

Adam made something to hang his clothes on. Mike hung it in his room this afternoon.

Mike made a second shelving unit. I have to say, I love how these shelves are organizing our basement!

All 3 of my boys never cease to amaze me with their creativity and abilities.