Last Day of School!

Well, here it is. The last day of school, which was on June 5. I'm a bit behind on posting because my back problem has gotten everything all mixed up around here for the past couple of weeks. I actually missed their last day of school altogether, and the last-day-picnic, and everything. I couldn't believe it. But...I'm "back"! Get it? Get it? I'm back!! HAHAHahahahahhaha...
Ahem.

I always like comparing the pictures from the first day of school, which naturally makes me marvel about how fast the year has gone and how much they have grown.
I, of course, never seem to change a bit.

Girl Scout Graduation

Recently our Daisy and Brownie Scouts graduated from their years in Scouting. What fun they have had with their friends, doing so many cool things! For next year, we are hoping to start a Little Flowers Girls Club with friends at our new school. We are excited about this new club--stay tuned! :)

Piano Recital

I am so proud of my pianists! Their recital was a couple of weekends ago, and they all worked so hard on their pieces. I am so impressed at the music I'm hearing around our house these days, too...it is hard to believe that WWD and MRD have now been taking piano for almost 4 years, and KLD almost 3--she hardly even knew her letters when she first started!

(In this picture MRD really wanted to SHOW you her piece--can you tell what a hard one it is?!?)
During these years there have been times when I have wondered if we should let them branch out and try a different instrument, or even quit when they encountered a rough patch. No, and no. I think of music as a language that is too important for them not to learn. Also, I love that they're getting to experience the process of working hard to master something that really takes time, effort, and practice. Letting them quit seems almost like letting them quit brushing their teeth, as in "You'll thank me for this someday, I promise!" :) Not that any of them really wants to quit, especially after recital time when they are so proud of their accomplishments.

Did I mention that I'm so proud of you guys?!

Turning Nocturnal

This week Bill has been staying up late to get some painting projects done around the house. (Of course, it's far easier to paint inside the house when the gang is asleep!) So this morning, he slept in.

Overheard at breakfast from MRD: "I think Dad's turning into a nocturnal animal. I'm going to name him a rac-dad!"

Rack-Dad, indeed.

Now she's a budding Picasso

Here's MRD's entry for the American Girl anti-bullying poster contest:

The Family Chef

Today MRD made dinner for us from her new American Girl cookbook. She made slow-cooker ham and potatoes--a huge hit. Thanks, MRD!

Our Budding Author Strikes Again

Time for another American Girl story contest submission!

Here's a very sweet story by MRD. The requirements were an autumn setting (for publication next fall) and the title: "A Dress Disaster."

This precious little story is enough to bring tears to her mom's eyes, for sure!

Snowy Day

Thursday we did a little sledding at recess, after JPD's preschool field trip to the park for a snow day.
It was pretty great--MPD's first sledding, too!

Happy 9th Birthday MRD!

Who can believe my Millenium Baby is already 9??!!

Here are some pictures from her SPECTACULAR tropical birthday party! She has been planning this party since July--no kidding. She did almost everything herself, including the menu (make-your-own Hawaiian pizza, tropical trail mix, frozen fruit flowers, and lava punch in pop-rock rimmed glasses!), the cupcakes (take a look!), and the games (beach towel relay, make a hula skirt, necklace-making, hula-hoop relay, and more...). What a big bash it was--and lest you think our home resembles a hunting lodge, we actually had the party at the park. It was perfect!

Our Dream Team

We love our gymnasts!

But it's really much better when it's fresh...

Overheard in our kitchen at breakfast yesterday:

MRD, upon seeing our usual Wednesday breakfast item: "Oh, MOM! Not again!"

Me to MRD: "Honey, food is for nourishing your body, not just for enjoying the taste."

MRD: "Mom, Cream of Wheat doesn't nourish my body, it makes me wish I'd never been born!"

As you can see there's no shortage of drama around here.

P.S. The Cream of Wheat waited patiently until lunchtime, when a much hungrier MRD finally reheated it, added a little extra butter, and finished it off.

Bake Sale Bliss

Yesterday our homeschool group had a nice little pre-holiday* gift fair, and in order to satisfy our family's ever-eager penchant for creating and consuming baked goods, we suggested a bake sale table. It was great! We had so much fun baking all day Sunday, and I was so proud of my busy little entrepreneurs yesterday at the sale. In the end we earned $101 for the Thanksgiving Community Meal Program here in town, and all those recipes and all that change-making were great little real-life math lessons, too.

When I asked MRD about her favorite part of running the bake sale, I expected her to say baking--perhaps sneaking chocolate kisses from the cookies, licking the beaters, or test-eating cookies--or selling all those goodies, or even making the poster, which was quite a work of art. Nope, none of the above--it was counting up all the money at the end! My little capitalist! :)




* By "holiday" I mean Thanksgiving and Christmas, not a non-specific wintertime festival.

Craft Club

During this year, MRD has been thrilled to be a part of the craft test club for her favorite magazine. They have met each month to test crafts and games for future publication. Today was their final meeting and end-of-year party, so little sisters got to join in! Hooray for KLD!
Their craft today was inventing bugs out of a bunch of candy and treats. What could be better than crafts? What could be better than candy? CRAFTS AND CANDY TOGETHER, of course! The girls were in heaven.


The finished creations...

Two Little Ingalls Girls (by MRD)

Today me and my sister went to our nature center for a pioneer program. I got to dress like a pioneer! First we went on a hike, next we went to the pioneer cabin and learned the school rules for pioneer children then we played school and had a spelling bee and guess what .... I won! Then we made butter and bread it was so good. While the bread was cooking we did the laundry it was sooo much fun (and I mean it!)!



Here's the recipe for the biscuits the pioneer girls made.