Band-O-Rama Performance

Anna, Justin, Cameron, and I were off to Justice, IL where Anna and the rest of the FYB (First Year Band) was scheduled to perform and compete.

Although it was a Saturday and Anna would have a soccer game, we decided to have her participate in the optional band performance and show up late to her game.  I feel that any opportunity to have her practice and play music is well worth it.  As it was, we showed up just before half-time, so she played the 3rd and 4th quarter.  Her team won.

The songs the band played were Jasmine Flower (Chinese Folk Song) arranged by Wagner, Yankee Spirit March by John O'Reilly, and When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional) arranged by Higgins.  The clinician that heard the group perform was Mr. James Baum.  He and another clinician listened to groups perform starting at 7:15am until 2:30pm.

The reason why only a few of family members attended the performance was because our ward had the Building Deep Clean.  Our ward is scheduled to keep the building clean for the 1st four months of the year.  Our bishopric wants us to pass the building off to another ward with it being thoroughly clean.  So, once a year, our ward does a deep clean of the building.  Many of the ward members and families come and the building is divided into sections for cleaning.  It starts around 9:00am and lunch is provided around 11:00am or so.

The bishopric grills hamburgers and hot dogs.  Usually the people eat outdoors in the parking lot so the clean building does not get dirty again so quickly, but unfortunately the weather was cold and windy this year, so we had to eat indoors.  Great times were had by everyone and delicious lunches gobbled up.  It filled up Benjamin and Emma before their soccer games starting at 11:00am.  It was nice.

Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatballs Dinner

What a fun night for Anna to attend her Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner.  The best part about it was that she and the other girl scouts made the meatballs.

They were wanting to earn a Cooking Patch, so they planned to make spaghetti & meatballs for their activity.  The meatballs were homemade, but I guess the sauce came from a jar.  Along with it, they prepared garlic bread, salad, and a dessert.

Her leaders planned a wonderful night for the girls.  Everyone had a blast.  Anna even came home with leftovers (actually extra food) in a leftover container like a restaurant would have.  It was a circular metal container with a lid.  I thought that was a nice touch.  This way, others at home could try it out, too.

This was going to be Anna's last girl scout activity for the school year, but I guess they will be doing one more in May.  I already collected money from the other parents and gave the three leaders their thank you gifts for continuing to volunteer their time.  They received gift cards to two different restaurants.  Hope they will enjoy them!

Candy Bar Poster for Kaela & Averie McPheters

Anna put together this wonderful Candy Bar Poster for Kaela and Averie McPheters.  They are moving this Friday to Utah and we will miss them greatly.  The poster is from all of the Activity Day girls and leaders.  Anna was just the one who offered to make it.

I'll write more later.

Those Are Some Dandy Lions!

Anna and Emma were walking home today from school and they decided to pick some Dandy Lions - dandelions!

Everyone's grass has been getting long and the weeds in people's yards (the ones who don't use dandelion or weed killers) have dandelions growing up all over the place like crazy.

I must admit, I was quite surprised when the girls came home with them.  Although, some of them were curved, the longest one was still 20 inches long.  Now that's what I call a dandelion - Dandy Lion.

A Trip To Paris

Anna was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Paris with her friend from church, Jolie Fox.  Here is a group photo of everyone that went on the trip.  More info to come.

Jefferson Family Fun Fair Winnings!

Anna, Emma, Justin, Cameron, and I attended the Jefferson Family Fun Fair and this is all the stuff that they won.

Anna's Public Speaking Assignment - Pumpkin Bars

Anna's Public Speaking assignment for this month is Sharing Your Favorite Recipe. Well, Anna chose to share the recipe we have for pumpkin bars. Here she is with the pumpkin bars prior to them being baked. They are heading into the oven in just a little bit.

Lookie, Lookie, Where We Found Nuki!

Cameron had been laying down on the blanket that I made for him and he was nicely playing with toys and his nuk, the brand name of a pacifier.

We use to use different pacifiers for our kids, but this kind would be given to them in the hospital. I always thought they were rather strange since you could see through them and see your child sucking on the pacifier.

Since the brand name that we use to use was Nuk, we soon stopped calling it a pacifier and would call it a nuk or nuki. I guess out of habit we still call this pacifier a nuk even though it is called a Soothie. I only realized tonight as I was writing this blog. I figured I should check to see if it was called something, and sure enough, it had a name.

The funny thing about this picture is that I had picked Cameron up off of the blanket and sat down with him on the couch. I looked back at the blanket nearby scanning to find his nuk. I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked Anna and Emma if they knew where it was and they started laughing and telling me it was stuck in Cameron's shirt. I searched the front of his shirt expecting it to be there, but the girls helped me find it in back. I'm not surprised that he ended up getting the nuk behind his head when he was laying down on the blanket, but I am surprised that it got stuck there as I picked him up and that it stayed in place. I guess it helped that the nipple part was stuck inside the shirt.

I have come to realize that I prefer these kinds of pacifiers since they are a solid piece of rubber. There is no way for germs to be trapped inside the rubber like it could with the other ones we use to use. Unfortunately, right before we had Cameron, I purchased a package of Nuk brand pacifiers and haven't really used them. I'm not sure someone else will want to use them even if I tell them they have only been used a time or two. Oh well!

The Soccer Siblings

First soccer game of the season and the soccer siblings finished up having their team photos and they are off to play. Benjamin and Emma were the only ones that had games today. Anna's game will be on Wednesday.

I'm pretty sure that Anna and Emma are taller than they appear here, but the ground they are standing on is lower than Benjamin's so it shows a larger gap in height.

Benjamin's team is Blur, Anna's is Cobras, and Emma's is Flames. Emma's team didn't put a team name on their shirt and they just settled on a name right before pictures were taken today.

Their Aunt Yolanda came to watch part of Benjamin and Emma's games with Brenna and Devin. They finished up their games earlier and had a little bit of time to grab a bite to eat and arrive at half time. Emma's team lost, Benjamin's team won, and Anna's team didn't play today. Regardless of who won or lost, the kids had a win-win situation today. Their Aunt Yolanda went shopping to IKEA afterwards and their cousins, Brenna and Devin, came home and played for a while. After the shopping, Anna and Emma went back with their cousins to sleep at their house. I'm sure they had fun.

Since Emma was not here, that left Benjamin more in charge of Cameron while I met Clinton after the Priesthood Leadership Meeting and attended the Adult Session of Stake Conference with him. When Emma is around, Cameron does get looked after and played with a little bit more. Hopefully all was well with Benjamin, Justin, and Cameron.

I loved attending the meeting. All the talks were great. Justin McPheters, a member of our Woodridge 1st Ward, a High Council member, a LDS Family Services therapist, and friend was one of the speakers. This is his last time speaking in the area since his family is moving to Utah on April 27th. I will miss their family greatly.

Anna's Fit Girls Fitness Program

Look at Anna go!

Easter Egg Hunt at the Potters

Once again, another Easter Egg Hunt. This time it was at the Potter's house. They live right behind us in the culdesac.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Fishers

Once the Easter Egg Hunt began, Benjamin took off to help Justin first before finding his own.

Cameron's First Easter Egg Hunt

How EGG-citing it was today to help Cameron collect eggs at his first Easter Egg Hunt. He loved looking at all of the colorful eggs that were spread all throughout the gym of the church. It would have been outside, but the high today was suppose to be 55 degrees, so it was held inside.

As I held Cameron with my hands, I tried to lean his towards the ground low enough to reach the eggs. Most of the time the eggs would be bumped by one hand and begin to roll all around and away from the other hand. Occasionally, he would be coordinated enough to grasp it with two hands at once. When he did do this, he was successful in picking up the eggs. Of course, Cameron tried putting all of the eggs he collected inside his mouth. Cameron was fortune to find a "chick" egg. Anna and Clinton helped Natalie Chandler hide all of the eggs and Clinton took pictures, too.

There were a bunch of families at the church today for the Easter egg hunt. The bulk of the children were 4 years of age and under. Everyone was suppose to bring 10 eggs per child. Since Benjamin was involved with track, it was only Anna, Emma, Justin, and Cameron, but that's alright, we have an Easter egg hunt on Friday at the Fishers and one on Saturday at a neighbor's house (Will and Aubrey Potter). Benjamin should be able to get some treats then.

With having three different Easter egg hunts and our own Easter, hopefully the kids can be taught more about the true meaning of Easter and not focus on the eggs, candy, and the Easter Bunny. This is another opportunity to teach our children about Christ.

Spring Soccer Season Begins

The hustle and bustle of another spring soccer season has begun. Benjamin has soccer practices on Mondays and Fridays from 5:30-6:30pm on the Cypress Cove field. Anna has soccer practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00pm on the Sunnydale field.

Benjamin's coach is the same coach he had last season. They had a good season, but the times they lost were to the same good team. I don't know how evenly matched the 4 teams will be, but last season 2 teams were good and the other 2 teams struggled. Some of the players on Benjamin's team have been on his team before. He knows

Anna's coach is someone new. The only person she has had on her team before is Nolan. She does know some of the other people from playing against them other soccer seasons such as Eric, Aubrey, Melissa, and Thomas.

Emma has yet to hear from a coach and find out when and where her practices begin. I spoke with a person at the Woodridge Park District and they are discussing this with the Woodridge Soccer Association (WSA) to find out. I believe they had a coach before and then something fell through. Who knows if she will get to play if they don't get a coach.

Justin can't wait until he can play soccer next fall. I think he'll play well. Cameron will probably pick up soccer pretty quick just like Justin, since he will end up with 4 siblings playing the sport. Our Saturdays will be busy, but I'll enjoy it.

Meadowview's Open House & Ice Cream Social

This is Emma's display during Meadowview's Open House and Ice Cream Social tonight. I will blog about it tomorrow. I'm going to bed.

Dress Alike Day/Crazy Hair Day

This week at Anna and Emma's elementary school, Meadowview, is Spirit Week. Today is Dress Alike Day/Crazy Hair Day. I wasn't sure if they were going to coordinate with a classmate, but then I realized they could dress alike with each other.

Anna & Emma have this matching outfit they received in the fall. They also wore their St. Patrick's Day shamrock earrings and necklaces again, just like they did at church on Sunday the day after St. Patrick's Day.

Their hair is put up like Genna Fox's hair was on March 1st, Dr. Seuss' birthday. Her mom, Lisa, put up her hair like Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch. Thanks for the idea, Lisa.

I decided that I would try it for today. I tried putting a red solo brand cup on top and pulling their hair up around it, but it was too big and red. I next tried a smaller clear cup and it seemed to work. I don't know how long it will last during the day, but it will be fun for them while it does last. You can see a little bit in this picture the cup showing through Emma's hair. Hopefully, the kids at school will at least get to see it.

For my daughters who love to fight most of the time, I love to see it when they have fun together and dressing alike is a start. Look at them, they're even holding hands without me asking them to do so. I love my girls! :)

I'm Getting "Sew" Good at Rag Quilting

Last night I finished up my rag quilt which I started last Friday night. In between my St. Patrick's Day preparations on Saturday and taking care of Cameron, I worked hard to complete the quilt. I stayed up real late to get as much done as I could, but because I decided to add another row and make it 10 squares by 10 squares, I needed a few more squares of one fabric.

Late Saturday afternoon I headed back to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get three more squares of the multi-colored print. After arriving home, I couldn't start on the project for a while, but when I did, I realized that I actually needed a fourth square. The last row started with the multi-colored print, and it needed to end with it, so I needed a fourth square. I was so bummed when I realized that. I knew I couldn't finish it until Monday after getting more fabric. Once I finished, I washed it, dried it, and laid it out for Cameron.

Hooray! For once I finished a sewing project quickly (number of days and not the number of hours). The project still took me several hours to make, but I'm loving it, and so is Cameron. Now I need to help Anna make one (a smaller one) with her sewing machine or make another one with the additional fabric I bought. It was on sale and it was just too cute. I will use the same multi-colored fabric as this one, but I will use a green fabric with green, white, and brown polka-dots, and a blue fabric with blue, white, and brown polka-dots. I may eventually make a larger one for the family to use while watching movies, but we'll see.

Winners of the "Battle of the Books"

Anna's team won the Battle of the Books competition today at their school and they are going to the district to compete on Friday, March 23rd!

At Meadowview Elementary School (and all the other schools in Woodridge School District 68), kids in 3rd grade and 4th-6th grade competed in a Battle of the Books. A list of books to read for the battle is given out at the end of the previous school year so kids can begin reading if they choose to start. They have time throughout the school year until the day of the battle to complete their reading.

Students who want to participate are put onto a team. Anna and the other 3rd-6th grade students who are in Mrs. Neylon's Literacy Enrichment class, are required to participate. Emma decided that she wanted to participate this year, too.

The list of 12 books for 3rd graders to read were: Mr. Popper's Penguins, Freckle Juice, A Lion to Guard Us, Tornado, Muggie Maggie, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Molly's Pilgrim, James and the Giant Peach, My Father's Dragon, Boxcar Children, Charlotte's Web, and Little House in the Big Woods.

The list of 30 books for 4th-6th graders to read were: The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree; The White Mountains; Ice Magic; Because of Winn-Dixie; Phineas L. MacGuire…Erupts!: The First Experiment; By the Great Horn Spoon!; Boxes for Katje; The Patchwork Quilt; What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?; My Side of the Mountain; Old Yeller; Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story; Sheep; Redwall; Harry's Mad; A Wrinkle in Time; Ella Enchanted; Number the Stars; Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days; Anne of Green Gables; Hatchet; Clementine; My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother; Meet Addy: An American Girl; Scared Stiff; Esperanza Rising; There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom; Knights of the Kitchen Table; Love, Ruby Lavender; and Castle in the Attic.

Each team agrees to read certain books to help their team. They fill out a sheet indicating which books they agree to read and they and their parents need to sign it and have it turned in. Most teams were made up of 7-8 people. Anna's team had 8. Fifteen questions were asked and each team answered the question on their team's dry erase board. They received 5 points for correctly listing the title of the book and 2 points for correctly listing the author of the book. Anna's team (Natasha Krska, Amelia Korbitz, Chloe Orona, Brittany Morales, Jahira Munoz, Natalia Aguilar, Jacey Evangelista, and Anna) did well by receiving 93 points out of the 105 points possible. Way to go Anna! Good luck competing with the other schools at the district competition on Friday!

Happy 100th Birthday Girl Scouts!

Today, the Girl Scouts organization turned 100 years old. Anna's Girl Scout Troop #17 is participating in a Promise Circle at Meadowview Elementary school with a ton of other girl scouts (over 180).

Since Girl Scouts began in 1912, all of the girl scouts everywhere were to hold a special birthday celebration and at 7:12pm (19:12), they held hands in a Promise Circle, recited the GS law & oath, and sang a song (at least my daughter's group sang a song).

Throughout the night, the girls played games, did crafts, had refreshments, had raffle drawings, made treat bags, and even had their picture taken with a person who portrayed Juliette Low (the founder of Girl Scouts).

Anna has been in Girl Scouts since Kindergarten. She loves it! The number of girls in her troop has varied at times. Right now, her troop is small. I don't know if they only have eight girls in it, but only eight girls were there. Her troop starts from the person to the left of Anna (if you're looking at the picture) to the girl on the far right side of the door. I don't know who the first girl is (I'll have to ask Anna), but from left to right, of the girls in her troop, it is the girl in the jacket, Anna, Gaby Anderson, Stephanie Bielawa, Annamarie Hyer, Katie Whiteman, Lily Kraus, and Vanessa DeMarchi.

Emma really enjoyed Girl Scouts, too, and was in it until last year. Her leader was no longer going to be the leader, I didn't want to volunteer, and the person who decided to be the leader could meet on Sundays. We decided not to have Emma participate in it because of the day their meetings would be held. I know she would still love to be in it, but she is a social girl without participating with them in Girl Scouts. Maybe Emma will be able to join in the future if the day changes for their meetings.

A great big thanks to all of my girls' leaders for the time, effort, patience, and love that they put into working with these girls, especially mine.

Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, What Time Is It?

I don't know what got Justin thinking about Mr. Fox, but during dinner the discussion started. He wondered where he had played that game. I remembered it was from swim lessons this past summer at Cypress Cove.

It was a game Justin and his swim class would play towards the end of their lesson. It was good practice for them to be reaching and stretching their arms to catch people just like they would use them to swim. It was a fun way to practice something useful.

Justin enjoyed the game during his swim lessons, so after dinner, the kids began playing. As you can see here, Benjamin is Mr. Fox and he is trying to get Anna, Emma, and Justin. Anna is a little further ahead than Emma and Justin, and probably the only safe one. It looks like Justin has tumbled to the floor and that Emma is about to drop like her brother.

There are different variations online of how you could play, but here's how we played the game based on how Justin learned it:

Mr. Fox starts out at one end of a field, room, or designated area with his back to the group. The group at the other end then yells out “Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, what time is it?” Mr. Fox then calls out a time that is on the even hour (1 o'clock - 12 o'clock). The group then takes that many steps towards Mr. Fox. As people get closer to Mr. Fox and continue to ask him what time it is, he can answer, "It's lunch time" and begin chasing them to tag them. Mr. Fox can continue to tag everyone, if he wants to, but the first person tagged is Mr. Fox for the next round.

Another variation I saw online is similar to how Justin played, but once people are near Mr. Fox and ask him again, he yells out, "Midnight" instead. Mr. Fox then turns around and chases the group. Those that he catches are to sit out. The last one left becomes the fox. Another variation is to allow each child who is tagged to become an honorary fox and help catch people.