Alamo . . .
Jamaica . . .
He saw a neighbor on his mission when he went to Nicaraqua.
And my parents drove to see him when he was in South Bend for a week.
I would have been more jealous, but usually, not flying on a billion airplanes and hanging with the kids instead is actually the better life anyway. It did mean that we didn't get up to much, though.
Until May. May gives you no choice. The end of the school year is always chaos.
Jasmine had her Singer's Club performance. This time she volunteered to memorize a speaking part, and she did a great job. Okay, she turned away from the mike before she was done talking, but she spoke clearly and not too fast, which is most of the battle.
And she LOVED singing and dancing for the show. And having her hair done! I didn't feel qualified to get her hair to stay in a high ponytail, so I enlisted help again. Jasmine was fascinated by the helmet-like feel to her hair.
Please ignore the pencil I forgot to pick up.
At my last meeting with Tyler's teacher, I had to take a picture of him with his best friend, Yoda the Lizard. Yoda "licked" Tyler's neck, which made him really giggle.
We have been talking about paving this side of our driveway since we moved in. In fact, our neighbors told us that the previous owners were talking about paving that area for years as well. We finally hired someone to do it, and it is so awesome! That would have taken us weeks of work, and while it cost more to have it done, it was done in one day. The first picture was in the morning, and the second one was that afternoon.
Kaitlyn worked really hard on her chair test for her violin concert. I like that her teacher gives them that goal to work on, but allows them to tape themselves at home, so that it is less pressure than performing for the director one by one (which is how it works in real orchestras.) I didn't even have to push this one at all! It was just her saying "wait, I can do that better" while I recorded. And she got third chair!! Her orchestra is 4th-7th grade, and so there were only two upperclassmen that beat her. I was really proud of her.
I can't figure out how to put videos on here, but here is a youtube link that we sent to her teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Tm6KCigiA
Jasmine also did a great job at her concert. Our half an hour of violin lesson time is now a 25/5 split so that she gets a little instruction, and I can really see a difference.
I was asked to make lanyards for the teachers at the girls' school for teacher appreciation, and I'm glad. I have made bulk gifts for teachers before that I never see or hear about again, which I get. Not everyone likes homemade gifts, and gifts in general are always hit and miss. It does get disheartening to think about that when you are part way though a marathon of mass production. But I was totally surprised. I saw a clear majority of these lanyards in use over the last weeks of school! I was really touched.
I don't have the best pictures of this, but the last session of ice skating for the school year was a shortened one. Five weeks instead of seven. That meant a lower cost and lower commitment. I asked Tyler if he would like to try lessons, and he said yes! That totally shocked me. He has never liked group physical activities like that. And I will admit, he had some tears and frustration after the first lesson. But he did a great job. He got a little bit better, and he discovered how to make ice balls by shaving the ice off and scooping it together, which he really liked.
