HHMS 6th grade band

Time to hear the 6th grade band.  This is their first concert as a group.  Ewan plays tenor saxophone in this band.  He likes band, so far, and has designated himself as the tenor saxophone section leader. (Are you surprised? Of course not.)

HHMS Honor Band 12/2/18

For  your pleasure, the middle school honor band.  Cale plays French horn in this band and I'm pretty sure his solo (which he told no one about) is in the 1st or 2nd song.  Shoot, I can't remember.  I wasn't listening for a solo from my horn player.  So, enjoy some more Christmas music!

HHHS Band Christmas concert 12/2/2018

The "bigger" boys...Marcus, Cale and Ewan, had their band Christmas concert on Sunday.  I recorded everything so at least others can here the music.  First up, the high school band.  Not that you can hear him, but Marcus is in this band, playing trombone. So, sit back and listen (don't watch this recording-it moves around a lot.  the important thing is, I got the music :-) ) and enjoy the high school concert.

Let's hear from Ewan as a 12 year old

I know, it's amazing: 1. that Ewan is 12 and 2. that this is my second post in a month.

But, let's keep the birthday question tradition going.  A few months late, of course.

Ewan, what is your....

favorite color?....black

favorite fruit?....banana

favorite breakfast food?....waffles

favorite dessert?....cookies

favorite movie?....Infinity War

favorite thing to do outside?....jump

favorite animal?....penguin

favorite game?....Fortnite

favorite television show?....Teen Titans Go

Who is your best friend?....Gage, Mason

What do you want to be when you grow up?....NBA All-Star

As always, here are links to previous years: 11 years old, 10 years old, 9 years old,  and 8 years old, 

All-Region Honor Band 11/11/18

As my first post in forever, I have decided to upload the All-Region Honor band concert from Sunday.  Cale participated in this band for a second year in a row.  This band is made up of 7th, 8th and 9th graders, which means he could have 1 more year.  He's turning into a pretty good french horn player.  So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the music.  I think it's about 30 mins worth and my recording skills are mostly passable.

Expedition 2018-a snapshot

Our big trip this summer was an almost 2 week trip to points west, a goal to travel to states we haven't been to yet.  We called it Expedition 2018 because it sounded cool and it really was starting to feel like an expedition with all the miles we were going to travel.  Mission accomplished.  We added Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas to our list of states we have been to.  Our initial plan was to camp in a camper for this trip, but that plan died on the side of the road about 1 hour into the trip.  Lucky for us, Grandpa Jerry came with our van and picked us up so we could keep on going.  Camping turned into staying at hotels, which was also a fun time.  We have already earned a free night with all the rooms we had booked for the trip.  Here are just a few pictures, one from each state (almost).

Cousins!  First stop, Iowa.  We got to spend the night at Uncle Jim and Aunt Courtney's house.  Xander and Everett were fun to play with and it was nice to see their house for our first time.  

Next stop, Minnesota and Mall of America.  We came, we shopped, we ate at Rainforest Cafe, we rode some rides at the amusement park in the mall.  

Then, on to North Dakota and Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  The painted canyons were beautiful.  It was cool to see geological formations different from the flat farmlands of the midwest. We stayed in the area for a few days.

Then, on to South Dakota.  We went to Mount Rushmore (the starting point for the idea of this trip) and Wind Cave National Park.  

We stopped at Chimney Rock, Nebraska next.  This was a lunch break stop on our long drive day from South Dakota to York, Nebraska.  It was so still out there, you could here the wind rustling through the grass.

No picture of Kansas City, KS.  We stayed the night there, had some great BBQ and made a spur of the moment decision to go to a marble store.  We got to see a marble making demonstration and, of course, got some marbles.  

After driving through Missouri, our last stop was to see more cousins in Illinois-Maddie, Abbie and Jacob.  We got to spend the night with Grammy Pammy before heading back to our house.  

It was a long trip.  I hope the kids can always look back on it and take away some good family memories.  We are already making plans in our head for Expedition 2019. 

Kella as a 7 year old

Let's hear from Kella now.  She is enjoying being 7 and getting ready to go into 2nd grade soon.  Here are her yearly birthday questions, answered.....

What is your favorite.....

color?....green

stuffed animal?....toucan or all of them

thing to sleep with?....blankie

fruit?....pear

thing to eat for breakfast?....breakfast burrito

thing to eat for lunch?....corn dog or hot dog

thing to eat for dinner?....pizza

dessert?....cake and ice cream

drink?....water

thing to do outside?....swim and jump

animal?....flamingo and puppy

Who is your best friend?....Emma

What do you want to be when you grow up?....dog trainer

Here are links to see how Kella answered these questions as a 6 year old, a 5 year old,  and a 4 year old.

Liam as a 9 year old

Better late, than never.  Here are yearly questions I like to ask all the kids on their birthday.  Liam has the honor of going first.

What is your favorite....

color?....blue

stuffed animal?....Totoro 

favorite thing to sleep with?....blankie, Totoro

favorite fruit?....watermelon

favorite cereal?....Cocoa Rice

favorite thing to eat for breakfast?....cereal

favorite dessert?....brownies

favorite drink?....soda

favorite thing to do outside?....pool

favorite animal?....dog

favorite game?....Pokemon games

favorite television show?....Teen Titans

Who is your best friend?....Jacob

What do you want to be when you grow up?....a technical designer and movie maker

Just for fun, here are Liam's answers as an 8 year old, a 7 year old,  and as a 6 year old.

Just the 2 of them

Liam and Andy left for Cary Camp on Thursday.  This is the overnight camp for Cub Scouts.  Andy has been going for an easy 5 or 6 years.  This year, it's just these two from our pack, but I know they will have some fun.  

Thursday night

Just a Thursday night at karate.  I thought we would go to the open mat class and then, maybe, Ewan would get to promote to his next belt.  We have been working towards promotions for what seems like forever.  We get there, we just go slower because of other commitments like sports. 

Surprise!  Kella and Kinley got in on the promotions, too.  Pretty cute watching my 5 year old try to do basic series and run a kata.  And, they all did great.  It was tough-Ewan's group had to run the same kata at least 5 times until the Sensei was satisfied with how the kata looked.  Kella and Kinley stayed strong through the 2 hours that included class and promotion.  They worked on kata, basic series a little sparring and self-defense.  The payoff-promotion.

 

The promotion class, before.

Ewan promoted to green belt!  

Kella promoted to full yellow belt!

Kinley promoted to yellow-striped belt!

The promotion class, after.

Our newly promoted.  Look at how excited they are.

our first few weeks of June

We hit the ground running in June.  The first week of June had soccer camp for Kella and Cale, basketball workouts for Marcus and Cale and band camp for our newest band member, Ewan.  Ewan chose to play the tenor saxophone (to our surprise, as we thought he would be a drummer).  He was excited to go the band camp-which was really a 40 min daily class with other saxophone players.  Can't wait to see how he does in the fall.

We are acquiring quite the instrument collection.

We tried to do things to keep busy-one day we painted a bunch of little rocks.

The girls had their dance rehearsal and recital. I got to be the backstage mom for Kella's class.  

A backstage rehearsal pic of Kinley's class.  She is right there on the end.

Also, because, why not, Kinley signed up for karate.  She was excited to join, but only willing to go out when she had her gi.  A girl has to have the right outfit for the occasion.

And, dance recital.  Ballet and tap for both girls.  You can see Kinley in her pretty pink dress.

Kella, right there, in her Elsa dress.

Dance friends.

Kella's tap dance.  She is the third one back.  

Those first 2 weeks of June went fast.  The last 2 weeks are our family vacation.  We are headed out west to the Dakotas and points along the way.  Should be fun and a chance to see more of the United States.

end of school year time pics

Chillin in our hotel room, waiting for everyone to get ready to eat breakfast and get back on the road.  I have time to actually post.  Here are some of our activities from May.

Dance wrapped up for the year, and, with it, Kinley and my weekly lunches.  We enjoyed eating at our 2 favorite restaurants: Jim Dandys and Applebees.  We pretty much had the menus memorized at each restaurant.

Kinley, helping me with a Mother's Day project for church: a photo booth.

Ewan, dressed up for wax museum day.  His teacher picked the category "outlaws, gangsters and pirates".  Ewan picked Baby Face Nelson as his character.

Kinley had her very last day of preschool.  On to kindergarten!

Academic awards ceremony for Cale.  

I had the privilege to help with Kella's first grade field day.  It felt like forever outside with a group of 7 kids.  In the hot sun.  

Had some great mornings with coffee, snuggling with Jasper, while Kinley watched some television.  We wake up slow in the mornings.

And, last day of school for my middle and high schoolers....

...and my elementary and primary kids.

And, now we are in the midst of our big summer vacation, which I have titled "Expedition 2018".  June will be almost done by the time we get back and we have July to make the most of, too.

We did the Color Run!

Last Saturday, the boys and I participated in a color run as a fundraiser for the band program at our schools.  Basically, this is a run (5K) where at a few different points along the route, you get sprayed with colored water.  Also, at the end, you get to douse yourself with colored chalk.  What a great way to start your day (or end it, since I had worked the night before).  The only true runners in our group were Marcus and Cale.  Marcus actually came in first and Cale came in 4th.  Their times are a mystery since no one was keeping track.  I don't think Marcus even got to run through a finish line ribbon or anything.  Just the satisfaction of a job well done will be his reward.  Ewan finished in the middle and Liam and I came in a respectable not last.  Anyway, I think the boys all had fun.  Afterward, there was a dunk tank where Ewan sunk his future band director twice in a row with a powerful throw.  Some snacks and social time wrapped up our time.  Hope we get to do this again next year!

Before, all clean and crisp.

The aftermath.  Some of them enjoyed the chalk more than others.

HHMS 7th/8th grade choir 5/22/18-"Journey to the Past"

Song number 2 for the choir Cale is in.  We sure did sit in the perfect spot to see him.  I'm sure Cale was thrilled.

HHMS 7th/8th grade choir 5/22/18-"Touch the Sky"

As worst family historian ever, I am excited to upload the songs Cale's choir did at his choir concert this week.  I love how involved he is in the arts, besides sports, and I hope this is a love he always carries with him.

HHHS Spring Pops Concert 2018

We've been busy, but I managed to find some time to upload the spring band concert.  This is the high school (Marcus) playing.  Audio only.  It's 20 minutes long, so grab some snacks and settle in to listen to some great music.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

3rd weekly update!

Here we go-a little late, but done nonetheless- the 3rd installment of our weekly update. Next week will be missing, since we will be on vacation for spring break.  That just means I will have more photos to share the next week.

Crazy last bits of winter happening here.  This one caused a 2 hour delay and was completely melted by the time the kids came home from school.  

Kella had her music program.  She is 3 in from the end in the front row.  She had a sentence for a speaking part, and did great.

Kinley liked the show and knew the order of the songs and some of the moves.  Kella must have been teaching Kinley these things in the weeks leading up to the program.

We have spent our first week of spring break at home, mostly just hanging out.  It's been raining every day this week which has kept us inside.  The couch is the main hang-out spot and the kids have to share with the dogs.

Got some movie viewing time in.  We watched Ferdinand, the 2nd Jumangi, and The Last Jedi.  

We also got to see our Govin friends.  We had dinner together, and it was wonderful.  And, I took absolutely no pictures.  

There is always work and the school house, and yesterday, I cleared the stage and gave it a nice coating of Murphy's Oil soap.  It was well needed.

And, games!  We finally had a game night last night.  We got 4 games in, of which I won zero.  We started with Labyrinth. 

Uno.

Bells.

And, Stack Jack.

It's been a lovely, easy week.  I won't say we have all always gotten along-that would be false.  But, overall, I think the kids enjoy being together.  

weekly update, 2nd week

Go me.  I found time, once again, to post a weekly update of pictures from my phone.  

Kinley tagged along to Cale's band concert.  The middle school bands played their contest pieces.  She was a good, little attendee for the concert.

Look-Iron Man is a sponsor of the arts!  (this ad was in the concert program)

Oh, Kinley-this expression!

Love her!  She's my partner in crime this year.  

But next year-kindergarten!  She was excited to go register and tell the teachers that "I already know everything!"

Random cat picture, because I can.  Kinley (of course) likes to give the cats stuffed animals to sleep with.

What our kitchen table looks like.  There is still (some) room to eat meals.  It's just that this spot in the house gets the best light right now and the plants are super-excited about that.

Also, looking good, west side of the school.  New windows and a new exterior door.  

Kella got her gala costumes.  Here's her tap one.  It's super-cute with that black and gold tutu.

Also, the ballet costume.  The class is doing a Frozen medley.  I knew they would get and Else-esque costume.

Took Marcus and Cale to the theatre on Sunday.  We got to see Les Miserables.  The boys were even good enough sports to wear their Les Miz themed shirts.  (It's the Jean Valjean fan club 😊)

Another photo, because I'm the mom and I say so.

Balcony seats-and they were great.

I love this theatre.  Love all the detail in the architecture. 

The boys had a great time and loved the show.  The cast did a great job.  This was one of the first musicals I ever saw and it is still one of my favorites.  The boys even requested that we listen to the soundtrack on the way home that night. So, I know they really liked the show.

And, this post was possible because it is a "lazy" Tuesday morning.  (Here are Kinley, Mr. Orange and myself enjoying watching tv in bed) I am playing laundry catch-up and maybe some errand running later.  We have a bare minimum of activities for tonight.  It should be great.

Have a great week!