Marcus's birthday questions (17 on July 7th)

Marcus's birthday was a combo celebration this year. We had cake and presents just with us and then, a few weeks later, Marcus had a bowling night with some friends. He was a good sport with us trying to create a 4th of July themed cake with sparklers. (That didn't quite work out how I thought it would). For the life of me, I can't remember what he got for presents except a watch, some weird animal socks and an office t-shirt. What he probably wanted the most, his driver's license, was going to have to wait until August.

Marcus, what is your favorite....

color?....purple

thing to sleep with?....Ponyo

fruit?....apple

cereal?....frosted flakes

thing to eat for breakfast?....pancakes

thing to eat for lunch?....not leftovers

drink?....lemonade

movie?....Star Trek Into Darkness

thing to do outside?....camp

animal?....dog

game?....basketball, soccer, any Xbox game

television show?....any detective show

Who are your best friends?....Ethan and Izzy and Sam

Kella's birthday questions ( 9 on May 29th)

Kella had a great birthday.  She was a hard one to buy for, since the only thing she wanted was some kind of lol doll.  And, an ice cream birthday cake.  As per usual, here are her current birthday question answers.  Enjoy.

Kella, what is your favorite....

color?....blue

stuffed animal?....pig

thing to sleep with?....pillow and blanket

fruit?....blueberries

cereal?....Trix

thing to eat for breakfast?....oatmeil

thing to eat for lunch?....pizza

dessert?....ice cream with brownis

drink?....rootbeer

thing to do outside?....swim

animal?....flying dogs

game?....Pokemon

television show?....Teen Titans

Who is your best friend?....Emma and Ali

What do you want to be when you grow up?....a ninja or a spy

Liam's birthday questions (11 on April 24)

Ok. First up is Liam.  His birthday will fall in the middle of the stay home due to coronavirus time.  It's on a Friday this year and I was fortunate to be able to make a work trade so I can be home with Liam, at least for his birthday night.  He was a good sport and answered all the questions. Let's see what he said:

Liam, what is your favorite....

color?....purple

stuffed animal?....Detective Pikachu

thing to sleep with?....blankie

fruit?....apple

cereal?....Frosted Fruity Os (generic Fruit Loops)

thing to eat for breakfast?....cereal

thing to eat for lunch?....sushi

dessert?....homemade brownies

drink?....Powerade

movie?....The Greatest Showman

thing to do outside?....swim

animal?....dog

book?....Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief

song?....Come Together by the Beatles

game?....Jenga

television show?....The Loud House

Who is your best friend?....Jacob Holland

What do you want to be when you grow up?....A bio-mechanical researcher

Here are Liam's 10th year questions, and 9th  year and down. 

And, here's last year's birthday photo.  You can't tell from this pic, but we decorated Liam's cake to look like a sushi roll.

Well, hello there!

Well, it's been a long while since I've posted anything to this blog.  I've had the best intentions....just not the time or the focus to do the work.  Do I pick up where I left off?  For now, that's the best I can do.
It's the first Sunday of spring break here.  But, as you may know, the kids have been home for the past 2 weeks.  School at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.  We got through the schooling with minimal tears.  The older boys were responsible for be self-motivated.  The "littles" needed more oversight, but Kella and Liam did a good job of getting their work done on their own. 
We get 2 weeks off from schooling and then get 3 more weeks, at least, of school at home.  But, the load should be lighter since they will not be doing school every day those next 3 weeks.  I have big plans right now for spring break. They include getting lots of things done for scouting merit badges, hopefully starting a garden and finishing cleaning out all the rooms of the house.  I also am compiling a running list of projects for Andy to complete.  He gets to finish out teaching his classes from home this semester and gets to be on call to go into the hospital to work as a screener or whatever they need him to do.  I get to work my regular scheduled shifts.  Since, everything is pretty much closed, I gave back my days I was taking off for spring break.  I'll save those days for later. 
Last year, I dropped the ball on the birthday questions for the kids.  This year, I gave the all the kids the questions at once and am just going to post them here, now.  This way I won't forget and I definitely have the time to do it.  So, look forward to that and maybe I'll post so back stuff too from last summer, fall and winter. Take care and stay safe and healthy.

Hey, just some pics from Disney

 Way back over spring break, we were able to spend some time in Florida, which included 3 days at Disney. What a privilege to be able to take this kids to the most magical place on Earth.  We did a lot of riding rides, eating food and walking!  Andy kept track of how far he and the boys walked each day and they literally were able to complete some of the shorter hikes for their hiking merit badges.  The girls and I opted to get a double stroller.  One of the things we got was the PhotoPass that recorded pictures of us on rides and at different points in the parks to our Disney account.  It was nice not to have to take pictures of everything with my own camera.  And, now, I finally have time to share some with you.  These are from Magic Kingdom, where we spent all of our first day.  We got there early, like 8 am, and stayed till right before dinner.  We missed the nighttime fireworks, but no one cared, because we went back to the condos to swim.

Our first pictures at Disney!  Right before we split up boys vs. girls to go ride rides and see sites.  I pretty much had to pull rank as the mother and force them to take these pictures.

The girls got to meet a couple princesses.  First up: Rapunzel.

Kinley practicing her curtsy. 

The boys rode the Haunted Mansion.  I don't remember them being too impressed.  Cale seems to think something is funny.

Liam hated this ride.

The boys thought Space Mountain was okay.

The ladies also got to meet Tiana.

Not too bad, and fun to look at.  Stay tuned for more, when I get a chance.

HHHS band

Finally, the high school band (Marcus, trombone).  Kick back and listen to almost 30 minutes of this band's performance.  It was the band director's last performance and his adult children played in the band for the last piece of the night.  Very sweet.

HHMS Honor Band

Here is the honor band portion of the concert (Cale, French horn).  If you are keeping track, this is the third band Cale played in for this concert.  I really enjoyed this group's performance.  I bet you will, too.

HHMS 8th grade band

Here is the 8th grade band portion of the concert (Cale, French horn). 

Liam's birthday questions for his 10th year

Let's see how Liam answered his yearly birthday questions.....

Liam, what is your favorite.....

color?....purple

stuffed animal?....Pikachu

thing to sleep with?....blankey

fruit?...mango

thing to eat for breakfast?....cereal

thing to eat for lunch?....vegetarian pizza

dessert?...brownies

drink?....fruit punch

movie?....The Greatest Showman

thing to do outside?....jump

animal?....red panda

book?....Dogman

song?....Thunder (by Imagine Dragons)

game?....Mario 64

Who is your best friend?....Jacob

What do you want to be when you grow up?...a nanosystems engineer

HHMS 6th grade band

Here is the 6th grade band (Ewan, tenor saxophone) from their pops concert.  Of course, what a change from the beginning of the year when they were playing Dr. Hoosier at a home football game with the entire band program to now. 

HHMS Jazz Band

Here we go.  The boys' pops concert was on Saturday.  It was a long one for us.  No surprise when you have a musician playing in 5 of 6 bands.  The concert started off with the middle school jazz band which Cale is in.  While my filming is not great, you might be able to catch Cale playing a French horn solo in the first song. 

Cale's birthday questions.

These kids are becoming harder to tie down to answer these simple questions.  Add to that, that we are busy folks here and I didn't have time to harass Cale every day about answering these questions.  But, finally, it's done.  And then, I took several weeks to get on the computer to post them.  Mostly for posterity at this point.  I think it's fun to look back at the answers.  Anyway, I'm glad I'm done.  Liam's birthday was a few days ago.  Time to start a new year of questions.

Cale, what is your favorite....

color?....orange

fruit?....apple

cereal?....frosted flakes

dessert?...anything

drink?....Sprite

thing to do outside?....trampoline

animal?....panda

book?....Book Thief

Ok, so maybe he didn't answer all the questions.  He's pretty surly and stubborn some days.  But, we sure do love him!

HHMS 6th grade band contest concert

Finally, two of the 6th grade songs from the last concert way back in March.  I think you can see Ewan a couple students in in the back room, playing saxophone.  Enjoy.

HHMS 8th grade band 3/11/19

Here is the 8th grade band from the contest concert.  I think they sound pretty great!

HHMS Honor Band 3/11/19

If I'm good for anything, it's recording and eventually uploading concert recordings for everyone's enjoyment.  This is the the middle school honor band performing their contest pieces in a concert on Monday.  You can even spot Cale if you look close to where the conductor's baton/hand is.  Warning-the recording does move around a little.  A hazard when sitting between Kella and Kinley.

8th grade band, Christmas concert, song #3

And, last for today, the 3rd song from the 8th grade band portion of the Christmas program.  Now, you can say you have heard the entire concert. Or, at least the parts that our boys were in.  (which was every band except the 7th grade band)

8th grade band, Christmas concert 2018

Found the rest of the Christmas concert that I must not have uploaded.  This is the 8th grade band (Cale).  If you're feeling some Christmas music.....enjoy

8th grade percussion ensemble

It that time when I upload musical recordings to YouTube.  First up, the 8th grade percussion ensemble Cale was a part of in February.  The percussionists needed an 8th 8th grader and they asked Cale.  It's fun that he was able to be a part of this.  You may not be able to see Cale in this recording, but you can hear him-he is playing the claves.  They got a gold rating for this performance.

Marcus's extremely late birthday questions

Anyone still out there.  I may be late at getting things done, but, they get done.  Case and point: yearly birthday questions.  I recently got Marcus to fill some out for me.  ( I got Cale to do his too, but, I may have misplaced them-oops.) Anyway, for your enjoyment, here is the most recent Q&A with Marcus.

Marcus, what is your favorite....

color?....purple

fruit?....banana

cereal?....Frosted Flakes

thing to eat for breakfast?...pancakes/waffles

thing to eat for lunch?...calzones

dessert?...cake/cookies

drink?...Dr. Pepper, vitamin water, Body Armor

movie?...Spiderman Into the Spiderverse

thing to do outside?...jump on trampoline

animal?...dog

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I'm only 15

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.)