Fine Arts Festival

Braxton sings in the Kendall Elentary chorus and plays the cello in the orchestra. Every year, theschools in our district get together for combined choirs, bands, and orchestras to put on a concerts throughout the day. They also have artwork lining the hallways at our high school. It's unbelievable! I am so impressed with the music education my kids get here. I'm also proud of Braxton for learning to play this beautiful instrument. It's been lovely hearing him practice (when he's tuned up). I'm going to miss it next year.

In this video, the orchestra is made up of 5th graders from different elementaries as well as a handful of high school students, who really add a beautiful sound with their long, fluid strokes. I couldn't get a good angle so that you can see Braxton, but he is in the center to the tall, blonde boy's left. You can see his arm and bow moving. Enjoy the sound!

Preschool is over! Sniff! Sniff!

Emma's last 2 weeks of preschool were packed with fun. They had their program, which I've already posted her cute singing, Field Day, Parents Day (pictured above), Beach Day, and the last day (pictured below). She had a darling class and has made some great friends (with darling moms). Both of us loved her teacher, Mrs. Engle. I really believe that some of the tender mercies I've noticed in my life this year are the teachers my children have been given. Mrs. Engle was exactly what Emma needed. Emma has some interesting articulation that has been worrying me. When I approached her teacher about it, she informed me that she was the school's Speech Language Pathologist! I knew she had worked in the field before, but didn't realize her experience and that she was hired by the school for this skill. After a screening, she didn't think Emma would qualify for services, but sent me home with lots of ideas and games to play to help her improve her speech. She monitored her in the classroom and would keep me up on the progress she was noting. What a blessing! Emma can now say her /k/ and /g/ sounds in regular conversation! We're still working on /r/ and /l/, but that's typical for her age. I am going to miss preschool. Emma thrives on the social interaction, and I loved having some 1-on-1 time with Lizzie. Oh, well. It's a new chapter! Here we go, summer!

Emma with Mrs. Engle and Kayden, her best friend in class.

Worms in Dirt

My children think that every time they go to the store with me, they deserve a treat. So, Carter chose gummy worms a little while ago when we were in WalMart. He decided to be in charge of our FHE dessert on Monday night. It was to be WORMS IN DIRT. If you've never made it, it's only crushed up oreos (I let the kids crush the cookies in a gallon ziploc baggie with our rolling pin), chocolate pudding, and gummy worms. I put them in fancy glasses to increase the "awesomeness" of the treat, but it didn't really need it. The kids got to bury their worms or let them hang over the glass. They had a BALL! This will definitely be repeated, not only because the kids will request it, but because they talked about it to their friends and neighbors for a week. I was getting praises left and right! I would LOVE to repeat that! Can you tell they had a great time!?!

Another Day Off

Our wonderful school district decided to have another day off of school even though Spring Break had just ended, Memorial Day was right around the corner, and school is almost completed. Evan had a fun scout field trip, so I took my kids +1 to the Naperville Riverwalk again to meet some of Emma's preschool friends and moms. The weather was perfect and it really is beautiful. Braxton and Carter were good sports, especially when we walked to the local candy shop to pick out a special piece of candy.

Above, Emma swings with Sadie while Kayden waits for her turn. Below, Emma and Hailey love the big, yellow swings. Because you can't really pump in them, they are very relaxing. Lizzie tries to fall asleep in them.

This slide makes the park unique. It's made of rolling cylinders like a conveyor belt and it goes FAST! I even like it! :)
After feeding the ducks, the kids needed to be fed.

Braxton is Lizzie's 3rd parent. She'll go to him over Steve and I sometimes. I love the bond they share, and I love the break he gives my arm.:) I couldn't have asked for a better helper. Emma's compliment to Braxton is always that he is a good babysitter. He definitely watches out for his little sisters....and others. As we were packing up and getting ready to head home, a lady let go of her teeny dog's leash as he jumped at the chance to run after the ducks. She was stuck not wanting to leave her baby in the stroller with total park strangers and running after her dog. He was about to jump in the river when Braxton caught up to him and carried him back to his owner. Definitely a good turn for the day!

Carter-climbing a tree even though I told him not to.:)

And this is my good Carter escorting Emma across the bridge, since she's apparently developed a fear of crossing bridges over "troubled" water in the last few months. {I couldn't help myself with the music quote.}

Lizzie kept stopping along the way to smell all of the flowers. What a girl!My 2 angel girls.

It is really a shame that cute, little baby goslings have to be accompanied by mean, aggressive geese. Yet, another thing Emma freaked about. The papa goose was ducking his head and attacking all other geese, dogs, or other living things that got near his precious babies. Scary!

So Long, Spring Soccer

FUTBOL!

GOAL!

Spring soccer was only 6 weeks long this year. It went by extremely fast, but all three boys had a great time. Braxton was on a very talented team, which won every game. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I was usually at one of the other boys' games with the rest of the kids. Sorry, buddy. Evan's team has been together for 6 seasons, I think. Some of the boys did football during the fall with Evan, but many came back for soccer. They didn't win every game, but they played well. It's really fun as a parent to see the boys' knowledge and skill levels improve as they play as a team instead of a pack following the ball. Evan enjoys playing goalie, probably because he loves to see his mom sweat! I am a nervous wreck the entire time, but he does a decent job. He doesn't have a perfect record, but has made some terrific saves and finished the season with a great goal at the last game!


This is Evan throwing the ball after catching the near-goal. He surprised himself how far he could throw it. He also discovered that he has more control throwing it than kicking it.
The line-up for sportsmanship slaps.

Carter, Carter, Carter. This is a perfect shot of how Carter plays the game of soccer. He is the most aggressive kid on the field...not that there's anything wrong with that.!? Steve was repeatedly telling Carter to "play the ball, not the man." Kids were constantly getting hurt and falling down whenever they got near him. Now, he claims he can't help it if he's faster, stronger, and if those kids get in his way. He's just going for the ball. Needless to say, he is a very exciting player to watch because he runs at 100% the entire time. We also love his coach. Coach Bella at practice offers the kids quarters for different competitions: who can kick the ball the farthest, make the most goals, etc. Carter loved adding to his piggy bank. :) I'm so glad that he loves soccer! I look forward to the seasons he has ahead of him.

This next picture seems out of place, but one can imagine the time my girls spend in the car taxiing their brothers around town. As we were headed over to Evan's game after dropping off Evan for his warm-up and then Carter, I heard, "Lizzie, leave your shirt on." When I turned around, this is what I saw. I guess she was trying to break up the monotony by being creative with her time. Pure genius!:)

Happy Mother's Day

MY DAY

Mother's Day is one of my top 3 favorite days of the whole year. How could I not like a day when everyone is focused on making me happy?!:) I just have to brag about my great kids and husband.

#1:They let me sleep in this morning.

#2:I didn't have to change Lizzie's first diaper of the day.

#3: When I came down the stairs, I was sent on numerous treasure hunts in order to find my gifts, which were handwritten poems.

#4: Check out my breakfast!

Now, last night, Steve won 1st place in our ward's annual Men's Gourmet Dinner for best appetizer. He made 4 different kinds of sliders (mini-hamburgers) and knocked everyone's socks off. I guess he was still in the gourmet chef mode because my omelet was outstanding.

#5: My kids sang to me at church. Carter even pointed to me during the final line of "I Often Go Walking"..."I learned how to love them, dear mother, from YOU" which made the song very personal.:) A good friend of mine, Chris Stradling, gave a beautiful talk on women that should be published in a small pamphlet. It was very moving. Also, during primary, we mom's were blessed to be good in the opening prayer. Too sweet!

#6: I got a nap and cuddled with Lizzie and Emma during story time.

#7: Steve went all out for dinner tonight with filet mignon, a caprese salad, zucchini, and bread.

#8: What's a day to celebrate women unless there's chocolate involved?! I made Reese's chewy chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips with my girls. Mmmm!

#9: We got to skype and tell our moms how much we love them. I am so blessed to have a marvelous mother who is my greatest cheerleader, most compassionate ear, and a marvelous friend. I am also blessed to have a wonderful mother-in-law, who is my example for latter-day service. Thanks for your influence of strength, tenderness, and love.

#10: We played games at the table--my new favorite Sunday activity. As hard as it is for me to watch my kids change from babies to kids with feet bigger than mine, I love getting to enjoy their fun personalities and playing with them in new and different ways. I legitimately lose--not even on purpose anymore. I am surprisingly OK with it. :) I must be getting older.

I have to end with the poems I received. They were so sweet. I love having boys that know how to give a compliment! They are going to make fine husbands one day--if they can remember to put the toilet seats down and put their dirty clothes in the basket!:)

From Carter (an acrostic poem using his own spelling--interpret as you will)

Kisses

Out of this world

Rights good

Incrediboll

Buttifull

Inspiring

Reads good

Did a good job at picking a husband

Aluman (obviously his spelling w/o dad's help)

Lovely

Useful

Master of the Birds

Awesome

Nice + infinity

--------------------------------------------------

This acrostic poem is "from your helpful, first, trustful, nice son, Braxton Christopher Bird"

Makes wonderful food

On time

Teaches me things

Happy

Excellent with help

Really pretty

___________________________________

This is from Evan

Mothers are beautiful, kind, and good,

Mothers are loving you, just as they should,

I hear something, all the children say,

"Have a happy Mother's Day!"

Friday Fun

We had another day off of school on Friday. I really hope these teachers are seriously improving their skills because they're exhausting my creativity skills. On the flip side, I do enjoy hanging out with my kids when the weather is PERFECT! We've had serious rain (and flooding in the basement, I may add); however, the blossoms on the trees puts me in awe of their beauty. I didn't have masses of blossoming trees like this in Elko (go figure). Chicago has crazy weather, miserable winters, but it sure knows how to put on a pretty face in spring and fall. Evan had a scouting field trip, so I took the kids +1 friend (Hailey Stradling) and met 2 other friends from Emma's preschool at a park in downtown Naperville. We got to see baby goslings and their overprotective hissing parents, feed ducks who seemed picky and didn't like my stale rice Chex, and enjoy the season.