A Patriotic Party (and After-Party Party)

The big kids' school threw a thank-you party today for all adults who volunteered this year.

Todd's favorite part was the extensive treat buffet.

My favorite part was when the students performed patriotic songs for their guests.  Here's Daniel accompanying "This Land Is Your Land" on his recorder.

Todd and I arrived at the party a bit late, and as we watched the second graders perform, followed by the third graders, fourth graders, and finally the fifth graders reprising their "Preamble" performance from SCH (my daughter is that demure, well-behaved girl sticking her tongue out in the back row), I had a sinking feeling that I had missed Anna's performance with the first graders.

Sure enough, she was really disappointed that I had missed her musical number, so when she arrived home I asked her to show me what her class did.  She then sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" while signing in American Sign Language.  It was fun both to watch and listen to.

And since we were all feeling musical today, Joy decided to see if she could play the notes to accompany Daniel singing "This Land Is Your Land."  She did pretty well, considering that she hadn't practiced beforehand.

Geese and Wheels

This morning we went for a ride/scoot to visit a new family in our ward.

Daddy and Joy rode bikes, Daniel and Anna rode scooters, and I transported Todd and some cookies in the van (we later learned that the wife in the family can't eat gluten--I guess it's the thought that counts).

We noticed some Canadian geese in the pond near our new friends' home, and Joy borrowed my camera so she could take a bazillion goose photos.

This has got to be the biggest goose family I've ever seen.  I counted fourteen goslings.

All ashore!

It's lunch time for the goose family.  Apparently geese eat grass, among other things.

Back at home, Todd decided that he wanted to try riding a scooter too.

His big brother gave him some tips and encouragement. :)

A Bullfrog and Wilma

Todd and I decided that this was a nice day for a walk . . .

. . . around a lake with some friends.

It was fun to see a bullfrog . . .

. . . and then play on the playground at the end of our stroll.

In other news, look who Joy brought home from school today.  Her art class has been learning to use a grid to reproduce small pictures on a large scale, and Joy chose to draw a life-sized version of Wilma Flintstone.  It was kind of weird to see my daughter bring home a giant cartoon character who is almost 20 years older than I am.

Joy's Got Talent

Joy participated in her school's talent show this week.  Most kids in the show sang or danced, but Joy chose to solve a Rubik's Cube in under three minutes (she let the talent show host mix it up).

Joy needed two assistants for her act: one to hold the iPad with a big stopwatch running, and another to hold my phone while it played Jeopardy music.

One of her assistants liked to dance to the music during practice sessions, which we agreed would be nice entertainment for the audience while Joy worked on her Rubik's Cube.  As it turned out, the dancer was too nervous to twirl at the actual show.  I can't blame her.

Each talent show participant got a cute little star trophy--you know, because they're all stars.

Speaking of trophies, Joy also received some awards this week for her achievements in the annual Math Olympiad, a worldwide competition for elementary and middle school students.  Students who choose to participate are given challenging math problems throughout the school year.  Joy earned a gold trophy for having the highest cumulative score in her school, a patch for scoring in the top 50 percent of students worldwide, and a pin for scoring in the top 2 percent of students worldwide.  I think she got her math skills from her dad, who aced the math portion of the GRE.

Daniel's Spring Concert

We attended Daniel's spring concert with Cantus Chorus this afternoon.  The kids performed some beautiful and fun songs about fireflies, cuckoo birds, and other joys of spring.  The most impressive song was the closing number about rain, in which the director led the kids and the audience in rubbing our hands, snapping our fingers, slapping our knees, then stomping our feet to simulate the sounds of an increasingly intense rainstorm.  It was really cool.

Here is Daniel's choir performing "Over the Rainbow" with their two directors (one leading the music, and the other strumming a ukulele off to the right).  If you want to pull out your magnifying glass, Daniel is on the middle row, two kids to the right of the director.

A Magical Preschool Picnic

Todd will be attending a co-op preschool starting in fall, and his school had a little picnic today so the kids could see their new school and get to know each other.

The picnic was supposed to be held outdoors, but the weather was cold and rainy today, so we spread out blankets on the classroom floor and ate lunch inside (with the pet butterflies).

After lunch, a magician put on a show for the kids.  His magical repertoire included making things disappear and pulling objects out of a seemingly empty bag.  One of the most surprising objects was a live dove.  He had offered the kids some whipped cream, and when he pulled the white dove out of his bag he introduced it as Whipped Cream and said, "I didn't say you could eat him!"

The guy was a pretty impressive magician, but his favorite trick was simply to let a big red "snake" leap out of a can at the kids over and over.  He did that about a dozen times, and they squealed with laughter every single time.  For that matter, I was laughing so hard at his jokes that I had tears running down my face by the end of the show.  I want to say that this guy's name is Deepak the Fabulous or something like that, but he probably goes by Chuck.

Joy's Simulated Congressional Hearing

This morning, Todd and I attended the Simulated Congressional Hearings at the big kids' school.

The fifth graders have been preparing for weeks to give presentations to panels of "legislators" who included law professors, military officers, and people who work for the local government or school district.

During the opening ceremonies, the fifth graders sang the Schoolhouse Rock "Preamble Song."  It's a fun little song that tells why the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, and the chorus is actually the Constitution's opening paragraph.  Can't spot Joy?  That's because she is in the very front row, on the far side of the room.  Basically the absolute hardest spot for her mom (and her mom's camera) to find her.

There she is, the very last in a line of anxious fifth graders filing to nearby classrooms . . .

. . . while their social studies teacher played a patriotic solo on his saxophone.  Our school is so cool.

In case you can't tell, Joy and her team are pretty nervous as they're waiting their turn to present.  When the time came though, they were very polished as they took turns speaking about what it means to be a good citizen.  They were also well-prepared and respectful when they answered the panelists' questions.  They put a lot of hard work into getting ready for this event, and I was very proud of them.

Mother's Day Weekend

Some of the Hispanic members of our congregation hosted a Mother's Day Eve dinner at our church last night.

My heart was touched, and our taste buds were very happy too.

After dinner, the kids had a great time playing on the chair rack.  Simple pleasures.

Mother's Day itself was lovely too, but the only thing I thought to take a picture of was a couple rounds of Tic Tac Toe which I played with Todd.  You might be a mom if your Tic Tac Toe strategy is to manipulate your opponent into winning without making it too obvious.

May the Fourth 2018

May the Fourth be with you!

This year's Star Wars-themed menu included Han burgers, colorful carrot light sabers, Obiwan kebabis, Sarlacc hummus with pita chips, and Vader-ade to drink.

This meal was approved by Daniel.  Except for the carrot sabers.  I like the concept, but none of us really enjoy gnawing on big carrots, no matter what color they are, or what mystical Jedi weapon they're supposed to represent.

Per tradition, we had chocolate sheet cake for dessert, complete with star sprinkles and a Millennium Falcon cake topper.  Geekiness + chocolate = awesome.  :)

Shorts and a Coat

The temperature crept up to 90F today, so the kids dressed for summerish weather.

Before they left for school, I snapped a quick picture of their outfits (and attitudes) for posterity.

To my surprise, Joy then pulled on her winter coat.  She said it was because on hot days, her school blasts the air conditioning so it feels like winter inside.  I'd probably take a coat, too.

Pinewood Derby 2018

It's Pinewood Derby day for Daniel's Cub Scout troop.

Our front room looks like a construction zone because Daddy has been helping Daniel (and Joy--siblings can make cars too) craft a wood block and some wheels into a sleek, aerodynamic racing machine.

Daniel opted for a minimalist design whose orange paint job can be seen from a mile away (kind of like his shirt).

Joy designed her car to look like a hammerhead shark.

What kind of family lets a shark into their house?  They must be crazy or something!

Race time!  The bishop helps Daniel (whose mom forgot to remind him to put on his blue Scout shirt) line up his car at the starting line.

Joy's hammerhead car was ahead for most of its first race, but another car edged it out at the end.

After all the heats were over, Daniel took fifth place among the Cub Scouts, and Joy got the Best of Show award for her unique car design.  Engineer Daddy is already making plans for design improvements and better weight distribution next year.