My Kids have talent

This year Megan and Andrew entered the talent show as a pair.  This was huge as Megan wasn't sure she liked the idea when I suggested it but soon got really excited.  We tried to come up with something different from the norm and when I thought about doing something with their pogo sticks, both kids were immediately sold.  They love to bounce on those things whenever we have down time so why not make an act.

 Megan quickly selected the high school musical song "get your head in the game" and got to work on creating an act of it.  Jeff and I told them to just brainstorm and come up with as many tricks as possible for us to review and help with.  Let's say they got a bit crazy with their ideas.  I think they wanted to jump rope while on the pogo stick and throw balls back in forth.  Their balance isn't that swift so for safety we had to eliminate some of the external props.  I'm sure it would have been exciting but might not have been good for their health.

They had a great audition and were so excited to perform for the big show.  We brought some pool noodles for them to jump as part of the act and it was great fun.  We had a little snag as the music teacher had the wrong version of the song.  We gave her the cd that the kids have been practicing but she already had it so didn't bother to copy ours.  She gave Megan back the cd a few days before and said we were all set.  It wasn't till the performance began that Meg quickly found that the song version that they had wasn't the right one.  This caused some of the parts of the performance to be off a bit for timing because they didn't know where to change to the different tricks.  Meg stopped once she realized it and was lost.  Since I didn't bring the cd with me they had to just make it work, which they did.

I really couldn't have been more proud.  There were about 34 acts or so and more than half were singers.  I try to stay away from singing because so many kids try their hand at singing and it doesn't always turn out great.  As I'm not all that musically inclined it's just easier to stay away from that category.  We had a few piano players and a handful of dancers.  I do believe my kids were the most original and got tons of compliments.  The kindergarten classes all raved about them being their favorite.  Andrew teacher from last year came and told me how much her class LOVED what they did.

The music teacher has asked for an encore performance from Meg and Andrew for their last CARE assembly of the year.  She felt bad about the song mix up.  Since they were one of the schools favorite performances she'd like them to perform again along with one or two other acts.  I think the others were for absent kids that she wants to give the chance to perform.  Megan is thrilled to be asked and totally wants to, while Andrew says it makes him too sweaty and would rather pass.  We are currently undetermined whether we'll give it a go but I'm sure they will if Megan has her say.  She'll work hard to talk him into it.  We had great fun and Megan has already decided she wants to go out with a bang and not perform for next year her final 5th grade year.  She's got tons of stuff on her plate for next year and doesn't want to hassle with practice and such.  We'll see if Andrew's been bitten by the bug or not.  I'm totally out of interesting ideas so who know what we'd even do.  I guess we'll see we have a whole year to decide. 

Fishing in Style

So Jeff took the kids out fishing a few weeks ago in Robbie's new boat.  This was their first adventure in any kind of fishing boat and they were super thrilled.  When Jeff said they might be going, all the kids could do was talk about it none stop and hope that it all worked out so they could go.

The weather appeared to be nice and sunny so the kids got on cool clothes and were ready in no time.  Once out on the boat the weather didn't stay as nice as they thought and ended up a bit chilly.  The  weather didn't phase them one bit and they soaked up every minute of fun.

 Megan was the big winner and caught their first catch.  She seems to have good timing to hook the fish.  Every time but once she has been able to catch something so she must have the special fish skill.  I could never catch anything as a kid so who knows where she gets it.

 A little while later I'm told Megan once again hooked another one.  This one was their big catch of the day.  She handed over the pole to Mia to reel in.  This was a bit of a hard lesson to hand it over and let someone else have a turn.  These lessons in life seem to be difficult for my kids sometimes.

All in all they caught just those 2 fish and we hope Robbie's family enjoyed them as their meal for dinner.  The kids loved their boating trip and we say a huge thank you to Robbie and his family for giving us the experience.  It was a ton of fun.

Meg's 4th Grade Fruit and Veg Battery

So a few months back Megan had her 4th Grade science project.  I've been a little slow with the blog so I totally forgot to post it.  I found the pictures on the camera and realized that I missed it so I decided to catch up.

Last year Meg had to choose from a list of different projects but this year she could pick anything she wanted.  We were sent a list of websites we could browse to come up with the project we wanted.  Once we selected what we thought we wanted we had to submit it for approval.  Megan had a few projects that sounded fun to her but she settled on the question of "Do fruits and vegetables conduct enough electricity to light a light bulb?"

She was really thrilled with the chance to experiment and couldn't wait to get started.  I had Jeff help her since this is more his area of fun and they were cute together.  Meg really wanted a project to have huge results and tons of fun.  Although she had a great time the data was all pretty much the same that each piece of produce conducted about 1 volt of electricity and not enough to light a  light bulb.

After all was done we helped her create her science board for her presentation.  She loved making the board her own and putting her own touches on it.  She got an A on the project and had a great time.  She can't wait till it's time to do her 5th grade project and already has some ideas of what she want to do.

Andrew's 1st Grade Concert

Andrew had his 1st grade concert and he was super cute.  They have a new music teacher this year that is in charge of the younger grades so this performance was completely different from last year.  She centered their performance on what they learned this year.  They were the typical songs you would find in elementary school.

I have to say the circus from last year set the bar pretty high and this one didn't exactly get there.  Andrew was still really cute and super excited to be performing.   He had a hard time staying still while preforming and keeping up with the words but he hung in there like a champ.  He loved getting to be the center of attention and having the family come to see him.  I loved all his smiles and excitement.



He has come along way in such a short period of time and grown so much.  The progress has been awesome and he always leaves Jeff and I smiling.  He just marches to the beat of his own drum and we love him!

Meg's 4th Grade Stomp

Meg had her 4th grade concert this year. It was called "Stomp, A night of playing, singing, and garbage cans". I really enjoy the fact that the music teacher comes up with new performances each year. I've never had to see a duplicate performance for any grade so far. It makes it nice that Andrew gets something new and different than Megan.

The 4th & 5th graders performed 8 different songs. They had a few with drum sticks and jug beatings. Megan got to bang on a lunch box and shuffle around cups. They also did some singing to current songs like Paradise, Rolling in the Deep, and Wavin Flag.

Megan was so excited about this performance. It was a lot of timing and hard work. She loved every practice and getting family to see her perform. She requested her songs for her mp3 player so she could practice and be ready. She took it all very seriously as this was very important to her.

She did a great job and I was super happy that I got to go to both performances. I went during the day to get it all captured on camera and then in the evening with family. Megan was in heaven she loves performing, although at times she gets nervous, she is always happy about what she has accomplished. I admire her courage and enjoy making it out to see all that she embarks on. She is growing up fast.

Double Digits

Megan turns 10 today!! She has finally made it to the double digits and is so happy. She feels very grown up to have added that digit. We celebrated a bit early so that Grandma and Papa could be there for the fun. Our first stop in the celebration was getting her ears pierced. She has been asking for this for a few years now and I felt it was finally time to go for it.

She was so excited she could hardly wait until we got to the store. She got some butterflies and was a bit nervous. At one point while we were waiting she wasn't sure she still wanted to get them done. I think I was just as nervous for her but we went for it anyway. We started by looking at some earrings to buy for her to wear later and then got in the chair for our turn.

Grandma held her hand after the ears were marked for piercing. The next thing you know snap went the gun and her left ear was done. I think she turned a deep red and said that hurt really bad. She wasn't even wanting to do the second one. I said you have to now and said lets just do it real quick and it will be over. The awesome lady didn't even give Meg time to think she got that second gun and did it before Meg could say anything. It was all over and she was done. She was uncertain on how she felt. It was hurt but she wanted pierced ears and it was done. She got a bit quiet on me but the smiles came a little later. Now she is thrilled and loves it. She earrings are these cute little purple flowers and all the girls at school love them. This made her feel even better about the whole thing. She is now determined to take care of them and make sure they don't close up. She will not be going through that ever again.

Our next stop was lunch. Megan got to choose where she wanted to go. She was trying to decide between Red Robin and the Olive Garden. I think most of the adults wanted the OG but in the end she picked Red Robin. I think she picked it mainly because she wanted that birthday sunday. She was super excited to get some attention in getting that birthday song and a sunday all her own. She only ate about 1/3 of it but still it made her feel like a queen.

Next stop was the pet store. My kids have wanted a pet for a while now. I have fought it really hard as I don't want another thing to clean up after. I also have allergies to pets with hair especially cats. I also refuse to have a bet that I have to feed live food like crickets. No way will I have those in my house. We thought of hermit crabs but the kids really wanted fish. Since it was Megan's birthday we went for it. Let me tell you getting fish is no simple easy thing. We had to buy the tank in advance and set it up. You have to put some conditioner in the water and it has to circulate for 3-7 days to get the correct PH balance before you can even have fish. Luckily we went shopping the weekend before to just look at our options so when we found that out we ended up getting the tank early to set up. Meg was a bit sad because she wanted the tank and fish all at once but she learned some patience with having to wait.

Megan got to pick out 2 fish. She got a neon tetra she named Melody and a glow light tetra she named Thumper. She loved how colorful they were and knew right away what she wanted. We also let Andrew pick a fish. He got a Zebra Danio long fin that he named Dodgeball. He knew right away that that was going to be it's name. We also got a family algae eater to help keep the tank clean. The kids named it the oh so original name of Sucker. They love having the fish and will sit by the tank and just watch them swim. They also enjoy feeding them and take turns dropping in the food. They always stay to see which of the fish will be the first to eat. I'm glad that so far they are all healthy and we haven't killed any. We aren't exactly pet people so we'll see how this goes.

Megan requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and she wanted it store bought. She also wanted chocolate ice cream to go with it. Got milk anyone?? She picked out what she wanted and has been happily enjoying the cake for days. We also made cake pops for her to take to school. Don't get me started on the nightmare of that ordeal. Let's just say that was our one time making them and never again. She was happy to have them once and most kids had never had them in her class, which made her feel awesome.

She'll be coming home early today for early release and she has requested papa johns cheesy bread for her dinner. She loves that place and would probably eat it every day if I let her. Andrew got her some squinkies and she has been getting gifts in the mail and cards. She has had an awesome birthday so far and has loved all of it. I love to see the joy on her face for her special day. I can't believe she is 10 already and how much she has grown. Each year brings new fun and new challenges. 10 will be a great year.

It's Snow Fun

So the snow has arrived with a bang. It started an inch or two on Sunday where we got sent home from church after the first hour of Sacrament. It was super beautiful to see the trees with a dusting of snow on its branches. It's a perk about living in a State that actually has seasons.

The kids had no school Monday for MLK day and were glued to the windows watching the snow flurries come down in batches. It was so light that we didn't get much and I didn't let the kids out to play as there just wasn't enough to play in. They weren't too happy with me.

Tuesday Jeff got the day off for inclement weather and the kids had no school. Again we only got a few inches and there really wasn't that much to play in. The kids were super ready at this point to play in the stuff they were seeing. Neither Jeff or I had a desire to go out in the snow and freeze.

It wasn't till Wednesday when we got hit hard. No school again for the kids and Jeff got to stay home. We got at least 6-8 inches of snow. We had a nice little play patch in the backyard and the kids were let loose to play. They played till they got numb and cold and then it was time to come in. Megan attempted to make a snowman but had a hard time getting the snow packed tight and the head kept crumbling. She was a bit frustrated with the process but was glad to have made something. She said it was too cold to be outside.

Andrew started out trying to help Megan but got bored and would rather just play around in the snow. It was fun having the feel of the texture of the snow for him. He got super cold and red little cheeks but had a great time.

Thursday and Friday Jeff has gone back to work but the kids had again no school. They have had no desire to go back out in the snow and are happy to stay inside and watch the beauty. As the snow starts to melt at times we are getting ice. Rain is falling and creating some melt but then some ice. Our cars are packed over and I couldn't even get the doors open if I wanted to. It's gonna take some chisel action to get that snow/ice off.

We were without power for about an hour yesterday morning and then for several hours from 3:45pm till after 8pm. We also had a few flickers of it going out but then back on 5-10 minutes later. You never know how long it's gonna last. We've had it really pretty easy as some still are without power and have had none for at least a day. We are just stuck home happy to be together and trying to enjoy the beauty of nature.