February 2016

Rachel has been taking voice lessons for almost a year and her first Voice Showcase was in February. All the students that take lessons from her teacher had a turn to get up on stage and sing a song. Rachel was a little nervous but she did GREAT.

Rachel's 4th grade at school celebrated the Middle Ages in February. Part of that was building a castle - every child in 4th grade built a castle at home to take to school and put on display for a week. This was our project for the President's Day long weekend. Lots of painting, glueing and cutting for Rachel but she did a great job and it turned out well!

The 4th grade class also had a Knighting Ceremony! The teachers took turns knighting each of the children with a sword. The kids dressed up in Middle Ages costumes for the day and sang songs as part of the Knighting Ceremony. Their lunch that day was a barbarian feast with 8 courses of food and no utensils allowed. It was lots of fun for them.

Rachel gets knighted by her teacher!

At the end of February we visited our favorite local Chinese restaurant for their annual Dragon Dance, their celebration of Chinese New Year. Their were loud drums and gongs and a large dragon danced around the restaurant.

Aunt Jen stopped by for the night of the dragon dance since she was staying nearby for some continuing education. It was great to see her for a night. She and the kids had some fun on the piano.

We were lucky enough to have some early spring weather in February and even got out for some biking. The kids are doing great on their bikes, hoping to be on some bike trails this spring.

Tickle time with Daddy!

January 2016

SNOW! January brought with it much snow! The snow blower had a good workout and by the end of the month the snowbanks on the sides of the driveway were 5-6 feet tall! The kids have fun playing in the spray of the snow-blower and throwing snow balls at Daddy while he clears the driveway.

Daddy and the kids made pizza from scratch one day and even rolled out their own dough!

YUM! Looks good!

Gracey finds a warm spot for a nap.

Rachel loves to snuggle with Gracey.

The kids completed the karate Snake Test in January. There are many different animal tests their karate class provides and each focuses on the strength of that animal. They have taken the tiger test already - an endurance of strength. The snake test focuses on quick movements that are snake-like, quick strikes to the opponent. It was a two-hour test and when they finish they earn a certificate and a new patch to add to their karate uniform.

December 2015

We started our holiday season with a piano recital at the piano teacher's house. The kids each played a Christmas song in addition to their regular music. They did great!

The kids were a big help this year decorating the Christmas tree. They are now old enough to remember our Christmas ornaments and we all enjoy looking at the ornaments they made in preschool. They even helped detangle Christmas lights this year, and decorated themselves in the process.

Santa visits our neighborhood Christmas party every year, the perfect opportunity to be sure Santa knows what gifts to bring to our house for Christmas!

Grandad, Aunt Deb and Shivani were here for the week of Christmas. We had fun going to a performance of A Christmas Carol one night, it was a great show. We had lots of snow here so also got in some sledding. Christmas morning was crazy and fun. So glad the kids are still young enough to get excited about presents, such fun to watch their faces light up!

Carson was looking for someone to help build his pirate ship and Grandad rose to the challenge. Good thing the Playmobil manuals are as good as Raytheon manuals because they had no problems getting it assembled.

One night the kids put on a show for the grown-ups. Rachel sang a song and they all did lots of dancing. Some quality cousin time.