Boy Band & Darling Dancers

April has been a busy month, filled with a school talent show and a dance recital.  No time for stage fright!

Scott's dream came true as he and his friends formed a real "band" made up of a drummer, guitarist, vocalist, and keyboard player!  One of his friend's dad's is a worship leader at a local church and helped coach the boys and let them record in his sound studio!  Scott thought this was the COOLEST thing ever!  The group performed one of my favorites, "Behold Our God" and did so well with it.

I told Scott they should name their band The Talented Ten-Year Olds.  Not only did he think that name was incredibly lame, he reminded me that it would not be a good name for the future and would love the chance to perform other songs with the group. 

Natalie and her sweet friend also participated in the school talent show.  They performed a dance that they had learned together in dance class this year.  The girls had fun with it!

Natalie & Kate had their dance recital the following week.  We were proud of them!  This might have been their last year for dance, since the program may be ending at our church.  However, both girls have been wanting to try out a tumbling class so we may flip over to that for a bit.  We'll see...

The parents do not get to see the girls' recital outfits ahead of time, so it's a surprise to us what they will come out in.  The girls had tried them on the week prior, so Kate had "warned" me about the dress above.  She called it a "witch" dress and said all she would need is a hat and a broomstick for the look to be complete.  I'm not sure how she came up with this, but it cracked me up when I saw her come out on stage in her so-called witch dress.  :) 

 Visiting with some of their fan club afterwards...

Au-revoir, April!

Camping is In'TENTS'

A couple hours before leaving on our first ever family camping trip, we started loading the van.  Scout knew something was up and jumped in the van, laid like this, and refused to budge.  I think she thought we were going to leave without her.  We They would never do such a thing!;)

Because of other circumstances, we had a very small window of when we could actually go camping.  So, despite a chilly forecast and me getting strep throat two days before, we headed to a state park.  Lo and behold, not another soul was tent camping that night so we had the frosty forest to ourselves. 

What's a camping trip without hot dogs?!

I was going to ask someone to take our picture, but since we were the lone campers, we settled for a timer family picture.  I had to make sure a family photo with the tent was taken in case this moment never happens again. 

To be honest, camping was a fun family experience (for awhile).  We were going to keep Scout in a cage in the van at night but when she saw two of the kids crawl in the tent, she immediately ran in too and politely laid down on Jon's sleeping bag.  We couldn't kick her out, so we all scooted over and were squashed like sardines.  

The kids got the giggles at night, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  I watched as each child fell asleep, listened to Jon snore peacefully, and laid there happily thinking of the fun memories we were making.  All was going well...until about 2:00 a.m.  I simply could not fall asleep and had no more mental pep-talks for myself.  That's when I hit the wall...it was COLD, the ground was HARD, and I was ready to be HOME!  Did I mention I had just started on an antibiotic for strep throat?!:)  I felt like I was holding my breath so that I didn't breathe on either of the little faces that were on each side of me, so this may have also contributed to my insomnia.  (Are you feeling sorry for me yet?)  I started to sneak back to the van for the night when Natalie woke and begged me to stay beside her.  So, I toughed out the rest of the night with my family in the tent that seemed to get smaller with each passing hour.  :)  

Eventually, I dozed off with the other dreamers until 5:30 when Scout decided it was time to rise and shine and started licking all of our faces.  The giggling started again, and I was just so relieved that we had made it to morning!  Jon broke the sad news that we wouldn't have daylight for a couple of more hours.  The kids and I spent the rest of the time in the van with the heat on high.  

After sunrise, we hit the trails.  There were some impressive sights to see, and we would enjoy returning sometime when it is a wee bit warmer (and when Mama Bear has had a wee bit more sleep). 

Scout was scared of the steps (just like at our house), but had to overcome this because there were many steps in the park.  I think we went up and down all of them.  (Jon may beg to differ.)

Although I may have sworn never to go camping again sometime around 2:00 a.m., it is something I may consider in the future.  Jon told me that it was probably like childbirth and that I just needed to give it some time, that I would forget the bad parts and remember only the good parts, and want to do it again.  Time will tell!

For now, however, my new song is "A Camping THEY Will Go, A Camping THEY Will Go..."

Soccer, Spring??, and Spelling

Earlier this spring, Scott and Natalie tried their hand...or perhaps I should say their foot...at the game of soccer.  It was my bright idea to sign the kids up for one season.  Neither had played soccer before.  There was a bit of grumbling on the way to the games- as it was not their choice to play- but after each game, they were glad that they were there.  We all learned a bit about soccer, made improvements and gained confidence throughout the season, and came to the realization the soccer scholarships may not be in our future. 

The most startling discovery was made during the final minutes of the final post game huddle.  We found out the the star player- who we had cheered for all season and had been a great teammate was a BOY when we were convinced he was a GIRL.  The kids talked about this for days afterwards!  Who knew?! 

Piper and Prince don't miss many meals. 

Making Play-Dough

Pretending it's park weather before it's park weather...

Trails to ourselves, for sure...brrrr

I asked Natalie if she would listen to Kate read her reader one evening.  They decided to spice things up and make it more challenging.  Afterall, how many times does one need to read On a Hike?  Kate and I can still quote it..."Tell me if you see a blue jay!..."

Natalie had the honor of participating in the spelling bee this year.  She has a new word etched in her mind that she will never misspell again in her life. 

Kate couldn't convince Dad or Mom to carry her, but Dearest Sister, Natalie, gave her a tow for awhile.  Natalie is such good big sister to Kate.  Each week, Natalie has a class mini-economy, where she can earn and buy prizes.  Almost every week, Natalie pulls out something from her book-bag that she has "purchased" for Kate.  They are certainly good friends.