2019 School Spring Concert

Apparently, someone with a lead foot has hit the accelerator pedal on time and isn't letting up any time soon. May has been CRAZY busy and flying by WAAAAY too fast.

Yesterday was the kids' school spring concert. (Side note: The school's new sound system thanks to last year's auction fund-a-need items is truly amazing! What a difference from years past.)

Anywho...

After Annika's Irish dance class, we made a mad dash home to get her changed and fed, and got ourselves up to the kids' school by their 6:45 arrival time. Eric and I even got really good seats (second row, on the aisle), which made taking photos during the evening quite nice. (Photos are still on my SD card... not a clue if any turned out yet. Stay tuned!)

Both kiddos did a great job and sang their hearts out!! (Annika also fluted her heart out during the band portion of the evening.)

Annika and The Scottish Play

Yesterday, Annika's class performed a student version of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The work they put into their performances was incredibly evident, as was the pure joy they experienced while performing. (Ahhh.... the next generation of theater lovers!)

Not only did the kids perform, they also had backstage jobs, including directing, sound/lighting, props, etc. Way to multi-task, 5th grade!!

Annika portrayed the roles of Lady Macbeth's assistant, a soldier, Lennox, and the person who held the pillow during Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's crowning ceremony. The kids got their parts and scripts over a month ago, and Annika was diligent about learning her lines and building her performance skills. We also learned that she can die onstage with the best of them! As Lennox, she participated in Macbeth's last stand battle and was offed by a rival sword.

Leading up to the play, Annika would shudder every time we made a Macbeth reference. Per theater lore/superstition, you aren't supposed to say "Macbeth" inside a theater unless you are in the play and referring to the character. Annika took it one step miles further by deciding no one should EVER say it and would curse us all if we said Macbeth in her presence. Of course, that just encouraged Eric and me to say it whenever possible. (Hey, if you can't torment your kids now and then, what's the fun of having kids???)

Auntie Suzanne and I had front row seats for the performance, so were close-ish to all of the action and (gratefully), close enough to hear most of the kids' lines. (That voice projection skill needed for live theater sometimes takes awhile to master!) The production took great advantage of the school's new lighting system... the purple lights used for the witches' scenes was really neat ... and was even more impressive with the use of a fog machine. (Yup, WAAAAY higher production quality than our old St. Charles school plays .... 'nuf said! Although, there was a great lack of over-done blue eye shadow that would have been funnily nostalgic ... if only!)

After the performance (mind you, this was performed for almost the entire school.... the little kids didn't attend due to the performance's length, but there was still a sizable crowd), the 5th graders sat on the stage, introduced themselves, and explained their roles and jobs. They took a few questions from the audience (including Conor's classmate Sophia whose "question" was, "When I'm in 5th grade and in the play, I want to a part that gets to have a sword."), and conducted themselves with great maturity and thoughtfulness. 

Court soldier

Sword-wielding soldier 

Crowning Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth's assistant

Video of Annika's death scene

After the kids' performance, they had a small reception in their classroom for the performers and their guests. Annika's teacher asked if I'd make Macbeth-themed cookies for the reception... ummmm.... YES!!!! It was a lot of fun to break out of my more "usual" cookie designs. I can now add "blood splatters" to my cookie decorating resume.  

Kudos to the students and their amazing teacher, Ms. Adler, for an enjoyable, impressive, and overall well-done production of "the Scottish play". 

(Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth!!!!!)

Annika's 1st Robotics Competition

Yesterday, Miss A and her fellow Cybernetic Sisters participated in their first robotics competition and did a great job!!

For months, they worked on programming their robot to accomplish set tasks put forth by the Lego robotics league. Their robot had to do things like pick up a certain item, press a specific lever, etc. There were three rounds and the teams received a score for each round. The best of the three scores was the team's final score.

In addition to the robot tasks, each team had to solve a water-based problem. The Cybernetic Sisters created The Firequacker, which is a duck decoy that is enhanced to alert firefighters and helicopter pilots to good water sources when they are fighting wildfires.

The girls learned so many poignant life skills during the robotics season, including researching, interviewing, public speaking, teamwork, and collaboration. The coaches acted as resources for the projects and gave an insane amount of their time, but the girls are the ones who drove the project and their progress.

The Cybernetic Sisters placed 17th among 34 teams, and we parents couldn't be more proud of them! It was a loooooong day and our kiddos proved to be excellent competitors and teammates.

Way to go, Cybernetic Sisters!!!

Cybernetic Sisters, Round 2

Conor's Prayers of the "Fateful"

All week long, Conor has diligently practiced his two prayers of the faithful (or as he calls them "prayers of the fateful") for mass this morning. Each week, one grade helps with mass by providing greeters, readers, and people to present the gifts. This week, it was the 1st grade's turn to help.

By the end of his week of practice, Conor was ready to go. Just like his big sister a couple of months before, he had no qualms about standing up in front of the entire school to speak. So proud of him!

Enjoy!

Conor's 1st Kindergarten Soccer Practice

Last night, Conor had his first soccer practice with his kindergarten team and, to be honest, the boy has probably never been happier!

For an hour, he got to run around and kick a ball with his friends from school. Seriously! What could be better for a 5-year-old boy who loves sports and has more energy than can be measured? By the end of the practice, Conor was pink cheeked, sweaty, and smiling from ear to ear. Truly, he was in his element.

I cannot begin to express how impressed I am with the coaches who ran the practice. They maintained control and really kept the kids engaged. It could have easily turned into a "baptizing cats" situation, but it was anything but that!

This morning, Conor was disappointed to learn that soccer practice wasn't every day and that he'd have to wait until next week for his next practice. I think he is finding how much fun kindergarten can be... it comes with sports! :)

First day of the 2015-2016 school year

It is official! We now have a 2nd grader and a kindergartener. How time flies!!

I woke up the kids at 7 and when I poked at Conor, he immediately requested "1 more minute of sleep, please." I then poked at Annika, whose eyes popped open and she proclaimed, "Is it time for school yet????" Ironically, this is the polar opposite of how they both normally wake up.

After ushering the kids through the morning routine (breakfast, brush teeth, load backpacks, get dressed), we took some rather windy first-day-of-school pictures and then were on our way to school and the chaos that ensued.

Annika was practically clawing at the car door as soon as we were on the school's campus. She could hardly wait to see her friends and get the fun going. Conor was a bit more apprehensive and was very content to stick closer to me. It was incredibly loud and chaotic under the school's pavilion, so him sticking close was anything but a surprise.

Eventually, we got the green light for the classes to go into their classrooms. We stopped in the 2nd grade room first and got Annika all settled in for the day. The fact that she and her little bff Madeleine got to sit next to each other was the icing on the cake for Annika. I had to giggle that I had to direct her away from walking into the 1st grade room out of habit as we walked down the hallway to her new classroom ... old habits die hard! As I left her, I told Annika I was leaving so she didn't think I had disappeared... what I fool I was. She didn't bat an eye and gave me a half wave as I left ... she was far too busy socializing to care that I was leaving her.

My next stop was taking Conor to the kindergarten room. We found his hook and got his backpack/coat hung up and then ventured into the classroom to find his desk. As soon as we entered the room, Conor's little bff Emilio shouted out Conor's name, which made Conor smiled from ear to ear. Seeing familiar faces around the room was exactly what Conor needed. His desk is right next to his church buddy (Caitlyn), which was probably pretty perfect for him. A familiar face right next door. Before I knew it, the parents were being ushered out of the room and it was time to give Conor a quick peck on the cheek. I wasn't sure how he was going to do with me leaving, but he did really well. Not a tear or sign of fear on his face. He wasn't looking overly comfortable yet, but that'll come in time. The kindergarten teacher (who Annika also had and who is MARVELOUS) had pictures for the kids to color waiting on their desks, so he was too busy working on his project to care that it was time for me to head out. Whew! :)

Before I close, I want to say how blessed we are to be part of such an amazing school community. Our kids are surrounded by good kids who are true friends to our kiddos. The teachers and administrators are the epitome of caring, nurturing, and dedicated ... the perfect trifecta! The last piece of the CKS puzzle are the other parents; we know that there really is a village involved in raising our kids and many of those parents are key parts of our village; they are friends to us and wonderful role models for our kids.

I can hardly wait to hear about their first days and hear all of their thoughts on how things went. Such a fun new chapter in their lives!

Conor: All spiffed up in his new uniform

Annika: Social butterfly extraordinaire 

This perfectly sums up part of our morning

And this sums up the other part of our morning

All ready for 2nd grade

Watch out kindergarten, here come Conor!

Last day of school 2015 photos

Last Friday, Annika had her last day of 1st grade and Conor had his last day of preschool. (Excuse me while I take a moment to wipe away a few tears...)

The day started out a bit more relaxed than more mornings because Eric and I both took the day off of work. So, the kids were able to sleep in a bit and we didn't have to rush out of the door quite as hectically as we do on most other school days. Both kids had the opportunity to sleep in a bit, which was good practice for the upcoming summer break! With the kids getting out of school quite early, Eric and I had a more leisurely morning, too... no lunches/snacks to pack, homework to track down, etc. No complaints!

Naturally, the kids were very excited about their last days of school, but Annika was also a bit down because she was going to miss her first grade teacher (Mrs. Portolese). I tried to comfort her by pointing out that the 2nd grade classroom is next door to the 1st grade room, so they'll very likely still see each other at school.

Before we left for school, I took a some photos of the kids so we could compare the first day and last day of school photos. It astounds me to see how much the kids have changed and grown over the school year. Academically, they have soared, but also as maturing little people. What a wonderful journey!

Annika's first day of 1st grade

Annika's last day of 1st grade

Conor's 1st day of preschool

Conor and Stop 1's last day of preschool

Eric picked up the kids from school at 10 (I was helping clean out my Aunt June's house, so I had to live the day vicariously through texted photos!) and that afternoon, he took the kids to pick up Annika's first pair of (reading) glasses. She had been anxiously awaiting them for days and was thrilled when the big day finally arrived. Doesn't she look adorable???

Pretty girl who can see better!

End-of-the-Year Teacher Appreciation Cookies

It is impossible to believe that another school year is in the record books!

In addition to participating in the school's teacher appreciation SCRIP program (brilliant!), I wanted to give the kids' teachers a token of our appreciation. That said, I didn't want to clutter up their houses/desks with more teacher "stuff" that they probably didn't need/want.

So, I opted to make cookies for the teachers. To make them more personal, I asked the kids to give me one-word descriptions of their teachers and then I used edible ink markers to write "My teachers are..." on some of the cookies. I also wrote some summer phrases "think sun", "enjoy the summer", etc. as well as plain ol' "Thank you" on the rest of the cookies. To top off the gifts, I had the kids write their names on a few cookies, which acted as the gift tags (in addition to the thank you notes I wrote on behalf of our family).

Channeling Aunt June ... the straw makes me more efficient while decorating cookies

Batch #1

Batch #2

Batch #3

All ready for Annika's extended care teachers: Mrs. Bandares and Mrs. Hellerman

All ready for Annika's 1st grade teachers: Mrs. Portolese and Mrs. Higgins

All ready for Conor's Caritas (pre-school) teachers

We delivered the cookies to the teachers on the kids' last day of school. They were a huge hit with the teachers and office staff (there was a plate of "Thank you" cookies for them). So glad this gift idea gave me the opportunity to walk around to the various teachers and thank them in person for all they've done for our kiddos. 

Annika's First Soccer Game

Yes, it is official, we have a soccer player in the family. Annika is on her school's 1st grade soccer team (correctly, one of the 1st grade soccer teams ... it is so popular, they had enough kids for 2 teams!) and she is loving it.

The setup is ideal -- the kids practice one hour per week and then have one game per weekend. They learn the basics of the sport, as well as how to take direction and balance fun with maintaining a work ethic.

Soccer is an ideal outlet for her competitive nature, desire to run, and love of cheering on her peers. She doesn't feel the need to be the star of the team or hog the ball, but sure love kicking the ball down the field and wound up making two goals during their game this weekend!!

The kids played hard, were appropriately aggressive, and cheered on their friends like true good sports!

Run, Annika, run!!

Annika passing the ball

Trapping the ball

Post-goal thumbs up

Post-goal thumbs up with attitude

Annika's last day of kindergarten

Today, I dropped off the kids at school. I do that most mornings, so what's the big deal and why does this merit a blog post? Well, the big deal is today is Annika's last day in kindergarten.

About 9 months ago, we set her off on a new academic adventure called kindergarten. Over the school year, she got 2 adult teeth, lost 3 more of her baby teeth, developed a love of math, started learning how to read and write, started to learn how to speak and understand Spanish, took a jump roping class, went on fun field trips to places like a pumpkin patch and Greenlake (to test out the sea worthiness of the wooden boats they made), and so, so, so much more!

We feel so blessed to have had Mrs. Galvan and Mrs. Silva teach Annika this year. They are incredibly gifted (read: intelligent, patient, humorous, creative, etc) women and true assets to our school.

This has been a wonderful year. We are sad to know it has come to an end, but are consoled to know that so many more adventures are on the horizon.

Next stop: 1st grade!

Annika's Talent Show Performance

Today was Annika's MUCH anticipated talent show at school. She auditioned for it last week (playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) on her violin and today was the performance. 

I was THRILLED that the talent show was scheduled for a Wednesday, so I could actually attend it. She was thrilled that because it is the Wednesday of Catholic Schools Week, she got to have "Crazy Day" at school, which meant she could wear her pajamas to school. (Hence, why you'll see Hello Kitty PJs instead of her uniform in the one ... albeit fuzzy ... photo I have from the event.)

After parking myself in a front row seat and watching the kids excitedly file into the school gym, I looked down at the event's program and was excited to see that Annika's name was first on the list... selfishly, that allowed me to get back home and back to work that much faster. (After Annika's performance, I briefly spoke with her teacher, who told me Annika volunteered to go first. Talk about an impressive kiddo!!)

Annika did a FANTASTIC job. (Yes, I teared up ... I know, not a big surprise!) Not only did she play the song ... into a microphone and in front of the entire school ... but she also sang along as she played. I've never heard her sing the lyrics as she played before. Usually, she says the names of the notes as she plays (which is what I expected to hear today), but that wasn't the case.

She worked hard to get the song memorized (she had a note cheat sheet, just in case), and stood up there in front of everyone without hesitation and played her heart out. I don't think I could have been any prouder of her if I tried.

Great job, little one!!

Our little violinist!

Unfortunately, I experienced a technical issue and wound up not video recording her performance, but the floor after her performance was complete. UGH!!!!! If I was smart, I would have just used the video setting on my DSLR camera instead of trying to juggle the video camera and digital camera in a 30-second time period. Live and learn....

Our big kindergartener

It's official.... Annika is growing up too fast!

Oh, wait. That isn't what I meant to type... let's try again:

It's official.... Annika is growing up too fast!
It's official. Annika is now a kindergartener!

On Monday, she donned her CKS uniform, posed for a multitude of photos (did you really expect anything to the contrary?), and continued down the path of education as she started kindergarten.

Everyone in the entire school was instructed to gather in the school's pavilion and wait (by grade) with their bags and bags of school supplies for the teachers to lead the students (and their trailing parents) to their  classrooms. Naturally, the scene was deafeningly loud and brimming with chaos with kids running around a exploding with excitement. The parents who knew each other greeted one another warmly ... for others, many introductions were made. It was great to see old friends and start new friendships... for children and adults alike.

After a few more photos and inaudible instructions from the principal, everyone headed inside to inspect the newly renovated school and explore their respective classrooms. The halls still smell of new paint and scream out with cleanliness... I'm sure this won't last for long once the many little hands have a chance to touch the walls, door knobs, and water fountains!

We got Annika settled at her table and after a few moments, there was an eerie quiet that fell over the rooms. The kids all started in on the coloring projects that awaited them at their tables of four, and the parents just stood taking it all in.

After 10-15 minutes, Mrs. Galvan, the kindergarten teacher, gave a few last bits of information and sent the parents on their merry way. Shockingly, I left dry-eyed. Not a tear was shed ... I came close after returning home and seeing a picture of Annika when she was much younger, but the moment passed with me remaining tear-free.

Eric picked up Annika at noon (the first day was a half day) and as soon as she was through the front door, I asked Annika how her first day was. She proclaimed, "IT WAS AWESOME!! BEST DAY EVER!!" Hey, you really can't ask for more than that!

First day!

Sporting her cute little uniform

Annika and her buddy Easton

Annika and her bestie Allison

Coloring at her table
(Like the bow? I wore it when I was in high school!)

Annika and her table mates