Yep, yep, yep...it has been over a year since I've blogged. This time, I am not going to apologize nor promise to do a better job because I honestly don't know if I can do that. But, I'm hoping that today will be a new day to do a better job.
This past year has been busy. Evan went back to soccer after taking a year off. It was fun to watch his games. He had some goals, plus some great assists and moves, but he let a lot of the teammates influence his decision making skills. If anyone even hollered his name, he felt he automatically needed to pass the ball to that person, even when he had complete control over the play and could have possibly made a goal. No matter how many times Roger and I talked to him about this, it didn't change. I guess this is a case of when a teenager's emotions/decision making is based on peer pressure vs. parental guidance. He has decided not to return to soccer this year.
Sheltered Reality has been his big interest. There are still not enough shows close by to partake in, but we did get to go to OK City for a weekend to perform for a Job's Daughters group. That was fun. It was 4 Iowans, 2 Kansans, and 1 Texan performing for a group in OKC, LOL!
Lauren' new adventure this past year was Christian Youth Theater. She joined last August and auditioned for the Sound of Music production, but didn't make the cut. That was very upsetting to her as she was so hoping to get the part of Brigita. The next week was audition for You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and she didn't want to try out at first, but finally decided to, and she got the main role of Sally! She was fantastic and literally stole the show. We had so many people approach her and us and tell her she was their favorite character. Even months later, people still remember her performance, although she is kind of over it and wants to move on to another memorable role.
There are probably more memories, but for not this is all I can remember. A new season of life is starting with schooling--Evan is a high-schooler, EEK!--, a new CYT production is coming up that Lauren will be auditioning for, and a major vacation is happening in a few weeks. Some great things to write about, and I'm going to try.
Ta-ta for now!
Friday, August 14, 2015
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Busy Year
Too, too, too long since my last post! I know, I know. As much as I love to blog about our life, we have been terribly busy this year and I've been too tired. I am happy to report though that this coming year looks to be slower and I am so looking forward to it! Evan and Lauren, this post is for you--I'm still hoping one day to get my blog posts in a book format so you can look back on them when you're older and be able to relive some memories.
We are going to start with Lauren, because unfortunately one thing about being the youngest is you don't always come first. Lauren, you've had a great 2014 so far! One of the best and biggest memories from this year was your competitive dancing with The South Y Dance Company which then changed to Y Diamond Dance Company. You shined like we knew you would--God has greatly gifted you with the art of dance. You of course were not shy in front of the audiences at competitions and you always captivated people with your facial expressions. You are a natural. The last competition was extremely impressive. Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado came out to see it. Both of your dances finished in the the top 3 for your age group! What was really special about that was the fact that 2 days before this competition one of the girls was asked to leave the team, so your dances had to be redone quickly. Also, at this competition you got to receive one of the rewards for the second place dance, got a medal, and the group received a check.
Piano has been another part of this year you have grown in. At your June recital, you played two pieces by memory. You also received a summer discount rate and two movie theater tickets because you are so diligent in your work. Miss Connie has told me you make her excited and she is so impressed by how well you learn your music.
Evan, one of your biggest memories is the Lego Robotics Team at WWHM. You were on a great team this year. You figured out a design for your robot, and completely made it around the practice course early in the season. When competition day came, your team got 1000 points--a perfect score! It was thrilling when the wwhm team came in 2nd place! It was funny how we were all hoping for 3rd or 4th place, and when our names were not called, we though for sure we had not done well again this year. So, when we were called for 2nd place we were stunned, as well as elated!
Sheltered Reality drumming became part of your life this year. We were introduced to them in January when mvps brought them in as a school event. We decided to join and you have done two performances. You are getting along so well with the other people you meet at the shows, and Steve and Jordan are so impressed with how quickly you are picking up on the songs and choreography.
No pictures in this post, but there were some taken and I plan on including those in a 2014 digital scrapbook I want to make when this year's over so that each of you will have that for your later years. You both are awesome and I'm proud of the things you've accomplished, and how hard you work at things. You are both maturing in so many ways and you make me glad and proud to be your mom!
We are going to start with Lauren, because unfortunately one thing about being the youngest is you don't always come first. Lauren, you've had a great 2014 so far! One of the best and biggest memories from this year was your competitive dancing with The South Y Dance Company which then changed to Y Diamond Dance Company. You shined like we knew you would--God has greatly gifted you with the art of dance. You of course were not shy in front of the audiences at competitions and you always captivated people with your facial expressions. You are a natural. The last competition was extremely impressive. Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado came out to see it. Both of your dances finished in the the top 3 for your age group! What was really special about that was the fact that 2 days before this competition one of the girls was asked to leave the team, so your dances had to be redone quickly. Also, at this competition you got to receive one of the rewards for the second place dance, got a medal, and the group received a check.
Piano has been another part of this year you have grown in. At your June recital, you played two pieces by memory. You also received a summer discount rate and two movie theater tickets because you are so diligent in your work. Miss Connie has told me you make her excited and she is so impressed by how well you learn your music.
Evan, one of your biggest memories is the Lego Robotics Team at WWHM. You were on a great team this year. You figured out a design for your robot, and completely made it around the practice course early in the season. When competition day came, your team got 1000 points--a perfect score! It was thrilling when the wwhm team came in 2nd place! It was funny how we were all hoping for 3rd or 4th place, and when our names were not called, we though for sure we had not done well again this year. So, when we were called for 2nd place we were stunned, as well as elated!
Sheltered Reality drumming became part of your life this year. We were introduced to them in January when mvps brought them in as a school event. We decided to join and you have done two performances. You are getting along so well with the other people you meet at the shows, and Steve and Jordan are so impressed with how quickly you are picking up on the songs and choreography.
No pictures in this post, but there were some taken and I plan on including those in a 2014 digital scrapbook I want to make when this year's over so that each of you will have that for your later years. You both are awesome and I'm proud of the things you've accomplished, and how hard you work at things. You are both maturing in so many ways and you make me glad and proud to be your mom!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Evan's Haikus
Amidst all of the joys of homeschooling, there are tears at times also. This happened last week with both of my kids. I was really flabbergasted at how they were struggling with simple, simple things. I made sure we took breaks, I made sure I wasn't speaking a different language and they couldn't understand what I was saying; I just didn't have a clue as to why they were struggling with some things. Just a bad week, I guess.
I decided to do something fun--haikus. I don't understand it, but I've had enough people tell me that writing for the majority of boys is torture. I take their word for this, as it's proven true for my son. However, he has to do it once in a while. I thought haikus would be fun, he likes nature and he likes poetry. Not so much.....we thought of several together, he understood the rules as far as the number of lines and syllables and that it had to be about nature, but he couldn't grasp that it needed to be beautiful language depicting a moment in time. I even gave him descriptive language words to use, and I thought the many examples we did and read would help. He came up with one and it was quite humorous and gave us all a laugh and I accepted it, but then made him do another one more along the lines of the beauty of nature, and he was successful. Here are his haikus:
The black and grey geese
They are very annoying
As they land on ponds.
*We all thought this was hysterical, partly in the way he read it--guess you had to be there.
Fish swim very fast
As they glide through the water
With their scales shining
*I was very proud of him for this!
Despite the "torture" it was for him, I think in the end he was proud of himself--and that's the most important thing. He did something he really, really, really didn't want to do, did a great job, but I'm sure now he's thinking, "I can check that off and never have to do it again!" LOL!
I decided to do something fun--haikus. I don't understand it, but I've had enough people tell me that writing for the majority of boys is torture. I take their word for this, as it's proven true for my son. However, he has to do it once in a while. I thought haikus would be fun, he likes nature and he likes poetry. Not so much.....we thought of several together, he understood the rules as far as the number of lines and syllables and that it had to be about nature, but he couldn't grasp that it needed to be beautiful language depicting a moment in time. I even gave him descriptive language words to use, and I thought the many examples we did and read would help. He came up with one and it was quite humorous and gave us all a laugh and I accepted it, but then made him do another one more along the lines of the beauty of nature, and he was successful. Here are his haikus:
The black and grey geese
They are very annoying
As they land on ponds.
*We all thought this was hysterical, partly in the way he read it--guess you had to be there.
Fish swim very fast
As they glide through the water
With their scales shining
*I was very proud of him for this!
Despite the "torture" it was for him, I think in the end he was proud of himself--and that's the most important thing. He did something he really, really, really didn't want to do, did a great job, but I'm sure now he's thinking, "I can check that off and never have to do it again!" LOL!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Dance
Yea! A new year is upon us. I know that this is going to be a year full of change for our family. As I think back on the holidays, events, and activities and all of the pics I took but didn't post, I'm kind of sorry for that. I'm not sure that this year of blog writing will be any better than last year. In fact, I kind of enjoyed the break. Here we are already on the 7th day of January, and I'm just now posting. Oh well....
I was going through my camera today uploading pics onto the computer as well as a couple of videos. I thought I'd go ahead and post the ones regarding Lauren's dance team. In June she went through a month of training at the NorthWest YMCA and in July tried out for the competitive dance team. She made it! This year was the first year for teams under the age of 10. She was one of 4 girls on her team for the ages of 8-10. There is also another team ages 5-7, and then of course the older girls team that has been around for a few years. However, after a month of team practices, the other 3 girls on Lauren's team were blatantly ignoring her and not being friendly. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing these mean girls treating my daughter like this. I brought the subject up to the head coach and she wrote me back saying one of her pet peeves was mean girl behavior and she would change it. However, by this time it was too late for Lauren and she was ready to leave. Besides the mean girls, the head coach was also the head coach for cheer and you could tell that is where her heart was. She rarely came and worked with our girls, or got to know their names. Also, she was very pregnant, so I think between pregnancy, two new dance teams, and the responsibility of cheer and dance, she was overwhelmed herself. We pulled Lauren off the team in September, and thought about putting her in the Y advanced dance academy classes. This would support her love of dancing, hopefully she would be around nicer girls; she just wouldn't compete and Lauren was good with that. The next thing I knew, a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Lauren and had been dancing on the competitive team for the South Y contacted their head coach without my knowledge and told me her coach wanted to talk with me about the possibility of Lauren having a private audition and joining their team. I called the coach and we chatted about Lauren's experience and set up an audition. The coach kept telling me this group of 5 girls had been together for a few years and were advanced. I wasn't sure what that meant for Lauren, but she had a great audition. About halfway through the audition, the coach came out to talk to me and I was holding my breath as to what she thought of Lauren's abilities. I told her Lauren was a more outgoing then what she was showing, and the coach said she could tell and she could also tell Lauren was a little nervous, but was still doing well. I also told her Lauren's weakness was ballet because she hadn't had a lot of practice, and the coach said all of her girls on the team were the same way. She said she was impressed with Lauren and could see the potential she had and said invited Lauren to join the team! I was so happy for my daughter!
The South Y team has been so welcoming to her. The girls are not mean and Lauren has especially bonded with 3 of the girls. I really like the coach. She is only 21 years old, and has been the coach since she was 17. She is young, but talks very nice to the girls, but yet disciplines when she has to. All that being said, I'm not sure what next year with this group holds. I don't like the 25 minute drive one way to the practices, especially since the NW Y is only 7 minutes away. Also, some of the dance moves in the routines seem a little too mature. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. Roger has noticed it and so have some of the other moms. Also, Lauren thinks she might want to take acting lessons and a break from dance, so next year remains to be seen. I'm kind of hoping that things might work out at the NW Y some how, or she might be able to dance for the place she is thinking about taking acting lessons from, Christian Youth Theater. In the meantime practices continue in preparation for 6 competitions between the end of February and April. Two will be out of town and the rest in town.
The pics are from the Haysville parade the girls walked in October representing the South Y. She looks so cute and had a great time with her new friends. The two videos are from December when they danced two of their routines at Breakfast With Santa. The girls weren't at their best, but they've gotten better in the little bit of time since then. I wish I was computer savvy and could pop up an arrow on the screen above Lauren's head that would follow her around the screen as she dances, but since I can't, enjoy the girls dancing, and if you can spot Lauren then enjoy her performance.
I was going through my camera today uploading pics onto the computer as well as a couple of videos. I thought I'd go ahead and post the ones regarding Lauren's dance team. In June she went through a month of training at the NorthWest YMCA and in July tried out for the competitive dance team. She made it! This year was the first year for teams under the age of 10. She was one of 4 girls on her team for the ages of 8-10. There is also another team ages 5-7, and then of course the older girls team that has been around for a few years. However, after a month of team practices, the other 3 girls on Lauren's team were blatantly ignoring her and not being friendly. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing these mean girls treating my daughter like this. I brought the subject up to the head coach and she wrote me back saying one of her pet peeves was mean girl behavior and she would change it. However, by this time it was too late for Lauren and she was ready to leave. Besides the mean girls, the head coach was also the head coach for cheer and you could tell that is where her heart was. She rarely came and worked with our girls, or got to know their names. Also, she was very pregnant, so I think between pregnancy, two new dance teams, and the responsibility of cheer and dance, she was overwhelmed herself. We pulled Lauren off the team in September, and thought about putting her in the Y advanced dance academy classes. This would support her love of dancing, hopefully she would be around nicer girls; she just wouldn't compete and Lauren was good with that. The next thing I knew, a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Lauren and had been dancing on the competitive team for the South Y contacted their head coach without my knowledge and told me her coach wanted to talk with me about the possibility of Lauren having a private audition and joining their team. I called the coach and we chatted about Lauren's experience and set up an audition. The coach kept telling me this group of 5 girls had been together for a few years and were advanced. I wasn't sure what that meant for Lauren, but she had a great audition. About halfway through the audition, the coach came out to talk to me and I was holding my breath as to what she thought of Lauren's abilities. I told her Lauren was a more outgoing then what she was showing, and the coach said she could tell and she could also tell Lauren was a little nervous, but was still doing well. I also told her Lauren's weakness was ballet because she hadn't had a lot of practice, and the coach said all of her girls on the team were the same way. She said she was impressed with Lauren and could see the potential she had and said invited Lauren to join the team! I was so happy for my daughter!
The South Y team has been so welcoming to her. The girls are not mean and Lauren has especially bonded with 3 of the girls. I really like the coach. She is only 21 years old, and has been the coach since she was 17. She is young, but talks very nice to the girls, but yet disciplines when she has to. All that being said, I'm not sure what next year with this group holds. I don't like the 25 minute drive one way to the practices, especially since the NW Y is only 7 minutes away. Also, some of the dance moves in the routines seem a little too mature. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. Roger has noticed it and so have some of the other moms. Also, Lauren thinks she might want to take acting lessons and a break from dance, so next year remains to be seen. I'm kind of hoping that things might work out at the NW Y some how, or she might be able to dance for the place she is thinking about taking acting lessons from, Christian Youth Theater. In the meantime practices continue in preparation for 6 competitions between the end of February and April. Two will be out of town and the rest in town.
The pics are from the Haysville parade the girls walked in October representing the South Y. She looks so cute and had a great time with her new friends. The two videos are from December when they danced two of their routines at Breakfast With Santa. The girls weren't at their best, but they've gotten better in the little bit of time since then. I wish I was computer savvy and could pop up an arrow on the screen above Lauren's head that would follow her around the screen as she dances, but since I can't, enjoy the girls dancing, and if you can spot Lauren then enjoy her performance.
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