We're on the road, but the kids are currently watching Wall-E in the back of the van, and Jeff & I have some quiet time. Shhh . . . don't tell . . . but he's listening to a Brandon Sanderson novel on headphones while driving. Is that illegal? He's a riveting author, so I totally get it.
And I'm updating the blog. **SPOILER ALERT** This is a shameless bragging rights post. The girls have had a FABULOUS year at their new schools in Spencerport and we couldn't be happier with how they've settled in. They've all made some lovely new friends from lovely families. They've all worked hard in school, and are enjoying their music and Girl Scouts. We are just pleased as punch to see them enjoying their new lives in a new community.
Hannah is still waiting for her final exam grades, but we suspect they will follow the pattern she set all year long--high honor roll for the first 3 quarters. Her favorites subjects were math and science (hooray!!) and Spanish--which has both Jeff and me stumped. Her Spanish teacher was a sweetheart and adored Hannah. She has really excelled in playing the clarinet. She played in the concert band as well and the jazz lab band, and at the end of the school year, she auditioned to play in the jazz band next year and made it. She's going to be playing around with the flute this summer, and it's so fun to see her trying new instruments and rounding out her skills. In the past, she has picked up saxophone over a few summers, done guitar at )school, and the ukelele at home, and she toys with the idea of being a music teacher some day. Her school has a great music program and she has really enjoyed her groups this year. I swear they had like a million concerts. They ended the year with a band competition at Darien Lake and they played fabulously. Obviously. This past week, she was invited to a luncheon in the school library on the last day of school to assist the library staff with their purchasing decisions for next year. They invited the top 12 readers to the luncheon, and guess who checked out more books than anyone else in the entire middle school by quite a bit? Anyone surprised? She has a lovely group of friends. One is almost as much of a book junkie as Hannah. And two of her friends are writing a novel together and have inspired Hannah to start her own. We're glad she has found a nice group to settle into. Here is one of the best recent pics we have of her. lol! She has proven to be rather elusive when we get the camera out. Fortunately, she was captive on a moose when we snapped this one.
Hannah trying so hard to not enjoy the kiddie ride Ali convinced her to go on: Moose on the Loose
Meg also had a fabulous year. She has found sweet fun friends. She has worked hard and we're proud of how much she's learning. She's also really enjoying her music program as well. She is still playing the piano, and the elders at church asked for her autograph recently when she played Fur Elise for them--the full version with the tricky lesser-known parts. (I warned you this was a brag post.) She also picked up the trumpet this year. In the school she moved into this year, everyone else had started their band instruments in 4th grade, so she was a year behind. Jeff gave her his old trumpet at the beginning of the summer with a fingering chart. By the end of the summer, she was doing well enough that when the band started meeting, the directed decided to give her a chance to try playing with the advanced band instead of the younger beginner band. She pulled it off with confidence. We truly had the best music program at the elementary. Meg sang in the chorus and was humming Dona Nobis Pachem by the end of the year and then playing it on the piano . . . and then adding in a left-hand accompaniment. And then she started playing it on the trumpet . . . while playing her left-hand accompaniment on the piano. At the same time. I'm just beyond thrilled that her music teachers have made music so much fun for her that she is inspired to try things like that! Her elementary school also (SO COOL!!) has a jazz band, and Megan played both the trumpet and the piano in the jazz band. Super cool. Seriously. They played Yesterday (Beatles) at their last concert and even had a vocalist sing along. So sweet. The high school has a phenomenal jazz program so we are excited for all the girls (if they want to) to be able to benefit from fabulously committed teachers. They are all super committed and genuinely in love with teaching music. SUCH a blessing. Her regular band also played at Darien Lake and our whole family enjoyed the excuse to go play at the amusement park for the day. Megan is our energizer bunny, and she also participated in Drama Club (with a lead part in the play!), Green Thumb Club (working on the school grounds), Service Learning Club (they did monthly service craft activities at the community nursing home--so cute, helped run the Veterans Day and Flag Day ceremonies at school, and held a fund raiser Hoe Down for an injured soldier in our community where they raised over $4,000--not too shabby for a handful of 11-year olds!), Girl Scouts here and there, and peer coaching at school where she helped disabled students with PE activities. She is developing a very sweet service ethic and it is so fun to watch. She also did a session of gymnastics this spring and LOVED having a chance to jump, climb, bounce, and swing as she has ALWAYS loved to do.
Ali is our little social butterfly and fashionista. We aren't quite sure where she came from. She has quickly made a large group of friends, and wishes she could have them all over every day after school. In between playdates, she plays in her fairy garden. I set it all up around the side of the house for all the girls, but Ali has claimed it for herself by spending hours arranging things for the fairies and helping to tidy the area. She and Megan helped me set up this display for a gardening Relief Society night and you can see from the look in her eyes that she is in the throes of fairy magic:
She is also taking piano lessons and moving along much more quickly than she was when I was teaching her. She seems to truly enjoy it and would like to take violin as well, and we are working up to it . . . She has a very nice girl scout troop and she enjoys her little friends very much in that setting as well. She is a fabulous reader, and a thoroughly entertaining little drama queen. :) She says the funniest things all the time and we can't help but laugh our heads off and smother her with kisses. One example . . . I was visiting her class one day when one of her friends said "I think I'm the only one in our class who doesn't like Justin Beiber." Ali immediately replied: "No you're not!" That's my girl! She is a huge Adele fan, and as of just recently, also (ugh) One Direction. She also loves math and science. She frequently asks us to give her math problems so she can prove she's a genius, and she decided for career day to dress up as a scientist. You go girl!! Below are some pics of Ali and one of her little friends on the day that we went to Darien Lake. They are on Ali's favorite ride, the Hoot and Holler. Livin' on the edge there! She was determined not to ride any "baby rides" since she is a big girl ready for the likes of this thrilling adventure. Ahem.
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