we're back!

horray! I got a camera for mother's day !!! (thanks hon!) The kids also surprised me this morning with some gifts. Sarah gave me a copy of the play she was in a few weeks ago. We watched it after church today. It turned out very well. She also snuck out while we were still in bed (in her night-gown!) and picked me some flowers and gave it all to me with a sweet card. Christian gave me a book of poems he wrote himself. He is quite the poet! Here is one that I wanted to share:

MY MIRACLES

To me many things are miracles

mostly the simple ones

like the stars at night or just the Earth

I think it's a miracle how the Earth is at just the right angle

for life

Or the smile

Or feelings

Or a plant blooming in Spring

To me someone that changes the world is a miracle

Wind of sunshine is a miracle

The simple human being is a miracle

Something as simple as a dog barking or life as it is lived is

a miracle to me

my babes

A silly face while practicing piano!

My brothers Ray and Randy with my Dad, who received his 40-year mason pin. Congratulations Dad! (40 yrs, wow!!) Thanks Ray for sending me this one.

update

We're in SC now visiting my parents. (using Nana's high speed.. it's a wonderful thing!!!) The weather was nice enough to go out and build a sand castle the other day and today was really warm.. Eric got his annual sunburn. (with sunblock, every year without fail he gets one..! ) despite the burn, we are all having a good time. The only thing that has disappointed me is that my camera fell out of it's case and into the sand (on the first day of our arrival, not long after this picture was taken..) and now it does not work.. :( So I must use one of those throw away cameras to capture our memories!! How can I go on without my camera?!! We may be taking a trip to Best Buy before our visit is over...

Last week was very busy. One thing Sarah had was a class musical called "Rats!" (along with poetry night too!)Here she is with two other "townspeople"! There are a couple more pictures on Sarah's webpage to see. www.asilearnasigrow.blogspot.com

She's the third from the right. I took some pictures of the rats too, but they turned out so dark they didn't look right when I lightened them up..

All of the kids looked so cute and did a great job. Six weeks of hard work went into the production and it really showed!!!

Christian had a nice laid-back concert last Thursday night. He's the second from the left. They sounded great!

enjoying outdoor time!

Getting ready for baseball season!

Sally fetches the baseballs and brings them back too.. thank goodness because that used to be my job! Thanks Sal! :)

Friends

Daddy and Mommy even got a chance to ride this week and this weekend too....even though my back was hurting some this past week.. I think it's from lifting pre-schoolers! (my choice!).. it took some effort to get in that saddle! Kit has gotten loads of attention lately and he's loving it. Sally also got sprayed by a skunk on Thursday night (at close range!) so that didn't help my back either. Eric and I had to clean the floors, kitchen cabinets, furniture etc to try and get rid of the smell. It got through the whole downstairs just from having her in here! What a mess! Sally is getting lots of baths with peroxide, bakingsoda and soap. (tomato sauce must be an old wives tale as that didn't work at all!)

We dyed eggs tonight to get ready for the bunny.. pretty color choices Sarah!

Nice Christian. I wonder where that one will end up tomorrow morning?

Snowdrops

I thought I'd snap a couple of shots of our snowdrops before they go away! They have been in bloom for at least three weeks and it won't be long before they ARE gone. Daffodils are next! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our dear friend Nancy F. (Shannon and Liam's Mom!) We hope you had a great day!
also.. please check out Sarah's newly updated blog: http://www.asilearnasigrow.blogspot.com/ it's all about school happenings this week!

Family Reunion! This is a family friend's daughter Kayla (also in Christian's class..) and also owner of our dog's mom and brother! Here is Sally on Kayla's lap with Lucy and Benjamin. Kayla and her family are going to be "puppy-sitting" Sally when we are away visiting my parents in SC in a few weeks. Sally is getting a kiss from mom.. :)

This is Christian's first year at the middle school. Things sure are different there! More teachers, more students and more homework! He's been keeping up with his studies pretty well and his hard work paid off. Congratulations Christian! Great job to Sarah too, who is doing well and liking the third grade. (we just had three-way conferences last week.. which are parent, teacher and student.)

Last weekend we went to see one of my preK students play hockey in Hanover. This is my good buddy Jordan. He got to play at the same rink that the Dartmouth team plays at.. how exciting!!! He has been asking if I can go and see him play there and he was thrilled! The team was soooo cute to watch. He's quite the skater!!

Sarah and her friend Logyn got a chance to peek into an historic sterioptican that is on display at our local library. (A book of historic pictures of our town in the foreground. )It was a real treat to get to touch and explore something that is so old! Pictures of our town were in it to view. Very interesting!

Ballet Pictures 2009

They are dancing to "Emily's Reel" this year... if you want to listen to it, there is a link on Sarah's page www.asilearnasigrow.blogspot.com we haven't updated that in a while, maybe this weekend.

...

It's a toe tapping tune!! :)

I uploaded these in the wrong order.. this is what they do at the end of each lesson, it's a way to say thanks to the teacher and they clap for her and for eachother at the end.

(Sarah with white ribbon)

Sarah with partner Meg and their teacher.



The group!