Fevers and a Field Trip

As the day progressed yesterday, I was feeling worse and worse. At 9pm I crawled into bed with four blankets on top of me, and I still felt cold. Ian slept until 7:15 (yahoo!), and Oliver slept until 7:30 (amazing!). I was in bed for 10.5 hours, and I had a very hard time getting out of bed. Paul went down and brought me a glass of water and four Tylenol. Thirty minutes later I took my temperature, and it was still 101 even after taking the pills. I wasn't sure how I could function today, but after a shower and some oatmeal, I did feel like I could stay vertical. Ian had a 100 degree temperature so I also gave him some Tylenol, but aside from a minor cough, he seems fine. My throat is killing me, but the body aches, fever, and headaches are my chief complaints. I can't seem to get warm. I didn't give Oliver a nebulizer treatment this morning because he seems to have fully recovered from his cold. I haven't given Nadia any Dimetapp today because she is doing much better.

Last year we went to the Montour Preserve on one of the days they are open to the public for their maple sugaring program. This year I had called and scheduled a field trip for homeschoolers. I purposefully scheduled it for this week, while Paul is on spring break, so that I could leave Oliver at home. I wasn't sure this morning if I would be able to do the field trip, but since I had been the one to call and set it up I felt like I needed to go even though I had a fever. The program lasted over two hours and included tapping a sugar maple tree. Nadia was one of the first to turn the drill, and Ian was the very last (so he had to put some muscle into it as it was hard to turn at that point). We were told the sap wasn't running this morning (too cold), but it did run out of the tree they tapped! We each got to put our fingers under the spile and taste the sap, which tasted like water since sap is 98% water. After visiting the sugar shack where they were boiling the water off of sap, we each received a spoonful of delicious pure maple syrup to eat. Nadia read a book about Lincoln (step 3 reader) and finished a chapter book about the Gold Rush but that was it for "school work" today aside from the field trip and watching a 10 minute DVD about Lincoln. I did read several books to the kids even though it hurts to talk, but I didn't feel up to doing math, spelling, piano, etc. with Nadia today. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow!

Spring Forward

I have been counting down the weeks until DST. Ian typically doesn't wake up as early in the morning during the months we are on DST. On Saturday night we put the kids to bed about 15 minutes early knowing they would be losing an hour of sleep that night. I went to bed a full hour earlier than usual in an attempt not to lose any sleep. I had to wake Nadia up to get ready for church, which I felt badly about doing since she hasn't been feeling well. Since she usually gets up the latest in our house, she was the one who lost an hour of sleep that night. This morning I let her sleep until 8:15, which meant she got a full 12 hours of sleep last night, and she didn't have a fever this morning for the first time in five days! I had decided to call the Pediatrician's office if she woke up with a fever again today. Her cough is worse though so I did go to CVS this morning and got her some Dimetapp, and that has definitely helped her out. Ironically Ian woke up earlier than usual on Sunday morning (5:40 which would have been 4:40 the previous day). I was not expecting that to happen, but he went back to sleep and slept until 7:15, which was what I was expecting because he usually wakes up around 6:15. This morning was pretty much a repeat of yesterday in that Ian woke up at 5:50 and then went back to sleep until 7:20, which was when Oliver woke up. All three kids got an extra hour of sleep last night (11 hours for the boys and 12 hours for Nadia compared to the usual of 10 hours for the boys and 11 for Nadia). The extra hour of sleep translated to Oliver having a very hard time falling asleep for his nap this afternoon, but I was more stubborn than he was.

Oliver's cough is almost completely gone, and his nose isn't runny any more. I only gave him one nebulizer treatment yesterday. I am thinking I'll see if he can go without one tomorrow. Unfortunately Nadia, Ian, and I are now sick. Ian just has a little cough. Nadia's four day fever went away, but she has a runny nose and a more significant cough. I have a fever, sore throat, and mild cough. Hopefully we'll all be healthy by the weekend because we're hoping to see Paul's parents (whom we haven't seen in a month) at either Nadia's last basketball game of the year on Saturday or at church on Sunday when Nadia will be singing a short solo with the Soul Patrol choir.

A fever, cloud, caterpillar, and chameleon

Nadia has had a fever since Thursday morning (anywhere from 100-102 degrees each time I check her temperature). The only other symptom has been a decreased appetite. Some mornings she has skipped breakfast. Last night she skipped dinner. This morning she was crying that her stomach hurt and was refusing to eat breakfast, but I figured at this point it was a case of having an upset tummy from excessive hunger. She LOVES eggs, so I got her to stop crying and eat some oatmeal by promising to make her two scrambled eggs. On Thursday I asked her if she still wanted to go to the ice skating lesson and basketball practice, and she said yes, and she was out playing on the ice with the neighbors the past three afternoons. Our grass has been covered with snow non-stop since the end of January, and the last several days there has been a layer of ice on top of the snow.

Today when we showed up for her basketball game, we learned that only two other teammates were playing today. Three kids play at a time during the game, so this meant the three kids needed to play the whole game (36 minutes altogether) whereas usually they each play for 18 minutes total (6 minutes on, 6 minutes off, etc.). The other team had the same problem so at least it was a level playing field since all six kids had to play the whole time. If Nadia had been playing as well as she did last week, I think she would have made a basket today since she had more playing time, but due to the fever, it wasn't her best game. She made TWELVE baskets at practice on Thursday night, so it is within her reach! It would be so awesome if she could make one basket next Saturday. Her shots weren't as good today as they were last week. With a fever she just didn't have enough "oomph." I was proud of her for playing during the whole game, especially considering she wasn't feeling well!

After her game we had lunch at Dunkin Donuts (used part of Nadia's gift card she got for Valentine's Day from Grandma) and then headed to Bucknell. We weren't planning on getting donuts with our lunch (just egg and cheese bagels), but they were still selling the brownie batter donuts so we splurged and got a half dozen donuts. In November 2012 Paul had taken Nadia to see a production at Bucknell by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia of three of Eric Carle's stories. This time all five of us went. Both years they did The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This year they also did Little Cloud and The Mixed-Up Chameleon. The kids loved it! They use black lights and large puppets to tell the stories. In 2012 the other two stories they did were Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me. Tomorrow afternoon I'm taking Nadia and Ian to see the Christian school's performance of Music Man at our church. In preparation for that over the course of a week we watched the classic movie. I've been hearing a lot of "76 trombones" sung around the house. They are ready to see the show tomorrow!

Thankful Thursday

Oliver feeds Grover some chocolate ice cream

1. The kids had a lot of fun playing dodgeball for the first time in their lives at the homeschool gym class on Friday morning. There won't be any gym class this Friday or next Friday, but they're starting up a six week session on March 20. This time it will be 2 weeks of basketball, 2 weeks of kickball, 1 week of soccer, and 1 week of dodgeball. My kids will probably miss the class on March 20 because we're planning to meet my parents in Harrisburg at the State Museum that day (which happens to be my mom's 70th birthday), but we should be able to attend the other five classes. I am very grateful our church is offering these classes!

2. On Sunday evening I made a trip to CVS. The original prices of my 22 items would have totaled $70.46, but I paid only $3.74 (and received $6.87 back in Extra Care Bucks to use on a future purchase).  The kids were excited because I got Mini Wheats (one of Nadia's favorite cereals) and M&Ms that I used to make a batch of cookies on Tuesday night. Paul was happy about that because I made oatmeal raisin cookies last week (which he won't eat), and he likes M&M cookies. The kids are also enjoying some Valentine's candy I got for 90% off (such as conversation hearts).

Cookie Monster gets strawberry ice cream!

3. Last night I attended a fabulous concert at our church that was put on by a chorale from a university in Indiana. Six people who work at our church (or the Christian school at our church) were in this chorale in the past, including our music pastor and his wife (who is the music teacher at the school). The 80+ members of the choir did an outstanding job last night. My two favorite songs were "A Mighty Fortress" and "When I Survey." Absolutely gorgeous!! I was tempted to have Nadia skip AWANA and join me for the concert. If they are back next year, I think I'll do that. This week is their spring break. Their tour is concluding with a performance at Carnegie Hall this weekend (a requiem). Two young men from the chorale spent the night at our house last night. One of the young men grew up as a missionary kid in Namibia.

4. Oliver hasn't had any accidents while awake for over two weeks! He got his pants wet at church once last week when he was on the potty because they didn't take his pants completely off like I do, and sometimes he still makes a mess on the toilet seat because he doesn't wait for me to come and wipe him after he poops, but it's nice to feel that we are nearing the end of accidents while he's awake. As for sleeping, he has been averaging 1-2 accidents a week. Last week he wet the bed once during a nap, and this week he wet the bed once early in the morning (6:15 am). Last week and this week he also peed on the carpet one time early in the morning right by his door. He woke up before wetting the bed but didn't make it to the potty in time. Overall, he is making progress.

5. I love watching Nadia and Ian play together. Last week Nadia told Ian she was going to teach him how to play the piano. They sat down and she went back to the first pages of her piano book and started teaching him. And several other days in the week she told him it was time for him to practice. Cracked me up and melted my heart all at the same time. I guess you only need to play the piano for about 2 months to be ready to take on your own students, ha ha! They say one of the best ways to learn is to teach someone else (I talked about that in my dissertation on cross-age tutoring) so I am not going to interfere with his piano lessons even though in reality I don't think he's really ready to start. I am very pleased though with Nadia's progress. She's moving quite quickly through the book. Next week she's going to start learning to read music! This week she's shown progress in particular with holding notes for the proper length (ex. a dotted half note for three beats).

6. We are so thankful for BOOKS. Nadia is absolutely LOVING Anne of Green Gables. I thought it would take awhile to get through the almost 300 page book (with small print), but we are flying through it because she cannot get enough of it. I adored that series when I was a child. It is my pleasure to read it again! Ian is crazy about The book with no pictures, and both kids are enjoying Mix it Up by Tullet. It's not as funny as his book, Press Here, but it's similar and does a fantastic job of teaching the kids what colors result from mixing other colors.

7. Oliver came down with a cold a week ago. Thankfully this cold has been much milder for him, and it hasn't spread to the whole family like it usually does (although Nadia woke up with a 102 degree fever this morning). I am thankful that the nebulizer and Singulair seem to be doing the trick for Oliver. I have noticed that exercise is what sets off his worst asthma attacks. When he doesn't have a cold, he can run all he wants, but if he runs while he has even a mild cold, he has a bad asthma attack. It's hard to explain to a two-year-old that he shouldn't run.

Absent minded professor

Nadia resumed taking gymnastics yesterday afternoon. The boys and I ate dinner at home, and I had dinner ready for Paul and Nadia to eat when they got home. I was expecting them to get home around 5:50, and when I saw it was 6:05 I decided to call and see what was up. When I retrieved my phone from my purse I saw I had a voice mail message. I immediately called Paul, and when I asked if he had Nadia he asked why he would have her. YIKES! I reminded him that he was supposed to pick Nadia up at 5:30 from gymnastics. I listened to the message, and then I called one of the coaches back to let her know that my husband was on his way. She had said on the message that Nadia had said her Daddy was going to pick her up, but the gym only had my phone number. Awhile ago Nadia had both of our phone numbers memorized. I need to work with her on that again. Paul arrived at the gym at 6:15. The good news is that she was safe (other classes were still going on so it wasn't like she was the only child there), the coach didn't seem upset, and Nadia didn't seem to mind. Now if it had been Ian that had been "forgotten" I think that would be a very different story.

I almost called Paul earlier in the day to remind him, but I thought to myself it was unnecessary since we had discussed it several times (including on Saturday and Sunday). The plan had been for me to go get a haircut once they got home (I haven't had one since the middle of December), but I'll wait until next week since Paul forgot. Remembering dates and times has been a challenge for Paul as long as I have known him, but this was the first time he forgot to pick up a child. I will be more diligent in reminding him from now on! Considering he finishes teaching at 4:00 pm and arrives in his office sometime before 7:00 am on Mondays, I think it's reasonable for him to leave at 5:25 pm to get Nadia on Mondays. Next week he has spring break, and I doubt he'll forget to pick her up the other six weeks of the session after this experience! Today has been a stay-at-home day for the kids and I. Paul was supposed to go to a soccer coach meeting this evening, but that has been postponed until next Tuesday due to inclement weather.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

The past two months we have been staying home all day on Mondays. Since I signed Nadia up for an eight week session of gymnastics on Mondays from 4:00-5:30, we will be venturing from home each Monday afternoon for that. I will be taking Nadia to the class, and Paul will be picking her up at 5:30 on his way home from work. We were out and about this morning as well, and although the kids enjoyed the birthday party for Dr. Seuss at the library, I am grateful that normally we're at home on Monday mornings. After the party was over we went into the main part of the library so I could check out some books. They have many toys, puppets, computers, etc in the children's area. Ian and Nadia do just fine, but Oliver just wants to RUN and be loud. Lovely. It was pretty much impossible to keep him under control AND get books from the shelves. I could only do one of those two tasks at a time. This made me VERY grateful that the library allows you to request books online, and they have them waiting for you at the front desk. Paul usually stops and picks them up for me. Until Oliver is more mature, this will definitely be the way I will go. I am so glad that Paul can pick Nadia up at 5:30 when her class is over. He was teaching until 7:52pm on Monday nights in the fall so I had to hang out at the library or a playground with the boys during her class. I am so glad I can just take them right back home. Once the weather is nicer, I'm sure I'll take them to a playground during at least part of her class, but today we will just head home and have dinner.


The advertisement for today's event mentioned cake. I had told the kids we would be having birthday cake. Thankfully they either forgot or didn't care because they were perfectly satisfied with the pretzels, goldfish crackers, and apple juice the librarian had available at the party. She read them several books and had activities around the room set up for the kids to do such as throwing balls into a Dr. Seuss hat, "pinning" a yolk on a large green egg, counting goldfish (one fish, two fish), etc. The publicist for the library took a picture of Ian (doing the goldfish activity) and had me fill out a press release form because she was submitting the photo to a newspaper. Nadia was in the newspaper once in her costume at a different library. Oliver was wearing the costume today that I  bought for her in 2011. I will post a picture below of her wearing it four years ago. A walk down memory lane for this momma!

Best Medicine

When I started dating Paul in 1997, one of his qualities I found attractive was his sense of humor. He loves to laugh. He laughs at his own jokes. Many times his joke doesn't make me laugh, but his laughter after he tells the joke is very contagious. The kids and I love it when he reads part of a chapter book because he will often laugh SO hard. This happened recently with a portion of Cheaper by the Dozen (we edited the book while reading it in some places). Of the three kids, I think Ian is the one who is like Daddy in this regard. If you want to see Ian laugh hysterically just read The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak to him. What a hoot!!! The only bad thing is that Ian is still prone to reflux issues after laughing really hard.

On Saturday Nadia came AS close as possible to making a basket without actually making one. Several of her shots were REALLY close. She has plenty of height now (as shown in one picture below the ball actually was near the top of the backboard). I really thought the one basket was going in. I didn't take a picture of that particular shot, but the ball bounced around on the INSIDE of the rim and then bounced out. There was a collective groan "Oh" by many watching the game after that shot. Her teammates and coaches are definitely hoping to see her make a basket during a game. There are two games left this season. It's hard to believe (considering the ground is still covered with snow) that soccer practices will begin right after that.

Look at the height on Nadia's shot!

After the game we took the kids to Ard's Farm (where we go to pick pumpkins each October) because they were having a free "Frozen Day" from 10-1 which included various activities such as getting pictures taken with Anna and Elsa. We arrived at 12:00 after Nadia's basketball game, but as we pulled into the parking lot we were told the wait (outside the building standing in the cold) would be at the very minimum 90 minutes and could easily be 2.5 hours long. Some people still chose to park and go stand in line, but we were one of the ones who promptly turned around and left the parking lot. I consoled Nadia with the reminders that we are planning to take them to a Frozen ice skating party at the end of March and that we have tickets to go to Disney in May. I wonder how long the hype for this movie will last?

Third quarter report

The end of October I wrote a sort of "first quarter" progress report for Nadia. I didn't do one for the second quarter, although at the end of December I did write an update on where she was at since it was her half birthday. If she were in school, I think it would be about time for her to receive her third quarter report card. Since the kids will be gone for a large portion of May (2 weeks in Florida plus they'll spend a few days driving down and a few days driving back), I think our school year will be wrapping up in early May although we will still do a little bit of schoolwork throughout the summer (at the very minimum reading) during the weeks we're at home.

Math: Next week she will finish the fifth chapter of the twelve chapter 2nd grade textbook. After that happens, we are going to set aside the math textbook for a few months and just focus on practicing counting money, using an analog clock, and using flashcards and iPad apps to have her memorize the basic addition and subtraction facts. We'll start chapter six (which includes the introduction of regrouping) when she starts second grade (end of August).

Art: I have not been nearly as faithful with doing art with her the last two months as I had been the first four months of the school year. The kids will be doing a six week art class at the co-op starting in the middle of March, and I have signed them up for an art night at the library that will take place in about 10 days. They do art projects at the Children's Museum once a month. Over the next two months I want to put FAR more time into art - colored pencils, paint, markers, etc. It will be easier to fit this in because we are taking a break from a few subjects for a few months.

P.E.: Over the last two months she has been taking weekly ice skating lessons (45 minutes each), playing on a basketball team (one hour practice on Thursday nights and a game each Saturday), and participating in a ninety minute gym class on Friday mornings (basketball, volleyball, karate, soccer, and dodgeball). On Monday she will return to the Level 2 gymnastics class (90 minutes each). When this eight week session is done we will take a break from gymnastics until the end of August. Ice skating and basketball will end March 12 and 14 and soccer practices will resume the very next week. The gym class on Friday mornings is supposed to resume in the near future, and I plan on signing the kids up for that again. I REALLY hope that over the next two months she learns to ride her bike without training wheels. Hopefully the weather will start feeling like spring in the near future. This will also mean we'll resume taking walks to different playgrounds (walking up to 3 miles a day).

Reading: She will finish the fourth grade reading curriculum (All About Reading) next week. We could have finished this a couple of months ago, but many times I opted to have her read something that tied in with what we were studying in social studies instead. For example, today she read three chapters of Gold Rush Days instead of the reader because we've been talking about the California gold rush this week. Half-way through this level she started the struggle for the first time in a long time. I would say her reading level is about 4.5. Words like "lasagna" and "deficient" still trip her up sometimes. I don't plan to purchase any additional reading curriculum for her. From now on we will just use picture books, the Bible, poetry, and chapter books to develop her decoding and comprehension skills. She's currently reading an Imagination Station chapter book on the Kindle (about the American Revolution).

Spelling: Next week she will start the eighth (of 28) lessons of the third grade spelling book. We will keep working on spelling over the next two months.

Handwriting: She recently finished the second grade textbook (Handwriting without Tears). She still has trouble with reversing some letters and numbers (such as p vs 9, b vs d, etc.). I am not going to even think of starting the third grade textbook (cursive) until she shows improvement with manuscript. Now that the handwriting textbook is done, I am going to have her write in her journal several days a week instead. She has been writing a lot more (of her own initiative) over the past two months.

Drama/Music: We are still working on learning a variety of patriotic songs ("You're a Grand old Flag" was one of the recent ones). She is still singing in the kids' choir at church, and she now practices the piano at least five days a week. She's singing a short solo at church this month (part of the song the kids' choir is singing), and I'm working with her to prepare her for her Annie audition that will take place next month.

Science: She just finished the ACSI first grade science book. Last year she did ABeka's first grade science book). We're going to take a break from doing a science textbook until August, but I want to read more picture books about science to them. Science field trips lately have included a program on trees at the library in Lewisburg (they had a guest speaker who was excellent), learning about animals that migrate at R.B. Winter State Park, and the children's museum in Bloomsburg. The next trip that I have planned is to learn about maple sugaring at the Montour Preserve.

Social Studies: This week we finished week 25 of the 34 week second grade curriculum "Adventures in U.S. History." We have finished all the read aloud chapter books included with the curriculum (Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Mountain Born, and In Grandma's Attic) with the exception of Sarah Whitcher's Story which isn't at our library and I opted not to purchase. We should finish this curriculum before the kids leave for Florida, and then we will take a break until August when we'll start the third grade curriculum "Exploring Countries and Cultures." We are hoping to take the kids to Jamestown and Williamsburg in either June or August, which will be wonderful for Nadia as we have studied colonial history this year!

Spanish: I finally got that started! She is working on Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Spanish. I am also planning on signing her up for a ten week Spanish class that will meet from 6:30-8:00 on Monday nights this summer.

Keyboarding: We haven't been too faithful with using the Keyboarding without tears or having her send emails. I'm planning to focus on that more this quarter!

Bible: In addition to what she does at church each week, at home we work on her Bible memory for AWANA and Upward basketball, have devotions and prayer at night before bed, and have various spiritual conversations throughout the day (teachable moments). A couple of weeks ago Nadia and I started reading the book of Matthew together. I read a few verses and then she reads a few verses and we keep going. Most days we read one chapter together and discuss it. I am planning to read through the New Testament with her over the coming months. We're about half-way through Matthew right now.

In summary, over the next two months I'd like to do an informal math review of time, money, addition, and subtraction, a lot more art, read books tied to topics we're studying in social studies, continue to work through the 3rd grade spelling book, do more journaling, keep making progress with piano lessons, finish Adventures in U. S. History, read more of the New Testament, and have her spend more time doing Rosetta Stone Spanish and keyboarding. We'll be taking a temporary break from handwriting, science, and math textbooks and a permanent break from using a formal reading curriculum. Hopefully the elimination of those will make it easier to spend more time on art, keyboarding, Spanish, and journaling. I try not to have "school" last more than two hours a day.

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul's mom was able to complete the two week Rituxan/radiation protocol for her Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Tuesday. She had started this treatment in the fall of 2013 but was hospitalized for pneumonia in the middle of the protocol and was unable to finish it that time. We're hoping she won't ever need any more chemo or radiation, that her hair will grow back, and that her taste buds will come back. She's only been able to taste ketchup for several months as a result of the chemo she had last fall. We are VERY thankful that she hasn't had pneumonia lately. She had it quite a bit over a span of almost two years (beginning around December 2012).

2. Nadia has continued to work toward earning enough money to buy the Frozen lego set. This week she cleaned the toilets and bathroom sinks and counters again, and she also dusted the staircase banister. Last week she helped me dust the mini blinds on the downstairs windows (I did the top half of each while she did the bottom half). This also motivated me to dust the top of the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets. No one can tell they have been dusted, but it was a job that needed to be done!

3. Nadia and Ian continue to be best of friends. I love listening to them play together. It melts this momma's heart. Hopefully they will be close friends for the rest of their lives! Of course they have their squabbles from time to time, but the vast majority of the time they play nicely together.

4. Oliver's favorite song to hear on a CD is "We Believe." He finds the cd, brings it to me, and says "We believe God father." Neither of my other two were interested in Christian contemporary music at the age of two. They used to object if I turned on the radio. They only wanted to listen to their cds, but now all three kids like to listen to the Christian radio station (in addition to a variety of cds). Of the three kids, Ian pays the most attention to the lyrics. He constantly asks me what various words mean that he hears in the songs (ex. "overcome").

5. Nadia made so many baskets at her basketball practice tonight that she lost count of how many she made! She said she made more than five. What an improvement! She has three games left this year.

6. Nadia says she has stopped sucking her thumb! Her thumb is showing signs of not being sucked so I am inclined to believe she is telling the truth. What is her motivation? I promised her $7 toward the Lego set she wants if she stops. That will be a VERY well spent $7, if this is what does the trick.

7. The boys BOTH slept until 6:50 this morning. This is a rare event in our house. Ian almost always gets up sometime between 6:00-6:15 and Oliver usually wakes up anytime from 4:30-6:15. I was very grateful for the extra sleep, and Oliver didn't wet the bed (or pee on his carpet like he did at 6:15 yesterday morning). In ten days our clocks will be springing forward. This is usually a good thing for Ian, and I'm hoping it also helps Oliver.

Annie!

The last two years Nadia participated in a one week (half-day) theatre camp in Williamsport. Both years she was in the non-musical camp for K/1st graders. I picked the non-musical camp for her both times because she gets practice singing elsewhere, and I wanted her to have more experience with public speaking and acting. Last summer she said she wanted to do it again this year, and I have been exploring various options. The first three choices seemed to be the Community Theatre League in Williamsport again (closest and cheapest option), one in Bloomsburg, or one near Lock Haven. I had been leaning toward the third one, although it's the farthest away, because they will be putting on a production of Winnie the Pooh at the end of the camp on Friday night and again on Saturday morning. That camp is for kids ages 6-9 (Nadia will be 7 at that point). It costs $50 more than the one she has done the last two years, but the final production will be far more substantial.  I recently learned of a fourth option.

I am registering Nadia for The Kids' Theatre Experience as they will be putting on Annie this summer! It is for kids entering K-3rd grade, and Nadia will be in 2nd grade next year. Ian is old enough, but he isn't interested. I don't give him a choice as to whether or not he'll participate in the choir at church, but this was up to him. It costs $100. The auditions are in April for the solos and speaking parts. Nadia wants to audition. We don't have any schedule conflicts with the rehearsals in June and July. Most of the rehearsals are on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9-11am. I thought there might be a conflict the week she is scheduled to go to summer camp, but she isn't supposed to arrive until 2pm on Wednesday (and the camp ends on Saturday morning). The only schedule conflict at the moment is the date of the pizza party and read thru (May 8). We will be in Florida on that date, but I think she can make all the rehearsals. It might mean that she won't be able to do the horseback riding camp though. I don't know the dates for that yet. For those grandparents who will want to attend Annie, the performance is scheduled for July 10. We were playing our Annie cd this morning. I hope that Nadia has fun and learns a lot through this experience! I actually directed a production of Annie when I was a principal. I should pull out the VHS tape and show it to the kids. Now of course the kids who were in that production are now married, college graduates, have kids themselves, etc.

I actually am still contemplating the theatre camp that lasts for one week in August and concludes with a production of Winnie the Pooh. If money weren't tight, I would definitely sign her up. This is one of those tough decisions for me. We shall see. I found out yesterday that the kids' choir at church is putting on a musical in May, but we will be in Florida so after they sing in church in April, I'll have them take a break from the choir until it resumes in September. I said something to the choir director that I thought it was much better with a live accompaniment, and she agreed and said she's going to see if that is possible for when they sing in March. That would be awesome, especially as Nadia has a short solo in that song. I am planning on having Ian and Nadia participate again in the summer musical on Wednesday nights at the Alliance church in our town starting after we return from Florida. Those performances are usually in the middle of August. In 2016 Oliver will be old enough to join in as well!