School Stuff, Take 3

Before we get too much closer to Christmas, I figured I'd better catch up on several of the school events that happened in the last couple of weeks.

First up, we have McKay's Middle School band concert. They moved the trombone section to the back of the band, so we couldn't really see him this year (he is 1st chair, woo hoo!)

They did recognize all the kids who made the All Region Band. McKay made 1st chair trombone in the Symphonic (higher) band and will get to participate in an All Region Concert in January down at West Texas A&M in Canyon. (He is standing up in this picture, light blue shirt, center back.)

Hayley sang a cute Christmas song with the 1st grade at a Fab Friday assembly.

Hannah participated in the 4th Grade "Living Museum." They each did research on a famous person, dressed up and then memorized a short speech telling about that person. Hannah chose the author Judy Blume. A week or so before the event, her class did a little "advertisement" for the Living Museum during a Fab Friday assembly (she is on the left side wearing a purple skirt).

Then on the afternoon of the Living Museum, the kids waited in a common area of the school for parents and other classes to come and visit. The 4th graders were "frozen" until someone came and pushed their Start button, at which point they would come to life and recite their speech. I happened to be there when Courtney's class was visiting.

I don't remember what Hannah was telling Courtney here, but I know they kept making each other giggle!

And finally, we had the UIL awards assemblies at both schools. McKay, Hannah & Courtney participated this year (the first year the elementary school participated). McKay did three events -- Science, Math: Calculators and Social Studies: Maps, Charts & Graphs.

McKay received 1st place (yay!) in Maps, Charts & Graphs:

And 5th place in Science:

Hannah got ribbons for participating in Ready Writing and Oral Reading.

And Courtney came home with 1st place (wow!) in Storytelling.

Here she is telling her class (just before the class Christmas party) about being in the competition and showing them her medal. Her teacher told me she did an amazing job in the finals (when others besides the judge are allowed to watch).

We are so proud of our kids and their hard work and all that they are able to accomplish!

Getting Ready for Christmas

It's been busy around here lately with lots of extra people (several of Brian's family who came to help work on my parent's house) and just lots of general comings-and-goings in all directions.

We did manage to get our tree up and decorated a week or so ago.

I'm getting a little frustrated with our pre-lit tree, which was really nice the first couple of years, but now that several sections of the lights have stopped working, it's kind of a nuisance. We bought some extra strands to add over the non-lit spots, but discovered when we opened the box that they were on a white strand instead of green! The kids said they didn't care and didn't want to wait to get the kind that would blend in a bit better.

As per our tradition that we started a few years ago, the kids got their own special ornament to add to the tree this year. I bought the ornaments last year during the after-Christmas sales and have just kept them in my drawer over the year.

Hayley and Courtney both got dog ornaments:

McKay got a reindeer bell this year (he would love a trombone one, but I can't seem to find one):

And then there's poor Hannah. The first year we started this tradition, she did not like the ornament I had picked out for her (music notes) and burst into tears. That year they got their ornaments on Christmas Eve and she had red-rimmed eyes in all our pictures. (You can read the whole story here.) I had picked out a cat ornament for her this year and she was excited when I first gave it to her until she noticed that the tail had been broken off (apparently something I missed when I picked it out). Again, she burst into tears! I didn't make her take a picture this time with her red eyes, but was able to go to the store the next day and find her a new cat ornament, which she was happy to add to the tree.

It's definitely a hodge-podge tree, but that's one of its charms!

And our cat has decided she has found a new favorite place to curl up for a nap too!

Sooner or Later

None of my kids have ever had stitches, a broken bone, or other major injury (neither have I, for that matter, although Brian has an entirely different history in that regard...). But sooner or later, I knew it was probably bound to happen.

We got a call from the school nurse last Thursday that Courtney had fallen off the swings at recess and that her arm was possibly broken. So I went to pick her up. The nurse had Courtney try to move her arm, etc. and told me she wouldn't be surprised if it was broken. I'll admit that part of me was a bit skeptical because I know Courtney, but she had obviously hurt it to some extent. And so I felt like there wasn't much to do besides go have an x-ray done.

I took her to an Urgent Care clinic. They did a couple of x-rays there and the doctor said he did not see any obvious breaks, but he wanted to send the x-rays to a radiologist for a report (and of course that means they'll take more of my money). He told us to have her wear a sling for a week (and of course they'll take a ridiculous amount of my money for the little sling too).


Fortunately, the radiologist's report also showed that no bones were broken. So we are grateful for that. Courtney has enjoyed all the extra attention from her sling and her arm seems just fine. We'll continue with our no major injury status!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was very quiet and different from past years. We decided not to travel anywhere, as we have for the past several years, and it ended up being just our little family together. We missed seeing all the extended family, but I enjoyed just relaxing a bit at home and keeping things relatively simple (although it also meant I had to do ALL the cooking!).

Just a couple of explanations about the pictures. Hannah insisted that she have a complete drumstick -- bone and all -- for her portion of the turkey. And Courtney was throwing a fit because I didn't make the kind of mashed potatoes she requested (I tried a garlic mashed potato recipe, which she ended up liking after all).

There is much to be thankful for!

More School Stuff

It's a busy time for school programs -- and there's still more to come!

This go-round we have Hannah singing with the rest of the 4th grade in their evening program, which consists of about 7-8 songs. Grandma Humpherys was able to come with us this year!

Then we have Indian Girl Courtney singing some Thanksgiving songs with the 2nd grade at a Fab Friday morning assembly. She's on the front row on the right side.

On my way out to the car after the Fab Friday assembly, I spotted Hayley in the cafeteria with some of her cute little 1st grade friends. The 1st grade won the contest for the best lunch room manners and were being treated to cinnamon rolls -- yum!

Courtney's Baptism

The Saturday after Courtney's 8th birthday we were able to have her baptism. It was a busy day, with her birthday party that same morning. My dad was here that weekend, so he was able to share the excitement with her.

She was a very excited girl!

The service was very nice. The talks were given by Courtney's Grandpa and her uncle Brandon. Hannah and Hayley sang the Primary song "Baptism." Courtney was beautiful afterward! (And she didn't mind at all that she's wearing Hannah's hand-me-down baptism dress.)

Family pictures after the baptism:

Courtney wore her pretty dress to church the next day, along with her new baptism necklace that she got for her birthday.

She is growing into a beautiful girl!

It's Great to be Eight!

Courtney celebrated her 8th birthday last week -- she was so excited! It's been a busy month with birthdays and visitors and other events.

It was no surprise that she wanted a dog cake for her birthday. She also wanted chocolate cake, which makes frosting it tricky (so many crumbs!), but this is what we ended up with:

She wanted to get dressed up for presents and cake, and she also had me braid her wet hair the night before so it would be wavy on her birthday.

She got lots of fun presents, including her very own set of scriptures from Grandpa & Grandma.

Then it was time for cake and candles.

I had to include this picture because it is classic Courtney.

McKay had found some trombone music for the "Happy Birthday" song and he started playing it on his trombone as we started singing to her. Courtney did NOT like this and refused to blow out her candles unless we sang it again. She can be quite a stubborn girl! I finally convinced her to blow them out before they melted onto the cake and she did (although I had been so preoccupied talking to her that I totally missed the picture when she actually blew them out).

Courtney also got have a party with friends this year. With so much going on at our house, I decided it was worth a little extra money to host the party somewhere else. We had it a place called "Brush with Art" where the kids get to choose and paint a little clay sculpture. After it's painted, you leave it at the store for them to glaze and put in the kiln again and then the kids get to keep their creation.

We could have up to 8 kids and I told Courtney 2 of those slots had to be her sisters (good thing she is friends with her sisters!).

One of the other girls she invited couldn't come, so we ended up with 7 total. They had a fun time!

Courtney is growing into a beautiful girl! She has always been my most stubborn and independent kid, but in some ways that is a good trait! She excels in school and is friendly to all. She is a great helper to me and amazes me with her curiousity and desire to learn new things. She still loves dogs (and anything dog-related) and can tell you all about the many different breeds. We love having her in our family!