mudpies and paint: Trying this again

It has been a long, hard winter and I am so glad that Spring is here. Even if the weather today is more like February than nearly April. The truth is we've been busy, busy, busy and trying to share one laptop between four computer users has been a bit difficult. My time to get on and keep the blog updated was severally hampered. Recently we finally picked up another laptop, which is making things much easier. I'm hoping to keep this site fairly updated, especially for my family to keep up with the kids.

Yeah, keeping up with the kids. That is the trick lately.

Mary is still playing soccer and still LOVING it. She had a pretty good Fall season, played a great indoor season and has started off the Spring going crazy scoring three goals in three games.

In addition to playing soccer, Mary has also begun her own business along with Katie doing pet sitting in our neighborhood. They have several clients and are busy just about every weekend. She also completed her Red Cross Babysitting class in January and is looking for some "Mother's Helper" clients.

Katie has been busy this past winter with her drama class and girl scouts.

She sold a BUNCH of GS cookies this year. Was very responsible managing all the money and deliveries.

This past weekend she performed in our town's talent show singing a solo of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me". She did a very good job, even if I felt that the song was not right for her voice. She sung to the music only and did not forget a lyric. I have a video of the performance but cannot get it to upload. She enjoyed it so much that she is already planning for next year and has asked to take the group singing lessons after drama class is finished this year.

If singing and drama wasn't enough she has become refocused on learning the flute (now that her fingers have lengthened a little). Everyday she spends time watching video lessons and using her beginning flute book. We really need to get her over to the church on Sunday night for some of their free intro music lessons.

Katie's Brownie troop has been great this year. Very service oriented, while still having fun. Right now the troop is completing activities necessary for bridging to Juniors later this Spring. This week the troop provided and served food for a Family Homeless shelter group. Each week a local faith organization houses & feeds homeless families, this week the church Katie's leader belongs to was hosting. Katie volunteered her Daddy's 'super-secret' pasta dish, so she and Mary and Randy spent Tuesday preparing enough to feed 18+ persons. It was a big hit, but even more importantly Katie had a great time visiting and being with the children in these families.

She and Mary were invited to come back out tonight, Thursday, to help serve and visit with the families again. Both of the girls are really looking forward to the opportunity.

Katie has begun practices for Spring Softball and is looking forward to playing for her third season. This season DH is one of the assistant coaches for the team and is having a lot of fun working with the girls.

Emily has been enjoying her art classes this winter and enjoying having a dedicated art space in the house for her. Art has been very relaxing for her larger-than-life emotions. She loves books and loves learning, as long as it is on her own terms.

We are still working through The Continents unit study. The very same one we started back in October. We are having a lot of fun exploring different places around the world and I see no reason to rush it.

Robbie is finishing his first year of preschool and has really enjoyed it this year. His speech has improved so much, maybe because he is using it sooo much. I thought that only girls were talkers. He loves letters & words and is already putting the two together. We've definitely learned to keep screwdrivers away from him, as just about every toy he has gotten for Christmas has already been dismantled.