This month, the girls’ school has encouraged the kids to be more active with a “Movement Calendar” of daily activities. If completed, the kids get a little prize. So, we’ve had daily activities (often, but not always, exercises). Every Wednesday is family fitness day, Jen and I join in as well then. Here’s Leah showing off some mountain climbers.
Leah again participated in the Bumble Bee spelling bee at school. Again, it was intense. Dozens of second graders spelling words out loud in front of a large crowd of adults. One mistake and you’re eliminated. There’s some serious pressure.
Leah was fortunate to randomly end up sitting next to friends (both sides and behind her). They clearly didn’t let the pressure get to them as they waited for the start.
Leah made it through her first 3 words, but got unlucky on the fourth word and was eliminated earlier than she expected. I must say I was so proud of how she handled it. Many of the kids ended up in tears (understandably), but Leah handled disappointment with strength. She was even comforting others who didn’t handle it as well and congratulating those who succeeded.
Molly’s chorus and orchestra at school had their first concert in December. In past years, they’ve held this in January, but this year they pushed up the concert for Chorus, Advanced Orchestra, and Advanced Band (Beginner Orchestra and Beginner Band still got the extra month of practice before a January concert).
First up was chorus. The first song even had a student accompanist playing piano.
The orchestra concert came next. Molly was really excited for this, as she knew they’d recognize the students selected for GT Orchestra and Sinfonia. As you can see after the first song, she was excited (though perhaps lacking some humility). And sorry for the shaky camera then - I was trying to change lenses quickly.
They did a great job, though this concert really hit home how much more advanced Molly’s GT Sinfonia is.
The girls’ school had Family Lego Night again, (renamed from Legos with Dad to be more inclusive). As always, the girls had a great time building.
Molly’s school selected some of the more responsible 5th graders to be safety monitors, and she was happy to get the job. So, now we have to get to school early every morning so she can stand at her post (outside Kindergarten) and make sure kids are being safe. She takes her job seriously.
Even on Halloween, all dressed up, Molly was ready to be a responsible safety monitor. She wasn’t even thrown by Leah’s photobomb.
After an extra long summer with lots of trips (one of which I’ll post about soon), school finally started in Maryland today. Leah is now in second grade, and Molly is a fifth grader ready to begin her last year in elementary school. It’s hard to believe that this time next year she’ll be a middle schooler.
We took our usual kids on the block picture before the first day of school. Several of the kids from previous years have moved on to middle school, but we’ve still got a good crowd.
There was a lot of excitement at school, including the wildcat and a TV news crew. The girls (and their friends) got a picture with the wildcat.
We’re excited for a fun new school year!
The girls finally got out of school on June 14. They love school, but were very excited for summer vacation.
After school, the neighborhood kids again took a picture at the circle, as we’ve done every year.
After the big picture, the 5th graders who are moving up to middle school took a picture on their own. Meanwhile, the other kids snuck off to gather water balloons. The 5th graders went from smiling to soaking in an instant.
This, of course, led to an all out water fight.
The girls then took a quick picture for me before running to a neighbor’s house for an ice cream party.
Let summer begin!
The girls had their Field Day at school, and it was a beautiful day. I volunteered during the younger grades, and was assigned the ring toss station (new station from last year).
Jen and I swapped out at lunch time, and Jen worked the bean bag tic-tac-toe for the older kids.
And the face painters this year really did a fantastic job, as you can tell from these happy girls.
The girls and I again had fun at the Legos with Dad event at their school, as we have the past couple of years.
Molly had her spring concert for both chorus and orchestra, and she did great. Here she is all dressed up for her spring concert.
Molly’s loved being in chorus this year. They do such fun songs, as you can see here.
I’m still so impressed with how well the Advanced Orchestra (4th and 5th graders) at school plays. They’ve come a long way, and are performing some complicated and long pieces now. Molly was excited that someone got to even play a solo this time, and she did a great job at the front of the viola section.
And pay attention to Molly’s feet in the second song. I think she needs to learn to sit forward enough so her feet touch the ground.
Great job, Molly!
