4th Grade Field Trip

Kenneth's 4th grade class went to a Rock Quarry last week for a field trip and it was captured by the local newspaper:
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/education/index.html

Kenneth was 'featured' in a couple of spots on the video.

Raise Your Hand If You Want to Quit the Conversation

Kenneth's Honor Choir celebrated the end of the school year with a performance of all the songs they've worked on throughout the year. Nana drove over to see the performance too. Kenneth looked like he wanted to break out and start dancing at any moment. He would add in little gestures like making a telephone sign with his hand at his ear when the word "communicate" was in the song. Granted, the purpose of the choir is uniformity, but I see more stage-acting or debate in his future.

Evelyn was telling us a story about a conversation between several girls in her class that was heading in a direction she didn't like. She ended her participation in the conversation by saying "Raise your hand if you want to quit the conversation." I think I'll adopt her phrase and use it at work when I have to deal with some "special" personalities.

Deutschenfest '08

We went to Deutschenfest today, which is a festival that Pflugerville puts on every year around this time. It is a fairly typical crafts booth, fair food booth, traveling carnival ride kind of event with a twist that German beer is available. I don't care about the beer--it's the kettle corn that gets me every time. Yum. We spent about 4 hours there, most of which was spent sitting next to a creek that runs through the park that hosts the event. Evelyn and Kenneth waded through the water and Kenneth caught minnows to add to his fish tank. He continues to perfect his bow and arrow making skills and has developed truly admirable designs. Add that to the ability to catch minnows with his bare hands and I think his great-grandfather's Native American roots are showing through.

I have to give a shout out to my cousin Kristin, who delivered a healthy baby girl last week: Jennifer Elizabeth. Pretty soon here, Linda's daughter Lisa should be delivering her daughter as well.

Round Rock Express

Our friends, Rex and Stacie, gave us some tickets to see the Round Rock Express, which is a minor league baseball team in the area. It was a pleasant day--not too hot or cold--which made my tolerance for sitting in a stadium much higher. Stacie gets tickets through her work--she is a VP of a bank and they use events such as baseball games to give out to clients. Kenneth is doing some sort of extra reading program at school where the prize is Express tickets too. So, we'll be spending some more time there. I think it will be a good opportunity to take some of Kenneth's friends.

I'm also delinquent on mentioning that Evelyn had a school musical program a couple of weeks ago called "Every Day is Earth Day." She had a speaking part and did great. The picture is of Evelyn and her best friend, Shaley. As you can see, Evelyn is following in her mother's tradition of being a full head taller than her female cohorts.

This weekend will be completely full of soccer games, particularly because Kenneth's games are tournament games and they are in the uneventful (I'm being nice with my words) town of Manor in a brown farm field. The games are spaced out just enough that we don't have time to go home (or gas $) yet there is no shade and nothing to do in Manor. After the mid-day game we can head to Elgin, another special (again, I'm being nice) town that is known for only two things that I am aware of: (1) sausage and (2) being the town Dr. Phil "adopted" and wanted to "save" from unhealthy habits and Springer-like behavior. He abandoned the town soon after the adoption. Ratings, I guess. Anyhow, if Kenneth's team wins enough games on Saturday then we have the joy of getting up early enough on Mother's Day to be there at 8 AM and start all over again. The kids are so good and they enjoy the competition so much that it's hard to complain seriously.

Mr. Wade's 20th

Last weekend we went to College Station to help out Elizabeth's family with their move to their new home. It is a beautiful home with an amazing backyard--they are going to love it. We also went to my former Women's Chorus director's surprise 20th yr party. Jess Wade is the conductor of both the (Fightin' Texas Aggie) Women's Chorus and the mixed choral group, The Century Singers. The party was held at the TAMU Vice President's home and was really lovely.

A few funny, recent moments with Evelyn:

[During a conversation where Evelyn was exclaiming how cute little babies are and in particular, their pinkie fingernails]

Erin: "Babies are cute, but children are cute, regardless."

Evelyn: "Yes, children are cute and artists."

[Because Evelyn's hair used to be very curly and is now only wavy, we have transitioned from using conditioner post-shower (to leave some conditioning heft to handle the frizz) to using conditioner in the shower after shampoo.]

Evelyn: "Man, Mom, this whole conditioner AND shampoo thing IN the shower is really starting to bother me."

[After listening to the song "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, where the word "Gloria" is repeated excessively in the song.]

Evelyn: "Man, that lady's crazy about Gloria."

Yoga, Yoga

I finally tried my first yoga class. We have a family membership to the local YMCA, which has age-specific kid zones so that Moms and Dads can exercise without having to pay extra for childcare. Evelyn's best friend, Shaley, happened to be there at the same time as she was, so that was great for her. Kenneth played with a Wii the whole time, so he was good to go too. I have to admit, the poses required (even in a beginner class) were sometimes difficult to maintain, primarily because of balance. I have the strength though, so it has potential. I don't think I'll ever get to the point that I want to put my elbows propped up and my knees on top of my elbows, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that I can do it. Yes, it is as complicated as it sounds. I found a picture of the pose for your viewing pleasure.

Tomorrow, we head to College Station for a couple of reasons. Elizabeth's family is moving, so we will create diversions for the kids all day. Also, my former choral conductor is having a surprise 20th-year-of-conducting gathering and I expect to see several former Women's Chorus members.

Rod's Twin

My friend Tiffani found a picture on someone else's blog that looks EXACTLY like Rod. I showed him and he agreed it was a match.

I wonder if we all have a "twin" in the world.

In Lieu Of...

In lieu of stories, here's a couple of photos of my sweet peas. Ken likes to do his funny face. Evelyn is sitting with some soccer friends.

Step It Up!

I officially really like the new Bravo reality show, "Step It Up!". Rod and I already have our favorite dancers...

Visit to Kerrville

A couple of weekends ago we visited Merle and Linda in Kerrville. They are still working on their house (along with a selective crew of workers) but they have a small cabin that they've been living in for quite a while now. It is fully functional and makes you question why we have become so dependent on large floor plans! Linda made a fabulous dinner, complete with homemade lemon pecan bread, which was a recipe I wrote down immediately. I'm definitely going to be baking some soon.

The other pic with my Mom is from when she visited us to see Kenneth in the school's talent show last weekend. We will be heading to College Station this Friday to see the Women's Chorus concert. I haven't seen a WC concert since '01. The kids will join us and they are looking forward to seeing me join the choir for the last song of the concert ("I Believe," sung in conjunction with Ave Maria), which is something that is done at every concert.

Mom, What If It Is a Turd?

I got a mean sunburn today. It was the one day of the soccer season that requires a lot more time than usual: the 2 normal games, but team and individual soccer pictures as well. To top it off, I volunteered for a 2-hour time slot to assist with the photo coordination. You may have no sympathy for me because of the volunteer aspect, but I keep most requests against our time at bay. Anyhow, it's a good thing I'm a calm person because so many are not. The forms that needed to be filled out for photos were complicated. I very much wish I'd saved a copy of the form so I could post an image of it and ask for comments on whether it was interpretable within 1 minute. I was berated a few times because parents couldn't figure the form out and talked to me as if I were with the photo company.

Kenneth spent the later part of the day mowing the yard and found what is probably a large acorn, but possibly a pecan. He brought it inside and washed it off then let Evelyn take a look. Evelyn was talking about how she was going to paint white lines on it to make it look like a football when Rod took notice and told her it was an owl turd. She dropped it on the spot but I could tell she still wanted to paint it. She came to me later and asked, "Mom, what if it is a turd? It would not be hard like this, right?" We've successfully gotten past the ruse.

Friday night, the school put on a talent show. Kenneth was in a skit with a few other boys called 'Sittin' on a Red Bench'. The premise is that a series of characters come out one at a time and sit next to each other on a red bench and lastly, a painter comes out with a red paint can; all the kids on the bench realize that they've sat on the wet paint. It was so funny and got a lot of laughs!

Easter Weekend

We had a nice Easter weekend. Nana bought Evelyn a couple of beautiful dresses, so she was set for Saturday and Sunday. It was pleasant outside so we let the kids run through the sprinkler during our attempt to make the front lawn green. Rod, Kenneth, and Evelyn all got haircuts, but Evelyn's was the boldest. She wanted it "between my chin and my shoulders" and that's exactly what she got: it looks great! She looks so much older.

Laura Ingalls Comes Back to Haunt

I was reading Elizabeth's blog and she had an entry that described her demotion from "Mommy" to "Mom" (Kyle's new term). Interestingly enough, Evelyn asked me if she could call me "Ma" instead of "Mom" after watching a 4-episode series of Little House on the Prairie.

I highly recommend Netflixing the Season 1 episodes. Not only will they leave you completely entranced to the point of fixation, but you'll have a deeper appreciation for not having to (1) wear the same sweaty clothes everyday and (2) pull a plow because the greedy storekeeper took your only ox.

L-E-S-S

The Spring Break week went fast. I think Kenneth is ready to go back to school, but Evelyn is not. She could probably use a couple of more days. Good thing it's a short week (no school on Friday). One of the days this break was pretty windy, so we took the kites out to a huge park and flew them. Evelyn's kite is simpler than Kenneth's, so it was up in the air much longer. Nonetheless, both were dying laughing as we tried to hoist the kites and having them subsequently land on our heads.

My main goal for the week was to find time to get a haircut, which I did on Wednesday. After that, we spent some time with Nana at a bookstore and had a nice lunch at a deli to which we'll definitely return. Thursday morning we left for College Station to spend time with Elizabeth's family; of course, Rod had several work things to do so we dropped him off and met up with them. We went to Bee Creek park, which has much improved since I lived in College Station--very nice playground equipment and swings. Kyle posed for a picture for Kenneth. He is so hard to capture because he's always moving. I hung out with Ann Marie while Elizabeth spent more time chasing the boys.

When we got back to Austin on Friday, we zipped over to Central Market to listen to some live music and hang out while the kids ran around the playground. When we were leaving, I was waiting by the restrooms for the rest of the family and a granola lady came up to me (way into my personal space) and said something like "too many bands of children...these people need to stop reproducing...our resources cannot take it much longer...L-E-S-S is more..." I just affected a high voice and kept moving my eye contact from her while simultaneously saying "Uhhh--Huhhh". She actually spelled the word L-E-S-S to me. What I wanted to say was F-R-E-A-K. I did nothing to generate this approach. This type of thing happens all the time. I must have a sign on my face that says "Say crazy things to me."

Bad Luck Barbie

This week is Spring Break. I'm taking the whole week off (with the exception of this afternoon, where I had to close out a few things on email). We don't have any major plans--just a few around-town hang out activities. Hopefully we'll be able to zip down to College Station for one day this week to hang out with Elizabeth's family. The kids have already gotten into the mode of playing with some toys they don't usually play with. Kenneth found a toy American Airlines model plane and Evelyn found a Barbie cabana and pool. After about an hour of conspiring in Evelyn's room, they announced that they had made a play called Bad Luck Barbie. Poor Barbie, sitting naked in her cabana by the pool, sipping a solid, blue, plastic cocktail, gets knocked out of the cabana by a wayward American Airline jet. It's pretty funny, despite the mild morbidity.

Visit from NJ Cousins

My cousins, Chrissy and Keith, flew down from NJ a couple of weeks ago for a marathon in Austin. Keith's girlfriend Megan and his Mom, my Aunt Loretta, also flew down. Only Chris, Keith, and Megan actually ran in the marathon. It was Chrissy's first marathon--they all did great! Heck, just finishing is great. I would like to run a marathon someday, although it is much more likely that I'll do a half marathon. Elizabeth's family also visited and we got an amazing shot of Ann Marie.

I have promised prints for Elizabeth and my Mom. Kyle was almost impossible to get a picture of because he was on a mission to wander far and fast. Josh had to basically follow him around the whole time. Evelyn pushed Ann Marie in a swing, and she was content just to hang out, pretty much wherever we had her. It was one of those days where we just got a ton of good pictures all around.

On Saturday, Evelyn participated in the Austin Regional Science Fair. It was very odd though; out of the 1000 projects that were there (estimate, but at least 400), EVERY SINGLE project won a first, second, or third place ribbon. This completely defeats the purpose of such a competition. A mother near me when I was exclaiming "Oh you won 2nd place, congratulations Evelyn, uhhh, hold on, everyone won something?!?!?" said "It's criteria-based, not competition-based." Ummm, WHATEVER. Kids need to learn that you don't win at everything you do. Well, you can't control everything. I was proud of Evelyn when the judge was speaking with her. She not only was able to accurately answer questions about her project, but she was able to deduce on-target answers to 'what if' questions as well.

This coming Saturday is the first soccer game weekend of the Spring season. Evelyn starts bright and early at 8:00 AM.

The Orator

Kenneth was selected to participate in an oratorical contest in school last Tuesday. The contestants had been narrowed down from classroom-level competitions to the big night.

The theme was related to Black History Month, so the passages that the kids memorized were from various black authors or activists. Kenneth chose a selection from the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King. About 80-100 kids total ended up in the final evening competition. I was so proud of Kenneth. Evelyn and I sat down on the floor of the cafeteria with a bunch of kids because I couldn't get a good view in the chairs. Kenneth called me the next day from school to tell me he won first place out of the whole 4th grade! You can click on the image of the video to see Kenneth's winning speech. We're so proud of him! He's pretty proud of himself, too.

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

A few days ago, my sweet Evelyn had her 7th birthday.

She was so proud. We went to the same place she had her party last year (a local pottery place) but this time with a targeted effort: picture frames. We picked up the finished products last weekend and they all look great. The plan is to put a picture of each child in the frame that they created themselves, to send home along with Evelyn's thank-you notes. In the picture to the left, she is wearing a new dress that her Grandma Aixa got her, and a new pink sweater than her Nana got her. Kenneth decided that a picture frame wasn't quite his style and opted to paint a ceramic egg, instead. Most of the time, he spent taking pictures for us. Nana and Pops drove over for the party, too.

At the end of day, the kids went to play at our neighbor's house, while we shared a sitter and went out to eat at a fabulous Mexican restaurant off of Manor Rd. near downtown Austin. I'll have to look up the name again because there's quite a few down there. This one, however, had ambience and was packed with a late 20-something/early 30-something crowd. A definite repeat.

Spring soccer practice has started up again for Kenneth (they call it "conditioning" already). Evelyn will have her first practice this week. They are on the same teams as last season. I just hope Evelyn's shoes still fit her. Growing like a weed, I tell you.

The Trials of Hugo

Kenneth and Rod have spent several weekend days catching crawdads in the creek that is in our currently favored park (to put in his fish tank). Prior to their discovery, I thought crawdads were saltwater creatures. (Truthfully, I hadn't devoted much brain time to it.) Over the course of time, they've collected 6-8 crawdads, most of which are shorter than a pinkie finger, but one that was much bigger. ("Much bigger" is still relative--none of these guys were too big.) The biggest crawdad was Hugo. He owned the fish tank and made sure all the fish, snails, and other crawdads knew it. This weekend, Kenneth collected a couple of more crawdads, one of which was close in size to Hugo. Kenneth named him Reedy. Reedy challenged Hugo once and Hugo became very territorial in return. Hugo didn't really mess with the other, smaller crawdads; although, we noticed that periodically a leg would go missing. Reedy ended up spending most of his time at the top of a fake water bush. Unfortunately for Hugo, when crawdads molt, they lose their protective hard outer layer. Reedy took advantage of Hugo's vulnerable state. One recent evening, Kenneth was shocked to find Hugo's severed head floating at the top of the tank. Well, if you have to experience a beheading, I guess nature's soap opera is the way to go. The new master of the fish tank is pictured above.

Happy Birthday Rod!

OK, this is a bit belated for a blog post, but Rod had a birthday last Thursday. We celebrated on the actual day with Nana, who surprised us by making dinner and a cake. Later in the weekend, I made a birthday dinner too, so he was double-treated. Unfortunately, Merle and Linda were not able to come up this weekend, but we will see them as soon as we can. We did find out that Linda's daughter, Lisa, is having a baby girl in May!

Evelyn is so excited that she will have another girl cousin. We don't know names yet, though.

Poor Kenneth has been sick this week and has missed school on Monday and Tuesday. I'm not sure what got him, but there have been lots of kids out of school lately.

I'm going to go read "George and Martha" to Evelyn, even though she's quite capable of reading it to me!