Jenna's Fort Frederick Field Trip

Yesterday, I went on Jenna's Fort Frederick field trip with her. We are so blessed to have so much good history so close-- it was about a 25 min bus ride. It was a pure fun day for me-- hardly any responsibility (I had 3 great girls to chaperone) and it was a gorgeous day with lots to see. The weather was definitely questionable ahead of time-- the area had 2 1/2 inches of rain overnight with tornadoes and watches and all that good stuff. But, by field trip time, it was 75 and sunny, with a bit of a breeze drying things out. We stepped thru a fair amount of mud, but this was sublime compared to the time I went to Fort Frederick with Katie's class-- that time we got totally drenched! Above is inside the fort. There are 2 buildings and an awful lot of green grass. We were able to be there on Market Days, so there were lots of extra people around-- many dressed up in period clothing.

Jenna and 2 of her best friends, McKenzie and Olivia.

There were tents everywhere around the fort walls-- many (all?) of the vendors there camp for the weekend. We looked in some vendors' tents-- leather workers and wool and fabric and all sorts of interesting things. Our favorite may have been the baker, tho. :) I bought a Shrewsbury Colonial Cake for the 4 of us to share-- it actually was a very large sugar cookie with lemon zest. Plenty for the 4 of us to share.

This man explained some things about the fort and gave us a firearms demonstration. Kids were very interested in all this, esp when he actually fired it and it was quite loud. Fort Frederick is a fascinating shape (you'll have to look it up if you're actually interested; I don't think I can describe it well) something like a square with an extra arrow point bumped out on each corner. One of those corners is reserved for this firearms demonstration now.

A building next to the fort. Jenna took the pics (except the one with her in it) and did a great job!

The costumes were fun to look at. A few were a little racy, tho-- one large man didn't have a shirt on with his and it was kinda scary :), another man had a long-sleeve type shirt and then it looked like he didn't have on any pants! I think a loin cloth was probably hiding under the shirt. Yikes! And here we were with a bunch of 3rd graders. :)

Micah Doctor

Took Micah to the dr today for his 3-year visit. Went well-- I always love being the first appt of the day.

When Micah and I were leaving home, he asked where we were going. I was pretty vague, "Hagerstown." When we were in the car, he asked again where we were going, I said, "To the doctor," and he said, "Can I go, too?" I think he was thinking it was my appt, since he had been with me a couple months ago when I went for my bunion appt. Then we got to the doctor's office... when I sat him up on the exam table and started taking off his shirt, he figured it out-- he said, "Am I going to the doctor?" I said, "Yes," and he said a very SAD, "Hmmm."

He mostly was very good, tho. Smiled and talked to the doctor and didn't cry for any of it. (Helps that he didn't need any shots) However, he wasn't always terribly cooperative. Dr asked how old he is, and Micah wouldn't really answer him-- counted up to 5. Later, the dr wanted Micah to catch a ball and then bounce it back to him, etc.-- Micah couldn't quite figure out what the dr wanted, and wasn't real great about trying, either. At one point, it looked like he was getting pretty frustrated because the dr was insistent, but, thankfully, the dr gave up at that point.

As for stats, we have a totally average kid! I don't think I've ever had one of those before! He's 50th percentile (31 1/2 pounds) for his weight and 50th for his height (37 3/4 inches).

Easter

The girls got 2 1/2 days off school for Easter, and we've had a really nice time. Fri pm was our church's big Easter program and none of us were in it, so we could just enjoy. It was a wonderful program with drama (including a real donkey :) and lots of music. The girls were very much into it, even tho Claire fell asleep right before the end. We sat right behind the section of hearing impaired people, and it was a lot of fun to watch. After the program, we just sat in our seats while the place emptied, and we watched many different deaf conversations. Kinda funny that we could have easily eavesdropped on all of them, if we knew more sign language!

Then, yesterday morning, the kids sang in the services and Chad and I played in the orchestra. After that busy morning, it was nice to go home to Easter dinner and a whole afternoon/evening with the family. We played games and watched a video and had a muffin cup supper.

Crazy Dress Day

I think at Katie's suggestion, the girls declared Saturday as Crazy Dress Day. They had a lot of fun with it, obviously.

Katie's Quiz Trip

This past weekend, Katie had another great quiz trip. Esp nice since it was to the area where I grew up. My parents had invited the whole group (35?) to come for supper Fri pm. We made it there around 7pm, after leaving our church at 7am. Mom had sloppy joes and chips and cooked apples and macaroni. Lots of great food, of course. After we ate, some of the group went down and played pingpong. Some even went outside, even tho it was QUITE windy and a bit rainy and dark. They loved running around after riding in the bus all day. And several so loved the wind! It was funny how many of them asked mom, "Does the wind blow like this all the time here??"

And, even tho it was nice to be off the bus, I'm not all complaining about the bus ride. Coach bus with comfortable seats and overhead bins. The kids play cards or sing (one brought a guitar and one had bongo drums) or listen to iPods or talk. I read 2 1/2 books and 2 magazines. :) But, I wasn't so engrossed that I missed the exciting things going on around me-- like the game "Would You Rather". Yuck! Questions like-- would you rather lick a frog all over or eat toe jam from an old man's toes?

Katie and I slept Fri pm at mom and dad's and then we met the group at Jenison Bible in the morning. Each of our 6 teams had 6 quizzes that day. None of our group made it into the playoffs, but they all did well and I really enjoy watching it.

Here's Katie with her team during the last quiz. Each quiz has 20 questions, and Katie was the first to buzz (they hold a button in their hand) for 2-3 questions each quiz. Each person's goal is always to "quiz out", meaning they correctly answer 5 questions. She got a lot closer to that this time, and I'm sure next year she'll make it. She's also really good at answering the "throw-overs". When someone on the other team gets their question wrong, the same question is tossed to the person in the seat opposite on the other team. Katie's specialty, tho, is any of the questions that say "Locate this verse" (tell the reference) or "Quote".

Mom and dad came to watch the quizzing, and Mike and Liz made it for one quiz also. Then they ate lunch with us, and it was great to see Caleb and Logan again-- they are changing so much!

Below, Elizabeth with Caleb.

And below is Logan.

Below, Caleb. Both just adorable kids!

We left Jenison at 3pm on Sat. Drove to a mall food court in Toledo for supper-- food courts are great when you come with a busload of teens. :) Hotel in Port Clinton. Katie and I shared a hotel room with 3 other girls. Fun to hang out in the evening-- swimming, exercise room, talking, cards, etc. It's really a great group of kids, and it's a joy to get to know them better. Interesting that almost all of them are homeschooled. Katie and one other girls might be the only 2 that are not. Not positive why that is, but it may have to do with the time commitment this takes. Each week there is only one 2-hour practice, but the kids are learning 6-8 verses every week. That takes quite a commitment! I'm sure it helps Katie that she's a wonderful memorizer.

On Sun morning, after breakfast in the hotel, we all gathered in one room (a little crowded :) to have a "service". Sang with the guitar, prayed, and the kids were invited to talk about what they've learned from Hebrews. This is a terrific time-- knowing that the verses are going deeper than just surface memorization.

Headed home. Always stop at DQ in Breezewood. Any of the kids that quizzed out even once get a free blizzard. : ) Katie's coach was very kind and bought them all a blizzard.

Made it to the church by 5:30ish. Then I set up for Children's Choir. Chad took Katie right home, tho, so she could unpack and repack. Right now, she's on a 3-day trip with the middle school from Grace-- Outdoor School.

Video below is a bit of Katie quizzing. It's pretty hard to get her actually answering, since you never know which one she'll buzz on.

CSC

Last week we had one of our monthly Christian Soldiers Club programs at school-- where the kids present poems and Bible passages, etc. that they have learned during the month. We were involved in lots of parts of this one. Below, in the green outfit, is Claire with her class-- she was one of the women going to the tomb. She looked so cute. :) Below is a pic of Jenna standing out in front of her class. They did the opening, in which she leads her class reciting some verses about the Bible and being a Christian soldier.

Also during this program, I had organized a bunch of students (13?) to play piano pieces between each class (while the classes were moving off and onto the risers). I think 8 of them were my students, including Katie and Jenna. They did a terrific job! I was most pleased to be able to do this-- I had been suggesting it for years, and this is the first time we were able to get it to happen. I'm hoping to be able to do this more next year-- hopefully opening it up to anyone who plays an instrument.

3-6-9-12

Happy birthday, Micah! And, on this grand occasion, Chad is proud to tell you all that our kids are now 3-6-9-12. At least until August.

It's hard to believe Micah's THREE. How time flies! It's so much fun to see them get older, and yet it's so sad. In some ways, I'd like to keep Micah this age forever, but, in others, I can't wait until he gets older!

So Friday was his real birthday. Since we'd already had his party, we just gave him a chocolate muffin with candles in it. And he sang right along with us. :) Then we gave him his remaining 2 presents-- the same apple toy we gave Lily for Christmas and a Webkinz, so he can have his own account. It's an okapi that Claire named Toby.

Micah has a lot of trouble telling us how old he is. He had gotten so good at saying, "2 and 3/4", that now he can't get "3" into his head.

Other bday news-- today we sang half a song for Claire, since this is her half bday. And today is Katie's spiritual bday.

Bee

Yesterday Jenna won the 3rd grade spelling bee!

Micah's Party

Even though we weren't quite to the famous date of April 8, we had a party for dear, little, funny Micah. Here he is opening one of his presents. He's finally 3! See which fingers he holds up to show you?

He had a race track cake, with little candy cars.

The lawnmower Gpa and Gma gave him-- now he can mow like Daddy does!

Pavement Artwork

No, Micah didn't write that. :) He's just the cute accessory for the pic. Katie wrote out the pledge of allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. Looked pretty cool because she used different colors of chalk for each line.

Jenna's Hagerstown Project-- 5

So, we're nearing the end of Jenna's Hagerstown project visits. Last weekend, my dad, Chad, Jenna, and I visited one of the fire stations in Hagerstown. We very much enjoyed our tour! Learned a lot and really enjoyed talking with the fireman and firewoman on duty. They made us popcorn, too! :)

Where they sleep, right next to the fire trucks. They had the central dispatch test their alarm for us-- I can't imagine sleeping thru that! The lights go on and flash, and the loud alarm sounds, and then they run over to the truck. No fire pole to slide down.

This is their truck that cost about $350,000, but currently fire trucks are going for around $500,000. Of course, depends on what bells and whistles (literally!) you want on it.

This is Jenna about to push the horn. Deanna just told her to push there, and didn't explain. I figured it had to be a horn, but I still really jumped when that loud thing went off! And Jenna had no idea it was a horn-- just about jumped out of her skin. :)

Papa and Grammy visit

My parents were here Fri pm thru Wed am. Had to get dad a job, of course. :) Actually, I'm pretty convinced that the $75 we spent on installing a screen door was the best use of our home improvement money in a long time. I love it! We can have fresh air in the kitchen/living room, use less AC, and even hear birds singing with it open.

The screen door installation only dragged out to be a part of a day job. So, we did some other things... visited with the Michaels, heard about dad's trip to Russia, dad/Chad went to a men's event at church, visited a fire station with Jenna, went to church a couple times, I still taught several lessons, had a bday party with Don and Anita for Micah, discussed what to do about some of our lawn issues, mom/I played organ/piano at church. Plus, dad took a few naps and drank a few cups of coffee...

Katie Update

This winter, our missionary friend, Wanda Hull, whom we visited in PNG, asked Katie to help her with a college project. Wanda was taking classes to finish up her degree; for a Children's Lit class, she had to make her own book. She decided to do an ABC book about PNG, and she asked Katie to help illustrate it. Katie drew some wonderful pictures! On most of the pages, there is a large photograph, and then Katie's drawing is smaller and up in the corner. In the pic below, the page on the left is for H-- hut, so Katie drew an PNG hut. Wanda gave Katie a copy of the book to keep!

Below, Katie's on the left, singing with Grace's middle school praise team on the night of our dinner theater a few weeks ago. Katie sings great harmony, so that's her job in the praise team.