Here We Go ‘Round the May-berry Bush

May is always busy. With end of year concerts, awards ceremonies, programs, activities, etc. it’s like running around and around in circles from one school to another. With kids at three schools, it can get pretty hectic. So here’s the rundown of this past month (minus all the fabulous events I’ve already talked about).

Nathan had a piano recital. He hated the piano in the recital hall where it was held. Actually, hated might be too weak a work. Abhorred. That’s better. The touch on the piano was so hard that he practically had to pound to get the notes to sound which meant his dynamics and lighter touch sections were not up to his usual level of performance. He came away not overly pleased, but honestly, it was fine. He’s just his own worst critic, but aren’t we all?

Matthew had an end of year program entitled “Music from the U.S.” In fifth grade they learn U.S. history and geography so they shared tidbits of information and sang songs about all the different regions of the country. He had a speaking part as well.

Malia also had an end of year program. They sang songs about friendship. She has made a few good friends in the past couple of years. That’s one of the perks of year-round school. Those of us who like B track have a tendency to stay on B track so about half the children in all the kids’ classes just stay together from year to year. Thus far that has been true for Malia as well.

Daniel had an end of year concert for symphonic band as well as the jazz band Speakeasy, which was their final performance of the year. One of the crowd pleasers was a jazz rendition of “Careless Whisper” played by the Boios. Daniel had the beginning sax solo for that one. The speakeasy has been a super fun performance for them. It is more relaxed, with dancing and refreshments. It has been fun for us too!

Nathan’s end of year choir concert was one of those bittersweet ones. It was his last concert of middle school. He has absolutely loved choir and had loved his choir director. It has become one of his happy places and while he is looking forward to the new opportunities high school will bring, it is a bit hard to leave a place he has come to love. As is tradition, the ninth-graders gave their director a poster and some flowers to show their appreciation.

Daniel and Nathan both got to go to Lagoon. Nathan’s was the yearly 9th grade Lagoon day. Daniel got to go for Lagoon “Physics Day.” He took AP Physics this year and part of the adventure was applying what he learned to the amusement park rides. For instance, how can you go upside down in a roller coaster and not fall out of the car? Physics!

Daniel’s last performance of the school year was playing at graduation. It was Daniel’s first time sitting through a graduation and as is common, it was long…so long. He was texting us while they were reading the names, commenting on how bored he was. Unfortunately for us, the high school is getting a new principal next year and he has a reputation for being longwinded at graduation. Great. It’s not like we can skip out next year. Daniel will be a senior and I have a feeling he’s going to expect us to attend his graduation.😜

I guess I should be glad we’ve spent the past month running around and around. It means my kids are involved in school, doing their best, choosing extracurricular activities that make them happy. It’s a good thing.

He’s a Winner! (Winner, Winner, Winner..)

It’s the time of year for awards ceremonies. Unlike when I was in school a million years ago, the ceremonies are always held during the school day and the parents are only invited if their student is getting a particularly special award. As such, I’ve attended a few here and there but haven’t been to all of them.

This year I got to attend Nathan’s awards ceremony. Last week the school principal called to invite me. He said they give an award akin to the Sterling Scholar award only on the middle school level. Each department within the school works together to nominate two ninth-grade students (one boy and one girl) that they felt excelled in their area. Nathan was nominated three times-choir, social studies, and English. They only allow each student to receive one award so the three departments had to come to an agreement about which one he would receive. Based upon the fact that there is a smaller pool of students to choose from, they let the choir teacher give Nathan the award.

Today was the big day and Nathan was super excited when he received his award. He also received a medal for having a 4.0 GPA for all three years he was at the middle school. And the funny fact about the day? After the ceremony, the theater teacher told Nathan that she and the choir teacher both wanted to give Nathan their department award and “fought it out” before the nominations were ever submitted. 😂

I actually think it’s unfortunate that they won’t give more than one award to each student. Nathan clearly shone above the rest in a variety of areas and I would have loved to see him get four!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Nathan is one step closer to driving…and he’s already counting down. As of today, he has turned fifteen. We celebrated his birthday at my parents’ house on Sunday. He was all about the nonchalance, as any self-respecting fifteen-year-old boy would be.

Since today was his actual birthday and a holiday, we let him choose the activity for the day. He decided he wanted to go to the Church History Museum. We haven’t been since it was remodeled so it was a good choice. The kiddos played with some pioneer era toys, did some fake woodgrain painting, folded some origami cranes, wrote with a steel point pen dipped in ink and typed on an actual type writer (Malia were particularly intrigued with this one). We also saw some fantastic art by Jorge Cocco Santangelo. I'm not usually a fan of modern art. I tend to prefer more realistic styles. However, I really liked Santangelo's work. Although it is generally cubist in style, I was really taken with it. His use of light was particularly fascinating. Honestly, I came away with a few new favorite artworks. It was a fantastic outing.

For his birthday, Kevin and I gave him a pair of fancy, dress saddle shoes. He wore a pair for “The Music Man” last month and loved them enough that he wanted a pair of his very own. He will need to do some online searching to find a pair but he’s super excited. There has been no friend party as of yet (having a birthday that always falls on Memorial Day weekend can be a bummer socially), but we’ll see what he comes up with.

They’re Golden!

My parents have been married 50 years today. They are a great example to me of how to build a lasting marriage. My siblings and I threw them a big shindig and it was amazing to see how many people wanted to celebrate with them because my parents have touched their lives in one way or another. I have some mighty big shoes to fill. Congrats to my mom and dad.

A New Addition

Malia is no longer the youngest of the cousins. Although we thought that she might be, the Lord had a different plan for my sister Rachael and her family. Sam was born on May 10 and my kiddos got to meet him today. As you can see, they are thrilled to have a new cousin!

Serve It Up!

After spending a few years playing football, Matthew has discovered that he really enjoys volleyball. Being shorter than most kids his age is less of a detriment in volleyball and he has been working hard to develop a good overhand serve. He has been playing at the rec center and his current team has been great. They work well together, have a good coach, and have a number of players who can serve really well so they have been winning all their games. Matthew has really enjoyed it and I’m really glad he has discovered a sport where he can actually have some success and find some joy! He still loves football but had begun to view it as more of a spectator sport. And that’s not a bad thing!

"He's a Music Man..."

After four months of rehearsing, preparing, planning, and stressing, The Music Man performances finally arrived. Between being the lead and being one of the head honchos for stage crew, Nathan has pretty much been living at school. But all the work was paid back in full by the enormous performance high that he had going all week. He had family and friends there for all three performances and as an opening and closing night attendee, I can truthfully say that they improved with each performance.

It was fun to finally see all the little things Nathan has been telling us about for months. And as mother of the lead, I got a bit teary when he led the entire cast around the auditorium singing “76 Trombones.” Not that I probably wouldn’t be a huge crybaby even if he weren’t the lead (live theater often has that effect on me), but I’ve got bragging rights this time around and I’m going to take advantage of that. 😉

I think the kids did a great job and I know Nathan has had a fabulous time. He has given the show his all since auditions in January. He’s completely exhausted today, but I have a feeling that he’s going to be rattling around the house for the next few weeks wondering what in the world he’s supposed to do with all the extra time he has.

Tip Tapping Away

We’re headed into that busy time of year when all the kids have concerts, recitals, awards ceremonies, etc. This evening was one of the first events of the season-Malia’s dance recital. She has enjoyed dance lessons (although she complains about not being able to play with friends on dance days) and we can see improvement. She says she likes both tap and ballet, but the tap seems to come much easier. She struggles a bit with the ballet. Nevertheless, she has a good time and we got to see a fun show this evening.