Time to post again

Which is the prettiest flower in our yard?

Helen chooses all her own clothing these days. 9/10 days, that will be a dress.

Wow, it has been two months since my last post?!? That is a good sign, in this case, that we have been busy cramming lots of fun into our last weeks here in Massachusetts. We had visitors in April (first the Wunder family for a week, then Grandma Di, Grandpa Glen, and Grandpa Tom). We have done something every weekend in May, and the kids are starting to get busy at school, too, with end-of-year things.

I have lots of photos in the first few June posts of the older kids doing stuff for school, so I will first put a few photos of Helen in here, so that you don't forget about her!

Mostly, Helen is too busy to sleep these day. But even superheros need a break once in a while. While Grandpa Tom was here, he was happy to demonstrate for Helen.

Kids' Spring Activities

Although I have stuck to my guns and kept extra-curricular activities to a minimum this year, the kids have talked me into just a few things. In late winter (March and April), Jame and Meg each took on a science fair project. Jame elected to learn about solar cookers and build a hot-dog cooker. Meg joined a group learning about branchiopods, which hatch in vernal ponds. I think this was a very sneaky way to get a pet, at least for the short term, as we had a makeshift aquarium in Meg's room for a few months. Fortunately, branchiopods are easy to dump in a vernal pond outside when the project is done.

This spring, James played baseball with the middle school team. They had a very short season, made shorter by lots of rain-outs. He seemed to have a good time, but I didn't manage to get any photos of him playing, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he looked very handsome in his gray baseball pants, red shirt, and navy blue ball cap.

John decided to play soccer, and while he doesn't care much for following directions when it comes to drills, or even necessarily paying attention during a game, he makes up for a lot with his speed and ferocity. And his ball skills are actually improving, noticeably, so I will call that a win, all around.

Meg decided that she most wanted to participate in musical theater. She played the role of Ms. Stern, the not-very-kind woman who runs the orphanage in an adaptation of Oliver. She looked so stunningly grown-up to me after someone else piled her hair up on her head and gave her stage make-up. It is a bit hard to get a decent photo from the back of a dark theater, but hopefully you can get the idea.

Kids' Art Show

The first week of June, there was a school-wide art show. I am way behind in posting school work from the kids, so for my first new post, I am posting some photos of their art show pieces. Of course it is a bit difficult to photograph art on the wall, but it will give you the idea. I think they have done neat stuff this year.

James's art teacher explained to me that the kids, in groups of 4-5, had 90 minutes to design and create their rope sculptures in place. James's group elected to do something that incorporated a person into the project, so the mass of brown rope at the bottom is how she adapted it to hang on the wall after they had to extract the "living" component.

Meg's class also had a unit learning about the mythological characters of Greece. Part of that unit was for each 4th grader represent the characters whom she researched in a clay sculpture. Meg had Ceres.