more baseball

One of the best baseball pictures taken ever... compliments of Grammy.

Another weekend of Les Miz

Another big weekend of shows! This weekend Grammy came to watch. They ended up selling out both Friday and Saturday night (and the previous Sat night). The last night was AWESOME. Really amazing High School performance! WE are currently going through Les Mis withdrawal.

Jamestown

Susan Constant, Discovery, and the Godspeed... the three ships that came to Jamestown.

...using shells to carve out a canoe.

...listening to the guide talk about making tools out of animals bones etc.

....learning to build walls with slats.

C's 4th grade class goes to Jamestown. We really had nice weather and a great time!

Russian lessons come to an end.

I love plants in my home but they really don't move well so for years I avoided them. One day a few moves ago I saw the saddest little dying violet on clearance, just a couple bucks. I bought it and nursed it back to life. I then gave it to my mother when I moved (we were in IL at the time so she was really close... that was a good 2 yrs huh mom?!!) I so enjoyed it I decided from that time on I would buy a plant whenever I moved in and give it to a friend I made while we were there when I moved away. Here I am saying goodbye to my friend and teacher. I was really excited to learn Russian but apprehensive as well. I'm still a pretty quiet, soft spoken kinda person. Sometimes it is hard for me to open my mouth in English. It would not have taken much for me to give up on Russian. But with Louisa I was so comfortable. She was so patient and even fun. She never laughed at me. (well she did once but that was after teaching me for 7 mos!) She carefully and kindly corrected me without embarrassing me or breaking my spirit as I made the same mistakes over and over. She listened and encouraged as I butchered the sounds and read like a first grader, slowly sounding out every word. I cannnot thank her enough. I learned so much! Enjoy your flower (and your book) Louisa... and keep in touch.
So I am very sad this is over ... but relieved as well as there is so much to do in preparation for our move... stay tuned here as we wrap up our year in DC.

Redheads are a hit!

M and her redhead friends looking at prom dresses... and then below J's second baseball game. His hit was a foul ball and he ended up hitting it off the T. His last as bat he actually got a hit! He's learning quickly!

Les Miserables

I'll just post these two pics and then add the link for some really nice pics taken professionally... this one has M plays Cosette, here in the wedding dress and J in the center. Below S is percussion in the Orchestra Pit. The kids have all worked very hard and it has paid off. The really put on a great show. It is not an easy one to pull off....but somehow they did it. Well done. Three more shows next week.

Kennedy Center and Science Fair

This morning we went on a field trip to the Kennedy Center of the Arts with C's 4th grade class. It was really nice... the orchestra was great and the director made it entertaining and educationally appropriate for the age level. Very nice.

Then we had Science Fair in the evening. C's teacher was so impressed that she wants to keep it as an example for future classes.

First Game!

My pics of his first at bat weren't great, so I'll just put this pic on... but here he is heading home (the runner in the distance, headed left) and this is his first run ever. He was so proud. He was also distracted at times in the outfield. At one point he had his hat on backwards and was facing away from home plate, so I could see the number on the back of his jersey. I just cracked up laughing. Couldn't get my camera out fast enough.
So lets play ball. Uncle Bill would have been so tickled.

Band Competition in Atlanta

Seth went with his band to Atlanta for a competition this last week.He was very excited and called his grammy to see if she could come... she was able to as well as Grandpa and Aunt Kim and cousins Benjamen and Joanna. Thanks for doing that guys!!!

Field Trips in High School

M's history class in front of Lincoln's Cottage
She is the one with the movie star sunglasses on, front row.

Here she is with a couple of her friends. It was a nice class and a good trip for me so I was glad I got to chaperone. I go next week with the 4th grade class... I'll let you know which class was better behaved. But so far I think this trip may be better because I liked the music the bus driver had playing! Not sure if the kids did but I did...

Good 'ol Abe

Springtime

Wow... look at those azaleas! It's always interesting when you move into a house what might come up next spring! Pleasant surprise!

Baseball Season opening

The Reston Little League opens baseball season with a small parade at Town Center. All the team make a banner and walk with it. Very fun for J's first BB experience!

Woodpecker - WOW!

The biggest one I ever saw! Mom, what is this one called???... I can't remember...J saw him out his bedrm window and ran to show us. It was hard to get a picture... tasha and I were both snapping away from the window... he was digging away at a decaying stump behind our house. He was having a wonderful time having breakfast until a squirrel had to come check out what the fuss was all about... then he was gone...he was really beautiful...

like national geographic right in the backyardThanks mom for sending this picture below... looks just like the one we saw.

... growing up?

he did the kitchen on his own accord...
of course we had to mop afterwards but we are headed in the right direction.

also he got bitten by the reading bug this spring and I am soooo happy!!

Easter Sunday

Happy Resurrection Day!

A Ukrainian Easter Cake (Pashka)

A tradition in my family... Easter egg hunt!
and a timeless picture... it so reminds me of when I was a little girl.

Decorating Eggs

This year dyeing eggs was an all day affair. I wanted to make egg tulips like my grandmother used to have and C had gotten a Ukrainian egg dye kit for her bday so we wanted to try that (for both these we had to blow eggs out, that was fun!) and then we could not go without doing them the traditional American way as well! All told we had lots of eggs and lots of fun.
For the Ukrainian eggs we took this tool and heated it, loaded it with wax and applied it to the egg. We had drawn our pattern on with pencil and followed those line. It was challenging but fun to try.

sorry this is blurry but this is one being colored will be made into a tulip

tulips turned upside down to dry

Here are the tulips, and a few traditional finished and Ukrainain eggs waiting to be done.

Wax applied with the tool stays on thicker than the crayon we traditionally use. Then you are to heat the egg up again and remove the wax. We have yet to do that step... and the crayon is was much easier to use... so not sure we will try again but it was fun to try. Below is a picture Easter morning of the egg tulips finished. They don't stand up like I remember Grandma's but we thought they looked nice.

Here are the eggs like we traditionally color them. I just love colored eggs. The Ukrainian egg dye was very brilliant. And we have never had black before. But I ended up liking the
black ones just as much as the others!

Finished Ukrainian eggs

and these smocked eggs my mother made... we love to get them out every year!

(and there are two small Ukrainian bought eggs too that Natasha gave me)

(note - all but the last 5 pics were taken by my 7yr old... he is quite a photographer I think)

Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry Blossom Festival

This motley crew got up early and headed into DC on the most gorgeous day ever. We got there at 8am and found parking about a mile walk from the Tidal Basin. It was unbelievably beautiful. And getting there early was key for parking and to miss the crowd. There were plenty of people but not overcrowded until about 1 and by then we were finished and heading back to our car! Yes one child is missing. S was on a trip with the church youth group over spring break.

I got sooo many postcard like pictures I couldn't share them all,
but here are a few.

There are I think 4 different kinds of cherry blossoms. We didn't look that closely to see the differences. I just felt so fortunate to be able to go and on such a nice day! I did read later that they bloom pink, then turn white, then as they begin to wilt turn back to pink again. We saw mostly white so we were right in the mid or peak I am guessing. All I know is it was really special for me to see.

This last one is not a cherry blossom but a tulip tree, but so pretty I had to post it.