Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

The first grade Animal Play was a hit!!

At St. George's the first grade students do a collaborative study all about animals. This unit spans across not only their school subjects but their specialty subjects as well. In music, they sing songs about animals. In library, they research using primary sources about animals. In art, the sculpt animals. In technology (that's me) they learn about proper internet research and good use of online resources to learn about animals. They make a digital presentation on animals. In Innovation lab, they learn about conservation. They design AND implement a business from start to finish to raise money to adopt an animal at the zoo. It's animals everywhere! The unit ends with a great field trip to the zoo.

During this, the student put on an Animal Play where they get to showcase to the parents and school all they've done. Their art is on the walls. Their presentations play before the show. The music is sung during the show. Their research and facts are their lines in the show. The way this comes together as a part of their learning is quite amazing.

This year, the students got to pick an animal they were interested in. Luke picked the kookaburra because of it's laughing bird call. The first time he heard it, he imitated it perfectly. Luke's laugh is almost as unique as a kookaburra, so this was a perfect fit.

Let me just say, Luke keeps surprising me. In PK, I remember telling his teacher he might not even get on stage for the PK performance. I remember the conversation so clearly. I said, "We might be absent that day." Luke really didn't like people looking at him when he was younger. Like, I am not kidding. People looking at him made him very uncomfortable. My first child LIVES for attention. The more people watching him, the better.  As a baby, Luke would cry when strangers would try to talk to him. If he knew you, cool. If not, don't come near. So what did I think about an entire audience looking at him when he was 4....terror. I thought it would terrify him.

He, of course, proved me wrong.

He shined that year and has kept shining on stage since. This year he especially got into the role. But I knew he was nervous. He kept putting his hand on his heart and grinning. I knew he was feeling his heartbeat to see how fast it was beating. That smile though....it meant everything.

He also knew everyone's line. I had no idea he had them all memorized. It would have been fine, but he was standing behind the three main characters. So every time they said a line, he mimed it behind them. Every. Time.

He was showing off his costume outside. He, very seriously, said, "WAIT! I have to use my feathers to camouflage!" This kid seriously makes me laugh.

And of course, we are super lucky to have family come see Luke perform! The whole grade spent so much time perfecting their performance. It meant so much to have them take time out of their day to appreciate their hard work!

We love you little kookaburra. I pray you keep this joy and laughter the rest of your life!

Double Digits!

I can't believe it. I have a ten year old. 

Evan. I cannot even put into words what you mean to our family. You are our passionate one. Your heart burns bight. You hate injustice and truly believe you can change the world. You can be stubborn and fiercely protective. You are smart while still searching for knowledge. You love people. Oh, how you love people. You believe in people. You believe in people when they don't believe in themselves. You are loyal, true, and the most empathetic person I know. Evan, I look up to you and pray you seek the desires God has for your life. 

We started the big celebration with some paintball. Now, this was low impact paintball which means the guns were lighter, the paintballs were smaller, and the hits wouldn't hurt 'as much'. Looking at the bruise that is on Evan's leg a week later, I would say 'low impact' still hurts. 

It started raining as soon as the boys put on their gear. I mean...raining! Thank heavens for no lightning, but they were soaked before they even made it out to the battlefield. With ten year old boys, the rain only added to the fun. For this 40 year old momma, it did not. 

They had epic capture the flag battle in the woods and on the field for about an hour. Evan told me, "it felt like being in a real-life video game!" He can't wait to go back.

We had family over on his actual birthday. Evan got everything he asked for and more! He even got a special birthday song by Callie!

I think turning ten was Evan's favorite, even with a swollen nose!

With a childlike faith...

The boys and I are a big part of The Stirring at Hope Church. John has played in the worship band for almost 10 years and I have been on the Leadership Team for 7. The boys are regulars and love helping out in any way, from being a greeter to taking up offering. We love our church!

Each year, The Stirring has a Maundy Thursday service. It’s one of our ‘big’ services that we plan for months on end. Each year, Holy Week become sort of a nightmare for me until Friday. Not only do I have our regular Easter stuff to get done, school egg hunts, Easter baskets to fill, Easter brunch, etc, I also am very involved in the planning of Maundy Thursday. These big services have a lot of moving parts that have to be executed in such a way that it looks seamless. And on top of this, it’s baseball season....for two boys...

Needless to say, I usually don’t feel very holy during Holy Week.

This Maundy Thursday seemed to be pretty taxing on my emotional and spiritual self. I was very caught up in the details, which is where the Devil lives (or so I hear) that I was missing the bigger picture. I was caught up in stressing about if the wooden chargers on the table were the right shade of brown. Did my volunteers know not to wear white? Were all the highlighters the same thickness on the table? Would someone go rouge and write a word that wasn’t on our list on the table (they did). And oh...would I screw up announcements somehow (spoiler alert: I did).

This is actually me doing announcements Christmas. I just like the picture.

This Maundy Thursday, we focused on things we need to lay down at the cross. Things we try to pick up and carry even though we know it’s in our best interest to give over to God. Those things that keep us from getting closer to God. Those things we just don’t quite trust God to handle. Those things we are ashamed of.

Boy did I have a list.

You would think helping with the planning of this service would be a huge wake-up call for me. While I had those moments, it was my children who really made me see what I was missing.

After the service was over, Luke pulled on my sleeve. He told me he wanted to ask me something:
Luke: What were they writing on the table?
Me: Well, those are the things that they want to give over to God. They have something in their life that is preventing them from being close to God, and they are choosing to lay it down and let God take care of it.
Luke: Did you write a word?
Me: Yes.
Luke: What was it?
Me: I wrote ‘perfectionism’ because I sometimes I get hung up on what my life is supposed to look like rather than the life God has planned for me.
Luke: Can I write a word?
Me: Sure, baby. What do you want to write?
Luke: Worry. I have worry in my heart, and I want to give that to God.

Luke, my one who is always thinking and listening even when I believe he isn't, got it. He really really got it.

We walked up to the table and he wrote his word. Evan comes bounding up to us in his overly excited way bouncing and dancing around saying “Hey y’all. What are y’all doing? What’s going on? What’s he writing?” I explained our conversation, and Evan asked if he could write a word. He asked me not to share what he wrote, but it really pulled at my heartstrings as well.

That night, I went to sleep knowing that if not one of the 2000 people in that room enjoyed, liked, or was affected by the service, that was okay. My two boys....only 7 and 9... got something huge out of it all while showing their momma what was important.

The next morning I woke up to this. Someone from the church took this picture of Evan worshiping. I showed this to Evan and asked him if he remembered it. He didn't. He wasn't sure when it was taken or what part of the service it was. All he knew is he felt like lifting himself up to God in praise. It truly wrecked me.

One demonstrative child and one deep quiet thinker. Both children of God. Both allowing God to work in their heart. Both showing me what I need to focus on.  Both whom I am proud to call mine. 

Luke: "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Evan: Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

My Little Big Shots

Each year, St. George's hosts a Talent Show for its students. Kids in first through fifth grade can participate.

Evan has played drums the past two years. You might remember, the past two he encountered technical difficulties. We made sure that wasn't going to happen again! Mrs. Betchick asked him to 'hit those drums one time' in his introduction. I finally let go of the breath I was holding when I heard the drums come out of the sound system!

Evan played a 21 Pilots song and rocked it! He's been playing this song for a couple years as 21 Pilots is his favorite band.

This was Luke's first year to be able to participate. Now Luke doesn't always like being in the spotlight. He's a ham and insanely crazy when you get to know him, but he has always been pretty introverted. I didn't think he was going to be up for it.

But you know what they say...kids always surprise ya.

Some amazing moms organized a group of 1st grade boys to do a dance. Yes...7 year old boys....dancing to Twisted Sister, MC Hammer, Kriss Kross, Van Halen, and more.

THEY STOLE THE SHOW!!!

Luke was half of Kriss Kross. He got to share this role with his bud since birth Cullen. The weeks leading up to the Talent Show, there was little Luke could talk about. He and Cullen had decided who was Kriss and who was Kross. We had to look up pictures of what they looked like so Luke could 'get into character'. He even went as far to ask for extra rehearsals with Mrs. Hayden. He would randomly show up in her room and ask if he could go over his part with her.

On the drive to the Talent Show he kept saying, "I can't believe I really get to be in the Talent Show." If he said it once, he said it 9 times.

I had to work the with the GPAC sound guys during the show. I knew the order of the acts and their music, so I had to be in the booth making sure everything was being played when it should be. So John sat with the boys making sure they got backstage when they were supposed to. 

Evan played early in the show. When he returned to his seat and a nice lady behind them complimented him on his playing. She said, "You did awesome!"  Luke promptly turns around and says to her, "I'm going to do awesome too." I think the whole row giggled at that. 

But he was true to his word. They did AWESOME.

Neil's Music Room

This season of School of Rock Evan's band got to perform at Neil's music room! Evan started playing only a year and a half ago with School of Rock. We have been nothing short of extremely impressed. Not only is he progressing with his drum skills at an amazing rate, he is learning about great music.

At 9 he played Jimi Hendrix in front of an audience of about 100. There really isn't anywhere else he would get that opportunity.

This season was his first time to play in an authentic music room (aka...a bar). He's performed at an outdoor festival and several times at a music shop, but to him, this felt real.

We were lucky to have a great friend join us for the concert!

He played his little heart out! I am so proud of not only the work he puts in at practice but the work he puts in at home. Keep following your heart baby and you'll never be disappointed.

Pinewood Derby

I hate the Pinewood Derby.

Let me explain. I have been an educator for 18 years. I am one of the biggest advocates for child completed work. My own children's projects have rarely looked like their peers. If they have a project to complete at home, THEY are the ones that complete it at home. This has always worked in our favor because these projects are graded and evaluated by teachers who get it. They see the student’s work compared to student assisted work.

Now, let me say this before I offend the legends of parents out there. I GET IT. We all want our children to do well. We want them to be successful. We want them to get that A. I just want my boys to earn those things. And trust me...it drives my control freak, Type A personality INSANE.

jumps off soapbox

Now, as I said, our student complete project philosophy has worked in our favor until the Pinewood Derby. Instead of being graded, this was a competition…which brought out the best in a lot of parents. And by best, I mean, the parent’s best work.

All of the sudden, my child’s work wasn’t compared to his own best effort. It was compared to the best effort of someone’s parent. Yes, we explained there will always be someone faster, someone better, someone smarter than him. We explained not everyone is a winner. There has to be a last place. We can only worry about trying our best.

But inside I had a growing dislike for all things Pinewood Derby.

John had taken the lead in this project the past three years. This year, I decided instead of disliking the Pinewood Derby, I was going to embrace it. It was going to be 100% kid done and we were going to be proud of their creation.

My kids had to:

Research

Plan

Recruit experts

Pick supplies

Build and customize

Prep

As all kids do, the boys started on YouTube. We watched a great video about the physics of a good Pinewood Derby car. The boys took notes and decided which attributes they wanted to include in their car. We read the rules together and made sure the modifications to their cars met all the requirements.

The boys then planned what they wanted their cars to look like. We called on a wood-working expert friend, Mr. Climie to help us cut the wood. The boys drew their lines and Mr. Climie showed them which tools he uses to cut and sand the cars.

We then took off the Hobby Lobby to buy some supplies we learned about through our research.  The most important part of a fast car was the weight placement. So, we bought weights that would fit exactly where they plan placed them. The boys learned that the nail holding the wheel was also a very important piece. We bought some sanding tools and lubricant for that. We also spent waaaaay too much time (and money) picking out paint.

Before they started our modifications, the boys designed their car. We sketched, revised, drew on the car and then painted. Trust me….my momma hands were DYING to get in there.

While the cars were drying, the boys spent some quality time with the drill and sanding papers. Each boy decided how long to sand and how smooth each axle should be. They then enlisted the help of their daddy to connect the wheels to the car.

Then came the weight placement. They picked exactly where their weights should go (again, all based on their research). The boys glued the weights in place and voila! Cars were complete.

Pinewood Derby morning I was still nervous the boys were going to get there and compare their cars to the others, but they DIDN'T!! What I saw was a group of boys getting together to not only celebrate hard work but each other. I was so impressed with how these guys congratulated each other when their cars won or spent a great deal of time admiring someone else's paint job. And not only that, each kid was proud of their own creation! 

The boys ending up coming in first in their troop, but I wouldn't have cared if they came in last. They learned what preparation, hard work, and a great attitude can do for you. Way to go boys!!