Opening Night

And closing night:-) Tonight was Madison's school 1st/2nd grade musical. We are very thankful to have an amazing music teacher who goes above and beyond for these performances. The students had to try-out for roles and have been rehearsing for the last month. The performance was adorable and Madison did a great job hitting all of her lines without any issues.

Panya and Maliki

Madison was cast as Panya the Mouse and had a good number of lines to learn along with singing a SOLO! Where she gets her confidence is beyond me. In second grade I would have been crying in the corner if someone had asked me to go on the stage to sing and act. But it comes quite naturally to Madison and she did a wonderful job. Here is a little snippet of her solo. Horrible quality, but you get the idea.

I didn't realize until the performance that she had some dancing parts. I have a feeling that wasn't part of the audition. Singing and acting she she may have some talent, but her dancing and rhythm needs a lot of work!! It was super cute anyways:-)

PANDA-monium

All ready for the preschool carnival tomorrow!! Not quite as cute as last year's monkeys but they will do. Hard to believe it will be our last day as a family with a preschooler. Very bittersweet! Hopefully the cupcakes are just sweet to help offset the sadness.

Now I must go deal with the aftermath of my cooking craziness!!

Game Day

Sounders Train

to

Sounders Game

We had a great time at the Sounders Match today. The weather cleared up for the game, so we stayed dry and even had a bit of sunshine. The girls and I took the Sounder Train up to the game, which was a fun treat that we need to do more often. We made it just in time to get in on the Sounder's Pregame parade. The girls were thrilled to get front row viewing for the band performance. Tom was able to sneak away from Saturday work in the office to make it just in time for the game. The energy was amazing and the free concessions were a shocking suprise! The only thing that would have made it better was a Sounder's win (even a goal would have been appreciated!). We will definitely be getting more tickets for next season. I would love to go again this season but they are sold out. I had to be in line at Ticket Master the minute they went on sale to grab these ones.

Catch The Rainbow

Sunny Days

I heard on the radio yesterday that the last fully sunny day we have had was March 2. So two full months ago. Not sure if that is completely accurate, but it has certainly felt like it. And not only has it been grey and rainy. We have had horrible winds, hail and torrential rains. When Tom put up our new rain barrel for Earth Day, it was filled in less than a day! Now we need some dry days so we can utilize the water and get it emptied to refill.

So the forecast this weekend makes us all so happy! Nora and a friend enjoyed the sun yesterday at the park and we are hoping to soak up more rays for Mother's Day. The sad news is that Tom is starting to work most Saturdays on top of the 10+ hour days he is working during the week. So we will miss him today as he is relegated to sit inside the office just looking out the window at the beautiful weather he is missing. I hate that he will now be at work 6 days a week, but hopefully an end is in sight and this project will go live by the middle of summer. We have scheduled 2 summer outings to force him out of the office, so that will be good too. He is such a great daddy, husband and empoyee and we appreciate ALL his hard work and efforts!

Wishing you all a very Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Feet Day Fun

Today was feet painting day at preschool. When you hear this, you probably get an image of each child dipping their foot into paint and making one or two footprints. That is what I would have imagined before meeting Mrs. Brown. But Mrs. Brown does things just a bit different.

I think Nora's facial expressions pretty much sum up how she felt about the day!! Becoming a human paint brush is a fun experience and that is what preschool should be about EXPERIENCES!! 2 weeks ago they made mud pies, complete with "baking" them with baking soda and vinegar. Or how about they day they each made their own vehicle out of a box complete with a ride down the hallway. And these are just a few of the many, many experiences Nora has been given.

I have to admit, that as a mommy I have been feeling a bit of "co-op burnout". Working in the classroom every other week, creating work schedules, working the plant sale, constant fundraisers, attending monthly parent meetings, helping with auction projects and baskets..... And then there is the big annoyance of the parents who don't pull their weight and fulfill their commitments. So lately I have felt a bit resentful of preschool and wondering WHY am I doing this.

But then I am allowed to work on a day like today and all I need to do is look at Nora's face and be reminded that I am doing it for her! For her to receive these unique and amazing experiences, to make special friendships in the classrooms, to not sit at a table and create craft projects that look just like her classmates or trace the letter A ten times. But instead have the experience where she is taught the importance of playing, creating, making messes, inquiring and experimenting. Or having a teacher that takes the dead baby bird that is found on the playground and turn it into a spontaneous 15 minute lesson, even if it is supposed to be time to go in for snack. It was much more important for the students to see the bird, talk about it and be involved in the burial process.

So as much as I may have grumbled about it lately, I am starting to feel a great sadness that we only have 3 more weeks of the preschool years left in our lifetime. And I feel blessed that I have been able to be an active part in Nora's experience. That she looks forward to mommy being a helper at school, wanting me to sit beside her at the snack table and that I was able to dip my feet in the paint and feel the freedom of being a human paint brush too!!

Happy May Day

I am beginning to wonder if we are the only people who still celebrate May Day? I have fond memories of making the May Day baskets and delivering them to neighbors' houses, ringing the doorbell and running away before they caught us. Madison quickly reminded me on Saturday that is was May Day once again and we must get our baskets ready. I kind of drug my feet about it, not really in the mood. But finally at 5:00 the girls got the baskets made and delivered. They did realize that no one has ever delivered a basket to us in the years we have been doing this!!