Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader, Cicadas, and Skating

What a Sunday! We went to Church this morning. Sunday school was an intergenerational game show... Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Instead of being just 5th graders, we had elementary, junior high, and high school/college/graduate school.

Steve went up against the elementary age and got points for the adults when he knew Simeon was waiting for the Messiah. Peggy helped maintain the respectability of the adults when she knew that all the workers in the field were paid the same, regardless of how long they worked. And Andrew helped out the elementary kids by knowing that the blind man that Jesus healed was Barty... er, that's Bartimaus, but the kindergartener got credit for Barty!

After church we noticed the long-awaited 17 year cicadas had arrived in Glen Ellyn. Interstingly, they've not appeared in Wheaton yet, and we're only two miles away. In Glen Ellyn, though, you can hear the high pitched cicada drone.

Finally, Andrew and I went ice skating today. He did great and really worked hard on maintaining his balance. However, it had been over a year since I'd been skating and I'd stored my skates in the garage. When we got to the rink I found a dead mouse in one. Where's Zuzu when you need her?

For family fun night last night, Steve, Andrew and I watched Cool Runnings. Abby slept instead.

The Blessing of Friendship

Friday night we had the opportunity to travel to O'Hare to see an old friend. Diana was in our China travel group when we adopted Abby; tragically she lost her daughter to a strep infection about a year and a half ago. Diana's heart loves children, and she decided to adopt another child--Mia, from Sichuan province. She and Mia we making the exhausting round the world trip last night, and had to change planes (and terminals) at O'Hare. It was wonderful to see her again!

Mia is four years old. Here's her picture, as well as Diana and I at O'hare.

Mother's Day Tea

Friday was Andrew's Mother's Day Tea. The children in Kindergarten at the grammar school do this event every year to celebrate Mother's Day and mom's. Andrew had the lead male role of the gardener... in Kindergarten the lead role gives you two lines rather than one! The show was great and the event lovely. Sad to think this is my last time in kindergarten!

For the occasion, I got a new do!

It was also field day for the older children, and I had long ago volunteered to help. Fortunately, the two events did not conflict. So in the afternoon I took part in the mini-walkathon.... we walked from the grammar school down to the college track and did about a 2 mile walk in total. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed getting the exercise, though I did have to encourage some of the children to pick up the pace!

The Face of WCGS

The Grammar School put a new promotional banner in front of the school last week. A picture is worth 1000 words...

The picture was taken when Abby was in first or second grade.

Trash and Treasure over the hedge

Last weekend was quite busy. Abby had dance; Andrew had t-ball; mom worked the Trash and Treasure sale at the grammar school. We had taken much of our trash....er, treasure to be sold, and it was good to see some of it go out the door for a good cause! It was bittersweet to take some of the items (e.g., the children's toy kitchen) because it really reminded me that that phase in their life is over. No more toy kitchens... now it's webkinz and ipods! The grammar school wound up making about $4,500 from the sale; they are planning to do it again next year.

On the plus side, I did restrain myself at the Trash and Treasure sale. I only purchased a few board games for the family and a pair of new-looking hockey skates (size 2, still in the box) for Andrew. Since one of our favorite things to do on REALLY hot days is to go to the ice rink, and since Andrew's feet are so wide they don't fit into figure skates, I felt these were a deal at $4.

On Sunday, we had family fun afternoon and watched Over the Hedge. It wasn't Charlotte's Web, but we all enjoyed it. At the end of the movie we asked which character was identified with by each family member. The results?....

Mom... Verne, the cautious turtle

Dad... Ozzie, the fun loving possum who likes to play dead

Andrew...Hammy, the enthusiastically energetic, trusting, and hyperactive squirrel

Abby... Stella, the skunk who finds love with the Persian cat

Charlotte's Web

We watched Charlotte's web tonight during Family Fun night. We all really enjoyed it, although Zuzu took exception to one thing. During the Special Features, Dakota Fanning stated that pigs are even smarter than dogs. Zuzu was incensed! Not true!!!! Zuzu also wants the world to know that she would make short order of Templeton. Rat Terriers Rule!

Diamondbacks!

Andrew had his second game today. I think his team lost. The other team was just better at fielding the ball and making some outs. Our team needs to work at that!

Andrew played first base, left field, and third base. He did great!

It was a glorious 70 degree day here; however there was lots of dust on the ballfield!

In other events of the day... I got my hair colored today. No more skunk stripe!

Pioneer Days

Today was pioneer day for Abby. It was quite the week getting ready for this. I knew it was pioneer day... I just forgot that Abby would need an outfit to wear to the event. We began looking on Tuesday. No success. We looked online on Wednesday... not enough time to order anything. In desperation, I called Abby's teacher, who found an outfit that she could wear. Not only that, I had remembered that I had volunteered, but neglected to consider that I, too, would need an outfit! Mrs. Johnson came through for both of us!

At Pioneer Days the children were divided into families. Abby was Suzannah Weaver. The children dipped candles (my activity to help with), made tin punch art, made caramel apples, did calligraphy, sewed a doll, and helped make butter. They then had relay races--the egg race, the sack race, and the three-legged race.

Another fun day!

Go Diamondbacks!

The Diamondbacks had their first game last night! We're not sure who won... no one seemed to be that intent on keeping score... but it was still a lot of fun.

Here are the rules of Wheaton T-ball:
1. Each game is four innings.
2. Each team has up to 13 players. All players bat; 10 are in the field.
3. In the first inning, all batters bat once regardless of the number of outs the defense gets.
4. In the second, third, and fourth inning each batter bats once or the inning ends after three outs, whichever comes first.
5. For each batter, runners can only advance one base.

Andrew batted 7th in the rotation. He got "hits" in the first, second and third innings. In the fourth inning, the A's stepped up their fielding and made three outs before Andrew's at bat.

The game was tons of fun! Next game... Saturday at 11:00 against the Giants!

Commencement

Commencement was Saturday, May 5 amd Sunday, May 6. All in all, it went well and...it's over! The celebrity sighting of the weekend.. on Saturday, I was lining up Grad students on the upper level of the library. I looked up... and not 10 feet in front of me was noted Bible teacher Beth Moore. (She was there for her daughter's graduation.) It was quite a shock since I'm currently involved in one of her video Bible studies at church.

So now we're all taking big deep breaths and getting prepared for our summer conference guests!

First game... cancelled

Bad news. Andrew's first t-ball game, scheduled for this Saturday at 9:00 am, has been canceled at the request of the Yankees, the opposing team. I realized what a "t-ball mom" I was when my first question to the coach was "does that mean it's a forfeit and we get credited for a win?" Calm down, Peggy!

We do plan to use the time to practice, which I'm sure will be beneficial. Abby has dance, it's Kylie's birthday party, and commencement occurs all this Saturday, so it should be a busy day. I'm tired already....