Carpooling Crazies

We pack all our lessons into Fridays, so it makes for a pretty efficient carpool.  We will take turns driving the 'older girls' and 'younger girls.'  This is Ruby's sweet carpool, which happens to be her entire class.  

 Ms. Paunie promised them ice-cream.

 On one especially crazy day, I took Trent down with us for piano.  I got funny looks when kids kept piling out of the suburban.  (Kinda like those crazy clown cars that people keep streaming out of.)

Celebrating Friendships

I decided Valentines Day would be a perfect opportunity to plan a little party with Dalanie to celebrate friendships.  We talked a little bit about what makes a good friend and how to be one.

And since they are little girls, we had to make things!  First we had them fold cootie catchers.  Most had never seen them before.

It was so fun to watch them play with each other and concentrate on moving their fingers back and forth.

Presley's nearly got her.

I was a little nervous because in the past, Dalanie usually has her melt down of the century when friends are over.  Surprisingly, she was amazing!  That in and of itself made the entire party worth it.

After a little youtube clip on being kind, Dalanie taught them how to make jelly-fish friendship bracelets.

They stuck with it for quite awhile.  No one finished theirs, but they kept working even on the way home.

We had crepes for a treat.  They loved choosing their toppings,

And of course, there had to be a little bit of outside time.

Hudson is such a good sport and spun them around and around.  After awhile their high-pitched screaming got to all of us.

Since we had so much fun with Dalanie's party, Ruby was insistent on her own friend party.  We squeezed it in right after a little Valentine's Day party at the church.  Her guest list was mostly her JoySchool Friends.  I think it was just as much fun for me to have them over.  I hold a special place in my heart for JoySchool students.  We had a little photo shoot.

They each took a turn.  They absolutely beamed in the attention and girly-ness of it all.

And since the weather was so favorable, we went outside for rest of the activities.  They painted with q-tips.

Delsie didn't miss a beat keeping up with the big girls.  She managed to yell at Trigger to "UP!" every time he started barking.

And since it was 65 degrees, we broke out the popsicles and let them swing and play in the sandbox.

Talk about low key and a lot of fun.  I hope that my girls will grow up being kind and good friends.

Love You

The girls eat Valentines Day up.  Any excuse to cut, glue, glitter, and gift their special masterpieces is a pretty big deal to them.  They had extensive lists of the people they wanted to hand deliver and mail valentines too.

And although I enjoy making Valentines, I think I enjoy making sugar cookies for this holiday.  They are bright and cheerful.  Because I am a bit of a control freak, all the cookies are circles and we have one color of frosting to choose from.  On the flip side, there are always plenty of sprinkles and candies to go around.

Ruby made several "Will you be my VALENTINE?" hearts, signed Ruby Valentine.  She had been learning that song at Let's Play Music.  They turned out so sweet.  I love her sweet printing.

Some moms put together a fun party down at the church for all the preschool and under kids.

We are lucky to have a large group of good kids for our kids to grow up with.

In a panic, Hudson reminded me that his party was TODAY!  "What about the chocolate covered strawberries?"  So while the kids ate breakfast, I dipped like crazy and we had them done in nearly 10 minutes.  You can't make cookies that fast!  And since it was so memorable, we repeated and expedited a batch for Dalanie the next morning.

I decided it was high time that I experiment with a heart bokeh.  As with most tutorials, it sounded so simple.  And while I could get hearts to appear, I never could get the subject to focus very well.  

So off with the filter for some fun pictures of the girls.

A little heart hair to finish saying I LOVE YOU to all my peeps.

Duet Recital

Since completing Let's Play Music, Hudson has been lucky enough to take private piano lessons from Valerie Lance in Rose.  She is an amazing teacher that has really motivated Hudson to practice.  He was her first studio in a long time to complete the 100 day challenge.  Since then, three more students have earned the award.  She recognized all of them at the recital.  We carpool with Abby Schiess to lessons on Fridays.  I love to sit through their lessons and watch Hudson learn from Valerie.  She is such a fun teacher and he has grown to love playing the piano.

Hudson played a duet with Trent Telford,  Wild Horse Roundup.  All three of them played Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro.  They had practiced and nearly perfected their pieces.  Of course, nerves can get the better of you when you're performing but they all did well.

A group shot of VLPS students.

Hudson had a lot of support from Grandparents.

 I was grateful that my parents would make the drive.

It has been so fun for me to watch Hudson grow and progress.  There are times that I watch him play and my heart nearly bursts with pride.  He has invested a lot of time and effort, so it is fun to watch him reap the rewards.

Let's Get Together

Emily gave me a heads up that they would be coming this way for a nieces baptism.  I couldn't pass up the chance to meet up with them.  Originally the plan was for them to come by the house on their way back though.  But because of a scheduling conflict with Hudson's piano recital, we met them at the visitor's center.  I got to meet baby Amelia.  It was great to see her again.  I cherish reunion's like those.  Although we weren't together real long, it was great to catch up and be together.  It seems like raising our families and different schedules doesn't allow talking on the phone too often.

The girls were mostly happy and cooperative to pose for some pictures for us.