Jenna 9.5

Jenna is 9.5 today! This is her 4th grade picture. She weighs 66.4 and is 52.5 inches tall. That's about 1.5 inches since turning 9. Her favorite color is still green (since she was 2.5). She loves to read, play piano, and play make believe with Kellen and her cousins. Scruffy is still her favorite stuffed animal, but she LOVES all stuffed animals. She thinks she might want to be a vet when she grows up.

Scruffy and friends at his birthday party, November 5th.

This is one of her art pieces from this school year. She is highly creative, lovely, fun-loving, kind, a friend to all, and a great big sister! And she still amazes me at her ability to not only pick out the background music of movies, but hum it note for note (often after just one hearing)! Happy half-birthday, Jenna! We love you very much!

Thankful

 

Tuesday, Nov. 22 - We enjoyed one of my favorite types of days. It was snowing a bit and all four of us were together. We treated the kids to Chick-fil-a at the mall and then the Trolls movie.

Then, after dinner, we went to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa. Jenna wants a dog collar & tag for Scruffy and Kellen wants a ukulele and a horse coloring set. After Santa, another special treat - frozen yogurt. All of that and I even fit in some work hours - 7pm - 11:30pm!

Wednesday morning, I slept in and then Papa, Kevin, two cousins, Jenna, Kellen, & I enjoyed a lunch at Rudy's on the way to the North Pole. We had a really fun time and I remembered to bring supplies to make s'mores in their fire pit. After dinner, Jenna and Kellen helped me make pie crust for the pumpkin pie and while it was baking I prepared sweet potatoes to bake the next day.

Jenna and Kellen had a fun time making this pallet of pillows and blankets for a sister/brother sleep over in Kellen's room.

Thursday morning all piled on Mima's bed with silly faces. Watching the end of the Macy's parade.

After a delicious lunch - Craft time!

These four performed a great rendition of the first Thanksgiving - complete with some Thanksgiving jokes from Jenna during intermission.

And then Kellen gave us a Santa performance.

Friday morning, Kevin and Papa went to the Air Force game. But, he put the tree together for us to decorate before he left. Jenna said her goodbyes to Sam the pumpkin and then we had fun decorating for Christmas.

When we were in New York last summer, I never found a Lion King ornament that I was happy with. So, I got some clear bulbs from Hobby Lobby, cut out the Lion from the Play Bill and made my own! I also put tickets inside from the musical and statue of liberty as well as a brochure picture from Ellen's Stardust Diner and Top of the Rock. I made one for Jenna too. I love how they turned out!

Friday evening, we decided to use the free kids meals for the Bass Pro Shops restaurant that they gave us when we went to see Santa. And there wasn't a line, so we went to see Santa again.

Saturday, we spent the day at Papa and Mima's house for the big Michigan game. And I was able to catch up on and even work on some future blogs, back up pictures, and read.

So thankful for these and so much more!

Kellen's Thanksgiving Program

Thursday, November 17th - Kellen's Thanksgiving Program. The class as a group did many songs interspersed with each child reciting a line about the Pilgrim's journey - from the beginning idea to find religious freedom in the new world to the first Thanksgiving. I wish I could post it all here - it was all so very precious. I'll give you some highlights - Kellen's favorite songs. (See video 4101 in "Kellen Kindergarten 2016-2017" folder)

Kellen did a great job practicing and memorizing his part! (See video 4105)

This song is his favorite. There are three verses, but only room for one here. Sweet, song! My favorite, too. (See video 4108)

 After the performance, they enjoyed a feast and crafts.

On our way out of school, the first snowflakes of the season were falling and within a couple hours, there was a pretty good covering. It's been a fun day!

Indianapolis

 

Friday, November 11, Kevin and I flew to Indianapolis for the preview trip for band directors that are bringing their bands to the National Concert Band Festival in March. We arrived late Friday night (actually early Saturday morning) and stayed at a cheaper hotel near the airport. Then, Saturday morning, we took an Uber to the J W Marriott that was the hub for the weekend and where the band will stay in March.

View of Lucas Oil Stadium - home of the Colts

View from our hotel room - downtown Indianapolis and the Capital building

Another view of the hotel to emphasize the enormity of the building.

We left our bags at the hotel until we could check in and were making our way through the conference center on the way to Lucas Oil Stadium where we would watch the Grand Nationals Marching Band Competition, and we ran into Dr. Teel from ACU! He was there for a Percussion conference that was occurring at the conference center.

We were treated to box seats in a suite with food provided.

It was the perfect way to watch and enjoy the marching bands compete!

It's amazing what these schools are doing. This show had these robot type things controlled by students from underneath and using poles to control their arms.

We were amazed at the huge . . .

and elaborate props!

Meanwhile, the kids were having a great time with their cousins at Papa & Mima's house - helping to rake leaves and then benefitting from the fun of jumping in them!

When we saw Dr. Teel, he asked us if we had seen Derek & Rachel. It was a fun surprise to learn that they were there too! Turns out, they were in a suite just a few doors down from us and Derek was working in the Legere reeds booth in the stadium. We happened to find them while Derek was up for lunch and enjoyed a great visit!

After the semi-finals, the Ohio State University band performed an exhibition of a super hero show.

And then they did their famous "Ohio" script. This is an amazing thing to watch! It's really worth looking up and watching the video. (That's a lot coming from a Michigan fan.)

We had about an hour and a half to eat dinner and then get back for the finals that night. So, we consulted our google maps to see what was nearby and walked down to Claddagh Irish Pub. We started with one of the best French Onion Soups I've ever had and then shared Fish 'N Chips. Very good.

Did you know that the Colts have an official ketchup? The other side of the bottle claims that Red Gold is the official ketchup of the Colts! We went back to the stadium for part of the finals, but just couldn't make it to the end. We left around 9:30pm, the last band was scheduled to begin their show at 11:15pm - we're too old for that! The next morning, we heard that because two teams tied for first place that the night didn't end until after midnight.

Sunday, we had a a breakfast at 7:30 am and then a meeting about the March trip at 8 am. Then a tour of the Marriott facility. Then a bus ride to Butler University to tour the concert venues. Then, a lunch at Buca di Beppo.

After lunch, many people were heading home, but we were staying one more night. So, we walked down to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. They had just strung the lights to make it look like a tree for Christmas.

Then we walked down to the Capitol building.

And then, we HAD to go tour the NCAA Hall of Champions.

It's a pretty cool museum! There is a movie about how the NCAA began under Theodore Roosevelt concerning the issue of too many football injuries/fatalities. The museum features all 24 of the NCAA sports. And there are several interactive stations such as what it's like to have a tennis ball coming at you at top speed, and "how high can you jump?". (In the top right of the Basketball feature, they have a Memphis player and a KU player going for the hoop in the 2008 Championship game!)

Kevin checking out the Flying Wedge

After the Hall of Champions, we went back to the hotel and then Kevin went to see if the mall was in walking distance so he could let his students walk there in March. (I had a blister so stayed in the lobby and read a book.) Sure enough, there are above ground covered walkways from the hotel, through the convention center and on to the mall. Pretty cool!

We took an Uber back out to the hotel by the airport (saving LP $$). Then walked to dinner. I went to sleep at 7:30 pm because we had to be up by 3:15 for our 6:00 am flight!! (That's 1:15 am and 4:00 am Mountain Time!!) It was a great trip, Indianapolis is a neat city. Kevin and the band are going to have a phenomenal time in March!

Medieval Day

Friday, November 4th was Medieval Day for the 4th grade at Jenna's school. It's probably the biggest day of the year for them, maybe the biggest day in all of elementary. Parents and teachers set up the night before - transforming the hallway and each of the 4 classrooms into medieval times.

(I went to help set up for a hour or so Thursday afternoon, then we had to eat really quickly, and then get back to school for Jenna to be in the talent show - it was a crazy Thursday! She played piano and did very well.)

The students dressed in medieval dress and had to cross over this draw bridge to enter the 4th grade wing.

In the market room, they each received a bag of jewels to use for currency.

Then they used the currency to buy oranges, grapes, & beef jerky in the market.

One room was set up as a monastery. In this room, they took a vow of poverty, celibacy, and silence and were therefore not allowed to speak. You could hear a pin drop!

In another room, the girls made floral head wreaths and the boys made knight helmets. Then, the girls became ladies in waiting to the queen and the boys became knights.

Jenna's class was thrilled to have their teacher return for one day from maternity leave and participate in this special day. She was Maid Marian and her room was Sherwood Forest.

They learned about medieval music and made lyres in one part of the room.

And made bows and arrows for target practice in the other part of the room.

Such a fun and special way to learn! I love that our teachers make special effort for our kids to experience these special curriculum days multiple times a year!