Gold Medal Girl

Lovey's awards concert was last night and she was soooo excited! After school she asked me to put her hair up in curlers so we rolled it all up. She was dressed and ready before supper even started. She practiced the piece she was performing several times. Finally it was time to go to the pre-show rehearsal and she & Murray left.

Sweetie & Honey & I got their school stuff ready for the next day and headed out to meet them at the show. Grammie & Grandad arrived just before we did so we got our seats with them. We looked all over but no sign of Lovey anywhere. The show was starting and we still couldn't find her. It turns out she was sitting in with some taller kids and they were blocking her from our view. Whew! cancel that kidnapping alert!

She played her piece in the first part of the concert and ran into a little trouble in one section but jumped back in and caught up with her accompanist without much trouble or delay. She likes the audience a little too much I think and gets looking at all the people, turning this way and that, smiling at everyone! She won two prizes, one for playing in a trio and another for her solo work and came home with a cheque. She was over the MOON excited. I didn't stay for the whole concert as I wanted to get the other 2 to bed at a half decent time. She & Murray got home around 9:30 and she was still flying high, bubbling over and chattering a mile a minute. I was worried she might be too tired for me to take her picture with her medal but I  needn't have worried! She was still pretty pumped and gladly posed for a few shots. (that's my girl!)

She's undecided what to do with her winnings so far but has lots of ideas kicking around! I'm going to suggest she invest in more curlers! We didn't have enough and had way too much hair on each one and they didn't stay at all. She was very disappointed about her hairdo!

Honey & Sweetie kept themselves busy with their reading and listening to an MP3 player respectively. They did watch their sister perform but ignored most of the rest until Honey heard her sister's name in connection with words that grabbed her attention in a hurry. Her head snapped up and she mouthed questioningly "FIFTY DOLLARS!!!!!" I expect she'll take up an instrument next week now :)))

Well done Lovey, we're very proud of all the hard work and all the times you gave up play time to rehearse your pieces over and over. You've done an excellent job and the judges have spoken!!!

Rain Rain GO AWAY!!!

It seems like every heavy rainstorm means a flooded basement these days! Now that we've pinpointed a couple (hopefully that's all of them!) entry points, we know where to watch on rainy days like today. So I did, allllll day and watched and worried and watched and worried. On Monday I bought some drain spout diverters so that instead of funneling all the rain from the roof down into the ground by the foundation, it will run 25 feet away from the house and on a downward slope away from the house. We also put buckets outside in places where there's a gap between the eavestroughing and the house. Huge puddles were forming in those spots so we caught as much as we could and I dumped those out periodically through the day. By mid afternoon I started hauling up all our lovely interlocking foam flooring. It doesn't get damaged by the water but it gets dirty and stinky and has to all be wiped down with disinfectant afterwards. I decided not to risk it this time and got all absorbent toys, clothes and the foam tiles all up off the floor. So of course no water came in! Oh well, it's not like picking up around here is going to hurt us and it's better than 8 hours of shopvaccing through the night!

Hopefully our $70 solution will provide some relief from the rain invasion. Murray did notice a couple spots where the floor was getting damp today and upon closer inspection, he found some cracks. Could it be so simple as patching/sealing/fixing a couple cracks in the foundation??? Could we really avoid an expensive excavation all around the house to inspect a draintile that may or may not be faulty??? Oh let's hope so!!!

Off to the races!

With all the talk of running around here lately, Grandad thought he'd take on the challenge. He was pretty sure he could beat them... for 30 feet. and he was right! he gave most of the credit to his special foot wear with the nice strap on the back! Yep, those are Crocs folks! I was a little concerned that the race might not even last 30 feet but he made it there & back and then back again! All that golfing must be doing good things for his cardiovascular strength!

After the "races" we went to check out his new ride at the golf course and took it out for a spin. Good thing there weren't many golfers on the course because these girls don't know the course etiquette yet and were having waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun on the tour! Honey & Lovey each took a turn steering on my lap as I worked the pedals but Sweetie wasn't too sure about it so she just held Bunny and enjoyed the trip!

Sunshine Sunday!

Having Tulip in church with them all morning just wasn't enough! As soon as they finished their lunch they called her right up and she was in the yard in a flash! I guess that means the feeling is mutual! The weather was gorgeous so they played outside but got warm and decided to cool off with a popsicle! Ahhhh sunshiney days! maybe we'll have a better summer this year!

Greetings Churchling!

Our team was on the job again this week, chasing folks down, dragging them in from the street, parking lot, sidewalk or where they were spotted. Luckily most of them were actually headed into church anyway and that one lady that wasn't..... well she'll recover from the shock I'm sure! (kidding, no innocent passersby were harmed or traumatized Sunday morning!)

I'm not sure if there are points for this kind of thing, but I'm pretty sure we're in the lead for "most enthusiastic greeters". When they first hear that it's our turn at the door, there are grumbles and moans. Why? I have no idea. After they've been in the vestibule for about 30 seconds they start edging out to the doorway, onto the front step, down the walkway, jostling for position, trying to beat out the other 3 to get THEIR bulletin into the hands of the people coming in. Most people felt they were sufficiently greeted before they ever even hit the front steps!

They are especially welcoming of their favourite people!!! Shirley got extra special attention up on arrival this week! Their affection must have been obvious because another man walking in asked "those are Shirley's granddaughters are they?" I just smiled and said "well, pretty much. They're Shirley's girls for sure!"

Star Performer!

Lovey  was in a violin competition recently and she did so well! There were so many extra rehearsals, some at 8:15 on a Saturday morning, some at night, sometimes both in the same day! All the while she had her regular weekly lesson, dance lessons, schoolwork and a bit of playtime in there too. The week of the competition was soooooo busy and it was right before my big event for the multiples group so between that and running into town 5 times that week to take her to her performances, I was going flat out!

She was in 5 different events and placed first in 4 of them, and 2nd in the other. My Uncle Ralph & Aunt Caroline provided all her competition outfits and she looked like a star at every event! They are great shoppers and  have a good eye for performance wear after their own 3 kids have gone through all these competitions! Many thanks to them for the very fine wardrobe that kept my girl stylin' all week :)))

Watching Lovey play is a treat! Despite many years in the choir, I still can't read music and have trouble differentiating between some of the songs. But I know what makes my girl happy. Seeing her at the front of the room, looking so calm and prepared is amazing! When she puts that violin up to play and starts bowing across the strings, it's like we're barely even there. At one point, she was so into it and so content that she just closed her eyes and smiled her way through the piece. It is such a delight to see her enjoy her music that much.

The judges gave her really good marks on all her pieces and she did well enough that the organizers have asked her to play at the awards ceremony. Uncle Ralph says this means she's probably getting prize money as well as a participants medal. Very exciting! We haven't mentioned it to her yet just in case. I want her to be surprised :)))

I'm looking forward to the ceremony, we're so proud of her hard work!!!

Look at that smile! she obviously loved whatever song that was!!!

Mummy's Little Bookworm

Look who I found all curled in the rocker this morning when I got up! Honey's been burning through books lately! Grammie got her several last Sunday, I'm pretty sure there were 5 of them and by Friday she had nothing to read.  We were going shopping for a bday present for a party she was going to so I said "bring your wallet, maybe you'll see a book you'd like to get. or we could stop in at the library if you want". Immediately she said "I'll go the library and get books for free Mum!!!" (is that my girl or is that my girl???). So we did. She only picked 3. Two of them are the size of what she's reading in these pictures and the other was a smaller novel about Hannah Montana but she finished that one the same day. She is loving this one now though and can't get enough reading time in! We have definitely succeeded in raising a reader in this kid!