Hockey Star!

It's almost the end of hockey season and interest is flagging all round! Even Murray has almost had his fill of ice times and running back & forth to rinks. This weekend the girls had a few games and by last evening, Honey had had enough. She did NOT want to go. But when she heard Grammie & Grandad were coming to watch, she decided she'd lace up and hit the ice after all.

Good thing she did! At the end of the game, the coach awarded her a mini stick for "Player of the Game". We're not sure what she did that caught his eye but it certainly perked her right up and was the highlight of her year. She's not sure she'll sign up again in the fall but was certainly riding high on this last night. After he gave it to her they all headed for the dressing room and she just sat and stared at the stick in awe and almost looked a little teary eyed. They had a great game, won 8-5! It was their first win in MONTHS!

When we got home, she had some celebratory ice cream on our new "special day" plate that I painted at on our recent visit to Pottery Palace. She was quite pleased to be the first to use it, especially since she hadn't eaten her supper and never made it to the dessert round!

Youth Group Wrap Up

Last night was the last night of youth group for this year. Their leader made a special award for each of the kids and the girls were all very pleased with theirs. Through the year there had been a challenge for them to memorize the books of the bible. All of them. BOTH testaments! We had the page on the front of the fridge forever. They all started off trying to do it but Lovey was the only one who persisted and worked on it. She used the books for her spelling words and practiced them every night to get the first half of the Old Testament down. Then she just started practicing saying them over and over and earlier this week she only had the New Testament left and was getting nervous. She buckled down, took the list on the bus to review on the way to school and back. She got her seat mate to quiz her and finally she got them all memorized! There were only 3 kids who succeeded in the challenge and she was the youngest.

She was so pleased with her candy filled trophy! You can see her run through them in the video at the bottom. :)))

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!!!

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!!!

We Have a Winner!

Our first contestant to complete their mermaid chart was none other than our little Honey Bunny! She kept her eyes on the prize and never wavered. No matter what happened or how she was feeling, she managed to keep herself in check. During the very first week she had a couple slips that were quickly reined in and after that she told me she had learned how not to speak that way and that it was easy now.For doing such an excellent job and not missing a single day, we let her have her mermaid on the morning of the last day instead of making her wait til bedtime. She was sooooooo pleased! We even had time for a bath before church and I let her stay in the longest so she'd be able to get more playtime in. Her sisters were happy but also a little envious that her mermaid is out of the box. Hopefully this will motivate them to work a little harder on their charts.
Lovey seems to be a little more determined this week. I think she can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. She's up to #19 today and realizes she's more than halfway there. She has eaten her supper at least 4 nights in a row and isn't making a stink at dinner either (lately anyway!)

Sweetie has had many many slips and I'm cracking down. I've been letting her get away with too many warnings. She's missed a few days this week but did ok today so she's on #23. It will be interesting to see if Lovey passes her. They were both hoping Honey would blow it so they could pass her but there was no way she was going to do that!

Congratulations Honey, you did a great job on your challenge and you deserve your prize!!1