Who's Dying To Be A Millionaire?

No, I haven't finally lost it and stabbed one of my students. She's just an actress in our spring production "Who's Dying to Be A Millionaire?" I would say this was our least prepared production of all time, but somehow, someway, when the lights went down, we pulled it off.
And by the second night, we were bringing down the house. I'm proud to work with kids who never give up!

Spotlight on Nicky

And about time, too! After all of Kairi's concerts and ceremonies and recitals, it was finally Nick's chance to shine. He did a great job singing rock songs from all decades with the Junior and Senior Chorus. Rock on, Nick!

Gone To The Birds

Yep, back at the zoo again. But this time, we have a great excuse. It was the members-only weekend at the brand new McNeill Avian Center. We couldn't wait to see the new habitats and exhibits.

The Avian Center is right across the lake from the swan boats, so we waited for our timed tickets by getting a glimpse of the outside.

Finally, our turn arrived. We loved all the details, like the flying bird silhouettes on the outer wall.

It was so very cool to see so many birds up close. The new exhibit was beautiful.

Even the doors were themed.

Best was the area where the birds could fly right by you and land just inches away.

Surprisingly, Scott wasn't bothered by this area. Usually he's not a big bird fan. Well, except the Eagles!

Still More Virtuoso

Yes, that's right. District Band Honoree. Soloist. National Junior Honor Society. And wonderful pianist in today's recital.

Sometimes this girl just scares me. But mostly, she makes me proud to be her mama. So I gotta brag her up. She played "Fiesta Time" which was a cute and catchy little number. She's doing wonderfully with her new piano teacher, the organist for our church. I can't wait to find out where she goes with all this musical talent.

Who The Heck is Carrie?

Kairi was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society today. We are even more ridiculously proud of her than we were last week when she had the solo in the concert. It takes hard work and determination to earn a place in NJHS and Kai has definitely earned it.

But speaking of Kai - her name is pronounced KAY-ree. Not Carrie. So when after 7 years of hard work led her to this one moment, she was kind of thinking that maybe someone would take the time to FINALLY pronounce her name right. Nope. Bungled first AND last name. She was crying instead of happy when she got her award. Which completely bummed us all out.

Poor Carrie. Er, I mean Kairi.

Lucky Me

I wasn't expecting anything for Mother's Day this year, since we're saving all our money for our upcoming Disney trip. But the kids and Scott couldn't let the day pass by without at least giving me breakfast in bed! They didn't need to do that though - I already know how lucky I am to be the mother of two wonderful kids. (But don't tell them that - I want breakfast in bed next year, too!)

Our Little Soloist

We were so proud of Kairi tonight! She played a solo horn section at the beginning of the theme from Ratatouille. She was so nervous, but she completely aced it. Way to go, Miss First French Horn!

Putt WHO?

The good news: Putt U is open for the season! The bad news: Apparently Kai can now beat me. Now I'm behind Kairi and Scott. *grrr*

Weren't We Just AT The Playground?

The girls have been coming with us to Sunday School while Barry runs a counseling group. It's great to see them every week, and wonderful to have them participating in church.

However, we spend a lot more time on the church playground than we used to! Oh well... don't look now, but my "big" kids seem to be enjoying it, too!

Photography in the Park

I love to take pictures (I know, surprising, right? Not like my blog has 8 million or anything...), so a trip to the park to meet Barry and the girls became an excuse for more photography.

I was going for the washed out look when I edited the two above. I think Kai's came out better than Nick's, though.

Don't worry. The kids are used to my shutter bug madness. They still had fun on the playground while I used them as models!