Yeah, I Know...It's Been A While!

But I have a really good excuse!  In the past month I have been preparing for the trip of a lifetime!  If you didn't know, Ben's marching band had the awesome opportunity to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland.  Jon and I jumped at the chance to get to go along with him! So...things were a bit busy around here as we prepared for the big trip.

 

Here is a brief update on the happenings of the last month:

Trip meetings. More trip meetings.  And more trip meetings.

Doctor appointments:  And LOTS of prayers that my foot would cooperate on the trip!  New orthotics are on their way!

Band sectionals:  Abby's band had their district contest right before spring break.  They did great, receiving straight 1's!  Ben's band has their district contest next month

Marching band rehearsals:  Make that 7:00AM marching band rehearsals!  And, when you have a child that isn't able to drive yet, that makes for an early morning for Mom!  That's ok!  It's totally worth it!  I have never had to hound Ben about getting out of the house on time for marching band!  He is always up and raring to go!

Family time:  Everyone here (well, except Luke) became completely engrossed in Downton Abbey.  We had several marathon sessions.  Jon and I would try to sneak in an episode here or there when we had a chance.  Ben and Abby weren't thrilled about that!  We discovered that season 3 would only be on pbs.org for a few days, so it became a bit of a rush to watch it all before it was removed!  We finally finished all three seasons and life could then continue.

Snow day:  Yep.  Another one.  And completely uncalled for since we might have gotten an inch of snow!  But Ben and Abby didn't mind at all!  I was happy to have all of my kiddos (and a few of Ben's friends) home for the day!  I even got some of my own friend time in! (:

School:  Jon is pretty much always working on school work...

Solo & Ensemble:  Both Ben and Abby participated in Solo & Ensemble this year.  I always get so nervous on these days!  Both kids had worked SO hard on their music and I knew they would do great.  I was really nervous for Abby.  She had been really nervous for All-District auditions and got lost in her music.  I was afraid that was going to happen to her again.  It didn't!  She did great!  Abby did one solo and one ensemble and got 2's on both of them!  She was thrilled!!  Ben did one solo and three ensembles and got 1's on all four!  I am so, so proud of my musicians!!  They have worked so hard this year!

Band concert:  I already mentioned Abby's district contest, but what I didn't mention is that before the contest, they did a concert for the parents so that they would know what to expect on the day of the contest.  I always love listening to my kiddos bands!  This concert was especially exciting because this was the first concert that Abby was first chair!  Have I mentioned that I am proud of my musicians?  (:

Date night with friends:  Jon and I spent a fun night out with our friends, Heather and Andrew.  We were interested to Thai food.  YUM!

 Look at my beautiful girl!

 Luke finally got his turn at being the star student at school.  Apparently when you are 4 and you have to wait it feels like it will never be your turn.  The time finally came!  Luke was so excited!  He was like a crazy, wild man before school on his big day.  I had to wish his teacher good luck as she had to deal with the insanity!  (of course, I'm sure he was fine once he got to school!)

Miss Anne asked Luke several questions about himself and these were his answers:

Favorite ice cream flavor: Chocolate chip cookie dough

Favorite book:  Star Wars Star Pilot

I am happiest when:  I write my name all by myself.

My proudest accomplishments:  Good at flying an airplane.

My top 10 favorites:
Sport:  Basketball

Hobby:  Play

Toy:  My Larry Mobile

Movie:  The Incredibles

Food:  Hamburgers and tacos

Pet:  Cats

School subject:  Writing my name

Pizza topping:  Sausage

 

Luke LOVES Cubbies and finished his first Cubbies book this month!  I am so proud of him and his sponge-like memory!  He has been a bible verse memorizing machine!  I have loved working with him.  He loves Jesus, learning about Him and talking about Him all the time!  I am excited to start a new Cubbies book with him and continuing to teach him about Jesus!

I'm sure there are things that I have missed, but these are the highlights.  I will try really hard to get on top of a post about Ireland...