Biking in the Rain

It has been a rainy May and Ethan has been caught in the rain more than once on his way home from school.  He was invited to participate in a program called "School of Life" each Thursday after school in May.  He wasn't too thrilled because it just taught the same things he learns at scouts and home (set goals, follow through, be nice, don't bully, etc.).  The problem was that it always got out right when the hail began and he would have to bike home in the hail.  He wasn't too happy about it after the 4th time!

Choir Concert

Ethan had choir this trimester and he was not happy to be in a choir concert.  They were supposed to wear church clothes but he was a rebel and wore a nice shirt and his church pants but he wasn't wearing a tie.  His concert was in the middle of the day so I ran over to watch it and video it so Bryan could see it later.  They did a great job!

There he is, the Back Row Joe:

Here are their songs.

Duct Tape:

Yakety Yak:

This Old Man:

Old King Cole:

Old MacDonald:

Roar (this is only a partial because my phone ran out of room):

Count on Me (partial again):

Home (partial):

They did a great job and I was very impressed.

Pizazz Review

Courtney's Pizazz end-of-the-year review was on May 9th.  She was pretty excited because they were going to be doing a character dance and, because she is on Jr. All-Starrz, she would be dancing in a lot more dances than usual.  So it was pretty exciting.

She wore the same dress as last year.  We were given a really nice, formal dress from a neighbor that was a size 14.  I took it in so it would fit Courtney and now she will be able to wear it until she turns 14.  It was be her review dress.

She decided to have Ethan escort her this year.  I think they did a great job.  He got to dance with her too.  Bryan got a video of that and I haven't gotten it off his phone yet.  But they were very cute.  Courtney showed Ethan right where they had to line up and she had him twirl her around.  It was great to see the 2 of them and how much they love each other!

Here is their introduction.  Ethan was so happy to hear his name read (haha):

Then it was time for all their dances.  Here they are:

Try (all 3-5th grade dancers):

Oh Sweet Lorraine (Jr. All Starrz):

Fashion is my Kryptonite (hip hop):

Jazz from the Past (Jr. All-Starrz):

Jazz from the Past (3-5th graders):

Jazz from the Past (everyone):

Superhero (Jr. All-Starrz character dance):

I have to tell you that getting the Wonder Woman costume was hilarious.  The dance coach didn't want the girls to buy one at all (which didn't happen for some girls) so we went online to figure out how to make one out of what we had on hand....we didn't have much.  So we went out and bought a red leotard for the top, some blue swim fabric and some gold elastic for the skirt and some gold scrapbook paper for the wristbands and the crown.  Then we went to work.  The skirts was a super easy circle skirt with the gold elastic on the waist.  The crown was cut from the paper and then I put a red star on it.  It didn't take much work but Courtney was nervous that it wouldn't look good enough since we were making it.  But it ended up looking so cute!  I did have a problem with the logo on the front of the leotard.  I bought a sheet of duct tape then I cut out the logo and put it on the front.  It looked great but kept falling off.  We have a family in our ward who do vinyl and embroidery so I called them and they cut out some gold foil and ironed it on.  It worked great but I wish I would have thought of them first!

It was a great night with only one glitch.  I had the feeling that I was forgetting something when we left the house to go to the review.  Courtney and Ethan had to be there early so I took them and everyone came after us.  Right when the review began I remembered...I forgot the gifts for the coach and her assistant.  There wasn't going to be dance again until August so I knew I had to get them.  Andrew and Jessica were amazing and ran back to our house to get the flowers for me.  They saved the day!

Courtney had a break from dance until June when she begins practices for the Stadium of Fire.  Then she has dance camp at the end of July and dance starts at the beginning of August.  It's a good thing she enjoys it!

Guests

We were having Grandma and Grandpa Pack, and Andrew and Jessica over for the weekend to see Courtney's dance review and spend Mother's Day.  We were pretty excited.  Courtney helped me on Friday morning get everything ready for them.  After she left I went in to make sure the towels were on their beds and everything.  This is what I found....

Courtney loves leaving notes for people and this was no exception.  I don't know what she meant about not opening the closet but it was hilarious to read.

It was nice to have everyone here.  It was rainy so we weren't able to do a lot but we were able to go and play baseball (which was heaven for the guys!) and go shopping (which was great for the girls).  Courtney had practices but it was all good.

Orchestra Concert

Courtney had her end-of-the year orchestra concert.  It was a crazy night because she also had a practice for dance.  Bryan picked her up early from practice and got her to the school in time for her to warm up and get ready to play.

Here she is before the concert began:

Here are some songs they played.

The Star Spangled Banner:

Russian Rondo:

Sword Dance:

Celtic Dance:

They played some more songs but I couldn't get them to upload to youtube but they were fantastic!

After their concert they had a quick pizza party with their teacher.  The next day she sadly told them that she was offered another teaching job at Dixie State University teaching orchestra teachers how to teach.  So this will be her one and only year teaching them.  Courtney was devastated but was happy that she had been able to learn from Mrs. Crosby.  We are hoping they find someone else to take over the program so we don't lose out next year on the great experience.

Courtney has loved playing the violin and has done so well.  She absolutely loves it!

Playing Baseball

There aren't too many more games in the baseball season.  We have had so much fun watching Ethan play.  His goal is to just hit the ball.  He doesn't care if he gets on base, he just wants to hit it.  So I took a video of one of his at bats and he did a great job!

Here he is getting ready to bat!

New Glasses

Since Courtney doesn't need bifocals any more, we needed to buy her new glasses.  And since she doesn't need bifocals any more, we could buy them online!! I was so excited because they are so much less expensive when buying glasses online and now we would be able to get her some cute ones.

We ordered some and I was a bit nervous because sometimes you just don't know what you are getting.  They came, she tried them on, and fell in love.  They are so cute on her and she loves them!