New Experiences

 I finally decided that I needed to update our family blog (I know - it's about time).  Unfortunately, Alvin doesn't appear to agree because he has interrupted me 5 times since I started! 

Things have been so crazy since school started.  Every week I think - " this is the week that things start to calm down," and every week it turns out I'm wrong.  So, things are never going to calm down...

We've had several firsts in the past two weeks.  To start off with, Andrew had his first Youth Symphony concert last Thursday night.  He auditioned in September and was accepted into the Idaho Falls Youth Symphony and has enjoyed every minute of it.  He is third chair cello and was part of the (more exclusive) chamber orchestra that played a Hayden piece (he can't remember what it is called, even though he practiced it for 3 months!) at the concert. 

Andrew (#154) waiting for the competition to get underway.

The following Saturday, Andrew, Katherine and Lida competed in their first Ballroom dance competition.  The goal was to gain experience and see what the competitions were all about.  And if they managed to be called back for the semi-final round, so much the better.  Well, not only did they all get called back, but Andrew and Katherine placed!  Andrew placed in 3 events (he and his partner took second place in the Bronze Swing event), and Andrew and Katherine together (they were partners) placed fourth in Bronze Cha-Cha!  We all had a great time watching all the dancers, but my back (and backside) were sore for 2 days afterwards from sitting in the bleachers all day.  They have Gem State coming up in March which, I understand, is a much bigger deal than the Christmas Classic.  We'll see how well they fair 3 months from now...

Lida and her partner were semi-finalists for both PeeWee Cha-Cha and PeeWee Swing.  Her teacher says she has never taught a child this young who had such a great sense of rhythm and so much tone in her arms.  Usually the little girls have "spaghetti" arms - limp as noodles.

Katherine with friends, Lily and Dana, watching the competition.  Katherine is so happy because there is a cute boy sitting in front of her and she got to spend the day flirting with him.

Andrew and Katherine doing the Cha-Cha.  They took fourth place in their division for this dance.

 Yesterday was a big day for both Andrew and Lida.  One of the classes Andrew took with the homeschool group was called Sword of Freedom.  This was a rigorous class that took an in-depth study of the American Civil War.  There were several things he had to do in order to complete all the requirements including: memorizing the Gettysburg Address, memorizing what our religion says about the role of government (this was taken from the Doctrine and Covenants), completing a 10 minute presentation (he tied for first in his presentation and won a gift card to Barnes and Noble), writing 10 different papers, reading and discussing 4 different books, and watching 3 different movies.  He loved the class and worked very hard to complete the requirements.  At a ceremony yesterday he was presented with his sword - a life-size replica of a Civil War sword - to serve as a reminder of the cost of Freedom and his responsibility to support the cause of Freedom throughout his life. 

Andrew and his classmates reciting the Gettysburg Address at the Sword of Freedom ceremony.



The presentation of the swords.
 

Later that night, Lida danced in her very first Nutcracker Ballet. She loved it!!  Admittedly, her part was very small, but the joy it brought her was well worth the effort.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, so I don't have a picture of her.

We had one other first which I think is worth mentioning.  On Sunday morning last week, as Tyler and I were lying in bed recovering from our insane weekend, we overheard the following conversation: 

LIDA:  Alvin, would you please stop doing that?

ALVIN:  Okay.

Anyone with children can appreciate how remarkable this exchange was.  No fighting.  No whining.  No snarky comments.  Instead, a polite request and an affable reply!!