Holy Hagrid!

It is no secret that Logan is an avid reader.  An out of control, cannot-get-him-to-stop avid reader.  But it didn't start out this way.  When the pandemic first hit March 2020, I forced him to start reading independently for 20 minutes a day as part of our homeschool program.  This was the first time that I ever saw him read a chapter book by himself.  After school ended in June, he stopped reading over the summer.  When 3rd grade started back up again with online school in September 2020, I required Logan to start reading for 20 minutes a day.  Although he was not thrilled about this, something magical started to happen.  When he really liked a book that he was reading, he would read outside of homeschool hours.  I would catch him reading in the early morning and after screen time in the late afternoon and at bedtime.  When asked about it, he would adamantly deny that he liked reading.  As I checked out book series after book series from the public library during Logan's entire 3rd grade year, he continued to read during random times of the day and would always declare that he hated reading.  Last summer, I made the goal to always have a book checked out for Logan.  Between getting recommendations from other moms and the children's librarian at our library, I was able to keep a steady flow of books coming into our house during the ten weeks that Logan was out of school.  Although he continued to complain, he faithfully continued to read throughout the summer months.  By the time he started 4th grade this past fall, it was easy to see that Logan had become an avid reader.  He also started reading several series that Lia had read and loved and had been recommending to him for months.  Logan read through several Percy Jackson series and Brandon Mull series.  His books doubled in size and he continuously scored at an 8th grade reading level whenever his teacher would have the class take reading assessments.   Logan basically started reading during every minute of the waking day when he wasn't in school or having screen time or at an activity or playing with a friend.  Logan would read all the time.  

However, during all these months of 4th grade, one series had been left untouched:  Harry Potter.  Although Logan had long established fantasy as his favorite genre and that he loved every series that his sister had recommended, he continued to fight our recommendations to ready Harry Potter.  I think that it was mainly due to the fact that he never really liked the movie series and he equated the books with the movies.  And no matter how much Lia and I kept on telling him that the books are so much better than the movies, he continued to ignore us.  As the months wore on, Logan just dug in his heels more and more.  And then in June, something happened.  He finished the latest book series that he was reading, The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull, and had nothing else to read.  So, on Tuesday, June 7th, I saw him walking out the door to school with the first Harry Potter book in his hand.  I almost fell over because I was so surprised!  After making a big deal out of it, I sent Logan out the door wondering what on earth had just happened.  And just like that, Logan entered the amazing and magical world that J.K. Rowling created and was totally hooked.  By that night, I could barely get him to turn off his light at 10 o'clock and go to bed because he was in the middle of the first quidditch match!  And it was like this for the next sixteen days as I watched my boy rip through one book after the next at a record breaking speed.  By the time he finished school on June 17th, he was on book #5 and he finished the entire series on June 23rd.  It was rather amazing to witness this 10-year old boy fly through this massive book series in a little over two weeks--especially since he was in school for nine of those sixteen days.  After he finished, Logan became a Harry Potter fan overnight and has now rewatched all of the movies and even dug out the beautiful, resin wand that we bought for him back in 2018 when we visited "Harry Potter Land" at Universal Studios in L.A.  I am so glad that Logan finally gave this remarkable, young adult book series a try and that he fell just as in love with it as I did when I read all of them in the early 2000s and like his sister did back when she was in 3rd grade.  It is so wonderful to have another Harry Potter fan in the house and I am so proud of Logan for being such a voracious reader.  I know that this incredible skill he has developed over the last year or two will help him for years to come as a student and for the rest of his life.  Well done, Logan.  I am so proud of you!

Two of my greatest possessions:  my boy and my Harry Potter books.

Ella's Ballet Recital

Since Ella took ballet classes for 1.5 years during her preschool years at a small studio (in a converted garage at her ballet teacher's class), she only had the chance to participate in two very small and simple ballet recitals in our church's gym both years.  As a result, I was so excited to see Ella perform in a full scale dance production when I signed her up for ballet and tap class at the beginning of her Kindergarten year at a legitimate dance studio called Riot.  I couldn't wait to see her dance on a real stage in a theater while wearing a beautiful costume with a bunch of darling little girls.  However, Covid came crashing into our lives seven months later and cancelled everything.  As a result, the studio's dance production was cancelled in June 2020.  Although Ella was allowed to start taking ballet classes again in September 2020 and danced through her entire 1st grade year (with the exception of the seven weeks that our governor shut everything down again November and December 2020), her studio was never able to find a venue that would allow them to host their end of the school year production in June 2021 due to the maximum occupancy rules that our governor still had in place.  As a result, Ella missed out on her second chance to participate in a large scale recital at the end of her second year dancing at Riot. 

At the beginning of this school year, Ella was starting to lose interest in ballet and really gain interest in gymnastics.  As a result, she asked if she could quit dance, but I wouldn't let her.  I promised her that she could quit ballet for good at the end of her 2nd grade school year after having the chance to perform in one big recital.  She reluctantly agreed and faithfully attended her ballet class on Tuesday afternoons this entire school year.  However, Ella's attitude improved drastically when her best friend, Elise, started going to her dance studio the beginning of February and was place in the same class with her!  As you can imagine, Ella suddenly LOVED going to class every week and the evening playdate that followed class afterwards at either Elise's house or our house.  In addition, the girls became so excited to learn their dance for the recital and to wear their beautiful costumes (that cost $75!) for the big performance.  After dressing up in their costumes (with hair and makeup done) for the professional pictures that were taken at their studio the first week in June, the girls could barely wait for the big day.  And after seeing so many of the girls dressed up in their beautiful costumes in the studio that day, I must admit that I was pretty excited to see the performance myself!

After my mom drove down to spend the afternoon with me, the six of us drove out to Tacoma yesterday to meet Ron at the performing arts theater of a beautiful high school in town.  We "checked" in Ella at the front desk that the studio had set up and then waited in line for the doors to the theater to open at 5:30.  We then went in and were able to find really good seats on the main floor and then waited until the performance began at 6 p.m.  The theme of this year's production was Broadway and Ella's Ballet 1 class danced to the song, "The Impossible Dream."  She and the other girls in her class did such a great job dancing to their song and were just so cute to watch!  I honestly think I smiled through the entire thing.  Luckily, Ella's class was #6 out of #35 numbers which we were all grateful for since we knew that Emmett would not last until the end.  Luckily, he was absolutely in awe of the entire performance for most of the first half and did a pretty good job until intermission came.  Luckily, Ron was able to take Logan, Emmett, and my mom home at this time and Ella was allowed to come join us (since she was in one of the younger classes) and watch the second half of the show with us.  We were so interested in watching every performance of ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, modern, and lyrical that was performed that I almost forgot to check her back in at the very end for the final bow.  Overall, Ella had such a wonderful time and I am so grateful that she was able to have this experience before she hung up her ballet slippers forever.  And although it still kills me that she was only able to participate in one instead of three ballet recitals during her three years at this studio, I am trying to just be grateful that she finally got the chance to perform on the big stage before she heads into the gym to focus on team gymnastics for the next year or several years to come!

The beautiful, solo picture that was taken of Ella at her dance studio on June 7th.  I just can't get over what a little angel she looks like in this picture!

Ella's Ballet Level 1 class.  Ella is second to the right on the back row with her good friend, Elise, to her left.

Ella all dressed up and ready to go on the big day of June 17th!  Although I wanted to keep her flowers a surprise, I let her take a picture of them at our house before we left.

The massive, group photo the studio took on stage before the performance began.

Ella's class beginning their dance.

Ella dancing with her friend, Aubrielle.

Ella and Aubrielle twirling around.

I was able to take a few pictures of Ella in the lobby during intermission after she was done dancing.  Here she is with her best friend, Elise.

My darling ballerina.

Since Ron had already left with my mom and the boys right at the beginning of the intermission and Lia was sitting with our belongings in the theater, I was only able to get a picture of Ella with me.  Love you, Ella!  I'm so proud of you!

Last Day of School!

Well, we actually made it!  We successfully completed our first, full year back to school since Covid came in and messed everything up back in March of 2020.  I thanked Heavenly Father every day in my prayers that our children had the chance to return to full-time school this fall and that all three of them made this transition so smoothly in comparison to so many other students who didn't.  I am so grateful that all three of them were able to participate in all of the sports and after-school activities that they wanted to do and that nothing was shut down during the massive spike in Covid during the winter months.  And, lastly, I am so grateful that Lia's participation in Cross Country saved her junior high experience this year.  Since we made her go to the school up the hill instead of the one downtown where all of the students from her elementary school went, she literally knew less than ten kids on the first day of school and, of these ten students, none of them were really good friends.  But thanks to starting XC on week #2, Lia quickly met four wonderful girls who quickly became her closest friends at her school.  Three of them had her same lunch which was such a blessing as this gave her a small group to sit with and eat lunch with every day.  In addition, she had friends to run with during both her XC and track seasons which made participating in these sports so much more fun for her.  So, overall, this past year was a success and I am so grateful that my three older children had the chance to return to some sort of normalcy and that Emmett and I finally had the opportunity to have some one-on-one time on a regular basis for the first time in 1.5 years.

Lia heading off to school on her last day of 8th grade.  Although she is technically starting "high school" next year, she will be at her junior high school one more year for classes, but will be competing at the high school for XC and track.

 

Lia flashing me a smile as she walks down our driveway on her way to school.  I couldn't help but compare her happy countenance on this day as she heads to a school that has become a comfort zone and a place with friends to her first day of school back in September when she was so nervous and upset about going there.

Logan's last day of 4th grade in Ms. Arnett's class and Ella's last day of 2nd grade in Mr. Strand's class.  They both loved their teachers this year and had some close friends in their classes.  I just love their elementary school and the wonderful experiences my children have had every year attending this school.

Emmett wanted to join the last-day-of-school photo, too.  Since we were running behind schedule (as always), Logan was not happy about stopping to take the time to have his picture taken which explains his very grumpy facial expression in all of the pictures.

Logan (with his Harry Potter book in hand) and Ella posing for one last picture before running off to their classes for the last time ever!

And although this doesn't really have to do with the last day of school, I still wanted to include so that Logan has it in his blog book one day.  Every year, a small amount of children's artwork is chosen from each of the elementary schools in our district to be put on display at the Spring Fair.  Lia's artwork was chosen in third grade and then rejected afterwards when she learned that only two of the four pieces of artwork from her class made the final cut which was so disappointing to Lia and infuriating to me.  Then Ella's artwork was chosen to be displayed at the same place her kindergarten year before the pandemic cancelled the spring fair.  We then struck out a third time when Logan came home with this beautiful watercolor of tulips the last week of school with a ribbon and award.  After asking him what this was all about (and Logan not having a clue), I emailed his teacher to try to figure out what this all meant.  Apparently, our bad luck had continued.  Logan's artwork was chosen with 19 other students out of the 600 plus students from his school to be displayed at the district's annual art show (that was held at the Karshner Museum instead of the Spring Fair) on May 18th where his painting earned an "honorable mention."  Although the school claimed they sent home an invitation, we never received it and, as a result, we did not go see his artwork on display that evening.  I was so disappointed about this and was really annoyed that the school didn't do a better job of communicating this invitation to us.

Logan's ribbon and award that he won for his painting of tulips.  Although we never got to see it on display, I am still so proud of him for being chosen as he has always been an incredible artist since his PreK year.  Good job, Logie!

Ella's Piano Recital

Today was Ella's first piano recital after completing her first year of piano lessons.  Although she started off the school year taking back to back lessons with Logan on Wednesday afternoons, this sadly only lasted one month.  Logan was so not interested in learning how to play the piano that the four weeks he took lessons was full of tears and tantrums whenever it was time to practice the piano.  So, I reluctantly called the piano teacher at the beginning of October and pulled him out of lessons.  On the other hand, Ella has loved every bit of her piano playing experience!  Unlike Lia who had to be helped with newly assigned music each week, Ella almost refused to ever get any help from me.  She always wanted to be 100% independent which actually was a blessing to me as I just don't have the time and energy to help Ella like I did when Lia was taking lessons.  In addition, Lia only played the piano when it was time for her to practice her assigned music.  Ella has done the opposite thing and can be found playing the piano "for fun" several times throughout the day.  Ella loves to find songs on YouTube to learn how to play in addition to practicing the music that her teacher has assigned her to learn every week.  So, overall, this first year has been a very positive experience for Ella.

Since Ella tried out for and was invited to join the competitive gymnastics team at her gym this Spring, Ella is now practicing 3.5 hours twice a week in Auburn throughout the next year (including over the summer break).  As a result, I am only allowing Ella to participate in one other activity or sport at a time to prevent her from getting overbook, exhausted, and burned out.  So, she has chosen to return to her rec soccer team this fall with her best friend, Elise, that is coached by Elise's dad, Ben.  Ella has to wait until she is finished with the soccer season before returning to piano lessons sometime in November.  As a result, she is going to have take about a five month break from lessons, but there is no doubt in my mind that Ella will continue to play the piano for fun throughout these next several months.  I can't wait to hear what she learns on her own!

Ella's teacher, Miss Tammie, decided to host an outdoor piano recital months ago when she first announced the date.  I thought that she was a little crazy to do this since June can still be a very rainy month in Western Washington.  Although this has turned out to be one of the rainiest springs in Washington history, we lucked out with beautiful, sunny weather after a string of rainy, cold days.  So we enjoyed sitting on camping chairs in Tammie's front yard while listening to all of the students play their pieces.  Unfortunately, a neighbor, a few houses down from Tammie's house, was mowing the lawn when it was Ella's turn to play the piano.  Luckily, he was far enough away that it didn't ruin her performance, but it will forever be in the background of the video Lia took of Ella playing.

Ella was so excited to play both of her numbers.  She bravely ran down to the piano and played "Hawk on a Mountain Peak" and "Crocodile in the Nile."

At the end of the "Crocodile in the Nile" number, Ella gets to slam her arms down on the piano keyboard to simulate the sound of a crocodile eating another animal.  It is a very funny piece of music and it got quite the laugh out of the audience.  Here is the picture I manage to get of Ella right as she looked up at the audience while she slammed down her arms.

Ella taking a bow after finishing playing both of her piano pieces.

Ella running back to her seat while getting "high fives" from her friend, Amelia, and her mom.

My cute girl running towards me.

After the recital was over, Miss Tammie called up each student one at a time to give them a certificate.  Here is Ella shaking her hand after being handed her certificate.

Miss Tammie standing with all of her students.

Ella posing with her teacher after eating refreshments.  Way to go, Ella!  I am so proud of you!

Lia's Conference Track Meet

Today, we wrapped up Lia's 8th grade track season with her running both days at her district conference meet held downtown at Sparks Stadium.  With the exception of her hip giving her some problems on days that she overdid it, she really enjoyed a successful, first track season of her secondary education career.  She ran in the 1600 m, 800 m, and Varsity 4x4 relay at every meet and also qualified for the conference meet in all three events by being in the top three for each one.  Lia started off the season by running a mile in 7:28 at her track practice try-outs and then ran the following times in each of her meets: #1:7:02, #2: 6:53, #3: 7:08 (she ran in a horrible rain storm that day on a track full of puddles), #4: 6:49, and #5: 6:44.  She also matched her PR time and ran the 1600 in exactly 6:44 minutes at the district meet yesterday.  Today, she PR'd in the 800 and ran it in 2: 57 and her relay team came in 6th place for the 4x4.  Overall, Lia had a great season and absolutely loved being on the same track team with her four close running friends who she met during cross country season.  Although they are all required to practice and compete at the high school level next year (and the group is splitting up between two different schools), I am so grateful that they have the chance to spend one more year together before they go their separate ways.

June 2nd:

Lia posing with Abby and Erika, her two friends from cross country who continued to run long distance events during the track season.

Lia lining up with the other runners before starting the 1600 meter race.

Lia running past us on the second lap of the mile.

Lia crossing the finish line at the end of the mile.

June 3rd:

Although the rains held off yesterday until after the track meet was over, it started raining in the middle of today's meet.  Luckily, it stopped before Lia had to run the 800 meter race and the 4x4 relay.  Here she is getting ready to start the 800.

Lia running with the pack at the end of the first lap.

Lia running towards the finish line at the end of the 800 m.

Lia getting ready to grab the baton from Erika at the beginning of her lap of the 4x4 relay.

Lia taking off with the baton in hand.

And she's off!

Since Lia ran second in the relay, she had to pass on to her teammate, Lexi, at the end of her leg.  Here she is coming down the straight away before passing off the baton.

Lia finishing up her lap and passing off the baton.

Lia posing at the end of the meet with her three siblings.  Way to go, Lia!  It was so fun watching you run yesterday and today!

Lia's Spring Concert

As the school year comes to an end, the calendar whips into high gear as we have many activities and sports finishing up for the school year.  The first of several events in the next 2.5 weeks was Lia's Spring Concert tonight.  Since Ella had her first 3.5 hour team gymnastics practice in Auburn tonight, I had to drive her up to her new gym and could only stay for 30 minutes before heading home in horrible, rush hour traffic that is now sadly going to be a part of my life on a weekly basis.  Since Ron had to work late, we had to skip Logan's swim lesson (which I was not happy about) in order to get Lia to her school by 6:15 for her 7 p.m. choir concert.  After dropping her off and parking, the boys and I headed into her gym to find our seats and then waited 45 minutes until her concert began.  Luckily, Emmett managed to hang in there for both the waiting period before the concert and then the one hour long concert which is kind of amazing for a 3-year old boy.  Lia's choral group was the last one to perform in the line up and they did a wonderful job singing their three songs.  Lia has thoroughly enjoyed being in choir this year and has made some wonderful friends  Although she has to drop it next year since she only has room in her schedule for one elective (which is drama, of course), I hope that she can circle back around to singing in choir classes in high school as I know that it will help her get chosen to participate in high school musicals which is one of her greatest dreams! 

Since Lia stood behind the piano the entire time she was on stage singing, I wasn't able to get a good picture of her.  You can just see the top of her head directly above the piano in this picture.

A close-up of my singing girl after the concert was over!  Good job, Lia!