Nic's Costume

1st Leaf-Pile of the Season

Katie's Movie

Created by Katie with Greg's technical help. Totally her idea...

Fun at Sandy Cove Resort

Bella and her Squeaky Ball

Spring Fair Jousting

We battled each other in a bounce-house joust. The girls fared better than the guys.

Soccer

We had a very busy but fun Saturday with the Ensemble, Katie's riding, and Nic's soccer game. Here's a little of the game:

Lunge Lesson

One of Katie's favorite riding things is the Lunge Lesson. The riders don't use the reins at all. It helps them with their balance and leg strength. Here are some movies:

Solo and Ensemble Festival

Nic & Katie played in the Solo and Ensemble Festival at Ellicott Mills Middle School on April 17, 2010. The pictures above are them warming up. Their music teacher, Mrs. Williams, is holding the music. They got some good honest criticism from the judge, and I think it will make them better musicians. Here is their performance:

Hunter and Gymkhana Show

Katie got 4 ribbons from the riding show today: two 1st place, one 3rd place, and a participation. I forgot the camera, so had to take this pic after we got home.

Nic Does Awesome at the Howard County Spelling Bee

Nic got in the top 20 out of 62 kids in the Howard County Spelling Bee. He successfully navigated CAPRICORN, CARNIVORE, STREUSEL, and BOWERY, finally succumbing to BORZOI in the 5th round. (He spelled it BORZOY instead.)

Skating

Nic, Katie, Russ, and about 20 other kids and adults went skating for part of the 30-Hour Famine. Nic & Katie had never been skating. They fell a lot, got banged up a lot, but kept going! Kelsey and Zoe helped Katie get confident. I'm very proud of both Nic & Katie for persevering. By the end of the night, they were skating fairly confidently. They had enough fun that they want to go again when Karla gets home.

Katie Canters. Then We Eat.

Katie cantered a few times on Bob today. I caught two of them on video.

Then we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger for lunch.

Zoom 8 x 8 Show.

Katie had artwork in the Howard County Public School System show called Zoom 8 x 8. The kids zoomed into and out of a picture. Katie did two pictures: a scene with a seeing-eye dog, and a close-up of the dog.

Love my readers

I love my kids. When they get home from school, they do their homework without any prompting from me. Besides hearing the front door, I hardly even know they're home. Today I went into the sunroom, and found them both intently reading a copy of the same Warriors book. (Nic borrowed his copy from Owen & Shannon.) I thought it was cute how they were side-by-side on the couch, engrossed in the same story.

Kids' reports on Holidays

The kids were given an assignment to do an oral and written report about a holiday they don't celebrate. Katie got Yom Kippur; Nic got Day of the Dead. Here are some movies (sorry about the poor sound quality.)