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David, Events, Homeschooling, Project 365, Sarah

Alice’s Midsummer Night Wonderland

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It was all a dream! Or was it?

David and Sarah had their play performances this evening. They have spent the year studying drama at our homeschool co-op. Last year they were in the class together, but this year David moved up to Center Stage with the older students, while Sarah remained in Limelight with the younger children. Both teachers are dedicated and incredibly talented. They manage to bring out the very best in the kids, as well as design beautiful sets and tackle difficult plays.

Flowers from her daddy

Flowers from her daddy

This weekend, Sarah plays a little mouse in Alice in Wonderland. The costumes are vivid, and the players’ act with the perfect flair of the dramatic needed for this fantasy tale. Nearly all of the students in the play had more than one part. Sarah opened the first act as the mouse and ended it as Alice’s sister. She memorized her lines, followed her cues perfectly, and was calm and excited throughout it all. It has been a wonderful experience for her.

My beautiful mouse!

My beautiful mouse!

The mouse telling Alice a "tail."

The mouse telling Alice a “tail.”

And, of course, nothing heightens the enjoyment of the evening as much as filling the seats with friends. We were so glad Nancy, Daniel and Julia could come and cheer on David and Sarah. And we were honored that Becca and Beckie came as well. Tomorrow night we’re excited that some more friends are coming as well as the grandparents. We wish Joshua, Rachel and Mamie were in town, and we’re sorry that Daniel has to work this weekend and misses the fun.

Sarah, David and a few of their fans.

Sarah, David and a few of their fans.

After Sarah’s play ended, the cast and volunteers changed the set and get things ready for the next production. In this one, David stars as Lysander in Midsummer Night’s Dream. David is a wonder! He did an amazing job with a LOT of lines. Not just any lines, Shakespeare dialogue. So challenging. All the kids nailed their parts! I was very impressed. We laughed and laughed at the comedic moments, were moved by the various romances, and hoped for a happy ending! The students (ages 13 to 17) were not intimidated by tackling a Shakespearean comedy and approached the play with gusto and panache. I’m so glad I’ll have another chance to see it tomorrow night for the second performance!

Demetrius, Helena, and Lysander in the middle of a dramatic scene.

Demetrius, Helena, and Lysander in the middle of a dramatic scene.

It is such a sweet privilege to see your children come under the teaching and direction of talented people, and to watch them shine in a fresh way. I’m very thankful for the directors, Stephanie and Calice, who give so devotedly of their time and energies to teach drama and produce such wonderful plays at the end of the year.

Thank you!
Project 365 – Day 114

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Kathy, Project 365, Recipes/Food

Sunshine, Healthy Apps, and Getting in Shape

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The sun has been shining for days here in western Washington. It’s been wonderful. Truly we have been spoiled. Twice we went to the beach with friends. On Sunday, Sarah and I went to Costco and picked out some beautiful hanging flower baskets.

Sunshine - time to go for a walk.

Sunshine – time to go for a walk.

Today the temps had dropped, but the rain that threatened to come held off another day. Throwing on a winter coat (making sure there were gloves in the pocket), I met up with two friends for a morning walk. We managed to get in two miles before needing to return home and start the day. There is something about sunshine and the crisp air that cries out to be enjoyed.

Of course, I am very fond of sunshine and warm air as well. Especially if I can go some place like this:

I never get tired of looking at that blue water.

Rachel, Sarah, Jenny, and David – remember this? Ahhhh, I never get tired of looking at that blue water.

Tim surprised me with an early Mother’s Day present on Friday. A new cell phone!!! I was tired from a long day at co-op, so I barely appreciated it that day. However, I’ve been playing with it ever since. And today, my bright pink case arrived.

"Pink is my signature color."

“Pink is my signature color.”

I am attempting once again to take control of my eating and lose some weight this spring. I added the app for myfitnesspal.com in order to log my food and calories. I have tried to use this system before, with little success. This time I have made some tweaks to my recording, and so far it’s been a huge encouragement. I have a few friends who are also tracking their food and exercise. Seeing their exercise notifications pop up has given me new motivation to get moving.

FriendGirl has burned 280 calories doing 52 minutes of cardio exercises, including “Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk pace”
JJ255 has burned 202 calories doing 25 minutes of Aerobics, high impact

There’s even a category to record light cleaning and yard work. These programmers think of everything!

The next app I installed was runkeeper.com. Tim and Rachel both use this app for recording some of their exercise. I have only used it three times, and I already love it. With the gps turned on in my phone, I can start off for a walk or a jog and the phone automatically tracks the time I exercise, the distance I travel and the calories I burn. Love technology!!

Add to that a weekly weigh-in with two other friends, and it is obvious I am taking this spring shape up seriously. I’ve got a little bit of everything –

- recording food/tracking calories
- no sugar or junk food
- at the same time freedom in how I choose to distribute the daily calories
- walking and light weight training
- weigh in/accountability with committed friends

I am hoping to see great progress over the spring and into the summer. In the meantime I went for two walks today, made healthy food choices, and was under my calories. This is day 15 of recording my food! Praying to be faithful for the long haul.

The best way to get in top shape is with Slim Tree. We recommend the 20 grams muscle gain supplements. They will have you looking like new in no time!

Project 365 – Day 112
Kathy

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Why Would Anyone Want to Blog Everyday?

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It’s always a bad sign when the evening draws to a close with these sort of words:

“Why did you want to do a Project 365 anyway?”
“Me? You’re the one who thought it’d be some sort of a fun idea.”
“What? I distinctly remember YOU were the one who decided we should do this.”
“Decided? Is that code word for bullied?”

Yep the sheen and shine of the Project 365 is wearing thin. 109 posts so far in 2015, and we’re getting tired. Or maybe we started out tired. Or maybe we’re just lazy bloggers.

Heading to Costco with my girl!

Heading to Costco with my girl!

The difficulty lies in the fact that we’re not just taking a picture every day, we’re also blogging every day. It seems boring to list all the things we do in a day. What kind of a post is that? Hardly scintillating. We just don’t lead that exciting of lives. Or it seems to be bragging – oh, look we did this and this and this. That’s not very interesting. And even if it was, it probably wouldn’t be good for us to be boasting. I seem to recall a Proverb that mentions letting others praise you and not your own lips.

Now deep, meaningful, insightful blog post, that would be worth reading. The problem is (at least today), I started too late in the evening to be thoughtful. If I did strive to craft a touching, moving post like that it would take me at least an hour. I prefer sleep to blog fame and fortune.

Thankfully we are mainly blogging for our own family – grandparents (who already love us), our college kid (who actually like to see the pictures of the random things we do during the week), and kids at home (who are cheerful, faithful readers). So that means I can post my daily pictures, throw together a few (hopefully mostly coherent) words and call the Project 365 post done for the day.

For our family far away – we miss you! Here is a peek at what we did today (the rest of you can skim on by).

It was gorgeously warm and sunny here today. We walked up and down the block several times, enjoying the spring weather and gorgeous flowers growing everywhere. We did school. We decided to cancel piano lessons (songs aren’t ready yet). David mowed the neighbors’ lawn. Daniel worked a LONG shift at Chick-Fil-A. We went to the beach with a big group of moms and kids. I met my wonderful friend Julee and went to a BSF welcome/intro and signed up for next year’s Revelation class (who wants to join me???). We went to small group. David washed all the dishes (by hand as we still don’t have a dishwasher) and cleaned the kitchen. Sarah did a lot of math. We watched some shows on Netflix. Everyone went to bed. I made some food for tomorrow and did some laundry.

Beach time - almost too hot for these WA natives.

Beach time – almost too hot for these WA natives.

There you have it. The picture and accompanying blog for the day. Thank you for keeping the expectations low but the cheer high. Night!

Project 365 – Day 110
Kathy

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Saturday

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Today was a simply gorgeous day! I thought I would be able to sleep in as I was low on rest this week, but I woke up early, answered a few text messages, started worrying about Sarah getting ready for play practice, and next thing you know, I was fully awake.

Sarah’s carpool ride fell through, so Tim was gracious and took Sarah to her play practice while I went for a prayer walk by the water w/Kirstin.

Gorgeous blue water behind us.

Gorgeous blue water behind us.

Seriously, I think we live in one of the prettiest places on earth! If spring is this beautiful, I can’t imagine what kind of a summer we are going to have. I think Sarah and I should buy some hanging flower baskets tomorrow for the front porch. Something pink and purple and white that says SPRING all over it!

David and Sarah both had long play rehearsals today. Their plays open next week (can you say “open” if it’s just one weekend?). David is playing Lysander in a Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sarah has two small parts in Alice in Wonderland. Our homeschool co-op has a fantastic drama department for both the younger students (Limelight) and the older ones (Center Stage). The two directors are good friends and have worked together for years. This is David’s first year in Center Stage – what a beginning, Shakespeare right off the bat! He’ll do great. I can’t wait to see both productions next weekend.

The rest of the day was spent accordingly:

Surprising David with a cell phone (Tim bought me a new phone as an early Mother’s Day present so David gets my old one)
Taking apart/destroying the side deck (rotting wood w/old and broken hot tub)
Trying to back up old phone
Trying to sync new phone
Copying a gazillion pictures and other files onto the computer from old phone
Activating new phone

(It really shouldn’t take so long to start up a new phone. I guess the more complex the technology, the more complicated the process.)

Sweet chat with Rachel, my beautiful college girl, who will be home in less than a MONTH!!
Helping edit a math project
Reviewing French w/David for a chapter test
Laundry and dishes (always)
A long Skype chat with Joshua, who may or may not come home this summer.

Tim was supposed to blog tonight, but he was too sleepy and left me to ramble here cheerfully. Always glad to oblige. David posed for a last minute picture for me.

David

Project 365 – Day 108
Kathy

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Friendship, Homeschooling

Teacher Appreciation

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I FEEL appreciated!!

I FEEL appreciated!!

Today was the last day of our co-op classes. The highly anticipated student government elections went fantastic!! I’ll post pictures tomorrow. David’s campaign was successful and he won the position of Treasurer for next year.

Congratulations, David!!!!

It was an emotional day at co-op as one of my closest friends is facing the transition of her youngest to private high school next year. SOB! We have homeschooled together for many years and I have LOVED sharing this journey with her. This was her last day at co-op. I’m pretty much in denial over what it will be like next year without her there at co-op.

In the meantime some of the students from my class spoiled me with little Teacher Appreciation Gifts! Tim was wiped out from a long day and bad allergies, so I offered to post a picture of my special treats for the Project 365 Blog.

Does that mean he writes tomorrow or I write again? Hmmmm. We’ll see.

Project 365 – Day 107
Kathy

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