The last few weeks

We've had a busy last few weeks, but unfortunately, I haven't been doing a good job of posting. Here is a quick catch-up of our activities.

Rachel's Play: Romeo and Juliet

Rachel's 4th grade class did the play Romeo and Juliet on Valentine's Day. It was a fun version with the actual Shakespearean language. It was big on sword fighting and low on romance, so it was perfect for kids this age.

Rachel played the part of Friar Lawrence, seen here in her long black robe surveying the scene after Juliet wakes up in the tomb and finds Paris and Romeo dead. We had been working with Rachel to memorize her lines prior to the play and she always said them in such a monotone that I was worried about the actual performance. But when it came down to it, she said her lines beautifully with a lot more acting skill than I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised. The whole play was wonderful--her teacher is incredible and really brings out the best in her students. It was so fun to watch.

Valentine's Day

Ben, Rachel and Kate had class parties to celebrate Valentine's Day. (Sarah was sad that middle school doesn't have parties on Valentine's day anymore, although she still had fun making some cute valentines for her friends). We spent several evenings prior to Valentine's day making valentines and Kate even insisted upon writing "Happy Valentine's Day! To: ____ From: Kate" on each Valentine. It was a project that kept her busy for quite a while. We later found out that she was not supposed to individually address her valentines for preschool, but just sign her name. (What is up with that? How can you make a valentine if you don't know who it is for?) Anyway, since she had put so much time into them, her teacher let her use them after all. I also made fun heart sugar cookies for Rachel's party that said R&J on each one (for Romeo and Juliet). Sarah and Rachel helped make them and they turned out so cute, but I forgot to take a picture of them.

David sent me beautiful flowers and I found these cute mailboxes for the kids. I had fun making little cards to put inside each one. It was a good chance for me to reflect on my kids individually and tell them each why I love them.

Then that afternoon we all went bowling.

I hate it how the kids use the bumpers and beat me. Of course, they love it. Rachel was our queen bowler. She got several spares by bouncing the ball back and forth off the bumpers all the way down the lane and then knocking the pins down like crazy. It was unbelievable!

Then there is this handy rack that Kate uses to bowl. All she has to do is put the ball up on the rack and then push it. It definitely makes it a more successful experience for the little ones.

President's Day

On President's Day we decided to celebrate by going to the American History Musuem. It opened a few months ago after being closed for several years for renovation. We've been wanting to go and actually tried over Christmas break, but the line extended out the door, so we opted to pass. President's day was almost as busy--it seems that all the other families in the area decided to go there as well. The line to see the Lincoln Exhibit and the Star Spangled Banner were so long, we decided not to wait. We'll go back another day when it isn't so crowded. That is the joy of living close to all these great museums.

We did wait in line to see the ruby slippers, Kermit and Frog and the puffy shirt from Seinfeld in the Entertainment section. We also went to the transportation area, which had lots of fun trains.