Once Upon a Time . . .

Once upon a time, I would have written a blog post for each set of pictures below; I was the queen of childhood documentation.  Then I returned to work and my life became a juggling act.  Work, school activities, dance, gymnastics, church, laundry, & grocery shopping all became the symbolic balls in my juggling routine.  For the most part I was okay with no longer blogging.  With my new role as a working mom, blogging was starting to feel more like an obligation than a creative outlet.  I was okay with letting it go . . .until I found myself stumbling upon my blog and reading old posts; reminiscing the tiny details that I may have forgotten had I not written them down.  So, with that I want to document some special and recent events in the lives of my girls.

On February 7 Madeleine sang in her first school choir concert.  The 4th and 5th graders entertained the crowd with jazzy dance moves and pleasing music.  They sang their hearts out.  The program was as follows; Crocodile Rock, Route 66, It Don't Mean a Thing (if it ain't got that swing), Over the Rainbow, Rainbow Connection, & Dynamite.  Madeleine's favorite song was Dynamite.  The music teacher made some of the parents misty eyed when she pointed out that some of the songs they sang could be ones that they sing to their children (our grandchildren) some day.

The following day was a special one for Audrey.  She presented some of her animal research at an Animal Fair.  (To further prove my point that there was a time when each of these events would have warranted their own blog post, see The Raccoon Whisperer when Madeleine participated in the Animal Fair).  Audrey researched the Lynx.  She compiled her findings in a spiral bound book and made a clay lynx complete with  habitat.  She basked in the attention she received as parents and students admired her hard work.   

On February 27, Madeleine attended Heritage School.  For one day she attended class in a one room school house.  In order to make the experience authentic, the children were required to dress in pioneer clothing.  She also took a lunch that would be comparable to that of a student in the pioneer days.  She ate 2 hard boiled eggs, beef jerky, a corn muffin, and an apple, all of which were wrapped in parchment paper and carried to school in a tin bucket.  Her big news at the end of the day was that she won the school spelling bee.  She took a disposable camera to school that day, but we have not had those pictures developed yet.  Once they are, I am going to encourage her to write about the experience on her blog and include the pictures.  I know she took away many fond memories that day and I am anxious for her to document it in her own words. 

In the left her pinafore is on backwards, but it is correct in the right.  Unfortunately she went to school with it on backwards because neither of us knew any better.  Thankfully she has kind friends who fixed it for her when she arrived to school.

A few pictures that her teacher took.  The picture of her with her spelling bee award is one that will be shown to future 4th grade classes over the years.  Such an honor!