Sarah's February and March School Report

Another good two months in this year's books for Sarah...

Her spelling test grades are excellent every week.

She enjoys art and creative projects when they are given the opportunity to do them at school.  She does not always enjoy group projects though because just like with any group project there is always someone who does not want to work, someone who may be too bossy, or people who just can't get along well with others.  She will have to continue to learn to work in small and large groups and adjust to different personalities as she continues on in school and life.

She works hard and does well in math.

Her math test grades are always excellent as well.

For Valentines Day she picked to reuse a Valentine box we made for her to use in the 3rd grade.  This time around we added 4 Sarahs to the box though.

Eric did a study at home with our kids about rocks and the Earth, and she learned some of the same things at school over the past couple of months.

In music class each 5th grader had to use a red solo cup and compose a piece of music using the cup.  They had to write out their song/music and perform it for the teacher and class for a grade.

Sarah did "Satisfactory" on her Red Cup Composition piece.  After looking at her final product (above) and the teacher's score sheet (below), I am still baffled as to where/why she lost 3 points???

Sarah has been a part of her school's Student Council for the last few months.  She was selected by a panel of teachers to participate and help make her school better and she gets to help with extra projects around the school during school hours.

The girls and I went to a school skating party at the local roller skating rink in March.  Both girls are doing better at skating.  It is not something that we do very often.

Below, Sarah's totem pole that she made towards the beginning of the year.  It has been on display in the hallway outside her classroom and then was displayed at the district art fair in March.

Below, are her three totem descriptions....

She did well on the 5th grade Woodwind and String Test in music class.

States of matter were taught.

She enjoyed, and got lots of laughs, out of the project below, "Puzzling Portraits".  Each student had to write a description of themselves, but leave their name out.  Then the descriptions were mixed up and passed out to other students.  From the description each student had to try to draw a portrait.

The end of the 3rd nine weeks came around and report cards were sent home.  Sarah continued her streak of all A's and S's.  Great job, Sarah!

 Above, Sarah's class picture (Sarah is on the top row, right hand corner.), and below her individual spring school picture.

Spring Break Week 2018

We spent the first part of our Spring Break on a small family trip.  We headed to my parents for a night and then the next morning headed on to Missouri to visit Eric's Grandma at her new home.  We hadn't seen her since last fall and we all really miss her living close to us and being able to visit her frequently.  She has a small apartment in an assisted living facility now.  She has her piano there and the kids brought their piano books so that they could play songs for her.

After they each played a few songs, Grandma Great played for us.  It is amazing to me what music can do for people of all ages.  She sat down to play, got her favorite old sheet music out, and her hands and fingers moved effortlessly across the keys.  Music transforms people, triggers moments and memories, it can set the mood, and it can carry someone to another time and place.  When she sets down to play she smiles, we all sing, some dance, and we all have joy.

We also took her out for a drive.  Eric remembers going on long Sunday drives when he was young with his Grandpa George and Grandma Dorothy.  He talks about how slow his Grandpa would drive and how they would drive for hours down gravel country roads.  Sometimes his Grandpa would let him "help" drive too.  This memory is special to him and the times he got to share growing up with his Grandpa George and Grandma Dorothy are precious to him.  They helped mold him and and were both great caretakers and role models in his life.  I greatly admire his love and respect for his Grandma and the special relationship that they have always shared.  When he walks into the room where she is, she lights up, smiles, greets him with a warm, "Well Eric!", and is always so happy and glad he is there with her.

Our children, especially Sarah, also have a special relationship with Grandma Great.  They have spent a lot of time with her and each have developed lasting memories with her.  She adores each of them. 

We all enjoyed our time spent with Grandma Great that Saturday and Sunday.  We hope to visit again soon.

From there we went to Kansas City.  We had booked a night's stay at the Adam's Mark and Coco Keys Indoor Water Park.  The kids were very excited to get there, check in, change into their suits, and get to swimming.  There were a lot of people there too, but they still had lots of fun sliding, splashing, and swimming.

We ate at a Buffalo Wild Wings that evening after swimming.  We watched some NCAA tournament games while we ate.

Back in our hotel room we watched some more basketball before heading back down to the hotel pool for another swim before bed time.

Towards the end of Spring Break week the kids and I headed to Popee and Nanee's house for a few days.  The girls and I got our hair trimmed.  I had a eye appointment.  We helped Dad get his garden cleaned up and ready to be tilled.  The girls did some cooking with Popee.  We spent time with our friend, Shirley.  The kids played outside a lot, and we squeezed in a trip to the Sweet Granada for some sweet treats.

We also spent one evening fishing at our friends, Karen, Mitch, and Taylor's farm pond.  Dad, Phoebe, Mitch, and I were the only ones who fished the whole time.  We caught a lot of Bass and Crappie.  Sarah and Silas enjoyed playing games with Taylor.

We threw a lot back and kept 17 fish that Dad cleaned that night after we got home.

It was a great Spring Break week spent with lots of different family members and having fun.

January, February, and March Fun

JANUARY

How much snow do you think we got to play in outside one day in January?

Sarah:  3/4 inch.

Phoebe:  1 inch.

Silas:  I think it was 10 inches.

What do you like to do in the snow?

Sarah:  Throw snowballs at Phoebe and Silas and I like to lay in it.
Phoebe:  Make snowballs and throw them at people and make snow angels.
Silas:  I like to to get snowballs on me...but not hard and play in it.

What do you wear that keeps you the warmest when you play in the snow?

Sarah:  Um, my coat, my overall thingys, my gloves, my hat, my hood, and my snow boots.
Phoebe:  Snow boots, a hat, coat, and gloves
Silas:  My coat and my gloves.

What kind of pie did you bid on at our church pie auction?  What was your favorite thing about the auction?

Sarah:  My favorite thing was getting to eat the pie when we got home.  And, the soup was good.

Phoebe:  My favorite thing about the auction was the soup dinner.  I bid on a Strawberry YUMM-O pie.  I won the bidding and Mommy paid $51 for the pie.  It was worth it.

We had the Grant family Christmas get-together at our house in January.  Tell me about something that happened or you got to do during that weekend.

Sarah:  We got to swim at the hotel.  And, we got to play our basketball games which Ernie and Judy got to watch.

Phoebe:  I threw up.  I was feeling so bad all day Saturday.  I liked swimming at the hotel on Friday night.  When we were swimming I dove under and got the pennies off the bottom of the pool.

Silas:  I got to swim because Ernie and Judy were staying at the hotel.

FEBRUARY
On an especially nice day in February we met some friends at the zoo for the afternoon.  What was your favorite animal encounter or sighting during this zoo visit?

Sarah:  I liked the Meerkats and the Elephants swimming.

Phoebe:  The Elephants were playing in the water.

Silas:  The baby Orangutan and the Elephants swimming.

What is your favorite baby animal at the zoo right now?

Sarah:  The Meerkats.

Phoebe:  The two Meerkats.

Silas:  The Orangutan 

Did you enjoy your "Cruise" time at the church Valentine banquet?

Sarah:  I liked eating the fruit cookie and I liked the volleyball game.  

Phoebe:  We got to make fruit cookies with icing.  I also liked watching the movie Moana.

Silas:  Yes, I liked playing volleyball with the kids.

March
What did you like doing with Grandma Sharon during her visit in March?

Sarah:  I liked going to Spangles and getting my own cheesecake strawberry shake.  I liked getting my ears pierced and then I kind of liked going to the antique store and walking around with Grandma, Phoebe, and Mommy.

Phoebe:  I liked her coming to our basketball games.

Silas:  I liked going to Starbucks cause there was treats there like those cake pops.

What do you like/love about Grandma Great?  (We visited her in mid-March at her new home in Missouri.)

Sarah:  I liked it when she would come and watch my softball games.

Phoebe:  I liked going to the park in Olpe with her when she lived there.  And I like playing the piano for her to hear at her new home.

Silas:  Her playing the piano

We spent some time at Popee and Nanee's house over Spring Break.  What did you enjoy doing over those few days with them?

Sarah:  I liked going to the Sweet Granada.  Popee and I made a cobbler thing.  I liked playing with Taylor.  I liked playing the basketball games with Popee in the driveway.  I liked spending time with Shirley at her house.

Phoebe:  Going fishing and I caught a lot of fish and we used minnows.  I liked making fruit salad.

Silas:  We got treats at the Sweet Granada.  I liked playing Wii and playing outside.