Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Suzuki Institute 2013

Suzuki Institute was so many things...it was inspirational, challenging, exciting, tiring, educational, and fun.  Grandma Chelle and Bubba rented a house for us to stay in for the week.  It was SO NICE to have a house and not be in a hotel.  We were all able to sleep well.  We were able to cook and eat normal food.  We had a hot tub in the back yard where the kids swam every spare second they could find.  I was able to take the younger kids back there each afternoon for naps and quiet time.  

The trickiest thing about having multiple children going taking classes is that they all need a parent attending class with them and most of their classes are at the same time.  Jackson was taking teacher training classes, so he wasn't able to help with that.  Grandma Chelle and I worked things out between the two of us and were able to get everyone where they needed to be and somehow take care of the little ones at the same time.  Thomas and Nicholas had classes almost all day and Estella had two hours of classes in the morning.  It was crazy, but worth every effort!  

I wish I would have taken more pictures, especially of the kids in their classes, but honestly I just couldn't manage it with Alexander and Eleanor.  I am happy that I took some back at the rental house.





This is Estella with her master class teacher.  Estella worked on making rivers and hills with her bow hand wrist.


Thomas practicing with Grandma Chelle right before going to bed.

Grandma and Grandpa Groesbeck, Aunt Jamie and Uncle Jordan, and Aunt Kaci and Uncle Jake came when they could throughout the week to spend some time with us.  This is Grandma reading a bedtime story.


The kids were all finished with their classes and concerts Friday around 1:30.  Jackson wasn't finished with his classes until almost 6:00.  We had to check out of the rental house at 11:00, so that left the kids and I about 4 hours to kill (right during naptime no less).  Grandma Chelle and Bubba were SO kind and thoughtful.  As soon as they realized this, they told me they were going to stay and help me.  I was so relieved!  We decided to go to Scheels which was really close.  Bubba treated the older three kids to a ride on the ferris wheel (a first for all of them).  Then we walked around and looked at fish and stuffed animals.  We also did some fun virtual fish pictures.




Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Summer Days

The past few weeks our summer has been so relaxed.  We have spent a lot of time reading, playing games, going for morning walks (before it gets too hot), working in the garden together, practicing instruments, etc.  Hooray for summertime!