AWANA awards night

Last night was AWANA awards at church. This year we had 3 in AWANA clubs, in fact, one in each of Cubbies, Sparks and Truth and Training. All finished their books, and learned lots of verses! Hannah had a little rivalry going with one of the boys in her class (the blonde next to her!) and ended up finishing her book, going through it a 2nd time as review, then doing a workbook too! I think that kind of rivalry is really nice myself! Hope Hannah and David continue that!


Johnny really enjoyed his first year in Cubbies and got a reputation for learning his verses very thoroughly. It is a joy to hear him recite so many verses! It helped that his teachers loved him, and one pronounced him "genius"!

Rebekah also enjoyed her year, and the way that she learned her verses and finished her book seemed so effortless! This year they started later, and it seems like they ended earlier. I was worried they wouldn't be able to finish the book.

Found the camera AND battery charger!

Found my camera, found the battery charger! So here are some pictures from our um, March birthdays! yikes. I'm behind! Hannah's request was to go to the build a bear workshop and spend a gift card she had. Johnny took a friend to Chuck E Cheese's.

Another March happening, was Hannah's big masterclass experience. A big name in Suzuki Violin circles was in the San Diego area, and gave a group lesson and masterclass. Hannah loved it, and wants to go again!

The girls have been in a strings class at our Friday School, and they played in chapel last week. It is something new for them, to play the violin with others, and in front of people!

They both have a recital coming up next month too. We are busy practicing, listening, practicing and practicing some more. In fact, I think maybe I need to play with them. We ALL know the pieces very well by now!

Of cameras and pictures

I miss posting pictures.

Recently, we went on a superb field trip to Riley's farm. It was a gold rush tour, and from the time we stepped on the property, all the people there were "in character". The kids tried to explain how they got to the farm, but the woman didn't understand how an engine, that ran on something like kerosene, could work with a mule : )

After all the kids were assembled, they were given instructions on how a gold tour worked: what supplies they should take, what food should be taken etc. We then embarked on a 50 mile hike to the gold fields. Fortunately, it was a short 50 miles and we were there in about 10 minutes!

From there, we were given a quick history of how gold towns sprang up when there was a "gold strike", and how they went from small tent cities, to shacks, to more solid/permanent cabins, and then sometimes, to ghost towns. They also explained how the quest for gold worked, how the kids might be able to earn money in order to buy supplies to get gold, how to take gold to the assay office. . . . . and then, the kids were turned loose, with the words "go get rich!".

For the next couple hours, they learned to work for gold nuggets, trade those nuggets for supplies (shovels, pans etc) in order to get more gold, how to stake a claim, and some even learned about claim jumpers! Hannah was delighted when she went to trade her gold, to find that the assay office worker was Irish! He said that since she had that red hair and blue eyes, she must be Irish too, and so should get extra money for that gold!

At the end of the trip, they all got a "miners ration" for lunch. Corn bread, beef jerky, a slice of cheese and an apple. To go with it, all the gold town people discussed all that had gone on. I knew they were getting through to the kids when one of the men opened by saying "how many of ya'll did I rip off today?" What a lot they all learned, without realizing it was more than just play.

but I digress. I have no pictures of that day, because my camera battery was dead, and my OTHER camera, only had dead batteries, and a spare set of dead batteries. ugh. When we got home, I couldn't find the battery charger.

So yesterday, I searched and searched, and FOUND that battery charger in the "safe" place where I had put it. Unfortunately, the camera is now in a safe place. Yes, a safe place that I can't find. I'm hoping that one day, the camera and battery charger will meet, and have a happy reunion. Until then, no pictures!