old mother's day card

Found this old mother's day card from Max. I think it just from last year, but I got a giggle out of it this week.

Yo mom--

My mom rocks.
She cleans my socks (and underwear)

Emily's freewriting assignment--subject, tuna

I found this in Emily's English papers and thought it was quite entertaining. She said the freewriting topic for the day was tuna, and truly, what DO you write about tuna?

I love tuna. We don't have any. I am sad.
I think I shall go sit in a corner and mope.
Or maybe I'll fall apart where I'm standing.
Life. Don't talk to me about life. Or tuna.
I like tuna. We don't have any. I am sad...
You know, strangely, I feel like I've told you that before.

Sam's Essay

If I were a singer, I would do many songs. I would write a song called, "The Bird Without Wings."

I know you have no wings.
You know how it is so uncool.
I know I do not feel it, man.
So I feel. Oh. Oh.
I feel so like the way so
I know, oh.
I know, yeah.
I know. I know.
So it is what I know.

After I write the song, I will perform it in front of a crowd with my band. My brother Max and some of his friends are in my band. I am the singer. We are going to perform the song in New York City. Millions of people will be at the concert. There will be a hundred girls chasing me. I would be happy to be a rock star. I would travel all around the world to sing songs. In my house, I would have a mini stage to practice with my band, and I would have a glowing ceiling, and a very soft carpet, and a couch and band equipment. Reporters will ask questions. I wouldn't go to school because I would have concerts everywhere instead.

Kid Updates

Shall I brag a little bit about my children? My mother always really embarrassed me by telling all of my accomplishments to absolutely everyone, but I think inside I was secretly pleased... So, here goes...

We are very proud of Emily for being in the top ten percent nationwide in the Iowa testing in every subject, and the overall scores. Way to go Emily! She also has straight A's and feels a little miffed at receiving 97 percent instead of 99 or 100 in one of her classes. She also wrote a great play with her friends about Nikola Tesla for the school history fair, and took second place, therefore she will be moving on to regionals. Her photograph won 1st place in the school arts competition, too. She was also just selected to be in the middle school honor band next month. Indulge me...I'm a proud mother!

Max was invited to read his reflections poem in front of the school board this evening. He had received honorable mention at the district level, and so was invited to open the school board meeting with a reading. I think he was a little embarrassed, but he did very well. I think I've previously posted the poem--Wow! What a pumpkin. He has also earned his Webelos award in scouts.

Sam won 3rd place in his school arts competition with an essay entitled, "What if I were a singer?" I'll post this separately. Sam also had really good grades at his parent teacher conference. (can't report on Max yet, his conferences are tomorrow.)

Ginny quote of the week..."Mom, I'm little AND big." How true! Little enough to loved to be cuddled. Big enough to not be carried anymore. Little enough to love lullabies and stories. Big enough to be independent as she waves and runs into school. Little enough for band-aids and kisses to still make the hurts go away. Big enough to not want to be left out of the big kids' activities. Etc.

Christmas morning pictures

Kid quotes

Ginny to her big sister: "Emily, I'm gorgeous!"

Sam and Ginny were acting out the nativity story with their grandparents. Papa was the innkeeper, and of course Sam and Ginny were Joseph and Mary. The rest of us were shepherds and sheep. When "Mary and Joseph" knocked on the innkeeper's door, he answered the door in quite a gruff voice. Joseph froze for a minute, then elbowed Mary and whispered, "You ask!"

Max's surgery

Max survived his triple surgery this past weekend. All minor things, but scary for him. The worst recovery has been from the tonsillectomy. He wasn't able to eat much at Thanksgiving. He didn't talk much for several days, either. He was brave for the surgery though, he was cracking jokes for the nurses, and said it made him feel better to laugh. The worst part for him, I think was getting in the IV. He has been really quiet this week, which in a way has been very nice.
We had a fun Thanksgiving at Tutu and Papasan's house. Nice to just relax with the family and play silly games, etc.

The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy. Tons of concerts both for me and my kids. We'll have to take it one day at a time.

Also, I will mention that max's two reflections projects were both chosen to go on to the district competition. Emily will be doing her school spelling bee next week.
Max got to perform the song he wrote on the awards night with two other boys from his "band." I think he felt pretty cool performing on his guitar for the first time.

Vote Today!

I'm voting today. Even though my vote won't count in Utah, I'm still glad to exercise my American privilege to vote. Go Obama!
(My neighbors wouldn't like to hear me say that!)

Emily

I've written something about each of the other kids, so I'll take a moment to comment on Emily. I know she has just barely stepped into the teenage years, but truly, she is a lovely teenager. I've been waiting for the storm to begin, but so far so good. Don't get me wrong, we all have our moments of grumpiness (hers are mostly hair-related), but I am feeling grateful to have such a thoughtful, responsible, and generally kind-hearted daughter. (Can you hear me knocking on wood even as I am typing this?) I watched her play on the floor with Ginny and her new birthday toys last week--lovely. She will frequently tuck her little sister into bed, or read to Sam and Ginny. Her teachers all rave about how responsible she is, and her friends' parents all tell me that Emily is just the best, and most creative and fun friend. She is even starting to do her chores without complaining. So far, I think thirteen is pretty great. Of course, fourteen is coming, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Sam, the reader

Sam proudly announced after school yesterday, "Mom, we have another reader in the family!" He was feeling very proud of himself because he was able to read all of the directions on his math homework without help. And what better title is there than "reader" ? Welcome, Sam, to the world of books!

Ginny's Birthday

Our little princess is now 5 years old! It was celebrated in grand style, of course, with an impromptu birthday party on Saturday, her grandparents came over for cake and presents on Sunday, and we opened family presents on her actual birthday. Whew! She had quite a bit of attention for a whole week, but then yesterday she said, "Mommy, how come I don't get any letters or packages anymore?" Ahhh, to be queen for the day...or week... or month....year?

Max the poet

Max has written a couple of cute poems recently. One is for the school reflections contest, and that is below. The other one, I'm trying to find to post, because I really liked it. But, it has gone missing. So, here is his Reflections entry. (He also wrote a cute blues tune called, "Wow is in my mind.")

Wow! What a Pumpkin!
by Max Teuscher

We were walking down the path
On a pretty autumn day.
Wow! We saw a giant pumpkin
UP and yonder where it lay.
We took it home to carve,
And although we did it beautifully,
It was for the pumpkin seeds we starved.

When we tried to roll it home
on that pretty autumn day,
we lost our grip on the pumpkin,
and we watched it roll away.
It was rolling through the woods,
and we thought that it was gone,
so we chased it through the woods,
and found it in the pond.

We went back home and pulled out our canoe
And we were very glad we had it, wouldn't you be too?
So we rode into the pond in our little red canoe,
and we couldn't get it out, so we thought what to do.
We found a 10 foot rope and a sharpened hook,
so then we took, we took, we took the pumpkin through the water.

We reeled it home and we left ourselves a trail
of pumpkin tracks.
And then when we got home we enjoyed our pumpkin seed snacks!

Emily's 4H hat and dress

Here is the hat Emily knit for 4H this year. It was fun for her to learn how to use circular needles. She sewed this dress, also. Unfortunately, the picture was accidentally taken in sepia, which is not the cutest for a black and white dress. I'll have to take another picture sometime. The dress was challenging because it had sleeves, a lining, and a zipper--all new skills for her. She did a great job, though, and got a blue ribbon at the fair.

Emily's 4H photos

Emily took some really excellent photos for 4H this year. Three of them were chosen for the state fair, and one of them was chosen as the best of show. I'm posting a few to show her excellent work. Can you guess which one was the grand prize winner?
Dad picked it right away.

There is no good reason why I put these two photos in the same blog entry, other than I thought I would post them both, and they didn't fit with anything else. I wanted to put up this picture of Trevor in his Father's Day tie because it is definitely a sign of a true loving Dad who would wear a tie like this in public just because his kids decorated it for him.
And, I thought this was a cute picture of my Dad and Ann.