Paige’s Foreign Language

German  seemed the perfect choice for Paige when we discussed languages because our neighbor and mother of her best friend is from Germany. Paige has used Rosetta Stone but also receives tutoring from our neighbor, Heike twice a week. Heike’s daughter and another home school friend also take lessons. The girls are 14-15 years old and they have enjoyed a great year of German lessons together. They use the textbook, Deutsch Aktuell.

On Friday, the three girls did some presentations for their families. They each made a relief map of Germany and presented them in German. Next, they shared presentations about German composers. Paige chose C.P.E. Bach and then performed the piece, Solfeggietto on the piano. The other girls played pieces by Beethoven and J.S. Bach. It felt very Jane Austen having the young ladies play the piano for the company.

Here is Paige with Mark putting the finishing touches on her map of Germany.

And here are the girls giving their group presentation:

Once the presentations were complete, we ate an authentic German meal which involved a lot of cream and all other good things. What a lovely evening.

5th Birthday

“Prepare to be amazed…,” said Mark to one of his friends this week. Yes, friends. Prepare to be amazed by this high-powered achiever and sweetheart. He’s not going to let his status as youngest brother dictate for himself any portion of anonymity. He’s a determined little guy who savors a good ride on a swing and has consumed more peanut butter than I have in my lifetime.

We love you, Mark!

 

 

More History stuff…

… because I’ve been sick and I need some validation for what we do.

The boys went on an adventure in the mountains this weekend. I stayed home in bed, as sick as could be. It was so quiet. I read Confessions by Saint Augustine and watched Cranford. Paige went off with a friend. It was the second time in two weeks that I found myself alone, but unable to do anything interesting. And by interesting, I mean prepare for Mark’s birthday and make homemade poppy accoutrements. I splurged and bought a Martha Stewart magazine last week and now I MUST HAVE POPPIES in my life.

I’m all better now and I’m getting ready for my last home school club meeting on Friday. I’m stepping down as leader and I’m trying to go out with a bang. I need more time to focus on my own kids and I need more unstructured time.

Hot Pursuit

I took this series of pictures from across the field at P.E. class. Timothy was the last person to be tagged in “Sharks and Minnows” because he is FAST. And yes, there were many more children there than just Daniel and Timothy!

 

Daniel is out of breath; Timothy is giggling. As a result, each collapsed in order to regain composure.

The Folks

We’ve been entertaining guests. Since we are not very good at conversation or selling ourselves as interesting (I’m convinced it’s all in the selling… ), we compensate by eating interesting food when company comes. Richard smoked some ribs and chicken. We feasted on various things and ate a few pounds of Utah candy. It was nice to have Richard’s parents at our place.

We celebrated our 16th anniversary by having our portrait taken. It’s one of our best. I fell asleep as I was putting Mark to bed and didn’t find my anniversary gift on my bedside table until the day after, confirming that I am just as awesome a wife as this picture portrays.