Saint Marguerite's Got Talent

A couple of week ago, Jorja brought home a sheet of paper saying her school was holding a talent show.  There was a section to fill out if you wanted to enter.  I asked her if she did and she said yes, she would like to play the piano.  The sheet also said that there would be auditions and that due to time constraints, not all acts would make it.  I'm not sure if anyone actually got cut, or if that was just their way of making sure kids took it seriously.  She picked her song, and practiced it regularly and last Friday had her audition.  It was over the lunch hour, and Ginny, CeCe and I happened to be driving home right around that time.  We stopped at the school to see if she wanted to come home for lunch after her audition.  We got there just as she was coming out of the audition room, and she saw us and came running over, "I made it!!" she said, beaming from ear to ear.

Fast forward to today.  The show started after lunch, and Julie took some time off work to see it, so we all went over to the school together.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was really well put together.  The gym was decorated, there was a spotlight, mikes, a sound system, electric guitars.  There are some really talented kids in that school.  And staff. 

I have a little aside to tell here.  It happened at the talent show, but doesn't really have to do with the talent show.  We were sitting fairly close to the front and kids were filing in class by class.  Jorja's class came in and her teacher came over to say hi.  It turned out that she was having a shake for lunch, and Jorja told her that her Mom has those lots too.  Her teacher replied that Julie had lost a lot of weight and was looking really good.  She asked Jorja if she knew how much weight she had lost.  Jorja said she didn't know, but made a gesture to her chest and said, "But these things aren't as pointy anymore."  There's honesty for you.

Okay, back to the show.  By the time the gym had filled up, it smelled like it was full of sweaty little kids.  I'm not sure how many there were, but with 2 classes of each grade, it must have been at least 250 kids.  Plus staff and some parents and family members.  It was full.  The first act was the principal and caretaker playing guitars and singing a rock version of The Lord's Prayer.  They were really good.  Then came a grade 4 girl who belted out Adele's Rolling in the Deep.  She was really good too.  Then came the reason we were there.  Jorja came out in front of all those people and played her song.  We were so proud of her.

Julie had to get back to work and CeCe was getting pretty fidgety, so we didn't stay to the end.  But when I picked Jorja up from school today, she said she got third place!  She was the only grade one student from either class to audition.  What a brave kid.  We are really proud of her.  Later.

Long weekend

In an effort to get the girls to sleep better (go to sleep, stay in bed all night and sleep until 7:00), we decided to use some positive reinforcement.  If they are good all week, there will be some sort of reward on the weekend.  Last week was good, so on Saturday we went to the library and then stopped at Petland.  The girls love getting books and especially Jorja now - she always has her nose in a book.  Anyway when we got to the pet store, this is what we saw.

I'm not sure if you can tell what is going on here, but this is a rat on top of the glass divider between the rat cage and and the mouse cage.  Gross.  He never did get the courage to come down, but I'm not sure what he would have done had he dropped to the mouse side.

On Sunday afternoon we all went for a bike ride and ended up at the 'red park.'  It's just a playground fairly close to us that is really nice.  The surface is made of rubber - it's way better than sand.  Here's a few shots of the fun there:

Today we started planting the garden.  We did a bunch of seeds, but no bedding plants yet.  After fighting with the rototiller for three days, I called a guy on Kijiji and had it done this morning.  There were too many weeds coming and it was getting to late.  It really needed to get tilled this weekend and that wasn't happening.  Now I have to fix the rototiller.  The girls had a blast planting:

There were some dirty feet and hands when we were done, but nothing a little hose couldn't cure.  CeCe didn't get into the planting yet this year, but she kept an eye on things:

Jorja and Ginny were busy jumping on the trampoline this afternoon too.  They were outside by themselves for a while and then came tearing into the house to get us to come watch them.  They both had their hats on backwards and had worked out a little 'play' for us.  So we watched.  They were jumping and and reciting what they had rehearsed.  Well, the two of them were laughing so hard, you couldn't understand a word they said.  When they finally calmed down enough, Ginny said, "Hey dudette, you look totally cool!"  Jorja replied, "You look totally cool too."  Then they turned and asked us what they were.  When we couldn't guess, they let us know:  "We're skateboarders!"  Oh, how did we miss it?  I guess the backward hats and the way they were talking were supposed to give it away.  Now we've got skater punks.  Later.

Six year old 'reality'

Soccer went much better for Ginny this week.  She played the whole game, had fun, made a new friend.  She wasn't too interested in touching the ball - she shied away whenever it came her way, but she followed the herd around at a safe distance.  Much more enjoyable than the ugly cry for an hour.  Jorja and I went along to watch her, so Jorja, Ginny and her new friend spent their time off the field playing tag.  I think that was more fun.

Jorja had skating tonight and Ginny came along to watch with me.  She had to bring her telescope to see better.

Jorja is doing pretty good.  Still a lot of 'walking' on the ice, but her balance is getting a lot better.  And she didn't spend the whole lesson sucking on her mitts this time.  Last week, it seemed she would fall just to get more snow onto her mitts so that she could eat it off.  It grosses me out.  I've played hockey.  I've seen hockey.  Hockey players spit.  A lot.  I told her this before today's lesson and it seemed to have worked.  That and the fact that I told her she couldn't have a sucker when it was over of she sucked on her mitts.  I know, I'm kind of mean.

The ride home was filled with the usual chatter in the backseat.  Jorja informed me that she would like to take art lessons now so that she could be an artist when she grows up.  That and a singer.  Ginny then chimed in that she only wanted to be a singer.  Jorja was quick to point out that that wasn't a real job.  "Being a singer isn't a real job Ginny.  You have to have a real job.  You just put on concerts and go on stage and sing.  You still need a real job.  Like being an artist.  That's a real job."  Alright then.  Good luck paying the bills with that one.  I'm not saying it's not possible, just not very likely.  Later.

The last little while...



Where has May gone?  I can't believe it's half over already.  Where to begin catching up?  We just celebrated Mother's Day yesterday.  The girls were bubbling with excitement - they HAD to serve Julie breakfast in bed.  Translation when your kids are 6, 4 and 2 - I had to serve Julie breakfast in bed.  But they got to deliver it and were thrilled.  Julie was thrilled with it too.  They also gave her all sorts of treasures they made at school and daycare.  We ended the day with an ice cream cone (see the photos to follow.)

Jorja had a field trip to the public library today.  One thing to remember is that kids' library cards don't get charged late fees.  However, when you are delinquent for long enough, they charge you for the book.  Yes, I'm speaking from experience.  So I went to the library yesterday to settle her account so that she could take a book out today.  When I got there, the librarian told me that if I could find the book, I would only be charged five dollars.  I know where the book is, I just thought we were stuck paying for it.  I decided to pay it so that she was good for her field trip.  (If I bring the book back within the next six months, I'll get my money back)  So after I paid, I double-checked that we were all good.  "She's not going to be traumatized tomorrow when she can't take out a book?" I asked.  The librarian then decided to have a little fun with me.  She said, "That really is the fear isn't it.  She'll come in and we'll say 'Do you know what your fines are at little girl?  Now get out!(pointing to the door)'"  Then she had a good chuckle.  So did I.

Ginny started soccer last week and I'll just say that I hope this week is better.  She started out fairly hesitant and ended up crying uncontrollably until we left early.  CeCe and Jorja had fun playing on the playground instead of watching.  Oh well.  Here's to tomorrow.   

Jorja came home today and asked me, "Dad, when can I start to make my own lunch?"  Excuse me?  Did I hear that correctly?  "Whenever you want!" I said.  I hate making lunches.  So she made her own lunch right then before supper.  When Julie got home from work, Jorja filled her in.  She's so excited to eat her lunch now because it will taste better now that she made it.  I think it will taste better because I didn't have to make it.

Here's some pictures from the last little while:

Best friends





Best friends 2



   

Being goofy



CeCe helping make the bed

 



Mother's Day ice cream treat





Slightly messier...



A lot messier

Later.