Faster, faster!

I was struggling with the timing on slip jig so I got out my handy-dandy metronome. As I was playing, it felt like the metronome was going faster and faster. "Surely not!" I thought, so I adjusted the tempo slower. Again it seemed to go faster and faster. Finally, I noted the beat number before and after I set it. Sure enough, the weight was slipping down and speeding up the metronome.

Spiraling Up

Gwen and her friends in Spiral Scouts had their spiraling up ceremony yesterday.  They were promoted from FireFly level to Spiral Scouts level.  Their badge work will now be a little more involved and they get to take on new responsibilities during camping trips and field trips.  To celebrate the day, we all made ice cream sundaes for snack.

Then the girls, including our only FireFly scout, learned about strategies for building a good campfire.  Check out their hard work:

Too cool for the kitchen

Gwen was helping me cook today.  One of her jobs was to help chop the shallots.  However, the shallots made her eyes teary so she put on sunglasses.  How cool is this:

Cat that ate the canary

I took the girls to get their passport photos taken.  They were both really, really excited about the idea of getting a passport and traveling the world.  But, Gwen didn't want to show her braces and Caitlin was trying to be a bit serious, I think.  So, both of them smiled with their mouths shut.  Huge smiles but not a glimpse of teeth!  Imagine a cat that has been salivating over her owner's precious pet canary for months.  Imagine the cat has just caught the bird and still has it in her mouth but doesn't want the owner to see the bird.  This is exactly what their passport photos look like.

Beautiful Day

It was such a beautiful day!  I took the girls up to the park on our bikes.  (Yay!  I can finally ride my bike again.)  They played so nicely.  Then, they helped me make dinner at home.

Gwen is trying out a new sport: lacrosse.  Check her out!

In Gwen's own words

Jeffers Hill Elementary has this "Positive School Climate Quiz" where kids read a chart about expected school behaviors and answer questions about them.  One of the questions was "List one rule for showing that you are respectful in the lunchroom".  

The chart shows 

• Line up single file with hands and feet to self
• Use appropriate and quiet language
• Keep eating area clean
• Demonstrate polite table manners

But, of course, Gwen cannot simply copy verbatim from the chart.  She wrote "Use polite table manners and eat like a human".

I love that.  I think they should make a poster that says that for the lunchroom.  

10 simple things that make Gwen happy

1.  Watching airplanes, jets in particular.
2.  Looking at helicopters.
3.  Watching birds.
4.  Playing made up games in the backyard with friends.
5.  Climbing
6.  Reading about airplanes.
7.  Pretending to skydive off the playset.
8.  Planting and nurturing her corn, beans, and potato plants that she planted all by herself.
9.  Swimming.
10.  Pretending to be a pilot.