Concert, Play, Photo Shoot, Food Storage, Birthday… All In One Week

Monday-Enjoyed a day with no real demands outside of the ordinary routines.

Tuesday– Cleaned out my messy hallway closet so my parents had somewhere to put their things when they came. Nana and Papa arrived for a fun filled visit.

Wednesday-Hunter’s orchestra concert was held in the evening on the Concordia University campus. It is a beautiful little campus with a nice music hall that made our impressive son and his classmates sound wonderful. Hunter has been taking violin lessons at school this year along with half of the other fourth graders. He hates practicing, but hopefully he could hear how well it paid off during the performance. Hunter has great music teachers and we all thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The fourth graders started out the night playing three pieces on their violins and violas including “Shark Attack,”which seemed to be the kids’ favorite. Then the older kids played with some on strings and the others on wind instruments. The crowd favorite was their rendition of “Teddy Bear Picnic” which featured a dozen of the kids playing kazoos. We are so proud of our musician!

Thursday– It was a bright, sunny morning, so my Dad and I decided to go take pictures at mission San Juan Capistrano. It was gorgeous there with all of the gardens and the historical buildings. We had a great time, and I liked to watch him find the best shots and learn more about photography and how to best use the camera and it’s lenses. He had some really stunning photos, and I took a few that I was really happy with too. I don’t often get one-on-one time with my Dad, so it was a wonderful morning.

That afternoon Emma was in a school performance of Annie. She took an after school class and although it was simple (no set, just costumes), we all loved watching her perform in the play. She played an orphan named Kate in the beginning of the play, and Rosie (the Rooster character which was changed a bit to work for a girl) and was of course the best in the show. She really shines on stage and loves to put on a show. She sang her songs well and remembered her choreography in the little dances. Emma’s debut was delightful.

In the evening, my mom and I went to Enrichment night at the church. She was the keynote speaker on the subject of “Creative Pantry Cooking.” She continues to surprise me with her vast knowledge on food storage, what to store, and what to do with it. And I love, love, love her food calculator. She designed her own based on the food pyramid recommendations and it is way better than the old school types that tell you to store 500 pounds of wheat and 50 gallons of vegetable oil etc. She is working on getting an e-book up on her blog with all the information you need to start your food storage from scratch. (As an aside, just last night I saw a report on the news about how our country’s corn supply is being ruined by flooding, so food prices are bound to go up even higher. Start storing now!) Her presentation was fabulous and well received. She was bombarded with questions and compliments afterwards, so I think people really enjoyed hearing the hows and whys of food storage.

Friday-Hunter turned 10. Yes, it was Hunter’s birthday and he has reached double digits. Oh My Goodness! For dinner he chose Costco “chicken bakes”, and I added salad and fruit for the rest of us. He picked a coconut cake and ice cream for dessert and it was delicious. We were lucky that Aunt Jeanette was able to come down and celebrate with us and bring the coolest rocket kite that Uncle Dan picked out for him. We love having Hunter as our oldest son. I can sympathize when he gets frustrated with being the oldest child, because I had those same feelings. It can feel like a lot of pressure when he is expected to do more than the rest of the kids and try everything first. Hunter is really getting into Star Wars now, which for some reason he had never seen before this year. He is always coming up with new inventions and has built quite a few contraptions including an elaborate Leprechan trap, a teeter totter, stores, vehicles, and forts. He is a sweetie, and although he would never believe it, I have a hard time telling him no. He’s just so cute.

Update: