Snowy sign of Spring

Day 51 - Two of the elements of this picture do not belong together: emerging plants and snow. Fortunately, one will go and one will stay.

Illinois Valley Festival Of Bands Celebrates 50 years

Day 50 - Every year for the past 50 years, bands from 3 area middle schools join together for a concert. This year, Nathanael's band director recognized the event with a list of very interesting statistics and recognitions. She acknowledged past participants of the festival including parents and siblings of current band members. She recognized past directors and families who have had numerous participants and directors. It was very interesting to see how some area families have become an integral part of music education in these 3 schools.

Kelli's Freak Accident

Day 49 - During gym class, Kelli was doing a head stand and lost her balance. Her knee came down and hit her in the eye. On the bright side, she missed the second half of the school day :)

High School Band Concert

Day 48 - Kelli had a band concert tonight. She has really enjoyed band this year! We are so blessed to have an excellent band program in our community.

First sign of Spring, finally!

Day 47 - Some flowers starting to peek up through the ground. It was a long, cold winter. It is fun to see some green!

8th graders shouldn't have this much homework!

Day 46 - This picture speaks for itself.

New Recipe - Braciole with Grape Tomatoes

Day 45 - I found a recipe in a magazine that looked and sounded really good. It calls for flank steak, which is hard to find, so I used another cut of beef. I can't remember what it was called. The butcher at Kroger suggested the cut and then tenderized it for me. I was pleased with how it the dish looked. It tasted good, but it was not outstanding. I plan to try it again with flank steak to see if that makes a difference. It was at least fun to try something new!

Church activity

Day 44 - We walked into the church for an activity. This is what we saw. We wondered if a newborn was a requirement to get in.

Carnival loot

Day 43 - We went to Savanna's school carnival this evening. It is a fun activity for the kids and a great fundraiser for the school. This is a picture of all the prizes that Savanna won.

Not too big

Day 42 - Savanna loves riding in the "car cart" at Kroger. I don't know how much longer she will be able to fit, but for now, she really enjoys it.

Power to the boy!

Day 41 - Nathanael was honored at a school board meeting for winning the school Geography Bee. He was being silly with his trophy.

Savanna's lovely attire

Day 40 - Savanna is all set for bed. She's a bit mismatched, but who really cares! She's still cute!!!

Island Elders

Day 39 - We have a couple of really terrific missionaries in our ward right now. Elder Kongaika is originally from Tonga and Elder Watson is from Hawaii. We think that it is pretty interesting that these wonderful Polynesian boys came all the way to cold Illinois to teach people here about Jesus Christ and that they get to be companions here in Ottawa. On this Valentine's Day we enjoyed a great evening with our friends, the Brown Family and the missionaries. The kids decided to help the missionaries feel at home with the straw hat and leis.

The basketball game

Day 38-Savanna has been playing basketball at the YMCA. Enjoy these videos from one of her games!

Pep band

Day 37 - Kelli played the cymbals for the Pep band for basketball games this year. She has enjoyed it and we enjoy going to watch. I really enjoy when they play Pirates of the Caribbean. Go Pirates!!!

100th day of school

Day 36 - Savannah celebrated 100 day at school today. They wore these glasses, made the 100 day hat, played games and read 100 day stories.

3 for 1 day

Day 35 - I am posting 3 pictures for today because I like them all. I guess this will make up for days that I don't take a picture. We all know that some days are more interesting than others.

7:00 p.m. - Kelli had a half day of school and I went shopping. She really needed a new jacket! Her old one was a triple hand me down and had seen better days. Several years ago, we got it at a garage sale for Kasey and then Kelli wore it. We found this cute, new jacket for Kelli at Farm & Fleet. Yes, I said, Farm & Fleet! You can buy just about anything there from horse grooming supplies to cute Kelli jackets, but I don't think they sell toilet paper or milk!

11:30 a.m. - Savannah's school has a parent lunch every year, so today I got to go each lunch with Savannah. The kids eat with their coats on because they go out for recess right after lunch. The food was pretty good and it was fun to visit with Savannah, her friends and their parents.

7:00 a.m. - This is Austin, one of the boys in Kelli's Seminary class. He was one of my students last year when I taught Seminary. Austin is excited because he just got his license! Doesn't he look excited?!!!

Valentine Decor

Day 33 - I found this Valentine decoration at Walgreens and thought it would look great on our door. I enjoyed a little Valentine decor. I took the picture inside because it was too cold to go out and take it. Brrrr!!!!.

Music Fest

Day 32 - Every year the schools hold a music fest involving all of the elementary and high school bands and choirs. The program starts with the youngest kids, builds to the high school musicians and ends with "God Bless America" performed by everyone together. It is a wonderful program!

Caption please...ANSWERS ARE HERE

Day 31 - Leave a comment with your answer to these questions:
1 - Who is it? - Savannah
2 - Who do you think is responsible? - Kent
3 - What caption would you give this picture? - Look what happens when Mom isn't watching :)

We look forward to hearing from you!

Food, Friends, Fun

Day 30 - At first, this may not look like it, but this a picture of fun! We enjoyed a terrific evening with new and not so new friends (notice I didn't say old friends). We had dinner with 2 families - 11 kids and 6 adults. Thanks for a great time everyone!!!
. It was great to have

Academic Team

Day 29 - One of Nathanael's favorite activities is the Middle School Academic Team. He enjoys trying to answer all the challenging questions.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 28 - The referendum passed and the school district can start building a new Central School!!! It will be terrific to get the students out of the Walmart building and into a real school!!!! To do our part, we posted signs like this in our cars and had a sign in the front yard.

Winter cycling in Illinois

Day 27 -Several years ago, I bought a trainer for my bicycle and this year, Kent bought one for his bike. It has been so nice to put in a movie and ride inside where it is warm and dry. I thought my trainer was terrific until he got his. Compared to Kent's trainer, mine is a big, loud dinosaur.

Can you smell it????!!!!!

Day 26 - Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! Homemade Bread!!!!