Farrand Talent Show & Piano Recital all in one night (05.22.2008)

Apologies for the lack of posts ... but we've been pretty busy. The kids had a piano recital and their school talent show both on the same night. Basically, they played their pieces at their piano recital and then we shuffled off to the middle school where the school talent show was held. It was a busy, but fun night! Enjoy the performances.

Anita and her piano recital performances.


Minnie and his piano recital performances.


Anita and her talent show performances. (Apologies for the blurriness and initial confusion ... I thought she was going to be on the stage, too!)


Minnie and his talent show performances.

Farrand Talent Show Dress Rehearsal # 3 (05.13.2008)

Today was the talent dress rehearsal for all of the kids participating. We missed the second rehearsal due to the cruise. Oh well. There were some really great performances which included our kids (of course).

Here is Anita ...


and here is Minnie!
..

Farrand Poetry Slam (04.16.2008)

The Farrand PTO, Farrand Elementary and Barnes and Noble partnered together for a really cool "Poetry Slam" event. The kids read their own poems, watched magic performances and learned juggling from Mr. Jones (Our principal's husband). Very cool. Even more cool was that all proceeds of sales by Farrand families were given to the school. Below are some pictures of the event. Enjoy!

(L) Anita read her haiku to an enthusiastic audience.
(R) Minnie learning how to juggle with handkerchiefs first with Mr. Jones.


(L) Minnie did not want to hang out in the kids section anymore. I found him in this section.
(R) Thank goodness it was a handkerchief that landed on Minnie's head and not hard balls!


A bit OT, I know, but I thought I'd show you what Minnie made me for my birthday: A broom and dustpan out of tape, cotton swabs and paper. Good lord.

Talent Show Audition @ Farrand (04.15.2008)

Yesterday, Anita and her classmates all auditioned for the talent show at the school auditorium. The kids were split in two groups. There were dance acts, a very strange comic routine, and a couple of guitarists. Surprisingly, she was the only pianist in the talent show this year.

Minnie got roped in the talent show as well when he was playing Yummers' "Magician" song on the piano after the auditions were over. One of the third grade teachers, Mr. Hammond, said, "Hey, why aren't you in the talent show?" and put Minnie on the spot. He said his infamous, "I don't know." Then, Mr. H. said, "Do you want to be in the talent show?" Yummers said, "Yes, do it, Minnie!" His Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Fryberger, said, "You can do it, Michael!" So, he's signed up now, and he'll be doing his recital pieces for both the recital and school talent show.

FYI ... their teacher's recital and school talent show are on the same time and night. Sheesh ~ we're going to have the kids do the recital first and then hop over to the school for the talent show.

Here she is ... sans microphone though!

Tony Bennett Live @ The Detroit Opera House (06.15.2007)

MJM and Yummers went to see Tony Bennett perform live at the Detroit Opera House on Friday. I had to study for an exam, so I did not go, and Yummers went in my place. From the pictures and video that MJM took, it looked like it was a fun show.

They were back by 9.45 PM! Minnie and I went to see Music in the Park and had a blast! We stayed there until about 9.30 ourselves.

In any case, enjoy the pictures and video!

We had Row H tickets on the main floor. Here is Yummers in her seat!


The great Tony Bennett himself.


A cool arty farty picture of Mr. Bennett.


A song clip for your enjoyment!

Last Day of School (06.15.2007)

The kids finished another school year which is really hard to believe. I'm proud to say that they advanced another grade... Thank goodness. :O)

Anita doing a fun activity on the last day of school.


Minnie and his buddy, Adam, on the last day of school.


The kids in front of the sign.

Troop # 84: World Thinking Day & Cookie Booth

Besides school and homework, there were two Girl Scouts activities that we participated in after school. One was World Thinking Day where each troop from Farrand was assigned a country, and they had to design their table with books / posters / etc. Our troop also provided tea and shortbread for the treat table. Our troop was assigned England which was a cinch for an Anglophile family like ours ~ LOL. Our troop's table had books, cool knickknacks and the Yellow Submarine movie playing on a laptop.

Each troop went to a different table to make a craft and then near the end of the evening had snacks like Italian Ice, Soapillas, Kelloggs Frosted Flakes (from Battle Creek, MI) and more. This was Yummers' favourite part as you can imagine.

Then, on Thursday, Yummer, Minnie, Dad and I went to Lowe's to sell Girl Scout cookies with Maren. We had a lot of fun despite the rain and sleet from earlier in the day. One man asked Minnie what kind of cookies he would like. Minnie replied, "Shortbread!" The man bought a box of shortbread and shared with the kids. Then, another gentleman bought three boxes for the kids. It was very generous. Finally, another man asked how many boxes $ 20.00 would buy. He bought five boxes from the kids. Not too bad!

02.28.2007: World Thinking Day
Anita and our table.


The girls are acting silly.


"It's a good thing that we came tonight, mom!"


03 01 2007: Girl Scout Cookie Booth
Minnie, Yummer and Maren.


Mmmm .... The merchandise!


Here are the boxes the kids picked out on behalf of our generous patron.


Lauren and Monique join in the fun.

Troop # 84: Charlotte's Web at the Michigan Theatre (02.04.2007)

Yesterday, the family went to the Michigan Theatre and saw a play adaptation of "Charlotte's Web" with Yummers' Brownie Troop. I haven't been to the Michigan Theatre in years, but it still was a splendid sight to behold. The plaster medallions and details were as colourful as they were years ago. Prior to the play starting, there was an organist playing children's tunes by the stage. There were a few sound issues, but overall, it was very charming. The actress who played Charlotte captured her voice perfectly in my opinion. As an FYI, the performance troop were from NYC.

Off-topic a bit ... Michael took a picture of our external thermometer. It was ZERO degrees and 62 degrees in our house. It was bloody cold outside!


A picture of the stage and props. See the organist in the bottom left?


We had a snack and beverage at Border's across the street after the show. Then, we headed home in a mild winter storm where Yum and I dropped Dad and Minnie off. The girls headed to the store, and the boys started insulating the parlour walls.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It's cold outside (02.03.2007)

It's been several years since we've had really cold weather as well as accumulation. The kids and dad went outside to build a little ice pond in the back. They managed to shovel the snow to form a pond. However, it was so cold that the water would not flow out of the outside spigot. Urgh. Well, Minnie kept going and shovelling snow around lasting 30 minutes before I called him inside.

Here are the kids before they went outside.


Yummers is shovelling show...


... while Minnie is adjusting his mask.

Happy Birthday, Scoog! (01.31.2007)

Today is Yummers' birthday! We made cupcakes for her class snack last night. It was fun, a wee bit messy and delicious!

More later! :O)

EDIT: Her classlmates LOVED the cupcakes. We did bring a few home and the serving tray. All cupcakes should have cream cheese frosting.

Here are a few pictures from our birthday party at home!


The birthday balloons from Granny and Groom-Gram!


Last, but not least, the birthday girl!
(If you're wondering what that long dangly silver tube is, it's part of our Unico system that provides central air in our house. It will be put back up, don't worry! :O))

The GWL Experience (01.27.2007)

We went to The Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) in Mason, OH on Saturday as a surprise for Yummers' birthday. We sent a letter to Yummers in the mail that said that there was a birthday surprise for her, but she had to solve some clues to get to the answer. She solved the questions and wanted to see Wiley Wolf and the surprise. We drove up to the GWL, and Yummers said, "I'd really like to stay here next year for my birthday" still not realising this was for her! We walked through the long corridors to get to the room where the surprise was ("Kids Kamp") and saw a present wedged in the door. The kids saw a white shoe, went inside and realised it was Granny and Groom-Gram! LOL! The kids were tricked!

It was a lot of fun going down the waterslides, and the food for a resort park was excellent. The sushi-grade tuna and greens that I had for dinner were delicious.

Anyhow, on to the picutres!

The kids at the entrance.


Yummers taking a pause in fun to pose for the camera...


and so is Minnie!


Dinner time! (Nice hat, Minnie!)


Here is the clip I took of the surprise dessert. They came earlier then I expected as you can tell! :O)