Floyd County 4H Fair

Our county fair is going on this week. I saw that there was a talent show and asked Millie if she wanted to be in it. Sure, she said. It had to be less than 3 minutes so she couldn't do Let it Go or Rolling in the Deep because they were too long and she needs a full size piano for Rolling in the Deep and since they didn't provide a piano, we had to take our keyboard. So we decided Piano Man would be the best option, she just had to drop a few verses. No biggie. 

When I realized the show was going to be on the outdoor stage, she also had to memorize it because her music would blow away. She was up for the challenge. 

It worked out that my mom and dad were already going to be there that night helping with the Farm Bureau exhibit so that was convenient. 

Laura, Joe and Jacob came to watch too, of course. 

She ended up doing great!  She scored 96 out of 100 points and earned 1st place!

After the show (after she got out of that dress of course) we enjoyed the fair. Being the second smallest county in Indiana doesn't produce a very large fair but the kids still had fun. 

I think reed had plenty of fun too, this was him when I pulled in the garage. 

Summer

We are in our second week of summer break. My mom has taken the kids to The Falls of the Ohio and across the Big Four Bridge. They have both enjoyed a week of tennis camp. Millie got braces and then we went to the new splash park afterward. Millie spent the night at a friends house earlier this week and Reed had a friend over. One evening after work Reed and Rick rode their bikes to Huber's to eat some fresh strawberry ice cream. I'd agree 14 miles earned an ice cream treat. 

We are quite enjoying our low key summer so far. Of course the kids have played at home more in the past 2 weeks then they had the rest of the year combined I think. There has been some Fusion softball thrown in there but both kids chose to not play All Stars this year. That has really freed us up a lot. I think Millie's coach called us about 4 or 5 times and wanted to be certain she wasn't playing but she never caved, she just didn't want to and that was fine by me. 

Reading while the other one was at tennis...

Braces!

First World Problems...

...When you just don't have enough space for your trophies. 

Millie's travel team won another tourney this weekend. This one wasn't planned. Our coach was trying to find a team to scrimmage this past weekend but couldn't. We need to prepare for going to the World Series next month and he wanted to try some things out. We couldn't find a team so we entered this tourney and were just treating it like practice, seeing what we could do with our second pitcher and the bottom of our lineup. We went in number 3 seed to bracket play but that didn't stop us from sweeping the day Sunday out scoring the opponent 18-3. Good job girls on another win. 

The Reds Win!

Millie's team didn't win season champs but they won the tourney. They played great and the game wasn't even close. Her team really improved a lot from the start of the summer and Millie's pitching is really coming along!

Millie and Caroline watching another game.

Our Fusion pitcher, Lexi, played for the other team.

Fan Club

Mother's Day - A Bit Late

It usually comes and goes with not much fan fare for me, I have come to expect it at this point. Maybe one day my kids actually surprise me with something. Until then, I have to beg my kids to spend the day with me, Millie felt sorry for me and didn't abandon me this year. We went to the Bats game with my sister and Jacob.

We had a lot of fun, the moms all got free visors and flowers when we walked in. They were also doing free manicures and massages but Laura and I didn't do that. Millie and Jacob were asked to go out on the field before the game and yell "Play Ball!" It was a lot of fun. Kids also eat free at the games on Sunday's, who knew??

The Red's Fought Hard

Millie's rec team has fought hard this season and our girls have come a long way. They won their game tonight which will put them in the championship game this weekend. Millie says she always plays better when special people come to watch her. Thanks for coming mom and dad!

No More Nuts

Reed's Nuts team had their first and last tourney game on Monday. There were 9 teams in Reed's league and their team went in with a number 3 seed. Much more than we would have ever thought at the start of the season. Monday night they just couldn't hit the ball as well as usual and ended up losing by just 1 run. So his season ended a bit earlier than we had thought it would but I don't think he was too upset about it. I look forward to continuing to see him improve and learn more about the game.

Last Day Of School

The kids on the last day of school. I almost forgot to take pictures, oops!

Reed is moving on to second grade and he will have the same teacher Millie and Jacob had, I am super excited about that. She is amazing and I am not worried about him at all.

We have met Millie's teachers for next year as well. I don't know them but I have heard good things. She will continue in the EXCEL program in Middle School which will stay on an accelerated leaning pace.

They will still both go to school with me in the mornings, though, and Millie will catch the Middle School bus from the Elementary School which will be very convenient since Middle School starts about and hour and a half after Elementary School.

The only awards first grade does is perfect attendance and Reed got it. Proud of both of my kids for achieving that. They love school and always want to go. Just for the record, I didn't miss any school days this year either but they don't give any awards for that. They should. Well, maybe they do, it's called a paycheck...

So Long Elementary School

She's only 9 years old but her elementary time is over. Millie graduated 4th grade today and said goodbye to Floyd Knobs Elementary. She will be off to Middle School next month. Yes, next month. I could actually tell my students today, "See you next month." It's depressing, all of it.

So, Millie racked up some nice awards. Perfect attendance, President's Gold Award for scoring exceptional in ISTEP in both categories, and awards for scoring high in both math and reading CFA's all year.

She is excited and a bit nervous about Middle School next month. She's excited about playing sports for her school but nervous about getting lost. It is a really big school but I told her it will be fine, her teachers will take good care of them. I will miss seeing her during the day, I am glad we had this year together being at the same school.

Her awards...

She's in different clothes because some of them were done at graduation Monday night and the rest were done Tuesday morning during school.

Some of her best friends...

Kelly, Millie and Katelyn

Katelyn, Millie, Kimmy, Kelly and Emma

Middle School will be a big change but we are ready for it!

Mary Poppins Wins Her Softball Championship

Millie had her last piano recital this past weekend. She really loves playing, I never have to make her practice which is wonderful. She had her last lesson last week and has began viola lessons now. She has signed up for orchestra next year in middle school and wanted to start lessons a bit early so she was prepared. We didn't have time for both so she promised she would still practice piano of I let her start viola. I agreed so I hope she holds up her end of the bargain.

Her teacher did something a little different this year and had them all play music from movies. They were to dress up to match their song. Millie played Spoonful of Sugar so she was Mary Poppins, of course. She did great. We didn't get a video during the recital but I did video her at home before we left. I'll link it later when I get it on You Tube.

I was so proud of her. She did great and owned those high heels!!

Her Fusion team was playing in a tourney in Columbus and she played 5 games the day before and we drove home that night so she could do her recital. As soon as the recital was over we jumped in the truck, she got her uniform on and we made it back up to Columbus with 10 minutes to spare before the championship game. Fusion did great and won again!