February 2019

Mozart Birthday Concert (Also Maestro Louie's birthday)

Although I didn't play this concert, I arranged for the orchestra to surprise Louie by playing "Happy Birthday" instead of the overture that was supposed to open the show.

Our second bassoon player ordered a giant cookie with Louie's face on it (made to look like he was in a Mozart costume), and we asked our patrons to leave him a birthday note at intermission.

Pinewood Derby

Park time afterward:

Paula and Snowball:

Wylie and a starfruit slice:

Paula's Valentine Party

Snacks

Some crafts

Pin the hearts on the emojis game

Valentine bingo for a valentine rubix cube prize

Face painting, of course

Valentines for teachers:

Classroom Valentine parties

Preschool:

Mrs. Haselby's second grade class had a small party without parents, but I got a selfie with her to make up for it:

Mrs. Drage's Fourth Grade Valentine Party:
I volunteered at the jump rope station

 

April visited from Mrs. Wilson's class

It was about this time that my two-year old Wylie was doing some pretty wild things, some of which is documented in a separate post. 

His antics included: 

Spraying most of a bottle of sunscreen all over the laundry room while I was teaching lessons. I didn't get to wiping it off the washing machine door before realizing the chemicals in the sunscreen clouded the plastic in the window, so now it has a permanent foggy look.

Moments after the sunscreen incident, he dumped an entire tub of Oxiclean on the floor.

All of that was on Valentine's Day--and I have to tell you, I did NOT feel loved when it happened.

He also took a nap in his closet one day, in a plastic bin full of socks. I'm just glad I was able to find him!

Another day, he got into Forest's bag of Lindor truffles, unwrapping most of them, eating several, throwing some of the chocolate on the floor and leaving chocolate smears everywhere.

At least the chocolate was better than the other substance he smeared around his bedroom a few weeks earlier.

He also took up the hobby of pulling stuffing out of one of our couches. This little boy was full of mischief at this stage, and it made me a little crazy! But I guess you are only 2 once . . .

Wylie and Paula were such great companions a lot of afternoons following morning preschool. She almost always brought home a fun craft or something they could play with.

When she wasn't playing with Wylie, she often curled up with a book. Already, she was plowing through chapter books, and it was a challenge to keep enough of them on hand. "Weird School" was one of her favorites that year.

She also loved playing with her stuffed animals.

Here is second-grade Mika:

Here is second-grade Mika on a Wacky Wednesday:

This is how Wylie and Paula spent their Wacky Wednesday:

They played some kind of horse game with a stable under a table.

In the evening, we celebrated Forest's birthday early. He was going to be in Taiwan on a work trip for his actual birthday.

We gave Wylie an icing-covered candle to lick after Forest blew his candles out. It appeared that he actually ate some of the candle, maybe missing the memo about just "licking."

He wasn't shy about the cupcakes, either.

That was February 2019.