The End of May Madness

In my previous posts, I neglected to mention family coming into town on May 13 to watch the National Touring production of Wicked! My parents, Carson, Milaka and Aanja. It was great to see Elphaba defy gravity!


That was also the night of the school carnival, so we went right at the start and stayed for an hour. Roderic got to stay longer with the Smith family (Clara is his best friend).


It was also Sabrina's soccer tournament weekend and team party.

And we put some plants in the garden: tomatoes, broccoli and brussel sprouts. We had already planted lettuce, spinach, peas and radishes.


I haven't mentioned that Sabrina went on the Environmental Field Trip in Cascade, ID May 16-19 (the week we went to Utah for Missy's wedding). Each year the whole 6th grade at Trail Wind goes to Trinity Pines Camp in Cascade for a 4 day field trip of learning outdoors type things. Fishing, tent set-up, geocaching, dutch oven cooking/leather working, arts & crafts, community service, archery, dancing, and a ropes course (high and low).


We attended a lot of T-Ball games. Roderic got the most improved swing award at the team party. He improved a lot during the season.


We had Joy School Graduation right after my final lesson last Thursday.

And to finish off the month, I've done some sewing: replacing elastic in new pants for Roderic, replacing elastic in hand-me-down pants for Leo, new BSU colored capris for Sabrina, and new cushion coverings for the porch swing.

It has been a busy month! Glad it is over!

More May Madness

May is truly a busy month with all of the end of school activities. But for good measure, we added a few trips on top of it, too. Shoshone Falls, Swan Falls Dam (Ryan and the scouts), Utah, and Spokane.

We traveled to Utah for Missy and Evan's wedding in the middle of last week. They were married on a beautiful rainy day in SLAKE.


All of Ryan's siblings (except missionary Meggan) were in attendance, so we made sure to get a picture of them together.

Then on Friday, after dropping our three oldest at 3 different homes, Ryan, Leo and I flew to Spokane so I could compete with Syringa Sound Chorus in Region 24's Sweet Adeline International competition. We sang our hearts out and Ryan took this contraband photo of the group. This was the first time Syringa Sound Chorus competed. 13 of the 17 singers had never sung in competition before. The crowd was pleased. The judges were pleased. We were pleased. Our score was 465, which was good for 9th place overall out of 15! I'm second in from the left on the front row.
And now that we're back home, I'm prepping to teach Joy School this week. The unit is about families and I made this Ancestor Tree for a part of the lesson.
Compared with all the traveling last week, this week should be pretty calm. Only 8 more days of school!

May Madness!

The end of school craziness has begun.


On Thursday, Roderic performed with the First and Second grades in their annual Spring Concert. The theme this year was patriotic. Roderic got to learn "You're A Grand Old Flag", "America the Beautiful", "My Country Tis of Thee", "The Star-Spangled Banner", and "Yankee Doodle". The kids did a great job.

On Friday morning, Sabrina played cello in the orchestra and then sang in the choir during the Orchestra Band Choir concert. During lunch, she played violin and cello with a couple of ensembles for the volunteer luncheon.


On Friday night, Sabrina played violin with EHO in the Boise Music Week School Night Gala. (No pictures, but you'll have to take my word that the music was awesome!)


On Saturday afternoon both Roderic and Sabrina played in the Boise Bench Studio's violin recital. Roderic played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star variation B and Boil 'Em Cabbage. Sabrina played the duet part for most of the students throughout the recital and played Gavotte in D major by J.S. Bach as a solo.



Here is Roderic playing his solo. Sabrina's solo didn't get recorded due to operator error.

Why I Love Living in Boise, #653

Boise Music Week

I've only known about Boise Music Week since 2008 - it has been in existence since 1918. That year I went to "Singin' In The Rain" with Sabrina and her friend Sara. Now I've enjoyed watching "Brigadoon" (2009) and "Bye Bye Birdie" (2011), watching the Silent Movie at the Egyptian Theatre (2008 & 2009), and the Public School Night Gala (2011). Sabrina has been playing in the Elementary Honor Orchestra (EHO) this year with Sara Smith and Maddie & Kayla Midgley and they were a part of the Public School Night Gala this year.

Every year, Boise has the first week of May filled with FREE music events. Daily Organ recitals at the different churches downtown, International Dance Showcase, Showcase Concert, Musical, Silent Movie (with live organ accompaniment), School Night, Church Night and Music in the Park.

The talent is amazing. The music is fun. I wonder what came first: the siren on the movie-house organs or the fires in silent movies?

Here is an unrelated picture to enjoy:

Hyrum is brushing Toto and Leo wishes he was also outside.

Bunny Pie

First, some history about Bunny Pie. When I was in junior high, my older siblings sold solid chocolate bunnies as fundraisers for choir or band. We had an excess and had to come up with a way to use them up. And that was how Bunny Pie was born. (They also sold solid chocolate Santas as fundraisers, but Santa Pie never sounded as appetizing as Bunny Pie.) When you don't have a bunny and still want bunny pie, 2 cups of chocolate chips can be substituted.

Ryan gave me a lot of chocolate for my birthday, including this bunny. He later mentioned that he was hoping I'd make bunny pie out of it. I've never made it for my children and thought it was high time to introduce them to the wonders of

BUNNY PIE

First grate some of the ear so you've got some shavings to put on the finished pie.

Put remainder of the bunny in a double boiler and melt. Stirring often. (After I took this photo, I removed the bunny and broke it into several smaller pieces to speed the melting process.)
If you don't think there is enough chocolate from the bunny, add some chocolate chips. I put in an additional 2 handfuls. This chocolate is not smooth because the bunny was "crispy" with rice. (Never made it with this kind of bunny before. It actually adds a good texture to the pie.)
Put the cool whip in a bowl, getting ready to mix. I pulled the cool whip out of the freezer maybe 5 minutes before this step. It worked, but it is easier to mix when thawed.
Pour the melted chocolate onto the cool whip. Mix quickly. The chocolate hardens when cooling.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared graham cracker crust. (Sabrina made this crust using her recipe from last summer's cooking class and it is delicious!)
Sprinkle with the reserved bunny ear shavings, cover and freeze until ready to serve.



Bunny Pie
1 solid chocolate bunny or 2 cups chocolate chips
1 tub of cool whip
1 graham cracker crust

Grate some of the chocolate bunny ears for shavings on top of the finished pie. Put the bunny in a double boiler and melt. Put cool whip in a bowl. Pour melted chocolate over the cool whip and mix, quickly. Spoon chocolate cool whip mix into prepared graham cracker crust. Sprinkle with shavings. Cover and freeze.