Much Ado About Nothing

Friday I took the kids to Utah Valley University (UVU) to see Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". I knew my 13 yr old would enjoy it. But wasn't sure about the other two. My 11 year old went down to Cedar City for the Shakespeare festival and came back wanting to take a Shakespeare class next year. So this would be a good time to see if she was still interested. HeHe.

The actors/actresses did a wonderful job. We laughed so hard at Benedict and Beatrice. All three kids had their favorite parts. There was a study guide given out at Intermission. My 9 year old loved the page with Shakespearean insults. Later that weekend he and his sister sat in the back seat of the van and showed dad how it is done. LOL.

From now on I'm not going to be afraid to do things, or wonder if they will enjoy it. Life is learning, and you learn from all the experiences you have.

Alice in Wonderland, ballroom dance, and Shakespeare!

Taylor and Ricky were lucky enough to be in Keystone Arts Academy's Children s play "Alice in Wonderland". The kids were "wonderful"!

Ricky played Louis Carrol and had a big part in the beginning and at the end of the play. He had a lot of lines to memorize. He dug right in and memorized them all on his own. 9 years old. Such a big boy. wink.

Taylor was a story teller. She sat on a stool and had lines all through the play. She also had a lot of lines to memorize, and did it all on her own.

Shelby and Taylor took a ballroom dance class on Thursdays at Keystone. We had the best teacher. Angela Davis agreed to teach our class and it was a favorite by far. I must say Shelby is quite the dancer.

Shelby's Shakespeare group performed for the parents after the ballroom demo. They were great. Even if a few lines were dropped...hehehehehe.

Math tools

Last year we were fortune enough to come across an online math program that really fit for our family. We have tried a variety of programs. But never felt the warm fuzzy we were looking for.

Here is the link http://www.aleks.com/ .

My kids don't fuss about doing their math anymore. We have a set number of "areas" the kids must finish in a day, but they always do more. The program offers K - 12 with Algebra, Geometry, Trig, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus, as well as Statistics for high school.

Keystone Arts Academy offers the material at a big discount. You don't have to be a member of the school to participate. Here is their website http://keystone.m3th.org/ .

Blast off.....allmost.

In our Astronomy class Tuesday we tried to launch rockets. I say tried because the plastic containers wouldn't cooperate. We managed to get 3 rockets to go up as they were designed to. The best laid plans....

I wish I had taken some cool pictures. But I was frantically trying to get the rockets to launch.

I am so thankful for the experience of teaching this class. I always say I learn more than the kids do. Not just the book stuff, but planning and being flexible. Type A personalities don't really like to be flexible. LOL.

Skating parties are so much fun!

Shelby is the very tall girl on the left. She does have skates on though. No costume for her. She was still deciding if she had out grown dressing up for Halloween or not. She ended up throwing on a costume and going out with a friend trick or treating.



Taylor and Ricky seem to like to dress up alike. They both went as soldiers this year. No picture of Ricky. His to busy playing arcade games.

Thank you to Kim Kehrer for planning this years Halloween skating party at Classic Skate in Orem. We always have a great time.

Knights of Freedom

Ricky really enjoys this group. They do a lot of really fun "boy" activities.

What is Knights of Freedom you ask? If you google it you will find a video game with that name. That is not what I am talking about.

Knights of Freedom offers boys ages 8-12 an exciting opportunity to study the lives of American leaders through colloquia, learn about virtues through the model of knighthood, and statesmanship through hands-on experiences.

Ricky's favorite part is sparing. His leader has them write every week in a journal about what they did in their last meeting and about the book they are studying. If they do this they get to spare. It has been a great motivator! The boys also take turns with presentations of things they are learning or have an interest in.

This is a picture of Ricky and his friends bread they made. Creative minds thought "lets make BYU in bread dough and eat it". Very fun group!

Football Season!

I had to post this video of Ricky playing football.




Ricky is #3 in the gold jersey.