Art Night at the Montessori

Every year, SMCS hosts Art Night; it is a chance for students to show off some art they created during the year and also raise some money. This year, we all went as a family, which was pretty neat to see as Violet (now a sophomore) and Oscar (now a 7th grader) get to return to their elementary school and revisit their elementary days. We got to see some of Simon's art creations which were lovely and catch up with other Montessori families - always a fun time. Somehow, the kids were all dressed in blue shirts which made for some nice pictures. 

Contacts

Violet and I went to Anchorage a week ago for an orthodontist appointment. It was a beautiful day as we set out. Violet drove us up to Cooper Landing and then we swapped. I asked her to send a text to Mike to let him know that we were leaving Cooper Landing. She sent the text. What I didn't know as that she also updated his contact. When we were in Anchorage, I see a text from "BooBear." It took me a minute to figure out what she had done... 

Later that night when we arrived home, Simon asked if that was the only contact that was changed. I looked at him skeptically and then looked at my phone. My contact for the kids' phone which usually reads "Williams Kids" is now "Heirs to the Throne." Which must clearly be the white throne in the bathroom as we have no other thrones in this house.... 

Kenai Peninsula School District Art Contest

This year's Kenai Peninsula School District Art Contest was notable as both Oscar and Violet participated in the art competition. The middle school teacher will only enter art pieces that the kids have done in one of the art classes. Fortunately, Oscar had taken a few different art classes this year, so she entered a self-portrait he had painted. We were pleased to see that he won second place for his fabulous portrait entitled, "Mint Condition." 

Violet's teacher is more open to submitting a variety of art pieces, whether they were done in class or not. He told Violet they needed more pencil drawings in the competition, so she worked over the weekend to draw a hare, which turned out beautifully. The judges thought so too and awarded her first place. 

These kids are making us proud! 

Mike's Rosary Birthday

Our friends made Mike a card for his birthday - Happy "Rosary" Birthday! It was the perfect card for a guy celebrating 5 decades! To celebrate this momentous occasion, we had a handful of friends over for dinner. We chatted and ate and generally had a great time. It's hard to believe that I met Mike a few days before his 31st birthday... and here we are 19 years later. 

Spring Break in Homer

Spring break comes early here in Alaska; according to the calendar, it's still winter. In Alaska, early March is definitely still winter. We decided to head to Homer for a few days which tends to be slightly warmer, short of a trip out of state, that was the best we could do for a spring break vacation. We rented a fabulous "Hamlet by the Sea" for a couple of nights and packed our bags. The house was beautiful and we were thrilled to spend a couple of nights there. We woke up on Friday and spent the day touring around Homer. We went to an art shop that we had never been in before. We walked through some new shops, and generally had a blast. It was a gorgeous day in Homer, though a little windy. The height of the day were our rock throwing competitions (who can throw the rock the farthest, who can throw the rock into that little patch of open water, who can hit the big rock on the beach) off the harbor bridge. We also went to Islands and Oceans and participated in their activity of the day - making paper flowers. We all decided this should be our new Spring Break routine. 

Take it to the bench

Oscar is in a construction class this quarter. In this class, teams of kids get together and decide what they are going to build. His group has a couple of boys who want to build a folding ping pong table, which sounds pretty ambitious. When asked if they have plans for such a project, Oscar shook his head. 

So I gave Oscar my best life advice - if you bring the plan and make it easy, you will almost always get your way over people who have ideas but no plan. Because, at the heart of things, people will take the easiest path.  

So we sat down and looked through a catalog of wood working plans. We found a pretty easy plan for a bench which I could use in our entryway. We printed the plans which had the list of wood that you need to purchase as well as the cut list all outlined. Then followed step-by-step instructions with pictures on how to make the bench. We printed off the plans and Oscar took it to school the next day. 

Part way through the day, I got an email from Oscar which simply said, "They ate it like beasts!" 

It's the usual terminology I would use for group buy-in, but I get the idea. Sounds like I'll have a bench in my entryway in the near future! 

Alaska Driving Academy

In January, Mike decided to sign up for driving class to get his commercial driver's license. The class would last the whole month of February and would start at 6 am and end at 4:30 pm. Then he would have an hour "break" and then about 3 hours of homework each night. There was no rest on the weekends either as their plan had about 6 hours of studying on Saturday and Sunday. The course was intense, but Mike thrived. He excelled in all of his tasks, tests, and homework. He was thrilled to graduate with all of his endorsements and his license at the end of February. Next stop: Mike's truck stop!