Thursday, June 16, 2011

Flying high at Pearson


Daddy David has been in California on a business trip this week, he came home today! Usually he flies out of Buffalo, but this time he went from Pearson International and we went to pick him up. It was the first time the children had been to Pearson, and it was a pretty exciting adventure!


Pearson seems to have lots of cool things to look at: hanging from the ceiling, on the walls, and like this tank/sculpture, right in the middle of the floor. This nifty tank thing had plastic cubes in it, and jets of water would turn on and off and make the cubes drift around inside the tank. It was also fun to look at it from different sides, and to wave at your siblings through it.


But perhaps the best part about the visit to the airport from the children's perspective was that it was profitable! We found lots of baggage carts that hadn't been returned to the cart kiosks, and for every cart we returned, we made $0.25. After we left, we counted the haul (a large fistful of quarters!) and we had returned 24 carts! So each child has an extra $1.50 in their pockets right now!

Actually the best part (of course) was meeting Daddy again! He almost got knocked down when he appeared by the big sliding doors! We had some fish and chips on the way home, and he is reading stories to them right now. All's right with the world again!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Recitals

It seems to be recital season here. We had a recital with our homeschool group (called a Showcase) with students playing or singing or reciting. Three of the Marshwiggles played piano pieces, and all did very well.

Ben has just finished his first piano book, so he played the last piece in the book. The piece is also written as a duet, so I went up to play with him. I think it helped his nerves having me beside him softly singing along with the piece.

Emmi has been preparing for her Grade 3 Royal Conservatory exam, so this was a good opportunity for her to try out one of her pieces. She played a study called "Arabesque" that is quite dramatic and ends with a lovely decending crescendo to a final chord. A crowd pleaser!

Tim has been making progress this year with piano, and has started playing pieces that require movement in his hands (from position to position). He played a piece called "The Galway Piper" and pulled it off nicely.


The other students did well also, and we had a time of snacks in the church basement after - always welcome after the stress of performing!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Orthodontics Have Arrived!


Tim has been seeing the orthodontist for quite a while now, but I don't think anyone else would notice. In April he had a nifty gizmo (a palate expander) put in place that I get to wind up every night to widen his top jaw. Well the orthodontist thought we'd wound him up enough, so he decided to put braces on. Here's Tim before the visit (above) and after (below).



Keep an eye on him and you may see the front gap get smaller!