This morning Andrew participated in the Woodmen Speech Contest. He had the opportunity to give a 3-5 minute speech on the topic “Hunger in America.” In the weeks leading up to the speech he was not sure if he was going to participate or not, but things came together in the end with some encouragement from one of his enrichment class teachers. I think he enjoyed it and hopefully he will be back next year.
As part of their enrichment classes Andrew, Mari, and Elliot all take a drama class. Last week they had their performances, culminating their semester’s work. They all love the drama classes and do an excellent job at the performances.
Elliot is the third goat in The Three Silly Goats Gruff. I apologize for the blurry video.
Mari played the role of the mother wolf and narrator in The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig.
Andrew played the role of the Giant in Kate and the Beanstalk.
For the past few years we have been attending church at Holy Trinity, in Beaverdale. It is a nice, small church with a great community and a great priest. Over the years we have become more involved at church. Susan and I lead Children’s Liturgy every couple of months, we volunteer at education events, and I help direct the annual Good Friday Passion reading. This past Sunday Mari and Andrew got into the action, acting as Altar Servers for the first time. They did a great job!
Today we celebrated Andrew’s 12th birthday! The oldest of our kids, it is almost the hardest to believe how old he is. I imagine that could change as Rose gets older.
Mar-Mar and Be-Bob made it to town this weekend to catch some soccer games, celebrate some birthdays, and we also managed to squeeze in Rose’s baptism. Overall if was a very busy, fun weekend.
Andrew at 12 continues to love life. He has had a new friend, Will, move in down the street and they have been having a lot of fun together. For his birthday he also received a hatchet and an archery set and he has been enjoying taking advantage of the outdoors. His typical day has him waking around 8 (usually with my help). He reads, stumbles around, eats breakfast, and gets ready for the day. He does a good job with his school work, attacking anything I can put in front of him. He still enjoys Harry Potter, Rick Riordan, and many graphic novels and comics. This fall he is playing on a Northwest Soccer team again and he is loving it (all the kids are, in fact). He is on the same team as Ian, with his old coach, Drew. He still tends to stay up late, going to bed later than me and Susan with some frequency.
Favorite Song: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Food: Skyline
Favorite Band: ColdPlay
Favorite Book: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
Tonight we celebrated Andrew’s Crossover from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. There was a neat ceremony put on by a group from the local Order of the Arrow.
Andrew’s den has been together since first grade and 4 of the 5 are moving on to the same Boy Scout troop.
I have blogged before about the snowmen that the kids built on Christmas Eve. Andrew’s snowman is still going strong, though his neck is getting a little thin. This morning I can actually see through it!
Yesterday we celebrated Andrew’s 11th birthday. It is hard to believe how old he is getting! This past year Andrew has really opened up and is becoming more comfortable interacting with new places and people. He continues to enjoy many activities, including anything involving balls, wheels, or music. His favorite song right now is ‘Hey Ya’, by Outkast. He still likes staying up late and sleeping as late as we will let him. He reads all the time and this year for his birthday one of the things he received was a gift card to Mayhem Collectibles, where he wanted to buy some comic books. While we continue to have Skyline every year on his birthday, his favorite food is ‘Chicken Noodle Soup Bread Bowl’ from Panera.
Today we dropped Andrew off at Catholic Youth Camp. Susan went as a kid and worked as a counselor when she was older. Andrew was super-excited. We pick him up on Wednesday and can’t wait to hear about his time.
It was a big day for the Liesland lawn today – Andrew mowed the grass for the first time! We have a new lawnmower that is just right for him.
