2106 Review: April-June

April: 

The kids finished up their semester of piano lessons around mid-month.  All three passed their theory exams, although Ben's teacher recommended he repeat Theory 3 just to get a little more solid foundation.  All three performed in a piano recital on the 18th and did a great job.  Matt was really nervous, but he enjoyed his first (and probably only) public performance on the piano.  Ben played an original piece and did a fantastic job.  He loves composing. 

Anna had a busy month of piano and soccer practices and games.  She was a little more hesitant this round, but warmed up toward the end of the season.

Matt got a new job puppy sitting.  A friend of ours got a Golden Retriever puppy named Gracie and he and I went over three times a day to let her out and play with her while her owner worked.  It was a challenge while she was being house-broken, but Matt fell in love with her and was very patient.  He did decide that he will just stick with a guinea pig, as a full-time puppy would be too much work. 

I had a couple of friends from Arizona fly out for a work-visit.  They were helping a group of us on Isagenix learn how to grow our business.  We had a great time showing them around Wisconsin and thankfully the weather was nice for them. 

Rob got a little jealous of all the attention Matt and Anna received when they broke bones that he decided to join the "fun."  At the end of April, Rob smashed his thumb at work and broke it.  Because it was on the job, everything was covered under workman's comp and he still went to work and completed some classes.  He spent most of the next month in a cast.

May:

Ben continued to take piano lessons through May, but he kind of wishes he wouldn't have gone for the extra semester.  Baseball started and that took more of his attention.  He played in an older league with games on Wednesday nights.  That got a little hairy, as Matt was starting youth group and didn't want to miss it.  I'm the one who does all of the running around in the evenings with the kids since Rob is working, so the logistics of getting kids here and there can be challenging.  But, we have some good friends who picked up Matt and Anna for church so they wouldn't miss anything.  There were a few weeks after Truth Trackers ended and before youth group started where the kids were mainly in the service, so they just came to games with Ben and I. Ben appreciated his siblings watching him during a few games.  He mainly played catcher and right field this year.

Matt took a Babysitter Course in May and is now an American Red Cross certified sitter.  The only job he has had so far is watching his siblings, but he's getting the word out and working with kids at church so hopefully he will have some real jobs soon.  He also took his guinea pig, Rocky, to church to visit with the 4s and 5s.  Rocky was a good boy and the kids enjoyed feeding him parsley.

Rob continued to heal from his break and had multiple ortho appointments.  He wasn't able to drive very far so we had to cancel our Memorial Day trip to Illinois.  We tested out his driving by heading to Sassy Cow creamery for a farm tour (which was a total bust--but the ice cream was good!)  It was too far and that was only 45 minutes!

June: 

A couple of movies came out this month so the kids and I headed to our local $4 theater to see Alice Through the Looking Glass and Finding Dory.  We enjoyed both of them.  We're so thankful to have an inexpensive theater in town.

On the 7th, Anna decided to join her daddy in a cast and she broke her elbow on the monkey bars.  She and I just stared at each other in the ER and couldn't believe she did it AGAIN.  This time she didn't have to have surgery and opted for a purple cast.  The kids had worked hard on a reading program to earn free tickets to Great America and we had to cancel our trip because she would still be in the cast when we planned to go.  In fact, we were never able to use the tickets all summer, which was a huge disappointment for all of us.  We're hoping to get there next summer. 

The boys spent a lot of time at the pool using our family pass while Anna and I found activities at home.  A few times we picked up her friend Delaney and they girls played while the boys were gone.  That helped distract Anna considerably. 

Matt had a great time at one of his favorite teen activities at the library:  teen mini-golf.  He had quite a bit more fun this year because he was not being wheeled around in a chair.  He was also able to work the annual library teen fundraiser at a local brat house.  He really enjoyed working in the kitchen part and helping customers.

I spent a good amount of my time running two different people to ortho appointments, Ben to baseball activities, and the boys to the pool.