Back from another competition! This one was in Waterbury, CT. It was great! J's jazz group got a gold, tap group got platinum, production got high-gold, and solo got gold - and she placed 3rd out of 13 in her category. The teens category started Friday at 3, and although we planned on heading up there after work (9pm), the weather kept us home that night. It was a mess, with snow and sleet coming down hard, icing up the roads, and causing tons of accidents. We left Saturday morning instead. It was better outside, but still hard to be awake enough to drive at 6am, lol. J's solo was at 7am this morning and I had been getting ready from 3 hrs before. So, yeah, I'm running on very little sleep. zzzzzzzzzz

The kids enjoyed themselves. K hung with the teen group, J hung with everyone, and W preferred to be with the older boys (10+). He attempted playing with the other 5 y/o little brothers, but he just has no patience for them. Every now and then he'll just push one of them when they start annoying him. W is the kind of kid who will never tell on another kid, cry when he's picked on, or act babyish. And he can't tolerate anyone who exhibits these traits - no matter what age they are. He is definitely better now, though, than when he was in school, since school is where he first learned this intolerance (from his friends who were all pretty tough and streetwise for 4 y/os). I'm pretty confident he'll gain more and more patience the longer he's homeschooled. He's a smart kid and he's way too cool to let this get in the way.

This week is going to be a quiet one. J and W have a dentist appointment on Tuesday and there's nothing with the homeschool group until Friday. I plan on doing lots of fun stuff with the kids. They've been requesting some art projects, science experiments, read-alouds, Monopoly, and planting some seeds and bulbs in the garden. We'll hit Costco one of the days and maybe the nearby shopping area - my 20-year high school reunion is this Saturday and I need something to wear. 20 years?! It's very hard to say that out loud, btw. It certainly has been a fantastic 20 years, though. :)