We rented the movie at Blockbuster Thursday morning. I have never seen kids more eager to finish a story. We picked up J's friend, A, and we all sat down to watch. I made ham and cheese triangles for everyone. I'd seen the movie years ago, but it was great when the kids got to see their book come to life. They kept commenting how things looked exactly as they pictured - or not. Our next readaloud will be "The Bridge to Terabithia".

We picked up K at 3:30, drove J to dance, and K and A walked her inside. When A came out she decided she would rather take dance (acro) with J now rather than the weekly guitar lessons she's been taking. Her mom agreed and hopefully she can start next Thursday! Acro is mandatory for the company kids, but there are recreational students in the class as well. J would love A to be a part of this - then they can do the recital together.

Friday morning the kids did some paper crafts for a while then we made a cake. At noon I packed a lunch and we all drove out to a science class at one of the environmental centers in Nassau. The class was on monarch butterflies. We had about 25 kids there. I just love watching homeschooled kids in a "class" situation. So many hands go up to ask and answer questions. W really got into it and asked and tried to answer as many questions as he could. After an hour or so, the kids got to go to the garden area and try to catch monarch butterflies with the big nets. Everyone got a turn and the several that were caught were labeled with little stickers and set free. Monarch butterflies usually fly all the way to Mexico at certain times of the year. The butterflies with labels are identified down there and a letter is sent to the environmental center stating they arrived safely. Afterwards we ate lunch at a picnic table with everyone and the kids played together for a long time. We weren't in a hurry to get back because K went to a local fair with her friends after school. We picked her up around 8:30pm. She had a blast and went again tonight.

Today J had her first rehearsal for her new solo this year. I worked so B took her. She's doing a musical theater number to a song from Smoky Joe's Cafe. Eric, her solo coach this year came up with a great dance. J loves it so far. I think they got about 40 seconds of it completed so far. She's scheduled for Saturdays and that works great for us. Soon we'll get the competition schedule and we'll start working on the new costumes.

I love this time of year.