Jude warming up for his school recital

It was has been quite the eventful week. On Tuesday night there was a concert at the school for grades 3-12. Jude has been practicing his viola religiously every morning for many months. And the third grade got up on stage in front of the parents and the whole school and played three songs. Then for the grand finale the entire school played a song together which was really cool. Jude had a great time and looked like he was enjoying himself.

Jude finding some worms in the soil on the farm

The very next day after the concert Jude was up bright and early for their excursion to Frog Belly farm. This was a trip that had been talked about for months – it was the first sleepover trip with his class. The entire third grade and many parents (including Marcy) camped on the farm on Wednesday and also did some work. They did odd jobs around the farm that included planting garlic, transplanting berry plants and milking the goats.

Jude massaging the goat’s udder to assist the milking process

While Jude and Marcy were away I had a special midweek Anna and Daddy date. I left work early to pick up Anna from school and then we went for a hike in the foothills. We did the Red Rocks hike which is right next to where they have the big concerts. Then we went to Anna’s favorite place for dinner, Casa Bonita, where they have the cliff divers.

Anna hiking the Red Rocks trail

This weekend was gorgeous weather which was good news for the kids as it was the last weekend of soccer with both kids each having two games. Both Anna and Jude have developed into quite good soccer players and they have both had considerable success this season each scoring many goals.

Anna showing her kicking style during her last game of the season

Jude’s passion for soccer has really developed these past few months. It is the focus of his weekends. He wants to watch soccer on TV, he is constantly asking to pass the ball in the backyard and he absolutely loves the games. He has developed into one of the best players on his team in part because he just loves it so much and is practicing all the time. As long as he is enjoying it we want to keep encouraging him.

Jude in action during his last game of the season

Finally, tomorrow Jude turns 9 1/2. But we celebrated it a day early mainly because I am leaving tomorrow for 9 days in China. Jude decided he wanted his treat to be donuts for his birthday, so this morning before breakfast we all walked down to our local donut place. We all sang happy birthday as Jude enjoyed his sugar and jelly donut.

Jude celebrates his 9 1/2 birthday with a donut

Snuggling on the couch on Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day started early this year with Jude, our resident early riser, coming in at the stroke of 6am excited to wish Marcy a Happy Mother’s Day. Anna was up 30 minutes later but I made sure that Marcy could stay in bed as long as she wanted. After breakfast Marcy went to a yoga class and I watched soccer with Jude as Arsenal were playing.

This afternoon Jude had a football game and we went all to watch. They finished up just before some storms hit, which is better than they did for soccer yesterday when the games were all canceled because of rain. With crappy weather outside Marcy decided we should do a family movie. We ordered pizza for dinner and then went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner – Anna was already dressed for bed but she came on the walk anyway, her remaining slice of pizza in hand.

Going for a post-dinner walk on Mother’s Day

Saturday ended up being a quiet day with the kids soccer games canceled. The only other highlight of the week was the kids school assembly on Friday afternoon. Jude’s class recited a Russian poem in front of the entire school while Anna’s class did some dancing and movement. It was very sweet.

Ice skating on the main arena at DU where they play college hockey games

It was a quiet weekend. Actually it was a quiet long weekend for the kids. The weather was cold and snowy so all outdoor activity (including soccer and flag football games) was canceled. I got back from London late on Friday night so I was ok with taking it easy this weekend.

We stayed at home a lot this weekend. Our big outings were going ice skating at DU on Saturday evening and then a family yoga class earlier today. We watched the Sound of Music this afternoon and everyone really enjoyed it. The sun finally came out briefly this evening for the first time since Thursday morning so Jude and I went out to kick the soccer ball.

Speaking of soccer, Jude is becoming a little obsessed with the sport these days. We have a routine now that we will watch every Arsenal game together – they are usually on Saturday or Sunday mornings. After the games Jude usually goes straight upstairs to his table soccer game by himself. We have talked about this game before, we got it for his birthday last year and he still loves playing it. He setup the photo below himself of his little men playing their soccer game.

Jude takes a photo of his favorite pastime – his table soccer game