Back in November, Molly became part of a team called The Little Dribblers. This is only open to 4th graders. This group of kiddos learned basic dribbling skills, and then took those skills up a notch by practicing a whole performance! For a few months now, she has gone every Tuesday and Thursday right after school for a 45 minute long practice. She also practiced here at home any change she got. All of that hard work was put to the test when The Little Dribblers performed at the High School boy's basketball game halftime show!
+
Watch the video!
The crowd went wild watching them! We were so impressed with all the kids! You could tell they all worked so hard and had such a blast. Molly's skills just blew my mind! We are so proud of her and all of her hard work! Great work, Hunny Bunny!
Ah, January. The beginning of the worst three months of the year. I think I say that every January. Want to know why my first post of the year doesn't come until the 23rd?....because I go into hiding, that's why. Luckily we are nearing the tail end of month one. That's good news. To help pass the time during the worst three months of the year, I decided to review my bucket list. I should probably make some changes to that. I need to take some stuff off that I've accomplished....add some new stuff that I want to do.....maybe add some stuff to it that wasn't on it before, but that I've already done, just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off.... I'll get around to that eventually. Anyway, on my bucket list I have listed "Seriously pick up the violin....like for real." I've putzed on the violin here and there over the course of the year, but never really did much more than that. Back in November, my friend alerted me to a FB post from a lady in Goldendale offering violin lessons starting in January. Opportunities like that don't come along too often here in Goldendale. I'm surprised that I took the step to write her and secure my spot. I'm equally as surprised that I actually went to my first lesson and didn't die. Doing lessons on an instrument I played 20+ years ago (yes....it did just kill me a little bit inside to say 20+....) was definitely a step out of my comfort zone, but I'm so glad I went for it. I'm only two lessons in, but I'm having a really great time. My instructor is so sweet and patient. Exactly what I need. I've learned that there was a lot I retained from when I used to play. The correct technique might not be there, but I'll get it back. I've been practicing most every day and I'm excited to see my progress. I'm impressed that in just two weeks I've relearned how to read the notes on sheet music. I will not lie, that was hard. I gave Sophia, my instructor, a list of songs that Molly can sing and play on her Uke with the hopes that I can eventually play some songs with her. That would be amazing and my ultimate goal!
In other music news, Timothy is kicking ass with his piano lessons. He has his first recital coming up on February 1st with his instructor, Teresa. He'll be doing a few Christmas songs. I think he's nervous, but equally excited! Anthony and Molly also have a recital coming up on February 23rd. This will be their second with their instructor, James, at Gorge Community Music and we are very excited for it! As the worst months of the year continue to chug along, I suppose I will too. No one has gotten a serious cold and missed any school (knock on wood!), everyone is doing well in school, I've been able to visit with a lot of family recently, and I'm about to embark on a journey that I hope will help me with my headaches and neck/shoulder/back pain. So maybe these next months wont be so bad after all. With love, Mama Hauck
Christmas Eve night, after dinner, we settled in to watch a Christmas movie. After dumping out our reindeer food, setting out Santa's milk and cookies, and getting out notes to Santa set out, it was time for bed for the kiddos!
Tucking the kids in on Christmas Eve and then playing Santa is probably one of my favorite nights of the year. Easter is a close second....putting out a trail of jelly beans, and birthdays.....putting up streamers in doorways and filling rooms with balloons, lol. I love seeing the look on the kids' faces....even though they KNOW they'll have streamers on their door, jelly beans on the floor, and Santa's cookies will be gone. It never gets old. And believe these words, I will do all of that until the day the kids have all moved out. While I stuffed the stockings and set out the gifts, Papa ate the cookies, leaving just a crumb, and wrote a note back to the kids. Then we admired the view, snuck up the stairs, and felt so thankful we were able to make this trip possible for the kids.
Merry Christmas! Santa found us at the cabin! The first to rise was Molly. Then Timothy. Together, they went down stairs to see what Santa brought, under Grandma Cathy's watchful eye so they didn't peek at anything else, lol. We put the coffee on and then and woke Anthony up. Anthony got a sunken pirate hip for his fish tank and a moon chart for 2019. Timothy got some felt food and an ice cream topping play set, as well as a bag of marshmallows (what he asked Santa for! haha). Molly received a new robe, slippers, and friendship bracelets.
Papa started a fire and got on his Santa hat, Grandma turned on the Christmas music, and the kids got to work opening gifts. There weren't many from mama and Papa, as Sunriver was our main gift, but the kids still got some great items of which we are all thankful for. Molly received some American Girl clothing and "sleepover" set, new clothing and slippers, a wall mount to hang her uke on the wall, P.J.'s, books, and music CD's. Anthony received a new game for the Playstation, music CD's, books, P.J.'s, a light saber, new arrows for his bow, and a new saxophone neck strap. Timothy received a play cup set, play kitchen items, books, music CD's, a light for his piano, new P.J.'s and a robe, a light saber, and a light up football.
Stocking were full of goodies too! Some chocolates, toothbrushes, lots of new stickers for the side of the kids' instrument cases, music CD's, spending money, etc. etc. Even I had a full stocking this year, lol!
After opening gifts, we all got cleaned up, ate breakfast, and got busy doing nothing, haha! We watched a Christmas movie, ate snacks, took silly photos, played with all our new toys, and finally decided to take the kids to a local park for some fun in the snow! Have to take advantage of all that snow since we knew back home wasn't getting any!
That night we watched a few more Christmas movies, ate lots of yummy snacks, and relaxed by the fire. Each of the kids also graced us with a Christmas performance. We are so proud of them and all their hard work on their instruments! "Silent Night" from Anthony was a special gift to Grandma Cathy because it is her favorite Christmas song.
Wednesday, the 26th, was our last full day at the cabin. After breakfast, we watched a movie in the morning, and I started to pack things up here and there. We took the kids out ice skating one more time (Sam and I sat that one out!). We walked the shops, got more ice cream at Goody's, ate dinner out, then enjoyed the falling snow on our last night at the cabin. We really loved that it was snowing again, it made our last night feel more special!
Thursday morning we packed up the rest of our items and were on the road by 11, check out time. We were all sad to leave the cabin, but ohhh so thankful we were able to take this trip! I don't know when we'll be back to the cabin, but I know we will for sure be making another trip there. It's turned into another one of our "happy places."
Definitely a trip to remember. With love, Mama Hauck
+
