Horizons Elementary 4th, 5th & 6th grade classes

Yesterday I spent the morning with another group of students at Horizons Elementary. The music teacher Mrs. McElroy is new to this school and has been working very hard to decorate her room and get instruments in the classroom. She was able to acquire instruments from other teachers in the district and now has a set of recorders for the students to use in their rotations.

Mrs. Trotters 4th grade class were practicing on their recorders and taking tests when I arrived. The classroom was full of excitement and noise! They are doing recorder karate a fun program where as they test they get new colors or belts to advance to a black belt just like karate.

Mrs. Ambrose 5th grade class was so well behaved. We talked the entire class period! They were a very musical group with most of them being in band and orchestra. They told me all about their instruments and love of music. They had great ideas and answers to the questions I gave them about music.

Mrs. Kirkland's 6th grade glass was very inquisitive as well. They had lots to share and came up with some very interesting answers and questions. They even got me to sing for them!

It was another fun day at a great school with an amazing teacher who is working so hard for her students. We are blessed to have teachers who are doing such a great job for our kids!

Family Photos

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We finally got some new family photos taken. The last portrait we had my youngest now 11 was sitting on my lap! Emily Timmer was the photographer. She has a great eye and a unique style. We had a lot of fun with her in downtown Olympia and then Tumwater Falls Park.

I am so proud of my beautiful family!

Mrs. Idaho America Pageant 2010

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I traveled with Elizabeth Larson Mrs. Washington 2009 to Idaho for the Mrs. Idaho pageant. My dear friend Cherie and her husband Ross drove us around where we needed to go! Thank you both. I stayed an extra time to spend time with my friend. It was a fun and sunny weekend. Idaho is beautiful.

The Mrs. Idaho pageant was great. Outstanding women who did an amazing job. The winner was Heidi Parsons. I was able to get to know Mrs. Oregon 2010, she is a sweetheart and truly beautiful inside and out. We got the royal VIP treatment with front row seats and an introduction. The staff and director did an outstanding job.

Cinderella's Closet Fashion Show Arts Walk 2010

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Arts Walk is a big deal in the Olympia area. It is a weekend full of art and activities. Cinderella's closet a new non profit organization that loans dresses to women and girls hosted their first arts walk fashion show. The ballroom was donated by
the Urban Onion. Founder Renata Hanson organized and directed the event and did a fabulous job! Music 6000 loaned a microphone and PA system to use for the night as well.

The girls wore dresses from the boutique and modeled them throughout the evening. I also wore a dress and shoes from the boutique as well. Mrs.Thurston County & Mrs. Ballard also came to help out. My son volunteered to be the MC and worked the music too. We handed out information and spoke about what the organization is for and how people can get involved. The girls did a wonderful job and were full of confidence and grace.

2010 Kid's Fair Moses Lake

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This was our second year to have the kid's fair at the Walmart in Moses Lake. It was so much fun. We had face painting, nail spa, golfing, digging for dino's, massages, and lot's of prizes. It was a beautiful sunny day.

The Mrs. Washington Pageant Contestants visited the Radio Station to have a voice recording to be played during the pageant. We also had a practice for our 70's dance routine and our opening number. The routines are booth very cool and will make a great show!

Talent Show

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My son Cameron has been playing drums on his own for several months. He is very good at it like his dad. I encouraged him to get some kids together to form a band. He found out a friend of his, Kevin is pretty talented on guitar. They soon started practicing together. He invited his friend Amanda to sing since she sings in women's choir at THS. They added Gust in as another guitar and then lastly talked his friend Kelsey into singing backup!

Kevin had a talent show at church he signed them up for. They really only had two weeks notice to put their song together. They practice in our extra garage that is not attached to our house so we don't have to hear them! I bring the kids to our house after school, feed them and let them do their thing! They are fun to have around.

My husband and I have to be their roadies! The kids did the loading and unloading of all the instruments and sound system it is quite a job. My husband drove the trailer over and I helped cart the other band members over. During their sound check one of the pastors asked them to turn the sound down a bit! The crowd was very excited and impressed with the whole set up. when they started their song Amanda encouraged the crowd to come up and dance by the stage. They eagerly did!

The band was awesome they played and sang so well. They had great stage presence and were very professional. They are excited now to do more shows and learn more songs.

Olympic View Elementary Mrs. Hancock's Music Classes

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What a great day I had visiting Olympic View Elementary. Mrs. Hancock is a wonderful music teacher. Her class is full of instruments and lively posters. She is very creative and is passionate about music and her students! I hung out with her in the class room for several classes but their was field trip today so some of the classes were gone. She arranged for us to go around the school and visit various classes that were not scheduled for music that day.

Mrs. Baydo-Reed's 6th grade class was the first class of the day. They were so quiet I do no think they were even awake yet! They livened up when they started playing the folk tale song off to the village.

Ms. Bircher's 4th grade class sang and performed some songs on their recorders.

Next we visited Mrs. Loyer's 1st grade, Ms. Brown's 6th grade, Ms. Rajcich's 4th grade & Mrs. Harris's 2nd grade classes.

After lunch we went back to the music room for the 6th grade girls Tinikling dance practice for the upcoming multi-cultural night performance. This is performed with long poles that are moved in a rhythmic motion. The dancers jump across and in between the poles while they are moving. It reminded me of double dutch jump rope moves. The girls made up their own
routines to perform.

Next we visited Mrs. Knapps 3rd grade and Mrs. William's 1st grade classes.

Lastly it was back to the music room for 3 more classes.

Mrs. Silverman's 1st grade class played sang and played some fun music games Lucy Locket and Elephants on a Spider Web!

Mrs. Kendig's Kindergarten class started out with the Macarena Months song. This is just like the Macarena dance put the lyrics are the months of the year. It was so cute! Then they played sound effects to words in a story "Bedtime at the Swamp". It was very fun.

Mrs. Storedahl's 3rd grade class ended the day by singing a Portuguese lullaby and performing an Irish dance that was very lively!

The students were very well behaved and had great questions for me. They even got me to sing a song for them! I was so tired at the end of the day. These teachers do amazing jobs!!

Lacey Elementary

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I spent the day at Lacey Elementary with Music teacher Cheri Kelley. She is yet another amazing teacher. She is very passionate about music and relating to her students. Her classroom is full of life, fun and energy. I learned many new things about music education and how the school system works.

In Mr. Mile's 5th grade class they demonstrated their percussion circle and played some fun beats. In Mrs. Trinidad's 4th grade class I joined as they sang the Geoduck song that was such a fun song but a total tongue twister. In Mrs. Penrose's 6th grade class I sang Amazing Grace with a few of the students then we all sang the National Anthem. There was enough time that they demonstrated the Sword Dance an English Morris Dance that celebrated the awakening of the earth.
During recess I watched a few girls practice their talent show dance to Hoe Down Throw Down, those girls can move!
Miss Smith's 3rd grade class played the Farmers Dairy Key game. Mrs. Friend's 1st grade class sang and used the Rainbow Hoops, at the end of class they performed a round of the green grass grows song. Lastly, Mrs. Sampson's class worked on movement response and I joined in to play the Boom Whackers!

It was a busy day! The students were full of energy and had lots of great questions. We discussed music education and careers they can have in music and generally anything that had to do with music!

Poison Game 2

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This weekend my boys U11 soccer team that I help coach played their 2nd game. They lost 2 to 0 but they played a great game. There were not enough of our players at the game, since some of them went away for spring break so we had to borrow a few from the other team. Our team has not had very many practices because we got a late start and we only have one player to spare! The boys get a lot of play time in the games. I saw a big improvement in their team work and ball control. I was very proud of them! The weather was great and they had fun.

Bridal Boutique Fashion Show

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Bridal Boutique owner Omayra hosted a prom dress fashion show. Donations for Thurston County Food Bank were taken as admission. The models were all High School girls from around the area. They looked like super models. The dresses were fabulous!

Irene Schade Mrs. Olympia spoke on stage before the show and shared about why she was competing in the Mrs. Washington Pageant. She did an amazing job and offer great words of inspiration. She represented our pageant family well.

My son Cameron came too since his good friend Kelsey was one of the models. Her mom Tammy helped with hair, makeup and other odd jobs! Kelsey did a great job walking in 5" heels, I think she is ready to do pageants!!

Oregon International Pageant

I finally got the chance to go watch a pageant live! Yes, it is true I have never seen one live, I've only been in one live!! The Miss Teen, Miss & Mrs. all competed on the same stage in their own categories of course. It was like 3 pageants in one. The director did an amazing job and it was fun to watch.

Mrs. Washington Elizabeth Larson, Mrs. Olympia Irene Schade, Mrs. Thurston County Dione Tartar and of course Mrs. Pacific Northwest (me) were all in attendance. We met several other pageant winters from various pageants as well.

Meeting with Governor Gregoire

Tuesday morning the Mrs. Washington contestants enjoyed breakfast with our State Director Pamela Curnel. Her husband Dr. David Curnel was in Seattle for a press conference with the Governor to announce a new industry coming to Mosses Lake. After the press conference we were able to go in and meet the Governor. She has supported the Mrs. Washington pageant for several years and is proud of the married women in Washington representing our state. In this picture: Jessica Riggs Mrs. Snohomish County, Me Lisa Bluhm Mrs. Pacific Northwest, Irene Schade Mrs. Olympia, Governor Gregoire, Pamela Curnel State Director, Tamara DePorter Mrs. Seattle, Mosses Lake Representative.

Happy Anniversary! 22 Years!!

Today is my 22nd anniversary to my awesome husband Allen. As you can guess I was married young at only 18 years old! I would love to say it has been all bliss but reality is there are good times and bad times, more good than bad though! It takes a strong commitment and a willingness to get along. When we took our vows oh so long ago we meant forever. I am very proud of our marriage and hope that our example will encourage others to also make their commitment forever too.

Horizons Elementary 4th & 5th grade classes

April 1st I visited Horizons Elementary again. This time I spent time with Mrs. Olson's 4th grade class, Mrs. Boyd's 5th grade class and Mrs. Petre's 5th grade class. After our music discussion and question and answer time the students showed me what the new instruments they were learning to play. The glockenspiel, xylophone and bongos. They each took a turn and rotated through the instruments. At the end of class they listened to an African gospel group to open their ears to a new kind of music.