Ashlyn update...

I can't believe I hadn't blogged here for almost 3 months. Besides being busy, my iMac's hard drive was nearly full and it was slower than cold tar! I spent weeks going through and deleting pictures (mostly of other people's kids from sports) and now we're back in business! I really, really prefer to blog in real time, when everything is fresh in my memory, but I'll do my best to do a quick re-cap for each of my kids...

Before Christmas, we had Ashlyn's Christmas Choir concert. Ashlyn's school teacher was the pianist and Ashlyn had a quick duet she had tried out for and was excited about. I still don't know where she gets the nerve!

In January, Ashlyn participated in the school Spelling Bee and took 6th place. I think I held my breath through the whole thing! She missed the word "unchangeable" and when she spelled it, I thought, "Whew, she got it right!" I didn't even realize she'd misspelled it (who knew there was an "e" in the middle?) until the announcer said "Incorrect." I was so proud of her and even slightly glad we wouldn't have to keep practicing spelling words for the next level of competition:) 

At the end of February both Ashlyn and Corey had their final basketball games of the season. Dan coached Ashlyn's team, "The Green Hornets" and Corey was on an undefeated team that ended up being a lot of fun for him. Ashlyn's team got along well and had a good time together. I've decided that this age group (10-12) is so interesting. They started the season so quiet and shy and by the end, they were joking around and teasing each other. The variance in height and maturity at this age is so apparent. Ironically, our shortest girl was also the oldest on the team! 

I really admire Dan as a coach. He puts in so much effort and tries to make it fun as well. Basketball is his favorite sport, so I'm glad he gets to share that with Ashlyn:)

(Below): In January Rachel, Kaylee and Ashlyn sang a trio in church, accompanied by Ashlyn's piano and voice teacher, Cindy. They sang "When All Is Said and Done" and it brought tears to my eyes every time they sang it together. The words are so true and these sweet girls helped those listening to feel the spirit so strongly that day.

This week, Ashlyn finished up her big project for Music. She had to create a stringed instrument with a neck, bridge, strings and sound hole and then play a recognizable song on it. I took her to Lowe's to try to brainstorm and WOW... I felt overwhelmed. This was right when Dan was swamped at work and was getting home at Midnight for days in a row. I'm pretty comfortable with a power drill, but creating an instrument that would actually play a tune was harder than I thought! After scrapping our original idea that involved a metal Bundt cake pan, (DON'T laugh!!!) Dan saved the day! He and Ashlyn found a paper maché box at Hobby Lobby and together, they created this cute little guitar/ violin hybrid. Whew!