Story Reader

Pete and I were lucky enough to get 3 story reader time slots for Clara's kindergarten year. He took the first one and I took the second. By the time we got to our 3rd spot this week we realized that neither of us were able to take the time off of work and neither Grandma nor Bampa were available. Clara jokingly asked whether Henry could do it. We wrote an email to both of their teachers, and it worked out! Here are the pictures Clara's classroom aide, Mrs. Hendle, sent to me today. 

Mrs. Hendle said "Just wanted to let you know Henry did an outstanding job reading to the kindy kids. It was so fun seeing him be a big brother to them all!!!
He remarked that our class had changed abit but he still remembered kindergarten with Deb and me!!!"

Henry reported that the kindergarteners just looked at him at first, and seemed to be looking for the adult that would be reading to them. He read Trouble Gum and The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country. He said the kids were good listeners, as they sat on the floor. Clara got to sit right next to her brother. These pictures make me pretty happy. 

Iron Financial

It's Clara's first year of baseball, and tonight was her first game. It was cold. It was 45 and windy. Pete was at Henry's game, (with Frederick) and I was at Clara's game with my blanket and my camera. 

 I hate the overuse of pink for gender differentiation, but I kind of love how cute these uniforms are....green with magenta numbers. Clara is #7, but you can't tell because she had her sweatshirt on the whole time.

 At her age, the kids go through a couple of innings, in which they all get a chance to bat. Here's Clara at the plate. I couldn't resist including each of these photos (I may have been thinking about what Grandpa Bill would like to see)....

It sure was fun to watch her! And I can't wait until the weather is actually above 50.

(Henry's game went okay as well. He's playing for Gordon Bros. Steel (what's with the heavy metals?) and is at the age where the kids do the pitching. The games last waaay longer now, and they keep a real score. Henry had a rough time with his first chance at pitching, but I hope he gets another chance so he doesn't just give up on it. He's been doing some really good fielding. It's harder to get good hits, because the kids' pitches are a bit wild. The hard part right now is that Henry has 2, sometimes 3, games a week and Clara has one. Sometimes, like tonight, they overlap. Frederick has to be dragged along when that happens, and somewhere in there we have to make time to practice piano...and, you know...eat and sleep. Not that I'm complaining. This is good stuff.)