Speech Meet, Family Art Night, Track Meets and All Things Spring

As for Speech Meet, Emma presented Helena Confronts Hermia from Midsummer Nights Dream to the middle school audience this year. Grandma Kathy came to watch Emma at the meet. Emma had an added challenge of speaking the day after she had her expander removed. She now has invisalign trays installed. It is an adjustment though to be able to once again touch the roof of her mouth with her tongue. The trays hurt a bit but she says it is better than the expander.

Emma has been working hard at her track skills and will be running the 800 meter, 200 meter and a two by four relay for her events this spring. In her first race she placed 2nd for both the 800 and 200m.

Her second meet was at Hilly Murray and she had 3rd place for the mile with a time of 6 minutes 20 seconds. She got 2nd again in the 800m and participated in two relays 100m and 400m.

As for the choir concert this spring, Analise and Emma both sang. Analise's favorite song was, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and Emma's favorite from her performance was, "Inscription of Hope." For band, Analise played "Mechanical Monsters."

Dan, Analise and Emma have also taken on the challenge of running a 5k together around White Bear Lake in May. They have been training together each weekend. Emma ended up getting first for her division, Analise got 2nd and Dan got first for his division. Emma got 4th place for the whole racing group. Dan did his first triathalon with Wade at the end of the summer last year and is hoping to do another one at the end of summer. Analise has been going strong with gymnastics and will continue to develop her level 6 and 7 routines over the summer.

During the last month of school, Emma has been working hard on a portrait of Terese of Lisieux for her final art piece of the year. This is also her confirmation saint. She has to write a report on her next year and present it to the church before getting confirmed. Analise has been enjoying her clay sculpting this year and may do more art with her friend Tessa's mom, who works as an artist, this summer.

For Chronological Quest, Analise received Zenobia of Palmyra. She worked hard on her twenty facts and presentation to the lower school. This will be the last year of us having to figure out costuming for the Quest. Analise made her graduation from elementary school this year and joined the 97% and higher club for her second year (otherwise known as the A honor roll).

Emma also showed great effort in academics this year and made it into the 4.0 and higher club with a 4.2 average. We are now contemplating as a family what our next steps will be after 8th grade. In the next year, we will need to tour a few high schools to make sure we are picking what is right for our family situation. We will be looking into Chesterton Academy, St. Croix Prep and maybe one other to make sure that Liberty is the best decision and will provide what we think will be needed for success in the college years.

Recognition for Creativity

Emma is on a roll for kudos from teachers for her creativity and determination. We had another note written home about her amazing work. Guess Who Henry the VIII style...

Dear Hanson and Maas Families, I wanted to take a moment to share how impressed I was with Emma and Grace's recent history project. For our review on the many historical figures surrounding Henry VIII, students were challenged to create a unique and engaging way to review for the test. Emma and Grace went above and beyond. They used their class time wisely and poured creativity into their project. It was the best activity out of both classes. Their game was not only fun and interactive, but it was a big hit with all the students. Both classes eagerly played it for our review day. I am so proud of their hard work and collaboration. Well done, girls!

Lions Service Day

We participated in the Lions Service Project day in Bayport, MN. They had families packing snack packs, making tie blankets, making hypoglycemia packs and decorating cards for Vetrans. They also had a special project for teens and adults making wigs for children with cancer. The wigs are designed to look like Disney princesses. Emma and Lilynn crocheted a Princess Elsa wig together.

Analise and mom discovered a really neat piece of playground equpiment in Bayport. It has a swing/teetor-totter combo. When you swing on the swing and bounce up and down, you really send the other person flying. We will definitely have to come back to Bayport when the weather is nicer in the summer. They had a nice beach walk along the St. Croix River and tons of playground equipment that proves be to highly entertaining.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

On Tuesday the girls and Dan stopped at Falls Park and took some photos at the waterfalls. They also stopped at a cathedral in the downtown area and said a prayer for Erin that she get over the second round of the flu she was experiencing.

On Wednesday, the crew went to Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science as well as the zoo. The day wrapped up with the Midco Aquatic Center.

On Thursday the group went to a butterfly garden (the highlight of the trip) then returned to the Cities. On the way back they stopped at Good Earth State Park and the Pipestone National Monument. It was closed but they still walked there. Erin thinks that the park looks like a place Jesus would have wandered for 40 days. Lots of rocks and sparse vegetation but they did find a playground with some interesting structures.

Museums, Volunteering and Shows

Break started off with a bang. Emma and Erin had the flu over the weekend. Thankfully the chills and fever only lasted 3 days and we we back on track by Tuesday with our spring break plans. On the girls' first week off, we visited museums and went to many sports practices. Like usual, Analise has gymnastics practices. Emma is starting track and field practices. She is doing long distance running and the long jump as her events this season. We were able to walk downtown St. Paul and visit the History Museum on Wednesday. We also spent a lot of time going through clothes to figure out what is still "acceptalble" for middle school and what is too "babyish." We have a lot of clothes to donate this summer at the community garage sale.

Then on Thursday we visited the Walker Art Center with Aunt Sharon.

On Friday we got our passports for Canada this summer and Emma was told by the track coach that they want her on the varsity team. Now we just have to decide as a family if that is the right direction to go or if it is too much. The weather was great at the end of the week. The girls got their bikes out and road to the library multiple times. We also spent time with Chica taking her for walks. She is finally feeling better and acting more like her normal dog self.

On Saturday we went to the Ordway musical, "Dear Evan Hansen" about a middle school boy with social anxiety. The musical was very sad but a good way of depicting what so many teenagers go through when they think the grass is greener on the other side. Eventually all the things you thought were such a big deal become small and not as important. It just takes time.

Next week the girls will go to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with Dan for a few days. They decided to leave Tuesday morning so that they can still go to their sports practices and hang out with friends on Monday.

Impressive Work

Emma impressed her English teacher with her comic of Hamlet. He usually doesn't give out high scores on anything but Emma did an outstanding job. She has a talent for writing and drawing. Right now she is working on a 3D art project featuring our house in art class.

Snow Day

We received over 8 inches of snow yesterday. The girls and Erin had no school. After shoveling the driveway we spent some time building forts and a snow elephant in the backyard. We also went to Lenten services mid-day. It was nice to have time to relax and enjoy one last snowstorm before spring.