Spring Snow

Snow in this area of the Pacific Northwest is fairly rare, but snow this late in the year is even more unusual. Great big flakes fell and even stuck a bit to the ground and the roofs. Normally, I really enjoy snow, but today it was simply annoying. I'm so ready for warm weather and the end to all the winter rain.
The weather isn't supposed to be any better tomorrow, so Saacha, Julia and I decided not to go to the horse show that Julia was supposed to compete in. There is another just like it at the end of April, so we'll just postpone until then. Hopefully, the weather will be much warmer and with luck, it may even be sunny. (One can dream.)

Easter

Happy Easter!!!

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day, so we decided to do the egg hunt a day early.

The weatherman predicted "dull and dreary" for Easter Sunday. What a bummer.

Grant counting his eggs before they hatch.

Julia counting her eggs. (They could each get 14.)

Addison

The whole gang and the aftermath...

Jessie, Elizabeth, Grant, Quincy, Addison, Madeline, and Julia.

When Addison was done throwing the eggs out of her basket, she went after Julia's.

Talent Show

Some backstage pictures

I just got back from the kid's school talent show. It was so much fun. There were kids playing piano, guitar and violin. Some sang, others danced and one did a karate demonstration. Kids of all ages and abilities performed. Little ones strummed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the guitar or played Yankee Doodle on the piano. Others showed us talents that we didn't know they had. I think we may have seen performances from some future superstars. Kevin's friend Christian did a short dance and another girl, Tayla, sang. (She seems to be a local, budding Christian artist complete with cd. ) A group of teenagers had formed a Celtic/Irish string ensemble that was amazing, really amazing. Grant, Quincy and Julia played pieces on the piano and all did well, but Grant really blew everyone away. So many people commented that they weren't expecting that from such a quiet kid. Others accused me of not telling them just how well he played. I don't know, what am I supposed to say? Being around him and hearing him practice everyday causes me to forget just how good he is.

Julia played Alouette and Country Dance. She also danced a colonial dance with her American Girl class. Very cute.

Quincy played moonlight sonata. She also had a small part in a play that her book club adapted from the book the Frog Princess. They wrote the play, assigned the parts, created the costumes and self directed the whole thing. It's amazing what a bunch of kids can do when you leave them alone for half an hour once a week.

Kevin did not play the guitar, but he did help by video taping the performances. The emcee kind of called him out by mentioning that three of the four Sanders were performing tonight. I hope he does decide to take that guitar out of his bedroom and perform someday.

Below are a few video clips that I took with my little camera. I'll try to get the full versions that were done with the actual video camera up sometime this weekend.

A rare sighting...

Above are some pictures of a very rare creature, one that has only been briefly seen in the blog world, but can nearly always be found in my family room in front of the XBOX. This creature is very camera shy, but I managed to sneak a few pictures from behind the car and from my living room window. Don't tell...

Humphrey the Bear

Humphrey the Bear

Humphrey the bear was plump, and heavy,
He ate Donald Trump, and wrecked his Chevy!
And then, for dessert, he ate his honey,
Until his teeth got poor.

Later that day, the wolves began howling,
And Humphrey the bear began his prowling!
He went in the forest and ate ev’rything,
Until he could eat no more.

By Grant Sander

Horse pictures

Here are some new pics from an old show.

This is the same show that Quincy did so well in earlier this year.

These aren't the best pictures, but I like that they show motion.

The next two pictures are of our friend Anna and her "bucking bronco" Fiona.

I love when someone captures pictures of the horses being naughty.

Despite Fiona's antics, Anna did very well and won reserve champion in her section.

Julia will be showing with Akuna at the end of March and Quincy will be doing an "A" rated show the first week of April. I'm sure we'll have a ton of pictures to share after that busy week. In the meantime, there is a video of Julia and Akuna on youtube. Julia's riding has improved since that video was made and she has been taking Akuna over two foot fences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZP8hDADUcE

It's been a while

I haven't had much to blog about lately. We've been busy with our various activities and other mundane things like grocery shopping and haircuts. (See Quincy's newest haircut on the right.) The house goes back on the market tomorrow, so I've been out shopping for plants and other things to dress up the house. The shopping is so much more fun than the house cleaning that is also necessary. Spring has sprung and so has the pollen. Today was a particularly tough day for allergies, but it's raining again, so maybe that will help the pollen settle.

How Abiotic Factors Affect the African Savanna

In the African tropical savannah, there is both a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season is about 6-8 months of the year. It lasts from May to November in the southern hemisphere, and September to March in the northern hemisphere. During the rainy season, floods often occur due to a large amount of rainfall. There can be as much as 47 inches of rainfall during the rainy season, and the dry season receives less than 4 inches! The yearly amount of rainfall is 50 inches at maximum, and 30 inches at minimum.
The dry season is slightly shorter than the rainy season. It lasts from October to march in the southern hemisphere, and April to September in the northern hemisphere. Because the dry season only gets 3 inches of rainfall, it is a time of drought. During such a dry season, sometimes fires will appear out of nowhere! The savannah is one of the few climates in which both floods and wildfires may occur.
Floods, drought, and wildfires may seem extremely dangerous, but they actually help the living factors, such as the plants, by getting rid of the old plants so new ones can grow. Since the dry season is only in one hemisphere at a time, elephants will migrate during the dry season to stay away from the drought and wildfires.

Quacker's Adventures Part 2

Hello! I am Quackers. I was just rockin out with my band a minute ago. That's why I have these glasses and the mohawk. Yes, I know, I look silly, but if you heard our music, you would be so amazed.

One day when I was bored and had nothing else to do, I was staring at the wall and I was counting things. When suddenly, someone said, "Quackers is cute!" I was jumping and screaming, "I'm cute! I'm cute!" and then I landed in a bowl. And you know what... I am cute. That's a pretty cute picture of me. Don't you think?

Posted by Julia