My busy busy week!

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I wrote a lot last week, so I am going to post mostly pictures today of everything we did this past week.


This week was my Second Grade Sing-Along concert. It went very well!



After the sing-along concerts were finished, one of the teachers wrote a thank you note for me, and went around to all of the six classes who performed to have every child sign the note. They presented it to me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers!



On Saturday morning we went to Belmont racetrack for "Breakfast at Belmont". We met Sam the trumpeter and Michael got to hold the trumpet along with Flat Stanley.


Breakfast at Belmont was from 7 - 9:30 a.m. We were able to watch the horses being exercised on the track. Big Brown had his workout at 5:30 that morning to avoid the media and the crowds(what a shame!).
We were treated to a tour of the park and shown all of the riding paraphernalia.

After the park tour we were taken on a tram ride around the backside of the track.


Here is Kent Desormaux(sp?) (Big Brown's jockey) riding a horse back from their workout.

After the tram ride, we were shown the starting gate, and the children were invited to go into it.


The gates are closed.......


And they're off!

The best part of Breakfast at Belmont is that it was all free! (I'm sure that they make enough money in other ways) The only money we spent was a small amount for the breakfast food. It is definitely something I would be happy to bring our family or other visitors to.

Today was Nicholas' first day to pass the sacrament. I never imagined the pride I would feel watching him. It was an incredible feeling! He looked so proud of himself!

Nicholas is now a deacon!

We went to church today like every other Sunday. Nicholas asked his father to join us today for his special day. Tony came later during the third hour.

Our Branch President announced that Nicholas would be receiving the priesthood today, and he was sustained by the members of our branch. I was so proud I couldn't stop smiling! Nicholas and I played a violin duet "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" for Sacrament meeting. The talks were very inspiring. It was High Council Sunday, and our speaker spoke about strengthening homes and families. There are three things we can do:

• Family prayer
• Family scripture study
• Family home evening

Anyway, when Nicholas walked into the Primary room after his class and asked me if he should go to Priesthood, I started to cry. I have been with him in Primary since he was 3 years old - it was so strange to not have him there today.

Tony met me in the Aaronic Priesthood room, along with one of my neighbors who was very interested in the ordination. The blessing was beautiful! Nicholas told me later that he definitely feels different now. It has been a wonderful day!

How many people in the world share my name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Yes, that's right! There is only one Luella in the world, and that's me! It makes me feel pretty special!

Here are the results:

There are 25,848 people in the U.S. with the first name Luella.

There are 1,156 people in the U.S. with my last name .

I looked up Luella Bateman, and there are 2 of them in the U.S

My mother-in-law found another Luella with my last name who was born in Elmira, NY in the late 1800's(I was also born in Elmira, NY in 1966). The coincidence was pretty freaky!

By the way, thank you Shanda for posting this on your blog. It's cool!

Today is Nicholas' birthday!

Nicholas is 12 years old today!


Nicholas was born on May 17, 1996 at 11:17 p.m. He was supposed to be born on May 15, but he decided to prolong his entry into the world. At 8:30 p.m. on that night, I called Tony on his beeper because my contractions had begun. He was conducting his orchestra at a concert, and his beeper went off just as he ended the last song. He turned around to the audience and announced that he needed to leave right away. Of course all of the parents knew that Nicholas was due any day, and they broke into ahh's and applause.

We spent the next two days walking and walking and walking. I was trying to encourage the process, and nothing was working. At night I was woken up every 5 minutes by another contraction. By the time May 17 came, I was tired! Around 12:00 noon I went to my doctor, and she told me to go home and take a tablespoon of castor oil, and meet her at the hospital around 3:00. I do not recommend tasting castor oil, but it did work! After taking the castor oil, the contractions became much stronger and more painful, and sure enough, by 3 p.m., we were ready to go to the hospital.

By about 6, I was sooo tired! Tony looked at the doctor and told her that I needed an epidural. I originally wanted a birth with no painkillers, but by this time I was too tired to argue with anyone. Once I got the epidural, I finally slept with no interruptions for about 4 hours. The next thing I knew, I was being woken up and told that it was time to have my baby.

It was such a special time. I will never forget the first time I held my baby Nicholas in my arms. (I'll post the picture tomorrow)

He is growing into a young man that any parent would be proud of. He memorized all 13 Articles of Faith by the time he was 8 years old. He has earned his Faith in God award, and has done a lot of it on his own. When I became Primary President, the Cub Scout program in our branch was struggling. I was encouraged to build it up, and I asked Nicholas if he wanted to be a Cub Scout. (he had just turned 8 years old) We got his Wolf book and his uniform, and he began reading the book and studying it. He earned all of the Cub Scout awards, and just recently was awarded his Arrow of Light award. There were many different cub scout leaders during his time in Cub Scouts, and Nicholas was instrumental in encouraging not only the cub scout leaders, but also the cub scouts in his den to earn their awards. I don't think he realizes what a strong influence he has had on the Scouting program - not only in our branch, but also throughout the stake. Our Young Men leaders have become motivated to make the Boy Scout program strong because of Nicholas, and he is now working on his Tenderfoot rank. I am so proud of him!

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Nicholas and Michael both take violin lessons with a wonderful teacher. She is a traditionally trained violinist turned Suzuki teacher. She teaches from the Suzuki books, and takes other songs from many other places to help her students learn lots of repertoire. Every Wednesday alternates between Dalcroze/Reading classes, and Repertoire classes.

I took a video of each of their classes for you. Enjoy them!



Michael loves playing Hunter's Chorus!




Nicholas leads all of the 2nd violin parts (this song is called Galop by Michael McLean)

Things have been insanely busy around here! So much has happened since my last post - I have been wanting to post an entry, but I had so many other things for work and family that had to be done. I have lots of cool pictures on my camera - here they are!
















Faline and Colter came to visit us. We had agreat time walking with them through Central Park(remember Balto? there he is!) We stopped at MOMA(the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art) to give our feet a rest and to get a bite to eat.

• Nicholas' orchestra concert was the Wednesday(April 30) after vacation was finished. I didn't take pictures, unfortunately. After the concert, we went to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. When we got there, it was very crowded. We thought we got out of the concert early enough, and were upset that so many kids beat us there. We found out later that it was the anniversary for Baskin-Robbins, and they were selling ice cream for 31 cents a scoop! What a deal for ice cream lovers!

• My birthday was May 9, and Tony and Nicholas were supposed to go to our Stake's Father-Son camping trip. Tony was very tired, and it was raining, so they decided not to go. I invited some of my girlfriends to a nail spa to help me celebrate my birthday. We each had a manicure, a massage, and a pedicure. I was only going to have a manicure and a massage. My feet are so ticklish that I do not allow anyone to touch them! The girls talked me into trying the pedicure. I did it, and I have pictures to prove it! We had a blast!(although I'm not sure that I would allow anyone to touch my feet ever again!)
  

• The next two weeks will be very busy. Nicholas' birthday is coming up - he's turning 12 on May 17. Our branch president is going to ordain him to the priesthood on May 18. My second graders are performing their concert next week. On May 29, our entire school is participating in a Dance Festival.

That's about it for now. Enjoy the pictures!