Spring Band and Chorus Concert

The girls performed in the annual Spring Band & Chorus Concert last week.  Both played in the Advanced Band and were recognized for their selection to All State Band.  Elizabeth also sang with the chorus, including a few solo lines in Humble and Kind.

The saxophones are in the second and third row - you can barely see Emily when the band performs.

These are some awesome 7th graders.  Such a supportive bunch.

Traditional Laila-Elizabeth photo.

April Odds and Ends

After adding these photos to the post, I realized that we don't have any odds and ends of Elizabeth this month - she's really was the star of April!

Emily and Beau 

Not a fan of Snapchat, but this picture is cute. 

Boomerang. 

Emily loves Otto (no, we did not get ANOTHER dog). 

JPII Soccer 

Visiting the new Thai ice-cream place (bring your wallet!!). 

April Soccer

Outdoor soccer started off with a bang for Emily (she had a goal and five assists in the first game of the season), but things have gone downhill from there.  Two weekends ago, she played four games and lost all four; this past weekend, she played one game and lost that as well.  For the Magic girls, who have become so used to success, losing seems to have come as a bit of a shock, although they have been unable to get out of the rut and do anything about it.  Overall, Emily has been pleased with the way she is playing and finally scored this weekend (she had a four game drought), but would rather be winning.  Here's hoping May is a new month, in more ways than one.

She played defense in the pouring rain against a strong Glastonbury team.

Strong play from our girl against a tough Simsbury team. 

April Lacrosse

April was a great lacrosse month for the girls.  Elizabeth is playing very well - the best she's ever played and we could not be more pleased.  She has a new coach this year, and while it is taking her a while to come around to actually liking him, she knows how much her lacrosse game has improved.  He is very hard on her - privately, he's told Lee and I that he is hard on her because she listens and implements his suggestions and criticisms; he also told us that she has really stepped up and taken a role as a leader on the team, which is what he wanted her to do.  It makes me very proud to hear her encourage her teammates when they do well.  Elizabeth scored 11 goals in Junior games and 1 goal in a Senior game in April and the teams are playing well, having already won more games than all of last season; even the losses are close.
Emily fought us a bit on playing lacrosse this year, but we insist that she play a different sport each season (in addition to soccer).  After being threatened with the loss of a soccer game, Emily turned over a new leaf and finally got into it.  She scored two goals in her third game of the season and finally had a smile on her face after a game.

She lost the draw, won the ball back and took it all the way for a goal.  

The girls combined for 5 of the 10 Middletown goals in a 10-8 win. 

Abby had the assist on both of Emily's goals.  Soccer or lacrosse, these two have a connection! 

Fearsome Four!