90 Degrees!!

Summer is coming!! Today we reached over 90 degrees F outside (94 F at Samford, not far from here). New records are being set throughout the state of Alabama!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to wish everyone who checks in on this blog a very Happy Ressurection Day!!!

We will be enjoying a day of rejoicing, fun, and eating.

Short Update

Well, seeing as we haven't updated this since spring break, I thought it might be a good idea to fill everyone in. We haven't been doing much, besides regular routine stuff: piano lessons, school, zoology classes, school, and school. All routine. There have been a few differences, however, in our schedule. Over the past two weeks we've been helping our friend prepare her new house to move in. Things have been going smoothly there, and we hope to have her moved in within a few weeks. Also, today (Saturday) Sam and I (Jesse) competed in the AMTA Auditions for piano. We both feel OK with our performances, but we won't learn how we did until next week. We didn't play perfectly, so it's up to the judges.
Some of you might have noticed that there were some powerful storms coming through our area. We came out fine. We all had to sleep downstairs for awhile for fear of tornados, but (amazingly) we didn't even lose power.
Next week most of us (except Nathan) will be taking the SAT tests. Aside from those things everything is normal here. Spring is coming. It seems like it rained green paint last night. Everything is beautiful. We are looking forward to celebrating Easter next week.
Well, that wraps up the update. Hope and pray everyone else is having a good spring as well.

Spring Break

This week is spring break in Alabama. We get the week off school and, since Daddy is a professor, he gets the week off work.

On Monday we just stayed at home and relaxed, it was drizzling and cold so we played Legos and board games.

On Tuesday we went to the Tennessee Aquarium! We love to go there often, but it is an all day affair so a visit is a bit of an occasion. We took lots of pictures and we will put them up as soon as possible.

On Wednesday we went downtown to play a scavenger hunt that is published yearly in the newspaper. A group of people from the paper go to different places in or near Birmingham and take pictures of tiny objects-a tiny word on a fire hydrant, an oddly shaped screw, a queer picture on a poster- any thing that is hardly noticeable in everyday life, but is possible to find with a sharp pair of eyes. One year they did this at the Botanical Gardens, one year at the Veterans Memorial, but every year the rules are a little bit different. This time they had found every letter in the alphabet hidden on two blocks of downtown Birmingham. They publish the pictures in the paper and we love to hunt for the hidden objects. We found twenty-two of the twenty-six letters, but K, T, U and X evaded us.

Thursday was another quiet day, Jesse and Abigail went to help a lady from church who is moving in a few weeks.

And Friday we went to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center. This is a wonderful place to visit, we climbed the 'Martian' rock wall, traveled to Mars twice in the 'Martranz', and Jesse, Samuel and Daddy rode the 'G-force Accelerator'!
Next week we have to get back to work, school and life, but we always love to take spring break off!

Piano Winners

Well, I don't have time to write much so this is short. The past two Saturdays have been piano competition days for Samuel and Jesse. On March 11th Sam and Jesse both played at the Sonata Contest in which they played a sonata each in their respective age groups (Sam played a Haydn sonata, Jesse played a Beethoven). Sam was one of the winners in his group, and Jesse received Honorable Mention!!!

Last Saturday (March 18th), Jesse competed in the Bush Hills Music Club competition. He played an "Air" from a French Suite by J.S. Bach and also "Hungarian" by MacDowell. Jesse won First Place in the Junior Division!!! We are so glad to see the boy's hard work pay off and we're looking forward to the other competitions this year.

Moving Day

Well, we've had a busy few days here. On Tuesday (March 7th) our friends from Chicago came down here, but not for just a visit. Nathan and Jeanine DeLadurantey with their young daughter Corrine moved in to their new home in Montgomery. Now they are just a hour and a half away! We helped them move in on Wednesday, and here are some pictures from the move.

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The moving trailer traveled from Chicago to Birmingham in one day.

Corrine made sure everyone worked hard.

Corrine's mom, Jeanine, helped direct the event. She will be having another child in April.

Quiet Times

Well, our blog needs an update, but there isn't much to write about. Over the past 2 weeks we have been enjoying the Olympics. The biggest news is that Chris, Sam and Jesse all played wonderful at a piano contest. In this contest you compete against yourself to try to get a good score. All three Kawell's got the highest score possible!! Another other item worth note here is a little sickness going through our family. Just a cold, nothing too bad, but still annoying. Also, we can see spring just around the corner! It's getting warmer and we're all starting to get out of our winter cocoons and move outside more. Well, that's about it. It's been quiet here, but quiet can be a good thing.