And...We're Back

No, the Tokarski family has not fallen off the face of the Earth, been abducted by aliens, or gone off the grid and adopted a luddite lifestyle. We're still here and still kick'n. And now we're back and ready to once again preserve our lives amongst the cloud for posterity.

So, here's some of what you missed:

For starters, a whole slew of birthdays have passed. In January, Aidan turned 5. Then in February, Abigail turned 12 while Mom turned...another year older. Finally, in April, Alex turned 14.

Back in February, Alex and his friend Zach turned in their project for National History Day. The over-arching theme this year was Debate & Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences. The boys had to choose a subject that fit that theme: They chose the 1979-81 Iranian Hostage Crisis. Weighty stuff, indeed.

To make a long story short (a tale fraught with iPod videos, hobos, toaster-ovens, and "THE SHAH!"), the boys took first place at the school level. Congrats, guys. They then went on to compete at the state level on April 9th at the DelTech Stanton campus. Here, despite a valiant effort, they failed to place. Better luck next time, fellas.

And in sports, Alex and Abby are both on the tail-end of their spring soccer seasons; Alex for his second and final season with the

U14 GRPC Inferno and Abby with her first season for the RLCA Middle-School Girl's Soccer. Both have played extremely well. We couldn't be prouder.

There has been a lot of other happenings but at this point, lets look to the future.

Note: This post disappeared for several days due to a problem with Blogger. The above version is a rewrite that I did from memory.

Of Socks and Explosives

This evening, the girls treated us to a sock skating show, replete with costumes and wigs.

In the midst of the show, Mom states:
Is the kind of stuff I would have done if I had a sister? My brother and I just blew things up...

A Noble Profession

Aidan:
"I want to be a presenter
when I get big."

Mom (completely mishearing):
"You don't want to be a prisoner."

Aidan:
"No. A person who wraps presents
...a presenter."


I set a goal this year of putting up at least 3 posts a month. I did really well...until this month. As a result, its New Years eve and I'm scrambling to meet my self-prescribed quota by back-dating new posts to when they should've gone live. So, if your saying to yourself, 'I don't remember any of these posts on the dates they're listed for', that's why... :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

2010 GCA Christmas Program

Aidan's Preschool Christmas Program this year was held on December 14th. This year, there was no crying... :)

As a result, his class's entire presentation is featured below. Enjoy.

Get to the Manger

On Tuesday, December 7th, Amanda took part in the RLCA Elementary Christmas Program, "Get to the Manger."

The 3rd number, No Way!, shown below, first features Amanda and some classmates doing a little silk work, followed by Amanda showing off her dancing skills (sorry she's a little hidden).

Way to go, Girl! Great work!

The Sound of Music

The girls love music...if you didn't know. Aside from their foray into the world of clarinets, they both like to hammer away on an old keyboard they keep in their bedroom. And they're good at it, too. So Mom and I decided to keep an eye open for an inexpensive used piano we could tuck away in the living room.

Well, as if by Providence, friends of ours from church posted on Facebook that they were unloading their old upright and wanted to know if anyone wanted it. Mom jumped on it.

So, this past weekend, we borrowed a trailer and some muscle (thanks Poppop, Randy, and neighbor Sam) and brought home the well-loved John Wanamaker. Since then, a night hasn't passed that we haven't been serenaded by the sounds of Pachabel's Canon, Veggie Tales theme music, Mary Did You Know, or some original piece.

Pedaling on Up

Just this week, while outside doing doing some chores, I noted that Aidan had really become a bit too big for his trike: He was practically kneeing himself in the face when he pedaled.

We had a 2-wheeler set aside for him but, for some reason, I was pretty sure the back tire was blown out. Guess I should've checked sooner since, when I put some air in it, it held. So on when the training wheels and away went Aidan...