One May-niac month - Ty & Missy

How did we spend our May?

Field trips, reports, birthdays, birthday parties, a baby shower, planting, drip irrigation, half marathon running, and just trying to get over this cough that has gripped my body.

It's progressed to where I've coughed so much and so hard that I'm pretty sure I've bruised some ribs. The right side of my back hurts anytime I cough or sneeze. Ibuprofen has become my best friend (I was lucky enough to find that "extra strength" stuff they gave me after Alex was born). My knee is pretty much back to normal. I believe it was taken hostage by the same inflammation that I've got in my lungs. I've been able to take up running again and even tweaked out 11.5 miles today. Also after a week of not being able to taste or smell, it came back. Life it good. And I am SO ready for our Alaskan vacation. But man, it sure is a lot of work getting ready it.

I came across this article that pretty much summed up everything I've been feeling lately.

Tyler's been working on getting our splash pad and gas fire pit done. We tried the fire pit out tonight by roasting hot dogs. He had a business trip to Las Vegas where he lost some money . . . to the Nevada highway patrol. I've always thought he had somewhat of a lead foot.

I hate that I dread the month of May, but it really is kind of a nutty month for our family.

One May-niac month - Kiersten

Ah, I officially have a teenager in the house, and I'm loving it. I think this is only the beginning of some wonderful years. This year Kiersten decided she needed another birthday party. I obliged but left all the planning and invitations up to her. I did help out a little with the food, but she pretty much put that together too.

They tried out the new splash pad.
They played a game where three teams started with a pen and went around the neighborhood trading up to see who could come back with the biggest item. It was pretty fun to see what they came back with . . . cardboard boxes and lumber.

Kiersten made her favorite . . . Koolaid Pie. I'm not quite sure why Erik is lighting the candle or what he has in his hair. Looks to me from the photos that he wanted in on the party action pretty badly. Kiersten has a good group of friends and it's kind of weird to think that Erik is only 10, 11, 12 months younger than most of them.
Her big birthday present wasn't much of a surprise. I needed her to try it out to see if she liked it. She was in desperate need of a bigger violin since she'd outgrown the 3/4 size and had proven to both her dad and me that she was serious about violin playing. Wow! The difference in sound quality was amazing. The one we got her is so much more crisp and clear than the student violin she started with. We ended up paying double (ouch!, but worth it) and I let her start using it right away even though her birthday was several weeks away. I love listening to her play. It wasn't hard to talk her into playing an obbligato for one of our primary's mother's day songs.
And she also got to use it for her orchestra concert which was the night before her birthday. What a fun early present it's been.
Kiersten got several awards, one of which was for the fastest female keyboarder in her keyboarding class (70wpm). The funny thing is that she transferred into that class halfway through and rocked on all the timed tests immediately.

Even though this girl had a rough time with botched schedules and eating lunch basically by herself for half the year, she never really complained. I think she really loved 7th grade and is looking forward to next year. I love her optimism.

One May-niac month - Erik

Erik is officially a 7th grader.

I never did understand the big hoopla for 6th grade graduations. Here is Erik waiting for his name to be called as he proceeds up to the risers. Doesn't he look great?! He got that new suit for his birthday just a few days prior and has now worn it three times in three days. I think he might just like it.

Like Nate, he also had a teacher who was concerned that he wouldn't get the award he deserved. Mrs. Smith made a point to leave and walk up to the office to make sure his name would be called. I was standing in the hall as they called Erik's name for scoring better than 90% in language arts and science (math scores hadn't come back yet) when his teacher came back and asked if they announced Erik's name for both. I assured her they did. He also got an award for perfect attendance. I've never been a big fan of attendance awards. Next year I'm going to make a point to pull my kids out at least once during the year :) There is just as much learning (if not more) that can go on outside of the classroom as in.

*Just a little side note about the bullying. As Mrs. Young, the principal, was giving her speech she talked about the new initiative they had adopted this year in regards to bullying and that Mrs. ________ did a great job in heading it up. I had a silent chuckle to myself because Mrs. ________ is the mom of the ringleader of these boys who have tormented Erik for some time. Maybe she's not aware of what's going on with her own son and maybe she's tried to do something about it, but it comes down to everyone having their own choices on how they will treat others.

This year Erik turned 12 and wanted a basketball party to celebrate his birthday, so I came up with these invitations very quickly.

HE couldn't have been happier about how they turned out. And a basketball party it was. They stopped long enough to eat some pizza and open presents. With our big floodlight they would have played all night, but by 10pm I was exhausted and knew moms would be wanting their boys home.
When Erik got to class on his birthday, his teacher asked him where he was going for lunch that day. Kiersten had her last year and she remembered me taking Kiersten out for lunch. Erik said he would have gone to Panda Express except he had requested that I make orange chicken and General Tso's chicken for dinner. So his next favorite . . . American Burgers. You just can't go wrong with burgers and shakes.
He also got a backpacking pack so we are all excited to go backpacking . . . SOON! And I'm pretty sure Alex thinks it's his birthday. Next month buddy.

One May-niac month - Nathan

Nate also convinced me to accompany him on his field trip which I didn't mind since they were touring the new Natural History Museum that just recently opened.

Photo © Jeff Goldberg / Esto

It really is a cool building inside and out with over 1300 solar panels on the roof. I had to snap a shot of those fun things for Tyler because one day our home is going to have those.

This field trip I was in charge of 6 boys who for the most part were pretty well behaved.

Mrs. Young, the principal at Stansbury Elementary, has a certain way of handing out awards that make the kids nervous and catch even some of the teachers off guard. They got back their core test scores and she always starts with the kids who earned 90% or better in either math, science, or language arts. And then she'll go on to the kids who earned it in two of the categories and then all three.

So when she called Nate's good friends, Jeremy and Chris for math, but no Nathan I could tell he was a little confused. All the kids in the 4th grade know Nate is a math wiz. I continued to watch him and he made me proud as he congratulated his friends when they sat back down by him. He could have so easily have handled it differently. I also glanced at his teacher, Mrs. Douglas, who gave me a skeptical look that told me she was also unsure why he wasn't called.

However, as the awards ceremony continued Nate's name was called for scoring 90% or better in all three categories. Afterwards, Mrs. Douglas pulled me aside to tell me that Nathan was the only one in the entire 4th grade to score 100% on the math core test. Way to go Nate! Those scores have helped him also obtain a spot on the 10-member Lego League team this coming year, the same team that Erik was on last year as a 6th grader. To say that Nathan was excited to be asked to join Lego League is an understatement. He was ecstatic! He is in for a fun year next year.

Nathan with friend Tyler next to him and his "cousin" Levi. What fun it's been to have family in the same school.

 

One May-niac month - Ashlyn

Ash was offered the opportunity to go roadtripping to Phoenix with Grandma and her aunts by herself to visit her cousin Cohen.

All I can say is that it was terribly quiet around here without her. I guess I've never realized how much liveliness and energy she brings into our home. While she was gone, she lost one of her two front teeth and the other hung on for dear life for several weeks until her dad returned from a business trip. She's been singing "All I Want for Christmas" for a couple of days now.
During the last few months of school, the first graders are challenged to read 100 books by the end of school. I've never had any problems getting my kids to reach that goal. And Ashlyn was no different. In fact she went above what any of the others have done and reached her own personal goal of 300 books. I was one of the reading moms for the year where I went in once a week and helped the class with their reading. Ashlyn was definitely one of the better readers in her class. I could really tell a difference between students who had access to books at home and who didn't.

She begged me to chaperone her class on their field trip to Tracy Aviary. Those kids have so much energy . . . and I was only in charge of two. I came home exhausted and and in need of an immediate nap.
To finish up the school year Ash was asked to do an "expert" report. We decided to learn about the little rodents, or pets as Alex calls them, that we have living in our window well. She learned they are called voles not mice. They have small ears and tails and they love to climb. They eat leaves and foliage, and when desperate, will eat each other. They have chewed away at our window screens until there are several big holes that they like to climb through. She took a lot of pictures by herself and presented her report.

One May-niac month - Alex

I don't know why the last two weeks of May always seem to catch me by surprise. I seem to forget all the programs, concerts, awards assemblies, field days, field trips, birthdays, and birthday parties that fill it all up. And this year Amber and Aaron decided to visit all the way from Canada. Our cute little Amber is going to have a baby in a couple of months so a baby shower was thrown into all the mix.

Instead of documenting one lengthy post about what we've ALL been up to, I think I'll give each family member their own time in the spotlight.

Today I'll start with Alex or Al as we like to call him. He's learning more and more words every day. He's learning the difference between horsies and cows when we're in the car and is quick to point out the choo choos (I can't even begin to dictate how he pronounces that) and airplanes when we're outside. It seems there's always a word or two that we have a hard time figuring out what he's saying. His latest one is "sheesh" as he's looking at the ceiling. We can only guess that it must be the ceiling fan. I thought it might be for the sound it makes but we haven't even turned it on this season.

He really dislikes any sort of conflict. If there's fighting or even rough housing going on around him, he gets all agitated and starts crying. He might be a good solution to the squabbles that occur every now and then since everyone likes to keep Alex happy.

He loves to help around the house, whether it's putting dishes away, throwing diapers in the trash, or scrubbing toilets. He's also becoming an escape artist. I came home from a morning run to find Alex on the front step with the newspaper in hand and yelling, "Hi Mom!" (which he tells me about 50 times a day). I inquired within whether anyone had sent him outside and no one had. I've taken to deadbolting the doors now.

And he's found his singing voice. Most nights he sings himself to sleep and in church he loves to belt out the songs. It can be quite distracting but it's terribly cute. Hopefully everyone around us thinks so too.

Most people think he looks an awful lot like Nate and here's the proof: Same boots; different boys.

 

Lead with the Queen

When I was little I loved to play chess. Initially I didn’t know how to play chess and I didn’t know anybody who could teach me. I went to the community swimming pool and there I watched the teenage boys play. I studied a new piece every day. How did the pawn move? How did the castle move? How did the knights move? After several days, I knew how every piece moved and I began to play chess. Because I was a boy, I guess, I loved the knights. They were fascinating pieces for me. They had those little horse heads. They moved so uniquely. They move in little “L” shapes and they can jump over things. So every game I played during those early years, I led my attack with the two knights. I jumped those two knights over the pawns in the first two moves of the game and then all my strategy centered on their abilities. I had fun playing and I did win some games.

Anyone who has played chess or knows a little bit about chess realizes that the most important piece on the board, the most powerful piece on the playing field is the queen. She has the most moves. She can cover the greatest distance. The queen is the central player, the best able to win the game for you. The loss of the queen is usually devastating. But I was leading with the knights. How many games was I winning? Not as many as I could have. I was leaving my queen back in home territory to protect the king. When I finally realized that if I was going to win I needed to lead with the queen and let all the other pieces support her, I began to win games consistently.

There is a great chess game going on for the souls of men in the world and God will lead with His queens. You will be God’s “enlargement and deliverance” to save His people against the Hamans of the day whether they be shortsighted or hostile.

I read the above by S. Michael Wilcox in his book Walking on Water, which by the way is a fabulous collection of talks he's given. I couldn't help but think of my own mother and how grateful I am that God chose to lead the family I grew up in with her as the Queen. She truly is remarkable. One of her finest characteristics is her ability to stay connected with all six of her children at least on a weekly basis either through a phone call to just to see how things are going or a quick email or actual letter by pony express. I LOVE that about her and want be like her when my kids are grown and left home.

But . . . 

I also know it takes a lot of time and commitment. This Queen has put her priorities in order and knows that a mother's job is never done even if there aren't children in the home. She knows how important it is to keep that relationship alive and thriving . . . and that's through consistent, meaningful contact.

I sure do love her and am so glad that I can call her my mom.

New diet

The month of May has hit with a fury like it does every year. My cough is getting better, but now my nose and head are stuffed. I don't hear very well and I can no longer smell or taste anything unless it is very salty or sweet. This is something new to me and frankly I hate it. I'm not really enjoying anything I eat. Today I chaperoned Nate's class on a field trip and ended up giving him the rest of my Oreos and throwing my chips away. There is just no reason to put that into my body if I'm not going to enjoy it. I may lose those few pounds yet.

And to compound everything else going on, my right knee has been stiffening up on me in the morning making it hurt to bend. I know I haven't injured it because I haven't been able to do anything for the past couple of weeks. I succumbed to visiting an orthopedic surgeon who took xrays and found nothing. There is a slight possibility I may have a torn meniscus, but I won't know that unless I go back in for an MRI. I'll try the anti-inflammatory drugs first but I'm beginning to question my ability to run a half marathon next month.

This girl is praying super hard that my body will heal itself quickly before our Alaska trip in three weeks. Seriously, who wants to be on a cruise ship for a week and not be able to taste any of the food. Can I just say torture. Or not be able to do any of the excursions we have planned because my knee won't cooperate.

There are worse things to deal with, I know. This past month has made me more thankful for a healthy body that performs all its functions and made me more grateful for the sense of smell and taste. Funny how you never think of those things until you no longer have them.

April FHE

WEEK 1: Spring Break. We were in Oregon visiting "Man Camp" and then hit the pool at the hotel that night.

WEEK 2: I've never figured out how to have your house and yard stay the same during vacations. It seems we always come home to a lot of work that needs to be done, especially weeding. For dinner we had Dutch oven potatoes and then commenced an attack on the weeds. The neighbors/cousins looked out their window and decided we were having too much fun and joined us. Misery loves company, right? Afterwards we enjoyed some leftover Lemon Poke Cake from our Easter dinner at Grandma Laura's. 

WEEK 3: Mama Bear wasn't feeling terribly great, so we got out our buzzer game and played some quick trivia games that included questions from General Conference. Prizes were won and we are loving our Eggspert. 

WEEK 4: Nate was in charge and wanted to go for a bike ride. So we headed down to the only park we have here in Lake Point and played on the equipment, pulled some weeds, and played catch.

WEEK 5: I have felt an urgent need to get our food storage/72-hour kits/emergency essential up to par. I used to do so well and I've let things slide the last couple of years. Not that we've been occupied with other things lately :) So tonight we pulled out the 72-hour kits and took stock of what we needed to replenish and put them back together somewhat. Our 72-hour kits are basically our backpacking gear. I try to keep most stuff in there because it's rather easy to transport. But that means stuff gets taken out and not put back in when we go on backpacking trips.

Sir Hiss

Welcome to our home.

Not really!

I about freaked out; no, actually I did freak out when I came around the corner and saw this not-so-little guy.

Just ask Ty and Kiersten.

I yelled and screamed for them to come.

They claimed they came immediately. At least that's what they said. If they did, it sure seemed like they took a gazillion minutes.

What freaked me out the most is not that he was on my driveway but that I probably scared him out when I took the weed eater to the mass of weeds on that side of the house. Ewww. Gives me the chills to even think that I could have stepped on him. Or even worse that Alex might have found him.

Our first instinct was to take the sledge hammer to him. Good thing we didn't because he's a Great Basin Gopher Snake and I really don't mind if he helps rid my yard of those pests.

Erik missed seeing him by nine minutes. Dang bus. He was pretty bummed. But we got pictures for him. Tyler guesstimates that he was about four feet long.

 Mice. Snakes. Wondering now if the spiders will be back.

On a completely different tangent: These two are going to have their own little critter sometime in October. I couldn't be happier for two people who waited so long to find each other and will be the most awesome parents because they are awesome people.