June 2012

This was a pretty great month and we started it off in an incredible way!

At school the kids had an opportunity to meet two players of the Reno Aces baseball team. They had a nice assembly and then all the kids got tickets to the game on June 1st. We bought tickets for Kannon and I and Joshua was free. It was so fun to be on the grass with so many of the families from school. It started out pretty hot, but there was a nice breeze.

We met Archie in front of the ball park.

This group of boys really had a good time together.
Toby, Sam, Malcolm, Ben and Marcus.

By the end of the game, we had all slid down the hill about 2-3 feet!

At the ball park on Friday nights, they shoot off fireworks after the game. So, about the 7th inning we moved over to the seats, and away from the firework area.

This was an endless tub of popcorn. It cost about $6, but was refillable. So, to get his money's worth, Kannon made sure we emptied and refilled it about 3 times! Makes for a great hat Josh!

Getting ready for the fireworks. Sam, Toby and Ben. The Aces won their game against the Tacoma Rainiers. It was an exciting game, coming down to a tie at the end of the 9th inning.

We were an exhausted crew by the time the awesome fireworks ended. I loved being so close to them. The 3-d glasses made for a fun show, too. We left Reno about 11 pm and I couldn't keep my eyes open at all. The kids were all asleep before we even got on the freeway. We're hopeful the school will host an event like this again next year. If not it's definitely something we'd like to do again.

Then we had Ben's dance performance. Sarah and I went to watch the dancers and really enjoyed the new cha-cha that Ben's group did. They performed it to one of Ben's favorite songs by One Direction - You Don't Know You're Beautiful.
Ben is on the far right, here, doing the Rockin' Robin west coast swing.

This is me after sanding the mud off the walls in our bedroom. We knocked out the lathe and plaster and put up sheet rock. We'd already done the floors and window a few years ago. I had to sand 3 times. After the initial mud, after the 2nd coat of mud on the joints and after the texture was sprayed on. By the third time I had figured out to wear my shower cap. That at least kept my hair from getting so nappy!

We had our bedroom scattered all over the house and I still feel like I'm just getting it put back together. We slept in the living room, with the love seat out on the front porch. Kannon's dresser was also out front, and those are my clothes hanging behind me on the shower rod.

We eliminated a closet in this remodel. I've worked long and hard to figure out how to make my kitchen happier. We decided to take the closet and add that space for the kitchen. So, now we have just the one small closet that we added when we did the bathroom. We plan on purchasing a unit from Ikea for the rest of our clothing storage, but in the meantime there are a lot of things just piled in our bedroom. We love the extra kitchen space, though! It really opened things up and I'm more anxious than ever to finish my plans in there.

(Closet - made computer and refrigerator space)

This is the color we ended up with in our bedroom. The ceiling is white, the walls are two different shades of gray. I painted 3 walls the super light color and then painted the 4th wall in the darker accent color. It was then that I wished I'd gone one shade darker on the other 3 walls. To fix it the best we could without buying more paint, I put dark paint on the wall opposite the 1st dark one. So, it goes dark, light, dark, light. And we really like it!

You can see that we don't have the trim up yet. Kannon decided that he didn't want to do the ceiling corners, so we will do some trim up there. And the original boards, that we usually have been able to reuse, didn't survive this remodel. So, we are waiting for more money before we finish that part of the room - and it will be done!

I got to make a quick trip down to Las Vegas with my sister, Susan and my mom and dad. We stayed with Nathan, Jackie and Natalie and got to attend Jackie's baby shower for baby John who will be joining the family in September. It was a really relaxing weekend for me, loved being with my family, learning how to Sudoku, laughing late into the night and putting together a crazy puzzle.

I had left my 3 kiddos in Winnemucca with Sasha and the cousins. On Monday I headed over there to pick them up and bring back 3 of the cousins; Kate, Stetson and Lillie. I kept them at our house until Sat. while Clint and Sasha kept Quade with them at Camp Helaman. We had some fun times. Like the Magician.....

My kids have seen the magician at the library more than once. But, this was the first time for the cousins. Look how excited Stetson was!

Petting the bunny after it was over. I have to say one of my favorite parts is the beginning with his birds. Each colorful bird appears out of thin air.

An almost daily occurrence. The scooter ride inside. We've got things down to where he keeps the scooter outside. Mostly.

On friday, we took all the kids out to the lake for a camp out. I think it was fun. We set up our camp while the kids introduced themselves to the lake.

The water was still pretty cool. I didn't try to get in until Saturday, but it was cold. I got in as far as I could and then put my hands in and it felt like ice water. Brrr. The kids mostly stayed close to shore and played in the sand.

We cooked hot dogs on the charcoal grill and roasted marshmallows. It would have been nice to have had a fire, too, but our Suburban was so full as it was.

We had our 11th anniversary while the kids were visiting, so we didn't do anything special. But, Eleven Years! We're Tweens!

Father's Day. We woke Kannon up with breakfast in bed. And a few cards and gifts. He was sustained this month as the ward membership clerk. I think this will be a great calling for him.

This is the dress my dad bought for me when we were in Las Vegas. I just love it! I'm sure grateful for the relationship I have with my father.

We had dentist cleanings this month. Everyone had great teeth. Even me. No broken fillings or new cavities, hurray! Joshua had his first checkup, too. The dentist said his broken tooth is fine for now - just to watch for discoloration or bleeding. No prob. It just makes him that much more full of character!

I just thought this was the cutest thing ever! Sarah made bunk beds for her babies. She tucked little blankets on the bottom of her bunk bed for them to sleep in. She is really good about playing by herself. She plays more of the mommy/baby or teacher/student than she used to. I think this day she was running a day care.

And our little princess turned 6! She wanted a fancy castle cake. This was what I told her I could do. It was fun to do, way too much sugar, though. I have a picture further on of the inside layers. She wanted pink and purple on her cake and I surprised her by putting the purple inside! Then there are the fruity pebbles treats molded into the towers with ice cream cones. And sugar cubes and special marshmallows adorning the outside. Like I said, too sweet!

At Grammy and Papa's for the celebration the day after her actual birthday. Nancy and her boys were in town so we waited for them to have our shindig.

Mr. Sketch markers! Sarah loves to draw and color and is always stealing my computer paper. So, she got paper and markers and some fun activity books. We also signed her up for ballet and got her a new outfit and bag.

(I'm pretty sure they'd been to the pool with friends earlier and therefore they both have really rosy cheeks!)

She also got some fun dress-up stuff, a jewelry box and beads, a scrapbook kit, a piggy bank, a bunch of Polly Pockets, a backpack.

I love how intense it always is for her, blowing out the candles. And she told us her wish, "I wished that today was the best day ever!"

So, this was pretty crazy. Nancy had been over with her boys to visit us and it was a struggle the whole time to keep Joshua in clothes. That wasn't the norm. Just a crazy day, I guess. By the time they got ready to leave he was here. In a mud puddle. (My mom had been planting a tree for me and we had moved another bush, leaving behind a hole that was just dying for water.) He doesn't look too bad here. But as the water evaporated or got splashed to the sides, he became muddier and muddier.

I finally hosed him off and took him in for a shower. Our sprinklers leave some mud puddles every other day. On those days I have to wash off his hands at feet up to 4 times. Because after 4 times, he gets locked in the house until it dries up!

When Nancy comes in the summer we like to pay a visit to the lake. This time the water was perfect! We enjoyed a good few hours out there.

On the last day of the month we had a Relief Society conference. I "got" to sing and also do the pioneer woman chautauqua again. I'm debating on wearing my pioneer dress again for the 24th of July celebration. It's a thought I have, but I'm pretty sure I'm not that brave!

May 2012

  I kind of don't remember if May was a long month or a quick month.  Or was it a quick month with a lot going on so it felt both long and quick?

We participated in the annual Library Teddy Bear Tea and for the first time in 6 years we didn't win for any of our bears.  =(

Sarah entered a "Gardener bear" and a "Princess bear". 

 Ben did a "Nerd bear" complete with math equations and a picture of Einstein.

 I helped Joshua with his "Wanna-be-a Bear".  I also entered an "Arts and Crafts Bear".  I thought our bears were good.  I think the ones that won were pretty similar in design.  All the other years we've won a prize with at least one of our bears.  I guess there is always next year!

 We added another piece to our already crowded kids' room.  Joshua and Ben had been sharing the bottom double bed of the bunk bed.  Joshua would get all wound up at bedtime and jump on Ben or hit him while he was trying to sleep.  So, we found a loft bed.  The previous owners had cut it down and I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to be able to get underneath it (I've already hit my head a few times).  But, the kids can fit fine and it's not so wobbly.  Now all the kids have their own beds, although they sometimes like to sleep with Joshua.

 For teacher appreciation day we took an idea from Pinterest and created these cute frames for the teachers.  We used wordle to create the word bubbles.  I had the kids help with the wording, choosing words that fit their year and feelings.  The frames were given to me after a friends' yard sale and I used spray paint to decorate.  Sarah wanted hers all pink, but I didn't think her teacher would appreciate all pink as much as the class full of girls.  We did kind of a tie-dye effect and used colored pencils to fill in some of the letters on the page.  I thought it turned out super cute.  (Sarah decided to grow out her bangs.  She and I went on a date this month to the salon and got hair cuts.  Hers is short now, so that the bangs will blend in better.)

 We enjoyed our first corn of the summer.  That's pretty much all Josh ate for a couple of meals.  He's so good about eating fruits and vegetables, they are his favorites!

 We planted our garden.  We may have been a little late on some of the seeds, because it's been a few weeks now and still no sign of carrots, beets, or beans.  We do have squash growing and radishes.  We planted tomatoes and one basil plant.  That's our pear tree in the middle of the plot and it actually has a few pears on it this year!  Se the red stuff on the left.  That's some wood stuff that Kannon bought to mix in with our clay-like dirt.  It's supposed to help break it down.  So far it's just given everyone little slivers!  At least it's a deterrent and keeps the kids out a bit.  

 We really enjoyed seeing the Eclipse on the 20th.  We took Kannon's welding helmets out to Grammy and Papa's and enjoyed watching the phases. 

 We also tried the pinhole idea and binoculars to make a shadow to look at.

 School got out!!!  We were kept busy the last week of school.  Joshua and I walked to the school and then walked with Ben's class to the high school for a Vocational Arts fair.  Joshua practically ran the whole way there (I practically ran the whole way there.  Whoever was leading the group had their speed-walking legs on!)  We planned on coming home early because I was supposed to get Sarah for some shots that day.  I had to carry Joshua most of the way home, and it was slow-going.  We had a few minutes to cool down at home, when I got a phone call from the school letting me know that Sarah was sick.  So, we went and picked her up.  She stayed home the rest of that day and kept in for the last hour of school on Weds. to help clean up and gather her stuff.  Ben had a walking field trip to Taco Bell for lunch that day and I know they watched movies the rest of the time!  That night we had a family BBQ with the whole kindergarten class.  Sarah has had the best teacher for kindergarten and I feel like she'll be wonderful for Joshua in 2 years!

On Thursday, the school had it's first 8th grade graduation and awards ceremony.  The kindergartners had been paired up with the 8th grade class all year.  They did a lot of activities together.  So, Sarah's class announced the 8th graders and presented them to the audience.   Then they sang "Stand by Me."  It was so sweet.  At the end of the ceremony, the 8th graders each took a  kindergartner and together they let their balloons go.

 Ben won an award for the A-honor roll for the last semester.  He made some real improvements this year.  He got to understand what the teachers expected of him and made sure to put forth an effort to get the better grades.  I am real proud of both kids for their accomplishments this year.

After the ceremony the kids got to have their field day.  They were at the Parks and Rec area and rotated through some fun events.  There was a climbing wall, a dunk tank, bounce house and slide, tug-of-war, cotton candy and sno-cones.  They also got to swim at the pool.  They had a great last day of school.

And then began the long weekend for Memorial Day.  Kannon's work was slow, so he wasn't working on Thursday-Monday.  He went back on Tuesday and then back home for the rest of the week.

We had a good time with family.  Kannon's parents were here for the whole weekend.  We went to Winnemucca on Saturday for our nephew/cousin Stetson's baptism.  Most of my own family came into town for the weekend, too.  So, we juggled our time with both sides of the family and got to spend quality time with all of them.  I really enjoyed our laughing "workouts", putting together a crazy puzzle, visiting at the fire, watermelon and visiting with my in-laws, shopping, and just the general being together.

On Sunday, my family went out to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves of our loved ones.

 Since Kannon ended up having so much time off we decided to go ahead and do some projects at home that require a lot of time and thankfully not much money.  This is an old wasp nest we found in the walls of our bedroom.  Just a sneak peak of the work we did this week!!!