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!!!