Miriam Performs Her Little Heart Out

We lucked out again this year because Miriam's ballet and piano recitals landed on the same weekend.  Last year it was the same day! This scheduling totally works for me.

Some cute ballet friends.

Both Grandparents came, and Aunt Julia drove her littles all the way up and back in one day to be here. We tried to get them to stay over by having ice cream sundaes at like 9 pm but Julia was a die-hard {mainly because she was headed to another nieces dance recital the next day 4 hours in the opposite direction, she is hard core}

Cute cousins clapping for Miriam and "cherry on top" ice cream, which is Soren's favorite.

We took Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen out for lunch the next day to celebrate my mom's birthday and my dad quitting his job....not retiring because he still owns a business but now he will only work 1 job.  Both worthy of a huge celebration, but we just had pizza and gelato. Then to the piano recital.  

Miriam received her medal again this year!  It's getting harder to memorize 8 numbers as they get longer, and her school work increases but she has kept up so far.

  

Gelato-faced babe lulled to sleep by 2 min. sonatas. 

Not even the broken sprinkler causing a geyser in the back yard could ruin the day.

Whoosh! there it went...

First Day of School August 2013

9 Months later here they are.
Everyone is shaggier and Miriam got herself a new walking buddy.

It's been a great year....both of their teachers deserve more than lemonade but thats what they got, along with adoration from the kids and gratitude from Darin and I.  Ms. Hansen was tough, she expected a lot, but was so accepting and encouraging.  If Miriam had an idea or suggestion Ms. Hansen was on board.  She is a "yes" woman!  And Mrs. Halverson was so clam, organized, consistent, and kind she made school a safe place for him to relax, make friends, and learn. He totally flourished with her.

So there goes another school year!

Soren will be flying solo all day next year. 

Oh My Stars and Garters!

Oh my stars and garters! 

{a cute older lady in our neighborhood says that all the time, it's a British phrase having something to do with the monarchy "associated with the honours given to the great and good".....little linguistic history lesson for ya there.}

Anyway Oh my stars and garters! we lucked out with beautiful weather to end the year on!

Byron had his class fruit and veggie picnic at the park, and they did the always entertaining estimating characteristics of watermelon project.  You estimate the weight, girth, number of seeds in a slice...then measure, weigh count, and then eat it. No pictures because both of these were in-class. 

Miriam's class finally had their Secret Garden Party.  They finished the book last Winter but decided to wait till Spring for the party.  

Of course jump rope.

Lawn Jenga...remember that part of the book?

They painted flower pots, and then made bubble wands out of wire and beads 

{my favorite part of the party}.

The Mountain Man Rendezous. 

I helped with the panning for gold station.

The mountain girls and boys found painted gold rocks in water and sand.  We weighed their findings and gave them that weight in jelly beans. 

I am bummed I didn't get more pictures because it was quite the party....but since this was the whole 4th grade it was non-stop gold diggin action for 3 hours!

The blacksmithing station was right next to us so I quickly snapped a picture of that but missed archery, boondoggle, leather crafts, pioneer games, butter making with homemade scones, and the trading post. Earlier that day they had Native American dancers and an animal trapper give presentations.

The second to last day was Field Day!!

Much different from my school days when field day consisted of jump rope competitions and kick ball

I helped with face painting, Soren was my first subject...good thing these are elementary school kids and most of the just wanted big Y's or U's on their cheeks.  My face art skills could use some practice.

Again....bummed with so few pictures.  This being a school-wide party it was even more non-stop face paint action for 3 hours! Loooong lines of super excited wet kids.

We were next to the dunk tank so I did snap this picture of the boys...Byron said he didn't have time to wait in line to get his face painted so I didn't see him after he dunked a few upper class men (kindergartners were not allowed to be in the tank).  I don't even know all the things they had going on, that face painting line didn't let up for one second!

Miriam and her "friend best" Mary...as the photographer I should have had them switch but again....too busy to notice. The kids really were so cute, so many of the older kids asked for their teachers name and ROCKS! to be painted on.

I have to admit I get nerved out getting these events together but I love being there with the other mom's and the kids during the events. The energy and excitement is palpable and it's so fun to get to know the other moms and dads, as well as put faces with the classmates my kids talk about.
I recognize that my being able to go help with these events is a privilege.  I am grateful I have this time and opportunity to be apart of such a nurturing community of educators and parents.
Love our Eagles!!

Bub's Big Weekend

We started bright and early with his kindergarten program.

We had milk and cookies back in his classroom where we got the packet of lots of things he has been working on this year.  He still has a week left in school so he didn't have to say good bye to his teacher, but I did get the chance to tell Mrs. Halverson how much we appreciate her.

 Bub and his buddy Kaden + Soren.  His other good buddy Oliver was lost somewhere in the crowd.

We dropped Soren off at Henry's house (thanks Mirissa!) and surprised B with a trip to Boondocks!

We got him the unlimited pass so, you know, sky's the limit!

Bumper Boats (lots of water in our faces)

Roller Ball

Kiddie Cove

Lots and lots and lots of arcade games.

Lazer Tag!!

Red Team won....Woot Woot!

and of course Go-Karts, but I can't take pictures and hug the rails at the same time.

I left to pick up Soren while Darin and B finished up their arcade games and made a purchase with all the tickets they won.

Then we hit Johnny Rocket's for cheeseburgers and fries, or hot dogs and an Oreo shake if you are 7.

So now all three of the kids are dreaming of going to Boondocks!  Lots of jealousy floating around, but no one begrudges Bub getting to go. Well, at least Miriam doesn't.

The next day was his last soccer game of the season.

He brought the hustle so it was a fun game to watch, even in the rain.

 

He walked away with a capri sun and a much desired medal. 

Tonight on our family bike ride we asked if he wanted to try Miriam's hand brake, multi-gear bike since both kids have outgrown their bikes.   He was nervous but got on and within minutes was a gear shifting fool.

I can't believe how much this cute boy has grown.

Seven

On the mother's day card Bub made at school it said that Bub's favorite meal (that I cook) is muffins.

This was news to me, but welcome information (his least favorite meal was "selerie"- you'll have to sound that one out).  So I bought muffin mix and Miriam made them for his birthday breakfast.  She is sweet like that.  I paid one of my former Young Women to make his birthday cupcakes because I think she has talent and I love encouraging talent in youth. Also....Holy awesome cupcakes Batman!

The birthday shirt....Byron picked out the shark and helped me paint.

He woke up to 7 balloons in his room tied to the birthday card from G'ma and G'pa Ray.

We sent him off to school, in his birthday outfit with a bag of Hi-Chews in his backpack to share.

I picked up 3 friends after school (along with Soren and Miriam) and we headed to:

The Natural History Museum

One of Bub's favorite places (I told you we were going to use the dickens out of that pass!)

Last week we went to the museum and took photos of interesting displays.  We had the photos printed and made them into a scavenger hunt. I took the 4 boys while Miriam was on Soren duty...those two snuck off to the gift shop and bought a spider necklace for Bub.  

The weather was fantastic so we gathered at an outside table to give out the scavenger hunt treasure which was:

Crystal candy, bubbles (left overs from Aunt Lisa's meditation class) sticky slingshot bugs, an arrowhead, and a few Hi-Chews. Dinosaurs were not represented but there was one hot glued to the invites so almost all of the museum was included.

We opened gifts and had cupcakes, and watched a National Geographic movie about sharks on the way home.

Bub wanted Little Ceasears Italian crazy bread for dinner.  Happy to oblige! Even went ahead and got a liter of root beer as well...I know, above and beyond I tell ya.

 After more cupcakes this time with ice cream, Darin and Bub spent the evening putting together the K'Nex roller coaster we gave him.  

This birthday is To Be Continued because the other gift we gave him is a day out, all by himself, with Mom and Dad.  Darin took the day off to come to his Kindergarten graduation this Friday so the whole morning/afternoon will be all about him!  He may not know what to do with himself since, as the middle child one sibling or the other is always around, but I felt like it was a perfect gift for our patient middle one. 

37

My bad mood lifted since the last post...life feels good again.  I am smiling from my own free will. No extra effort required.

Just keeping it real.

 We celebrated  Darin's birthday last Wednesday. His birthday's are always low key....thats because its his birthday so he gets to choose what to do and he will always choose a low key option if he can.

He rode his bike to work.

Soren and I surprised him with lunch from Mikado....sushi picnic.  I think he was expecting In-N-Out so I kicked things up a notch. 

Miriam created the sweetest gift ever.  She made a powerpoint presentation entitled "Why We Love Darin".  She interviewed the boys about why they love their dad, she recorded me saying what I love about him and then added her own thoughts and some pictures of Darin being a great dad.

It was for sure the highlight of the day.

Since we had eaten out for lunch I made Thai Chicken Soup for dinner (thanks for the recipe Lisa) it's one of our new favorites. 

Miriam and I re-made the coconut cake she had made with her friend Mary for mother's day.  They had forgotten to add flour and inadvertently made coconut custard so she was determined to get a do-over to get it right.  She was fairly devastated by the mistake, we had to have a long snuggle talk about how mistakes are necessary and vital to the learning process and not something to be afraid of.  If she can really internalize that message boy howdy life will be easier for her.  In the end we were not sure which way we liked the dessert better...in some ways the custard won out. 

So he blew out the candles, we ate cake and put the kiddos to bed.

Then went to bed ourselves since he needed to get up early the next day to ride in to work again.

36 was a busy year!  Hopefully 37 will be less work so there will be more time for fun. 

Saturday

It's a rainy Saturday.  We have a cold wet soccer game to look forward to and I have a long long long list of "to-dos" on my mind.  Not just "to-dos" but "should-dos" and "want-tos". My mind fills overwhelmed flipping back and forth between each list.  My heart doesn't want to do the "to-dos" or even the "should-dos" but fills with guilt when I think of doing the "want-tos".....and so I am here on the computer while the boys play Angry Bird's Go because I am using avoidance and distraction to numb my mind instead of making decisions.

I uploaded some pictures from my camera to ease the guilty feeling of wasting time and I saw these....

And here it is...a small glimpse of what happens when you little by little, every day work at knocking items off of those suffocating lists.

Julia, her teachers, her husband, my parents, tackled their overwhelming daily "to-should-and want-tos" and pulled off another beautiful dance recital.

Miriam, Madison, Tatum, Claire, and all the other little dancers went to class, put in the mental and physically effort needed.  They brought me to tears with their accomplishments!

I made the phone calls, arrangements, and drove Miriam and the boys to dance classes. I entertained the boys with active play, or ran errands while we waited for her classes to end. I listened to Miriam's frustrations, celebrated her accomplishments, I took on the added emotional roller coaster when I could have said "just stay home and watch tv".

And Darin got up and went to work every day, came home too exhausted to get to his "want-to" list so there was money in the bank account for it all.

So I will now post this....get off the computer....go make Byron's birthday shirt....cut the boys hair....take a shower....go to the soccer game.....make cookies for the ladies I visit teach.....get my Sunbeam lesson together.....clean up the house....and little by little keep knocking things off my list. I will even smile while I do it, although smiling isn't on my "want-to" list today...it's solidly planted on my "should-do".

But.....good news!

Since it's raining (and has been for 3 days) I can't work in the yard so at least thats off the list today.