Last Day

I didn't volunteer for Field Day this year.  I still feel a tad guilty about it, but I got the report from all three kids that it was a roaring success at both schools. It all went well without me.

Miriam's last day of school talent show, 

the ballroom club performed the Cha Cha and she was paired with our neighbor Ty.

Miriam's friends call Ty "the adorable 5th grader" but M refuses to join in because he is in our ward.

He really is pretty adorable.

Then the Student Council did that funny movie theatre skit where the kids pretend to be on a date

it was hilarious to watch these kids! 

They didn't really have to act too much, the awkwardness was real.

Then there was a barrage of tears at the closing flag ceremony. 

I wasn't there but I got the report as well as these photos from other moms.

I was at the boys school, which was so good because it was my last chance to take a photo of B and his teacher Mrs. Huff.  I don't know why we haven't taken a picture before now, she was a God send this year.  Byron was in such a vulnerable situation being new, and he tends to shut down when he feels insecure. Byron doesn't act up when he feels this way, he quietly sits, and endures and feels sad inside, so if a teacher isn't sensitive they could easily let this good quiet kid just slide by. Mrs. Huff understood B from the very beginning. She completely won his trust and made him feel secure enough to try hard.  He made such giant leaps in his academics this year but it's not those scores that made me happy, it's all the times he would ask me to take photos of things to text to his teacher....his rain gutter regatta boat, a birthday gift, something he had made.  She asked him to share with the class his coin collection, and rocks he had found.  You could tell he had told her things about his life...shared with her things that were important to him and she validated all of it. Once again I am left without being able to truly repay someone for the huge impact they have made in the life of my child.  Thank you and a Menchie's gift card just don't seem to do it, but thats all I got...

We did have a nice conversation in the hall, where we both teared up a bit. Luckily, she is moving to 1st grade so she will be Soren's teacher next year! I told her it will be a whole different ball game with S-man.

Cheers to a very hard, but successful year for these boys!

We then hit a neighborhood end of school party.

Miriam and her pals were pretty mellow....all that crying had done Miriam in.

Since she had her ballet recital that evening, the boys did the bungy trampoline, had a few snow cones and then we came home so M could regroup.

  Our lovely dancer did fantastic with her ballet friends.

We celebrated with gelato and Fizz.

6th Grade Graduation

These girls are breaking off and going to three different Jr. Highs.

After 4 years of being together it's so hard to say good bye!

I couldn't ask for a better group of friends for M.  Hardworking, kindhearted, adventurous girls who cheer each other on!  Miriam left elementary school with a bang up 6th grade year...so sad to say goodbye to Centerville Elementary School.

Wheeler Farm Field Trip

I have not been to Wheeler Farm for a loooong time.  I use to take M and even B there when they were little, but Soren hasn't been there since he was a tiny thing, he didn't have any memories of going.  This was Soren's first field trip AND first bus ride.

Yeah for field trips that fill in the gaps! 

Soren's english teachers Mrs. Christensen and Mrs. Brazil were so great this year. Soren loves these ladies and they were a life saver during the long crying spells. These women LOVE teaching. 

Chinese Teacher Zhau La Shi  and student teacher Ling La Shi

these ladies have so much energy!  Try walking around narrating everything you do over and over...it's exhausting!! I was overwhelmed watching Zhau La Shi every Friday when I volunteered. 

I had 4 cute boys to keep tabs on.  They were good as gold.

The kids played on the playground, got a tour of the farm animals, made butter, got a tractor ride, met a blacksmith and watched him make chains, ran around the bridges, ponds and climbed around amazing trees.

Pretended to be chickens....

and got a special field trip picnic lunch.

Cute boy who needs a haircut...as always....

Wax Museum/World Fair

Since Uncle Mark's move to South Korea our world has been expanded.  Now that Miriam's new aunt-to-be is South Korean we are even more excited to learn about her country and culture.  That was certainly the inspiration for Miriam choosing South Korea as her country project.  

She chose to be Yu Gwansun a young Korean woman who in 1919 took part in a movement for independence from Japan.  Because of this her parents were killed and she was tortured to death, but she bravely declared that she only wished she could do more for her country.  

Miriam's partner was her good friend Mary.  Can't remember who she was but it was someone from Taiwan because her brother is there on a mission.  

Both of their historical people had very serious, hard lives so their wax poses were pretty stoic.

The greatest thing about this project is that other than research, and helping Miriam find an outfit, M did it 100% at school!! I didn't even know she was making a board.  They also found a fairy tale from their chosen country and created an unfold able paper book.  Again...didn't have to worry about this because I didn't know about it.  Love love love M's teacher Mrs. Peters.  I know she is strict and asks a lot out of these 6th graders but she is a parents dream.

Tinikling from the Philippines.  All the 6th graders learned and preformed this for the school.

Memorial Day

We are not out of school yet. That makes Memorial Day not so much of a party as it could be, but we did make a quick trip to Price.  I love the way my mom's family does Memorial Day, they are very deliberate about honoring and remembering loved ones.  As an extension my dad's family gets in on the Memorial Day action...lots of love and thought go into that day.

Conversations with Darin brought up thoughts about how who I am is because of these people.  The crazy, the wonderful, the tenacity, the stubbornness, the forgiving, the judgmental...all of it is mixed up in me and currently being passed to my kids without me being conscience of it.  I am swimming in a Young/Rasmussen soup that only my siblings can really understand.  My kids are swimming in that soup with added Ray and Gee-ness that only they will fully understand.  Thats why family is so frustratingly hard and so important at the same time...and also why it's good to add in-laws so any one flavor doesn't get too strong. 

Dad, the family genealogist, took us even further down the family tree to ancestors who settled the area. 

Always fun to know where your people are from and where they landed.

2 1/2's make a full...right??

I ran another 1/2 last weekend.  This time in the rain.  There are no beautiful photos of Pineview  or the Ogden Canyon waterfalls because wind was pelting my face and phone with rain/hail! I couldn't even get my screen unlocked to play music.  To be honest it was pretty grueling, I was not prepared and then the rain + wind....I was soaked to the bone and my thighs felt like cement blocks! 

I kept plugging along...and finished....gotta be proud of that. My friend Mirissa PR'd in those conditions, she was super over prepared...there is a lesson there.

Later there was another Lagoon trip with some more rain. So good for me to walk some of the soreness off. Byron did Cannibal, Blast Off and Re-entry!   Soren and I road Flying Aces 3X, he is in love. We hit Tilt-A-Whirl because it gave cover from the rain and realized too late our weight distribution made it for a pretty lame ride.

We are going to try it again with physics in mind.

Pioneer Village is more expansive than I remember...huge gun collection! Byron had a school field trip there earlier this week so he had all sorts of cool things to show us.  Love those peacocks.

Then...Log Ride

No one else was riding it so the kids could get off and run right back on.

The sun was shining by then but everyone was wet so only crazies like us were on water rides.

At this point there is ONE more week until summer.  I am sitting here kind if in denial, how and where did the time go. 

Soren and I

It's so great and so awful being the youngest.  This guy gets more one-on-one time with Mom than anyone else. More lunches out, more treats at the grocery store, more park trips. But he also has to sit back and watch his siblings move on to big kid things without him as he inches his way toward being in their shoes. Lagoon has been the latest experience like that, but it has been that way with summer rec., birthday parties, class field trips...in almost everything he has to watch the older kids do it first.  In some ways thats a huge perk as he is usually more excited than scared to try new things but oh the patience it takes! And then there is the whole "been there done that" attitude he faces.

This was a mom and Soren trip to see the chalk art festival while Miriam was in ballroom dance and Byron was at a birthday party.  Soren and I walked both sides of the street picking our favorites.

Especially this one, done by our friend and the boys summer art teacher.

This girl is only a sophomore in high school, can you believe it (boo to the shadow)?

We stopped and split the Chalk Art Special at the Bun basket and soaked in all the artistic inspiration with a sandwich and cookie.

When we got home Soren made this.....

Electric  Cat

Not Finished Yet!

This boy of ours is 9!

Not to toot my own horn but I did get up at 5:00 am to hit an exercise class so that I would be out and about closer to Einstein Bagels to pick up breakfast before the kids woke up. It had to be special, and it had to be early because his birthday landed on a Monday. My birthday eve prep was in danger of being thwarted by the Sabbath. I made it work. 

When I picked him up for a birthday lunch and asked him where we should go he said "wherever you want to go" but I didn't let the easy going middle child get away with that! Finally he decided that what he really wanted was a Neapolitan shake from In N Out all to himself.

So he got it!

And was back to class by the time lunch recess was over.

His birthday balloons and gifts were waiting for him when he got home from school.  First gift, Bear manual along with the light blue neckerchief and tie.  Not a huge exciting gift, but his first Bear meeting was that day and they did a huge birthday party for all the boys to pass off a bunch of games.

It was a bonus party that coincidentally landed on his birthday!!

Directly to soccer after scouts, which he only complained about a little bit while changing uniforms in the car.  When I went to pick him up he asked if he could stay 10 min late to finish up the scrimmage so it turned out okay. 

Then to Menchie's for birthday dinner/birthday treat 

(there is fruit in it...and all those probiotics...it totally counts!)

(or maybe no fruit)

He got Ollie for his birthday which he has wanted for a looong time so he was one happy boy!

Darin had it all charged up and ready for him to play with first thing the next morning.

His party was the next day, I picked up 2 of his friends for $12 buck Tuesdays at Boondocks. It's a gamble to go on $12 buck Tuesday, can be a madhouse...but I guess all the spring sports kept people away, we had the run of the place!  

Lazer Tag, XD theatre, Rollerball, and then the arcade games.  I love 9, I didn't have to do a thing except make sure they used the buddy system. Good thing they didn't need me because Soren can't reach the gas on the driving games so I was kind of busy.

Byron has really nice friends. 

The party will continue all week because we have 9 balloons to suck helium out of!!

Birthday Season Continues...

Darin actually worked like a dog on his birthday; helping Miriam mow the lawn, getting the sprinklers ready, splicing the sprinkler line I accidentally cut with the trimmer, discovering that there may be a water leak under our driveway....(geesh)

We still managed to get some fun in. 2 trips to Lagoon, one with the kids, where we hit The Bat, snuck Soren onto Turn of the Century (kind of on accident), Tidal Wave...then the big kids went on Wicked while Soren and I did some kiddie rides (grow Soren grow!! and also, what were we thinking having an odd # of kids? Lagoon problems...) 

We then hit In N Out, really our only fast food indulgence. 

Darin and I got another trip into the park sans kiddos to ride Cannibal...this was actually my idea.  I always want to do something memorable and exciting on my birthday so Darin was good about letting me do it on his birthday.  First a stop at Twiggs (I am digging that place) then Lagoon where we got on Cannibal twice in a row with only a 5 min wait!! Then Blast Off and Re-Entry because they are right there...and no lines...and in my opinion the scariest rides in the park.  Darin humored me by going on Flying Aces because that is a personal favorite of mine. 

  

He is such a good sport.  

So far I am delighted in our pass choice, I am having a blast reliving my childhood and being introduced to new exciting rides.  The kids are loving it too, feeling so brave conquering fears, and downright phobias in Miriam's case.  It turns out she loves everything she has tried.   I think that has been a valuable lesson in understanding anxiety; sometimes it is justified, but other times it really is all in your head and might be holding you back from really great experiences.  I love that they are all experiencing it together...like I did with my siblings. 

Good Times...Good Times

and now Darin and I are the same age!!

Ocean Animal Party

We had a very successful youth auction a few months ago.  Successful for the youth budget and successful for our family fun!  We scored a ton of massive fireworks for super cheap! The youth provided dinner, volunteered a service to be auctioned, and made desserts that were sold at the dinner.  Some of the desserts were individually sliced for immediate consumption, and some were sold as an entire boxed whatever to be taken home.  Funny thing about that....when Darin took the boys up to buy a dessert they bought the packaged cinnamon rolls THAT WE HAD MADE and proceeded to eat the entire plate by themselves.  I think it ended up being about 2 1/2 cinnamon rolls each.  I thought about stopping the whole thing many times but it is one of the best memories of their little lives so I am glad I sat back and let it happen.

Miriam and two of her friends gave a princess or tea party.  It went for quite a lot of money so when the highest bidder claimed the party I was anxious the girls be flexible and do whatever they wanted. So the 8 year old birthday party turned into an Ocean Animal party. M and her friends rose to the occasion! I wish I had taken photos of the decorations: the octopus balloon hanging from the ceiling, the sea weed and coral streamers...it was so cute!

But I only took photos of the food table.

It rained and hailed during the party which was suppose to be outside. I am once again so grateful for our completely empty basement! Having carpeted empty space down there has more than once saved the day. I don't care about spilled food, or damaged walls.  

Hooray for not feeling anxious to update and furnish!