Daniel being crazy. He's been a trooper throughout the soccer season.
Ta-da!
Eliza in action. It was a fun year for her. Her coaches were nice to volunteer, but frankly didn't know much about soccer. Therefore, there wasn't a lot of learning that happened. Oh well....another year perhaps.
Audri sang at the Courthouse with the 4th graders from Kellar. She's in the middle on the second row. She's the first of our kids to have gone all the way through Kellar K-4th. She'll miss the excellent music teacher, Mrs. Hutchins.
Daniel had his last gymnastics class, and I FINALLY remembered the camera for Camera Week!! He has had lots of fun in gymnastics this year, and I don't know that he'll be taking it anymore. I think Preschool will keep him busy enough next year.
Running down the AirTrac.
Bubble and stamp time with Miss Peajay. She's really an awsome teacher for little kids. Daniel has loved having her.
Ok. I need your help. Here's a link to a slideshow showing all the pictures. If you've got time to check them out, leave a comment and let me know what your favorites are.
A friend in the ward, Harmony Linehan, has a twin sister who does photography. Harmony shared on her blog that Makaya was doing a giveaway on HER blog for a free photo session. I figured, why not sign up. We haven't had a family photo done since Daniel was born, so it was long overdue. Lucky me, I won!!! Last weekend she came to Peoria, and here's a link to her blog which gives a little preview of the photos. I'm so excited about them. I know it will be impossible to choose once I see the rest.
Rick and I have not had our picture taken together (professionally) since we were married. I'm usually not thrilled about the snapshots of the two of us, so I was especially happy to see how well the one of the two of us turned out.
If you're an engineer, or married to an engineer, or just find humor in engineers, you may have already seen this Dilbert video which describes "the knack":
Indeed we are worried that Daniel may have "the knack", as evidenced by the following scenario which happened a few weeks ago. As you know, if you read my blog, Daniel is quite a fan of Lightning McQueen, and so I'm sure that you can understand why this Lightning McQueen flashlight is so dear to him. He also really appreciates having it at night, especially since getting bunk beds and sleeping on the bottom bunk. It's not so easy to see from this picture, but a small plastic ring which fits between the top piece of the flashlight (the part that screws off to put the batteries in), and the main body of the flashlight went AWOL. It's small, and therefore easy to lose, and could no longer be found. One night Rick explained to Daniel that the piece was missing and it resulted in the top not fitting on quite right, sometimes causing problems with the flashlight working (it was harder to make the contact). We thought that was the end of it. Sometime later (I don't even know how long), while getting ready for bed, Daniel started to tell me about the problem of the missing piece. I told him I knew the piece was missing, and that the flashlight still worked, so it was ok. Apparently, the function of the mechanism was not optimal, and the next thing I know, Daniel had run off to the bathroom, and returned with these: All on his own, he thought of these hair rubber bands that indeed are just the right size to fit where the plastic ring once was. He placed them in the right spot, screwed the top back on, and voila! Good as new. Here's a picture of the repaired flashlight. I know it's hard to see, but look closely and you can see the larger blue band. The yellow one is really snug in it's place. When I showed the resident Professional Engineer (Rick), he approved of the design, and was quite impressed. Way to go, little Daniel, our engineer in the making : ).
Last night was Fine Arts night at Washington Middle School. Dallin and Dailie were very involved. Dallin was asked to help out with 6th grade band (which Dailie was already in, playing orchestral bells), playing trumpet and bass keyboard. Dailie was asked to join the 7th and 8th grade orchestra, due to the lack of cellos (Dallin plays violin). Dailie was asked to join the 7th and 8th grade band, playing the bells. Dallin plays trumpet on some songs, and bass keyboard on others. So, other than the 5th grade beginners band, they were both in all the groups. They were busy. Today they were supposed to play at the Courthouse square, as part of a Brown Bag Concert series they do downtown, but it rained. It rained a lot today. So, they did the concert in the gym at school. Daniel and I went and watched. It was essentially the same concert last night, except the 5th graders didn't play, and the Jazz Band did, which Dallin is a part of. These pictures are from today, and I even got a video on here!!! The video is the Jazz Band. Dallin switches between bass keyboard and piano for the jazz band.
Dailie on cello
Full Band. Dailie is in the back left, playing the bells. The top of Dallin's head can be seen in the back right. He's playing the bass keyboard.
Dallin on trumpet
Full orchestra. You see the back of Dailie. All you can see of Dallin is his leg to the left of the director: ).
Dallin at work on the bass keyboard.
Dallin on violin
Dailie on bells. Not sure why her eyes turned out so funky looking. I tried to fix them, but couldn't.
The video showcases Dallin on the piano (which is actually a keyboard).
I was pondering this, most likely because yesterday was Mother's Day : ), and decided motherhood is:
Being 7 months pregnant and carrying your off-the-charts-big 1st grade boy up the steps of the school bus as he's crying and screaming because he doesn't want to go, wishing instead you could take him home, snuggle up and read books, and maybe even bake him some cookies, but enduring this instead because your ultimate goal is to help him become a responsible adult, and you know he's got to overcome this.
And then watching 7 years later as he prepares to go to High School, without fear or trepidation, ready and maybe even eager.
First, Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Ruthanne Thompson. She really is an amazing woman. I have learned so much from her. One of the greatest lessons I have learned from my mom is to find joy in motherhood, and family in general. Here she is with my kids (except Dallin).
My children and husband spoiled me rotten : ). The day started with a beautiful breakfast of crepes with strawberries. Rick rescheduled some of his Sunday morning meetings so that he was able to stick around a little longer. Dallin got fancy with the plating of the crepes. Later in the day after Church, the kids collaborated to make this yummy, and gorgeous chocolate cake. There was absolutely no adult help in the kitchen for this cake. I was impressed. Plus, it was really delicious. I think my kids have figured out that I like chocolate...
They also presented me with a variety of lovely homemade cards and a fun little scrapbook of the family that they worked hard on putting together. Thanks, Dallin, Dailie, Audri, Eliza and Daniel for a great day, and for the privilege of being your mom!!!
I was raised on thrift. My dad was a school teacher, and I was the 5th of 7 children. My mom stayed home, taught piano lessons, and learned and lived by the value of the saying above. There are many in society these days, wishing they knew a little more about thrift. I laugh when I hear tips on how to save money, like on the radio, etc. because I've known about these "hidden secrets" for years (eat out less often, don't get that manicure, clip coupons, buy generic, etc...). Of course thriftiness is much more charming when it is not a necessity, and I am grateful that for most of our married life, we've been very blessed. The first few years were leaner times, but now my habits of thrift are just that, habit, more than necessity, and admittedly some have even gone by the wayside (sometimes I buy something at one store, even if I know I can get it cheaper somewhere else, because it's more convenient). So, why the picture of the laundry basket? I take pride in this laundry basket, I must admit. 17 years ago I bought this at a yard sale for 50 cents, just after I graduated from High School, in anticipation of heading to college. I still use it today. It's my little reminder to fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!!
It's crazy hair day at the Elementary School, so we had a little fun this morning with Audri and Eliza. I braided pipe cleaners into Audri's hair, and then she twisted them all around. We did clips all over in Eliza's hair.
My sister's daughter just wrote and published this book!! How cool is that? She was able to do it through a High School course with a self publishing company called Lulu.com. I'm waiting for my copy to read it, but I'm so proud of her. Kailiee just turned 18, is a senior at North Montgomery High School (the same one I graduated from) and will be attending BYU Idaho this fall studying English with a minor in Creative Writing.
Way to go, Kailee!!! Here's a couple of pictures of my cute, crazy and fun niece!!!
Daniel being crazy. He's been a trooper throughout the soccer season.
Ta-da!
Eliza in action. It was a fun year for her. Her coaches were nice to volunteer, but frankly didn't know much about soccer. Therefore, there wasn't a lot of learning that happened. Oh well....another year perhaps.
Audri sang at the Courthouse with the 4th graders from Kellar. She's in the middle on the second row. She's the first of our kids to have gone all the way through Kellar K-4th. She'll miss the excellent music teacher, Mrs. Hutchins.
Daniel had his last gymnastics class, and I FINALLY remembered the camera for Camera Week!! He has had lots of fun in gymnastics this year, and I don't know that he'll be taking it anymore. I think Preschool will keep him busy enough next year.
