June Potpourri

Not to brag about my genius kids or anything, BUT Jake and Emma achieved Triple Honor Roll status last year in school. They had a special awards night back in early June. I think I remember Emma spending lots of time getting ready for it.

Emma got a lot of recognition during her 6th grade awards assembly. I was a proud mama!



Jacob was also promoted from the 8th grade to high school.

Rick and I updated the landscaping in our front yard. Here are a couple BEFORE pictures:



 

 

And AFTER:

 

 

For Mother's Day, Rick gave me some raised planter boxes from Costco, so I decided to try my hand at gardening over the summer. I got a handful of anemic tomatoes, tons of cilantro, different varieties of lettuce, and zucchinni. The stawberries and a blackberry bush will hopefully yield something next summer. I totally failed at carrots, sugar snap peas, green peppers, and green onion.

Sadly, I'm the only one who really ate the stuff from the garden. A lot of veggies and WATER went to waste I'm afraid. I'm not sure it was worth it...

One plant that's easy to grow at my house:

 

Emma said goodby to her cute friend Maryn by having one last sleepover before the big move to Utah.

 

They consoled themselves by taking hundreds of pictures of the Chloe and eating half a pan of brownies.

 

 to be continued...



A Day I Felt Especially Old

The kids have been ready to head back to school for weeks. Unfortunately, they had to wait until TODAY to start. It's been a long, boring August for 'em, that's for darn sure!

 

On the eve of TFDOS, everyone got tucked into bed by 9:30 (a respectable bedtime in our household). For 2 1/2 hours Jake and Em tried to fall asleep, but with no luck. My bedroom saw a lot traffic because of our family insomnia. I finally had to resort to giving them Melatonin so I could get this ready:

 

A "love note" from Mom



Old-school metal lunch boxes filled with candies and treats (see above note)

The goodies inside

 

6:00 came all to soon after our rough night. I was proud of the kids for getting up an ready on their own though. Since I didn't have to drag them kicking and screaming from their beds, I could focus on making their one and only hot breakfast for the school year: french toast.

 

I noticed Jacob wasn't tucking into his breakfast with his usual teenage gusto. I assumed it was my poor cooking again, but found that it was the Freshman butterflies instead. Poor guy! I'm sure visions of swirlies and locker stuffings danced in his head. I excused him from the table and fixed him up with a tummy-taming cocktail of meds. (Yep, I believe there's a pill for everything).

 

With only a little prodding I got a pictures of the kids to commemorate TFDOS.

 



Emma wouldn't show her braces at first!

Luckily I wore her down and got a REAL smile!

Here's Jacob. He's humoring me.

Ain't he 'andsome?

We didn't quite leave for school when we intended, so the drop off line of cars at Emma' junior high was backed up a quarter mile. I dropped her off at the back of the line so she could walk the rest of the way. I ducked down a side road and fled that crazy scene.

I thought I knew of a tricky way to unload Jake at the high school, but ended up having a Mr. Mom moment instead. Remember that scene when Michael Keaton drives the wrong way in the student drop off zone? Ya, that was me. I ended up in the back of another long line at the opposite side of the high school. Yeesh! Poor Jake was so frustrated with me by the time I dropped him at the right place. To his credit though, he did mumble an "I love you" before he scurried off to find his first class.

I was a little nervous for my chickens all day, especially my high school aged one. I also felt a little weary as I considered the fact that they'll both have flown the coop in 6 short years! How is that even possible?

Fortunately the kids came home happy and excited about their schedules. They liked most of their teachers too! Sure, they didn't get to all their classes on time, but they'll have it down by the end of the year, right?

My darling babies

Memorial Day 2012

"Jake, go put your arm around Emma for the picture..."

We drove down to good ol' Grand Rapids, Ohio for a Memorial Day lunch at our favorite pizza buffet. The restaurant was decked in patriotic paraphernalia, including a photographic tribute to veterans along the top of the salad bar sneeze guard. The food was delicious and the people watching exceeded our usual expectations. We may have witnessed a biker convention. I'm not sure.

Once we had our fill of the warm, buttery dessert breadsticks, we walked off our indigestion along the canal. With persistant nagging, I was able to get the kids to pose for a few bazillion pictures.

I think Jake might be showing off his biceps in this one.

What a catch!

This is what happens when you let your 14-year-old son hold the camera

This is also what happens when you let your son hold the camera. You have to pick your battles.

Don't let the green trees and running river fool you. It was hot outside, hence the ponytail.

Rick felt the discomfort of carrying his food baby. Those "Braxton Hicks" can be rough!

My handsome boys.

"Mom, take a picture of me with this guy's crazy hair!"

A sweet mother/daughter moment - NOT!

After walking 53 feet, the kids got tired! They had to rest in the swing.

Isn't she just so dang cute?!

The flowers along the path were g-g-g-goregeous!

We were lucky to get this shot of the whole family. The old guy behind the camera had a terrible time pushing the button.

Here's Rick's new car! It'll be Jake's in just over a year. Crazy, right?

Rick had to work in the ER from 3:00 to 1:00, poor guy. I'm sure he had a fun time dealing with the extra drunks and crazies that show up on holidays! The kids and I joined my besties and their families for a Memorial Day BBQ. Yup, I'm blessed!

The Triple As: Audrey, Angie, and Anita

Mothers and Daughters

I serve in the presidency of the Young Women's Organization in my church, working with girls ages 12-18. On Wednesday I had the privilege of hosting a special Mother/Daughter Activity at my house. Some of the older girls weren't able to come because of other commitments at school, but we still had a decent turnout.

We asked the mothers and daughters to wear coordinating outfits, which we photographed as they arrived. I was impressed that everyone actually did it! We got some adorable shots which I later turned into a collage for our bulletin board at church.

Sydney, Kat, and Rory

Becky and Abbey

Tylah and Angie

Jess, Olivia, Amber, and Ashley (Jess filled in as "mom")

Carolyn (grandmother) and Maryn

Em and Aud

Heather and Kendra (sorry about the wind)!

Dayna and Karen

 

Bella and Carol (grandmother and YW President)

We gathered in the basement for the M&M game (an idea I tweaked after seeing it on this website). Everyone got to complete phrases such as "I am scared of..." or "I was so embarassed when..." We got to hear some pretty funny stories!

We voted on our favorite mother/daughter outfit and had the girls take a "Mom Skills" quiz. Apparently I have some work to do still with Emma because she missed 6 questions!

We also played a game incorporating pictures of the girls' mothers when they were in the teen years. Can you guess which girl is me?

To cap off the activities, we watched a beautiul message that I found on YouTube. We also passed out personal letters that the mothers wrote to their daughters. If you have about 5 minutes, it's worth watching the video below. I hope the girls "got it", although my daughter should probably listen to Elder Ballard's remarks a few more times...hahaha.

Of course, no activity would be complete without refreshments! Just look at this yummy cake!

I'm so glad it came together. Now to prepare for a Daddy/Daughter night...