Andrew is Almost 11

Paul started a tradition a few years ago of checking the kids out of school and taking them out to lunch for their birthday. At first I wasn't invited but the last few times I've been allowed to go. Today Andrew didn't decide if I could go until this morning but then he said he wanted me there. Thanks little buddy! 

Andrew's birthday is right in the middle of spring break so we had to begin his birthday celebration today while he was still in school.

We went to Rubio's where Paul got taquitos and Andrew and I got street tacos. Yummy! 

After lunch Paul suggested we go to Paradise Bakery to get some cookies. Andrew was thrilled with that suggestion. 

Yes that is snow, little bits of snow falling from the sky. Growl. 

Andrew is growing but in this picture he is standing on a curb and I am on the road. He isn't almost as tall as me I promise!

After lunch and cookies we took Andrew to the back so he could cash his birthday check from Grandpa David and Grandma Nancy. Thanks guys! He is planning to save the money for our summer vacation to New York, Boston and Maine. We then took him to the grocery store so he could buy Zots, an awful sour candy, to share with the class as a his birthday treat. I told him if I was a kid in his class I would be really sad that he brought in sour candy but that didn't change his mind. That's what he wanted to take. It was a nice afternoon with one on one time with Andrew. He's grown up a lot this last year and I really love him and am excited to see what he does with his life. 

Track Meet #3

Yesterday, April 5th, was Emma's third track meet. This one was held at our high school. It's a really nice track and for the first time ever they told the scores of the meet and we won! It was COLD though. It was only in the 50's which doesn't sound cold but there was no sun and an icy wind. It just kept getting colder and colder and the day went on. We were freezing and the poor kids were miserable. Emma also wasn't feeling 100% but she did her best, poor thing.

These first two pictures are candids I caught while I was trying to get my settings right on my camera.

Emma started by running the 100 meters. She was 5th out of six runners but it was a close race.

Her next race was the 4x100. Her team came in second! That was really exciting and I think her best finish ever.

They are really trying to get them to have a fast hand-off so they practice a lot before the race begins.

It wasn't the best hand off during the race but it was okay.

Here she is waiting for her heat of the 200 meter. This was the first time she had ever run 200 in a meet. She's obviously cold. I can't remember her place when this race ended. It may have been last. It wasn't her best. 

The last race of the day. The 4x400. She said this other team was super nice and they loved talking with them before the race. These poor kids are absolutely freezing. Some of them had purple veiny legs LOL!

This was the first time she had run the first leg of this race. It was nice for getting pictures! 

About a quarter of the way into her run I seriously thought she was going to puke. I was watching her through my camera's zoom lens and saw her look like she dry heaved. She was grimacing the whole way. I was really worried she wasn't even going to make it around but she pulled it together and finished. I know it just about killed her though. I don't know where her team finished but I was proud of all of them and the school came away with the win!!!

I'm Almost Done With my Last State Report

There are times where I get very sad thinking that I'm almost at the end of my kids' grade school years. No more class parties, no more Halloween parades, no more birthday treats to send in. I have been going to their school for one event or another for over eight years. I know the staff, I know the teachers, I know almost everyone. It breaks my heart.

However, when a report comes along and I maybe get a little giddy. I may do a happy dance here and there. I may sing out, "this is my last state report!" I may even yell, "Wahoo!"

I know that these projects are for the kids to do but really? Does that ever happen? We try to get Andrew to do as much as possible but there are times where it just isn't worth it the effort.

This Wednesday his state report tri-fold was due. He had done some of it but there was a timeline that had to be included. I asked for his input on what events he wanted to include and then I typed that bad boy up and didn't feel the least bit bad about it. It was done. D.O.N.E done. 

We filled most of his board with pictures of him in Illinois. He picked the colors and the fonts for the title which I then cut out on my Silhouette Cameo. He chose what pictures to print from the internet and I printed them for him.

He asked me to attach everything (which I did) but the design was mostly up to him. As part of his display he took the dinosaurs that he made at the Field Museum and two of Paul's baseball hats, one for the Cubs and one for the Sox. 

Now I just need a hot poker to prod him with so he will finish the written portion of the report. That should be tons of fun to do over spring break. Once it's compiled and turned I shouldn't have to worry about another state report as long as I live. (Knock on wood.)

I want my kids to always know that we support them and that whatever they do is the most important thing to us. Sooo even though I glued the whole tri-fold together and watched every step of it come together, I drove down to the school and walked through a crowded, obscenely loud, gym to see my son present his state to the masses. I enjoyed seeing all of the different tri-fold from all of the different classes. Plus it made him happy so it was totally worth it. 

Emma's Second Track Meet-March 30th

This track meet was much better than the first. The weather was phenomenal. The venue was a lot newer and nicer. They had a sound system so we knew when the events were going to start and they played music during warm ups. 

Emma performed a lot better this week. We got her better shorts and spikes to run in. I think she looked stronger and more confident. We keep reminding her that some of these kids are in sports all year around. This is the first athletic thing (besides church basketball which really doesn't count) she's ever done. She isn't winning races but she's doing well.

She's so cute. She'll come up to me and say, "Feel this! It's a muscle!" She's getting nice muscles in her legs, arms and shoulders. She was trying to show me her shoulder muscle the other day. She said, "feel this" but I felt her biceps not knowing what she wanted me to grab. It was a little squishy and she said, "no, not there, up here, my shoulder! I have muscles in my shoulders!" She loves it. I really am proud of the hard work she is putting in.

Check out the size of that team! 

I honestly can't remember which race this is but hey, it's an action shot. I like to watch her running the races so I get a lot of shots during the races.

There is a lot of down time between races. It's the perfect time to be silly with friends. I love that all of her friends come up and visit with us, a lot of time Emma isn't even there. She has some really great friends.

 Here is Emma getting ready to run the second leg of the 4x400. It is the hardest race for her and always the last race of the meet. 

I think she had a lot more fun this week. She knew what to expect so she was able to enjoy it more. It was a lot of fun to watch her and all the other athletes.

Here she is with grandma Renee. She took the kids out so I could have a date with Paul. Thanks mom!

March Collage

I just scrambled to make another photobook before my coupon ran out. It was a review of 2011. The book arrived today and I love it. It brings me so much joy to watch the kids look back through the books I've made over the years.

I am so excited about these collages. Next year when I get a free book code I will be all ready to go! I noticed that I did a much better job blogging about March than I did February. I still need to go back and catch up on quite a bit. Someday...

You can get your own template for a month in photos here

I Made Strawberry Freezer Jam Again

We just ran out of jam last week. Oh dear! Whatever shall we do? Make more! It had been a while since I had made this. My double batch lasted us about two years. How great is that? One batch equals a year supply for our family. Good to know and not too shabby since it's only about $5 worth of strawberries and I usually have everything else I need. 

Paul can't live long without his jam so I knew I needed to get busy and make more.

I got the berries knowing I had everything else I needed, or so I thought. When it came time to add the pectin I realized I had unflavored gelatin in the pantry, not pectin. I called my darling neighbor Diane in a panic and she saved the day. I am so grateful for good neighbors.

I love making this even though it is a bit time consuming and messy. It always makes me think of my friend Rees.

Several years ago we had a recipe night in Relief Society. We got together and shared a dish and swaped recipes. It was fun for a while but then the interest began to fizzle. We decided to try having nights where you learned how to make something instead. On one of those nights my friend Rees shared how she made freezer jam. I went home and made some and now my family won't eat anything else. 

Paul LOVES it because I blend the strawberries tso there are no "hanging chunks" of fruit. I prefer it because even though there is an obscene amount of sugar and corn syrup I know it isn't high fructose corn syrup. 

As I said before, I can't help but think of Rees and her presentation that night the whole entire time I'm making the jam and stirring every five minutes. Now I will be thinking of Diane as well. For me this is a very happy recipe! There is something about making jam or breads that always makes me feel so domestic LOL and I love providing something for my family that I know they love. 

Last night durning dinner...

we looked out the dinning room window and this is what we saw. It's no big deal though, everyone gets to watch a large group of dear during dinner, right? 

We've seen a lot of deer lately. They're either right in our yard, bounding down the street (That always sound funny. We actually hear them before we see them), in the field, in the neighbor's yard or running across the street right in front of our car. For whatever reason it never gets old. I pretty much love living up here on the mountain.