This past week has flown by. Noah finally has learned how to ride a bike! Wahoo! He has been pretty cautious and to get him to even try was like pulling teeth. However, this spring he was more open to trying things out as outside warmed up. He finally got the hang of it!
However, as soon as I try to take a video of how good he is riding, he crashes into our neighbor's fence--poor guy! I felt bad because he was going great and then last minute he ran right into the fence--I am ashamed to say I chuckled a little bit...Anyway, luckily, he wasn't hurt and hopped up to ride again so I could get a better video. Here's his crash and burn:
Now we need to get the other bikes ready to ride and go for some family bike rides!
I have been so amazed with the kindness Matthew receives from so many people. I got this email from his high school teacher and just reading it I teared up:
I am SO GRATEFUL for all the wonderful kids his age who have taken him under their wings!! Matthew is beyond excited to be an honorary Syracuse High SBO (Student Body Officer) Human GPS and to walk in the parade this summer. He is telling anyone and everyone who he can get an audience with. What a funny kid! Also his teacher included the video of him in the middle of and entire high school wide (around 2000 students plus staff) assembly giving driving directions to Prom. You can see his excitement as he jumps around before he gives his directions and afterward as he jumps around again to come back to give another announcement and it ends with everyone giving him huge applause. What a crazy kid!
We were playing a family game the other day. It isn't an intense game until someone ends up crying. We were playing the game Cover Your Assets (which is a really fun game) and let's just say things weren't going in Noah's favor--poor guy! Don't worry he got his revenge the next round!!
Two weekends ago Josh got to attend a Youth Leadership Weekend with his fellow Youth Council Members. Usually there is a regional leadership camp they go to, but they didn't make the deadline for that camp this year so their adult leaders decided to do their own camp. They left Friday afternoon and were able to listen to a few inspirational/motivational speakers. Then they went to dinner, bummed around the mall, and then swimming at the hotel pool. They spent the night at the hotel and got up the next morning for breakfast. Then they did some team building exercises. Next they went to lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe. After that they went and did an Escape Room together. It sounded like they had an amazing experience. Here's a few pictures Josh showed me:
One of the speakers was a hypnotist. Josh said a few people got hypnotized and gave each other hugs:
Here's the big dinner with everyone who works with the youth council:
The table was too big to get them all in one picture:
Here's the people that attended the leadership weekend:
Here's the group before they entered their Escape Room (and Josh is not standing on anything he is just really tall!):
Josh has really enjoyed his time serving in the youth council. He will for sure be trying out again for next year!!
Thursday I got to help chaperone Noah's 2nd grade all day field trip to the Planetarium. I want to applaud all the second grade teachers for taking on such a crazy field trip. Instead of riding a bus down to the Planetarium we got to ride Frontrunner and then transfer to a Trax train to get to the Planetarium. What a crazy undertaking with roughly 125-150 energetic students give or take. Luckily there were quite a few parent volunteers there to help. Noah got paired up with one of his friends. Here we are on the train platform waiting for our Frontrunner train to arrive. As we were waiting we got to watch a Union Pacific train drive by and they did honk their very LOUD horn for us. All the kids thought that was pretty cool!
I was glad to get these two on the train because they thought it was pretty funny to play by the edge of the platform which made me pretty nervous--ugh! We ended up riding down on the top floor of the train.
Whew we made it!
Seeing how a tornado is made:
Looking at the Foucault Pendulum:
Trying to lift a meteoroid to see how heavy it is:
Playing with the Gravity Floor Exhibit while waiting for their star show to start:
Playing with the green screen camera:
Looking at the Mars atmosphere exhibit:
Playing with the remote controlled rovers at the Mars exhibit:
Seeing how much you weigh on different planets:
Finally it was time to catch the Trax train back to the transfer station and eat lunch:
After that it got a bit crazy for the teachers. The bus schedule didn't line up so instead of riding the Frontrunner train back to the Clearfield Station the kids had to be picked up at the Salt Lake station and bussed back to the school. That meant that all the parent chaperones got to ride Frontrunner back to the Clearfield station without any kids with us. Unfortunately, the Frontrunner train showed up before the buses did. That meant that all the parents had to leave all the kids and teachers at the station without any extra help so we could make it back, too. The teachers looked a bit anxious as they saw all the parents leave them and board the train. Luckily, the teachers didn't have to wait much longer before the buses showed up. Noah's teacher did send out an email letting all the parents know they they had all made it back to the school safely. Phew!! It was a fun day and I was glad I was able to go with Noah.
Don't you love surprise pictures on your phone? It appears Noah and Daniel took my phone and went to town with the pictures of themselves. Here's what 99% of all the pictures they took look like:
Love that they figured out the black and white photo features--haha!
We got Sarah's dance pictures back. She looks so grown up and beautiful!! I love them!
Here's her team:
Josh had his North End meet Friday. He had to qualify to be able to even be in this meet so that was an awesome accomplishment! He ran the 1600 meter run (which is a mile) and the 800 meter portion of the medley relay race. The medley relay race has 4 people who run. The first two runners run 200 meters, the third runner runs a 400 meter and the last runner runs an 800 meter part. Here's Josh as the 1600 meter race starts and they announce all the runners' names:
Josh running the 1600 meter:
Here's Josh waiting for the baton pass in the medley relay:
Passing the baton:
Finishing the relay:
It has been fun watching Josh's track meets this season. Track is now over, but cross country starts up again really soon. No rest for the weary--haha!
Friday afternoon Aaron and I went out to run a few errands. When we got back home Josh showed me his 'original' Mother's Day present. He mowed 'M💚M' into the backyard grass with the lawn mower. I was pretty impressed with his idea and his straight lines. That was pretty awesome!! He made it so big the only way to get the whole thing in the same picture was to take a panoramic shot--haha!
If you were ever wondering what we do on a Friday night here's a perfect example:
Aaron and Noah fell asleep while we were watching a movie. We keep things pretty exciting around here--haha!
For Activity Days last Friday we did something for Mother's Day. The girls learned how to make a pie crust and a pie. Then as they were baking the girls made their mothers a card to go along with the pie. I felt bad because I had to leave in the middle of it to try and make it to Josh's track meet. However, things looked like they turned out pretty well. Sarah was excited to present her cherry pie to me along with her sweet Mother's Day card. I am not much of a pie person, but it was pretty good!
Saturday was Bark in the Park which is a local fundraiser. The Youth Council was asked to volunteer to help run things. Josh was more than happy to help. He even volunteered to be 'Chunkles' the mascot. The hardest part of that was not being able to talk, though. Let's just say Josh LOVES to talk so it was hard for him to keep silent the whole time--haha! They asked for someone with lots of personality to sign up to be the mascot so the Youth Council adult leaders let the organizers know that Josh would be perfect--haha!
Here's Chunkles debut:
His handler was a T-Rex, but I can't remember her name, though.
Here's some of that personality I was talking about as they turned on some dance music Chunkles went to town:
We brought Sophie along to the Bark in the Park since a lot of other dogs would be there. She was not a fan. She was afraid of everything. They even tried to give her a dog treat and she refused to even pick it up let alone eat it. Every chance she got she would jump on my leg to show me she wanted to be carried. When it was time to go she made a beeline right for the car. I thought she would enjoy being around other dogs, but I was really wrong about that. She is an antisocial dog. It didn't help that at the beginning of being there one of the bigger dogs nipped at her. Oh well, at least we got to see Chunkles/Josh perform. When Josh got home he told us he made a few kids cry and took quite a few pictures with dogs and families, though. After we picked him up we headed up to my sister Johanna's house to have a Mother's Day family dinner. It was nice to have dinner with my brother Bryan his family, Johanna her family and my parents. The cousins had fun playing together while the adults talked.
When we got home Sarah had to start on a school project. It is a Utah state County Fair school project where each child is assigned a county in Utah they needed to do a report and build a mini parade float about. Sarah picked Iron County. We worked on doing her float together Saturday night. She definitely is starting to have her own opinions. I would give a suggestion on how to put it together and she would say she had another idea and that is what we would do. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but it turned out pretty cool. We ended up using a shoe box, paper mache, lots of glue, molding clay, paint, rocks, popsicle sticks and a small wooden birdhouse. Here we are working together:
Sarah's class is doing a countdown to the last day of school. Yesterday was super hero day. They all had to bring in an old T-shirt and they cut them into capes. Then they decorated them at the end of the day. Sarah was Studio C man:
Here's the kids from her table and their capes, too:
Ever since Sarah broke her front teeth her retainer has not fit right. She was finally able to to make it into the orthodontist this morning. He was able to shape her teeth a bit better (grind down the edges) and fix her retainer to keep her teeth straight. He did also tell me to plan for some crowns for those two front teeth in the future, though. DOH!! There are still a few touch ups the regular dentist will need to do, but for as hard as she fell things are looking alright for now. Here's Sarah modeling her reshaped teeth that look a little closer to what her normal teeth USED to look like:
I always tell Aaron that motherhood is a thankless job. You never get recognized for cleaning the house, doing laundry, helping kids with homework, etc. I explain that it isn't like his job where he gets awards or recognized for his contributions at work. So for Mother's Day he thought he would get me an 'award'. Sunday morning I got to open a big box and pull out a trophy. I was confused until Aaron told me to look at the inscription.
He said this is my award just like the ones he gets at work. I think he got tired of my complaining, but I think it was pretty sweet. Now where to put it--I was thinking right in the front window like the leg lamp in the movie A Christmas Story--haha!! Just kidding it was an awesome and thoughtful gift!
Sunday morning I was 'surprised' by breakfast in bed. It is hard to be surprised when you hear the kitchen being torn up for an hour, but I can act pretty well if you didn't know--haha! It is more known as breakfast for everyone on Mom and Dad's bed. There were plenty of pancakes, bacon, omelet and toast. This isn't the most flattering picture, but I still love how my kids like to surprise me:
Noah gave me a Geranium that he grew in his classroom. I loved it!
Daniel gave me a note with a Fizz gift card attached that said, "Dear Mom, I 💗 you. When you walk into a room you make everyone Fizzy or excited. We 💗you mom. you light up our day! From Daniel".
Noah made me a note in computers that said, "Dear Mom, You're the best mom ever. I like you a lot. Love, Noah." Glad to know that he only likes me--haha!
Aaron has been gone on business trips a lot lately. He is gone this week, too--ugh! Anyway to try and make things easier for me he helped Matthew pick out a Little Caesars gift card for me so I don't have to worry about what to feed the kids for dinner while Aaron is eating steak and lobster at a restaurant while away on business. It was a pretty awesome gift and I think I might be using it for dinner tonight--haha!
Sarah made me a few cards saying that she loved me.
And another of Sarah's cards said, "Dear Mom, I love how you cook and care for me. from Sarah"
A third card she made for me was a card to give back to her after I put my message about how much I loved her in it. I thought It was pretty funny:
Sarah also made me a sweet booklet of Mother's Day things to give me.
You are the best mother because "you love and care for me":
If I could buy you anything it would be "anything you want".
I love you more than "me".
What is Mom spelled upside down? "Wow"
Here is a picture of you (she even got my purple and blue hair!):
Thank you for helping me "by loving me".
I will help you "Do everything".
She even made me some coupons to use. This first one is for one clean my room. Good for one use:
Good for one: Clean out the dishwasher:
She scribbled out and put good for unlimited you and me time--haha! Also good for one breakfast in bed, too!
Noah wrote me a note that said, "May 4th, 2018 Dear Mom, I love you. You're the best mom. You're supper nice. I really love you. Love Noah"
He also illustrated it, too:
Noah filled out a booklet with questions about me. The questions are in black and his answers are in red.
Let me tell you about my mom. My mom is
36 years old. She likes to
cook. The best thing she cooks is
mash taters. Her favorite food is
shrimp. Her favorite thing to do to relax is
shoulder mausshats (shoulder massager). We like to have time together. She is really good at Cover Your Assets (game). As you can see, my mom is special because she takes care of me.
1. What is your mom really good at?
Assets Cover Your
2. What does your mom do to relax?
Shoulder Masager
3. Where does your mom like to shop?
Smith's (grocery store--no wonder because my kids eat so much!!"
4. How old is your mom?
30
5. What do you love most about your mom?
Her cooking
6. If you could buy your mom anything what would it be?
a trophy
7. What does your mom do while you're at school? Relax (I wish!!)
My mom is as pretty as
a mom.
She is as sweet as
nice
She is as smart as
a smartie
But most of all, she is as special as
me
I love the picture he drew of us, too:
My favorite things about Mother's Day are these sweet gifts from my kids. I will be sad when I don't get these cute things anymore!
I want to say thanks to my own mom for being such a great example and good mom as I grew up and even now. I love that she is an involved grandma and loves to be around her grand children!! Happy Mother's Day Grandma T!!
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