Webelos

Aidan has worked hard in cubscouts.  He completed his bobcat, his wolf, and his bear.  This last pack meeting he recieved his Webelos (along with his compass badge and one point).  He's also worked hard on his own to earn several activity beltloops and pins.





Fun for me, I get to paint his face! 

 

 All finished: blue W from ear to ear, centered on his nose; yellow triangles on his chin and forehead; red stripes on is forehead, chin, and cheeks.  Just don't ask me what they mean, I wasn't paying attention to that part :)

getting my pin.

Next month he'll earn his Arrow of Light, all he has left is to memorize the scout oath and law.  Way to go Aidan, we're proud of you!

End of year concert, projects, and programs

As we wind down the school year, we had a few major events to attend/work on.

Aidan had his end of year concert.  He's done well, and still practices (although not every day, at least 3-4 times a week).  He's looking forward to having a band class in summer school (4 weeks).

 Davin has worked really hard on his report on Kangaroo Rats (they're really mice).  He knew that he wanted to make a clay model, and then paint it.  He did a great job.  Once all of the first graders had their projects finished, they put on a Desert Animal Museum for the whole school (family was invited to attend).

 Miss Emelia finished up a great year of preschool, and is all ready (and excited) to start kindergarten in the fall.  She had lots of fun with Miss Laura, while I had lots of fun playing Aunt to the cutest, mellow-est baby (sniff, I'll miss you Luke)

 The kids did a cute program for us, of songs they've been working on, anchored by a play of "The Three Little Pigs."  Eme got to be the first little pig who built her house of straw (yes, it is quite a title).  She loved it, and got to be in everyone's house and get chased by the "wolf" twice.

Theatre is hard work.

Family Hike

 We took the family for a little hike up at Usery, just a few minutes from our home.  The last time we hiked was two summers ago up at Sunset Crater on our drive up to Utah.  This adventure went much smoother than our first.

 We did a simple mile and a half hike, with only minimal elevation changes.  A must for me since I've been dealing with a rather serious knee sprain (a stage 1 acl sprain), and have been in physical therapy for two weeks already.

 The hike was a nice loop around a "mountain", after our loop, Eric took the boys up over the top.  They loved it, and the view.

 I love their backpacks, the only things in them were a water bottle and snacks.  But if the kids carried their own stuff, it ment we didn't need to.  They all did a great job too, and with no complaints!

The boys were both thrilled, they each saw the animals they wanted (needed) to see for the trip to have been successful.  They saw collard lizards, catus wren, other lizards, a Harris Hawk or two, and lots of other birds.  Davin was disappointed that he didn't see a Gila Monster (who wouldn't be?), but managed to enjoy himself nonetheless.

We'll go again, before the weather turns too hot (and by that we mean well over 100).  We'll just give my knee some time to recover, and we'll be off again.

Emelia's class field trip

 Eme's preschool class took a field trip to the Scotsdale Train Park and Museum. So Maddie and I tagged along too.

Maddie got to ride the carousel all by herself, sort of.  After one time up, she got really nervous, her little knuckles turned white! So, I stood next to her w/my hand on her back, and she calmed down and yelled "whee" and "yee-haw", just like her sister.

 Eme loved having fun with all of her little friends.  But she made sure that she and Maddie rode next to each other on the carousel.  She's a great big sister.

 We took a lovely "train" ride all around the park, which is fairly extensive.  The kids loved it.  There was even a box car, only kids rode in that one, and laughed the entire time.



sisters, I just love them.



 All of the little girls made a train as we walked around the park.  They would also stop frequently to do an impromptu ring-around-the-roses.  The funny thing is, I remember doing the exact same things at this age.



not Eisenhower's train car.



 We ended with a tour of Dwight D Eisenhower's private train car, and then a picnic lunch.  It was lots of fun, and a beautiful day.

Birthday girl!

Here are some pictures of my baby's 3rd birthday.  Oh my goodness, she is getting so big-we even measured her, Madeline's grown 4 inches since Feb of last year! No joke, my baby isn't a baby anymore.

 My not so baby girl can now ride her trike, peddling that is.  She still needs to learn how to steer.

this was pretty typical of our day

 She is in love with anything "pretty": dresses, skirts, jewlery, hair brushes...

our Rapunzel-inspired cake

 She is getting clearer in her speach, although she can be difficult to understand when she's excited, or tired, or throwing a tantrum.  She's also getting really good at throwing tantrums.  Really good.

Maddie finally got he Rapunzel doll, she was in heaven

 Madeline has got the most beautiful eyes, and I love that she's still got kissy cheeks.  She loves to have her nails painted, both fingers and toes.


Nana and Papa's bag was almost as big as she is!

 She's becoming quite a good little mommy to her own dolls, feeding them and dressing them, and putting them to bed.  Now, if only she'll stop making them pee and poop everywhere, we'll be fine.


her hair looked "nice" for almost an hour before Maddie "brushed" it.

I love her sweet smile, and her soft kisses.  I love the scar just below her lip from where she bit herself with her snaggle-tooth when she was learning to walk.  I love that she's got back dimples, not on her shoulder like I have or Aidan, but on her lower back.  She'll still snuggle with me, but only briefly.  She is my little buddy, my shadow, she always wants to be wherever I am, I like it, I know it won't last forever.

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby.

Aidan's Final Pinewood Derby

This year's pinewood derby marked Aidan's third and final (HOORAY) year participating.  We've learned a few tricks along the way, like to always use spray paint, so much better looking than brush paint; Eric has learned how to remove the burrs from the wheels, and how to polish the axles.  We've also learned that no matter what, it is Aidan's choice what his final car looks like.  Hence this year's car: the most un-aerodynamic car imaginable: a truck.  Aidan named it "Optimus Prime".


Aidan wanted to make Optimus Prime this year.

Eric had to work late all week: something about the State's budget getting passed.  Which left all of the final prep to me.  I had to make sure that the wheels were running straight, that the axles were graphited, etc. 

All-in-all, it wasn't too bad.  Aidan came in second in two of his runs, which made him very happy.  Eric made it in time to help us all back into the car as we were leaving.  Poor dad, he was sad to have missed it.



But not to worry, Davin will be 8 in December, so we won't be taking a break from pinewood derby.  Six un-interrupted years of pinewood derby, I know you're all envious.

Gramma's here!!

We were so lucky to get to have Gramma come and spend some days with us!  True, we had to split a week and a half of Gramma with Tom and Heather, but it was so worth it to get a few days with my mom.

Gramma giving Aidan his 10 year old's quilt

Mom came in Saturday night, so it was a quick un-pack, get the kids to bed, and then bid my mom goodnight.  Sunday was lovely, it was so nice to be able to bring my mom with me to church.  I think we floored mom with the size of our ward too! Growing up, our ward wasn't huge, it was a good size, but not HUGE.  And for the past 5 years they've been in Pennsylvania, where their ward is tiny.  So it was a bit of a shock to see our ward, and it is ENORMOUS (we have three nurseries w/ another one opening in the summer.)

It's Harry Potter's Dragon Challenge, w/ all four dragons.

On Monday we hit the JoAnn's and Barnes and Noble, when doesn't Mom go to a book store?  While at JoAnn's, a lovely new machine found it's way into our cart, along with loads of fabric, notions, and patterns.  It was also a super rainy day for us, which was greatly appreciated after the heat wave of last week.

Monday night we settled in for some serious sewing, or rather we would have, if I had remembered to buy thread-oops!

So Tuesday we headed out to the other two JoAnn's stores (we've got 3 w/in 15 miles of us), and of course came home with more fabric, notions, and this time, THREAD.  Once home, we settled in to cut fabric and listen to that new machine purr.  I was able to finish two skirts, one apiece, for the girls Tuesday night.

And while I sewed, the kids got to play with their super cool bubble guns from Gramma.  Our only complaint is that the trip was so short.  On the upside, I get to see Mom and Dad again in December for Davin's baptism (which means they get to see my house all decked out for Christmas!!!), and then they'll be back next July for Aidan's ordination.  Not too bad, two more visits every 6 months, I can handle that.