Volunteer Appreciation

Today was the volunteer appreciation breakfast at Landon’s school. I wasn’t planning on going because I was watching Lea, but Landon asked if I could come, so I enlisted Dottie to watch the baby while I went up the see the program.

Several classes came out and sang songs or read thank you notes, and Landon’s class went on stage and recited a poem about how thankful they are for volunteers…I even got it on tape:

I thought they did a terrific job, and Landon was very excited to learn some sign language in the process. The program made me a little sad though because I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to help much next year since I’ll have the new baby…hopefully I’ll be able to work something out.

Ms. Smarty Pants

I got up a little earlier this morning than I usually do, mostly because I wanted to get a picture of Zoe before she left for school in this cute outfit:

But, it was early and we were inside, so the photo wasn’t the best. So, when she got home, I took this one:

 

So much better! The little carnation in her hair looks nice too, and it matches her tank perfectly, don’t cha think? That carnation is actually pretty important…it signifies her being chosen to be in the National Honor Society! We got a little note inviting us to the induction ceremony next month. I am extremely proud of her!

The next two pictures are just a couple I ran outside to get this morning. As I mentioned before, I was up a little earlier than normal and I guess that made me notice how pretty those azalea’s were in the front yard. And, I’m LOVING the way the sun looks shining through the tree branches!

Carnival of Arts

Tonight, Landon and I attended the Carnival of Arts at his school. It was somewhat like the Festival of Arts that we went to over the weekend, but on a smaller scale since it was his school only.

They had several things for the kids to do but Landon was only interested in a couple of the activities.

First, he got his face painted:

Then we headed down the hall to play with the musical instruments…but the band teacher hadn’t shown up yet, so instead we watched a volunteer play an African drum:

Landon didn’t take a turn on the drum, but he did enjoy watching some of his classmates give it a try. Once we were done there, we headed to the gym to watch a martial arts presentation:

 

The martial arts demo was by far Landon’s favorite thing. He enjoyed it so much in fact, that he asked if we could stay for the second demonstration…which we did. Immediately following the show he asked if he could try a class, and I am thinking about signing him up for a summer camp to give it a try.

There were several other activities for the kids to do, but Landon wasn’t too interested in any of the art projects or story telling sessions, so we headed home.

I’m hoping tomorrow night we won’t have anything to do; a night at home sounds like a real good idea right about now! 

Sa-Wing Batter Batter!

Tonight we sat through the coldest baseball game yet. I’m glad we went, but man I wish I’d have layered on some more clothes! The game turned out really good, and our little guys even scored a few runs, which is always nice.

I really like the way these photos came out, and in the last one you can just make out the edges of the chain link fence framing the picture…but you have to really be looking for it!

 

Landon didn’t actually hit the ball when he was up to bat this time, but he got a really good hit in the next time he was up. He’s really come a long way in this sport and I sure hope he’ll stick with it. I just love seeing him play!

Milk Does a Body Good!

It’s true!

Milk really does do a body good.

How do I know you ask?

Well…

Last Monday I had my monthly prenatal appointment. While she checked me over and listened to the baby’s heartbeat I had to ask her if there was something I could do about the awful cramps I was getting in my calves at night. I remembered having them with both my other kids, but I forgot how intense they could be. She told me that there wasn’t a “cure” for them, but some people swore that drinking milk at night helped and that it seemed to have something to do with a deficiency in magnesium. 

I must admit that I was pretty skeptical, but I figured I didn’t have anything to lose; except those terribly painful cramps. So, that very night I went home and made sure to drink a tall glass of milk before bed. And guess what? No cramps that night, but what can you tell after one night ,right?

Well, now It’s been exactly one week since I’ve started my “milk regimen” and I have yet to get a cramp. I sure am hoping this milk thing keeps working because those cramps were something awful!

And, if your wondering about the picture, those are all little bottles of chocolate milk. Because why would I drink plain ol’ milk when I can have chocolate?

Duh. :)

Sundae Sunday

After a really busy day of packing things up in the house, grocery shopping, homework, haircuts and house cleaning we were eager to sit down to dinner. I found a recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog that looked so good that I just had to give it a try.

It’s called Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic and this is what it looked like right before we put it in the oven for an hour:

I forgot to get a picture of the finished product, but you can get the recipe and some beautiful pictures of the process here. It turned out delicious and was very simple to prepare.

After dinner we decided to take the kids out for some ice cream and Baskin Robbins…here are a pictures of that:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, ice cream (and donuts for Landon) make the kids very happy. And they laugh. And make funny faces for the camera. And they are nice to each other. It’s a wonderful world and all that.

Until we get back in the car to go home…and it all goes back to normal. “He’s touching me”, “She’s being mean”, “Can you tell him to stop”, “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow”.

Sometimes I wish I could give them ice cream IV’s. ;)

Festival of the Arts + Track Meet

Landon’s school participated in a Festival of the Arts program at one of our malls this morning. I’m pretty sure they’ve been doing this for a few years now, but this is the first time we’ve attended.

Landon really wanted to go to the event because he knew he could earn a foot for his necklace…long story short, his school has a track at the playground where the kids are encouraged (but not forced) to walk/run/jog at least a lap a day at recess. For every third lap (mile) they receive a small foot charm to add to their necklace. Once they hit so many miles, I believe 4, they get a different kind of charm. So, at today’s even the PE teacher took the kids on a walk through the mall and they earned feet. Hopefully that made sense! :)

Here the kids are on their first lap around the bottom of the mall:

 

And, here they are earning their 2nd foot by looping the top half of the mall:

After his mall walk, he decided to give the Lummi Sticks a try:

It was like a little Lummi Stick band right in the mall. Landon kept shaking his head no at me because he wanted me to quit taking pictures of him! But, as usual, I didn’t listen. He said doing the Lummi Sticks in the mall was embarrassing, so he didn’t like it much, but he stuck it out and finished both songs. There were several other things going on in the mall, but Landon had a play date to get to, so we didn’t stop at most of the other booths…maybe next year!

Zoe had to get up at 6 this morning in order to be ready to get on the track bus at 7am. She ended up with 2 ribbons, and setting a new personal record in the 400 sprint medley. We are so proud of her! She just continues to impress me, and I think she is pretty impressed with herself too! At least she should be!

Tony and I also stopped by Babies R Us again today and picked up a few little things there. I found a really nice diaper bag, and I may just take a picture or two of it for tomorrows blog! :)

Baby Gear

Last weekend we went out to Babies R Us and did some browsing. I found several things I wanted and needed, and thought I’d post a few of those here…of course it doesn’t mean it’s exactly what we’ll be getting, but a girl can dream, right?

So, originally I thought I would go with a black crib set, but I couldn’t fine one I really liked. Then I found this set and instantly fell in love with the dark cherry finish and the curviness of each piece. 

I also liked this stroller/car seat/carrier combo by Safety 1st:

And, Tony and I both really like this bedding set called Tree Tops from Carters:

We plan on going back to the store this weekend sometime, and who knows what else I’ll find! Can’t wait! :)

Randomness

As busy as my day was today, none of it was really blog worthy.

I don’t want to break my blogging record just yet though, so I’m just going to post some randomness.

1) My poor little dog has a couple kidney stones. We took her to the vet today so that the veterinarian could do a hydropulsion treatment to attempt to flush out the stones, but he was only able to remove one with this method. I would explain the process but I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not sure what we are going to do about the other stone, but for now she’s still really out of it from the anesthesia, and it makes me very sad.

2) The vet bill makes me even sadder.

3) So far, my photo file for April contains 454 photos. Here are a few of them that I don’t think I’ve shared before:

  

This is one of Zoe’s new spring outfits. She was really digging the skirts the day we went shopping and ended up with several like this one.

This is one of Landon before school one morning. The Easter Bunny brought him that ball, and it is a constant source of entertainment and trouble. :)

 

Lea’s first day hanging out with me. I think we may be BFF’s now.

The Bartlett Pear tree in our front yard. Taken from the back yard. I wish it always looked like that, but man those trees stink when they are in bloom! 

Our Adventure

Here’s another page about our stop at the entomology exhibit.

The pictures are of Landon holding a Walking Stick and a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. He was the only one brave enough to hold both of them, but he didn’t like it when they started walking up his arms, so he didn’t hold onto them very long!

Thanks for stopping by!

Around the Yard

I wish these flowers had lasted a bit longer. They probably would have had I taken care of them at all! Hopefully I’ll be in a new house in time to plant stuff for next spring…

Getting Started

I am finally beginning to buy some baby stuff. Until I started watching Lea I had forgotten how many times you can change an infant in a day! So, this weekend, I got a little start on baby clothes. Most are newborn, but there are a few other sizes mixed in as well.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next outfit is one that a neighbor dropped off a couple weeks ago. So cute!