Camping

I love our annual camping trip. It's so fun to take off the day after school gets out and head for the pine trees. Well, except this year, we had to do a make up snow day on what is normally the first day of summer break. But, we left as soon as the kids got home.

And they wasted no time getting lost in the forest.

 We had a very wet winter and we were finally able to have a campfire! It's been a few years since they were allowed. We've had to do smores on our stove! It was nice to have fire.

 The day before we got to camp it snowed. Just a few inches, but enough that we knew it would be cold. And it was. David had on a ski mask, his eye mask and his warmest hat. He actually slept like this.

 I opted for the Kenny from South Park look.

 

The next morning, David grilled us up a yummy breakfast. Yes, we have a coffee pot. It doesn't plug into anything though. So basically, we tried every which way to make camp coffee and it was all horrible...too strong, too weak, grinds floating in it. And a decent cup of coffee in the morning can make all the difference. I found this coffee pot and it's insulated. So, we head up water on the stove. Then, we pour it in the top and shut it. It slowly drips out like a regular pot of coffee. It works great! 

 Emily and Noah even get a long when we camp. It's a lovely site.

 The kids all play games. Our cell phone reception was awful, so they all enjoyed time with no screens!

 We had a little Starbucks run for the girls. They only rode in the back of the truck until we got to the main road.

 When I got back from Starbucks, I found Ben half way up a tree.

 It was cold, so we would lay on the pavement to warm up. It was nice and warm.

 The trees are always my favorite.

 There was some volleyball.

 We had dinner, and we brought strawberry shortcake.

 We took walks to the lake.

 His our friends and their son in law. HA! Yes, that's Noah with them. They have an 11 year old daughter and an 7 year old. Noah is right in between and I'm convinced he'll marry one of them.

 Emily made Alanah a leaf ring.

 It was Steph's birthday, so we got her a little cake when we were in town.

 Noah wasn't feeling so great. He ate too much junk food. Then, he felt better and he was running around the fire and he had his hands inside his coat because he was cold and he fell flat on his face. Luckily, he was just a little banged up, as was his ego.

 The next day we played some games. We were supposed to spend a third night, but the forecast called for rain and turning into snow overnight. If we had a trailer, we probably wouldn't mind, but in a tent, well, that's more than I sign up for. Besides, we've gotten in this habit of going for two nights and leaving later in the day on the last day. My theory is the only thing we are missing out on is a bad nights sleep!  We get home in time to get a shower and sleep in our own beds. It's a perfect compromise for me.

 We made the kids Jiffy Pop too!

 Noah would not let me take a picture of his face, so Emily and I acted like we were taking a selfie, but I had the camera turned around and I got his face.  It's not too bad, but it looked worse once all the scabs formed.  He'll be fine though.

All in all, another great camping trip! Dakri's son Josh didn't want to go. He had graduation parties to go to and hanging out with friends. He just graduated high school last week. So, I added it up and if Emily does that same thing, we will only have 5 more camping trips with her!  What!!!!!  NO!!!!!!!!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day...we never really do much and it's typically not really exciting, which is fine. I usually just like going for a short hike or relaxing. When we were at the parade, David asked if I was sure I didn't want to do anything for Mother's Day. Then, it hit me. I want the bathroom painted! Our master bathroom has been white for 12 years. I put swatches up about a month ago and was deciding on a color. Now, David was hoping if he just ignored it, I'd forget and just take them down. Then, another 12 years would go by without it being painted.

This is it boring and bland and ugly.

 

But, you know what, we painted that bathroom together! We got paint and got to work that same day. More on that in a bit.

First, David made me a cake before I even got up on Mother's Day.

And he made me  Aunt Paula's yummy homemade pancakes. They are so fluffy and delicious.

 

And here's the bathroom painted. It's a shade of brown, and depending on how the light hits it, it can look light brown or dark brown.  I thought about doing a color, like green or blue, but then, I'm tied to that forever. I'd rather be able to change colors with towels and rugs and switch it up when I want.

 

That chocolate brown arch was the only thing that was painted 12 years ago.

 

See, it looks much darker here. It's really an oatmeal color.

 

 Then, of course, I needed to order new rugs and towels. We had 3 different color rugs in there and none of the towels matched, so I think it was justified. The garbage can also had a crack in it, so I got a new one with matching tumblers.

I'm so happy with how it turned out. 

I asked David what he wanted for Father's Day.

He said to not paint.
Deal!

Noah's Music Concert

This kid is a little monkey. His legs are so skinny. They are just like David's. Speaking of, David went to Florida for a long weekend to help his parents pack some stuff for the move.  He brought home this picture of himself when he was 4. It was done by an artist on the beach in Acapulco. I never really thought Noah looked much like him, but this is totally Noah when he's mad. It's kind of crazy. Even Noah saw it and said, "When did someone draw that of me?" Um, not you son. Well, at least we know he'll be super handsome when he gets older. As if we had any doubt, but you know...

Anyway, he's a monkey.

 

I went to go for a walk and go out front and I hear Noah calling me. 

He's standing on the fence.

And look this picture of him building a stage coach in school. They posted it on their Facebook page. He worked hard on this and took off the caps of 4 containers of peanut butter for wheels. He spray painted them too, and may have got some on his Dad's shoes. He did a great job.

Last night he had his spring music concert. He looked so sweet. You can't see in this picture, but he has on his new black pants that he wanted me to get him. Size 10 slim and they are skinny jeans. I wouldn't be able to fit my toe in them and he had me cinch up the inside buttons as much as I could to make them smaller. And you know what? He eats more junk food than anyone I've ever known. I don't get it.

They did all Beatles songs. You'll have to excuse the poor video quality. David and I were passing the camera around as his teacher would sometimes cover him up, so I'd give the camera to David. The lighting in the auditorium is awful and I probably need a new phone, but you get the idea.  The second song, Here Comes the Sun, is my song for Noah. When we were in the hospital and he'd lay on my chest, they said to talk to him so he can hear your voice. Well, about 5 minutes in, it gets a little boring talking to a 5 day old baby, so I'd sing him that song. But, I changed the lyrics to Here Comes my Son. It's our special song.


It's strange going to one concert and that's it. We did 3 at one point.

And even better, Noah got all A's this semester!  The whole year, he always had one B and got Honor Roll, but he applied himself a little more and got all A's. Actually, school comes very easy to him and he barely has to try. Imagine if he really applied himself. He can accomplish anything!

I Love a Parade (Well, only if my kids are in it)

Prescott Valley hosted their annual Prescott Valley Days Parade. We knew Emily would be in it with the band, but Ben also got to be in it. His National Junior Honor Society made a float about where they will be 20 years in the future.

We had to get them their early. Em was the first one to go.

Ben float was 25th. They were supposed to dress up as their future career, so Ben picked a detective. If this is a fast track to that which doesn't involve becoming a cop, then he can go for that line of work. He's not a cop type of person. But, his high school offers a great cyber security program, so that's kind of like an online detective. I like that better.

He was debating on going, but I'm glad he did. They have about 30 kids in the program and just a handful showed up for the parade. 

It was Ben's first parade, but he got the wave thing down quickly!

Here he is after looking like a cool cat. That's his teacher right behind him. The one that looks like a teenager. She's a great teacher though and won for teacher of the year in our county.

 

We realized on the way there that his pants had a small hole in the butt, so he untucked his shirt.

So, that was our parade morning. It was fun, and we have lots of more parades in our future.

End of Winter Guard

It's that time of year where it seems we are so busy with concerts and recitals and parties and all that craziness.  I have so much to catch up on.

Emily had her winter guard recital last week. They had to perform the routine they did for all their competitions. But, they also spentthe last few weeks breaking up into small groups and making up their own routine. This was for a grade for the class since they all have guard every 7th period. You'd think putting in 30+ hours a week for 4 months would be enough to earn them an A, but what do I know?

This is her best friend on the team, Delilah. She came over after school twice a week since January. They'd eat and rest, and then I'd take them to practice at 4. I don't know how working parents do it. Well, that's the reason she came over because her parents worked and couldn't get her to practice at 4. They were in different small group routines, so they had on different costumes.

 Here she is before her small group performance.

 She got to learn to twirl a rifle. They do rifles and swords too.

Then, they performed their main routine.

It's always so sad at the end of these things. I remember when the Seniors would leave our cheer team, and it was awful. Then, we were the Seniors, and it was even more awful to leave.

This group of winter guard kids were a mix of 2 rival high schools. They came together, practiced, bonded, became friends, and now they go their own ways until next year. This redhead is from Prescott high.

And here's everyone hugging after. They only had one senior on the team, so she's in the middle of the pile.

Emily's friends came out to watch her performance. Ava on the right made the color guard team for next year, so they will get to do that together.


That night, they had their end of the year banquet. Emily said it was mostly for the upper classmen to get recognized. None of the freshmen parents were going, so we let her go alone. She looked so pretty and grown  up. She's wearing her first pair of little heels. 

 We are so proud of her and all that she accomplished this year. This year was a shock for all of us. The time commitment was off the charts, but she stuck with it and pushed herself and did more than she thought she could do.

She gets 2 months to sit around and do whatever she wants. I think she earned it.