Kindie Graduation

This week has been a roller coaster- and one of the stops was Kindergarten Graduation!

The class put on a sweet performance with lots of songs and they got a graduation certificate. In many ways it was pretty silly (I mean, really, how many times do they need to "graduate" in their lives), but it was still cute.

I definitely will not miss the half day schedule- it's hard having the day broken up so much. But, I will miss her when she is gone all day long. Sigh.

Here's Claire looking cute- notice her nice crocs on the wrong feet:

 Audra's line was, "H is for happy faces filled with love and cheer."

 Getting her diploma:

 Her class- she is on the middle row on the far left:

 Sisterly Love:

 It was a little chilly for the "after-party:"

Fund Run

Last week Audra had a Fund Run at school. Parents were invited, so we decided to go and see what it was like. It was a lot of fun- some great celebrations of the school year, of our principal who is retiring (after being forced out by our district- GRRR!), and of the school and students. All the kids ran together in a big circle around the field. They ran for 20 minutes. Audra almost ran the entire time- she does such a great job! Claire also did great- she made it around a few times! And even I made it around a few times as well:)

 Here's Audra with her classmates Luke, Isaac (her boyfriend), Eli, Teddy, Audra

 

Here's the fam ready to go!

 Above: Daddy and Claire (dressed in black- doesn't Claire look so cute running?)

Below: Audra

Tomorrow is kindie graduation- can anybody tell me where the time has gone? No, really, how do they grow up so fast???

The Power of a Protest

Some of you know that the school district where we live is completely coming apart. I won't go into great detail (if you call me I will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about what is going on, but it is simply too much to type), but I will say that I have really struggled with this. It is very difficult to see the best teachers flee as fast as they can to neighboring districts because they are treated so horribly. Our entire community is being torn apart. I have very seriously considered (and still am considering) moving as a result.

Thankfully, I discovered a group of parents who are just as concerned as I am. This has been HUGE for me for many reasons:

1. I am NOT alone! I am not crazy to actually like public schools and teachers!
2. We actually have a chance of beating out our current school board in the next election
3. I have found a group of like-minded friends who can support and lift each other up in these trying times with our schools
4. Getting involved feels good!

Admittedly, I know the fight for public education may not be your fight. It isn't a fight for everyone. I understand that. I had a "friend" berate me for over an hour as she told me how stupid I was to care about teachers. I have no idea why in the world I would let anybody yell at me for over an hour over anything- let alone something I am passionate about- but I did. And it was pretty miserable, and it is even more miserable that our friendship is ruined because she can't believe that I am smart enough to make a conscience decision about anything and actually stand up and fight for it. But there it is. It happened, it's done. Moving on!

It feels good to be back in the arena- to be standing up for what you think is right. It feels GREAT to be surrounding myself with people who think and believe the same things I do. I am making some wonderful friends in the community. I feel like I have a voice. Perhaps we can even enact some change.

I have even been in contact with our Superintendent. I e-mailed her and did not expect a response- but she did respond. And she agreed to meet with me and other concerned parents. I do not know if this meeting will take place. She has been known to cancel if she believes the meeting might be hostile in any way. I can understand not wanting to be confronted by angry parents, but she is paid over $300,000/year and part of her job includes meeting with parents. I think she should have to come answer our questions, and I'm pretty humbled to think that it is ME who is organizing it.

Today there was a protest at one of the local elementary schools. Over 100 people showed up with signs and with a fiery spirit! The superintendant was speaking to the teachers, and we parents wanted to be seen. We wanted her to know that we disagree with what is happening in the district.

Unfortunately, the Super showed up an hour early to the meeting so she didn't see us. But, a reporter and a guy who is making a documentary about what is happening in the district showed up. Tomorrow we are doing another protest at Audra's school. Several major news outlets are scheduled to be there- and you can bet I will be there as well (which does mean I have to do my hair, which is a bummer, but it is worth it).

All of this is exhausting and makes my blood boil. I have lost a lot of sleep over all this. But it feels good to be doing something about this! It feels good to be in the fight! It feels SO GOOD to be around all these people who believe what I believe!

How can I not be a part of it?

And how can I not get my kids involved?

 This is not me holding a sign, but I liked what this sign said. There were lots of great signs.

 And, my little protestor. She may have been the cutest one there:

Happy Memorial Day!

Today was really a GREAT day! I LOVE days when we just get to enjoy being a family- and that is what we did today, while also realizing how lucky we are to have what we have- first and foremost through the blessings of God, and also as a result of the sacrifices made by so many who gave their lives so that we could enjoy ours. How lucky can we be?

And I needed a day like today. I have been so frustrated by things that our happening in our town here, and it's nice to rejuvenate, remember what is truly important, and count the blessings that we have.

I started out the day by going to a friends house to review plans for her daughters wedding. I am very excited because I get to help in the kitchen at the wedding reception! I know that sounds funny, but I want to be the go-to kitchen person for weddings, and this is a start. I'm very excited! The wedding is on Friday and I can't wait!

Then we went on a family bike ride to Waterton Canyon. It was so fantastic! So beautiful, so perfect. Much better than last year when we went and hiked Waterton and vowed to never hike there again. A bike ride, however, was a horse of a different color!

 Claire and Camille did a great job in the bike trailer:

 But this little one also wanted to eat dirt and sticks:

 We had a nice picnic lunch:

 The older girls played in the water- this may have been their favorite part:

 Isn't it so beautiful??? To think this is only 15 minutes from our house- what a tremendous blessing to live in such a beautiful area!

 She LOVED dropping sticks over the rail. When she gets excited she shakes her whole body- it's really funny. She did a lot of shaking while standing here:

 We actually got a decent family picture! Can we say Christmas photo?

 I really can't believe how well Audra did on her bike. We probably went about 4 miles and she never once complained. At the end as we were almost back to the parking lot she said, "I'm having so much fun!"

 Then tonight we had a BBQ with Ben's parents. (Audra said, "How come we are having a bar-b-q but we aren't eating Barbie?")

Earlier in the day Ben bought a charcoal grill. Ben is channeling Bobby Flay, who had an article in the paper in which he discussed using a charcoal as opposed to gas grill, and that your grill needed to be a Weber Grill as they are the gold standard of grills.

In 8 years of marriage, we have grilled about 3 times. But Ben has decided we will be the next Bobby Flay, and tonight we gave it a try.

It was good- we just made hamburgers and grilled zucchini, but it was tasty. I think grilling just might be in our future. What's your favorite thing to grill? Any fun tips?

To top off our already perfect day, we made homemade strawberry ice-cream. What could be better? While eating the ice-cream of Heaven, we discussed the ingredients involved in homemade ice-cream. Ann said when she was little they put eggs in their ice-cream. Ben got fat free Half and Half so we discussed that. Then Ben said, "This is pretty much the best ice-cream I have ever eaten. Let's not mess with this recipe." I'll take that as a compliment!

Of course, being Memorial Day, we did reflect on those who made today possible. I explained to Audra why we celebrate Memorial Day and she said, "But my chocolate tastes really good." At least we tried- and truly, I do feel incredibly grateful today. As we all know, a lot of people sacrificed their lives so that we could bar-b-q and go on bike rides in a free country. God bless the USA!

Birthday Round 2: Audra Turns 6

Audra ran into my room this morning at 6:30 and said, "Mama! Guess what day it is!" To which I lovingly responded, "Go away."

Later I told her she wasn't allowed to have a Birthday and she had to stay little. She told me "no." Apparently cancelling her Birthday was not an option.

We spent the entire day either preparing for, hosting, or recovering from Audra's Birthday party.

Whew!

We decided to do her party at our house this year. All of the Easter, Halloween, and any other parties I have ever hosted all prepared me for today's event. It was a dosey!

For two hours we had seventeen 3-6 year olds running around our backyard, playing games, eating ice-cream cake, and having a blast.

When all was said and done, I would count this party a great success.

But I am very, very tired.

It was a lot of work.

And in 2 weeks I get to do it again, only with 3-4 year olds.

My kids had better repay me someday!

It really was a lot of fun, and it really did go exceptionally well. The biggest problem is that I wanted it to be an outdoor summer party with sprinklers and the slip and slide and such. However, the weather didn't quite cooperate. It was in the 70s and overcast, which meant it would be too cold for sprinklers (I know, in Seattle it would have been an answer to prayers, but in CO we are wimps and it was too cold). So I had to redo my game plan and come up with a bunch of party games for 17 kids.

Thankfully, my plan worked. The kids all had a great time, they didn't get bored, and the time went really fast.

Both Ben and I were glad when it was over!

We started out with the Limbo and some other group games:

 Then we broke into groups and did some relay races:

 Here's the cotton ball on a spoon relay:

 Then we did a craft. Audra REALLY wanted to do a craft. I wasn't too excited about getting 17 little kids to do a craft, but it actually went quite well. Thankfully, 3 moms stayed to help out- and Ben and I needed it! Without them this would have been a disaster, but it really did turn out well.

The kids made little monkeys:

 Then we broke back into our groups and rotated between four different stations. We had fishing for silly prizes:

 Here is Audra with some friends as they wait to throw ping pong balls into Mason jars. The Mason jars had colors in them, and whatever color they threw the ping pong ball into, that is what color of candy they got for their goody bags:

 This station was the best- eating dangling donuts. The kids were hilarious! Ben was in charge of this station, and he LOVED it because he got to laugh a lot:

 In this station they use a water gun to squirt a ping pong ball off a golf tee. When they finish they get a squirt gun for their goody bag.

 The kids enjoyed the stations- it kept them moving and doing different things. With so many kids, I knew I had to divide them up because otherwise they would get bored waiting in line. With groups of 4, things moved smoothly. The kids really did a great job, I didn't have any problems with any of the kids. Again, though, I am indebted to the moms who stayed and helped. I owe them!

Here's Audra's Birthday cake:

Audra was very particular about what Birthday cake she wanted. It's a DQ ice-cream cake. She wanted Hello Kitty but the one she picked out broke. They had another Hello Kitty thing but it wasn't edible,and she really wanted a decal that was edible, so she ended up with My Little Pony. She was fine with that.

 Camille slept through the whole party- a HUGE bonus! I couldn't believe we were lucky enough for that to happen!

When she woke up she had fun playing on Audra's new blanket from Grandma High. She kept snuggling it- such a cutie!

 Audra's favorite preset for the moment is a remote control dog. She would walk around with it and Camille would follow- absolutely fascinated.

We ordered pizza tonight for dinner, and I think all of us will sleep very well tonight! I can definitely say the party was an absolute success, and even though we are completely exhausted, I'm so happy with how everything turned out.

All in all, it was a great day. And I'm glad it's over.

Claire's Pre-School

Yesterday was Claire's last day of school. Here she is with one of her teachers, Ms. Alison.

Putting Claire in pre-school was a last minute decision- a decision made out of pure desperation of not knowing how to handle a rather difficult child.

Pre-school turned out to be the best money Ben and I ever spent- and that includes the cost of an epidural.

She really did great- during the whole year she only had 2 tantrums for her teachers. If you know Claire, you know that is pretty much a miracle. She loved all the art projects, and I loved going to the grocery store without her. It was a win-win.

She has mellowed out quite a bit. So much so that next year some friends and I are going to do a home pre-school with our kiddos. I'm very excited about it, and so is Claire.

Camille At One Year

Here's our Munchkin's stats:

Weight: 19 lbs even (39%) Last month I weighed her at 20 lbs. Because she is walking so incredibly much, I wouldn't be surprised if she did lose a little weight, but my measurements may have been off as well.

Height: 29.5 inches (basically 2 1/2 feet) (61%) According to our wall measurements, she is a full inch shorter than Audra at this time, and almost an inch shorter than Claire. We'll see if she ends up being the shortest in the end!

Head circumference: 17.8 cm (57%)

Audra came with us to her appointment yesterday and was VERY concerned about Camille getting her shots. She was so concerned about Camille and hearing her cry that Audra sat in the hallway while Camille got her shots.

I took Camille to get her 1 year photos today and she refused to smile the entire time. As soon as we walked into the photo room she started crying and insisting that I hold her. I thought her Christmas pictures were a fluke because I got them late in the day. I was wrong. Camille simply HATES having professional photos taken of her. Oh, well.

Camille has been pretty awesome to have in our family. Audra and Claire adore her, as do Ben and I. She generally has a super sweet disposition (unless she's getting her pictures taken), though ever since she learned how to walk she has become quite good at asserting her will.

As for food, she eats A LOT and she eats pretty much anything now.We started her on whole milk, much to my delight.

She isn't talking as much now. Walking seems to have stalled her speaking, but I'm not at all concerned.

She has 6 teeth- 3 up and 3 down.

The hotter weather causes Camille to sleep longer- she is now sleeping in until about 8:30 each day and takes longer naps- often over two hours. She has never napped so much. Maybe it's because of the walking, but I think it has to do with the heat.

She no longer sits nicely in the stroller while the girls play at the park. She wants to be out eating bark/walking around. It means I don't get to sit back and relax (unless I bring lots of food to feed her while she sits in the stroller).

Let's see...what else? Well, not much except we just love this little one to pieces!