Joshua's 6th Birthday Party Invitation

Don't let the dark side keep you away!

Art & Poetry Fair

The kids with their art & poetry & certificates.

The kids eating their ice cream after the Fair.

Joshua & his pottery

Hannah & her pottery.


Yesterday was the Art & Poetry Fair (& ice cream social) with HEoS. Hannah traced some pictures & colored some in & they each made a piece of pottery with clay. Each one also wrote a poem. I was surprised Joshua wanted to try but I think he only did it because Hannah did. Here is Joshua's short & sweet/to-the-point poem:

Movies are something I like to see.
I like friends to go with me.

He refused to read it of course. He would not even get up to accept his 2 certificates. Hannah did read her poem in front of everyone. We were very proud. There's still hope for her brother!

Here is Hannah's poem:

Spring

Spring is not a time for snow
but the grass is green & flowers grow.
Look at all the colors here.
Spring comes every year.
Spring is a very, very good thing.
I can just hear the birds sing.
Sometimes I like to go outside for an hour.
Spring has some kind of good power.

The hockey game did not go well on Wednesday-big loss (10-0). Hannah was not feeling well so she sat out but Joshua did play. He got to play goalie again. I think he's very good. It could have easily been 25-0 had he NOT been in goal. He stopped so many shots. He never feels bad & just has fun.

We went to Build-a-Bear today. They sent ME a gift card for my birthday for $14. I guess they did not check my age:) I told the kids they could get one of the less expensive bears & split my card so they each had $7 off a bear. Then they used some Easter money from Grandma to pay the rest. They each paid $6. Hannah got a dog (Sparkles) & Joshua got a bunny (Fuzzy). They still had money left over.

We are eagerly awaiting Grandma Judy's visit next week.

He is Risen-Happy Easter!

This was the last picture of the day after our kids had to change into spare or original clothes because the other stuff got soaked in a water balloon/hose fight. This is with Alysa & Carolyn.

The horny toad Todd found. See, I'm more willing to put this picture on over the scorpion one from the White Tanks visit.

The kids with Alysa sneaking in. Belinda, she's in several more of my pictures just in case you didn't get any. I got some Simpson & Ellison kids too.


We hope everyone had a blessed Easter today remembering the reason for this season. We went to church & to Easter celebration #3 afterward. Notice there are no pictures for Easter celebration #2 because Todd took them to the one at church while I worked. I am the camera fanatic-without me there are no pictures! They had fun of course with bounce houses,face painting,egg hunting,baby chicks & bunnies, & hearing the Easter story.

Today the kids got worn out egg hunting,egg tossing,3 legged racing (Hannah),& water balloon fighting. They fell asleep on the hour long ride home. Tired but happy.

Joshua cracked me up in church today. He was obviously paying attention & doing "school" at the same time. There was scripture up on the screen with the word "tomb". He whispers to me "the B is silent". I said yes & later he tells me without the B it just says Tom-like in a name. Smart little boy. Wait, there's more. After we get home he tells me to ask him what 13 + 14 is. I ask him & he says 27. Right again. I ask how he knows this in his head. He says "well, 3 +4 is 7 and 1+1 is 2. So that's 27". I find out later he has done this before. I remember him telling me Daddy bought 48 cans of Coke the other day but I thought nothing of it till tonight. We asked how he knew there were 48 cans in the 4 twelve packs. He answered it said 12 on the box & 2+2+2+2 =8 and 1+1+1+1=4. That's 48. Is this normal? Anyone? I just don't remember Hannah doing stuff like that at 5 (almost 6).

We've got normal routine stuff this week until Friday. Friday evening is our Art & poetry Fair and Ice Cream Social. I got my shift covered & since it's at night that means Todd can go. We'll be working with clay this week.

Easter Party #1 & our butterflies

Before the hunt.

After the hunt.

Before letting the butterflies go.

4 of the 5 butterflies.


Our 1st Easter party was Monday after P.E. with HEoS. The kids had fun decorating their egg carton & collecting the eggs. Hannah got a gold egg so she got a chocolate bunny prize which she plans on sharing with her brother. How sweet she is. I won a bag of candy with my raffle ticket which I will donate to one of the next Easter parties. Tonight we help stuff eggs for the Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday. Todd will have to take them to that one since I work all day Saturday.

We have done our resurrection eggs & made resurrection rolls already. Hopefully we'll get around to coloring eggs Saturday night. I bought an egg spinner last year on clearance so we'll see how that works out. We hope this Sunday everyone stops a moment (or more) to remember what Easter is really all about. We are so thankful for what Jesus was willing to do for us & hope anyone who reads this is too.

We let our butterflies go on Tuesday. All 5 survived again. I couldn't get a really good shot of them with their wings open so it's hard to tell how pretty they really are. These ones flew away a whole lot faster than last year. This will probably be an annual tradtion. Reminds me I've got to check out Home Depot for ladybugs. We love them too but if it's too warm out here they don't sell them very much past April. It's been somewhat cool lately & windy so maybe I'm not too late. I'll keep you posted on that, of course.

The hockey game yesterday was a loss of 2-1. Joshua got to be goalie & he did great even though one of those goals was on him. It doesn't help when your own teammate scores on you! The next goalie could take some lessons from him. He really kept his eye on the puck. It made me nervous when he came out too far but then I never like "my" goalie to come out too far. He was never once in la-la-land.The kids were happy that Grandma got to watch them play.

Theatre went great for Hannah again on Tuesday. She brought home her lines. Her showcase will be on May 22nd.

There's talk of a back-to-school- fashion show at the base. Todd asked Hannah if she was interested. Naturally the answer was yes. We'll keep you posted on that one too.

This information is mainly for Grandma Judy-a former dental assistant:
The kids both had dental appointments today. It was Joshua's first so he was very nervous. He did very well but I was able to go with them so that helped. He only had a little tartar which I think is pretty darn good for a near 6 year old who has never been to the dentist. Hannah had a lot more tartar build up so more time was spent on her. No cavities for either. They do recommend a sealant for her molars to prevent cavities. As long as it's completely covered she'll get it done in the next 3-4 weeks. It does require laughing gas & I can't help but wonder what that will do to her. I remember liking that stuff once. They each got a regular toothbrush,floss,toothpaste,an electric toothbrush (they both picked Wall-E), & a token for a prize from a bank of machines. No complaints about their mouths hurting (yet).

Fashion Show

Hannah & Alysa after the fashion show. Someday I might learn how to upload photos in order-today is not that day.

Hannah got to be a model in a fashion show at the base exchange today. Last Sunday she got to pick out an outfit from 6 or 7 dress or shirt/pants styles. She chose a Hannah Montana-ish style shirt & jeans.They had a quick rehearsal last night. Then this morning we traded kids with Belinda. She got Joshua & we took Alysa. Alysa was a far better encourager to Hannah than Joshua could have been. Alysa could have run the show & Joshua got to play with Darren & Will so it was win-win.

After we got on base Hannah had makeup & hair style appointments that thankfully were free. She changed into her shirt,jeans, & shoes & had her 30 seconds of fame. She got to keep the rose they gave everyone to carry & a little gift bag that contained a purse. She loved it all. We're very proud of the things she wants to try now.

Science Fair & April Birthdays

Our Science Fair with HEoS was on Monday after P.E. at the park. We chose butterflies since we were going to be getting the caterpillars again this year. Why not tie it in to our Science Fair? Joshua copied Hannah a little bit but it wasn't really his project. He really likes doing whatever she's doing. Above is a picture of Hannah's poster board & them at the park. They also enjoyed making flowers & butterflies out of Crayola model magic and pom pom caterpillars for the display. Kids enjoyed seeing the cocoons & as of today there's no change. I'll take pictures when we release them. The pictures along the bottom of the poster are from last year. Hannah chose to dress for the theme as well with a butterfly shirt,flower skirt, & butterfly flip flops. Good thing we didn't pick worms like the kids right next to us! Hannah even held a worm by the way. Joshua didn't want to. Neither did I.

Hannah started theatre class last night. It was hard at first when she learned Todd couldn't go in with her but she was a trooper & now can't wait to go back. She has a song to learn & got a part as a newspaper reporter. I'm happy she likes it but worry if she likes it too much we won't be able to keep up with it financially. This wouldn't be happening if she had not got the scholarship. Time will tell....

The kids played their 2nd hockey game today. Joshua is doing great so I was concerned about him for no reason. They both try so hard. Hannah even asked to be the goalie for a little bit. She never asked last year & when she was asked if she wanted to try it she always refused. She didn't want it to be her fault when goals were scored while she was in the goal. She did let one goal in but she also got the game winning goal for their team. Yeah!! The score was 4-3. Much better than last week & much better for her self esteem!


APRIL BIRTHDAYS:
Toby-our nephew 6 years old
Cheyenne-our niece 6 years old
Belinda-my friend

I hope to meet my niece & nephew some day.
Belinda-I hope you have an awesome birthday. You deserve it.