King Arthur's Quest Theater Performance

Hannah is the White Knight. Far left/back row.

The whole cast.

Serious pondering moment.

Here's some pictures of Hannah's theater performance last night as the White Knight. Not many smiley pictures as being a knight is very serious business. They could use some more boys interested in theater but I'm pretty sure she still had fun playing a boy role. There were only 2 boy knights. Also, the pictures are out of order. I'll never learn to put them in order. I figure you can deal with it:)

Hockey Medals

I know these pictures are late but I did not have any events to take pictures at after hockey till last night for Hannah's theater performance. So here they are with their teams. Joshua got gold & Hannah got silver.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!
We love our Dads/Grandpa & Papa.
Todd got a store bought cake & he's playing Mario Cart with the kids. There's talk of a game of Yahtzee later.

Yesterday we went to the pool at the base because it was a summer fun free day. They had contests with prizes & raffles prizes (which we sadly did not win). We got there around 11:15 and stayed till about 2:45 because I had to work that night. Hannah participated in a hamster wheel race & a boogie board race. She went on the water slides too. The base provides all kinds of rafts & water toys. Joshua enjoyed a small slide in the shallow end & basketball. It was fun till Joshua got stung by a bee just before we were going to leave. We think he must have put his hand on it on the edge of the pool because he was stung on his left hand. It was quite a scene & he got an otter pop to hold to keep swelling down (and eat). I'm pretty sure wherever you are you will hear his screaming the next time a bee comes near him. I asked him today if he was going to freak out the next time he saw a bee. His very honest answer was "yes".

I'll be taking Hannah to the base tomorrow morning for a theater tryout. A theater company is doing a week long summer camp with a performance on Friday. She wants to try it so I'll know more tomorrow how the rest of the week will go as far as practice times.

I got my Stanley Cup championship t-shirt & Chicago newspapers this week from my brother. Exciting news for me.

We're going to try to see Toy Story 3 next weekend. I worked 2 extra shifts at work last week that I didn't really want to work so with that extra money we'll reward ourselves with a family movie day.

My Chicago Blackhawks are Stanley Cup Champions!!!!!!!!!!

The Chicago Blackhawks have made my year! I've been waiting since the early 90's for them to win the Stanley Cup & they finally did it. It has been 49 years since their last cup. I am so happy for them & that I can own a champion t-shirt now. I'm looking for a repeat next year but of course Todd thinks his team should win. We'll see about that later but I'm enjoying this victory for now. I told him & the kids in April that I wanted a Stanley Cup Blackhawks championship t-shirt for my birthday & that I'd wait until June for it. Again in May for Mother's Day that's all I wanted. So thanks to my brother in Chicago my long overdue gift is on its way. I also asked him for the newspapers from the next day.

I don't have any pictures of anything exciting. The pictures from the kids' last hockey game are still on the camera. Hannah got a goal & a silver medal. Joshua got a goal,did great as a goaltender,took a puck to the eye, & a gold medal. I can't believe the puck didn't even leave a mark. He did cry & sat out for a few minutes but then got right back in the game.

We let Sammy go. Yay. We can't afford to feed even a gecko so he got to be free.

Our trip to Wet-n-Wild was fun. It took Joshua awhile to warm up to the rides & be brave. I wish I had pictures from there but I can't risk my camera. We were there 10-4 & would have loved to stay longer but we had to leave.

Todd took the kids to our end of the year party with the homeschool group to the Aquatic Center. That night was a Blackhawks game & I wasn't feeling well. So I laid on the couch & watched them lose that night. So, again-no pictures.

Hannah is going to try out for a one week theater class at the Air Force Base. It's a summer class with a show at the end of the week.

That's about it for now.

June Birthdays

Happy June Birthdays:
My Dad-Happy Birthday tomorrow!!!!
Ashleigh-niece
Jacob-nephew
The kids have a couple friends this month too-Darren & Kaylee

Happy Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day so I wanted to take a few minutes to say a big heartfelt "Thank You" to our armed forces both past & present. Thank you for being willing to sacrifice your life for the freedoms enjoyed by all Americans. This also includes your family members as I know they make a sacrifice too. I cannot thank you enough. You are appreciated. You are a bigger hero than professional athletes or movie stars. Thank you!!!!

Joshua's 7th Birthday

Hockey rink birthday cake for the sports themed party. Like my Stanley Cup? I do. Can't wait for the real one to reside in Chicago soon!! Go Blackhawks!

On Joshua's actual birthday he got to pick lunch. He chose Peter Piper Pizza & hit the jackpot on a game. He ended up with over 1000 tickets. Hannah hit a smaller jackpot & ended up with over 600 tickets. Isn't he cute?

Craft time-making pennants at the party.


Joshua is 7 now. He had a sports themed party. He loved his gifts from everyone. He is spending money & a gift card wisely plus he finally got a Nintendo DS. He already bought light saber styluses, a Fur Real bunny, a Star Wars Trouble game, & a Lego Star Wars set with some of his money & gift card.


Last week Todd's mom came for a Surprise visit. The kids did not know she was coming. I got my shifts covered at work while she was here so I was off for almost a week. We went bowling at the Air Force Base one night and all I can say is: Thank goodness for the bumpers they put up for kids! I sure needed them. And the A/C went out in the van again. Same problem we had back in October on our way to Disneyland. The only difference was there was no huge piece of metal I could run over to jolt it back to working. At first everything worked fine for the mechanics & they had me pick it up as the air would blow fine for them. I leave happily thinking I dodged a big bill only to get in the van and have it not blowing air again. I march right back in to tell them. $300 later we now have air again. Yay for air-Yuck for $300 bill:(
As I try to find the bright side to this unexpected expense all I can come up with is at least the timing of it was when I was able to leave the van in the shop for 2 nights. I didn't have to get to work after all. That's all I can come up with right now. The pessimist in me thinks about how I was off work & that equals no money to pay that bill! Such is life:o)

I was totally slacking in my May birthday update at the beginning of the month. I was so wrapped up in Joshua's day that I left off a few people. I even forgot the card. So sorry! Hopefully I will be forgiven.
Happy belated birthday to:
Wendy-Todd's sister
Paul-friend
Alexis-Paul's daughter (I'm pretty sure she forgives me as she's only 3 & not surfing the web as far as I know).

The kids have one more hockey game left next week. We're skipping summer soccer due to lack of funds (see van A/C problem).

Blackhawks sweep the Sharks!!!!!!!!!

The Blackhawks swept the Sharks on Sunday & I am soooooooo excited for the final series against the Flyers. Go Hawks!!!! Get That Cup!

XRKade

On Wednesday we went on a field trip to a place called XRKade. They had a bunch of fun inflatables,games,& rock walls. They got to play for an hour and a half before getting a slice of pizza and then squeezing in a bit more fun before our time was up (2 hours).

Afterward we got some lunch because Hannah didn't eat the pizza & it wasn't included for me. Then we made our way to their hockey game. Both teams won. Joshua got a goal & was an excellent goalie. Hannah was awesome at covering the other team's cherry pickers. I don't like cherry pickers. She frustrated them enough that they got in the game to help their goalie out rather than hang out one foot in front of Hannah's goalie just waiting for the puck to come their way.
That'll teach 'em.

They were pretty tired that night!

Meet Sammy

I found what I thought was a salamander in the garage a few days ago. He's a gecko according to Todd. We had one once before that always hid in the bottom part of the garage door & always fell out to the ground when we opened the door. He eventually got run over. Not the best spot to hide but they must think it is because here's another one. They are pretty cool-better looking than lizards. Todd & the kids wanted to keep him as a pet. I want him to be free but I lost so here's "Sammy" the gecko. He will reside in our old fish tank till he figures a way out or dies I guess. Todd bought him crickets and meal worms. I pay a guy to keep crickets away but now we need to buy them. If Sammy can figure a way for us to save money on our car insurance then I won't mind buying the crickets:o)

May Birthday

Happy Birthday to our boy!!!
7 years old on the 17th
He's having a sports themed party & I plan on making a cake that looks like a hockey rink in honor of our teams. I even made a Stanley Cup to put on it. Fun,fun,fun!

Hannah's Theater Performance

A different version of the 3 Little Pigs-one with 4 pigs & 2 wolves. In this version the wolves get scared away forever by the pigs.

The 2 wolves try to blow in the smart pigs' brick house.

Hannah, the Princess, doing her monologue. The beautiful princess is trying to kiss a frog in order to turn him into a prince for the Ball in just a few hours. It's not working. She cannot figure out why it's not working until she reads the spell book. Turns out you must make sure you are kissing a frog rather than a toad. Toads just give you warts. Uh-oh, she's in trouble! Always read directions first, people:o)

Four princesses are on a walk one day when they find a cute little baby dragon. They decide to take him home to their castle.

A prince moves in next door but the dragon doesn't like this new prince. The prince is attacked & left for dead.

Thankfully the prince was only knocked out. He returns to find out the princesses were tied up while sleeping by that cute little dragon. He must save them.

Everyone agrees to be friends. Yay-happy ending!

Cast party. Siblings included.

Joshua rocks on backstage.

Our super-star!

Hannah's theater showcase was last week. She is sad it is over. She did awesome. She is saving money so she can participate in the middle school plays this company puts on. They do one in the fall/winter and one in the spring. Rumor has it the fall play will be Snoopy. What a great 1st play that would be for her. Snoopy is 2nd to Disney around our house.

Joshua is helping her save money. He gave her part of his allowance last week. On Sunday he sold a toy for $10 and then gave her $5 of it for her class. So sweet! I think she has around $55 so far.

Yesterday we had a craft fair with HEofS. They made $22.44 and split it evenly. They are looking forward to doing it again.

They start hockey next week. This week I have no activities to drive to and I think I'm going to enjoy it. We have also been enjoying all the playoff hockey on TV. Upcoming events in May include a field trip to XRKade (like a Pump-it-up I think),Joshua's 7th birthday, and Wet-n-Wild. Sometime in June we'll be going to the aquatic center for our end of the year party with HEofS. Fun stuff.

Praying Mantises

When we ordered our caterpillars I also ordered a praying mantis egg sac. Here are the babies. I didn't know there would be so many. I bought one of these at Home Depot about 1 1/2 years ago & the directions said to pin it to a tree which we did. Now I know why we never saw them the 1st time. If you are not right there to see them the moment they come out you never will. We let them go the same night they came out. Hopefully they find enough to eat around our yard to stay.

Butterflies and Krispy Kreme

One of only 3 butterflies that made it this year.

We let our butterflies go yesterday. We got 5 caterpillars but only 3 survived to be released.

On Tuesday we went to Krispy Kreme for a field trip with HEofS. I don't care for donuts so getting up to drive to Arrowhead by 8am was not a trip I'd normally make. But I DO like my kids enough to get them there for a behind the scenes tour.

We didn't end up doing the Science Fair this year. We just didn't have enough time to prepare. We are participating in a craft fair later this month. The kids are making things to sell. They each have ideas where to spend the money. Joshua is saving for the next Sea World/Disneyland trip. Hannah is saving for a theater class in the Fall. She's seeking donations if you all have any money to spare-drama is not cheap! She's even more determined since we just got home from a Spring theater production-Seussical. She really,really,really wants to be in a play later this year.

Easter 2010

Eggs from homeschool Easter egg hunt.

Family picture.

Just the kids.

The kids with Will-a favorite friend:o)

Egg Toss with Reanne.

Everybody watch out!!!




Easter was another busy day. It was Hannah's Sunday to help out with children's church. We made some snack bags that looked like butterflies for her to hand out to all the kids. We filled snack size ziplock baggies with colored mini-marshmallows, pretzels, & Trix cereal & put a decorated clothespin right in the middle so each side looked like a colorful wing. Earlier we had put glitter glue, eyes, & antennae on the clothespins. After a wonderful church service we went to a potluck & got to see our old church family.

The kids always have fun & wear themselves out. They hunted for eggs and Hannah did the 3-legged race & egg toss with Reanne. Todd hunted for & found a rattlesnake which eventually met his doom. We left around 6:45pm & got home around 8pm. It was hard to get them up for P.E. this morning but the promise of our Easter party with the homeschool group got them going. Yes, a day late but still fun. We are happy to celebrate the Resurrection more than one day a year anyway! Joshua found one of the few "golden" eggs which means a special prize but it must have fallen out without him noticing because it was gone when he checked out. He was heartbroken. He would have been fine NOT getting it at all but finding it & losing it was too much to take. He was in tears about it when a sweet little girl who did get the chocolate bunny prize came over & gave him hers. She claimed to have enough candy at home. Very generous girl. That was very nice to see after seeing so many egg hunts turn out to be cut-throat. I'm sure that kind of tender heart does not go unnoticed by Jesus. We're going to give that little girl & her siblings some sand dollars next week to thank her for her kindness. Hannah also got a golden egg. She got one last year too.

Upcoming events include a trip to Krispy Kreme, a craft fair, & science fair (if I can get myself motivated to help Hannah brainstorm ideas).