Truth

Saying "poop" in front of an 8 year old boy opens a door that is hard to shut.

#justdon'tdoit

#whyisitsofunny

#pottytalk

#thatdarnychromosome

Grandparents are the Best!

As I was going through all the pictures and reflecting on just how many activities were squeezed into those first few weeks of May, I was also acutely aware that the crazy schedule of activities for my kids were not just filling up our family calendar.  

My kids are so very blessed that they have two sets of grandparents who make it a priority to spend quality time with the kids, share in their daily lives, and be present at all the things my kids do.

For each drama production and athletic event and concert and performance and school activity...

there are typically 4 grandparents in the stands or the audience or the school to make my kids feel loved and supported.

They take the time to watch the live streamed events and recorded events, celebrating all the little victories and the fun things that my kids get to do.

They baby-sit and go on walks and plan special outings and pop by and chauffeur and bring special treats and play and call to chat and love.

My kids are so very blessed by the constant love and presence of their grandparents in their lives.  I don't know what we'd do without them!

Maycember

I recently heard the term 'Maycember' to describe the end of the school year craziness that likens to the flood of activities that lead up to Christmas.  And our Maycember was a doozy...but a good one.

Adelie participated in the Davenport 3rd and 4th grade track meet.  Apparently this track meet dates back at least over the past 30 years since Zach ran in it when he went to Davenport.

Adelie ran the 800 meter run, 4 X 100 relay, and standing broad jump.  She placed 6th in the 800 and her relay team got 2nd.  She ran hard in all her races, and I was proud of her determination.

It was a beautiful day, and Adelie had a lot of fun participating and cheering on her friends and classmates.

Staley played her flute in the 6th grade spring band concert.  Each time I hear her band perform, I am pleasantly surprised at their progress and improvement.

After the band concert, we also got to walk around and enjoy the middle school art show that was set up in the cafeteria.

Adelie and Briggs both signed up for a 10 minute slot to play the piano during the Davenport art show one evening.

They both played their songs well, demonstrated confidence in their willingness to perform as people looked at the art, and then enjoyed showing off their art projects that were on display.

We also stayed to listen to Adelie's friend, Stella, perform her piano songs when Adelie and Briggs were done.  The girls thought it was fun that they had the same piano book.

Briggs performed in the Peter Rabbit play that was put on by 2 of the second grade classrooms.  He was Owl.  He did a great job memorizing his lines and saying them loud and clear.  He also knew all the songs and motions to the songs.  The kids and teachers obviously put a lot of time and effort into preparing for this play, and it was very cute.  Not sure I loved the fact that, when I asked Briggs what they missed while they were practicing for the play, he said math.  (Seems like maybe it could have been during music or PE or computer time, but no one asked me.)

So Briggs may now be a few months behind on his second grade math skills, but he made a great owl.  The girls liked being pulled out of school/class for an hour so they could come watch him perform.  Guess if one of my kids is going to miss out on some learning, they all should.

Adelie won the honorable mention award for her Young Authors book this year.  She was very pleased, and her book titled 'The Clocks Are Doing Amazing Things' was very well written with cute illustrations.  I am always so impressed with her creativity with her writing.

Staley enjoyed her 6th grade field trip to Medieval Times.

Although I could have done without the collective 5+ hours on a school bus to get there and back, I enjoyed being chosen as a chaperone for this fun field trip and spending the day with Staley and her classmates.  (Now spending the day with the MULTIPLE other field trips also attending that day might have made the experience a little louder and more chaotic than I anticipated.)

Adelie performed in the 4th grade drama club production about the Pied Piper titled 'Rats.'  She was cast as Quigley, one of the mayor's advisors.  This was the part she specifically wanted, and she did great!  She had multiple lines, a few songs she sang with the mayor and the other advisor, and a few short solos within the songs.

They had been practicing 3 days/week after school since February, and all the time and effort paid off as the production was very cute and well done.

Staley had her school award's assembly.  She got awards for straight A's, ELA MAP growth, and highest ELA MAP test score in the grade (and, according to the principal, in the entire school).

Staley was also chosen by Mrs. Selvey, her 6th grade ELA teacher, as the ELA Outstanding Student of the Year.  I love that Staley enjoys school, and I am pleased that her hard work and attitude is appreciated by her teachers.

Adelie and Trevor were partners for their classroom Science Fair, where they did a disappearing colors experiment using water, food coloring, and bleach.

Although I wasn't able to attend the Science Fair, rumor has it that the smell of bleach mixed with the onion smell and burning paper smell from other students' experiments was pretty potent long before you ever reached the classroom.  I think that's a true testament to the greatness of this science fair.

Adelie performed in the Davenport 3rd and 4th grade talent show on the last day of school.  She performed a tumbling routine to the song 'Life Less Ordinary.'  She did somersaults, cartwheels, roundoffs, front walker-overs, and back walkovers.  Then she demonstrated her incredible flexibility with the splits and her hands-free back bend trick.

Her grand finale was demonstrating how she can brush her hair, put on a headband, and put on glasses with her feet.  She got a big response from the crowd!

I was so proud of Adelie for her bravery in performing in front of her whole school and for her uniquely Adelie way of showing her talents.  Since we had to miss the talent show for vacation last year, I had promised Adelie that we'd make sure she could perform this year.  I'm glad she made it happen!

The kids all had field day at their schools on the last day of school as well.  Staley and her school went to Eureka Lake where Staley mostly played sand volleyball with her friends.  Adelie and Briggs got to play on the playground, do water balloons, and eat popsicles.

It was a CRAZY end of the school year with so many activities squeezed into a few short weeks.  But it was also so much fun for the kids to do fun things, show off their hard work, spend extra time with friends, and close out the school year with a bang.

Oh Maycember.  You wore us down with ALL THE THINGS, but we made it out the other side...tired, but happy and ready for summer!!  

Different Definitions

 When you ask your son if he cleaned up after himself at breakfast and he assures you he did...

...it kind of makes you wonder what his definition of not cleaned up would be.

Mom Life...Continued

Unfortunately, the mopping of the kitchen floor after the spilled gallon of milk as mentioned in my last post was just the beginning of the story.  After I had blogged about the spilled milk incident, we discovered that not only had the milk covered the kitchen floor, it had also run under the wall and dripped down into the basement.  So a few days after the initial incident, the stench in our house was strong.  We threw out ceiling tiles and a chair that were milk soaked, rented a carpet cleaner, borrowed an air purifier, scrubbed, washed, and went through several boxes of baking soda in our attempt to rid ourselves of the milk...and its odor.

This year, my birthday and Mother's Day landed on the same day.  Instead of a relaxing day of outdoorsy fun with my family, my day was spent helping my husband rid ourselves of the milk spill.  It took some work, some time, and multiple cleanings, but I think it's gone.  And now my children are never allowed to handle a full gallon of milk on their own again.

#momlife

#milkistheworst

#happybirthdaytome

#mothersdayfun

Mom Life

When you need to mop and keep putting it off, a full gallon of milk spilled on the kitchen floor is good motivation to finally get it done.

#momlife

#puttingawaygroceries

#atleasthewastryingtohelp

Good-bye, April!

Another month has flown by.  We had all our usual lessons and extracurriculars and school activities and church activities and Oz.  But, of course, that wasn't all.  We also filled our time with...

A get-together with Zach's family to celebrate March and April birthdays.

We had a beautiful spring day to celebrate Easter.  We enjoyed brunch at church, a great Easter service, and family time. We had a backyard Easter egg hunt that included word scramble clues to solve.

Once the kids solved their word puzzle, they got an Easter gift.  Briggs got Legos (obviously), Staley got clothes, and Adelie got a few crafts and a pill organizer.  Yes, my 10 year old specifically asked for a pill organizer so that she could organize her jewelry for each day of the week.

We then had Easter lunch and time with extended family at my aunt's house with cousins and second cousins and another Easter egg hunt for the littles.  In our family, Briggs was the only "little" this year.  We always enjoy time spent with family.

Staley started a running streak to prepare her for her first cross country season in the fall.  Her streak of running at least a mile every day began on the first day of April.  She's still going strong.

Cathy and I enjoyed a night out at a winery for a Bingo night fundraiser.  We had a lot of fun, even though we didn't win anything.

Staley started round 2 of orthodontic work by getting braces...again.  On the plus side, she got to enjoy a day of shopping with her cousin and Uma after getting metal attached to her teeth once again.

Adelie and I went to her grade school carnival.  Briggs opted out, so Adelie helped me work her and Briggs' class booths.  She also enjoyed playing all the games and winning all the prizes.

Staley was asked to be part of a live acting opportunity during an Oz meet and greet prior to Judy Garland night at the Peoria Symphony.

I'm sure passing drivers gave us odd looks as I drove some of the kids over to Peoria.

After the meet and greet, Staley ditched the monkey costume, and she and I stayed to enjoy the symphony.  It was actually a concert by a woman who sings like Judy Garland backed by the symphony.  We really enjoyed it!

Staley and I rounded out April (and early May) by helping/teching backstage for the final run of Oz shows in Bloomington.

I've enjoyed helping out backstage and getting to know some of the other NTA moms better.

It was a fun and full Easter.  Oz filled a lot of our evenings this past month.  Now we say good-bye to April (and Oz) as we prep ourselves for the craziness that is the end of the school year.