Run, Forest, Run

5th and 6th grade Track and Field Day is a huge hit.  The kids walk the track as if it is the Olympic arena and each class is a different county.  They then run the torch and play the National Anthem.  The games then begin.  Track events are the main stay, but they also have some fun games like tug of war.

Wyatt ran the 800M, 70M, and 4x100M.  He also threw discus (we may need some work there).  Regardless this day is always an interesting day for me to see where my kids are athletically in comparison to other kids their age.  I never know exactly what to expect, but once again I was happily surprised. 

He had tons of fun and I really saw him playing with his friends.  My lone wolf, may not be quite as "lonely" at school. 

Look at that face!!!  How can you not love this boy???

Games, Games, Fireworks

Bella got a flyer to join a trivia tournament.  She picked a team, they paid their entry fee.

 Sadly, it turns out that it was trivia for all ages.  And no matter how smart, they still didn't win.

 But we hit a Barnstormers game, which everyone loved.

And saw the first fireworks of the season.  Overall it was a great night. 

Brandy's Birthday

Sweet 16 is something to celebrate under normal circumstances and so we did the best we could within the parameters we had.  As a car enthusiast and lover we took her to see Furious 7, borrowed her favorite car - Chevy Camaro from a dealer friend for the day, went to a friend's for a Memorial Day party, was heart attacked by the Young Women of our ward and ended the night with cake, gifts and more festivities.

Hopefully she'll remember it fondly if it can't be perfectly what she would want it to be. 

Concert Season

These kids impress me with their talent, hard work and general cuteness.

Love them!

Wyatt and his viola!

Bella and her violin!

Isn't It Lovely

when your husband will let you do whatever to him, in the name of fun...

 or more sarcastically, when the check from your renters gets lost in the mail

for over a month and has water damage...

 when the kids actually clean their rooms, their closets, and rearrange furniture...

 or when you randomly see your son's artwork in the school hallway.

More About Me

What is it about this face?  (one on left; taken last month)

Or is it something more than the face?  Let me explain...no matter where I go...people compare me to someone.  Most often I remind them of a celebrity who they compare me to.  But almost just as often I remind them of a cousin, younger sister or best friend from home.

Don't get me wrong, where I used to be bugged or flattered depending on who they made the comparison to, because it's hard to see someone you are compared to physically and think you are more attractive {See this post from two years ago}, but maybe that just happens to me - because I have not struggled with my confidence in the looks department and instead have been blessed to think I was pretty throughout my life.  Don't get me wrong, I'm no knock down, drop dead gorgeous beauty, but I like to think of myself as above average. 

But with age, I have realized something about each of these comparisons...the people I am being compared to are almost always adored by the person who is comparing me to them.  And so whether the physical resemblance is overwhelming or not, I've learned to take them all as compliments because being compared to someone beloved is something to be cherished. 

Because although I want to be beautiful, I'd much rather be the person who makes everyone feel loved, comfortable, filled with fun memories, a nice nostalgic blast from the past or someone they hold near and dear for whatever reason.  So because I don't have all the family photos I have seen over the past two decades I'll give you a sampling of the celebrities. 

Jennifer Lawrence

Alyssa Milano

Lana Del Rey

Sandra Bullock

Emily Blunt

When Sleep Hits

Happy "Me" Day

That's right, I'm a mom.  So I get a second whole day each year devoted to me.
The kids and Travis are great at spoiling me. 
I slept in, baked lots, and got hilarious and touching (I'll spare you the ooey gooey ones) cards.

I think there is a broken lamp in my house that I don't know about.

Hair and eyes good, quarter woman due to my short stature - ehhh.

Poor kid has joined the army of children whose parents call them by their siblings' names.

Hit or Miscellaneous

Issac has joined Marathon club at our school.  I couldn't be more proud.

Wyatt made District Orchestra, called string fest.

I found out that if you go to the gym at odd hours no one or next to no one else is there and you can have your pick of all three TV's.  It's like Christmas Day without the clean up and stress.

Chaperones Anyone - Take 1

Field trip season is here.  I am almost always a chaperone.  Almost always, I love it.  It's like a special date with your child and a few other students.  Almost every week in April in May, I go on one.

First up, Hershey Chocolate Lab and Factory.  Tons of fun, been there before, always happy to go back.  There was a bit of to-do with Kody's lunch.

I signed him up for a school packed lunch.  He told his teacher he was going to pack from home.  She believed him because so often I let him speak for himself.  I didn't believe him when he told me I needed to pack him a lunch.  When I got to school he had no packed lunch from the school, I had not brought a packed lunch for him.  But alas, it's Hershey and it's a tourist attraction, we of course there was a cute cafe where we got him a Pizza kids meal.  He said it was good.  Possibility for a bad day avoided.  All went well.

I learned to listen to Kody.  He usually knows what he is talking about!