Memorial Weekend '09

We went camping at the coast for Memorial Day weekend. It was just us, Kim and her family, Jeff and Mom and Dad - which is a pretty small group for our family. We had our own campsite for the first time, which was kind of exciting. We actually set up camp and cooked our own meals all weekend. We used some of our camping equipment for the first time, because Mom and Dad weren't providing everything.
Benjamin found a new sense of power and freedom as he realized that he could go to the bathroom anywhere...and his sisters couldn't. He was very excited that he "peed a bug off a leaf," so Haylie decided that she was going to do it too. I'm sure you all know how that turned out. She was very disappointed!

Travis thought he was a big kid playing trucks with Benjamin.

We went to Heceta Head on the way home on Monday. The kids all had a good time. Haylie and Benjamin played in the puddles, ran from the waves, and fought over a stick (as you can see above).

Elisabeth and Benjamin played in the water for a long time.

It was a fun weekend, with very nice weather for May. We were exhausted when we got home, but full of fun memories. The kids are already counting down to camping on Labor Day :) (Maybe we should try camping out more than twice a year)

Easter Portraits

My dad took some pictures of my kids in their Easter finery. We never got any family pictures, because Alan stays so late at church with his clerk calling, but we got some cute one of the kids.

An Unexpected Rescue

My son earned the distinction of being the only child I know who has had to be rescued by a lifeguard at swimming lessons.

Benjamin has absolutely no fear of the water, and he jumps all around on the table that they put out in the water for the kids to stand on. As I was watching him during class, he was hanging on to the table with one hand and kicking the water everywhere, diving under the water on the table, and jumping up and down on the table. His two teachers told him to sit down and stay on the table several times, but he just kept messing around. I said to Elisabeth, "Your brother is going to fall off that table if he doesn't stop." Obviously the lifeguard thought so too, because he got down off his perch and walked around the pool to stand on the deck next to Benjamin's class.

Sure enough, soon he tumbled off the table backwards and sunk down into the water. His teachers didn't notice, but the lifeguard jumped right in after him and pulled him up and put him back on the table. (It was kind of funny to watch Bill - the swim coach - have to jump in and get wet. He was filling in for someone, and you could tell he wasn't excited to get wet) Everyone was worried that Benjamin was going to be scared or cry or something, but he was fine. He just continued with the class. Afterwards he told me that it was just like he was swimming - like a whale. I asked him if the lifeguard pulled him out of the water, and he answered, "No, I jumped back on the table." He's a crazy kid. But I'm glad he's okay, and I'm glad the lifeguard gets to do something exciting once in a while! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a good Mother's Day yesterday. My family made me breakfast in bed to start the day. They made banana waffles with strawberries and syrup and strawberry/banana smoothies.

I was also showered in gifts. Alan bought me two rose bushes and gave me some chocolates. The kids were so excited about the gifts that they made for me, that I have almost forgiven them for the clothes they all ruined with paint making the gifts. Leilani painted me a jewelry box and wrote a sweet letter. Emilyanne made me an origami corsage, drew a picture of me and put paper flowers around it, painted me a letter "L" for my wall and gave me a book of quotes with a sweet note in the front. Elisabeth painted me a "treasure" box. Benjamin also painted me a "treasure"box and gave me a handprint with a poem that he made in nursery. I will cherish each and every gift.

The men made us dinner at my mom's house in the evening. We had chicken cordon bleu, strawberry jello, baked potatoes, corn, salad and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. We were very happy mothers!

I hope all of you mothers out there were treated just as well. We tried to make my mom's day special too. Alan mowed her lawn for her on Saturday and we gave her a book about mothers. I did ask her to sub last minute (1/2 hour before church started) for Beehives, which probably didn't make her day easier, but I didn't have any choice because I was already substituting for Laurels. Thanks for all you do Mom, we love you!

Give My Regards to Broadway

We attended Emily's choir concert with the Oregon Children's Choir a few weeks ago. They did a medley of Broadway songs.


They did Sound of Music...

Annie (she's a fancily dressed orphan)...

Grease, and many other Broadway musicals. They had a lot of fun, and did a good job.

Finally, a Nine !

Leilani had her last meet of the season yesterday, and she definitely ended it with a bang. She has improved so much since her first meet. (Actually she has improved a lot since her meet a few weeks ago. She has been taking private lessons to work on her form, and it has really paid off) She got her first 9 score in Level 5 competition yesterday. She got a 9.1 on floor, which was the highest score all day on her entire team. Here is her winning routine:

Leilani improved over a point on her bar routine score since her last meet.

And her vault is actually looking like a vault these days. Hurrah !!

We are very proud of her. She took 3rd place in all around and her team took 2nd. She qualified for State, but it is on Sunday, so she has decided not to compete. We are proud of her for that decision too. Way to go, Lani !!

Oregon Battle of the Books

I coached our school's Battle of the Books team this year. It was the first time that our school has participated, and I was proud of how well they did. We joined up the beginning of November (the books are released to the schools in April), and the kids read the 16 books by March. We had book review discussions at lunch, and then did our school battles to pick the final 5 kids to represent our school at the regional battle in Roseburg on March 14. Leilani made the final team, and Emilyanne was the standby 6th person in case something happened to a team member. One of the boys quit the team, so Emily happily ended up being on the team.
The kids designed t-shirts and named their team the Cranes.
The kids did a great job. They tied for 11th out of 42 teams, and won both their battles. We are excited and looking forward to next year. (Leilani even wants me to get it started at Kelly!)