Easter 2013

Still so far behind, I am going to start with the most recent and attempt to catch up this week.

Not helping is the fact that we do not have spring break for THREE more weeks! We must have the latest spring break out of everyone!

Very nice Easter weekend. Saturday we met up with some friends for a community egg hunt. It was divided by grade levels and pretty much over in the blink of an eye but the kids had fun.

Here are the younger crew, Jadyn with Michael and his cousin Cecelia (who is also in Jadyn's cheer class):



And Dominic and Jake, the best buds:



Later that evening, we got together with the same group of friends to dye Easter eggs, make some Easter crafts and just generally have fun.









The Easter bunny brought baskets for the kids filled with cool stuff like mini Nerf guns, nail polish, bubbles, glow in the dark silly putty, hot wheels, books, a kitty cat and of course, candy!



I was shocked and very pleased to find that the first thing Jake did was starting reading the newest installment of one of his favorite book series, Captain Underpants:



Jadyn immediately became attached to her newest stuffed pet:



But that wasn't the only cat on Easter as both our kitties were having fun with the baskets:





We then went to Grandma Anita and Grandpa Ken's for Easter brunch. I really enjoy having it at their house. It just feels like such a tradition. And while it was unfortunate that none of the other cousins could make it, leaving Jake and Jadyn the only kids, the garden is the perfect background for an egg hunt and pictures:











The remainder of our Sunday was spent doing chores, relaxing and playing. I also got in a 3 mile run to prepare for Warrior Dash next week.

As a secular family, we try to respect the significance of Easter for all Christians. For us however, it is a family holiday symbolizing new life and hope, a time when the earth becomes alive again, a time to celebrate spring.

And regardless of your reasons for celebrating the holiday, I truly hope you had a wonderful Easter.

Pinewood Derby

One of the draws of joining Cub Scouts for Jake was the annual Pinewood Derby. For those not familiar  the  cub scout along with a parent or adult mentor helps design, carve, paint, weigh, refine and race a derby car made from a block of wood.

Obviously this is Jake's first year participating in the Pinewood Derby. He was excited but also, he truly has a lot on his plate right now with baseball season in full swing (more on this later), schoolwork, Cub Scouts and racing BMX. Joe put in a lot of work to make sure Jake's derby car was ready for race day. Joe also had Jake assist him in baking his "world famous" chocolate chip cookies to contribute to the bake sale that was accompanying the spaghetti dinner at the Pinewood Derby event. All proceeds will help pay for Jake and his fellow scouts to attend day camp later this spring. Along with opening ceremonies for baseball the same day, we were BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Here are the kids and I before heading out to the big event:





Once there, we signed Jake in and weighed his car. It was pretty light so we frantically taped loose change on top of the car to bring it to an even 5 ounces. We wanted every advantage we could have to help Jake's car race well.

Unfortunately, our newbie experience with derby cars showed the first heat Jake's car was in when, much to our chagrin, the car rubbed along the track and couldn't quite cross the finish line. Of course Jake was disappointed. We were in for a LONG night of racing.

Close up of his car:

 

Jake's car on the track against another car:

 

All the cool derby cars:

 

BUT, Jake is learning a very valuable lesson this spring about making the best out of situations, trying his best, being willing to put forth extra effort to excel at certain activities and how to be a gracious loser. He managed to turn his disappointment around and make the best of the night.

Here he is with his friend Chris, whom he has known since preschool and another BIG reason he wanted to do Cub Scouts. I have so much respect and admiration for Chris' mom, my friend Heather, who dedicates so much time to being an awesome den leader for this group of boys:



And here is Jake, not with a trophy but a certificate of participation and the award for fiercest car:



After the racing was over, we tried a few things to see if it would have made a difference with his car and we talked to several people who have years of experience building derby cars. We are now armed with the knowledge we need to come back next year with a more competitive car. But win or lose, I hope Jake continues to grow and mature when it comes to learning the valuable lesson about having a positive attitude even when things may not go our way.

Read Across America Week

Our school celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday a few weeks back with Read Across America Week and themed dress up days for each school day.

Mondays are reserved for school spirit days throughout the year so we ALL put on our Onaga Thunderbird shirts and added CRAZY HAIR DAY! Mine was removable. I knew that Afro-circus wig from our Madagascar 3 Blu-Ray purchase would come in handy someday.





Tuesday was career day. Eighteen months ago for Red Ribbon week the kids dressed up as a Marine and an art teacher and a year and half later, they chose to dress up in the same future career choices:

 

Wednesday was crazy sock day but for Jadyn, it turned into a full on ode to 80's neon:

 

Thursday was dress as your favorite Dr. Seuss character and let's keep it real people. Tears were shed. We didn't get the list of activities for this school event until Monday. Between Monday and Thursday I did not have time to order anything or go shopping for anything. Jadyn really wanted to dress up as CindyLou Who and on Thursday night, I frantically went through her stuff and could not piece something together that was acceptable to her. Jadyn got upset. I got upset. It was not a proud mommy moment. By morning, we were both in brighter spirits and Jadyn was satisfied wearing her Grinch Christmas t-shirt with a promise that we would get her a Cat in the Hat hat to have on hand the next time something like this rolls around. And to be fair, at school that day, I saw a lot of very creative Thing 1 and 2 costumes that were pieced together at the last minute. These costume ideas were stored away for future reference.

 

 And finally, pajama day! It landed on a perfect icy cold, almost snow day and yes, I absolutely participated and wore my PJs to school. I was so comfy all day but it really made me want to curl up in a corner of the classroom and take a nap. It probably doesn't help that I was coming down with the flu either.

 

I have really been enjoying working at the school and participating with the kiddos in activities like this. I am really crossing my fingers that my position there becomes permanent soon.

Not abandoning this ship

Yes, I know my blogging has been extremely intermittent. It never is my intention. And it's not that I technically don't have the time so much as I lack the energy. I have been working 6 hours every school day in the classroom since the week of my birthday. While being at school from morning bell to dismissal is only temporary, I am enjoying the opportunity to work more hours. However, once the kids and I get home I am spent! I still  have to find time to tend to the house, pets and run errands (all things I would normally do while the kids are at school) not to mention help the kids with homework and get them to all their extracurricular activities. I love being busy, don't get me wrong but I would remiss not to admit it's A LOT.

The last few weekends have included a lot of downtime due to illness, the aforementioned errands and some fun too - grilling with friends, sleepovers for the kids, trips to the dog park, dinner with GrandBob and Granny Annie and even a birthday party.

Here are some picture highlights....

The first Saturday in March we made it to the Home Depot kids workshop. Every year around this time they do a race car project to gear up for Nascar and our local Home Depot has a ramp so the kids can race their finished projects down the track. They love it.

 They also love trips to the doughnut shop for breakfast beforehand:

 

 Ran into a friend before heading into Big 5 to pick out a new bat for Jake and I turn around to find the kids begging me to take their picture like this:

 

 This just breaks my heart! When I wake up in the morning, Kuma follows me around desperate to be taken for a walk/run. I had been really good about getting up early and taking him before work BUT daylight savings (not to mention some crazy guy approaching female joggers in our area) has made it really hard to go before work. As soon as I put my clothes out and get ready to shower, Kuma jumps up on the bed and lays ON TOP of my clothes and gives me those sad puppy dog eyes as if it will prevent me for leaving him for 6 hours. He is still my spoiled baby though. I make sure to take him on walks/runs (and now carry pepper spray too) after work on most days.

 

 As someone who has always loved reading, nothing warms my heart than finding this completely unprovoked. Both kids reading with a huge pile of books they want to read on the bed. LOVE!

 

So much blogging to still catch up on but I think this is a good start.

Life has been keeping the Funny Noses busy, busy, busy.

Since I last posted, I had a birthday. I am now only one year away from my FORTIES! I can't believe it.

In the same week as my birthday, I attended a school board meeting to help fight to keep the current principal at our school (in which the board reversed the decision to move him so it actually worked, yay!), went out to dinner to celebrate my special day, attended Meet your Coach night for Jake's baseball team (I am serving as team parent again), took Jadyn to Cheer class and attended a birthday party as a family. Like I said, busy week!

And we woke up on my birthday to snow - not even an inch and it was melted by morning's end but we don't get snow very often so it was a special event for us. I just think its so pretty. I'm sure if I lived elsewhere where it snowed all winter, I would get sick of it in no time.











Not bad for 39 right? Not bad at all.

My Funny Valentines 2013

I believe in letting those you care about and love know how important they are to you throughout the year. I don't buy into the overly commercialized and artificially created romance of Valentine's Day but that doesn't mean I don't like the holiday. What is not to like about love and friendship and CANDY!?!

Of course, the kids are now not allowed to bring sweets to school, so we added pencils to the Valentine cards they passed out in class. I also put together a small bag for each of the kids with a few special treats like a super cute stuffed turtle for Jadyn and a new hot wheel and Halo figure for Jake. Working at the school, I also got to pass out Valentines and received many in return. It was a nice day.

After having this shirt for 2 years now, Jake finally asked me what "most eligible bachelor" meant. I explained to him that it meant he was available to the ladies and he immediately scowled. I then told him that while no one would take the shirt literally, he didn't have to wear it. I am glad he ultimately decided to wear it, but I sure wish he would get passed the awkward smiling for the camera:



Much more natural smiles in this picture:



And because of the no candy at school rule, I was asked to have Jadyn meet a classmate in front of the office before school. A sweet little boy named Jonathan had purchased a giant Hershey kiss for Jadyn with his own money. They were both super shy during the exchange but it really was the cutest thing:




Yes, Jadyn managed to skirt around the no candy at school in more ways than one. The six graders sold candy-grams as a fundraiser. For those not familiar, you pay $1 to have a lollipop attached to a little note delivered to someone in class at school. Jake wasn't interested but Jadyn wanted to send one to her best friend and to her 6th grade reading buddy. She then took the extra $1 Jake didn't want and let a friend borrow it to send a candy-gram too. And guess who that friend sent a candy-gram to? None other than Jadyn! I thought that was a pretty clever way of making sure she got one herself.

That night, opting to spend Valentine's as a family (not to mention the fact that I was nursing a cold), we had a fondue themed dinner complete with chocolate fondue for dessert and snuggled up with a move. Nothing says Valentine like the action super hero flick The Avengers.

I sure do love my Funny Valentine's.

School Nights

Last Thursday was the annual school science fair and Jake was very excited to participate. He choose to do an experiment on the effect of surface texture by rolling a marble down a ramp with different materials to see on which the marble went the furthest. He correctly guessed that the marble would roll the farthest on smoother surfaces. The experiment became a family affair as Joe made the ramp, I helped Jake with the write up and poster board and we all got in on the action during the actual experiment.

Here Jake is showing off his experiment to younger students who came to visit the classroom:



 And at the schoolwide science fair that night with his participation certificate. He was so proud!:



On Friday, Joe and Jadyn attended the father/daugther social at school for the second year in a row. Jadyn had a really good time last year and was very excited to go again this year. Joe is such a good sport for taking her because I know these events are not his cup of tea:





While they were at the social, Jake and I had some bonding time including a car picnic at Sonic and a round of Battleship at home (I won!).

It was a busy week full of fun activities at school.

The Missed Recital

Last weekend Jadyn was supposed to perform with her cheer class in the winter recital for the dance studio she attends. However, let me tell you Jadyn has the worst luck ever when it comes to getting sick. Two years ago we had to cancel her birthday party due to her having a 24 hour stomach bug. This time she came down with a stomach bug at 12 noon on the day of recital. I spent all day taking care of her and holding out hope that it would pass quickly enough for me to take her, have her perform and then bring her home but it just wasn't meant to be. 

Initially she was really, really upset but honestly as the day wore on, she felt so horrible I don't think she could even think about the fact that she was missing her recital. She was miserable. 

I took it hard too. I knew how much work she had put into learning this routine and how excited she was to perform it. Not usually the "glass half full' kind of gal, I did manage to find the bright side of the situation. 1) Jadyn was better the next day. 2) I took pictures and video the night of dress rehearsal so I have Jadyn performing with her class and on the video, she did her best X-jump ever. 3) She is wearing the same costume for spring recital. I might just put her in a bubble the week prior to make sure nothing like this every happens again.

Almost the whole squad before going on stage:

Jadyn in the spotlight:



Hip hop cheer:



Concentrating hard on her "K" move:



Ending pose:

The WHOLE routine. I usually don't post videos and especially ones this long BUT this situation deserves an exception:

AND in other news, Jadyn will be performing quite a bit this spring as not only will she be in the spring dance recital but she was given a minor role (kind of like the chorus) in the school's spring musical "Westward Whoa".

Time to Ketchup!

If there is every a time of year I get behind in blogging, it is usually this time. I am not sure why. I think it is because while we are busy, it is mostly with routine everyday stuff. So here is what is going on with the Funny Noses.

- Last week I started what I hope to be a long term substitute position as an instructional aide for a special education class at the kids' elementary school. I have been working on getting in with the school district since they started the school year back in August and I kept putting off blogging about it because I was kind of hoping to be able to finish with a happy ending. However, for right now this is going to have to suffice as my ending. I am working for 3 hours in the morning on all school days. I really enjoy it and hope to be in a permanent position soon.

- Jake attended baseball tryouts for the upcoming season. The reason they have the players try out is to hopefully make the teams fair (however this doesn't always work out). Jake is nervous about playing in a new division this year but did well at tryouts.

- We have not been to the BMX track for several weeks now. One weekend it was canceled due to rain and then this last week, we hosted a Super Bowl party and he opted not to try and race right before the big game. We are hoping to get him back into the swing of things next week.

- Jake also got his second character counts award at last Friday's weekly flag assembly for exhibiting responsibility by picking up trash in the lunch room that was not his. We have also been working on his first science project and although he did not enjoy the writing portion, he really loved doing the experiment and poster board. He was very proud.

- Jadyn was elected to be class president by her peers. She was so excited. She also tried out for the school play. I don't know if she will get a part as the roles for the younger students are pretty limited but I was still super proud of her for getting up on stage by herself and singing "Happy Birthday". She wanted to try out last year and was too shy so this is progress.

- As for the dance recital she had coming up, I will reserve details for a separate post but suffice to say, she came down with a stomach bug this last weekend and had to miss the recital. It was heartbreaking for her to have to miss it but chalk it up to very poor timing. Classes resume this week and she will be getting ready for spring recital before we even know it.

AND now I believe I am caught up and at least if I miss another week and half again, you can make a reasonable guess as to why.