Cinco de Mayo

We always look forward to the Cinco de Mayo party at Joe and Alana's!

Big fire.
Great food.
Pinata.
Potato Gun.
Stories and laughing.
Mayweather/Pacquiao fight.
Lots of fun.

Cannon shooting the potato gun...with his baseball helmet on!  (We just bought the helmet before we came to the party so Cannon was wearing it!)  

Colson didn't like the noise the potato gun made.  (It really wasn't that loud!)

Doing a bit of drawing and coloring throughout the night.  

Feeding the chickens.  

Cannon loved taking care of Bob and Jessica's dog.  Cannon took her for a walk, fed her and sat with her.  He was very responsible!

Hitting the pinata!  Lots of candy was stuffed inside!  This was so fun for the boys!

Enjoying every moment.

April Photos

April has come and gone!  It was a busy month with a lot going on.  Chris was gone the entire month, except for weekends.  We enjoyed  spring break in Arizona.  The sun has started to come out more, getting everyone outside.  We are on the count-down towards the end of the year.

Here are a few photos from April:

A morning picture of the boys!  Happy, even though its early!

 Chris' view from his hotel room in Pasco.

Leaving San Diego.  It was a good two days.

I loved seeing all of the mountains out on my flight home!

Colson in Sunday school.  He loves it and is always happy and smiling.  (He's in the back with the black sweatshirt, holding a paper.)

Chris loaded up again on a Sunday night, ready to head to Pasco for the week.

Colson riding his bike (with no training wheels!) and showing off his new helmet!

Enjoying every moment.

Vashon Island

We took a spur of the moment trip to Vashon Island last Sunday.  We enjoyed every part of it...from waiting for the ferry at Point Defiance and watching the boats, to riding on the ferry, to driving around the island, to walking on the beach, to enjoying some yummy ice cream.

The weather was perfect.  Partly cloudy but warm enough to only need a sweatshirt.

Our favorite part was playing on the beach.  We drove out to the lighthouse, the one we always see when boating by Vashon, and that beach is full of some great sand, some rocks and lots and lots of wood.

It was a great day!  And it tired us all out...

Enjoying every moment.

San Diego

I can't complain about being gone from my classroom for two days when I got to go to San Diego for a conference.  A team of five went down for a Common Core ELA conference.  It was a fast trip:  We headed down Monday night after work and then came home Wednesday night after two full days of conference and planning.  We were all tired.  (But it was worth it!)

The conference was very good and we learned a ton.  I have pages and pages of notes.  All grade levels were represented and we came up with a number of action plans for our district as we look at Professional Development for the next couple of years.  We are excited to share what we know and improve the knowledge at each grade level.

We enjoyed two fabulous lunches and a great dinner while we were there and spent a lot of time walking around where we could.  The conference was in downtown San Diego and we loved walking the waterfront, seeing the boats and military ships.  The meals we had were so wonderful.  And of course, we loved each other's company.
 

I had a good time catching up on some reading for enjoyment on the plane, being in a new place (even if it was quick) and engaging in some great conversation about new learning.

Blurry.....but this is the White River crew with our presenter!

Enjoying every moment! 

Arenacross

Saturday night we were lucky enough to get two free tickets and four pit passes to the Arenacross at the Tacoma Dome.  (Thank you Sebastian!)  So we purchased two more tickets and had a great family night!

The pit passes allowed us in to walk the track, which was very cool.  The riders were all out signing autographs so the boys got a few of those.  The best part was running the track and heading up the big jumps and then running down the other side.  We did a few laps and both boys were sweaty and tired!

They got to sit in the bulldozer and that was a big hit, too.

We all had a snack of kettle corn (my favorite!) and shared a pretzel.  The best part was the Gatorade dad bought.

Running the track.
Gatorade.

It really is all about the little things.

The racing was good and Colson liked the crashes!  We all had a good time watching and rooting on whoever we wanted.  Colson fell asleep before the last couple of main events.  It was definitely passed his bedtime!  But do you think he slept in the next day?  Not too much.  Up about 6:30 am!

We all enjoyed the evening and had a lot of fun!

Enjoying every moment.

My (School) Kiddos

When you spend 6 1/2 hours a day with a group of students, they become 'your kids' very quickly.  At this time of year, we are like family and they are like brother and sister.  They are each unique, quirky, silly and annoying...all rolled into one.  I am the same.  That is why we get along so well!

This week was very busy at school.  We had three days of SBAC (state) testing and everyone is tired! They all worked hard and did a good job.  I am proud of them!  I have a big art project planned for tomorrow morning.  They deserve it!

The excitement for the week was when Ava stopped by for a surprise visit!  What a treat for us and it was just what the class needed.  We talked and shared with Ava about all of the "news" that's been going on in each other's lives....Christian just became a big brother again. Jackson went on a surprise trip to Disneyland. JJ crashed and banged up his knee.  Ava shared about looking at puppies and reading books.  I love that they talk and share and nothing comes up about chemo or cancer or hospitals!

The kids working hard on thier SBAC tests.   This was just the ELA (English Language Arts) tests which encompasses reading, writing and listening.  Math is coming next month.

We took a lot of breaks during testing...they just needed and wanted to get up and moving.  We played thumb wars, arm wrestled, played tag outside, played silly games in the room and ate a lot of snacks.  You have to make three full days of testing bearable.  I also handed out smarties, gum, tictacs and mints while testing.

Enjoying every moment!

Arizona Pictures

Here are some more pictures from our week here in Arizona.

So good for the soul to just relax and be together.

Walking down the arroyo.  We did this (or rode bikes) quite a few times!

Hello walking feet!  

Pool.  Sun.  Lounge Chair.  Book.  What more could a girl ask for?!

Ice cream!  We all enjoyed a yummy cone!

A motorcycle ride to wash the bike.  The Arizona weather is amazing!

An impromptu picture of Colson and I while on a walk one morning. 

The boys enjoyed some fun while at Easter brunch.  

Cannon relaxing a bit.

We took the boys to miniature golf one day.  It was much harder than they thought and they each had more than one melt down!

Hanging out in the hot tub one evening.

The boys and grandma checking out things on her phone!

Chris and I stopped at a cool restaurant on our way back from Sedona.  It was in Superstition, just outside of Apache Junction.  The walls were entirely covered in $1 bills! 

Chris took mom for a ride...her first time!  It took a bit of coaxing, but she's glad she went!

We've got a good game a cards going on here!

Colson checking out the saguaro cactus!

Enjoying every moment.