Monday, July 8, 2013

Spring Band Concert 2013

Thursday, May 23

Tonight was M&M's end of the year band concert.  She has had a fun year that has been a little frustrating at times.  There were not a lot of 9th graders in her group so the teacher moved more 8th graders up that were not quite at the same level as the 9th graders.  They played some fun songs for this concert though and M&M had a couple of solos with one of the baritone players where you could hear her really well.  She is definitely looking forward to playing with the high school group next year!

M&M is on the far right with her bassoon.

Piano recital 2013

Thursday, May 30

Luke, Blondie and Kitty had their piano recital this evening.  The schedule worked out perfectly because we had no soccer games or other concerts that evening!  Luke played Cristofori's Dream by David Lanz.  It is a very difficult song and I was concerned if he would be able to learn it in time - or if he would even want to.  His piano teacher cut out a couple of pages of it because it was so long and difficult, but Luke decided to surprise her and he learned and memorized the whole thing - cut pages and all - and played it for her at one of his lessons!  I was quite impressed!  He did really well at the recital until he got to one spot where he all of a sudden forgot where he was.  He was able to pick it up again though without looking at any music.  He really wants to quit taking lessons, but I don't want him to!  I think he could be really good if he sticks to it!

This was Kitty's first recital and she was a little nervous but did a good job as well.  She told me that she felt relieved after she was finished!  Blondie also did well and enjoys taking lessons.

M&M did not take lessons this year - partly because her schedule was super crazy in the fall with marching band.  She has continued to practice on her own though and has taught herself the song Waterfall by Jon Schmidt and is trying to learn a number of the hymns from the hymnbook.

Seven Peaks Waterpark

Wednesday, June 29

I took the kids to Seven Peaks Waterpark in Salt Lake City this morning (formerly known as Raging Waters).  It was quite crazy and quite the handful for me trying to keep track of the older kids and keeping an eye on the younger ones.  We had fun but next time I will try and get DH to come or see if there are some friends or family we can go with.  (And I did not get any pictures because it was a little too hectic for me to try and take pictures while I was watching everyone...)

Luke gets braces - again...

Monday, July 1

Luke got full braces on his teeth last Monday.  His mouth was pretty sore for the first couple of days and the wires were poking him in the back of his mouth a little.  He has been using some wax to help with that and then I took him in today during M&M's appointment to get the wires trimmed a little.  He seems to have adjusted quicker than M&M did though.  Now we have 2 kids in braces!!  (I also gave him his summer buzz cut the week before.)

DH's birthday!

Wednesday, June 19th

DH turned 40 this year and wasn't too excited about it...  We just had a small family party at home.  I bought some dinner for the two of us from Olive Garden and then we just got pizza for the kids.  After dinner we went and played miniature golf - and my parents joined us.  (Luke had a swim party for YM that night so he opted to do that instead of the golf.)  It's been a while since we've taken the kids to play and every time I do I remember why I don't like going with young kids...

Afterwards DH opened some presents which the kids had wrapped for me.  Blondie wins the award for the best wrapped gift this time around.  She had wrapped something in about 20 or so plastic bags that she had individually tied inside one another.  It took him quite a while to open them all to get to the gift!  Then we had some ice cream cake that I had made - and it was much creamier than I have made it before.  It was delicious!  Happy Birthday DH!  We love you!

Car wash

Tuesday, June 18

We washed both of the cars today - and waxed DH's car.  We had lots of helpers!

Father's Day 2013

Sunday, June 16

We had my parents over for dinner for Father's Day this year.  MJ and Kay love to help open presents - especially when there is candy in them!


And we had a little mishap with the grill and had to use a fire extinguisher on it...  Always have to add some drama some how!

Kitchen sink upgrades

Saturday, June 15

Our kitchen faucet has been leaking at the joints for a while now and was starting to do some damage to the counter top and under the sink so DH was finally able to take some time out of his schedule to replace the faucet and he decided to do the sink as well so we could have a deeper one.  After a lot of measuring and researching on the internet we decided we would be able to put in a sink that was 2 inches deeper.  It took pretty much all day to get everything out and replaced and running to the stores a couple of times!  It looks really good though!  The faucet has a built-in sprayer that detaches from the base of the faucet and we put in a soap dispenser as well.  Now we can fit in a lot more dirty dishes!  :) Plus it helps with cleaning some of the bigger pots and things and it is much easier now to fill up a pitcher.  There still appears to be a slight leak around the garbage disposal so we think there is not a tight seal and we may need to order a new part for it.


Field Day

Thursday, June 6

M&M's last day of school was Wednesday so she was able to watch the girls for me while I went and helped out with field day at the elementary school.  I was assigned to help out with Blondie's class but I was able to see Luke and Kitty there as well.  Luckily it wasn't a super hot day!

Homegrown strawberries!

Saturday, June 1

Our strawberry patch has really grown since we started planting the strawberry plants a few years ago.  This year we got a ton of strawberries over the course of about a week or two.  We were able to fill up a 6 cup container in 2 days.  We made some strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream and some green salads with strawberries in it - YUM!!  I was nervous that they were going to be really sour like the few we have picked in the past, but they were delicious!  Blondie has especially been a big help with picking them each day.  There have been a few times since these pictures that we have just gotten a couple of strawberries here and there and MJ usually eats them before I even get back into the house.


May 29th:

May 30th:

June 1st: