Kid talk

After the elections in November, M&M's history teacher was giving out extra credit for any of his students that brought in campaign signs.  We thought it was kind of an odd request but he said that the candidates have a week to take their signs down so you are doing them a favor anyways.  Plus, they really don't reuse the signs again.  So we were keeping our eyes out for signs that might be easy to get to and not too big.  I had noticed a couple on my way to the kids' piano lessons and so I took M&M with me so we could make a quick stop on the side of the road and have her go and grab one.  When we pulled over and M&M got out and grabbed the sign and then ran back to the car she commented on the fact that she felt like a criminal going around stealing signs.  After I dropped M&M off at school later that day we were on our way home and Kay piped up from the back seat, "I want to be a criminal like Emily.  I want to steal signs."  She felt like she was missing out on some fun!

Potato harvest

Friday, October 4

We always get a good harvest of potatoes when we plant them.  I like to plant different types of potatoes that I usually don't buy at the store.  These are some red potatoes - that are great for making stews and soups.  We also harvested some Yukon gold potatoes which I didn't get a picture of.  We had some huge potatoes in the bunch!

Cleaning duty

Sunday, September 29

MJ was put to work this morning on cleaning the wall that she decided to decorate with some art...  I thought this was a cute picture of her scrubbing the wall.

Principal's Pride - Kitty & Kay

Thursday, September 26

Kitty and Kay both received the Principal's Pride award today for their school work.  Kay got it for her "C is for Camping" art and Kitty got it for her "Late for School" writing project.

New calling

Sunday, September 22

I was called in today right after BYC meeting to meet with a member of the bishopric.  I thought maybe the whole YW presidency was going to be released since they have been serving about 3 years now.  And even though I am not in the presidency, it may affect my calling as Beehive Advisor.  Well, I was told that they were going to be releasing the YW 2nd counselor and asked if I would be willing to serve in that calling and one of the current MiaMaid advisors would be put in as the Beehive Advisor to take my spot.  (The current 2nd counselor has been serving in YW for over 4 years I believe.)

So now my life has gotten quite a bit busier.  I never realized how much more the YW presidency does that the advisors usually don't have to worry about...

Marching Band Parent's Night

Monday, September 16

Usually before the marching band has their first competition, they hold a parent's night for the parents and families to come and watch the show for the first time.  M&M is one of only two piccolos again this year.

Here are some pictures from that night:

Fun with grandparents

Wednesday, August 28 - Monday, September 2

My parents volunteered to watch the kids for us while DH and I were both in D.C. which was awesome and greatly appreciated - especially with our crazy family schedule!  I saw the kids off to school in the morning and then my parents came over and drove me to the airport.  My parents then stayed at our house for the first two nights and then took the kids to their house on Friday after school and then kept them there until we came home on Monday.  I left some detailed schedules for my parents to try and keep track of.  They even managed to take the kids swimming one day and then to Thanksgiving Point Farm another day!  Here are a few pictures that they sent me from their trip to Thanksgiving Point.  And the kids still keep talking about the fun they had riding the horses!

ICDAR 2013 - Washington D.C.

August 22-28

When we found out that ICDAR 2013 (International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition) was going to be in Washington D.C., I wanted to try and go out there with DH.  My parents kindly volunteered to watch the kids for us and then it was just a matter of trying to figure out when I could go and how the family could manage with both of us gone.  Unfortunately the timing was a little crazy with the kids except for MJ being in school - and Luke and M&M just barely starting.  We finally decided to have DH go out by himself for the conference and then I would join him on the last day of the conference and then we would stay for a few days afterwards.  So DH flew out to D.C. on August 22 and then I joined him on the 28th.  While the conference was going on, DH was mostly busy during the days and tried to go out at night to do a little sightseeing.  Unfortunately most things are closed by that time, but he got some beautiful pictures:

The Capitol at night

World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument - which was under construction to repair damage from an earthquake a few years ago

Lincoln Memorial

National Cathedral

Inside the National Cathedral

Outside the National Cathedral again

DH knows that I love flowers so he took some shots of flowers outside the cathedral for me.

The lobby of the hotel where the conference was held (and where DH stayed)

Sculpture garden

The Smithsonian Castle

The Jefferson Memorial

DH was trying to capture the scale of the columns in the Jefferson Memorial

FDR Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial

World War 2 Memorial again

One of the conference rooms at the hotel.

Not sure what building this stained glass window is from - I will have to ask DH.

MJ talk

One day we were driving somewhere and passed by some construction vehicles that were digging up the road.  Luke said, "Why are they digging holes in the road?"  MJ quickly responded with, "Because they want to check if there are squirrels there."

DH and I were working in the garden one afternoon and MJ was out there with us but was making a mess and getting into things that she shouldn't have been.  After telling her several times to stop DH finally said to her in frustration, "MJ get out of here."  MJ stopped for a second and looked at him and said, "But I thought you liked me!"

Wasp sting

Friday, August 16

The kids were outside playing on our swing set when the girls brought MJ in crying.  After looking around a little I discovered that she had been stung by a wasp.  I put some ice on it and just kept an eye on it for the next few minutes.  Afterwards I went out and looked for the wasp nest that was the culprit which I then sprayed.  I came back inside and said to MJ, "I'm so sorry you got stung!"  To which she replied, "It's okay Mommy," as she tried consoling me!

First Day of School - M&M

Monday, August 26

M&M's first day of high school!  I can't believe she is getting that old!  M&M has to get up even earlier this year for school - hopefully she can get to the bus stop on time every day!  Registration in the spring was a little bit stressful but I think she managed to get into all of the classes that she wanted.  The high school that she goes to does 4 classes a day and alternates classes each day.  So on A-day she has periods 1-4 and they are 1 1/2 hours each.  Then on B-day she has periods 5-8.  She has to share a locker this year but was able to find a friends to sign up with so that was good.  M&M is taking one AP class this year - World History - and then a couple of honors classes.  The one class that she is not too excited about taking is Spanish 3 - but taking it will help her qualify for some grant money for college at the end of her senior year - so she will try and survive that class!

First Day of School - Luke

Thursday, August 22

I really feel like the first day of school dragged on and on this year!!  Luke started on a Thursday for some 7th grade orientation.  They have the 7th graders start a day earlier than the 8th and 9th graders so they can find their way around and go through some orientation.  Then he had Friday off and went back to school again on Monday.  Luke is going to be trying band out for the first time and will be starting on the clarinet.  He is hoping maybe to switch to the saxophone sometime down the road.  Luke is also taking a bunch of Honors classes - reading, language arts, science and math.  I took him to the school a couple of days before it started to find his locker and classes and make sure he can find his way around.  He is much less stressed about it than M&M was when she started 7th grade.  I also think getting up on time for school will be much easier for him that it was for M&M!

Marching Band Camp 2013

August 7-20

M&M is doing marching band again this year and is really excited about it.  Their show is called "Oceanic".  I will try and put some links to their show later on.  Before the school year starts, the band meets everyday (except weekends) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for 2 weeks to learn the show.  They have also been having sectionals all summer long to learn the music.  These pictures were from the last day of band camp.