Finally Finished and Fancy Free!!

Thanks for the “get your dang assignment finished already” vibes. I finally got some momentum and was able to finish everything. It was such a huge assignment with so many components that it ended up being over 40 pages.  I submitted it on Wednesday morning and by Thursday evening I heard back that excellent and exceeded the requirements, so I got an A!  What a load off!  Now I can head up to the ranch and celebrate with a week of relaxing and enjoying. 

The last two weeks have been perfect “summery” weeks. We have done lots of swimming and have spent some good time in the mountains.  The girls have also been enjoying time playing with friends.  Here are a few highlights:

We had a fun neighborhood barbecue and backyard movie one night.  It was with the 6 families in our little corner. We just had a new family move in one house over. They have a son that is a little older than Tennessee. It makes me happy to know there are going to be some kids his age close by.  We enjoyed getting to know them a little, and of course spending time with the neighbors. It’s funny how busy things get sometimes. Suddenly you’ll realize that you haven’t had a good conversation with your neighbor (other than “Hello! How are you?” kind of stuff) in a while.  I’m glad we live in such a great area.

On my birthday we spend the day in the mountains. We had a delicious lunch at Silver Fork and then spent the afternoon wandering around Silver Lake. I even ran into my brother, George, up there!  He works for the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation, but is rarely at the Silver Lake station. He was actually just popping in to check on interns. It was fun to get to see him in his element. I love that we have these beautiful areas right in our back yard.  Utah is great!

I had a great birthday. Eva made me breakfast in bed. She has been planning it for weeks, compiled a menu, and even practiced a couple times. It was fun to see her put it all together.  She is becoming excellent at making eggs. I enjoyed getting spoiled.  Naiya made me an awesome comic strip. I love that she likes to do that as gifts. They always make me smile.  In addition to the fun day out, Jared spoiled me with some kitchen appliances that I’ve been needing to replace. I got a new blender and a nice Kitchen Aid hand mixer. Tennessee gave me the gift of lots of snuggles and following me around saying “Happy to you, Momma” (his version of happy birthday) all day. So sweet!

Thursday I had  chance to have lunch with Julie and Holly. We had a good lunch at Zuppas, but we missed Chelsy who was off adventuring with Todd and Riley in Canada. (So cool for them).  I have been terrible at getting together for sister lunches this past year.  Hopefully my schedule will work out better this year if they continue to do the monthly lunches. It really is nice when it works out to get together.

That Friday, we met up with some friends at the Draper Days festival. It was actually with a friend of mine from Elementary school, Nicholena. She has two sons and the youngest is just a couple months younger than Tennessee. The kids had a blast running around and enjoying the activities.  I think their favorite things all included animals.  Naiya almost convinced me that Princess Lola (our cat) needed a friend. Almost.  Maybe some day, but I’m not quite sold on that idea yet.

On Sunday, we had a birthday dinner with my family. My brother’s birthday is two days before mine, and his wife’s is on the 27^th.  My mom made a delicious dinner and an even more delicious cake. It was also good to get see everyone. I feel like time flies between visits and we always have so much to catch up on when we all get together (minus Martin and Travis, who live in Texas). 

This week  we got together with some of my teacher friends and their kids for a mini reunion.  I always miss teaching until I hear them talking about all the meetings that they have to go to in August.  I am grateful that I get one more month to enjoy my kids before they are back in school.  Since I finished my last class, I will be able to plan some fun August activities… although sometimes just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company is just perfect as well.

I also got to sneak away by myself for dinner with a friend of mine who is in town from Japan. Her husband was offered a 3 year assignment there with his work, so they decided to take the leap and move the whole family (the two of them plus 4 kids) out there. It was amazing to hear about some of their experiences. They have had wonderful opportunities to explore some of Asia as well as some other parts of the world the last couple years. They will be there for one more year and then will find out where life will take them.  What a cool thing for them and for their kids!

The girls had their last bike club activity this week.  They learned how to change a tire and how to adjust the breaks on their bikes.  This has been such a good experience for them. They ventured out to a number of parks within a couple mile radius of our house.  They really developed their bike-riding skills and they had a blast.  Maybe next summer we will have to think of an activity to host/plan for some friends as well.  We’ll see how busy I am finishing my schoolwork.

Naiya is having a fun time with soccer.  She really loves it, and is excited for their first tournament when we get back from the ranch.  There are a lot of new girls on her team, and their coach has been working hard to not only help everyone develop on their own, but also to get them to work well together.  I can’t wait to see all of their hard work in action.

Eva and I have been running with Tennessee (in the stroller) around the park while Naiya is at soccer practice. We usually go a few miles and, in between laps, let Tennessee play on the playground.  We always stop and chat with some of the Pokémon Go players. I have never been a big video gamer, but I think it sounds like a fun way to get people who would normally be inside playing video games outside. (That said, I still kind of think people are on their phones waaaaay too much).

Tomorrow (today) morning we are leaving for the Ranch.  I can’t wait.  We are driving up with Holly and we will spend one night in Mountain Home because the ranch won’t be available for us until Monday. It will be an ideal way to break up the drive for the kids, and we got a hotel with a pool and a hot breakfast (that I don’t have to make).  Then we’ll just have a couple hour drive and we’ll be in paradise.  I am excited for Tennessee to get to be up there this year again.  Last year he was still to young to really get to go out and explore everything. He loves to be outside, and all four of us have already been planning things that we want to share with him up there. 

I will be sure to write about the week when we get back. For now, I’d better finish packing and get some sleep!

XOXO

Lucie et al

Fireworks and Fun!

I am behind again as the holiday threw me off.  I actually had to flip through my day planner (yes an actual old-school day planner) to refresh my brain and sort out the weeks.  The summer fun is all starting to blur together, and I’m sure I will be leaving a bunch out, but here goes nothin’:

This week we had a chance to get together with the Chamberlain side of the family for swimming and pizza. Niece/cousin Maddison was in town for a quick visit, so it provided the perfect opportunity to get together. Because of my work schedule, it was a no-nap day for Tennessee so he fell asleep in the car on the way down to Provo. Of course he woke up when I got him out of the car, but it took him some time to warm up.  He missed out on the swimming, but was feeling much better by the time we got to Nana and Goompa’s house for dinner.  We all had a great time, and the girls didn’t want to leave. (They never do.) We need to do that more often this summer.

This weekend I had Courtney, my friend from Seattle, pop in for a lightning quick visit. She was here just a few months ago, and I new that she was really here to see her brother and nephew, so I was happy to get to pick her up from the airport and get to hang out for one night of her visit.  The girls  always love to compare books and chat about life with “aunt” Courtney.

After Courtney’s stay, we had another house guest. This one was of the four-legged variety.  My brother, George, and his wife, Sarah, drove up to Montana for a couple days, so we got to dog-sit their lab Arnold.  We had a couple minor mishaps (Apparently labs love to eat things like rubber bands and binkies), but all-in-all, I doubled my “step goals” each day and the kids were in heaven. We enjoyed his stay.

We took advantage of the holiday weekend to spend an afternoon at Snowbird. Originally we planned on a quick visit to the mountains, but we ended up getting the unlimited ride passes for Jared and the girls. They spent about 5 hours jumping, climbing, sliding and zooming here and there.  Tennessee had a great time following them around. He misses the cut off to join in by about a year and a half, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

Yesterday we went to the community gathering at Neema and Pa’s neighborhood. The kids decorated their bikes to join the horses and the other kids in the parade.  Tennessee had a blast waving to everyone on the sidelines.  He is such a ham. After the parade there were games for the kids, a bounce slide, more swimming and a barbecue.  It is a fun tradition. The kids properly wore themselves out. We are lucky to have Neema and Pa so close.

Last night the girls climbed up onto the roof with Jared to watch some fireworks and Tennessee and I called it a day (or at least we tried to). Lets just say I am not a huge fan of neighborhood fireworks. Fireworks and babies (and dogs for that matter) just don’t mix.  I would be just fine if fireworks were limited to professional shows, but I am pretty sure I could easily find many people who disagree (many of whom seem to live within a one-block radius of our house).

The girls have been very helpful. They helped get the house spic n’ span mid-week. Unfortunately it doesn’t last too long in the summer with the seemingly revolving door of friends visiting.  I do have to say that I would rather have a house full of kids playing and having fun than have everything in order (most of the time).

Tennessee is working on counting to Tenny (twenty).  He can count perfectly to 12 and then starts repeating 18 over and over so that he can say 18, 19, “Tenny.” After that every number is his apparent favorite “Tenny-Two.”  He is hilarious and loves having captive audience.  I think when school gets back in session he will be sad.  Good thing we have plenty of summer left to enjoy. 

My self-imposed deadline of finishing this class before my birthday is fast approaching.  I have just over one week left, but have yet to really knock out a big chunk. I just do a little here and there.  If you have any spare motivation or focused vibes you could send my way, it would be much appreciated. 😉

Hope you are happily enjoying the beginning of July.

Sending lots of love your way!

Xoxo

Lucie et al

A Whole "Wad" of Fun!

If you were holding your breath thinking that maybe I had forgotten to send an update this week, no such luck.  I am a little late, but here just the same (sorry).

Other than soccer practice, swimming, and playing with friends for the kids  and tutoring plus school work for me, here our the highlights for this week:

Monday was the summer solstice.  I took the kids to the KUER (public radio) Summer Bash. They had music, crafts, games, balloon animals and face painting.  Tennessee requested a steering wheel from the balloon animal man.  It was a first for him, but he did a great job and Tennessee happily “drove” around for the next 15 minutes.  He is hilarious.  We were going to join one of the station tours, but Tennessee was so wound up from the excitement and the delayed nap that we decided to wait until next year.  The girls both had a great time and were thrilled when our raffle ticket was drawn for a prize… until they realized the prize was all adult stuff (a hoodie, a travel mug, and one of those reusable shopping bags that squishes down into another tiny bag). Then I was the one that was thrilled.  (I don’t feel too bad because they had a wonderful time.)

That evening we got ice cream and drove up to the base of Mount Olympus to watch the sunset.  Jared was even able to meet us there on his way home from work and we enjoyed the end of the longest day of 2016 together.  Watching the sunset together on the solstice will have to be our new tradition.  It was a great end to the day.

On Friday we went with Jace and Tayte to the United Way Day of Action. I signed us up to late to help put together the hygiene kits, but they still had lots of volunteer positions available. Because it has been hot, I chose the inside clean up job.  Lucky us, that meant we were scraping wads of gum off of the bottom of high school kid’s desks for 3 hours.  It felt a little more like a punishment than like a service project, but the kids all had great attitudes about it as they came up with gum puns all morning. (We made a “wad” of fun out of a “sticky” situation. Hahaha!)

Friday night Holly and Tatye took Naiya and Eva to the Harry Potter activities at Barnes and Noble.  It sounds like it was less of an event than was advertised, but the girls came home with a bunch of loot. I guess there was an intense game of Harry Potter Jeopardy involved (that Tayte one).  They had a blast.

Saturday we finally had the yard sale that failed a couple weeks ago. The weather was perfect and Holly ended up joining us with the kids to do a joint sale. It wasn’t crazy busy, but we had a good flow of customers and I was able to get rid of a bunch of stuff.  I had just enough motivation after the sale to load up all the stuff that didn’t sell and drop it off at the DI.  It is soooo nice to have it all out of the garage. I definitely am one of those people that feel better with less stuff.

Sunday the kids and Jared met up with my parents for lunch while I got some school work done. I need to rally this last little bit before summer drains the last of my school motivation.  It is truly lacking lately, but I am so close to finishing up this last class….

On the soccer front, Naiya is feeling better and better. We both like the coach, and we are now up to 13 girls on the team so we will have some subs and a little leeway when girls are sick or out of town. I got a promotion from my volunteer position as “team mom” to a volunteer position as “team manager”…. I’m not sure how that happened, but it will look good on my resume, right? 😉

I did get an invitation to join the Kappa Delta Pi (which sounds like a sorority but is actually a national honors society for educators).  There are some perks that come with it, but mostly when I graduate, I will get to have a couple extra tassels with my gown.  Fancy stuff.

I think that pretty much sums it up. I can’t believe June is almost over. There is so much left to do our summer bucket list.  We’ll keep you posted!

xoxo
Lucie et al

Soccer Shake- Up and Father's Day 2016

The kids and I are enjoying summer.  The weather has been perfect with a few summer storms mixed in. I love it!  I wish it wasn’t Jared’s busiest season so that he could come and enjoy it more with us.  Here is the recap for this week:  

Tuesday the kids went to Neema & Pa’s house in the afternoon so that I could tutor and do my mentor meeting.  I have been lagging on school a little (LOT), but have already set a goal to be better about it this week so that I can work toward being caught up by next Monday… I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out. They had a fantastic time eating my mom’s delicious cooking and playing loads of hide-and-go seek. It’s Tennessee’s new favorite.  He gets SOOOO excited when he finds the girls’ hiding places.  

Wednesday was our busy day. A couple of the other moms and I did conditioning training with Naiya’s soccer team. Her coach had canceled practices for the week because he hurt his back (or maybe for other reasons… more on that later), and we figured that, it would be good for the girls to stay active and get to know each other a little bit (1/2 the team is new).  Since the three of us are don’t have much skill in the soccer area, we opted to have the girls run, jump rope, do some core work and play a soccer game at the end. It worked out pretty well and Eva was very helpful with Tennessee as he did his best to do everything the big kids were doing.

After that, we went home, had lunch, and got ready to go swimming with some friends.  The pool at their condo was nearly empty so it was perfect for Tennessee to get more comfortable. He even played a little with the baby. After that we delivered a birthday cupcake to Pa, (It was his actual birthday.) and got home just in time for bike club.  The girls are loving it and have become so much more confident in their biking abilities. I just love the kids in our neighborhood and how they organize these fun activities for each other.  So great! 

Thursday was our mellow day. The girls were coming back and forth between a few houses with some friends.  Our back neighbors had a big snow cone sale. They usually put up a stand a few days a week for about a month each summer. This was their opening day, so they had free snow cones for the first hour. It was a big hit all through the neighborhood.   

Friday started out kind of crappy. I woke up to an e-mail from Naiya’s coach stating that he had decided to have his daughter play up on the 2003 team so he was leaving the team and the team was now transitioning to a 2005 team.  I am the team mom, so he was pretty much notifying me so that I could figure out where to go from there and notify the rest of the team. Interestingly enough, it turns out that the 2003 team already made the announcement of the change on Wednesday, and one of the girls on our team has a sister on that team, so word was already out and I was left at practice trying field questions that I just couldn’t answer. I think the worst part is that the coach had called us about a month and a half ago personally requesting that Naiya to commit to staying with the team and play up a year. He talked about how valuable she was to the team as a player and how he loved coaching her. He had mentioned that he wanted to coach her all the way to high school. Needless to say, in light of the sudden change, she is heart broken and confused. I feel frustrated because Naiya had a couple other opportunities to try out for other teams, but she liked her coach and was happy for the opportunity to stay with him.  Of course all of the try outs are long over and teams are in the process of getting registered with the youth soccer association, so there are no other options than to stay with the team. (Naiya initially just wanted to quit, but I am glad she had a change of heart.)  I guess it is a real learning experience for all of us.  Luckily the assistant coach (who also found out on Friday morning) had offered to step up and be the head coach and we have another dad who is willing to assist.  Now that we are a few days removed from the initial shock, I am feeling better about where it is going… but I’m still pretty irked at the original coach.  

After practice, the girls and I (mostly Naiya) decided to bake zucchini muffins. Then the kids got to spend the afternoon at my friend Betsy’s house while I tutored again. There they made delicious chocolate chip M&M cookies. Nothing like baking and good friends to lift your spirits.  By the end of the day, we were all feeling quite a bit better about things. 

Saturday we got to spend the afternoon at Goompa and Nana’s with the Hunts, the Jefferies and the Springers celebrating all the wonderful fathers on the Chamberlain side. We missed the Texas Chamberlains but I hope Clayton knows we were thinking about him and his awesome family as well.  We have never been to the pool they have out there before.  It was perfect  The gradual incline was fun for Tennessee (after he  warmed up to the idea of swimming) and Jared kept talking about how he has never been in a pool with such a perfect temperature. After swimming we had a delicious BBQ lunch and got to spend some time just hanging out and chatting. It is always nice to catch up with everyone.  Tennessee is learning peoples names and loves to run up to them calling out their name. Carly is one of his favorites (as of yesterday).  He also seems to think “Goompa and Nana” is a collective name for the two of them. He always says it together. It makes me smile.  The girls had a great time playing with cousins (as usual). I can’t believe how fast everyone is growing. Riley was my flower girl and now she is graduated.  It blows my mind.

Today was a fun day celebrating Jared.  He was kind enough to forgo sleeping in to go out and help my dad pick up some granite slabs that his work didn’t need for a project. They were going to discard them, but my dad wants to put them to good use.  He is going to make some tables and benches out of them to go in the yard. He has enough to make one for himself, one for my brother and one for us. I think it will be pretty cool once it is finished.  It will make an awesome little nook in the yard as it starts coming together. Jared and my dad had quite the adventure when they got flat tire on the trailer... but being the clever men they are, they balanced the granite carefully and drove home with 3 out of the 4 tires.  Grygars and Chamberlains make a good team.

Other than that, we let Jared do whatever he wanted to do today. I brought lunch from Subway (per his request) and we cuddled up to a family movie (Holes) while Tennessee napped. My dad  popped back in to brings over some chocolate-covered fruit as a perfect afternoon snack.  YUM! Then we let Jared watch the NBA finals (that was his one big request for the day). He wanted sushi for dinner and I was happy to oblige as it is a favorite for all of us and I had a gift card to Tsunami waiting for just such an occasion. I was even able to time it perfectly that dinner worked out to be right at half time. 😊 

We had a really lovely day and the girls were very helpful making sure everything was perfect for their dad.  We are lucky to have Jared’s perfect balance of hard work and fun in our lives. He is a wonderful father.  In fact, the kids and I are pretty lucky to have 3 great examples of fatherhood in our lives.  We love Jared, Pa and Goompa! 

This coming week is looking to be a fun one.  We can’t wait to ring in the first official day of summer tomorrow! Wahoo!!

xoxo

Lucie et al

Looking on the Bright Side (Mostly)

I wanted to write last night, but had a hard time focusing on things with the tragedy in Orlando. I won’t go into my political thoughts here. I will just say that my heart is heavy. I hope that the survivors and relatives of the victims are able to find peace and that we will be able to come together as a country to forge a path toward fixing this before my kids get desensitized to the fact that mass shootings are NOT normal.

I’m not sure how to segue from that to my update, so forgive the sudden shift. Here we go:

Bear (the Bernese mountain dog) was our house guest all week.  We planned on having him until the 15^th, but his owners came home early because their little boy had been sick all week. The kids are going to miss him. He is a good dog. We got out and did a lot of walking, but it was nice to get to sweep up the dog hair and get the house back in order today.

The girls did a soccer camp at Alta High this week. It was just 2 hours each night, but they had a wonderful time. The Alta coach, Lee Mitchell is being honored with the and ESPY as the high school coach of the year. He is a good man. The stations were run by his high school players, but Coach Mitchell was there every day learning the kids names, giving them tips, and doing whatever needed to be done. He even remembered that Eva had a shirt that read “Feel the Beat” on the first day, and when she showed up the next day he smiled and asked “Are you still feeling the beat?” I am happy the girls had a good experience. They definitely want to do it again next year.

Tuesday we met up with some friends and took Bear on a hike in Millcreek.  It was a nice and toasty day, but the first and last quarter of the hike were nice and shaded.  We (Bear) discovered a mostly eaten deer leg. They were fascinated. I was grossed out. Despite the heat and a couple tumbles, the kids had a good time and Bear was in heaven.

Wednesday we spent most of the day at a pool with Naiya’s soccer team for an end-of-the-season party.  Most of the girls are moving on with the team, but a few have either quit soccer or changed teams, so it was a chance for one last hurrah as a group.  The girls loved it, but Tennessee (for whatever reason) has not been feeling the swimming vibe yet this year.  He happily watches the other kids and throws things in to watch them sink (and then to watch the kids retrieve it). He just does not want to get in. He loved it so much last year, so I was a little surprised. Looks like I am going to have to look into trying the mom and me swim class again.

Thursday Naiya had soccer practice in the morning so we took Bear to the park to play while she practiced. It was a little cooler (than the 90 + degree weather we have been having) so it was perfect to have him out.  Tennessee loves trying to walk him and to give him commands.  It is darling.

The kids also spent some time at Neema’s pool in the afternoon while I was tutoring (well, not Tennessee).

Friday was more mellow, Naiya had another practice, we walked Bear a bunch, and the girls spent time making cards for Pa’s  birthday/Father’s Day. I did a lot of cleaning, sorting, and organizing to prepare for our garage sale. Last winter Jared helped 3 different families (that were his landscaping clients) move. Each family gave him several things to go through and either sell or donate, and our garage has had these piles of things all spring.  Jared wanted to go through it all to see what is sellable and what just isn’t. Unfortunately, the landscaping season started and he just hasn’t gotten to it.  I decided that for part of his Father’s Day gift, I would go through it all and do a garage sale. 

Saturday we got up early and set everything up. Unfortunately not long after that the wind started blowing like crazy brining a storm in (the storm that the forecast said would arrive in the afternoon). Things kept getting knocked down, so we took everything down again before the sale even had a chance to start. Bummer.  We will try again in a couple of weeks. It won’t be done in time for Father’s Day, but it’s the thought, right?! The good news is that I will have company because my sister-in-law, Holly, said she will join in and get some of their stuff sold a the yard sale too. That will make It more fun for everyone.

Saturday night we wanted to go and see my niece, Carly’s play.  Tennessee was being a super duper cranky pants and the play would start just before his bed time, so I opted to stay home with him and let Jared take the girls to the play. Unfortunately he went to the wrong school and by the time he figured out where to go, they were late and the auditorium was full. Everyone was sad to miss it, but cute Eva said “Well at least now you aren’t the only one to have to miss it, Mom.”  Ha ha! I guess that’s an optimistic way to look at it.  Sounds like it was wonderful, and we hope Carly had a great time doing it.

Yesterday we met with my family to celebrate Pa's birthday and for an early Father’s Day celebration as well.  My dad asked each of us to pick a book that we love to give him as a gift. I love that idea. It was fun to pick a book that I enjoyed and that I thought he would too, and also it made gift hunting much, much easier.  (Parents are always hard to shop for!)  I picked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It has been years since I read it, but I thought about it just a couple days before my dad made the book request so it seemed right.  The girls thought (another one of my favorites) The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupery would be a good pick. I can’t wait to hear his thoughts after he reads them… although with 6 new books to read, it might be a while before he gets to ours.

Naiya’s soccer tournament that was schedule for this week was cancelled… well not totally cancelled, just her team decided not to do it after all. Her coach has a back injury and was sentenced (by doctors) to bed rest for now. He still was considering trying to do it, but everyone was in consensus that his health was more important than the tournament. I love watching Naiya play, and I would have been happy to be to all the games, but this does make next weekend a little less complicated.  I am sorry that Naiya is disappointed, however, I do know there will be many more opportunities to play coming up!

Today was another stormy day. The power was out on and off through the day and night. It made for a perfect day filled with cleaning and regrouping.  I love spring storms, they wash away all of the guck and leave everything feeling better. Just what I needed today.

xoxo

Lucie

School's Out for the Summer (for almost all of us)!!

Hello All!

I could not be more thrilled to mark the beginning of summer break. It is always nice to slow down and have more time to enjoy the kids.

The last week of school was a short but very busy one.  Wednesday was Field Day at the school. This year the PTA dads were in charge of organizing. Moms still came to help, but it was so nice to not be “in charge” of anything but rather to just show up and lend a hand. The dads did an amazing job incorporating new fun activities and one even hauled out a huge sound system and played 80’s music the whole time. It was awesome. The kids loved it.

Thursday Tennessee and I walked with Eva’s class to a park a couple miles from the school. Once there the kids played a softball game and had lunch.  Then we walked back. It was hot, but very fun. Tennessee loved every minute and enjoyed being the center of attention.  Eva was a trouper because, after walking 4 miles, playing softball and practicing their grade-level dance, she went to soccer try outs for 2 hours.  Quite the feat since temperatures are hitting the 90’s already.

Naiya also had try outs, but for her it was more of a practice since her coach already invited her to come play up a year on the 04 team for next season. Both girls played hard in the heat and collapsed into bed (after a quick cool shower) when we got home.

Friday was the last day of school.  The tradition at Quail Hollow is that in the morning the kids meet their teacher for the next year and then they have a dance festival where each grade performs a dance.  Naiya’s class got to watch a movie while he other kids met their teachers since they will be moving on to middle school.  Eva was a little disappointed because her teacher was probably her last choice if she got to choose, but honestly I don’t think there are any bad teachers in the 5^th grade and I am certain she will have a good year even if “all” of her friends got into one of the other classes together.  I think she will survive.

After school on Friday we met up with a friend of mine to have a late lunch and celebrate her birthday. Tennessee was pretty much over all of the activities for the week. I tried to get him to take am early nap, with no luck so by the time we got to lunch, the last things he wanted to do were to sit still, eat, or pretty much cooperate in any way. So yeah, not the best lunch, but you win some, you loose some.

Saturday was jam packed with fun stuff again. Eva had he last game of the season that morning. After that her team met at a local splash pad for a lunch to celebrate their season. Naiya had been getting too much sun and I didn’t want to over-book Tennessee again, so they stayed home with Jared and I got to have some Eva-mom time. It was fun!

After the party, the girls both had their second day of soccer try-outs. It was crazy hot and the try outs were in the middle of the afternoon for 2 hours.  I sat cowering in the shade feeling bad for them, but they were amazingly chipper and energetic despite the heat.

When we got home from all of our activities, my friend dropped off her Bernese Mountain dog, Bear. This is the same family that owned Diesel. A few months after he died last summer they got Bear. He will be one at the end of the month so he is still a bit of a puppy, but he is a great dog and all 3 kids love him. I love that we get to have a dog for a couple week, and Jared loves that we get to send him home after a couple weeks. 😊 Today we started the day off with a nice family (+ Bear) walk nice and early before it got too hot.  I love that having him here encourages us to get out like that early in the morning when the neighborhood is quite and calm.

This afternoon we got word that Eva made the team, but that they would like her to play up to an 05 team instead of the  06.  I told you that she has been a little wishy-washy, and when I saw her face as I read her the e-mail I knew that this team would not be for her. They are planning on playing 3 tournaments this summer and playing through the winter as well.  Eva enjoys soccer but is not that committed and was really hoping to slow down over the summer. She really didn’t want to be the one to make the decision. I helped her list some pros and cons of accepting the spot on the team and then had her read it over and think about it reminding her that she could still play on a rec league or the AYSO league that is not comp and just plays fall and spring.  After some thought, she decided to go with the AYSO regular league. We let them know right away so that they can fill her spot still.

I won’t lie and say that it is not a little bit of a relief to me.  I love watching my girls play soccer, but if she had joined the comp team, we would have pretty much lived soccer all summer between the two girls and 6 tournaments. Plus I just don’t think soccer is a LOVE for Eva the way it is for Naiya.  She made a good choice, and I am proud of her for putting careful thought into her decision and making it for herself.

I am about a quarter of the way through my last class of the term with hopes of being finished by the end of June. That will get me just past the ½ way mark in the program and allow me some time to study for the Praxis that I will need to take in August.  Fingers crossed that I will stay motivated and on track despite the draw of fun times in the sun.

Jared is working hard not to be too bummed out about all the fun things he misses out on in the summer. I feel bad that his busiest season is when the kids and I have time to go on adventures and kick back a little more.  It doesn’t help that he usually works Saturdays and ends up pretty spent when he is home.  The girls and I have a secret project in mind to quietly work on some of the yard projects that Jared has planned to do so that we can free up some of his time and maybe fit in a camping trip or two this summer.  (shhhh!)

Other than that, we are ready to jump into summer in full swing this week. I sat down with each girl this evening and wrote some summer goals.  They have big plans. It should be fun!

Hope you all are doing fantastic and are finding ways to beat the heat. We need to plan some fun cousin get-togethers (for the Utah families) and take full advantage of the season.

 XOXO

Lucie et al.

 

The Calm-ish After the Storm

Family-

First things first. I am sure you are all dying to know if Eva got sick…. and I’m thrilled to say that she stayed healthy!  Wahoo!

We had a very productive week putting things back in order at our house. The laundry is (almost) completely caught up. Rooms have been double disinfected and Tennessee and I are sleeping back in regular beds (instead of on the tile floor).  Thank goodness.

This week I was able to visit Naiya’s class to teach Junior Achievement. Because her teacher was limited on available time, we squeezed all 6 lessons into two  1 ½ hour visits. The first visit was a little rough. The lessons delve into such interesting topics as economy, resources, and budgeting. The kids were extra antsy and pretty distracted. I guess I should have been tipped off when Naiya handed me a note earlier that morning that said "Tips for teaching my class: Good luck." Hahaha! 

After some readjusting (and including some external motivators- i.e. creamsicles), the second day was much, much better. And it is a good thing, too, because I ended up having to bring Tennessee along for the second session when babysitting fell through.  He was a very good helper and snuck in a little extra info about his books, trains and crackers. (I’m pretty sure the kids would have preferred to just listen to what Tennessee had to say for he duration of the lesson.) Naiya was happy that I came in, and I am just happy to have another thing marked off of the “to do” list.

Tuesday Naiya’s class went on a field trip. They went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Naiya was not impressed and had more to say about how unsafe it is that there are no seatbelts on the bus than about the museum. I think she was mixed up and expecting a visit to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  Oh well!  We’ll have plenty of time for that this summer.

Tuesday night we got to visit with my parents. They just got back from a trip to Czech and brought back all sorts fun things and treats for us. I sure wish we could afford to visit there every year. It was such a great experience last year. Hopefully we can squeeze in at least one more visit while my Grandma is still feeling well.  I know it would bring her joy to see the great-grandkids again, and I sure would love to have a little more time with her. It is hard to have family so far away.

Thursday Eva’s class did a presentation of a reader’s theater.  They made their own costumes and even had sound effects.  Eva played the sky. It was darling. 

Right after the reader’s theater, her class had their University of Learning graduation.  Because Eva was one of 4 students that earned all 5 degrees (Technical, Associates, Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate), she was asked to give a talk. She was very nervous, but did an amazing job. Good eye contact, nice presentation and she even squeezed in a little joke.  It’s fun to see how she’s grown this last year. Her teacher was fabulous.  I dare say she is the best teacher either of the girls have had to date. We will miss her.

Also on Thursday, Naiya’s class had an End of School Year Party.  Since 6^th graders are in the middle school at Canyon’s District, the 5^th graders get to have a huge party to celebrate the end of their time at Quail Hollow.  The party was a big hit. They hired a DJ, had a snow cone truck come, and had yearbooks for the kids to sign.  It was fun to help plan and put together for the kids.  The best part was listening to them talk about how “epic” it was after school.  I’m so glad they loved it.

The kids had a long weekend with Friday and Monday off this weekend.  I had some tutoring to get done on Friday so the kids spent some time with Neema and Pa (my parents). That was really the highlight of their day (and honestly the only thing I can remember about it!)

Saturday we went up to Park City for a quick get-away.  We stayed at the Marriot so that the kids could go swimming to their hearts content despite the funky weather.  After swimming none other than a Harry Potter marathon was playing on the TV. The girls didn’t watch the whole marathon but were happy to get to watch all of the 4^th movie (although they have seen it before). Tennessee just loved running down the looooong hall and up and down the stairs.  He wore himself out and slept well.

Today I spent most of the day catching up on school work.  I completed two projects from start to finish within the last 24 hours. Hopefully there will be minimal, if any, adjustments to make so that I can get my final score for the “Issues in Instructional Design” class. (It is absolutely as fun as it sounds.)  Jared took the kids to the park and to visit Grandma Marge’s grave.  The girls had a friend over for a couple of hours while Jared worked out in the yard and Tennessee napped. We ended the weekend making s’mores at a neighbor’s fire pit. The perfect ending to a nice weekend.

We have to buckle down for one last short week of school (although between field day, a field trip and a dance off, I’m not sure how much schooling will actually occur). Soccer try-outs are this week. Naiya is staying with the XFC team and is excited.  Eva is still on the fence and has one final day to decide which team she will try out for (if any).  She has been invited to try out by a couple teams and  really wants to play, but she also wants the summer off… decisions, decisions.

Oh I almost forgot… we are back down to 2 fish.  One seemed a little sluggish from the get go and died during the week of the eruptions.  The second little one died this week despite showing no signs of feeling bad.  The girls were sad, but we had a little funeral at sea. The two original fish seem to enjoy having the larger tank all to themselves, so I vetoed Jared’s idea to get more new fish.

Okay… I think that wraps it up for the week.  I am counting down the days to summer vacation.  I love getting the kids (sort of) all to myself!

Hope your school years, spring projects and May in general is ending well!

XOXO

Lucie et al