Birthday Pictures (Kendall)

Here are the few early birthday pictures I have of Kendall. He'll be home today and I'm soooo excited!! I haven't seen him for 12 days now and really miss him a lot. I hope he had fun (it sure sounds like he did)!!

Happy Birthday Kendall!

Kendall had his 11th birthday yesterday. It was kind of bittersweet for me, since we didn't get to spend it with him. Just a quick note---the pictures from Kendall's "birthday" are on the camera and Jon let a neighbor take it to Webelos camp so I'll get those on here soon--so check back!

About 2 weeks ago, his scout group was going on a 10 mile bike ride and camp out and his bike was pretty much trashed. He really wanted a new bike for his birthday, so we surprised him with it! I bought it while he was a school and we put it in the shed with a big bow on it. Jon sent him out after dinner to get a tool in the shed and he totally missed it. So we sent him back out and he missed seeing it again. He finally saw it and was sooo excited!!!Last Monday (the 6th), we celebrated his birthday a week early with his favorite dinner (steak, chicken, shrimp, and veggie kabobs) and cake and ice cream. I attempted to make a pirate ship cake, but, try to the comments on the recipe, it was VERY hard to get it to stay together, so it looked like a shipwreck, but tasted good.

The reason why we celebrated early (and why it's bittersweet for me) is that last Tuesday, I left for Girls Camp (we got home on Friday and had a fantastic time, by the way) and then Jon took the kids to his parents on Wednesday for his parents' annual cousin camp. On Friday, he left Kendall with my family to go on a camping trip and the rest of them came home. Lucky Kendall got to spend his birthday in Jackson Hole, WY!! We sent up a few gifts for him and let them celebrate with him. I can't believe he's getting so old! Happy Birthday Kendall!!!

Silver Lake and the 4th of July

Jon had the 3rd off since the 4th of July fell on a weekend. We decided to take the kids up in the mountains to do a hike around Silver Lake. It was really pretty, perfect temperatures, and really crowded! It was so nice to get away for the day. We had a fun time and then on Saturday, the 4th, we did some work around the house, had a bbq, lit some fireworks in the driveway and watched the city fireworks from the school in the backyard at dark. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Happy Birthday Jon!

I'm 11 days late on posting this. :) Jon had his 35th birthday on July 2. He had a very crazy, stressful time at work and wasn't really in the mood to party, but party we did. We had pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream and opened a few presents. The kids were wild--they were sooooooo anxious to open the gifts that I don't think Jon opened one of them. He mainly got books and clothes and some money. I think all in all, it was a good ending to a crazy day.

This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land...

In the 5th grade, each kid is given a state to do a report on. Kendall's grade this year also had to make a state "float" out of a shoe box. They decorated the boxes to show things that the state is known for--famous landmarks, cities, etc. and then displayed them by regions for the parents and school to walk through and look at (and ask questions). Kendall had New Hampshire and did a great job with both the report and the state.

Jarren's Kindergarten Program

Jarren's class put on an end-of-the-year program for all the parents this week. Each child had a small speaking part and then they sang a lot of songs that they had learned this year. Jarren was being really silly---he had his right arm hooked into his shirt and wasn't singing very much. I asked what was up with the arm afterward and he said that he was pretending it was broken and he had it in a "sling." Then he asked how he could get a real broken arm---just like he wants real braces for his teeth and real glasses. Not the best picture, but his "broken" arm really shows. Silly boy!! It was a cute program nonetheless.Jarren and his favorite school friend.

Deep Fat Fried

Now I know what it feels like to be a french fry---I feel like I've been deep fat fried and it's nobody's fault but my own. I had a super busy day yesterday and spent 3 hours out in the hot 90+ degree sun helping with Kendall's end-of-the-year field day party and got fried. Jenna keeps asking why my skin isn't white anymore. :) I was just so busy running from one thing to the next that I didn't even think about sunscreen until I was stuck running a game with a bunch of 5th graders. Ah...how I wish I just tanned, but with me, it's either fry or stay lily white.