Thursday night

Just a Thursday night at karate.  I thought we would go to the open mat class and then, maybe, Ewan would get to promote to his next belt.  We have been working towards promotions for what seems like forever.  We get there, we just go slower because of other commitments like sports. 

Surprise!  Kella and Kinley got in on the promotions, too.  Pretty cute watching my 5 year old try to do basic series and run a kata.  And, they all did great.  It was tough-Ewan's group had to run the same kata at least 5 times until the Sensei was satisfied with how the kata looked.  Kella and Kinley stayed strong through the 2 hours that included class and promotion.  They worked on kata, basic series a little sparring and self-defense.  The payoff-promotion.

 

The promotion class, before.

Ewan promoted to green belt!  

Kella promoted to full yellow belt!

Kinley promoted to yellow-striped belt!

The promotion class, after.

Our newly promoted.  Look at how excited they are.

our first few weeks of June

We hit the ground running in June.  The first week of June had soccer camp for Kella and Cale, basketball workouts for Marcus and Cale and band camp for our newest band member, Ewan.  Ewan chose to play the tenor saxophone (to our surprise, as we thought he would be a drummer).  He was excited to go the band camp-which was really a 40 min daily class with other saxophone players.  Can't wait to see how he does in the fall.

We are acquiring quite the instrument collection.

We tried to do things to keep busy-one day we painted a bunch of little rocks.

The girls had their dance rehearsal and recital. I got to be the backstage mom for Kella's class.  

A backstage rehearsal pic of Kinley's class.  She is right there on the end.

Also, because, why not, Kinley signed up for karate.  She was excited to join, but only willing to go out when she had her gi.  A girl has to have the right outfit for the occasion.

And, dance recital.  Ballet and tap for both girls.  You can see Kinley in her pretty pink dress.

Kella, right there, in her Elsa dress.

Dance friends.

Kella's tap dance.  She is the third one back.  

Those first 2 weeks of June went fast.  The last 2 weeks are our family vacation.  We are headed out west to the Dakotas and points along the way.  Should be fun and a chance to see more of the United States.

end of school year time pics

Chillin in our hotel room, waiting for everyone to get ready to eat breakfast and get back on the road.  I have time to actually post.  Here are some of our activities from May.

Dance wrapped up for the year, and, with it, Kinley and my weekly lunches.  We enjoyed eating at our 2 favorite restaurants: Jim Dandys and Applebees.  We pretty much had the menus memorized at each restaurant.

Kinley, helping me with a Mother's Day project for church: a photo booth.

Ewan, dressed up for wax museum day.  His teacher picked the category "outlaws, gangsters and pirates".  Ewan picked Baby Face Nelson as his character.

Kinley had her very last day of preschool.  On to kindergarten!

Academic awards ceremony for Cale.  

I had the privilege to help with Kella's first grade field day.  It felt like forever outside with a group of 7 kids.  In the hot sun.  

Had some great mornings with coffee, snuggling with Jasper, while Kinley watched some television.  We wake up slow in the mornings.

And, last day of school for my middle and high schoolers....

...and my elementary and primary kids.

And, now we are in the midst of our big summer vacation, which I have titled "Expedition 2018".  June will be almost done by the time we get back and we have July to make the most of, too.

We did the Color Run!

Last Saturday, the boys and I participated in a color run as a fundraiser for the band program at our schools.  Basically, this is a run (5K) where at a few different points along the route, you get sprayed with colored water.  Also, at the end, you get to douse yourself with colored chalk.  What a great way to start your day (or end it, since I had worked the night before).  The only true runners in our group were Marcus and Cale.  Marcus actually came in first and Cale came in 4th.  Their times are a mystery since no one was keeping track.  I don't think Marcus even got to run through a finish line ribbon or anything.  Just the satisfaction of a job well done will be his reward.  Ewan finished in the middle and Liam and I came in a respectable not last.  Anyway, I think the boys all had fun.  Afterward, there was a dunk tank where Ewan sunk his future band director twice in a row with a powerful throw.  Some snacks and social time wrapped up our time.  Hope we get to do this again next year!

Before, all clean and crisp.

The aftermath.  Some of them enjoyed the chalk more than others.

HHMS 7th/8th grade choir 5/22/18-"Journey to the Past"

Song number 2 for the choir Cale is in.  We sure did sit in the perfect spot to see him.  I'm sure Cale was thrilled.

HHMS 7th/8th grade choir 5/22/18-"Touch the Sky"

As worst family historian ever, I am excited to upload the songs Cale's choir did at his choir concert this week.  I love how involved he is in the arts, besides sports, and I hope this is a love he always carries with him.

HHHS Spring Pops Concert 2018

We've been busy, but I managed to find some time to upload the spring band concert.  This is the high school (Marcus) playing.  Audio only.  It's 20 minutes long, so grab some snacks and settle in to listen to some great music.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.