Summer 2019

We camped in Colorado Springs at Painted Rock. We were surrounded by these red random rock formations. Some cool things that only God can explain. We did freeze that night, next day Ray ordered new warmer sleeping bags for future cold night camping trips.

Kris Mattson's 50th Birthday party bash

Tons of golf this summer. Ryan might have out drove me on the 7th and 8th hole

Boys did rock climbing while waiting for Parker fireworks to start 

Golf camp, Ryan was finally old enough to participate

Ray diving for beers at the the annual neighborhood pool party on 4th of July

Fresh haircuts...their hairdresser gives out "free" pop with every cut 

May: Wicked, Field Day, Last Day of School

Grandma & Grandpa came in earlier this month, we went to the Broadway production of Wicked.

 Field Day fun!

 Today is the last day of 1st (Mrs Rutkowski) and 3rd grade(Mrs Wallace) at Pine Grove.

Charter School Here We Come

Yikes! As a child I moved from Delaware, to Massachusetts, to Illinois, to Iowa to Ohio which meant one thing all the time, change. Different drive, different building, different teachers, different way of lining up, different rules, different hallways/mazes to figure out, and most importantly to a child, different classmates/friends.

As a result from years of starting over and change I am slightly SCARed.

So what I vowed to never do to my boys was MOVE.
Ok, stop freaking out, we aren't moving. What we are doing is pulling the kids from our public neighborhood school. It feels like a move, and honestly maybe is harder on me than the boys. The school is .5 miles north of our house. Their current school is .5 miles south of our house, new school is on same road and everything.

Obviously Ray and I aren't doing this to send the boys to years of therapy and emotional turmoil. We hope this opens up opportunities for them to learn, emphasize the importance of good character and gives them the tools to have a positive impact on their community. Big Mom heart goals. We still hope the boys follow their dreams, at the moment Ryan still wants to be a fishing guide at Lake Okoboji. We want them to always give their best effort and best heart.

My final classroom door at our current school. 

Ry guy was home sick with strep on my birthday, I told Ray, I was secretly happy he was home for my special day!!

 I've updated the boys rooms recently as they are getting so big and have outgrown many of their "baby" items that I had in there. This sign should be a nice new addition for Con's room. I made it :)

 I've been watching a lot of home decor shows recently and they all have THIS blanket on the master bed. I couldn't only find them homemade on ETSY and they were a hefty price, so a little DIY project :)

 We recently had the Clarke Crew for the weekend, science experiments are a must

Con with his two Konrad buddies for his LAST Pine Grove Sock Hop. :(

March here and gone

 Ryan had a field trip to see a Peter Pan show that I got to chaperone

 We had the FINAL PIECE OF BIRCH in the house painted "black beauty"

 I decorated more 1st grade doors for the "spring" season

 Connor was hilarious in his final "specials night" performance. "Flossing"

Ryan nailed his song. They were supposed to dress athletic, not sure anyone else got the memo.

Good Bye to Tahoe

We did not sign up for this. What we signed up for was a "family friendly" dog. A new addition to the family. A protector, a playmate, a running buddy, a friends. We signed up for responsibility, training, obedience and love.
I truthfully thought dogs were only aggressive if you didn't expose them to the world. Take them on car rides, to doggie daycare, to the dog park, lots of walks, lots of people, smells, adventures. I thought if you walked them often (6 times a day for us), drained their energy and poured love into them that they would be a good dog. We wish we knew what we could have done differently and done that, but Tahoe has bitten Connor and Ryan now and for no seen reason and for that, we can't keep him.
It has been emotionally draining and I'm so sad that what we thought we signed up for, isn't in fact what we got. The boys are scratched from this, and I hope it doesn't leave an emotional scar on their hearts.
Good Bye Tahoe.

Valentines Day Box

I forgot to take a picture of the boys V-Day Boxes, but I did make a back up box for Connor's classroom and did remember to take a picture of it.

1st Grade Classroom Door Decor

I loved making these doors but there were many little heart pieces needed for each fish.
For the fish I used my silhouette machine. I cut out a rain drop shape for the body, a large heart for the head, a small heart for the tall and a smaller heart for the lips. I also used my silhouette to personalize each fish. Lastly I used a hot glue gun to adhere the eye ball.

 Even the seaweed had hearts

 I need to go back to the school and add some seaweed

 The fish before I added the googly eye

The cute little "school of fish" before I added the class names

KUMON

Connor started KUMON last year when he showed an interest in Math and his public school said they  didn't really have any enrichment for him. KUMON is a 7 day a week, 60 math problems a day very slow moving program to make sure the kid masters the skill before moving on to the next. He started with addition, then subtraction, then multiplication, 2 digit multiplication, 3 digit multiplication, division, two digit division, 3 digit division, fractions, adding fractions and now subtracting fractions with the lowest common denominator and greatest common denominator.

He was getting sick of the rigorous program and was ready for a break starting in February. Well he talked to his instructor about wanting to quit and then she lit a spark under him. He found out he is one letter (subject) away from algebra. So once he gets through decimals this third grader of mine will be doing algebra. Say what. He definitely didn't get his math smarts from his Mama.

Proud of you Conman for doing things that are hard and challenging so your mind can grow and you can becoming a more rounded student who can excel!
This is a picture of a medal that he was awarded at this years KUMON ceremony for being 2 grades ahead of public school math, 1 grade year ahead of charter schools.

January Happenings

Why are the "slow months" always so busy?
Connor has 60 math (KUMON) problems a day to get through, plus Piano practice daily.
Ryan has basketball 2 days a week, plus Guitar practice daily.
Plus scouts 3 times a month. Too busy!

I think it wouldn't all seem like too much if we didn't have a 7 month old who walks on 4 paws.

Ryan's pinewood derby car is almost complete. There are SOOO many youtube videos with ideas. We shall see how we stack up against the competition.

 Spent New Years at the Hagstroms, Matson crew was all there too

 Ryan is on a team with school buddies: Lincoln, Daxton & Quentin

 Yeah, someone needs braces. He won't actually get braces until probably 6th grade, but a few teeth need to be pulled to hopefully straighten out some craziness now.

We baked bagels for the first time ever. Just plain and Sesame. Ray said he will never be able to buy a grocery store bagel again!