Dance Dance Dance

Last weekend was Reina's dance recital.  This year, she took three classes - ballet 4, Jazz 2 and Hip Hop 1.  She's a dancing girl.  She had three programs last weekend, one on Friday and two on Saturday.  Throw in a 5k race that she and I did on Saturday morning and a brother's baseball game and it was one busy weekend.  

Reina's hip hop class danced to music from Back to the Future.  The recital's theme was music and movies from 1989.  I jammed out.  

Reina had a 'speaking' part in the dance.  

On Saturday, Almost-Kindergarten Cousin's class danced too and it ADORABLE.  They danced to "Don't Worry, Be Happy."  Vicky and I got the giggles every time the pre-dancers came on stage because someone would freeze in the lights, someone would forgot the dance and wave to family members and anytime they formed a circle, the poor kid at the end would get whipped because of physics. 

Getting ready to make a circle

Finding the right mark on the floor 

Reina's jazz class danced to a Debbie Gibson song from 1989.  Months ago, Reina was telling me about the dance and when I asked what the song was, she confidently told me "Electrocute."  I thought about that for a few weeks and couldn't remember any song like that from 1989.  When I asked her to sing it, we figured out that it was "Electric Youth."  Frankly, the song is much more enjoyable if you sign it as 'electrocute'.....

My jazzy girl 

Reina's ballet class danced to an Enya song and it was so pretty.  Reina and I both thought this outfit was the prettiest.  I just love watching her dance. 

The first week of summer break is almost complete.  Both kids had sports camps this week, basketball for Will over at UW and Reina did a volleyball camp at the community college.  They are diving into this summer with a lot of enthusiasm and happiness to have a break from school.  There's also a significant reluctance to pick up after themselves or learn cursive (one of my projects for them for the summer) but we'll tackle that one next week. 

Pioneer Girl

I have several posts sitting in the drafts folder but haven't had time to tackle the multitude of events that are happening in these last few weeks of May so I decided to post little snippets of our month before summer is here.  Reina's class was supposed to go on a field trip last week but it was canceled because of snow.  That's right - too much snow!  So they moved the Pioneer Days celebration to school and I volunteered to help with the trading post. 

My pioneer girl in full costume.  For comparison's sake, on this day in his fourth grade, Will agreed to wear jeans and a nike shirt.  

The students had a variety of pioneer themed activities besides the trading post.  They did a craft, ate biscuits and gravy, learned how to square dance, played pioneer games and learned how to rope.  It was a lot of fun watching all of the activities. At the trading post, the kids could use buttons they had earned in class to barter for old fashioned candy, pickles, cards and giant wooden flutes. I asked the teacher if she was mad at us parents.  She was happy to tell me that there were enough flutes for all of the kids in both classes.  

Reina brought me a thank-you note home on Friday.  

Dear Mom, Thank you so much for helping with are "feild trip."  You were the greatest bag hander ever! You should get a job were you just hand out bags! I hope your ready for when the flute comes home, I am planning on having a concert!  P.S. Prepare to be smashed in Slap Jack!  Sincerely, Reina  

The morning that Reina was getting ready, she decided that Coco needed to get dressed for Pioneer Days too.  As you can tell, she's really excited. I didn't realize it until I posted this picture, but our new cat to be named later is sitting outside.  She's not an outside cat but more on her later.  

6th grade program or The Last Time You'll Catch Will Singing in Public

I was worried that Will wasn't dressed up enough in his short sleeve polo and khaki pants but I didn't put a fight because frankly I've learned my lesson.  However, the minute I stepped into the gym, my worries were for naught because even from this small sample size, you can easily see the uniform of choice for 12 yr old boys.  

Last night was the 6th Grade Program and the official Beginning of the End of the school year.  Will's last elementary music program, suppressed sob sob.... I'd say it's the last time we have to argue about dress clothes but who am I kidding.  That's going to happen for at least another decade.  Will had warned us (well, me specifically) that the program might make us feel a little sad because they were singing a bunch of Disney songs.  I didn't need to hear "You've got a Friend in Me" to get teary-eyed about the fact that my little Bobo is headed off to junior high next year, but seeing him with his arms around these boys I've known since they were nervous little kindergartners.... well let's just say that a little bit of moisture seeped out of my eyeballs. 

Ladies and gentleman - that's Will singing and doing the hand signs.  DOING THE HAND SIGNS! The group was singing "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast and it was adorable.  

Will participating in the kick line for the grand finale of Be Our Guest!  A KICK LINE?!  

Singing "Hakuna Matata" and having scarf trouble.  

I love this picture because without any type of photo touch-up, Will has crazy vampire eyes and looks like he's about to cry/fly off into the night.  

"Under the Sea" with bubbles!  Bravo!  Encore!  

 I didn't get any good pictures of the grand finale because I just ended up watching my kiddo sing with his friends and soak in the moment.  We have about a month left of 6th grade-ness and then it's on to the summer.   I have a lot of happy memories of the last seven years and I can't wait to see what he does next. 

What happened to April?

One little blog post in April?  Lucy, what is your problem?  Well, in my defense it's been a hectic but fun month.  We've had lots of weekend activities and practices at night.  Aunt Vicky has been pushing through her last month of chemo and needed some extra help with the little cousins now and then.  Glenn's been super busy at work and I've had a few out of town trips to add to the fun. We packed a lot into April and I'll do my best to adequately recap it. 

The weekend before his actual birthday, we celebrated Glenn's 50th with a party.  It was a fun chance to bring friends together, celebrate the greatest guy I know and have a lot of fun.  We kept the menu simple and invited a lot of people.  We had kids of all ages and friends from all corners of our lives and it was a really special evening.  Glenn was touched by all of the attention and I think it was a great way to kick off his next decade. 

Little cousins super interested in the birthday pie... more on this to come.  

Singing happy birthday.  As part of the decorations - well really the only decorations, I hung up pictures of Glenn from his teens, twenties and thirties.  Many of our friends have only known him in the last decade so it was fun to see college aged Glenn ... he was into body-building.  Hubba hubba.

The whole family getting ready to sing and a photobomb from a cutie.  

 So we all sang happy birthday, Glenn blushed, leaned down to blow out the candles on his blueberry birthday pie and saw that somebody blonde and little had beaten him to it.  Toddler Cousin politely waited until "Happy Birthday" was finished and blew out the candles for Uncle Glenn.  I giggled for the rest of the weekend thinking about it. 

The little helper and big sister.  

 The next weekend was Easter and the weather mostly cooperated.  We got up early to help with the breakfast at church and came home for an Easter Egg hunt after lunch. 

Glenn barking egg hunt orders or something like that.  

Reina being engulfed by a pine tree.  

The kid who at first said he didn't need an egg hunt this year and then luckily changed his mind.  Tweens, am I right? 

Just casually eating candy, looking for eggs, looking cool.  

Someone in the family still takes her egg hunting very seriously.  

She didn't get to participate in the hunt but she was a very interested observer.  We've had crazy weather - 70 one day and 7 inches of snow the next.  Coco likes her time in the cat tent.  

Summer is right around the corner.

Spring Break shenanigans

Last week was our Spring Break.  It was a nice break and the weather was even spring-like at times.  Glenn and Will took a few days to go turkey hunting in Kansas for Will's first official hunt but Glenn will write about that on the next blog post. Reina and I stayed here and I worked for a few days while she helped her grandparents with the little cousins.  On Wednesday, the little cousins came over to our house for the day.  I realized that while a lot of my friends were posting pictures of beaches and sunshine and exotic vacations, I was getting to watch Toddler Cousin eat soup and I think I might have had the better end of that deal. 

Who wouldn't want to watch this kiddo feed himself soup?!

While the guys were gone, Reina and I had some fun girl time.  We watched more chic flicks, ate meals that weren't cooked in our home and took the dogs on some walks/bike rides.  It was a fun to hang out with my favorite 10-yr old.  

Sled dogs and a bike riding maniac in front. 

 When Will and Glenn got back, the kids and I packed up for a few days in Denver.  I heard about the City Pass from one of my co-workers and it was such a great deal.  For a big discount, the kids and I had access to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum and the natural history museum and we managed to squeeze in all of those places and shopping and eating into 2 1/2 days.  It was one of those little trips where everyone was in a mostly good mood, the kids got along and we didn't have any hiccups.  It was a really nice way to kick off the last part of the school year.

Reina at the aquarium

Reina sipping on a fancy shark drink at the aquarium restaurant.  

While at the aquarium, we got drenched by some hungry sting-rays.  It might've been the highlight of the week for Reina because I was soaked and ended up with a mouthful of sting-ray infused salt water. 

After the aquarium, we checked out the Children's Museum.  Most of it was designed for kiddos younger than my two but they still had a lot of fun.  Will got bucked off the little kid zipline which was entertaining for the rest of us. 

Look!  They do like each other although that could also be a chokehold. 

My big kid. 

I took 0 pictures at the zoo, probably because I like to look at the animals almost as much/more than the kiddos. We walked all over, saw most of the babies which is always a highlight and had some ice cream.  That night, with the help of the hotel staff and some strangers, we figured out how to take the light rail into downtown Denver so that we could eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was one of Will's requests for the weekend.  He particularly likes their club sandwiches, who knew?  

Will and a lot of food. 

One of Reina's requests was to see the big blue bear outside of the Convention Center. 

Two kids and a big blue bear bottom 

Another shot of the big kid

On the last morning, we got moving pretty early and made it to the Natural History Museum for a few hours before meeting Pop-Pop and Grandma H for lunch.  The kids spotted a virtual reality space exhibit and insisted on getting in line for that right away.  I was going to opt out but I saw how much fun the people in front of us in line had so I decided to give it a try.  Turns out, I accidentally got on a roller coaster.  We wore virtual reality goggles and then the seats move up and down so that you feel like you are (in our case) in a submarine in a prehistoric ocean.  About 30 seconds into the ride, I felt Reina's little hand snake over and grab mine and I was just as happy to hold her's.  The ride was only 5 minutes long but I'm not sure my stomach has stopped feeling squeamish.  

R & W on the side closest to us.  They opted to stay and try the outer space experience while I sat that one out.  

So it was a nice Spring Break.  We get back into the swing of things tomorrow with a busy week of schoolwork, volleyball, confirmation and Glenn's birthday party.  Whoooo!

The Kitchen

 Last month, we embarked on a kitchen re-do.  It wasn't a total remodel because we kept the cabinets and appliances but we picked out a new floor, counter and backsplash.  At the last minute, we decided to have our contractor build a kitchen island, which is probably now my favorite part of the whole project.  We had a tough few weeks with no sink, dishwasher or oven but with many sub sandwiches and takeout salads from the grocery store, we made it through! 

The before picture, except we had already painted the walls and had a new microwave installed.  

The fridge was plugged in next to the front door which was nice to be able to access food but weird when answering the door for UPS packages.  Glenn cheerfully suggested we leave it there because it opened up a lot of extra room in the kitchen and made it easy for entertaining.  "Hi come in, can we get you something to drink right away?"  I'm pleased to report that it's now back in it's original spot.  

Coco was not delighted in the remodel.  She was not a fan of workman coming in and out but she has enjoyed exploring the new developments.  

The contractor tells all of us to stay off of the floor for 48 hours.  Coco says "LOL." 

New floor, new backsplash installed and last minute work on the island.  Glenn and I painted it ourselves on a worknight and everyone lived to tell the tale.  

The final project in not-so-great lighting.  We love how it turned out!

A letter to the birthday boy

Dear Will:  Today you are TWELVE.  Officially a tween, not yet a teen and growing before our eyes.  You told me tonight that this was one of your best birthdays and that made me and your Dad really happy.  You woke us up around 6:15 this morning to open presents.  We surprised you with a fancy new controller for your X-box, some clothes and socks (!!!) and a cookbook just for teens.  Reina picked out a Fortnite pinata for you and when you were done opening everything, Dad gave you your first hunting rifle.  I think your Dad is just as excited to have you hunt with him as he's been for any of his solo hunts.  You and I had lunch at school together and then at the end of the day, I brought donuts to your class.  All 40+ kids in both sixth grade classes serenaded you with "Happy Birthday" and I believe it was the long 90 seconds of your year.  

Opening presents in the wee hours of the morning.  

Will, we are really proud of the young man you are becoming. I know that sounds like something super old to say, but it's really true.  You have a marvelous sense of humor, you are super sweet to your cousins, you and your sister have days when you really have fun together, you are a terrific teammate, you hustle on the field and the court, you are paying more attention to your schoolwork and take pride in your good grades and you love beating us in card game.  In case I'm making you sound too angelic, you love a good prank, you are crazy competitive in video games and many card games end in someone (you?) screaming and you grumble when you have to feed the dogs even though you love your Tootsie girl and she loves you too.  You are getting more interested in cooking and you'll see videos of people cooking on Youtube and you try it out at home.  The ramen dish topped off with american cheese was a big hit with you and Reina.  I thought it sounded a little bizarre but I applaud your creativity! 

A boy and his dogs and the sunlight streaming in.

Don't forget the cat.  I did tell her to smile for the camera. 

 You are gearing up for Junior High.  Every moment of sixth grade feels like "the last..." Today was the last day I'll bring you lunch at school for your birthday.  Well actually I'll probably bring it next year but I don't think I'll be invited to stay.  We've had your last elementary school basketball game and soon we'll have the last track meet, school program and sob sob sob. 

You picked Taco Johns for your meal and I only forgot the queso sauce.  We ate in the hallway because you said the cafeteria was full. I think the other sixth graders just aren't ready for my awesomeness.  

You thought the previous picture was too cheesy and you prefer this broody teen look.  You sure are cute.  

You asked to postpone your birthday dinner until the weekend so that Reina can join us - she had dance tonight.  You asked for homemade spaghetti tonight and we celebrated with a homemade chocolate cake with oreos in the frosting - that you had requested earlier in the week.  You actually wanted a giant oreo cake but I didn't have that creativity in me just yet.  Maybe next year? As we ate cake, we watched the videos that your dad took 12 years ago in the days leading up to your arrival and our time with you at the hospital.  In the video, you hollered when Dad and the nurses gave you a bath and when you are storming around the house now, I can see flickers of that squealing little almost 8-pounder from 2007. It brought tears to our eyes to see your cute little face and big blue eyes.  It's hard to believe that little guy is almost as tall as me and can almost beat me in a game of Horse.  Almost. 

Happy birthday big kid.  I hope 2019 is filled with winning sports teams, good books and some terrific adventures.