School's not out

Thanks to several snow days this past school year [many of them unjustified--you Utah's would be horrified to see what justifies closing down school down here in the South], our kiddos still have a week and a half of school left. Well, Tuesday through Friday this next week and Monday and Tuesday of the week after that. And Kate and Jordan have semester exams as well. With everyone getting out of school, I'm ready for it too. It will come soon enough and then we will have to settle into a summer routine. Wish us luck!

A Graduation of sorts

Kate had an 8th grade recognition assembly on Thursday night that was a like a graduation from middle school. [I'm still in shock that she will be in high school in just a few short months.] It was good, but a long night. Each were called up for a certificate and then many many were given various awards for different things. Kate had the highest math average for the year in the pre-algebra classes and received the Presidential Academic Award. She was given other awards for being in Art and things like that. Well done!

Ready to go.
KTHV's news guy Craig O'Neil spoke.

Waiting for her name to be called...

Getting her certificate from the Principal John Pearce.

Taking her seat...

Afterwards with her friends Katya and Dakota.

The Art mural for the school she helped to create!

Zack's performance

The first graders from Pine Forest Elementary school did some of the dances they have learned in PE at the Maumelle Cancer Relay for Life this morning. There were only 10 that showed up, but Zack had fun. He was being shy/aware of the camera/audience, but did a great job. Go Zacky!

Our Sidnie

With our warmer weather (and by warm, I mean down right HOT) Sidnie has had some sweaty naps. Here she is in her crib with Pooh Bear tucked underneath her. We finally broke down and turned the air conditioning on yesterday when it was 91 degrees. And Humid too.

Sid loves to mimic her older siblings. Here she is copying Jordan as they sit on the counter eating sausage for breakfast.

More with Peppy

With it being warmer and lighter in the mornins, Peppy has come to visit us more often. He meows loudly outside the door until we let him in. Here he is enjoying scripture study with us one morning. The kids all love this cat. Can you tell?
A fine pillow for Sidnie...
And the boys.

Maumelle Middle School Fine Arts Extravaganza

Jordan has been a 6th grade semester music class and was able to sing with the choir. Here are few shots...
Waiting to begin.
A song with sign language too.
More of the signing.
Ready for the Solfege Sounds [Do Ray Mi Fa So La Ti type song] number. (They were supposed to have a black light to go with it, but it wasn't dark enough because they moved their location. They did it anyway.)
A song with actions.


Kate has been in Art for three years in middle school. She has a full year art class and a semester elective art class. She has enjoyed her classes very much and seems to have some talent for it as well. Some of her works of art were on display.

This first one is her bowl of fruit in the style of Georges Pierre Seurat.
Another one a few might enjoy with names and initials. Do you know who they are?

New Shirts made by me!

After I made Sidnie's tiered dress, Jordan wanted me to attempt a shirt for her. With help from my friend Amy, I was able to make the top and then I worked on the rest of the shirt. The shirt was getting way to wide with each tiered layer, so I didn't make it long enough for her to wear with leggins. And in the end, I had to take in the sides. But it was cute enough that her friend wants me to make her one. (This photo isn't the best, because she had to pull it out of her drawer for the picture and it was crammed into a wad. Then she tried it on over her other shirt. But you get the idea right?)
Then Kammie asked me to make her one. We improved the style and this is the end result. It turned out great. Jordan now wants a new and longer shirt. (Maybe, I'll give the one that is done to her friend and make her a new one.)

Forest people and a baby Blue Jay

The girls were busy making hats and other jewelry out of leaves from our yard. Here is a shot of their fashion show. They got Spencer involved with that.



We had a couple of baby blue birds emerge from their nest this last week and spend soem time in our yard before flying off. They were fun to watch.

Mortality

This photo is from our most recent trip to Virginia in March 2010 during Spring Break.

We found out on Sunday that James' Dad was in the hospital. He has something called multiple system atrophy that causes systems in the body to fail because of a neurological disconnect. (He also has Parkinson's, but only started "shaking" recently.) Anyway, he's had a cough he couldn't get rid of since November and was diagnosed with Pneumonia in March. Then last week he developed a fever again due to Pneumonia. The problem is a swallowing one. He gets some of what he eats into the lungs, which develops into a lung infection. The solution was to finally get a feeding tube put in. The surgery took place on Tuesday and he was able to come home Wednesday. They now have a home hospital bed set up in their bedroom and Vernetta is doing her best to take care of him. We are sure glad we have an eternal perspective in life. We are grateful for Fulton W. Marshall, Jr. (he is 75) and all he has done for us. We love him and are glad he's still here with us. We'll take what we can get and will trust in our Heavenly Father's watchful care over him.
This picture was taken on our visit to VA for Thanksgiving of 2009.

Demise of the turtle

This is an inside view of the shell top that is all that was left.
We've had our turtle outside in a bowl, where we regularly changed the water and fed him. He had a brick "cave" and wooden logs to climb on. Well on Wednesday night, something got to our turtle and all that is left is the shell. We don't know if it was a racoon or an owl or what, but something must have eaten him. All we have is the top part of the shell. Not a good thing.

Lizzard sighting and Sprint

This afternoon, while we were standing quietly in the driveway waiting for Kammie and Zack to get home from school, Spencer and I spyed a big lizzard. We tried to catch him, but he climbed up and over the shovel that was blocking his path. Instead we settled for a picture when he resurfaced from the bushes. He's hard to see, since he's matched his color to the mulch, but it was the best we could get.


We've bought some turtle food and "Sprint" has survived a week and a half with us so far. But, he may be eating more of the leaves we put in his bowl, rather than the "reptile sticks" I purchased. At any rate, the kids are thrilled to have a pet. Here he is soaking up the sun from the brick in his bowl.

Mother's Day

I am extremely grateful to be a mother, and I have the most incredible mother I could ask for. I'm always amazed that she did it all without her mother around to turn to for help. I would not make it as a mother without her guidance. I'm glad to know that she is only a phone call away. I hope every one had a great mother's day remembering and honoring great women in their lives. I've had many women "mother" me over the years, from YW leaders, to mother's of my good friends in high school and college, to my Mission mom Hna. Cristina Barrios, and many others. I am thankful that a loving Heavenly Father has blessed my life with so many incredible women as "mothers."

James gave me a great necklace for mother's day with six charms with all the kids names on it. Wonderful!

Our flowers and the vegetable garden

The azaela's have all pretty much lost all thier blooms, but my vinca's are doing well so far and we are enjoying their pretty colors.







This tomato plant in the pot is the one thriving the most!



Our vegatable garden, as a whole is coming along. All of the Brocolli plants have shed some of their outside leaves, but not died completely. Phew! The Pumpkins, Cucumbers and Zucchini have come up as well. (I did have to plant these twice. The first set of seeds must have gone bad.) And the basil seems to be coming back to life.

The Golden Gate Bridge

James traveled to San Fransico, CA last week for the CYFAR conference. He skipped the afternoon sessions one day, rented a bike and road across the Golden Gate Brigde. He had a good time, riding to two small towns across the bridge before taking a ferry back across.

New Turtle

Meet Sprint, our newest turtle find. He's a baby slider and so much fun for the little kiddos to play with. And he's fast, hence, the name the children came up with. Even Sidnie gets excited about him. He's only about the size of a half dollar.




We've got him in a bigger bowl of water than pictured here, with a brick and some sticks. He likes the cave the brick's whole makes and has eaten leaf lettuce. Yeah!