Trek!

 Victoria and Kai got the chance to finally participate in Trek. First and last chance for Victoria, probably for Kai too. While I never got to go on Trek (I don't think we even did it in CA where I grew up), I heard so many good things about it and wanted my kids to have a chance to go. 

It was supposed to be a very hot few days, which I don't think it ended up too bad, but Kai had been planning on wearing my denim overalls, which she was permitted to, but then they advised her to just wear a skirt because it would be cooler.  She decided it was a good idea and chose my two pioneer-looking black skirts with white blouses and looked very regal! Luckily,  Victoria had her eyes on the floral prints, so no arguments ensued over what to wear!

They had to fit all their belongings in this 5-gallon bucket, minus their sleeping bags. 

My Pioneers!

Our Ward group

I don't know exactly what they did,  but I know they pushed and pulled handcarts, ate legit food from Pioneer times (cornmeal mush, beef stew, apple crisp, molasses cookies, Johnny cakes..), made group flags with whom they got to know really well as their "families ", and had a hoedown dance. My girls particularly loved the dance, even Kai, which I think surprised a lot of people because she doesn't usually get up and dance in front of our ward friends like that, but they don't see us at home! There was a quiet time to reflect, journal, read scriptures, and read a letter from their parents, followed by a testimony meeting. Before going, they each prepared an index card of information about an ancestor to think about and share about. Victoria chose her great-great-grandmother on my mom's side, Aagot, and Kai choose her 5th great-grandma on my dad's side, Anna Knight, from the Knight family who were personal friends with Joseph Smith.

The Itinerary

Kai got some rips in her hands from a rope warp wall, but she was still smiling!

Part of her orange apron is showing that she didn't wear much.

Learning parts of the hoe-down dances.

Victoria is in the group on the left and Kai is in the group on the right.

When they returned,  I was so happy to hear about the positive experiences they had and the people they grew closer to. I was also very happy to know that all the youth survived very well for 2 nights and 2 1/2 days without their phones! I was a little worried about that for Girl's camp this July since it's the first Stake camp in over two years and these kids aren't used to going without their phones! I was very grateful to some of my friends who got to go on Trek and were the ones responsible for taking all these cute pics!

Teaching Austin some of the square dances after Trek.

Father's day weekend

 Jason got to go on the Young Men's campout with the boys in our ward, including Austin. He was involved with a lot of the planning and was excited to go!

They went to Hocking Hills, Ohio where I went with the girls last year to Girl's Camp. They had devotionals, enjoyed good food that the boys prepared very well, went hiking to the caves, kayaking, and rock climbing. They received an educational experience while rock climbing. They were taught about the minerals that make up the rocks in that area. The couple who led the group on that adventure said they were the best group they'd ever had! The boys were interested,  polite, and willing to try. So proud of our Plymouth ward boys!

While Jason was gone,  I only had Erik and Kai home,  as Victoria was at a friend's cabin for the weekend.  Kai and Erik had full schedules with friends, so I didn't have to cook at all and had extra time to prepare the mini cookie dough balls for the cookie dough ice cream I was going to make for Father's day. I was also able to plan out his breakfast and dinner with more precision than time has allowed me lately. It was nice!

I made huevos rancheros for breakfast, using dry black beans that I had time to soak and cook! We had leftover rice and gandules for lunch (a favorite PR dish), and Rueben sandwiches with homemade fries and roasted cauliflower for dinner.  The ice cream, of course,  was a hit! Some of us enjoyed the Reubens more than others,  but that's how it is in my house. 

Mmm, breakfast!

Victoria didn't get back till close to 9pm, so Jason waited till then to open his gifts of a swim shirt and Father's day socks (according to the radio,  socks are one of the worst gifts to give a Dad on Father's day,  but I found that out after I had already bought them and I don't think he minded getting socks).

Victoria painted him a Nebraska "N" on a rock while she was gone. 

I was glad we could celebrate him and that he could enjoy a fun weekend!

So Long School Year!

 About a month ago, I was feeling like everything was going too quickly and I wasn't ready for the school year to end, but then the last two weeks it all hit me and I was totally ready! There were even a couple of days last week when I felt like I couldn't get out of bed. I don't ever feel that way, but those couple of days I was so tired and didn't think I could make it through. 

I was so happy to have a more "normal" school year. It was a very good school year. Erik is still super helpful and a "strong "student, as his teacher described him. I recently volunteered for something at the school and was working with another mom of a girl in Erik's class and she said her daughter talks very highly of Erik. I'm so happy he's a good friend and student. I'm also happy that he loved riding his bike to and from school, rain, snow, or shine. Jason had to drive him for a while in the dead of winter when everything was just too icy, but other than that, he very safely rides his bike. 

Last day!

Erik didn't want to wear his new shoes until after school ended. He wanted to wear these till the end!

As I stated in Austin's birthday post, he was thriving this school year! He also has been thinking about his near future and decided to end his time in choir and join the band, playing percussion. He has mentioned a few times being able to one day play all instruments, so I guess he's going to start now. He's also going to be a WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) leader next school year. That means in August he will go to a couple of trainings and then he will help lead a camp for the incoming 6th graders and be a mentor to them through the next school year. Good choices!

Austin's awesome science teacher took pics of her students with their phones and had them text them to a parent. Such a great idea!! She must have teenagers...

Kai has really loved high school, as crazy as PCEP (Plymouth Canton Educational Park) is. I think a lot of that was the connections she had made at the beginning of the school year in Color Guard and also being a member of the Arts Academy. She enjoyed going to seminary, though it was super early, and enjoyed riding with Victoria in the train of cars from seminary to school. She was one of two violists in the concert orchestra and enjoyed that role as having to hold her own part with only one other supporting player.

Liberty Fest last night with CJ.

Victoria had an awesome year training with the track members and even the track season, even though it was a rough road after covid. She too loved her orchestra and seminary experiences and the connections with friends in those classes. She survived her Junior year, barely, which is always the hardest year. I think for her it was even harder than we all expected.

We're so done with this school year!

The downer about this school year, mostly for the high schoolers, was that there was that shooting a few school districts away at Oxford around Thanksgiving time. From then to Winter break the environment at the high school wasn't good. We had our major threat that I had posted about and everyone was on pins and needles until the break. During the break was when we had our stressful covid experience and it turns out a lot of people here had it at the same time, they were just here experiencing it, not in a different country. A lot of school was missed for that. Victoria had a dislocated shoulder around that time, and then around March, when her shoulder finally recovered, she started experiencing long covid. That was also around the time that threats were going around PCEP from white supremacists and we had some smaller-scale threats there and special assemblies and meetings to try to combat that. A lot of kids at the high school and parents were still riled up throughout the rest of the school year. A few weeks ago, an angry mom stormed the school during passing period, when she could enter without going to the office first, and was chased off by security. The rumor is she was either mad about her son failing a class, or about her son being bullied. She caused quite a scene but luckily was unarmed. Just totally out of control. 

I feel like there were a couple of other incidents, but you get the picture. The second half of the school year was very disruptive and Victoria wasn't pleased. Our high school usually has a very good reputation and is one of the top 15 in the state, so I don't know if it's just going downhill, or if these things are happening everywhere. 

Covid has had far worse effects on everyone other than the actual sickness. It's very sad to see. Unrelated to the high school was another incident that affected my preschool slightly. Two weeks ago there was a gunman in Downtown Plymouth. He had a lot of guns and ammo and had sent threatening letters to a cement company building supervisor that is there, just 5 minutes from Red Bell. The police surrounded his home, which is just across from the cement co. building. They put all the houses in the surrounding area on a lockdown and the elementary school, middle school nearby, and Red Bell on soft lockdown. Meaning, that we just had to stay inside, but we could continue doing what we were doing, no barricading necessary. They just wanted to make sure there were no students outside at recess in case the guy fled and decided to do some harmful things to any kids outside. We were all disappointed as we were about to go out to recess and then eat lunch out there when we heard about the situation. The man fired four shots in the air, but nothing else came of it. I don't know any other details, but it made us realize even more that any school, even preschools, aren't totally safe and that we need to have a plan as to what to do in these situations. We've got a better one now and we'll just hope and pray that we'll continue to be protected from these situations. 

On that happy note- we're excited about summer and a different kind of schedule!

I'm always spoiled by my sweet students and their families. 

Back with a Bang!

After Victoria saw the cardiologist, almost a month ago now, she was able to participate in a couple of track meets as a sprinter again. She did very well, though she still struggled with trying to catch her breath (not in the usual way). When she went for her stress test two weeks after her original appointment, she was very tired and somewhat out of breath even before she started, but the results were still normal. Again, the doctor stressed that it would take time and he prescribed her Singulair, to see if that would help. 

Getting ready for the 100 at a JV meet. She came in first by a long shot in this heat! She placed 2nd overall for this event!

Not bad earnings for the health problems she had this year!

Ready or not, she had a dance competition on June 4. All three recitals were on one day, not usually the case, but Senior Prom was Friday night and I'm so happy they can't do Sunday recitals at our new venue. She was scheduled to dance 10 dances per recital, so 30 dances in one day! And some were pretty challenging. She had a support group ready to help her if she needed it, with water and her inhaler (which does help her a little). Her instructors made sure she was mostly on the side of her dances so she could pop off the stage if she needed to. Well, she didn't have any significant problems, except for a little shortness of breath. I think the endorphins of being on stage, without a mask, and doing what she loves best helped her make it through. She danced beautifully!

Bonus: Jason was finally able to dance in the Dad's dance!! He didn't think he did very well, but I thought it was great! He didn't do as well with the choreography in the Broadway-style dance at the beginning, but when they got to do some freestyle moves with pop music at the end, he did very well. He's got good moves and excellent stage presence/showmanship. He just needs to get used to training. Jason-we're signing you up for dance;)

Here are a few of my favorite dances that she performed. If you want to see more, let me know and I'll send them to you, including the Dad's dance.

Kai was an amazing supporter! These two have finally gotten closer again, after a year of Seminary together and being in the same orchestra class.

We all made it to the recital, including Grandma Pat!

Jazz dance- she's in the back left.

Beautiful kick!

Contemporary- getting ready for a lift.

Tap- she's on the front left.

Front left

Dad's dance- Jason's head is peaking out in the middle.

He's second on the right.

Bowing at the end- she's on the far right.

Bowing with Dads!

Hard dancers!

Teenager!

 Another teenager in the house! This year, Austin has made great strides not necessarily in height,  though that will come,  but in school, music, sports, church,  and his social life. I'm sure it was extremely hard to start his middle school years off in a pandemic, however, he has forged through!

I've noticed how more motivated he is in his classes this year than last, especially his accelerated math class. He no longer sits for hours doing his homework because it gets done more efficiently. 

I've already mentioned his music in a previous post. He really loves exploring music on the piano and his cello. He also loves to harmonize with me in singing, which is so fun! Often when he's watching Youtube it's about how to play video game theme songs or other theme songs from movies or shows. If he hears a cool song in a movie we're watching or on Alexa, he'll go replay it on the piano. I love it!

He finished a successful swim season, track season, and soccer season, almost. One more game for soccer. As I mentioned in my last post, they have 0 losses and 2 ties. His school won the league track meet by 1/2 a point! He ran the 800m in the league meet. At other meets, he also ran the 300m hurdles.

Lately, he has to miss Youth activities for various reasons, but he loves his ward family, recently gave a very good talk on repentance and takes his calling to pass the sacrament very seriously. He went to the temple for baptisms a couple of months ago and I was happy to send him with some family names.

Since he has become more efficient in his homework, he has more time to hang with friends and loves to ride bikes or run around the neighborhood with them. He now has a phone and loves connecting with them that way as well and plays Pokemon Go. He even called me one time to see what time he should be home after he left with friends one day. Wow- I hope he keeps on being so responsible! 

Yes, there are times when he's not the "picture perfect" kid as I seemed to have portrayed him here, but he's come such a long way that I have to put a lot of focus on the positive. 

Running the 800m.

Prepping for hurdles.

Not a great hurdle picture, but here's a video below.

We went for a bike ride on Memorial Day.

Early morning cinnamon rolls on his birthday, before orchestra. They're his favorite, even though he's making a funny face here.

He opened one gift before school. A bag for his bike. 

Villains from Grandma. He loved all the gifts and cards from everyone who sent them in the mail as well. 

His big gift, besides the phone he got last month.

Trying out the Ripstick!

Kai made him a Stranger Things cake.

Erik got him his favorite junk from the Dollar Tree and Victoria took him out the next day for an afternoon of spoiling while she bought him gifts and food.

Birthday dinner: he wanted spicey chicken, flavored rice, and his favorite veggie is peas.

Austin's choir concert was on his birthday. Victoria had dance by that time. He even had a piano solo at the concert! I'm including that video along with a clip of him singing for the 5th grade orientation a couple of weeks ago.

At his piano recital, a couple days after his birthday.