Austin turned 9 yesterday. I can't wrap my head around it. My kids are growing too fast! I was privileged this past week to be able to volunteer at his field day and then go on a field trip with his class to the Jiffy Factory. I liked seeing him with his class mates. I haven't been able to volunteer in his class this year, but his teacher has told me a few times this year what a good student he is. She has said she has a hard class but that Austin isn't one of them. (That makes me happy.) At field day, I noticed how right she was! The boys are all the "tough boy" / "Joe cool" type kids. The girls seemed okay, though. Austin is very friendly and has a "cool" personality. I could see that he didn't feel intimidated by his class mates, nor did he show any need to show off in an inappropriate way to feel like he belonged.
For the field trip, we got to see where they produce the Jiffy mixes for the entire US. During the busy season, they put out 150 million boxes of Jiffy mix per day! That season runs from September - January. We got some sample boxes and I bought some at a very reduced price. Austin was excited to make cinnamon rolls with me later that day with some of the mixes.
My group for the tour. We got Austin's good friend Krish in our group.
Our fancy hair nets for the tour.
The whole class at the park after lunch. Austin and I are in blue in the back left.
I didn't get to see the outside of the main factory until I was driving away. I snapped this from the red light!
Austin and Dallin have been taking a tennis class together at Miller on Tuesdays.
On his birthday, we went to the Home Depot project. It was outside for a change and it was a cold morning, so we brought it home and made it in our basement! Austin loves making those projects each month. Erik joins us sometimes. Austin also loves building Lego sets. He loves to tell jokes, dance and sing, play ball sports, play Mine craft and Wii, and read. He stays up very late each night reading. He finished the entire Harry Potter series earlier this year. He completed his Wolf Rank for scouts and will now be a Bear. He has done well with the piano this year and will continue next year. The piano recital, along with football practice/game was on his birthday too. It was a busy day!
Austin's breakfast of choice every day now, even on his birthday. (sigh)
Building his car for the Home Depot project.
I didn't get any shots of Austin playing yesterday because I was involved in watching it, but I did get some of Erik. He made a good run here in these pics.
Austin received a medal for piano excellence.
Victoria received a medal as well.
Karissa received a trophy for piano Federation.
Present time!
He loves to wear socks, even when it's way too warm!
He loves the group Imagine Dragons. He recently adopted my old CD walk man, so I thought a CD would still work for him.
One of his favorite book series is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Legos!
After the recital, we went to Wendy's for dinner, per his request. We were going to convince him to do something nicer, but then thought, oh well! Whatever makes him happy!
Austin is such a great kid and we're proud to call him our son!
I had forgotten where I put the batteries, the only gift he actually asked for. We found them right before bedtime!
Happy birthday to our fun-loving son!
Here's their piano rectial songs. Also, bonus feature: Erik singing in the kindergarten music program! Since he never sings for the church programs, I was surprised at how into he was!
My friend commented on how May is so busy every year, but that at least it's all fun stuff. She's totally right! Victoria's dance recital wasn't the last big thing.
Karissa has been taking an art class after school on Mondays, which happens to be at her school and is more convenient that way. Austin has been taking a tennis class at his school on Tuesdays. They have enjoyed these extra classes, even though they add more things on our plate.
Some of her art samples.
Beethoven
They were supposed to make an angry Potato Head, but she wanted to make a sad one.
Victoria had her last orchestra concert at the very beginning of May and finally had her last choir concert last week. The timing worked out well that my dad and Mary Lou were here to enjoy that concert. They also got to see the boys play football.
For some reason, she was on the back row. Every person in front of her is taller than her on the ground, but at least I had a good seat to see her!
Her good friend Hannah, who is moving :(
This was Bethany's last year at middle school.
Fun to have them here!
Austin got a medal for "drive" at this game.
Our new deck table.
The traditional position with Grandpa.
Before football, Austin had a scout activity. He made a bird house.
And explored the water from the river we were supposed to clean, but they were behind schedule, so we had to leave to go to football. It turned out, the cub scouts were too young to do the cleaning project.
Since our month of spring was a very wet one (summer is here now with 90 degree weather!), we didn't get anything up outside, like our trampoline, gazebo canvas, or our deck table and chairs. It was nice to have some extra hands from my dad and Mary Lou to help put those up and help try to manage our jungle of lawn and weeds.
Austin has decided he wants to help mow!
After they left, Victoria had her Cecchetti ballet exam, which she passed with flying colors! This was level 3, which takes two hard years to work toward. It's a very big accomplishment!
Remember when I said times we're going to get crazy busy soon? Well, they have, but we're enjoying all these opportunities while we can.
Here are some of my favorite pics of Victoria from her dance photo session. (These were actually from a few weeks ago, but I wanted to save them for when it was her recital weekend.)
Her favorite costume was this blue one for lyrical.
She didn't like this orange tap costume, but I think it does look pretty with her white skin.
She now does her own her for any event and it's flawless!
Here's her recital dances. She was amazing and the owner of the studio told me she is very pleased with how much Victoria has improved this year. Her cecchetti ballet teacher said she was her most improved student this year! As in years past, these are just at the dress rehearsals, so the background is not up and at one point a girl with a different costume pops in for part of the dance. I'm not sure what that was all about! It didn't happen at the recital.
In addition, she had her first track meet, which she participated in the 400 meter run in. She did well for her first time. It was fun to watch.
She's in the gray shirt.
Meanwhile... Karissa had her 5th grade talent show. She and Olivia choreographed a short cheer dance for it. They did a good job for how little they practiced! We enjoyed being at the talent show.
The best part of all these activities, was that my mom was here to enjoy the experiences as well! She followed me and my busy schedule around and we enjoyed celebrating Mother's Day together!
The day my mom left was Jason's birthday. We squeezed in a quick celebratory dinner of pizza and lemon poppy seed cake. Tuesdays are extremely busy with 3 piano lessons, tennis class for Austin right now, and picking up Victoria from track. Add to that Karissa's 5th grade music concert on Jason's birthday, and you have a real mix! Luckily, I was able to take Jason out to some good Lebanese food on Friday while my mom stayed with the kids. We enjoyed Karissa's concert, though, and made everyone go as a family outing.
