January Happenings

Here's what's been happenin':

We haven't had a YMCA membership for a couple of years, but Roger's job had a great deal where they pay for a lot of the price for a family membership, so we just had to sign up and take advantage of the deal. Usually you pay almost $50/month for a family, we are able to pay almost $30/month and the company pays for the rest! They also hold us accountable--we have to check in four times a month in order to keep our membership. So far, the kids and I have been hitting the gym 2-3 times a week. Being homeschooled, we can go to the Y during the early afternoon when it's not crowded. And, Lauren is old enough now that she can work out with us on the gym equipment, so it's been  awesome! I was working out on some weight machines and looked over and saw Lauren singing as she was working out on the eliptical; not out loud, but just mouthing the words, but also sweeping her arms to the side like she was performing. I started videoing her and she didn't notice at first, but then realized I was doing it. She is so funny--doesn't care where she is, or who's watching, but she's always up for a performance. I found out afterwards that she was listening to the song Let It Go from the movie Frozen.

This past weekend we went to Kansas City so the Wichita Community Children's Choir, which Lauren is a part of, could perform with three other choirs from around Kansas. It was a day trip, and the concert was really short, but it was fun to drive to KC and hang out for a few hours. The church was absolutely beautiful, but too small for all of the kids and audience members. Plus, no microphones were used, so when the adults would introduce their choir and tell us the songs they were going to sing, we couldn't hear everything, I think because the church was so expansive that voices just carried away like the wind and couldn't be directed to one place. I love Lauren's director because she also is a choir teacher at a middle school, so she knew how to project her teacher's voice in the church and she was the only person we could hear clearly. However, when the choirs sang, hearing them was not a problem. Each choir sang two songs, and then all choirs joined together for one song. Enjoy the videos!

We have just not had much of a winter at all this year. Evan has enjoyed going outside to practice soccer with his goal, or as this picture shows, throwing his knives at wood logs--in shorts and no jacket!

Our favorite football team, the Denver Broncos, was in the playoffs, so I just had to go to church dressed in orange and blue, sporting my Bronco earrings. Then, after church we watched the game and Evan had on all of his gear, plus his blanket, and Broncos pillow pet he's had since he was little, and he and I literally were jumping up and down for joy when the Broncos won! We are so excited for the Super Bowl this weekend!

It's a New Year

2016 has arrived! I can't believe it! I will be turning 45 this year, and Evan will become a 10th grader, and Lauren a 7th grader this fall! No No No Way this can all be happening--time just moves so fast!

Last year we started keeping a memory box. We would write down anything on paper we wanted to remember, or put in a concert ticket stub, etc. in order to recall those things at the end of the year. Lauren recorded the most things, I was probably second, Evan put things in when I made him, and I don't believe Roger did anything. Maybe this year, we'll all do better? Here are the things we recorded:

January
~(Rebecca, Lauren) On our way to CYT winter class, we saw a guy in his car listening to music and jamming out. He did this at a stop light and kept it up as we were following him for a while to our class. Lauren said, "Mom and I were cracking up. It was the funniest thing ever and it made my day!
March
~(Rebecca, Lauren) We went to see Wichita State University's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The director noticed Lauren was wearing a Peanuts gang shirt and commented on how she liked it. We told her that Lauren had just played Sally in the same show for CYT.
April
~(Rebecca, Lauren, Evan) We went to see Matthew West with Colton Dixon and Mr. Talkbox in concert. Kristi Johnson, Keirra, Daniel, and Jenny Huff came too.
~(Family) Went to Janet Grote's funeral. It was lighthearted and not depressing. She is missed.
May
~(Lauren) I got the best buddy ever in Robin Hood. Her name is Anne. She gave me so much sweet stuff and I can't wait to see her again. We had Friday, Saturday, and Monday rehearsal for Robin Hood.
~(Evan) Went with the youth group to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.
June
~(Lauren) I went to my first Bagels and Bibles.
July
~(Lauren) I got a book at the library for the summer reading program and it's my favorite book--Recipe for Adventure.
August
~(Lauren) Attended Triple Threat Theater camp.
~(Evan) Started Biology class at Faith Academy, and dad's new Trail Life group.
~(Evan) Mom burped and passed wind all day. Yes, TMI (too much information), but it's true. I had forgotten that day until we were reviewing the memories. I don't know what my gut was going through, but it was an all day ordeal. Thankfully, I didn't have to go anywhere that day, and that the gas didn't smell. Seriously, it was just noise. Sorry you had to read this, but I believe in keeping things real. 
September
~(Family) Took a 10 day Disney cruise to Hawaii.
Some time during the year we watched a youtube video of a police officer lip syncing to Taylor Swift's Shake it Off. His dash cam taped him. He was hilarious, and did a great job. When he would pass people or have to slow down to let people cross the road, or was at a stop light, he would act all cool and nod and wave at people, and then immediately start up again when starting to drive again. Hilarious!

In addition to remembering last year, this year has had a couple of exciting things happen already. Roger's truck got rear-ended. He was stopped behind a car that was making a left turn, and the truck that hit him I guess wasn't paying attention. When he texted me our truck was a mess, I was expecting a smashed in back end, broken tail light, etc. The fender was a tiny bit smashed in, and there was a split in the metal on the right side of the fender, so I didn't think it was that bad. After an estimate, it's going to cost insurance over $2000 to be fixed. Roger said he knows this isn't how the rest of the year is going to be, but I told him I wasn't so sure. We are trying hard to work on our debt and I think we're going to get hit by the devil with things this year to prevent us from getting out of doubt--it happens every time we are trying to get rid of debt. Not only that, but after this accident happened, our church's pastor asked Roger if we would like to teach another Dave Ramsey get out of doubt class. We've taught this class 2 or 3 times before, and we always get asked in a year when we are working hard on zeroing out our own debt. Every, single time. I don't want to teach this class again, because I feel like a hypocrite. I think Roger enjoys teaching this class, and I'm not sure what he wants to do yet.

In the school year 2014-2015, a 5th grade teacher started Wichita's only showchoir for highschoolers called Flight. She held a workshop for middleschoolers called Flight Jr., but Lauren was only a 5th grade so couldn't attend. In December, another workshop was opened and Lauren could attend this year. The group met for a total of 9 hours before their performance this past Sunday. This is Lauren's love--singing, dancing, and performing. We were allowed to videotape Flight Jr., so we did. The group did a great job. Lauren is just such a natural at this stuff, and I love seeing her smile on stage. Here's the video:

 

October

October was a fun month.

We went out to Cheney Lake where there is a gun range one Saturday afternoon and Lauren and I got to shoot for the first time. It was a small gun that shot little bullets so that was easy for us. Roger and Evan are already pros at using guns. Then, Roger had me shoot a gun that's been in our safe always loaded so in case I ever needed to shoot an intruder. He warned me ahead a time it would have a kick on it, but good golly! I wasn't ready for it. As soon as the gun shot off, I have no idea where the bullet went exactly because I just about fell backwards and my eyes were closed! I mean, I know the bullet went straight, but I just wasn't able to spot it. We decided that although this gun would definitely take care of an intruder, what good would it do me if I couldn't control it? So, we're keeping the gun with the smaller bullet clip ready to go for me in the safe, and if I ever have to use it, I'm under orders to just keep shooting until the clip is empty. Lauren did great. She's a great archer, and now shooting a gun.

We also "tried out a dog." We have some friends who had two 4 month old pups they couldn't find homes for. Evan and I struggle with animal allergies, but we wanted to give it a try overnight. Evan reacted with a scratchy throat and just knew it wasn't meant to be. He was sad, but Lauren was heartbroken. She cried for days over not being able to have that dog. I didn't react at all, which was surprising, so it almost made me wonder if I was outgrowing the allergy? She was a great dog, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Evan finally got to go do another Sheltered Reality performance after more than a year. It was at a school about 30 minutes northeast of Topeka. The kids and I drove to Topeka the afternoon before, stayed in a hotel, and then came home after the show--a 3 1/2 hour drive. It was worth it, though. Evan does so well drumming, I just wish more places in KS would invite and pay for the group to perform so we could do more. I'm hoping our Trail Life group can do it at some point.

Lauren got to do some dressing up this month. One night at church they got to come as a Disney character. We were able to put together a homemade outfit and she went as Elsa from Frozen. Then, one of her friends came to church and they dressed up as 50's girls with super powers. Then, Lauren got to wear her 50's costume again and go trick-or-treating with another friend. It was a beautiful night to do that.

Lauren also got to start singing on the church's Youth worship team. I had Evan snap this picture of her for me, so I didn't embarrass her by going into the room and taking it myself.

 We bundled up one evening and went to see Hotel Transylvania 2 and Pan at the drive-in. Roger and I sat in the middle van seats that can turn around backwards, and the kids had 4 layers of padding to lay on in the back of the van after we folded the seats down, and we all had hats, gloves, and blankets to keep warm. One of my favorite things to do.

Lauren had her CYT showcase this month. This is some of her friends hanging out as we celebrated at Spangles.

I got to enjoy watching my favorite front yard tree change colors for autumn.  We had some very windy days which stripped the leaves off sooner than I would have liked (as I type this, our tree is now bare). The last pic is of the tree across from our house on the other side of the pond. Gorgeous!

Starting Anew...Again

Yep, yep, yep...it has been over a year since I've blogged. This time, I am not going to apologize nor promise to do a better job because I honestly don't know if I can do that. But, I'm hoping that today will be a new day to do a better job.

This past year has been busy. Evan went back to soccer after taking a year off. It was fun to watch his games. He had some goals, plus some great assists and moves, but he let a lot of the teammates influence his decision making skills. If anyone even hollered his name, he felt he automatically needed to pass the ball to that person, even when he had complete control over the play and could have possibly made a goal. No matter how many times Roger and I talked to him about this, it didn't change. I guess this is a case of when a teenager's emotions/decision making is based on peer pressure vs. parental guidance. He has decided not to return to soccer this year.

Sheltered Reality has been his big interest. There are still not enough shows close by to partake in, but we did get to go to OK City for a weekend to perform for a Job's Daughters group. That was fun. It was 4 Iowans, 2 Kansans, and 1 Texan performing for a group in OKC, LOL!

Lauren' new adventure this past year was Christian Youth Theater. She joined last August and auditioned for the Sound of Music production, but didn't make the cut. That was very upsetting to her as she was so hoping to get the part of Brigita. The next week was audition for You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and she didn't want to try out at first, but finally decided to, and she got the main role of Sally! She was fantastic and literally stole the show. We had so many people approach her and us and tell her she was their favorite character. Even months later, people still remember her performance, although she is kind of over it and wants to move on to another memorable role.

There are probably more memories, but for not this is all I can remember. A new season of life is starting with schooling--Evan is a high-schooler, EEK!--, a new CYT production is coming up that Lauren will be auditioning for, and a major vacation is happening in a few weeks. Some great things to write about, and I'm going to try.

Ta-ta for now!

Busy Year

Too, too, too long since my last post! I know, I know. As much as I love to blog about our life, we have been terribly busy this year and I've been too tired. I am happy to report though that this coming year looks to be slower and I am so looking forward to it! Evan and Lauren, this post is for you--I'm still hoping one day to get my blog posts in a book format so you can look back on them when you're older and be able to relive some memories.

We are going to start with Lauren, because unfortunately one thing about being the youngest is you don't always come first. Lauren, you've had a great 2014 so far! One of the best and biggest memories from this year was your competitive dancing with The South Y Dance Company which then changed to Y Diamond Dance Company. You shined like we knew you would--God has greatly gifted you with the art of dance. You of course were not shy in front of the audiences at competitions and you always captivated people with your facial expressions. You are a natural. The last competition was extremely impressive. Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado came out to see it. Both of your dances finished in the the top 3 for your age group! What was really special about that was the fact that 2 days before this competition one of the girls was asked to leave the team, so your dances had to be redone quickly. Also, at this competition you got to receive one of the rewards for the second place dance, got a medal, and the group received a check.

Piano has been another part of this year you have grown in. At your June recital, you played two pieces by memory. You also received a summer discount rate and two movie theater tickets because you are so diligent in your work. Miss Connie has told me you make her excited and she is so impressed by how well you learn your music.

Evan, one of your biggest memories is the Lego Robotics Team at WWHM. You were on a great team this year. You figured out a design for your robot, and completely made it around the practice course early in the season. When competition day came, your team got 1000 points--a perfect score! It was thrilling when the wwhm team came in 2nd place! It was funny how we were all hoping for 3rd or 4th place, and when our names were not called, we though for sure we had not done well again this year. So, when we were called for 2nd place we were stunned, as well as elated!

Sheltered Reality drumming became part of your life this year. We were introduced to them in January when mvps brought them in as a school event. We decided to join and you have done two performances. You are getting along so well with the other people you meet at the shows, and Steve and Jordan are so impressed with how quickly you are picking up on the songs and choreography.

No pictures in this post, but there were some taken and I plan on including those in a 2014 digital scrapbook I want to make when this year's over so that each of you will have that for your later years. You both are awesome and I'm proud of the things you've accomplished, and how hard you work at things. You are both maturing in so many ways and you make me glad and proud to be your mom!

Evan's Haikus

Amidst all of the joys of homeschooling, there are tears at times also. This happened last week with both of my kids. I was really flabbergasted at how they were struggling with simple, simple things. I made sure we took breaks, I made sure I wasn't speaking a different language and they couldn't understand what I was saying; I just didn't have a clue as to why they were struggling with some things. Just a bad week, I guess.

I decided to do something fun--haikus. I don't understand it, but I've had enough people tell me that writing for the majority of boys is torture. I take their word for this, as it's proven true for my son. However, he has to do it once in a while. I thought haikus would be fun, he likes nature and he likes poetry. Not so much.....we thought of several together, he understood the rules as far as the number of lines and syllables and that it had to be about nature, but he couldn't grasp that it needed to be beautiful language depicting a moment in time. I even gave him descriptive language words to use, and I thought the many examples we did and read would help. He came up with one and it was quite humorous and gave us all a laugh and I accepted it, but then made him do another one more along the lines of the beauty of nature, and he was successful. Here are his haikus:

The black and grey geese
They are very annoying
As they land on ponds.
*We all thought this was hysterical, partly in the way he read it--guess you had to be there.

Fish swim very fast
As they glide through the water
With their scales shining
*I was very proud of him for this!

Despite the "torture" it was for him, I think in the end he was proud of himself--and that's the most important thing. He did something he really, really, really didn't want to do, did a great job, but I'm sure now he's thinking, "I can check that off and never have to do it again!" LOL!

Dance

Yea! A new year is upon us. I know that this is going to be a year full of change for our family. As I think back on the holidays, events, and activities and all of the pics I took but didn't post, I'm kind of sorry for that. I'm not sure that this year of blog writing will be any better than last year. In fact, I kind of enjoyed the break. Here we are already on the 7th day of January, and I'm just now posting. Oh well....

I was going through my camera today uploading pics onto the computer as well as a couple of videos. I thought I'd go ahead and post the ones regarding Lauren's dance team. In June she went through a month of training at the NorthWest YMCA and in July tried out for the competitive dance team. She made it! This year was the first year for teams under the age of 10. She was one of 4 girls on her team for the ages of 8-10. There is also another team ages 5-7, and then of course the older girls team that has been around for a few years. However, after a month of team practices, the other 3 girls on Lauren's team were blatantly ignoring her and not being friendly. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing these mean girls treating my daughter like this. I brought the subject up to the head coach and she wrote me back saying one of her pet peeves was mean girl behavior and she would change it. However, by this time it was too late for Lauren and she was ready to leave. Besides the mean girls, the head coach was also the head coach for cheer and you could tell that is where her heart was. She rarely came and worked with our girls, or got to know their names. Also, she was very pregnant, so I think between pregnancy, two new dance teams, and the responsibility of cheer and dance, she was overwhelmed herself. We pulled Lauren off the team in September, and thought about putting her in the Y advanced dance academy classes. This would support her love of dancing, hopefully she would be around nicer girls; she just wouldn't compete and Lauren was good with that. The next thing I knew, a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Lauren and had been dancing on the competitive team for the South Y contacted their head coach without my knowledge and told me her coach wanted to talk with me about the possibility of Lauren having a private audition and joining their team. I called the coach and we chatted about Lauren's experience and set up an audition. The coach kept telling me this group of 5 girls had been together for a few years and were advanced. I wasn't sure what that meant for Lauren, but she had a great audition. About halfway through the audition, the coach came out to talk to me and I was holding my breath as to what she thought of Lauren's abilities. I told her Lauren was a more outgoing then what she was showing, and the coach said she could tell and she could also tell Lauren was a little nervous, but was still doing well. I also told her Lauren's weakness was ballet because she hadn't had a lot of practice, and the coach said all of her girls on the team were the same way. She said she was impressed with Lauren and could see the potential she had and said invited Lauren to join the team! I was so happy for my daughter!

The South Y team has been so welcoming to her. The girls are not mean and Lauren has especially bonded with 3 of the girls. I really like the coach. She is only 21 years old, and has been the coach since she was 17. She is young, but talks very nice to the girls, but yet disciplines when she has to. All that being said, I'm not sure what next year with this group holds. I don't like the 25 minute drive one way to the practices, especially since the NW Y is only 7 minutes away. Also, some of the dance moves in the routines seem a little too mature. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. Roger has noticed it and so have some of the other moms. Also, Lauren thinks she might want to take acting lessons and a break from dance, so next year remains to be seen. I'm kind of hoping that things might work out at the NW Y some how, or she might be able to dance for the place she is thinking about taking acting lessons from, Christian Youth Theater. In the meantime practices continue in preparation for 6 competitions between the end of February and April. Two will be out of town and the rest in town.

The pics are from the Haysville parade the girls walked in October representing the South Y. She looks so cute and had a great time with her new friends. The two videos are from December when they danced two of their routines at Breakfast With Santa. The girls weren't at their best, but they've gotten better in the little bit of time since then. I wish I was computer savvy and could pop up an arrow on the screen above Lauren's head that would follow her around the screen as she dances, but since I can't, enjoy the girls dancing, and if you can spot Lauren then enjoy her performance.

Maple Oatmeal Bread

Wow! Almost 5 months since my last post. I think that's just how things are going to be from now on. But, let's get on with my post.....

A few days ago I went and looked at our town's Goodwill store. They sell everything but clothes, and are only opened limited hours, but it's really nice. I was just looking around killing time while Lauren was at piano lessons when I came across a bread machine and the tag was marked "new" and the price was $9.99. What a bargain!

Now, I've had a bread machine for a few years, and at some point something happened so that the pan wouldn't lock into place so it makes a really rattly noise when it's kneading because the pan is shaking back and forth. One time when I was making bread I was in another room and heard a crash onto the kitchen floor. The bread pan and all of it's shaking had literally moved the entire bread machine to the edge of the counter and vibrated it onto the floor! I picked it up, plugged it back in to see if it would still work and to my amazement it did, so I've still used it.

But, when I saw this bread machine at Goodwill I decided to keep looking around and think about it, but then decided this was just too good of a price to pass up. It looked like everything was there and it really did look brand new just like the tag was marked. When I went to pay for it, it actually rang up cheaper, so it was marked down a little bit more than the tag price. All I could keep thinking was, "I sure hope this isn't too good to be true." Yesterday I finally decided I better try it out. I got out one of my cookbooks and decided to try a new recipe. The machine worked like a dream--no rattling, no machine shaking so violently it will walk itself off the counter, no problems at all. When the bread was done the only thing I noticed missing was the hook to use to pull out the kneading blade once it gets baked into the bread, but I still have that from my other machine. So, now I am very lucky and have two bread machines if I want to do some double baking on the same day.

The recipe I tried is from my Taste of Home 1999 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes cookbook. It's called Maple Oatmeal Bread and it's a winner for the entire family! You can't even taste any oatmeal, or maple flavor in it. It is the softest, white bread I have ever tasted. We just couldn't get enough of it. So, because it's that good, I wanted to share the recipe here for you. Try it and enjoy!

Maple Oatmeal Bread
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water (70-80 degrees)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
2-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine according to suggested manufacturer's instructions. Select basic bread setting. Choose what crust color you want, and the 1-1/2 pound size.

A Great Summer To Remember

Wow! Almost 2 months since I've written a blog post. And, I have to say, I've kind of enjoyed the break. In fact, I've been trying really hard to be off of the computer more often in general. I kind of decided that there are times when you just have to revel in the moment instead of worrying about remembering it with pics or journal entries, so that's what I focused on doing this summer. I always hoped to some day use one of those websites that turns your blogs into a scrapbook/journal type book, but I don't know if I'll ever get to that. At the same time, I've realized that there are times I wished I had blogged about things just because when I'm 80 years old I can look back at my journals and it may be the only way I remember anything. I really, truly do have one of the worst memories ever. So many times people will talk about things or ask if I remember an event, and honestly I don't. If it wasn't for pictures, I probably wouldn't even realize I had actually been to this or that event. It's terrible!

This summer has been one of the best that I remember in a long time. In part due to the weather. The past two summers were record breaking heat summers and we were miserable. This year has been quite the opposite. In fact yesterday was July 28th and the temps only got into the 60s for the high and it rained all day. There have been some days perfect for going to the pool to cool off and other days when the windows could be opened to let the nice cool breeze blow through the house. Love it, love it, love it.

Another reason I'm thankful for the cooler temps is our air conditioner went out on us. We were gone on vacation for a week at the beginning of the month and when we got home it wasn't working. It seemed to run nonstop and was not cooling the house down. We finally had to start using the fan part of the a/c, the attic fan, ceiling fans, and standing fans to cool us off, but it wasn't too bad. Six days after vacation the kids left for church camp in Oklahoma. While they were gone the temps in the house got to about 83-86 degrees so I'm glad the kids didn't have to be home to endure that. We had some people come look at the unit and our pressure was really low. They could put freon in it that they said could last about two weeks or another year. They suspected there was a valve leak somewhere. We opted for no freon yet until we decided what exactly we were going to do. Last year during our house buying inspection they told us the a/c was a dinosaur but was still working, so we new this would be a not too distant thing we would have to replace. We decided to go ahead and replace the whole unit along with the furnace and there might have to be some new duct work done too. After we made that decision they gave us freon the day before the kids arrived back from camp. The new unit was scheduled to be put in last Thursday but we had a funeral to go to so rescheduled and it will all be done two days from now. I think we are spoiled people when it comes to a/c. It wasn't that many generations ago when they didn't have a/c, and there are plenty more people around the world who live without a/c.

The funeral we had to go to was for our beloved children's pastor's husband. She was in OK at church camp when she was told her husband was found dead. I believe what happened was he did not show up for work, so I think our pastor was called. She then called her son who went to their house and discovered his dad. Their other son who we are good friends with called Roger Saturday morning from Brazil where he had to go for work and told us what happened. His dad had a heart attack. He had a heart attack 7 years ago and I guess the doctor's had lost him during surgery, but revived him. Our pastor had always commented on how grateful she was that she's had her husband around as long as she had. He was only 58 years old. They were an awesome couple with awesome marriage and coming to know Christ testimonies. He was just as much a huge part of the pastoral staff and church body as his wife who is a paid staff member. He will be sorely missed, but he really does leave behind a wonderful legacy for and in his sons and his grandchildren. Roger was a pall bearer and I hope there are other things in the future that we will be able to help the surviving family with when they are in need.

Our vacation was wonderful! On a Tuesday night after Roger was done working and Lauren was done with her dance class, we drove to OK City and spent the night in a hotel so we could get up really early the next day and catch a plane to Houston, and then on to Orlando. We stayed one night at a Disney Resort, and then the next day were on a 3 night Disney cruise. This was the third cruise for Roger and I, and the second Disney cruise for our family--the first one being 5 years ago. We were on Disney's largest ship the Dream. We had a stateroom with a veranda which was fun to go sit on. We had one stop in Nassau, but didn't go into the city because last time we found it boring unless you take some kind of excursion, but we didn't. We also stopped at Disney's private island Castaway Cay which is one of our favorite stops. However, it was actually kind of chilly this day. We got into the ocean for a while, but I couldn't stay in as long as the rest of the family, so I enjoyed the sunshine on the beach. The broadway shows were fantastic, the food and restaurants were fantastic, the on board activities were fantastic--you just cannot go wrong with a Disney cruise. It is hands down our family's favorite type of vacation. When we got done with the cruise, we spent a couple of nights at another Disney resort and spent one day at Magic Kingdom, and one day at Epcot. The only way we were able to do any of this is because we had points in our Disney Vacation Club to "pay" for the resort stays and cruise. And, driving to OK City, staying in a hotel, parking our car for a week, flying out of OK City, the price for filling up the car saved a couple hundred dollars than flying out of Wichita.

The day we flew home from vacation was a Tuesday. We jumped in the car, drove home, got home at 5:30, then rushed Lauren to the YMCA to be there from 6:00-8:00 for her first night of competitive dance team try outs. Her second night of tryouts was Thursday and we found out the next night that she made the team. Thus begins a new adventure in her dance career--competitions. That is all still yet to be determined, but in the mean time they are meeting Tuesday and Thursday nights to work on dance skills through August and then in September more details will have been worked out as to what her year of dancing will look like. We know this is an exciting opportunity for Lauren, but the cost is crazy. I think I've already struck a nerve with the head coach because I am asking a lot of questions, but for two weeks now they have not had a parent meeting yet but want us to spend certain money already and I want answers as to why things can't be cheaper or why they are necessary at all. I have two other moms who agree with me and we are all trying to get answers. I am not a stage mom, but I'm also not going to sit quietly and just put up all of this money without asking questions first. Surely there has got to be some things that can change. Their response is to participate in fundraising and I counter that with if we could do away with some things or find cheaper alternatives then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about fundraising.  We'll see how things move along.

Roger and I had a fun week of date nights while the kids were away at camp. Monday we went out to eat and then to a Boy Scout parents meeting. The Wichita homeschool troop that is sponsored by the Wichita homeschool organization is disbanding because the new rules and regulations they voted on do not align with our Christian beliefs. The homeschool organization will sponsor us through December so those older boys earning their Eagle Scout have a chance to finish, but they will not support anything that requires giving more money to BSA like popcorn sales that happen in the fall. Roger and I are in support of this. There is a brand new organization that is trying to form called On My Honor and that looks like the direction our troop will be taking. We'll find out more as the months move on. Tuesday we went and saw Man of Steel and we both liked that movie. Wednesday I think we ate out for dinner, went to church, then went for yogurt afterwards. Thursday we went to Pacific Rim. I did not want to go to this at all but went and am sorry we spent the money to see this movie in Imax 3D. Roger liked it, but robot/machine movies are not my thing. I told Roger he owed me with a chic flick. We tried to find some chic flicks to rent for Friday night, but weren't successful, so we stayed home and I chose to watch a couple of movies we owned--Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Princess Bride. This week of date nights was so much fun for us because honestly we go about twice a year and that is not an exaggeration. It also got us out of the hot house due to the a/c problem, and I enjoyed my uneventful days to myself while Roger was at work. I planned on doing prep work for my homeschool co-op class I'm teaching in the fall, but ended up just reading and doing chores.

We put our old house up on the market at the end of June and have only had two showings so far. My prayer was that our house would sell quickly, but now I'm just praying for God to bring the right buyers along. We had an professional inspection done which has given us a list of things for Roger to work on while we wait for a buyer. We also had a professional cleaning crew come in and clean the house before we put it on the market and that was a huge mess. If you ever want to know who NOT to use to clean your house, ask us and we'll be glad to tell you. It's a long story that I'm not going to get into, but let's just say we were duped hundreds of dollars than what we were told, this is sad because this is a Christian woman who used to go to our church, and she will be reported to the Better Business Bureau. After all of this happened to us with the cleaning company and word got at about our ordeal, we were told by several people at our church about their own problems in dealing with this woman and her company. 

Other things we've done this summer was go to Botanica twice, the zoo and Exploration Place. We've been to the Y waterpark a couple of times, and the kids have enjoyed playing with the neighbor kids.

Last week the kids' curriculums arrived in the mail. The plan was to start school today, but they both ended up sleeping in until 11 a.m.! So, we will try for tomorrow. We always start slow and ease into a full blown routine. Plus, their friends and neighbor kids all have about two more weeks before their schools start, so I want them to be able to enjoy as much play time with them as possible. In the meantime, the kids did start reading their literature books that are part of their curriculums, so they are getting a jump start on that. I am hoping we can finish by the first of May!

Well, now I have to end and go bake some cookies for Evan's Boy Scouts Court of Honor dinner tonight. They receive any badges they've earned, or people get recognized for things. I've never been to one since I look at it as a special father/son time, and Lauren went once and was bored, so us girls may just stay home tonight. However, it would be a free meal for all of us and I don't have to cook except for the cookies that need to be brought.......

Anyways, that's been our summer so far. I've probably forgotten some things, but those can always be written about at another time. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Piano Recital

Lauren had her first ever piano recital Saturday. There were probably 20 students who performed, but the pieces were short, so the recital took around an hour. However, the music was so pretty that it almost lulled you to sleep. Lauren was the second to perform and it was a duet with her teacher. What didn't get caught on the video was she had to say her name and announce the name of the piece she was playing and the composer: Fire Dance by Wendy Stevens. She spoke clearly and loud enough for the audience to hear her. We were so proud of her. I think she was proud too as you can tell by the smile she's wearing after her curtsy. She's only been playing since the beginning of February. Her teacher literally lives 5 minutes down the street from us; how great is that?! She will have 6 lessons throughout the summer, and then every week when the school year begins again. She's enjoying it. Now, if we could just find her a piano so she doesn't have to practice on our keyboard.....

Lauren's Dance Pics

Lauren finished up her dance year with Encore a couple of weeks ago with a two day recital that was about 4 hours long each day! Crazy! We went to the recital on Saturday which started at 2:00 and finally left at 4:40 when her second dance ended. We left because she had to get to a birthday party at 5:00, but the recital still had 20 dances left! Then, Sunday was Mother's Day and I told the studio owner we would not be there that day. I think I would have gone absolutely out of mind sitting through hours of the same dances again. Needless to say, she will be trying dance at the YMCA next year. We went and observed their recital a couple of weeks ago, and I was so impressed with what we saw. Lauren's taking a dance prep class twice a week every week in June and then trying out for their competitive dance team in July. Even if she doesn't make that team, we will still keep her at the Y and put her into their dance academy. She's very excited and really wants to make the competitive team so wish her luck! Here are her dance pics from this past year. They wanted the girls to wear red lipstick, mascara, blush, eyeshadow, and false eyelashes were optional! I had a hard time with this, but finally gave in. We really did put the make up on as natural and light as possible, but you can definitely tell she has on red lipstick and eyeshadow. She looks absolutely beautiful, and I'm so glad she didn't have to end up looking like a clown with a bunch of colored gook on her face! The theme was "Let's Go To the Movies," and her ballet performance was to a Harry Potter theme, and her tap performance was to a song from The Mask. She loved the costumes, but the feathers from the red costume shed everywhere! Despite everything, she danced wonderfully and I'm proud of her.

Cool Dude Is 12!

Evan turned 12 last week and had a camp out with 6 friends to celebrate. I have a new found respect for parents of only boys, and so appreciated how my hubby could handle all of the "boyness" that was going on. Lauren and I ended up retiring to my bedroom to hang out and watch movies all night while Roger was able to keep the boys in check. We had pizza, cake, and they did archery, the trampoline, climbed trees, played soccer, and ended the night watching The Avengers and eating popcorn. We did have some drama, which I won't get into, but it was intense. Again, thankful that Roger was able to handle it well. It took them a long time to quiet down once inside the tent and I think they were told to be quiet and go to sleep about 5 times. It was around 1am when I didn't hear any more talking. I heard noises at 7am so got up and Roger and I made pancakes and bacon. Then they all played outside again until their parents picked them up at 10:00. Evan had a great time, but honestly, I don't know if I could go through all of that again!

Camping themed cake--we forgot to add Lego people on the bridge and canoe

Opening presents

Soccer

Archery

Eating breakfast on the deck

Lookin' all nice...

Lookin' like the wild and rough-n-tough boys they really are

Did You See That Snake!?

Last Thursday something kind of scary/interesting happened. It was a beautiful day so all of the windows and patio doors were opened to allow the fresh air into the house. I was working on the computer in my bedroom when one of the older neighbor boys and some of his friends came driving through the backyard on their riding lawn mower. All of a sudden I heard one of the boys cry, "Did you see that snake!?" They stopped the mower to look at the snake, and I saw the boy's mom come running from her yard to our yard. I went out on the deck to see what was going on. I figured they had just found some small snake. Uh, no! They had the tail of the snake and it must have been about 4 feet long (I'm not sure--I'm horrible at estimations). I went and got my camera and went out to the backyard. Everybody had helped the snake to the water--I have no idea if that's the direction it was originally headed, or if it had come out of the pond. Nobody had any idea what kind of snake it was. My neighbor ran to get her phone to try to look up info on the snake while one of the neighborhood dogs kept the snake in the water while constantly barking at it, and getting too close and struck at twice, but didn't get bit. I took some pics of the snake and tried to find out more info about it, but couldn't come to anything conclusive. We were wishing that the neighbor's husband was home because he is the assistant director of our city's zoo and he would probably have know what type of snake it was. We all concluded it was either some kind of water snake, or corn snake. I don't know where it ended up, but I hope it just kept moving away from us. I'm sure we'll be seeing more snakes this summer, I just pray we don't find one in our house. If Roger isn't home to take care of a snake that we might find, whether or not it's harmless (because I probably wouldn't know for sure) that snake will get a whooping by me and a shovel. Sorry snake.