Mr. Mayor, family, and fastest run ever.

5/30—Ella learned how to pedal her tricycle!  She’s so proud of herself!

6/2—Josh has been very involved in our school’s Fuel up to Play 60 club this year.  He won this award for running the most miles in his class.  I think he even got the most miles for the whole school. 

6/4—Andrew’s class went on a field trip to a local museum.  We learned about how we live in the silicone forest which is home to lots of high tech companies. 

Andrew worked on a scavenger hunt around the museum with his best buddy, Alexis, and then

practiced making rockets, doing puzzles, and playing with kinetic sand.  Afterwards, we ate lunch downtown and enjoyed the sunshine. 

While I was gone, Ella had a blast playing with Hudson.  They were having so much fun that she stayed several hours longer than planned.  I didn’t quite know what to do with myself after I got back  so, I met Darrin for lunch, ran to the store, and hung out with the boys when they got home from school.  Thanks for the unexpected break D :)

6/5—Every 5th grader in the whole school has been anticipating the BizTown field trip all school year.  The kids and teachers did hours of prep work, job interviews, campaigning, etc to get ready for the big day.  Josh was elected mayor (the only elected position) by the 5th grade, so he was super stoked.  All the other kids were interviewed and assigned jobs in the town prior to going on the field trip.  I think it was almost like Christmas morning the day the field trip finally arrived! 

I was assigned to work in the Wellness Center. 

The mayor’s desk.

Josh giving the opening speech to get the day started at BizTown! 

Hard at work!

Looking a little too comfortable in this position! 

The field trip was fantastic and all the kids had a blast.  It was a great way for them to learn real life skills in a fun way. 

When we got back, Grandma and Grandpa Hancock were in town!  We headed over to Chad and Julie’s for dinner, and then we walked over to the park after dinner. 

We got an epic game of kick ball going.  Darrin got a little crazy.  lol. 

The kids got soooo thirsty so the raided the emergency water supply in Darrin’s car.  I’m not sure how good it tasted, but it worked for the time being!

6/6—We had the family over to our house on Saturday for a BBQ. 

6/7—Sunday we went to Mike and Tanya’s for Makell’s graduation party.  Ella and Reagan had fun playing in the water feature.  It was a great way to cool off!

6/9—End of the year preschool party!  Ella enjoyed playing in the pool with her friends. 

Then we had lunch at BJ’s with Grandma and Grandpa.  Ella loves their fries, mini corn dogs, milk, and ice cream.  Who wouldn’t love a meal like that?

6/10—Woke up feeling bleh. 

I was planning to make jam, but guess I waited a little long in the season because I had to drive to 4 different farms to find flats of strawberries.  I finally got two flats and made 6 batches of freezer jam.  Considering we don’t really eat jam that fast, it’ll probably last us for 3 years. lol. 

Andrew got his bear at pack meeting!  Way to go bud! 

They had snow cones for dessert and the kids were in heaven!

Today was a rough day for me.  Several things caused me to evaluate who I am and what my priorities are. 

At pack meeting I got an email from the boys principal telling me that he was getting a new job in the district, and we were going to get a new principal.  With everything else from the day, that news just pushed me over the edge.  Our principal had been fabulous and done so many great things over the last 4 years.  He will definitely be hard to replace. 

With all the emotion from the day, I went on a run to make myself feel better.  I ran my fastest 2.5 miles ever.  It’s amazing how channeling those feelings of sadness, loneliness, and hurt can make you run way faster than normal. 

Here’s to better days ahead!

A 5k, spittle bugs, and smores

5/22—Luke’s class went on a field trip.  Aunt Kristin came into town, and Luke really wanted her to go and being the awesome aunt she is, she agreed!  They went to a park close by to study nature.  These were the boys in her group. 

Darrin’s been dealing with a crappy phone for a long time waiting for the Intel phone to come out.  Well it finally became available, and he got it in the mail.  He loves it and sells it to everyone he knows.  lol. 

5/23—Kristin and I ran a 5k!  It a little more hilly of a course than I prepped for, but we survived! 

My goal was to get under 30 minutes but the course ended up being 3.42 miles instead of 3.1 so my time was obviously longer.  If the course had been an accurate 5K I totally would have reached my goal!  Here’s the stats: 

Notice I got 2nd in my age group lol. 

After Kristin and I recovered a little bit from the run, we went to the movie Home.  It was actually really cute.  I was pleasantly surprised!

Then we went to BJ’s for dinner.  YUM! 

5/25—Memorial day hike!  Kristin and I took the boys hiking.  Darrin’s knee has been really bothering him so he stayed home with Ella. 

One of the first things we noticed along the way was all this foamy, bubbly looking stuff in tall grass next to the trail.  Josh had learned about this earlier this year and told us that a little bug called a spittle bug makes this “spit” to protect itself.  

Sure enough when we grab some of the bubbles, we found this little guy inside.  So cool!! 

Over all we hiked about 2.75 miles.  It was super fun and glad Aunt Kristin was with us! 

Later that night we had tin foil dinners on the grill and then we built a fire for smores. 

It was a great night!  Aunt Kristin left the next day to go home.  We are glad she came to visit! 

5/29—Family park date!

5/30—Last day of soccer games for the season!  Josh’s team had a double header so we had 4 games.  It was a long, hot day!  The view from under the sun umbrella.   Stay tuned for a more details soccer recap. 

Potty training, a birthday and dirt

5/3—Ella decided she was ready to be potty trained.  We had stake conference and all thru stake conference she stayed dry and went in the nursery potty a couple times.  We came home, stuck with it for a couple days, and bam! she got it just like that!  It was just as easy as I hoped it would be :)  It’s all about timing and them deciding they are ready. 

 

5/4—For FHE we planted our garden.  We have one box full of strawberries and then another box with a grape tomato, zucchini, green beans, bell pepper, lettuce, spinach, and basil.  

5/8—Luke’s b-day party!  He invited 2 friends (Zack and Christopher) to Chuck E. Cheese for arcade games and cupcakes.  The boys and Ella had a super fun time.    It never ceases to amaze me how fast the kids can fly thru tons of game tokens!

Luke really wanted pizza with garlic sauce from Papa Johns, so we got that for dinner after we got back from the party.  Luke cracks me up!  He’s the pickiest eater around, but he likes stuff that picky eaters don’t like such as garlic sauce and salsa, but refuses to eat rice and watermelon. 

5/9—Luke’s birthday!  Luke was very patient with our schedule that day.  We started with soccer games at 9am and didn’t get home until 3.  He really wanted doughnuts for breakfast, so we picked some up on the way to the game as well as some to share with his team afterward as a treat.  As soon as we got home all he wanted to do was open his presents!  His big present was a couple play mobil sets to go with the ones he already has.   

A couple hours later the cousins came over for dinner and cake.  

Cousin bonding time over video games.  Nothing better!  And while the kids were doing this, all the adults were downstairs putting together the mother’s day treat for the ladies in our ward.  Many hands make light work!  Thanks guys for helping :)

5/10—Mother’s day!  Nothing better than mother’s day snuggles with my kids! 

5/11—Our 13th anniversary!  We met up for lunch with Ella as a third wheel which normally would have been fine, but being in the middle of potty training, I swear I was in the restroom about 7 times while we were there.  It was a little hard to talk with so many interruptions!  Oh-well!  Love you babe!

5/12—Lovin’ my long hair.  If I ever suggest cutting it, please slap me.  :)

Josh went on a field trip to plant trees.  I wasn’t able to go on this one, but another mom and his teacher sent me some great pics!  They came home very dirty!!

Brendan, Owen, Josh, and Joel—silly group of boys!

5/13—Josh was hungry so he made cookies pretty much all on his own.  He turned the mixer on a little too fast after adding the flour so flour flew all over the place which was kinda funny.  The cookies turned out great! 

5/14—I had jury duty.  When you get there, they show you a movie that gets you all excited about being on a jury and how it’s part of your civic duty.  Then a couple hours later they decide they don’t need you and send you home.  It was a little disappointing, but probably for the better. lol. 

5/18—Home grown spinach from the garden!  Yum!

5/19—Last day to teach preschool this year!  We learned about farm animals and made sheep out of paper plates and cotton balls. 

It’s been a great year with these cute little girls!