My Cup….

...runneth over

Jack had a rockstar of a week…

First, both kids help represent our school by giving a presentation at

our district school board meeting.

Molly was super proud and felt extremely big.

The kids NAILED the presentation…everyone was very impressed.

The next day, Jack's class had an amazing art show in our MPR.

They studied several artists, and did a piece of work in the style of each artist.

He REALLY enjoyed these lessons.

I love his insight to the paintings...

All year, he has also been participating in the Writers Guild Program.

The kids wrote essays about real life heroes.

All the essays were PUBLISHED in a book and the kids

had a book signing at Barnes and Noble.

 They had an open mic and the kids read their essays…

Jack had a little speech before he read (no surprise there)..and he volunteered to 

read his essay twice.

He wrote about our cousin, Trevor.

 This is our school superintendent...

 We ended the week tonight with the district band concert.

The kids were awesome, all of them in their first year of band.

Jack had band every Wednesday morning at 7:10 before school.

As we approach the school year's end…my heart is full.

The kids have had an awesome year with awesome teachers.

Jack has one more year with me at our elementary school before heading off to

junior high. 

It's scary, exciting, unbelievable, encouraging…

Jack continues to amaze me with his insight and leadership…and while he 

has had some bumps along the way, he has really stepped up this year.

I am excited for a fun summer…

8 more school days!

Let It Go....car karaoke

So, like most girls, Molly loves Frozen. BUT, she does not like me recording her, even though she sings ALL the time.

This weekend I was in Palm Springs at a conference, and found this on the iPad mini.
Apparently, she recorded herself while we were driving and I had NO idea until yesterday.
The expressions, the yawns…the fact that it surprised me while I was away…I love it all.

every year..its the same….

Every year, I think…

this seems crazy...he can't be turning ____ (insert age here).

This year is no exception.

Tomorrow, our "baby boy" has another birthday.

And I am thinking…He can't be turning 11.

He amazes me with his wise words, he always has.

His latest wisdom came in an apology note I made him write to his teachers,

after he and a friend got into an ugly argument.

He said…

"I think I learned my lesson…some challenges are like broken mirrors.

It's better to ask for help than to risk hurting yourself trying to fix it alone".

In some ways, I can't believe he is only 11.

Thank you, Jack, for surprising us everyday.

For being our first baby.

For being Molly's big brother.

winter

Our kids experienced another real winter a few weeks ago,

when we traveled to Ohio to visit with Ken's mom. 

The weather has been brutal back there, and while we were

happy to visit and experience the snow…

this was not something I'd want to deal with everyday.

For those of you that even read this anymore, we would appreciate prayers

for Ken's mom. She has fought a tough battle with cancer and made a courageous decision to

stop her treatments, that were very hard on her physically.

It's just a matter of time at this point, but we would appreciate prayers for the whole family.

Ice, Ice Baby...

Kids surprised us by choosing ice skating classes from the 

city catalog. Go figure.

They both did an awesome job!