End of School Fun

Today was the first day of summer for kids in Anchorage. Yesterday was the last day of school, so for the last two weeks Josh and Liz have been busy with picnics, field trips and field days. Tali and I tagged along for all of it.

A chilly morning at the Zoo with Liz's pre-school. Tali loves the animals and Liz loves her friends.



Liz's pre-school picnic, complete with ponies (and hot dogs at 10:30am - yum). Josh skipped a morning of school for this one. Did I say Tali loves animals? "Ride a pony, one more time . . . repeat."

Last, but not least, Josh's field day - every kid's dream school day! Josh loves running, so he toed the line at the 50, 100, 200 and 400. Liz only ran when she had a friend to run with, or when they were giving out ribbons afterward. Liz and Katie came in second in the Kindergarten 3-legged race. Josh killed in the long jump, but I couldn't seem to get a picture of him in the air. But I did get a picture of him doing the high jump. He didn't clear that rope, but look at that kid's vertical! Josh's class won the 2nd grade tug-of-war and I've never been so proud :)

The Tramp

Trampoline, that is. We had an envelope on our kitchen countertop for weeks that said "Tramp $." I wonder if any of our visitors or babysitters wondered what exactly all those one-dollar bills were for.

Matt has always voted against having a trampoline. I, however, love trampolines and think that my kids are way more coordinated than all those kids who get hurt on them :) So, I told the kids that if they could save up $300 they could get one. I contributed by paying them generously for their household chores and letting the Easter Bunny know that we really didn't need any candy and two-dollar bills would be way more useful. They finally saved enough and Matt and I bought and built The Tramp!

It's SO fun and we all have mad tramp skills! Our neighbor has mentioned that she's heard Matt and I jumping late at night. Hey, jumping is not a crime! Here are some pics of the kids. Maybe I'll get some of Matt and I for a future post.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today may have been my best Mother's Day yet. Matt is working in Juneau, so it was all up to the kids. And they truly blew me away!

They have been working on their suprises all week. I know because they told me not to clean under their bed because that's where they were hiding them.

So, this morning I didn't wake up to all three kids' smiling faces until 9am! Josh and Liz prepared a whole breakfast tray for me, complete with PB Cap'n Crunch, two pieces of toast, a glass of milk, and two Starburst from their personal candy stash. They piled all of their surprises on top of the food and covered it all with a blanket. Then they got Tali out of bed and brought the whole tray to me in bed. I'm amazed the whole thing made it upstairs in one piece.

These are the surprises they made for me ("Mother's Day Magazine," 3 big crowns :). a card, a castle, some artwork and a black water horse):


Before I could eat, I had to get out of bed and see the stairs. Josh and Liz had made 15 paper flowers and put one on each step, ala rose petals on the stairs. These are all their own creations, no help from me.



And, for the coup de gras! They asked me what else they could do for me. I decided to give them a big job and see how far they could get. "Feed Tali and dress her for church while I take a shower." Voila! When I got out of the shower, Tali was all fed and dressed beautifully by her big brother and sister. (During sacrament meeting Tali grabbed her bum and said "big diaper." Oops, they didn't change her diaper.)

We missed you this Mother's Day, Matt. But it looks like you've taught the kids how to take care of mom well!

Mother's Day Tea Party

Every Mother's Day the pre-K classes at Liz's pre-school get to host a Mother's Day Tea. The kids help plan and prepare the whole thing. They cut the strawberries for the strawberry shortcake. They make tissue paper corsages and paper plate crowns for the moms. And they try to keep all the details and surprises secret. Do you know how hard it is for a 5-year-old, who talks non-stop, to keep secrets like that from mom?

So, today was the big event. Liz and I painted our toenails matching colors and we painted Liz's fingernails purple to match her dress. Also part of the fun is that the kids get to pick out their mom's outfit. Liz picked a cute shirt and tried to get me to wear it with a very mis-matched skirt. I was able to convince her that I would get cold, so she let me wear pants.

The main attraction of the tea party is the teachers reading the cards the kids have made for their moms. Before the party, the teachers ask each child several questions, write down their answers verbatim, and then read them aloud. As I sat there laughing at all the funny things the other kids said about their moms, things like: "My mom is 90 years old." "My mom likes to watch TV. She watches TV all day long.." "My mom loves to take naps. She's only happy when she gets to take a nap." "My mom's favorite food is cake and candy," I started to get worried about what crazy things Liz might've had said about me.

While we were listening to the first few, I was bragging to my friend, Kelly, that I was sure Liz knows how old I am. So, when Mrs. Scott finally read Liz's card, I was absolutely certain that one wasn't for me. Here are the highlights:

• I am 11 years old
• My favorite thing to do is pet dogs
• What I want most for Mother's Day is a big crown

I love Mother's Day!

Our trip to Bisbee, AZ

We are home from Arizona and SO happy to see the kids! Matt and I had a rockin' time on our vacation; and from all accounts, it seems the kids had a great time at home, minus the snowstorm.

We competed in La Vuelta de Bisbee in Bisbee, AZ. Bisbee is an old mining town, turned hippie town. It's very interesting and querky. It's built right on the side of the mountains, where they were mining. Downtown has lots of artsy shops and great restaurants that are only open on the weekends. This is a picture of Bisbee from on top of a hill we climbed.



My mom and Dennis flew to Tucson and met us in Bisbee for two days. They watched the second time trial and the final road race. They didn't even tease us about our TT (aka Rocketman) gear. But, then again, Dennis has been wearing shorty running shorts for years. They barely missed Matt's incredible finish - he was so quick they didn't expect him yet. But they did see me finish a little later. We had a great time with them and it was nice to have someone cheering, bringing us water and buying us dinner!

Matt did amazing in the race. He started off with a 7th place, followed by a 2nd place, then 15th place and 1st in the final road race, which was such a long and hilly race. That put him in third place overall. He won a little cash, which he put toward the kids' trampoline fund. My results were not quite as spectacular as Matt's, but I was still pleased. I have learned to live in the shadow of Matt's glory - haha! I was very consistent finishing 19th, 18th, 19th, 16th, putting me in 18th overall. No cash or trophies but that's not bad for a mom of three racing against girls 10 years younger than me :)

This is me heading of for the 2nd time trial. Rocketman! Next is Matt and I after the end of the last stage looking tired, releived, and maybe a little bit victorious!



While we were in Bisbee we toured the old Queen Copper Mine. I tried out the bike that supposedly belonged the mine supervisors. Matt tried out the toilet. It was a great trip, but like I said, we're glad to be home with the kids, minus the laundry.



Coming soon: The building of the trampoline