Last Days of May

School wraps up the first few days of June. We are all just enduring to the finish. May had been so busy! AP tests are over now for my high schoolers, STAR tests are finished for the others. Darby also had an algebra readiness test that she had to take. Its finals week very soon. Final projects are being turned in too. Darby showed me this Andy Warhol art project that she did. She is also animating things on her computer. 

EPISD has this ridiculous rule that they ban backpacks at the end of school. The middle school started it last week. They only allow drawstring backpacks. That doesn't affect Darby too much but I really feel for the kids who need to bring sports equipment or musical instruments. The high school started it on Tuesday and they are very strict. They only allow laptop bags and small purses. In one email it said no large tote bags so Brendan brought a very small tote bag (the size of a small purse) on a day when he had to carry his piano and physics stuff. It got confiscated and he had to juggle everything across the two campuses (and his English teacher handed back a diorama project). He was as angry as I have ever seen him. Paige won't need her backpack for the last 3 days of school. There are differing ideas of why this policy is in place. All they say is "for safety reasons". I won't get into it too much but suffice it so say it creates as many (if not more) problems than it "solves". 

The kids seem to have rediscovered the game Trouble. We used to play it all the time. They were all playing it together before church. See? They can all get along. ;)

Paige came out of her room like this. She told me she must've been pretty tired becasue she didn't put her pajama shirt on right. 

Jason goes to a certain BBQ place every Friday with Ed. It is called Smokin' Joes and is really tasty. We have been disappointed in TX BBQ since we've been here and finally found a good place. In fact, they go so often that the owner has a picture of them on his instagram account. 

 

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we decided to go to Fort Bliss National Cemetery. The flag was at half mast.

I gave each child a penny so they could put it on the headstone of their choosing. If you will remember, a penny mans that someone visited. We walked amongst the headstones, taking note of names and dates and places they served. 

We saw a few with lots of coins. That made me happy that they were remembered. 

Jason and Brendan found on that probably was part of D-Day. He died in September of 1944.

Eva found a female solider from WWII. 

There was a couple with the angel Moroni on it, meaning they were members of the Church. Their headstones said "Together Forever". 

While we were there I saw an older man with who probably was his son. The son was holding a litlle girl. I heard him say, "This is your great grandfather," pointing to a headstone. They took a family picture there. It made me tear up a little. It was nice to see so many people at the cemetery given the meaning of the day. 

Because we firmly believe that those people we celebrate today would want us to enjoy what they fought for, we had a fun family day the rest of the day. We played games and watched a movie and Jason manned the BBQ for dinner. 

 

Birthday Weekend and Bad News

There are three birthdays for our extended family right in a row this week.  My mom's birthday was on Friday and I waited to call her until after I knew she would be done with work. At least that was the plan. But in the afternoon I got a call from my sister, Amanda, that Mom had fainted and couldn't get up afterward. She was taking Mom to the hospital. 

Jason was able to contact Mom's bishop and see if someone could go see her. Amanda had to take her boys to the airport since they were going to spend their summer with their dad. Mom had to stay overnight for tests. The bishop was able to come and give her a blessing. 

It turns out that she had an infection and was so dehydrated that it caused fainting. These kinds of infections are not uncommon with diabetics. The doctors wanted to keep her for another day or two to give her fluids and get everything stabilized. They also sent a physical therapist over. By the end of her time there she had to promise to walk at least twenty minutes a day and do some hip-strengthening exercises. She also has to stay on top of her meds. 

When I finally got to talk to her she sounded good but tired. I expressed my concern for her and insisted we buy her some way to alert people she needed help if she fell again. I mean, what if Amanda had already left to take the boys to the airport in Las Vegas? Mom would've been stuck there with no one for several hours. When she found out that it was either a medical alert watch or an Echo Dot in every part of the house she opted for the Echo. I am hoping this is an isolated incident and not where her health is headed but time will tell. 

When I called my brother Thomas for his birthday on Saturday he told me his mother-in-law was also taken to the hospital for a stroke that week. What a week! Time just keeps rolling on and I am not ready for it.

End of the Year Choir Concert

Tonight was Hornedo's final concert of the school year. We arrived early and styaed so we could get a better seat than last time (ie. in front of the choir and not behind). Their choir teacher resigned a few weeks ago with no notice and it seemed to have affected their performance. They still sounded good but looked sad somehow and several students thought it was okay to not sing or goof off during the performance. I don't think they would've done that with their choir teacher there. I'm sure the sub did the best she could. Also, since everyone who took choir had to come to this concert for a grade, there are bound to be some that take it more seriously than others. 

The concert was called "A Night with Disney" and they sang about eight songs. I liked their version of "Cirlce of Life" from the Lion King the best. Darby says that is one they will sing at their final comeptition next week. She says it is their least favorite to sing but they know it sounds great. Pocahontas' "Colors of the Wind" was awesome too.

Darby plans on singing in the school choir through middle school and trying out for the high school choir too. I am glad she cound something she loves doing. I hope they can get a great replacement choir teacher for next year.

A Morning Hike

Before Gio leaves for Korea he wanted to hike to the top of the Franklins. Jason has been many times so he, Gio and Ed went on that hike early this morning. Ed thinks Jason is slightly crazy for doing all the hiking and running he does and loves to tease him. He sent me some photos. 

This one is a super narrow and rocky outcropping that Gio and Ed barely made it past, clinging carefully to the side. Ed texted me that "Jason did this part with his hands in his pockets". Haha.

For this one, he told me they were following the "crazy, I mean the leader". 

They made it to the top!

At one point Ed's shoe completely fell apart. The sole came off of the shoe! 

Thankfully they made it all safely back down the mountain. Jason went to jui jitsu and then with us to Paige's science fair. Ed said he went home and slept. 

District Science Fair

Today was the District Science Fair. Sweepstakes winners from each elementary campus in the district were invited. From Lundy there were less than ten kids. Cassidy was invited but chose not to compete. It was at Chapin High School which is in NE El Paso just over the mountain. Jason took her board and set it up for her Friday night his way home from work. Early this morning I drove Paige to Chapin for the judging portion. 

Parents were not allowed in the gym during the judging so I found a place on campus to sit and wait. I expected it to take a while. However, after about 15 minutes I began to see kids start coming out of the gym to meet their parents. I moved to a spot near the door and five minutes Paige came out. Apparently they had a lot of judges so things went speedily. Most of the initial judges were high schoolers. If teachers were the final judges or not was not apparent. She seems to think her presentation went well and we drove back home. 

Later that day we were supposed to go back to view the projects and pick up the display boards. Jason drove this time. It turns out that Paige got a second place. She was okay with that. I wish they had some sort of feedback so we could know how to improve. I think her project was great but there were a lot of kids there and they were all the best of their schools. 

 

Teacher Appreciation Night

Tonight was the stake's Teacher Appreciation Night. This year the focus was on middle and secondary teachers. Eva nominated her AP Human Geography teacher Mr Stephan Makintaya. Darby nominated her choir teacher Ms. Jessica Barney. Both teachers were invited and both responded that they were coming. In reality, Ms Barney didn't come but Mr. Mak did. We sat by him. The program was nice with a few speakers and a musical number. Then they presented certificates to the teachers with the nomination reasons written by the student on the back. After that was refreshments and we just sat and talked with Mr Makintaya. I hear him say that it was nice to get recognition for the hard work of a teacher and he thanked Eva a few times for her nomination. It was a nice event and I felt really good about participating. I hope the girls did too, even though Darby was disappointed. 

Candlelight Concert

Ed told Jason about this amazing concert he had attended a few weeks back. The company who put it on was having another concert this week. Jason bought tickets for us yesterday night. The building was an old train station that they had made into a wedding/events venue. It was kind of cool. Inside we saw the candles all lit up. Actually there were light bulbs inside the candles instead of flame but they looked fantastic. Before the concert began we walked around the building and got a fancy nonalcoholic drink at the bar. I didn't really like the ginger beer but Jason did. The string quartet called The Four Bridges came out and took their place on the stage. Then the lights all went out. The concert was entirely by candlelight. 

The music was chosen mainly from Vivaldi's Four Seasons with some other songs added as well. When they first started playing it was magical. We were two rows from the stage so I got to see everything. The musicians were amazing and I really enjoyed watching them. They played a song from the movie Arrival that Jason loved. I enjoyed the Vivaldi Spring movements which were supposed to reign to mind a thunderstorm and the encore. I don't remember what the name of the song was for the encore but I wish I did. 

Afterwards Jason went up to tell them in person how great the concert was. It was a lovely date night in the middle of the week. 

 

Beginners Music Festival

Paige's orchestra had one last concert. It was the District's Beginners Music Festival. It was at El Paso High School, which is close to downtown. The building itself was built in 1916 and is amazingly cool old architecture. I kind of wish I had time to just tour it. But, being so old, it had VERY limited parking so I had to park blocks away and walk in. I am glad I left home early.

The festival was in the auditorium which was old and ornate and interesting. There was even balcony seating. Paige told me she would be in the back so I went up to the balcony to get a better view. The orchestra is so big that they had to play in two groups. Paige's class was in the first group. 

They played three songs and one of them was Paint It Black. They sounded great! After the performabces they all stood and took a bow. Then the judges came up to give them all feedback. 

They won a trophy for outstanding performance. Here is Ms. Cedillos, their director and teacher, holding the trophy. Later she posted that the second group had won one as well!

What a great experience for Paige!

 

Mother's Day

When I woke up Jason told me to stay in ned while he got everything ready. He is so cute when he is excited to give me presents. I came downstairs to a card from the kids and a card from Jason. I even got a "Happy Mother's Day" from Brendan first. With his card Jason gave me a gift of an adorable concrete hedgehog for the garden. With the kids' card he gave me another gift, a large, cozy knitted blanket I've been wanting. He and I went to Target a few days back and he watched what I was interested in. In fact, I have been wanting that blanket for years and always pet it when we walk by. It's on the bed right now. Then he made me breakfast. 

Poor Paige threw up this morning so she was going to be staying home from church. It was even more sad because it was my last chance to have one of my primary kids sing a Mother's Day song for me in sacrament meeting. But she was miserable and looked pitiful all day. I doubt she will be going to school tomorrow as she has been throwing up regularly. So I could go and do my calling and get my Mother's Day gift at church, Jason stayed home with her. When we got home, this is the scene. Daddy is asleep and sicko is watching a TV show.

At church I got chocolate from the EQ and YM. I sat in on Eva's class since Sister Bandley has a sick kid too. It was a good lesson about marriage. Then, the last 15 minutes, we gathered all the YW together and assembled gift baskets for their mom. Sister Marshall made homemade chocolates and caramels and bought face masks for the girls to enjoy with their mothers. 

We spent some time outside today since it was such a nice day. Eva made overnight blueberry french toast for dinner that was SO good. The rest of the kids (minus Paige) contributed to the meal as well. It was a nice, relaxing day where there was no fighting and I didn't have to cook. Every mom's dream. :)

 

Family History Fair

 Our stake put on a Family History Fair this weekend and invited the public. Since Jason is the high councilor over family history he was one of the people in charge. I got invited at help out by our ward's representative, Sister Whetten. I was happy to help as family history is my hobby. 

Our ward's booth's focus was on finding and preserving memories. Other ward's had booths with other aspects of family history.  I brought pictures, blog books, journals and my five generation chart. Other members displayed things like that as well. It was a great looking booth! Jason also set up the TV screen behind me so I was able to use FamilySearch and Ancestry.com while people could see. I had a few people come over and ask questions. I was able to get them started or point them in the right direction. 

It was actually more well attended than I thought it would be. They are doing another one in September. There are a few tweaks that could be made to make it even better but it was a pretty great start to promoting family history. 

End of the Year Orchestra Concert

The Fifth Grade Lundy Orchestra had its last school concert tonight. We arrived early but apparently not early enough to get a seat facing Paige. She was in the middle of the orchestra this time. I am glad she wore the bow in her hair so I could spot her. 

They played about 12 songs, two of which were Paint it Black and Swan Lake. They even played a Mother's Day song they had been keeping secret until the concert. Swan Lake sounded amazing and was my favorite though they did fabulously the whole time. It's hard to believe these kids are only in fifth grade. 

Afterwards we got some pictures of our little violinist. 

She found her friend Cassidy as well.

We are so proud of Paige's hard work and dedication. Too bad that she has decided she wants to try band next year. She thinks she wants to play the saxophone. 

 

New Teeth

 Eva got her braces off today. Since it is Invisalign there were no brackets to take off. She just doesn't need to wear her aligners anymore. They did have to take off some material they had added to the teeth but that was fast. The long part was waiting for her scan and the 3D print of her mouth to make the retainer. Because we are going to get her peg laterals built up tomorrow they made some extra room in the retainer with the understanding that if it did not fit after the buildup that she would have to come back and be fitted for another retainer. She was at the ortho for almost 2 hours. 

The next morning she had her dentist appointment where he built up her laterals. It was another long appointment spent with her mouth open so she was anxious for it to be over. I had to really push her to tell us truthfully if they felt okay since 1) she was tired of people being in her mouth and 2) she is so compliant anyway. I had to make sure that "It's fine" really meant everything was fine. I think the teeth look great. She just wanted to be done and go to school. The bad news was that the retainer did not fit so I had to make another appointment. 

So, for the third day in a row she had an appointment. The next day we went back to the ortho and got another scan and another 3D printing of her mouth. We got to keep it and it's kind of cool. They made the retainer from that mould and everything fit just right. She has to wear this upper retainer all the time for three months. After that it is a nighttime only thing. She is so glad to be done with it all. 

This is not a great picture as she just wanted to get to class but here is her new mouth. ;)

Stella is Seven

 It's hard to believe that this pretty girl has been in our lives for seven years! For the first two I was usually convinced that we made a mistake. She was so rambunctious and stubborn and didn't listen. She was too smart for her own good. Then, when she reached about two years old she mellowed. She's still a ridiculous dog but a good dog.

She loves walks/runs, squeaky toys, treats, and her people. She doesn't care for balls or fetch but does enjoy a game of tug or wrestling. She is a super chewer and has destroyed many toys. She has a high prey drive has killed a bird and a mouse in our backyard just this year. Yuck (but understandable). 

She sees it as her job to guard the house but is pretty calm outside the house. She still gets up on the coffee table to "pray" with us. She is very vocal and it's funny to take her in to "roo" at the kids in the morning to wake them up. She loves butt scratches and hates to get her nails trimmed. She still hasn't figured out cactus and the desert so no off leash trail runs for her here. 

We lover her, our big, fluffy, goofy, bright, loud doggie!

NJHS

 Darby was selected by one of her teachers as a nominee for the Nation Junior Honor Society. She had to fill out an application with questions abbot why you would be a good candidate. We found out last week that she was accepted. Induction was tonight. 

It was not a long ceremony but they did discuss the pledge of the NJHS and the qualities that embers were to uphold. Then the nominees all walked past the microphone and said their names, then giving a handshake to the leadership, officers and sponsors. 

Afterward we had some cookies and took picture with her friends. She is growing up so fast and into such a stellar young woman.