The Month of Jared

This post makes it look like all our energies are focused on Jared! He just happens to have a lot going on this month. This Court of Honor was actually in May. Jared received his Tenderfoot and Second Class along with four merit badges. He is moving right along! He is enjoying scouts and wants to earn his Eagle by 14. I am all for that!


Jared also had a piano recital. It's all we can do to get him to practice, but I get the feeling he enjoys performing for an audience. He is a ham like his daddy. He managed to do quite well even though he wasn't able to get to his master class since he was in the middle of playoffs for baseball. Never a dull moment!


Jared also talked us into signing him up for Junior Lifeguards this summer. I always thought he would end up hating it because it is 3 1/2 hours EVERY DAY during the summer. We will see how that goes. The selling point is that he can earn 7 merit badges during the summer. He also has something to do for at least part of the day. The afternoons he still is running like wild with his friends. I don't know where he gets his engergy.


In Jared's GATE class this year, they did what the teacher calls a "Great Brain Project". They had certain topics to pick from and did a HUGE report including pictures and a project. She had it spread out over a few months so it was painless. Jared has always been good about getting his work done ahead of time. His project was the Roman Coliseum. He wanted to make a sculpture, but I talked him into painting since drawing and artwork are his thing. He had never painted before, but I think he did an amazing job! His teacher asked to keep the painting to show future classes. He thought that was pretty cool and quite an honor, however, we didn't have any pictures of it, so we went to his class room to take pictures.

Random.....

I was rushing around the house trying to get ready to take Jared to his game and this is what I found. I have to take pictures when my kids actually get along to prove that it really does happen. Maelen had a rare afternoon with nothing going on and Jared was just "patiently" waiting for me and decided to go have a chat with his big sis. I am probably glad I don't know what they are discussing.

Babysitting

My visiting teacher came last week and brought me some beautiful orchid stems. It was such a wonderful treat. I guess Maelen and I "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed enough that she let us babysit her orchid plants while she goes back east for her son's graduation. We should be getting about 8 or 9 stems before she gets back!! She also left us her cilantro plants to babysit - yum!

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley is on his way to visit Uncle Mike and Aunt Michelle's family. Luckily for us, they are good sports. For those of you who don't know, Flat Stanley is a book about a kid named Stanley who is flattened one night when a bulletin board falls on him. A little gruesome, I know. However, since he is flat, he can be rolled up and mailed all over the place. The book tells some of his adventures like being flown like a kite and finally being pumped back up by his brother with a bicycle pump. One kid had Flat Stanley visit a relative who plays hockey and he came home with a black eye! You never know what will happen. Kendall is looking forward to seeing and hearing all about his adventures in San Marcos!! Thank you Mike & Michelle!!

I'm a Ham....

HAM Radio Technician, Class 2, that is. During April I took a HAM Radio class. It was pretty interesting and a great skill to know in case of emergency. I knew the info pretty well, but for some reason I studied harder because I reaaaallllly wanted to get 100%. Well the test is not really very hard and I did get a 100%. I will have my call sign as soon as the paperwork makes it through the FCC and then all I need to do is buy a radio. Yippee! By the way, not even my teacher knew what HAM stands for.

Easter & Dad's Birthday

On Easter, we also celebrated Dad's birthday. After Dad opened his presents, he and Mom whispered something and then before you know it, he ran upstairs and got out the old slides and we had a major slide war. Those who have not been involved in the past didn't know what to think of it. I had forgotten how much they hurt when they hit!! I think I would like to go back to the days of the rolled up sock fights. The funny part is that Dad & Mom will be finding slides in their house for months to come. It's the birthday present that keeps on giving!

Easter

I am finally getting around to posting Easter pictures. It has been a crazy couple of weeks! Here is one of our favorite traditions - dying eggs. Even Matt got into this year. The older the kids get, the pretty the eggs get. This year our dye had brown, which we found odd, but Jared made several football eggs with that. Unfortunately Kendall's Easter was not so pleasant. She did not feel up to doing eggs or anything.
Friday afternoon, she had been out playing and came in complaining of an upset stomach. Within a short time she was throwing up. Between 4:30 and 10:30, she probably threw up 10 times. I finally took her to the emergency room. They got us right in and after asking some questions, gave her a pill to relieve the nausea, which she immediately threw up. They decided she had a UTI and immediately put her on an IV with antibiotics and more anti-nausea medicine. We finally headed home about 2 a.m. She was worn out and just plain weak. The next day she was still not feeling so well and was afraid to eat anything for fear of throwing up. This presented a problem since she needed to take these gigantic antibiotic pills. Finally by Sunday night, she was feeling a little better and begging to go to school the next day. (Yes, you heard me right - begging to go to school. She loves it.) By Monday morning, she had a horrible croup-y cough, so school was out of the question. We went back to the doctor, but by then it had turned into more of a cold. The good news is, they took her off the ridiculously large medication. Whatever happened to suspension liquids??? Once that has worked through her body, they are going to run a couple of tests, but so far everything has been just peachy.

On top of all that, she got her appliance. She has a teeny tiny little mouth and no room for any new teeth coming in. She has been a pro with that though. I can't believe how responsible she is and how willing she is to do what she is supposed to. It doesn't hurt either that her dentist/ortho is her Uncle Brad that gives her hugs and kisses and special attention when she comes in for visits. How did we get so lucky??