Easter

Easter was a joyous event this year because Umma and Uppa were over. Since Amelia is in fifth grade this year this is her last year getting an Easter basket and getting an Easter egg hunt. She ended it with a bang! Amelia participated in the neighborhood egg hunt and found the golden egg! Which let her choose from several baskets of toys. She didn't really need anything, but it was fun to see her find the golden egg. In her Easter basket at home the Easter Bunny brought her a bunch of spa products and a fancy tea drinks she likes. 

Amelia and Jack dyed Easter Eggs with Umma. Those didn't get hid, but they got eaten the next day, which is better. 

Amelia

Since the boys are away one weekend a month doing Scouting stuff, I try hard to do something fun with Amelia during those weekends. This last weekend we went on a "secret adventure." Well, that is what I called it to make it seem more fun. And we included Moana in it. Anyways, we started the adventure by going to Walmart to buy a whole bunch of junk food I would never normally let them get. Then we drove to Prosser to use the gift card Amelia won at the RMEF dinner. That wasn't' much of a surprise since they knew we were going to do that. After that though, we drove down to a local hotel with a very nice pool that I rented a room at for the night. That was the surprise and they both loved it! We swam in the pool until midnight and stayed up to 1:00 eating junk food and watching TV. In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which was good, and then the girls went swimming again until it was time to check out. We all agreed we needed to do more secret adventures! 

Jack

 Jack ranked up in Boy Scouts to Second Class this last court of honor. He was proud, we were proud, it was an all skate on being proud. Best of all, Dan has been right there with him throughout it all. Jack chose Dan to pin for Second Class pin, usually it's the mother that gets the pin, but I didn't mind at all.  Both boys and Dan are creating so many special
moments that they will take with them as they get older. 

Jacob

Jacob has started the lawn care for our neighbor, Ms. Mary. He is going to cut her grass for her once a week. He is also picking up work replacing neighbor's sprinklers if they need. He is doing all that along with umpiring and mowing our grass. It is his season to make money, which he is socking away for a car. 

Jacob

To get Jacob more experience driving he got to drive us to Packwood where we would meet Umma and Uppa for spring break. He got lots of experience driving since he drove us through sun, rain and hail on the way! And when I say rain, I mean rain like pour down spring shower! He did good once he figured out the window wipers. The hail was a little scary because we came around a corner on the freeway to find the road was completely covered with hail. He quickly got us out of cruise control and slowed down. He said he was a little nervous about that but he did just fine. Overall, he did great; freeway driving is pretty easy. He said he would rather drive than ride but his butt got tired of sitting. :)

Spring Break

For spring break this year the kids spent most of the week over at Umma and Uppa's house.

The first couple of days they spent splitting and stacking wood. And from what I hear, they did a good job of that. Burton and Dane came over for a couple of days so that was fun for them. I don't know much about what they did but I do know that they all enjoyed it very much. 

Spring break didn't seem to end since Umma and Uppa drove over with their 5th wheel to stay for almost a week. They stayed for the RMEF dinner, plus they wanted to watch several of Jack's tennis matches. They also brought their electric bikes, which the kids loved since they love to ride them. So lucky for us it was like a two week spring break!

RMEF

As a grand finale to the kids' spring break, we all went to the Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation dinner. When I say we, I mean the whole family, plus Umma and Uppa. This is the second year we have went and it was just as fun as last year. The kids may say it is better because it seemed like everyone got something cool. Jack got a nice pair of binoculars. Amelia got a gift card to a restaurant and first aid kit. Jacob was the most excited because he won a semi-automatic .22 and a bunch of swag to go with it. 

The boys were even more impressed with Dad and Uppa bidding in the live auction and winning! Jack so badly wanted to put up his paddle to bid. I told him he couldn't since he didn't have the money to back up his bid. Jacob commented that he thought the live auction was the best because of all the high rollers bidding. He said he wanted to be able to that someday. Goals!

School Spring 2023

We had school conferences for Amelia and Jack. This will be Jack's last school conference since they don't have them in high school. I wish they did have some way to communicate face to face with high school teachers but oh well. 

Jacob didn't have a conference, but he is doing extremely well in high school so far. He is getting all of his assignments completed and he says he understands what he is learning. When Jacob was in middle school, he was in the advanced placement classes but in high school, he isn't. He is now totally aware that not everyone is "school/book" smart and is kinda shocked on how some kids just "don't get it." When Jack complains that getting on honor roll is not that hard or big of deal because "everyone in his class" is on it (Jack is in advance placement classes) Jacob now tells Jack that getting a 3.95 or 4.0 is harder than it seems. I am just glad each boy has created a habit of giving their best on assignments and at school. I tell them they are developing daily habits of excellence that they can take with them throughout their lives. - "Oh mom, with an eye roll!"

Jack, as said above, is killing it at school. All of his teachers say he is doing excellent and raising to the academic challenges put in front of him. He is personable and they enjoy having him in class. They all comment that they enjoy talking with him and he seems genuinely interested in them outside of class. I don't think a lot of middle school students actually talk with their teachers like human beings. 

His PE teacher, Mrs. Gatson was especially complimentary about Jack's conversation skills. During conferences I dropped in to meet her face-to-face and personally thank her for looking out for Jack's best interests. The week before she had Jack call me on the phone to make sure he was cleared to participate in the PE class after being sidelined by his MCL injury. Jack is such a marvelous student in PE she thought he was just saying that he was cleared so he could participate. I wanted to make sure she knew I appreciated the way she was looking out for my son. She could have easily just let him participate but she cared enough about Jack to have him call me. We are so blessed to have such amazing teachers for Jack this year. 

Amelia is doing great in school. This is her last conference in elementary school, wow!! She decided to join me this conference, so it was nice for her to hear all the nice things her teacher had to say about her. Amelia is doing excellent in all subject areas at school. Because her academic areas are no problem for her, she has started participating in leadership at school. During her lunch recesses she collects the recycle for the building and tutors in a first-grade classroom. She enjoys the freedom leadership has let her have by moving throughout the building. 

Jack

Jack has started tennis for the year. He was out the first week and half of practices due to his MCL tear but he did go to the practices. He went to the practices because they counted towards his eligibility to play once he was medically cleared. Lucky for him he was cleared to play about 4 days before the first match and he was automatically placed as varsity one player, meaning he is the best 8th grade boy on the tennis team. He is very proud of himself (so are we) and gets a lot of confidence from playing tennis. His first match he won 6-0. The next match he did not win but he played very well.  The other player was good too, so it made Jack play better as than he ever has. Really Jack needs more players like that to play against so he can improve but that will come. 

The other great thing about tennis is the coaches. There are two men, Coach C. and Coach D., who coached Jack last year in tennis and were his cross-country coaches this year. Jack has built a good relationship with them. I like the way they encourage Jack, and the way Jack listens to them. I can tell Jack feels cared about by these two men because he does not dismiss what they say. I am proud when Jack looks either of them in the eyes, gives them a big smile and thank you as he shakes their hands as we leave matches. My mother's heart appreciates the people who take the time to "see" my son.