Field trips galore

Part of the fun of spring: Field trips. I was able to use my personal days to go with Ellie to the OMSI overnight and with Jack to Champoeg. I love being able to be kids on these special occasions and help out their teachers. And funny, I always seems to get some extra special kids in my groups. That's the downside of being a teacher, they know you can handle the naughty ones. But both of these were great experiences!!

Ag Fest

Ellie's teacher submitted essays to the McDonald's What we're made of Contest. They chose 15 essays from 4th graders in Oregon. The 15 winners get to go on a special field trip to Ag Fest at the State Fairgrounds. Well guess whose essay won the trip for Ellie's class?? You got it, my fabulous daughter. We were SO excited and proud of her. It was a very big deal and she was a great kid to get that attention. Of course I had to go on the field trip, which meant I could only use 1/2 a day on the day after the OMSI trip. But it was worth it. What a special experience! I am so proud of my girl!

Easter

We had a nice Easter weekend! Both kids played a ball game on Saturday then we dyed Easter eggs. The next morning they were able to hunt for eggs and have a big breakfast. After that we went to my mom's house where Nana and Papa met us for dinner. The kids got lots of candy and enjoyed themselves.

Ellie skis Mt. Hood

Ellie got to ski at Mt. Hood meadows. We went up with my friend Vanessa and her husband Tim. They are avid skiers. So this involved leaving Salem at 6 am (ouch). But it was well worth it. It was a gorgeous day. Ellie did ski school in the morning, then we all had lunch together. Then she got to spend the afternoon skiing with Vanessa and Tim. They were so good to her. Vanessa is a teacher and she used to be a ski instructor. Ellie LOVED it! She loves skiing and I am so proud of how she is so determined to ski!

Doug's show

Doug had a solo show for the month of April. These involve a lot of extra hours and stress, however the end is worth it. Doug's work looked awesome and he had a lot of positive feedback. He made some sales too, which is always nice. The kids and I stopped by to check out the opening. There was even a cotton candy maker which made them happy.

Happy Birthday JACK!

As repeated by Jack, My eighth birthday was the best ever!!!! It started the weekend before his birthday with a mini celebration with our best friends. Pancho got Jack a special cake and Jack was in full birthday mode. As we got to the weekend of his birthday he got sick. Actually allergies that triggered his asthma. He ended up missing his first baseball game and needing to postpone a birthday sleepover. He also needed prednisone so he would be well enough for his party. But we did it! I took 6 boys to Chuck E. Cheese. They spent lots of tokens, ate pizza and cake and ran around like crazy. Then I brought them back to our house for a couple more hours of fun. Jack had a blast. He got $98 dollars, legos, club penguin cards, and the Kevin Garnett jersey he had been wanting. After his friends left he couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had. The next day was his real birthday. I brought treats to his class at lunch time. After school Nana, Papa, and Grammy came over and he got a coin collection set. We had birthday dinner at Izzy's. It's hard to believe he is now 8! Love you so much Jack!

This picture represents one of my proudest moments as a mom! After his party he was so excited about his fabulous gifts he decided he needed to write thank you notes (REALLY we did not even mention he should do this!) and he then sat down and wrote them all. Even with the excitement of his birthday and new toys to play with. I really couldn't be any more proud of this little guy!

Spring Break Fun

2011 Spring Break has been a blast. We never go anywhere big but always manage to cram a lot of fun into one week. I have pictures of some of our fun and some will just live on in the memories ;) This week we: went swimming at the Kroc center, kids had a sleepover with Nana, went to a Blazer game, went swimming with friends, played softball and baseball, the girl's went shopping, went tubing at the Autobahn, stayed the night in Sisters, fed the llamas, Ellie went skiing, had friends over for a sleepover. We will end this fun week going to see the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie with our friends. What a great week!