Church Campout

Over the weekend, my family attended our church's overnight campout.  This is the second time that I've put up my new tent, the Big Agnes Flying Diamond 8 person tent, and it is really her maiden voyage, so to speak, since the last time was only in our backyard.  We discovered that a double air mattress fits exactly in the rear room of the tent with no wiggle room whatsoever.  So my dreams of a queen airbed have flown the coup.  Ah well, c'est la vie.  We also found out that with said double air mattress, you can also fit another twin air bed and four children in the tent perfectly, which is exactly what we needed to do.  I enjoyed my air bed as I found out the last time that if I am closer than a foot to the ground, my body declares mutiny.  sigh.  The only drawback that I had this time was that the wonderful double sleeping bag that I bought in anticipation of my husband's joining us really needs two people in it to effectively retain any heat.  Fortunately, Bethany was having some difficulties getting comfortable on the ground and Kaitlyn was bothering her as well so I received a much needed sleeping companion that was mutually beneficial.

From left to right: Malia, Me, Carmen, Bethany, Kaitlyn and "Big Agnes" (the tent)

I really enjoyed camping with the girls.  They are at the perfect age for camping.  Except for the occasional moment of panic, I mostly didn't have to worry about where they were or what they might be putting in their mouth.  There were lots of other children to go exploring with and Malia especially loved the many dogs that families had brought along.  I don't think there was a time the whole campout where she didn't have at least one dog dragging her along somewhere. 

There was a wonderfully steep, sparsely wooden hill behind the campground that constantly drew children up and down its slopes.  Often there would be a smaller child that would go too high for their own comfort and the older kids would be more than happy to form an impromptu rescue party just for another excuse to tromp up the hill again.  It is safe to say there wasn't a clean backside and more than one hole ripped into perfectly good pants among the lot of them from the wonderful escapades on the mountainside. 

There was also a talent show around a bonfire.  I had brought my ukulele.  Papa brought his guitar and Bethany brought her violin.  I had printed out several songs that I liked to play not knowing how many times I would get a chance to do.  Well, it turned out that there weren't a whole lot of takers at the talent show and without meaning to, the Hammari family had the majority of the stage time.  Papa, Bethany and I got to play two songs each, Bethany read one chapter from the book that she is writing (The Cats of Kilimanjaro) of which she is currently on page 70, and Kaitlyn demonstrated how to make the perfect s'mores. 

I have high hopes for the upcoming campouts if this one is any indication. 

Grandma's flowers

Poppy

 It has been wondrous to see my mother in law's garden bloom.  She has such a wide variety of flowers in her yard.  I have been having a wonderful time taking pictures of all the different blooms as they come into their prime.  This is just a small sample of them.

Peone

Iris

Rose

Tulip

Columbine

Heliotrope

Foxglove

 

The garden at twilight

Go Kaitlyn!!!

Kaitlyn had the opportunity to attend the Borah High School Cheerleading Cub Clinic that was held for three days last week.  Borah High School is my husband's alma mater and the school where my mother in law worked for many years.  Kaitlyn wasn't all that sure about the idea at first but I had a feeling that my little princess would have a blast.  Turns out mothers do know best every once in a while.  She had a great time!  She got a cheerleading skirt and souvenir shirt and a pretty bow for her hair and she loves to prance around now chanting "Go Lions!"  Her daddy would be so proud :)

Here's a test.  Can you find Kaitlyn?

Kaitlyn doing a cheer

I just had to have a shot that showed her cute bow!

She is probably the cutest cheerleader ever!

My stellar students

Before the end of school, I had the pleasure of seeing all three of my girls get an award for their achievements during this school year.  Kaitlyn received "The Most Improved" award for her class as she had come into this school year not being able to read very well at all and ended the year being one of the top readers in her class. 

Malia received "The Super Student" award for her class for doing well in all her studies.  She has done so well that her teacher feels that she is ready to move back to a regular ed classroom as long as she has some extra support.

Bethany has really excelled this year, being a shining star in her classroom.  She received an academic achievement award for having an excellent GPA and she also was recognized for her considerable artistic talent and was given "The Artistic and Creative Excellence" award for her class.  Her teacher has been incredibly impressed with her writing and illustrating skills.  He has typed some 50 pages or so of one of the stories that Bethany has written and has even given a copy to the principal, who is on pins and needles waiting for the next chapter.  I am still working with her on finishing projects she has started but she is related to somebody I know....ahem...that isn't all that good at following through with things herself.

Anyway, Congratulations girls on a very successful school year!

Kaitlyn getting "The Most Improved" award

Malia getting the "Super Student" award

Bethany accepting the second of her two awards

Jessi's Tumbling Class

Ever since November or there abouts, Jessi has been attending what she calls her tumbling class at The Little Gym every Thursday.  She absolutely loves it and they have a fun program that teaches beginning gymnastics skills in a very creative and low-stress environment.   There is a lot of music and singing along with these skills that were right up Jessica's alley.  At the end of every 20 week session, they hold a "show" where the parents and families are invited in the room and we can watch them "perform" the skills they had learned.  All the kids are then given a medal.  This time around, Jessi was doing regular makeup classes on Tuesdays as well so she ended up doing two shows, thereby getting two medals!  She thought she was pretty hot stuff, let me tell you!  Although, I would have to agree, she does a pretty amazing forward roll :)

Jessi flying off the balance beam after her routine

Jessi demonstrating a perfect "pizza hang"

One of Jessi's least favorite activities is the "Front Support"

Jessi with her classmates after they received their participation medals

Quilts on the beds!

I finally finished all of the girls' quilts and got them on their beds!  Unfortunately, it is now time to pack them up and ship them back to NH.  Malia is getting the short end of the stick as I just finished hers today and she won't have as much time with hers.  Oh well, c'est la vie.  At least they will have them in NH!!! 

Jessi's quilt and pillow sham (with Mommy Bear)

Kaitlyn's quilt and pillow sham (with Princess Lily)

Malia's quilt and pillow sham

Bethany's quilt and pillow sham

Hillcrest Rocks!

Bethany and Malia participated in a concert today put on by the 4th, 5th and 6th graders full of 70's songs.  They have been coming home singing songs by Abba, the Jackson 5, the Bee Gees and the Beatles and knowing the words far better than I have ever known them!  It was a kick to see them rocking out.  I spoiled a couple of the recordings by singing along too loudly.  The first song they sang was Joy to the World by Three Dog Night.  Malia's best friend, Izzy, sang the first solo and she was astonishingly good.  She is one of the six kids in Malia's self-contained classroom.  Amazing!

 

Malia is in a pink tie-dye in the second row, right before the change to the red tie-dye shirts.  She is constantly playing with her hair.  She is also hidden by the head of the lady in front of me for a lot of the time.

Bethany is in a yellow tie-dye shirt in the back row right under the left corner of the basketball hoop.  You can't really tell in the recording but she has a scowl on her face for most of the performance for some reason.  I'm going to have to talk to her about that because I know she loves the songs.  I guess performing isn't really her thing.

In this one, I am singing but since I figured, at least in this one, I wasn't too loud and you can still hear the kids, that you'd forgive me for not restraining myself.  I just can't help singing along to cool songs :).