Honor Roll and Georgia!

The end of the school year always brings a flurry of activity and this year is no different.

Katey took the EOG tests 2 weeks ago (4 tests over 4 days) and passed all with flying colors!  While we didn't have much worry that she wouldn't pass, it is still a stressful time for Katey and her school mates and we are so thankful to have them behind us!

Friday was an exciting day around here.  Katey was part of the award ceremony for the Honor Roll at the school.  She was in the A honor roll all year long and received a certificate and trophy for all her hard work!!

Right after school on Friday we headed south to Georgia to meet up with Aunt Christy and visit Aunt Martha and Uncle Lee (and cousins!).  We had a wonderful weekend of fun playing in the pool, catching frogs and a turtle, exploring the woods, playing on the tire swing, watching Uncle Lee take off in his plane, visiting church, laying around with Cody the dog and eating lots and lots of cookies!  As usual I was really bad about getting pictures and neglected to pull the camera out while we were hanging out with Mike's cousins.  (I think it was because we were enjoying being together so much that there wasn't time to think about pictures!)  Guess we'll have to have a next time so I can get pictures then!  :-)  

Blessed

I am truly blessed by my family.

I awoke yesterday to come downstairs and find a banner waiting for me (I'll get to that in a minute) along with breakfast prepared and on the table.  Katey gave me one of her precious honey buns (she bought them with her own money) and Seth had some Oatmeal Square cereal mixed with 6 Frosted Flakes ready to go in a heart-shaped bowl.  Mike had my coffee all brewed and ready, too!  Not only did I get breakfast, but there were some very nice cards waiting for me along with some Starbucks coffee beans.  I want to share the cards from the kids:

From Katey, it is a beautiful, pink card with flowers drawn that says, "Happy Mother's Day".  When opened, a flower pops up and the card reads, "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, You're a great Mommy, Happy Mother's Day, too."

Seth's is written in purple and yellow, my 2 favorite colors, and says, "You are my mother, my only mother.  You love me a lot, too much to know.  You are really nice, you're going to be PTA President.  That's why you are the best mom to me.  Happy Mother's Day!"

Not only did I get breakfast and cards and coffee, Mike grilled steaks for dinner and made 2 kinds of homemade ice cream!  And, my mom came over to enjoy it all with us and she brought fruit pizza and let the kids decorate it!!

It is a little tough to read, but the kids spelled out "MOM" in bananas (the "O" is a kiwi)!

It really was a wonderful, relaxing day.  But, my most favorite part of all was the banner.  We were at Mom's on Saturday to give her a gift of labor - we pulled weeds and trimmed bushes and trees and picked up sticks and pine cones.  She also had a project for Katey:  a Mother's Day banner for me.  So, I napped on the couch (it was a sacrifice I made so that I wouldn't see the secret project) while they put it together.  While I knew what was going on, I was very surprised by the fantastic results:

As I was coming down the steps Sunday morning, Katey is right behind me saying, "Mommy, look above the den doors.  It got messed up, but hey!, it's the thought that counts, right?"  I wish I could get a good picture of the whole thing, but here is the best I could do:

They somehow managed to glue the letters on so you have to read it backwards.  I love this!!

Hope you all had as YAD SREHTOM YPPAH as I did!

The Ups and Downs of Pet Ownership

Peri the Quaker Parrot has been a part of our family for 4 or 5 years now.  He has always been loud and able to talk, but he started out as such a nice, mild-mannered bird.  Peri would let us all take him out of the cage, hold him, play with him (as much as one can "play" with a bird).  Then, one by one, he decided he didn't like us.  We are down to only Mike being able to take Peri from the cage.  This, of course, has its bonuses - like only Mike can clean the cage!  Though, we do miss the easy-going, laid-back-ish bird we used to know and wonder if he will ever return. 

Then came Belle the poodle/terrier-of-some-sort mix.  She joined us a year and a half ago as a surprise for the kids and has settled into our family quite nicely.  There are down-sides to owning this dog, of course. She has a nervous and excitable bladder so we are frequently cleaning up accidents when guests arrive to our home (Aunt Shannon has lovingly and appropriately dubbed her, "Tinkle Belle").  It is difficult to play games on the floor as Belle wants to be a part of things, too, and tends to run over the game board or pile of cards.  And, she barks at every little noise she hears.  But, there are up-sides as well.  I love having her in the house with me during the day.  Belle is pretty calm most of the time and likes to just curl up beside us (or on us).  She is so much fun when she gets in her "Bullet Belle" mode, as the kids like to call it, running at lightening speed through the house.  And, the kids love to see how high they can get Belle to jump up for her toys.  She can get as high as Seth's head at the moment!! 

Not too long ago, Seth saved up his money to buy a fish tank.  It was a little tank for 1 or 2 fish.  There was joy when Swimmy and Fin came to live with us, but sadness at their sudden...departure.  Then came Swimmy and Fin (yeah...same names) and it seems that one of them is no longer with us, though I could be wrong about that. 

You might think that sounds strange - that I don't know the names of our beloved family pets.  But, Seth and Katey both used Christmas money to buy 10 gallon tanks for their rooms.  We now have somewhere around 15 fish.  The kids can tell you their names, but I have long given up on trying to keep them straight (especially considering Seth likes to name them then change their names a day or so later).  We have lost some along the way.  When any of Seth's die the conversation usually goes something like this:
Me:  Seth, I have some bad news.  One of your fish has died.
Seth:  Awwwww.  I liked him. 
Me:  I know, I'm sorry.
Seth:  Hm.  Can I play the Wii now?

Seth's tank

Katey lost 2 fish for the first time this week.  The first one she had just gotten the day before so she wasn't too upset.  However, "Longy" just passed away on Monday and it was traumatic in the house:

Katey:  LONGY IS DEAD!  (sobbing)

Mike:  What?

Katey:  My fish, Longy, (sob) is stuck to the filter.  He's dead (big sob)

Mike goes to take care of the fish and Katey is upstairs continuing to sob.  I go up to check on her.

Katey:  He was my first fish.  I will miss him so much (sob)
Jen:  I know, I'm sorry
Katey:  Can we go to Petsmart and get another fish like him?  I will pick one out with long fins and stripes that don't quite match up, just like Longy.

Mike had a conversation with Katey about working through grief and not trying to just replace something to make hurt go away.  Though, when all was said and done, Katey ended up with 2 new fish to replace her lost ones.  The next morning:
Jen:  I like the green shirt you picked out to wear today.
Katey:  Yes.  And I have on my black pants today because Longy died and I am sad.

I love that kid!

Katey's tank

Oh, the ups and downs of pet ownership!

Terrific Kids

We have 2 pretty terrific kids.

Katey ran her sixth 5K last weekend and managed to shave several minutes off her personal best to set a new (personal) record!!  She and Mike crossed the finish line in right at 36 minutes!  As always, Katey thoroughly enjoyed her season of Girls On the Run and was especially excited about the post-race pizza and cake celebration.

Seth got the Terrific Kid award for his class this grading period!  We were treated to breakfast and a presentation of awards.  His teacher wrote a very nice paragraph as to why Seth was chosen for the award and he was all smiles as he heard it being read.  Seth was so excited about this honor that he could hardly stand it and must have told us 10 times how overjoyed he was!  (We won't mention the part about his whining and complaining over being made to wear a collared "church shirt" to school. HA!)

 

We are so proud of both of our TERRIFIC kids!