Easter 2014

Wedding Day

Saturday April 19th, 2014

Justin & Jamie's wedding at Tuscan Ridge

 

The wedding was at 5:00 in the evening and we arrived with just enough time to see Justin and Wyatt before the ceremony began and wow...those boys clean up nice.

 

We headed over and took our seats.

Neither of the boys were particularly pleased that they had to sit in their chairs rather than search the grass for four-leaf clovers.

Here comes the beautiful bride as her father walks her down the aisle.

Exchanging rings.

On to the reception.

Look at the cake! So pretty! On the top was a layer of carrot cake, followed by a tiramisu chocolate  in the middle and lemon on the bottom.

For dinner there was a choice of tri-tip with mashed potatoes or grilled chicken with rice along with salad, green beans and a roll. Yum!

It was a perfect day with gorgeous weather and an evening filled with family, celebration, food and lots of love. We had an absolutely fabulous time!

Fitness for Kids Marathon

Tyler's teacher is a member of the Hard Core Runner's Club of Yakima, as was her late husband, and she's keeping his memory alive by organizing the 2014 Fitness for Kids Marathon, which is something he had done in the past. It's an easy way for kids to keep active by breaking down a marathon into smaller, more manageable distances that in the end will equal 26.2 miles. All participants have from now until the first week of June to run or walk 25 miles on their own time and at their own pace and then they'll meet in June to run the last 1.2 miles together at Sarg Hubbard Park.

 

So Tyler and I committed to the challenge and walked the first two miles over the weekend. He was more interested in running than I had anticipated, so next time I'll make sure to actually wear workout clothes rather than jeans.  Plus, if we run instead of walk, it'll serve as better training for the See Spot Run 5K coming up at the end of the month.

We went in a big loop around the middle school that included a big downhill slope and then on the way back, a mighty uphill slope.

And the neatest part was having the runtastic app on the phone that kept track of our mileage, time...everything. So much cooler than a pedometer!

March Favorites

My favorite Project Life pictures for March:

 

Kyle is such a big boy now that he climbs up the playground equipment all by himself. I still get a little nervous, afraid that he'll slip, but he gets such a big smile on his face when he accomplishes things all by himself so I try not to interfere.

We had a little bit of snow early in the month and Kyle wanted to be right outside with his dad shoveling the driveway and sidewalk. We only have a small garden shovel for him, but he made it work just the same.

100% pure exhaustion. Just don't tell him he fell asleep, he'd be so disappointed. He thinks he's much too big for naps.

My big helper in the kitchen helping me make banana bread.

Taking a break in the center of a labyrinth.

Tyler showing me his big tricks on the trampoline. This was before he went into a more complicated series of knee, butt, knee, butt, knee, butt, knee.

Silly faces is what I get most of the time when I try to take pictures.

But real smiles are my absolute favorite.

Birthday Boy

For Tyler's 9th birthday we had a small celebration at home, but he did invite a friend over to join in the festivities. I made the cake yesterday, so all I had to do this morning was get some balloons, hang up some streamers and wrap a few last minute gifts.

 

This boy is 9 years old?! Get out!

I ordered pizza for lunch for the boys and afterwards we had cake and ice cream.

Chocolate cake and vanilla frosting from scratch. Yum!

Then it was time to open presents: A marble run, Lego kits, Pokémon game guides, Harry Potter movies and more!

 

School Related News

A few weeks ago I took Tyler out of school, meaning that I abruptly withdrew him from his class with no real plan for an alternative course of study. At first I thought I would have to somehow homeschool him for the rest of the school year, but then I made arrangements to move him back to his old school and place him in a 4th grade class with a teacher he was already familiar with.

 

So last week he started back up at his old school after a 9-day hiatus and so far he's making a fantastic transition. Right now he's only attending half days, afternoons only, so that he doesn't get overwhelmed and he has an easier time keeping his behavior in check. Our main concern right now is helping him have successful days at school.

On that note, his teacher mentioned to us that he was having a hard time seeing the board and the document camera from his seat in the back row. We took him for an eye exam on Monday and it turns out he's nearsighted in both eyes and will need to wear glasses in the classroom and in situations where he needs to see things at a distance.

He picked out some new frames and his glasses should be ready by the end of spring break. Doesn't he look smarter already?

Portland Road Trip

It was another out of town weekend for us, but this time we headed south to Portland. I had a scrapbooking event scheduled for Saturday, but besides that we had no particular plan.

 

We left Yakima late in the afternoon and arrived in Portland right before sunset. It was beautiful weather the whole time. No rain or snow like we saw last weekend. In fact, it was probably the nicest weather we've ever seen in Portland this time of year.

We stayed at the hotel where the scrapbooking event was taking place, right next to the airport. It was an all day crop that included two classes and an Italian buffet lunch.

In the morning class we made 2 different 2-page layouts. I was going along fine until I accidentally put my adhesive on the wrong side of the paper. The bad thing about these kits is that there is absolutely no extra paper included. They only give you exactly what you need and if you happen to make a mistake of any sort, then you're just plain out of luck. So I abandoned that layout and started to work on my Project Life that I'd brought from home.

The buffet lunch wasn't all that bad. It included salad, vegetables, spaghetti with marinara or alfredo sauce, herbed chicken and French bread. Then there was a selection of cookies and cake for dessert and a variety of different drinks.

Then in the afternoon class we worked on a card kit that had all the materials to make 8 different greeting cards.  That kept me busy for the rest of the night until it was time to pack it up at 9:00.

Meanwhile the boys spent the day at the OMSI. They spent a majority of time in the Chemistry and Physics Labs and also visited the planetarium.

Tyler made an awesome atomic model using carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms.

Then on Sunday we checked out of the hotel and headed home, but not before stopping at the Clackamas Mall and the Columbia Gorge Outlets. We were able to do a little shopping in some of the stores that are nonexistent in Yakima such as Barnes and Noble, Eddie Bauer, Oil & Vinegar, Yankee Candle and so on.