Sunday, June 12, 2022

May 2022

 This is going to be short and sweet because it is already mid June.  Here goes Mays top 10!

Baseball season began!  Joden is playing on a newly formed team called the Patriots.  They had a slow start, but are really starting to come along!


It really was fun watching Joden play soccer this season!  It was combined 7th-8th grade.  He worked his way up to earning some time on the A team.  One reason for that is his grades!  Proud of him and enjoyed this new part of middle school.  Only issue is I am not a fan of the spring weather.  There was LOTS of wind this year!

Orchestra concert night!  Never saw his instrument come home, but he did great-from what we can tell-at the concert.  Love that he like sports and fine arts!

We went to Mexico for Shannon's 40th celebration!  Why not throw a trip in the mix of all the craziness of the end of the school year?!?!  There were 19 of us.  We had a great time together.  It honestly was busy and we did not necessarily all just hang together the whole time.  It felt like lots of us were often going in different directions.  Crazy enough, 4 came back with Covid, but luckily tested negative in Mexico!

Came back mid week and then had Avery's graduation party that Saturday.  The first grandkid on our side is officially a high school graduate.  Proud of Avery and excited for what the future holds for her:). 

Then Reeve graduated from 5th grade!  No more elementary kiddos in our house.  Looking forward to two in middle school.  That night we also celebrated my dads 69th birthday!  We enjoyed dinner and a beautiful night on their patio.  Grateful my dad made it through heart surgery several years back and is still with us today:)


Last day of school obligatory picture.  It was another strange school year, but ended pretty well.  On to two in middle school next year!

This was not fun at all to clean, but definitely was grateful for this after picture!  Ready to see what round two of the tower garden is like:). 

We then had a fun end to the month with a trip to Colorado to visit the Andersons and see their new house for the first time!  They were great hosts and served us delicious food:)

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. 
Psalm 126:3




Saturday, May 21, 2022

April 2022

April is Reeve and I's birthday month and overall it was a fun-filled month!  We enjoyed time with friends, family, and went to lots of kid activities.  I know God does not want us to be over busy, but one thought I often have is that I would rather them be involved, interacting with others than being home and tempted to often be on a screen.  It is definitely a challenge of this era of parenting!  Another thought I often have is that I sure hope they are learning what it takes to work with others and also are sharing God's love at the same time.    
Enjoyed another fun night out with our dear friends the Halpines and MOnsons.  We enjoyed pizza at a small town bar and then Mike, our DD, got us to another small town bar pictured above.  

The next day Reeve finished off her last volleyball tournament of the year at home.  They ended up pulling out first place.  It sure was fun to watch them:). Looking forward to seeing how they continue to learn the game and progress.


Reeve is the back to back champ of our March Madness bracket challenge.  She earned dinner at Wasabi!

Mike completed a loose version of 75 Hard :). That is what he called it!  Proud of him for his hard work and dedication.

April 9th was my 37th birthday and we had a simple, yet great day!  We began the day by volunteering for Race for Grace in Grand Island.  Then we had a happy hour beverage with my family.  It was much busier out than we thought it would be, but come to find out it was prom for two of the high schools in town.

Fun with my students!  I have said this a lot, but I really do love my job:). One perk for me is that my students choose to be in the pathway I teach, so they want to be there for the most part.  Pictured above is them teaching direct instruction lessons.  In a nutshell that means they model a task for them, then they do it together with guidance, and to finish the student should be able to do the task on their own.  Below is our trip that we finally got to take to Wayne State College.  We have tried the last several years, but due to Covid we could not go:.  We had a blast and it was so great to hear more about the college that our students receive dual credit through!

MIke's dad brought a box of his old things and we found this picture in the box.  It looks SO MUCH like Joden!!  He was a few years older in this picture, but it was a holy cow moment.


Joden played middle school soccer this year and it was often pretty chilly.  The first game Reeve and I watched from the car and for some of the games I sat outside for, I had to dress like I was going skiing. When Joden played Heartland soccer I always said fall soccer typically was much better weather!


Joden had a pretty good year!  Soccer is combined 7th and 8th grade so I was not expecting him to make A team.  At first he was just on B team, but by the end he got to play half of the A games, as well as the whole B game.  Due to hard work and grades he was able to move up.  Proud of him for that!

Reeve and I got tickets to the Husker volleyball spring game here in GI and we got an autograph from every Husker player.  It was a super fun night and we really enjoyed getting to say hi to all the players;). They were very friendly!

Baseball began this month.  Joden is on a newly formed team called the Patriots.  They are a group of kids who all played city league last year.  The goal is for them to play this year and next together before several of them can try out for legion.  So far they have not won a game, but hopefully they will continue to grow as the season goes on.

These are the parts of adulting that I don't find enjoyable.  Our dishwasher has never been amazing and it is annoyingly loud.  I decided I better clean it out and boy was it nasty!  


We hosted Easter with whoever was up for getting together!  It ended up being the Ankenys and my parents.  We had a low key, yet very enjoyable day:)

For the last five years we have ended April with dance recital and Reeve's birthday!  Due to her birthday being during the week, we went to Kearney about a week early to stay in a hotel in Kearney that is new and has a water park on the inside.  The girls were great and we had a wonderful time:).  I also made sour dough cinnamon rolls for the first time and they were yummy!  

The day of her actual birthday she enjoyed a huge breakfast, fun at school, and dinner at Wasabi.


To round out the month Reeve had her dance recital!  It was long, but they did do a really great: job). Proud of the hard work they do all year to perform at the end of the year!  Next year she is going to try out team dance.  It will just be one year due to middle school sports starting in 7th grade.  



Friday, April 1, 2022

March

 The kids are keeping us B.U.S.Y!!  It is like a love/hate relationship:)

Chopped off some chives for my first harvest from the tower garden!  Second picture is a three hour Zoom call I did with a homeopath to help figure out some side effects from my hormones.  I think we are on the right track.


Show choir competition in Omaha that we sadly could not make it to!  They got first in all three categories and we missed it.  Super proud of the dedication show choir takes.  Being at school by 7am three days a week is hard for sure!

Another tournament!  The girls kicked butt and got 1st place in the gold bracket.  Sure is fun to watch them:)

Joden had a competition in Springfield, Missouri where my sister lives.  So, it works out great because we can spend time with them and go to this meet!

3rd place
Went to a tramp place after the meet!
Burger joint for dinner.
My sister and I with our daughters!

Got back from Missouri just in time to celebrate Joden's birthday!  This is what he chose to eat for breakfast.

Weather was a tad interesting this day, but we were able to make it to Kearney to celebrate at Big Apple Fun Center.  They had a blast:)

Third volleyball tournament and third first place medal in their pool!  Way to go girls!

My dear friend informed me of fresh strawberries coming to town!  So, she helped me out and picked them up.  They were yummy:)

Knew we had to be in Lincoln for Reeve's volleyball game on a Sunday.  So, we went up Saturday and enjoyed our first ever Husker baseball game.  It is super affordable and the weather was beautiful!  We will definitely be back.  

Afterwards we stayed with Dan and Lisa.  The Ankenys joined us for some dinner and games!  Love, love, love that our family is much closer now and we can stay with them when we are in town.

Volleyball on the left and then we actually were back in town the following weekend for state gymnastics.  So then we stayed with Shannon:). 

We got to watch the Borowski girls for a full week while mom and dad were in Mexico.  We had a blast and were equally exhausted:)

 

Had a blast surprising two of my students with a scholarship that they earned!  I just find so much joy in my job:)

Dance pictures are always fun!

Joden finished 2nd at state gymnastics and had his best meet of the season!  So proud of his strength and am wowed by what he can do.

After state in Lincoln I drove to Kearney for volleyball.  Reeve's team got 2nd place to a very solid serving team from Kearney.

Night of the show choirs!  Super fun watching Joden be a part of show choir this year.  Excited for what the future holds in this arena for him.  What I love most is how much positive energy there is:)