Our May in one second a day

One second per day in May...

LeaderShape year 13

Another year of the LeaderShape Institute is in the books. It's crazy to me to think about how long I've been a part of this program. It was the first big responsibility I as given way back when I had my first Student Life job at Phoenix College in 2004. My boss at the time, Kelly had volunteered me to help Becky coordinate the first ever LeaderShape program for our district. We had no idea how it would go, or if it would be a sustainable program. Here we are, 13 years later and Becky and I are still planning it together. We have added a few members to our planning team, and honestly can't believe we ever did it by ourselves. Our team has become a well-oiled machine, so to speak, and we pull off this program successfully every year. We all have our roles, know what to do, and we put on a great Institute each year. 

We had a great crew of Co-Leads, Cluster Facilitators and On-Site coordinators (otherwise know as Institute Faculty) this year. Here we are together on day 3. 

And the students were phenomenal, as always.  I am amazed each and every year at the students who go through this program. Their stories and their passion, their hopes for the future--they are all so impressive. This program is the reason I continue to do my job. Each year, I wrap up a LeaderShape and I'm re-energized for another year of Student Life. I learn something each year, and I grow along with the students. They make me believe that this world will one day be better.

Here is a photo of the group of us from Phoenix College from the inaugural LeaderShape program in 2005. See the student in the back row, second from the the right? His name is Johnny Mendez. After LeaderShape, he went on to graduate from ASU, and he also started a non-profit agency called AZ Community Voicemail. It was a program that provided phone numbers and voicemail for homeless people to use when applying for jobs. Pretty cool huh? Can you find baby me in this picture?? 

Well, fast forward to 2017. Johnny is now AZ State Senator Juan Mendez! He was first elected to the AZ House of Representatives in 2012 and elected Senator in 2016. At 33 years old, he's the youngest state representative.   In 2013 gained some national attention for choosing to open a House meeting with a secular speech, rather than a traditional religious prayer. That's actually how he was brought back to my attention. I saw an article about him on one of the (non-local) Facebook pages I follow. Of course, our ultra conservative state leaders had a problem with him leading a secular address instead of a prayer.  After reading about his success, I got in touch with him and asked if he'd like to come back to LeaderShape and serve on our Guest Leader Panel, which happens on the 3rd night of the program. It was so great to see him again and to hear about all he's done! 

I look forward to LeaderShape every year. It's my favorite thing I do in my job and hope to be part of it for years to come. 

Last day of school!

How is it possible that another school year is over? These kids are growing up so fast. I wasn't home for their last week of school since I was at LeaderShape. I asked Dave to grab a picture of the kids before they left for school. He went above and beyond and even pulled out their signs from the start of school and made one for the last day. I just wanted a picture, ha! If we look back to the last day of school last year, you'll see that Ava is wearing the same pajamas. I guess the last day was pajama day last year too. This is not only Tyler's last day of 5th grade, it's also his last day at Montessori Education Centre! MEC has been a great school for Tyler, and we've enjoyed having him there for the last 6 years. We will always look back on his time in Montessori and know that it was a great educational setting for him to learn in, and we will be grateful for the teachers he had. We are very much looking forward to his new experience at Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies next year. 

Just for comparison, let's take a look back at what these two looked like at the start of the school year....Tyler's hair is longer, Ava's is shorter, they're both a little taller but still as beautiful as can be! Love you kids. Let's have a great summer! Before we know it, you'll be starting 6th and 3rd grades.

Check out this nerd!

It is the last week of school, so the kids have various spirit days in their classrooms. Today was nerd day in Ava's class. I'm at LeaderShape this week, so I'm not there to help her with her costumes. The same thing happened last year when she dressed like Hermione from Harry Potter. Luckily Dave is way better at that stuff anyway, and he helped her become the best nerd she could. She's almost unrecognizable!

Apparently, no one else in her class really dressed up, so I think she felt a little silly once she got there. I'm not sure she'll want to do a dress up day like this again, but she sure looked awesome! Also, I'll be super excited to share this photo in about 10 years or so. Love you, my little nerd girl!

Butterfly quilt Twister

Grandma Claire gave Ava this beautiful quilt for her birthday this year. I bet she never imagined it would be used for playing Twister! The kids have invented a new version of the game to play using the various butterflies on the quilt. "Right foot, blue butterfly, left hand pink butterfly..." Lacy and Matt got in on the fun with the kids too. 

Swimming and flying

Both kids have been coming with me to Saturday trapeze the last couple weeks. I think the pool is a motivating factor, along with the chance to play with Ashley's kids. There were a few Saturdays that they had to come with me, and even a couple that Tyler came voluntarily! I may have written about it before, but it is funny to think about the kinds of memories our kids are making. Some day they'll look back to the days they spent hanging out at at trapeze rig with their mom, even swimming underneath the net. This pool is the perfect size for the kids to cool off. We always have to drag them out of there when it's time to go. Luckily, George doesn't mind us hanging out afterwards as long as we want to let them play. I think if I had this set up, I'd spend time floating on a raft under the net, dreaming of circus. 

This is my happy place, especially since my kids are here too. I love this.

Slow-mo jump into the water. You can see that the water isn't quite deep enough for Tyler, and he hits the bottom before he expected it. Fun times!

Racing and winning!

The kids had an awesome swim meet tonight! It was the last meet of the Spring League, and because of that, the top 8 finishers in each race won medals. We didn't know that, but we do like that these league meets give out ribbons for each heat. It's nice for the kids to get something to take away from each race they swim. Ava was excited to see that her friend Jodi was swimming in this meet. We didn't expect to see her. Jodi is so fast. She swam her 25 free in 16.84 (which is close to a record!), and won the race of course. Ava won her heat too, and got 9th place overall (out of about 60 girls). It was a total bummer for her though, because the top 8 places got medals. She missed getting a medal by .22 second. She cut a ton of time off of her 25 free though, so that was a huge accomplishment. She dropped 4.77 seconds off her previous best! Her time was 20.28. Next time, she'll break 20. 

Ava also won her heat in her 25 backstroke, and cut 5.28 seconds off her time. Jodi took home the first place medal in 3 out of her 4 races, and got 3rd place in her 25 fly.

Ava also cut a little time off her 25 breast (1.57 seconds) but added a second to her 25 fly. She ended up getting first place in her heat in 3 out of her 4 races! We were so proud of her!

After the 8 and under kids were done, the older kids got their chance in the water. As you know, Tyler is never very excited about swim practice or meets. I keep hoping he'll fall in love with it, but it just isn't happening. Nevertheless, he's doing awesome! His first race was a 50 free and he cut a little over 2 seconds off, and got 6th place overall (out of about 30 boys)! His time was 38.10--that's fast! He got his first swimming medal! This was so exciting for all of us--well, except maybe Ava. She was bummed that everyone else was getting medals (Jodi, Tyler, pretty much all her teammates). That's ok though, next time for her.

Tyler wasn't done kicking butt! He got 6th overall again on his 50 backstroke and cut 4.21 seconds off.  He cut time off his 50 breast (over 7 seconds), and about 2 seconds off his 50 fly. His buddy teammate Elijah got 5th place on his backstroke, just ahead of Tyler.

We're so proud of these two! They really swam their hearts out in their races and made serious improvements. Nice job kids. I hope you keep up the good work and can't wait to see what you do next time.

The Mesa Swim Club Sea Dogs did so well, they're just missing Jodi and her 3 gold and 1 bronze medal. Way to go team!

Ava's 2nd grade school play

Ava's class had their annual class play today. Ava had one of the lead roles of Snow White in the Ms. Shelly original-"Fairy Tale Idol." She was super excited about her role and learned all of her lines with ease. Tyler did this play as a second grader too, and he played Dr. Frankenstein and had to sing Monster Mash. 

Ava's play went well and all of the kids did a great job! It's always so fun to see their play at the end of the year. Ava was in the back of the crowd, so you can't really see her in this photo (left side, about 5 kids in). 

Great job, Snow White!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for coming to watch Ava's play!

Here is a video of the entire play. Enjoy!

Ava and the short hair

Ava got her hair cut again! She's been asking for a "pixie" cut, but I'm not quite convinced that is a good idea. Instead, she went with a different short style. This was all her idea, she couldn't be talked out of it. I wasn't really too concerned about her cutting it, but I did like the length she had it. Aunt Jen suggested a couple of styles and she picked one. It's super easy to take care of--just sprays it and brushes it in the morning. She loves it, and she looks good with short hair! It'll be great for the summer.

Our new car

We got a new car! Dave has been going back and forth for awhile about whether or not we need to replace either of our vehicles. His Camry is a 1993 (you'll remember the story) and has over 160k miles. My van is a 2004 and also has about the same amount of miles. Both are still running ok but both are showing signs of age. Dave has been looking around a little on Craigslist, and went to check out a few options for replacing the Camry. He decided we'd hang on to the van awhile longer. We definitely need to keep it for hauling stuff and traveling.

After checking it out with his dad, he decided to buy this 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. It's got about 75k miles on it. It's a really nice car! It's got quite a few more bells and whistles than we're used to having, it runs nicely and looks good. I'm most excited that it has bluetooth (and an auxiliary cord) so I can listen to my audiobooks through the stereo. The plan is that I'll drive it most of the time since I drive the fewest miles, but we'll see if that sticks. I think Dave will prefer to drive it too, especially since he's on the road so much and it's a comfortable ride. We'll see. Here it is!

I had never noticed these cars on the road before, and now I see them everywhere! I didn't realize how common they were. For now, we still have the Camry. Dave is going to make sure it's running right and then try to sell it. It's definitely not worth much since it's so old, but we'll get a little bit for it. There aren't may 24 year old cars that are in that good of condition. It still shows very little sign of wear, especially inside. It'll always make for a fun story--the 17 year old car we got with only 1700 miles! 

An Ava funny

I don't post many funny things that the kids say on here anymore. It used to be a pretty regular thing when they were little. This one stuck with me and I wanted to make sure to remember it.

It was one of those really nice evenings. The kids were getting along well, they were talkative and telling me stories about their day, they didn't complain about swim practice or chores or anything else. It was just an all-around enjoyable evening. Dave was at softball and the kids and I just had a simple dinner of grilled cheese and veggies. Later that night I told the kids that I thought it had been such a great night, and I thanked them for being so pleasant and getting along nicely. Ava said "ya mom, it was because we got to have grilled cheese for dinner." She was as matter of fact about it as could be. Apparently, that's all it takes! Grilled cheese every night!

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day! I got up early and went for a little run before our busy day. When I got home, the kids were excited to give me the gifts they had made. They really spoiled me this year, and with the most awesome handmade gifts! First thing we have to talk about is this amazing trapeze rig that Tyler built for me! He really put so much thought and effort into this. I love it! Ava made a few things in school--this framed letter, a homemade soap bowl and soap and Grandma Claire helped her pick out this coffee mug and filled it with chocolates. Dave gave me a really pretty pair of earrings. I am one lucky Mom! 

Our annual family Mother's Day tradition continues. The men do all the preparing, cooking, and cleaning. We've moved it to Tina's house in recent years since she has a pool. Uncle Marty took over Thanksgiving since it's a cool weather holiday that doesn't require a pool. We took our family picture early knowing the kids would likely be swimming later. My kids are growing up so much! Tyler might be taller than me on Mother's Day next year--close anyway.

Happy Mother's Day to this amazing mom too! Thanks Claire, for all you do for our family! We are so lucky to have you. And also, thank you for raising such a wonderful, caring, kind, fun and responsible son.

Baby Reese is getting big! The little girls were very interested in her, as they usually are.

A little light musical entertainment by Josh and Brecken.....

And comedic relief courtesy of Talon. He's 13 now and clearly isn't too concerned about looking like a weirdo. He's such a funny kid! Here his is trying on some of the extra swim suits Tina found in her swim basket. I especially like the blue and purple one with tassels. I look forward to sharing these photos again when he's about 17.

Here's the second youngest in the family, little Siler. He loved the pool!

Talon may be a too-cool teenager (although not too cool to put on his little sisters' bikini tops), he'll still cuddle with his grandma!

I think Baby Reese looks like her daddy!

The kids swam all afternoon. Tim and Tina bought a new basketball hoop just that morning, so the kids had fun playing basketball in the water. I'm looking through these photos and realizing there's not one of Tyler, except for the family pictures at the beginning of the day. I'm sure he and Matt were busy creating something amazing.

I think these two are cheating!

The girls haven't gotten to see each other all that much lately, so they're looking forward to having more time together this summer--hopefully!

It was a great Mother's Day with my family. I am a very lucky woman to have such great kids and a wonderful husband. Sometimes I think about how long I've been a mom and it's hard to believe this is my 11th Mother's Day!

I missed being with my mom today. She left to go back to ND earlier this week. She wanted to be home for Mother's Day with her own mom, and was actually able to surprise her with her return! It's always hard when my mom goes back home for the summer. Even though it's only been a few years that she's been spending her winters with us, it almost feels like it's the way it's always been. We get so used to having her here, and accustomed to being able to count on her to help almost anytime we ask. We miss that when she's gone--not because we miss her generosity, but because we all really enjoy having her around and part of our every day lives. I hope one day we can have her here all year! Thank you mom, for all you do for me and my family. I love our friendship and our time together. I can't wait to see you in July!

Here are more pictures from our day.