It's probably not a big deal, or blog worthy, buy Ava took her first bike trip by herself over to her friend's house. Her friend Sophia moved into our neighborhood awhile back, and Ava finally got to ride over by herself. It's .75 miles through the neighborhood to get there, and she knows where she's going. I asked Sophia's mom to let me know when she got there, and it was just a few minutes later. Our little girl is definitely growing up!
There she goes!
Growing up in a small town in North Dakota in the late 80s and 90s, it was totally normal to just ride bikes wherever we needed to go. It's a little scarier in a city like Mesa, but at some point we have to trust our kids to venture out on their own and hope they are careful and make good decisions. The time has come!
The new dance all of the kids are doing these days is called "flossing." We first saw it when Backpack Boy did the dance with Katie Perry, but I think kids are doing it now because it's in Fortnight (a new, addictive, very popular video game). Kids seem to be able to pick up this move pretty quickly, but it's way harder for adults! Dave and I have both tried, and even with serious concentration, we are not good at it. Enjoy a peek of Ava showing us how it's done....
It's time for Maricopa LeaderShape 2018! This is the 14th year that I've helped to coordinate this awesome leadership program for the students of our district, and it continues to be the highlight of my year. I write about it here every year, but it is truly the program that recharges me and reminds me why I do the job that I do.
Another bonus, of course, is that I get to plan this program with one of my best friends. We are a well oiled machine, and have gotten to a point where we hardly even have to hold planning meetings anymore. It's hard to believe we've been doing this for so long! We have fun every year!
We had an awesome group of students this year. I'm sure I say that every year, and it's mostly true every year. There was just something special about this particular group though. It always makes a huge difference in the success of the program when we have great lead facilitators, which we certainly did this year. Chris and Jason were both very experienced co-leads, both having led many sessions all around the country for years. There is just something special about the Maricopa LeaderShape session though, and Chris and Jason definitely felt it. They both said we were one of, if not their favorite session ever. They were such an awesome team and our students were very lucky to have had their experience led by such amazing people.
I stay on site for the entire week now that my kids are older. It's hard being away from home that long, but I did get the chance to see my family one night for dinner. Dave and the kids met me at a little brewery/restaurant just down the street from where we held the conference. I walked over for a quick dinner with them before heading back. It was the last week of school for the kids, and it was crazy hair day for Ava. She knew she wanted braids in her hair, and since I wasn't home to help, Dad had to take over. He did a great job, of course. I hate that I'm always missing the kids' last week of school, as LeaderShape always happens that week....but Dave has it under control. A week in a college dorm room also makes me really appreciate my comfortable bed!
If you'd like to see the kinds of activities the students do throughout the week of LeaderShape, check out this link to the photo album. https://photos.app.goo.gl/jAliwEmoJwd0FvDj2
I've made some really special friends through trapeze, some of which don't even live here! There's one thing about trapeze though--will travel to fly! Susan is one of the main flyers and leaders of a trapeze club in Denver called Imperial Flyers. I'm sure I've said it before, but if I could fly like anyone, it'd be Susan. She's so talented--clean and tight, and very consistent. She doesn't throw big tricks, but she throws a bunch of safe tricks consistently. That's my goal. She came out for the weekend and got to fly with us a few times. It's always fun to have visitors!
Susan is so fun to catch! Maybe next time she's out, she can throw something to me out of lines.
Here's a video of me catching her uprise shoot. This is one of my favorite tricks to catch, and it's even better when it's such a pretty and clean trick.
Just for fun, here is a nice split round trip with Rod as well. It was a smooth one!
Tyler reluctantly gave me a note that he got at school today, indicating that he was being honored with an award to the annual Academy Awards event. Tyler insisted that he wasn't going, and that we couldn't make him. He didn't know what it was about, or what kind of award he was getting, but it didn't matter--he was NOT going. I checked with a friend who'd daughter is in Tyler's class, and she said that it's a night to honor kids who are selected for various awards, and that it was an honor to be receiving recognition. We tried to reason with Tyler, but he was very adamant that he didn't care. We fought about it for 2 days, and ultimately, it wasn't up to him. Sorry kid! Tyler is not a big fan of pubic recognition like this, so I understand his hesitation, but we are proud of his hard work and want him to be too.
It was a room full of kids and their parents, and we still didn't know what sort of award he was getting. They first went through the different grades, calling up all the kids who had no more than 2 Bs on any of their report periods. Tyler wasn't one of those kids. While he did awesome in his end of semester grades, he did have a couple quarters with a few Bs. Those kids all came up front and were acknowledged, and I think they got a certificate. The next awards were given out by each of the teachers at the school. They each came up individually and announced their selection for Outstanding Student of the Year. We watched several of the teachers come up and present their awards, and yet Tyler still had not been called up for anything. At this point we weren't quite sure what it was he was being awarded. When his English teacher, Mrs. Vance came up, Tyler leaned over and said "well, she definitely wouldn't be nominating me, she doesn't like me." Lo and behold, Tyler Horihan was her chose for Outstanding Student!
He might not have wanted to go, and he might still have been acting like he didn't care, but I'm sure glad we made him go. We are super proud of Tyler for all his hard work this year at Mesa Academy and for being a student who his teachers would single out for recognition.
Would a kid who didn't care about being awarded Outstanding Student be hanging onto his plaque while sitting on the couch later that night? I don't think so. Be proud Tyler, it's ok! You deserve this and so much more.
Mother's Day is a pretty great day when I get to be the mom to these two awesome kids. Dave always makes the morning special with a good breakfast and my favorite morning drink--mimosas. We enjoyed a nice breakfast together outside before the chaos of the day. Speaking of mimosas, Dave knows I like them so much that he bought me about 5 bottles of my favorite Costco Proseco. That's my idea of a great gift!
While I was relaxing on the patio, Dave put the kids to work getting the fruit tray and salad ready to take to the family party.
Our family has a pretty great Mother's Day tradition, which I've probably written about every year since I started this blog. It was Ava's first family get together. She was only about 2 weeks old at her first Mother's Day party. Remember this teeny tiny baby? I barely do. I usually take a bunch of pictures of the kids with their cousins throughout the day, but I totally failed this year. These are literally the only pictures I took! Oh, how times have changed. Here are Ava and Lacy pushing one of their littlest cousins around on the cooler. Siler thought it was pretty fun, and the girls look like they did too.
We did manage to get a few family pictures before we left the party for the day. I wonder how many more Mother's Day pictures we'll take while I'm still taller than Tyler? I have a feeling this is one of the last before my first born stands closer to his dad's height than mine.
This is my 11th Mother's Day, and I feel very lucky to be the mom to these two kids. They're pretty darn amazing! Every year brings different adventures and challenges, but they are all an important part of this journey. As the kids get older, they are more independent and need different things from us. As much as I loved all those years of the baby, toddler, and little kid stages, I really enjoy these young people. They are creative, smart, funny and kind. They might not always get along, but what siblings do? They'll both be at the same school this year, and it'll be fun to see the new things they learn and the new friends they make. I love being their mom.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that we love! We wouldn't be the people we are today if not for you.
After the Mother's Day party, Ava was itching to find out if her friend Sophia had gotten all moved in. We decided to jump on our bikes and go see if they were at their new house. Sure enough, they were! Ava knocked on the door of her friend's house for the first time and got to check out the place. It'll be so fun for her to have a friend to visit!
Ava's good friend Sophia is moving into our neighborhood, and Ava couldn't be more excited! She's been counting down the days until Sophia's family moved in. Before they were even there, Ava wanted to ride her bike over to see how far it was, which is .75 miles. It's in neighborhood just next to ours, but a reasonable bike ride (even on her own) to go over to play.
Since they've moved in, they've gotten together to play quite a few times, and Ava asks nearly every day. Sophia has a sister who is 2 years older as well, so the 3 girls have fun together. We have always liked our neighborhood, but one thing that is missing is that we don't know many other kids in the area. Now that the kids are older, it'd be nice if they had friends nearby to hang out with. This will be a fun new change for Ava!
Grandma Jean is heading back to ND for a few weeks, and she's leaving tomorrow. Tomorrow is both Mother's Day and her birthday, so we had to celebrate a day early. We're always sad to see both her and Grandma Jon leave, but it's inevitable every spring. Grandpa left early this year, and has been gone for a couple weeks already. We'll head back to ND sometime this summer to see him, but Grandma will be back sooner. She's planning to spend much of the summer here, so that's a bonus for us.
On the day before we left, we went to one of our favorite lunch spots, Joe's Farm Grill. It was a beautiful day and we had a great meal. Before we left, we took a few Mother's Day pics. Enjoy!
Google Photos helped me out to make a little video for my mom. It was fun to see all the photos it found in my various albums of her years as a Grandma. I'm very grateful for my mom for all she does for us and the kids. I feel so fortunate that after missing much of the kids' first years, she lives near us for several months out of the year. I love you Mom!
If you're ever driving down Mesquite street in Chandler, you might just see this crazy thing going on in the backyard. We often see people driving very slowly past George's house, or just flat out stopping in the middle of the street to watch us. I'm sure it would catch you off guard if you didn't know it was there! We usually wave from the board, or even invite them to come in and watch if they're standing on the sidewalk. I took this picture on my way out of there today, just to get the perspective of what people see as they pass by. Welcome to our backyard circus!
Dave racked up more points towards father of the year while chaperoning Ava and a group of friends on their annual field trip to Jake's Unlimited. She'd been asking him--begging him--to chaperone ever since she learned the date of the trip, and he finally said yes. Here they are heading out for their day of fun.
There is always a ton of food to eat!
They played laser tag, bowled, rode rides, and all kinds of fun.
Dave said he hardly saw the girls all day, as they were running and playing the entire time. I think they had a good day!
Enjoy one more video of Ava doing a hand clap game with her friend Maizey.
One of the most fun things Ms. Shelly has done in the 6 years we've had kids in her class is an original play at the end of each school year. She has three different plays that she circulates through the years so that each child gets to do each play once during their years in the class. Ava was chosen for the lead this year's play, Jackie and the Beanstalk, and she was so excited for the opportunity! She rehearsed hear lines and practiced every day, and didn't seem at all nervous about getting up there in front of a room full of people to act out her role as Jackie. It was a really cute play, and Ava did an amazing job! We were all so proud of her!
Before the play started, I got a couple pictures of these three--Maizey the used cow salesperson, Rowan who played Ava's mother, and Ava as Jackie.
The broom fell over and hit Ava on the head, and they both got a case of the giggles after that happened.
Ava's friend Sophia who played the witch....
I went to see two of the 3 performances, and the first one was definitely better than the evening show. The evening show was full of families and young kids, and it made it really hard to hear the lines. I'm glad I was able to be there early for the first show, get a good seat so I could film it, and hear them all say their lines so well. They did awesome!
Ava was also very lucky to have a big crowd there to watch her performances.
Ava and Rowan have been in the same class for 4 years now, having met and become friends on their very first day of Kindergarten. These are their last few days of being in school together for now, as Ava is moving on to a new school. Sophia is a newer friend, but we she is moving into our neighborhood very soon, which Ava is thrilled about.
Congrats to the entire class on their great performance!
There she goes!
