Oh boy!

It's been a long while. And life is moving at a very fast pace. What's new?

Nick just finish up playing t-ball, and threw the ball to the 1st basemen (infamous #5) to get the final out of his final game. Totally the way you'd want the season to end if you were 6. He also graduated from the Reading Recovery program at school. I cannot say enough good things about it. His teachers tapped into this amazing reader who was lurking under his charming surface. He now is obsessed with all things space related and has decided the moon is where he wants to go. Nothing is better than having a 6 year old toothless boy with sights set on the moon!

Zoe is her usual wonderful self. I actually have a child I can take Visiting Teaching with me. She sits next to me 90% of the time and only interupts to whisper an 'I love you' or 'I want a piece of gum - cinnamon' It's really a good thing too, because that girl gets drug around a LOT! The only bad thing is she is worthless when it comes to cleaning. Looks like we need to spend a little time on that this summer.

Tyler is not turning 11 this week, he is not going to Middle School this fall, and he is not wearing a size 9 mens shoe! Seriously, how did all of that happen? He competed in Destination Imagination this past winter, and his team took 1st at the regional tournament and 2nd at the State Tournament. Which was amazing for their very first year. He is playing baseball, actually with an amazing team. They've only lost 1 game, and all of the boys are very level headed. Tyler loves to play 3rd base, and pitch occassionally. It really has been so much fun to watch. School is going awesome. Spring is here and 5th grade girls are crazy - who knew a 10-year old could be 'HOT'? He has plans to participate in Summer band, hoping to be able to change instruments.

Mel has started running. He has turned into someone I don't know. He went from 'running is the most boring thing anyone can possibly do' to 'I'm getting up early so I can get my run in' Who is this man? He is training to run the Rock n' Roll 1/2 marathon at the end of May in Seattle. He is also playing the best golf of his life. He's working his normal job plus running Zornes Plumbing on the side. He's a little busy.

Me? I coached Tyler's Destination Imagination team with a good friend of mine, it was weirdly rewarding, and I actually could see myself doing it again......someday! I am loving being Beehive Advisor in YW. Girls Camp is the week after Mel's race, so we are getting everything prepped for that. My sister is coming to spend the week with the kids (they can't wait) so that I can go with no stress. Yay for sisters! The week after GC, though, I get to head to Utah to take my sister home. It will make for a couple of very busy, but FUN weeks. And for a lot of reasons, I went ahead and ran for PTO President. and won. The board who was elected with me, is insanely wonderful. It is going to be an awesome year!

Oh, and just for my mom, these are the new chairs:

Aren't they awesome?

Sorry this turned into a Christmas letter, but I never do those either. Life's good. We're still here. Just waiting to see where life takes us next.

I promise I don't craft all the time!

I seem to be collecting earrings lately. I think it's the long hair. It just makes me love big earrings and I can actually get away with them now. Anyway, back to the point....I am accumulating quite a few pairs of earrings. And the horrible part is I had no where to put them. I just had a tiny little trinket box (OK, two tiny trinket boxes) and to be completely honest, a few ended up in my desk drawer and maybe 1 or 2 in the car. See? I totally needed a place for my new treasures to live. Long story short: I trekked to Goodwill and found an interesting frame (not quite as funky as I would like, but still acceptable) for $2.50. After a quick trip to Home Depot for paint, the grid material, and some cup hooks, and I was in business. Isn't it cute?

Here she is all loaded up. SO much easier than digging!

For Mutual a few weeks ago, the Beehives planned the Missionary Olympics and I was assigned the task of coming up with the medals. And, really, I am so impressed with myself. As of 11pm the night before, I had NO clue what to do, I knew candy was important, but how to do gold, silver and bronze??? Inspiration hit at Wal-Mart at mid-night:

I just bought those gold medals from the party aisle. The gold I left alone and stuck a mini-Twix to the back, for silver I wrapped them in tin foil and stuck a mini-york to the back and for bronze, I just hit the gold with a little brown paint and attached a single Reese's. Oh, and the activity was TOTALLY fun too.

I got a little crafty...again

We were in need of a new way to keep track of chores at our house, so when I saw these on 1st Ward's Super Saturday Blog, I knew I could make a few alterations and make them ours. Instead of words, I found icons online that matched pretty well with the chores we had assigned. My original plan was to hang them on their bedroom doors, but after a week of listening to them slide back and forth everytime the door opened and closed, I opted to move them to the side of my pantry. Turns out that was a better place all around. It's been a little over a month, and we're still going strong. Hopefully my craftyness won't go to waste any time soon.

Tyler's:

Nicklaus'

what the magnets look like up close. Thes ones represent clearing the table, doing homework, cleaning the hallway, organizing the coat closet, saying prayers, brushing teeth, picking up the living room, cleaning your bedroom, and putting your shoes away.

And Zoe loves her big girl chore chart. Even though she only has 5 chores!