And then

And then my life got so hectic I was never seen of or heard from again...

During spring break I lost my camera at a state park where I took the kids to go hiking one day. It was a hand-me-down digital from my mom, but it was our only working camera. The only pictures on the camera were from the day of hiking, so that was no biggie. But I get soooo frustrated when I do dumb things that cost money and my dumb things list is LONG, very, very long. And that was about the last time I blogged.

And then Taylor was in Sweeny Todd. It was freakin' amazing. I'm not a huge fan of the story and the gruesome nature of the musical, but this high school cast of 70 kids would rival most off-Broadway shows. The parts were perfectly cast. Taylor was in the chorus and on stage quite a bit. The set was created by everyone involved in the musical and it looked professionally done, so much so that the entire thing is being donated to our local community theater which is doing Sweeny as one of their productions next year. A great experience, but one busy schedule.

And then I signed Owen up for preschool for 2010-2011. The Cedar Rapids school district has a grant for free 4 year old preschool for anyone in CR. It's 5 days a week from 9-12:45. I was hesitant at first to have him go to school every day, but he is excited and we'll see how it goes. Unfortunately our elementary school no longer has room for preschool classrooms, so he'll be at a different school, which means 4 kids in three different schools. And then I nearly lost my mind with all the driving I envisioned doing next year. And then I remembered that Taylor will have her license. And then I nearly cried realizing that she's growing up too fast.

And then Owen turned 4! He's so rad! I love my boy. He had a Toy Story party with his buddies and a family party that night. His green martian cupcakes were cute. His Buzz cake was miraculous, not because of how it turned out, but that I was able to get it done. I literally pulled the cakes out of the oven at 5pm. Dinner for 10+ was at 6.

And then I organized the bridging ceremony for Lydia and Gaby's Girl Scout troops. It was really just a big party for the 25 girls and their parents and grandparents and some aunts, uncles and cousins. The slideshow about did me in, since the ONE song I wanted use would not play. So I spent at least an hour listening to any and all songs by Disney pop artists trying to find one song that isn't about boys and falling in love. Not an easy task.

And then I turned 35. It was also Mother's Day, and Jerry got the dates mixed up. But I got to go to Nauvoo with the family and attend the temple and even though it was fa-fa-fa-freezing it was a fun day. And then I got a new camera from my parents, though I haven't had time to figure out how to use it.

And then Jerry went to San Diego for a week and Owen got really sick. So he spent a week laying on the floor watching movies in his room. And then he seemed better, so Jerry got home from Cali and they packed up for the father son campout. And then they came home at 6am the next morning after Owen threw up in the tent (luckily for the girls borrowing our tent for Girls' Camp, not ON the tent).

And then it was Memorial Day weekend. Jerry and his scout troop hosted a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser to support their summer camp activities. It was a lot of work, but they made about $900. There was an eagle court of honor and a grad party and some house cleaning and some mowing and then Grandpa K. arrived in a Penske truck by way of most of the 48 contiguous United States. Sunday was awesome because I didn't have to give a talk (previous week), or teach a lesson (5th Sunday yay!) or nothin.' And then we went to my parents and enjoyed the beautiful day and ate ourselves silly. Surf n' turf kababs anyone? I was the most beautiful girl with a kabab. And then Lydia hit Owen in the stomach playing wiffle ball. Taylor caught her reaction. Priceless.







And then Grandma Sherry and Great Grandma Chambers arrived and partook of the merriment and gluttony. And then there was peanut butter pie. Amen.

And then I woke up really early to put on my race director hat. I helped organize a triathlon for our swim club and local tri club as a fundraiser for my 3-Day thang. Months of work (and this was a teeny tiny low-key deal) and it paid off with just under $1,000 for my SGK 3-Day for the Cure efforts. My total is now just over $2,000 (or it will be once the checks get mailed). I swam the 1/2 swim for my relay with a father/daughter team from church. The poor girl graduated the night before and had only had a couple hours sleep and she still ran 2 miles in 14 minutes. Boo Ya! We were the first place relay and 7th overall. Jerry was 3rd, which is where he placed last year. But he beat me on the swim. Is there an icon for "hangs head in shame?" He's made so much progress in the pool and deserves to kick my butt; however, I have not been training much, so now it's on!



Heat #1. Picture on the right is lap 1 of the 1/2 mile swim. I'm the first arm you see on the left in Lane 2, Jerry is in Lane 4, this is the closest I would be to him for the rest of the race) I had a pink cap and pink suit for the race! Below are some of my helpers for the day.





And then there was another grad party and house cleaning and Grandma attention seeking. And then there was no hot water at the homestead. And then Jerry fixed it with steel wool and there was hot water again.

And then the washing machine broke and Owen told Daddy what was what while holding the flashlight. He insisted that buying a red washing machine would be the best option. I love my boy! I had visions of red front loading washing machines dancing in my head fo'sho! And then Jerry being the engineering genius that he is, took apart the old crusty girl and now she's good as new, sortof. WARNING: for anyone who is coming to stay and needing to do laundry, there is no longer a safety switch, so the spin cycle will keep on spinning even with the lid open. Now you know.

And then I spent a bajillion hours organizing the Book Cart at school. And enough hours logged on the computer at home that if I was making $50/hour, Taylor would be set for college in 2 years.

And then (next week) Taylor finished school and is now a JUNIOR! And just to give Tay some mad props: she was so bummed to no make varsity show choir for next year, but Protege is going to be awesome and Taylor is excited to get to work with Mr. Sands again. She did make concert choir (varsity) and has been invited to try out for both Chamber Choir (16 voices, very competitive, most elite choir at Kennedy) and All-State. All-State is the biggest honor high school vocal music students can achieve during high school. Each high school can select 7 voices for each part to submit to the state level for judging. It's a very time intensive process with college level music being performed. Taylor did Opus 2 years while in middle school, which is a precursor to All-State. It's a huge accomplishment to even be involved in the process. She was also inducted in her Thespian Troupe at school and was awarded most valuable soprano in Chorale. Yay for Tay!

And then Jerry went to San Diego again and I looked around and saw that there has been a fair amount of neglect of children and a general absence of cleanliness. Glancing at the calendar it's a pretty good assumption that not a whole lot is going to get done before the Sages arrive a week.from.Saturday. At least we'll have clean underwear, that is, if I do the laundry.