These are the ribbons from Field Day, and the medal from Run with Rocky. Declan came in 2nd or 3rd for his grade and got the medal.


These are some yummy pastries my mom and I got from the French Bakery while she was visiting.

Some goodies that mom brought me. I love those Espresso Pillows from Trader Joe's!

Maybe I can get back on track for June. Things just got really busy for the last part of May, and now today was the last day of school. School got out two hours early, and mostly they just had pizza parties and free time. Declan's class could bring games to play, so he brough Guess Who? He mentioned a game called Thin Ice that he seemed to like, so I'll have to look that one up. After school we ended up going to Elitch's with friends, supposedly only until dinner time, but we actually didn't get home until 8 p.m. It was finally a pretty warm day, but we didn't do the water park part yet since that takes more preparation. I'm hoping to have a more low-key day tomorrow which will include going to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. Owen also has his piano lesson in the afternoon.

Owen ended up getting all 3's and 4's on his report card, so now we have to prepare to welcome a new pet into the home. Al Pacino is still available from the reptile humane society, so we need to start looking for equipment. I was reading more about skink care and was happy to discover that they don't require live animals. They eat mostly fruits and vegetables, and cooked meat. They only eat every other day, and can go longer without food, so if you have to leave for a few days, they can be left alone as long as you have your lights on timers. I originally thought bearded dragons were cuter, but it sounds like skinks are easier to care for and less fragile, so I guess I'm glad Owen ended up liking them best.

I haven't really signed the kids up for anything, but I may do a speed and agility class for the month of June. The other thing they are interested in is roller hockey, but the class doesn't really match with our schedule, so I may just take them to a learn to roller hockey thing they have for free on Fridays. I want to make sure they like it before investing in any equipment or classes. If they do like it, we can try to sign up during the winter when they aren't doing other sports.

Looks like I will be drinking hot coffee for the foreseeable future. It has been rainy and cold for most of the last week. I'm only hoping that it will be somewhat o.k. on Friday for field day.

Today I went to my exercise class, and then took Dottie to the clinic for her follow-up. We had to wait a long time to be seen, which was kind of annoying. Once we got in, they decided to puncture the cyst and get it draining. I have to squirt the antibiotic cream into the hole, and also spray something on the top. Unfortunately for Scot, he will have to take over nursing duties while I am gone at the workshop this weekend! Her adoption is still up in the air, I guess. The guy called me today to see if I'd heard anything. I really wish they'd get over the whole vaccination thing. I think the personal references are way more important. I really don't think dogs need all those shots every year, but I guess that's a whole other debate.

I am trying to get ready to host bunco tomorrow night. Most of the big cleaning is done, and I just need to do the last minute rooms like bathrooms and kitchen. Unfortunately, it's early release from school tomorrow, so I have to try and keep the kids from messing up all my hard work. I don't think they will be able to play outside due to rain. Owen got his project done tonight, so he won't have to worry about it tomorrow since he will be out and about during most of bunco. Not sure if Declan will have soccer practice or not. We got the schedule for his Memorial Day weekend tournament, and he has games at 8 a.m. on Sat. and Sun. That will be tough!

I don't know why I have this gum since I rarely chew it. It has been sitting around for quite some time! This morning I got up and went to exercise. It wasn't very busy for a Sunday, even though it was cold and yucky outside. Soccer game was cancelled due to rain. Things are looking pretty grim for the weather starting Wednesday again, just in time for field day on Friday. Hopefully something will change before then since it's more fun for the kids when it's at least a little warm! I guess it worked out well since it gave us some time to finish up Owen's Native American art project. Now he just needs to finish writing the report part. He has a bunch of facts, and just needs to organize it into a paragraph. It will be his last homework project for this year.

We also did our usual cleaning today, but a little more than usual since I'm getting ready to host bunco on Wednesday. It worked out nicely since my mom is arriving that night, also, so there are two reasons to clean!

We watched Despicable Me last night, which was cute. Owen said he didn't want to see it, but once it started he enjoyed it. He was hoping to watch a soccer game, but that is not as interesting for Declan, so I thought a movie would be better.

This is one of the books Owen picked out from the school book fair last week. We got our shopping done Tuesday after school since the rest of the week was looking busy. We had a possible soccer makeup game on Wednesday, which was also the only night of Declan's student-led conferences. Luckily it ended up raining so the game was cancelled and we were able to do both Owen and Declan's conferences that night. Owen had his own soccer makeup game on Thursday night, so it was better not to have to try and squeeze in conferences that night.

Owen's soccer team played really well, but suffered another loss. They did get two goals, which is two more than usual! He is supposed to have his last makeup game tomorrow, but the weather is still being unpredictable. Not sure if the fields will be open, although the game is not until afternoon.

Friday was a field trip for 3rd graders to check out downtown. It was based on a social studies unit on cities from earlier in the year, but they figured the weather would be nicer in May. It almost wasn't, but Friday was the one nice day of the week, luckily. I was paired up with one other boy and his grandma, so we had a nice, small group of 4. We had detailed instructions about where to walk and the kids had a booklet to fill out. We had time for a lunch break, so we ate at Paradise Bakery and Cafe. It was a fun day, but tiring, and then we had the school carnival that night. We walked down since it was still nice, and stayed pretty much until the end at 8 p.m.

Today both kids had morning soccer games that I had to miss because I had orchestra rehearsal. Luckily the rain didn't start up again until after lunch, when they were done playing.

The people wanting to adopt Dottie did get their vet records updated and sent to the shelter, so I guess there's still a chance it might go through. They are going to discuss and decide. I want to see what they say about her ears on Tuesday, also, since that might affect the adoption.

No coffee yesteray, but I had some Chai today at the Yak and Yeti restaurant.

Well, on Wednesday I wrote a nice long post, hit submit, and found out Blogger was down for maintenance, and only the first sentence of this got saved. Very annoying! I don't even remember now, since I guess after writing it down, it went out of my memory banks. I know part of it was about Dottie and getting a promising visit from some people the filled out an app for her. But, they got a bad vet reference, so it sounds like it isn't going to work out. Their other dog is not caught up with his vaccinations. I'm not sure it should matter that much, since I really only keep current with Tobey since he has to go to the kennel a few times a year. However, I can't even remember that last time kitty has seen a vet! she seems to be doing fine and is quite healthy, but she is indoor only, so I'm sure that makes a big difference. So, I am disappointed since they seemed like nice people that really doted on their other dog.

On Friday I helped in the library, even though Declan's class was not coming in. They had a field trip for most of the day, which I wasn't able to attend since I was on-call for work. About 5 minutes after I got home from the library, I got the dreaded call that I had to go in. Luckily it ended up just being for a couple hours, but it was kind of a bummer. After I picked up the kids from school, we went to the library, picked up some popcorn and pizza on the way home, and had a movie night. They watched Spiderwick Chronicles, even though they have seen it before. It was nice to know that we didn't have any soccer going the next morning, and I didn't have orchestra like I usually do on the first Sat. of the month.

Saturday I went to a step class in the morning, and then after lunch I took the kids to Elitch's to get our passes activated. I wasn't expecting it to be very crowded, but there were tons of buses in the parking lot from Wyoming, so it was some kind of band/choir outing from a bunch of schools up there. It ended up being really hot, but luckily we couldn't stay more than a few hours. We were meeting some friends there that also bought a pass, and I kept expecting her to call when they go there, and then I finally called and she said she had called a few times. I was irritated with my phone until I got home and there were a bunch of messages from her on our home machine. She had been calling the wrong number all along. Scot was doing some computer work for a friend, but we had planned to go out to dinner for his birthday/Mother's Day and use our Gordon Biersch gift card from Christmas. We fed the kids here and then dropped them off at KT for a couple hours while we had a relaxing dinner. I got my favorite hummus goat cheese salad (which is huge!) and Scot and I split some garlic fries for an appetizer. I also had a yummy pomegranate margarita. I had gotten The Walking Dead from Netflix, so I watched a couple episodes. It is a pretty good show, although very gory. For some reason, Netflix started sending me 3 discs at a time, even though I changed to 2 out at a time awhile ago. I keep checking and they are still charging me for 2, so maybe it's some kind of glitch. I won't complain!



Here is a shot of me with my Mother's Day goodies. I slept until around 10 a.m., which is hard since I have woken up with crippling back and hip pain for the last couple months. I realized everyone was gone, but the kids had left me written clues to find my gifts. Owen made a penguin sculpture out of clay, and Declan made a card at school. Scot got some flowers and an iTunes gift card. I took the kids out for donuts, and then ended up doing some cleaning in the bedroom while watching a movie. Catfish was pretty interesting. It's a documentary about this guy meeting a family through FB. Things are not as he thought, of course. I picked out some Thai food for dinner, so Scot picked that up for dinner. It was a good day.



The flowers are still alive today, no thanks to me. I am really not good with plants. We have some cabbage starters that can probably go in the garden soon. I think we are done with frosts now, I hope. I had to work today, and then it was home for a little while until I had to take Declan to soccer practice. Scot and Owen went to scout appreciation night at the army surplus store and got some goodies for camping, including a hammmock.

Someone is coming to see Dottie on Wednesday. I hope it works out. I warned him that she doesn't really make a good first impression because of her shyness, but he seems o.k. with that. He has an 8-year-old lab and they are looking for a friend for him. If Dottie can get along with Tobey AKA Mr. Bossy, she can get along with any dog!

May snuck up on me, and boy it is a doozy. I think this is our last quiet weekend before we are on activity overload! Monday I was at work during the day and then soccer practice for Declan while Owen went to a scout meeting with Scot. Tuesday I went to an exercise class, and then after I came home I started to get worried that I was waiting too long to finally commit to a pop-up rental since 4th of July tends to book up fast, so I got that all squared away. It looks like the only issue may be not having the correct electrical hook-up, so I need to see what we have and find out about getting it replaced. We are just getting a small one, with a queen bed on one side and a double on the other. There is a table inside and a stove that can be used inside or outside, plus it comes with an awning. I'm picking it up the day before we leave so I can get it packed up and practice driving with it a little. It weighs much less than we can actually tow, so hopefully it won't be too big of a deal. I am excited about the long camping trip now, more than I would be if I had to spend 6 days in a tent!



Wednesday morning I went to another exercise class, and then I had to take Dottie to the MaxFund clinic vet to get her ears checked out. After we got back from our trip, I noticed she had some scabs on her ears that I didn't see before. I waited to see if they would get better, and then a cyst-type thing developed, also on her ear, so I figured I better take her in. They are not sure what might be wrong, so she is getting antibiotics and I have to put a cream on the scabs once a day. After the antibiotics are gone, I have to take her back. One thing that they might have to check for is skin cancer, which I didn't realize was a problem for dogs. I am hoping that's not what it is!



Today was actually pretty warm, in the low 70's, so I decided to make some iced coffee after I got back from my exercise class (3 days in a row. Yay me!) It was a little weak, but I'm out of practice since it's been so cold this spring. I went to the library to help and then on to Owen's class to help with the Native American beading project they were doing. They strung beads across squares of plastic canvas based on designs that had made earlier in the week. I had to help kids count out the beads in the colors they needed, and then walk around and help whoever needed it. I am going back in a few weeks to help with the moccasins, which I guess are more of an ordeal. Tonight Scot took Owen to soccer practice while I took Declan to his scout meeting. They talked about their belt loops, and then made sopapillas in honor of Cinco de Mayo. They turned out pretty yummy, so I got the recipe to try here sometime. They tasted like the pie crust pieces that my mom used to make with cinammon and sugar, but they put honey and cinammon on theirs. Tomorrow Declan's class is going on a field trip, and then next Friday Owen's class has a field trip downtown, which I will be going on. The Friday after that is Field Day, and then the last Friday of school is the field trip to the zoo for Declan's class, which I am also helping with. We also have the book fair next week, the Carnival next Friday night, and Run with Rocky on the Sunday that I will be up in Estes Park with my mom for a workshop. We still have soccer for another week, and I am hosting bunco this month. Declan's soccer team has signed up for a tournament on Memorial Weekend, so it is shaping up to be quite a busy month!