Music, Awards & a Toby Mac Concert

The kids had their track awards during one of our busy, busy days. Their coach invited everyone to his house for swimming and a barbecue. It was nice day out, perfect for everything his family had planned for the kids.

The kids got the rest of their ribbons and also a medal! They were more excited about the medal with their names engraved on the back than the ribbons they had earned. 

It's funny, to me this picture makes it look like he's gotten some basketball or swimming award instead of track.

Both kids did great at their performances. Our pastor even talked to Elisha on stage afterwards about how old he was and how good he was at the drums for his age. Thankfully, our son did not get a big head from it! :0)

Bethany danced in between her times to play. It's hard to describe but basically she'd be jammin' and then stop and focus when she knew her turn to play was coming, then to back to groovin' all over her small space! It was cute and we had many people tell us how much they enjoyed just watching her enjoy herself.

All three performances went well. They were both sad and relieved when it was over with.

On the last day of school the kids both received Honor Roll awards.

Elisha also received awards for Bible and Spelling!

Last Saturday we went to a free Toby Mac concert! He was playing at an outreach with Luis Palau in Sacramento. 

Both kids made finger puppets in the kids area. It was so hot they stayed off of the jumpers because they burned their feet and legs.

Grasshopper catching was at the top of the list of favorite things to do during the festival.

And fighting them... er, uh... and I mean seeing them "kiss" each other was a a lot of fun too!

See I told you it was hot. You can see how sweaty we all are.

And after Luis Palau spoke (who was a great speaker, by the way)...

Mr. Toby Mac took the stage!

 And Mandisa, who happens to be from Sacramento came out and joined him for his song "Lose My Soul". She performed the following night, but we decided not to make the drive a second time. 

We had a blast rockin' out while Yohn sat and watched enjoyed the show from his seat. But he did get a pretty good picture of us!

Yay! for summer! We've had some interesting weather though. After last Saturday's incredible heat, it's been back down to the highs in the low 70's. Not that I'm complaining, I just find it interesting. :)

Days Turn Into Weeks, Turn Into... Months?

Oh has it really almost been two entire months since the last blog post? How time does fly. I had to 

re-prioritize things and unfortunately blogging did not make the top of the list. I wish it did, but when it lived at the top of the list, things did not get done and children did not get much deserved attention.

So here I am today, with a short, albeit possibly lame, update. But an update nevertheless.

Track season has officially ended. It actually ended last month, almost a month ago in fact. This Saturday we are finally having their team party. Apparently the coach has been very, very busy and nearly forgot all about us. Okay so the forgot part was an exaggeration because he has kids on the team who probably didn't. :)

Both kids had fun during the season, although Elisha really enjoyed it and Bethany just liked being there. The running part she wasn't quite as fond of. Which is why when she decided to do an 800 (two full laps around the track!) at the qualifying meet I was shocked. However, I also knew that she actually does have good endurance and would do fine, but with little experience she got beat out at the end. Thankfully only 4 kids ran in her age bracket and the top 4 got to go to the next round (meet? whatever.) so it was a win-win for her. No elimination that week. Too bad the next week she didn't really feel like running and didn't put much effort into it. Still, she had fun. And that's what really matters when you are eight years old.

Both kids have decided that they will be doing track again next year. I'm sure Elisha will follow through with that because he likes that it makes him faster and stronger for basketball, his all time favorite sport. Bethany, well, I wouldn't be surprised if she changes her mind, but who knows? 

Both kids performed at their school's open house this year. Bethany on recorder and Elisha on the drums. They did great! Elisha was nervous he was going to mess up, but did just fine.

Bethany, my oh so talented little musician, has been asked to play the xylophone for the upcoming  band performances. She already has a good knowledge of the keyboard and I guess the xylophone is pretty similar (says the mom who really has no clue). She loves it. Both kids will be playing at the church on Sunday, then at 8th grade/Senior graduation, and then they'll play "Pomp and Circumstance" for the 

pre-k/kindergarten graduation. They are both excited and nervous for this upcoming week. On Wednesday it will all be behind them and they will be free for the summer!

(BTW I meant for the pics of Elisha and Bethany to be reversed, but blogger kept flipping out when I tried to re-arrange them)

We went one day camping over Memorial day weekend and had some great family time. The caves on the mountain we visit are always a family favorite but this time around we also visited the summit! Thankfully we drove to that because I am certain this out of shape body would not have made it. The kids, freshly conditioned from track season, had no problems and high energy levels. They do anyways because they are kids, but let's just say I noticed a HUGE difference between last time and this time. 

I'm sure you've guessed by now that the new header is all from said camping trip. :)

 Well, I believe that is all for my quick update. Summer is just around the corner and I can't wait! No schedules (for the kids anyways, I still have to work), sleeping later, no making lunches, no homework worries, ahhhhh.... just a few more days. :)