Chalk the Block Sept 2015

Chalk the Block in Provo at the River woods was "artfully" done.  I really wanted to do this this year and again life's circumstances prevented me from entering.  Sometimes it is hard to sacrifice the fun for responsibility, but such is life.  

I love this fun medium of art.  It brings us back to the carefree world of childhood when we would chalk all over the sidewalks.  One time while living in California my children and I were playing with sidewalk chalk.  We lived in some gated town homes at the time and leaked our drawing over to our neighbors side of the driveway.  Our drawings were sweet and innocent some even good because I copied out of a coloring book.  Our neighbors were not happy with our creations and scolded us for drawing on their side demanding us to wash it off.  

We took the kids to expose them to some culture.  Sometimes  I think they feel like we shove it down their throats but they really do enjoy it while we are there.  Wherever "there"happens to be.  Plus this time we promised to take them out to dinner.  This is one cultural event that they are slow to warm up to but once the music arrives they love it.  They had this awesome band playing. I think it was the same one a last time.  Either way they were great and my kids could help but just bust a move.  It makes me so happy to see them so carefree and just go with the music regardless of whether or not people are watching.  It tells me that they are happy and maybe I am not such a failure as a mother.  

Ellie Mid Summers Night May 2015

Ellie was in the play a MidSummer Nights Dream.  She was fantastic.  I have never actually seen a MidSummer Nights Dream but I have read it before.  This was done with just her Drama II class so not a huge production but very well done especially for a Junior High School.  The teacher didn't allow mics so the kids all had to be good in projecting their voices.  I was pleased that I could hear them all really well.  The kids did a great job.  Ellie played the part of Philippia Quice.  Her group was the comic relief that were great.

Greek Festival Sept 2015

We finally made it to the Greek festival, which I should mention that it SHOULD be called the Greek FOOD festival because it was all about the food.  The food was very delicious though. My favorite was the rice pilaf and a number of desserts.  They did have some greek dancing that was interesting and we got to take a tour of the Greek Orthodox church.

As we were sitting at the table eating our food Scott looks around at all the people and then looks at me and mentions that I could pass for Greek if I had a bigger nose.  I laughed and said I am actually racially ambiguous. I can pass for quite a few nationalities with the exception of Asian.  Its how I blend in.

Geek of the Week July 2015

I swear this kid gets more geek of the weeks than anyone else.  He is such a ham most of the time.  I am glad that he could really care less about what others think.  It will serve him well over the years. This is him dancing like Michael Jackson just because.  Brenny has a song in his heart that just wont quite and sometimes he just has to get his groove on.  Even if he is a dork doing it. 

Brennen reminds me so much of my dad sometimes.  They look a lot a like their eating habits are the same (produce junkies, and popcorn) They even have the same mannerisms and tender heart.  I see so much of my dad in him everyday.  Here he is driving my dads beloved Pontiac.

geek of the week June 2015

My kids really wanted to hang their swords on the wall.  I
 told them absolutely not, we will not hang any swords on the wall of our living spaces.  we are not that kind of decorators. One night I came home from running some errands and found this in our living room

I guess they found the loop hole.

Martial Arts May 2015

William and Brennen have been taking Marital Arts for a year now.  This is the perfect sport for them.  They get to wrestle and fight and play with swords.  They just love it.  I love that I found a place very close that I can afford and that they love it.  The other great thing about this studio is that they only have 1 tournament a year.  This happens to be one of the tournaments.  My boys take this very seriously.  Brennen did great and won 2nd place in swords for his level. I only let him compete in 1 event this time because it costs to enter the event.
 William was able to compete in 2 events this year. He did swords again and grappling this time.  William took first place in grappling even though we just moved him up to the next level  He also placed in swords but not as high as he would have hoped.  He was so disappointed in himself because he swept the swords tournament last year. I told him it was okay becuase he did so well in grappling. I bet with a little more pracitce he can get right back up on top of the podium for swords with his new higher level.
I am grateful that they have something that they love and we are able to give it to them.