Day 131

No time to take pictures yet again today.  After school, I had to pick GothGirl up and take her to guitar lessons.  Then I came home and walked on the treadmill while she finished up some homework.  We both grabbed a quick dinner in the kitchen and then went down to my craft room to stamp some paper sacks.  My Girls on the Run group has to complete a community service project and they chose to make treat bags for all the teachers and staff at the school.  I volunteered to bring in the decorated sacks, which the girls filled with candy, office supplies (markers, pens, post it note pads, clips, etc.), and granola bars.  They also made a flower pen to put in each bag.  After the bags were filled, we delivered them throughout the school.  All of the teachers were gone for the day, so they would see their surprises first thing in the morning.  Photos taken with my phone.

Due to the lack of photos for today, I’d like to wrap up with the final photos taken on Sunday at the orchard.   The theme for this year’s Team Quest finals was Route 66.  The organizers brought in an old Chevy Impala convertible for the event and housed it in one of the barns.  The kids were told some things about the car and then were later tested on the material that was covered.  At the end of the day when the kids were all occupied with other events, I got the chance to take some photos of the car by itself.  Since classic cars have such neat features, I knew there was the possibility of getting some good photos.  Luckily I shot a few at some great angles and I love how they turned out after final editing. 

Day 130

I didn’t take any photos today with my Canon.  Instead, I spent the evening bonding with my beautiful daughter.  GothGirl needed some clothes so we did a little shopping.  Next, we stopped for dinner…her choice was Noodles & Co.  She got her favorite Buttered Noodles with spices and I got the Chinese Chop Salad.  Both dishes were really yummy and we had a great time together.  I love hanging out with my girl.  Photos courtesy of my iPhone:

While we were doing our thing, the boys were fishing at a local lake.  They had a fabulous time too.  Then again, LilCrockett is happiest anytime he can be outside hangin’ with his dad!  Here’s a photo of him with one of the biggest bluegills of the day.  Note: I was losing light fast by the time they got home, so I had to snap this photo in Auto using flash.

Finally, I wanted to share some photos that I took yesterday at the Guten Tag Orchard (Home of the Team Quest State Finals) near Chester, IL.  It seems an odd location to hold these finals; but then again, it was a wonderful setting.  Groups of teams would rotate through the various outbuildings to perform the different events of the day.  I particularly enjoyed it because there wasn’t a lot to do while the kids were “in session”, so the grounds made for an interesting backdrop.  At one point, I walked down the country lane back towards the pond to take some photos.  I loved the rustic barns and such and was happy to get some great shots.   

Day 129

You may recall from a previous post that GothGirl’s team qualified for the State Finals in the Team Quest Academic Challenge.  Today was the final event and it was held 3 hours south of us in Chester, IL (home of Popeye!).  There were events in Engineering, Creativity, Music, Math, Trivia, Teamwork, etc.  Parents can really only watch from afar, but I snapped a few photos throughout the day.  Keep in mind that the event was held in various outbuildings at a country orchard, so the lighting was not very good.  There were 18 teams at the event and sadly, GothGirls' team did not make the top 5.  I wanted to get a team photo at the end, but she was too sad.  Despite not placing, we are VERY proud of her accomplishments.  We love, Sweetie and you will always be our #1.

Day 128

Today was Mother’s Day, but it felt just like any other day.  I spent the morning with LilCrockett since GothGirl was at a sleepover.  We picked her up mid-morning and when we got home, she wanted to clean.  I had already cleaned the bathrooms, so I suggested that we clean the windows.  Crockett was still down working flood command duty and wasn’t expected home until mid-afternoon, so I figured we might as well get something done while we were waiting for him.  But he surprised us and came home early.  We got about half-way done with the windows (did I mention that we have 12 windows on our house!) and GothGirl defected to the neighbors’ house to help them put together a metal tiki bar that they had given their mom for Mother’s Day.  I was left to finish up myself, but was glad to have them done because my windows were crazy dirty. 

While I was doing windows, Crockett decided to tackle the bushes in our backyard.  They were a little overgrown and needed some shaping.  Seems like all of our flower beds are overgrown and need of some attention this year.   

Meanwhile, this is what the cat was doing….

When dinnertime came, we pooled dishes with the neighbors and had a great impromptu Mother’s Day meal: pork loin, cheesy potato casserole, green bean casserole, applesauce, and layered pudding. 

Due to all the fresh air and outdoor activity, we were tired and so we went inside around 7:00pm.  I got busy on the computer and looked up at about 7:45pm to see this.  If you look closely, you’ll see LilCrockett’s hands area clasped together between his legs.  

Day 127

Since I shared GothGirl’s Mother’s Day creation here yesterday, I’d better share LilCrockett’s here today.  What mom can resist a child’s handprint and a cute poem?!! 

LilCrockett also brought me another gift today.  He went for a walk to the local pond with the neighbor girls and came back with a bouquet of flowers for me.  He told me he got me the flowers “because it’s Mother’s Day and because I love you”.  Awww….melt my heart!  I took a cute photo of him with the flowers but that photo is on my phone.  I was lucky to get the photos from my camera downloaded, so this one will have to do (it’s actually a better quality photo anyway, but just doesn’t have my sweet little boy in it).

Crockett had baseball practice today and since it was picture day, they got to wear their uniforms for the first time.  He was especially excited about his new hat.  Here are a few photos from practice. 

Batter up!

LilCrockett is still trying to get his timing down during batting and catching, but he already has an amazing throwing ability.  Sometimes I can’t believe how coordinated he is especially since I’m not!  He definitely gets that from his dad.

I love this shot.  He was playing 1st base and got his teammate out (they were playing a scrimmage).  Overjoyed, he leaped up off the base.  So cool that I caught his jump mid-air!

This is probably my favorite shot of the day.  A close-up of the coach with the players.  They give each other high fives at the end of practice and then end by singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.  Love this candid shot with no one even aware that I’m taking the photo.  And who can resist cute little kids in ball uniforms?!!  Too bad the other coach was in the background picking up the bases.  I may end up Photoshopping him out at some point.

During practice, GothGirl hung out with one of her friends (whose brother is on LilCrockett’s team) and another of their friend’s little brother. 

After practice, the kids make a beeline for the playground equipment.  This particular playground is normally reserved for the other elementary grades when school is in session, so the kindergarteners don’t get to play on it much.  Thus, it’s the first thing they want to do after practice.  Here’s a shot of LilCrockett jumping from the top of the equipment.  So glad he didn’t break a leg or anything.  Crazy boy!

And then a shot of him at home playing on top of the wheelbarrow, which is his new favorite toy.

Day 126

Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday and the kids brought home the creations that they made for me at school.  GothGirl brought home the cutest hand-painted rock and I simply adore it!  See how awesome it looks in my flowerbed.  I’ll share LilCrockett’s creation with you tomorrow.

   

Tonight was a friend’s birthday and I offered to have his kids spend the night so he and his wife could go out to a movie.  It was beautiful weather so we spent most of the night outside.  One of the neighbor girls came over as well and got in on the action.  Here’s the gang…

And a cute photo of GothGirl by herself:

Day 125

Crockett was gone tonight, so the kids and I grabbed some take-out and headed for home for an impromptu picnic while watching a family movie.  We watched Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and it was fantastic.  I’ve enjoyed all of the Narnia movies and I love that it’s something we can all watch together.  Some would argue against it, but I do see some religious connotations in the movie. 

While we were watching the movie, the sun was shining in our big picture window and was hitting each of the kids beautifully, so I couldn’t resist snapping some photos. 

A backlit shot of LilCrockett…

A front lit shot of GothGirl….

Camera update: due to the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, Canon and its retailers are sold out of nearly every model of camera.  As a result there is an increased demand and a correlating spike in prices.  Looks like I will be waiting awhile (who knows how long) before I can get my new camera.  While a big part of me is finding it very hard to be patient, I’m reminding myself that toys and trinkets are nothing compared to the devastation that Japan and its people have experienced.  My heart goes out to them.