Aaron's Birthday

Everytime, EVERY TIME William goes to do something I ALWAYS tell him to take pictures for my blog....he NEVER does.  Even times I have sent my camera with him, I get back NO pictures....so a little while ago, when I texted William and asked him to send me a picture of him and Aaron for my blog....I got this---just a few seconds later.  I was so happily surprised.  Today is Aaron's birthday and William went to his party.  In fact, he's still there as I write this.  Aaron is PV's student body president and he's going to Darthmoth for college.  Some people think he looks like Obama.  His dad is a good doctor, we always hope to get him when we go to Immediate Care.  He has been a great friend to William.  Happy Birthday Aaron!!!  Thank you Jen for taking the picture!!!  (jen is also the one who took the track pictures for my blog the times I couldn't go to meets the past 3 seasons.)

Holiday

Today was Memorial Day.  Scott had the day off.  We didn't have any plans.  The weather was chilly.  Scott worked a little and William did his lawn mowing job, but beside that we had nothing to do today except dinner plans...which turned into two different barbeque's.  At the first one Bradley and Andrew went SWIMMING....It was COLD.  The air was cold and windy, the sun was NOT out, and the water was freezing, but they jumped right in and swam around.  We didn't stay very long because we had plans to go to the Jones' house.  Here the kids are at the table ready for dinner---Thanks Richard and Krisha....we had fun and the food was delicious!!!  Even the jalapeno!  What a wonderful way to spend Memorial Day Holiday.  I think it's important to stop and think about those who have died serving our country....I wish more stores and places were closed so that more people can enjoy the holiday. 

Cub Scout Garden

This photo is from over a month ago, and I cant remember if I posted it, but the scouts and I went to see how the potates we planted were growing and they were doing pretty well.  We need to go back again, I bet they are even bigger now.  (Is this picture a repeat???) 

$83

I guess I now know that William reads my blog....not just "skims" it because he just said, "MMOOOOMMMMM, your blog is wrong AGAIN...I got "Eighty THREE dollars" from the money cube.

The Money Cube

William just said, "Mom, your blog is wrong AGAIN!  I got $82 dollars in the money box."  Yeah, that is really impressive and considering that to get in to grad night cost us $40 bucks, William actually made a profit!  Who needs a summer job, maybe William can find some more Money Cubes to go into. 

I wanted to tell some more about the Money Cube.

Here is a picture of a Money Cube (I actually think it was called the Cash Cube), wish I would have taken some while William was in there.  There were 14 golden stars hidden all around Fun Land.  Whoever found one got to go inside this cube for 30 seconds and grab as much money as they could and stick the money into the little box in the front.  There was a little slit that they had to stick the money through, and the box hanging from the front just caught what was sent through. The contestant would get inside, I would close the door and start the air.  The money started out all on the ground, but would quickly blow up and all around the contestant.  It was blowing pretty hard and grabbing the money was NOT an easy thing to do, but what the kids had the most difficulty with was sticking the money into the hole.  When they would grab the money it would get wadded up, but it would go in the slit easier straightened out.... most kids tried to shove or force it in, that took time, if they would have slowed down a bit and took a second to flatten the dollars it would have worked better.  They only had 30 seconds, so another key to making a lot of money would be to try and grab LARGE dollar amounts, like the $20 dollar bills, not the $1's.  There were a lot more $1's in there, though.  During the first round there was even a $50 bill in there.  The kids kept getting that, so after the first 14 contestants, it was taken out.  We had another mom working as the cashier, she had a cash box and envelopes.  We would count the money that they grabbed while in the cash box, then put those wrinkly dollars back in the Money Cube, then pay them from the other money the cashier had.  By the end of the 3rd round we had run out of money in the real cash box...haha....so whatever those 5 kids at the end grabbed, we put those actually wrinkly, torn dollars into their envelopes.  In fact, there was VERY little money floating around for the very last girl, she still made $20 something, but her's was mostly all $1's. 
 
Gina, and other moms who may ever be in charge of a carnival or something like Grad Night, definitely rent one of these for a blast.  Kids were all gathered around, cheering, giving instructions, pointing at the $20's, the DJ was really into it announcing the kids names, making it fun, too. 
 
William said he was lucky to find his "gold star".  I texted him to bring me some food and while he was getting me my plate he saw the star laying there by the water....he wouldn't have gone over to the food if I hadn't requested some food.  And while he was in the Cube both his hands were flat, while sliding money into the collector box and bills kept flying up into his flat hands, so all he had to do was shove money in the whole time. 

Sam the dog

We got new furniture so until it gets taken to the dump, this old couch is out on the front lawn (I know, we are the neighborhood eye sore).  It has been used a lot these past few days....maybe we will keep it there...haha, not!  But Sam came out and sat on William's lap the other day......

kind of a funny photo, so I'm sharing it here!

Bee Boxes

Scott's dad doesn't come over to "visit" he comes over to WORK.  He does not sit on the couch, he is out in the yard working at all hours of the day.  He even picked weeds in our garden in the rain.  This is a photo from the first night he was here-

He learned how to build bee boxes and proceeded to build about 12 of them.  Scott's mom painted them, too.  She also did all the dishes all 3 days she was here and made dinner one of the nights.  (and vacuumed and laundry and stove top and floors and I could go on and on).  So, as you can tell, we really enjoyed their visit. 

I don't have a photo of it, but Scott's dad also cut and stacked our wood pile.  (With help from grandma.) 

Weird Weather

The other day it was sunny and beautiful....and it IS the end of May, you know....so, William took the doors and windows off of his Jeep....and guess what happened that night?  Yeah, rain, but not just rain, tons of rain in torrential downpours, including hail.  And what do you think Bradley and Andrew did when they heard it?....ran out there to play!  And they got cold.  And then they wanted hot baths afterwards!

Turtles

DOn't know if I blogged about this yet, but Grandma and the boys did their favorite thing together on Monday, the night grandma arrived, they made Turtles....a special kind of candy that grandma is famous for.  I really need to learn to edit the mess out of the background of photos...haha...Krisha, look in the closet behind grandma.....the soccer streamer from the World Cup.  The US is playing in the Gold Cup next week, think I should get out my decorations and redecorate? 

William's High School Graduation

Last night was William's graduation from Pleasant Valley high school.  I brought two cameras to make sure to get some good photos, but I don't think I got any.  These are extremely out of order, but here they are-

here is William as his name was called over the podium and everyone cheered.



thanks Dunbars for taking this, except how did you get my arm to look SO large! 



the whole graduating class

us in our seats waiting for the graduation to begin

Scott getting a ride on the golf cart because he has a broken foot

William and Grandpa Hooning

William with grandma and grandpa Guymon

oops, should have whitened my teeth!!!!

High School Graduate

We are getting ready to go to the graduation ceremony...made William get his picture taken before we left....What a happy day!

Dance Photos

First Bradley's class did a play.

Queen Anne Waltz

South Side Shuffle

Pata Pata?

Swing (William and Nicole)

Grandma and Grandpa SWINGIN

William at Bradley's Dance

Jeni Olsen sent me this...she said there would have been more, but at one point William turned to her and said, "hey why don't you record your own kid"...haha...this dance is also a lot of the same...over and over and over...so this is really all you need to see!!!  HAHA!

dance (part 3)

try this one....

Dance Performance (part 2)

These are hard to identify and take forever to upload,....sssssssooooooooooo if you want to see a video of just about every part of the performance, come over and we will show you on our tv....we video taped it!

(This clip is Bradley and Jane's "spotlight" dance.  Just so you know, they only had one day to work on it....AND the music slows WAY down when it is their turn to dance, so it looks like they have no idea what they are doing.....but it was really cute....not their fault they didn't get a lot of practice and that the music was SUPPOSED to be slowed right then!!!!

Bradley's Dance performance

I was thinking of trying to put up some video here from Bradley's class' dance recital last night.....here is the South Side Shuffle, I think....and Bradley looks really "off" in this clip...but BELIEVE me when I tell you he danced VERY well!!!

Log Cabins

For cub scouts we built log cabins out of cinnamon toast.  (Thanks grandma for the idea!)

More on the Sharks

If Jumbo Joe had a seperated shoulder.....which he does, allegedly....wouldn't Ferriro, Nichol, Eager, Braun, McCarthy or any of those Shark team members who are with the team, but not able to dress because they can only dress 20 for a game have been a better option for the Sharks yesterday????  David, or anyone, answer me that!  I know that Thornton is the Captain, the leader, the inspiration....whatever!??!!  With ONE working arm, wouldn't a fully healthy and functional player have played better?  And I also read today that Ryane Clowe has been playing injured the WHOLE playoffs.  When the two Canucks defensemen went down a few days ago, they were replaced by some of their scrubs who usually watch the games from the press box up in the rafters and they did fine.   A separated shoulder?  What is that anyway....like a dislocated shoulder that was popped back in?  a break in a bone somewhere in the shoulder?  a fracture?  what was the shoulder separated from, the tissue? the ligaments?  the spine?  If his arm was just dangling there, he should not have been playing.  Hockey players need arms...to shoot, to defend, to ram into people, to play.  Well, at least Thornton didn't have a way to get any holding penalties during the game. 

I wish Niemi was looking for the puck on the game winning goal rather than at the ref.  I wish the refs would have decided that the play was dead, since NO one knew where the puck was.  I wish the series would have come back to San Jose so that millions of dollars would have been made on ticket sales, restaurants, hotels, merchandise, etc.....  I wish that the Sharks could have held off the Canucks when they were winning in the third period.  13.4 more seconds.  Wow, so close.

I wish that all the players who didn't get on the scoreboard would have because then the Sharks would have scored more goals, but also....then the critics wouldn't be blaming Heatley, Paveleski, Setoguchi, Wellwood, Mitchell, and even (gasp) Couture for the series loss.  Teams win games, teams lose....can't be ONE person's fault.  And even though I do put SOME blame on SOME of the losses on Niemi......he also made some fantabulous saves.  He can't be expected to stop EVERY thing.  And that game #2 where Eager was out of his mind fighting people and fouling.....yeah, one guy can lose a game for his team, I do blame Eager for that loss.  And if either the Kings or the Canucks would have won the games that McGinn caused his 5 minute major penalties, yeah, I would have blamed McGinn.  I DO NOT like when McGinn hurt people or Eager showed bad sportsmanship.  I hate when other teams do it to us and hate when the Sharks act like that to other teams.  If McGinn stays in the minors all of next year I will not be sad.  And if Eager goes elsewhere I will be happy. 

The Sharks are my favorite.  If the Canucks win the Cup it will be ok because Sharks fans will be able to say, the Sharks were beat by the best team in the NHL.  I don't like to root for a team who I just spent 2 weeks rooting against and who knocked us out of the playoffs, so I think I will root for who ever wins the east.  ACTUALLY....truthfully....I think I am done with hockey until next season.  GO SHARKS.

Our Sharks

The sun is out, indoor recess is over, the kids are still at school....aaaaaahhh...I think it's time to write about the Sharks. 

Yes, I am a true fan.  Yes, I have been called OBSESSED and I think whomever said that meant it as a put down, but I dont see my obsession as a "bad" thing.  I can manage ALL my other parts of life (except putting my dinner with Michelle off two times in a row) AND be a Sharks fan, so I'm ok. 
I am sad, but not "mad" at the Sharks.  They gave a good effort last night.  If they would have lost without trying, I would have been upset AT them, but, seriously, I am just a fan and I want them to win...they have been dedicating most of their lives to winning....I don't see how fans can say that they (the fans) "want it more".....haha, no way that is true!  But, us fans, we do like our team to WIN, not lose.  And the Sharks lost last night.  In double overtime.  On a FLUKEY goal.  Not fair. 

We watched the beginning of the game, but then had to go to Bradley's dance recital and play.  (I'll blog about that next.)  Then we came home and watched part of the third period.....we saw Seto's goal (Pav's awesome assist) and we also saw the Canucks goal in the last 13 seconds of the game.  But then we had to go to William's indoor soccer game.  The games were running behind so we asked if they could put the Sharks game on their big screen tv at the soccer arena.  We watched about 10 or so minutes of the over time, but turned it off when William's game started.  (It was being taped at home.)  (I'll blog about William's game next, after Bradley's performance blog.) 

When we got home the tv was on (sometimes it doesn't tape when the tv is off (old vcr) so we didnt want to take any chances and left it on.  When I walked in I tried not to look.  I quickly tried to turn the satellite off, but on the screen was a Todd McClellan press conference with a HUGE graphic of the score.  UGH.  My heart sank.  I didn't want to watch the video recording.  I REALLLLLLLLLLLLY thought the Sharks were going to win.  I even thought they could win 3 in a row to take the series.  (They won 6 in a row earlier in the season.)  I wanted to keep watching the Sharks play.  I wanted the Sharks to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.  I wanted them to WIN the Stanley Cup. 

I still wore my teal Sharks t shirt to work today.  I still LOVE the Sharks. 

I'm So Sad

Somebody cheer me up!

Gotta work today (and cub scouts), it's raining (so indoor recess), and don't have time to blog (but have lots of dance footage and even a soccer clip from last night).  Miserable!  Check back later for my ode to the Sharks.  LOVE them, don't like them losing!  (That's the real reason I am so sad.) 

Mel Party Anthem Dance

William shufflin

For Melanee---now lets see yours!

Sharks

Clean the house or blog about the Sharks.......which is worse?!??!!!  I want to do NEITHER.  I need to clean the house, though....Scott's parents will be here tomorrow and I wont get a chance to clean tomorrow because BOTH Bradley and Andrew's teachers have personally asked me to come into their classroom and work tomorrow because they have "soooo much to do".  UGH!  Unfortunately I told them both...BOTH....that YES, I would help.  I am kicking myself, because those few hours I have while the kids are at school are my only good cleaning times!!!!!  Oh well, Scott's mom said, "We aren't coming to visit your house, we are coming to see you."  So hopefully she means it! 

We got some brand new couches thanks to our friend Levi.  If Michelle wasn't so AWESOME, I'd have to say that Levi is quickly becoming my very best friend.  The couches are HUGE and take up almost ALL of the room, but they are thick and warm and comfy.  They are very light brown, so I don't think I've allowed Scott to sit on them yet.  No one has spilled anything on them YET either.  They even smell better than our old furniture.  AND, I'm so excited, our friend Dean is coming on Tuesday to shampoo our carpet.  We asked him to do it on Saturday, but he was graduating from Chico State, I guess that trumps shampooing our carpet.  Yeah, it does.  Now that we have these light colored couches, I'm thinking of painting the walls a little darker color.....think I should??? or will that make the already small room feel even smaller??? 

Haha, I just noticed I titled this post "Sharks" then started to write about everything else BUT the Sharks....maybe I am still in denial....the Sharks lost and if they lose anymore they are OUT of the Playoffs!  I do not want that to happen!  NO, NO, I don't.  I love watching hockey games.  I love the Sharks.  I don't want the season to end.  Well, it can end, but I want the guys, my Sharks, to be holding the Stanley Cup when it is all over. 

The Sharks played bad today....um, maybe they did, but if you want my opinion (you must, since you are reading my blog) I think the Canucks just played good.  I am not going to blame the game on the refs, the Sharks had their chances on the Power Play and did not score.  They are the ones who did things like high sticking,  too many men on the ice, delay of game, all that lazy stuff.  I hated watching the game as soon as the Canucks went up 3 to ZERO in the span of about 2 minutes!  I HOPED they would come back.  I wanted them to come back.  I thought that maybe they COULD come back, but the Canucks are just reallllly good.  The Sharks are really good too, so I will keep watching and wearing all my lucky stuff.....but on Tuesday William has an indoor soccer game and Bradley has a ball room dance performance, so if taping the game IS bad luck like my dad claims it is, then I will be VERY upset!!!!!

GO SHARKS!

William's track photo

What do you think???I'm going to make this a 5 x 7 for the picture frame at my dad's house....along with the ones of Bradley and Andrew I took for this soccer season.  If you don't already know, my dad has 4 picture frames at his house on a shelf and each sport season I update the photo with a current one.  It's so fun to look at them when we visit dad and also fun to look at the old pictures behind the new ones and see how the kids have grown!

(maybe I should edit out that telephone pole???)

Sharks

The Sharks lost the first two games against the Canucks in the Western Conference Finals.  I didn't enjoy either of those first two games.  I had to watch them both on tape and that is JUST NOT AS FUN!  I can't even say that I enjoyed this last game, which was a win because I do not like penalty filled hockey and I do not like to see players get injured. 

I will first write about my opinion on the Jamie McGinn hit at the end of the game.  He skated practically across the ice to make the hit, the whole entire time he skated he headed for the Canucks player, he PLANNED on hitting him.  He probably didn't PLAN on HURTING him, but he definitely had it in mind to run into the guy.  Sure, he didn't hit him squarely in the back.  It was more shoulder to shoulder.  And how can any one except Jamie himself KNOW what his "intent" was, so that's not for me to say, but I will say, just as the coach did, that he deserved the penalty.  And I will say that Jamie McGinn is cute, but stupid.  How can he put his team into that position to have to kill a 5 minute MAJOR penalty at the end of a game.  And this is NOT the first time Jamie has done this SAME exact thing.  He has got to know when to hit and when not to.  He has played now in 3 playoff games and has been assessed two 5 minute major penalties, forcing his teammates to have to scramble to salvage the game.  He is just as bad as Ben Eager in the penalty department.  I say...Bench Him!  The Sharks are kind of a "soft" team, that's just the way they play....fast, skilled hockey, not dirty, flopping, ugly hockey.  They should do what they do best, not try this new fighting, hitting, mean hockey.  I don't like it! 

The Canucks are a good team.  They are fast, maybe even faster than the Sharks, their forwards are definitely faster than the Sharks defenders.  They are precise passers.  Their defense stifles the Sharks as soon as they get the puck.  The goalie is pretty good, except for the ones that go 5 hole, haha!  The Canucks coach is lame, whining all the time about the refs, our coach, our players.  I hope a stray puck hits him in the face next game. 

The hit that bugged me the most last game was the one Ryane Clowe put on Logan Couture.  Logan looked seriously dazed.  I have read that he is fine, but head injuries REALLY scare me. 

I haven't seen Joe Pavelski or Devin Setoguchi do much this series.  Please, guys, do something!  You guys have the abilities to be super stars, now is the time.  I miss Jason Demers.  He is hurt.  He is not even practicing, so I don't think we will see him in a game any time soon.  Kent Huskins is back, though.  Woo Hoo Kent!!!  I wonder what ever happened to Justin Braun.  He is good.  Wonder if the coach will play 7 defenders next game and give him a chance.  I know I have complained here a lot about Nicklas Wallin, but he's playing pretty hard.  He has been on the ice for a lot of the Canucks goals, but he hasn't been beat by being in the wrong place or being LAZY, he had just been destroyed by a really good Canucks team.  Douglas Murray gets out skated by a fast Canucks team just like he did last year against Chicago.  Dan Boyle is getting old, but his skating WITH the puck is exciting.  I could never criticize Marc Eduoard Vlasic, he is just outstanding all the time.  Neimi is awesome, but he could be better on the ones he lets in.  If a team scores 3 or 4 or 5 goals on a keeper, there is not way he can be considered as "having a good game".  I don't know why he wasn't pulled in that 7-3 loss!!!!!  Marleau is still my favorite player, even if he has no internal organs!  I love the guy.  I think Clowe is injured.  I think Thornton is a great passer.  I hope Heatley scores some more goals.  I especially like his goals when scored a few seconds into the game or the ones he hits like rockets!  Come on, Mitchell, remember that one time, not too long ago, when you made the ESPN top ten plays for your skating with the puck around and past 4 Canucks and scoring....do THAT again, you know you can!  Desjardins had a great chance for a goal...and missed, but keep him in, he may be able to get it in if given another chance.  Wellwood brings lots of energy, but his line is not really producing much.  Have the Sharks finally faced a team with a better 3rd line than them???  I'm really excited to sit and watch and hopefully ENJOY tomorrow's game, too bad its on while we are at church and I will have to watch it on tape, which is fuzzier and not as fun to watch because USUALLY SOMEONE in the room has already received a text and they know the outcome.  Go Sharks!!!

PV Senior Award Night

William's high school had a special Awards/Scholarship night on Wednesday.  We got a fancy invitation in the mail inviting us and telling us that William was being awarded an award.  I was bummed that it took place on the same night as a Sharks playoff game, but that's what VCRs are for RIGHT?  (I'm so happy those things were ever invented, thank you VCR creators!!!!)  The school has a brand new performing arts center which is like a grand theater.  The ceremony was held there.  Most of the students were dressed well and it was a fancy evening.  Different presenters came to the podium, talked a little about the award or the student then presented them their award.  Up on a big video screen was the title of the award or scholarship, the students senior picture, and their name.  I really appreciated the screen because of my hearing loss.  William knew what he was getting, but his friend Darren, who sat in front of us didn't so it was VERY exciting when Darren won Scholar Athlete of the Year.  William's award came about 2 hours into the event.  Most all of the students before him, when called up to the stage, would walk up there quickly, with their heads down or looking straight forward at the presenter, most were very uncomfortable or awkward.  When William was called up he knew his turn was coming, so he said that he would pose for a picture for me (I had my camera).

 I didn't get the picture of him pointing to his certificate and making a smile/pose, but everyone laughed. 

 The presenter of William's scholarship award was one of Pleasant Valley's counselors.  She had a long, informative paragraph to read.  I think SVU must have sent it telling about the school, the scholarship, and William's qualifications.  I mean, most of the other awards were presented by the presenter telling the name of the scholarship, the amount, and then the recipient.  For William's, she waited for him to get to the stage, then she had him stand next to her while she talked.  William got a lot of applause, but the funniest part of the evening was when the presenter said, "The scholarship is worth $28,000" to which the ENTIRE audience "Ooohhhh"ed longly and loudly.  I think they may have missed the part she added "over the course of four years".  When she was done she shook William's hand and he did his cute pose thing, to which the audience all chuckled.  I DID NOT GET THE PHOTO of it, my camera is too slow between shots!!!!  I SURE WISH I had the camera set to video and I would have shared it here for all you to enjoy and I would like to hear again, what the presenter said! 

The actual certificate was very fancy and official looking.  Doesn't William look thrilled! 

Monkey Face hike

Took the cub scouts back to their favorite hiking place, Monkey Face-

this is their "funny shot" pose

Carnival Performance

Andrew's class had their last dance perfromance last night.  They danced the same dance at the school carnival.  I think they did pretty well, but there was a whole row of kids in front of me, so I didn't have a very good view.  Andrew really enjoys dancing.  He's very cute.  The carnival had a pirate theme, so that's why they are wearing pirate scarves on their heads! 

Cub Scout Field Trip

 We went to the Bidwell Mansion, but the kids were more interested climbing the trees,

 throwing rocks in the river,

 swinging on vines,

 running up stairs,

 playing on the playground, they were pretending they were training for the Army or Navy on all the playground equipment, going up the slides, climbing the walls, going across the monkey bars, they were very entertained,

 her is Andrew on the bridge (on the WRONG side),

 and finally, the mansion-

such a fun field trip, they didn't want to leave.  In the past few weeks, we've had so much fun just going places away from the church....it makes planning easier for me and the boys get to get out in the fresh air.  (Too bad I was told at the Committee meeting last night that they want to get me an assistant and that I should only take field trips once a month and they need to be planned, filed with the scout office, and official permission slips signed.)

Canucks Fan???!!!???!!!!!!

Melanee has a friend in a class who is a big time Canucks fan...here they are together before Sunday's game.  Booooooo Canucks!  GOOOOOOO  SHARKS!!!!!!

Field Trip day

Andrew's class is studying pioneers.  Today was their field trip to the Paradise Gold Nugget museum, but it is cold an rainy, so instead of going there for a full day field trip, they are just going for 2 hours later this afternoon.  They all dressed up like pioneers or gold rush type people.  I hope someone will share a photo of the full class, they were cute. 

Bradley's class is doing an Indian unit.  They had a field trip planned today, too.  They were going to go to Butte Creek Canyon, but there was too much poison oak (or ivy, haha, not sure).   They are still doing theirs, but moved it indoors at the CARD center (wonder who is paying for THAT!) 

I didn't sign up to go on either field trip because I have to take tomorrow off because I have to go to Oroville and interview to be on the Butte County Grand Jury.  I received a questionnaire in the mail and filled it out.  Then I got a letter saying thanks for showing interest in a position on the Grand Jury.  I guess the fine print said, "send this questionnaire back if you are interested"...oops, I'm not interested, I get paid by the HOUR, if I miss work for Grand Jury, I don't get paid.  OOPS.  Guess I will tell them that at the interview. 

Seminary Graduation

Here are my pictures from Sunday night-

William and Spud

William and Ivan