Pickpockets Performance

Parker used his own money to buy a bass guitar a few months ago and has been completely attached to it ever since. He watches YouTube videos, has downloaded guitar tabs apps, and jams with Neal (who used his own money to buy a guitar, too). Parker now can play two instruments in his band, the Cold Bombers. They get together most Saturdays and have a coaching session with my friend, Jill, who is in a band herself and so is knowledgable about things like rock n roll. Parker has never latched onto anything as securely as his bass and this band idea. It's awesome.

His band got together and decided to do a camp at the School of Rock here in town, and, as providence would have it, they were signed up for Beatles week! They have been at the camp every day this week from 9 until 3, and today, they performed their Beatles set at Bronson Rock, a restaurant here in Keller that hosts live bands pretty much every night. There were two girls who attended the camp with them, one of whom played drums and sang and the other did vocals and a little bit of keyboards. We invited friends, got our nerves under control, and watched these guys jam. It was awesome!

Setting up.

High fives from teachers and fans afterward.

I'm so proud of this dude.

June Silliness

Apparently, last Sunday was navy and white striped skirt day in the Beehive class. Here is Audrey with her friends, Madie and Amara.

Miles' long hair, coupled with the fact that he is swimming a lot but not washing his hair, made for perfect Dr. Who hair in the car yesterday. He already has a Halloween costume in the works.

I woke from my Sunday nap to find Parker in a Top Gear-watching fort.

Miles fell asleep hugging me and Bear during the Missionary Broadcast last night. Yummy.

We went glasses shopping for Audrey and Miles looked quite dapper in these ladies' readers . . . 

Saying Goodbye

Some of our dearest friends have moved and we are so sad. We took the opportunity to see them and celebrate our friendship with them a whole lot before they left, though.

Some friends and I threw a big shebang at a local neighborhood pool. We invited all the Wrights' friends and neighbors and put together a tear-jerking memory book for them to look at after they left. It was too painful to look at that day! Here we are with Nate and Lauren.

You have seen Julia's face lots of times on my blog, because she and Audrey have been bosom friends since we moved here and they were seven. These two have had many outside adventures and will miss each other so much. Thank goodness for technology, and now we have another reason to visit the central East Coast (Natalie)! The Wrights are moving to Maryland.

The last afternoon they were here, I took three of the kids with mine to the movies to get them out of mom's hair. We climbed a tree or two before hugging goodbye.

Miles and Simon have been buddies for years, as well. When they first used to play, they could hardly pronounce each other's names. And now they are so big.

After we had said goodbye, we realized that we had Liliana's purse in my car, so we had one last chance to hug them goodbye, in a local Home Depot parking lot. We will take it!

Best of luck, Wright Family!

Girls Camp 2013 with Audrey

Audrey and I had so much fun at Girls' Camp last week! It was awesome for her to get to bond with all the Young Women. We had a great time! We went to Robbers Cave State Park, in Wilburton, Oklahoma, which is about three and a half hours away.

We treated the girls to lunch on the way up.

The Keller Second Ward Cabin, all decorated thanks to my friend, Christine!

Audrey and her group of first years, with their YCL.

Audrey and Madie, reading their scriptures outside.

Time at the lake.

Rock climbing day!

The Young Women of our Stake learned a beautiful song that goes along with the church's theme for the youth in 2013, Stand in Holy Places and Be Not Moved (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8). Here's the video from my phone of them singing it before testimony meeting the last night of camp.

Oklahoma Help

I was feeling like we could be doing something for our neighbors in Oklahoma who were affected so terribly by the tornados last month, so I found a way to "adopt" a couple of families and gathered help and supplies from among our friends. Last weekend, we delivered the goods and money we had collected and were met with such gratitude and humility by everyone we met. I am so grateful that we had this experience and hope to go back soon. Some shots from our trip.

Loading up Robby's truck with Ron and Amber the night before we left Keller.

We left by 6:00 Saturday morning and headed north, just in time for the sunrise.

Audrey and I with Ashley, and my friends, Linda and Amber.

A couple of hours later, we pulled into Moore and unloaded our first set of furniture and gift cards with Ashley. Her cousin and his family lost everything, and then had a baby two days later. We hope to meet them next time, but Ashley was so kind and is letting them store items for a new home in her garage.

Then, we headed across the freeway, just like the tornado did, and met Will, who is trying his best to help his mom, dad and handicapped brother get their lives back together. You can watch a video about Will, here. He was a first responder at Plaza Towers Elementary School. I was able to speak with his mom, Maria, on the phone after we filled the garage with stuff. She has a broken leg from the storm and wasn't able to meet us this time, but we hope to go back soon.

After we finished meeting with our new friends, we drove around Moore to get an idea of the devastation. It was truly heartbreaking and quite remarkable.

Plaza Towers Elementary School. This was the only place we saw all day that was completely cleaned up, only a foundation was left. I think this was pretty crucial for the healing of the community. A very solemn place.

Neighborhoods near the school. 

Cub Scout Day Camp

The first week after school was finished found Parker roasting in the heat for eight hours every day at Cub Scout Day Camp. Now that he is a Webelo, though, he needs all the help he can get completing activity pins and beltloops, so camp was pretty necessary. I was able to join him the last day as a volunteer, and we had a lot of fun. I just didn't take a whole lot of photos. :)

Weirdos planking.

After the boys had turns, they let the moms have a shot at the beebee guns. Not too shabby for my first time!

Fourth and Sixth Grades are Complete!

Audrey and Parker had their awards ceremonies this week. Audrey earned many awards; she is always so accomplished, and we are so proud of her! She earned:

The Presidential Gold Seal (Top 5 GPA in her team of 60)

Destination Imagination State Qualifier

Principal's Honor Roll

G3 (Go Green Group)

Spelling Bee Participant

Peer Mediator

Art Award

Reading Olympics Gold Medal

Citizenship Award

She was the only girl to earn the Presidential Gold Seal in her team. Woohoo!

Parker had a great fourth grade year, made even better by his friendship with his classmate, church friend, and band mate, Tyler. These two are great buds, and we so grateful! I love it when my kids find good friends! Now, don't move anywhere, Tyler!

 

One of the moms in Parker's class made a great scrapbook for the teacher with a page for every child. I snapped a photo of the "Parker" page.

Parker and Mrs. Fritzenmeier

He earned some great awards, too:

Academic Achievement (all As [and one B] all year)

Citizenship Award

Physical Fitness Award

Reading Olympics Bronze Medal

Parker and Reed

Parker and the girls from church.

Parker and Camden, who have been friends since kindergarten. I should post the picture of their height difference.

Ok, there. :)

I took Parker to lunch after school and he was looking especially old and handsome and reminding me of my brothers, and I thought, how can graduating from fourth grade make that much of a difference? Sigh.

Above are the Kindergarten and Fourth Grade photos of these five boys, who met in Mrs. Johnson's class in 2008 and now are so grown up. We'll have to do another one of these after sixth grade and see what happens.

Our final day of carpool. We like to go for donuts before school on the last day! I am thankful for my friendship with Tiffany, my carpool buddy and dear friend. We are good at making it work and being forgetful and scatterbrained together! Her three boys are pictured here, as is our neighbor, Memory, who is in Audrey's grade.