TOTALLY out of my comfort zone...

A friend of mine at work suggested that we take an Adult Swim for Fitness class this summer. The price was right and at the same time, my kids can play in the pool, so I decided to try. Of course, in the back of my mind was the fact that I had not swum for anything other than playing in the pool for about 20 yrs. I showed up with a lump in my stomach - fearing what was going to happen - were they going to make me be in swim lessons with 3 year olds since I didn't remember a lot? Was it going to be some cocky teenager who would look at me and laugh? Well, thankfully, it wasn't any of those things. While I am old enough to be the instructor's mother, he is a very patient guy and quite laid back. My friend claimed she hadn't swum in years either, but she was able to start on the regular class material. I got to swim back and forth practicing breathing - which is what I needed - and the instructor made me feel totally OK with it - not like the remedial swimmer I am! Maybe in a couple of weeks I can make it to the actual class material! Class is again tomorrow - we'll see how I do. I came home really tired, but thankfully today I am not sore!

Caitlin dances!

And beautifully I might add! Here are a few pictures from her performance two weeks ago (I know, I'm slow!). She was in 3 pieces. The first (where the dancers are in blue) was a pointe piece, the second (dancers in red/orange) was a modern ballet piece - but very fun, and third, was Alice in Wonderland - where on the second night she starred as the Queen of Hearts. She was thrilled with everyone that came to see her - friends, teachers, lots of people!

End of the School Year wrap up

Unbelievably, another school year has come and gone. The kids have been out of school for a week now. Our house now is host to a 7th grader and a 9th grader. Wow! Here are a few things from the end of the year whirlwind of awards and concerts....

Caitlin got to talk and light a candle and the National Junior Honor Society induction. It was neat since she had worked hard this year in NJHS and had even been in charage of their Clean and Beautiful program where they went a few times to pick up trash at a local park.

Caitlin was also honored at the Presidential Awards ceremony. This was given out to all 8th graders that had at least a 3.5 GPA and also had done well on the AIMS test. They made a huge deal that it was signed by our president, but Caitlin was disappointed that it was only a rubber stamp signature. Still a cool accomplishment!

And, last for Caitlin was the Student Council Awards night (and another candle lighting ceremony!). She has worked so hard in student council the last two years, and while it was an "easy" class, the kids did have to show a lot of dedication to put on all the events that they did.

And, of course, Philip's orchestra concert - he's the one on the end with his blond hair sticking out over the music stand! He does such a nice job playing his violin. He has decided to continue playing next year in junior high. The kids all played wonderfully at this concert.

Science Fair #2...

This time for Caitlin. And her friend Caitlin! They had to be in groups to do this project and there was no doing it at home. There was a 3rd girl involved, but from what I am hearing, she wasn't much help. The other Caitlin's dad does science as a hobby and so she brought all the stuff to school to do this like Benedict solution, test tubes, beakers, and many things that I have no idea where to purchase. I was very good at going to Walmart and buying ice cream and distilled water. I even donated some salad dressing to the cause! I understand where to get those kind of things! They were testing if there was a difference in starches and sugars in the regular version of a food versus the fat free variety. I didn't understand all the ins and outs (maybe because I never saw this project in action), but it sounded really cool and I would have liked to see this experiment in action. The really cool part was that tonight we got to go to school and see all the projects - and Caitlin & Caitlin had a 1st place ribbon on theirs. They were pretty happy!

Grand nap...

Lucky Philip got to go with his sixth grade class to the Grand Canyon this past week. They had a wonderful time seeing the canyon and also floating down the Colorado to Lee's Ferry. I wish I could have been there - but parents weren't invited! I did give him a couple of disposable cameras to document his adventure, but, I turned them in at Sam's to get developed and it takes a week to get the photos back - and of course I wouldn't do one hour - who knows what things an 11 yr old boy finds interesting - and do I want to spend 2x as munch money on the prints of random kids on a charter bus or something? :) So, until those are back, you'll have to enjoy the picture one of the teachers gave me this week. Here Philip is on the tram that goes around the Grand Canyon. Not only was he asleep on it, this is right after the older lady he had fallen asleep on got off the tram. The older lady assured everyone it was alright and she didn't mind. This makes me laugh because it is so unlike Philip to be near people he doesn't know on things like this - much less fall asleep on them!

A little of this and a little of that...

There hasn't been too much exciting stuff going on here lately - unless you count the school/work thing everyday! :) We're heading into the home stretch of school (May 21st is coming!!!) and there seems to be some event every day. Cross your fingers we make it!

A few random things from around here...
My red cabbage from my garden - I had never grown cabbage before and this was really really good! They only turned out softball size - but - they were really good! In other gardening news - the spinach is looking ready to eat and the tomatoes are going nuts. There is a pepper and a hot pepper that will be ready any day! The artichoke is just taking up room. Not impressed.


I've been doing a co-op of sorts called Bountiful Baskets. I'm having a great time with it - it's cheap produce and makes us eat a few things we normally wouldn't! For $15 we get enough produce to fill 2 reusable grocery bags! Sorry - the picture is sideways - it is not on the computer - and Blogger won't let me delete this morning. Anyway - here's the link to this if you're interested! http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ My photo also includes the 40lb box of apples I added on that week. Pink Ladies - my favorite!


















Because of the box of apples, I felt the need to make...
applesauce! Which I had never tried before -













and gave me an excuse to buy this neat gadget... it attaches to my Kitchenaid and you chop your apples in quarters - cool 'till soft and put them in this. It makes applesauce come out one end and all the peels and cores come out the other. It is really neat! And the time it saved me since I didn't have to peel and core - wow! I can hardly wait to try it with something else!

















And - one more favorite new things I got for my birthday - from Williams and Sonoma - this cool pan that makes mini waffles! Cook them - flip them - cute!