Second Track and Field Meet of the Season

Benjamin is preparing for his race very soon.  One of his coach's came up to him and bumped fists together.

Benjamin was going to

Two Little, One Little, No Little Fishy

These two little fish that Emma and Justin earned at the Jefferson Family Fun Fair on April 20th, have gone to a better life.

Although I didn't want the fish to begin with and sort of hoped they wouldn't last long, I didn't really expect them to die within 1 1/2 weeks of receiving them.

I'm not sure if they were overfed (which is more likely), underfed (a few times Justin and Emma may have forgotten to feed them), the bowl (actually a large vase) ended up too dirty, or some other reason.  Justin's fish actually died on Monday and Emma's fish was gone tonight.  I figured it was best to show a picture of them in their bowl alive instead.

Justin's fish is smaller than Emma's.  So long Nemo, so long "Daph-fin-e."  You will be missed by Justin and Emma.

I Love My Squash

Cameron has been eating cereals for a while and his yellow veggies, too.  Here he is eating up some yummy squash.

He does have a highchair, but it is still in the garage and hasn't been cleaned off yet from when it was stored.  Once that happens, then he can sit in it.  Until then, he gets laid in the bouncer for his mealtime.

Cameron seems to be a pretty good eater so far, so hopefully it will continue.  It sure is nice when they eat well for you!

English and Science Research Paper

Although Benjamin has a smile on his happy face, he normally wouldn't be smiling while working on homework.   Write more later.

Band-O-Rama Performance

Anna, Justin, Cameron, and I were off to Justice, IL where Anna and the rest of the FYB (First Year Band) was scheduled to perform and compete.

Although it was a Saturday and Anna would have a soccer game, we decided to have her participate in the optional band performance and show up late to her game.  I feel that any opportunity to have her practice and play music is well worth it.  As it was, we showed up just before half-time, so she played the 3rd and 4th quarter.  Her team won.

The songs the band played were Jasmine Flower (Chinese Folk Song) arranged by Wagner, Yankee Spirit March by John O'Reilly, and When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional) arranged by Higgins.  The clinician that heard the group perform was Mr. James Baum.  He and another clinician listened to groups perform starting at 7:15am until 2:30pm.

The reason why only a few of family members attended the performance was because our ward had the Building Deep Clean.  Our ward is scheduled to keep the building clean for the 1st four months of the year.  Our bishopric wants us to pass the building off to another ward with it being thoroughly clean.  So, once a year, our ward does a deep clean of the building.  Many of the ward members and families come and the building is divided into sections for cleaning.  It starts around 9:00am and lunch is provided around 11:00am or so.

The bishopric grills hamburgers and hot dogs.  Usually the people eat outdoors in the parking lot so the clean building does not get dirty again so quickly, but unfortunately the weather was cold and windy this year, so we had to eat indoors.  Great times were had by everyone and delicious lunches gobbled up.  It filled up Benjamin and Emma before their soccer games starting at 11:00am.  It was nice.

Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatballs Dinner

What a fun night for Anna to attend her Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner.  The best part about it was that she and the other girl scouts made the meatballs.

They were wanting to earn a Cooking Patch, so they planned to make spaghetti & meatballs for their activity.  The meatballs were homemade, but I guess the sauce came from a jar.  Along with it, they prepared garlic bread, salad, and a dessert.

Her leaders planned a wonderful night for the girls.  Everyone had a blast.  Anna even came home with leftovers (actually extra food) in a leftover container like a restaurant would have.  It was a circular metal container with a lid.  I thought that was a nice touch.  This way, others at home could try it out, too.

This was going to be Anna's last girl scout activity for the school year, but I guess they will be doing one more in May.  I already collected money from the other parents and gave the three leaders their thank you gifts for continuing to volunteer their time.  They received gift cards to two different restaurants.  Hope they will enjoy them!

Along Comes Mr. Alligator

My little alligator, Cameron, is getting more and more ready to move.  In this picture even though it looks like he is ready to go swimming in the water, he won't be swimming for a while.

As he spends more time on the floor and on his tummy, he is getting better at attempting to be on his knees.  He seemed to do more of that today.  I think it might be because he is in an outfit with shorts instead of pants or a footed sleeper.

Cameron has leaked a few times today and yesterday.  I'm sure it sometimes has to do with where he is located when he has to go.  It ends up differently depending on whether he is on his tummy, back, in the exersaucer, bouncer, or swing.  It might be, too, that I need to upgrade from a size 2 diaper to a size 3.  I probably could have done it a while ago, but I figured that since he still fit within the weight requirement, I might as well keep him in the smaller size and get more diapers in each package.  It's not so fun having to keep changing his clothes, though.  Another sign of him growing up quick.