10 Years Old: Everett's Edition
I was off bright and early Monday morning to photograph a preschool in Eagle. The event was not terribly busy but constant for a couple hours. I earned about $500 in one morning! I did not get home until 2 pm then it was off to grocery shop. I was pretty much gone the entire day.
Josie had a follow-up appointment with a gastroenterologist Wednesday morning as a follow-up for her GI procedure. We were able to rule out a bunch of possibilities and create a track record. She's not had any issues since April so maybe it was a 4.5 month long tummy virus that eventually ran it's course?! I feel better knowing we ruled out the serious issues for the time being, if she relapses I have a course of action to follow.
Everett woke up a 10 year old Wednesday morning. Evelyn woke up the earliest at 6:25 am ready to celebrate! Everett's hardest decision of the day was choosing a restaurant to eat at for his birthday! Justin suggest Idaho Pizza Company...Pizza won Everett's heart plus it is close to Justin's work. We listened to "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" during our drive, we're happy to be halfway through the series. Everett wanted to open his gifts so he would have something to do for the rest of the day. Lunch at the pizza place was surprisingly quite affordable for 7 people! Everett opened his heaviest gift after eating mounds of pizza and salad. He was quite happy with his new geology rock hammer. In the parking lot Everett opened his double air soft gun set, ammo, face masks, and target. That is one HAPPY boy. Justin gave him a reminder lecture about gun safety...Everett posed for photos with his finger on the trigger and staring down the barrel...doh! Might need more lectures or something. James commented on the photo saying "Everett needs to get his booger hook off the bang hook!" Ha ha ha ha ha. We followed Justin to work for a few minutes. The kids decorated his white board, shot his NERF gun, and created general chaos until Justin's 2:00 meeting. Everett also got 12 arrows to use for the bows the boys got two years ago. The boys all congregated for a couple hours in our yard shooting targets, arrowing boxes, and smashing rocks! For devotional I read his birth story and we watched our favorite Everett movies, like "wormps eat pish." We sure love our middle child.
Phillip got to make a steel "blade" for young mens at Brother Bushman's shop! The Deacons were doing manly things making metal weapons. The boys followed true to their nature and spent the rest of their time throwing blades into the lawn. Amelia came home dripping wet, instead of playing kickball she danced in the sprinklers! That's my girl. I baked Everett's chocolate cake before turning in for bed so it would be cool and ready for frosting.
Thursday was the official last day of school. Amelia turned in her portfolios before the Thursday deadline. We are DONE! Yayay! It's been a good year of homeschooling. I've learned mounds of new information in the past year. Phillip finished reading Book 5 of Harry Potter Friday night. Evelyn only has 10 books left before she reaches her goal. I am researching the cost and time commitment for the Millennial choir next school year. We have friends in AZ who were part of the choir and quite enjoyed it. The practices are on Thursdays from 4:30-8:30 with the kids practicing at different times. The cost for the 4 older kids would be $1,000 for the school year. We had an end of school year water party for the Activity Day Girls. I was a bit stressed out so we opted for easy, just the sprinkler, a slip and slide, and playing for an hour. Our morning was a stressful few hours of cleaning. Evelyn was a complete butt and cried instead of cleaning. She lost $5 of her allowance since she always melts at the most inconvenient moments (like to get out of cleaning). The kids did a wonderful job cleaning their areas, things got hazy when they had to also clean their rooms and the school room. Evelyn eventually turned it around and earned back some of her money by cleaning her room by herself. Sara sat in her room while she cleaned (not to help but for morale support) since I had 40 kid photos to edit.
Everett had a friend party Thursday evening. He requested tacos for his party food and theme. I made carne asada and shrimp street tacos for dinner with a large bowl of salsa, guacamole, and other toppings. He invited over Henry, Kyran, the Ostlers, and Flynn to celebrate with him. Just imagine the cacophony of party horns and kids hyped up on goof balls. The tacos were not as popular, I went too fancy for most little kid's palates. At least they ate the watermelon and left us some leftovers. Everett opened a couple friend gifts of legos, a nerf bow and arrow, UNO Flip, and painting supplies. He requested a cookies and cream cake which turned out so delicious. After cake the kids played on the trampoline until dusk.
Justin acted on a spontaneous desire to go rock hounding. Amelia was off babysitting so she didn't get Del taco tacos or burritos (the most important part of the trip?) since it was my night off from cooking. The rest of us piled into the old Farm truck and headed south west on a quest to find jaspar and agates. We mostly searched on BLM land about 30 minutes away from Nampa. Everett was happy to smash rocks with his new geology hammer. I found a few cool specimens with conglomerate and streaks of jaspar. Justin let us bounce around in the truck bed while he 4-wheeled his way through unpaved back roads. Of course someone lost a tool from Justin's new geology kit. We plan on going out again on Monday for Memorial Day. The Mormon crickets were in abundance at the second location we stopped to examine. I was hoping to find a white opal but the site was well-picked over. The kids are obsessed with Gravity Falls, they boys spent a chunk of time point out triangles, the main enemy is Bill Cypher a triangle shaped character.
Saturday morning Amelia and I learned how to make French macarons. I used a borrowed mixer that did not have enough umph to whip up my egg whites. I failed my first class ever! He he he he he. My cookie shells completely melted in the oven since the eggs did not stiffen enough so my dough was way too soft. The instructor let me use her shells in the end so I could take some home. We made lemon-raspberry macrons! Yum. Amelia and I were the silliest participants in the class, prone to odd bursts of laughter and giggling. Sister Titus organized a BBQ with our neighbors. The Freemans brought their grill, we all brought food sides, drinks, and chairs for a front-yard party. The Freemans introduced us all to their husky pup only a few weeks old. He was so, so sleepy for the first while. All the kids clamored for a chance to hold and snuggle the puppy. One guy sent the kids some candy on top of his remote control car during the BBQ! We sent him back a plate of food! That was funny and so nice of him.
As a follow-up to our class on Pornography last week I started showing my kids a silly photo titled "Pornography." Their reactions were hilarious but also gave us a chance to talk about their game plan when exposed to porn.
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