Time is valuable and gone so fast..

I haven't written anything in almost a year.. According to Katherine she is still looking at 3rd grade... Even I can't believe that Maya will start 4th grade in almost exactly a week. It's true that you mark time by your children.. The school calendar helps keep us on a schedule.. the summer is almost over for Maya and 4th grade is looming.. time for me to put some effort into catching up on the blog..
Where do I start? Maya survived 3rd grade with flying colors.. She made honor roll all 4 quarters. She learned so much about American history.. She is definitely a history buff. She had Mrs. King and enjoyed the stories about her animals. She is still an animal lover in every sense of the word. She was very excited to make a new friend in Acacia E. They played two square and took turns bringing a soccer ball to school. Thanks to the help and patient tutoring of Bree, Maya was able to stay on top of her school work and note fight with mom and dad..
Soccer ws a whole different ball game this year. Martin took on the Wolfpack team with Rueben in the fall. The girls were the first team.. they pushed, they played hard and were 3rd overall at the end of fall and placed 3rd in the playoffs. That season spoiled us, it was the honeymoon period. The Spring season started too soon. We lost half our girls and assistant coach. I had to add assistant coach to my manager hat. Not sure both parents in coach spot is the best for Maya. Its a lot of pressure and somehow we survived. We had a hectic schedule and the teams were now made up of our former team mates. Maya really struggled with playing against her pals. She wanted her friends on her team. We try to remind her how important it is to play hard always and cheer on good players, no matter what jersey they are wearing. The girls had a harder time this season geling and trusting eachother. All we can do is plan more fun time..
We spent a lot more time as a team and the parents have all found friendships which is so neat. We spend two to three days a week together, its great to see us click and connect.
Work has been fascinating, overwhelming and challenging.. I have learned so much about the products. I made some great friends in my team and I love working hard to help them succeed. The company is on its way to turning around. Its been hard but we can see the progress..
I finally made it to quilting class after missing several classes which means months.. The last quilt I made was Martin's 40th birthday. I was itching to sew. I needed the time to put some pieces together. Literally.
Blogger looks different. I need to relearn how to post. As soon as I can do that I will add some pictures and some posts with a little more than my random babbles..
Buzz!
Alex

Third Grade..

I don't know how it happened? I blinked and school was upon us.  The supply list was posted.. We ironed uniforms and then it was time to start getting Maya to bed early again..

Last week we went to the back to school picnic and found out the good news.  Maya got the teacher she wanted.  She was placed in Mrs. King's class..

Yesterday was the first day of school...

Where is the time going? Our baby is a 3rd grader.. She is now expected to learn Latin roots in addition to her spelling and vocabulary.. She has a new red binder and shiny white shoes.. She is growing up..

School's in session..

Alex

Road Trip..

This summer our two week vacation was a road trip to Montana.. Whitefish to be exact.. We headed out at 4am with the Bells on July 1st..We crossed through several states on our two day trek.. The girls survived with movies, animal and landmark games and a few rest stops along the way...
There were stops at Cracker Barrel to refuel along the way..

 We are almost there.. we had to get by this HUGE lake.. yes, it looked like the ocean..

 We went up Big Mountain on the ski lifts.. Behind us is Canada!

 Deanna, Carl, Grace and Lily on big mountain..

 This picture of Lily is priceless.. The water was so cold but they wanted to swim!

Somehow our two tribes managed to survive and enjoy two weeks together..

We visited the Herrmann family in Whitefish, discovered coffee and pink holstered cap guns. So much fun.. 

We visited Glacier National Park (there are still glaciers there!).  Glacier will have to be its own post as we got some great pictures.

We rode the pontoon boat out on Whitefish lake thanks to Grandpa Herrmann. 

We stayed at a great cabin with a wonderful view of the lake..  Martin and Carl spent a lot of time relaxing... 

We made some great memories with the Bells.. We ate some great food. Sushi in Montana.. Who Knew?. Deanna and I came back with lots of coffee (Montana Coffee Traders rocks!), pictures of everything from the kids to the mountains and most importantly memories of our silly families....

Time flies when you are having fun!

Alex

Summer fun!

Where do I start?  Maya got out  of school what seems like yesterday but was really months ago..

 Every time I think I will have a minute to breath something else comes up.. So here are some of the things Maya did this summer..

She took a week long soccer camp with the LeBrun boys...They were such troopers.. it was about 95 degrees in the shade.. (of which they had none). it was full sun all week long..

She took 3 sewing classes at our local Joann's with Zea.. Look at her behind her very own Hello Kitty machine.. (Thank you Auntie Deanna!)..

 My favorite part of the class was what Maya did with the scraps of fabric.. She made herself a no-sew outfit.. Not bad.. I have seen worse outfits on some designer shows..

 Maya and Zea and their American girl dolls also had a mini-spa day... Yes, those are cucumbers on their eyes.. I didn't realize 8 yr olds had puffy eyes..

She had a week of Girl Scout camp...

These are just the highlights.. She managed to spend a whole week at Auntie Deanna's so she could go to summer school with Grace and Lily.. She also had regular day camp at her school which meant she came home with lots of crafts and neat hairdos thanks to Mrs. Coltrain.. I am sure I am forgetting something..

Summer was full of camps and friends..

Alex

School's Out!

School was out way too early.. Probably not for Missy who was a bit fried by the end of the year, but too soon for us..  She held up her sign proudly on that last morning.. It says "Done with 2nd grade on to 3rd"

I was not mentally ready for the summer madness, heat and additional scheduling.  Maya is a mini-busy bee after all. She has a list of must do summer activities and we had an additional list of "camps" to keep her busy while we worked.   

To start her summer off on the right foot, Martin and I put together a little A frame tent and set up her room with some additional decorative items.. She was completely surprised to come home and find her personal space updated.. The colorful dresden plates that I had made in quitling class lent a cheerful spin to her little tent.  A matching pink carpet, some framed soccer pictures and a new bulletin board finished off the loft space. 

This tent makes me wish I was 8 yrs old and could climb in for a nap..

Happy summer snoozing..

Mom

P.S. Yes, I know school got out May 25th and its almost July 25th.. We have been busy.. More summer post to follow..soon..

May Day!

This is a new tradition borrowed from one of our favorite people- JULIE!.. It was a lovely May day.. Maya took a little bouquet to her sweet teacher. 

In the evening we delivered some sweets and yellow daffodils to a few neighors..

Happy May Day!

Alex

Soccer time!

Here we are again.. Spring 2012 and the team got off to a great start.. Martin and Megan are back as coaches.  They were thrilled to see some faces from last fall and a happy to get a few new friends.  The Avalanche is an exciting group of giggling girls.. 

Have a great season!
Alex