And We're Off!

Ben - 7th, Emma - K, Chris - 2nd, Nick - 4th, Zach - 6th

Summer 2010

Ever since we received The Dangerous Book For Boys we've had some mischievous happenings in our home from time-to-time! :) The summer of 2010 has proven likewise - our neighborhood knows how to play poker! Great!! (Come to the Thomas' and they'll teach you how to play poker too.)

I had the opportunity to spend a week in Vegas with Glenn. He worked and I played - it was so relaxing and fun! The kids stayed with a family friend and HAD A BLAST! When I called home one evening, Zach requested that he would like to trade-in his Vegas T-shirt (that we would bring home for him) for some poker chips instead! (Well, the above-mentioned book teaches one how to play poker. Fun!)

Summer has been interesting... a truck/van crash, trip to NE, swim lessons, breakfast at 9:30am each morning, water parks, bowling, Cub Scout Camp, Boy Scout Camp, visit from family, blueberries, birthday, gymnastics, etc...

The Crash - I was taking the kids by Honda mini-van to swim lessons/swim practice and was followed by Glenn who was going to work in his Ford F150. He was followed by a Ford F250 4x4 Super-Duty truck, complete with cowpusher and all (a brand new June 2010 truck). The Ford F250 decided to accelerate while Glenn and I slowed to a stop because of upcoming traffic (a church up ahead was letting out and traffic was backing up)! Let's just say that the Ford 250 threw the Ford 150 into the Honda Odyssey and left Glenn's license plate imprinted in the Honda's back bumper! :O Thank Goodness no one was seriously hurt - though Glenn is a regular visitor now of Mr. Chiropractor Man. The Ford F150 was deemed TOTALLED and they finally hauled it away today. Glenn is now driving a new Ford F150. The Honda is back from the dealership with a new back hatch and bumper! Things are slowly getting back to normal.

Trip to Nebraska - Each year we make a quick dash to visit my family in Nebraska right around the 4th of July. It's a short drive (6 hours) straight North. Mom and Dad Stara always make it fun - there's plenty of rootbeer floats, ATVs, $1 store visits, swimming, kolaches, firecrackers and more firecrackers. This year my parent's celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary the week before the 4th; we took a family picture and we all (my siblings + families) went out to eat. We love going to the David City Pool with our cousins there:

and riding the ATV's...

...but most of all, we love being with our family for a few days "out in the country" without a care in the world.

Boy Scout Camp - Ben and Zach went to Scout Camp in early July. Glenn was recently called as the Scout Master, so he went too. There were about 15 boys who went to camp for the week. You name it, they did it - shotguns, sailing, hiking, fishing, wood carving, wilderness survival (camping with nothing but your wits), metal and leather work, canoeing, etc. There is also THE BLOB! (That would be Ben flying through the air.)

(Ben is also peeking underneath the sail in this picture.)


Some of the Scouts participated in the building and sailing of a homemade raft. Here Ben is laying on his belly helping the other Scoutmates paddle to VICTORY! (or at least they finished which is more than most of the teams could say)

Cub Scout Camp - This is a camp for the younger Scouts. Nick was able to join the troop for a few days this year. He was also (and still is) busy at the gym. Two of the five days of camp were rained out AND those were the two days that Nick was not able to attend anyway because of gym practice. (It all worked out for Nick!) At Cub Scout Camp they do archery, BB guns, leather work, science/nature and this year they did a space derby. Here's a picture of Nick with his winning rocket!



Scouting, Scouting and More Scouting - (Can you tell we have 3 of our 4 boys participating in Scouting?) Zachary advanced out of Cub Scouts this summer and is now a full-fledged Boy Scout! Congratulation Zachary on earning your Webelos and Arrow of Light... thanks for the pin - I think he dropped the back of the pin on the carpet here!




There's always friends and cookies at any and all Scouting Activities. Emma has enjoyed being a BIG sister to any girls younger than she. She has already informed me that she will not being going to school this year. She would rather stay at home and sleep-in. Oh Boy!



Zachary's Birthday - Zachary turned 11 years young this past year! He invited a few friends over to go see the new Karate Kid movie. The boys came over afterward for cake and icecream. It was a fun afternoon. Here is a wonderful pose of all the future Karate Kids:

Blueberries and Family - We had a GREAT visit from Clark & Melanie in early July. We played lots of games indoors, since it was nearly 100 degrees each day (sorry about that). But the one Saturday they were here it had rained incredibly in the early morning (around 5am). (Glenn and I actually did a 10-miler that morning and it poured on us the entire run!) When 10am rolled around we found ourselves about 2-hours North, near the Oklahoma border, picking blueberries. It was a cloudy day and a most enjoyable day of karaoke entertainment:



I had to include this photo of Christopher. He has had a GREAT summer this past year but it has been a bit challenging. He has had 6 teeth pulled these past two months. Christopher, AKA Crocodile, has a few teething issues that the dentist and orthodontist are tackling. Bottom line - too many teeth and not enough gum line to accomodate them all. He is getting excited about his Baptism in Octoboer.


NOW, on to a new school year! WOW! All the children will be in school - whatever will I do with all my time?!?! (Ben and Christopher want to do Fall soccer with their teams. Emma wants to try soccer in the Fall too. Zach will be participating in basketball and Nicholas has a hectic gymnastics schedule. What am I thinking... I don't know.) Hang on for the ride!

Jackets

You may ask, what could this be:



As Christopher got into the van the other day, he put these items down on the console and said, "Here ya' go Mom!" He was very excited and all...

I replied, "What are they Christopher?"

Christopher replied, "These are worm jackets. Mom, did you know that worms get cold too."

I guess I really never thought about how worms keep warm! :) Thanks Chris!

Trombone Time

I can't believe that our oldest child is about to WRAP UP his first year at Middle School?!?! WOW! Time is just going so quickly. There were moments when I thought that these four young sons would never stop spitting up, or make it through another ear infection, or never stop spitting up, or never get tired of playing Thomas The Train, or never stop playing Legos, or or or...

Ben wanted to join the Band his first year of Middle School. Great! He chose the trombone and I kinda' winced at this decision (quietly). I envisioned loud, awful screeching, more loud brassy noise throughout the entire house for a mere 30 minutes EACH DAY! This was going to be interesting... (Would I have to "ban" him to the garage?)

Well, I'm still waiting for the above-mentioned! Ben plays remarkably! He plays by ear on his trombone (just like Glenn on the piano). It is amazing! You name it, he can play it on the trombone! Incredible. I LOVE IT! He plays so nice. It is wonderful to listen to - a trombone!

So, there are about 7 trombone players in the 6th grade. The boy we carpool with, Deanthony, is also a fellow trombone player. There is a girl, Jada, who is a trombone player too. These 3 compete for 1st chair each and every week. Who comes up first usually? Take a guess?! :)

The boys are excited that Jada will be switching Middle Schools next year. There has been a school boundary split. But I remind them that she will once again re-appear when they all get to High School! AUGH!


For competition this year the 6th grade band performed "The Tempest" and "Labyrinth." Ben has the links posted on his blog if you want to hear the band play. They received a I rating (first division), which is Superior, as in the best rating available! They also were named best in their class (out of all the other schools that participated). Good Deal!

And at the beginning of the year, he also signed up for an end-of-the-year solo contest. Basically, you go into a room and perform a piece of your choice in front of a judge. Ben did awesome and received a I rating. Good Job Ben! He also received the "Top Trombone Player" award for the Trombone Section in his grade. Nice Job!

SLC - 2010

We have a family tradition - when you turn 8 you get to go to Salt Lake City and go to General Conference (with Dad for now). General Conference is a church conference held twice a year (1st Sunday in April and October). Our prophet plus many other leaders speak to us at this time. (It's on television for those of us who don't go down to SLC.)

Since Nicholas turned 8 last year (right after General Conference was held) he had to wait till this year (April 3rd) to go. After conference they hit the slopes of Alta! They had a WONDERFUL time skiing! (We would never go to Conference in October; there may not be enough snow to go skiing!) Thanks for waiting NICK!

As for Christopher and Emma and I - well, we had fun going to Chuck-E-Cheese! Christopher also had a soccer game in there! Chris enjoys soccer and a few weeks back scored a goal from 1/2 field! The ball sailed up and over the other team and came down right in front of the goal and rolled in!! It was amazing!!! Coach was amazed!!! We know Christopher has some GREAT LEG POWER, but didn't know he could do that! Now he's faithfully practicing in the back yard - full on power house kicks! Watch out!

2009-2010 Gymnastics Overview

I didn't post much during Nicholas' gymnastics season. It was very very busy with every one's schedule. Yesterday Nicholas went to the North Texas State Championships. It was AWESOME!


Let's go back... The Friendship Invitational held in Allen, Texas back in February (2/6/10) was a great meet. Nick received 2nd place in the All-Around. He got a personal best of 15.6 in the rings. He scored another personal best in the pommel horse with a 15.7.


The Garland Classic held in Garland, Texas was in late February. Nick received 3rd place with an 88.6 in the All-Around. Eagle Gymnastics Team received 2nd place.

The Empire Last Chance was held in early March. Nick was 2nd place in the All-Around.



So, as you can see, Nick still brought home lots and lots of medals this season. I think he brings home, on average, 7 to 8 medals a meet. He has quite the collection! But I seem to keep asking him, "Nick, last year you brought home many more 1st place medals than you are this year. What's the scoop on this?" He always smiles! He assures me that the competition is harder. Last year he was in Level 4 which routines are much easier. This year he has practiced Level 5 routines. By the time the State Meet rolled around, he was able to polish off his floor routine with TWO BACK HANDSPRINGS! It was just awesome! He had his personal best on floor at the State Meet, scoring a 15.3! (Floor is hard for Nick! On the other hand, rings are NOT!)

As for the State Meet held yesterday, he scored in the 15s and a few 14s. Judging seemed tough. Competitors seemed really really good. He placed 4th in the All-Around (89.8). A team mate, Harrison, placed 3rd in the All-Around (90.0)!

There are 4 boys that compete in Level 5, ages 7 and 8, for Eagle Gymnastics. These four boys brought home the North Texas State Championship 1st Place (again). These same boys brought it home last season also! Good Job Team Eagle Gymnastics!

Harrison, Joshua, Zachary and Nicholas

My Emma Lee

I had the opportunity to visit Dear Friends in Utah a few weeks back (my b-day wish)! I was gone for 6 days and 5 nights. (Not that I was counting!) It was a SPLENDID time - FOR EVERYONE!

Glenn wanted to paint Emma's room ever since we landed in Dallas a few years ago. There had never been time. I am not a painter (not yet anyway) but someday want to tackle that project. Her room was dark, navy blue... each time I would just shake my head when I went into her dark cave.

But after 6 days and 5 nights... WA LA --