2nd quarter update

June 15, 2008

Looking back, its been almost a quarter of year since I last gave an update, so I thought it was time to check in. Our computer died mid-April, and we just finally got it up and running this week. YAY!!! I spent a lot of time at the library going in to check my e-mail and do other computer tasks nearly daily. So, settle in for a long read! 
April started with a heavy snowfall. About 8 inches that day, that melted down to 4 inches and a lot of mud by afternoon. School got a 2 hour delay. Alisha had an appointment at the optometrist and got contact lenses that day.
Alisha had solo/ensemble April 2. I accompanied her. She got a 2 rating.
I spent April at play practice. ‘Oklahoma’ was a lot of fun. It was easily our best production ever. We did our performances the last 2 weekends in April. We had some friends of mine from Amery theatre come and join us and now we are thinking of even more joint ventures between the two towns.
General Conference was Apr. 5 & 6. It was wonderful to be part of the solemn assembly sustaining President Monson as Prophet. We had representatives from 3 priesthood quorums, plus Relief Society and Young Women right here in our house. BYUtv.org is a wonderful resource to watch conference at home for us. We do go into the chapel on Sunday, though so we can have potluck lunch in-between sessions. 
The Jr. High Spring Concert was on the 7th. Emily was in that.
I had a quilt show on the 8th for everyone who took classes this year. They have dinner and some sort of entertainment for us. This year it was a jazz trio that a friend of mine plays in.
Alisha’s first few track meets of the season kept getting cancelled because of nasty weather. Their first one –an indoors one- was even cancelled because the weather was too nasty to travel there.
I took Michael to the Orthodontist on the 11th. Long story short, his bite/mouth/jaw/teeth are a mess. We are consulting with an oral surgeon tomorrow for options.
The 12th was FFA banquet. Emily got a gold medal for quiz bowl and her Discovery Degree.
John and I also went shopping for a suit to wear to Prom—and church.
On the 14th and 16th I got to go with the kindergarten(Daniel) and then the 2nd grade (Sarah) to the swimming pool in New Richmond. It’s a fun place with a waterslide.
Alisha turned 16 on the 15th. Wow. We had crepes for breakfast and I made cupcakes for her track meet that afternoon. Alisha had a super track season. She ran the 1 & 2 mile. Every track meet she would take another 10-20 seconds off her personal best in both races. She got the ‘most improved’ award at the track banquet.
On the 19th Michael, John & I went to do ‘Scouting for Food’, but there wasn’t great neighborhood support and it felt like a wasted drive in yukky weather to pick up one bag of food. We have a new idea for it for next year. We’ll see how it works.
Alisha left on the 20th for FCCLA State convention. She competed with her STAR event and got a silver. She was gone for 3 days.
Clear Lake had a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian come to town called ‘between Fences’ It was an exhibit telling about the history of fences and their impact on the landscape of the country. It was because of this exhibit that we did ‘Oklahoma’ now. Usually, we do our musicals in the fall. Our town did all types of things to go along with it, including the Jr. High History students did a photo essay on the history of different landmarks in our immediate area. On the 21st, they had an opening for their part of the show. Emily & I went to that.
On the 22nd I went and took my final for Religion 212 (New Testament pt. 2). I had been to this testing location a couple of times and thought I knew how to get there, but I got very lost and was about ½ hour late for my test after a nice 1 ½ hour tour of St. Paul and surrounding areas. I did all right, though. My next class is Adolescent Psychology.. I go to take my midterm this week, along with the midterm for my humanities 202 class. This time I print out a map before I go.
The 26th was John’s Prom. He had a girl from Virginia, MN (in our stake) come out for the prom. She stayed in Alisha’s room. I had a performance that night, so we all went to town, they went to dinner & then the dance at the school. I picked them up afterwards. She came to church with us the next day and our final performance that afternoon before we drove her up to meet her mom in Hinkley, MN.
Once the play was over, I slept for 2 days before life got more back to normal.
April 29th was Alisha’s Jazz Band concert. As a fundraiser (they left today to go to Washington D.C), they served soup & sandwiches, and a Professional Big Band (the Dean’s List) came to play as well. It was really a lot of fun!

April is over. Take a break and come back for May. 

John made a quilt for his creative sewing class. I quilted it and then it was shown at Clear Lake’s quilt show (may 3 & 4) where it won first place in the youth division.  I had several quilts at the show too, but they didn’t win.
May 6 was our 19th anniversary. We went to dinner at a local supper club.
May 8 was the end of year picnic for Girl Scouts. We had it at Clear Lake Park. Sarah, Emily & Alisha got their patches for the year. Well, I got Alisha’s. She was at a track meet.
May 9 was the start of Garage sale season for me. When Daniel heard that I had gone garage sale-ing without him, he said, “without me?” He had been my solo garage sale partner since Sarah was in Pre-school—so for about 4 years, it was him & I hitting the sales.
May 11 was Mothers’ Day. I got a digital picture frame. Way cool. I also got a flowerpot recipe card holder from Sarah & a pinch pot from Daniel. I have quite the collection of pinch pots now!
May 12 was the band’s annual Pie concert. They sell pie as a fundraiser during the Pops concert. All 3 bands- from Elementary to High school play.
May 18th was high school Graduation. Alisha played in the band.
I’ve been trying to get the garden planted since about the end of May, but it has been very wet this year. And cold. It is still regularly in the 60s during the day. When it warms up to the 70s or even the VERY rare 80s, it will storm and cool it all down again. We have gotten inches and inches and inches (feet?) of rain in the past month or so. The basement is getting soggy.  The garden won’t really dry out…So, it is only about ½ planted. We’ll see what we end up with this year!
On the 26th it was Memorial Day. Alisha played in the Memorial Service. I brought Michael, Sarah & Daniel with me to watch it. Daniel particularly liked the rifle fire salute.
May 28th I got to go to Como Zoo with Sarah’s class. I’ve decided I like going on field trips and being with the kids, but I really don’t like riding the school bus!
May 30th was Kindergarten Graduation for Daniel. My last one! ::sniff!:: He said, “My name is Daniel Harvey and I want to be a mechanic when I grow up!” Like father, like son.

On to June!
Our Cub Scout program in town has really fallen apart in the past 5 years or so. Well, we have a new group of leaders (say hi to the new Tiger Cub Leader) who want to make this work. So, we now have a new committee and we actually had a committee meeting and calendared the entire next school year. YAY! If we all follow through, it should be the best year Clear Lake Cub Scouting has had in about 8-9 years.
Alisha got Poison Ivy at the beginning of the month. After various creams, we finally got her on Predisone, and she is doing a lot better now!
On the 4th, it was the school picnic day. Parents get to go eat with the kids. Afterwards is awards day/ 6th Grade Graduation. Michael Graduated. Next year I’ll have 4 kids at the Jr./Sr. High and only 2 at the elementary.
The 5th was the last day of school. It was a half day. I worked in the art room that day (as I did every Thursday since January), so I just picked the kids right up from school. We didn’t have to get the 3 older ones because they all went to Valley Fair. (the local amusement park-on par with Lagoon) Unfortunately for them it got very stormy and they only had time for about 2 rides before they shut everything down and they came home early.
The girls started band camp on Monday the 9th. 4 hours a day for a week of marching and performance rehearsal for their band trip.
Summer school started on the 10th. The kids are taking fun classes like dinosaurs, art, sign language, swimming, cooking & golf. It goes for 2 more weeks.
The director for our last 3 Clear Lake plays died this week. She was only 50. I went with a contingent from the theatre to the funeral.
As I said, the girls left this afternoon to Washington D.C. with the band. They will be back Saturday.

Well, If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, there ya be! HAND! (Have a Nice Day)
Patti