The Nitty Gritty

Isaac is hands down the BEST dad! And husband! He knows how to play on the boys' level and make things extra fun. Some of my favorites lately: Van loves to play Snouted Camp with him where they pretend to be all the enemies with snouts from Legend of Zelda--the Bokoblin or a Moblin. It's a game Van made up. Basically, you're at summer camp and you are learning Bokoblin stuff. I love how Isaac gets into it and doesn't shy away from being the real deal.  He and William discuss Harry Potter and the Legend of Zelda. The other day they watched Harry Potter 5 since Will just finished the book. Isaac loves the Breath of the Wild game too so they enjoy playing it together.  One day he came home with pool noodles and turned them into light sabers to replace the other ones we had. He loves to tinker with legos too and build with the boys. He's excellent at calming the boys down when they're upset with a funny joke, accent, crazy move...whatever to distract the...

We live just a two hour drive from Marceline --the town where Walt Disney lived for five years. The main street there inspired his Main Street USA at Disneyland. They've rebuilt the family barn, the place where he claims he received his inspiration for his animal characters and grew a love for animals. They've turned the train depot into a Walt Disney museum.  On the way there, we listened to a podcast about Marceline so it was fun to see all the places we had heard about on the podcast. The top floor of the museum had some interactive stations where the kids could dress up and play school Here's one of the autopia cars. Disney shipped the ride to Marceline, but it was shut down several years later. These miniature models of Disneyland sure made us want to go to there! Wouldn't you love to attend Walt Disney Elementary?! The teacher in me thought, "I'd never have to worry about breaking copyright rules for Disn...

Van participated in the Junior Mule summer camp at UCM. Isaac helped with it and I'm so grateful Van had the experience. He spent 4 hours everyday for a week preparing the musical 'The Three Nanny Goats". Van was Andy the goat and Isaac was the narrator. My friend took a video and posted it on Facebook. I tagged the grandparents so they could watch it. Someday, I'll pay for a phone that has TONS of storage so I can actually video these things myself. Or invest in a camera. How do you guys manage family videos?? In June, our kids attended summer school camp. I had the opportunity to teach 4th grade for summer school. I LOVED it. It was 7:40-12:00, just Mon-Thurs for four weeks. I got to teach FUN subject matters--insects, natural disasters, sports, and theater! The students really enjoyed it!! I had a great class. It was refreshing to teach the way teaching should be. William signed up for "Lights! Camera! Action!" We thought it was a movie making class....

The end of the year this year was BUSY. May feels just as busy as December with all the hustle and bustle of the culminating school events.  Isaac went to Boston the last three days of school and presented at a conference. He got to see Dr. Stauffer and a few friends from ASU. His presentation was scheduled at the same time as a music education guru so his only audience was his ASU friends, but at least he got the opportunity to add to his CV! And, of course, his presentation was awesome!  William was awarded for A-B Honor roll!! I love this hammock from Mother's Day! We took a rest on the last day of school. We survived our first school year! Van LOVED his year with amazing Mrs. Amy Holmes. She is the best! William had his ups and downs, but ended the year on a good note.  Let's hope 4th grade is the best ever!

Grandma, Papa, Aunt Abbey and Uncle Michael came to visit last month! We had such a fun time. We ate delicious food, went to Kansas City, Powell Gardens, picked a flat of strawberries at the Buckeye Farms, and played our own version of Chopped!! Powell Gardens. It's akin to the Red Butte Gardens. Abbey's phone takes amazing pics!  The final Chopped dishes! Grandma and Papa were in charge of the appetizer-top left. Their ingredients they had to use were raisins, honey, wheat thins and cashews (right?)They did wheat thins with a slice of goat cheese, sliced raisins, and a drizzle of honey and a side salad.  Isaac and Michael were in charge of the main dish--top right. Their ingredients were popcorn, chicken nuggets, pistachios, and peanut butter. They did chicken and waffles. The waffle batter had ground up popcorn and pistachios. Michael made a side of corn grits with the popcorn. Our waffles were topped with a peanut butter maple syrup. For dessert, Abbey and Will...