Juice Stand

I think all little girls start their business savy with selling lemonade.  At least mine did.  Below is a picture from a few weeks ago at the first warm day of the year.  

One of the neighbor's grandfather happened to be visiting across the street and felt the girls needed a better "store" to sell their lemonade.

The girls were excited to see the special gift and were especially thrilled when they could paint it any color they wanted.  After 2 hrs in Home Depot, they finaly agreed on a specific color of pink and had such a great time painting their booth.

All they need now is customers!!  Anyone thirsty?

First Communion Workshop

Our youngest went to the First Communion workshop required of all communicants.  Here, they make unleavened bread and celebrate the last supper, as Jesus did with his disciples.

After the meal, their teacher put on an apron and washed all the communicants' feet.  Afterwards, each communicant had to wash their parent's feet.  Jesus said that his disciples must serve others as he served them.

Then, everyone made a banner that will be displayed throughout the church during the First Communion Mass.

Growing Boy

Our son is 15, and just can't seem to find enough food to eat in the house.  So, after eating his packed lunch (sandwich, chips, banana, & drink), he comes home to have a corn dog and hot pocket for a snack.  After dinner (spaghetti and salad) and soccer practice, he then wants a "few" tacos from Taco Bell.

This is my grocery cart for his "snacks" after school.  Must be nice to have that kind of metabolism.

Diversity Award

Our oldest was recognized for her efforts in diversity within the school district.

She was awarded a nice certificate, and the only recipient in her high school.  Her nomination came from a teacher who heard about all she's done for the Hispanic community and children with developmental delays.

Here's fellow recipients from other schools.

Keeper

Our son is the starting goal keeper for the varsity high school soccer team -  a coveted and rare role for a freshman.

 He is one of the main reasons the team is heading to the playoff, with an average of 10-12 critical "saves" per game.  Even with a broken finger, he still manages to stop goal attempts from opposing teams.

Whether he catches, deflects, or kicks the balls away from the goal, he is Powdersville's greatest weapon.  We're proud of him, and the team's performance this spring!

Friends

One of the highlights of our cruise was meeting new friends.  Our youngest met her friend on one of the final days of the cruise, but once they bonded, they were inseparable.

 Here's our youngest again with several friends.

Our two older children bonded with a family from New Jersey during muster drill of all places.  It so happened that we had a dinner table for 10, with only our family of 5 filling the table.  They were a family of 5 with a private table. but wanted to meet other teens.  So, they joined our table for the entire cruise, and it was never a dull moment after that!

Here is the teen group singing karaoke.




And this is Eric & I with their parents.

Cruising

We spent our spring break taking a cruise to the Caribbean.  It was our oldest's senior year and our 20th wedding anniversary trip.  More posts to come, but here are pictures of the ship...

It had 3 large pools, a water slide, miniature golf, and a rock wall, all surrounded by beautiful turquoise waters and volcanic islands.

Dinner Date

I'm slowly trying to schedule dates with each child again like I used to.  We dress up and go downtown to a nice sit down restaurant (with a coupon, of course), and enjoy one-on-one conversation.  The rules are they have to talk with me and they have to try something they've never eaten before.  The date with my son was last month, and the date with my youngest was just a few days ago.  Here's the story of the date with her...

We head downtown, park, and walk into the restaurant.  As we looked over the menu, she realized there weren't any kids items.  So we ask the waitress if they have a childrens menu, and the response was "we can usually accomodate any palate, like chicken fingers or grilled cheese."

I ordered a soup & salad combo, then when it was the little one's turn, she said "steak, please".  I looked at her and asked if she was sure, and she said, "Yep.  I like a good juicy steak."  So, that's what she got, all $31.00 of it.  Good thing my coupon was for $25.00 off.  Her new item to try was mushrooms, and she really liked them.  I got one bite of steak and one bite of the sauted mushrooms, and that was it.  The little toot ate the entire filet mignon.

Our table was right by a window looking onto Main St., so we enjoyed watching all the people walking by.  Afterwards, she wanted to go for ice cream.  I again used another coupon, but it was fun.  She was a cute date.