Kingman

This was our first stop on this years spring break trip. More to follow.

Locomotive park in Kingman on our way to The Grand Canyon

To Santa Barbara on a Mission!

For spring break we packed up the car and headed south to Santa Barbara where Harv's Mom and her husband Allen flew over from Texas to meet up with us. We spent time getting caught up, playing games and doing some sightseeing.



One of the main things we wanted to do while "down south" was visit the San Buenaventura Mission. Both of the kids did their 4th grade report on that mission and we've been planning to visit, but never got around to it. Harv's Uncle Paul and his wife Carrie met up with us for a tour of the mission and it's grounds.
Buenaventura is famous for being the only mission with wooden bells.













Since we were actually staying in Santa Barbara, we couldn't pass up visiting the Santa Barbara Mission while we were there.

The next day we wandered through Solvang .
We had lunch,
did some shopping,



and met some interesting people... And yes, we found yet another mission! Solvang is home to the Santa Ines Mission.


The next day we decided to go across the park from our hotel to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo. It's a much smaller zoo than say L.A or San Diego, but they have over 500 animals and you only have to trek across 30 acres as opposed to 100 like the others.

We did spend some time actually on the beach, but it was very cold and windy so it was not nearly as much time as the kids would of liked.

On our drive home we followed the "El Camino Real" (highway) and watched the bells go by every mile or so to mark the path of the missions. So we decided to stop at one more mission on the way home. This one was the San Luis Obispo Mission.

We had a fabulous time!

Sierra's School Concert

It was a bittersweet night as Sierra had her last band concert.

2 months ago Sierra's teacher introduced them to the Bass Clarinet. It has the same fingerings as a Clarinet and it has a reed, but that is where the similarities end. It's actually considered a Brass instrument not a woodwind and it's about 3 times the size of the Clarinet (it has it's own kickstand to hold it up).
The kids who were interested took it home and tried it and brought it back the next week. Sierra, however, took it home and has been playing it ever since.
When I went to return her Clarinet (since she wasn't using it) the guy at the music store was highly impressed and said that they don't generally offer a Bass Clarinet until high school because it's such a hard instrument to play. The younger kids just don't have the increased lung capacity and mouth control that it takes to pull it off until they've been playing for a few years. So when I told him that she hadn't played anything until 6 months ago he was amazed. That's my girl! Sweet!

Now for the bitter...
Due to California's financial crisis, education is being hit hard and any "extras" are the 1st to go. As we were at the band concert a few miles away the school board was informing everyone of all the cuts that were to be made, including the music program, class size reduction program, sports, 12 teachers, and that the only middle school in the county(where Deven attends) will be shut down entirely. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, the list goes on and on. What now???

Snow!

We have had a few big storms come through in the past 3 months and have even had a couple of days off from school to enjoy them.















I mean what could be better than having a sledding run right in your own back yard!


Except maybe one...








With fewer trees!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Click on the picture to see Santa and some of his more talented Elves.
It takes a while to load depending on your computers speed, but it's fun.

Well, we're back to work on the kitchen. Last year we had the old tile counter top replaced with new Corian solid surface. They are wonderful! So this year we decided to have the cabinets resurfaced as well. You can't tell much from pictures because the color is almost identical, but they are beautiful. No more water damage stains, all the doors close without having to smack them a few times, they wipe clean, and they don't whine when you open and close them!
OLD-------------------------------------------NEW

Wizard enjoyed a week of
roaming through the empty cabinets.

Graduation Celebration!

Ok, this time it was my turn to graduate!
In November I became a State Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) with the idea that I would work doing home health care during the day while the kids are in school.
Little did I know that just before I graduated our home health department here would be doing a complete revamp of their system and now have almost no clients left. So for now anyway, I don't have a job.

In the mean time, I work at the nursing home at our local hospital on an as needed basis. Which basically means that they call me if someone calls in sick and if I'm avalible, I go help.
I'll be much happier when they get home health straightened out so I can spend more 1 on 1 time with the patients.

This is me with my sister-in-law Donna
who was in the class with me.

Halloween

This year we had a Gypsy and what might be called a
"defunct snake charmer" for Halloween at our house.
(Sorry, the photos aren't that great)

Deven's costume even won him a prize at school!

Band

Sierra decided she wanted to try band this year at school so the teacher assigned instruments based on what the kids thought they might be interested in learning. Sierra chose the clarinet so we rented one for her to use for the year. After her 1st class, (they only meet once a week) she came home all excited because she was asked to try out for the advanced band. I thought she must of misunderstood her teacher because she has never even seen an instrument up close before much less played one. But it turns out she is a natural at it!
Here are some of Sierra's creations about band;

B is for band
A is for actually fun
N is for never want to stop
D is for determined

1. C is for concerts all the time
   
2. L is for like you should so try it
3. A is for a very fun thing to play
   
4. R is for really fun
   
5. I is for i don't want to stop
   
6. N is for never give up
   
7. E is for ever tried the clarinet
8. t is for then try it
   

Movin' on up

Tonight our 1st Class Scout was promoted to the rank of "Star"!!!
Six months of being a Star and he will advance to the rank of "Life" (he already has all the required badges he just needs to "do the time") and 6 months later... "EAGLE"!! (the highest rank in scouting and only 2% of scouts make it to Eagle) He only has 1 more badge required for Eagle and a big community service project to tackle, but he's well on his way!

CAMP GRISSOM 2008

This years Camp Grissom went "Hawiian style" and was held in Texas with all the usual faces as well as some new ones. Word of mouth from past years events created such a buzz that this years event was expanded to include friends and co-workers.
There were numerous events to keep the campers occupied that included the Hula Hoop ho-down and the bubble blowing brigade.
There were also team events that pitted friends & loved ones against each other such as the water balloon toss and the spoon water relay.


We were awarded prizes for all sorts of things including the best decorated flip-flops and hats.




















It was such a wonderful day filled with crafts, playing, eatting, and making new friends because let's face it, that's what camp is all about right? We even finished off the festivities with a mentos and soda extravaganza to thrill the crowd. We can't wait for next year!

Well, he did it! And did it with GUSTO!

We attended Deven's 6th grade graduation/achievement ceremony this week and were pleasantly surprised at his awards. Ok, well, honestly, it was more like totally caught off guard & floored!
The video camera started to give the low battery warning 10 min into the program so we shut it off so we were sure to catch that critical name call and hand shake moment. We weren't too worried because although he's been doing much better recently, he's a struggling student with C's and D's. So now we were taping just the announcing of the award and then shut it off quickly (to save the battery) if there was not a chance that it would be for him.
So then they start with "These children put heart into practicing hard to be the best that they can be. They pay attention to detail and are willing to spend the time needed to get it right..." "Oh Please" Harv and I roll our eyes and give a collective "Phfffffffffft, yeah right, save the battery." "DEVEN DEARING" What the??? Did he say??? We were scrambling to get the photo. Wow!! We did have time to compose ourselves (and have cameras at the ready) when he was awarded "Perfect Attendance" because we knew that was coming as I was at the pizza party for all the "Perfect Kids" (Sierra included) the day before, but the rest of the evening we were content to turn off the camera and politely clap for other peoples kids and their writing awards, math awards, etc. In fact when they got to the honor roll we thought we should change the batteries in the digital camera so we wouldn't miss the big moment coming up next when (you guessed it) "DEVEN DEARING" Was that??? You're Kidding??? Oh my God! Our Son?? OUR SON!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!! "Way to go baby!!!" Deven was just as floored as we were.

It's finally over!

The last day of school was Thursday June 5th. Woo Hoo!!
The last month of school is always crammed with all the end of the year field trips and class parties as well as all the last minute things that have been put off or just plain forgot about till the end. And with 2 kids I have to do double duty! It's been getting progressively harder to split my time between Sierra's and Deven's classes and I have had to miss one's field trip or party due to being at the other's. Well enough of my woes and on to the year end round up.
Sierra ended the 4th grade with a bang! She received 3 certificates at their awards ceremony for:
*Serving on the Student Council
*Perfect Attendance (this included a trip to the local pizza parlor for a party)
*HONOR ROLL!!!!!! (all A's and B's)



That's My Girl!!! Way to go Si Si!!!!!

Mission San Buena Ventura

This time it was Sierra's turn to do a Mission project. She decided to go with the more traditional "cardboard" construction rather than the "gingerbread" approach that Deven took 2 years ago. (Thank God) She did however choose the same Mission that Deven chose previously in hopes that since the real one was down by our friends in Southern CA. that we will be able to visit it (and them) over the summer.
Sierra (and I) worked really hard on it and it turned out great.
The Mission San Buena Ventura has since been demolished and parts are being used to cover the ground in our garden to keep the weeds from growing. Who knew this project would be educational as well as environmentally friendly.

One of Deven's last big school projects was to make a model of an Egyptian pyramid. They learned allot about ancient civilizations such as how they lived, the goods they traded, and obviously, how they dealt with their dead. They also learned a bit about hieroglyphics (Spelling?)

1800's Adventure

We have news of yet another school field trip to share.
This time it was an adventure for the whole family! We got to participate in the "Yosemite Environmental Living Program" where Sierra's entire class of 4th and 5th graders (as well as Deven and a few of us adult chaperons) went to the Pioneer Yosemite History Center Village in Yosemite National Park to live as the settlers did in the 1850's. We were all given names of actual people from the time to research and portray while we were there.
Harv and I were Alex & Catherine Black who owned and ran the Black Hotel, (also called the Lower Hotel) one of the 1st hotels in Yosemite.
Deven was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, part of the "Mariposa Battalion" who were the 1st people (other than Indians) to enter the valley. He was also credited with naming it "Yosemite".
Sierra was Lady Constance Frederica Gordon Cummings, a rich artisan who was famous for her books of watercolor paintings of Yosemite.
We dressed the part, cooked on the wood stove, chopped the wood, as well as carried buckets of water that we pumped from the well for drinking, cooking and dishes. We did crafts from the time period, made a triangle dinner bell from steel at the blacksmith forge, learned what it was like to be a stagecoach driver and got to take a ride in one! We then topped the night off with a barn dance before retiring to the log cabins to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags.
We made a hearty breakfast in the early morning and after cleaning up we had a town meeting to discuss how the different groups of people felt Yosemite should change (or not). The hardest part was the set up the adults did to keep the illusion of 1850 alive. Everything (such as milk, butter, bread, spices, etc.) had to be taken from it's original packaging and put into metal pitchers, mason jars, and baskets. Refrigerated items had to be stored in wooden barrels with blocks of ice to keep it cold.










We got home exhausted, filthy, and looking forward to our 2008 version of pizza, a shower, and a warm bed. What an adventure!