May 2019

May 1st Naomi found out that she made it into the talent show.  She is so fearless when it comes to trying out for things.  

May 2nd Nick passed his pre-test for the lifeguard classes.  He is on his way to being a lifeguard.  

May 4th started with a soccer game in the morning.  Both teams were equally matched and the tied score showed that.  After soccer we hurried home and Naomi got ready for Maeve's birthday party.  She was excited because they were going to Frankie's, the new entertainment center that recently opened.  She had a great time, but I got a call about an hour before I was planning on picking her up and was told Naomi had a fever and wasn't feeling well.  I rushed over and got her.  Back at home we took her temperature and it was 101.  Off to bed with her.  I also got an email from Jeremy telling me he had an infection on his neck, but not to worry.  He had seen a doctor and gotten some medicine.  The My Little Pony bandaids came in handy.  

Ashley, Maeve, Bella and Naomi

This is a fun group of friends.

For Cinco de Mayo we made a ton of chimichangas.  Naomi's science teacher, Mr. Blackman, really likes chimichangas and has a chimichanga selfie wall.  Naomi has always wanted to be on that wall.  We also packaged some up and Naomi took them in the following day.  He really like them and she is now on his selfie wall.  

Naomi's contribution to the chimichanga selfie wall. 

May 7th Nick wanted to help me out and he offered to drive to the school to pick Naomi up from Knight Riders rehearsal.  It was really cool to hand over the keys and let someone else do the driving for a change.  We also registered him for a parking pass at LNC the following year.  It is all getting real.  He is going to be a senior next year.  

May 9th was the Knight of the Arts.  Naomi had several things in the show and Nick was singing with the choir.  Steve wasn't able to go with us because he had Round Table for scouts.  

Naomi helped draw and paint this 20-year commemorative mural. 

Her cardboard birds.  

Maeve, Naomi, Ashley and Bella. 

May 10th we had a half day at school.  There was a funeral for a fallen police officer and the procession was scheduled to be in the area during dismissal.  In order to avoid all the traffic and show respect for Officer Jordan Sheldon, we closed up early and let the kids have a half day.  It was glorious.   

Naomi was over the moon because she finally earned the money for her Surface Pro computer.  She has been doing odd jobs for months now trying to earn her part of the money toward the computer.  This particular computer is one of the best on the market for digital art.  She had already drawn a couple of pictures in her first three hours of owning it.  Definitely money well spent  

May 11th Nick had his lifeguarding class.  It was an all-day event for him.  I spent the day cleaning and getting some grocery shopping done.  April had been so busy that a lot of things got pushed off until later.  Well, later was now and some of the cleaning and shopping had reached critical level.  It was nice to have a day to get things done.  

May 12th - Mother's Day.  We went to church and I got to talk to Jeremy.  He looked better and sounded better since his transfer.  That was good for this mama's heart to see and hear.  

Best Mother's Day present ever!!

This long-term subbing thing is no joke, people.  May 15th was a day for the books.  I was up at 5 am to teach seminary and then put in a full day at school.  I ran the kids home after school and went right back for an EOG meeting.  From there, I got home just in time to eat some dinner and run the kids to the church for the youth activity.  I stayed in the truck and graded papers.  Back at home, I was up until 11 grading more papers.  Teachers do not earn enough money.  Anyone who thinks they put in a 7:30 to 3:30 day needs to wake up and see what is really going on.  

May 16th Naomi went to Carowinds with the 7th grade.  They had a really good time.  That night was the final performance for the high school choir.  Nick had another solo and he rocked it.  I am so impressed with what Mr. McSwain can get these kids to do.  Our choir has never sounded better.  After the performance one of Nick's classmates, Aneecia, came up to me and said, "Mrs. Cannon, I REALLY like Nick."  She was so cute about it.  When I told Nick he smiled.  She is a cute girl but is only a freshman, so...  There is some unwritten rule about an upperclassman dating a underclassman.  

Singing his solo. 

Devan had the other solo.  

The next day at school, Mrs. Coffey came up to me and asked what I thought and then looked at me expectantly.  I didn't know what was going on.  Apparently her son, Keagan, had asked Naomi to the formal while they were at Carowinds.  Naomi hadn't mentioned it, but our night had been a whirlwind with getting her home from Carowinds, eating and getting to the school for the choir performance.  I asked Mrs. Coffey if Naomi had said yes.  Mrs. Coffey was so funny.  She said Naomi agreed to go but had told Keagan that she wasn't allowed to date until she was 16 so they would have to go as friends.  That's my girl.

May 17th - LAST DAY OF SEMINARY!!!!  I had some breakfast items and awards to hand out. It was a glorious day!!!

It has been a fun, but exhausting year.  

That night was the Concert on the Green.  I love this event.  It is fun to hear the progress from the 5th grade all the way to the high school.  This year there was also an auction to earn money for the band.  I bought a cheesecake. That is a win-win.  Steve and Nick went to the Priesthood Commemoration activity at the church.  Divide and conquer is our family motto right now. The kids are keeping us busy with some cool activities.

We all bring camp chairs, sit on the football field and listen to the music. 

The Knight Riders starting off the show. 

Naomi, front and center.  She loves being a part of Knight Riders.  

May 18th and 19th was a whirlwind of grading papers.  I got through 25 literary analysis papers and about 100 projects.  It took me a good part of two days to get it all done.  I will say it again - TEACHERS DO NOT MAKE ENOUGH MONEY!  They do so much for our kids and pour so much of their time and energy into their job.  Please tell your teachers how important they are.  They need to hear it.  

May 20th, I was standing in the hall before school making sure everyone was moving to their classes in a respectful and efficient manner.  Naomi stopped by to say "hi" on her way to art.  Just as she was walking up I looked in my classroom and had to talk to some boys about not throwing scissors. They they picked up a Gatorade bottle and started to throw that which did not end well.  Naomi was in shock.  She thought I was kidding about 8th graders regressing in their behavior.  She promised then and there not to turn into a typical 8th grader next year.  

That night was the LNC Track banquet.  It is always fun to see Nick with his running buddies. It was a fun night.  

May 21-23 - EOGs!  WHOA!  It was so nerve-wracking being on the administration end of the test.  If anything goes wrong it is your fault.  I was on my toes all three days.  As a proctor, after the test is over you get to leave.  Being the administrator/teacher, you have to stay and keep the kids quiet until the all-clear.  That was an eye-opener.  The kids were really pretty good, but I am glad I had several decks of cards and other games to keep them busy.  

May 23 was the formal.  Naomi and Keagan agreed to meet at the school.  He showed up with flowers.  Mrs. Coffey said they are trying to train their boys on how to treat a girl properly.  He was so nervous.  We took some pictures and then let the kids go into the dance.  Apparently they had a great time.  One of the mother's drove them all to Wendy's after the dance to get some food and then drove everyone home.  

Bella, Ryland, photo bomber, Naomi, and Keagan.  

Bella, Ryland, photo bomber, Naomi, Keagan and Spencer

Bella, Ryland, photo bomber, Naomi, Keagan and Spencer

Since Nick was roller skating with Chance and Naomi was at the dance, Steve and I went out to dinner at Rocky's Pizza after dropping Naomi off at the dance.  We ran into Bob Coughlin who works there on the weekends.  It was fun to catch up with him for a bit.

May 25th Nick had his final class for his lifeguarding certification.  He rocked the test and is officially a lifeguard now.  To celebrate we went to the Midnight Diner for lunch.  I highly recommend it.  The atmosphere is very old-timey and the food is excellent.  After lunch we went the pool (where else would a new lifeguard go?!?) and then relaxed the rest of the night.

Lifeguard Nick.

Nick is really into a You-Tube cooking show called "Binging with Babish."  On it, Babish takes recipes found in movies and tv shows and gives them a try and then improves on them where he had.  One that Nick really liked was the "You can chive my car burger".  We decided to give it a try for Memorial Day.  It was a hit complete with homemade fried pickles.  

 Memorial Day we chilled at the pool until Nick got a call from work. He was being called-in on his first eligible day to work.  He was so excited.  We hurried home, fixed dinner (see the above photo) and he was off.

Lifeguard Nick

 It ended up being a very interesting and challenging day.  The pool was really crowded.  If that wasn't enough, someone threw up in the pool and a diaper exploded in the pool.  Despite all the action and drama, he came home with a smile on his face.

Steve and I spent the day trading emails with Jeremy.  He is really struggling and needed to have some encouragement to get him through an especially trying time.  He is always in my thoughts and prayers.

May 29th was field day and it was a blast. The first part of the morning we were in the gym.  My class did really well and ended up winning the volleyball tournament.  They were so excited.  We also did really well in the Shoot Out!  Outside was the really fun part of the day for me.  Principal Graham had hired an icecream truck to come to field day.  Everyone got to pick out a popcicle to help beat the heat.   I got to go on the inflatable obstacle course.  It was so much fun.  I think the teachers had as much fun as the kids.  There was also an inflatable Hungry Hippos.  I love field day.  The kids were so exhausted from being outside all morning that they were content to watch a movie all afternoon.

May 30th was the awards ceremony.  It was held in the high school gym this year and that was the best decision ever.  No one had to sit on the floor for hours.  Naomi got awards for being the #1 band student and all A's all year long.

Outstanding Band Student. 

Naomi and Ashley got all As all year long. 

 That afternoon was the talent show.  There is so much talent in our school.  It was hard for the judges to choose the winner.  As usual, the show went a little long and the kids were anxious to get out to carpool.

Naomi performing her song from Dear Evan Hansen, "Waving Through A Window."

That night was graduation for the 8th grade.  Since I was a long-term sub I was required to attend.  It was a fun night, but I was exhausted by the end of it. 

The last day of school was an adventure.  They release the school by grades with the 5th going first and the 8th going last.  I understand now why the 8th grade is last.  They were so unruly they may have completely run amuck if they were allowed outside first.  As it was, they nearly trampled over several kids who got caught in the mob that formed on their way out.  It was a fun experience to be a long-term sub, but I will have to more carefully consider everything that is going on in my life before I say yes next time.  It was so much more involved than I thought it would be.  Part of that was the last two weeks of school are just chaotic anyway. 

Naomi and I went home and collected Nick for the last day of school lunch.  I always take them out to celebrate the start of summer.  We them went to Devon's house to collaborate on buying tickets for the CPCC production of "Beehive".  It is going to be a really fun night. 

That evening, Naomi was invited to a pool party at the Croshaw's.  When I dropped her off I had a chance to talk to Karilee about changing carpool next year.  I had been agonizing over this for weeks, but we, as a family, felt that we needed more flexibility after school this coming year since it was Nick's last year and I hadn't been able to volunteer to drive to any of his meets because I was always doing carpool.  As it turns out, Karilee had been meaning to talk to me about not doing carpool anymore because she was going to have to pick Michael up every day and wanted to have that time with the girls as well.  It was a win-win. 

Ashley, Mia, Naomi and Lucy - the crazy gang

With all this going on we did manage to put together a 2019 Cannon Family Favorites CD.  Naomi did the cover art.  She is really good.  We may have stumbled on a new tradition.