The Cannon Fab 5: April 2026

Avian sent us some of their projects for spring quarter. They are really enjoying their professors.

Self-portrait

The cast from "The Pitt" in cartoon form

April 1 - we had our year-end party for the BOB team. Everyone dressed up as their favorite characters. We ate pizza, had cake and handed out awards. It was a fun way to wrap up the year.

Ms. Trass as the Mona Lisa

At lunch, Ms. Wolfe told us a story about babysitting her grandson and learning to speak his language. He kept asking to play Octopus Brian and she could not figure it out so she distracted him with other things until her daughter got home. It turns out that Octopus Brian is actually Optimus Prime. That is hilarious!!

April 4 and 5 - General Conference!!! I love listening to the talks. In between sessions we cleaned out our closets and everything we didn't need anymore to donate to the church youth garage sale. They are earning money for camps this summer. Val went to Greensboro to spend time with Mo and Nick came up to do a long run before heading out to Grapevine, TX, for more master mechanic training.

April 6 - I did another prom dress alteration for an LNC student. I love to see what they pick out. Afterwards, I cleaned the kitchen, pulled weeds and trimmed the bushes. Now I can honestly answer the PT question about doing heavy yardwork for more that 2 hours.

April 7 - Val helped me trim the bushes in the back yard and also get the soil ready for planting this year.

April 8 - Sometimes you get his with blessings that don't look like blessings at all. I noticed a weird sound coming from one of the outlets in the kitchen. I thought it might be shorting out, so Steve got out a screwdriver and we investigated more. It turned out that the washing machine upstairs was dripping onto the outlet downstairs. We immediately turned off the water to the washing machine and called Morris Jenkins (as our regular plumber was dealing with the death of his father). They sent someone out to assess the situation. We needed new valves on the washing machine hot and cold. Before he could do the work and guarantee it, he needed to check the regulator to make sure it was still working properly. It turns out that the regulator had gone out and the water pressure in the house was too high. We could have had a pipe burst!! He fixed the regulator and the valves and we ended up signing up with them to be our plumbers as the house has been needing more TLC lately - it is 24 years old. I am amazed at how a small problem that was easily fixed helped diagnose and prevent a much bigger issue. God is good!

Val and I went and replaced the clematis from the front yard. I did not survive where we planted it. We are going back to the original location. Wish us luck this time.

April 9 - Val flew to New Jersey to spend the weekend with a friend. They were very nervous about travelling alone, but handled it like a champ. There were no hiccups getting there.

Steve took the Xterra in for its emission and inspection. I had a chunk taken out of my back for biopsy and then did another prom dress and taught a sewing lesson.

April 10 - Nick is back from Dallas. He had thought maybe he would really like Texas and it might be an option as a future place to live. He has decided that Texas is NOT where he wants to live and loves NC even more now.

April 11 - Steve is working on restoring an old Singer sewing machine and turning it into a table. He went to Klutz Wood to look for the perfect top and found it.

It doesn't look like much now, but wait until you see the final product.

Val got home safely from her visit to New Jersey. She had a great time and had a lot of stories to tell of her adventures while there.

April 15 - Val and I went to her favorite farmer's market to get some plants for the garden.

April 17 - We planted the plants purchased at the farmer's market.

April 18 - Val's car is in the shop getting new spark plugs and filter. S

Steve and I went to Savannah for a visit. We picked up Avian, Ezra and Mags and headed to Tybee Island. It was really crowded as Orange Crush weekend was happening while we were there. Orange Crush is a huge music festival for college students in the area. We were so lucky to find a decent parking place. We played in the water and on the beach for several hours before heading back to Savannah. Driving off of Tybee Island we realized just how lucky we had gotten with our parking spot. People were parking on the main street MILES away from where the concert was being held.

Looking for sea glass.

I love the cool ripples the water makes when a slight breeze is blowing.

Ezra, Avian and Mags playing in the waves.

Avian and me!

On our way off Tybee Island, we stopped at Rita's Ice to cool off. Back in Savannah, we dropped Ezra off so we could work on an assignment and picked up Sid, who had just finished working on an assignment. They wanted to go to Chipotle for dinner. We had a good time talking and Sid shared the photos from the photo shoot Avian had made the outfit for over spring break.

These are all based on characters from one of their favorite podcasts.

After dinner, we dropped them off back at their dorm and then headed home. We found a much less stressful way that avoids both 95 and 26. We will be taking 321 in the future.

April 22 - I GRADUATED FROM PT!!! I passed all the tests that I needed to pass. I met all my goals. In fact, my 30-second sit-to-stand almost beat Joshua's record. I did 21 and he did 23. They played Pomp and Circumstance as I shook their hands and walked out. It was a great occasion.

April 24 - I helped out with the school play as one of the teachers had been whisked away on a surprise trip her husband had been planning for months. The kids pulled it off!

This beauty is a volunteer in our Grandpa Garden. We don't know what it is, but it is gorgeous.

My favorite of all the irises we have in our garden.

April 25 - Steve and I attended the funeral of a good friend who had lost his battle with cancer. Jerry Smith was the kind of person who would go out of his way to help those in need. He was so talented with woodworking and had his own company remodeling bathrooms and kitchens. I loved talking to him as he was always so positive. The funeral was full of people who loved him. We helped out with the dinner afterwards and got to talk to everyone as they went through the food line. Everyone had such good memories of Jerry.

Meanwhile, in Savannah, Avian sent us the traditional pictures of them posing with their art that is on display at SCAD. We were sad to not be there for parent's weekend and to see the display in person. Mags competed in the sidewalk art contest again. This is a cool weekend. I hope we get to go next year.

Mags is so good at chalk art.

April 29 - Nick and Ari went to the Bruno Mars concert in Bank of America Stadium. I was so jealous and asked them to send pictures. They had such a good time.