May 2015

May started out with a baby shower for Naomi's primary teacher, Caitlyn Visker.  We had a great time eating and showering Sister Visker with presents.   Afterwards, we went as a family to see the new Avengers movie.  Naomi said it was the best day ever.

May 4th, Nick got 100% on his social studies test.  He studied so hard and it showed.  Hopefully he will remember the feeling of the 100% and be motivated to keep it up.  He said it was because he had The Force with him.  (Get it - May the fourth -- be with you).  He is such a silly kid.  

May 5, both vehicles passed inspection and we got the taxes paid on them for another year.  Later that day, while working on some primary stuff and trying to print out a study guide for Jeremy, our printer died.  It ended up being a rather expensive day.  

May 10th we took a break from working in the yard to spend some time with the Mullers and the Todds.  We had a great dinner and played Apples to Apples and did some Karaoke.  Naomi REALLY liked the karaoke part.  She rocked the Carrie Underwood. 

Mother's Day the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting and they sound amazing, as always.  Back at home, Steve and the kids fixed dinner and showered me with gifts.  I got the stuff I needed for my "Wall of Happiness".  Picture to come soon.  

May 12-14 I worked in the yard to get the bushes trimmed, flowers planted and the lawn done.  It looked much better when I finally finished.   Jeremy had to stay late each one of these nights to practice for the spring production.  Nick (and Steve, as a chaperone) got to go on a field trip to the White Water Center.  The group included Nick, Matt, Ryan and Kate.  The other boys didn't want Kate in the group at first because they thought she would slow them down.  Much to their surprise and Nick's and Kate's pleasure, Kate left them in the dust on the ropes course and held her own on the bikes.  Kate is in Nick's theater class so he knows that she seems quiet and shy, but she is so much fun when you get to know her.  

May 14th was the performance for the Knight of One Acts.  After seeing one of the practices, I wasn't sure if they were going to pull it off, but they did in a fantastic way.  The audience was entertained from the start to the finish.  Jeremy had a blast being part of the group and he was in several of the one acts as well.  

Ben and Jeremy in "The Ministry of Silly Walks".

Malik, Kenneth and Jeremy in "Confronting Moriarti."

The full cast in "Summer Nights" from Grease.

Curtain Call.

Saturday the 16th we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN, to spend the day at Dollywood with Bradden, Sunny and the kids.  Once again, while we were waiting for the whole group, a gentleman approached us and said he had free tickets from his work that he couldn't use.  Did we want them?  I love getting into places for free.  Once everyone arrived, we came up with a plan of action and then split up.  I took the older kids to the big kid rides while Sunny, Bradden and Steve took the younger kids to the kiddie ride area.  The lines were so insane that we only got to ride two rides before it was time to meet up again.  The first was an old, wooden roller coaster that was really jerky, but a lot of fun.  The second ride was the "scariest" ride in the park.  We waited in line for two and a half hours to get on the ride.  It was one of those rides where your feet were dangling and the ride was attached from the top of the seats.  To help you imagine it better the top of each seat section looked like an eagle with the seats attached on the underside of the wings.  The ride started with a steep and slow ascent after which we plummeted 150 feet almost straight downward and the proceeded through a series of upside down, loop-de-loop and spiral turns.  It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. Just as we were pulling into the load/unload area we heard the announcement that the ride we had just taken was the last run of the day due to a severe storm in the area.  I was excited for us, but sad for all the people in line behind us whom we had gotten to know rather well during our two and a half hour wait.  

 

Waiting to ride the Eagles' Nest.

We met up with the other half of our crew and rode the rides in the kiddie area.  Nick liked these a lot better than the Eagle's Nest.  It was much more his speed.  I rode the scrambler with Olivia and we giggled the whole time.  Just then the clouds started to come in and we decided it was time to leave.

Just as we got to our cars the sky opened up and poured down.  While we were driving to the Buffalo Wild Wings the wind picked up and it started to rain sideways.  During dinner we watched as the rain pelted everything outside.  It was quite a storm and we missed getting caught in it by minutes.  After dinner we headed back home and slept very well after such an adventure-filled day.  

Monday, May 18th I was at the middle school helping with iPad collection all day long.  It was good practice for the last two weeks of school where we would be collecting over 600 iPads in five days.  

May 22nd I subbed again at the middle school and this is only noteworthy because the new section of 485 isn't quite open and yet NCDOT decided to do road work on all the little streets that led to home.  What is normally a 20 minute drive took us 1 hour and 20 minutes on this particular day.  I cannot wait for 485 to   open!!!!

May 21st and 22nd Naomi FINALLY got to take the EOG (End of Grade) tests.  Third grade is the first year the kids are tested and Naomi loves tests!!!  She felt really good about them afterwards as well.  

May 23rd the girls camp food committee (me, Sabrina Lewis and Amy Biang) got together and cut up 55 pounds of chicken so we could freeze it in my deep freeze until Girls camp.  It took us about three hours, but we had a great time chatting.  Meanwhile, the kids helped Steve cut down the willow tree in the back yard.  Its roots were starting to seek out the neighbors plumbing - YIKES!!!  Jeremy went to his buddy, Mark's, house for the afternoon while Nick, Naomi, Haylie and I headed to the pool for some relaxation and fun.  

Hanging in the hammock after cutting up chicken and cutting down a tree.

On Memorial Day we spent some good time relaxing at the pool and even got the kids new mattresses at one of the killer Memorial Day sales.  They really needed new mattresses.  Jeremy was still sleeping on the same mattress from when he was three.  All three said it was the best night sleep they have gotten in years.  We also had some down time at home.  I was fixing dinner and went upstairs to get a can of beans.  As I approached the bonus room I heard what sounded like crowds of people running and screaming.  Nick was playing Zoo Tycoon on the computer.  I asked him what animal had gotten loose.  He looked at me and very seriously said, "My sabertooth tigers are loose.  The crowd is not very happy.  I guess I should have hired a few more keepers.  Live and learn."  I got a good chuckle over that one.  

May 26th and 27th, Nick's EOGs went well.  I was filling in as one of the tech teachers during the iPad collection at the high school.  It was a busy couple of days.  One of the temporary workers kept staring at me because I looked like someone he knew and he was trying to remember their name.  About three hours later he said, "I've got it.  You look like Tina Fey."' I had to laugh because that is not the first time I have heard that one.  I take it as a compliment.  On the Friday, after the day was over I ended up at the Urgent Care getting medicine for a raging sinus infection.  

May 30th the whole family helped me shop for the girls camp food all day long.  In case I forgot to mention it, I was asked to coordinate all the food for the stake girls camp in June and I had been putting together menus, budgets and shopping lists for months.  It was finally time to get it all purchased.  By the time we were done I filled the entire front area at my house with the non-perishable foods and my freezer with a good portion of the perishables.  The kids and Steve went to the pool to chill and recover from the intense day.  I rested.  

This is the spreadsheet of all the ingredients of all the meals to feed 135 girls three meals a day for five days.  I am so grateful Steve and the kids helped.  I would have been shopping for days without their help. 

May 31st, Steve and the boys took THE bike ride Nick has been wanting to do for months now.  The new section of 485 was done and it was calling to Nick to be ridden.  He wanted to do it before it opened in a week.  They were gone for about three hours and had a blast riding on the new freeway before the cars were allowed on it.  

Sitting under the Sugar Creek/Browne Road bridege

Massive Wipeout (staged of course.  No Cannon children were harmed in the taking of this picture.)

April 2015

April 1, 2015, marked 13 years here in Charlotte.  I cannot believe it has been that long and then sometimes it feels like we have always lived here.  

April 3rd we pulled out the ivy that had started to take over the front garden area.  It took all day, but with all of us helping we got it done.  We also cleaned up the garden boxes in the backyard.  They were falling apart and needed to be replaced this year.  The boys (including Steve) went to Lowes and got retaining wall bricks and built a new garden around the side of the house.  We also laid sod where the old garden boxes were.  The patio is now a great place for Nick to practice basketball without fear of crashing into the gardens.  It feels so open -- we love it.  

Conference weekend is always really fun.  All the talks this time seemed to have a family theme to them. Loved it.

Spring break (April 5-10) was rather rainy. Nick had Ryan come and play one day.  Another day we went to Steve's office for lunch.  Matt stayed the night and we went to the Auto Fair.  This is one of the highlights of the year.  Nick especially LOVES it.  His buddy, Matt, came with us and made the day even better.  We had to take two vehicles to accommodate the extra person.  I had just parked the truck and was looking for Steve when a gentleman approached me and asked if I had tickets for the Auto Fair.  I told him we hadn't purchased any yet.  He had several extra from his company that we could have if we wanted them.  He gave me three free tickets (since Matt, Nick and Naomi would be considered free with a paying adult).  We got in for free - AWESOME!   We agreed on a meeting spot and time and then Matt and Nick headed off to explore.  After four hours we were all ready to go home and relax a bit.  Steve took Matt home while Naomi and I went to the stake baptism.  I was leading the music and Naomi came along for the ride.  Later that night Jeremy went to a stake youth movie night and had a great time.  Spring break was fun this year.  

The car from Starsky and Hutch.  COOL!

Jeremy and Steve looking at all the cars. 

Naomi taking a rest at the top of the track.

Cars everywhere!  Matt and Nick are out there somewhere.

Jeremy and Naomi taking another break at the top of the track.

This car ran on wind-up power.

How can you see past the engine while driving?

Cool car.  It reminded me of the car brother in law Shaun had.

April 22-24 I had the unique opportunity to substitute teach at Highland Creek Elementary with a student teacher in the classroom, Ms. Hall.  Basically, she taught and I was crowd control.  I learned so much about handling a group of kids just by watching her. Ms. Hall will be amazing in the field of education no matter what she chooses.  

One of the days I was substituting for Ms. McElhinney was the 3rd grade showcase day.  All the classes had been working on several projects for both literature and math and this was the day they would unveil their projects.  Naomi had designed a zoo and done a book cover for one of the Guardians of Gahoole books.  I snuck out of class for a few minutes to check it out and take a few pictures.  

She was especially proud of the alliteration in the names of all the animal enclosures. 

Haylie (with Callie in beween) and Maggie

Naomi's bestie, Anusha

The whole group.  Quite an impressive undertaking. 

Naomi and her other bestie, Juhlia

April 27 through May 1 I substituted for Mr. Willits.  I was only supposed to do Monday through Wednesday, but Mr. Willits got sick while chaperoning for the Sound to Sea fieldtrip and I took on the whole week.  Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but the drama and dance classes were getting ready for the Middle School Knight of the Arts (Friday, May 1).   I had to make sure the performances were ready and coordinate with the art, music and band teachers as to how the night was going to flow.  It was a great opportunity to work with the other teachers.  The Knight of the Arts turned out really well and everyone seemed to enjoy being there and watching the performances.  The dance and drama kids really did a great job.  I was so proud of them.  

March 2015

March started out in the best way.  Jeremy blessed the sacrament for the first time.  He was really nervous, but did a great job.  It was amazing and weird at the same time.  I am still in denial that by baby boy is 16 years old.  He was such a cute little kid and is such a handsome young man.  I am just proud to be his mom.

March 2nd was Dr. Seuss Day at school for Naomi.  She and her friend, Emily, dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  They had a great time.  I was substituting in Mrs. Rosales's class (both Emily and Naomi had Mrs. Rosales for 2nd grade) and they came to visit.  The second graders loved seeing the third graders all dressed up.  

Naomi took this picture.  She thought the sunset was really cool. 

March 7th was the annual HCE Daddy Daughter Dance.  The theme was "To the Moon and Back" and they were supposed to dress in neon and white.  The dance was lit up with black lights and Naomi said it was really cool. They went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and then danced the night away. 

Grocery shopping with Naomi is always an adventure.  We get one of the big carts with the seats on the front and take turns riding.  Naomi thinks it is funny to push her mommy around in the cart and I like the rest.  Let people give us funny looks.  They are just jealous we are having so much fun and they aren't.  

Naomi has been bitten by the math bug.  She came home from school on a Friday and disappeared into her room.  I was busy fixing dinner so I didn't investigate what she was doing.  After I finished putting dinner in the oven she asked me to come up and see what she had done to her door.  She had taken down all the My Little Pony pictures and replaced them with a "Math Door" complete with math problems that needed to be completed.  Her teacher, Mrs. Favaloro, is amazing and really gets the kids excited about math, obviously.  

One day, while visiting Sister Ford with the sister missionaries, she mentioned how much she likes Chinese food.  That got us all craving Chinese food and we planned a lunch date for the following week.  I would get my visiting teaching companion to come with me and we would all have a Chinese lunch.  The next week we carried out our plan and everyone enjoyed the time spent together.  I asked Sister Ford if she was craving anything else and she just laughed.  I love spending time with her.  

I am becoming quite a fix-it queen.  This time I fixed the leaky faucet in my bathroom.  I couldn't take the dripping anymore and while Steve was at a weekend scout training session I went to Lowes and got the correct cartridge and fixed it myself.  First the washing machine, then a leaky faucet - NEXT?   Stay tuned.

PROM 2015 

Jeremy went to his first church prom on March 14, 2015.  The day started out with breakfast at the bishop's house.  Usually they do a dinner, but since the dance was in Winston Salem and they had an hour drive to get there they decided to do a breakfast instead.  It was still just as fancy.  The bishop's wife went all out with the decorations and the food.  I got to help out a little bit and see all the kids.

They ate off the fancy china.

Table decorations included

Part of the breakfast treats.

Everyone is ready to eat.

Brother Biang, the Young Men's president, flipping the pancakes. 

It was a fun breakfast.  The kids ate tons and had a fun time talking with each other about everything under the sun.  It is funny to listen to them talk when they don't think anyone is listening.

Jeremy chilled the middle part of the day while Nick and I fixed the bird feeder we accidentally broke while planting the flowers at Hind's Feet Farm.  We took that back and then ran a few errands.  Meanwhile, back at home, Jeremy was getting ready for the big night.  He showered and got himself all ready to go to his first official dance.  He was so excited (but I think I might have been more excited - it is hard to tell).  Check out the handsome results below.

I drove him to the Todd's house where several other youth were meeting and they all caravaned down to church from there. At the church they took a group picture (below) and then boarded the party bus (picture below) headed for Winston Salem.   Jeremy got home about midnight with a huge smile on his face.  He had a great time and is already excited for prom next year.

March 16th the boys had to turn in their class choices for next year (already!!!)  Nick chose the high school level French class and Jeremy signed on for AP and Honors classes.  I am really proud of how they are stretching themselves academically and trying new things.  

March 18th I subbed for Mrs. Rosales again.  Her class is always interesting and you never know what kind of day you are going to have.  This time they were having a hard day and I had to take them back to the room in the  middle of the International Fair tour because they wouldn't behave and follow the rules.  Each class had been given a country to represent and they did posters and displays to tell about their country.  All these displays and posters were placed down the halls in the school and each class took turns going "around the world".  I was sad that we missed half of the displays, but...  Naomi took me on the tour after school and showed me what her class had done.  We then headed downtown for the district art show.  Naomi had a clay turtle she had done in art class on display.  She really loves having Mr. Maranchello as an art teacher.  He is so much fun and gives them challenging projects.  He also is very involved in getting his students' art displayed at the district art shows.  

Naomi's class represented the Philippines.  

March 19th and 20th I subbed for a new teacher, Ms. Starr, while she was at a two-day training.  I have to say that this was the most challenging sub assignment I have ever had.  There were several "discipline problems" in the class and I admire that a teacher would willingly come back to that situation day after day and keep a smile on their face and help the rest of the kids in the class learn.  It is so sad to me that kids in the third grade would have the issues going on in their lives that these kids have.  The attitudes, language and mannerisms have all been learned at home.  It takes a special kind of person to teach these kids every day.  Ms. Starr is one of those people.  I admire what she does.  I also had it confirmed to me that I really prefer working with the middle school and high school kids.  

Bradden and Sunny and the kids came for a weekend visit on the 20th.  It was so much fun to see them.  On Saturday, Steve and Bradden took the kids to Delk's.  They had a blast.  Sunny and I headed to the mall with Maddie in tow.  We found all sorts of fun stuff for Sunny and got new shoes for the kids.  When everyone was back home again we went to the  park and played.  Jeremy went to a stake dating activity and wasn't with us for that bit of fun.   Later that night, Steve, Sunny and Hyrum went back to the mall to exchange the shoes she bought for Hyrum, while Bradden and I took the rest of the crew to Walmart to get snacks for the trip home the next morning. We loved having them visit for the weekend.   

The breakfast chair for Maddie.  Naomi loved it.  

 

Shoe shopping at the mall.

Dance party.

At the park.  They all held still long enough for a picture. 

Making popcorn chicken for dinner.  Olivia was my helper.  

March 26th was the annual Highland Creek Elementary Art Show.  Mr. Maranchello and Ms. Starnes spend days setting up all the art projects the kids have done throughout the year.  For two nights the parents are able to come and walk through all the art.  The recorder club and both the 3rd and 4th/5th choir perform.  It is the event of the year and we always look forward to it.  Naomi made the 3rd grade choir and we got to hear her perform that night.  The art was fabulous as well.  

March 28th we finally got a replacement for the tree out front.  Naomi picked a Coral Maple and it is going to be very pretty.  The bark at the ends of the branches is a beautiful coral color and the leaves are bright green in the spring and summer and turn a stunning red in the fall.  Nick helped at his friends  (Ryan) neighborhood Easter egg hunt and had a blast with all his friends from school.  Naomi and I went to the Women's Conference that night and she wore the dress she made.  It wasn't the easiest pattern to do, but she stuck it out and really did a great job.  The smile on her face was worth it.  

March 29th the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting for the first time since I became chorister and they sounded AMAZING!!!!  They sang "ToThink About Jesus" and "Beautiful Savior".   I am so proud of the hard work they are putting into singing time.  They make being the chorister the best calling in the church.  I now call them my choir and they love it.