He's not a puppy anymore

Dillon's front tooth has been loose since...honestly? I think since before Christmas.  

In first grade terms, it's like an entire lifetime.  

I told him I wasn't ready for him to lose any front teeth, and he'd just have to wait.

On Sunday, it wouldn't wait anymore. I made him pose for before and after pics, 

and as you can see he was pretty happy when it was all over.  

I was not.

But I do love his messy hair and freckles.

And the sunshine that comes from his eyes.

No matter how big he gets, he'll always be my Dilly-willy-doodle-all-the-day.

In case you missed it

Dillon looking at the "ring of fire"

 We had front row seats for today's solar eclipse.  Unfortunately, I didn't plan far enough in advance and couldn't get my hands on any solar eclipse viewing glasses, so we watched it through a homemade pinhole projector instead.

Here's how it went down:

Somewhere between the "ring of fire" and the shadow puppet show, we discovered that the eclipse was also being broadcast across our front porch.

It was great free family fun, and I'm glad we got to see it, but I'm also glad we 

didn't drive to Kanarraville, or spend $30 on overnight shipping for 85 cent eclipse viewing glasses.  

Hot

I dedicate this post to my brother-in-law, Michael, who spent his winter coveting our weather.

Our thermometer today:

 Now all our friends and family can laugh as they bask in their 75 degree days.

We got our electric bill today, and I was pleasantly surprised that even with our air conditioner running most of the past month, the bill was still $10 less than we paid in "the middle of nowhere" and we didn't have air conditioning there.  I'm sure it will be higher the next few months when we hit 100+ more often, but I think with the amount we save in the winter on heating, the cost is going to balance out.  

Whew.  I was worried, but it's not going to be as bad as I thought.

On the bright side, our backyard neighbors have a pomegranate tree
with several branches that hang into our yard.

I don't mind a bit.
I think the flowers are super cute, and they attract sweet little hummingbirds.

Good Weekend

It's been a good weekend at our house.

On Friday, Todd and I got a babysitter and went to see Brian Regan.  

I think it's only the 5th or 6th time we've gotten a babysitter (other than family)

and the first time it's ever been for something other than a Stake Conference meeting or work party.

We'll definitely do it again.

Here we are, waiting for the show to start.  It's a terrible picture, but we don't have very many pictures of the two of us, and I love that we were having fun.

By the end of the night my eyes hurt from wiping the tears because I was laughing so hard.

On Saturday, we worked.

And we worked.

We ordered pizza for dinner 'cause we were still workin'.

It turns out if you order pizza from Hungry Howies and then NOT order for a few months you'll get a postcard from them in the mail, offering you a free pizza if you buy Howie Bread for $3.49.  Um, yes.

Since we needed more than one medium pizza for all our hungry boys, I also stopped by the other pizza place near our house, and used my buy 1 get 1 free Valpak coupon.  This may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but I've lived in a place for six years where this was not an option. It's a big deal. 

 Okay, enough about pizza.  What were we working on all day?

My quilting studio!!!  

We primed, painted one wall, glued down carpet, and set up my machine yesterday so I could quilt tomorrow.

(I have a quilt that needs to get back to a friend for her son's wedding this Friday).

I wish I had a before picture, but I don't.  So here is a picture from "during".  This room in our garage used to have a wall where you can see the foundation on the floor, and the 2x4 on the back wall.  Todd knocked it out, and built a new wall (not shown) so the room now extends the entire width of our garage.  The old and new parts of the room were two different levels, so we had to learn cement work to level out the floor the best we could...or at least make it so I wouldn't trip while quilting!  

 After I finish the quilt tomorrow, I'll spend the rest of the week painting.  I still have three more walls, baseboards (not installed yet) and lots of cabinets/shelves that need to be painted.  

After a day of hard work, the men in my life treated me to a wonderful Mother's Day.  Here's a picture of my "haul".  The boys remembered my "love" of stingrays, and presented me with a hand-painted stingray picture frame, and a hand-painted stingray lawn ornament.  :o)  And how cute are those flowers?  I hope Dillon used acid-free construction paper 'cause I'll be keeping them for a long time.

 Dillon and Caleb both filled out surveys about me.  Dillon thinks I weigh 25 lbs.  Caleb thinks I weigh 120 lbs.  Both are good answers, boys.

In case you can't read it, Dillon's answers are:

When I am at school, she is at home working on the quilting.
She likes a clean house.
She doesn't like a dirty house.

Caleb's survey read:

My mom's favorite color: lime green
My mom's favorite food: salad
My mom always says: "Clean your room"
My mom cooks the best: Tuna Casserole
My mom's job is: quilting
My mom laughs when: Justin does
If my mom had time, she would love to: bake together.  (This one hurts my heart.  I've got to give Caleb more time in the kitchen.  He's still waiting to bake the box mixes I gave him for his birthday two years ago, and still waiting to play the bakery game that we were supposed to play for his birthday in April.  Guess what we're doing for FHE tomorrow?)
My mom and I like to: admire the color green (??)
My mom really loves: shopping

My boys have pampered me today.  I got up and got ready for church without a single interruption, while Todd made French Toast.  After church they made dinner, and let me take a LONG nap...again, without interruption, except for the time that Todd came in to tell me we didn't have a single Devil's Food cake mix in the whole house. How did that happen? Tonight they made molten lava cake for dessert.

This is what my boys were doing while I got ready for church:

It's been a good weekend.  I wish it didn't have to end.

Las Vegas

A couple weeks ago, we spent a Saturday in Las Vegas where I got my quilting machine serviced. (For those who are wondering, I just take the longarm part, not the whole 12 foot table!)

We stopped at the Silverton Hotel since it was 5 miles away from "the strip" and had a 120,000 gallon aquarium in the lobby with a free "Mermaid show".

The kids loved watching the HUGE fish and 19 stingrays through the 6" thick plexiglass, 15" high cylinder aquarium.  We saw Dory and Nemo, and some cool pink fish that looked like they had diamonds in this miniature coral reef.

I especially loved the stingrays.  We were there at feeding time and watched a diver feed them fresh fish by hand.  I had no idea they were so friendly.  I kept telling the kids the stingrays were smiling at me and I found them sort of cute.

The mermaid show was pretty cool.  She had hoses across the bottom of the tank that she would stop and take a breath from every so often.  Other than the fact that her "seashells" should have been D-shells (or better yet a tankini) we loved the show.  She blew kisses, made faces, and did tricks, and interacted with the kids.

Art Night

Earlier this week we attended art night at the school, where they boys performed songs with their classes, and displayed their artwork/stories.  

Dillon is well known as an "artist" among the first grade.

Caleb's class had to draw pictures of soil layers, and we have teased him a bit for his "cup of dirt" at the art fair.  :o)  Really, he did a good job.  I would have no idea how to draw different soils.

Brayden's ocean art is the one with the orange fish.

Awards

Last week I went to our school's final awards assembly for this school year.

Brayden got a Super Scholar award.  I wish I'd gotten it on video when they called his name, because it was a surprise to him and he was so cute when he realized they had just called his name.  His teacher is constantly amazed at the way Brayden can have his nose in a book and still know exactly what is being taught ;o).  He is reading at a 10th grade level and has to "turn in" his kindle every night before bed so we can make sure he's not staying up all night reading.

Caleb got his second award for the year.  In February he received a citizenship award, but I forgot my camera and therefore it never got "blogged". This time he received a "Hero Hunt Award" for being an all-around good kid.  The Hero Hunt award comes with two "bobcat bucks" to redeem at the school store, and a framed certificate in the trophy case.

Way to go, boys! We are proud of you.

I recorded Caleb getting his Hero Hunt award, because they read his certificate aloud to everyone.

 This isn't a very good picture, because it was taken from far away.  Brayden attended his first Boy Scout Court of Honor this week where he earned his Tenderfoot rank, as well as Citizenship in the Community, Communication, and Orienteering merit badges.

I didn't know I got a "mother's pin" when they earn badges.  It occurred to me that I could potentially have A LOT of pins someday.  Since this one left a hole in my shirt, I'll be more careful about what I wear to scout meetings in the future.

School Track Meet

A couple weeks ago, Brayden and Caleb participated in their school track meet.

While there, I shelled out $6 for two dinky cups of frozen yogurt (the school got half the proceeds you know) and sat in the hot sun for two hours to watch Brayden run the 50, and Caleb throw a softball.

I have a whole new appreciation for my mother.

As a reward for her years of dedicated attendance at all our piano recitals, track meets, ball games, dance competitions, and school programs, I have saved her some time and she can now watch my boys' track meet events in one minute or less from her air-conditioned house.

Thanks, Mom.  Enjoy.

(Caleb is in the background. You'll see him run and throw, but you can't really see the ball land.  I guess you had to be there for that.)