End of School Stuff, and Remodel Part 4

At the beginning of June, right after the public schools let out for the summer, we held our Primary Talent Show.  I took pictures of all the participants, but since I'm partial to my own kids, those are the only photos I'm posting here.  We had a really good turnout, and everybody was either amazing or adorable, or both!
    

Evan identified forty works of art and their artists.

Corinne recited "Morning Prayer" and sang "Bo on the Go"

Elise did her most recent Tae Kwon Do form.

  

Connor recited the poem "The Grashopper"

Performance Lineup

The first Saturday in June was the Crescenta Valley Latin Co-op's Recitation Night.  I was excited to have Ryan there this time - he had missed the previous one because of a conference.  There were displays of some of the kids' work, and all the classes got up and shared poetry or summaries of what they'd learned throughout the year.  Even though we were missing over half our families (lots of people had left on vacations already,) the kids who were there did a really impressive job.
   

Preschool Class

Kindergarten

2nd/3rd Grade Poetry

Prima Latina (3rd Grade Latin)

Mammals Class

Insects Class (Usually we had ten students.)

First Form Latin

Eric and Connor were the only ones who managed to learn "The Grasshopper."  It's pretty long.

Photo Insect Collection (Insects Class)

We got our granite installed, our sinks put in, and handles on our cabinets.  I was more excited to have a working kitchen sink than any other event of the past several months.  I had gotten really sick of our lack of plumbing.
  

 

You can see our makeshift kitchen and water cooler.  It was better than nothing, I guess.

   

Kelli's sister wanted to see the general layout of our house to get some ideas, so I sent her these pictures.  I figured they were worth keeping for posterity, too.

   

  
We tried going to the library several times a week to do schoolwork and avoid the noise and mess of the house.  It was fun, but too distracting to be very productive.  My older kids kept running away and hiding with library books, and the littles just wanted the computers.
   

  
Elise had her end-of-year dance recital!  She was wonderful, and we celebrated by going to Baja Fresh afterwards.
  

We had our second visit from the neighborhood bear.  This one likes to come in the evenings to eat fallen fruit and check out the trash cans.  Also, we acquired some mice in the attic and garage, then got rid of them. 
   

  

  
My mom posted these photos with one of her show dogs, Karina.  I think they're beautiful!  Mom currently has eleven dogs, including a litter of seven 18-month-old puppies, who are all on their way to becoming champions like the others.
    

May, and Remodel Part 3

We celebrated Elise's ninth birthday!  She picked out an Oreo ice cream cake for our family party, which is pretty much the best cake in the world.  Her gifts included an enormous canvas print of a peacock, which she wanted placed right above her bed, a 3DS video game about pet puppies, and several large boxes of fruit rolls and treats.
   

While sitting and watching taekwondo, Corinne started taking pictures of the class.  At least someone was doing it.
  

Corinne Self Portrait (In the Background)

  

Connor and Grady Sparring

  
We did the final Disneyland day on our three-day pass.  Corinne mostly hung out with me, while the older kids did scarier rides with Dad.

 

Waving to the Princesses

In mid-May, I signed Corinne and Evan up for two weeks of swimming lessons.  The goal was to get Corinne pool safe by the time summer started, and she made it!  She can now swim, take a breath, and swim again.
  

  
Connor got to attend 11-Year-Old Scout camp, which is a great introductory overnighter in the local park.  He was a little nervous about going without Dad (Ryan was at a conference), and sleeping in a tent with a kid he didn't know, but ended up having a fantastic time, and made a new friend.
   

The end of the school year brought final exams for the older classes at co-op.  Connor took his Insects exam and his First Form Latin final (which took over two hours and was done at the park.)  He did great on everything.  Elise took her last Prima Latina test, and got the high score!
  

Insects Final

Latin Finals

  

  
While trying to avoid an oncoming car on our street, I took out a neighbor's garbage can.  My poor side mirror got destroyed.  Luckily, Ryan was able to order a new one and put it in himself!
  

Elise's dance class got their recital costumes, which were an awesome combination of lumberjack, long-haul trucker, and sequins.
   

  
In Primary, we decided to revamp the gifts we give to kids after their baptisms.  I made some great "My Gospel Standards" bookmarks at home, and we put them in a cellophane baggie with a scripture pencil and their Faith in God books.  Cute and inexpensive!
  

  
For Memorial Day we were invited to a potluck at our friends' house (the same friends who invited us for Thanksgiving and the Superbowl).  They were about to move to Orange County, so it was our last chance to celebrate holidays with them locally.  Ryan smoked a pork shoulder AND tri-tip, which were both a huge hit.
   

Memorial Day with Friends!

We decided that as long as we were messing with the inside of our house, we might as well update the outside, too.  This is what it looked like before most of the work got started:
  

 
After lots of agonizing, I decided to take most of the trim off of the house, which meant we had to repair the stucco.  Picking paint took forever - I think I made the paint guys try out eight or more samples, but I finally decided to just drive around until I saw a house whose color made me happy and copy it!

My lousy picture manipulation, to see if the house would be okay without it's "rays."

My Color Inspiration

Peach Smoothie

Construction waste turns into great Kid Art.

  
Meanwhile, the inside of our house was a total mess.  We had cabinets filling up our whole dining room, all our food on our table, and all our linens in piles in the kids' rooms.  We got really sick of toast and microwaveable oatmeal (okay, only I got sick of it - the kids were in heaven.)  Eventually, the new cabinets got installed in the kitchen, hall, and bath, and we picked out tile and paint for the master bathroom.
   

Piles

  

Oh, and we continued to have to pick and buy stuff.
  

All this time, my poor kids were pretty neglected.  They just hung around, doing minimal amounts of schoolwork and goofing off.
  

Yellowjackets on Chicken (by Elise)

The Church Tree