The Keene Family

Last week we went to Disneyland! And the beach. And the Lyon Air Museum. It was pretty awesome. Here is a quick five photos that summarize the wonderfulness. Basically, we surprised the children (and almost everyone we know) and flew to Orange County Monday morning. We spent three days at Disneyland and flew home Friday evening. It was so. much. fun. We had waited to go until our kids were old enough to ride the roller coasters, stand in line, and eat on the move. It was the perfect trip for us and we loved every minute. Literally. More photos in a Sway here . Want more photos? View our Sway. Scroll down through the photos or open in a full screen using the ellipsis button and then choosing Open in new tab.

Haley had two field trips this spring. One was to the bee farm, and Grandma Keene took her. Then her class went to the library/beach/picnic lunch in the park on a gorgeous 75-degree morning, and I got to go! The story time at the library was fab.u.lous. I'm not sure where Port Orchard dug up this gem of a librarian, but Mr. Nathan rocked it. We did a scavenger hunt on the beach, and Haley held a little crab! (Fuzzy photo...) Throwing back the crab Then we had a picnic lunch with played with friends at the water front park. It was super fun!

JT's school hosts a spring Eaglet day, when prospective kindergarteners get to come enjoy an hour of class and a short recess to get excited about next year. I was so glad to be able to take Haley to this special day. Haley was thrilled to know to girls there: Jozie and Miley. She'll also know Ashley from her t-ball team at kindergarten next year. Headed in Each child was assigned a kindergarten helper to guide them through an Eagle craft. Haley was paired with Jenna. What's fun about that is that Jenna's mom and I were good friends in school, starting in fifth grade!

It's amazing how fast time flies. Here I am on my seventh Mother's Day, and it still feels new. Jim and the kids let me sleep in a little, enjoy coffee in my bathrobe and a long shower, and breakfast made from scratch before we left for 9 AM Sunday School. The kids were dressed and ready before they even helped with breakfast! We really had no plans for the day, which is exactly what I wanted. We took naps, laid low, and walked to our HOA park in the afternoon. Haley can swing by herself! Finally! We had a yummy taco bar dinner with ice cream sundaes for dessert (my choice) and I was smothered in love and kisses all day. It was beautiful!

Okay, so I hosted a Thirty-One party in April and I thought it might be fun if I earned enough hostess points to get a tote I'd been wanting for grocery shopping that would keep food cold longer. It turned out that I had a lot of orders and so I earned a lot of hostess points. And I thought it was a little ridiculous when I unpacked everything and had 12 new bags. But I have used them almost every day since, and I've had a ton of compliments on them! My new church tote - holds all four Bibles, snacks, Sunday School papers, and more. My headed-to-baseball-straight-from-ballet bag. My new matching work trip bags. Inside: matching makeup and hanging travel cases! Small but mighty: my carry-all for sunscreen, medicine, all sorts of things. I'm so happy with my new stuff and I'm surprised how much I'm using it all. My friend Stephanie is a Thirty-One rep if you're interested in hosting your own party. :)

With two kids in two teams, we are spending a lot of time at the ball field. It's very fun, but it's shocking how much time out of the week it impacts. I find myself behind in all sorts of things! But we have a wonderful time doing it, and Jim and I are both sad anytime we have to miss a game for work. There are a few moms around that take awesome photos at the games and then post them on Facebook right after, so I haven't been very good about taking photos myself. But I did grab one of the two together in their uniforms the other day.

When I heard that the first graders were singing at the April school assembly, I blocked it out on my calendar! I'm so glad I did, because that week we got a call from the school that JT was also receiving an Eagle Award. Jim was able to flex some time to go in late to work, so we were both able to attend and watch JT's class sing, and see him get his award. We really like his school. The following Monday, JT had to give his Personal Passion in Learning presentation. He chose circuits. I've been posting our activities on the blog, so that's not news. He did a great job sharing what he knows about open, closed, series, parallel, short, and more circuits. Then he built a banana piano using the Makey Makey board to control the computer, and everyone wanted a turn. It was pretty funny when he said, "Does anyone want to try the banana piano?" and every single student raised his or her hand. Jim and I were both able to attend his presenta...