The Keene Family

Haley had her year-end gymnastics event called the Mini Olympics over the weekend. She got a chance to show her progress on all four apparatuses and go up to the podium to receive a medal and certificate. She had all four grandparents, both parents, and an aunt and uncle in the stands cheering for her at each apparatus. She was definitely the most cheered-for athlete. I took video of each event but did not get a good shot of the vault... she started from underneath the bleacher loft and we didn't notice until she had finished her first vault and was running toward the second. We are so proud of Haley's hard work this year at gymnastics. She is doing great in level two and progressing a LOT. She is excited to work toward level three!

We have waited a long, long time for decent weather here in the PNW. We were thrilled to get out the slip-and-slide the other day, and we ended up having an impromptu fish taco dinner in our neighbor's backyard!

JT had the opportunity to present his PPL (Personal Passion in Learning) Project last week at school. He has been working with Jim and me since early April on all of the components, so this was quite the culmination. His essential question was, "How do aerodynamics affect the speed of a derby car?" Other second graders had topics like "How to make popcorn balls" and "Types of Dogs" so this was a little bit more in-depth! Jim and I were both able to attend his presentation, and Haley joined us from down the hall. To view his presentation, click here ! Haley's PPL is in a few weeks... her topic is Flowers .

Last Friday, Haley and the other kindergarteners performed at the school assembly. They were empathy super heroes. It was pretty cute! Haley had a speaking role as Narrator #4. We recorded the entire assembly because Jim was travelling for work and missed the show. He watched it with Haley over the weekend. I'm only publishing the clip with her speaking part. You're welcome. Haley just happened to be seated next to her friend and neighbor, Jozie, and they were so cute together on stage. We had a cookie reception afterward in Haley's class as well. Also at the assembly, the principal announced this trimester's Terrific Kids. This award is given to one student per class each trimester, so students only have three chances per year to earn the recognition. Haley was selected during winter trimester, and JT has been hoping to be selected all last year and this year as well. He finally worked up the courage to ask his teacher what he could do (differe...

We basically have three days off from baseball a week: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. On Wednesday, we get caught up on homework and housework. On Fridays, we get to have a little fun. Last week we went to a craft night at the kids' school. They made jewelry boxes for mother's day, which was really fun. We spent eight hours of last Saturday at baseball. It was a nice day and Jim even got a little sunburned! JT got his first hit - it was caught but he still felt really good hitting the ball. On Mother's Day, I woke up with JT's cold. And Jim left for New Mexico for a work trip. And by mid-afternoon, I just really wanted to go to bed. I did get a Mother's Day pedicure, and then I dropped the kids off to have dinner at my parents' house provided by my lovely sister-in-law, who swooped in with amazing Chinese food when our first plan to go to a restaurant fell through. And now we're back at baseball... tonight JT's team beat a te...

With warmer days final upon us, we enjoyed our weekend with baseball, time outside with friends, and planting our garden! I trimmed the faltering daffodils down and brought home 32 strawberry starts. We also grounded four tomato starts (three grape, one heirloom). We added some sunflowers in the very back row for good measure! Then Haley and I finished off with our garden box with seeds for blue pole beans, lettuce, and carrots. Then we marked them all with this pretty garden sticks. :) We hope the warmer weather continues! Walter Kelly from Q13 weather is predicting a warmer-than-average summer... we'll see.

Jim ran the Tacoma Half Marathon on Sunday, and I feel like it was the opening of race season. We are registered for two triathlons so far this summer and plan to complete three! We woke up early and dropped Jim off near the starting point, and then the kids and I went to Marcia's Silver Spoon Café in Tacoma. It was sooo good! Then we went to the finish line area, found parking, chilled in the car for a bit, and finally walked down to see Jim cross the finish line. Next up: Lake Wilderness sprint triathlon in June!