AP Calculus Test
Today Sarah took her AP Calculus Test! She felt VERY good about it and hopes to get a strong 4 if not a 5. We’ll keep our fingers crossed! She should get some good college credit out of this one!
20 Years!!!
Today marks the BIG 20 year mark for Angela and me! Wow! How time has flown. It seems like yesterday that we got married, and now it’s been 20 years, 5 kids later, and a few gray hairs. OK, more than a few gray hairs… 
We are planning a 20th anniversary get-away when we go out as a family to Utah this summer. That said, tonight, we took the kids to Chick-Fil-A and then went to Kirstyn’s middle school band concert!
We saw a few people at Chick-Fil-A that we knew and when we told them why we were there, they thought we were nuts! The kids loved it and Zach got his picture taken with the cow…
After filling up, we went over to Kirstyn’s band concert. She did a GREAT job! I liked that as an anniversary activity! Dinner and a fine concert!
Kirstyn is coming along in band. She practices probably better than her sisters and loves playing music. Keep up the great work Kirstyn!
AP Psychology Test
Today Sarah took her AP Psychology Test! Let’s hope all the studying paid-off! She didn’t think it was too hard, but has no idea on how she may have done. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed!
Teacher Appreciation Night
Tonight, we had our 7th (I think) annual Teacher Appreciation night! Brittany and Zach had school teachers there, and Brittany and Sarah had one of their Seminary teachers there. It was a crazy time and we wish that more teachers could have come, but we had a great time! We had dinner for them, and then after that, the kids each presented their teacher(s) with a poem or other sort of work to honor them.
We then had cake (above), chatted for awhile longer, and sent them on their way with a hanging flower basket as a gift. We LOVE doing this and look forward to each year when the time comes. It’s actually kind-of funny because we have had so many teachers over throughout the years, that there are some who ask us when it’s coming up and “hint” at how much they loved the evening and appreciated the gesture from our family!
Thank you to all who came and to all those teachers who influence our children’s lives for good! You deserve WAY more kudos than you get!
Jim and Heather Visit
Over the past few days (26th through today), Angela’s Brother Jim, his wife Heather, and their 3 kids came to visit us. They were out in Wisconsin for the funeral of Heather’s Grandmother and decided to extend their vacation and come down and see us. We had a great time! The boys were really excited to see their two boys and play with them for a few days. You can tell how excited they were from the picture below!
Unfortunately, I had to work during the days, but the kids were able to spend a bunch of time together… They went to the zoo and the DuPage Children’s Museum. Last night we also went to Baskin Robins for 31 cent scoop night. We had a great time catching up on things and having some great talks. It was great to see them again!
Sarah ACT (Round 2)
Today, Sarah took the ACT for the second time. She has been studying very hard and taking all kinds of practice tests. She really wants to get at least a 30. She said that this one was a little bit easier than the last one. Hmmm… I wonder if it has anything to do with the increased amount of studying! She’ll get her results back in a couple of weeks and we’ll see! She is also planning on taking the test in October (Youth Conference was scheduled over the June date so she can’t take it again then) and hopefully even increase over what she gets from today’s efforts!
Good luck Sarah!
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter everyone! Today we had a great Easter Sunday! Church meetings were wonderful and then after that, we went over to some friends’ house and had a wonderful dinner. Most of my early morning meetings were cancelled so I didn’t have to get up as early and didn’t have any after meeting appointments! Yea!
Easter Egg Hunt & Kane County Cougars
Today was a pretty busy day! The boys had an Easter egg hunt with some friends (Kirstyn helped out as well). They got loaded up on candy and had fun playing at the park as well.
After Zach got back from the egg hunt, he and I went to the Kane County Cougars baseball game together. He completed another year of the Ozzie Reading Club and got a free ticket to go, along with a free hot dog and drink, and an Ozzie’s Reading Club t-shirt. We go there early and participated in the Ozzie parade. We got to go down on the field and parade around the perimeter, after which the players came out and signed autographs for all the kids. Zach got to have Ozzie sign his shirt and get a picture with him…
We had a great time eating food (Zach’s favorite part was the big bag of Red Vines that we bought). We were full by the time we left! We ate our hot dogs, drank our drinks, and watched a great game! A bunch of Zach’s friends were there, and we saw many others that we know from school. Fortunately, we were not along the right field line where most of the foul balls are hit. That makes me nervous whenever I go to a game with the kids. Instead, we were right behind home plate and had great seats!
Our Little Scientist
Tonight was the Gombert Elementary School Science Fair. Zach had been wanting to do the Science Fair for some time now, so we worked with him on a project that he thought was really cool! The title of his project was “Solid or Liquid? A Study in Non-Newtonian Suspension.” Pretty fancy, huh? He made Oobleck (like in the Dr. Seuss book) and had a blast!
Here’s the recipe:
- 1 1/2 C. Corn Starch
- 1 C. Water
- Food Color (optional)
Mix the ingredients and play with the mixture. When”pushed” together, the mixture will appear dry and solid; as it is let go, it flows like a smooth liquid.
He had a blast slowly sticking his fingers in it and making it feel liquid, then pounding it with his fist and making it feel solid, etc.
We took a bunch of pictures and then printed them and the titles and text he wanted to print and then he cut everything out and pasted it on his backboard. He got a lab coat from the costume box and used my safety goggles and he was ready to go! It was so cute to watch him explain Oobleck and non-newtonian fluids to the judges. He got pretty messy (and so did anyone that came by) from playing in the oobleck in its “soft” form.
He had a wonderful time. He is really into science right now and loves to do experiments. This was no exception. He received a ribbon and certificate for his efforts which he was very proud of…
Great job Zach! Keep up the great work and one day you may become a great scientist!
Coloring Contest and Ward Party
When we were shopping a month or so ago at Jewel, Zach picked up a sheet to color for their annual coloring contest. He entered and we found out that he WON for his age group! What a kick in the pants we thought that was! Zach is not known for his patience with coloring, but he really put his heart into this! As a prize, he won a prize package of a choice of frozen foods, candy and a bunch of other things! We thought that was pretty funny, but oh well, it’s a grocery store, right? He went with Angela and picked out some things, some of which were “grown-up” foods that we need and some for himself.
Tonight, we had a western Ho-Down party at the church for all the adults and had a good time. Everybody came dressed up in their fun western-wear. The planners were a little worried that they wouldn’t have enough food, but boy were they wrong! We had way too much food and there was so much “western-type” food to choose from, you couldn’t eat everything. We had all kinds of chili recipes, cornbread, rolls, and all kinds of awesome desserts! There was a karaoke machine there to sing country songs, and they even did some line dancing.
It was fun to get together and have some adult conversation and fun. We haven’t had as many ward activities as we would like to, and most of them are for the whole family. It’s nice to get together with just the adults occasionally.
Yeehaw!
District Technology Strategy Meeting
This morning, I took Mike and Pat to the Naperville train station and dropped them off. They took the Amtrak train downtown and then to Quincy, IL, where they rented another car and drove to Nauvoo. They’ll stay there for a couple of days and then drive to St. Louis and fly home. What a great time we had with them. They were great with our kids and Ben absolutely loved Mike! He took to him from minute 1. We sure appreciate their visit!
Tonight I went to the final major meeting of the District 204 Technology Strategy Committee, where all the sub-groups presented their findings and we discussed ways to merge all these ideas into a cohesive strategy for technology in the district. I have had a very enjoyable time participating in this and they asked me if I would continue to be available to discuss ideas with, which of course, I am! As part of my performance metrics for this year at work, I wanted to give back to the community, and this has been a wonderful way to do so.
Uncle Mike and Aunt Patricia Come!
A couple of months ago, we got a call out of the blue from my Uncle Mike and Aunt Pat. They were taking a trip out to our area (to see Chicago and then Nauvoo) and wanted to know if they could stay with us for a couple of days! We were excited for visitors and we were looking forward to this. I hadn’t seen them for probably 12 years or so! 
They came on Saturday afternoon the 9th, and we spent that evening talking and having them get to know the kids. Sarah remembered them a little but that was it. Brittany would have been too young the last time we visited with them.
They came to church with us on Sunday and they felt very at home. Aunt Pat even got a cookbook from the Relief Society! After church and lunch, we left the kids to relax and took Mike and Pat up to the temple to see it. It was a wonderful day and the weather was absolutely beautiful!
After visiting the temple grounds, we drove them into downtown Chicago and showed them all the major sites down there. They probably took a couple hundred pictures during our driving tour! We then moved south and showed them the museum campuses. They wanted to go to the Science and Industry Museum on Monday and so we showed them how to get there and how to get back home. We had a great time chatting with them the whole time and got home just in time for a great dinner and an evening of chatting and re-acquainting!
Tonight (Monday) for Family Home Evening, Mike and Pat took our family out to dinner at Lou Malnati’s Pizzaria. We wanted them to enjoy authentic Chicago pizza before going on their way down to Nauvoo. We had a great time and ordered way too much! We’ll have a lot of leftovers!
