Oops

Phoebe threw hew hat into the ring to serve on student government. This included making a video to show her classmates about why they should vote for her. We did so many takes that she had plenty of material to make a blooper reel, which is what she did. With her permission, here it is:

Five Below

Cooper ran a sub-five-minute mile! At his track meet last week, he ran the mile in 4:54. He's been working toward this goal all season. We're all so proud that he achieved it!

We came to cheer him on. I even caught Phoebe in this picture, even though she was sitting with friends at the top of the bleachers.

After his race, we all got to walk onto the field with him when they honored the seniors on the track team.

Congratulations on reaching your goal, Cooper!

You Shall Not Pass

I'm not sure what we've done to upset our trash collector, but they've started leaving our can right in the middle of our driveway. For reference, we leave our can on the far left-hand edge of our driveway in the morning. After the trash is collected, our driveway ends up blocked by the can right in the middle. There's a solid chance we haven't upset the trash collector and this is just a fluke. But it does keep happening...

Mr. Robot

Me: Topher, would you please break down the boxes and put them in the recycling bin?

Topher:

Five

On Saturday Cooper ran the 1600M at an invitational at a university about 40 minutes away from our house. Bryan was there to cheer him on and has the sunburn to prove it. Cooper beat his personal best and ran it in 5 minutes! I think that's amazing!

His next goal is to run a sub-five minute mile.

Here he is warming up.

And here he is crossing the finish line. This is a screen capture from the video Bryan took.

Well done, Cooper!

Hours of Curls

Bonus Grease post: I had to document the curls we were able to achieve. There is so much hairspray holding them together, but they lasted all the way through many dance numbers! These pictures are from two different show days. We learned that a regular curling iron didn't work for her hair, but curling with a flat iron did the trick.

Grease is the Word

The last four months of work culminated in performance weekend for Phoebe. She did a wonderful job in Grease! She was one of five members of the cheerleading ensemble. She also danced in several group numbers, usually highlighted in the front. And she had some funny bits as a background performer. 

She had lots of fun, but she's glad she can sleep on a regular basis again.

Due to the PG-13 nature of the show, Topher and Peter didn't attend. I took Cooper and Sophie on Thursday, opening night. Then Bryan and I saw it on Saturday night.

Great job, Phoebe!

Plant the Seed

We're all running on fumes at our house. We've had too many rehearsals/meets/performances/school assignments and not enough time for chores/rest/calm. It's showing up in how we talk to each other. Too much grumpiness and contention, not enough kindness.

 This is one of the things I was pondering on Sunday before church. I was praying about what we need to do differently. Specifically, I was praying about what I could do differently as the mom.

As the first members of our ward stood to give their testimonies in sacrament meeting, Topher leaned over and told me that he had a new testimony to share. I grabbed a tiny notebook out of my purse and started writing down everything he dictated into my ear. As soon as he finished whispering to me, Cooper stood up to share a lovely testimony about sustaining President Oaks as the new president of our church. Then Topher shared his testimony that we'd written down. I was so moved by what they both said that I decided I would speak too. Sophie and I stood at the same moment. I motioned for her to go first. She and I both spoke about General Conference. The first thing I said when I got to the microphone was, "I promise I didn't know we were all going to speak today."

We still need to make changes at home, we still need to be kinder, we still need less contention. But hearing my kids bear their testimonies on Sunday was a tender mercy. They're growing their faith, and they're not afraid to share it. We may not be doing everything perfectly, but what we are doing seems to be producing positive fruit.

I needed that reminder.

This is the testimony that Topher had me write down, I didn't correct anything:

A few days ago, my prayers have changed a lot. And I know how they changed. It is by the power of Jesus Christ and my family. It started at my brother's birthday. I was thinking if I could be kinder. And then I thought that my prayers could change. And then, a few later, after Easter, I said the longest prayer that I've ever said. It was about Easter, General Conference, and the Holy Ghost. Since I've been praying more I've been kinder. I bear my testimony that I know that Jesus's love is eternal and that whenever we pray the Holy Ghost always answers. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What a Lovely Bow

Sophie did a beautiful job at her violin recital on Saturday. She played I See the Light from Tangled as a solo and Amazing Grace in a trio with her friend and their teacher. I'm so thankful for good music teachers!

You Missed a Spot

I spent a major chunk of my day mowing the lawn. It's the first cut of the year and it's overdue, so it was a slow process. I thought ahead and made sure I put sunscreen on my arms, neck, and face. I ran out of time before I could finish and had to hurry inside and shower so I could pick up Topher from the bus on time.

I knew I was tired from all that manual labor. But I felt extra tired. It wasn't until Sophie pointed something out that I realized why. I had put sunscreen on my arms and neck and face, but not on my legs. It was nearly 90 degrees today and I wore shorts. Sophie asked if the back of my legs hurt. I looked behind me and saw that the backs of my knees are very sunburnt.

'Tis the season.