Last Week of 2nd Grade

The last week of 2nd grade was busy and fun for Spencer.  His class did an ABC countdown to the last day of school.  They did an activity corresponding to a letter of the alphabet every day for the last 26 days.  I took this picture on "silly sock" day.  You can't see the socks, but they are some of mine with little dogs on them.  Spencer wore them with pride!

Spencer's class had a "desk sale" during the last week.  It was like a garage sale where they brought items from home to sell and buy with "money" they had earned by completing work and having good behavior.  Spencer didn't want to part with any of his toys, so he made some bracelets with my old beads instead.  Spencer liked one of the bracelets so much that he decided to keep it for himself!  We made the star wands together last summer.

Spencer received an award for finishing in 4th place in Mileage Club this year!  He got a medal, a certificate, pencils, and socks (that are way too big!).  After a student passed out during mileage club in May, the school decided to cut the time the kids could run laps from 20 minutes to 10.  Spencer was pretty bummed about that, but still ran 15.5 miles during Tuesday and Thursday recesses for five weeks!

We attended a pot-luck dinner and awards ceremony for track club one evening.  Spencer earned a Bow & Arrow award for being such a hard worker and having a good attitude.   I told him I was super proud of him because those are both qualities that are way more important than being the fastest runner.  Alan came away with a nice cooler for his volunteer coaching this season.  It really worked out well for Alan to take Spencer to practice and then stay and help coach.

The last day of 2nd grade finally came on June 16th.  It was a little later than normal this year, but I don't mind.  June can still be quite cool up here.  I'd rather have summer break through all of August when it's warm and dry.

Spencer had a fabulous year with Mrs. Travnicek and says this was the best year yet!  In class, he received the "Best Buddy" award for being a good friend to everyone.  Even though much of the work is easy for him, Spencer still works hard and does his best.  We are so proud of him!

First day of 2nd Grade:

Last day of 2nd Grade:

My Birthday

My birthday fell on a busy Thursday this year.  We didn't get much time to celebrate and I felt rather deprived not being able to eat my normal favorite foods this year.  My boys still worked hard to make me feel good though and it turned out to be a nice day.

Spencer made me this awesome Lego sign!

Alan and Mason got me flowers and Marc sent me some!  Both were very sweet and unexpected.

Alan took the morning off Uberthons and we went bike shopping.  I've wanted a bike for a couple of years now and this year my parents pitched in so I was able to get a pretty nice one.  Thank you Mom and Dad!  Now, we just need to get a bike trailer so we can go on family bike rides!

I opted to get sandwiches from Jimmy Johns and eat them at home because that is a lot less stressful than eating out with Mason.  :)  I got my favorite veggie sandwich minus the cheese and mayo.  Not bad, but not as good either.

We had a Cub Scout carnival to attend in the evening so we ate a quick dinner and then left to help set up.  We were in charge of bringing the Plinko board that we inherited from a neighbor.  This was the final pack meeting before summer break and it was AWESOME (according to Spencer!).  It really was well-done and I think all of the kids had a great time.  I was especially happy that a fellow vegan mom in our ward brought cookies that I could actually eat!

That was the end of my actual birthday, but Debbie watched the boys for us on Saturday night so Alan and I could go out.  We ate at a vegan restaurant that I loved and Alan tolerated and then watched "Me Before You" in the theater.  We couldn't remember the last movie we saw in the theater before this one so it was a fun date!  Thanks Debbie!

Darwin and Debbie also got me a small food processor for my birthday.  Now, I can make hummus and all kinds of vegan stuff more easily!  Thanks!

Newport Half Marathon Beach Trip

Timing races nearly every Saturday prevents Alan from actually running as many as he would like.  He manages to find a couple to run each year however.  He registered for the Newport Half Marathon a couple of months ago and asked his parents if we could have the beach house the first weekend in June.  As it turned out, Portland hit 100 degrees that weekend and I think half of the city went to the coast.  We were so grateful to be over there where it was thirty degrees cooler!

Since we needed two cars for the race, the boys and I left around 3:30 pm so we could get to the house by dinner time.  I learned that Mason is not a good car traveler in the late afternoon.  ;)  Alan came as soon as he got done driving his bus.  We picked up Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner on the way and I tried pizza without cheese for the first time.  It still tasted good, but wasn't nearly as filling.  Something to get used to.

Alan had to leave pretty early for the race on Saturday morning.  The boys and I drove the 30 minutes to Newport right after breakfast.  We were running late and would have missed Alan's finish if he had gotten the time he wanted.  Even though the temperatures were in the 60's, it was humid and the sun was beating down.  Alan never runs well in the heat and this was no exception. 

We found a small patch of shade to wait and watch for Daddy.

Can you tell how Alan felt?!  I think his time was around 1 hour 56 minutes.  That's 26 minutes slower than his goal, but he finished!  He knew his heart rate was too high about half way through the race and decided to slow down to avoid heat stroke.  I'm so glad he's a smart runner!  Alan used to get pretty discouraged when he didn't meet his running goals.  He doesn't get too down on himself anymore though.  Instead he just reevaluates his goal and finds a different race to run.  I wish I could be that positive all of the time!

Alan really wanted a burger for lunch after showering so we found a highly recommended (thanks Debbie!) burger joint in Lincoln City.  I planned to just get a salad, but found that burgers and fries were the only things on the menu and had to pick up a few things from the grocery store for myself later.  I don't think eating vegan is going to be that hard, it's just learning how to do it and what my options are that's tricky right now.  Alan and Spencer loved their burgers though!

We didn't want to drive all the way to Neskowin to play at the beach so we tried one just north of Lincoln City first.  It was so windy that all of our hats blew off and was cold enough that I got goosebumps.  Spencer didn't mind and wanted to stay, but I won and we loaded back up in the car and drove to Neskowin.  Everyone admitted that I was right once we got there and it was warm and sunny with no wind.  :)

The little creek was perfect for Mason - way warmer and less scary than the ocean!  He loved playing with the mud, floating leaves and a little boat down stream, and throwing rocks.  Spencer had a grand time kicking a small soccer ball back and forth across the stream.

Alan took a well-deserved rest on our blanket.  It was a pretty perfect afternoon.

We don't usually get to stay at the beach for two nights, but since our house was so hot and our Church doesn't start until 2 pm (boo!), we decided to stay Saturday night as well.  It was so nice to just relax and play together.

Mason is much better on the stairs now than he was when we were there in February.  He had fun climbing up and down. 

Spencer watched American Ninja Warrior and tried to find all of the dominoes.  I think we found one more after I took this picture, but we never found all of them. 

We were super lucky and didn't even have to do a thorough cleaning before we left because Darwin and Debbie were coming to stay later that day.  They are so great and generous to let us stay there!  Thank you!

June and Migraines

I couldn't resist taking these pictures of Mason running around the backyard in his pjs right after breakfast yesterday.  When it's nice enough to be comfortable outside that time of morning, it's a sure sign that summer is almost here and that makes me so happy!  I love that I can stay in my pjs and garden all morning if I want too instead of going to work.  Thank you for making that possible Alan!

In other not happy news however, my migraines have been getting worse and worse.  I take two medications for them: a preventative that I take every night and another one that can kill a migraine when it starts.  The preventative isn't too bad.  I have to take it right before bed because it makes me super sleepy and it tends to get stuck in my throat so I have to eat something with it to help push it down.  It also gives me a very dry mouth which is annoying, but not as bad as a migraine.  This medication worked great for a couple of months, but then my migraines found a way around it and it doesn't seem to be doing much anymore.  The other medication works great when I get a migraine, but my insurance will only pay for 9 pills a month and I'm needing more than that.  I ran out on Sunday and didn't realize that my pharmacy would be closed for Memorial Day until it was too late to refill it.  I wound up with a terrible migraine on Monday that kept me awake for most of the night and left me sick to my stomach for the next two days. 

I know that strong scents, chocolate, and too much sun are triggers for me, but the majority of my migraines are hormonal.  They are really bad when my estrogen takes a dive at the end of my cycle every month.  When I asked about balancing hormones, a vegan friend told me about how much diet affects hormones and gave me some reading recommendations.  Through my research, I have decided to try a vegan diet for a couple of months to see if taking the animal fat out of diet can help balance my estrogen and eliminate high highs and low lows.  Avoiding meat won't be too hard since I already don't eat much of it, but taking out dairy and eggs will be more difficult.  I have to learn a new way of cooking, new ingredients, and a lot of new recipes.  It is overwhelming right now, but will be so worth it if it helps my migraines. 

Even if it doesn't help them, I still want to start moving my family to a more plant-based diet.  The scientific evidence of the health benefits of this kind of diet I've read so far has been pretty convincing.  I have a lot more to learn and it's going to be a process, but I'm optimistic at having a chance of having some control over the pounding and debilitating headaches I get so frequently.

Alan's birthday

Alan's birthday was a little unusual this year because it was on a Friday and the night of the Father's and Son's Outing.  We went out to lunch since we wouldn't get to celebrate in the evening.  Alan chose to go to Red Robin and got his favorite Bonzai Burger.  He got a free sundae too.  

Mason is less than fun to take to restaurants.  He hardly touched his food, but liked to play with the electronic "waiter."

Spencer was excited for Alan to open presents as soon as Alan got home from work that afternoon.  We got him new running shoes, a BYU hat, a BYU tie, and one other tie.

This is what happens almost every time I get my camera out these days:

Alan and Spencer packed up and left for Father's and Son's right after presents.  The camp out was at our Bishop's property here in town.  Our Bishop probably has around 10 acres and a lot of it is forest, so it's a nice, close place for a camp out like this.  There is a two-story tree house that all of the kids love. 

Alan and Spencer were the first ones there so they got their choice of camp sites and got the bon fire going.  They had polish dogs, sun chips, carrots, and grapes for dinner and s'mores for dessert.  Spencer had a great time eating junk food and running around with his friends.  I'm not sure it would have been Alan's first pick of birthday activities, but he is always happy to do things like that with Spencer.  Maybe they'll take Mason next year! ;)

We celebrated Alan again with his parents on Sunday.  Debbie made Alan's favorite lasagna and German's chocolate cake.  They gave him a gift card to Sweet Tomatoes and an indoor basketball.  (I didn't know there were basketballs specifically made for indoor or outdoor use!)

The birthday cake was for Darwin too since we had missed his birthday dinner a few weeks earlier.

 

I'm so blessed to have such a supportive and helpful husband.  I so admire his dedication and hard work to make his dream of supporting our family with his own business come true, his ability to be a kid when playing with kids, his confidence that he can still set new running PR's, his ability to remain calm and level-headed when putting on events for hundreds of people, and his unwavering faith in Heavenly Father's plan for our family.  I love you honey!

Rainy Track Meet

Spencer only participated in two track meets this season: the one in Sherwood and one in Tigard.  The Tigard meet was on a cool, rainy day and we were very grateful that Alan didn't have a race to time and could come set up a big canopy tent for us!  Spencer did the long jump, 4x100 relay, 1500 meter, 100 meter, and turbo javelin.  He got PR's in the long jump, turbo jav, and 1500!  The timing and organization of this meet left something to be desired, but Spencer still had a good time.  Having Alan there was a huge help because it allowed me to take Mason hope when he got too wet and tired.

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch!

Hot Spring Weather

We had some oddly hot weather in spring this year.  I got the wading pool out for Mason one day.  He didn't love it as much as I thought he would, but it provided a few minutes of entertainment.  

Spencer couldn't resist squeezing in too!  You can see how thrilled he was at Mason splashing and taking all of the toys by his expression though!

Here are a few more pictures of outside fun in May: