Allison's award day

 Allison with Ms. Byl.  She's been an amazingly great teacher for Allison this year.  Her scores jumped enormously. 

Allison was invited to be a part of a math challenge.  She got 3rd place!

End of school madness

It seems like there are always projects and tests that pile up at the end of school.

Jacob made a pinata in record time.

 

Ammon had Kindergarten graduation last Friday.  We videoed the songs but there were no major mishaps but lots of cuteness around.  

I love the I love you sign.  

 Does he look just a little proud?

 His Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Kristen Sorenson. 

Checking for papers before going home in his inbox.

Jacob and Isaac both had band concerts (Jacob's was 1.5 hours) and Allison has an awards assembly on Monday.  Busy, but fun times.

June Randomness

6/4

I cleaned out two kitchen cupboards today and filled two garbage bags of Tupperware for the sale.

Made about 14 pints of strawberry freezer jam and 4 pints of strawberry syrup, oh and strawberry lemonade.

Jogged with Justin 1 1/4 mile then jumped in the pool with our clothes on.  

Well, Justin jogged with his swimming suit on.  

Hahaha.

Had great friends (the Grays) over for dinner and played like kids on the trampoline.

6/5

Taco salad for dinner and it was yummy.  

Jacob came up the stairs whining that we were having it again. 

Boo hoo.

Becca, Helen, and Simon came over for awhile to visit.

Love those guys.

Gearing up for the Garage Sale this week.

Yes, it needs to be in capitals because it's going to be BIG.
6/7
I had Ammon wear flip flops to school today.  He said, "these are hard to criss cross apple sauce."
I love the smell of waffles in the house.
6/13
I cannot keep on this house when kids are home for the summer.
Got to eat out twice today for Erin's birthday.
Bought petunias and impatiens for the gardens.
Our pool is green.
Justin is still amazing me after 15 years of marriage at how awesome he is.
Sold almost $600 at the garage sale!
Use that money to buy tires for the car and new shocks.  Boo.
Found out today that I get to go to Education week at BYU this August!
6/14
Jacob is taking summer gym, which works out great for him.
Remembered the trash today!  Forgot last week so it's FULL!
Did a Rainbow wash yesterday so the car is clean in and out : )
Luckily Isaac's nose isn't broken after Jacob decided to kick him in a fit of rage.
Three plus mile walk in the rain tonight.
Then a smoothie and a large fry from McDonalds.
Used frequent flier miles to get ticket to fly to Utah for Ed Week.  Nice!
6/15
Went out to lunch at a Mexican eatery today.  It was okay.
Helped the boys distribute bark around the flower beds at the church.
Started getting a headache tonight.
6/16
Garage sales with Laura and Jen.
Started to clean out the garage and got sidetracked with a fire.
Those mosquitoes love us.
One of my favorite nights.
Hot dogs, smores, happy kids.  Ooooh plus pruners.
I love pruners!  They make me go crazy!
I smell like camp fire.  Ewww.
6/17
Minnesota makes the BEST thunder lightening storms.
Nature Valley Grand Prix road bike race tonight.
6/18
Got Ammon's five cavities filled today.  Thanks Nate!  Rock on!
Perkins is a surprisingly great restaurant.
Spent a bunch of money on myself today.  Not normal.
 I got two new outfits and love them.
Played family games tonight.
6/21
AmericInn Wausau
Drove by lots of scenic farms.
Menonites have accents.
Bought raspberry and blueberry yogurt covered pretzels at the Menonite store.
Jacob is staying at Dakota's while we're gone.
Ammon is learning how to use his breaks on his bike instead of his feet by doing skid marks in gravel.
Forgot underwear and my medicine.  Mostly worried about the underwear bit.
I'm itchy all over.
Allison cloncked her head on the slide, then I did later today.
Isaac scraped his upper lip on the bottom of the pool doing walking hand stands.
Justin and I wanted to buy him a mustache bandaid but none in Walgreens.

A few of Jacob

Went for a little walk with Jacob and made him pose.  

More Randomness by JoAnne

May 1

It's my brother, Kent's birthday. 

Strawberry crepes for dinner.

I'm finally able to breathe with my mouth closed!

Good family home evening with a roaring game of Nertz.

Read Pres Monsons talk about how we need to stay on the path and not stray.

Good personal scripture study tonight.  I love Mosiah.

May 2

Bruce's birthday.  Wow.  He must be getting old haha.

Had such a fantastic scripture study group today.  So much better when I study.

5/3

Ammon sneaking into a bag of Skittles.  I say to him, "do you think I look stupid?
Ammon, "no.  You kinda look fat though."
5/4
What to do, what to do.  A whole day in front of me with so many possibilities.
Walked about two miles tonight.
Found two cute Sunday outfits at the Salvation Army today.
Ammon found a tick on him so he gets a lollipop.
Made waffles for breakfast.
5/5
Isaac's room is done (except for the closet).  I feel like I needed a hazmat suit to go in there.
Oh boy.  Jacob is mad at me.  I threw out some of his precious trinkets.
5/8
Tried calamari tonight for the first time.  I needed to get this down for future generations.
I also ate the biggest grape of my life.
Justin saw a futon on the side of the road on his bike ride today.
At midnight, we drove over and picked it up; hoping to fix it for Isaac's room.
Justin found only one tick from the extravaganza so far.
I hate ticks.  Also noted for future generations.
5/9
Waffle and scrambled eggs for my Mothers Day breakfast.
Fun home made cards from the kids.
Rained so we couldn't do our annual walk in Eloise Bulter Garden, so ate din din at our house tonight with LaMon, Barbara, Kate, Dave, Rebecca, Helen, and Simon.  Taco salad.
The entire group went for a walk in the neighborhood.
Fatty fat fat.
Dental exam stats:  Isaac 0, Allison 1, Ammon 5.
5/10
So hot today, which was fine except for the sweat dripping from my nose and down my chest.
Trying to decided if we should put Allison in band.
Lawn got its first haircut today.
5/11
Orange Julius with strawberries.  Oh yeah.
Young Men vs. Old Men soccer match.
5/12
Unique dinner for us tonight:  hamburgers.
Played Plants vs. Zombies with Ammon
5/13
My neighbor has flamingos in their garden.
5/14
I would love to do a Skittles taste test.
Justin finished his 100 mile gravel bike race today with only mild hypothermia and numb extremities.
Minnesota Mormon Chorale concert tonight went well.
No friends or family to see concert = bummed out JoAnnie.
5/15
I love the look of concentration on Ammon's face when he does buttons.
I wish I could bottle it up.
Laid down for a few minutes and woke up two hours later.
A little annoyed at self.  Wanted to spend time outside.
5/18
Could this day any more beautiful?  I submit that it cannot!
A big day yesterday.  I bought bowling shoes for Justin and I.
Oh and a dresser for Isaac.
And I sprayed the grass.
And a full bed for Jacob.
Ammon says the cutest prayers.  So simple and heartfelt.
5/24
Headache three days and running (not a migraine).
Justin is out of town Monday through Wednesday.
Then Friday through Monday on the annual backpacking trip to the North Shore Superior trail.
Isaac had a band concert tonight.  He got to play the cymbals and a gong.
I can feel a shift in our life coming, but not sure what it will be.
Hope it's a good one.
5/31
Eight more days of school.
Got lots done yesterday: mowed lawn, pruned trees, put up pool.
Jacob found a tick in the washing machine.  Alive.

Easter pt 2

 Allison and Jacob decorating eggs.

 Isaac and Ammon

 Isaac.  They only got 5 eggs each this year.  Which reminds me.  We still have them in the fridge.  Egg salad sandwiches for dinner?

***

We have a Dittmer tradition, stemming from Justin's childhood.  

Each child gets a designated color and all children have the exact same number of plastic eggs.  We have never been able to do this outside, so this year was unusual that way.  It's typically in our living room.  Justin and I hide them according to age/difficulty.  It's fun to see them find other siblings eggs and not be able to tell them.  It usually takes about an hour to find all the eggs.

 Jacob and Ammon searching for eggs.

 No.  Isaac doesn't have a puke bowl. 

 I love the look I caught on Allison's face.  This is when she heard that Ammon had found the special egg.  It's got a funky design and is one that anyone can find but has no treat in it.  For some reason this is really really cool to them.

 Ammon's  stash.  You can see the stripey egg on the right.  This year, Allison was unable to find one pink egg.  I think the ants will get the candy this year.

 Lunch at Uncle Grandpa's.  We wandered down to the lake for a few minutes.  What a gorgeous day!

 There is also another fun tradition at Lamon and Barabara's.  Everyone picks a hard boiled egg and then you choose a neighbor to smack ends with.  If your egg cracks, you're out.  If not, you keep on smacking other people's eggs around the table. 

 Pretty dang good cake if I do say so myself.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I should go make another.

Ammon the Football Player.  He has squishy blocks in his shirt.

Easter 2011 - pt 1

Annual Shoreview Ward Egg Hunt

This year it was inside.  Not sure if it was the rain, or because the Blaine ward had eggs outside first, but inside it was.

 We went to the Rotary clubs annual egg hunt near our church.  We've gone in the past.  Not sure if we'll do it again.  It's a lovely community project, but a bit of a joke.

 There's a huge metal slide at the park.  It wasn't so great today; a little rainy and cold. 

This might give you an idea of why I think it's a joke.  There are hundreds of kids waiting for the count down on this soccer field riddled with eggs.  When it hits "1" all eggs have disappeared within about 30 seconds.  So much work for such short wahoo!  Ammon got four eggs.

One had a prize ticket in it.  He won a Transformers egg dye kit.   Can you say excitement?

I'm being cynical.  I have a scratchy throat and feel ick.

It was fun for Ammon regardless of how many eggs he got or his prize.