May 2022

Sun. 1st--Happy 14th Birthday, Calvin!! There were some days I didn't think you'd live this long! Haha! Look at that sweet, precious, beautiful two day old baby. I could eat him up! Such a cute little boy...who has grown into handsome young man.

You can just see his mischievous mind working and JJ's hesitation...

*We had the elders (Hagman and Smith--as in Joseph Hyrum Smith :) over for dinner. Karcyn was with her Aunt Chris in Lubbock for a YCL Girls Camp meeting. We were planning to open gifts later that night at 7pm when Karcyn and Chris got back. We had seen that some severe weather was predicted for around 6pm. The elders were still with us so we asked them if they'd help us move the stuff in our garage so we could get both the suburban and the Outlander under cover in case there was hail. We moved quickly and got the cars in, thankfully. The kid car (Mazda) stayed in the driveway.

The elders left and about 20 minutes later, the hail started! We've never been in a Snyder hailstorm, but every time it's bad, it's always in the month of May. My crazy sons, Cooper and Calvin, decided to see who could last the longest outside while getting pounded. I'm sure our (new) neighbors must think we are crazy. (If the picture didn't give it away, Cooper won that battle.)

That was just one of the pieces that came down in the beginning. I know in May of 2021, that the hail damaged practically every roof and car in town when the pieces came down the size of baseballs! So this was nowhere near the same size, but it was loud and it kept getting louder. Our boys eventually came back inside. I worried about our car in our garage. Hard to tell if it was getting damaged. 

Poor Christina was driving home from Lubbock in this mess. They waited on the street in front of our house for a little bit, but wasn't sure how long the storm would last and thought it might be safer in our house, so they pulled into the driveway and we put the garage door up. Just running the few feet from the car to the garage got them soaked and pounded by the hail. Unfortunately, Chris's Expedition got hail damage. 

As it continued to rain, I watched as the water level in front of our house continued to rise. It was getting dangerously close to overtaking the cement step that leads straight to our front door. Miraculously, it stayed in the yard...as debris floated everywhere in our rocky "lawn."

The windows to our sunroom obviously aren't sealed very well. Figures. The cousins were all going to come over to our house for gifts and treats for Calvin. But because of the storm, every one hunkered down so we decided to wait until Monday. 

We went ahead and celebrated Calvin with just our family because it was still his birthday. We got him and IOU so he could design his own bowling jersey. We also got him his favorite Brazilian soda and I forget what else. :) But he was happy.

Mon. 2nd--While I was sitting in the car during Karcyn and Calvin's piano lessons, Jared called me. He said that he had gone home and was astonished to discover that while we no longer have any back hoes in our backyard, our fence had been demolished. Someone took it apart and just left! In the brief few minutes I was home before picking up kids from school, I saw someone in the backyard, but I figured it was just Joe. I didn't even think to go outside and look or double check to see who it actually was. And I'm kicking myself. 

I called the non-emergency dispatch to find out what could be done about whoever did this to our property. Basically nothing. The people came to retrieve their backhoe and I guess it's perfectly fine for them to trespass and break our fence in the process. If we had let Rolo out, not knowing the fence was down...oh man...that could have been bad. Bottom line, our contractor was responsible. Jared had already notified Joe and he couldn't believe it either. Poor guy lives in Abilene but said he'd be out the next day to work on the fence for us. I expected that the company who retrieved the machine was from Abilene as well. But they weren't. They are right here in Snyder! I was floored. I thought Snyder took better care of each other than that. I felt like giving them a piece of my mind or a poor rating online. But I didn't. 

*All the cousins made it over for Calvin's birthday celebrating, Take 2. James gave him the Complete Calvin and Hobbes Treasury. Very generous. He got some gift cards and we all enjoyed brownies and ice cream. 

Tues. 3rd--Happy Teacher Appreciation Week at Ira School. This was the first of many sweet little treats and gifts we got. I love this: Less Teaching, More Beaching. Yes, please!

*JJ at archery practice, talking with his buddy, Rykin McCown, who is one of my juniors. 

*The National Weather Service in Midland, TX determined that there was an EF-2 tornado (winds 115 mph) that touched down in Hermleigh, TX just 10 miles away on Sunday night. 

Wed. 4th--Look at one of my students at Ira left on my car door. Such a gross sticky mess.

*May the Fourth be with You. While the older siblings played ultimate frisbee in the park for youth activities, I took JJ and Korbin to the skate park for them to play for a bit. 

Fri. 6th--Juniors in my personal finances class playing Monopoly. They had about 90 minutes to play. 

*As part of the final day of Teacher Appreciation Week, all the teachers got awards with their gifts. I couldn't be more proud! #nailedit #grammarmatters #mystudentsdonotappreciatethis #notyetanyway 

*Jared was asked to work the 6th, 7th, and 8th of May. That just happened to be our 25th wedding anniversary on the 7th and Mother's Day on the 8th. Oh well. You can't pick the extra shifts...just take them when you can get them. 

Karole treated us to Sushi House for our anniversary dinner. Happy 25 years to us! Here's to at least another 25 more!

Sun. 8th--We have several single sisters who live across the street from us and next door. I wanted to remember them on Mother's Day so I bought a few small mini orchids to give to them on Sunday. I also invited them to join us for dinner. (Yes, I made my own Mother's Day dinner and dessert). Our sweet friend, Dixie, had just come home from the hospital so she couldn't come. Janie had other plans. But Jen Calley said she would love to. She invited me in and we chatted for a few. I told her I was feeding our missionaries too because they didn't have any place to go for dinner. And she still came! It was so fun to have her there. She's very knowledgeable about the scriptures--her faith is similar to mine. I'm so grateful to have a new friend close by. 

Mon. 9th--Cooper and Calvin were having a brotherly chat about Calvin's new soda he got for his birthday. 

And then the conversation turned to an arm wrestling match...naturally!

Fri. 13th--JJ had a field day at Ira--it was with the entire school. It was fun that everyone rotated through the same activities and that as I was out there with my secondary class but got to watch JJ while he was having fun, too. It was a bit on the cool side though, the water games were colder than we hoped. But that didn't stop JJ from going all in. :)

How neat that the school hired a frozen yogurt truck for the afternoon festivities. It was around this time that I was toying around the idea of applying for the, not one, but *two* elementary teaching positions opening up at the end of the year. Not only that, but as I gathered around the other teachers to enjoy the day in a relaxed setting, the elementary teachers were encouraging me to apply because they wanted me on their team. I wasn't sure about it. I wasn't sure I was ready to work full-time as a teacher. The two openings were 2nd grade and 4th grade. I didn't want to teach 4th because it has tested subjects (math and reading). 

Sun. 15th--A blast from the past. Joe Dickson and Jared from before we got married. 

*A lunar blood moon. I was surprised to get this picture. 

Wed. 18th--Out of JJ's entire K-12 school, he was one of eight students who got perfect attendance! Yay JJ! It was a harder first year than we expected for JJ, so we're super proud of him for pushing through and going to school every day even when it was hard. 

Thurs. 19th--Karcyn was recognized at her FFA banquet. 

Sat. 21st--Jared and I drove Cooper and Calvin to Albuquerque, NM for a Junior Bowlers Tour for the weekend. 

The boys didn't advance but that's okay! We had a consolation dinner at Olive Garden. And we stayed at the one of the dumpiest motels ever. It was old and creaky. It smelled like smoke, the A/C didn't work. They actually sent someone to fix it but they couldn't so we bailed and booked a night at another hotel. It was like a night and day difference. 

Mon. 23rd--Jared, JJ, and I walked down to the baseball field to watch Korbin play in one of his games. JJ had wanted to try out. He said he wanted to play baseball, but based on his feelings during his last season in CS, I didn't believe him...I'm fairly certain he just wanted to do it because Korbin was. He couldn't have played anyway as most of the games are on Saturdays and we're already obligated to bowling leagues.

Tues. 24th--Cute little Rolo.

*Later that night, Calvin at the 8th grade end of year ceremony. He was honored for receiving, not one, but two high school credits. One of those credits was for high school honors algebra and he was the ONLY student at Snyder Junior High to receive it. When we lived in CS, Calvin took 8th grade advance math as a 7th grader. He failed the class because he refused to do the work. Yet he *mastered* the 8th grade state test. When we moved to Snyder and picked up his schedule for his 8th grade year, we saw he was in 8th grade math. Since he had already shown he mastered this material on the state test, I asked the principal if they had honors classes. They do not. Their student scores were so low, they had to do away with honors classes and provide just on-level courses for the time being. So I told Calvin that he'll need to be in this class again, but maybe this time he could actually DO the assignments. And maybe he could be a peer tutor. There was nothing more we could do. About a week later, Mr. Rush, the SJH principal called. He said he looked over Calvin's file and believed that he needed to be in Algebra. So he arranged it with the high school that he attend an honors algebra class with the freshman around the time he'd be in math at the junior high during their block schedule on M,W, F. Calvin would need to be transported to and from the high school and Mr. Rush said he or another administrator would do that. I couldn't believe it. Mr. Rush doesn't know us or Calvin and he was ministering to this one student in a remarkable way. And because of it, Calvin not only passed the state algebra test, he *mastered* it. That is exactly where Calvin needed to be and I'm so grateful that Mr. Rush not only realized it but did something about it. That is a true educator. 

Wed. 25th--JJ attempting to sell his "gems" again. He got called some names by some mean people driving by, but he also made about $15. 

*Jake and Trina arrived for a quick overnight visit! They were just passing through on their way to Houston for a wedding photo session. They brought some hot sauce for Cooper, courtesy of Grandma Lee. ;) 

Eating some late night soup. I was testing out some recipes for girls camp meals on them. Haha! Love my guinea pigs.

*The boys decided they wanted to watch the horror film, "The Grudge." Jake and I have seen it already. Cooper hadn't seen it all the way through and said he'd wait to watch it with Jake. Calvin said he wanted to join in so I said, fine. And then I hung out with them to watch them react to the jump scares. It was pretty funny. They scream like girls!

Apparently it freaked Calvin out. ;) 

He wouldn't go to sleep without Rolo--his pomeranian protection. 

Hugs from big brother. 

Poor Karcyn trying to sleep. She got booted out of her bed because her room doubles as our guest room as needed. She's a good sport, but I know her sleep struggles are really getting bad. Thankfully, school is all but over.

Calvin was super freaked out. What you watch is no joke. Your mind is like a computer and can totally store and then recall images at a moment's notice. My kids have crazy, wild imaginations that will run away with them, too, if they let them. His brothers gave him a priesthood blessing to help bring him comfort and peace. No more scary movies for this guy.

Thurs. 26th--Jake and Trina headed out for Houston and JJ had his last day of basketball camp at Ira from 9-11. The coach is his friend's dad and the PE teacher at school, so I thought this might be a good way to see if JJ might be interested in basketball. He didn't hate it. Maybe he'll try it again next summer. 

We're both wearing BYU...didn't even plan it!

I think someone is a little EXCITED about being done with junior high! Haha! 

Fri. 27th--Garrett graduated!

Sat. 28th--Calvin getting more priceless training and coaching from Bill Wood--owner of Whitewood Lanes and a Bronze or Silver level bowling coach. I sure love that guy! He's soooo devoted to the youth! His wife, Monica, is too. 

*I had been praying about applying for the 2nd grade teaching position and talking with Jared about it at length. I felt like I should apply. But with my food assignment at Girls Camp at the end of July, I wasn't sure how this would go. I just knew that the Lord would help me if this was what I needed to do. And we had the elders over to eat OFTEN because I was trying out new recipes and old recipes to see if the masses liked them and to measure out portions. The missionaries were very happy to oblige....every time. :)