Late, but not forgotten

Partly due to my laziness and partly due to some uncontrollable circumstances, we had not celebrated Cole's birthday. So, we did last week. He was hoping for a hobbit cake because of his love for Lord of the Rings. Here it is.

Our first last tooth

Avery's new do

I had been asking if Avery wanted shorter hair, and one evening last week she gave in. It is so much easier to style.

First, Third, Sixth begin

The kids began school this week. Here are a few pics. They have already enjoyed the school routine again... so have I. Quentin- first. Cole- third. Avery- sixth (WOW).

It's easy to see that I haven't posted anything on this thing lately. Honestly, I forget about it, and am not sure who even sees it, so really I don't bother. But life continues on, whether I add pics on this blog or not. So, here's the updates. I'll try to post some new pictures as the kids get ready for school, at least so Grammy Honey can see how they've grown. =) School continues, then ended for the summer. All 3 had wonderful years and teachers. Our garden is flourishing, despite the lack of Bs we had (see previous sentence). Avery earned As all four quarters this past year, as well as Cole and Quentin earning the highest they could in their classes. Summer crept up slowly, and left almost in a blink. Kids are gearing up and I am ready to send them. Avery will be in 6th, Cole in 3rd, and Q in 1st. During the summer, we relaxed and spent quite a lot of time at home. We participated in VBS, played in the slip n slide, played with friends and just hung out together. Bryan had a few out of town conferences. We went backpacking for a night with some friends in mid July. We hiked in 4 miles to a lake only accessible by hiking. Cole and Q caught their first few fish. It was glorious. We also travelled to Pismo for the day. Our big fun news involves Bryan's new job to Caruthers High. It's a smaller school and about the same distance. He starts teaching tomorrow. He is excited and nervous about this new adventure. It is wonderful to see the way God can use little things in our lives to encourage us. Bryan was called by a teacher in Caruthers (someone he knew from his conferences) who asked if he's be interested in applying. The job hadn't even been posted yet, but it was known that one teacher was leaving- he got the job Bryan had been applying for earlier in the summer. Bryan got off the phone with him and told me about the call. I had just that week been praying that God would encourage him in some way after not getting the first job he'd interviewed for. When I told Bryan what I'd been praying, he said maybe he needed to apply. He did, got an interview with the principal, then was recommended to meet with the superintendent. When he went the next morning to that interview, they already had a contract and offered him a job. He waited until it was all official then resigned at Central. One other small blessing... his classroom was bring remodeled this summer, so we'd already taken all the stuff off his walls and brought a lot of it home. That's what's been going on in the lives of the Sheldon5 family. I'll try to post new pics soon.

Avery's Baptism

In October Avery chose to be baptized at Church. She wrote a short testimony and was dunked by Pastor Ken. Funny side story. Pastor Ken took off his wedding ring before the service. Avery saw it next to the tub and dropped it in. Ken looked down and noticed a ring next to the drain. Avery said she knew and it was his. Needless to say she went fishing between services. We are so proud of her decision to follow Jesus and trust God with her life.

Karate

When I get busy, my blog takes a back seat to everything else. Here are a few things going on in our little Sheldon World. We began Kenpo Karate in June. By now we have all earned our yellow belts (with various stripe levels). Our family continues to enjoy this activity together and practices a few times a week.

Cole's party

It occurred to me as I was posting Q's party that I had missed Cole's. So here it is. He had a camping party. No one spent the night (Bryan had summer school the next am), but we hung out for the evening. Bryan built a small fire pit in our yard and we roasted hot dogs and smores. We made marshmallow shooters out of pvc pipes and had contests to shoot them into cut outs of mouths. Our feet were sticky from the mallows, but it was well worth it, COle had a blast.

Q turns 5

Quentin had decided he wanted his first friend part to be all about firetrucks. We colored t-shirts. Q chose pizza and melon to eat. Bryan had also planned a tour with our local fire station. We talked with the guys on duty and sat in the engine. The kids loved it. When we came home we ate cake. A funny side story: I had worked on the cake for hours the previous 2 days without the kids noticing. All three came in just as Bryan was sticking on the hose and drawing the ladder (that was all he did). They were amazed and couldn't stop telling Bry how much they loved it. Great work Daddy.

Camping

We had the chance to go camping at Shaver the first weekend of vacation. The evenings were chilly, but the kids were all great. We kayaked with Erin (my cousin) and her family and had a great time. Came back a little sun burned and a lot dirty, but cleaned up quickly.

Flute

The end of school marked the completion of Avery's first year of flute. SHe has loved it... and has practiced almost entirely without complaining. She is making wonderful progress.

Kinder Check-up

Our caped Q had his kinder physical a bit ago. He was so brave and didn't even flinch during his shots. We celebrated with Cold Stone after.

Easter

We spent Easter at my parents' house (Cory's). My grands were there. We ate outside and relaxed before an egg hunt. The kids found eggs in tractor tires, in almond trees and all around their property. Each kid had a special egg with a redeemable ticket for a Klutz book. Anyone who has seen them and been wary, try them. They are my favorites and the kids love them. The kids enjoyed and continue to love learning more about Jesus and why we celebrate Easter. Quentin especially has learned so much this Easter. Thank you Jesus for what You did for us and my family.

DIsneyland

I would love to be able to apologize for my lack of picture uploading, but I'm not. Life has been so busy with working in classrooms, Church events, Bryan and teaching, my blog has been on the back burner. But here are a few pictures from Disneyland. I was prepping for whiny kids, and uneasiness upon meeting the characters, but there was none of that. The kids could have moved in and stayed there. Avery met the princesses and acquired several autographs. Cole rode Big Thunder Mountain about 9 times. Quentin loved Space Mountain. Funny side note, the first time he rode it, his tummy hurt at the end. I thought it was because of the speed and turns, but he tried it again later and loved it. As it turns out, he is so light, his bottom was lifting off the seat and hitting the safety guard. I was holding on to his sweatshirt for dear life, but I guess I should have held his pants. Thank goodness for the harness or the kid might have sailed out. We stayed in Mom and Dad's motorhome which was perfect. The campground had free showers and a heated pool. The kids were exhausted when we got home... but oh what fun!