Eliza's Track Meet

Ok, last week was sunny every day with temperatures anywhere from 85 to 65. Now, today we actually have an outdoor event to attend and it was pouring rain all morning and while the rain stopped for the track meet, those bleacher seats were wet, cold and the weather was windy. All that still could not dampen our excitement to see Eliza compete in her 1st track meet even if we were dressed like it was January instead of May. :o)

She arrived with her team at about 3:50pm.

Mr. Thrasher (in blue hat) and Mrs. Bacon (standing next to him) from Hazel Dell were helpers!

She sat with her team in the extremely LOUD bleachers awaiting her first event.

This is how Mommy spent her time waiting, crocheting.

This is how Daddy spent his time waiting, trying to take backwards pictures.

He wasn't as good as Mommy, so she stepped in.

And she's off to her first event, the 200m relay.

She's on the left waiting for her teammate.

Here's video. It's kind of like a Where's Eliza between the post and the people's heads. :o)

And on her way to her second event, the Softball Throw, she missed that the boys were on the north side and the girls were on the south side of the field. She went right to the boys line and had no clue. Brings to mind the Sesame Street song: One of these things are not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong... Here's video of her trying to figure out what our hand gestures mean. Even when she figures that out, she still has no clue why she had to move. It's a classic Eliza moment! :o)

Success! She's waiting in the correct line!

Video of her Softball Throw

And finally her last event, the 50m Dash

And they're off!

All finished!

Then a quick celebratory dinner at Burgerville and back home for homework, chores and a general warm up of our bodies! :o)

It's a Major Award

Ethan came home today and handed me this bright, shiny gold letter saying he will be recognized as a 2012 Clark County Youth Achievement Award winner. He is being honored in the category of Inspiration.

And, ever the ladies man, he actually asked me if he could just invite one of his parents and a friend (a girl, of course) to use the guest tickets, or even better if he could invite two friends and we could just drop them off and pick them up. Silly boy, tickets are for parents! LOL

We're heading into the last month of school which always seems incredibly busy! Eliza is looking forward to her track meet on Monday, her trip to Oaks Park on June 4th for being on patrol this year, and her last day of 5th grade ceremony where she gets to ring the bell. Selah is ready for 1st grade to happen NOW. Bekah is looking forward to her 2 week trip to Hawaii with Nana, then spending the rest of the summer getting her driver's license and getting a job. And everyone is looking forward to our annual Boatnik trip to Grants Pass and to Aunt Monica moving up! So definitely be on the lookout for more pics and posts this month as our end of the school year activities increase! :o)

Mud Slide 4/22/12

We hit our first 80+ degree day yesterday (which was a record!) and allowed the kids to play in the sprinkler while we watched a movie indoors. They had their friends over and didn't interrupt us so we let them have fun. After we're done watching our movie, we discovered that the creative minds have designed their own slip-n-slide by making the small decline extremely muddy. Most of them were covered head to toe in mud! Enjoy the pics and videos of their homemade mud slide!

Clean portion of the afternoon. Filling the bucket to get each other wet and to produce mud.

The water war is on!

Ethan gets it!

Eliza gets it!

Avalon gets it!

Alexis gets it!

Making the Mud Slide

Selah and Lance beginning the descent into Mudville

And they're off!

 

After shot

Ethan is the only one with an apparent aversion to mud. He stayed as clean as possible.

And where was Bekah? 

She was up on the roof providing the aerial shots and staying not only clean, but dry as well!

Enjoy some video of the fun!

RIP Little One

Little One Martorano

4/6/95 - 4/19/12

VSAA and Eliza

Well, the day has finally arrived and we received the letter telling us whether or not Eliza made it into Vancouver School of Arts and Academics.

She did not. However, her cumulative scores allowed her to be put on the waiting list for our zip code. Basically that means that if any student who made it in who also lives in our zip code cannot attend for any reason before February 2013, they will offer the spot to the top person on the wait list. Eliza is #2 on this wait list. So, while we're a little disappointed right now, there is still hope that she will get in. 

She doesn't know any of this yet. I've left the letter in her room as per her instructions to be read by herself. I think once it's explained, she'll be proud, because to even be #2 on the wait list is a great accomplishment!

Happy 16th Birthday, Beks!

Today it has happened! (Or rather yesterday, I'm a day behind). Our first sweet 16 birthday. As much as we'd like to have had grand plans to celebrate, the birthday girl was a little too busy to do that properly. In fact, we were all so busy (I had a Relay for Life meeting, Steven had a work function), that we gave her our birthday gift the night before her birthday because we wouldn't actually all be in the house at the same time in a conscious state on her birthday. Much like it was on the day of her birth, seeing as how we weren't at home and for the most part were not in a conscious state. LOL 

For her 16th birthday, Steven and I gave her a purity ring. We'll have her birthday dinner of corned beef and homemade mac n cheese on Sunday night, the first night she'll be home since last Monday! She's had Follies (choir show) this week with dress rehearsals on Tues. and Weds. and then the show on Thurs., Fri. and Sat. We'll be going to see her tomorrow night. 

The new Martorano birthday hat. :o)

No other exciting news. But here's a few pics of Eliza modeling a new hat I'll be selling soon. 

Enjoy your day!!!

A Taste of Spring!

Not much happening in and around here. But thought I'd share some pics of Selah's new Rapunzel wig hat. She had a slight Princess identity crisis figuring out if she was Cinderella or Rapunzel. :o)

Ethan is working hard to pull his D in math up to a C and is back to being a single guy. We'll see how long that lasts. Bekah is excited about so many things...turning 16, going to Disneyland with choir (she wouldn't let me chaperon, how rude! LOL) and Follies. Eliza is waiting to hear back from VSAA about whether she's been accepted or not. And Selah just continues to run circles around us all...literally! I think that's all the major upcoming events for March! You're all caught up! :o)