Awards Galore!!!

So, recently our little family has been rockin' the awards....here is what we've been receiving!

I know crazy, right....I'm way to old to be putting myself under the "getting an award" category, but here I stand!  I received the Friends of Education Volunteer Award last weekend.  I really don't know what to say....I love what I do...I totally love that I get to see my kids and get to know their friends, and get to spy on them when they don't know it!  I am thankful I have been able to have the opportunity to get to volunteer in my kids' school...and now the fantastic opportunity to work doing what I love...and getting paid for it...it just doesn't seem right!!

Gabe received 1st Place in the Daughters of the American Revolution Junior American Citizens Poster Contest.  Here he is pictured with Virginia Belt the President of the Augusta DAR Chapter.  He was pretty surprised that he received 1st Place Statewide!  He had received 3rd place in February for the South Central Division....somebody at the State Level must have liked it!!  We are so proud of you!

Gabe at his DARE 5th Grade Graduation...he not only received his certificate for completing the DARE Program, but also received a medal for his 1st Place finish on the Essay Contest for his class!!!



Grady at his End of the Year Cub Scout Camp Out....he is preparing to receive his Tiger Badge!!  We are so proud of his hard work this year in Boy Scouts...he is planning on sticking with it next year!!!

Easter 2012!

Happy Belated Easter All!  We had a fantastic Easter...having the opportunity to celebrate for 2 weekends in a row!  We started out on Palm Sunday at Bracken's for a fish fry and fishing!!  We deviated from the usual Easter Egg Hunt...and opted for fishing and a little swimming since it was absolutely GORGEOUS!  The boys had a blast...swimming in old yucky pond, fishing with their cousins..and getting down right dirty!  It was a perfect day spent with family we don't get to see often enough!

On Easter Morning we woke to a fantastic sunrise!  I imagine it was much the same on the morning Mary went to the tomb and found that Jesus was risen!!  BEAUTIFUL!  We enjoyed breakfast and church with Mom and Joe and then headed down to Fredonia for Easter with the Fox Fam!  There was a ton of food, egg coloring and contest, races, an egg hunt and tons of fun!! 

Gabe and Grady had just finished the 3-legged race...you should have seen them....they hopped on one leg the whole way!  I had never seen it done that way..but it seemed to have worked!

And of course the big Fox boys had to get in on the racing as well....I am happy to report, there were no broken bones or pulled muscles...maybe some sore ones on Monday, though!

And of course, no Easter would be complete without the annual Spring Collection!  Mighty fine lookin' eggs if I do say so myself!

Shawn's Theatrical Debut!

So, you didn't know Shawn was an aspiring thespian?! Well, neither did we! A few months ago, the pastor at our church called and left a message asking Shawn to be a part of the Living Lord's Supper. He mulled it over for a couple of days...and no doubt my nagging finally convinced him to give it a whirl! He did FANTASTIC!! He was Philip....the blonde sitting next to James in Leonardo DaVinci's Last Supper...also the blonde in the posted picture! Shawn was a hit....on Sunday morning everyone was still talking about Shawn's wig...it was great! Aside from the fabulous wig...he was perfect on his lines....his part was about 3 minutes long...all memorized! I am so proud of him....he got up there, completely out of his comfort zone...and rocked the part of Philip! Way to Go Shawn!!

Mushroom Nuggets!

In the last few weeks, the weather has been prime mushroom hunting weather. A couple of weekends ago, Shawn and the boys headed out bright and early for hunting! They came home with a few and a good place to go in the future. That is half of the battle they say, figuring out where to go to find these little fungi! So, we fried up those yummy morsels for dinner that evening...and even got picky little Grady to like those things! He is the one who named them "mushroom nuggets"! Thanks boys....it's been too long since I had had a good mushroom!

Concert Time!

Gabe had his last ever elementary school music concert a couple of weeks ago! It seems crazy to be having all of these lasts the next month or so! The 5th graders sang 5 songs, most of which were old folk songs...kind of an interesting direction to go with a group of kids! They sang "In That Great Git'n Up Mornin'", "Old Dan Tucker", "Sakura", "Sarasponda", and "Uncle Pen". They finished the concert in combination with the 4th graders..."How Can I Keep From Singing" and "The Ash Grove". A pretty fantastic concert! Since starting work at Ewalt a couple of months ago, I have had the pleasure ,in most cases, of getting to know the kids' teachers better....and I LOVE their music teacher, Mrs. Hilton! She is positive, funny, kind, yet very firm. You can see the respect the kids have for her....she is a great example of "you attract more flies with honey than vinegar". Anywho, with this concert we are one step closer to Middle School....jury is still out on how I feel about this one!

Spring Break!

In the tornado machine at Exploration Place!

I had never been this excited for Spring Break....with me actually being school and now working at the school...I may have been running a little faster on the Friday before Spring Break than the boys! So, what did we do over Spring Break, you ask....well, for the most part we ReLaXeD!!! We spent the first few days hanging around the house playing games, baking an Italian Torte (yum-o!), building an awesome lego...pictures will follow!, watching movies....you know just your regular lounging! It was perfect! On Thursday we headed to Wichita and spent the day at Exploration Place! We had a blast! It was another rainy day, but we never knew inside! Thursday evening the boys headed down to Fredonia for a couple of days with Gma and PaPa Fox and Shawn and I enjoyed a couple of date nights!! Woo Hoo for everyone involved! Overall, I rate this a winner of a Spring Break....now only 35 more school days until SuMmEr VaCaTiOn....no, I'm not counting or anything!!!

Isn't this awesome?! The Robie House...pieces 2,267 for ages 16+!!! Gabe did most of the work...but he had two pretty fantastic assistants!!!

District Wrestling

Well, wrestling is over for the season! Gabe gave it his best...but he faced some tough competition! His first match was against a boy named Chevy...he pinned Gabe pretty quick and went on to win the District competition as well as Kids State...so we are not feeling to bad about that one! His second match was tough as well, but he was able to last 3 periods with him, coming up short in points. That young man ended up with 3rd. Gabe was a little disappointed, but he realizes these boys are not in their 2nd year...both of these little fellas have been at this since they were six..at least...that was the first records we found on them! So, this wasn't their first rodeo...it was a learning experience for Sir Gabe! For now we are enjoying having our evenings back...at least until baseball starts next month! AWESOME SEASON GABE!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!

On To Districts!

Last weekend, Gabe competed in his first Sub-District wrestling meet! He won two and lost two...which landed him in 4th place, and heading for District wrestling this Saturday in Wellington! He had a full bracket...chocked full of talent! He wrestled very hard...and the time and new moves that Shawn and him have worked on the last few weeks was evident! This weekend will be even tougher...he has seen a few of the kids in his bracket....most of them have been at this since birth! HA! We are very proud of Gabe's season, for a kid with a year and a half of experience to wrestle one of the toughest weight and age groups and make it to Districts....I think it was a successful season, regardless of this weekend's outcome! Way to go Gabe...we are so proud of you!

Pinewood Derby!

Last Saturday, Shawn and Grady participated in the Boy Scout Pinewood Derby!! They had worked on their car and truck for a couple of months!! I think they turned out pretty fancy! Unfortunately they didn't win the Derby...but they had a lot of fun! Boy Scouts is starting to wind down for the year...they have a few more meetings and one camp out left! Grady has really enjoyed Scouts this year....it has been great for him and Shawn to hang out just the two of them!


And the race is on!

...and We just keep on adding 'em!

Meet Katie....could you have said no to a face like that??!!