We Love Summer

Many people dred their kids getting out of school for the summer, but not me. I love to have the kids home all day with not a whole lot of running around. We did have a busy start to the summer since we left for Utah the day school got out. We spent a little over two weeks there. Tyson and Justin did soccer camp up in Provo the first week. They had a lot of fun, and we found a great motel to stay in. We had two separate bedrooms, living room and kitchenette. There was also a sports court in the back so the kids and I enjoyed a little bit of volleyball at night. The Hardy's came to the camp with us, and it was fun to have friends to play with. We also got to go see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It is a beautiful temple, and it was fun to take the kids now that they are older. Emily was only five when the Lubbock temple was dedicated. We also got to spend some enjoyable time in Beaver and Syracuse. The kids always love playing with cousins, and I enjoy visiting with everyone. Our only regret was not getting to see a lot of family that we would have liked to see. The other big thing that happened while we were there is I got Lasik done on my eyes; I can now see with no contacts or glasses. It is a wonderful. Anyone who has thought about doing it should go for it. I know I will enjoy it even more next spring when all the dirt in Lubbock starts blowing around. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I wish I would have taken more pictures during our trip, but we were so busy, I kind of forgot about taking pictures.




Now that we are home we have spent our days playing and swimming. Much to the kids dismay they do have to do chores and school papers in the morning, but then they can play and swim the rest of the day. They have really enjoyed having the Hardy's living next door. I love not having to drive them all over to play with friends. I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!

Awards and Accomplishments

School is out in two days and we are very excited it is almost over! The past two weeks have been crazy to say the least. I only have three of my children in school, I don't know what we will do when they are all in school! We finished our last awards assembly/ Kindergarten Graduation today. Abigail is very glad to have everything over with. She used to do pretty well at sitting through all of these things, but the past two weeks have been over kill and she has been a nightmare! When I tell her to be quiet she yells no and starts screaming. Unfortunately this has also carried over to church, so I was not able to sit in the chapel for church either. Anyways, Justin finished the year as the top reader of Kindergarten. He was very excited. He had 64 AR points, 30 of which he earned the last four weeks. He was given a STAR test and is reading at a third grade fourth month level. We are proud of him and all of his hard work.



Tyson was able to do Battle of the Books and the Talent show this year. He really wanted to do both last year, so was very excited to finally be old enough to. His Battle of the Books team won the school level and got second at the district level. It was a tough loss because they only lost by 1 point. You can tell by the expression on his face just how tough it was.



Tyson decided to do a comedy act for the talent show. He dressed up like a "Purple People Eater" and did a dance. It really was funny to watch. When he told us he wanted to do it I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but I am glad I didn't stop him from trying. Everyone thought it was funny and a lot of the teachers couldn't believe he had it in him. Jeff and I don't know where that part of his personality came from because neither of us could have ever done such a thing! He completed the year with straight A's and a 100% on both of his TAKS tests. We are proud of all of his accomplishments.


Tyson also had to do the living museum. This is where kids pick someone to write a 2 minute oral report on and give. Tyson chose Ty Detmer.


Emily started last week off with a performance in the musical Beauty and the Beast for choir. She was a server, and didn't have a big part, but did well with what she was suppose to do. I thought everyone did a great job with their parts.

Last Thursday she had her district competition for Battle of the Books. They won the school level and went to Amarillo for the district competition. They won by about 20 points. The second place team was also from FMS. She was very excited about the win, and we were very proud of her. Jeff was able to come and I was thankful that he did because Abigail didn't want to be quiet and I was kicked out of the first round. It was nice to have someone to trade off with so I didn't have to sit outside for the whole competition.


Emily had her first FMS awards assembly last night. I finally got smart and had a babysitter for Abigail so I didn't have to take her. Thank goodness I did because there were over 300 kids getting awards. They went in alphabetical order so I was very thankful our last name is Cluff. Emily got 9 awards at the awards assembly. We were very proud of her and all that she has accomplished. She works so hard at everything she does.

Spring has Arrived

Spring is finally here in Lubbock! Usually when spring comes we think of beautiful flowers and green grass, but in Lubbock you know it is spring because the wind blows all of the time and there is a nice fine layer of dust everywhere. The grass is not green yet unless you are fortunate enough to have fescue, but the weeds are green and growing quite well. It was a beautiful day yesterday, other than the wind, so we decided to plant some flowers. I was amazed at all of the people at the nursery. I guess I don't usually go on Saturday to buy my flowers. We got a lot of the flowers planted, but I still need to plant the tomatoes and peppers we bought. Emily and her friend Landon knew Spring had come because they caught their first horny toads of the season. They were very excited because it had been a few years since they had caught ones that were so big. They only keep them long enough to show to everyone and take their picture, then they release them again.

Abigail's Temper Tantrum

Abigail's new thing is to throw herself on the ground and kick and scream when she gets mad over something. All of my children have done this, and I have learned just to let them do it. I am amazed at the looks other people give me when they see me not doing anything to help her while she is on the floor crying, I wonder, do other kids not do this?
Last Sunday Abigail didn't get a good nap because she fell asleep on the way home from church and did not stay asleep. Some kids function OK without a nap, but Abigail is not one of those kids. She got upset about something and did her normal temper tantrum on the floor. She cried for longer than normal, but then quickly stopped. When Jeff went in to pick her up this is what he found.


The funniest part is when I picked her up to put her in her crib, she woke up and picked up on the crying right where she had stopped.

The End of String Project

Emily had her last recital, or what they like to call "informance" in violin yesterday. She has been in a two year program at TTU where they teach you how to play the violin. It is twice a week for 45 minutes. She has come a very long ways since the beginning of it all. They have gotten the kids to the point that they could try out for the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra, and all of the kids in her class except her did. She opted out of it since their only rehearsals are on Sunday. We are hoping we can get her into private lessons that are only once a week. It has been a little time consuming driving down to Tech twice a week. It is not close enough to go back home while she is at her lesson, but Abigail and Ryan are not quiet enough to sit in on the lesson, so we just had to sit in the Suburban and wait for her. The kids were thankful we have a DVD player in the car, but it wouldn't usually entertain Abigail for very long. It is all worth it to hear Emily play. We are so proud of her! She has worked hard and has stayed very self motivated. She gets up every morning on her own and practices violin and piano before school, and before even I get up. She is a great daughter to have!

These are some of the girls, and one of her teachers from String Projects.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. The week before Easter my Mom came out and visited. Everyone had a good time visiting with her. We spent a lot of time shopping during the day while the kids were at school. This is something I don't do too often anymore because Ryan and Abigail don't enjoy it and they do everything they can to help me not enjoy it, but it was good to get summer and Easter clothes for the kids. The highlight of Grandma's stay for the kids was the night before she left. We went out to eat, bowling, and then rented a video. They thought it was great the Grandma could beat me at bowling!

One Good Friday we spent a lot of the day weeding the bigger half of our garden. We were very thankful we did that since it got cold on Saturday. Saturday the kids went with Jeff to the movie, and then they decorated Easter eggs.





Easter morning the kids enjoyed doing an Easter egg hunt around the house before church. I enjoyed getting them all dressed in their Easter outfits. I don't know how much longer I will be able to make them coordinate for Easter and Christmas, but I enjoy being able to so far. I only have a one requirement from Tyson and Justin NO SWEATER VESTS!



This is not the best picture of them in their outfits, but we needed to get to church! I am planning on having a friend do some pictures of them in a few weeks so I will post them when I get them.

After church we went and visited with Lorel and Annabell. Annabell had just gotten out of the hospital, and we were all happy to see her doing so well. It was a great Easter!

Emily's Projects

Emily had two big projects due right after Spring Break. They both kept her extremely busy! She had to make a life size person to use while she presented a report on ancient Rome. She chose to make a giant doll. I was glad a knew how to sew and had made several dresses in my life! I thought she did a good job.

The second big project Emily had was to design and build a house out of Popsicle sticks. She was very excited about this project. Her art teacher encouraged them to be creative when designing their houses. After eight weeks of working on them at school they brought them home over Spring Break to complete. By the time the project came home Emily was not near as excited about it. She had the roof, flooring, and landscaping left to complete at home. After a lot of hard work it was complete and she got a 100% on the project. We were all impressed and proud of her hard work. We also learned if our other kids take art not to be quite so creative in the shape. Emily said she wished she wasn't the one who always had to figure these things out for everyone else!

The outside of her house


The inside of her house