First date in September of 1994 - almost 15 years ago
Ben (Travis best friend), Denise (my roommate, who I thought Travis liked), me and Travis
Juan, Kathy, me and Travis
Last night Travis and I went on a double date to recreate parts of our first date. It was fun to celebrate Valentine's Day a little early and I am glad we can avoid the crowds at restaurants tonight. Although, I don't think too many people will be going to our dinner location tonight. He-he.
- First Date - We have a picture of our first date, because I was obsessed with pictures even in college and took a picture of every date I went on. Not really, but that sounded more funny than the truth. Actually it was Homecoming at Ricks and other girls were getting dressed up in formals and taking pictures, so we took one too. Travis and Ben took us blind folded to Wal-Mart, then took us bowling (no blind folds there), and blind folded us to McD's (yes, they really did) where we ate outside to candle light and I believe there was a rose or two. It was a fun date keeping in mind we were poor and in college. I later learned that Travis and Ben were not that creative, but a "player" roommate (Jared) helped them plan the date. It was a great first impression.
Re-enactment Date Night
Since Ben is married and living in Nevada with 3 kids working as a teacher/coach and Denise is married, living in CO with 2 boys and too busy to come for the reenactment (although, I think if she were closer she would totally be up for it - Ben not so much), my friend Kathy was happy to help out.
Kathy and I decided to plan the night, since our husband are busy working men and we have high expectations. It is better to take over than be disappointed! We
blindfolded the boys and took them to McD where there was a red table cloth and candles set up for us. Travis had no idea where we were. Travis thought we took them to Starbucks because it smelled like coffee. It was so funny to watch them walk into the McDonald's blindfolded. They thought everyone was staring at them, but only 4 people were even in the store. They walked like we were going to purposely run into tables and chairs. Oops. I did let Travis hit a few chairs. Sorry honey! :( I wasn't the best blind guide.
15 years ago, Travis blind folded me so I would hold his hand. Yesterday, I blind folded him to recreate a memory, but mostly because it was fun to watch! lol Then we switched gears for the second part of the date, we
re-enacted parts of Kathy's "first kiss" date with Juan. They went on a camp out with their
FHE group and stayed up most of the night talking for hours. So to recreated a version of this event,
my kids set up the tent in our backyard and we decorated it for Valentine's Day. Kathy knew what we were doing, but we surprised Juan.
The 4 of us played games in the tent and had a great time talking about the "FIRSTS" with our spouses.
I love my honey.
Here are a few pictures close up of friends that miss you! 
I told you I wasn't going to make her a cake. Not enough hours in a day. Her friend made the cake and frosted it all by himself. He killed two birds with one stone. Enter cake contest and supply Cubmaster with baby's 2nd birthday cake. Thanks, J!
picture taken at last months pack meeting
I probably needed the extra weight to relieve some stress.
Great paths. Even the desert is pretty. The sky is amazing,
but then you look up and see this: 
I wonder if these power lines will cause any permanent damage. Hmm?
So Field Day in 5th grade is DIFFERENT and I love it! 
No parachute. No jump rope. Just a dodge ball tournament. 
And a little limbo in between Dodge Ball Games! 
Great job, Oldest! Thanks for letting your mom embarrass you today. (BTW - His class tied for 1st - double elimination tournament and the top 2 classes lost one game each. Do I hear RE-match? YES!)
So, if you haven't heard my kids go to a charter school. I love it there. I love it so much that I am the parent organization President this year, and this year only :) . Anyway, our school is under construction this year and we have no field for the kids to play on, just 3 grassy areas for recess. One of my VAPO goals this year was to support past traditions that happened before the construction, with the hope that those events could be altered to still happen this year too! Especially this year. 
It is a simple day when the kids go station to station and play outside, enjoying the reason we live in Phoenix in February. This year Maribeth ran the whole thing with the P.E. teacher and they did a great job. Today Princess had field day. She won the jump rope on one foot contest and 
came in 2nd in the limbo (I even limbo-ed, not sure how to spell that one). It was a great day. 
I appreciate all of the work that is going into making this school year keep up with past traditions. Now when is that building going to be finished...
Is this the face of an extortionist? 
Well if you are me, you bribe them a 10:50 a.m. movie and tell them to do a list of jobs or they can't go to the movie. The three oldest kids all cleaned a bathroom, a room of their choice in the house and folded laundry. It worked like a charm. Movies before noon cost $5 a ticket, so it cost me $20 for a clean house. So worth it! Call me a mean mom. I can handle it.
Ben (Travis best friend), Denise (my roommate, who I thought Travis liked), me and Travis
Juan, Kathy, me and Travis
Kathy and I decided to plan the night, since our husband are busy working men and we have high expectations. It is better to take over than be disappointed! We blindfolded the boys and took them to McD where there was a red table cloth and candles set up for us. Travis had no idea where we were. Travis thought we took them to Starbucks because it smelled like coffee. It was so funny to watch them walk into the McDonald's blindfolded. They thought everyone was staring at them, but only 4 people were even in the store. They walked like we were going to purposely run into tables and chairs. Oops. I did let Travis hit a few chairs. Sorry honey! :( I wasn't the best blind guide. 15 years ago, Travis blind folded me so I would hold his hand. Yesterday, I blind folded him to recreate a memory, but mostly because it was fun to watch! lol
I did the only thing a mom can do. I floated. It was rather weird. I have usually been a HRP (homeroom parent) with a task to do. Today I felt a little, um... what's the word - FREE! I liked seeing all of the kids, but I missed getting to know the kindergarten moms. Those are good parties, because lots parents actually come and help.
don't cha love the matching outfit on Sweetie?
