Go Vikings!

Tonight was the All-School Awards Night
at Matthew's High School.
Teachers from each department
select a few students from each grade level
as outstanding among their peers.
Matt's done pretty well this year so we headed on over...
thinking he might get nominated for something.


So there we sat...
and sweated...

Engligh winners - nothing
Math winners - nothing (but Congratulations Isaac!!)
Science winners - nothing

more sitting...
more sweating...

History winners - nothing (but Congratulations Spencer!!)
Foreign Language winners - nothing

(but Congratulations Jason!!)

So...
maybe he wasn't getting an award.

And then...
All of a sudden...

The winner of the Most Outstanding Student in Construction...

MATTHEW STEPHENS!!

Are you kidding me?
Construction?

I was cracking up!!

Okay... What-ever!

But, then again, he did make this...

Just lovely, wouldn't you say?

But the night wasn't over yet.

Next they gave certificates to all of the students who had a 3.5 G.P.A or above. 130 Freshman in all. Wow.

"Can we go?" he begged.

"PLEEEAAAASE!!"

"No. Kids we know are still getting awards. We need to clap for them."

{this is where he's rolling his eyes at me}

Finally (we're still sweating by the way) they get down to the last awards of the evening. An oustanding male and female Viking from each grade level.

Can you guess?

He got it!

Outstanding Male Freshman. (You get nominated by a teacher and then you write a resume stating your qualifications.)

I was stunned.

(I guess all that Scouting and those service projects DO count for something!)

We're proud of you buddy.

Jason, Spencer, Matt, Isaac and Kristi--

Good Job!

Outstanding Male Viking - Class of 2012

A Yummy Equation

Do you know what you get when you add these...

to an evening of this?

You get this!!! Yummers...

Brad was out of town last week
and so I was trying to find little projects
and movies to entertain myself with.
This was my favorite combination!

Happy Belated Birthday Camille!

Only a Grandma would notice

that a certain little girl

had a birthday

that was never celebrated in blogland

and documented as a part of our permanent history.

Heaven Forbid!!

Camille celebrated her 9th birthday while

Grandpa was in the hospital,

so we had a quiet party at home.

Her best gift was some yummy new fabric

that will be quilted into a bedspread

for her new ORANGE room!

(its her fav.or.ite! color)

Quite a haul for a little girl,

wouldn't you say...

After we opened gifts we headed over to the hospital

where Aunt Linda and I visited with Dad

while Mom took a little break

and went to Leatherby's to celebrate

our little girl's birthday

with this yummy treat...

Ooh,

la,

la!!

About a week later

we had a family party for Camille and Rachel

over at Grandma's house...

with a REAL store-bought cake.

(Wow! That never would have happened

when I was a kid!)

Afterwards she opened lots of fun gifts

from Grandparents

and Aunts & Uncles & such.

Of course the great thing about birthdays

is that the birthday girl

has all these new toys to play with.

So, she's busy playing with all her new toys,

RIGHT?

WRONG!!!

She's too busy with MY scissors and MY tape

(that I can NEVER find)

crafting this miniature playground

for her little pets -

Isn't that the way it always goes??

P.S. Steve - if you're reading this, I want you to appreciate that you aren't the only Stephens grandchild with a fascination for tape and paper! Shame on Papoo for yelling at you all those years... it's in the genes!!!

Simple Gifts and Battle Scars

I love Mother's Day. I know a lot of people hate it, and so I always try to keep my expectations very low...this way I am always pleasantly surprised! Brad had an early morning meeting, so I gently reminded Adam about our breakfast in bed tradition, and he and Matt brought me a yummy blueberry bagel with some strawberries on the side. Delish! And, as always, there were sweet gifts - new flowers for the front porch and some sweet smelling lotion. What's not to love?? But I must admit that every year my favorite gifts are the simple ones, like this little book Camille made at school about the many hats I wear...

And on the way to Grandma's house, Adam crafted this cute little mailbox out of some paper he'd brought along. All through the drive I got mail - several sweet little notes from each the kids. Talk about your special deliveries...

I'm hoping your Mother's Day was sweet as well - full of the simple things that make life so grand!

And speaking of grand... take a look at these scars! Looks like he's really been through it (and he has!!), but he's doing fabulously. Thanks so much for all your prayers and love!

Happy Day!