Portland Timbers Field Trip

Tyler’s class had a field trip at JeldWen Field to watch the Portland Timbers play.  Portland now has a MLS team and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Timbers.  Since this was close to my office downtown, I met Tyler there and we enjoyed a beautiful day and a great game.  The Timbers lost, but it was still a good game to watch.

This is a picture of Timber Joey, the mascot for the Portland Timbers.  Each time the Timbers score a goal, he pulls out the chainsaw and cuts off a slab from a large tree log.  (Only in Portland)

Tyler and his best friend Casey!

Warm-ups!

After the game Tyler and I wandered around Portland for a while.  The picture below is located at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  They used living plants to create a map of the world.  They did a really good job.

A Secret About Ice Cream at Our House

It’s time to let you all in on a big secret.  Meredith is addicted to ice cream.  It’s true!  Most of you may not know that because she eats a very healthy diet all day long.  She even works out every day except Sunday (Jillian is her trainer…..I don’t know how she does it.).  She takes care of herself better than anyone I know.  However, she has a weakness for good ice cream!!  She has to have it.  For some it is Diet Coke.  For Mere, it is ice cream.

At times she would try and buy ice cream that only the kids and I liked…….but give it a day or two and the chocolate ice cream would end up appearing in our freezer again.

This is her guilty pleasure and I love to give her a hard time about it.  However, I love scooping up her ice cream for her so she can go to her happy place and enjoy it.

Well, the other day as I was scooping up ice cream for Mere, Ava was letting me know that she wanted some too.  So, I decided to put some in a cone and give it to her.  As you can see below, she’s a fan of ice cream too.  Oh, and if you were wondering, yes, we are good parents!  Who doesn’t give their 9 month old an ice cream cone?

Romeo and Juliet

Tyler’s 5th grade class put on a fun version of Romeo and Juliet.  Each class member had a role in the play.  Tyler was a member of the Capulet family.  The picture is a little blurry, but you can see Tyler in the white shirt.  Tyler did a great job as well as all of his classmates.  It was a lot of fun to watch them perform.

We are so thankful for Tyler’s teach Mrs. DeGregorio.  She is a fantastic teacher.  She has been the perfect teacher for Tyler!  It is so nice to have a teacher that really cares about the kids.  She is one of a kind.

 

Somebody is learning to walk

Ava is standing a lot and learning to hold her balance while standing.  It is so fun to watch her learn how to walk.  Tyler and Lauren love watching her figure it out too.  They are always trying to get her to stand.  She should be walking on her own soon.

So long Cub Scouts

May 31, 2011

Today at pack meeting Tyler earned his Webelos award, Arrow of Light and his religious knot.  He is now done with cub scouts and will be moving on to the boy scout program.

Meredith is collecting more mother’s pins.  By the end of Tyler’s scout career, Mere will have a lot of hardware on that jacket. (Side note: that is Mere’s scout jacket.  She has worn it to all the pack meetings that Tyler has earned pins.  Where is the Dad pin?)

Tyler crossed over the bridge which represents the move from cubs to boy scouts.  After they “cross over” he gets to sign his name on the bridge.  Our pack does a great job!

I can’t believe that we are done with cubs!  This is probably a good thing as our pinewood derby cars have not performed too well!

5th Grade Fun Night

The parents and teachers of the 5th graders put together a “fun night” for the 5th graders.  This is in celebration of their hard work and completion of elementary school.  Next year they are off to middle school.

I went as a chaperone from 8 until 11 PM.  When I got there Tyler had just completed his trip to the “barber shop”.  He had hair that resembled Dennis Rodman and a painted on mustache.  There was pizza and soda and a ton of candy and a lot of other fun things to do.  The highlight of the night was the basketball shooting competition which he and his buddy Jordan both won.  The prize was a new basketball for each of them.

We also have a great time playing dodge ball in the gym.  Each team had about 40 or so people.  It was crowded, but a lot of fun.

I can’t believe he will be off to Middle School next year.  The years are flying by too fast.

Cora Helena Matthews

Congrats to Greg and Sarah on the birth of their baby girl.  She was born on May 24 and was 9 pounds 3 ounces and 20 1/2 inches.

Lauren is showing Aunt Sarah that she is a pro at holding babies now that she has had so much experience holding Ava.

More pictures can be found here.

Father’s and Son’s Outing 2011

Tyler and I went camping with our Ward on  the Oregon Coast at Camp Merriwether.  This scout camp provides nice camp sites with easy access to the beach.  Tyler and I arrived early and setup our tent and made our beds.  We then ate dinner and went to the beach.  It was your typical Oregon coast weather…..a little cold and a lot of wind.  However, it was dry and we can certainly appreciate that!

We watched the sun go down and then we headed back to camp to participate in the camp fire activities.

In the morning, the kids tried to get the fire started.

Bishop was on pancake duty because he is the best at it.  His Mickey Mouse pancakes were perfect as usual.

Kyle spent a lot of time making scrambled eggs for everyone.  Thanks for your help Kyle.  Dahlin was on sausage duty. I am not sure if he was 100% awake yet, but he did a great job.

I think a good time was had by all!

Peony Flowers

One of the great things about living in the Northwest is the plants you can grow in your backyard.  We have a number flowers that we grow and one of them is a peony.  The one pictured below is a tree peony.  They have amazing flowers and come in late spring or early summer and they don’t last too long.  Meredith took a few pictures when this one was at its best.

Afternoon of Achievers

Each student in Tyler’s class were given the name of a person who was an achiever in one way or another.  The students then had to research these individuals so they could understand their life story and how they overcame challenges in their life. They put a lot of work into this project which culminated in an event at the school called Afternoon of Achievers.  Each student dressed up as their achiever and then the parents were given the chance to ask questions of the students to try and figure out who they were.  See if you can figure out who Tyler is based on his video below:

Here is Tyler next to Michael Jordan and George Washington.

 

I was able to figure out all but two of the kids.  One was a dead comic and the other was a female astronaut and I couldn’t remember her name.