Last weekend we headed to the Monster Truck Show... it's been years since we've gone and Walker really wanted to go this year.  I think he was about 4 the last time we went.  Ainsley wasn't really thrilled about going but armed with her cell phone and instagram she was set for the night.

It was the typical Monster Truck show... car smashing and wheelie popping contests... which makes for little and big boy grins!

This year there were even two GIRL drivers!!!  They were just as good as the guys but made much better dirt cookies!

All of it was good and then right before the end it got a bit more exciting... this wild and crazy jump let to a standing O...

And then a hard landing...(luckily the driver wasn't hurt)

Can't say the same for the truck though...

It was a fun late night... eating nachos and pop... watching the boys smile and ooh and ahh over the wrecks and smashes.  Even the girlie leaned over and said, "This is actually better than I thought it would be."

This is what 12 years old looks like...

Actually this is a probably a better representation of what 12 looks like... checking instagram and texting! Ha.

She had a really great day yesterday, it started off with this... her friends decorated her locker.  In just about every class someone mentioned it was her birthday and she was serenaded by Happy Birthday... even at lunch!

She had a very full day with school, piano and volleyball so we had dinner out with her favorites... fettuccine alfredo and raspberry breadsticks!

Hard to believe we are heading towards the teenage years next!!

Between the throwing up, the sniffles, fevers and coughing the kiddos did manage to have a wee bit of fun over Spring Break...

Last night Walker's troop invited all troop members and siblings to skate... even the Daddy put on his inline skates.

Hard to believe Ainsley is already picking classes for next year!!!

Seriously... how did we get to 7th grade already??

We are back into the schedule of Volleyball...

Hard to believe the difference a year makes... she looks so much more confident and way too grown up... love this girl!

The person she is becoming is truly awesome to watch... she's so sure of herself... believes she can do most anything... never gives up when things get tough... and loves to be present in life... love this girl so.

This spring will also find us at the middle schools for track meets!!  She wants to give track a try as well.  The next 6 weeks will be pretty swapped with middle school sports but we are so very proud of her for trying things out and reaching outside of her comfort zone and discovering new things about herself along the way! Go Ainsley Go.

So someone got a hold of his sister's razor...

I still can't help laughing every time I look at little Bug.

On Monday the kiddos both competed in the Pocatello Music Club Scholarship.  They each played their festival song of choice for a judge.  Walker did really great and was happy with his performance.  Ainsley thought she played her mini toccata too slow... and felt the pressure of going last and having another performer perform the same song.  But she must of nailed it because the judge awarded her 2nd place... which is a $75 scholarship that goes towards piano lessons!!

Whew... Festival is done for another year!!

The kiddos did an amazing job..

Ainsley was overly nervous this year... I think being sick a week and not practicing as much as she would have liked was the cause of it... but she had it down weeks ago and I knew she'd be just fine!

Little Bug was evidently holding out on us with his mastering of his dynamics... because for the past week we have been doing nothing but talking about adding the dynamics and keeping a steady beat.  He seriously loves to keep us sweating things out some days!

The good thing about having one of the first early times for festival... a little celebratory breakfast afterwards!

Love these kiddos and so very proud of them!!

Walker had his big Blue and Gold Banquet for Scouts and received a good amount of awards...

He and his Webelos troop provided the entertainment as well... they made paper bag puppets and sang a couple boy scout songs with them.  Walker's puppet is the Secret Spy Agent on the left side with the tuxedo on.

Well this one will go down in the books for most memorable Birthday!

Ainsley had been complaining about a sore throat over the weekend that coupled with a high fever for two days I decided to take her in on Monday for a strep test.  I hymned and hawed over what time to take her in... after work or take the day off and do it in the morning.  After I saw her upstairs in bed crying because she felt miserable and couldn't go to school I figured now was a better time.

We were able to get in rather quickly and after my concerns and a quick throat check they did a strep swab... we waited and it turned out negative... next thought on the Dr.'s mind was to do a CBC and a mono test... since something was going on... this required blood to be drawn! Poor Kiddo she was highly stressed about this new development but held it together until the parking lot when she burst into tears and needed her mama to just hold her for a moment.

What do you do after this... head over and get donuts of course... everything is better with a little sugar on top!

I wanted her to stay home the next day until we heard of the result and rest.  But since her fever wasn't constant she wanted to head to school... it comes down to one of those decisions... make her stay home and have her stressing out over the tests she was missing or send her off with the instruction of, "IF you can't make it or feel yucky with chills call home! "It took over 24 hours to get the test results back and late last night we found out it was a NO  on mono... thankgoodness. But a yes to some sort of bacterial infection.  Got a couple of doses of antibiotics in her... here's to memorable 38th birthday for both of us!!