Balch Family Blog

until we have a 6 year old in our house! Camden will be six tomorrow. It is so hard to believe he is that old. We will probably take him out for the breakfast of his choice and then in the afternoon Gran, Granpa, Aunt Andrea and Uncle Mike will come over for pizza, chicken nuggets, and cake (guess who chose the menu) and then presents! Should be a fun day for him!

This past Friday we went to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix with Carrie, Lauren, Nathan, Carrie’s friends, and my friend Wendi and her son Denver. We had a blast! The boys said their favorite part was The Market, where they could shop for food, stock shelves and run a register. They had many other fun activities. Here are a few pictures from our day:

The boys are catching scarves from the WOOSH machine.

The boys shopping in the market.

A giant musical instrument in the Texture Cafe.

On Saturday we made a quick day trip to visit my mom. We hadn’t seen her since Mother’s Day and our calendars were not lining up anytime soon. So on a whim we decided to drive down and SURPRISE her. We parked down the street from the yard sale that she and her friends were having. We walked up and when she saw the boys and then us, she smiled and jumped and gave the boys the biggest hugs! It made my week to see my mom and have a little part in making her happy. What joy! We spent the day helping with the yard sale and then Steph (mom’s friend) invited us to swim and BBQ some hamburgers. It was so much fun! Here are a couple pictures from that visit:

Carsten and Gamma Tucson

Me, Mom and the Boys

The boys each got their hair cut today. Camden went with a traditional cut and Carsten went a little wild….Mohawk! That was his choice!
The boys were making Strong Faces

From the side.

Our church hosted “Picnic on the Corner” last night. There was hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy, games, inflatables and a fireworks show. We had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of our evening.

Camden’s kindergarten class had a Promotion Performance yesterday. They sang songs and recited a poem. Each student was recognized individually by their teacher. Camden did great! He didn’t sing a whole lot but he stood up on stage just smiling bright! I am so proud of him. At 1:35 pm tomorrow he will officially be a 1st grade student. Where does the time go? I cried this evening as I signed his behavior chart for the last time this year. Wow!

Today the students had fun with Water Day that was hosted by The Gilbert Fire Department. A little funny story that his teacher told me: Camden went into the small bathroom in the class to change out of his suit. After getting undressed, he realized he had forgotten his clothes, so he walked out into the classroom to grab them…STARK NAKED! One of the teachers saw him and quickly put a towel around him. He wasn’t even phased by it. Shows we don’t have a lot of modesty around our house. It was a good time to learn a lesson about nudity in public!

Here are a few pictures of him yesterday. The teachers had the shirts made for the students.

The back of his T-Shirt that all of the kids signed!

At the performance, with arms around his classmates while they sang.

We got a 10′ x 30″ above ground pool to use this summer. Last year we used a hard play pool. It was cramped then and the boys are a year older. We set it up this afternoon and then went for a swim. It feels so nice to be typing with cool skin and damp hair. Here are a few pictures of our first swim.

…was a rough week. On Monday Camden was sent home from school sick. I wasn’t feeling well either. Then on Tues (my birthday) Mark was sick and I wasn’t great either. Went back to work Wed and everyone seem to return to health. On Thursday afternoon Bailey quit eating. That evening she had great difficulty standing and needed our help. After a phone call with Mark’s sister, Andrea, we knew she would need to see the vet on Friday. After taking the boys to the dentist Friday at 7:30 (Carsten no cavities, Camden has a couple) I took Bailey to her first vet. There they did blood work and determined that she was very sick, critical in fact. After an abdominal xray showed a possible mass we went to a referral hospital to have an ultrasound done. I spoke to Andrea again and we discussed the benefits to surgery and if there were multiple organs involved the unlikelihood of improvement. The ultrasound confirmed she had a mass on her spleen that was bleeding internally. It also identified several masses in her liver. After that I took Bailey home. Mark picked up Camden from school and we all hung out with Bailey and said our goodbyes. Bailey got to eat a Klondike Ice Cream Bar. She loved it! She was put to sleep on Friday May 8th at 5:00 pm. She was such a great dog and a very special part of our family for the last 12 years.


Friday was also Mark’s Dad’s birthday. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but weren’t feeling up to it. His parents came to our house and we ate some pizza. On Saturday I was still very sad. We went out to breakfast and tried to do some normal activities. Saturday afternoon we took the boys and Mark’s parents to the Diamondbacks game. We celebrated both birthday and Mother’s Day. Then on Sunday, after church we went down to Casa Grande and met my mom and Ken and had a yummy lunch at Olive Garden. Sunday afternoon was spent doing laundry and hanging around at the house.

Last night Mark took me out to celebrate my birthday. We ate dinner and Ra and enjoyed a variety of sushi and appetizers. It was yummy! The music was very loud giving it more of a bar like atmosphere over a restaurant. Then we went and saw Charley’s Aunt at the Hale Center Theater. It was very funny! We laughed aloud many times. The show was a gift from Mark’s parents who also watched the boys for us overnight.

Today, Mark and I ran some errands without the boys including getting a pedicure for me! Nice little treat! It was a nice way to start the weekend!

We have had a mattress for a while, but needed something to put it on. So we looked and found how expensive just a metal bed frame was, so we decided to keep looking at thrift stores. We found this bed at a thrift store and spent $15 on it. Which was cheaper than a metal bed frame I had been looking for. We used the Restore-A-Finish and it really improved the bed.

I then found this cute quilt at Big Lots for $25 and his room is now set for him to grow up in. I can’t believe he is 3 and he really is a little boy and not a baby anymore. He is so stubborn he wouldn’t get on the bed to take a picture, since it wasn’t his idea. He napped in it today, so I hope tonight goes well. The crib has been dismantled and put away.

Our weekend was very nice. On Friday, Camden was out of school so we went to our friends house and had a Resurrection Egg Hunt. We use the items inside the eggs to tell the story of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. It is a nice way to explain it to children. When they get to the last egg, it is empty just like the tomb. On Sunday we went to church and enjoyed the Easter Service. Mark’s parents came over for the afternoon and we had an egg hunt, played baseball, and ate yummy ribs!