Jumpin' Jehosaphat!

It was good times on the Selway. The girls brought along a long jump rope and it was surprisingly popular! People were waiting in line to take a turn, just like I remember in school. I used to be quite proficient with my jump rope skills, but the last time I tried it made by brain hurt. For some reason it didn't like being pounded against my (very hard) skull!

I was the Head Jump Rope Turner. Yes, I am holding a wine glass, as experienced Jump Rope Turners are known to do.

Homemade Awards Ceremony

I'm sure you have all my previous blog posts memorized, so you will readily remember the one about the horse judging contest I took Nicole to back in May. Turns out she did rather well for herself. She placed third out of 25-30 kids who participated and was first in her age group. She did so well that she had the option of going to the state judging contest but as it was in Southern Idaho and she thinks horse judging is boring anyway, we didn't go. We knew all that. What we didn't know was that because she was the top Junior that she was going to receive a trophy!

She could've received said trophy at an awards ceremony at the Idaho County Fair, but because we didn't realize she was up for an award, we skipped the ceremony (as we always do...). So since she didn't receive it in front of all of her clapping, cheering peers, we decided to do the next best thing. We kept it a secret and handed it to her in a shoe box with her adoring brother and sister looking on. Almost as thrilling, I'm sure.

She was pretty tickled. She might like horse judging just a little bit more now.

My Neck Hurts

I forgot how much I dislike painting walls. Well, not walls so much. Ceilings. I don't like painting ceilings. It's been 6 years since we painted EVERY wall in our new house ourselves (with some help from some fabulous family and friends). I swore it would be a long time before I painted again. Well, the time has come. Or, more accurately, Nicole talked me into it.


Nicole never really wanted the pastel pink that she chose for her room. It's just that she's such a pleaser and I may have encouraged her to consider painting her room the same color as her sister's so it would be easier for us. (We used a sprayer and we didn't want to clean it out more often than necessary--I know, lame.) It came back to bite me because she outgrew "Princess Pink" a few years ago. For her birthday this year, I offered to paint her room a color of her choice. She chose a fun yellowy lime green. Mom offered to help with the labor (God bless her!). We procrastinated as long as we thought proper and finally tackled it yesterday.

The girls were shockingly helpful. So much more than the last time we painted. Granted, they were 4 and 6 at the time, but still. They were pretty enthusiastic help too. It didn't take as long as we thought it might and it didn't smell as bad as we remembered paint smelling the last time we took a whiff. Painting the ceiling was still a drag. That hasn't changed.

Funny side-story: Nicole was wearing the above shirt to go check some cows with Glenn in the afternoon. They were riding on the 4-wheeler and drove through Keuterville (population 12--or less) and she says, "We can't go through Keuterville, I hate this shirt." That made me laugh. Who cares? It's Keuterville!! Now that a picture of her in that shirt is out there in cyberspace, she's really going to be excited! Yup, just doin' my part.

Need a Ride?

Those kids never cease to amaze me with their resourcefulness. They've been riding the same little ride-on toys for years at Grandma's. They've mostly outgrown them all, but that doesn't seem to stop them from using them. Lately the girls have taken to "towing" each other with Nicole's scooter.

Looks like they have a hitchhiker here. Sorry, buddy. No room.

They weren't happy about the picture taking, but couldn't get away! On the way back home, they were mortified that there were a bunch of boys near this building. They picked up the trike and quickly walked past. It's hard to have fun and look cool at the same time!

The Park

One nice thing about swimming lessons in Grangeville is that they're in Grangeville. We get to see Grandma a whole bunch and even stay overnight at her house. There is a great city park just a couple blocks away that we go to daily. Ellea is always begging to go there even in the dead of winter. That doesn't happen much.

My kids are always game for a good photo shoot (lucky for me!) and what better place than a park......

This kid's too cute for his own good. I'm gonna have to put a stop to it. Stop it! Stop it right now! Who am I kidding, he never listens to me.


"Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting." Author Unknown

It took us a while to understand this contraption. The kids slide down the curly thing. I've never tried it myself. I'd probably get stuck at the top.

Swimming Lessons

My kids are not big fans of swimming lessons. They've never liked water on their faces much. They get it from me. But why? Is it hereditary? It's not like I've told them to dislike water. I tried to be careful about getting water in their faces as babies, but I didn't make a big deal of it. It baffles me.

Even though it's more than twice the cost, we've been doing private lessons the last couple years. They were making zero progress in group lessons. They like private better and have actually made some progress.

Morgan would hardly get in the water last year. Here he is in the deep end. Granted, he has a life jacket on and always plugged his nose to go under water, but I'll take whatever I can get.

We discovered that Ellea is a champion at treading water! On the first day she made it over 90 seconds. Doesn't sound like much, but have you treaded water lately?!!

Nicole's the least freaked out about water in her face. She'd hate to admit it, but I think she *almost* liked swimming lessons this year. Both the girls have made huge improvements in swimming ability.

Now, if only I could swim worth a darn! Maybe they could teach me. . . . . .

Naaah, I'd have to put my face under water!