Camping Date

Us adults at the Memorial Day camping trip, got the crazy notion of driving to nearby Riggins and to go out to dinner.  Meaning, the kids weren't invited!

I've never gone on a date in the middle of a camping weekend, but I'm all about date nights, so I was happy with the plan.  The kids?  Maybe not so much.  Especially since that meant we weren't going to cook them dinner, but have them fend for themselves with leftovers and sandwiches.  We're such neglectful parents.  But the good news is:  they survived!

Archery

The girls were introduced to the fun of archery over the weekend.  They really enjoyed giving it a try and did very well.

Do you know how tricky it is to capture a picture of the arrow as it's flying through the air?!  I took lots of pictures to get a couple like this.  (Can you see the blurred arrow?!)

Horseshoes

We had a delightful Memorial Day camping trip on the Salmon River this year.  We mostly stayed dry, even!

Between rain showers, we hung out at the beach one afternoon and introduced the girls to the art of Horseshoes!

It was fun.  And thankfully, Glenn put the two stakes much closer together than regulations would typically allow, so we'd actually stand a chance!

Meanwhile, Morgan tried to dig to China.

Spring Concerts

Morgan and Ellea had their Elementary Spring Concert this week.

Morgan got picked to play the marimbas.

Ellea played her trumpet.

It was hard to get a good picture of her, but there she is!

The following evening was the junior/senior high concert.

They sounded very good.  It warms my heart to think of having my kids play in a band.  Maybe I'll get ambitious and post a video, so you can get the full effect!

Sleepless Night

Nicole had the privilege of bringing home a baby last night....

Not a real baby, mind you, just a baby doll that cries at random times.  Her 8th grade teen living class has these crying baby dolls to give the kids a taste of what it's like to have an infant.  "Alexander" (as Nicole named him) did a great job of teaching Nicole what sleepless nights are like.  Poor girl woke up to his cries 8 times!

Ellea was really looking forward to being an "Auntie" for a day.  She even "babysat" while Nicole was at her band concert.  She was disappointed that Alexander only cried once while we were gone.  Silly thing must be programmed to go off more at night.  Sometimes it seemed like  my babies were programmed to cry more at night, too!!

Reading the Paper

 Came downstairs last Saturday to this. . .

The two men in my life reading the paper/comics while they eat their bowl of cereal.  Love it!

This is serious business.  Neither of them noticed when I got out my camera and took pictures!

Sawmill Tours

Glenn's employer, Idaho Forest Group, invited a bunch of 8th graders to come tour their sawmill.  I got to tag along with the Cottonwood group, and get paid for it, as my job is all about helping the kids explore college and careers.

Glenn talked to the kids about forestry.  He might have been the kids favorite stop, as he gave out candy!

The sawmill is amazing.  Completely automated.  Computers scan each log and decide what is the best way to dice it up.  (That's not the technical term - "dice it up," but it works for me.)  If all goes as planned, no human actually touches the logs once they hit the mill.  They cut about 100 log truck loads each day.  Incredible!  And it's Glenn's job to keep those logs coming!

If you're ever in the neighborhood and want to be impressed, Glenn gives good tours.

Forty is the new 30!

So, I went and got another year older last Friday.  The big 4-0, which doesn't necessarily sound old so much as it sounds mature, and grown up and with it!  I don't know where the last 20 years went!

My hubby took very good care of me over the weekend.  He made arrangements to have a double date with some good friends on Friday night, and one of my horse back riding buddies had Glenn and I and a couple other people over for a wonderful steak dinner on Saturday night.  And then Sunday night he made dinner for my mom and his sister, Nancy, and her hubby.  So, lots of eating.  I like eating!

Nicole made and frosted a chocolate cake (what else?!!), and Ellea made a yummy chocolate chip vanilla buttercream filling, per my request.  Doesn't it look yummy?  It was wonderful!

So, it was a great weekend celebration, but I told Glenn I'm not done, yet.  I think I'll milk this for the rest of the month.  You only turn 40 once!

Minute to Win It

A couple months ago, I stumbled across a "Minute to Win" It game on clearance in the game section of a store.  We don't play a ton of board games as a family, but I have high hopes, so I'm always on the lookout. If you're not familiar with the game show of the same name, it's a lot of different active tasks that you have to complete in 60 seconds. I thought the game had the potential to make for some family fun.

We've only played it once, but it was fun.  Hopefully we play it again soon.  We balanced eggs on a box...

We tossed eggs to each other (harder than it may sound)...

Picked up plastic balls with our feet (silly, I know, but this is the game, people!)....

Walked with a ball between our legs.....

Tried to bounce a ball on the table and have it land in a narrow box.....

Again, harder than it sounds, and I was really concentrating, apparently.  Normally, I would choose not to post this unattractive facial expression on my blog, but I thought I should be fair for once, since I'm always posting pictures my girls aren't very thrilled with!

And, this must be my, "We're having fun with this silly game, huh, Glenn?"!!

English

Nicole had her first English riding lesson last night.  She thought it was great fun.  Nothing like a learning something new with her horse to make that girl smile!  If I'm being honest, I was the tiniest bit jealous.  I rode English a little in High School, but never had any proper lessons!

She looked so good out there.

I loved the bright yellow Canola field behind her!

When did this girl get so grown up?  I love it and hate it all at the same time!!

Math

Me (telling someone about my Bloomsday experience):  I walked it with a friend from college.  It had been exactly 20 years since she and I walked it last time!

Morgan:  Really?  What were you - 10 years old?

Me:  Uh, yeah.  I was ten.  (and then I kissed him!)

Morgan:  Oh, you were 19.....

Me:  Yeah, I guess I was 19.

Too bad that kid's so good at math!

School Project

Morgan came home with a project for school a couple weekends ago.  One of our crazy weekends when we had a hundred other things going on.  Oh, and let's throw in a project for school, just for fun.  Love that!

But it went relatively well, and I even enjoyed the process a little!  He had to create a continent of his own design, with mountains and bodies of water and all that good stuff.  They had been learning about land forms in school (this is second grade, keep in mind), and it was time to put all that information to good use.

 So he used his mother's (brilliant) idea to make it out of wood.  The land forms were made out of salt clay.

Welcome to music island (that's a guitar-shape).  There's Piano Plateau, and Violin Valley, Morgan Mountain, and a canyon and volcano whose names I can't recall.....!!

Fourteen

My teenager turned 14 on Mother's Day this year.  It was fun to celebrate the birth of my oldest on the same day we celebrate motherhood.

She decided we needed to pick up some sparkling apple juice and have a toast at 2 pm - her time of birth!  So we cracked out the wine glasses and toasted away!  Of course, Ellea pointed out that we will now be toasting at 6:30 am for her birthday!

Nicole also requested we go out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Grangeville.  Poor Morgan was hidden behind Nicole's big hat!

I figured she'd decline the sombrero picture, but she thought it was a great idea! 

Then it was off to Grandma's house for a fun game of Yahtzee on the back porch, then cake, and presents.  Fourteen candles creates quite a glow!

She managed to blow out all but one candle, and seemed pretty pleased with that arrangement....... Heaven help us!!!

Dear Nicole,
Wow - 14 years!  Everyone tells parents the time goes by quickly, but you don't understand just how quickly until you experience it!  I'm so sad that we only have four more years left before you go off into the big world and make a life of your own.  I'm sure that will be a fun stage, too, but I will miss you so much.  It makes my heart ache to think of you leaving, even if it is still 4 years away.  I know how quickly the next four years will disappear.

Thank you for your calming, level-headed ways.  You've always been so compassionate and understanding - mature beyond your years.  You've grown into quite a beautiful young lady with so much more confidence than I ever had at your age (thank goodness!).  I can't wait to watch you as you continue to find your way and be the amazing woman that God intended you to be.  Stay true to yourself always.

Thank you, sweet girl, for a fabulous, fun 14 years.  God bless you, now and always.
Love,
Mom

Cat Doctor

 Ellea's cat, Vandal, had a bladder infection recently.  He was not a happy kitty.

The vet gave Glenn some pills to give the cat with a nifty plunger device to get the pills in the back of his mouth.  He got very good at pill delivery.

The vet suggested that Glenn put a dab of butter on the pill to make it go down easier.  Everything's better with butter.  That's my motto, anyway.  I'm sure Vandal agrees.

Finishers

Here we are after out 7.5 mile run/walk - exhausted and hungry!  At least I was hungry.  Glenn ate plenty while he was sitting around in the executive tent where they had massages and free food!  By the time I straggled in, the masseuses had packed up and gone home and the food was mostly gone!

The only way you get a famous Bloomsday "finisher" t-shirt is by, you guessed it, finishing!

Oh, and did I mention that poor Ellea started throwing up at 2 am Sunday morning at the friends' house the kids were staying at while we were gone?  Nicole took very good care of her as she got sick every hour for a few hours.  Their hostess felt terrible that she slept through the whole ordeal!  I felt terrible I couldn't be there to comfort her.  Thankfully, grandma saved the day by coming over after church to take care of everyone.

And that was Bloomsday:   our legs were tired, our kid was sick, but we'll do it again next year!

Snow Baseball

 Everyone plays baseball in the snow, right?!

Zip thought it seemed fun!

And she's safe!