Quick Family Time

Bad grandparents.  I had in my mind that Hadley's birthday was the 16th.  Terry didn't have anything in his mind.  We didn't check until this morning, and it was Thursday!  I won't forget again.  Hadley's is the 12th; Hudson's is the 16th.  I'll forget someone else's, but not Hadley's.

We wanted to run her gift over to her, but the McClures were at Mike's work party all afternoon.  They thought they would be back at 6:30.  We decided to get together with Bry and Amee and the boys for something to eat, and check out the house that is almost theirs.  We wanted to talk with them about how we could help.  We met at Souper Salad which worked out well for the kids, the health conscience, and me, the dieter.

We then went to deliver the gift, but even though we were an hour and 1/2 late, the McClures were still partying.  We got caught in a big downpour, huddled under their porch.

We decided to go over and check-out Bry and Amee's list of house projects.  It's going to be nice having these two families in bordering subdivisions.  The kids will go to the same school, but they live in two different stakes.  They're all close, but not too close.

We finally got our belated gift over to Hadley, our pinkalicious girl.  She got an outfit with a pink shirt, and a Dora doll with pink pajamas on.  (We'll have to make her some clothes to wear during the day.)

It's great having so much family close.  We can squeeze in good times without any plans.

Eat and Run

Brent came up for a visit!  He's between jobs and was able to stay for a week.  This was only the second time I've seen him all year.  The plan was for it to be a relaxing week.  I think is was a bit for him, but I was busy at work, and he was back and forth visiting his Mom and others across town.  In the end, he was here 6 days and I only saw him a couple times at dinner, and right before he left.  Terry's going back down with him to stay a few days in Salt Lake.  It will be a good for them.  We just need to stay in touch with our kids better, even the ones that live in town.  I think we all need each other more than we think.  

Mom's Gift

It's my mom's birthday.  My sister and I usually scout out Arts in the Park and find something we can go in together on.  This year I went to Arts in the Park with Mom.  The only thing that tempted her was a booth where an artist, Julie Peterson, painted little birds and flowers.  Later that afternoon, I went back and picked up a couple little prints for her - one for summer, and one for winter.

The next morning I returned to Arts in the Park, early, so I could find a good parking place.  A lot of the booths weren't even opened yet.  I had just ordered a scone for breakfast when I spotted my sister and her husband across the way.  Nan had already found the perfect gift for Mom, a print of little chickadees and roses from Julie Peterson.

It was freaky!  I guess Nan just knows Mom.  I'm sure she'll love the gifts.  I just need to order another frame so that the little collection will be cohesive.

Mom's Gift

It's my mom's birthday.  Every year my sister and I check out Arts in the Park for the perfect gift.  We usually go in on something together.  This year I went with Mom to Arts in the Park, and the only booth that she was tempted by was an artist, Julie Peterson, who painted pretty little flowers and birds.  I went back to the booth later that day and bought Mom a couple little prints.  One for summer, and one for winter. 

I returned to Arts in the Park the next morning, early, so I could get a good parking place.  A lot of the booths hadn't even opened yet.  I had just ordered a scone for breakfast and I looked across the way and saw my sister and her husband.  They had just arrived too, but Nan had already bought something for Mom's birthday - a little print of birds and flowers from Julie Peterson!

It was freaky!  I guess Nan just knows Mom.  I'm sure she'll love her birthday gifts.  I just need to order another frame so that the collection is cohesive.
 

First Annual Family Camp

It started out as an experiment to see if we could do it, if anyone wanted to do it, and if anyone had fun.  As a whole, we weren’t very experienced.  Terry has done several backpacking trips with the boys in the wilderness, but that’s different than camping with girls and kids.  I have camped a few times with my dad, who did everything, and I’ve been to Girls Camp many times.  Again, that’s different.  We have a picture of Bry, Brent, and Stace, when they were grade school age, camping.  That was the only time they went as a family.  Mike was a boy scout, but that’s not the same.  Thank goodness Amee joined the family.  She was the only one with real experience. 
Amee suggested a beautiful spot, Pine Flats, up by Lowman.  It’s a small, shady campground above the river.  There’s an easy trail, about 1/2 a mile, to some hot springs.  The campground also had 2 hand pumps for good well water and 2 outhouses that didn’t smell bad at all.  That’s a good thing because Hadley needed to make many trips a day to the potty.
We did it up right; three tents and three coolers, chats around the camp fire, tin foil dinners, s’mores, dutch oven dinners and cobbler, hot chocolate in the mornings, hikes, and the hot springs.  We came back with funny stories about our camp neighbors, ideas for next time, and good memories.  The only thing we need to improve is better shoes for the McClure kids.

 
 Mike in his GQ camping clothes, Our fire crew, Kids help with tents, and Bry with 4 tinfoil dinners

Hudson’s first roasted marshmallow was a burn-up dud.

Bry lost his wedding ring down by the pump.  It was found, and they’re still honeymooning.

Omelets in a bag, Sticks were big, Water boys, Hadley’s hangout

Entertaining the troops, Cars in the dirt, Amee’s magic bag that held everything for kids, Group crossword puzzles

Hiking to the hot springs, Haddie soaking it up, Haddie drinking it up, Bry’s fam reaches one of the upper pools

Dutch oven cooking

Tent clean-up

Last one out - He didn't want to leave.

Getting There is the Hard Part

We decided to experiment with a family camping trip.  I use to laugh at the hunters in my family that take weeks running around getting ready for their trip.  Now I understand.  Finding a spot, organizing the food, checking the tents, borrowing the gear, packing, doing food prep before, going over lists, and trying to remember everything….takes a lot of time and effort. 

We Need the Tooth Fairy

This has been a month of appointments with dentists, periodontists, endodonists, and oral surgeons - plus a couple trips to the pharmacy.  What could be worse.  Terry has had most of the work done.  He had a condition called resorption where a root was disintegrating from the outside.  When they took care of that, he spent 3 1/2 hours getting a temporary crown.  All of the trauma caused the root to die, which meant a root canal.  Now he has a another August appointment and will be able to finish the crown Sept. 1st.

Ty is the other one with an aching tooth, or two, or four.  He went in for a consultation today on his wisdom teeth and we were planning on having them out right after Labor Day, but instead he's having them out tomorrow.  They're swollen and he's in pain.

I feel for both of them, but I'm so glad it's not me.  I only have to deal with the bills.  Thank goodness for the Tooth Fairy. 

River Walk

How lucky we are to live so close to the Boise River.  When I ride or walk along the greenbelt, I always think I should make the effort to get there every day.  This was our first trip over to the river with the grandkids.  There was a lot of rock throwing, some rock skipping, tree climbing, stick collecting, a little nature observing, and the greeting of joggers and fishermen.  We remembered sunscreen, but next time we need a picnic.

 

To the Rescue

We had a loud 2 alarm spider today.  The kids spotted a big black spider on the living room wall and called Grampy in to rescue us all.  The alarm was loud, the spider was scary, and the action was exciting.  You probably had to be there.

Feliz Cumpleanos

Terry turned 60 on June 16th.  He didn't want to, but it happened anyway.  We had family over for fiesta burgers and a little fiesta.  Besides the burgers we had birthday pie, blueberry and lemon cream.  We also broke out the Fizz cups for root beer floats which were a big hit with kids and Terry's dad.  Bry, Amee, and Tanner came.  They're on the final countdown before their wedding - nine days to go.  It was a nice summer evening so we used the patio.  There were presents, candles (one for each decade), laughs, and a good visit.  I think he's   in fine shape.  I'll keep him around for another 40 years or so.  I'd actually like to make it to our fiftieth wedding anniversary.  We started late so he'll have to hang in there with me until 96.

Hudson jumping for joy, or the balloon.

Celebrate the countdown with a Fizz.

His best friend didn't forget.

Birthday Boy!

Action Packed Days

The last two weeks of school are nine action packed days where students are excited, teachers are stressed, and there's no way around it, you just have to go through it.  Some probably thought I wasn't blogging because nothing was going on, life was dull, nothing to blog about.  In reality, it felt like I'd been picked-up by some unseen force and was being hurled toward the last day of school.  I had no time for blogging.  I was busy putting out one fire after another, meeting the next deadline, and trying not to crash and burn.  Here are the highlights in brief:

• Two awards assemblies- one for the end of the year, and the other for the 6th grade Presidential Awards.  I needed to have awards made and ready, put photos on the L-drive for the end of the year slide show, and review the two sixth grade dance numbers.
• Field Day and the tug-of-war competition -  This is the fourth year in a row that my class has taken the championship in tug-of-war.  Throughout the year we never win the spirit awards, academic best, marvelous manners in the lunch room, best participants in music, PE, or library, but I always have a good crew for tug-of-war.
• Hawaiian Days - Learn your Hawaiian name and how to pronounce it, make leis, enjoy Hawaiian punch otter pops, and practice the Hawaiian roller coaster dance.
• Yearbook signing - We got rained out of the outdoor classroom, so the sixth graders spent an hour in the gym signing their books and tie-dye shirts.
• Math meeting - I had to take half a day off to meet about the 7th grade math that I've been teaching this year.  It's a little late, but now I know what to do next year.  
• Stacey, Mike and the grandkids arrived from Georgia.  Ready or not - and we were not.  We just didn't worry about it.  There will be plenty of time this summer to get settled.
• Tate graduated.  I went to Eagle High's graduation on June 1st.  I wrote down a quote from the ceremony that I can't find at the moment, but it was fun.  Tate is moving on to BYU with a scholarship.
• We had a farewell party for staff that is leaving.  I will miss my good friend Sarah who is moving to North Carolina with her darling husband and a baby on the way, and Connie the counselor who is off to Alice Springs, Australia for adventures down under.

I had to take one more day off to travel for Memorial Day.  That means I had to get plans ready for a sub and get all the above done in eight days.

What a Nice Surprise

One of my students gave me a sweet and yummy fruit selection in a green plastic basket which my grandson has recycled into a home for drowned worms.  He added leaves, dirt, and a lot of water.  Then he gave it to my cat Nedee as a present.  He left it by her food dish as a surprise.  I don't know if she was surprised, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't won over by the gesture.

I think this may be the first of a whole summer of blog entries about crazy kids.

Momentous Meeting

On Saturday we met Bryan's girlfriend's little boy.  He is adorable, with big eyes and long lashes like his mom.  He's skinny with blond hair that makes him look like Bry.  I loved his little boy voice and his imaginative play.  He also likes books which makes me happy.  When he went outside with Terry and Bry to check out a car, I just watched the three manly guys doing manly things like kicking tires.  He was adorable and I think they would all be a very happy, adorable family.

Diet and Exercise

I've been whimping along with P90X.  Everyone in my family is powering through these DVDs with Tony Horton's extreme exercise program.  We have a chin-up bar, yoga blocks, and room to work out one at a time in Ty's old room.  We check in with everyone's progress.  I think Ty is probably killing all of us.  He was doing workouts like crazy during Christmas break and soon after that he started doing doubles (twice a day).  Stacey and Mike are probably in second place.  I'm definitely in last.  I do the two bonus workouts on the introduction DVD.  They're shorter than the real thing, and I modify.  I've done the KenpoX, but all the kicking and punching is too violent for me.  I've tried the YogaX twice, but I only like the last 42 minutes of the 90 minute workout.  The first 48 minutes are crazy-town; and I thought Yoga was calm.  So the only workout I really do is the XStretch, which I like.  I get up around 5 to workout whimply.

Part of my problem is that I'm dieting at the same time.  I think I need more calories and more energy.  But what I really want is less fat and less weight, so something has to give.  I am sticking with it though until I get back to my Weight Watchers goal of 2008.  I'll be ready for summer.  I think all the P90Xers in my family will stick with it too.  They'll be ripped in 90 days.