Christmas

Due to work schedules and extended families, we celebrated Christmas together on Christmas Eve morning.  Nick, Jenn, Bradlee, Cameron, and Serena gathered at our house around 8am and exchanged gifts.   

Bradlee gained experience opening presents thanks to Nick and Jenn wrapping several and putting them under their tree a few days before Christmas.  Their front room is small and Bradlee didn't have to squirm far to reach the pretty paper.

 A few years ago I started a tradition of finding some off-the-wall gift for the kids still at home, wrapping it up and giving it to them a week or so before Christmas.  They were allowed to handle it as much as they wanted and if they guessed it, they could open it on the spot.  Otherwise, they had to wait until Christmas.  The first couple of years, I fell into the 20 Questions trap and they had the gift in hand in a matter of minutes.  This year, I faithfully stuck to the "You must ask specifically" rule and Richelle couldn't guess it.  It was killing her with frustration after six days of wrong guesses so I let her open it with her other gifts Christmas Eve after everyone else made helpful suggestions.  Only Cameron knew what it was and he was giving broad hints.

 Richelle loves all things earth science and I'd gotten her a set of BuckyBalls.  There are 216 extremely strong magnets the size and shape of BBs.  As you can see, she was thrilled with the gift.  It's amazing what you can make with 216 magnetic BBs!  We first saw and played with BuckyBalls at my brother Steve's house last June.  Richelle wanted to go right out and get some immediately.

My favorite part of the entire day.  We all worked together to put on a breakfast feast:  Cameron made Belgian waffles, Serena manned the bacon, Jenn saw to the biscuits and gravy, I whipped the cream, sliced the strawberries and assisted with the scrambled eggs, Richelle arranged the table and ran errands, while Nick and Mike entertained Bradlee.

I think we're going to make it a tradition.  

Month of Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for the spouses my sons have chosen.  They are both loving, caring young ladies and meld well with our family.  I have long known that both of my sons have quirks to their natures and have spent time in prayer that they'd meet the girl who is unique for them.  Nick needs someone strong enough to help lovingly direct his fierce sense of loyalty and duty while Cameron's high level of intensity requires someone naturally calm and even-tempered.  Jenn and Serena are everything I could have hoped for my boys.

And then there's little Bradlee!  We get to see him often and delight in watching him grow.  Something he loves is for a person to get nose to nose and talk with him.  He gets so excited talking, cooing, laughing, blowing raspberries, grabbing your face and ears (and hair ouch!), and kicking his feet.  I was doing this with him yesterday with him on his back and the drool was dripping from his chin down the sides of his jaw from all the raspberries he was blowing.  At one point I told him, "I'm going to kiss your nose, (smack!) and your forehead, (smack!) and your cheek (smack!) and your other cheek, (smack!) but not your chin because it's awash with spit!"  He squealed, grabbed my ear, and blew more raspberries, sending another wave of spit over his chin.

Family Additions

Both of our sons are engaged to be married.  Cameron and Serena announced their engagement last summer; Nick and Jenn shared their news at Christmastime.

.

Cameron and Serena are planning a wedding for June 26th. Not the best picture in the world but what I have on hand.

Nick and Jenn plan to be married early summer 2011.

They are both wonderful young ladies, very good for the boys, and we enjoy them very much.  They take the teasing that Mike is so well-known for dishing out and even toss it back now and then.  

It's lovely to see two young couples so happy with each other and Richelle is thrilled to have two new sisters.

A House Full

Cameron and Serena were here one afternoon last week when Nick and Jenn unexpectedly showed up to return some stuff they'd borrowed.  Afternoon turned into evening as we whiled away the hours as families do.

It warmed my heart to have the house full again, bumping into people, extra chairs at the table, doors and windows open because of the extra heat from additional bodies, listening to the five kids forging ties to make a new, larger, family......

End Of The Year Fun

Mike wanted to take the whole family went up into the mountains to play in the snow this winter. It's been seven or eight years since we've done that. He had the last two weeks of the year off so the boys put their heads and work schedules together and we went up on 30 December. There had been a good snowfall the evening and night before so the snow was fresh, dry, untraveled, and about eighteen inches deep. We stopped at about 3400ft elevation at, literally, a wide spot in the road where it forked. We had come to a stop trying to read the snow-dusted sign and couldn't get going again without putting the chains on.

Well, we did go, just not the direction we wanted. Every time Mike gave it a little gas, we slid sideways a little closer to the edge of the road. Cameron was on that side of the pickup and kept saying, "Dad, should we put the chains on?" with a little more agitation each time as he saw the edge coming closer and closer. Mike is very competent driving in the snow and knew exactly what he was doing but I think he was trying to get a bit of a rise out of us, too.

He put the chains on, got himself out of the hole and decided this was as good a place as any to stop. Out came the snowshoes, skis, sleds, snowboard, table, chairs, pop-up shade, propane stove, lunch, and drinks. Mike drove up and down a good stretch of road to make a decent ski/sled run.

Richelle crouched behind Nick's truck, putting on the snowshoes the boys made when they were in Boy Scouts.

Modeling the snowshoes. I didn't get a picture of her hurrying to catch up with Nick and doing a face-plant.

Serena, Cameron, Jenn, and Richelle molding the first two layers of the snow-....um....something.

Mike getting involved in shaping the head. Nick is on the right.

The final product. I think they decided it was a dinosaur of some sort. Later, they added sticks for arms and short pieces of cedar branches for antlers. The decorations are broccoli and carrots from lunch.

Mike took a few turns on the sled and even went one more time so I could get a picture of him. Here, he's waiting for Richelle and Cameron to finish their run.

The "wide spot" in the road. The main road comes up from the left, I'm standing on the road to Hemlock Lake, and the road over the ridge to Highway 138 is to the right.

Cameron and Serena. For some unknown reason, I didn't get one of Nick and Jenn.

Short, steep, and oh! so scary. Richelle screamed every time she slid down. As everyone knows, the more you slide on a spot the faster it gets. By the time we left, Richelle was flying down the cut bank and the dip from the snow-filled ditch launched her into the middle of the road.

This is what a Pacific Northwest logging road looks like in winter at 4,000 ft elevation. This really is a road! The snow was about two and a half feet deep with spots where it was maybe three feet deep. (I just asked Mike and that's what he told me.) Deep enough that we were plowing it with our bumper and grill and throwing snow up over the hood, windshield, and pick-up. Jenn said they watched it blow over the entire truck.

Richelle and I got back last night from my niece and her family's home. Those kids are vastly entertaining!

I read in "Bells on Their Toes" (sequel to "Cheaper by the Dozen") how a person cannot stay with a large family for very long without having something snap unless they themselves are from a large family or they have grown with one. I wouldn't say that five children is a large family, really, but I can see the truth in that statement.

I'm glad I have eleven siblings and four children. If I hadn't, the several conversations at mealtimes (each usually conducted at a higher decibel level than the conversation next-door, so to speak) might have gotten to me. Or dealing with one child crying because he thumped his head following older brother under the bed when another child suddenly becomes lost and frightened under the same bed - having followed older brother...

It was an enjoyable time. Precious snapshots:

~ The three-year-old emphatically declaring she "didn't like spinach!"
"You don't?" her father asked mildly.
"No. I don't like spinach."
"How about trying just a little?" her dad suggested, "Okay?"
"Okay." she agreed happily.
She asked for seconds, then thirds, and became heartbroken when her mom took the last of it.

~ I didn't know it at the time, but the seven-year-old son has some trouble reading. He read the word 'Luke' as 'luck' and I gave a quick lesson on how the 'e' can reach over one letter and thump the vowel on the head to make it say its long name but it can't reach over two letters. A couple of days later, he thanked me for the lesson, saying it helped his reading a lot.

~ The nine-year-old rolling her eyes when I tried to sweet-talk her into setting the table early by calling her "my favorite oldest niece there". She set the table with a smile - seeing through my ploy.

~ The 22-month-old flomping himself to the floor from ill-use and mis-treatment because I dared to offer him a piece of my (large) cookie instead giving him one of his own....but chirking right up when offered half a cookie from the bag.

~ The newborn being her sweet and adorable baby girl self.

Ahh...memories.

Children Are Adorable

I have the privilege this week of spending a few days at the home of my niece and her family to help out after the birth of their fifth child. It's been ten years since I had a toddler and I'd forgotten how entertaining they are.

This morning, the almost-two-year-old toddled over to where I was standing and took my hand in his. As I looked down to see what he wanted, he circled around until he had his mouth against my palm. Then he coughed. After which he nonchalantly walked away.

Later this afternoon, I was playing a 22-month-old version of "pillow fight" with him; he'd bring me the soft couch pillow and back away about six feet, I'd toss the pillow into his tummy, he'd pick it up, and it'd start all over. Well, I got distracted once and caught him off-balance, knocking him over and sending his head against the wall with a solid "thud". I leaped off the couch with comfort in mind but when I picked him up...he giggled.

Another time, the three-and-a-half-year-old came running to her mom in tears and highly indignant because her seven-year-old brother had pushed her. My niece asked several reasons why he might have pushed her but all were hotly denied. She finally asked, "Why would he do that?"
"Because I shut the door on his head," was the honest answer.

This same inquisitive girl "helped" me make supper.
"You are making supper today?" she asked.
"Yep," I answered.
"Why are you making supper?"
"Because your mom and dad are busy."
Her head jerked up, eyes wide, "They are?"

Busy Times

It doesn't seem all that long since I posted about our camping trip but it's been a couple weeks of busy-ness.

The week after camping was day camp for our local Girl Scouts. Richelle was a Program Assistant this year instead of a camper - a mile-stone she's been looking forward to reaching. Program Assistants are Girl Scouts going into seventh grade or older who help the leader give the day camp program to the younger girls. Richelle's goal was to give the younger girls the same wonderful experience she had. She was a splendid PA, working hard and never complaining even though it was very hot and the girls were demanding.

Our day camp is a week long outdoor event located on a private semi-developed park area. There is a large concrete pavilion, flush toilets, running water, picnic tables, and a fire ring. I say semi-developed because the road is gravel and the lawn is mowed down native grasses and it isn't well-watered. There's also poison oak around the edges and little green frogs in the bathrooms.

The temperatures ranged from 103 up to 108 that week. I made it clear to the leaders and PAs that I wanted everyone drinking water like little fishes and I wanted everyone hosed down four or five times each seven-hour day. I wasn't the first-aider -my job was to crack the whip over the heads of the PAs- but I didn't want any girls not having fun because she was ill with heat exhaustion. So I told my PAs that it was their job to keep the girls drinking water and getting wet. They had no problem spraying the little urchins with water and making them shriek. And the little urchins had no problem shrieking for more water. All together, great fun was had by all. I didn't see any girl dodging the water. Instead, I saw girls standing in front of the hose, water coming down their faces in sheets, shoes squidgiting, yelling that they weren't wet enough. Not one girl came to the first-aider for heat-related problems.


Last week was the local fair. I posted earlier about Richelle's entries so won't repeat except to say that her Lego house ended up with a garden roof instead of having an attic full of attic-y stuff.

The judging for her category (Science, Electronics, and Technology) was on Monday before fair so her jitters were over with early and she could enjoy things. We attended every day because the 4-H SET program is fairly new to this area and we wanted to give as much exposure as possible to the public. With that in mind, we gave demonstrations for two hours each afternoon and allowed any youth who wanted to program a robot and run them. We especially wanted Richelle and her female club member there to help attract girls who were interested. Legos and robots still seem to be a boys domain and it was good to have the girls there demonstrating, tutoring, and being knowledgeable.

I didn't take pictures of her house and my camera is acting up right now (I got some pictures of what could be ghosts but is really the light coming in the sliding door between the curtains) but here is a picture of her robot.


This is a Butler Bot and his name is (appropriately) Jeeves. He was designed to carry a plate of goodies to a guest in their room. The basic bot with the motors, wheels, and 'brain' placement was put together from a diagram. The rack to hold the plate and the touch sensor placement was Richelle's own construction. She wrote the program and built in a delay so the robot wouldn't move until the plate was loaded on. All of the motors the club had were being used on other kids' projects so she didn't have a third one to allow Jeeves to knock on the door. Instead, she programmed him to say, "Good morning" repeatedly until the plate was removed. He says a quick, "Thank you" and returns to base. Then it is all done again for room #2. Jeeves has a bit of an English accent and it's the cutest thing to watch.

All her entries got blue ribbons meaning they exceeded expectations for her category. All her entries were also selected for state fair and her robot got champion and reserve grand champion. She did well.

State fair runs from August 25th to September 5th. I'm curious how well her robot will do against the best in the state.

Silver Creek Camping Trip

Mike, Richelle and I went camping this past week. I love camping, especially when we go somewhere new.

This time, we went to an itty-bitty campground so small, so out-of-the-way that there's no fee. There's no water or garbage service, either, but it does have two vault toilets. All that didn't matter to us because we brought Mike's parents' trailer.

There's a small town on highway 31 in eastern Oregon called Silver Lake. It's more a marsh but "lake" sounds nicer. South of Silver Lake is Thompson Reservoir. A little north and west of there is a tiny marsh named Silver Creek Marsh and this campground is on the north edge where West Silver Creek flows out. Only highways 27, 28, and 31 are paved. All other roads are gravel, cinder, or dirt. The pick-up was filthy by the time we left for home.


Just to the right of the Ponderosas is a stump with a log leaning against it that looks like a small animal peeking over. On the other side, there's another log with a lot of branches that makes it look like a giant centipede sneaking up on the peering rodent.
A pretty good-sized fire swept through here a few years ago. The brush has come back well but there's lots of snags among the trees that survived.


There were two other trailers in the campground but we parked far enough away that we couldn't see or hear them. Instead, we saw and heard pine squirrels, wind in the Ponderosa tree tops, the cold, chuckling creek, the whine of mosquitoes, pine cones dropping with a soft 'thunk', blue jays arguing, the scream of red-tailed hawks, and the frequent slap of someone smacking a mosquito or biting fly.


Our peaceful camp site.

The first evening, Mike took us hunting for what I've heard called sage rats, prairie pups, and squeakers. They are grey-brown rodents about 8-10 inches long with a short, furry tail and they burrow around in fields. Farmers welcome them with the same enthusiasm that gardeners welcome moles and gophers.


Mike brought his .22 and .17 rifles and he and Richelle did most of the hunting. Richelle preferred the .22 because it didn't have the weight of a scope. Mike preferred the .17 because it has a scope and he's 50 years old. Even without using the scope, they both saw rats that I couldn't. A lot of it is because I've never hunted (you can't count the one feral cat I took care of) and my eyes aren't trained for it.


Mike: "Richelle...see that tall tree? Right down in front of it is a clump of sage. Look just a little to the left of there. Do you see him?"
Richelle: "Yeah, I see him!"
Mike: "Shoot him."
Me: "Where are those binocs?"


Richelle nailed the first one she shot at. She stooped over it, gloating, and then said wistfully, "I wish I could take it home with me."
"How about I take a picture instead?" I suggested.
She took a couple more pictures of the up-close and gruesome kind but I'll spare you the sight.


This is a view of Sycan Marsh from the east. I climbed part way up a big pile of rocks to get this picture. I only climbed part way because I started hearing rattlesnakes ahead of me and I have a policy of giving rattlers all the space they want.

These next two pics are taken from the top of Winter Rim at Freemont view point east of Thompson Reservoir. There used to be a no-longer-in-use fire look out up here that the Forest Service would rent out at $20/night but it burned down in the fire I mentioned earlier.


To get a good idea of distance, you really need to click on the picture above and see the buildings located just left of center.


We're looking down on Summer Lake. The blue is the present size of the lake, the white is alkali and shows the size of the lake at its fullest. It's a very long lake but quite shallow so it shrinks and swells with the seasons.


Fishing. The creek is through the brush...I think they're some kind of willow. The creek isn't very wide and not more than a couple of feet deep but it moves pretty quickly and is refreshingly cold.


We didn't keep any fish we caught. Richelle is a true fisherman. She caught a little 8-incher and by the time we were talking the day over at supper time, it'd grown to almost thirteen inches.

We used worms. I HATE fishing with worms. You have to pinch off the amount you need to begin with and then they wriggle and squirm, shorten up and stretch out while you're trying to impale them on the hook. My "ick" factor is set pretty high but putting worms on hooks comes really close to tripping it.


Hager Mountain has a fire control look-out on its peak and there are roads with signs showing the way. After driving about four miles on cinder roads, we came to a locked gate with a sign "Authorized Personnel Only". We were only about a mile from the top. We found a spot where we could see out but it wasn't as spectacular as what we would have seen from the look-out. We were facing roughly northeast with -is it Grassy Butte?- in the distance. Highway 31 runs along the base of it.

Beautiful country and wonderful times make for good, lasting memories.

California Trip

Richelle and I went with Mom to California for convention last week. We spent the first night in Medford with Mom's sister and bro-in-law. A short hop for us, yes, but it was four hours longer for Mom. My aunt and uncle are showing their years and it's good to spend time with them. My cousin's daughter from Australia (their granddaughter) has been staying there since February to help with whatever. While we were there, she added changing the movement box in a wall clock onto her list. It was fun to listen to her Aussie accent and terms and to see pictures of their place in Australia.

The second day, we stopped in Alameda to visit my dad's sister in the care facility. She's in the final stages of congestive heart failure and it's only a matter of time before she's gone so it was a privilege to visit with her. She was very weak physically but still very alert mentally and we were able to visit for about half an hour. Two of her daughters were also there and it was special to see the surprise and delight on all three faces when we walked in. Not that we're all that special, we just weren't expected.

We spent that evening and night with my brother and sis-in-law in San Mateo. I'd not visited their home before so it's nice to be able to picture them with a background now when I think of them. We had a great time there. I got to play with his iTouch, Richelle went shopping with her aunty, another brother came for supper and we all visited well into the night.

Wednesday to Sunday we spent at convention where it started out hot in the lower 90s and got progressively hotter each day until it peaked at 105 on Sunday. Kinda hard on us poor folk from the cooler Pacific Northwest where our daytime highs were about the same as their overnight lows. I thought I'd kept to the shade most of the time but was evidently in the sun long enough to get a bit of color. It didn't seem to affect the local kids, though. They still spent time in the sun hunting and playing with the toads that seem to live under every bush in the garden.

My niece from New Mexico was there with her three children. I hadn't seen her in three years so it was good to visit with her and get to know her three very adorable children. I had a great conversation with her nearly-five-year-old. He'll probably never remember it but I will!

I love going to places where you have enough room to breathe deeply and swing your arms. I love the fields that start without fences to mark the boundary. I love the miles and miles of orchards. I love trying to guess what's growing (that only works when I have Mom with me and she can correct me). I love the rice paddies giving way to corn fields giving way to carrots, onions, tomatoes, grain, and cotton fields interspersed with miles of olive, apricot, nectarine and prune orchards, orange, lemon, and grapefruit groves, walnut groves, almond, and pistachio orchards, as well as fields of table grapes and wine vineyards. Makes a person hungry driving through there.

There's also mile upon mile upon mile upon mile of rolling desert with nothing but sage, sparse grasses, and alkali flats. Places where Mom said Dad would love to go rabbit or bullfrog hunting and spin cookies and such. Maybe that's why I love going there so much....it makes me feel a little closer to knowing Dad.

Art

A couple of weeks ago, two very fine ladies stayed with us for a couple of days. One of them brought out some araucana eggs that had been blown and cleaned, a bottle of decoupage glue, some pretty napkins, and invited Richelle to decorate an egg with her.

Richelle loves doing anything artsy and got right into the project. They cut out butterflies, flowers, blades of grass, and whatever caught their fancy that would fit into the space and idea of their eggs. Next, they peeled away the two layers of white napkin, leaving only the thin tissue with the picture. Then they brushed a layer of glue on the egg and carefully placed their pictures. Finally, they applied a couple more layers of glue on top and let it dry.

They learned that if they weren't careful, the glue stuck to their fingers and then peeled the tissue away from the egg. Careful application of glue fixed nearly everything and strategically placed pieces even covered the holes in the ends of the eggs.

I think it'd be fun to make some more with eggs stained with tea, beet juice, or yellow onion skins.

Catch-up

No, we've not fallen off the edge of a cliff. We've succumbed to the nasty infections that's been wreaking havoc in this part of the country. For about four years my family has avoided doctors except for the chiropractor and then whammo! Three of us are dragged into the urgent care clinic within two weeks.

Richelle had an ear infection (I think it started as tonsillitis), Nick had a really bad sinus infection, and I had a pretty bad case of bronchitis. Mike and Cameron fought/is fighting a sore throat. Mike's cleared up after a week of home doctoring and Cameron's just started yesterday.

I'm looking forward to sunny weather and good health for all!

A week

I have never heard anyone complain that their life is getting less and less busy. Ever. That is because if a person's life becomes less busy, they cherish the fact. They revel in a second cup of tea and embrace an evening with nothing more strenuous on the agenda than a good book and an early night.

There are those who have learned to say "no". These people know their limitations and aren't embarrassed to stick to them. I, on the other hand, tend to see a block of time as an opportunity to wedge yet another thing in.

Take last week, for instance~

Monday was so far in the past that I can't remember what I did. I know I didn't go to Boy Scouts that night but I don't know what I did do.

Tuesday was Lego Robotics after which I went straight to a friend's house to help prepare for a Girl Scout outing that weekend. We got back home around 10pm.

Wednesday, our GS troop made about 90 dozen cookies for a local fund-raising effort to help pay for summer camp for children with cancer. We raced back home in time to go to Bible study.

Thursday was my Ladies' Tea. I had invited a number of ladies to my home for tea that afternoon. We had a wonderful time nibbling goodies, sipping tea, and visiting. No, we did not gossip! This day was made complicated the day before when Mike told me that whatever I had scheduled to do Thursday morning, I'd better get it done Wednesday (as if I had time!) because he needed me up on the tractor cutting a ditch for the water lines he had to get in before going to work. The short version of the story is that he'd cut the line inadvertently while trying to locate it for the new water line and the house was waterless until he fixed it. And ladies coming for tea!!

Friday the GS troop went on a Leadership Training weekend. We camped indoors so that made things a little easier but we had the girls cook Saturday supper using the Dutch oven (lasagna), the box oven (crescent rolls), and foil (brownies cooked in an orange peel).

To top everything off, my glasses broke Sunday morning right after we got up. I reached up to adjust them and the ear piece came away in my fingers. I did some swift thinking and asked the girls if anyone had some fingernail polish. One of them had some glow-in-the-dark polish that she let me use to sort of glue the fishing line stuff to the lens to hold it in place. I then reinforced it with a thin strip of Duct tape and got home in one piece. I was able to see the eye doctor Monday but I won't get my new glasses for ten days to two weeks. Richelle dug out my old pair from about six years ago and they suffice for now.

A cup of tea, a good book, and an early night sound wonderful!

New Experiences

Richelle and I spent last weekend with a niece and her family in central Oregon. We got there Friday afternoon and came home Sunday afternoon. I spent the bulk of Saturday in a training seminar but Richelle had great fun with her cousins.

I did remember to bring my camera but as I was four hours from home when I remembered, it did little good. I was so bummed! I even had opportunity to get a stunning shot of a full moon rising and framed by juniper trees. Then there was the cute opportunity of the three girls waking up on their couch-cushion beds in the front room. And there's when they put on their swimsuits, filled the horse trough, and went "swimming". Let's not forget the "fashion show" two of them put on. Of course, even a camera can't capture the giggles and quips they passed back and forth or the uncouth sounds of the "squashoons".

Richelle learned how to change irrigation pipe, water the garden, make and play the "squashoon" and tend to the chickens. She helped her cousins with a labor-intensive fund-raiser, picked strawberries, and we had a particularly toothsome fresh strawberry milkshake.

I love going east of the Cascades. I love the high desert, the smell of junipers, the straight roads, being able to see the horizon, the mesas, the lack of blackberry or poison oak underbrush..or much of any underbrush for that matter.....

The good times and laughter with family made it extra special.

Long time

It's been weeks since I last posted and much has happened but of little earth-shaking magnitude.

Richelle and I went to Saginaw convention August 20-24. We went the week before, also, but I'm glad we were able to attend both. They were very good for the soul. Kimberly with her girls and Andrea with her family also attended the second week. The funniest things were whispered in the dark after the lights went out in the dorms:

Me: "What?"
Niece #1: "Huh?"
Me: "I thought I heard my name called but I can't hear because I don't have my glasses on."
Niece #1: "SNORT! Giggle, giggle, giggle"
(Those who are hampered in vision as badly as I am can't hear the person next to them without our glasses on. We can hear the person in the next room just fine.)
Me: "Don't tell me you've never heard your mom say the same thing!
Kimberly from four mattresses away: "What?"
Me: "Huh?"
Kimberly: "I thought I heard someone call me."
Niece #1 and Richelle giggling away.
Me: "I was telling your daughter that I'm sure she's heard you say that you can't hear because you weren't wearing your glasses."
Kimberly: "Snort! I just said the same thing not five minutes ago!"
Niece #1 and Richelle laughing hysterically into their pillows.

And...

It's dark. Perhaps ten minutes after the lights have been turned out, maybe fifteen. The girls have stopped whispering three minutes ago...
Niece #3 quietly whispering: "Is anyone still awake?"
Richelle, softly: "I am."
Niece #1, quietly: "I am, too."
Me, just as softly: "I'm not."
Silence.
Niece #1 slightly louder: "You are, too!" Muffled explosions from three pillows.

And....

Lights have just been turned off but there are three or four girls who come into the dorms making a small bit of noise.
Richelle whispers: "I know of a good way to block out the noise."
Niece #1 snapping upright and on the edge of laughter: "So do I! Like this!" She jams her fingers in her ears and then falls backwards giggling uncontrollably.


Schooling ~
We started school this week because I got Richelle's books ordered late and didn't get them until last Thursday. Instead, last week we deep-cleaned the family room, dining room, and computer room (formerly known as the school area). She's enjoying full days of school instead of full days of washing walls, oiling woodwork, dusting everything, moving furniture, washing windows, etc.

My new hat ~
Richelle's newly involved in a Lego Robotics team that meets just three miles away. Each team needs a Mentor and at least one Coach. The lady helping the mentor start the team up knows me from Boy and Girl Scouts so approached me to be a coach. As if I can say "no" to something like that. Perhaps I ought to take lessons from Kimberly! So now I'm a Coach for our team and am traveling to Bend this weekend for training. The team competes in December at UCC. Instead of me repeating what's already been written, go to ortop.org or firstlegoleague.org if you want to know more.

Warm days, cool nights, shorter daylight hours....must be autumn.

A Special Supper

My birthday came on Wednesday this year. Mike and Cameron are on opposite shifts from Nick so to do anything as a family, we have to do it on the weekend. Besides, Richelle and I left for convention Wednesday afternoon. So the boys took Mike, Richelle, and I out to supper Sunday. The last two years we've gone to the Mexican place here in town where the food is good and the service is...well...fun.

I assured the boys that they didn't need to tell the waiter it was in honor of my birthday but of course they didn't listen. They only get to see their mother wear a sombrero and be sung to in both Spanish and English once a year. Of course they're going to tell the waiter.

The waiter called everyone amigo/amiga/compadre when taking their order until he got to Richelle who he called Princess. Threw her off so badly that she started giggling and almost couldn't get out 'quesadilla'.

He brought Mike's order first and then came with Richelle's and Cameron's. He set Cameron's down and said, "Beef for you and chicken for you, amigo," he looked at Nick, "is coming."
"Uh," Nick stammered, "we both ordered beef."
"Too bad for you," the waiter replied nonchalantly. "It's already cooked."
Mike laughed so hard he nearly choked.

By the time my plate came, we realized we were a tableware setting short so Nick asked the waiter for a fork.
"A fork? You need a fork." Turning to the table across the aisle from us, he asked them, "You're finished with this? You finished eating?"

The highlight of the evening for everyone else was when they brought me the sombrero. Mike plopped it on my head, and the waiters sang in Spanish and then got everyone in that part of the restaurant to join in in "Happy Birthday". A part of the whole birthday thing there is that they bring the person a shot of some kind of drink. They told me it was tequila and Dr. Pepper. A slammer? I don't know except they slammed the little cup on the table and it fizzed. Last year, I only took took a sip and was heavily teased so this year I decided to try to down the whole thing. I mean, you only do this once a year, right? It was three nasty swallows. I do believe I'll pass from now on. I had to eat three chips to get feeling back in my throat and I can do without the small but potent burps I had for the next two hours.

Drinking certainly isn't something I'll be doing in the near future. Or the far future. Or ever.

Nick received the beef enchilada that he'd ordered, we got a new table setting, and the waiter got a fairly large tip.

A long week

Whew! What a week we've had!! Mike and Cameron are on swing shift so I would do what house and yard work I could before about 11am and then fix lunch before going into Sutherlin for two-three hours to help one of our Boy Scouts work on his Eagle project. He's building picnic tables for the park in town. He started out looking for sponsors for six tables and ended up building eleven. With the help of a professional and a couple of fellow scouts, he bent, cut, and welded the metal frames. Others helped grind the welds and rough edges. I was put in charge of getting the frames painted. My main crew was Richelle and the Scout's little sister who is also in Richelle's troop. Others came to help now and then but it's been over a week and there's still one to be painted.

All of this in the heat. 100+ degree weather. We always get five days to a week of 100-degree weather in August and often a partial week in July but this year we've already had a couple of days that hot in May and now this week in July.

Global warming? Hardly. The Scout camp in the Cascades still has three foot snow drifts and they're not sure just when they can get in there and get the camp ready for campers in three weeks. There was so much snow that many of the wooden tent frames are destroyed. No, not global warming.

Added to working outside in the heat was the cold I had. It started in my head, then moved into my chest where it pretty much made itself at home for a while. All of that together made me tired, tired, tired. I also took the kids to the river to swim a couple of times and while the current isn't very strong there, it's strong enough to tire us out in little over an hour.

Stay tuned for next week's episode: I Was A Leader At Day Camp