Hey Mister!

As I stated, we are having a heat wave. Our friend we invited over to VBS this week came over after camp yesterday to swim in our pool. His mom came to pick him up later in the afternoon and while my friend and I were chatting on my back patio, my husband came from the garage with a ladder and drip irrigation hoses.

After seeing the Water Misters in Palm Springs when we vacationed in May, he had a light bulb moment. He made his own for our back porch by attaching his extra pieces of drip irrigation together and hanging them from the gutter of our porch overhang.

Brilliant.
So now if we are not in the pool, we are misting by the porch. You gotta do something when you are stuck in a heat pattern of 98+ for five days straight in an area that maybe reaches 90 once per summer. Loving the heat ... and Loving water.

Now, back to packing ... we'll be at Camp in 48 hrs. YaHoO!
See you next week ...

Wheat Field

As my husband and I were riding home from our bike ride a week ago, we passed the hill where we went snow sledding on Christmas Day in '08. We remembered how great that was and couldn't believe that the hill which was covered in white was now covered in wheat. My husband seized the idea to take the kids back one summer night and snap their photographs. He did just that last night.

We are in a heat wave and the kids are living in water. Luckily for us, however, we just had to get them showered and dressed for our 2 minute walk to this field. It is literally behind our neighborhood. The land was cleared two years ago or more, just at the start of the housing decline. It was planned to be filled with houses by now. Not one thing has developed; except for this wheat.

In fifteen minutes we were back home, changed back into our barely-there-pj's for a hot summer evening. As my husband profoundly said, "2009 will be a summer to remember."

As a side note, that yes I am bragging about, I think my husband rocked these photos. He hasn't even added all his unique touches to the photos yet; but I'm not one to be patient when I already like what I see.

Tshirt Factory

Part of the fun in going to VBS is that we make themed tshirts for the week. Our church uses the Gospel Light's series and this years theme is SonRock Kids Camp. Our church will be transformed into a camping theme complete with faux fir trees and tents and hiking gear; I have no doubt the kids and adults will feel transformed into the wild.
Stacking up on cheap Hanes tshirts this weekend, using the iron on transfers that were provided by VBS, I went to work in making the graphics come alive on the shirts. It is always rough going to get started, so I always start with my shirt. I don't like how the iron can get the outline of the paper transfer on the shirt, and depending on the shirt color, some show up more than others. I think I have to trim my paper more than I do. Still perfecting. But for the most part, it is acceptable.
The kids get to choose their shirt colors and rotate between two through out the week. They also choose their design layouts; front, back, side, whatever they wish. This year, they opted for just the front and the sleeves. VBS starts tomorrow and we are all excited!

Now off to organizing, cleaning, and packing for our "genuine" camping trip at the end of the week ... as my son blares Veggie Tales Bob and Larry's Campfire Songs cd from his room. It could be a long day ...

Fabulous Friend Friday

Ever met someone and felt like you have known them a good while, but you really haven't? You appreciate what they have to say, you want a piece of their wisdom, something about them intrigues you, you just want to learn more about them? I met this lady a year ago while sitting in the dance studio lobby where my daughter take classes. At first, she talked with other people that she had met and I stuck to reading my book. But she was always friendly, smiling, saying Hello when we passed. And then one day we struck up a conversation and we never stopped.

Over the past year we've really talked ... Tuesday Talk Time With D* I would call it to my hubby as I walked out the door with my girl. While I was more than happy to shuttle my daughter to and from, I was glad that in between those two car rides, that I would have a friend to chat with. You name, we chat it. So when the girls too started to hit it off in class, we figured that a play date was in order. But being in separate towns, different school schedules, extra-curricular activities, it just never got done.

Until this summer. The kids and I went over to their house yesterday. My son (being the only boy in the crowd and not knowing either the mom or the daughter very well) decided that he'd bring his camera along. If nothing else, if his sister and her friend got way-too-girlie for his new boy-attitude-liking (ya know, he is going into 3rd grade) ... that he would just take pictures of their yard. Well, little did he know that they live on property with woods. Talk about a boys heaven!
However, these woods aren't just a border of trees that separate one neighborhood from the next, these are the real kind. Like nestled amongst the mountain range where real wildlife wonder down to enjoy. Even the better! But when I checked his camera when we returned home, there was only a few shots and those were of trees, ferns, dirt, and the back of the girls' heads!! He said he was too excited looking out for wildlife that he forgot to really focus on good camera skills. I thought that was cute; I bet he was beyond excited with his heart pumping. And while they didn't go far, I am sure he thought they did!
Knowing that all three kids are responsible, with clear rules set forth such as stick together and never leave the path, and hearing their voices echo through the trees; the two mommies sat on the deck and got caught up and shared new things. What fun to continue to get to know someone. I am looking forward to our Tuesday Talk Time come September; never a dull conversation with my friend!

*As a side story, while we were driving up one of the main streets to reach our friend's house, we noticed a sign that basically said No Hunting. My son, the animal lover that he is stated, "I love this place!! Yes, this is the best ever! I am so excited, I am so excited." Any place anti-animal-killing is a good place for him.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

The family that plays together stays together. That is us. My brother and I grew up playing board games and card games as a family. We even had our own designated night of the week where it was just a given that a game was going to be played out. So it was no wonder when we congregated yesterday to celebrate my dad's birthday that a game would ensue. Make that a hot-competitive-game of croquet.
To make the game roll a little faster, we divided ourselves into teams with the hard-fast rule being that the teammates had to alternate hits; no matter what. So no stacking of the hard shots for the best player. At first, my son hugged his sister and sweetly said, "I wanna be on my sister's team!" ... which got a smirk from my girl, but no real commitment. In pops his cousin who said, "I'll be your team mate!" Thrilled he got an offer, he ditched his sis and went for the older cousin.
But my son has rarely, if ever, played a real game of croquet. To start, his swing looked more like golf. To which the end result was a hammered ball clear across my parent's backyard. The photos below tell the story. Notice the crossed fingers of my son's teammate when it was his turn again.The two blondie cousins were a pair and they started slow. It was not due to lack of strength or know-how, it was because both girls had no spacial awareness to each other whatsoever. The common thread of conversation whenever their turn was up? "Why don't you move away from your partner? Give her some space to hit the ball." Every. Single. Time. They took the team work title very seriously; We Must Do This Together!
My parents were a team. Their form was spot-on to start. Knocking balls left and right. Awww, considering one was the birthday boy, we let them continue for awhile. Until we were coming back the other way to the finish line, then their offsprings and spouses blew them away and left them back in kidville.My brother and his wife ... the pair that looked like a professional golfer with his better half. My sister in law can hold her own with her spunky independence, and my brother knows it, but of course what game of team croquet would not be complete with out one member telling the other member exactly how to do everything. This lead to a friendly bicker between the two, my sister in law reminding my brother who had the mallet every time he felt the need to offer advice. Letting it all out ... she held that team all on her own. He knows that too.
It was a nail biter type of ending. My husband and I coming from behind to inch just in front of my brother and sister in laws ball. We were so close to hitting the final stick. But it was their turn. The tension mounted. My brother getting into the action called for a meeting with the Birthday Boy Judge. Trying to strategize his play to get the most number of hits to make it to the final stick before he gave his turn away to us.
It was a close one. The kids have now ditched the game (the adults kinda blew them away in the beginning and it is amazing really that they stuck with it for as long as they did) and are now rolling around on the grass and lying on the hammock waiting for this game to be over. My brother states his case, the men are all eagerly listening and stating their claim to the rules and bylaws, while the women look on with the silent thought of, "Really? This is just a game of backyard croquet."
The wind up ... the hit ... ohh, and he misses the stick. In for the ringer, his wife, who saves the team once again for the win. We all shake hands, the kids run free, time for dinner ...My dad. He's one year older today and he looks fabulous. I am not sure if he would want me to broadcast his age, but after being cleared this past Spring of making his fifth year anniversary Cancer-Free, we are blessed and thankful and grateful and in love that he is with us with a clean bill of health.
It comes as no surprise that when his grandchildren were born that he would be the type of man who would sit and hold the babies, feed the toddlers, play in the Ikea tunnels endlessly with the two year olds, teach them how to woodwork, play music, and camp when they got older, be the leader of the friendly jokes and teasing ... he is there for his Grandkids in the same fashion as he was there for his children. My dad's rock solid leadership, his wisdom and character, his morals and ideals, his humor and softness is unmatched and I am proud to call him mine.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Gotcha Smilin'

It has been a heat wave the past few weeks that even Cora has been smiling. Our first dog, Buhner, was a Golden Retriever mixed with a Golden Lab and that dog always smiled. I think the only time when he wasn't panting or having his tongue hang out was when he was sleeping. Uh-no, I take that back, sometimes he slept while drooling. He was a fantastic dog.

One of the first things I noticed differently between Cora and Buhner was that she didn't have that smile. She never seemed to pant. Never had her mouth open except to yawn. But in its place, she had won the Most Expressive category. You can almost sense what she is thinking and this is the first dog where all four family members think of her as 'human-like' (her personality is very real and present) compared to being just a dog. She is truly part of the family.

So, when it reaches 90 outside, she will finally pant. And lay in the sun, not the shade. Go figure.

Drawing 101

I just love this ~ my daughter getting a whim to draw on her white board. I think her weekly summer drawing classes are having a good influence on her. The drawing was inspired by the photo at the bottom of the white board of her Grandpa (my father-in-law) with a fish he had caught last summer. Fishing is Grandpa's all-time-favorite hobby.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

This is the first summer that I have known this particular friend of mine; we met this Spring when our two girls became closer friends. I got to know the mom, my son got to know the brother, we all hit it off, happy times.

My friend works as a 911 Police Dispatcher during the night which works spectacular during the school year, but not so fantastic during the summer. She still needs to sleep during the day. Luckily, her children are now old enough to occupy their own time and know-how at their house with their mom safely there for any dire need during the morning hours before their Grandma comes over. We've been helping them out having the two kids over one of the days during each week.

Here was our scheduled day; while the sister was at Upward Cheer Camp in the morning, the brother was at our house playing with my son. Then we all went to church to have a picnic lunch during the 30 minute break between Cheer Camp in the morning and Upward Basketball Camp in the afternoon that the brother attended. While the brother was at camp, the sister come back to our house to play with my daughter. The mom came to pick up her daughter at 3:30pm to drive her to a birthday party and the son would be retrieved by the dad. A lot of this, that, and the other, but it worked brilliantly and my friend got to have her time to sleep with out interruption. And the kids had a blast!

I learned a bit ago that not only does my son and her son enjoy the traditional boy things like Bokugons and Legos, but they both triple-love to cook. So I made sure there were chocolate chip cookie ingredients this morning when our friend came for a visit. I thought they could start off playing their boy adventures, then move to the kitchen to cook; something unique and fun.

I called up to them to tell them it was time to make cookies. They both said, "Okay, just a second." So I waited. Five minutes went by ... "Boys, are you coming down?" And my son replied, "In fifteen minutes." That wouldn't work, we needed to get these cookies made and cooled before we had to leave with picnic in hand. Giving them the choice to continue to play or make cookies, they opted to play.

My daughter had the entire kitchen to herself and she made FABULOUS cookies!! Lucky her, she was thrilled. And then she and her friend, with my son, enjoyed outside time this afternoon.

One of those Mondays

I am keyed in on the fact that I am on the home stretch of my braces, or so says my mind. I am exhausted, and just when you get exhausted with something, it should change. Right? Patience is not my virtue. This has been a real test. Some days, such as today, I feel like I failed the test.

No big news after the Ortho visit this afternoon. And sometimes no big news means blah. Same old rubber bands, with the exception that my right side needs to wear them 24/7, while my left side can drop down to 12 hrs per day. Sigh. I have to force myself to remember that the lady to my left during my appointment was discussing oral surgery with the doctor. I guess my day is better than hers ... but still I am ready for removal, please and thank you.

I stopped by Starbucks on my way home. A different one from last time and they still took forever to make my Vivanno. Maybe the recipe is just that complicated. Since I had already paid and had been standing in the cafe waiting and waiting, she offered up a voucher. However, when she approached her manager about the certificate, he said, "Sure, it'll be about five minutes." No, really, that's okay, I must be going. I guess it is the thought that counts?

One of those Mondays ....

Newest Blog on the Net

My children's favorite summer shows have been found on the Food Network channel. A few weeks ago my husband casually mentioned to my son that he should video tape his cooking and post it on YouTube. This afternoon while my daughter and I were at the gym, my son and my husband went to work. They created this fabulous video. I just love it!

This video is all-my-son. Non-scripted from start to finish, he knows how to talk and keep the action rolling. Television viewing has paid off in this instance.

One thing led to another and a title was created, logos were designed, and a blog was born. I encourage you to Follow his blog, and make kind comments.

Kudos to my husband and son!! Step Up To The Kitchen with Rolan Dough.

Saturday Ride

My brother and his wife are on an Anniversary trip to Napa Valley which means that my parents have their two sweet girls at their house. My two were invited over for a day of play in the sun with their cousins. Which meant that we had the day to ourselves, again, how did we get so lucky?

We started with a long bike ride through a few of the hundreds of trails that weave themselves through our rural wooded part of the state. My husband bikes frequently and he much prefers the hard-core trail rides, but he agreed to accommodate me and stayed on the low-key paths.

He was my guide and took us on trails I have never been and it was gorgeous! Going over bridges with beautiful rivers below, and through the woods with the sun streaking through the trees, and through our local park where there was a Kids Carnival in progress, and we passed our lake both ways. What a neat adventure with out ever using our car to get anywhere. Some day our kids will be able to do the trek and that will be so fun.For the record, our kiddie pool is actually 8 feet across and just over 3 feet deep, so it isn't really a dinky little thing. It takes up a good portion of our upper tiered patio. It was calling our name when we got off our bike ride. Awww ~ I could have fallen asleep.

But now we are cleaned up and headed out to dinner at a local golf course that has good food and outdoor seating. Then we will retrieve our children.

Lake Day

I didn't realize how fuzzy this phone picture turned out, otherwise I would have tried again...

Temps soaring into the 90's .... what better place than to head to a lake to cool off. We gathered up our friends and headed off after lunch. Although the heat was not bad at the park, because there was enough breeze coming off from the lake and the water kept every one cooled. There was no shade ... unless you wanted to ditch the water for a picnic table a long ways away. So, my friend and I just stood talking hours upon hours and kept cool with the water lapping our legs. It felt awesome. The kids went swimming, and played with the sand. The kids are now rotating through showers, the laundry is set, and dinner is next.

But while we were out playing, this is what came across my phone; my husband lounging in our blow up pool. In our garage he found a pool mattress we had bought ages ago and never used. He has had an extremely busy month with work, and decided after a meeting this morning to just take the rest of the day to himself. I am glad he did; he deserved every ounce of the sun's rays and a quiet house!

County Fair

It started back in January when I was talking to a friend whose daughter had been involved with 4H Club. The family also is a first level trainer for Seeing Eye Dogs, but we mainly talked about the involvement of her daughter in 4H. I talked with my kids about it that evening and they were very eager to learn more. So I jumped online and saw that the 4H main event was at this summer's County Fair. I added the date to my calendar and it finally came to the day.
Our favorite part were ALL the animals (while my kids loved Disneyland and would go back in a heartbeat, they are both not into fair rides. Lucky me, the fair never is an extraordinary expense). We saw the 4H dog tent and wandered through. A Beagle was spotted, but for the most part, the Golden Retrievers and Labs won the majority prize.

The consensus about 4H: from my son, "It looked cool and I would give it a 7 out of 10." and my daughter says, "It looks like fun, because it is really cool that kids get to work with their dogs and show them off and do all that hard work."

I give my son the credit for all the pictures as he held the camera for the day. There was a 4H division in photography ... hmmm maybe some year ... I think he did a great job. Thanks, Buddy!
True meaning of the word HOT DOGS! I am sure the temp was close to 90. The K9 Bomb Squad demonstration was very interesting; wish it would have lasted longer.

Vacation Bible School

It is that time of year again when our church hosts Vacation Bible School. It was just short of a year since attending this church when I was asked to help with VBS. Knowing that we wanted to stay at this church, I said YES as a way to get to know people. They asked if I could help organize the Group Activity for each of the five days in the Elementary age section ~ and coming from a much smaller church background where there was "not much" to VBS outside of the standard follow-the-workbook, I didn't see that it was going to be a big deal.

Wrong. It was a very big deal, very involved and I quickly found that out ... our church rarely does anything small. When we host an event, we host an event! I learned a lot and I met a lot of people. I would not have changed that volunteer job for anything ... however, I did not revolunteer for the same position again. I wonder if all the newbies are asked to fill that vacancy? Ha ha.

Since then I have always been a small group leader, starting with the preschool age and working my way up to second grade with my children. But as the years have continued, I sensed that it was time for me to take on a new volunteer role, quietly pushing my son to venture to a new leader, stepping back from the front lines.

So when the Children's Director called on me this Spring for VBS volunteering, I told her that I would like a different role, but I was open to what that new role might be (meaning, I didn't have anything specific in mind). She was perfectly fine with that answer and looked at her sheet and said, "How about helping with the Elementary School Art." Since she said that position first, I figured it was in the most need. I told her yes with a laugh and said, "As long as I am not a leader, as I am so-art-challenged. But I could make a good assistant." When my kids came home from school that day and I shared what my upcoming role would be at VBS, they both laughed and fell on the floor. They know my art-disability.

I love our church. My husband and I became members earlier this year and it feels good to have a church home. After six years of attending, it finally felt right to commit to this church. And it was a good decision. With all the activities for children and adults, the convenience in drive (through country/rural roads ~ I LOVE the drive), the Pastor's messages, the friendships, the real people. We are happy.

Tonight is our VBS Leaders Mtg to gear us up and I love this time of year! A warm summer evening, gathered at church, laughing and having fun with friends talking VBS.

Pictures to cherish

My son ventured off to my parents house a few weeks ago and had a great day. Here are the pictures that went with the story.

Best Buddies = Splash + Boy
Getting excited about the camping adventure coming up soon. Splash was taking dibs on the bunk that had previously been claimed by my girl. They may have to flip a coin.
Sprinkler fun for two water hounds:
Chillin'out with Grandad over the Cabella's catalog ... sharing advice on fishing gear.
Firepit S'more time to end the day.

Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I've seen kids use their full imagination while playing. Usually the block is playing a game, or dancing, or riding bikes, or playing with water. But rarely do my children play imagination story lines when playing with their neighborhood gang. This afternoon their friends who are siblings came back to play and they are outside whooping up the fun with imaginative play. This is how I grew up and it is great to see them adding this spark to the front yard.

I remember tying ropes to our bikes to turn them into horses, or reenacting television shows like Love Boat or Emergency/Squad 51 (and for the record, my parents didn't let us watch Love Boat but only on an extreme occasion, but I knew who Julie McCoy was so I always tried to raise my hand the highest to be chosen to play her part). Every one was a character and it was imperative that you played your part well and didn't jump character into someone different. Once we started it was the thing for the rest of the day, and it was hard to convince others that you were tired of playing that imagination, or that you wanted to switch to a game like Hide and Seek. But it just worked, all day long, you were engrossed in reenactments and imagination.
My children play this well with each other inside or when we are camping or in our backyard. Although I am grateful for the dynamics of our neighborhood and wouldn't change the people, I have always noticed this element missing. But today they are playing with their friends from school that came over for a date and I am trying to follow along....from the snippets I've over heard so far: the boys have stolen money and the girls are the law enforcement agency trying to rally them up and put them away. Bikes are strewn about, coats have come off and are laying here and there, scooters are laying on the grass ... FUN is happening!