I Finally Got My Float Pictures

We had a great time on the float this year in Laughlin. Here's the girlies with our animal prints on. Goldie had hers under the tank top, you'll just have to take my word for it. As it turns out, most of the pictures (read: all but 2) are from the day before the float, when we were on lake Mojave. The only other shot from the day of the float was my ridiculous brother...
Oh well. We still got some great pictures on Friday:
The first one is my "little" brother, jumping from the cliff. We all took turns making the leap. Even Goldie showed her character by overcoming her fear and taking the plunge. I was SO proud of you Goldie.

We attached the raft to the boat so people had something to hang onto when they got into the water. Of course, this led to a little mayhem. Note the location of my hubby's foot...At over 100 degrees, we were happy to have the shade on the boat every now and then.
The boys in particular took advantage of the shade.
While we girlies spent more time in the water -By the end of the day, there were several antics going on. Yes, that's a squirt gun in his mouth.
There were two big highlights of the day. First was, like last year, feeding the wild donkeysand the other highlight was getting to skim board with some nice guys who offered to let us girls use their equipment. I got up on the first try. Yay for liquid courage!

Labor Day

I understand that Labor Day has it's foundations in the trade unions and labor forces in New York back in the late 1800s and, other than being related to the military involvement in the Pullman strike, it really has no military background. But Labor Day often reminds me of Memorial Day since both seem to be the bookends of summer. So today I am thinking along military gratitude lines and watched a film on Utube that a friend of mine sent me the link for recently.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:
Forgotten Star Spangled Banner Verse

I am grateful every day for many things. The military and our freedom provided by them is one of the many blessings we all should be grateful for.

For those of you interested, it's actually the FOURTH verse...here's the full lyrics by Francis Scott Key -

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Thanks Suzy Kaboozie

A friend of our family, Suzy Kaboozie, recently gave the kids some magnifying glasses with which to go exploring. They have been having such fun walking around the house (inside & out) looking at all of the little things there are to discover. Luckily my little man has yet to discover how to melt things with the magnifying glass but I figure it's only a matter of time.

And So It Begins...

September 1st is a marked calendar day at our house. It is the opening day for dove hunting season. Hubby's an avid upland bird hunter and love hunting season. This year is no different. It's 9:40 in the morning and the guys are already home with their limit on birds.My son was holding one and I asked him what it was and he said "A ground squirrel"...um, NO little buddy....but we DID catch one of those too today!
That'll teach those little demons to eat from my garden.

The Speed of Kids

I have often noticed that as fast as my camera could possibly close it's aperture, my kids seem to be able to move faster. Nowhere is this more obvious than when we are at the zoo. It's like they have little sensors in their brains that see my finger begin to move to take the picture and they wince, grimace or jerk so that the picture is ruined. I have figured out a way to catch them unawares however.....from BEHIND! I got some cute pics of both kids, sitting nicely with their friends who went to the zoo with us, and all of the clear ones were of the backs of their heads. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. Luckily, my friend M has a little baby M who isn't big enough to have learned the jerk & jive maneuver yet so I got some cute pictures of her.

Party Animals

Our theme for this year's float was jungle prints and we had a fun time dressing the part...
Stay tuned for more pictures (they're being developed) of our fun weekend in the sun in Laughlin.

Burn Baby Burn

One of Heidi's goals for her vacation to visit us was to get a nice crisp burn on her shoulders. Where better to do that than the pool?

A Bunch of Wild Animals

Monday was SUCH a hot day at the zoo and with the summer crowds it was even rougher to navigate the million acres of animals, but somehow we managed to have a good time. The best was that around 5PM everyone seemed to evacuate like the place was on fire and by the mid-evening we had the place essentially to ourselves and it cooled down to about 85 degrees. We even managed to get a glimpse of the new 5 month old baby panda. My favorite part was finally getting to see the big cats in action though. Around 6:30 or 7ish the lions, jaguar, panther, cheetah and other felines woke up and began to pace around their cages. It was VERY cool to see. Here's some of our highlights:

Just the Girls

My best friend from high school came to visit us this week from Oregon. I was so very pleased to get to spend time with her and catch up. Her family will be here Friday so we decided to squeeze in a little girl time before they get here. About 7 of us got together for some Indian food (never had before, but it was quite good) and then pazooki and drinks. Thanks ladies for a little R&R even if it was just for the evening. Cheers!

Horsing Around in Solano Beach

We took some time off last weekend and went down to the San Diego area for a mini-vacation at the beach. On Saturday we spent the afternoon at the races, which was our draw to get us there, because Zinyatta was racing and we got to try all of the samples for the chili cookoff and test the salsas from the salsa competition. The kids loved playing on the playground and seeing all of the horses. Really, the best part though, was all of the rest of the fun we had away from the track. We stayed at one of our friends' house that is about 2 blocks from the beach, so we were able to go for a walk along the beach after walking down to dinner at a local taco shack, then we got up that morning and spent some time at the beach where the kids dug in the sand and Daddy buried us to our knees...For all of the things we want and think we need at home, it sure was simple being able to live out of two suitcases and a cooler. Oh yeah, and winning $160 on a trifecta made it all essentially a free trip. Not bad for 48 hours away from home.

Sac Town

We went up North last weekend to visit Uncle Eddie and Erika and Trace....who's Trace you ask? Oh, Trace Adkins. We got to see him in concert with Toby Keith and "Jaron and the Long Road to Love" (why doesn't he just call himself Jaron?). The highlight of the concert was the finale when both TA and TK took the stage to sing "Courtesy of the Red White & Blue". They brought a soldier in uniform up out of the crowd to sing the "Kick your Ass" line and it was awesome. The next day we went to the state fair to see the animals, ride the rides, and try some crazy confections like chocolate covered bacon (served frozen if you can imagine that). It was a fun trip and the kids just loved playing with Uncle Eddie & Erika. Thanks guys for inviting us to share the weekend with you. Here's 8 quick pages of highlights from the weekend:

Concert in the Park

We went to see Leann Rhimes last week in Beaumont with one of our friends from the area. Although she's not even remotely a country fan, she was a good sport and escorted us because she knew we are huge country fans in our house (refer back to our Stagecoach posts).

The afternoon was perfectly mild and we got there with plenty of time to lay out our blanket about 50 yards from the stage. What a great opportunity to see such a big name up close in concert. It wasn't too crowded either although the crowd behind us almost tripled by the time Leann took the stage. The kids had fun playing with their glow-in-the-dark wand/sword while we waited and we got to enjoy a nice evening of music and pizza in the park. Thanks Jill-b-sue.

Christmas in July

My nutty little girl decided to play dress up the other day and what better in our 100 degree heat than to try out her winter gear? Crazy kid.

In Over His Head

We are having a fun time with the kiddos at the pool this summer. Our ultimate goal is to try to get them both to swim without the aid of flotation devices. I'm sure Daddy has visions of going on rafting trips with them and boating and all sorts of adventures, but Mommy's vision is more along the line of getting to take them to the pool without having to get in and out thirty times to assist them....and a nice suntan wouldn't suck either.

So ahem, where were we? Oh yes, we want them to be able to swim. Well, along the path to this ultimate destination there are several obstacles. The first of which is them having the courage to float alone, without holding onto either of us. We worked at this all summer last year and they have pretty much accomplished that feat this summer. The next hurdle we are facing however is getting their heads in the water without them throwing a fit once they resurface (it's easy if you don't count the tantrum). Our solution with our little girl was to get her "swimming princesses" that Santa brought her last Christmas and have her dive for them. Thanks Sunshyne for that idea. But her brother has been more difficult. Granted, he IS a year younger, so I'm cutting him some slack, but man, he sure can throw a fit when he wants to.

The breakthrough happened last week when Daddy came with us to the pool. We brought the camera and our little darling wanted his moment of glory captured on film. It took Daddy several takes to finally get the timing of the camera down correctly (our poor little guy got several dunkings but was patiently cooperating). But we finally got our proof...

Heebie Jeebies

My little guy and I were washing the car the other day when he reached up toward the driver's side mirror and said "Mommy, there's cobwebs." In my best "I'm not going to give my son a phobia" voice I said "Oh, those are no big deal" and took a swipe at them with my itty-bitty, might-as-well-have-not-been-there cloth. Imagine my shock to see a clump of dirt the size of a quarter fall from the mirror. On IMMEDIATE closer investigation (note to self - dirt clumps do not live in spider webs), I realized that this was not only a large spider, but it's legs were tucked in toward it's body and it was a VERY VERY large spider.

I ushered my son as quickly as I could away from the car without trampling him and lept the stairs toward the kitchen to fetch a jar in what can only be explained as super-human majesty. In the process, I called to hubby "You've GOT to come see this", which must have sounded sincere since hubby was close on my coattails by the time I reached the car.

Now, as a side note, I hate spiders. Well, I guess hate is not the right word. I can appreciate that spiders are good for the ecology of the earth and eat flies and whatnot.....that being said, I abhor, nay LOATHE spiders. Ever since growing up in Northwest Oregon we have been on bad terms. You see, in Oregon, they not only have poisonous brown recluse spiders but also the less dangerous but much more ugly and unfortunately for me, much more prevalent in my father's wood pile "Wolf Spiders" (aptly named due to their color, hair and size). Did I mention I moved AWAY from Oregon? It wasn't just the rain. As much as I also hate black widows, they travel in solitude so once you kill or, in my case, catch one, there is unlikely to be any more of them.

Side note aside, I cannot squash any spider larger than, say, the head of a pin. I cannot bring myself to feel or hear that squish/cracking noise they make underfoot. I can, however, smash, slam, stomp, flick, catch (in a jar), and attempted in high school to freeze them to death. Adrenaline does weird things to a person.

Flash back to me quickly trapping this dirt clump spider into a glass jar for further inspection. After some review online I have concluded that what we found is an Orb Weaver. Now, this may mean nothing to you, but perhaps a picture will help:See his two devilish horns sticking out of his back? Coincidence? I think not.

Now, mind you, this creature was the size of a quarter WITHOUT the legs outstretched. It is closer to the diameter of a fifty-cent piece with legs. Go ahead, ask me, "Was I happy to have almost grabbed this beast?"

No. I was not happy.

However, I am now in a conundrum. It is too late for me to stomp, smash, or slam this thing. There is still the adrenaline in my system when I see him, but that reaction window has long passed. I am certainly not going to let it GO within a 20 mile vicinity of my home either (what if it returns with it's friends for revenge?). Alternatively I am not going to put it into my vehicle to take it elsewhere to release because what if I get to said destination and the spider mysteriously is no longer in the jar? I would have to sell my car. Right there. At said destination. Because I could never get in it again.

Then again, I cannot freeze this monster because in high school I took biology. In biology I remember we collected bugs. One of the suggested method for killing our biology collection was by putting them in a jar and then putting the jar in the freezer (or putting a cotton ball soaked in alcohol in the jar) and waiting for the bug to die. However, there were strict instructions to make sure that the bug actually DIED before removing it because inevitably, as was the case with our class just like all others, someone would try to stick a pin into their bug (or succeed) only to find out the little sucker was still squirmy. Picture me 30 years from now peering into my freezer trying to decide if my dirt clump spider was dead? No. Freezing is not an option. Nor is the cotton ball method.

So here I sit. Unable to kill this Orb Weaver and even now I look over at him in the jar every 22 seconds or so to make sure he hasn't mysteriously disappeared (I might have to move). I get the heebie jeebies just seeing him in there, watching me. Just THINKING about him watching me. I do not even like the picture of him on my website. It makes me uneasy. This whole business makes me unhappy.

We are at a stalemate.

Superman

My son came walking down the stairs this evening, proud as all get-out that he had dressed himself in his pajamas. I could hear him coming (3-year-olds are not quiet walkers, especially on stairs), but had to look when he declared "Mom, I'm Superman!"...I wasn't sure how to react when I saw him dressed like this:
I'm thinking that he just FELT like Superman for having dressed himself (albeit in mismatched jammies with the shirt on backwards), so my response was "You sure ARE buddy, you sure ARE" :)

A Greeting Card

Here's what my 4-year-old brought me on a homemade card:

"HAPEBRFDA"

Can you guess what it said?

Mah Boiz

I was happy to hear we would have such great attendance at my little man's 3rd birthday. This excitement was fizzled slightly when I found out that I would have to finish setting up and preparing for the party rather than go with hiking with the boys. Oh well, as it turns out, I needed the time to get everything together and they all lost their sunglasses that day so I saved myself a few bucks. Plus, we all got to play on the lake the following afternoon. All's well that ends well, right? Here's a nice pic of the guys before their hike:

My 3 Year Old Fireman

We had a super time playing with all of our friends and family last Saturday at my little guy's birthday barbecue. I suppose it's a little easier to believe he's three since he's already the same size as his sister who is almost 4.5 and wears the same size clothes and shoes. He's going to tower over her before she knows what happened. Happy birthday my little man~

Happy Birthday My Son

Seeing you sleeping on Grandpa's lap last weekend, it was hard to believe you've grown so quickly. I love you so much and wish you a wonderful fourth year. Love, mom

Another Zoo Day

Well, we visited again, and to spare you the slideshow of all of the cute pictures we got of the kids and animals (since I think we've done several in the past), I'll just show you this one pic of them with Grammy and Grandpa that we got on the turtle statue. It was a perfect day for the zoo and we had a wonderful time visiting with our family from up North.

...And Then There Were Two.

We have a pretty great group of friends from college and through the (gasp) TWELVE years since we graduated, they have gradually moved away and gotten married. Last weekend was the next in a series of friends to tie the knot. It was a beautiful service and all but one of the "fellas" was there. It really makes me feel old to compare this wedding to the first one and see how much we have changed, grown and aged. It won't be long before we're the ones footing the bill.

Best of Luck Jarrod & Ileen.

8 Years & counting

Well, if you think about the fact that we started dating back in 1995, really it's been FIFTEEN years that we've "been together" (as of fall of this year). I love you more every day sweetheart. I am thankful every day for you.

PSU 2010

Congratulations to my litte, I mean, OLDER sister who graduated from Portland State University with a degree in Geology last weekend. There were SOOOO many people there, literally thousands of graduates. She's been working toward this for a long time and it is quite an accomplishment to have kept up with studying when she lives over an hour from the school and has three tweens to take care of.Despite a miserably socialist, liberal and well, for lack of better word, poisonous keynote speaker, it was a nice ceremony. Plus we got to go to CPK afterward and spend time with family so I suppose it wasn't all in all a bad afternoon. Here's a pic of two of my beautiful nieces while we were waiting for the ceremony to begin:

What to Make

Here's a TOTALLY easy meat rub that I got from some magazine a few months back. This works on beef, pork & chicken:

1/4 cup Brown sugar
1/2 T Chile powder
2 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
1 T paprika
1 t cumin
1 T salt
1 t oregano

Put it all in a Ziploc bag, drop in your meat and seal the bag. Press the rub into the meat by squishing the bag around in your hands for a little bit. Let sit for an hour or so then grill. Delish!

Congratulations

My eldest niece up in Oregon finished her confirmation in the Lutheran Church last weekend. I couldn't be more proud of my goddaughter.Isn't she beautiful? Congratulations Sweetheart~

What to Make

This recipe is SO easy that there's really only four steps. Just be sure you do them right.

It's mini meringues. They're fat free, only 11 calories a piece, require just three ingredients, and taste like the outside of a toasted marshmallow. Here's what you do:

Ratios: 1 egg white to 1/16 teaspoon tartar to 1/3cup sugar (increase as needed)

Easy Instructions
1 - Beat egg whites on high until frothy.
2 - Beat in cream of tartar and continue to mix until soft peaks form.
3 - Slowly beat in sugar and continue to mix until glossy and stiff peaks form.
4 - Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for an hour at 225 degrees.

Detailed Instructions
Do this on a cool, dry day. Too much heat or humidity wreck havoc on the results. Take some fresh, room temperature egg whites. By that I mean no yolk, AT ALL and let them sit on the counter for half an hour before using, and don't use the ones in the carton - ask me how I know this. Put the egg whites into a large, clean, dry metal mixing bowl. Remember I said not to do this when it's humid? Meringues do not like water. Water = bad results.

Mix the egg whites on high until they just start to look frothy, maybe a minute or so on high. Then add in the cream of tartar as it continues to mix. Cream of tartar is an acid. It will make your meringues hold their shape and stay stiff in the end, which is a good thing.

Continue mixing on high (by that I mean do not ever ever ever stop the beaters from going through this whole process). Test the mixture when it approximately triples in size, that's right, I said TRIPLES, by dipping a teaspoon into the meringue. When you pull out the spoon, the meringue should make a peak on the spoon that folds over but does not run off of the spoon. At this point, begin SLOWLY adding sugar. If you add it to quickly your meringues will be gritty, which is no bueno. Once you have (did I mention gradually?) added all of the sugar, continue mixing until the meringue on a teaspoon makes a stiff peak that doesn't fold over. The meringue will appear glossy.

At this point you have two options, either cook as is, or GENTLY fold in any extract for flavor. Keep in mind that these meringues are mostly air (due to all of that high-speed mixing) so the rougher you are with the meringue, the more it is going to fall flat and ruin your results. I made mine recently with cocoa powder and banana extract and they tasted like chocolate covered bananas. If you don't like things that are delicious, then don't try this.

Put the meringue into a ziplock bag and seal it then cut off a tip and pipe the meringue onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Cook them for about an hour at 225 degrees. When they're done, either eat them all and sit around in a sugar induced coma or store them in a cool, dry place inside a air-sealed container. Really, at 11 calories a piece, you can eat several of these and still not feel too guilty about it.

More Fun At the Zoo

Recently, my darling children and I took their Nana on a morning trip to the zoo. Having annual passes is awesome for short day trips and lower stress levels. We heard that the polar bear exhibit had been updated and wanted to check it out for ourselves. The place was packed but we got to see zookeepers feed fist-sized meatballs to the tigers and watch the hippos party in the waterfalls and be more active than we'd ever seen them. Who knew Hippos went nuts like that for a little water massage? It was pretty cool. Note to self though: the zoo is pretty busy on weekends, it's best to go during the week when there are much smaller crowds.

Real Life Tonka Trucks

While we were visiting Bellingham, Washington, to drop Daddy off at his boat for his Alaska trip we spent some time at the harbor. My little man happened upon this green monster. He couldn't help but go climb up and get a closer look. Isn't this every boy's dream?

Within Reach

Hubby just returned from Alaska and I was delighted to see him and hear of his adventure with his friends. They took a fishing boat from Bellingham, Washington to Sitka, Alaska over a week long drive that ended in a couple days of fun ATV riding through the wilderness looking at all the neat wildlife. I have to say though, this might be my favorite picture. That's my hubby leaning off of the front of the boat, about an arm's length from one of the many porpoises that were swimming near the boat on their trip. What a neat thing for him to get to experience.

The Trench in My Driveway

Don't blame me.

Okay, DO blame me but it's not my fault.

Okay, it IS my fault, but my husband made me do it.

Well, to be honest, he didn't MAKE me do it - per say - but he wouldn't do it himself and he had the diamond blade power saw...at the least he's an enabler.

Our 20+ new cedar trees will thank me though and in 10 years there will be a wall of trees giving the house privacy from the road so all's well that ends well, right?

That's what happens when you tell your wife you aren't going to do it, presuming that it won't get done. He should have known I'd take matters into my own hands. He had it coming.

Our Local "Beach"

Sure, it's not the ocean, but it's a lake. Really, how much water do kids need? They're happy to play in our dog's water bowl. So it was a big treat to go down to the local beach club with some friends yesterday and spend some time in the sun.

A Beautiful View

What a darling snapshot, huh? Last weekend while my darling princess was off having lunch with the Disney ladies, hubby and I took our little man out into the forest one evening for some ATV riding. My son was exstatic to have us all to himself and relishes the ride between us through the national forest. Plus our pup got some much needed exercise. Here they are at one of our pit stops along the drive.

A Day Fit for a Princess

Recently, my little darling girl turned four years old. For her birthday, her Nana & Grandpa invited her to join them at California Adventure for a lunch with the Disney princesses and day of fun. She had a great time and on her way out of the park that afternoon, made a wish in the fountain to get to do it all again some day. She is so very sweet.

Kids are Great

I know that many of our guy friends (Brendan) are intimidated by our kids but really, kids are great. They offer many awesome opportunities and enrich your life more than most people know. Why, just last weekend at Stagecoach, they proved it to all of the guys who went with us.

This is for all of you who didn't want to go to Stagecoach because you thought it was just a bunch of boring 'ol country music....

Stagecoach 2010

Last weekend we went out to Indio and enjoyed the Stagecoach country music festival. We got to see Jason Aldean (my daughter's favorite), Billy Currington, Phil Vassar, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland (Hubby's favorite) and Keith Urban. We had a fab time and can't wait to go again next year.

Not Quite "High" Enough

This year is the first year that my little darling is participating in the youth track & field program. She is LOVING it. I have to say, I was a little choked up to see her run with the other kids and be able to keep up and even beat some of them (who are all at least a year older). It turned into a bit of comedy of errors though to see her barrel though the hurdles, without even attempting to jump over then and then, well, let's just say she's not quite big enough for high jump...

Breakfast on the Boat

Yesterday we had a great morning. We headed out first thing on the boat and there was no one else on the water but us. It was so warm that we slathered on sunscreen to keep from burning even! Since it was so early, we hadn't even had breakfast yet. Thus, we made a quick stop at Mc-D's and ate on the boat. By 10 AM it started to get a little windy but we had already been on the lake for a couple hours so were ready to move on to other things and we took off for other adventures. What a great way to start our day.

What's So Great About the Ponies?

We are often asked that very question from people who hear that we spent the day at Santa Anita Park with the kids. They no doubt picture a bunch of over-age male spectators, smoking, drinking and cussing at their losing fillies. Well, in our experience, a day at the races is quite far from that image. Although there is a playground on the infield, we have never taken the kids there. Why would we? They already have a spectacular time. The things that they like the best are going to watch the horses line up before their races, cheering on "their" horses (chosen, no doubt, based on the number or color of the jersey), eating snacks, enjoying the sunshine, and getting a full day of undivided attention from Mommy and Daddy. By far, their favorite part is playing on the grass with us around the fountain outside the stadium between races. Here's some shots from our last trip...