Spring Break 2008

Sunriver, Oregon

Beaver Rig
Snow
Sledding
Indoor forts
Games
Hot tub
Grandma
Cousins
Friends
Food
Coloring
Napping

GREAT FUN!!!

This little piggie...

This little piggie went to market.
This little piggie stayed home.

This little piggie had roast beef.
This little piggie had none.

And this little piggie cried,

"Owie-owie-owie, all the way home!"

Owie was all I could say because:

A. It didn't really hurt that bad.

B. My kids were right there when it happened.

C. I am so tough...I laugh at pain.

You decide!

A penny thought: Wear your slippers in the house if you are going to kick the molding on your way though the door!

Happy Easter

"This is the day which the Lord hath made;
let us be glad and rejoice therein.
Give praise to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever.
Alleluia."

On your mark...get set...GO!

5:00 am Grace wakes up. "Is it time Mom?"

6:30 am Grace & the other girls get up for good.

6:35 am Anne brushes her teeth then feeds Jake & Max.

6:45 am Anne makes a Starbuck's run to really start the day.

7:15 am Marc rolls out of bed.

7:30 am Nelson's arrive.

7:45 am Egg Master Tony begins hiding the eggs.

8:15 am Breakfast is served.

Orange Juice

Eggs Fantastic

Buttermilk Pancakes

8:45 am Girls line up on the front porch.

8:46 am Pictures are taken.

8:47 am On your mark...get set...GO!

8:53 am Almost all the eggs have been found.*

(*No one can feel their fingers anymore.)

9:00 am Eggs have been emptied...candy is being consumed.

9:05 Nelson's load up...and they are off to Disneyland.

Lucky ducks!

Round Two

Waiting...

Everyone in my house is waiting for the

Easter Bunny to come.

The Basement...

We bought our house about 18 months ago. We were able to immediately begin some home improvement projects. As you can well imagine, one project became two, two became four and so on...

The Basement Blues continue. It has been about one year since we began the basement. In this process we lost our third bathroom...the playroom...and (hold your breath now...)the laundry room. We have been without a washing machine and dryer for over a year now. The basement blues update:

The UP side of a basement remodel:

INDOOR PICNICS - NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT SPILLS

Lamb on the lam

I woke up this morning...the bed was warm...the air was cool. The day before spring break. I just knew it was going to be wild and woolly. LITTLE DID I KNOW...

I bundled up...and headed outside.

I take Jake out first thing in the morning. I grab his food and get Max's food ready. I got Jake into his kennel and peeked over at the lamb pen. The EMPTY lamb pen. Panic hit. I scanned the field...I scanned the barn...and I went to notify Marc.

Marc isn't much of an animal guy, yet. He didn't grow up on a ranch like I did...he didn't even have many pets growing up...so animal behavior and unpredictability surprises him more than it does me.

We decided we needed to tell Taryn, but not Grace and Reagan. I was already in a state of panic, we didn't need the entire house to fall apart.

I called in sick. I know this is probably not what sick leave is designed for...but this was a crisis.

We got the kids off to school with a promise to Taryn: "I don't know how...but I will take care of this. Try not to worry." Who was I kidding...I was worried, I had no idea how this was going to turn out.

I drove around to all my neighbors, near and far, to put them on alert for a lost lamb. I called the police...(aka Tony)...I called the vet...I called Annie...(my most likely to be able to find a lost lamb because she raised them neighbor) and I prayed.

At about 8:45 the vet called...they had a sighting of little Max and we were off. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. I didn't whip out my lasso and wrangle him up. Marc didn't show him who was boss. Annie didn't magically 'baa' to him in sheep language and convince him to set on up into the trailer. However, rest assured...we got the job done.

A penny thought: Lambs are social animals. I know this. I had big plans for this afternoon and this evening. They have changed. We will own another lamb by sundown.

A second penny thought: I love to have pictures with my posts...but when a lamb is on the lam...there isn't time to grab your camera.

School Pictures Look Like This!

Piles of rejected outfits!

An iron that usually isn't

used mid week.

Assorted hair care torture tools.

The Silly & the Sassy!

Best of all ... we survived the morning without tears!

Max!

I have been waiting for this day to come for a long time. Most of my summer memories as a kid were wrapped around the first weekend in August.

I grew up in the country. There were no play dates. There were no dance groups. There were no swimming clubs. Swimming lessons took place at 9 am in the morning, in a town 30 miles from my house. The water was usually balmy - I'd guess 60 degrees at best. There weren't even parks with play structures...just treacherous merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters and a swing or two...

But...that first weekend in August meant it was FAIR TIME.

I participated in 4-H for nine years...as did my sister and brother...and my dad and uncle when they were young. I raised 8 market lambs and one market steer. I did cooking, sewing, table setting and the style review.

Fair time for me was a time of independence. Mom and dad would drag us into the fair before the sun was up. We'd be wearing all sorts of layers of clothes. It would be chilly in the morning and 100 degrees in the afternoon. Tucked inside our pockets were a few wrinkled dollars...enough for lunch and a snack or two, but not enough for any of the carnival games.

My friends and I would walk miles around the grounds. We'd pet rabbits, wish we owned horses and wonder why anyone on earth would want to chase around one of those obnoxious pigs.

My favorite treat was a dripping sticky ice cream cone. We could also get Cherry Teem soda. It was pink and bubbly and I loved it.

When I had my girls, I knew I would want them to be able to have the same wonderful experience that I did through 4-H.

Taryn is now old enough to have a market lamb. She will also be doing cooking and sewing. We have hooked up with a wonderful group of 4-H'ers in Athena-Weston. I am re-learning all about lambs, feed, equipment and lamb disease.

The funny thing about 4-H and my memories...I DO NOT remember it being so much work. Probably because it wasn't SO MUCH WORK for me as a kid. My mom and dad were the ones doing all the WORK. Oh well. I loved it none-the-less.

You decide...Does it look like Taryn is at all interested in this 4-H nonsense....

Building Fence in the rain.

She's even wearing work gloves!

Isn't he cute?

Meet Max...or should I say Max Meat!

To be continued...for about the next 13 or so years...

A Penny Thought: "I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact. "~Diane Sawyer

Thank You Mom & Dad! I continue to discover all the effort it takes to raise these wild & wooley kids. How'd you make it look so easy?

Racin' Jason...hits 35!!!

Today is the day my 'baby' brother was born!

As if being born isn't traumatic enough ... this little bundle was greeted by his two big sisters. Jill and I could come up with a number of ways we enriched his life. I think he would be happy to tell anyone about the numerous ways he has been tortured by us.

35 facts about my brother...

1. He will be the 3rd generation to own and operate the Chapman Ranch in K. Falls.



2. His favorite book as a boy was, "Can I keep him?" by Stephen Kellogg.



3. He rode his bike miles and miles around the ranch.



4. He ALWAYS wore his cowboy boots on the wrong feet.



5. He is a HUGE OSU Beaver fan.



6. He prefers his 4 Wheeler over a horse ANY day.



7. He likes microbrew beer and Pendleton Whiskey.



8. He loves to steel my husband to work cattle, play poker or golf.



9. He DOES NOT like Chicken Divan.



10. He DOES NOT like avocado but loves guacamole.



11. He prefers late nights to early mornings.



12. He has been to Hawaii and I haven't!



13. He has moved me (apartment to apartment) more times than I can count.



14. He recently helped us move the claw foot tub out of the basement for the remodel.



15. He loves to argue/debate and mostly loves to be RIGHT.



16. He won local, state, and national FFA honors.



17. He is VERY private about his private life.



18. He doesn't have much hair under that hat.



19. He has been ran down by random black cows. (More than once!)



20. He DOES NOT like black cows.



21. He likes to own all the newest technology trinkets.



22. He owned a swather and custom cut hay for neighbors as a teenager.



23. He loves chocolate bordeaux's from See's Candy.



24. He affectionately refers to my girls as Satan, Lucifer, & Hades.



25. He is a lousy housekeeper.



26. He has the worst smelling feet I have ever been around.



27. He used to whistle just to bother me.



28. He hated being called Racin' Jason.



29. He is very smart and is full of useless s--- (I mean trivia!)



30. He has terrible handwriting.



31. He lets Grace go feeding with him in the tractor...a favorite activity of hers.



32. He was an Alpha Gamma Rho(ΑΓΡ) at Oregon State.



33. He is a smart gambler. He knows when to hold & fold.



34. He has fought a barbed wire fence and won. He has cool scars to prove it.



35. He is loved by me...even though I don't tell him enough.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Man Sick...The video

I know it seems like I'm obsessing on this...but I couldn't resist this:
go to...

http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=mancold

Update: Man Sick...

Self Administrable meds-$ 7
Laboratory General-$ 13
M/S Supply General-$26
Lab Hematology-$35
Lab Urology-$36
Drug Spec ID Coding-$79
Pharmacy IV Solutions-$95
Laboratory Chemistry-$336
Emergency Room General-$383

Total Price of ER visit-$1,010

Price of knowing you are really just 'man sick' and not dying-PRICELESS!

Sidebar: It is only fair that I note, as Marc isn't 'here' to defend himself, I would have been OVER-THE-TOP upset...had he felt so bad and NOT gone to the doctor. I also would tell him to go again tomorrow...and the next...and the next...if he 'felt' something was wrong. I am a believer in listening to our bodies. There has been a time in my life when I felt I was dying...and they took out a ruptured appendix. There has also been a time when I had a very low grade back pain that was a result of my kidney shutting down because of a blockage from a kidney stone.

To those sympathetic to Marc's 'man-sick' episode...just ask him about the 'needle in my foot' episode of mine. Trust me I wasn't very stoic or brave. And, rest assured, I still haven't heard the end of it!

Scattergories

Thanks Lindsay...thought I'd play too...




Scattergories is a fast-thinking category-based party game produced by Hasbro through the Milton Bradley Company and published in 1988. The objective of the 2-to-6-player game is to score points by uniquely naming objects within a set of categories, given an initial letter, within a time limit.



1. What is your name? Anne


2. 4 letter word: Arts


3. Vehicle: A junker (does that count?)


4. City: Athena


5. Boy Name: Arnie


6. Girl Name: Ashley


7. Alcoholic drink: Ale


8. Occupation: Astronaut


9. Something you wear: Apron


10. Celebrity: Ashley Olsen


11. Food: Applesauce


12. Country: Afghanistan


13. Something found in a bathroom: Art ?


14. Reason for Being Late? Arthritis


15. Cartoon Character: Ariel


16. Something you shout: AMEN!


17. Animal: Ape


18. Body Part: Arm


19. Words to describe you: Angelic?


Angelic...well probably not..as I CHEATED majorly in doing this task. Obviously it is harder to do this when your name begins with a vowel, right? !

This took me at least 5 minutes (google searching included.)

Good luck to you Athena...I already used the good(only) A words. :-)

A Penny Thought: This is for all of you out there that may SOMEDAY play ANY game with me...I'm not that great...and you've got to keep your eye on me at ALL TIMES!

Crud...

SICK"I cannot go to school today,"Said little Peggy Ann McKay,"I have the measles and the mumps,A gash, a rash, and purple bumps.My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,I'm going blind in my right eye.My tonsils are as big as rocks,I've counted sixteen chicken pox And there's one more--that's seventeen,And don't you think my face looks green?My leg is cut, my eyes are blue--It might be instamatic flu.I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,I'm sure that my left leg is broke--My hip hurts when I move my chin,My belly button's caving in,My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,My 'pendix pains each time it rains.My nose is cold, my toes are numb,I have a sliver in my thumb.My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,I hardly whisper when I speak.My tongue is filling up my mouth,I think my hair is falling out.My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,My temperature is one-o-eight.My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,There is a hole inside my ear.I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?What's that? What's that you say?You say today is---Saturday?G'bye, I'm going out to play!" ~Shel Silverstein~

Well, never fear, I am NOT man sick...I am not even MOM sick. Please don't tell my boss...but I am my FAVORITE kind of sick. Be careful to proceed...as this gets a bit gross.

I mostly feel fine. I just have the crud! You know, where your sinuses are filled with nasty green gunk...that is constantly draining down your throat...then you are coughing up chunks...and as a result you have completely lost your voice!

As you can well imagine, a day of teaching without a voice would be quite unsuccessful. So here I sit at home. Let me tell you what today could look like...

I could clean my house...dust away the huge dust bunnies...I could start a March sewing project...I could go through my girls' drawers and pull out winter and insert spring...I could bake treats for the kids after school snack...I could make a wonderful 5 course dinner...I could scrub toilets...I could mop floors... I could... I could... I could.

Now, so far this is what I have done...

I read blogs...I 'check in' with about 10 regular blogs a day. I linked to 3 related blogs from the original 10 blogs...I had a cup of java...I ate a piece of toast...I looked at the dust bunnies...I looked at stacks of clean clothes...and I decided to write a new post.

My realistic plan for the day is to accomplish at least three items from the 'I could' list. I'm not going to promise which three they will be...they probably won't be the most important three either. I will probably watch some of the 20 Oprah's I have recorded. I will watch a Netflix movie that needs to be returned. I will sip on hot tea with honey and NOT talk. I will, at some point, against my better judgement, be lured into my cozy bed for a mid-day nap. I will enjoy this 'gift' of a sick day...where I am not feeling terribly sick...but need to stay home any way.

A penny thought: I wish I could keep a special sick lollipop in a protective zippie bag. You know...one that I could start today...much like a fine sour dough batter. I would suck on the lollipop for just a few minutes...contaminate it with laryngitis germs...and then about once every six weeks or so, I could pull it out...re-contaminate myself with my favorite sick germs...and treat myself to a day a home...alone. P.S. Did I mention...please don't tell my boss?