Pendleton Easter

For the three of us at home Easter was a bit more traditional.

We had a sleepover at the Nelson's so we could enjoy an early morning egg hunt. Yes, those are our winter coats. There wasn't snow on the ground, but it fell in the mountains that night and it was FREEZING. That was another point to our sleepover. Our heat pump went out and the cold weather wasn't finished. We were snug as bugs in their wonderful house.

Then the girls had to get dressed and pose for our annual Easter pictures. Unfortunately, because of the very early Easter and crazy cold weather, there were no flowers to provide a pretty setting. Again, the girls were sport, it was freezing.

Church services were beautiful as the Children's Choir sang from the balcony. We recently remodeled the church and added a high alter to restore the original look of the church. Eventually there will be a mural above the alter. I can't wait to see it finished.

It was a blustery afternoon, but the girls ran around looking for the elusive GOLDEN egg.

As a side note: the days before Easter I spent HOURS looking for eggs. Not the type of eggs you EVER want to be looking for... in your child's hair.

We were struck with head lice for the first time.

I found a bug while brushing Reagan's hair and upon a closer look found nearly 200 nits.

It took me 3 movies and an extraordinary amount of patience on both our parts to de-lice my little lady.

There are some experiences of elementary school I would be happy to live without experiencing. We were very thorough and avoided anyone else in the house getting them. I was also successful in getting them out in one go-around (a 10 day process). I now am left wondering, how long before I can scratch an itch on my head without worrying about head lice?

What she looks like...

This is one of Taryn's many looks when she steals my camera and takes self portraits.



This is what Grace looks like when she is sick. Poor thing got the pukes the morning we needed to drive to Klamath Falls. (Best trip ever for mom and dad. A puny sick little girl = a quiet little girl.)



This is what Reagan looks like when she is singing her first (and probably last) solo at her Christmas concert.

Cheater-cheater...

Yep, I am officially considering myself a blog cheater. Out there right now there is some Blogger challenge where people are posting every.single.day.of.November.... yeah, right.... not going to be happening here.

I am barely able to manage these cheater posts where I put random, unrelated pictures together and call them a post. I am going to plead it is better than nothing, but not by much. Here goes:

Marc and I got to go to the Stanford - OSU game in October...we won and it didn't rain... it doesn't get any better than that!

I also did a Martha Stewart pumpkin... power drill & Christmas lights!I loved that I just had to plug it in and the wind wouldn't blow it out.

Reagan and her friend M. at dance recital. Their group is called 'Free Ride'. She does toe-touches in her routine. I made a mistake about 5 years ago and tried to see if I could still do my toe-touch jump from my HS Cheer days. I could, but I will NEVER attempt that again.

I was sorry.
Very sorry.

Our puppies, Griz & Basil are both almost one. Griz is a Dec. puppy and Basil is February. They got their first 'haircuts'. It cost as much as it costs me to get my hair done. The groomer recommended they get cut every 8 weeks. Let me just say... if I don't pay to get my own
hair done every 8 weeks there is no way they will get theirs done.

This is/was/will be our yard. The white picket fence is down, the grass is gone. Marc will need to level, then trench, then install the sprinkler system. We are going to seed this time and not do sod. We have a 'connection' ~ the local golf grounds supervisor who will coach us through the process.

We both have different ideas about what type of fence to put in. We have settled on 'tall' as being our only agreed upon criteria so far. I am thinking the fence is a ways off, so I'm not too worried about it yet.

9-9-09

As a 10 year veteran, but first year, first-grade teacher I was DELIGHTED a week ago to see this date on my plan book. It meant that for an entire day I could plan '9' activities. So we came up with 9 ways we played with 9's at the end of the day.

1. Sang 9 songs...
2. Stuck 9 stickers on a nine inch piece of paper...
3. Sat quiet for 9 seconds (and not one second longer)...
4. Wrote '9 or nine' for 9 minutes quietly (my favorite)...
5. Made 9 rhymes (they didn't get 'wine' but did get Frankenstein-wow)...
6. Fact families of 9...
7. Read Comet's Nine Lives by Jan Brett...
8. Read Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings by Deborah Hopkinson...
9. Had a 9 min. recess (oops...should have be 15, but I can't get my schedule down)

Another bit of interest for the day was the lead story in the EO, our local newspaper. Yep, that is yours truly. Now, in the honor of 9-9-09 may I share these thoughts:

1. Thank you for leaving out the nose picking boy.
2. Thank you for not mentioning the farting that was taking place.
3. Thank you for not showing my roots that got colored/covered today.
4. Thank you for taking time to show a bit of extra effort we all do in education.
5. Thank you for sharing that we do our best to be resourceful.
6. Thank you for an article not about a teacher having sex with her students.
7. Mental note: Starch is better than a quick iron job.
   
8. Next time, let's not take the picture at that angle, please.
9. Next time, could you leave out the 'vultures on roadkill' comment?

And my final, too good to leave out Reagan-ism, overheard by dad as she and Grace were circling the catalogs for Christmas, (yes, already.)

Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this.
Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this - oh and this too. Because you know Grace, when Taryn moves out we are going to have a lot more room, and then Mom and Dad can spend all their money on us!

Oh, so that's how that works!

Mark your calendars everyone...the next time we can have this much fun on a school day will be 11-11-11. I can hardly wait! (It is a Friday, BTW)

Happy Birthday Taryn

My Taryn turns 12 today! The last birthday before the teen years. E-gads!

When I was about 9-ish my brother who was 6-ish wrote me a birthday card: To my second best sister...

There were only two sisters, and I clearly wasn't the favorite.

Taryn has two sisters - Grace(9) and Reagan(7). She received this birthday card from Reagan.

to t fum r (To Taryn from Reagan)
I hope you have the dist (best) drfday (birthday)

I love you vin win you be me too me you are the best sist that ine bute cud have
(I love you even when you be mean to me. You are the best sister that anybody could have.)

This card will be held against Reagan.

For example:

Reagan to Grace... Will you help me with my chores today?
Grace to Reagan... Why don't you ask your favorite sister?

Trust me, this will cost her someday.

Happy Birthday Taryn!

47 days...

Lent: 47 days of:

• no Facebook


• no Blogging...or blog surfing


• no Diet Coke


• no coffee
  
• (almost) no Chocolate*

*Does accidental ingestion count? I mean, I didn't accidentally eat the chocolate donut gems, but I just did it without thinking. As far as I can tell, it was my only slip.

While I was 'out' I kept myself plenty busy. I wasn't sure what would be the worst of my sacrifices. The computer withdrawal was pretty tough, but I think it helped me the most. The Diet Coke was only really bad one time...that was at the movie theater. Gatorade simply does not wash down movie theater popcorn adequately. The chocolate was bad! No coffee was the worst! I really missed my morning cup of java. I think it is just so routine in the way I start the day. It is also impossible to isolate yourself from the tempting 'fresh coffee smell' in the staff room. Tea just didn't quite cut it.

Here is a quick recap of events around here:

Baby bummer lambs - two - Flower & Rose - adopted from people who quickly realized that the 'cute' takes a lot of work. Luckily, by the time we got them they were only needing 2-3 bottles a day...and they are now completely weaned.

Puppies - two - You saw Griz as a little ball of fur...he now looks HUGE compared to our new addition 'Basil'. They are only 2 months apart in age, but right now Griz looks enormous next to her. We think Griz is 1/2 poodle & 1/2 terrier. Basil is 1/2 Shih Tzu & 1/2 Schnauzer. We love them LOTS.

4H Lambs -two - Buck (who jumps very high) & Storm (who escaped his pen one very windy afternoon) are growing and thriving.

Sewing - lots -

• 4H outfits:

Reagan: Olivia PJ bottoms & T-Shirt

Grace: Marco Polo Monkey swim pants & T-Shirt

Taryn: Flower tank top & demin capri's

• Anne: Bird quilt as a house warming gift for the Nelson's

Phew... there was more... but I'm getting sleepy. Did I mention that by stepping away from the computer that I got at least one or two extra hours of sleep each night?

Ugh...

Have I ever mentioned that I do not like it when I am trying something new and I am not as good as I would like ...

I realize that I should not expect to be able to do things automatically...but that doesn't change that I would like to ...

Here is my second Photoshop Show & Tell. I like it better than the first ... but it took a L-O-N-G time and it still screams ROOKIE.

I'll get it ... eventually.

Happy Birthday Ms. Reagan

My 'baby' turned seven today and we partied like a rock star.

Hannah Montana to be specific, as if there was any doubt.

We had a Hannah Montana hair-do.

Hannah Montana BFFs.

Hannah Montana goodie bags.

Hannah Montana purple cupcakes.

Hannah Montana gifts galore...

And....

Drum roll please....

ask your children to leave the room now, please...

We had 'explicit' Hannah Montana fruit snacks!

What...

I know...

Yes, they are supposed to be 'guitars' and 'microphones'

But....hmmm...something else crossed my mind...

Gutter...my mind's second residence apparently...

again...my apologies.

Thank goodness my girls are not residing in the gutter with me.

They loved the guitars and microphones.

Kung Fu Reagan

Reagan went to a birthday party this weekend.

Part one of the party was watching Kung Fu Panda.

Looks like she's found some new moves!

I'm wondering who would get hurt more...herself or the other person.

(Gym located @ Nelson's Nest!)

Pumpkins & Swimming?

Who knew a Tuesday swim lesson could be so much fun? We have a new coach for swimming this year. Most swim nights are routine.

• They get their suits on.
• They eat dinner.
• We load up.
• They swim.
• They shower.
• They cry as I brush their hair... etc....

Tonight was different. Tonight Coach Susie brought pumpkins to the pool. The big kids were first. They threw their pumpkins in the pool and had to race with their pumpkins down and back. The little fishies were sooooooo excited to watch the big kids swim with their pumpkins.





Next the little fishies got to get back into the pool with their pumpkins. Squeals of delight echoed when they realized the pumpkins would float. They would have stayed in the pool all night but the time ran out.





Coach Susie then passed out glow sticks and Halloween necklaces.





Coach Susie rocked swimming tonight!!! And thanks to Liz for taking a picture for me!!!

Reagan Rules...

Reagan lives in Reagan World. It is a very happy place, because you see, she is the Princess of Reagan World. In Reagan World, you live by Reagan Rules. If you don't like the rules of Reagan World, you are free to leave at anytime. Reagan is happy to have guests visit her in her land. She loves to play and have fun, as long as you are abiding by the laws of the land. You may or may not know the rules of Reagan Land. If you break a rule, you will be quickly forgiven. If Reagan breaks one of her rules, she does what every royal ruler does...she changes the rule.

Reagan's World is like a bubble that follows her where ever she is. Even in first grade art class.

It was a lesson in lines. Students were directed to draw specific lines. How big, what color, and where they were drawn were up to the student. At the end of the lesson, students were given the opportunity to add any details they wish. Here is a sampling of the art.

Student A:

Student B:

Student C:

Student R:

Reagan Rules.

If I had a manual life wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

DISNEY DELIGHT

Disney Delights

A List

One Daughter

One Mother

One Grandmother

Two Theme Parks & Four Days




Dozens of Characters







Hundreds of Smiles









Millions in Memories

Disney Learning per Reagan

"It really is the happiest place on earth."

"If it goes up, it's got to go down."

Disney Highlights

Princess luncheon & autographs

Rides-Rides-Rides

Key Lime Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (twice)

Hannah Montana bear from Build-A-Bear

Disney Fireworks

Real Tinkerbell, flying on a zip line, above the castle.

(That little green fleck above the castle is Tinkerbell.)

Heat felt from the fire from our nearby seats.

Disney Downside

I went on this ride...I hadn't seen the sign.

I did quickly notice the barf bags inside the car after the latch was closed.