Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sunday Night Again!

Day 99 Home
The view out my kitchen window... Love it! The yellow of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot means it's spring!

Day 100 Home
See my owl ring? Lyndsi convinced Steve to buy it for me at Pike Place Market. I have the sweetest family in the world!

Day 101 Chelan, WA
Yep - I still like my scrapbooking! I only get crafty about twice a year, usually when someone hosts a retreat. This year we went to Chelan, WA and spent the weekend scrapping and eating.

Day 102 Chelan, WA
Lake Chelan - such a beautiful day!

Day 103 Chelan, WA
Here are my scrapbook buddies for the weekend....and our mess. Vicki Settle, Cathy MacDonald and Malee Shiflett

Day 104 Chelan, WA
The pool at our hotel was so cool! It was designed to look like a mountain lake. The slide resembles a rocky mountain. It was cold but there were still some brave kids swimming!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Day 84 Home
Here it is! My new phone! The kids got tired of watching me try to text using only 9 keys so Steve sneakily got me a new phone for Christmas. Nothing fancy but definitely an upgrade to my 5 year old tracfone!

Day 85 Home
The moon is trying to peek over Jackass Butte (yep.....that's the name of the little mountain we see from our East facing window!) We have great sunrises in the mornings over this little butte as well.

Day 86 Omak Eastside Complex
And it begins.....soccer has started in the Okanogan Valley! That means that several hundred children and their parents meet up at these fields throughout the week For us it feels like home away from home...not...

Day 87 Okanogan Middle School Cafeteria
Tonight was Dylan's Knowledge Bowl Banquet. Good food and a rousing match between parents and students. Parents win - yep, we're still smarter than middle schoolers! Whew....

Day 88 Home
Twas the night before Spring Break, and all through the house, the only creatures stirring were in the kitchen losing their money! Steve and some of his teaching friends have a somewhat regular poker night about every couple of weeks. None of their families have to worry about going broke, though, I think they bet nickels!

Day 89 Home
This year's batch of Easter Eggs! So pretty! I particularly like the little chicks on top.

Day 90 The Wilson's Backyard
The kids plan and implement an egg hunt for our wonderful neighbors every Easter. They started this our first Easter in our home. Their daughter had gone off to college and Dylan was saddened to think that the Easter Bunny didn't visit the Wilsons anymore. He and Lyndsi filled some plastic eggs with the candy they had gotten in their Easter baskets and hid the eggs in the Wilson's backyard.  The kids then knocked on the front door and gave Mike and Janet 2 baskets, telling them that they had seen the Easter Bunny in their backyard. Mike and Janet were great sports, found the eggs, and a tradition was born!
 

Day 91 Home
Best Spring Break weather ever!

Day 92 Home
Our lovely green toilet in our lovely green and gold bathroom started leaking. Lyndsi safely took up residence in the bathtub as she offered her assistance to Steve. And, yes, this IS our main bathroom!


Day 93 Home
Still leaking! Turns out there is a crack in the toilet and we now own a pretty white toilet in our green and gold bathroom. One step at a time!

Day 94 The American Girl Store in Lynwood
First stop on our Seattle road trip - Alderwood Mall and the American Girl Store! Lyndsi's Kirsten doll is getting an updo. The one and only time Lyndsi's doll will get such a thing!
Day 95 Pacific Science Center in Seattle
Steve in enthralled with the nanomagnet thingys....wish I could remember what they were called!

Day 96 Marination Ma Kai in Alki
Finally! We made it to Ma Kai on Alki Beach! Robyn was bartending so we, with Kim, my parents, Erin, and Kim's mom Betty came for dinner. Such a fun place with a beautiful view!
Day 97 Magnolia neighborhood coffeeshop in Seattle
It's a rainy Sunday and these Americanos hit the spot. Mom, Erin, Lyndsi and I came to check out the neighborhood and stopped to warm up in this open coffeeshop.

Day 98 Omak Dairy Queen
So glad we have kids who get good grades and comments on their report cards! And I'm so glad report cards come out 4 times a year. And I'm so glad the kids are in 2 different schools so their report cards come home on 2 different days, about a week apart from each other. I'm so glad because we have started a bit of a tradition that we get Blizzards from Dairy Queen on report card day - as long as the grades are good. That means we can get up to 8 Blizzards every school year! Yum! This time, Max was with us. His report card was good so he got a Blizzard, too! Dylan's looking smart for the camera!



Monday, April 1, 2013

I'm Cruising Now!

Yep - I missed a day....sigh....and I was doing so well! Day 70 is not here and never will be, though I'm sure something very exciting happened that day!
 

Day 66 Home
Both kids doing the dishes! Now that's not something we see much of around here!

Day 67 Home
Steve's been collecting matchbooks since he was a young teenager. We emptied his jar recently and look at what was right on top! Look closely....it's his mom and dad!

Day 68 River's Edge in Okanogan
Today is the Boy Scout Pancake Feed. The boys make pancakes, eggs, and ham and sell tickets to community members. People in the area look forward to the yummy food and the boys make some good money doing it.
Day 69 Klepec's House
We got a call that Dean's pig was having babies. I have always wanted to watch babies be born so we piled in the car and went out to witness the births. I even helped by catching some little babies!

Day 71 Home
Steve's been perfecting his garlic growing for a few years now. This year he had a beautiful crop! So, I learned to braid garlic! It was fun and I look forward to doing it again with this year's crop.

Day 72 Home
An ironing board? We have one? Yep, I pull this beauty out about once a year!

Day 73 Home
I know it's beginning to sound a bit gruesome but I took another picture of "Ruth". We had her cremated so we could decide what to do with her at another time. Steve picked up her ashes today
Day 74 Home
What a beautiful sunrise! I love when I get up early enough to see this! Ignore the date on the photo - I still haven't fixed that little problem!

Day 75 Omak McDonalds
My lunch date! Dylan wasn't too impressed with the cute little heart chicken nugget he found in his lunch!



Day 76 Home
Those pesky little leprechauns! This year they made a huge mess of all our shoes and left some lovely candy on our table!


Day 77 Virginia Grainger Elementary
This is my second grade class this year. They are performing the fable Tug of War in the style of an opera. I love our second grade performances every year!

Day 78 Home
Fruity Pebbles are gluten-free! I've known this for quite some time and secretly enjoy a bowl now and then. They aren't my favorite sugary cereal (that would be Fruit Loops!) but they are what I can eat right now!

Day 79 Our Garage
It's Girl Scout cookie time! These are the cookies we have ordered to sell at Wal-Mart and Safeway. 180 boxes!

Day 80 Wal-Mart in Omak
Selling cookies!

 
Day 81 Home
Monster Band is fantastic! Once a year, the middle school band and choir students from the valley all spend a day together and work under some very talented conductors, learning new songs and techniques, and then putting on a performance for parents in the evening. It was a great show!

Day 82 Okanogan SportsPlex
Steve's the assistant soccer coach for the boys this year. He and Dean have a pretty good partnership going!
Day 83 Home
Look what I found at Safeway! They've expanded their gluten-free section and I'm so excited!