So Glad I Checked!

I had completely forgotten I started this post a month ago! I saved it but never published it....this is as exciting as finding a dollar in your pocket!

February 16

This is our new mantle decorated for Valentine's Day. I've wanted a mantle since we moved in to this house. Steve put one together for me this winter. I love it!

February 17

A lily from my Valentine's Day flowers. So bold!

February 18

Lyndsi and I were having a very serious discussion about spelling. "It's not nice that they invented words that have silent letters. It tricks little kids like Katie and that's not nice." Such a sincere statement from a first grader!

February 19

Lyndsi and I drove to Spokane for the weekend. I must be thinking about my mantle because this is the mantle in my parents' house! The copper caught my eye tonight. Most, if not all, of this copper came from my Grandma Schumacher's house in South St. Paul, MN.

February 20

Tea Party! Wehenever we go to Spokane, Lyndsi puts on a little tea party for whoever is around. Today she asked me to make this sign for her table!

February 21

The drive back from Spokane to Okanogan gets very long and boring! I loved seeing the mountains in the back of this looooong road.

February 22

Tamales for dinner! Yummy! We eat a lot of homemade tamales around here. Lots of women bring them to school to sell in the staff lounge. These were for a bailable (yes, I spelled that right!) group raising money to buy outfits for their dancing.

February 23

We've seen this picture before!

February 24

Lyndsi says she really likes playing the piano, she just doesn't like to practice! Can't say I disagree!

February 25

This is my classroom door. I love my little birdies! The two lovely ladies who work with me created this door and these cuties! One of the things in my life that make me smile!

February 26

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet - this is the ceremony when Cub Scouts bridge into Boy Scouts. The ceremony is pretty formal but the pre-funk isn't! This is Dylan's Webelos den pretending to be dead beavers (I think!) during one of their goofy songs.

February 27

And then there were Girl Scouts - Healthy Heart event for Daisies and Brownies. Lyndsi and a few of her Daisy troop members having a healthy snack before dancing away the rest of the morning.

February 28

Steve taking a play break from yard work with the dogs.

March 1

This is our old bird Ricky. He's been pretty tired this week. He sleeps pretty much all the time now. I'm thinking we may not have him much longer. See how his talons (is that what they are on a parakeet?) are almost overlapping on his left foot? That's not typical - a stroke? Even though Ricky prefers his other bird friends to his human friends, I'm feeling a bit sentimental about his age.

Ricky died about a week after this picture was taken.

March 2

Steve graciously agreed to read "The Cat in the Hat" in honor of Dr. Suess' birthday. What a good sport!

March 3

My wine rack with fun bottles of wine! I love to keep pretty bottles of wine on my rack.

March 4

This morning out my back door.

March 5

The Reptile Man came to Okanogan and Dylan was having fun with this albino python. At least I thought he was having fun until I realized he was turning purple and was grimacing and not smiling! I think the python was getting a bit tired of playing.....

I'd love to add more but Blogger is having trouble keeping up with me! I'll have to continue this post tomorrow. Sigh......

Spelling Champ!

Just a quick post tonight as it's much too late already! I'll post my daily photos later this week.

This is Dylan with his co-competitor from Okanogan. You may remember an earlier picture of the two of them together. They were looking mighty good tonight!

What kind of mom would I be if I didn't post these pictures of Dylan at the District Spelling Bee tonight? I'm a proud, beaming Mama right now! Dylan took first place at the bee - woohoo! Next stop - East Wenatchee for the Eastern Washington Regionals in March. Apparently, after that, it's Washington DC but let's take one competition at a time!

I was so impressed with Dylan's willingness to get up on a stage, in front of an audience. After his past panic attacks I was a bit concerned with how the evening would pan out. Dylan never hesitated! He's come a long way.....wow!

And the winning pose! I love how Dylan's certificate is glowing! Matches his smile!

I'll Bet You Thought I'd Forgotten!

Not a chance! I just haven't posted any new pictures lately, that's all! I have to admit, it is getting harder and harder to find photos to take so a lot of my new pictures are ho hum. But that's how life is - some days are more exciting than others!

This was a class weekend for me so I spent Saturday and Sunday in a classroom at Eastmont Junior High in East Wenatchee. Steve and the kids drove up on Sunday afternoon to spend Valentine's night with me in my hotel room. It was a great excuse for the kids to play in the hot tub and for all of us to enjoy a fun dinner out in a different town.

The kids and I after my class. They brought me flowers!


The pitcher of sangria that Steve and I shared for our Valentine's dinner. It was so refreshing! The pitcher is deceptive - lots of liquid fits into that little thing!

Lyndsi performed in her second Missoula Children's Theater performance on Saturday. She auditioned for a part in King Arthur's Quest on Monday, rehearsed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and acted in two performances on Saturday. She enjoys these short plays so much! I missed this year's performance due to my class - such a bummer! Steve tells me it was adorable and I can't wait to watch the video. I did see Lyndsi's Mini Merlin costume - the best costume of the bunch!

It's Mini Merlin! Like I said - the best costume ever! There was a full size Merlin who also had this costume. Not sure what Mini Merlin's role was...




All the Minis. There was a mini for all the full size cast members. The minis were all 5, 6 or 7 years old. They sang, danced and yelled out their lines. So sad I missed it!

And now on to my Picture a Day files -

February 6

Lyndsi and Dylan started volunteering at the local cat shelter last summer. Their job is to pet and talk to and cuddle all the abandoned cats to keep them used to human interaction. Some of the kitties have never been treated nicely so are very wary of the little hands coming towards them. Some, though, are desperate for the friendly attention. This is Maggie May. She's been at the shelter for a while now. What a lover!

February 7

Gluten free cranberry scones - yum! Not bad, if I do say so myself!

February 8

I love that Dylan still likes giving out Valentines! I know he's only a fourth grader but the kids seem to grow up so fast. After this year, Dylan only has one more year at the elementary school and then he's off to middle school. I don't know what they do on Valentine's Day in the middle school but I'll bet they don't pass out cute, Snoopy cards.....sigh...

February 9

The 100th Day of School! Enough said!

February 10

I picked up our family pictures from Leanne's tonight. Lyndsi enjoyed the antics of Leanne's two cuties. There's a third cutie somewhere in the background but he wouldn't join the girls for the picture - a lot to ask from an 18 month old!

February 11

My neglected treadmill.......

February 12

Last minute shot of Lucy and Lyndsi - such good buddies!

February 13

This is the view from the library at Eastmont Middle School, where I take my master's courses. Wow! I sometimes find myself zoning while staring out the window! One day, in the middle of class, a flock of geese flew right by the windows. Cool!

February 14

Dinner at McGlinn's Public House in Wenatchee, WA. Baby back ribs for Dylan and spaghetti for Lyndsi. Both looked so yummy! I think the kids thought they tasted pretty good too!

February 15

Daffodils! Already? We've had such a mild winter that the poor little shoots think it's time to come out of the ground. Not in Eastern Washington! These shoots were all over Wenatchee. I may see flowers when I go back in March.

I should be doing homework.....

But I'm not! I'm posting pictures instead! It's so much more fun!

January 30

Dylan raced in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and came in third place. That night he pulled out all his medals and ribbons and asked me to take a picture of him. He's so proud of all his awards! It doesn't really matter what the award is for, as long as there is a ribbon, medal or trophy involved, he's happy!

January 31

Reily and Lyndsi.....two peas in a pod....often confused as sisters because they spend so much time together! Kids at school don't know if I'm Reily's mom or Lyndsi's mom! The girls met as toddlers at the best daycare in the whole world. They've been inseparable ever since. On this day they entertained me with an original dance to a Hannah Montana song. It makes me smile to watch Lyndsi and Reily dance!

February 1

And then there are Max and Dylan. Max and Dylan met at the same fabulous daycare when they were 2. Max's mom was the provider and Dylan spent some long days with Max's family. The boys remain best buds to this day. They are both very active boys and have similar interests when it comes to play. I'm constantly amazed at their imaginative minds!

February 2

Blizzards! Yum! My favorite ice cream treat! I look for special celebrations so I have an excuse for a Blizzard! This time we were celebrating excellent report cards. I wonder what our next excuse will be?

February 3

I finally got a shot of Dylan's Pinewood Derby car and trophy. Tigers have intriqued Dylan from the time he wrote a report on the Bengal Tiger in second grade. Something has triggered that intrigue again recently and now Dylan want's everything around him to be orange and black - including his walls. I'm happy to report that Dylan's walls are still a nice tan and jungle green as he was able to satisfy his craving for orange by creating a tiger car!

February 4

I love miniature roses! They are delicate and petite yet hardy and tough. My friend, Amy, gave us this pretty little thing for letting Max hang out with us one evening. We certainly don't expect gifts in exchange for Max's presence at our dinner table but I am in love with this rose! It's a little ray of spring in my kitchen window.

February 5

Once again, I waited until bedtime to remember to take my daily photograph. As I was considering what I wanted to shoot tonight I spied these candlesticks. I bought myself this pair of antique "coke bottle" candlesticks from Grandma's Attic in Omak. They are heavy, thick glass and do have the coloring of an old Coke bottle. I don't know if they were recycled from bottles or not but I like the way they look on my dining room table right now!

It's Friday.....

January 26

We cheered on the Okanogan basketball teams tonight. I'm beginning to enjoy watching the high school boys and girls play! Basketball players make the game look so easy! Both the girls and boys went on to beat Omak. Great games!

January 27

The end of a long day......

January 28

Lyndsi had a hair trim tonight. Megan gave her some pretty curls - something mom doesn't do well! I had to take this shot because Lyndsi looked so pretty!

January 29

It's Friday! Tonight that meant an evening at the movies! We had a gift certificate to the Omak Theater so we took the kids to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Cute movie but I was there for the popcorn! We get this tub of popcorn for 7.50 and chow down! We rarely need to but you get one free refill with this purchase. Yummy!


I'm always ready for a Friday! Are you?

Trivia Time

Do you know the names and ages of all the Brady's in their first season? Do you remember Mikey? How about Underoos and Dukes of Hazard? If you'd been here Saturday night you would have all these answers and more!

Amy and I pulled off a great 70's/80's themed party for Steve's and Jeff's 40th birthdays. It was so much fun to plan that I got a little worried that it wouldn't go well! We decorated with old photos of the boys and toys from our childhoods, played a great mix of music from that era, created a video of old tv shows and commercials, gave out tickets to everyone who came through the door, who answered trivia questions correctly, who used the word 'birthday' and who just looked really cool! We then did did door prize drawings throughout the evening with those tickets. Prizes were Sea Monkeys, Pop Rocks, Barrel o Monkeys games, well, you get the picture. I say we in my paragraph but I have to admit, Amy did most of the work last week and I jumped in on Saturday! I had some fun ideas, I just procrastinated!

Even DEVO made an appearance! We were serenaded with "Whip It"!

Costumes were totally optional so it was such a surprise to see these guys appear!

Steve was pretty much a goofball all night!

Almost set off the smoke detectors! You should see the black hole in the ceiling....hee hee!

This is also my January 23 photo for my 365 project. I loved the effect that the bright candles had on everything else.

January 24

Yes, those are brussel sprouts! Glorious, yummy brussel sprouts! I'm pretty sure they are my favorite vegie, though I have several other close seconds. I love to make brussel sprouts for dinner because I am guaranteed seconds on them - no one else likes them! I know, I'm a weirdo - but I'm a healthy weirdo!

January 25

I'm not sure if I just caught Lyndsi with a funny look or if she was feeling grumpy! I was picking her up from dance and thought she looked cute trying to tie her tap shoes together so I took the shot. Hmmmmm......maybe she was a little upset that I was late! I can't help it if people think the speed limit on Elmway is 30 mph - it's really 45! Anyway, Lyndsi's little grumpy face was short lived - here's her next look....

See the sparkle in her eye?

How Come No One Told Me I Skipped A Day!?

Yikes! I didn't post for the 18th! Actually, I did but I didn't post it as a daily photo - just a photo I'd taken that day! So, here it is again -

January 18

This is the picture of Leanne taking a picture. She doesn't like the shot but I love it! You can really see how artistic and dedicated Leanne is to photography!

Amy and I are putting the finishing touches on the decorations for the boys' birthday party tomorrow night. I can't wait! It's been a pretty stressful couple of weeks at school and I'm ready for some fun.

Here are the rest of my 365 photos.

January 20

Lyndsi and I were heading home and saw this guy hanging out in a neighbors' tree. It was so exciting! He was right on the road and watching us watch him. It was dark by the time we shot the photos so they aren't very good but I was so excited to see him, I don't care how the shot looks.

January 21

I went to a Girls Night dinner at Rancho Chico. Leanne of Soulography is on the far right. We hadn't all been together for several months so it was nice to see everyone again!

January 22

This is a pretty lame photo! We had been at Wal-Mart for some last minute items and the kids took off to the Play Center. When we go to check out, the kids go to the play center. They did so tonight, as usual!