When Jonny Comes To Play . . .

When Jonny comes to play there is never a dull moment! If America ever needed a source of energy . . . well, you get the picture. ANYWAY - today is no different.
I was downstairs minding my own business, trying to repair the kitchen from making and serving breakfast and I had told the boys (Hayden, Jonny, Tyler) to go upstairs and get dressed for the day. You would have thought I told 3 elephants to go upstairs and pretend to be wrecking balls!

This is what I found. A battle of epic proportions between "camo man, guitar guy and pirate boy"! Yes, I don't know if they were battling for middle earth or what but it sounded like the house was being demolished! I will explain a little about each character as the boys had with me when I dared to ask.

This is "pirate boy", his weapon is a little rubber iguana that also doubles as a "mustache". Hmmm. Can't think of a more powerful weapon than that, can you? But I am not sure how he wields it. I think it stretches and you can use it like a rubber band. High chance of eye damage?

This here is "camo man" he has two very interesting weapons. One is a little Indian style flute he wears around his neck (not sure of what it's power is, yet, maybe to soothe and mesmerize his enemies) and the other is an electric toothbrush which I got to see in action. You hold it against your opponent and then you both stop to see what it does to your skin! (It must have stunning power because both kids stop to watch when that happens)! Thankfully, no blood!

Last but not least is "guitar guy". His weapon is more obvious. A little guitar. Here he is displaying it's power. The power to "bonk" people when they aren't looking. It also is useful when your enemy is taking a long time to get to the place you are hiding, you can just strum a tune. . . but it has a tendency to give away your location. You must be careful.

Yes, can't get more creative than that on a foggy Saturday morning.

Oh to be a kid again!

Ode to the Sun . . .

Ode to the Sun

Alas O sun, where be your shine?
with golden rays that pierce the mind

with thoughts of meadows, pure and gold

we are to see you or so we're told!

But what comes to my searching eyes

is gray and yuck - Behold these skies!

Dim and dismal, most sadly kept

Oh why O sun, Why have you slept?

Okay - I'm sorry. I couldn't help it! We were supposed to see the sun today. We were told by the trusty weatherman that this little storm front that is coming through, that dropped a fine dusting of snow overnight, was supposed to break up the inversion and clear up our skies. Well, these pictures were taken this morning and, hello! I don't see any sun anywhere!!!!
So, there is a cause for the melancholy attitude. Without sun I feel as though I am withering away. I end up feeling as grumpy as the sky looks!
On a positive note . . . at least with the snow it is a little more tolerable!
Feast your eyes on our hazy skies!

The only one here who I believe is not affected by this inversion!

I am glad I got that out of my system. I do feel a tiny bit better.

Sickness and Sleds . . . .

Just getting Hailey better and off to school found me not feeling very well for most of the week and then I got a call from the school on Thursday that Tyler had gone to the nurse about a head that "hurt like crazy" and turned out he also had a fever. This was sad because there had been an invitation to go up to the Baker's cabin. I believe it was in part so Kurt could help Rob fix a snow blower but you can't just go up to the mountains to work . . .


But, I think when you are up in the mountains they just call to you - "come play"! I noticed out of all the pictures that Tanya had taken (and kindly passed on to me) there were only a few of the working and a lot of the playing!!! But how can you resist!

Oh, there is also other benefits to being in the mountains . . .

Kids also trying to feed the deer . . .

The next group of shots are wonderful! Looking at these magnificent animals I always have a hard time imagining how a hunter could shoot them. Unless you were starving and had no options, but still . . .

Mom, can I keep him!

Okay - now past all the sentimental, cutsie animal pics that tug at your heartstrings and evoke feelings of peace, calm and serenity let's get to the real reason for going to the cabin!

Hailey, Hayden, Gloria and Zach besting the large snow balls!

See what happens when Mom isn't around! As far as I knew Hailey didn't have a driver's license!

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Hayden doesn't either!

Playing in the snow can be soooo exhausting!

Needless to say - Tyler and I missed out on what looks like a grand adventure full of beautiful mountains, gorgeous wildlife and lawbreaking snowmobile driving!!! I am not sure though how much we did miss since the kids were covered with bruises from sledding and the groaning that is going on with all three of them of how stiff they are! Whimps. Next time Ty and I will have to go and show them how to play!

Boise State University . . .

All I can say is that this has been a l -o-n-g week! After Hailey's snowboarding/skiing adventure she ended up quite ill! She reached fevers of 102.+ and I believe ended up with laryngitis. I have been home with her through all this so I don't have much to share (and she refused to let me take pictures so I could blog on it- go figure!) but I thought it would be fun to share something Hayden got to go do with his Dad.
If there is anything that attracts a young boys' attention, it is usually football and with Hayden, that is definitely the case!!! If Kurt happens to be flipping through t.v. channels and even a hint of football is seen Hayden is begging to watch it. He loves the NFL but has a special place in his heart for the Boise State Broncos! I have to admit, I find the games exciting too. I think it is because they are really quite excellent and also that they always seem to be considered the underdogs even when they are undefeated. It is like, no place wants to recognize them for the force they really are - so, it makes it intense.

Hayden had the wonderful opportunity to go help out his Dad set up sound equipment for a party that was being held in the new Skybox they built at the BSU stadium! What a perfect day for a boy. Time with Dad at work AND football stuff! Could it get any better than this?

According to Tanya (co-owner of the business Kurt works for) Hayden had used her camera to take this shot from the Skybox! I really think that turf is very pretty! (Thanks for letting him use your camera Tanya!)

Here is Hayden standing with Zack! Zack is Rob and Tanya's (the owners of the business Kurt works for, Committed Events) sixteen year old son. Hayden and Zack get along fantastically. Zack is a great kid! What a great view of the city! But, I can't help thinking that there should be some kind of guard rail along the bottom half of that glass just in case a kid might trip and fall into the window shattering the glass and falling out??? Doesn't that sound logical to you? Where's OSHA when you need them?

Here is another picture from the Skybox of the Boise foothills! I have never been in the skybox but from the look of these pictures, the view looks quite beautiful!



Here is one last shot of the beautiful blue turf and Bronco emblem! The season is over for this year but I am sure next year will bring much more excitement and more destruction to the knees of all of Hayden's jeans from playing football at lunch at school!

GO BRONCOS!

Homework, Homework, Homework !

I love watching the kids do their homework! Well, I don't watch a lot, I end up helping a lot but that's okay. All the kids are doing very well in school and I love to see them learn. I think with Ty's age it is exciting because they go from not being able to spell to being able to read in such a short time. They are such little sponges!
How come I never got to use markers for writing homework when I was a kid?



I have to say also that at Hayden's age it is exciting too because they are learning so many interesting things! All of the stuff that is around Hayden in this picture are things that he is using for different parts of his homework! I know! Teachers went a little overboard here!

And here, last but not least is Hailey doing her homework . . . wait, I see her bag . . . where is Hailey?????

Oh yeah, that's right! She skipped out on her homework for an evening of night skiing/snowboarding with her church kids class! She didn't get home until pretty late but we didn't have to worry about her not getting enough sleep for school tomorrow because she never went. When she got home she had a sore throat, fever and chills! So much for the homework!

I believe she had a good time! But, boy does she look exhausted! Can you get sick of having fun? Hailey says "no" but I'm not so sure . . . isn't fever proof?

Mailing May Project

I have to say that of all the projects my kids have been assigned over the years, this one has to be one of the cutest ideas!
A few months back Tyler's first grade class was reading a book called "Mailing May" which was about a little girl who wants to visit her grandmother but the parents can't afford it so the family decides to mail May to her Grandmother in the form of a paper self. So the kids all got to mail a self made self to a relative of their choice!
We chose to send "Tyler" to his Great Aunt Flo in New York! Flo is known for going to many interesting places and doing a lot of fun things so we thought it would be fun to see what her world is like (plus Grammy is there and he would like to visit her too)!

Here is a picture of Tyler with . . . himself!



Flo did a stellar job of this one! Not only did she take pictures of not only herself, but Grammy, family and friends all holding Tyler in different locations but she also had them made into a fantastic little book! It was beautiful! She also sent a couple of magazines, brochures and maps!
Tyler said he had the most stuff of all the kids in his class!


This is a picture of the front cover of the book! There is the creative Aunt Flo to the right and Tyler in front of a flamingo-like bird in a garden area at the Tioga Garden Dome and Floral Center in Owego, New York!


This is one of the pages inside! The woman in the picture is our beloved Grammy by the Susquehanna River also in Owego. So cute to see her holding this little paper Tyler!

There are so many beautiful pictures of family, friends, and local scenery! All I can say is Thank You so much Aunt Flo for putting your time, effort and heart into this. And also how you included other people into holding Tyler, it is so great! You turned a project into a treasure! Will keep it always! XOXOXOXOXO

Welcomed Guests !

Saturday Evening we had the pleasure of having visitors! My brother Ray, his wife Cheryl and their bouncy daughter, Jenna all stopped by and hung out for a while! It was nice to spend some time together since they don't live too near by and I don't get too far away! It's amazing all the different topics you can touch on in a few hours, isn't it!

I think of all my kids Tyler was the happiest! He loves Jenna! I think it is because they are like two peas in a pod! Both have energy beyond my hopes and really enjoy each others company! In the short period of time we had together they had watched a movie, had a snack, played a game, played Fisher Price Castles and slid down the stairs on their bottoms! Wow!

I like this picture too - Hailey and Hayden near each other and no choking going on!

It was fun! I hope we can do it again real soon. They had to leave town early because of a snow storm that was coming our way. Short but sweet visit!

Lego's Anyone?

I just thought it would be fun to post what can happen to a room that contains both children and legos! I love legos. I think they are a wonderful toy for kids. Age doesn't seem to matter and there is no end to creativity! A lot of thought goes into these things. Not only the people who make them but the kids when they build them and also some of the ideas they get!

Just a sample of some of the kits the kids have put together - by no means is this all of them . . .

This is what the floor usually looks like when they are creating! I try to look the other way knowing it is good for them. Can you imagine the sound it would produce if you ran a vacuum through here?

This is a picture from last year when Hayden's friend Emmett was over. Together Hayden and Emmett come up with some of the neatest little towns and such. They have so much fun with it!

This is one of those toys that you wish you would have thought of!