Fantastic News !

I just can't hold this in! I heard the most wonderful news on the Today Show this morning! They have come out with the most life changing information:

The 40's are the new 20's!

Yes! You heard right! I couldn't contain my excitement! Here I am in my early 40's and I don't have to worry about aging at all! What I found really interesting is that when I was in my 30's they had made a statement that the 30's were the new 20's! So I figure as I grow it will next be the 50's are the new 20's, the 60's and so on!

So, when I die, no matter what the age - - - I am going to look FANTASTIC!

But doesn't it make you wonder a little what the age is of the people doing this report?

. . . HMMMMMMM. . . . .

Does this mean I can act like I did in my 20's too?????

Have a great day!

Thar She Blows . . .

As far as weather goes, I have to admit, we are pretty fortunate here in Idaho. We don't have hurricanes, rarely have tornadoes, blizzards, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. But we do have WIND! And such was the case early this morning.

It was approximately 1:40 a.m. Sunday morning when Kurt and I nearly sat bolt upright in bed when it sounded as if a train had rammed into our house! It was incredible. I knew we were to get some strong winds but I wasn't prepared for this! It literally sounded like a freight train. I noticed the light on in Hailey's room too. I went to check on her. She was as startled as we were. I think "What was that" was the main statement of the morning!

It was hard going back to sleep with my heart pounding and the wind buffeting our home, but we eventually did. I thought I would take some pictures of the aftermath. Thankfully for us it wasn't too bad. I had checked the local weather and old trees were uprooted, people lost power and a local nursery had a greenhouse get shattered and they even found huge chunks of glass embedded in nearby trees!

This camper shell was laying on the ground where the dry patch of weeds are in the foreground!
Thankfully it didn't go over the fence into the neighbors yard. (Did I fail to mention this is the same camper shell that two years ago in a wind storm was actually picked up by the wind, hit the house, scraped the fence and was dropped in the front yard on the driveway just seconds before I walked out there?)

Took my garbage cans for a ride!

This was against the fence in the backyard. Doesn't quite compare to what is in the front yard though . . .

I had several people ask me about my "new" landscaping theme. I call it "tumble", it has that ol' western, tumbleweed look. Isn't it Marvelous! Mind you, Hailey is about 5'3''!

From a different angle - believe me, it is quite amazing!

Can you believe the size of these things!!!! This one was stuck to the back of our blue and white truck against the garage door!

Front corner of the house.

This was a neighbors house, two houses down!!!!

I wanted to keep taking pictures - there are places along the back chain link fence that faces the open field where these beauties come from and it is so high with tumbleweeds that they actually "spilled over" the fence into the yard!

Like I've said before - the weather is always interesting here in Idaho!

Boys With Bows . . .

You can tell that your son is growing up when he abandons things like Spiderman and Pokemon cards and starts to pay a lot of attention to scary, harmful, bodily injurious things like football and bows and arrows . . .
Hayden's friend Emmett came to spend the night and brought his bow and arrows so he and Hayden could have some fun with Hayden's newly acquired (birthday present) bow and arrows.
(aren't they cute)!


Here is Hayden with his first "kill"! I told them to pose by the box when their arrow went through it because that's what hunters do when they hit their target. Should I have put some antlers on the box?

Tandem Menace! Watch out you free roaming, wild boxes!

Even Tyler thought this looked fun. I believe it is one of those things that is harder to do than it looks. Watching the boys try to keep the arrows balanced while they aimed was pretty interesting.

Hailey - Warrior Princess !

(well actually, bow-retriever girl. The other name just sounded better !

Hailey's turn! Believe it or not she actually cut herself with the plastic part that is on the back of the arrow for balance. Yes, I am sure it has a name but I am a girl and don't know what the name of it is right now. If I find out, I'll let you know. I call it the feather-replacer thingy.

Emmett is keeping his eye out for stance and there is Tyler the Jedi Padawan Learner in the background.

(Did I tell you that Ty wants to be a Jedi when he gets older? Don't see much need for those in the Job Wanted section yet. What do you think the college course requirement would be for that?)

Sorry Hailey - Missed the box, uh-er, the deer!

Oh yeah! Emmett with his trophy game! Great Job Emmett!

Oh wait Hailey . . . . I think we found your arrow! I think I have some band-aids in the house!

I have always wanted to learn how to shoot with a bow and arrow. Maybe I will have to sneak the deer-box out during the day while the kids are in school and see how I do! That way there will be no witnesses either!

Lunch Date With Aunt Pat!

When Kurt started working for Committed Caseworks and Events last summer he was gone a lot! They had sooooo many jobs in a row and a lot of times he would take Hailey and Hayden with him because they wanted to help with things and didn't need constant supervision. Anyway, that left Tyler out and he started to feel a little abandoned. Aunt Pat came to the rescue and started having special lunch dates with him almost every other Saturday. Just a special time doing something nobody else got to do. Tyler loved it! Pat did too but she made the mistake though of letting Tyler pick where he would like to eat. Tyler is a kid that is very repetitious. And nowhere else will do! Pat has continued since then to keep these lunch dates. Tyler gets to call her and everything. I think the both of them get a lot out of it.

Anyway, last Saturday was another opportunity for lunch. This time though Hayden asked if he could go and Pat said sure and Tyler didn't mind. Pat said Hailey was welcome to go if she wanted also. So, being a person who loves to have any chance to have some quiet time, I also was thrilled. I also thought it would be fun to blog so I sent the camera with Hailey and this is how it went!

Hailey felt compelled to take a shot of the sign. I think it was from pure guilt. She played on the equipment although according to the sign she shouldn't have. Tsk Tsk Hailey. Where's that self control? I'm going to tell Ronald.

A kid's eye view of an adult who desperately doesn't want to be sitting in that room with all the noise! I'm thinking you have earned some kind of award Pat for doing this time after time!

Although this is a cute shot I can't help thinking about how many sweaty pairs of socks have run over this platform, not to mention pieces of food that have fallen out of someones mouth and licked back up before mom or dad could see it and my sweet baby is laying his face on it.

Does that make me sound like a germaphobe?

Just having fun!

Tyler lives for this sort of thing! Running, being loud and sweating to death! They actually came home with sweaty hair!

It's funny when you look at this food you can just see how unhealthy it is but about twice a year I get such a desire for a Big Mac, it is weird! It's like Russian Roulette with your arteries! There is some kind of thrill there!

There's Pat eating something a touch healthier, oh hey Pat, is that the box of fries you snuck and ate from when Tyler wasn't there???? Oh, was that supposed to be a secret?

The kids love to play in these so much! Pat is a good sport about the whole thing. It gives her that touch of having her own kids but then the joy of dropping them off and getting to go home and relax in peace and quiet.

Congratulations Tyler!

It was a fun day for Tyler today! He won a STAR award at school!

This month's character trait was: Determination.

Picture of the principal making all this kids rowdy.

Here they are getting ready to spell out the school name "Give me an "H"! Give me a "U"! Give me an "N"! Give me a "T"! Give me an "E"! Give me an "R"! What does that spell?

HUNTER!

If you could hear these kids yell this! Amazing how loud a group of kids can be!

Makes your hair stand on end!

(And then you want to run out of the gym to find a quiet place).

A little hard to see (the camera was acting up during this whole thing!) but Tyler is the last kid to the right walking up to receive his award.

One of the big advantages to the job Kurt works at now is that he has a little more time in the mornings. Since most of the work is more of like a swing shift sort of thing it allows him to come to the school things for the kids sometimes. I know the kids love to have him there!

(I do too!)

Great Job Tyler!

For The Love Of Books -

Books, Books, Books!
My kids love books and I am happy about that! Reading was something that I really wanted to be important to the kids. I even use books as rewards for the kids. We have A LOT of them!
I have always read to the kids when I had the chance and always have books available to them but several years back we decided together that it would be fun to start reading chapter books before bed. A great way to downshift and mellow out before hitting the sheets! It has gone very well. I started making a list the other day of all the books we have read together. So far, of the ones we can remember, we are about at 80 + books (not including picture books).

Most of our favorites seem to fall in the realm of Knights and Dragons, Good versus Evil where good ALWAYS wins! There are several books that we have read that were borrowed from the library but the kids have wanted copies for themselves because they want to read them again and again. Recently we had a little extra money and Amazon was having a good deal and I bought a set of books that the kids have been wanting really bad!

We have already read Eragon and Eldest but have been waiting patiently for Brisingr. These are really interesting books! The kids loved them. The young man that wrote these books is pretty amazing. He was home schooled and graduated at the age of 15. I think his first book, Eragon was published by the time he was 19!!!
Hayden wants to be an Author someday (and possibly a history teacher - he loves the Revolutionary War era) and he really likes Christopher Paolini's style of writing.


You should have heard the squeals of excitement when the kids came home from school and found the books on the table in the dining room! We started reading the book Brisingr last night. This book has around 750 pages and about 60 (?) chapters!
Even Willow likes me to read. When she sees me grab my glasses (yes, I am old and need reading glasses) and head up the stairs she grabs her chew toy and starts running around me.
Then when I pull out the bean bags and set them on the floor against the wall she is so frantically excited! As soon as I sit down with the book she rushes to lay down by me and starts chewing away!

She has done this since she was little. It is really quite funny! Reading is a family affair!

Hopefully Mr. Paolini will hurry with his final book in this series so when we are finished with this one we can go right on to the last book and not have to wait a YEAR like the last time!

Bus Stop !

Ahhhhhh - the morning trip to the bus stop with the boys. I have to snicker to myself about this because I wasn't supposed to be making this trip with them every day. Originally I started off just planning to walk for a week or two, show Tyler the ropes, make sure Hayden was keeping his eye on his brother, etc.

Well, after a few days it was quite evident that I was going to be doing this trip a lot more than I had planned! Tyler is such a sweet boy but as I learned, EASILY distracted! If his brother races him he doesn't stop to think about traffic or anything, he is in race mode! Anything he sees that has been left behind by another kid or a special looking rock, worm on the sidewalk, bird that flies by, all grab his attention and distract him from his destination. Hayden tends to get caught up in chatting with the neighbor and doesn't quite see where Ty is at. And then there is the situation of the kids at the bus stop. Mind you, there is about 27-30 kids total at this bus stop and there has been many times that I was very glad I was there! I have seen brothers take each other down into the street fighting, kids being mean, pushing, shoving, etc. And there are rarely any other parents there sooooo, being who I am I have silently taken on the job of Bus Line Attendant.
Someone has to keep the kids from killing each other!

Here we are leaving the driveway. When Hayden found out I was going to blog this today he tried to hide the camera. Him and the neighbor boy (also named Hayden believe it or not - they even have the same birth date, but my Hayden is a few years older) made a point of staying away from me!


Tyler didn't seem to mind too much.

This is about the distance the boys kept from me for most of the trip. But, actually this isn't abnormal. Hayden is at that stage where he needs you when he's hurt and when he is hungry but after that he pretends he doesn't know me. I try to not go out of my way to embarras him but sometimes it just slips out! Isn't that what parents are for? We keep them humble!

This is another picture of Tyler walking with me but this time he is walking backwards while he talks to me, he also skips and does assorted things to keep as much motion going as possible. He likes to be "active"!

The boys again . . . . keeping a safe distance!

Now we are approaching the bus stop. The boys are already in line pretending they have no idea who this person is with the camera. Of course I let everyone at the bus stop know what I am doing. Hey, they asked!

This is only part of the group of kids that meet at this stop. The really tall kid in the picture is named Trevor. He is a really nice boy. He is taller than me and he is actually a few months younger than Hayden! I KNOW!

He is very nice to Tyler. They have a secret handshake and things like that. I hassle him a lot because he always seems to forget his coat and looks like he should be freezing although he claims he is fine.

You should have seen how all the kids cleared away when I asked this little girl (Brooke) if I could take her picture with Ty. She lives right across the street from the bus stop and her Mom comes out and chats with me sometimes. She has the cutest little sisters. This is also the girl who shares the seat with Tyler. She is really sweet.

Kids loading up! Bus drivers - nerves of steel!

I actually caught a picture of Hayden on the bus. By the time the flash had gone off he ducked in his seat. He doesn't think I got the picture but he will see that I did! Mom's are quick when they want to be. We have stealth when it comes to stuff like this!

I was really hoping to catch a picture of Tyler and Brooke waving goodbye. They do it every morning. It is soooo cute because they both are so tiny. If you look close enough Tyler tried to press his face against the glass. He is right above the word "district". I could see him in the picture while in the folder but I dont' think I can see him here. 7th window from the back.

Have a great day kids! I'll miss you!

Now to turn around and head home. This is usually the time when I am thinking of how beautifully quiet it is and what the bus driver is experiencing right now but then the focus goes back on how quiet it is! This is a strange moment really because it is nice to be alone but the conversations I have just had with Tyler or Hayden resonate in my mind. I love talking with them. I love their perspective on things. But the air feels so beautiful and crisp (it's about 35 degrees), the birds are chirping and I can take a deep breath.

Here I am rounding the corner to the house. It looks so pretty in the morning with the sun just coming over the other rooftops. It is even more gorgeous when all the plants have leafed out and things are much more lush and vibrant. Aaaahhhh -

I can feel the peaceful feeling washing over me with my quiet walk home . . . then it slowly occurs to me that when I step through that door, my other work begins! Hello house cleaning!