Continuation

Auntie Dani is still here. Its been a real treat. My Honey and I have actually been able to steal away for a few minutes here and there. Even for a walk around the block it has been nice to just say "Do you mind, we'll be right back." Kind of a freedom we haven't had in a long time. Well, ever since kids! I have decided that everyone needs a 16 year old!

We had a great weekend! Saturday we got the pool set up. My Honey had worked hard on getting the ground level, and it was time. So we got it out and set it up. Later that day was some friends of the family 50th wedding anniversary. It was a nice event out in the sticks. We got to see lots of old friends and their grown up kids! Play in the sun, swim, all kinds of fun stuff. Miss I missed her nap so we left while the party was still going on to take the kids home, feed them and get them to bed. Since we had a babysitter we went back to the party! We had dinner on the way out there and crashed the party. They had a movie screen set up for an outdoor movie, so we all found a chair, sat around the movie screen and watched a flick outside. It was really fun! Kind of like the drive in, only better because you knew everyone. There must have been 40 of us between the ages of 3 and 83 watching "Wild Hogs" it was really fun.

Sunday My Honey and I went golfing which was really nice. We played early before it got too hot, and I did alright. I still don't keep score, but my drives are improving and my putting was a lot better than the last two times. They have a womens clinic every Thursday evening, I might go check it out. For $15 a little extra practice with some instruction can't hurt.

Did I mention that I played in a golf tournament last week? No, I kind of lost last week. Even though I have Auntie Dani here I sure haven't gotten much time at the computer. There was a dispatch-techie conference in town last week which included a golf tournament. I talked a couple of people from work into playing. It was free, what did we have to lose besides our self respect? Turns out one of the guys I recruited played with the winning team! My team was only 3 strokes from LOSING! But it was fun.

Sunday afternoon, while My Honey golfed some more, we spent in the pool. The kids love it even though its FREEZING cold. Although, it was 100+ yesterday so it was pretty refreshing! The chemicals aren't balanced though so we are working on that. We all got quite a bit of sun and I didn't feel like cooking so McDonalds it was. Quick, easy, cool inside.

Today we are headed to the water park. Miss I gets to stay with Grammy while Bubba, Dani and I go. It should be fun, fun, fun!

I am pretty sure we will be going through withdrawal when Dani leaves! All this freedom gone. We'll work it out!

Working Girl

Whew! Its been a busy few days. Auntie Dani arrived by plane into town on Friday. I was just a little freaked out ... My 21 year old step-brother was flying her. He had an instructor with him and it was all cool, but I still worried. But they made it here and all is well. I REALLY like having a live in sitter, the kids are loving having her here and she is really great with the kids. Its been fun all around so far.

I worked two long shifts this weekend where I went to work at 3am so it made for some long days. This week Bubba has a day camp program he goes to and he had a blast today. They got to eat lunch with the Apple Blossom Royalty. When I asked him what they were like he said "The princesses looked like working girls."

"Working girls?"
"Yeah you know, like you?"
"Like me?" What do you mean?"
"You know, button up shirts, name tags. Working Girls."
"Oh, you mean girls that have jobs ...."
Not what I think of when I hear the phrase "working girls" but it makes for a good story!

Tuesday

Why is it that a boy/girl combination is so much easier than a boy/boy combination?

I swear I don't even know Bubba and Emilee are playing together they have been so quiet all day! They have played in the tree house, dug in the dirt looking for worms to "fish" with from the windows of the tree house, they rode bikes a little I think, they played with blocks, all kinds of stuff and they were absolutely angelic about it. I sure hope Bubba and Miss I are as good at DW's house! And if they aren't, I just want to apologize in advance, "Sorry DW!" :) I am sure they will all be just fine.

I even fed them a nutritious lunch of gummy worms, cake and coke! Just kidding, they got grilled cheese, and apples. Snacks were grapes and some cheetos. MMMMM. What a good mom huh? I nearly let them get ice cream from the ice cream man, but no one came running out to ask for some so I just let him drive on by. Its a rare day when the ice cream man doesn't drive by in the summer so we have to limit our purchases to weekends only or else we would be dishing out 30 or 40 dollars a week to that guy.

Happy Birthday Honey

It was a very nice Fathers Day/Birthday weekend.
My Honey was born on Fathers Day in 1967, so every once in a while his birthday falls on the actual holiday. Not this year, today is his birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY :)

Thankfully it was my long weekend (plus an extra day off this Wednesday) so I didn't have to stress about how to get Fathers Day stuff in. It just worked out.

We started out on Sunday morning with breakfast in bed. Bubba was adamant that his Dad wanted "cheezy eggs, pineapple and toast." So thats what he got. We putzed around the house, I mowed while everyone else washed the Jeep. Its so pretty now! We finally got the hard top off Saturday! After lunch, the boys went golfing while I did a little cleaning and then me and Miss I took much needed naps.
(the boys going golfing in the clean, topless Jeep)

My SIL planned a Fathers Day/Birthday BBQ at her house Sunday night so dinner was a piece of cake. AND... I actually made a dessert. I baked an apple pie. I know, don't fall out of your chair, I baked an apple pie. It was pretty good too. It happens to be My Honey's favorite (not necessarily MY apple pie, but apple pie in general).

Then home and to bed. It was a pretty full day but it was also pretty relaxing.

I worked a short overtime shift on Saturday morning (3am - 7am) then My Honey went golfing. Then kids and I packed up their bikes and went to the farmers market, on a short walk/bike ride then grocery shopping. It was a pretty nice day, but tiring. I tried to take a nap but it just didn't work out. We went to a party on Saturday night. Fun stuff! One of my officer-friends moved into a new house so he had a house warming/college graduation (for his wife) party. It was a pretty good time. I am sure there is a lot I missed out on, we left after the first two rounds of Jagermeister shots (which were yummy)... It was fun to get to know some of the newer officers, one in particular is very funny (and very young!) he had nicknames for a few of us girls - Mountain Lion, Puma, stuff like that. They were calling him Boy Toy. I am pretty sure thats going to stick. The next time I talk to him on the phone its going to be "Hey Boy Toy, hows it going?"

My MIL is leaving town today or tomorrow to go to Portland so we had a bunch of babysitting challenges for the next couple weeks. Wednesday I took off, Thursday My Honey took off, and Friday Auntie M is watching the kids. Friday afternoon my youngest sister Dani comes to town, she will be here for awhile (maybe through the 4th) to help out! Check this out: I was trying to work out transportation logistics for her and her brother offered to fly her over! He is training to be a pilot so he worked it out with his instructor to get a plane for Friday. Its a great big help, but stresses me out!!! I will be much better once she is safely on the ground here and he is safely on the ground in Renton.

My MIL is going to stay with Auntie Portland. My niece was born with a cleft soft palate and its time for the surgery to repair it. I am also a little stressed about that. She is 11 months old and will go under full anesthesia for the surgery. Its not an uncommon surgery, but its not a routine thing either. Anyway, I will also feel better after I hear that her surgery is complete and she is awake and doing well.

And then there's today . . .

So far so good. Best Buddy and Sister are spending the day here. Its actually not that bad to have a couple extra kids around. Miss I and Sister play pretty good considering Sister is 9 and Miss I is 2. I think Sister looks at it as a chance to sort of babysit she did a very nice job getting Miss I to eat breakfast this morning and helping to get her in the car and everything else! It will be an interesting afternoon trying to get Miss I to nap while the big kids are playing ... I think I will make everyone take a 30 minute rest time so she has a chance to fall asleep while its quiet.

The rest of the week is pretty busy. I have an extra kid tomorrow too, Emilee, she is my girl DW's daughter. She and Bubba are the same age so it should be fun. Plus we have karate Monday and Wednesday and it seems like there is something else... but it escapes me right now. Maybe it is work Thursday through Sunday? Maybe that was it.


And lastly, we have a new pet. "Cadi" I found Cadi at Guemeus and brought it home. I wasn't sure if it would make it or not but so far so good. Bubba took it to his class for the last week of school, hoping it would do its cocoon thing, but it didn't. Still hasn't.

Looking out for Mom

I was at my Moms house earlier today and she pointed the yellow rose out to me. I know it isn't the prettiest rose anymore, but its the story I wanted to tell.

The red rose plant was a mothers day gift to another tenant at the apartment complex from her son. Her son passed away sometime that year. Every year since then the red rose bush blooms with one yellow rose. As if he is watching out for her every spring.

Graduation Day

It was Kindergarten Graduation Day today!
Bubba's teacher did a great job of doing her thing. She barely made it through her "welcome parents" speech without crying, but she did it! She read a little biography for each kid which was included with their end-of-school-packet. Here is Bubba's:

"Bubba is 6 years old. His favorite colors are blue and orange. Bubba's favorite thing to do at school is to play on the playground. His favorite things to do at home are make snowmen in the winter and swim in the summer. Bubba's favorite food is SUGAR." (Note: the teacher did a spot-on imitation of him saying "SUGAR", it was great!)
In twenty years Bubba will be 26 years old and he will work construction. He said he will always live with his parents. He will not get married and he will not have kids. Bubba will have 1 dog. When Bubba isn't working he will go golfing with his dad and Uncle Danny."

Isn't that priceless? I loved it! I am not so sure I always want him living with us, but he's only 6 so its alright for him to think that he will always live here isn't it?

Weekly Review

What a week! School is nearly out so the kids have been doing fun stuff this week. Wednesday was Field Day and Thursday they went on a tour of the fire department.

Did you have Field Day at the end of the school year in elementary school? We did, all throughout the year we would practice the stuff that would be at field day; 3-legged race, sack races, wheelbarrow races, 50 and 100-yard dashes, relays all that stuff so we could win the coveted 1st, 2nd or 3rd place ribbons. I am not much of a competitor myself, I don't recall ever winning a ribbon (well, maybe 3rd place once, but I doubt it and I definitely didn't win any 1st place ribbons).

Well, it ain't so anymore!! There are no longer winners or losers, everyone participates in "group activities". It was a lot of fun though and they had it pretty well organized. I volunteered for the morning and ended up working a station that was called the "Pig Push". The kids started with sideways jumping jacks or crabwalk or running to a cone, there they picked up a bat-type thing with foam on the end and they pushed or swung low at a foam pig through the grass round a second cone and back to the first cone where they did the jumping jacks or what-ever back to the start. It was all of 2 minutes for each kid but they had fun - and remember there were no winners or losers. They stayed at our station for about 10 minutes then they moved on to the next station where there was a different activity. In all there might have been 15 stations.

I had a blast. It was a time to act all goofy and be a kid. I asked all the kids their names, who their teachers were, dumb stuff, but we all got along and they seemed to like me (well they acted like they did regardless).

My Honey went with Bubbas class to the fire department on Thursday. They took a bus down there and then had a tour and climbed into a fire engine. I had meant to call and ask if I could do an announcement while they were there, since I was at work and how cool would that have been for Bubba to hear my voice on the radios at the fire department? He still remembers hearing my voice on an officers radio as he passed by during the Fourth of July one year at the park! But I am a loser and forgot to call so I missed my opportunity. Dang. Maybe another time.

One day of school left ... well sort of, they "graduate" on Monday and thats it! Then he is a First Grader. What ever will I do? Full days of school, packing a lunch every day, having fights about why he can't take hot lunch all the time, homework every night. Yikes!

Work has been busier and busier which is nice! Today was one of our officers birthdays, his radio number is 5 so I called him "Birthday5" every so often. He's usually quite a crank, but I think he liked it, he didn't crank at me once today! It was fun to add some fun to work too. My bosses didn't seem to mind so that was nice too.

New Book

In the mail today was the book Dearly Departed written by my friend Mikki Hauso! So far its a great read. It takes off at a break-neck speed, has a great story and a lot of wonderful language. I can't wait to finish it and call her and tell her I loved it!

I am kind of a book nerd, I guess, I almost always read the acknowledgments and the introductions to books, and boy am I glad I did on this one. My good buddy Mikki mentions me. I'm published!! Just kidding, but you know. Its pretty fun and humbling all at the same time. She and I have been friends for nearly 30 years I guess, and have not really kept in touch regularly since our 20's, she moved away so we just don't get together or call that often, but I guess I am still as special to her as she is to me. Needless to say, I was and am touched.

So I am off to read some more, its a rainy day, and the kids are resting.

Who'd A Thunk?

You Are 77% Feminist

You are certainly a feminist - whether you know it or not. You believe in gender equality, at least most of the time. You also believe there are a few exceptions.

Are You a Feminist?

A little distracted

MY 3 H'S

Blowing Bubbles

Flying Solo

Grandpa Helping

Miss I

Bubba

There you have it, pics from Memorial Day. Didn't I tell you it was beautiful?!

My Honey and I decided to get away this past weekend, just the two of us. So we spent the week talking about where to go and what to do and where the kids should go. Finally, last Thursday evening, everything came together.

My sister watched Bubba and my MIL watched Miss I. We decided Lake Chelan would be a wise, close, fun choice so we called around looking for a place to stay. Most places were $200 (per night) and booked Saturday night so we went a little further north. We ended up staying in Pateros at a little known place that was only $90 per night (for a kitchenette) and, AND its on a golf course so we got to golf too! It was great. Close enough to Lake Chelan to visit and eat there, away enough that we didn't feel too close to home. And, AND we got to golf.

Its been YEARS since I golfed regularly. Like at least 6. The last time I was golfing regularly, we took a golfing vacation for our 10th anniversary to Reno, but that was almost 7 years ago. Golfing was a lot of fun, I forgot how much I enjoyed it. My Honey even suggested that I take a lesson to improve my swing -No, its not like that, it was a welcome suggestion, and it would be a nice way to spend some time for myself. Plus I wouldnt look like such a fool. I was a hacker this weekend! Bad news!

The kids are a wreck!! They are both over-tired and in bed already (its 7:00). Bubba had a really good time at Auntie Em's:
"We went on a hike and saw a bull snake and two lizards, and jumped off a rock, and I climbed up it by myself without Uncle Doug's help the second time and we went to get Slurpees and I had a Dilly Bar and we slept in the tent only I didn't like it so we ended up sleeping in Madi's room and last night we slept in her parents room." And on and on all in one breath!

Miss I had a good time at Grandmas too. She just didn't sleep very late and I am sure that Grandma let her stay up "until she seemed tired." I can't wait until my kids have kids!!!
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I went to tuck Bubba in the other night and he was sitting on his bed with an old, un-charged cell phone messing with the buttons. I asked him what he was doing and he says to me "Texting ML."

ML is a girl he went to preschool with, her dad works with My Honey, but we have never gotten the kids together. (You know, boys and girls.)

"Really, what are you texting her?" I ask.
(Prepare yourselves)
"I love you" he tells me in kind of a whispery voice.
"WHAT??!!" I want to scream, "YOU ARE ONLY 6!!"

It's killing me how fast kids grow up these days. Really it is. Several times a week I get calls from parents whose 14 or 15 year old daughter has a kid or is pregnant. And now my 6 year old is already declaring his undying love to another 6 year old. Yikes!
Needless to say, it was all I could do not to laugh out loud. It sure was cute though.