Blog, I've missed you!

Dear Blog,

We spend a lot of time together, you and I. You are the link for friends and family.

You are the place where I record my thoughts. You store the photos of the ones I love and the places I love. You are the deliverer of wonderful comments from friends and family.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been gone for a while, and I missed you!

Here are just a few (hee hee...a few more than a few) photos of what we've been

doing over the past two weeks.

~K

June 24 was Bob's 37th birthday. He got extra hugs from the kids and

a few new things to play with (seriously....he got a 20th anniversary Transformer's

Optimis Prime). His real gifts were two tickets to the uncoming Journey concert...he's been a fan of theirs forever.

For some reason, I've never made enchiladas. Bob requested them, and they turned out quite

tasty. I had no idea they were so easy to make! We'll be eating them

a bit more often here!

Ryan helped prepare Bob's birthday dinner. I love that

the kids love to help in the kitchen.


A little father~daughter conversation.

The sunset the night before we left on our trip.

Think I culd convince someone to move the power pole and school that

keeps interfering with my sunset shots?

Friday we traveled to La Grande and stayed with Bob's parents.

The kids had been sitting for a while, so we took them to Riverside

Park. This is the park where Bob and I were married almost 11 years ago.

While we were there, I noticed that there were quite a few women wearing skirts

over in the covered area. I took and peek and discovered that

I knew quite a few people there. It's always nice to see a familiar face. They

were having a potluck for a brand new adopted baby...cutest little guy!

This photo cracked me up...Emma had to take time from her

ride on the "bike" to work on her nails.

She's a tough little thing, but she's still all girl!

On Saturday, we continued on to Pendelton. Bob's brother and his wife

are adopting a little boy, Paul, from China. We hope to meet him before

Fall. Our sister-in-law, April, held a beautiful toddler shower. Somehow I uploaded the wrong photo, but she made three gorgeous cakes...two that look like quilts and another 3D duck that they can freeze for his next birthday. Ann received tons of wonderful gifts that Paul (and his cousins when they come to visit) will definately enjoy. I was busy assembling an advice scrapbook that Ann had designed, so I didn't take many photos.

Once the shower was over, we headed over to the park to celebrate Rick's 40th

birthday.

Some of the Beery boys...two of Bob's brothers and all five nephews that live in the northwest.

You gotta love brothers! What I find interesting about this photo (and all of the others that go with it) is that Greg (the one looking away on the right hand side behind Bob) was the one that came up with this idea and got everyone else involved. I think he's almost trying to look innocent here...hmmmm

Sunday, we headed for Portland.

The kids' cousin, J, let Emma play with his Scooby-Doo

figures. They, along with Uncle Greg, played with these all week while

we were there. They'd make up stories, complete with the right voices.

When we left, J was so nice to let Emma have them. Thanks!

Now can you come here and do the voices for her?

I love watching the kids walk together. J and Emma always hold hands.

Their conversations are quite interesting. On this particular afternoon, we were headed

to the local park to play on the splashpad.

Emma wasn't quite sure she wanted to get in the cold water!

Yep....Ryan is shivering...he had fun, though.

When we got back, they played "Splash Out." It's a ball that you toss back and forth. It has a water balloon inside and a timer. Once the timer runs out, the balloon pops and whomever has it gets wet. After that, they just took the water balloons and had fun

with those.

J has a Wii. Ryan spent quite a bit of time playing different games.

While he was there, he attained pro status on bowling. I had never played

it before...I enjoyed some of the sports games. Yes...the campaign has started to try to

convince me to buy one...I think I'll win on this one!

Cousins

The water gun gang

Locked and Loaded

Get him!

Pool time

This is the life!

Enjoying the playground at J's school.

I had never seen a teter-totter like this. You are balancing with the person

diagonal to you.

Ryan and J apparently weigh exactly the same!

Behind J's house is a great wildlife area and park with a boardwalk.

Holli informed me that there were lots of snakes around....however, thankfully, I never saw one. I didn't venture off of the boardwalk, though!

Three of the mornings we were there, Holli and I got up and went for hour-long very brisk walks. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning. Something was blooming, and the air smelled wonderful. The views were pretty nice, too. Oh, but the hills....our thighs and calves got a lot of exercise!

Blowing bubbles for Emma (while watching for snakes).

On Friday the third, we headed over to Beaverton for a birthday party. We had some time to kill, so we went to our favorite stores and bought some things we can't find here. Then, we went to the mall. Emma played for a bit on the play area we used to go too...she's about an inch from being too big!

The birthday party was at Safari Sams in Sherwood.

The kids had a blast!

Tammarie, Betty and I

We stayed the night with Betty and boys on the third and then headed back to

Greg and Holli's on the fourth for the celebration in their park.

One very tired girl...

We had a great visit...but it's so nice to be home.

First time on the boat

Max and Amanda volunteered to take the kids to Lake Lowell.

They went last night and had a great time!

With Amanda's sister Sheri

They got home just before midnight...I've never seen Emma so sound asleep.

She finally woke up this morning at 10 am.

Thanks so much for taking the kids, Max and Amanda!

~~

I'm going to take a short break from the blog.

Don't go away!

I'll post again on July 6th.

What should I make for a give-a-way? Any suggestions would be great!

Have a happy and safe fourth of July!

Two wolves

This is my 200th post. I'd like to do a give-a-way, but I have nothing to

give away at this time!

Near the end of July, I'll have something ready, so be ready to comment!

~

Earlier today, I came upon a quote in a book. I thought that it was a lovely thought and life lesson. This is from a Navajo grandfather who once told his grandson:

" 'Two wolves live inside me. One is the bad wolf, full of greed and laziness, full of anger and jealousy and regret. The other is the good wolf, full of joy and compassion and willingness and a great love for the world. All the time, these wolves are fighting within me.' 'But Grandfather,' the boy said. 'Which wolf will win?' The grandfather answered,

'The one I feed.' "

-"The Year of Pleasure" by Elizabeth Berg

Ingredients for a perfect evening

a rousing volleyball game

bubbles

late evening Idaho sunshine

friends

a very tired grandma willing for

"just one more ride!"

~~~

Priceless

~~~

I've spent a bit of time today contemplating on what I'd write about tonight. I could write about the weekend...we spent it at Mom and Dad's and had a wonderful time (volleyball, kids playing in the corn field, the beauty after a storm, preps, curly hair for me, meeting, Gospel meeting, lunch with friends and family). I could write about the fact that I finally won something! Thanks so much, Cassie! I love the apron.

~~~

After much consideration, I've decided to share our experience of the day.

I tend to just show the "rosey" side of life here with Little Guy and Emmy.

And it usually is...rosey, that is.

But not today.

~~~

Today, I got to go to Target twice...within one hour! Normally, I'd see that

as a pretty positive thing. I love Target...even if I don't buy a single thing, I love to

walk around and just look at stuff. Probably a bit strange, I know. However, in our attempt to save money, I've discovered that I get almost the same amount of enjoyment out of

just looking at stuff as I used to get in buying it.

~~~

But, enough about me.

So, this afternoon I loaded the kids up in the car and we headed to Target

to stock up on stuff for convention...candy, little cans of pop (love those things...they are actually a serving size!), pencils, notebooks, snacks, etc.

Ryan is perfectly content to sit and draw in his notebook as he listens.

He informed me, that in order to do this, he would need an eraser.

I found a 2-pack of the pink erasers (that have been around since the age of the dinosaurs)

and told him to go ahead and grab a package of those. We continued through the store...

into the summer aisle, the toy aisle, the gardening aisle...yep...I love this store!

We paid for our stuff and then left the store.

Next stop was the library (back across town near our house) to pick up a

book Ryan had requested.

As I was looking for a book myself (this one was already checked out!), Ryan pulled

the package of erasers out of his pocket and said, "Oh, by the way, here's something we forgot to pay for."

~~~

My heart stopped.

~~~

I was raised to be honest (I try, I really do!) and have never been brave (read stupid) enough to try to steal something. I would have always way too afraid of the consequences (thanks, Dad, for instilling fear in me!).

The look on my face must have been interesting, because...all of a sudden...the look

on his face was interesting. Emma just stood there and watched.

~~~

We had a little discussion there in the library, checked out our books and left.

We had another little discussion in the car.

And then another when I dropped Emma off at the house with Bob.

Then another not-so-little discussion in the car on the way back to Target.

For a .99 package of erasers!!

~~~

When we were just a few minutes away, Ryan told me that his stomach hurt.

I told him it was because he was nervous.

He told me that, no, it was because he felt like he was gonna throw up.

We got to the store, I gave him the package and in we went.

At customer service, I asked if there was a manager my son could

speak with.

The manager was perfect...she bent down to his level so they were eye-to-eye.

I told him to go ahead.

He pulled his hand up above the counter, held onto the erasers with a death-grip

and explained what he had done with a quivering voice.

My eyes started to "water" (must have had something stuck in them).

She thanked him for being honest and coming back.

She explained that she wasn't going to send him to jail (he'd asked about this in the car), but she explained that older people do get sent to jail for the same exact thing...that it gets easier each time you do it. She was perfect.

He left with even more fear of what would happen if there was a "next time."

~~~

When we got to the car, he asked why I was crying (oops!).

I explained that, as a parent, you want to protect your child from anything and everything. When he was little, the "bad" things that he did weren't so bad...like throwing a book or

being too noisy where quiet is expected. Those are small things that are easily "parented."

But, once a child gets big enough to make their own decisions and choose to make that choise against what they've been taught, it's harder as a parent. You still want to protect them, but the best way to do that is to let them get what's coming to them as a consequence.

Otherwise, there is no lesson learned and the behavior can escalate.

I explained that what he had done made me mad first and sad second, because I know he knows better.

~~~

We were quiet in the car for a bit.

About ten minutes later, he said, "Thanks, Mom, for making

me go back and talk to them."

I didn't expect that.

I told him that I was glad he felt that way because it showed

that he had learned the severity of what he had done and the

importance of being honest, even when the

thought of what was going to happen upon confession was not pleasant.

It would have been nuch easier for him to hide the erasers; I would have forgotten about them and he'd never have gotten in trouble.

~~~

I've often wondered why you have to be trained for most jobs, to drive a car, even the mocha machine I borrowed from Mom has an instructional DVD...where is my instructional DVD on raising a child? Today's experience helped me to realize that the manual is life itself.

Both Ryan and I learned a few things today...lessons that would have been missed

by reading about it in a book. That doesn't mean that I don't prefer that it didn't happen...but I'd much rather have it happen now when he's eight than when he's sixteen.

As he sleeps in his bed tonight, I see the faint shadow of that little tiny boy I used to have.

The innocence... the sweetness.

But now I can also see the beginnings of the person that he'll be someday, and I'm glad

that today was a reminder that every moment in his life now has an influence on the person he will become someday. Each moment is so important.

Things I'm loving Right Now

Photo taken by Emmalee
::My dear sweet husband. So glad that

he puts up with my crankiness::

::Our resident crab-walker::

::The much-needed bread that will be delivered this next week::

::The rain...just for a few days is o.k. It makes everything so green.::

::My first-ever roses! Mom encouraged me to plant

some bare-root roses this spring, and it worked!::

::The way my body feels after riding my bike. So glad to know
that everything still works at my advanced age!::

::The sound of Ryan helping Emma find the next letter

on the alphabet train.::

::The feel of the cool night air in our "new" bedroom. That sweet husband mentioned
above moved the rooms around one more time...just so I could have fresh air at night.::

Have a wonderful weekend.

After making Mom's bag and crochet hook holder, I decided to make

a crayon holder for Emma and a colored pencil holder for Ryan for convention.

I thought about making Emma a matching bag but didn't have the time to make one from

scratch. Michael's has plain bags (I chose red) for $1.29. I figured I couldn't go wrong there.

So, here is Emma's crayon holder and bag for convention. I had enough left over to make a skirt for her also.

Once I got started, I couldn't stop!

Ladybugs and Strawberries

This is Ryan's colored pencil holder.

No matching bag or skirt for him. :)

A few more boy designs...flames and race cars.

~

These take just two fat quarters, a bit of interfacing and 26" of grossgrain ribbon.

I was able to make three with 1/2 yard of fabric, plus 1/2 yard of the contrast fabric.

For the girls, I added a bit of ric rac.

Fishing Weekend ~ Year Six

Last Thursday was Ryan's last day of school.

They passed him on...he's officially a third-grader now.

Right after school, we packed up the car and headed to

La Grande for the Annual Fishing Weekend.

Look! He's smiling...because he doesn't have to be separated from his family after the weekend is over. Every other year, Bob headed back to Portland to work on audits while the kids and I went to Parma to spend a week.

There were some pretty cool cloud formations on the way there.
Later that night, there were some pretty scary cloud formations!

This is a photo of Ryan and Jordan from 2008. We take the same photos

each year...it's such a great way to see the growth in the kids.

Emmalee in 2008.

The kids this year just before heading out to the ponds.

2008

2009

While the boys were gone, the girls had fun!

Emma and Grandma played dinosaur wars for a bit.

Aunt Ann arrived just in time for dinner on Friday. Afterwards, she and Emma made another

apple pie. Ann has Bells Palsy, so she's pretty good at making pirate faces. This was their "Aaargh" face. Ann was a trooper...we're hoping that it goes away soon!

On Saturday, we headed up to the pond. J's birthday is right around fishing weekend, so we're allowed to come up as long as we bring birthday cupcakes, more food and whatever else the guys forgot the day before.

~

I asked Emma if she was going to catch a fish. She said that she was and showed me how

big it was going to be. Next year, the guys may have a problem because Emma really wants to go with them!

For the past 5 years, the guys have had a medium-size stocked pond to themselves.

This year, someone found out about the location and brought lots of friends!

The guys found a much smaller pond about 9 miles further down the road.

There weren't as many fish, but they still had a good time.

I don't have the photos the guys took before we came, so I don't have any

fish photos to post.

Every year, the kids collect all of the bones from the area.

Yuck!

Greg and Holli...celebrating 15 years of wedded bliss this fall!

Ryan, J, and Emma scaring the fish away.

Look at that happy Idahoan!

Me and my silly goose.

It was so cute watching Bob teach Emma how to cast.

Doing it all by herself!

Hmmmm...birthday cupcakes...more sugar!

The birthday boy...ten years old!

There were quite a few games of hacky sack while we were there.

The big kids and Uncle Rick even let Emma play.

The might fishermen

Dear Ryan,

In two days, you'll finish second grade. SECOND GRADE! It seems like only yesterday you were this tiny little guy that would just lay there and smile up at us. I miss those days, but I wouldn't trade them for today for anything.

~~

You've had a wonderful first year here in our new town. The move was probably the hardest on you as you had so many good friends in Portland. Every once in a while, you tell us that

you wished you lived there again. But, by the next breath, you've usually changed your mind to tell us that you'd rather live here. You've been such a trooper...new friends, new school, new meeting, new everything.

(all photos taken by Ryan this past weekend at P-40 Flying Tiger Days)

~~

You have changed so much over this past year. At your new school, they take school pictures of the kids at the beginning of the year and again at the end. You look so young in your first picture, with three teeth missing and short hair. The photo they took last month...you look so grownup!

You did a great job this year in school. You made new friends right away and jumped right into the school work without missing a beat. You did well in your Gifted and Talented class. Your GATE teacher told me that you have a knack for public speaking (I didn't tell her that you haven't stopped talking since you turned two...you've had LOTS of practice).

You're a very lucky boy for many reasons. You are surrounded by extended family that love you very much and share your interests. They are all so willing to spend time with you.
This past weekend, you spent the day with Uncle Max at the Warhawk for P-40 Flying Tiger Days. When I came to pick you up, all of the employees and fellow volunteers came up to tell you good-bye. You went up to John (the owner), stuck out your hand and told him thanks for letting you volunteer. That did this momma's heart good. Last night, Hop came by for a few hours and you played catch with him. You've got an arm that rivals many kids older than you. It was sweet when you told us that you'd picked the Nerf football because you didn't want to hurt Hop. This next weekend, you'll spend the weekend with all of your cousins, most of your uncles, your daddy and your grandpa on Daddy's side of the family. You'll come home stinky, sweaty, all sugared-up, but oh-so-happy.
What a lucky boy you are!

These past few months, you've been a bit of a pill. You get in trouble and then immediately feel bad for whatever you did. Yes, it takes you a few times to learn your lesson. But your heart is so soft. You'll pick on your sister (I think that brothers are supposed to), but you're the first one there when she gets hurt. When she gets in trouble, you go to her and comfort her. Then, you often reinforce what me or Daddy had told her. She looks up to you so much.
I'm so glad that she has you. I'm so glad that we have you.
Our lives would be incomplete without that smile you try to hide from us.

(Ryan's view of the plane from his seat on the tug. They are pulling the plane to where they want it)

Ryan, as we move into summer, I know we'll have our battles. I'll limit your time on the DS and you'll try to argue for more time. You'll pick on your sister. Your onery streak will jump out occasionally (please, only occassionally!). We'll have our moments when we'll need our space from each other. But I'm looking so forward to spending more time with you without school. Time outside working in the yard, kicking the soccer ball, playing tennis, at the playground, at Hop and Nana's house working in the garden. Time inside reading, working on projects, doing chores, and playing games.
~~
Thanks for being the wonderful boy that you are.

Love~~Mom

I'm going on a long trip!

Yep...I used to wear those pants.

Not too long ago, too.

60 pounds ago.

I can't tell you how much I DON'T want to wear those ever again.

~~~

When I was removing (not losing...you usually want to find something you've lost) the extra weight from my body, I walked 2-4 miles six days a week. Once the weight was off, I was able to cut it back a little. Since we've moved here, it's been a bit hit-and-miss with my exercising. The area where we live doesn't have many sidewalks or bike lanes, so it's not as safe as Beaverton was. Of course, in Beaverton I had a little incident with a car full of unruley teenage boys, an egg moving 40 miles an hour and the police. But that's a different story.

My Leslie Sansone DVDs get a bit boring after a while.

~~~

I've fallen in love with my bike!

I didn't want to walk in place in the family room the other day, so I put Emma on the back of my bike and we went 'round and 'round the subdivision. Each lap is .7 mile, so 6 times around is 4.2 miles. It felt so nice to be moving fast, to have the wind blowing on me to dry the sweat, to feel the burn in my thighs, and to know that my legs were gonna wobble when I got off the bike. The best part was the constant chatter of conversation from behind me. I learned that, to make gas, you put lots of grass in a bucket and leave it for a while. Pretty soon it'll be gas. I learned that Emma only likes to hold worms if she has her gardening gloves on.

And I was reassured that she'd continue to look forward for me if I needed to turn and look back while we were riding.

~~~

My goal, for however long it takes me, is to bike from Boise to Portland. I was able to get in 50 miles in May, which means I just crossed over into Oregon. I'll track my progress on the sidebar...not really for any other reason than it keeps me honest and gives me a place to record my miles. I love coming into the office just after finishing my ride, kicking Bob off of the computer for a minute, and updating my miles.

~~~

For any of those out there that care to join me...please do.

I'd love the company.

~~~On a sidenote~~~

I've found something to ponder as I ride.

Why is it that my bum has plenty of natural padding but it doesn't seem

to help at all when I'm sitting on that seat!

Next purchase...gel seat cushion.