05-2014

Cream Soda Work Crew 42 images	Mother's Day 32 images	Ben and Eli birthday soccer party 21 images · 5 videos
Dressage clinic 6 images

1 This is why people think it makes sense to paint a home robin-egg blue. Isn't it beautiful? I caught a crow eating the egg! Bad crow!	2 Dreaming about a popsicle on a hot day...can't wait to take my first bite.	3 Ah yes! So refreshing! Sam is grabbing some water in the background. He practiced skating for 90 minutes in the 85 degree weather with 20 lbs of gear on!	4 There he is very happy to be on his skates and with his new hockey pants and girdle (under the hockey pants - it is the padding which keeps you from breaking your tailbone!).
5 I really thought Ben was borderline delirious with thirst or something at this point. He was whacking and whacking the ball/puck at a little fly hiding from him behind that little plastic molding stuff screwed onto the bottom of the rink wall there. Do you see the speck he's looking at? He's going "That fly is really BUGGING me!" Ha!	6 Sam skating around and practicing.	7 Ben practicing slap shots and scoop shots while Sam is in the rink. Ben is too young to play this year, but the coaches were talking him into it for next year :)	8 Big slap shot coming!
9 The parents brought that tent shelter thing in the background and had all kinds of snacks - watermelon, drinks, popsicles. Such a welcoming group!	10 At guitar/uke practice afterwards - we literally had 9 minutes to choke down PB&J sandwiches after hockey then scoot to Randy's. Fortunately, Sam and Ben were really pumped up after playing hockey, so they were focused despite being tired and hot. This is Sam continuing to practice a classical piece even after his lesson was over. I'm in the room with Ben who is taking his turn with Randy. Dave got home in time to have some dinner then meet us down at the lesson.	11 A crazy drone camera taking pictures at Wilkes for the architectural firm. It has about 4 little hover things to keep it in the air!	12 Sam and Stanley (foreground) who is a neighbor on Day Road - they decided to jog a whole 5K for the Juvenile Diabetes fundraiser. I was so impressed! Options were to jog or walk, and quit any time. I mapped out the course on my phone and found 6 laps = 1 mile so told them how many they needed for a 5K and they decided to go for it! WOW!
13 Sam coughing - still getting over a cold, but that didn't slow him down. He has amazing endurance.	14 I told them it was customary for distance runners to be sick in the trash can after a long race. They liked that idea.	15 At the PTO BBQ right after the jogathon! I raced home, threw the kids in the truck and brought 50 lbs of charcoal to the party for grilling. We got the coals ready and started cooking for 300 people!!!! OMG! This smoothie truck was a big hit - some of the proceeds were donated to the school. Ben got the first smoothie :)	16 Go John! Team John and Melissa (to the left) worked the grill. John never fatigued of expertly flipping and topping burgers. He was accompanied by other intrepid helpers as you will see in the following picures.
17 Ariel was raw beast purveyor - she put the burgers and dogs on the grill! 300 of then!	18 CHEESE! Patricia steadfastly provided cheese for all those who wanted a cheeseburger!	19 Ariel and Kim - Kim was the big shopper and stored all this meat in her freezer for us since she lives right by the park. Kim also graciously hosted many of us for the after-party at her beautiful home overlooking the sound and Seattle. Thanks, Kim!!!	20 Phil to the far right opening up some hotdogs. Phil wasn't too sure about my charcoal stoking practice, but we managed to keep charcoals going in the fire without smothering the hot coals, and kept that grill rockin'!
21 Foy loading up for the family - or so she says!	22 Melissa and John! What a great team!!!	23 Just a little smoky!! :)	24 Nice guys!!
25 The fun continues - this is the Math Olympiad competition the next day, Saturday. Our boys played HARD on the beach, building forts and running for three hours straight, after all that jogging at the jogathon! There are some tired peeps around here! But Sam was game for meeting up with the team for the math competition so away we went - to arrive at 8:30 this morning ready to roll! I can't believe we did it!	26 I took Ben to Bay Hay - mommy needed more coffee! Look what he chose as a treat for getting ready so quickly and rolling out the door (he was still asleep at 8am!).	27 We went to check on the chickens and found this one looking like she was ready to lay. Sure enough - we waited about a minute and "thunk" out popped an egg! How exciting!	28 She's checking on it...
29 A nice, fresh egg...ready to be picked up for sale in the store.	30 Ben enjoying watching the hen get her breakfast after laying.	31 AH! HENS! Thieves! They came back, looked at the egg, then the one who laid it cracked it wide open like a geode and started guzzling the yolk! She then invited her friend in for the treat!	32 BAD HEN! We have one that does that every now and then as well. So naughty! I found that if I keep the nesting box material clean (so no yolk smell from other bad deeds) it doesn't seem to trigger the eating urge. I haven't seen evidence of one being eaten in a while. But perhaps they are really crafty like this one - she kept the egg mostly intact so that it was like one of those soft-boiled egg cups - most of the material was still inside, not dripping into the nesting box. Dang - who says chickens are dumb? They are...but also crafty.
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37 Sam has a new adult size bike!	38 He loves it!	39 Getting Emmy ready for a ride :)	40 It's hockey practice time! This is the first hockey practice.
41 Sam has been playing for about a month now (?) and has really developed skill. He gets all ready in his gear at home then skates up to practice early so he gets lots of skate time in.	42 This is the field outside the rink.	43 Getting that helmet on is really tough until the snaps loosen up. Thanks for all these photos, mom!	44 Ben likes to ride his bike while Sam skates.
45	46 This is the music Sam is working on right now - Sonatine. Pretty complicated stuff but he likes it!	47 Gramma and Ben :)	48 Gramma is working on aim :)
49 More hockey practice!	50 Go Sam!	51 After the last PREP at church. Can you find anyone???	52 Our house after school most Fridays - lots of bikes, meaning lots of boys running around.
53 Sam and Alex studying some rocks they dug up from the pit. They are looking at crystals under the microscope.	54 Ben and the latest build - a neat truck and little boat!	55 Finally got a hat I can wear to the playground after school so the sun doesn't burn my part and my face!	56 Sam gearing up for a game!
57	58 This was a fun experiment we did with Sam's class. I came in to do a little presentation on yeast and bread-making using wild yeast starter. We actually made bread, and we also did a little experiment to see what "food" source the yeast liked best.	59 We watched the yeast create pockets of gas (carbon dioxide) and ethanol (the other byproduct of fermentation). We noted how high the yeast rose in the tube.	60 In the four tubes, from left to right, we had a Cheezit, a raisin, a marshmallow, and plain sugar. Yeast eats sugar for food, so we fed it complex carbs (Cheezit - just something from one of the kids' lunches that was similar) and simple sugars. The yeast liked the raisin best!
61 Enjoying the final product!	62 Thanks, Mr. E, for a good time!	63 Also taught the kids about crust and crumb texture. Then Mr. E captured his own wild yeast and made a starter of his own at home. Pretty cool!	64 Ben's 6th birthday - my friend Annette grabbed a few pictures of us and his friends on the playground.
65 Sam skipping a water break to practice more with the Coach's son, who is also a coach. These are great high school guys who coach.	66 One of Janet's horses out in the pasture. Life is good!	67 Sam biking down our road with a friend :)	68 Dave got his mountain bike back in operation and three of us (me, Dave and Sam) went for a rainy day ride!
69 Can you tell Dave has lost 35 pounds???	70 Love you, honey!	71 Hi Sam! We got a little wet out on the trails :)	72 Silly guy!
73 Hi Richard!	74 Ben in the RV watching cartoons in Spanish (?) while we chat with Mom and Richard.	75 Sam is a tiny bit more snuggly at night so I welcome these little night-time visits :)	76 At a Memorial Day ceremony at the High School!
77 I try to do something every Memorial Day that recognizes the sacrifices men and women have made for our country. Each year is a little different.	78 This time I found out about this ceremony 12 minutes before it started! A neighbor showed up at our house just as I was packing up to leave, so we brought him, too.	79 Good boys...	80
81	82 Ben helping with the potato planting!	83 Digging massive trenches to put in power and water hookups for the RV!	84 Mom doing a lot of planting to get veggies in the ground :)
85 Whew!	86 Sam doing some trail work. Thank you, Sam!	87	88 Our digging crew! They did a very nice job.
89 Hmmm...some training for the men in our lives :)	90 You can't see him, but there's a hummingbird on the red feeder!	91 Oh my - I hope we never forget the miraculous recovery of a hearing aid from the underbrush!!!	92 Ben at his PREP class with two delightful teachers. He was answering all kinds of questions correctly from his learnings during the year. Amazing!
93 Boys in the woods digging for rocks and exploring the trails.	94 They bring out their geology hammers and safety glasses, and crack them open!	95 Ben building a really neat Lego house that has tons of windows!	96 We all want to live in there! He calls it "Apple Tree House."
97 Neighbor Jeremie had quite a weekend, too. He brought us lots of extra dirt for a garden with a tractor he'd rented.