3-10-2012

So Travis bought me a new computer so I have been transferring all my files for a while and am finally able to start going through my pictures again and start up my series of last years pictures. 

My boys take after their father in their total devotion to Indiana Jones.  Years ago I had a picture of Aric decked out like Indy and now I have some of Taylor too. 

Here is my Indiana Taylor:

1And just for fun here are the ones of my Indiana Aric taken 2/17/2008

 



You wouldn't have to try hard to figure out they are brothers. lol

She's Syd the kid!

Travis just found his favorite pewter mug outside, the bottom caked with mud.  He came in flabbergasted as he made the mistake of asking Sydney why it was caked with mud. Of course her answer was so shocking and Syd like he couldn't even get mad.

"Because we were keeping worms in it!"

Of course, what else would you do with your fathers favorite pewter mug?

Last Year - 02/19/2012

There is a determination that runs in our family (mostly on my side - okay mostly from me) that Sydney has inherited. What 10 year old little girl gets it into her head that she is going to help daddy with his bow making work by splitting an over 6 foot long fairly round yew wood stave. She had watched daddy do it enough times she knew what she was supposed to do. To be honest I didn't think she would last very long. What she was doing was hard work and even tires out in shape adults. This would be where that stubborn determination comes in. She was out there for hours, at times it looked like she wasn't going to be able to pick up the hammer her little arms were so tired, but she persevered and split that dumb thing.  Way to go girl!!!!! (Of course I wish she hadn't done it in her school cloths, but oh well.) And for you doubters, here is your photographic evidence.

Last Year - 2/15/12

Growing up living in Joseph, Oregon February meant a few things mostly cold walks to school and alot of snow and all things that come with it. And I am not talking about a skiff of snow here or there but SNOW, the kind you had to take turns being the lead person because they were the trail breaker and therefore got worn out, that snowball fights never ran out of ammunition, you could invent entire families of snowmen, and sledding/snowmobiling was a part of every weekend.

I have adjusted to many things living in Walla Walla, but the lack of snow is the hardest for me. Apparently February here means spring has begun, 50 degree days aren't unheard of, and everything is starting to grow. It might seems silly to those of you who didn't grow up with a love of snow, but I miss it terribly. My kids however think it's awesome, these were taken last year on a very warm February day (those 4 words together still blow my mind) but nevertheless you can see the lack of snow isn't bothering them at all as they race around our back yard playing with Jake (my mother and father-in-laws dog). Hope you enjoy.

Last Year - April 2, 2012 The treasure hunt

Okay this is one of my favorites from last year. The pictures are not all that great but the story is to good to pass up. Last April my parents went to the coast, in the spirit of the piratitude that my family adores (my daughter has a pirate flag on her wall and several pirate chests she hides things in in her room) they bought some Spanish doubloons (tourist fake ones obviously not that the kids care or know) for them. However, in the dramatic flare that follows our family through life, instead of just giving the kids each their doubloons, dad bought a small treasure chest as well and filled it with the "treasure".

My mom and I distracted the kids when my parents came home and dad made the pass off to Travis who promptly took it out side to our unplanted garden and buried it in what was supposed to be a shallow hole (more on that later) placing to large wooden staves from his bow making supply in a large X on top of the buried treasure. After discovering the X the hunt began.

After they moved the X, they used their hands to clear away the debris that was on top of the dirt.

Next came the shovels, each of the boys took turns using the shovels to dig on their expedition. (Sydney was playing the big sister and letting the boys have fun as she video taped the whole thing.) 

 

Suddenly realizing that something is wrong and this is taking forever Travis decides he better help out in the digging before everyone freezes. (Notice the hole isn't just getting deeper but wider as well.)

 

Alright now Sydney, the expert in piratitude, is called in and the little hole has grown substantially. It has now become a full scale operation.

 

Last come my favorite picture, it's the moment when Travis realizes he has no freaking idea where he buried the treasure that was supposed to have been found in a matter of minutes and is now running on an hour. Some time later the boys got bored and cold and soon Travis and my dad were digging large wholes all over our garden looking for the stupid thing. It took sometime and a few beers, but eventually it was found. Of course by then it had become a mission for fun, but it did help get a huge section of my garden tilled up and makes for a good laugh now.

The last year

So I haven't been here in a while because I have been crocheting my fingers off (okay I still have my fingers but I have been crocheting alot!!!) and that has left little to know time for anything else. I have been looking through pictures from the last year in my spare time.  Since we have been leading a pretty solitary life I thought as I go through them I would post some of the pictures of the kids up here so you can watch them play there way through the year.

Last January we went on an adventure up Mill Creek with our kids and my nephew Ezra, had a fire, roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over a fire, threw rocks in the river, and in general just had fun as we froze our butts off.

Hope you all enjoyed these, and could see how much fun the kids had, even though all of their noses are red.

Spring Fever, Cabin Fever, or just Fun In The Sun?

Nothing brings out the crazy like a nice warm sunny day after months of the winter blues. I love that first day of reasonably warm weather that you can run around and have fun. Maybe its because it's the first day you don't have to do jumping jacks to stay warm outside, or be huddled around a fire, or maybe it's just the need to let loose, but either way ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT as it only happens once a year.

As you can see from the pictures below, the kids took that command seriously as they let out their winter crazies. Even Jake the dog wasn't to be left out of the craziness as is seen by the fascinating face he is making as Aric and him run for joy.