Finger painting

Tonight the kids got to try finger painting for the first time. I thought since they like to smear toothpaste and lotion all over their room, this would be a better outlet for their curiosity and creativity!

In Memorandum - Venetha Ruth Bobbitt

Tonight I got a very sad call from my father-in-law, telling me his mother, the kids' great-grandma "G.G." had passed away.



We Thought of You Today
We thought of you with love today.
But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday.
And days before that too.
We think of you in silence.
We often speak your name.
Now all we have is memories.
And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake.
With which we'll never part.
God has you in his keeping.
We have you in our heart..
–Author unknown



Life is But A Stopping Place
Life is but a stopping place,
A pause in what's to be,
A resting place along the road,
to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys,
Different paths along the way,
We all were meant to learn some things,
but never meant to stay...
Our destination is a place,
Far greater than we know.
For some the journey's quicker,
For some the journey's slow.
And when the journey finally ends,
We'll claim a great reward,
And find an everlasting peace,
Together with the Lord
–Author unknown

Shopping

Tonight I took the kids shopping (Matt's been working on some projects so it is my turn to be the lone parent). First we went to Safeway. They have these fun car carts there and the kids were really pretty good, although at one point they snuck some olive oil into the cab.

After that we went to Andy's market. They have little kid sized carts there, and Levi loves to push one around. Well since he gets to have a cart, Ellie decided she wanted her own cart too, so I spent the better part of an hour trying to keep up with both of them, often careening around in opposite directions!

Sheep to Shawl part 2

Here are some more photos from the Sheep To Shawl (thanks Jeneé!)

Sheep to Shawl

Today was the annual Kirkman House Sheep To Shawl event. We met Jenee' and Maddaly and headed over shortly after 11 AM. They had a corral of sheep and were doing shearing demonstrations and then would encourage you to feel the lanolin on the ewe. Matt later compared it to sheep sweat. There were ladies spinning the wool into thread and there was a loom exibit in one of the smaller houses. They were giving out sheep-themed stickers and "I heart Lamb" tattoos for the kids. Levi got a couple of stickers and put one on his forehead.

They also had two miniature horses giving cart rides. The kids were excited about that and it was worth standing in line. I even got to ride with Ellie in the cart, what a treat! Jenee' let me use her camera so I hope to post some better photos soon but for now here is one from my cell phone.

After that we went out to eat at Olive and I tried their roasted vegetable sandwich. It comes with a side of chips or salad (I got the salad) and it was really good. We got the kids the grilled cheese and it was huge.

Following lunch we went out with our realtor to look at a house. The location was good and so was the land, a little over 4 1/2 acres. The house is historical and holds a lot of character, I can imagine how awesome it must have been in it's day, but it needs a lot of work and for the money I think we could do better.

By the time we got home again the kids were way past nap time. Ellie climbed up in our bed, pulled the sheets up, and laid down with a book. I think she is finally starting to realize that sheets have a purpose. Up until recently she has fought every effort to cover her with a blanket.

She doesn't seem to mind that the book is upside down.

Levi has been building airplanes and satellites lately with his duplos. He is really fascinated by the space shuttle and space in general.

Studious Ellie.

Happiness = trouble

Home from work, I was sitting at the computer trying to catch up on the blog since I had somehow fallen about a month behind! I heard happy giggles coming from the kids room. My first thought was that it was sure wonderful they were playing together so happily! I resumed blogging.

More happy giggles ... wait, they just sound a little TOO happy. Is it possible? I should have known. When kids giggle and are having that much fun, something is very, very wrong.

Levi must have heard me coming and suspected this could be bad for him, so he met me at the door, looking very innocent. Mostly.

Ellie, in the background, was in the middle of the evidence, holding the sun-block bottle and trying to shake or squeeze the last little bit of it out onto the floor.

I don't know if she put the lotion on her own head, or if Levi helped with that, but that was sure a big mess to clean up! That will teach me! She smelled like the pool the rest of the night.

Fixing Jet

Today after work I started working on the camp trailer. The last endurance ride we went to, the wind was so bad on the highway that it blew the cover off one of our roof vents. We had purchased a new one right away but didn't get around to replacing the old one until now. (Our list of things to do around here never does end)

Well it took some doing to get the old one off, it was pretty well sealed and glued down. Matt had to help me with that part of it. Once the old one was off, there was still a bead of glue that needed to be removed. So I went up there and using a screwdriver, worked my way around, prying it up and off. Matt thought that would be a good photo op.

We got the new one on, but didn't have a ladder to get to the top to put in some more screws and some sealant. So we hope to get to that soon. For now we have to get this thing away from the front of our house so people can see that it's for sale!

Minis!

Doug and Cindy have some new additions at the barn - miniature horses. We took the kids out to see them.

The chestnut with flaxen mane and tail is Nobbe and he had a show career as a halter horse once upon a time. He is quite a bit taller than the other one.

Levi wanted to "lead" him around the paddock. Hey, I think that's a step in the right direction.

Levi led him to the water tank. I said "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!" Ha ha.

Sinwaan (my horse) poked his head through to say hello.

The smaller white horse is named Andy. Ellie loved to be close to them. Her way of saying horse is "ssss" and she points and "sssss!" and gets very excited when she sees horses of any size.

The horses were super friendly and loved the attention. I love seeing their little faces trot up to the gate when I go out to ride now.

Cheap transportation

Me on the bike. I ride it most days to work. It's a Honda - something, 550.

Getting the work done

Ellie bouncing on Matt

Time to scrub the walls of the house. Ellie saw me working and pitched in.

Her work ethic really amazes me.

Blumenberg Visit!

My brother Wes, wife Joanie and their daughter Natalie came for a visit this weekend.

The cousins were really cute together...

Ellie trying to give Natalie a hug

Encouraging her to walk

Cheerleading

Natalie walking down the hallway with help from dad.

One determined little girl!

Back home again that evening, Matt gets to work sanding the walls to prepare for the new paint. The house got SO DUSTY!

The kids and I were quarantined off in the bedroom, away from the dust.

More home improvement

Today Matt and the kids worked on the A/C wall - peeling and scraping paint, doing some repairs to the wall.

Ellie's fork skills are improving.

Haircut for Levi

Matt gave Levi a haircut. He was way over due. Levi wanted to keep his curls and long hair but was very brave and willing about the process of trimming it all off. And in the end he realized he was just as handsome with the new 'do.

Fair Day

Wednesday, Sept. 1 the Fair was just getting started. Entry was free if you got there before 3 pm. We went over for lunch, hoping to get a hand stamp so we could get back in for free later that night. Well that didn't work out very well. They don't start stamping hands until after 3 pm, and I had to get back to work. Levi wanted some kettle corn so after we bought a bag of that a lady with a video camera from KVEW interviewed Levi and I for the news that evening. We were not home to watch it! Link to KVEW

The kids Tractor Pull was at 5:30 pm and my mom met us at our house so we could all head over together. I am so glad she went along because I didn't realize until we got to the gate that I had forgotten my money to get in! So we would have missed it without her. We knew where to go because I had scoped the place out at lunch.

We found a place to sit on a bench, but the sun was in our eyes, so we tried to move to the other side. Someone sat down on the last bench before we could get there so we ended up being split, some of us on each side of the pull area.

Levi was visibly apprehensive.

Ellie was just happy to be there.

They called a driver's meeting and Levi didn't really pay attention.

Levi was the youngest kid there so I was glad they didn't start out with him. They let some of the 6 and 7-year-olds go first. Levi and my mom cheered them on. I was glad to see him so excited.

Levi's turn - he gave a good effort.

The man helped him move the tractor so he could have a good time.



It was too noisy for me to hear what they were talking about.





When it was over I told Levi to show me his ribbon. He held it up and smiled, but after the photo he started mumbling. I asked him to tell me what was wrong. "I didn't win the Piston Cup, all I got was this ribbon." I told him that was ok, it was fun, and we were proud of him.

Check out the video.



After that we headed over to the horse barns. Ellie loves to see the horses. There was a mini pulling a cart that she was especially excited about.

After the animals we headed over to the Tractor Maze. They were about ready to pack it up, but let the kids ride through a couple of times.

Ellie couldn't reach the pedals but loved the ride anyway.

Levi thought it was all fantastic and didn't want to stop.

We came across a baby goat being fed a bottle. The kids enjoyed that too.

Posing at the Fire Fighters station rounded out our evening.

Ellie's turn.

Too much money spent, but fun for all. I think we may have to go on Wednesday from now on, it was not very busy yet.