Jakey-pooh Becomes a Graduate!

Last Tuesday we had winds of 35-60mph. What is wind good for? Kites, of course. As the strongest of the winds were dying down, Tadd and the kids went out for a little kite flying. It was freezing. You would never guess that a few days later (today) I would be sitting here sweating in 90 degrees watching Ezra play in the kiddie pool while I type.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to get good kite flying shots. I can either get the kid chasing the kite, the man flying the kite, or the kite. To get all three in the frame makes them each minuscule (reference the first shot in this post).

Thursday morning we made the loooooong and winding drive from home to Moscow, ID. My brother Jacob was graduating from the University of Idaho! They will surely miss his tuition payment as he's been there for 6 years. My parents and other two brothers were also there. Jacob's in-laws drove over as well. We all squashed into Jake and Emily's apartment and my brother Brett's condo. Thank you to all three of you for all your hospitality!

Prepping potato salad for the bbq to take place after the graduation.

Adults make food--kids eat food.

A taste of Emily's cute decorating.

And my very own guitar heroes.

We loaded up into a couple of cars Friday night and drove into Clarkston for Jacob's favorite pizza. My brother, the formerly picky eater, now loves pizza with a mustard sauce covered in sauerkraut, onions and bratwurst. Oh my. It was called the "shotsi", although I'm pretty sure I spelled that incorrectly. I made sure to taste some since both my brothers insisted it was the best. It was good.

First I catch them off guard...then I ask them to pose : )

Both Ezra and Caroline love Mitchell. And Caroline is head over heels in love with Mitchell and Emily's brother Trevor. She showed her love by calling him over and then hitting him again and again. He took her affection quite well. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of her with him.

Uncle Brettski with Kine.

I think they actually got full.
After pizza we noticed that there was a 31 flavors conveniently next door. Pizza and ice cream--nothing says Friday night better!

Gotta love a Grandpa who is willing to sit at the kiddie table!

Now, because I'm me, I had to go and forget the camera at home for the actual graduation. I know. I had even packed the zoom lens in order to get a shot of him crossing the stage. I'll never learn. I can tell you that the ceremony was long. He was one of the first to walk since he received a graduate degree. But, we followed the instructions and stayed to see all the students walk out of respect, yadda, yadda, yadda. That evening we enjoyed a bbq at a park just outside of Moscow. I did get a few shots there.

Hmmm...will he ever notice the camera? Nope. Never did.

Jake's two moms. I don't remember what was being said during the taking of this photo, but appearantly it was funny : )

How many guys does it take to load a bbq anyway?

The graduate and his new bbq. A gift from his loving in-laws.

Big sticks.

Every party has to have someone to hold up the post!

Oops. Don't worry, the balloon was recovered. However, the two that Ezra attempted to bring home made a successful escape from the back of the van Sunday morning as we were loading up for the long drive home. His scream made me think he had been stung by a bee. I think losing his balloons hurt worse than had he actually been stung. He survived. And we made it safely home. Now we do laundry, rest, unpack some more and then load up for Carlsbad and Uncle Nathan and Aunt Megan's house this coming Friday. Woo hoo!

Candy Necklaces!

This post is for you, Grandma Harbor! We got a package in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday--full of goodies for the kids. Gum, Bob the Builder DVD, tic-tacs and candy necklaces. Today after lunch the kids enjoyed candy "pretties". Grandma knows how much Caroline enjoys jewelry.
So proud of her "pretty".

But not too much so to start chowing down on it.

Mmmmmmm!

Candy necklaces present many opportunities for hamming it up.

Good to the last piece!

And these next two shots are just for you daddy. A little reassurance that all that sugar was scrubbed off before nap time.

This seemed like a picture I should post now that I live in the country. In my defense, however, I did bake my own bread when I was a city wife too.

Mom, I took your advice on getting garbage cans for the flour. One garbage can for each, white and whole wheat. They perfectly hold a 25 pound bag of flour. And they are so easy to get into.

Now...going back in time to catch up. We've had a huge batch of birthdays/holidays since we moved here that we've been busy celebrating and not photo-documenting. Between the 5th and the 11th we've had Aunt Heather's birthday, Mother's Day and Grandma Idaho's birthday. We are stuffed full of cake, ice cream, pie, strawberries with angel food cake....and much, much more. I was given some beautiful and thoughtful gifts from Tadd and the kids for Mother's Day. No pictures, of course. I got a hanging basket for outside, a digital frame for my living room and some dried mango from Costco. This is one of my favorite treats EVER. The cost is too high for everyday enjoyment, but I often get a bag as a gift. Too bad I have two little vacuum cleaners who keep it from lasting too long : )

Post-bath photos after a morning of helping me plant the vegetable garden.

The full moon was rising over the reservoir last Saturday night and boy was it a beauty. By the time I got the lenses switched and the flash turned off, it didn't look nearly as big and orange--but still pretty.

We are enjoying a second spring. We left Snoqualmie just as the tree blossoms, tulips and daffodils were finishing up. We arrive in Idaho just in time to see all these things beginning.

And, these are the few pictures I got on Aunt Heather's birthday.

We leave for Moscow in just a couple of days to watch Uncle Jacob graduate as an architect! Yeah for finishing 7 or 8 years of school (I can't remember how many, Jake, sorry. You have to remember that I only ever taught kindergarten and 1st grade and so I was able to stay pretty stupid). We get to see Grandpa and Grandma Tractor and all three uncles and one aunt--can't wait!

Country Boy or City Kid?

We went out in the wind to play on the swing set in our yard this morning. While swinging Ezra started this conversation with me:

Ezra: "Where is daddy?"
Mommy: "At work."
E: "Why? He was already there yesterday."
M: "Well, that's what work is. A job is something you have to keep going to each and every day in order to make money."
E: "When I get big I want to work!" (a shy smile creeping over his face).
M: "Well, what kind of job do you want? What do you want to do for work?"
E: "I want to move pipe on a four wheeler!"
Mommy thinking: "Hmmm...he's gone country on us in less than a week."
E: "I will have to wear a helmet and be very careful!"
Mommy thinking again: "Atta boy, way to stay a 'safety first' city kid!"

So...if anyone sees a little boy moving pipe while wearing a helmet someday, you'll know it's Ezra : )

Moving In

I've been too busy unpacking boxes to take many pictures, but I do have a few. Grandpa and Grandma Tractor slept on the futon mattress in Caroline's room and the frame was set up in the living area. It looks awfully uncomfortable.

Uncle Alan and the kids and Grandpa and Grandma Idaho brought dinner over Friday night. After a very long day of unpacking and cleaning we were starving. Dinner was delicious. The kids ate at a little kids table making up silly phrases and laughing their heads off at each other. Ella exclaimed loudly "I knew it was gonna be fun to have Ezra living here!"

Here's the kitchen at the end of Friday. We focused on this room that first day. I figure that if I can cook meals for my family, I can slowly work on the rest of the house.

This set of 3 open shelves is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen.

Last week when I visited my friend Sarah at her house I was complimenting her on her cute window treatment above her sink. She told me they were just cloth napkins hung over the curtain rod. Another friend, Aura, had recently given me some cute springy napkins from World Market and I was hoping I could use them in the same way. Sure enough, there was a curtain rod above the window over my sink here and I was able to add a splash of color with the napkins.

A cabinet for my china! Yeah. I love my china and am so happy to be able to use it now. It's been hiding in storage for quite some time. I can't wait to get it out for some entertaining. It's fun to be able to see it every day too.

And now for the sad part of this story. Sunday afternoon we had to take Grandpa and Grandma Tractor to the Idaho Falls airport and say good bye. I did not handle it well. Ezra wanted to go with them and campaigned the whole drive there. He told Grandma he didn't really need a ticket because he could sit on her lap.

Caroline tried to sneak on the plane on top of Grandpa's suitcase. In the end, both kids had to stay here with us and Grandpa and Grandma had to go back to life in Gig Harbor. We will make sure that there are many visits back and forth. These kids (and their mommy) cannot live without seeing Grandpa and Grandma Tractor on a regular basis. Praise the Lord we have plans to drive to Moscow in less than two weeks for Uncle Jakey-pooh's graduation.

I don't want to end on a sad note, so here are a few more pictures from around the house.

This little lovely was given to us as a welcome gift Friday morning. It was surrounded by warm fresh-out-of-the-oven delicious muffins. Thank you, Lucy!

Here is Ezra's room. My mom and I organized and put away all his toys on shelves in bins. You can see how long that lasted. His room is also the toy room.

And Caroline's room. The last "little" girl to live here left quite a dainty feminine room. Eventually we'll get a bed in here so that it will double as the guest room. Anyone care to be the second (mom and dad were the first) guests to use this lovely room???

And this is our room. It's as big as half of our old house. Seriously. And the view is pretty nice, my friends. Living here in this rental might prove to be a huge mistake. One could sure get used to living in such luxury : )

This is the view from the windows in our bedroom.

Miss Kine insisted that I take her picture.

This fancy lady is a jewelry holder that my parents got me for my birthday a month ago. Isn't she stinkin' cute? I just love her. And her mesh butterfly wings hold so many necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

One last kitchen shot. My favorite room in the house. I can't wait to have some friends and family over so that I can cook up a storm in this kitchen! Have you caught all my hints at wanting visitors? Come on people! I apologize for not getting all the unpacking, organizing and cleaning done before taking these pictures. We'll be slowly working on the rest of the sorting and organizing for quite a while, I'm sure. And I'll be hounding Tadd to help me hang pictures and put up decorations for the next week or two. It already feels pretty homey. We can see how much He has led us all the way and gone before to prepare the path for us. And we have felt all of your prayers--so thank you!

Also, yes, I know the word "kine" means cow. No, I don't think my daughter is a cow. Ezra started out saying "Car-kine" since he couldn't say "Caroline" and somehow it changed into the single syllable nickname of "Kine". We'll try to get rid of the nickname before she finds out/cares what it means : )