You Don't See That Every Day

These kids continue to amaze me! They got themselves up this morning, got breakfast for each other, got dressed in church clothes, and the oldest did all the girls' hair. They did all of this quietly enough so that the Farmer and I could continue sleeping - since we had only fallen into bed at 3:30 am. I picked my husband up at the airport last night around 1:15 in the morning *yawn* and then we had to get the luggage; *yawn* and pay for parking; *yawn* and then we drove back to our town and dropped off other members of the team that went to Spain with my husband; *yawn* and then we came home and fell into bed. *snore* But the sunlight came up anyway, not necessarily respecting our craving for sleep. The kids got themselves going, and finally the Princess' morning voice - which seems louder than her daytime voice! - woke us up. The kids and I made it out the door in plenty of time to catch the second service while the Farmer slept on. I just can't do all-nighters like I us...

See these kids? These two can swim better than their parents. Oh, it moves me when I see my girl cutting through the water like a fish. My (unspoken) dreams of an Olympic swimmer play in my head. My grin spreads ear to ear. I am so proud of them and their hard work. Well, the Boy moved up a level today. He is now in Level 7 with his sister. And he got a Jamba Juice as a reward. We have three more weeks of swim lessons this summer. I better set aside a small fortune if we continue on this route.

Tonight the kids watched the old show, "Leave it to Beaver" -- isn't Netflix wonderful? During one scene, the older brother, Wally, was typing up a note. And my 6 year old asked, "What is that?" (what are kids learning these days!?)

After the parade we always head back to my aunt and uncle's house for a family reunion and picnic. Tradition is quite strong in our family. There was plenty of eating and visiting. There was also a very serious boccie ball competition going on. Serious enough for a tape measure. The dessert contest is always the most fun part of the day; I never win, although my lil' Chef did take home 1st place last year for her cake! This year the winners were my sister in law for her delicious and SO cute Cookie Monster cupcakes; and my soon-to be cousin's "hamburger" cookies. Very cute!

Small town parades are so much fun. This past weekend all four of my leprechauns got to be in one. The annual Hop Festival is one we go to every year, one I have been to since I was too little to remember. The theme was Oregon's 150th Birthday, so many of the entries had something to do with past decades. The float the girls rode on was decorated as a pioneer schoolhouse. We borrowed some dresses for the younger two to wear. My oldest found some of her own clothes that would work. The Boy got to ride in the fire truck again with Uncle Ken. He just about leaped out of the truck when throwing candy to us. My uncle - a VFW - was also in the parade this year. Flyovers, horses, a clown, a cacophony band (they were really good!), kids on their bicycles, antique fire engines, Rodeo princess, Hop pickers -- this parade had it all. Oh, and candy, bags and bags of candy that everyone threw out as they passed by the parade watchers.

"Shemomedah" -- sha-mom-eh-dah We use this word around the house when someone asks, "huh?" in response to something we have said to them. For example, "My parents are coming for dinner and I need you to get the eggs out of the refrigerator and put them next to the stove. " "Huh?" " Shemomedah ?!" It has to be said with a hint, just a hint , of sarcasm. It's almost like saying, "What? you didn't hear me?" It is a good word to catch someone's attention and get them to listen. The story behind this word comes from my brother-in-law, the middle son of that family. The story was told to me by the Farmer, so third hand now, it might not be quite the same as the original. He'll have to let me know. Anyway, there was this boy who asked a new acquaintance what his name was, and the guy said something like, "John Jeremiah" (ok, this is the part I am fuzzy on, I remember the Jeremiah but not the rest of the nam...

Our third born child, the lil' Chef, loves food of all kinds. How many 6 year olds do you know that have to be told, "Stop eating the cabbage, you'll get sick!" (or the broccoli.)? How many 3 year olds like to get cauliflower for their birthdays? yep, that's our girl. Someday she wants to open her own restaurant. She says Dad and I can eat there for free. (I am totally encouraging this dream.) Her first menu she has written up already: cereal, lettuce, milk, bread. She got the idea from a picture of the food pyramid hanging in out cabinet. I'll be encouraging a broader menu. In the kitchen she likes to help when she can. It has taken some effort on my own part to actually let her help. It isn't always easy to be patient when I just want to get the cooking job done. Unlike this child, I'm not big on cooking. Baking, I love. Cooking, not so much. (When my husband is away on trips, we eat a lot of waffles and easy-cook non-meals.) So, back to our girl; s...

We had relatives come to stay this last week. (One of the many reasons I have not been on my blog in a while). Here we have the Farmer and his older brother. They are being slightly goofy for the camera. There was a lot of this going on this weekend. When the other brother is in the mix, it is one grand time! Here they are being, slightly, a bit more, serious for the camera. These are the sons. Our boy is on the left. Cousin D is on the right. These two are the only boys in the mix of with 9 girl cousins . I just love this picture. Now that lil' cousin is old enough, the 2 boys had a fun time doing boy stuff around the house. Our Boy had a shadow and I think he liked it!

This is our son. He is 10. His brain is not always firing on all it pistons. And no that is not raspberry juice dripping down his face this time. What is missing in this photo is the red abrasion he also had on top of his forehead, right at his hairline. Earlier in the week he and his sisters had to wait for me to get out of a meeting. As much as I tried to keep track of them, they escaped my watchful eye and found some way to entertain themselves. A hand railing in the church provided the challenge. The shoes came off. The feet went forward. And then the body fell from the railing. Onto the carpet. The girls came to get me. And we hustled home with the fear of "concussion" hanging over us. Thankfully after a rest with an ice pack, he was fine and back to his normal self by evening. And thankfully he hit a carpeted floor, not concrete. And thankfully it was the day after family pictures!

End of the first set of swim lessons - TWO Jamba Juices bought today! The oldest two leprechauns made the leap to the next level today! Yay! The Boy is now in level 6 and his (younger!) sister, The Swimmer, is in level 7.

"campin' " -- [verb] meaning to live outdoors as in "We're goin campin' this weekend." In honor of the holiday weekend, the word this week came from my random thoughts. In the West we are more relaxed about many things - clothing is more casual, time is more casual, spoken words and proper endings are more casual. We drop a lot of "g's" from our spoken words. It would sound really snooty for someone out here to actual pronounce the Word of the Week as "camp-ing" and not "cam-pin". Plus it's very freeing in some ways to drop your g's.

July 1 - so far only one Jamba Juice has been awarded to a swimmer. Yesterday my lil' Chef moved up from level 2 to level 3. I don't think I have seen a smile so big before!