Allowance Dollars at Work II

Do you remember this post from last summer? Paige saved and saved and saved her allowance money to purchase an electric quad. Initially, it was a big hit. Paige loved it. Her sisters loved it. The whole neighborhood loved it. But, eventually, the excitement cooled and it was used less and less. This Spring Paige decided she wanted a 'real' bike. Not the 'peddle in reverse to break, one speed, tassels on the handle bars and basket on the front' type bike. She wanted a real bike. So Kirk, in a great parenting moment, planted the seed of an idea by telling Paige a story of how he earned money for his first bike. Paige then comes up with the brilliant plan of selling her little used quad and putting that money toward a 'real' bike. With the idea in mind and a few hints from Mom and Dad as to how to accomplish it, Paige sold her quad at a garage sale and combined that money with some saved allowance, birthday and Christmas money. Kirk took her shopping and she is now the proud new owner of her very first real bike. Best of all - she earned the money for it herself.

It will probably have tassels and a basket on the front for a while longer, but now she can keep up with Mom & Dad. Great job Paige!

Lost in the 50's

I love that we live in a small town. I love that we have community events like Lost in the 50's. I love that our kids look forward every spring to dressing up in poodle skirts and pony tails to go to the parade where classic cars rev their engines and show off their new paint jobs. I love that we can show up at the same corner every year, spread out our blanket and sit by friends from church, school, our neighborhood and community. I love that we didn't have to spread out that blanket 24 hours in advance just to get a good seat for the parade.

Pre-parade poodle skirt photos (thanks for the skirts Grandma!)...

Hannah and her classmates...

A little roller derby comes to Sandpoint...

Fun cars...

Good friends...

Loud noises...

Half Marathon Day

I did it! I just completed my first official half-marathon. And... I survived. My time was even a little better than I hoped for. I finished at 2 hr. 5 min. Erin and Cassi also did great finishing ahead of me (Erin @ 1 hr. 55 min.) and just behind me (Cassi @ 2 hrs. 10 min.). They are great training partners and I wouldn't have gotten past the finish line without them. Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't have gotten to the starting line either!

It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and warm temperatures. We left Sandpoint at the early hour of 5 a.m. to make it to the parking lot by 6:30 and starting line by 7:00. The course follows Spokane river on the centennial trail - starting in the Spokane Valley and ending at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. It was a beautiful run.

Here's our great support crew:

The Dad's got all of the kids up, dressed, fed and ready to leave the house in time to cheer us on at the finish line as we completed the race. It was great to see their smiling faces at the end. A big thanks goes Kirk and the girls for supporting me, eating cold cereal instead of a hot breakfast so I can run early in the morning, letting me run during family time on Saturdays during training, and - most of all - being excited for me during the process.

Paige's Baptism Weekend

As the last of our company pulled out of the driveway this morning we wrapped up one big marathon weekend.

...deep breath...

I've spent the day cleaning and putting away and now the house seems unusually quiet with everyone gone. My parents and Kirk's parents, Kirk's sister and husband as well as two nieces all came up for Paige's Baptism this past Saturday. It was a great weekend and we seemed to fit just about everything we could into it.

My parents were the first to arrive and we got my Dad started right away on making us some amazing bread. He has perfected his recipe and we enjoy artisan bread baked right in my own oven. The girls love helping him by kneading dough and shaping loaves. Everyone else enjoyed the eating part. Thanks Dad!

We started Saturday off with a beautiful Baptism. Paige was glowing and everything went so smoothly. Thanks Grandma for your great talk and everyone else who helped! She has been excited for months now and was really ready for this day. Congratulations Paige!

By Saturday afternoon we were off to soccer games. Maren and Paige are playing for the first time this year. I only have photos of Paige's game, since I was coaching and refereeing Maren's. Both girls did great and had lots of fun, despite intermittent downpours, hail, sunshine and wind.

To celebrate Paige's baptism we had a Sunday afternoon Tea Party (more like pink punch party) complete with little crust-less sandwiches, fruit kabobs, Frito's & Cheetos (Paige's special request - I never buy chips), vegetable tray and sparkling punch. We finished it up with some brownies and macadamia bars. Yummy!

It was great to have everyone over. We played games (Settlers), put together puzzles, went on exploring walks (the girls found a Hobo camp and abandoned, upside-down car with Grandma Rosemary), did craft projects, read books, shot bows and arrows, and did plenty of family wrestle. The girls quickly got used to having two sets of Grandparents. I think Izzy was in a little shock this afternoon when she didn't have more than me to choose from for stories and nap time.

Gardening Update

I've been itching to get into my garden these past weeks. But it's been either too cold (and rainy and yucky) to go out or I've been so busy that I haven't been able to take advantage of those nice days. I finally got my chance today (still windy and cold with a little hail, but doable). Here is my spinach that I planted back in March. Even though it was planted early and we have had a mild spring, it's still only got a few leaves. After spending the morning learning about COLD FRAMES at Jeanne's, I have been envisioning cold frames over my boxes, allowing me to produce full grown spinach by April, ready-to-pick lettuce by May and starts ready to transplant by end of May. But gardening has taken a backseat to life and my spinach struggles in the cold. Maybe I'll get those cold frames made by fall and have lettuce until December. I'm dreaming... Today I planted more lettuce, spinach and radish. I also got my peas in the ground. I'm trying something new this year. I usually plant along the long length of my boxes (running East/West). But after some advice from long time gardeners, I oriented them North/South this time. We'll see how they do. My onions arrived in the mail from http://www.dixondalefarms.com/ . They have been sitting in their box for a few weeks. Today they were cheering as I finally got them into the ground. I only pulled back enough plastic for planting the onions. I left the other part of the raised bed covered so that it can get nice and warm for tomatoes - which I will plant in a few weeks. I planted Walla Walla Sweet for eating all summer. I also planted Copra which my Sister-in-law can store for a year. I'm just hoping for more than a few months since I don't have a basement or other cool place to store them in. One final note... all of those metal contraptions laying across my garden boxes and the plastic coverings are to keep the cats from digging and leaving me presents. Previously, I could blame it on the neighbor cats and contemplate the merits of a BB gun. However, now that we have Max and Sophie the blame can't go too far beyond our own house. The problem still remains. Anyone have a good solution to keep cats out of the garden? My raised beds seem to be the favorite litter box in the neighborhood.