Blessed Beyond Belief

As requested -

The first day of school pic.  We survived (I think) the first week of 10th grade, 6th grade, and 2nd grade.  

What we do for fun

This is how our garden looks today. In the far back right corner there are several cucumber plants. There are also some big bushy tomato plants that make it impossible to access the cucumber plants from the front. So we've been digging around and picking what we can find from the back behind the fence. Obviously we miss many cucumbers until they become so big that they can't hide any longer. Giant cucumbers have huge seeds and usually are quite bitter.

Snoopy - how would you like a large bitter cucumber?  Notice how Casey is looking on with intent interest, yet careful to keep his distance from the ever dominate corgi.

SCORE!!

Snoopy dives in for a taste of the treasure.  One bite is all it takes to decide that this prize is better suited to keep and carry around as a toy.  

Besides, keep away is his favorite game.

This is one of those 'a picture speaks a thousand words' pictures.

Snoopy - damn you, stay away from me and don't even think about taking my cucumber.  I know I'm not allowed to and I know I'll get in big trouble, but I have no problem showing you my teeth and then biting whatever finger gets close enough to grab my green giant.

Tim - I know you think you are tougher than me, but I'm bigger than you and have TWO cucumbers!

Casey - Um, whatcha got there and where's mine???  There's no way I'm getting anywhere near that crazy kid while he's got something in his mouth.

See, there's enough to go around.  Casey gets one too.

Now that he's got one it's time to figure out what the heck it is.  A good sniff check should do the trick.

Is it nostril licking good?

No, the bitterness does not escape him.  He breaks off chunks and spits them out.  Note the pile of cuke parts off to the side.

The Kid can't stand it when Casey has something to chew on.  Doesn't matter that he has the exact same thing.  It's more fun to take it away from Casey.  And it's not hard to do.  This is about as aggressive as Casey will get in keeping his chew toys.

Snoopy is just waiting for the right moment to make his steal.  All Casey has to do is put it down for a nanosecond. 

GONE!

I don't know if my Dad reads this blog, but if he does I'm sure he's quite disgusted at this point that we would waste precious garden cucumbers on filthy dogs.  Don't worry Dad!  The smaller tender cukes never go to waste!  In fact, Tim wanted to do it 'Moe style' as he put it.

See, we really ARE good stewards of our garden.  It's just our sick sense of humor that makes us throw the defects to our dogs and watch them spit, steal, and growl over them.  What's wrong with that?

She is....

creative, imaginary, curious, musical, stubborn, active, domestic, happy, loving, and beautiful. She is also going to be a sixth grader who plays the flute in the school band.

More about this fun time

On Tim's blog >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ride the River

A look back at 11 Years.

Wedding day - August 16, 1997 First anniversary - finally got a bite of our wedding cake. 2 years - Tim surprises me with an overnight trip to Solvang. 3 years - A quick dinner out to a very nice restaurant. William is one week old and this is the first time we left him - for about an hour and half (between feedings) 4 years - Date to the Hollywood Bowl to see the LA Phil Harmonic 5 years - Finally taking our 'honeymoon' trip. A 3 night cruise to Mexico. This was the longest time we had ever been without a child with us - EVER in the history of TnT. 6 years - We were in the middle of a near deadly kitchen remodel and I don't remember if we actually did anything for our anniversary. There is no photographic evidence anyway. This photo is from a bit after the 16th at a much needed evening beach picnic with the kids. 7 years - Dinner out at the 'Stinking Rose' , a garlic lovers dream. 8 years - Dinner out at 'The Inn at the Seventh Ray'. 9 years - living in Idaho. Dinner out to 'The Melting Pot' in Boise, then a walk to the capitol. 10 years - spent the day at Roaring Springs with the fam. Then Tim surprised me with tickets to the Shakespeare festival (a play). No photos of it (GASP!) But here's a photo taken of us during that time doing what we usually do - watching the kids. Today we are going to float the Boise River with the kids. First time for all of us. Should be interesting. I'll update later with the (most likely) interesting details.

He did so well

Trips to the dentist usually go OK, but Will has a hard time tolerating much more than a visual peek and a quick cleaning.  Xrays were next to impossible until the last visit where they were able to do half way decent ones.  When it was discovered that he had his first cavities, the dentist right away suggested that it be done under local anesthetic. All the cavities were between his teeth and he had them on all four sides.  That would mean FOUR separate visits.  That would be not good for any of us.  And I would probably never get him back in a dentist chair again.  I was confident in the process since we have dealt with the hospital and staff before.  All great experiences.  Everyone commented on what a wonderful job he did and how well he cooperated.

Lookie

I have a new niece! Thanks Jenny and Jacob. I love it when other people procreate.  It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside without making my boobs leak.   Ahh.. the joys of motherhood.

We had a great time visiting in Simi.  I'll put up some pictures soon. In the meantime, check out Tim's blog (link on the side bar) to see the huge things he's been playing with.