Whirlwind Trip

My mom and I were talking last week and she was bemoaning the fact that she couldn't find strawberries.

I just had to brag that we had this amazing fruit stand with the BEST strawberries. Then I had a thought. So I offered to bring her some and help her cap them. We both thought it was a great idea and I headed out early Tuesday morning with a trunk completely full of strawberries.

We were both amazing =) and had most of them put up by the time I had to leave for home.

The kids LOVED the short visit and talked about it for days afterwards.

I had intended to get some pictures of the kids with their grandparents. But I was so busy capping strawberries that I completely forgot.

In fact, the only time the camera came out was when mom screamed and started beating the table with her bowl of strawberries. She lifted the bowl to reveal this -

He was dieing by this point, but still creepy looking.

Don't these strawberries look amazing?!

A stray green berry. Caitlin wanted to eat it.

We had such a fun visit. Next time I'll try it without the berries. My fingers are still red and brown. =)

Passport Photos

Jon and I realized yesterday that we needed to renew Dominic's and my passports before we could purchase tickets for a trip we are taking. We were out late running errands and ran into Walmart to get some quick photos. That was our first mistake. We were told at the photo counter that the guy who takes the passport pictures was at lunch and should be back in 20 minutes. "But he's always late, so maybe you should come back in 30 min." What?! Sure enough the guy was 10 minutes late from lunch. 

He was rather skanky, but that shouldn't matter, right? He takes our pictures and tells us to be back in 30 minutes. We are standing right there in front of the photo center the entire time. When I returned he told me that he'd forgotten to put the memory card in the camera and he needed to take the photos again. I was really upset. He promised me that it would only take 10 minutes this time. I know he saw me standing there during that 30 minutes. But even if he didn't, he never paged us. Sigh! So we wait again and 15 minutes later we have our pictures. As he hands them to me, he mentions that he couldn't get Dominic's to fit the parameter that's required so he's giving us all of the ones he took of him. I almost strangled him right then.

Today Jon takes off work and we go to the Justice Center. For some reason the post office doesn't do the passports in our town. I have come to the conclusion that the Justice Center is where you go to find the grossest of society. There are a ton of people just standing around outside. Most are smoking, but some are just waiting for their court appearances. I couldn't find one that had all of their teeth. And I might have grown up poor, but my mom would have died before she let us out in public looking like most of these people. They were gross and stinky. 

I noticed that the employees hit the handicap button beside the door to have the doors open for them. They won't touch the actual door. That should tell you something. Ick!

We go inside, wait in line and sign everything only to be told that our passport pictures aren't good enough!

It's a really good thing that the little guy from Walmart wasn't standing there.

I went and had more pictures taken at the place reccommended by the woman at the passport desk.

But it added to my annoyance. Last night I had make-up on and my hair was fixed. Today I look like I belong on the steps of the justice center. =) (Except I still have teeth and no tattoos.)  And Dominic looked rather unloved himself. So now for the next 10 years I have to stare at my ponytail in my passport and think about a skanky Walmart dude. Rrrrr!

So we shall try again this evening. And before you ask - NO! I refuse to post any of those pictures on this blog. It's bad enough that two of them will be in our passports for five and ten years.

Update:
All of the passports have been sent off with correct pictures and Walmart refunded my money.

Investiture

Today was a pretty long day for the kids.

And for some reason Caitlin woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

She came into our room upset about something. And it was all downhill from there.

She went potty and for some reason never put anything other than her panties back on before wanting to go outside. Not sure what prompted the coat since it was warm outside, but the sight of Dominic playing with his bike helmet still on and Caitlin in panties and a coat was too good of a photo op to pass up.

 

While I didn't condone her bad attitude, I did think it was cute and took a couple of pictures between Sabbath school and church.

After lunch the Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs had their Investiture service.

I was so proud of our little (and big) kids.

Lining up to come in.

Dominic receiving his honors and certificates.

  Dominic in his uniform with some of his awards and honors on his sash. 

The rest he received this afternoon. He's growing up so fast. What an amazing kid!

Caitlin had to get a picture with her awesome big brother.

Jon wore his Pathfinder uniform since he was presenting some of the awards.

It was a move that prompted several requests from people for him to help with Pathfinders.

I don't think he anticipated that, but he was director years ago and enjoyed working with the kids that age so he's considering it.

Dominic got a bit bored during the Pathfinder (older kids) part and grabbed the camera.

Self portrait.

Caitlin and I.

Strawberries

My kids LOVE strawberries. And I found this wonderful fruit stand that sells them by the flat (12 pints?). So last week and again today I purchased a ton. My intention was to freeze them. The frozen ones that I've been buying in the store just don't taste. They aren't bad, they just don't have very much flavor. These from the fruit stand are the best. So I bought enough to fill an entire shelf in my freezer. But my kids ate most of a flat. By the time we all ate our fill and I made a couple of meals with them I had enough to make one gallon bag. So today I went and bought twice as much. And I waited until Dominic and Caitlin were in their bedrooms for quiet time. Guess what happened? Dominic decided he didn't want to watch tv because he wanted to play his PS3 (He can't do both in the same day.) And Caitlin decided she didn't need to nap for very long.

Sigh! At least it's something healthy. So I'll be going back again to buy more.

And it's worth it when you get to have this for supper.

Burnt offerings

Last Wednesday I had some bananas that were going bad and so I planned to make banana muffins for Coffee Girls. Jon was away on a business trip and so I got the muffins in the oven and joined the kids outside for some play time before bed. Over an hour later I smelled something and dashed into the kitchen to check on the muffins. They looked beautiful - if they were supposed to be chocolate muffins. 

 I was so disappointed. I didn't have any more bananas, over ripe or otherwise.

So I got into the frig to get out the applesauce (it works in a pinch) and remembered that a couple of times I had overripe bananas and no time. I'd put them into the freezer. Perhaps they were still there. I was in luck and the second batch turned out much, much better.

On Thursdays I always feed the kids before we get to Coffee Girls, because they can't wait that long to eat breakfast. That way they can play while we eat and then come and snack on the food when they get hungry closer to lunch time.

That morning I opened one of the burned muffins to see what the inside looked like. It was edible and pretty good as long as you didn't get too close to the outside.

The kids saw me eating the centers and wanted some as well.

 Am I scarring my children by teaching them to dig food out of the charred remains of my cooking? 

Guess we'll find out.

Some random photos

Just a few random things from last week.

Caitlin has had a runny nose all week because she's STILL cutting those 2 yr. molars.

She doesn't let it stop her from doing what she wants. She just smears her hand up her face and goes on.

So consequently it was really gross by supper time. And even worse, I didn't notice right away and when I did I took pictures of it before I cleaned her up.

I saw the kids in the library reading again. It doesn't matter how many times I see this it warms my heart that my kids share my love of books.

I found some amazing strawberries at the local fruit stand and Caitlin couldn't stop eating them. Dominic was long done with lunch and she was still shoveling them in. So I had her pose for a few pictures. She loved it.

Camping in the rain

We went camping again this weekend. A friend reccommended this camp ground and we made plans in February to go. And then this week we all looked at the forecast and saw the rain. A few people cancelled, but most of us (seven families plus some college guys) decided to brave it and go. I'll admit that if my money had been refundable I would have stayed home. But the frugal side of me decided not to disappoint my children or waste the money already spent on supplies and the reservation.

I have to say that while I'm very glad we went we will be making a few changes before we go again.

While I was making breakfast Dominic asked me to take a picture of his "worm" that was still in bed. The rock is apparently the pillow and the leaf is his blanket. Haven't figured out the piece of grass yet.

Lighting the fire at breakfast.

 

Caitlin doesn't wake up happy.

Dominic spent most of the day riding his bike in the "bike gang" as one kid put it.

 After breakfast we headed up to the horse stables so the kids could ride their bikes and also see the horses.

 Caitlin made sure to bring the essentials on her hike.

Some of the bikes from the bike gang.

Checking out the horses.

 

Sliding down the rock pile.

Caitlin's backside after the rock pile. Someone picked her up to look at a horse and then couldn't figure out why they were so dirty. =)

It started raining as we were walking/riding back. So we crashed in a friend's camper.

Some of the kids are playing a game.

Gathered around the campfire.

 

Caitlin enjoying her hotdog.

We rarely saw Dominic the entire day. The campsites were set in a loop and the kids rode around and around wearing themselves out. When they tired from riding bikes they headed to the play ground that was set in sand and full of puddles. By afternoon Dominic was filthy and soaked. We took his socks off while changing him and couldn't believe how wrinkled and prunish his feet looked.
He fell asleep last night and slept like a log all night.

Caitlin on the other hand, took a nap in the afternoon, had someone to carry her when she got tired and sat with me watching people. Then she also started her little croupy cough right before bed. So before midnight she was crying and asking for us to "hold you me." Jon brought her to bed with us, but it just meant that none of us slept well. We were on two narrow cots and so for one of us to have her with us we would have to turn on our side and let her lay on most of the cot. We took turns all night trading her so the other could get sleep. But then she'd want more room and the one trying to sleep with a cot to themselves would feel little toes poking into their rib cage before long. She hogged the covers and snored. Our tent leaked and it was freezing cold. It was a rough night. =)
This morning when we got up and saw that it was raining we threw the kids in the car while we broke camp and headed home. The campsite is about 2 hrs from home and about 1 1/2 hrs from the closest decent town. So we ate corn chips and strawberries in the car for breakfast. Caitlin fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept for two hours more once we got home. Jon took a nap as well once we'd unloaded the cars and set the tents back up in the carport to dry out. What a crazy weekend.

It was cold and rainy, but fun. The kids are already looking forward to going again. We just need to get a few more camping supplies and check the weather before heading out again.

Not feeling the love

Dominic had a rough day yesterday. It seems like his days are a bit more rough when there is a ton going on. Somehow his little brain can't process everything that quickly and he is either extremely hyper or gets emotional more easily. 

Yesterday was non-stop all day and his brain chose to deal with it using the hyper method.

By the time we were leaving Chick-fil-A after supper I was exhausted.

It didn't help that Jon has been on a business trip most of this week.

This is also making me a bit concerned because he will be going to school with children and having to deal with this issue. So I asked him if he'd acted this way during his half day at school. He assured me that he hadn't.

"Dominic, I know you love me. So can you please act as well for me as you do for Mrs. Beth-Anne?"

"But Mommy, I love Mrs. Beth-Anne more so that's why I was nicer for her."

Ouch! The boy knows how to hurt a soul.

Today he is back to loving me so it's all good.

Chocolate

One morning this week I heard a distressed little voice -

"I NEED chocoyate. Peas hep me. I NEED some."

as she tried to get into the freezer.

Is it genetic? Because my little girl certainly has her priorities straight!

Chocolate is a NEED!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

The kids let Jon and I sleep in (sort of).

Jon asked what I wanted for breakfast and I remembered a pancake place we hadn't tried yet.

Grandma's Pancake House.

Wow! I think we have a new favorite. It was delicious.

Naturally I had something with chocolate in it.

 

The kids then went with Jon to pick out a gift for me while I got some kid free shopping in myself. It was so nice to walk around the store without saying "Put your hands behind your back." fifty + times.

Look what the kids picked out for me. Isn't that so sweet?! 

According to Jon they each picked out something.

My heart melted into a little puddle. I have the most precious children in the world.

(What you see in the back ground is my new crock pot. 

Yes, I'm the weird one who actually requests kitchen things for special occasions.)

We then went to pick out some flowers for my bald flower bed in the front. It was full of bulbs and now that they are done blooming it looks rather boring.

Caitlin helped me plant.

My aunt, uncle and grandparents came while we were still planting.

 

My kids love their great-grandparents.

 

 

 

 

 We had such a great visit.

 

 

 

My grandpa has more energy than I do.

Could/would you do this?

"Ganpa, hep peas."

"Grandpa, climb up here with us."

 

 

Some silly pictures.

 

 

We had such a wonderful time. Can't wait to see them all again.