Couple Quick Pics

Our friends Todd and Kellie went over to camp today to have lunch and see their two sons, and they got a couple pictures of Baylee while they were at it.  They said she's doing great!

 

In that bottom picture her arm looks either really tan or really dirty.  Or both.  LOL 

Gives me Gray Hair

So we had something happen yesterday.  Before I tell you about it, though, I want to back up and say that...well...kids are interesting, aren't they?  They keep you on your toes, and as long as they're still in your home you're never really able to say, "Okay, my job here is done."  The other thing is that the challenges you face with one of your kids aren't necessarily the same ones you face with another.  So just when you think you've got a handle on things, the next kid comes along and blows all that out of the water.  That said...

Yesterday I was taking a short nap, when I was woken up by a gigantic, "BOOOOOOOOM!!!!" coming from outside.  It was so loud that it sounded like a terrible car accident happened right outside my bedroom.  I flew out of bed and into the living room, my heart pounding, just in time to see Drew coming back into the house.  He looked sort of dazed and sheepish.  "Sorry, Mom!" he said right off the bat.

"What did you do?!  What happened?!"

"I'll clean it up!"

"What happened??!!"

"I wasn't hurt and nothing was broken."

"WHAT HAPPENED?!  WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?!"

"Well, I watched a YouTube video on how to make a fun little explosion, so I tried it.  Umm...it worked!"

Long story short, he put drain cleaner and aluminum foil in a 2-liter bottle on our front lawn, and the result was pretty spectacular.  And not in a good way.  I yelled at him for a solid 5 minutes about how stupid that was and how he could've been hurt, and how if the police come to our door because a neighbor heard an explosion and called them, then he was going to be the one to explain what he did.  I also told him that life wasn't one big Jackass movie.  Ultimately I called Mike and we came up with a consequence, which is now in place.

Lord help me.  I love that kid so much, but he's the one who gives me gray hair.





PS:  Mike also talked to him for a long time this morning.  

Most Embarrassing Story of All Time

Before I start I want to say this:  It's bad.  You've been warned.

For the first several years of marriage, Mike and I and our two little boys lived and worked as houseparents at a Christian adult foster care home.  We took care of ten mentally/physically disabled men for four days and four nights a week.  It was a wonderful ministry, but all that really isn't important to this particular story, except as the setting.  You see, one day when we were working there I got a call from our boss, telling me that an older woman and her adult daughter were going to be coming over soon, and he wanted someone to give them a tour.  Mike wasn't home, so that meant it was up to me.

At length the two women arrived, wearing church dresses and seeming a bit stiff, but I was welcoming.  I started showing them around, telling them about the home and the guys, and basically trying to engage them.  They weren't having it.  They followed along behind me, quiet and unimpressed.  Not knowing what else to do, I just kept a smile pasted on my face and continued leading them around the rest of the place until finally we were almost finished.  Suddenly Zach, who was just a little guy at the time, ran up to us.  "Well!" he loudly exclaimed, ignoring the two ladies and talking directly to me, "my finger smells like poop, because I was itching my anus!"

You know that feeling where you're in shock and your mind is racing, but nothing is coming out of your mouth?  And everyone is looking at you, and time seems to practically stop?  It was like that.  I was at a loss, but after a few beats I rallied and decided to make it part of the tour.  "And this is my son!" I said brightly.  "He's four!  Okay...umm...good then!  Do you have any questions?"

Suffice it to say, they didn't have any questions.



PS:  I've said this before, but I NEVER should've told Zach the real name for that body part, because it came back to haunt me time after time.  I should've taken a page from my mom's book.  When we were kids she called everything in that area "your bottom."  Front, back, didn't matter.  You just had to figure out what she meant by the context.

Wednesday

Okay, here's a picture of my new haircut.  It's a "selfie," meaning I took it myself.  I'm positive that's the first time I've ever done that, at least on purpose.  Ack.  Anyway, here it is!  The thing I really love about it (the haircut, not the picture) is that I don't have to do a thing to it except blow dry.

Today Mike and I went on a little date (in that we were alone together and having fun) to Costco.  While we were there he surprised me by insisting I pick out new glasses.  After my initial response of, "Ugh.  Really?" (because I hate that sort of thing.  I hate the whole process.  "Does this look good?  Does that?"  Yuck.)  I settled into it, and, with Mike's help, it went quickly.  I like the new look.  They make me seem smart.  lol  I should have them in a week or so.

Haircut and Wax Torture...and a Camp Picture

Lately I've been thinking that I should tell "My Most Embarrassing Moment of All Times" story.  But then I think, no, it's too embarrassing.

I got my haircut today!  Well, I got it cut and highlighted a honey-blonde color to be exact.  And I got my eyebrows waxed.  Confession:  I'm the BIGGEST baby on earth when it comes to eyebrow waxing.  I have to Lamaze breathe through it.  (And I didn't even take Lamaze class.)  I hate it.  I do love nice eyebrows, though.

One of the counselors put this picture of a bunch of campers doing "Moustache Tuesday" on Facebook.  Baylee's in the front on the right, wearing her "Bowties are Cool" t-shirt.  (Kellie, your two boys are in the middle.  See them?)

Camp!

This morning Baylee and I taught the 4's and 5's again at church.  Weird thing I found myself saying this week:  "We do not lick other people's noses!"  Words to live by.

Then this afternoon I drove Baylee, Rachel, and another girl from church, Evelyn, to camp for the week.  This year Baylee's not going to Cascade Camp Cedarbrook, as she has before.  Instead she's going to a camp for junior and senior high kids who are affiliated with our denomination in the Pacific Northwest.  I hope she has a wonderful time.

The girls in her cabin...

While I was doing that Mike was taking Drew to another house band event.  He said it went really well.

Saturday

Baylee had another meet today and I got a couple quick pictures.  This has been such a long week that I don't have anything other than that to offer.  I'm gonna climb in bed and read a book! 

Patty came this time...

Checking in with the lane timer before a race...

News

VBA is finally over!  That was a loooooooooooong 5 days.  (In writing that just now I found out I can't hold a button down and expect the letter to keep appearing on the screen.  It appears one at a time and that's it.  Tsk.  This must be a faulty keyboard.)  VBA was good, as usual.  Worthwhile.

I'm excited about something:  I'm going to be helping a little guy learn how to read!  You know the kid we've taken care of a couple different times over the years when his parents went on vacation?  He's nine years old and his name is Paul.  Well, Paul was diagnosed this past year with dyslexia (although everybody already pretty much knew it, because he can't read almost at all), and because of that Paul's mom, Beth, made the decision to homeschool him for one year.  Beth will do most of the work, of course, but I'll have Paul a couple mornings a week.  We're going to use the same program I used with Zach, when he was a little guy who couldn't read.  It's meant for people with dyslexia, and it worked a miracle back then.  Hopefully it'll work another miracle now.  

2 Dumb Things from Facebook

Over the past few days I've seen two memes on Facebook that are dumber than usual.  I really wanted to say something right then and there to the people who posted them, but I restrained myself.  I'll say it here instead.

This is such a strange, irritating idea.  I don't even know what to say about it, except that if your husband really fits this description, why are you broadcasting it???  

And then there's this one, which is annoying on a couple levels.  For one thing, it's actually not true.  It is possible for a person to be too busy to hang out with you.  That doesn't mean they don't care; it just means they've got stuff going on.  Sheesh.  COTUS much?

For another thing, the grammar in it is terrible:

• There's no good reason for those quotation marks.
• If the author must have them, though, then she should at least put the comma inside and not outside.
• "Persons" needs an apostrophe.
• The first sentence is actually a fragment, for crying out loud.

There!  I'm glad I got that off my chest!

VBA

This week is all about VBA.  (That means VBS, btw.  VBA is just more fun, I guess, since it stands for "Vacation Bible Adventure" instead of "Vacation Bible School.")  This year I'm the Bible storyteller for the older kids, and that's done during assembly.  And then right after that I run downstairs and become the same thing for the younger kids who aren't old enough for assembly yet.  The little ones get a shorter, easier version.  Anyway, it's keeping me busy!

Other than that, I've got this picture of B in a cowboy hat.

One More Little Thing from Yesterday

Another one of the exciting races Baylee swam yesterday was the 200-yard mixed freestyle relay.  She helped her team catch up so that after her leg they were right behind the lead.  (Baylee is in the 2nd lane over from the right, but the video starts with the boy who went before her.  He swims in, and then when he touches the wall she swims out.  This pool didn't have diving blocks, so they all started from right in the water.)

Lots of Stuff

We had 4 big things happen today:

• We all woke up early, because we had a guest over at about 7:30 in the morning.  Mike's Aunt Betty came to see her brother (Mike's dad, Wayne) before he left for the Philippines.  Mike made a big breakfast for everybody, and we all sat around the dining room table and chatted.  It was nice.
• Wayne ended his 2-day stay with us when Mike took him to the airport.  He's in the air flying to the Philippines right now.
• The house band was a part of an event in Ballard called the Radio Bust Out.  Mike and I had to divide and conquer, because Drew had this and Baylee had a swim meet at the same time.  He took Drew, and I took Baylee.  I was bummed to miss the SoR kids, but Mike got pictures and videos.

Here are a couple pictures...

And here's a little part of both the songs Drew was in.  Mike said he (and all the kids) did a good job.

• The Shoreline Gators swam against the Everett Barracudas and did a great job.  Baylee even had a couple friends from church come for part of it, because they live only about a mile away from that pool.

And she got to wear her new team suit for the first time!

 As far as her races, she did wonderfully.  In fact she won her 50-yard backstroke heat!  I'm so proud of her.  Here's that race:

Friends

Sorry for just throwing pictures up on here the last couple days, but things have been hopping!

Tonight Baylee and I went to see Oliver.  We sat with a big group of friends from church, which was fun, then afterward I got this picture.  It's Baylee and her friend, Lily, with Molly, the girl who was in the play. Molly's the one in the middle.

Picture Post

Baylee and Victoria, Rachel's baby sister

Misc.

• We've got Mike's dad, Wayne, coming over from Idaho tonight to spend the next couple days with us before he leaves for the Philippines.  He'll be spending a few months there.
• Baylee found out what races she'll be in at the next meet against the Everett Barracudas on Saturday.  (PS:  How come the other teams have cooler names???)  She's very nervous and, in fact, refusing point blank (privately, to me) to do one of the events they put her in, a 100-yard IM.  (I don't know what IM stands for, but the race is 25-yards of all 4 strokes.)  I let her know that she absolutely will do it, and that they wouldn't have assigned that race to her if they didn't think she was capable.  Still, I feel for her.  She's scared to fail during the butterfly section.
• Drew has another house band event coming up this weekend:

•  On Monday night after the house band rehearsal all the parents got a furious email from Zeke, the director.  In fact, it came so soon after the rehearsal that I was still sitting in the parking lot of the SoR.  It said, in a nutshell, that many of the kids aren't learning their songs the way they should be.  Of course, I talked to Drew about it, and he claimed that he's not among that group, that he's only having a bit of trouble with one of the songs, and that he'll deal with it.  *shrug*  I think this is one of those "natural consequences" situations, to be honest.  Either he's doing what he's supposed to (and he probably is; he's an honest kid) or he isn't.  And if he isn't, then he can suffer the ramifications of that.
• That reminds me of a story Drew told me about Zeke several months ago.  Apparently at the beginning of the Big Four show season Zeke told the kids that he didn't mind them going over to the grocery store across the street to get a snack before rehearsal (as long as it was okay with their parents), but he didn't want it to ever make them late.  Zeke warned them that if he had to go over to Fred Meyer looking for them, it wouldn't be pretty.  "I don't like yelling in grocery stores," he said.  lol
• In a couple days Baylee and I are going to see a professional performance of Oliver.  I'm excited, mostly because it'll be Baylee's first time seeing a play with high-caliber actors.  I think she'll love it.  Also, it'll be fun for her because she has a friend, Molly, who has a nonspeaking part in it as one of the pickpocket children.

At the Lake...

...with a book and my favorite 13 year old.

(That's Baylee going off the high dive.)

Monday

Lately I've been on a documentary kick.  I get on them once in awhile, you know.  I watched one a few nights ago called Jig, about the world of Irish dancing.  It was weirdly fascinating.  After that I watched a couple shows about ballet, and then last night I found myself watching a documentary-type series called Cheerleader, which was about...well...competitive cheering.  This isn't the kind of cheering you see at high school football games, either, by the way.  It's more like gymnastics, but with throwing people.  Anyway, long story short, I was up until 3am glued to it, so when 7:30 came and I had to get up to take Baylee to swim practice, I was already unhappy.  Then Baylee accidentally dumped an entire bowl of Rice Krispies and milk on the floor and on herself.  In order to "fix" the situation, she proceeded to walk across the house, dripping milk and cereal, to her room, so she could change into some new clothes.  I swear she took the scenic route, too.  You know that saying:  "Don't cry over spilled milk?"  Whoever made that up didn't have a carpeted dining room.

Speaking of Baylee, she decided a couple weeks ago to simplify her life.  She took off all her bedding, except the fitted sheet, and plopped a sleeping bag up there instead.  Now making her bed in the morning takes two seconds.  lol

Yesterday Drew went to a friend from the SoR's house.  This friend has some really neat recording equipment, and the two of them ended up spending hours making a song.  That is, they wrote it and played it themselves.  Drew used his iPod to record it, so Mike and I got to listen to it when he came home.  I was expecting...I don't know...not much, to be honest.  But what those two boys did is good!

Zach's still enjoying his work.  He's getting more and more responsibility over there, and he's, for lack of a better word, blossoming.  (That is SO not a word for a guy, I know.  Ack.  But you know what I mean.)  It's wonderful to see him doing so well.  Oh, that reminds me!  We got his diploma, transcripts, graduation cap, and tassel in the mail today.  That means his involvement with South Ridge Christian Academy is officially over.

 

Baylee's First Swim Meet

Mike and I loved watching Baylee swim today!  As I mentioned before, this was our first real opportunity to cheer for one of our kids in a race situation.  It was fun!

The meet was at an outdoor pool in Kirkland, so it's a good thing the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  We had to check-in at 7:15 in the morning, and the kids were in the water, warming up, at 7:30.  In other words, we got a very early start to the day.

This is one group of kids warming up.  The Shoreline Gators (our team) have the green caps and the Kirkland Orcas have the black ones.

Pretty soon it was time for the races.  All the kids were told to have their event and heat numbers written on their arm with a Sharpie.  It's so they would be able to keep track of where they were supposed to be and when.

 This board also helped.  It told what was happening currently, and what was being staged.

Also, there was a man on a loudspeaker announcing everything.

Baylee didn't have to go until the 5th event, so we hung out and she ate some of the snacks we packed.

Finally it was almost time for her first race, a 200-yard mixed (meaning it had both boys and girls in it) relay.  She was so nervous!  Mike encouraged her.

 Her team came in third!  Baylee swam the breaststroke leg.

Afterward she had another long wait, and then she swam in the 50-yard freestyle race.  She didn't win, but it was exciting all the same, because she and the girl next to her fought hard for 5th place.  Baylee beat her by a hair!

Baylee's best race was the 50-yard backstroke.  She got 2nd!

She also swam the 50-yard breaststroke race, but didn't do quite as well in that.  That's okay.  Next week she can try again!

Birthday, Art Walk, and Echoes

Today's Baylee's 13th birthday!  That means I have all teenagers now, if you can believe that.  Because we have a pretty busy weekend we're postponing her little party (she just wants a family celebration) for a couple weeks.  She's fine with the delay, as she has more than enough to excite her today.  She finally got to join Facebook, which is a BIG milestone in her world, and she gets to sit in the front seat of the car.  lol  It's the law here in WA that you have to be over 12 to sit in the passenger seat.  She's stoked.  Oh, and she's spending the afternoon at a friend's house, building  a "top secret" costume for camp.  There's going to a costume party with a pirate theme, and she's working together with her friend Molly, Molly's older brother Ethan, and Ethan's friend Nick.  They're sharing this costume.  In fact, it'll take all 4 of them to make it work.

Tonight Drew will be playing with the house band at an "Art Walk" at the SoR.  The school has a local artist come in and hang a bunch of their art work all over, especially down the main hallway, and then they invite the public to come in and view it.  There will be food and drink, and the house band will play in the main rehearsal room, which has a stage.  It should be a fun time for Drew.

I'm not sure if he did much practicing for that today, but he did spend a least a couple hours this afternoon messing with the delay feature on his amp.  He was trying to play in such a way that he harmonized with his own echo.  It was kinda neat!

 

Thursday

I only have a couple minutes before I have to go pick Drew up from a rehearsal, so I'll throw a couple pictures on here...

On Wednesday Baylee had team pictures for swimming.  It was VERY disorganized, but eventually the pictures were taken.  While they were there all the kids got their team t-shirt and swimming cap.

 These are a couple of the friends Baylee has made so far.  They're all part of the same practice group.

This morning I took this picture of Baylee wearing her new cap for the first time. It says Shoreline on the side.

She's got her first meet on Saturday morning.  The Shoreline Gators are swimming against the Kirkland Orcas.  We found out today that Baylee will be swimming the 50-meter freestyle, the 50-meter backstroke , and the 50-meter breast stroke race.  Also, she'll be doing the breast stroke leg of a 200-meter mixed relay.  Should be exciting!

What Are You Asking Me?

There's a van that always parks in the exact same place, and I see it often as I'm driving through our neighborhood.  On the back of that van there's a bumper sticker that's partially torn off, making it impossible to figure out what it says.  It's driving me crazy!  As best I can figure, it either says, "Got Poop?" or "Got Porn?" but I just don't know, because the last letter is half missing.  I'm about ready to go door-to-door, track down the owner, and find out.

At the Lake

I took Baylee and Rachel to the lake today to hang out with friends from church.  Beth (the other mom) and I sat on beach chairs and chatted for about three hours while the kids all played.  It was nice!

I did get sunburned, though.  Doh.

I even have a weird sunburn pattern on my feet from those water shoes with the open areas.

On a totally different note...well, not totally, as they both involve swimming...the team did "time trials" yesterday at swimming practice.  They time the kids swimming all the different strokes, then use that information to figure out which heat to put them in during the next meet.  They want everybody to swim against others who are around their same ability level/speed.  Here's Baylee doing the trial for the crawl stroke.  She did a really horrible bellyflop off the starting block, but she recovered nicely.

 And I snapped this.

Hike on the Shangri La Trail

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that, on the spur of the moment, Mike, Zach, Drew, and I decided to go on a hike.  (Baylee was at a friend's house.)  We chose to do one that wasn't too far away, called the Shangri La Trail.

I took this picture of Mount Rainier out the car window on our way there.  We live in a breathtaking state!

On the trail...

 

We also decided to take a side trail, which would add a mile, to see something called the "Fantastic Erratic."  It's a huge rock that was pushed into an unexpected place by a glacier.

It was a long tangent, but we finally made it.  To be honest it didn't really seem all that fantastic.  It was more like the "Okay Erratic." lol

PS:  That reminds me of this scene from that British TV show, An Idiot Abroad:

 Anyway, back to our hike...

The boys spent most of the time on the Fantastic Erratic talking about how they were hungry.

Really Long Post

Baylee went over to Rachel's and held the new baby again.  Isn't Victoria adorable?  I especially love the second picture of both the girls.

Yesterday when I was trying to get the camera set up to do my Day 1 video, I accidentally took a picture of myself instead of pressing the video button.  Doh.  Then I talked for awhile, thinking I was videoing, when I was really wasn't.  lol  Anyway, I ended up making a second video a bit later and that one was fine, but I saved the picture.  It can be my "before" shot!

Our neighbors, Kelli and Brian (the same ones who organized the bike parade), had their annual neighborhood-kid campout from last night to this morning.  It included their two little boys, Baylee, Rachel and her sisters, and various other kids on our street.  They did games, a campfire with supper and marshmallows, not-very-scary ghost stories, and then everyone slept in tents.  In the morning Kelli and Brian made them all a big breakfast in the house.  Our neighbors are saints!

Kelli took lots of pictures.  Here are the ones with Baylee in them.

Playing games at the nearby high school...

 

Setting up camp...

Campfire...

Ghost stories...

Morning...  (Baylee said she had to drag Connor out of the tent and hold him up.  lol  He was sleepy.)

Breakfast...

And...let's see...Zach went out with friends for the first time since he started working.  He's so busy these days, and then when he is home he's pretty worn out, but he made time last night to get pho with Robbyn and Kian, and then to hang out with them.  I'm really glad he did that.

PS:  His job is still going well and he enjoys it.  When our friends Todd and Kellie were over last week they brought to my attention that I never really said exactly what sort of gear shop Zach works at.  In fact, they thought it was a bike gear shop.  It's not.  It's an airplane gear shop.