Christmas Traditions

Today in class I showed a video on how Christmas is celebrated around the world.  I know, I know...you're probably thinking, "What? How can she get away with that at school?"  (Which is an entire separate post in itself...I won't go there now.)  Well, this particular video featured celebrations of families from Scandanavia, Native America, South Korea, Mexico and Ethiopia.  Beings that a variety of cultures were being displayed, I felt confident in the safety of showing this video (Again, more feelings about this in a separate post!) 

HOWEVER, my favorite part of this particular class time was the student led discussion after showing the video.  I began the conversation with the question, "What Christmas or holiday traditions does your family celebrate around this time of year?"  This led to a very excited class sharing and innocently boasting about their family traditions...I absolutely loved every minute of it! 

There were many traditions shared from when to open presents to where "eves" versus "days" are celebrated to what is baked, cooked and eaten.  It was fantastic!  I took note on a couple of the traditions shared by my students.  Here are my favorites:

1. A stocking Advent calendar:  There are 25 small stockings (I picture the little tiny stockings about the size of a deck of cards) hanging from a piece of twine (very traditional).  Each stocking is numbered and each stocking has a little gift inside.  Like most advent calendars, a countdown takes place and each day a gift is removed from a stocking.  Love, love, LOVE this idea and I want to make my own! Where do Advent calendars originate from anyways?
2. Secret Santa or gift exchange (drawing of names) within the family.  This is WAY better then buying a gift for everyone.  Why do we by the gifts anyway?  There seems to be better reasons to be celebrating this time of year, don't you think?
3. One gift is opened Christmas Eve which happens to be "family pajamas".  Everyone in the family gets similar printed Christmas pajamas.  Sounds kind of cheesy, but I love this idea.
4. A family sporting event...football, sledding races, snowman building competitions, gingerbread house competitions....they went on and on and on.  What a fun idea! 

My family traditions...well, that's yet another post. 
Enjoy the Christmas season everyone!

Snails

I have a student in my class that is unique...very unique.  And his little quirks make me love him even more...he is hilarious, entertaining and extremely intelligent...but unique.  He is obsessed with snails.  Fresh water snails.  NOT salt water snails, as I have been informed many times that there is a HUGE difference.

At the beginning of the year I was asked by this student if he could bring in one of his fresh water tanks for the class.  My first thought was, "What a mess!"  Then I thought about it more and if a fresh water tank was going to let this student focus on school work and stay "centered" in my classroom then, "Why not?"

Many more conversations arose between this student and myself and as I listened to him talk about, in great detail, the fish and snails (again, with another reminder that they were fresh water animals) that he cares for at home I was very intrigued by the knowledge he was sharing. 

So, we came to a comprimise.  He could bring in 4 freshwater snails in a small tank that wasn't any bigger than a gallon of milk. 

The very next morning, skipping with joy and excitment, I had a mason jar sitting on my desk with 4 fresh water snails.  Disgusting.  However, they are closely monitored and cared for by this student.  Not to mention all the other students' enthusiasm about these snails have grown immensly. 

I've been looking at these snails for the past 8 weeks and the other day I noticed something different about them.  There appeared to be more....A LOT MORE! 

We have baby snails!  They are cute and fun to watch.  We have new life.  We have science.  We've had outstanding teaching moments. 

I now LOVE the snails.

Rainy Day Recess

There's nothing fun about it. The kids are trapped inside, I'm trapped inside (WITH THEM) and it makes for a long day. Rest assured I still love my class dearly, but when they are 12, excited for our 6th grade trip, 12, eager for winter break, 12, overstressed with assessments, 12....THEY NEED THEIR RECESS.  Maybe I just need them to have their recess. 

I live in an area where it rains.  It rains a lot during the winter months.  It's not necessarily that cold, but it rains.  (I don't necessarily care for the rain.) When it rains too much the kids can't go outside or they can't play in certain areas of the playground because it's too muddy.  Seriously, it baffles me that engineers, architechts, contractors (whomever plays a role in building a school) doesn't take the weather into consideration.  A play area that can be sheltered from rain, that won't cause a muddy mess and that can cover a significant amount of students should be considered when building a school in western Washington. 

Although, my kids ARE quietly working (on a writing assessment) as I blog about the rainy day.

She's One of My Favorites

I'm a lucky girl.  Beyond having a great husband, a job I enjoy going to every day and good health...I also have some amazing girlfriends in my life.  I have girlfriends that I work out with, girlfriends I teach with, girlfriends who I drink with, girlfriends I share the Lord with and girlfriends who I share life with.  Throughout my life I have always been blessed with being surrounded by wonderful women.  I think about the women that have drifted in and out of my life and at any one particular moment in my life she (or they) mean the world to me. 

This moment of my life I have one friend that I have a special connection with.  One that, I know, we will be friends forever.  We have shared our inner most fears with one another and been there for each other through trying times.  Times in our lives that I know if we didn't have each other we would question, "How did we make it through that time in our life without each other." 

I thank God for placing this funny, caring, adventerous, honest, matter-of-fact, sincere, trusting and loving friend, Molly, in my life....because she is one of my favorites. 

Love you, Molly. 

Coffee and a Correcting Pen

I think I've found my new morning routine. 

Although I can't afford for it to happen every day. 

I was at Starbucks this morning by 6:45 

Where I sat quietly,

Next to a warm fire,

In my cute teacher outfit (goes with the job I guess),

Sipping on a peppermint mocha,

Correcting papers.

This made me happy

For the rest of my day.

Bottle It Up

Today I was told I was the best teacher EVER!  That's big.  That's huge!  That feels awesome.  Now if only I can figure out how to bottle up this tremendous feeling I feel in my heart right now, save it, and open the bottle later as a little reminder when the tough, tiring and trying times come through  my classroom. 

Once again, I love my class.

The Hallo-Wiener

Preface to a story: 
One of my favorite Halloween picture books is called The Hallo-Wiener.  This book is about a wiener dog named Oscar who always gets picked on by the other dogs because of his size and he even gets picked on by the cats too (this is the worst).  For Halloween his mom buys him a costume, a hot dog bun costume, and Oscar doesn't want to wear the costume, but he also doesn't want to hurt his mom's feelings...so he wears the costume.  Of course, all the other dogs make fun of him.  All the dogs go trick-or-treating together and Oscar can't keep up because his legs are so short and his costume keeps getting in the way.  The other dogs get spooked by a "ghost" and Oscar comes to the rescue by pulling the bottom of the costume off of...the cats! In the end the other dogs realize that Oscar's size is important and that he is actually a really nice dog. 

Story: 
The Friday before Halloween I shared with my students my favorite Halloween book, The Hallo-Wiener.  The kids had heard of the book and many of them had had the book read to them when they were younger, but I read it to them anyway.  As I was reading the book, they would laugh at the jokes the author incorporated into the story (there is a play on words that revolve around hot dogs).  One of my students even said, "I never got all the jokes until now." 

When I finished the story the kids all "awed" and commented on how cute the story was.  I had them think about how this story could be related to the personal narratives that they were writing themselves.  I then asked them to think about what the "lesson learned" was or the moral of the story that the author was trying to get across. 

One serious student, sitting towards the back of the classroom, quickly raised his hand and without thinking said, "Don't judge a person by their wiener." 

Instantly the class was in an uproar and I about fell off my stool I was sitting on from laughing myself.  Other students commented to this young boy, "Do you realize what you just said?" 

As he sat there for a second and the classroom continued to be filled with student laughter, the boy finally realized what he had said and smiled himself.  He then said somewhat sheepishly, "Well, you know what I mean."

There's never a dull moment when teaching 6th grade.

Just Can't Do It...and Other Random Thoughts (My Students)

So, I've tried having various pages with different topics, but I don't like the idea of having static pages.  I just can't do it.  My viewers can't comment on one specific post.  So, I'm going to try something new...I'm working on figuring out tags, labels or something like that.  I will have a few...running, knitting, love, school...I'm not quite sure what else....and I've got to figure out how to show or post my tags (How do I do this, Erin?  You have so many and I like this!)

Until the "tagging" begins...life has been good and getting back to normal.  Whatever "normal" may be.  I continue to turn to my students (I should probably focus more on God, but it's been challenging lately...I'm okay with that and I think He understands right now)...

I can't share enough how amazing my students are.  There is something special about each and every one of them (and they have completely stolen my heart). Something that I can't explain, but I fall asleep every night thinking of them, praying for them, and thanking God every day for them (okay, so I haven't completely turned my back on Him).  I only wish I could share more pictures and videos of what actually happens in my classroom.  It's unfortunate that our world is so creepy and unsafe for my innocent and absolutely outsanding students...so unsafe that I can't post an incredible video of them having a blast and leading an all school "wave" at our Fun Run...or them being incredible role models to their 2nd grade Little Buddies and taking the time to share their favorite picture books...or (the smaller things in the classroom that make me happy) coming in quietly from recess and following the directions on the board, transitioning to the next subject without me saying a word, OR  getting a 5 in music (the best) and being told on the way back to their classroom that they are the best class that Ms. Osbourne has had in a while...

...SERIOUSLY?  Thank you  my outstanding 6th graders. I look forward to my day, every day, because of you.  (My heart is smiling with warm, fuzzy happiness right now.)

Blogger Questions

I've been trying to figure out how to create separate posts within my different pages, but I don't think it is possible.  BLOGGER do something about this!  I don't know "code", "html" or any other special lingo to be able to do this, but I want to have this feature on my blog.  I guess my added pages are "static".  Again, I'm not quite sure what this means in the world of blogging, but for me right now it means I can't create on my blog what I would like to. 

Therefore, until Blogger or someone else can help me with this (I'm tired of searching the internet for the answer), please look at my other pages as I am going to update them with additional information or my own version of creating a new post on the page.  I've separated the new posts by the date of when they were created.

Happy blogging everyone...and now I must go figure out html....or maybe not. 

Beach Run

A recent weekend get-away with friends was much needed.  I packed running clothes...just in case.  Less than a half an hour after arriving at our destination I went for a run.  My new favorite place to run...along the bluff and on the beach of Fort Flagler State Park.  I MUST find a similar place near Kirkland where I can get lost in my run.  Somewhere where I do not listen to my music, but rather get lost in the sounds of water lapping against the shore, a slight breeze blowing in the trees, and mama birds waking up their babies for breakfast.  Thanks for the beautiful runs, Fort Flagler.

Running Thoughts

I'm not a runner, although I enjoy running.

I don't run as often as I would like to (or maybe should).

I like feeling free.

I don't have a runner's physique.

I wish I had a runner's body.

Running gets my emotions out...and away.

Running is my escape.

I need to run more often.

Not to escape, but to listen.

Listen to my own thoughts.

Then again maybe I run to escape my own thoughts.

My music let's me escape.

I'm going to run for myself, for my health.

I've ran a half marathon...twice.

I should get my strength back to where I was.

A 10K sounds doable right now...or maybe in 8 weeks.

I should just go run.

I'll start that tomorrow morning.

I'll get back to you and let you know how it went.

My Third Little Angel

I thought of you and closed my eyes,
And prayed to God today.
I asked what makes a Mother,
And I know I heard him say:
A mother has a baby,
This we know is true
But, God, can you be a mother,
When your baby's not with you?
Yes, you can He replied,
With confidence in His voice
I give many women babies,
When they leave is not their choice.
Some I send for a lifetime,
And others for a day.
And some I send to feel your womb,
But there's no need to stay.
I just don't understand this God,
I want my baby here.
He took a breath and cleared his throat,
And then I saw a tear.
I wish that I could show you,
What your child is doing today,
If you could see your child smile
With other children who say:
I went to earth and learned the lessons,
Of love and life and fear.
My mommy loved me oh so much,
I got to come straight here.
I feel so lucky to have a mom,
Who had so much love for me.
I learned my lessons very quickly,
My mommy set me free.
I miss my mommy oh so much,
But I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep,
On her pillow's where I lay.
I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek,
And whisper in her ear.
"Mommy don't be sad today, I'm your baby and I'm here."
So you see my dear sweet one,
Your children are okay.
Your babies are here in My home,
They'll be at heavens gate for you.
So now you see what makes a mother.
It's the feeling in your heart.
It's the love you had so much of
Right from the very start.
Though some on earth may not realize you are a mother,
Until their time is done.
They'll be up here with Me one day,
And you'll know that you're the best one!

Things That Make Me Smile Today

Today is just one of those days where I feel "blah".  Whenever I feel this way I find myself looking through pictures that make me smile.  Here are a few that made me smile today.

It was difficult this baseball season to be a Mariner's fan...however, baseball always makes me smile.

Not to mention I have an amazing husband that I love so much.

Being a Vandal and watching the football game with friends makes me smile.

Visiting long time freinds in Boise make me smile. (Anna is so incredibly cute with her pregnant bump.)

Spending time with a friend from Ecuador makes me smile.  It was so incredibly great seeing Martha.

Sharing cotton candy with my favorite little boy, Aidan, makes me smile.  I love this kid a lot.

Going on fair rides with Aidan make me smile.  I've always loved the gunny-sack slide.

There are many other things that make me smile, but for now, I will look at these pictures.

Well Hello

Hi blog.  It's been a while.  My life has been crazy, fun and I'm enjoying it.  School is back in session and I'm learning that my "normal" life (whatever that my be) quickly comes to an end during the month of September.  Only the month of September.  I hope. 

The last couple of weeks of summer were filled with a couple of weddings, a trip to Boise and our 7th anniversary.  OUR 7TH ANNIVERSARY!  (I love him.  A lot.)  Oh, I forgot to mention the moving of ALL of my stuff back into my classroom, but a different room from last year.  A classroom right across the hall from my 1st classroom is the new location of Mrs. MacDonald.  Moving took some time, but I took my time this year because I had the time.  What a difference it has made knowing that I had my job for this year at the end of last year versus getting hired a day and a half before school starts. 

I have so much I want to share about my classroom and my students (they are adorable and I already love them so much), but now's not the time. I need sleep and with it already being 10:00 p.m. (or rather just a little after 10:00) I must go to bed.  I just wanted to make sure I posted something for the mom-in-law.  I feel like I've neglected her because I know she checks daily for the new happenings in my life.  (I'll try to better at posting, but I can't make any promises.)

I'll share more later...and post some pics of weddings, trips and school. 

Good night, Sonja....and the rest of the world. 

Mt. Rainier

I want to write more about my adventure to Mt. Rainier, but for now I will just share a couple of pics.

When I saw this I peed my pants with excitement (not really, but close). So close yet so much further to hike.

Getting closer.

And closer.

Yes!  I made it!

More stories and pics to come later. I'm going back to the mountain...and soon! 

Dairy Update

Just a quick little update for my readers....

The first week without dairy was extremely difficult.  There were two incidents where I forgot about the "no dairy" and accidentally had some cheese.  Oops.  However, that slice of pizza from Belltown Pizza was absolutely amazing.  Second encounter with dairy was at a birthday party.  I simply forgot and as I and couple of my best friends devoured a bowl of yummy jalapeno/artichoke/parmesan dip I remembered afterwards...when my stomach was screaming at me. 

Overall, after the first week, I feel pretty good. Although, I'm beginning to wonder if there might be more than dairy that is causing my "touchy tank" to go haywire.  I fear that there might be a bit of a gluten intolerance (thanks for the reminder, Mrs. Rice).  I'll battle the gluten next month.  For now my focus is no dairy.

Off to play in my classroom.  Have a great day everyone!

My Stomach Hurts

I wish I could say that "my stomach hurts" refers to sharing hours of laughter with friends, but unfortunately it doesn't.  My stomach hurts every time I eat.  It's a mystery and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it.  I've had numerous doctor's visits to try to figure out the mystery.  Even to the point of having a colonoscopy a few years back (sorry if that's too much information shared).  A bill of clean health was given; although, I was labeled with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).  Basically this means, "We have no idea what is wrong with you and your crazy ideas of stomach pain so we will label you with IBS." 

Once I was labeled with IBS I began, for a short while, being very diligent as to what I was eating.  Apparently there are certain foods vs. other foods that can cause a "flare up" or a gut wrenching ache for hours.  So, here I go (again) where I am going to try to figure out what is making me feel the way I do. 

My first step is an elimination diet.  This means that for a period of time I will eliminate certain food or food types from my daily diet.  The second portion of this process is journaling everything I eat, time of day I eat, how much I eat, how I feel before and after I eat (emotionally and physically)....

The second step is to actually stick with it so I can (hopefully) figure out what makes me feel awful. 

The hardest part about all of this is I LOVE FOOD.  All kinds of food.  I also love cooking and baking.  This is going to be challenging, but I'm hoping I will get the stomach aches figured out. 

So, here I go...the next 30 days...no dairy.  (Big sigh...I love cheese.)

"Well Begun is Half Done"

One of my favorite movies is Mary Poppins and today as I began unstacking, rearranging, tossing out, and rearranging some more I thought how nice it would be to have Mary Poppins by my side.  If only it could be as simple as a snap of the finger and my classroom could be set up, everything in it's perfect place and completely ready for my students. 

In thinking of Mary Poppins today, I was reminded of what I experienced my first year of teaching and where I would like to go from there. 

Last year in hearing that I was not going to have a job at Sandburg for this year...

Jane: Mary Poppins, we won't let you go!

Mary Poppins: Go? What on earth are you talking about?

Michael: Didn't you get sacked?
Mary Poppins: Sacked? Certainly not. I am never sacked!

Jane: Oh, Mary Poppins!

Jane, Michael: Hurrah, hurray, hurray, hurray, hurray, hurray...

Mary Poppins: Neither am I a Maypole. Kindly stop spinning about me.

That's right!  I'm back at Sandburg teaching 6th grade!  Now, how can I best put my students to work and trick them into learning while having fun?...

Mary Poppins: Our first game is called Well Begun is Half-Done.
Michael: I don't like the sound of that.

Mary Poppins: Otherwise titled Let's Tidy up the Nursery.  (How about the classroom?)

Michael: I told you she was tricky.

After everything is in it's place, I get to be Mrs. MacDonald and teach them life skills because that's what really matters, right? 

Mary Poppins: Never judge things by their appearance... even carpetbags. I'm sure I never do.

Well, maybe I should start with classroom rules...

Mary Poppins: We can't have them gallivanting up there like kangaroos, can we?

 

But, most importantly, I want my students to be themselves, learn from one another and have fun.

Mary Poppins: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and - SNAP - the job's a game! ("job" could be replaced with homework, task, errand, class work, group work, etc.)

And although it would be nice to be Mary Poppins, I know that all I can be is myself, Mrs. MacDonald.  However, it wouldn't be so bad if my students thought I was like Mary Poppins every now and then...

Mary Poppins: As I expected. "Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way." 

Inbetweenie

Today is Hannah's birthday.  Usually I have Hannah Thursday's, but today was Hannah Friday because I had a writing conference I was at yesterday.  It just happened to be Hannah's birthday today.  How exciting!  I absolutely love birthdays!  I have great birthday memories from when I was a little girl (maybe a later post).  Hannah's day with me began with a HUGE cupcake balloon, 6 rainbow chip cupcakes with rainbow chip frosting, and a suprise visitor...Mrs. Raines.  Mrs. Raines was Hannah's second grade teacher who also happens to be a dear friend of mine.  Next we headed to the Pancake House for breakfast where we delighted ourselves with omelettes, blueberry pancakes and amazing potatoes.  (I mean AMAZING!)  After breakfast we went and found a cozy piece of grass on Mercer Island where we parked ourselves for the next couple of hours watching the Seafair air show.  Talk about breathtaking, heart pounding and tearfully proud to be an American moments.  (I'm now in love with the Blue Angels.) 

Let me back up a bit....(This next little bit is one of the many reasons I love children.)

As we were driving to Mercer Island Mrs. Raines, Hannah and I were talking about our "favorites" that we had in common.  The conversation went as follows....

Mrs. MacDonald:  "What's your favorite model of car?"
Hannah: "What do you mean?"
Mrs. MacDonald: "Well, for example, I like Volkswagen Bugs.  The old kind, not the newer kind.  The Beetles."
Hannah:  "Oh, I like...hmm...I like Toyotas."
Mrs. Raines:  "I like Audi's.  Like the Audi A4 or A6."
(Silence...which very rarely happens with Hannah. Then a thought occurred in her curious, cute and innocent little brain.)
Hannah: "You mean like belly buttons?"
(Mrs. Raines and I shared a look of confusion with one another.)
Hannah:  "You know.  Like an innie or an outie?" 
(Laughter echoed in the car, or rather cackling bellowed from Raines and myself.)
Mrs. MacDonald:  While laughing, "Yes, like an innie or an outie."

We all continued to laugh so hard and the conversation progressed into the curiosity of a 9 year old and what would a person have if they had both an innie and an outie. 

The final conclusion was if you don't have an innie or an outie then you must have an inbetweenie. 

Happy birthday, Hannah.  I'm glad Mrs. Raines and I got to share it with you. 

New Day

Yesterday hit me and it hit me hard. 

However, last night we went over to the Barrans' and the warm hugs, a dear friend telling me it's going to be okay and the love from three little ones made everything a little better.  Besides how could the day continue to be filled with anger and hate and jealousy when I am holding and sharing moments with this....

What's Really on My Mind Today

Today just happens to be one of those days.  One of those days that I would like to push deep inside and not think about.  I want it to go away, but apparently it's not supposed to.  I suppose it's God's way of letting me know that I'm not in control and He is.  That I need to depend on, talk to and give everything to Him.  How difficult this is and how mad this makes me. 

It's not a mystery or suprise to anyone that my heart desires to be a mom.  I've already lost two and I don't want to lose any more.  I fear this.  I fear this greatly.  I just have so much anger today.  Anger towards God.  Anger towards life's circumstances.  Anger and hate.  I want this to go away too.  I'm not an angry or hateful person, but today I feel this way. 

Why can't I be a mom?  I know that there are many women who face the challenge of getting pregnant, but today that doesn't make my situation any easier.  Today I'm selfish and only thinking about me.  Why me?  Why has God not allowed me to be a mom yet?  Why are we challenged again with not being able to start a family?  I'm tired of waiting.  I don't want to be patient anymore.  I want my own.  I want to be a mom. 

I'm also challenged with so many friends around me who are pregnant, having babies, or those that already have families.  Honestly, I'm jealous.  Very jealous...then sad and angry again. 

I don't understand.  I guess I'm not supposed to.  Maybe that's what God is trying to tell me too. 

I hope tomorrow is a better a day. 

I hope one day I can be a mom. 

Lions and Tigers and bears AND VAMPIRES? Oh my!

A couple weeks ago I took a trip with a friend around the Olympic Peninsula (the OP).  The main purpose for our trip was to go and see the "big to-do" about Forks, WA and the Twilight drama.  I've read the Twilight series, mainly because my sixth graders were interested in the story, but I'm not OBSESSED with this vampire-werewolf hype.  Nonetheless, the trip was entertaining, fun and adventerous and did not only involve blood-thirsty vampires, but a great trip to the coast. 

Road trip with "411".

Who names a town "Humptulips"?  This made for a good laugh the entire trip.

We really wished we had a giant spoon or spork to hold.

We visited the Ho, I mean Hoh Rain Forest. 

Took a little hike in the forest.

Saw really big trees.

Sweet little forts. I wanted to be 7 again so I could play and let my imagination run freely.

A rare find nowadays.  How ironic that it is covered in moss. 

Back to Forks to get "Dazzled by Twilight". 

Twilight in this town is out of control and absolutely crazy.

I can't decide if the people are insane or smart. 

They have mass marketed everything!  I mean EVERYTHING!

Even the bait and tackle shop had fishing supplies named after Twilight characters.

We played along with the craziness and took a tour. 

I'm still ashamed to say I paid for a tour, but the entertaining tour guide made it well worth it.

Apparently Forks believes in vampires...8.5.  How do you get half of a vampire?

Bella's house from the movie.

The Cullen's house...not from the movie, but more like the description from the book.

Bella's truck from the movie.  I like this truck...I want one.

Okay, maybe they are crazy.  There is a reserved parking spot at the hospital for Dr. Cullen. 

Hello people!  Dr. Cullen doesn't exist!

Jacob's house and Bella's motorcycle from the movie.

La Push where the Quileute Tribe resides and where cliff scenes are filmed in the movie.

The Treaty Line. 

Apparently Forks is threatened by vampires more than fires.

The coast!  Well, actually it is the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

We camped a night here.

In the morning we went exploring.

The tide was at it's lowest level for the month.

Where the green line is on the rocks, just below the trees, is the high tide level. 

Crazy, but lots of fun looking around.

Dungeness Crab Spit.  Also known as "The Spit". 

At low tide, which we happen to hit perfectly, you can walk all they way out to the lighthouse.

Did we do this?  No.  It would've been 10 miles round trip and we weren't prepared for that.

Next time...maybe.

Fun forts on the beach. 

Drift wood has the most beautiful views of the coast.

This made me chuckle...a lot...okay, maybe cackle until I was crying and almost peed my pants.

Who's responsible for naming the streets out to "The Spit"? 

Ferry ride home...not ready to go home, but on our way. 

I think I'll come up for air now...this was a long post.

Kaely's Get Away

This is Kaely (and her husband Jason).  Kaely is my sister-in-law.  How lucky I am to have a sister like Kaely.  Kaely just entered her 30's (Happy Birthday, Kael!) and Jason brought her over to the west side of the state for a little get away.  A get away from kids and work.  A get away for just the two of them.  How blessed we were to spend some time with Kael and Jason on their little get-away. 

I love you, Kaely.  Thanks for being an amazing sister-in-law.  (Jason, you're not so bad yourself.)

The Cabin

Growing up my family spent our summer vacations camping around the northwest.  Chad grew up spending his summers at The Cabin.  The past 15 years (Wow!  I can't believe it's been that long.), we have spent summer vacation time out at The Cabin.  The Cabin is this peaceful little get away on the Spokane River out of Post Falls, Idaho.  I've come to love the time that we get to spend there...because it is so peaceful and fun. 

The Cabin has inspired this post because we have a little tradition of spending the 4th of July at The Cabin.  Our Cabin time is usually spent doing a variety of activities...jet skiing, boating, swimming, kayaking, drinking, playing horse shoes, archery, sitting around the camp fire, playing cards/board games, reading, non-stop eating...basically continuous fun.  This 4th of July felt a little different, calmer perhaps, if that's possible.  Perhaps the fact that the water was cold and the outside temp barely peaked 60 degrees had an effect on our cabin activities this year.  Nonetheless, The Cabin is something that I didn't grow up having or spending "vacation" time there, but I'm thankful that I have this peaceful place to look forward to every summer and especially the 4th of July. 

Thanks Bob and Sonja for a peaceful place to come home to during the summer. 

Enjoy a few pics from our 4th at The Cabin this year.

Peaceful reading.

Ladder ball.

Snacking...continuously.

Playing in the sand.

Sparklers.

Ooo.  Sparklers.

Uncle Chad time.

Nervous dog.

Aunt Robin time.

4th of July parade.

Grandma time.