Moose Sighting

This past weekend we visited my Uncle and Aunt. We'd heard stories of the beautiful area where they live, how moose pass their back fence often, deer graze within view daily, the river is a walk away, the voles digging in the backyard. So we decided to see if the stories were all true (besides which, we wanted to visit). My personal hope was to see a moose. So we went.

And it lived up to all the stories. A picturesque (I love that word!) place. It was completely peaceful. The kiddos had a great time, DH and I had a great time visiting with my aunt and uncle, and we saw not one moose, but FOUR! Two cows walking through the trees, and a mama with her calf as we were taking a walk by the river.

This is our first moose sighting. By the time I got the camera out, they were deep into the trees.

It was a five hour trip to get there and five hours back (it would be shorter without kids:) but well worth the time. The kiddos had so much fun that they were exhausted and slept more than halfway back home.

This is the view from their deck. Who would ever want to leave this place?

Next time I'll be more specific and hope to see a Bull Moose...

What?!?!

Dear Readers, Friends,

My daughter has a favorite color. It's PINK. What?!?!

Love,

Me :)

P.S. I've recently come to the point of liking (and admitting that I like) purple. But my toddler daughter insists on everything being pink. Her halloween bucket - a pink pumpkin. Her shirt everyday - pink. Her hair elastics - pink. She loves her shoes because they're pink. And her boots. And the mittens that are too small for her that she found and insists on wearing - because they're pink. Where did I go wrong? What am I going to do?

Cashew Cake, drizzled with white chocolate (instead of the usual brown), is delicious!

I Won!

I recently went to a Taste of Home Cooking show with my mom and sister-in-law. It was a really good show, with a lot of great recipes demonstrated. There were a bunch of companies that set up booths to look at, trying to get you to buy their wares. And yes, I did buy something. Avon had a booth and had some really great earrings for sale at a really great price. They're larger than I usually wear, but I'm excited to try to wear them.

Well, at the end of the show a lot of local companies had donated items to for a giveaway. And I WON!!! I never win door prizes, so I was pretty ecstatic. Almost as amazing - the emcee pronounced my name CORRECTLY. Strangers never do that. First graders do. Adults don't. It was fantabulous!

A Wonderment

From the story of the Ugly Duckling:

How did the swan egg end up in the middle of a duck's nest? Especially without the Mama Duck knowing it had been added? Wouldn't she have realized that there was an extra egg in her nest? And hadn't she ever seen a baby swan before to know that it wasn't really a duckling?

Recap

I'm a huge blogging slacker! Wow! Here's a quick recap:

We went hiking to some falls that are about an hour away. They were GORGEOUS!!! WOW!!! The hike to the falls was short - less than half a mile. But there was a hike up to a lake, with a stop at the "Upper Falls". We thought we'd made it the upper falls, but we found out (from talking with some hikers on our way back down) that we were half a mile short of the upper falls. It was a good hike. We each carried a kiddo on our back and we ate our picnic on a huge rock and we hiked back down. The hike down was much shorter than the hike up. Crazy how that always happens.

We've been harvesting from our garden. We've eaten tomatoes, zucchini, purple beans (that turn green when you cook them. Kind of a disappointment...), and patty pan squash (I'd never heard of it before, and there's really not a lot of taste {similar to zucchini} but they're really cute! I will definitely plant them again).

We're selling my car :( A friend is helping us out and selling it in Utah. So if you or anyone you know is interested in buying a beautiful, blue, 2005 Volkswagen Passet TDI, let me know. We have one available...

Back to School

School is starting again. I haven't had a first day of school for 4 years. It doesn't seem like it. I feel like it was yesterday when I was setting up my classroom, and writing first-day-of-school lesson plans. As I walk down the back-to-school aisles, I get nostalgic. I really enjoyed teaching. I loved the students and I loved learning from them. Amazing lessons...

Arthur taught me that people live up to the expectations set for them. If you believe in them, they will believe in themselves.

Mary taught me that people can overcome what life throws at them.

Sam taught me that learning is important and that even when it's not fun, it's still important to learn.

Alma and Saul taught me to take the time to learn about the individual - their needs, their abilities, their likes and dislikes.

Brent taught me to accept my limits. And that I'm not accountable for the choices of other people.

Peace taught me to look for the humor in things.

Marcus taught me that kids are still kids. And even little boys sometimes need to cry. And it's okay.

I could go on and on (and I only taught for three years!). Each of my students helped me learn to be a better teacher and a better person. And now...

I have 2 little permanent "students" - or should I say "teachers". And even though I'm not setting up my classroom, or making first-day-of-school lesson plans, I'm still in the thick of teaching. I'm still learning something new every day. And I'm loving it!

*names of students have been changed

County Fair

It was a fun, busy week. Animal shows every day - horse, dog, sheep, goat, pig, beef. Extra entertainment for the last 3 days. Fun to be had for all. DH* (look! I really am getting to be a true blogger.) tried to catch the greased pig. It was incredibly large. He didn't catch it. But he had fun trying! We watched the chicken ropin'. Not really entertaining. I entered the watermelon eating contest. I came in second in the adults. Not bad. I entered a bunch of pictures. Nothing like it for help in the humility department. 7 pictures. 2 ribbons - 1 second place and 1 third place. I entered a couple pieces of jewelry. 1 blue ribbon (thanks, Elizabeth! Something good came of that crazy Super Saturday after all!) and 1 red. Some granola - another red. My daughter got blue for both of her entries (one also got Grand Champion!). Out done by a 2 year old. Chalk up some more help for humility. It was a lot of fun! Entertainment in a small town. Terrific!

*DH = Dear Husband

The True Story of the Cat and her Kittens from the Human Perspective

5:15 am - The neighbors dogs are barking. This sounds normal, but it's not. The neighbor's dogs are the best behaved dogs in the world (not an exaggeration). They never bark. One of them is growling.

7:06 am - The neighbors call to apologize for their dogs barking and to say that they were

barking at the fence in the general vicinity of the woodpile.

11:43 am - Two tough guys go outside to check behind the woodpile. Nothing. Hmmm....

The rest of the story isn't as set by time. It happens over the course of several days.

Since nothing was spotted, it's assumed that the cause of the barking has left and there's nothing to worry about. Until after the watering of the garden. The girl is walking back up the hill past the woodpile. She spys a black cat and a black kitten with a white tipped tail. The kitten is scurrying back behind the woodpile. The Mama starts to hiss. The girl excitedly runs inside and tells what she saw. Everyone brainstorms about the best way to rid the woodpile of the feral cat and her kittens. The neighbors are alerted.

The woman sprays the woodpile with water. The wood is drenched but no feline is seen.

The cat is seen at dusk, watching as three kittens romp in the grass. She sees the people watching and the kittens return to the woodpile.

The neighbors offer their live animal trap. Tuna is placed inside andthe trap isset strategically near the woodpile. The tuna is eaten but no cat is caught. The trap is too small to hold the cat. It's returned to the neighbors.

The high-powered water gun is used inthe hopes that the Mama will become uncomfortable and take her kittens elsewhere. But she returns.

The man buys a larger live animal trap and again places tuna inside.

A kitten takes the bait and the trap closes. The kitten is placed in a tall cardboard box. The trap is reset.

Within

the hour another kitten takes the bait. The Mama hisses and flares her tail as she

watches her kitten be carried away.

The final kitten is caught and placed with the others.

The trap is again placed, in the hopes that the Mama will want to join her babies. It takes a little longer, but she too, takes the bait.

The trap, with Mama inside, and the box with three kittens, are loaded onto the back of a truck. The man and the girl drive across the river. They find a secluded place and unload. First cage is placed on the ground, then the kittens are freed. Two stop to see their Mama, the third runs into the brush.

Mama is then freed and follows her kittens into the wild. They are together again, ready to find a new home.

Blogs Re-Visited

This is going to be a rambling post. So if you're looking for something of substance, this is not for you.

For those readers who have continued reading, I am going to re-visit the topic of "Blogs". My very first post was about this and almost two years later, I'm again pondering the topic.

I've become a "blogger". I used to check my emails in the morning (not that I ever got very many). Now I check my blogs.

I love to read blogs:

a) of family (brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc). I love being able to stay up-to-date with their lives. I love being able to see pictures of families as they grow up.

b) of friends. I really like staying in touch with people and blogs allow me to know what's going on with people from my past. I like to know that other mothers my age also have crazy days. I like to know that people do fun things. I like hearing about books that friends have read. I like not having to remember to email/call/write the people, because honestly, I'd forget or procrastinate.

c) of random blogs that I've found when I've been "blogging". This includes the blogs I've found when looking at friends' blogs, clicking on their friend's blog, then their friend's blog, etc. Some of these random blogs are inspirational, others humorous, and still others educational. I love the variety.

But I still wonder about the purpose. I use it to keep people up to date with my life. I think it's kind of strange when people I don't know read it. But I do that with other people's blogs. Am I strange? My kiddos each have a private blog. Their's are to let grandparents, uncles, and aunts see their pictures and hear about their lives. I consider them online scrapbooks/baby books, because I know that I won't get real scrapbooks done past their first year, and then it's only the bare basics. I do, of course, have my photo blog for my favorite pictures. It makes me feel like a professional. Maybe someday...

My big wonderment, though, is about conventions for bloggers. Can anyone explain this to me? I understand conventions for groups of workers (education, dentistry, computers, etc). But blogging? Maybe I don't understand blogging after all...

P.S. Thanks to all who voted in my recent poll! You're all my heros/heroines!