Sunday, August 10, 2008

Big Week (Make that Two)

Ok, I found this post from August sitting in the to be published box. Can I remember ANYTHING else about this post?? No! But, I started it, there's a couple of pics, so enjoy...



I started this post LAST Sunday and now I'm just hoping I can remember all the BIG events from the past two weeks...
Hannah and Shad collaborated on a sculpture to enter in an art contest for the summer reading program at the library (Jackson County, of course, as we still don't have one!). You can see them hard at work below. They worked together on the flower and Hannah made the ladybug and worm all by herself. Shad made the caterpillar for Sarah. I delivered the flower, ladybug, and worm to the library and Hannah won one of the prizes- a gift certificate to a local bookstore- she was really proud and tickled!







Sunday, August 3, 2008

And so it goes...

Summer, that is. August. Really? Where did that come from? It is almost unfathomable to me that six weeks have passed since last I blogged. Ah well... we've been going so fast that the calendar for July is literally empty- there wasn't even a chance to write anything down! And calendar #2, the one I maintained on the fridge for scrapbooking purposes- is still on April (at least it is another "A" month now, right??).

Late June found us in Bend for Shad's Summer Regional Meeting at Seventh Mountain Resort. It was fun for the girls and I to meet some new people and see some that we've missed for the past year. Here's a timed family pic from the award banquet evening:
We drove down to Ashland for their annual Fourth of July Parade and festivities- live music, food booths, etc and were home and the girls were in bed before dark- no fireworks this year (neither the good ooohh-and-ahhh in the sky kind nor the not-so-good screaming fits of rage kind- it was a nice balance!).
Shad and some of the other EJ offices in town hosted an ice cream social on June 12- there was a live band, clowns, face painting, gallon upon gallon of ice cream (and maraschino cherries). Shad's first jobs at She She's and Freddy's Ice Cream Shop came in handy as he gave the other Financial Advisors a quick lesson in scooping ice cream. Grammie, Oma and Opa were all there as well as Sam, Hannah's bff from preschool and her brother and dad.

DFD sent me to Seattle for three days in mid July for some DonorPerfect training. The training was great and it was a wonderful opportunity to expand my knowledge of this area of our office. Traveling without the girls was liberating in a my-load-is-lighter kind of way. I took the stairs instead of the elevator, ate when I was hungry, read two books. I apparently have also matured to the point that traveling by airplane just isn't really very exciting- definitely better than cars for long trips, but the novelty has worn off for sure.

When I returned home the girls and I packed up for a weekend in Corvallis enjoying Da Vinci Days in Corvallis with our wonderful friends, Amy, Ryan, Aidan, Lauren, Bethie, and Ryan's family. The weekend was full of live music, arts, crafts, science, frisbee dogs, solar powered car racing, kinetic sculptures, etc but the highlight for sure was spending time with friends and eating Indian food (in that order). Hannah and Aidan seem to have matured so much now that they are 5 (har!) and can enjoy each other's company and we see Sarah and Lauren entering some of those tough two-year-old times (will we have to wait three years for them to interact in a more socially acceptable/enjoyable way??).

This past week we had some family photos taken and on Thursday we hosted a tie-dye party for some of our dear friends- eight children between the ages of 2 and 7, five mamas, a hot day, all kinds of white clothing. It was definitely an event! In the days leading up to it I knew that I would be lacking some key organizational and preparation points (I worked three days that week!) and I decided that it was more important to have the party and have fun than to be the ultimate hostess-with-the-mostess. This is a huge step for me. Luckily, I am surrounded by four amazingly capable women and together we pulled the whole thing off. And, being as there were four scrapbookers there, it says a lot that we don't have a single picture of the process! :)
And now we're in the less-than-a-month til school starts countdown- gasp! We've got the fair, an art class or two for the kiddos, library days, a visit from the Mayfields, and as much Katie time as we can cram in to look forward to.

I'll leave you with a few pics!


I think Katie is pretty enterprising- she's got the girls thinking that washing her car is a great way to spend a summer day. For what it is worth, she is WAY more diligent than I when it comes to sunscreen- which is good given the pale skin we've got around here!

This picture melts my heart. The girls have been spending some quality time playing together. I love it when they pretend Hannah is the baby and Sarah is the mommy. It's a hoot, actually. (Sarah's new word- as in "I'm Pocahontas, actually.")

Cutest little bag lady out there! Don't y'all wish you could pick some of this lovin up at the store??