Springtime Kiddos

Warmer Springtime weather means that little ones are anxious to be outside and their eyes see all the wonder that we often dont see. They are content to sit in a field of wildflowers, and then come running with bouquets just for you. They will spend hours in the driveway with sidewalk chalk. They are filled with giggles while they wade through puddles and then leave their footprints on the porch. Little ones are often our best teachers. They find the simple joys in life, they see all of the little miracles in the changing of the seasons, they see through eyes that are always filled with wonder at everything around them. Oh, the things we can learn from a little one....

Springtime Beauty

Spring is doing its best to make itself known to us.... In the miniature daisies that grow in the wild places and show their faces to the sun, and to any little ones that pass by.

In the delicate jewels of dew and raindrops that cling to petals and leaves and give nourishment and health to everything great or small....

In the fact that our community, and our valley, are brimming to overflowing with more flowering trees and shrubs than you can ever begin to count......

In the vibrant colors and smells that fill us with a feeling of contentment and wonder......

In the churning clouds that are filled with ever changing layers, colors, shapes, and thickness....In breathtaking sunsets that set the skies ablaze...In black & white calves frolicking in a field of green....In seeing the soil turned over in great, long rows, showing off its rich, chocolate color awaiting the planting of a new season....In the miracle of rainbows that span the roadway, and appear in the splash of rear tires, and end on the sandbar of the river...In so many ways. Even today, when the storms have raged, the wind has blown, the rain has come down sideways, and the thunder has rumbled....even in the midst of this, Spring IS on its way. It is here, and it is beautiful.

Ky & Kels Bday Party

Our friend Elizabeth is totally amazing with cakes and cupcakes. My health has been pretty crummy for a long time, not letting me do things I have been able to do in the past. She has been our angel to make special cakes for the kids so they still have a homemade, fun cake just for them. Her gifts and talents in this area are just mind blowing. Her cakes are always hand done, and so detailed. And so very extra YUMMY! Her cakes are so moist, and sweet, and perfect!
What was even more fun was that when she brought the cake to the party and I saw it, it was the exact picture I had in my mind for her cake. I had never said a thing to Elizabeth about pict ideas. It was just wonderful! Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your wonderful gifts with us!

Kels was THRILLED with her Tinkbell cake. She was just all full of giggles and excitement about her party, but esp about her cake. She has been talking about it non-stop.

Ky decided that he wanted a "lightning" cake. When Colton turned 5 we did a CARS cut-out cake for him. It was shaped as a #5, and we built the racetrack on it. We were going to go for another try at that, but kept running into snags. Kaeli really wanted to do Ky's cake, so I just gave her free reign. She is so artistic in so many ways! She did the racetrack by hand and then filled in all around it. She used Gma Miller's brownie recipe, Gma Afton's frosting recipe, and a whole lot of extras. One of the extras included hand washing all of the CARS Ky wanted on his cake. I came home to this darling pict of all the CARS drying on the countertop. A fun, cute memory.

It was so much fun to just take TONS of picts of Ky's cake.

So many different angles and ways to take picts!

I cant wait to get all these scrapped for Ky so he will have them to look at all the time.

Ky was SO happy and excited about his cake. Spent several minutes pointing to all of the CARS characters and telling me about them. Kaeli did an amazing job, and we are all so proud of her for all of her hard work!

Ky & Kels Bday Party II

I think this is the first year that Kels has really known what was going on and what a birthday is. It was so fun to see her so excited about it.
She really got the hang of ripping all the paper. She knows exactly what presents are!

This book was absolutely perfect for her. She LOVES Tinkbell still, and this was a great addition to her little bedroom library.

It was fun to watch her enjoy her cake. She has been asking every day for weeks about her Tinkbell cake. She told everyone she could, even the missionaries who came for dinner, that Elizabeth was making her special Tinkbell cake for her birthday! She couldnt wait to dig in!

Ky had fun blowing out his candles, and then watching them melt and run down onto the cake. He thought that was the most hysterical thing.

Kaeli bought this hat for him months ago. She has hardly been able to stand it to wait for him to be able to open it. I think she, and all of us, were waiting to see what his reaction would be. He didnt disappoint - and had everyone in stitches of laughter. He knew what it was. The first thing out of his mouth was "I threw this in the garbage at Disneyland! Dad squashed it flat as a pancake and I threw it away!" That was MONTHS ago, and yet the memory was still just as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. I think kaeli was more than pleased that she had gotten it for him. I wish we would have had a video camera to capture all of the adults in hysterics as he continued to chatter about his hat that he had thrown away!

Christy knows Ky well. She just got it perfect by giving him lots of fun stuff with CARS stuff one it, even including a new pair of sunglasses and band-aids!

This awesome gift was from another friend. A big, oversized beach towel with CARS on it too. You can tell Ky REALLY likes it. Kels thinks hers is another blankie. It has been on her bed with her other Tinkbell blankies since we brought it home. Funny kid....

Ky thought he was big stuff that I let him have a piece of EACH cake. He made sure he had lots. Birthdays are the one day that I relax with the treats a bit. You only get to enjoy birthday cake 1x/year!

YES!!!! I COOKED LIKE MY BROTHER!

We have been cooking up a storm this last week because of all the extra guests we have had. I bought lots of fresh ingredients that didnt end up getting used. Tonight I got into a "real" cooking mood. I knew what I wanted to try, but was still unsure. My first job was to make a phone call to my brother. Anyone who has ever eaten at our house when my brother is visiting KNOWS what an amazing cook he is. He dumps and pours, and tweaks and twists, and pinches and plots, and always comes up with the most amazing meals.
I have never been that kind of cook, I have had to rely on recipes to the letter, and even then it is never anything "wow." I knew he would have great ideas and be able to help me make what I was picturing in my mind.

Kaeli took this pict of me on the phone with him. She snuck up on me and scared the beejeebees out of me when the flash went off right outside my peripheral. She thought that was hilarious.
With Sean's expert help and advice, I took this.....sauteed and oh, so good.
And this.....caramelized onions done to perfection that just melts in your mouth

And this.....shredded chicken slightly browned with garlic, parsley, and olive oil, amazing....

And made THIS! TA-DA! I wish I could fit one more pict on this post, the pict without the chkn is SO much more pretty! I wish a picture could include the tempting smells and the savoring of every bite. The fresh tomato gave it all just the right blend of flavors. I think next time I will also try to add something green - maybe broccoli bites, or diced green pepper.

I am really so very proud of myself. If for nothing else, but trying something that is completely outside of my comfort zone. A great big THANK YOU and HUGS to my brother for sharing his incredible gifts and talents with food across the miles. YOU ARE THE BEST! I would have never been able to do it without you! Will be sure to make it for you next time you come!

As I sit here and finish this, the house is filled with the aroma of handmade pizza smells - yummy yeast bread, sauce, spices....oh, so very yummy! Kaeli has inheirited her gifts with food from my brother. She cooks just like he does and she is VERY good at it. She is esp amazing with any kind of bread recipe. The house smells SOOOOO good. All in all, a very fun and productive night of food and fun!

Clear The Roads AND The Sidewalks :)

I took Ceana to the DMV earlier this week. We got there all ready to go, only to find out that the insurance card I had in the vehicle had not only expired, but it was the card from the company that had been cancelled. After lots of running around, and several phone calls to Preston and the new insurance company, we finally got a current card faxed to the DMV. Luckily we had an awesome gal that was helping us. Cean had gone to take the written test while I was trying to sort things out. I was a total mess. I was even more concerned when Ceana walked away from the computer and I overheard the gal at the desk tell her that she hadnt passed.
We were able to get everything all figured out and Ceana was allowed to take her driving test. She did really well with just a few minor mistakes. She was praised by her driving instructor and given extra help to answer and understand the questions that she had missed, and was encouraged to return the following day to try the written test again.
She was disappointed, but really did well considering all the misadventures.
I took her again the following morning and waited while she re-took the written exam. I was working on some things when I overheard the same driving instructor say "yea, yea, yea!" and I turned around to see Ceana beaming. She had passed! She finished up the paperwork, and got her pict taken (our friend calls it joining the "DMV picts are evil" club :)) Ceana was great at saying thank you to everyone in the office who had helped, and esp the driving instructor. She had gone out of her way to help ceana and to help her stay positive. Ceana is really awesome at sincerely showing her gratitude to others.

When we left, we made a spontaneous stop at McD's for breakfast since neither of us had eaten that morning.I am continuing to love my new phone, if for nothing else but to capture little moments like this. Ceana was so cute about us having a special breakfast just for the 2 of us. I hope that I will be able to find time for me to do things like this more often with each of the kids.
She was so happy and proud to have her license.
Today I had a giggling girl come to me in the kitchen, ready to go to her friend's house. She could barely get the words out without laughing..."mom, can I borrow the car?" - then she was laughing hysterically at herself and now being in that position to do what she has heard others say, or heard in the words of a song. Of course, being the mom, I am completely NOT doing ok with this. I followed her out to the driveway to capture this special moment of her being in the driver's seat, and no one else in the beast with her...it is a very momentous occasion!

ORCA SPRING CELEBRATION I

Yesterday was our ORCA Spring Celebration. They chose a new place to hold it, it was smaller, but we found out they had the biggest turnout ever! It was so fabulous for the kids to get to meet their teachers and to be with so many other students and their families.
This is Caiden with his teacher. He has been so helpful and supportive of Caiden this year. We are hoping Caiden will have him again next year.
This amazing, funny lady has been Colton's teacher for the last 2 years. She has blessed our lives in so many ways, and she has been an angel for our family, and for Colton. She has become a good friend. We are pretty sure she will be Ky's kindergarten teacher next year. Lucky us we will get to keep her for one more year!

When we first arrived, Preston & Kaeli took the kids out to play and enjoy the small reprieve of dry weather. Kaeli did an awesome job with taking picts, and I cant wait to scrapbook them for the kids' books. Sabrina helped play with the little peeps too. I thought this was a great pict Kaeli got of Sabrina and Ky playing basketball.

This is what our weather looked like about every other 15 minutes. It was either very bright and sunny, or completely torrrential. It was often raining so hard that you could hardly see anything. When the sun came out everyone ran around trying to get to all of the activities. When the rain started, everyone scrambled to find some kind of shelter at the park. The wind picked up at the end and nearly blew away 2 of the booth awnings.

ORCA SPRING CELEBRATION II

This was the boys' favorite activity booth. They got a pretty good go of it before the torrential rain started up again. They made some awesome bubbles and Kaeli did an awesome job to capture them on Preston's camera.
This is Preston with the other members of the ORCAPA group. He has been talking with them and doing conference calls for months. This was the first time that all of them were together. I took picts on 6 different cameras to make sure to document this momentous occasion. The ORCAPA booth was very successful and the group talked to ALOT of parents, teachers, and even the new principal. They also handed out a lot of information that Preston and Anne Marie (in green) had put together to make people aware of the legislative process and where ORCA stands right now, and what bills are concerns at the state level. Preston was praised by so many people. I think it was a very successful day for the group, and a lot of validation for all of Preston's extra hard work. It was awesome to be there to see how happy he was in the work that he has been doing all year.

Part of our reason for being at Spring Celebration was because Sabrina and Kaeli were there to go through 8th grade graduation ceremony. It was so different from B&M schools. Personal, fun, cozy. It was very enjoyable for all who attended. I think there were maybe 2 dozen kids in the group. It is great being part of a small school family.

The theme for Spring Celebration was "Myth Busters" - this is one of the teachers who looks exactly like one of the hosts of the real show. Everyone was taking advantage of getting his picture :)

This is a pict of the girls with one of their favorite teachers.