It's Great to be Eight!

Seth turned eight on Monday, and we celebrated his birthday Sunday night.  He loved opening presents a little early!  Grandma and Grandpa sent him all the things he needs to join the Cub Scouts, and he is so excited!

And here he is, all dressed up for his first pack meeting!  In this ward, if the boys come wearing their shirt tucked in, with their neckerchief, hat and belt, they get a candy bar.  Seth passed his first uniform inspection.

First Field Trip

Seth's first field trip was to the Inner Space Cavern, which is a huge cave just up the road from our house.  It was discovered in 1963 when they were building I-35.  All month Seth's class has been learning about caves and "speeeelunking," so the kids had a great time seeing in person all the things they have been studying.

Seth with some of the boys from his class.

Walking down the hill to the entrance to the cave.  

Class photo op.

Soda straws.  The guide said these could be used as straws--they are hollow--but it would taste like dirt.

One of the two places they let you touch.  It's gross and greasy from all the hands.

Cave bacon.  The kids looked for this formation the whole time.

Cool stalactites and stalagmites.

Happy Seth, fully assimilated in his school t-shirt.

We did this tour as a family about three years ago, but Seth didn't remember most of it.  He also got a big bag of dirt, and got to "mine" for gems.  There was a water trough with screened "pans" to sift the dirt.  Seth found a bunch of fun little gems, including an arrowhead.  It was a great day for second graders!

Pumpkin Project

The fourth grade classes had an assignment for a book report of a picture book they liked, and they had to decorate a pumpkin to look like a character from their book.  The upstairs hall is lined with pumpkins on both sides.  Our school has eight 4th grade classes, so that's about 200 pumpkins!

Ellie chose our favorite Halloween story, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.

DIY Dresser Make Over

Before John and I got married, I worked for a nice lady at the bank who gave me some old furniture she didn't need anymore.  I got two dressers, one with a mirror, and a nightstand.  Seventeen years, two apartments, three houses, and three cities later, I finally got my first set of real bedroom furniture and gave these pieces to my kids.  But they are very 80's and a little beat up.  Inspired by a blog post on DIY On the Cheap, I decided to refinish them myself.

BEFORE:  Ugly, banged up brown.

So I pulled the drawers out, took the hardware off, and started sanding.  The fronts and the drawers were solid wood, but the tops and sides were a kind of veneer.  I thought I could stain them, like the lady in the blog, but the stain didn't work, so we decided to paint the tops black.  It helped to hide some minor damage and provided the contrast I wanted.  You can paint anything, by the way.

We sanded all the pieces and then primed them with Kilz.  It's a miracle product and makes the paint stick.

AFTER:

I also replaced all the ugly, 80's-style brass handles with new black ones to match the tops.  Hannah is so excited about her "new" furniture, and I think it's going to make her room look more comfortable.  

First Orchestra Concert

Hannah participated in her first orchestra concert at the middle school.  They did a great job, and Grandma got to be here to see her play.  Thankfully, Hannah enjoys the violin and the orchestra, and practices without too much reminding.

My Family is Amazing!

When my grandmother died last year, my family decided we needed a family reunion.  And the place, of course, had to be at the condo my grandparents owned on the Oregon Coast.  So in September, we all schlepped from all over the country to be together.  Even though some of us could only be there for less than 24 hours, it was amazing to see everyone.

I am so thankful for the legacy of family that my grandparents passed on to all of us.  I am grateful for the unconditional love I feel from and for all of my aunts and uncles and cousins.  And I am grateful for the sacrifice of time and resources that everyone was willing and able to make in order to have a reunion at all.  The older I get, I realize how truly unique and special our family is.  And full of amazing people!  As Aunt Janene said, "There's not a klinker in the bunch!"

We always have great fun together, and since we spent so much family time at this beautiful place on the edge of the earth while we were growing up, we all had great memories to share and revel in.  Meeting at the old Mo's for clam chowder and marionberry cobbler was the first time we all saw each other.

Walking back with my brother and his family was a highlight.

We also had a big bonfire and roasted hot dogs in the evening, followed of course, by s'mores and some rowdy kazoo playing.  "Smoke follows beauty" was the theme of the night.  And the great t-shirts my aunt had made were terrific.  When people were wearing them, we could easily spot them on the beach and around the condo and knew they were part of us!

We also took some cousins and went up to Depoe Bay to have fish and chips and walk the shops.  I am so glad Adam and Andrea wanted to spend time with us.  We love them so much!

One of my favorite memories at the beach was going out when the tide was low and exploring the tide pools.      So of course, we had to have beach time with the kids.  And more cousins showed up.  It wouldn't be a beach trip without seeing and touching the starfish.

In the evening, we had another perfect and non-windy evening out on the lawn overlooking the sunset and the ocean.  Dinner, a fabulous "Grandma and Grandpa Trivia Game" designed by Jessica and Christina, and then more silliness.

I truly cannot thank everyone enough for the time you spent with me and my kids.  It means the world to me.  And while I don't have pictures for some reason, I have to mention Aunt Janene and "The Little Store" that kept us all overly stocked in old-fashioned candy.  And I'm pretty sure Uncle Ken ran off with the all the licorice thingies!

What a great week!  When are we doing it again???