Week #21:Fresh Picks & A Science Project

This week...

...we enjoyed more fresh fruit from Fresh Picks. The season is under way. Mark's Fresh Picks truck can be seen pulling up to the front of our house every Thursday at 11:00. It's great! People order what they want online and then pick it up at my house. A perfect system! I made a wonderful rhubarb apple crisp that was just delicious one week, even threw in some fresh strawberries.

...Emma conducted a science experiment. She froze the same amounts of water, pop, and milk and then let them melt to see which would be the fastest. She was supposed to conduct the experiment three times and take the average. It was a lot of fun until she forgot to watch closely on the second round. The cubes melted and we didn't write down how long it took. We had to redo that one. It was a lot of fun until dad turned the timer off on the redo round. We had to redo that one too. It was a lot of fun until Dad measured out some replacement cubes (but measured differently than Emma) and the cubes took way too long to melt. We didn't have time to redo that one. So she chalked it up to variables out of her control and made do.

...we found the 3T tub of clothing for Lainey. I was so happy. I knew I had a whole tub of clothes for her in the garage, but I could not find them. That was about four months ago. I was not looking forward to the idea of buying a whole new set of clothes for her. Recently, I was looking through our books, that are still boxed up, and I found the long missed tub. Now Lainey has plenty to wear.

They were all getting in on the action - Ben was pulling things out of the tub, Lainey was trying everything on, and Claire was wondering where all of her "new - ish" clothes were. Note Lainey's beautiful lips. She has taken a liking to a tube of lip/chapstick of mine that I don't use anymore. She carries it around and applies it over and over all day long.

...we mass painted the trim for the Ranch House Renovation. It took us forever to get the paint sprayer ready, but it worked like a dream once we did. 28 pieces done in 20 minutes. We only spilled a little paint on the grass...

 Lainey trying to get her gloves on so she could be a helper.

This is Paul, Ben, and Claire's idea of what renovation days require - a lot of laying around and playing on the ipad.

Week #20: Lainey has a birthday & Lasers Update

This week...

...Lainey turned 3! She's such a happy little girl and she has such a handle on her words that it's never dull listening to her. I joked that I would invite all of my adult friends over for Lainey's birthday because she loves all of them like her own friends. I think she could hang out with them no problem.

Look at the wonderful birthday banner in the background. I won a giveaway from my dear friend Cynthia Gentry in Othello. She sent me that handmade felt banner in the background for celebrating. I love it! (Ethan (9), Emma (9), Claire (5), Lainey (3), Paul (7), Jenna (6), Allie (3), Ben (5) Some days are off days for Benjamin and picture taking - this was one of the off days.)

Lainey loves to play with Emma's American Girl Dolls. So much so that we decided she needed her own so she wasn't messing with Emma's. She was thrilled!

Grandma Erickson gave her a jean pocket purse. Lainey was not the least embarrassed to pose big for her picture.

...we swerved in to try some burgers at the newly opened Five Guys. It was so much better this time than on our trip to Arizona. This time I did get the grilled onions and mushrooms - It was delicious! I loved the peanuts too, they were tasty. 

"Order up!" It seemed as if Jason had brought a Mary Poppins to go bag back to the table. We were thrilled with each new item he pulled out.

Grandma Zirker, Ben, and Claire enjoy the peanuts before our order comes. Note the Voted Best Burger sign in the background-they've got my vote. (Or it could have been that we were extremely hungry...)


...we made our own instruments at Emma's school Build a Beat Night. This was a lot of fun. The boys went with dad to help some friends move into Kennewick and us girls went to Emma's school. We made macaroni noodle egg shakers, rice rain sticks, and drums. And they used recycled items to do it. We the sturdy paper towel rolls and large food cans from the kitchen for the rain sticks and the drums. After the instrument making, we went into the cafeteria to make our own rap song. I really got into choosing my name and making up rhymes. Emma thought I was silly, but I thought that made it more fun.
Here's our rhymes...We didn't quite get them finished.

KoolMama5 - that's my name. :)

Oh, I have five kids.

They blow their lids.

They eat snacks all day

and I have no say.

They jump on the couch...

Em-J - that's Emma's name. :)

Oh, I read good books 

and I get scary looks,

When I read all the time

and I talk in rhyme.

I could read all night,

but, oh, I'm a sight

When morning comes

and I'm all thumbs...

The chaos of maneuvering the instrument stations-You can't tell here, but it was chaos!

Lainey was building a beat by dancing on the cafeteria bench.

...we joined Paul for Frontier Days at his school. This is a big tradition at Paul's school. Every year at the end of the year, they have stations of frontier games, story telling, and activities. We made it in time for coloring time, lunch, and square dancing. After two trips back in to the school for bathroom breaks, I was ready to go.

 Paul is such a conscientious student. He knows what he's supposed to do and does it.

 Lainey knows how to be a ham. She acts like the classroom is hers.

They liked eating lunch at the school.  Well, they only ate what I could get them to stay still long enough to eat. It wasn't much. Those playground toys were just too tempting. Hot dogs and frozen fruit juice slushies.

Water Break!

...we played at Sister Norman's house. I work with Shelly Norman in the Young Womens at church and we have become friends. One night, after making some visits, Shelly took my kids over to the park and introduced them to the game Ninja. Ninja is where you make up an obstacle course and time everyone as they go through it to see who gets the fastest time. The kids loved it and they loved Sister Norman by the end of the night. Since that night, I have heard a lot about Sister Norman from the kids - Can we invite her over to play? When can we go to her house? We finally set a day and time when we could get together. It was also a Relief Society Activity night. So we had a hot dog roast and then her daughter, Kaitlin, watched my kids so we could go to our meeting together.

Sister Norman is another one of Lainey's special friends. Once Lainey learned her name, it was as if she'd always known the Sister Norman name. I thought it was cute that they were roasting dogs together.

Kaitlin was playing monster eats delicious kids on the trampoline.

:: They got to try out some flag team flags ::

The kids playing in Sister Norman's bed: She sleeps outside.

We got to hear Sister Norman play the harp and then Emma took her turn playing a little. That night Emma yelled out to me from her bed..."Hey Mom?" "Yeah," I called back. "I wish I was Sister Norman," she stated wistfully. "Why's that?" I inquired, on the verge of chuckling. "'Cause then I could sleep outside and play the harp," she stated. All I could answer was, "Yes, you could."

...Emma played the piano in the ward talent/hobby night. She was very nervous. But Jason sat next to her and she did just fine. I was so thrilled that she let us all talk her into performing. At first, she was dead set against it. Then our friend Shelly Norman made her a deal. Shelly would play a song on her harp for us if Emma would play in the talent show. Emma actually took the offer. Even though she was nervous, she did so great. We have been so surprised and pleased with Emma's progress on the piano. She started lessons with Sister Calleen Hall in our ward in January. Just January. She's already into book four. We've got the right combination of talent and teacher.

The activity was a talent/hobby night. People brought stuff for display and others shared their talents on the stage. Sister Norman made the Y quilt for her daughter that went to BYU, Brother Mathews does Bird Taxidermy and competes with his stuffed birds, Bishop Pierce (left) carves fish with a chain saw (on table at font center). We took Jason's sweet runner table and I displayed some vinyl decor. It was so neat to browse and talk with people about their talents. IT was definitely a neat way to get to know the ward members better.

...you'll get an update on my lasers. I know you really wanted to know. :) They are 10 times better than how I started off. So many people had assured me that their recovery was 100 % from one day to the next. That is exactly what I expected. But that isn't exactly what I got. It took a little longer for me. Once they cleared up on the fourth day as I related in the week #12 post, I had hope that things would get better. And they did. But a month-two months out, I was still having to use the eye drops consistently throughout the day or my eyes would go dry. So then I was wondering if that would actually go away. Thankfully I can say that the dryness has gone away. Now i just need eye drops occasionally during the day and night. It's so nice to not have glasses anymore. It was surprising how quickly I adjusted to not needing them.

On the day of my procedure, I didn't think the sedative was actually working as we waited the hour for it to kick in. Jason said I was acting silly and I didn't believe him until I saw the pictures and videos he took of me. In my own defense, Jason prompted the first one. I was loopy enough to do it. In the second one, I look like I'm relaxing at the beach not getting ready for eye surgery. You can't see that I have my feet crossed in the picture. Silly me.

Here's me during the procedure. Jason's caught my must-get-a-picture-of-everything attitude.

Week #19: Water Fun & Lucky Charms Disaster

This week...

...the kids begged to play in the water. We have been having some pretty hot days lately. Playing in the water is the obvious solution. With it being so hot, we tried to use our air conditioner. That thing blew a lot of air, but it wasn't cool air. The kids couldn't sleep it was so hot in the house. They got to camp out in the family room with the fan blasting and the windows wide open.

...we went to Muffins with Moms at Paul's school. We stopped in at his classroom and Emma got to see her good friend that she met last year in second grade. She's the daughter of Paul's first grade teacher this year. She is the best little friend any parent could hope for their child to have. I'm so grateful we've become friends with Faith and her mom Mrs. Shay Ogle.

...we walked down to the TCYSA Fields to watch our cousin play soccer. It was soooo hot that day that it really wasn't that fun. It was a chore walking with our chairs and blankets. The water was gone within the first five minutes of sitting down. Paul was sitting too close to Ben and Lainey Claire didn't ask to sit on Emma's blanket. Lainey had to go to the bathroom. I took her to the porta-poddy in the middle of the tack weeds. Ben had to go to the bathroom...and on and on. We decided to head out before the game was done. And because of all of our effort and exhaustion, we made a trip to DQ for dilly bars. It wasn't a total wash.

Alex is the one right in the middle of the field - #7

Katie and Emma trying to pass the time and cool off in the shade.

...Lainey found a convenient place to color. She loves to play on the stairs. Lately she's been going off on her own to play. After a while, I get nervous because I can't see or hear her anywhere. I call for her and she calls back. She's just tending her babies and using her play phone...on the stairs.

...Claire made me laugh with her extra long fibber nose.

...we went for a walk and played with our shadows.

Me, Lainey, Emma, Paul, Claire

...we made our first trip to the River for this year. It was so hot on Saturday that we couldn't pass up the chance. For awhile, the river was bogged down with tumbleweeds and other debris. The kids didn't seem to mind though.

...Claire had a mishap with the box of Lucky Charms cereal. I guess they're not so lucky after all. We didn't get mad about it, we took a picture. Then they gathered up all of the marshmallow pieces to eat them. 

...we celebrated my Dad's 68th birthday, backyard-hot-dog-roast style. My brother hosted the family in Mattawa for good food and a good time. The kids all enjoyed roasting their own dogs, the little ones loved the swings, the cousins enjoyed being together, and Lainey loved swiggin' on Grandpa's sodie. 

 Grandpa Zirker (68), Lainey (2), Paul (7), Trenton (9), Katie (9), Emma (9), Claire (5)

Keaton (5), Sydney (12), Benjamin (5), Jenna (6), Christian (15)

This one is my favorite. I love Cousin Allie's expression. She's the one in pink. She is the embodiment of the fun that swings are for children.

Look at that view-Great sunset, pivot running, tarped hay stacks in the distance, grassy pasture in the foreground. That's a great view.

Week 18:Temple Walk

This week...

...Emma and I joined our youth on a walk to the temple. That's just under 11 miles from our church building. Youzer! We watched the stonecutter video about the man that walked 22 miles each way to fulfill his calling to work on the temple, and didn't stop even when his leg was amputated after a cow kicked him.  
   Walking over the Blue Bridge was amazing! That's one of my bucket list items. Not a grand feat, I know, but it was fun! Emma walked the whole way with us. I thought she would give out during the second stretch, but she was determined to walk up to the temple, not ride. My feet were so sore. I could really feel them hit the pavement for the last five miles or so.

This is our pre photo :: such spirit and energy

 

Emma and I debated on whether to take a back pack or not. We determined that there were a few essential things that we needed and opted for it. We assured each other that we would take turns carrying it along our trek. This is Emma taking her turn in the first five minutes of the walk. She didn't carry it once the REST of the way. 

This is our group winding back in to find the foot path for the Blue Bridge. President Fielding, the President of the Spanish Branch, gave me a good, energetic reaction.

This is Emma with one arm in Pasco and one in Kennewick. Rock on! I've wanted to walk across the bridge for some time now. But actually crossing the bridge was a little disconcerting. Once you get out over the water, the foot path is not actually connected to the bridge and you can see water on both sides. It throws off your balance if you look down at the water; you have to look out ahead. (There's a lesson there don't you think? We have to look up at where we want to go so we can be prepared instead of just focusing right immediately in front of where we are. Helps us keep our perspective.)

 :: a shot of the Columbia River and Cable Bridge ::

Our Bishop's wife joined us for the first part of our walk. Look at them holding hands: 30+ years of marriage.

These ladies manned the refuel stations. We were very thankful for their service. That kept us going. (Sister Nieforth and Sister Norman)

:: Silly girls! These two young women, Emma and Noreen, were so great with little Grace (one of the YM leaders brought his family). Grace started talking to them at the beginning and soon she was holding their hands and hanging out with them the whole time. ::

Emma walked all 10+ miles with me. I thought my feet were sore and ready to fall off, I can only imagine how she felt. But she stayed with me (with Isabell Soriano, Livi, and Emma - Brother Tippits, Katlyn Tippetts, Emma Nieforth, Grace Barny, and Israel in the background).

Emma and Taya found some interesting chairs on which to rest.  

Two of my wonderful young women - Noreen Hale and Emma Nieforth. Can you see their excitement for the Temple walk?

Coming out of Columbia Park

Heading up Steptoe

Group Shot on Steptoe - We're getting closer!

We're almost there! It was so great to finally set our eyes on the temple when we turned onto Gage Boulevard. Several youth took off running because the end was so near.

Bishop Pierce, Royce and Aubrey Barny, Dane Riner, Emma, Me, Noreen Hale, Grace, Emma Nieforth, President Fielding with kids (in back), Isabel Soriano, Savanah Flores, Livi, Kuniko Votaw, Derik Tippits, Zach

{Always keep the Temple in your sights.}

...carpet and flooring was put in this weekend at the ranch house. We went with Abraham's Floor Covering and were very pleased. They were clean cut, very polite, very skilled, and friendly. If you need a good team for flooring, call Abraham and his team (Abraham Balderas 509.737.4613). Paul was thrilled that the men let him help them. Apparently he was sticking close to them most of the day and they didn't have a problem with that. (That's another plus for going with Abraham's service - kind and friendly with kids.)
Here's Paul helping Cousin Austin and Jason with the entry way. He was so excited to use the screw gun.

Paul sat right next to Daniel and handed him each new piece to lay down.

Lainey, in her ever friendly spirit, sat down with them to eat lunch on the front porch. Here's Lainey sitting with Abraham (right) and  Jose? (left) chatting away during lunch hour.

Jason texted me this picture while I was on the Temple Walk. It had me laughing and shaking my head. "That is so Lainey," I said to myself. It's so Lainey to buddy up to everyone and act like a long time friend. At the park, she went up to two women sitting on the ground with their baby and made friends. She started going through the baby bag and car seat. They shared snacks and she kept going back to sit with them and get more snacks. Another time on a walk, she saw some homeowners outside and yelled "Hi!" She waved and stepped off the curb to go talk with them. Because everyone knows that people outside must be wanting visitors. So we went over and met the mother, the two kids, and their dogs before we could proceed home.

...Benjamin fed the birds...ALL of the bird seed. We had about half the bag full of seed.

...I vacuumed up a sock. Grandma Zirker helped me fish it out of the bag. You'd think I would be a little better at the job than that.

...we went to the new West Pasco Branch of the Mid Columbia Library. It was busy and small, but a lot of fun.

I did not threaten Paul and Lainey to sit still or else, regardless of what it looks like from the picture. 

...Jason refinished the bath tub/showers at my mom's. They had talked about replacing the bathtub/showers, but found that it would be way too expensive for the renovation budget. Luckily, my handy husband researched a way to just refinish their existing units and make them like new. And they are too...like new. He did a great job and they look amazing. It also helps that the finish is bright white instead of cream like the old ones. Here's Jason in his gear getting ready to spray the master bath.

  

:: Alien Benjamin ::

...we went to Kindergarten Roundup for Benjamin and Claire. They will be starting school this fall and I won't know what to do with myself. I'll only have one child at home with me! Ben and Claire really enjoyed going to the school knowing that it will soon be their school. We stopped in to see the classroom and took a turn on the bus. The next morning, they both asked if they would be going to school that day. Haha! I had to remind them it won't be for another four months. Lainey was even telling people that she would be going as well. Sorry dear Lainey - that's even longer off yet. (pictures from my phone so they're a little blurry)

...I broke the mop handle mopping the floor today. I guess I had a lot of frustration to work out. 

...we had a little randomness from Paul. I found this picture on my phone.