Week #44: The Best Birthday Ever

This Week...

...I turned 36. It was great! Jason had the day off and we spent it together. We straightened up the house and then went to lunch at El Sazon. It was delicious! I had the Flautas.

Then we went shopping and erranding - that's my new word for running errands...erranding. It has a nice ring to it. I got a new birthday shirt, which is way better than a birthday suit. Hehe! We delivered some homemade applesauce to a friend. We looked for fun things like storage boxes and bins, and decorative pillows and lamp shades. We had a little break for dinner and donuts with Grandma and Grandpa Zirker. They were in town for a dentist appointment and took time to come by. We visited for a short time and then they had to go. Then more fun began. We carved pumpkins! And not only did we carve pumpkins, but we had some friends over to join in the fun. The Adamsons and Gilberts came for family night. Jason was genius to put brown paper down on the table. Cleanup was a breeze. The Gilberts brought some great patterns and tools which resulted in our kids carving a lot of their pumpkins on their own. Jason and I just helped with cutting the top and scooping out the guts. It was so nice and the kids did a really good job.

...we went to Grandma Erickson's to celebrate Warren and Quinn's birthdays. It's always great to get together with family. The kids got to break a Pinata and Emma worked on Origami.

...I went to the pumpkin patch with Lainey's class. They had a lot of fun activities for the kids to do aside from picking their pumpkins. Lainey was super excited to try everything out.

...we had a beautiful sunset. So heart warming and inspiring.

...I worked out at my mom's. So much beauty in one picture - from the petals of the rose, to the water drops beaded on each one, to the wrinkles of experience on my mother's hand. 

Just a few of the farm...

...we made friends with our electricians. Bruce and Doug with Sunbird Electric are the best! Quality work and upstanding character. And not only that, they surprised us with an amazing gift. Jason and I had gone back and forth about putting in under mount lights. It wasn't something we had originally planned, but tried several different avenues to cut the cost to try and put them in later. We weren't sure if such a large upgrade was in our budget. Bruce and Doug were great to answer our questions and help us figure out options. We discussed it one night and went back the next morning to let them know our decision. That's when they dropped the bombshell of surprise. They wanted to put the lights in for free. What?!!! I couldn't believe it. I started to cry. I told them that they can't spring that kind of stuff on me. Of course, I hugged them both and then we had to get a picture. It still blows my mind that they would do that for us.

...the wind blew through town. The Mattress Outlet sign boy was getting quite the workout holding his sign up at the corner.

...we learned that our neighbor's dog is a jumper. He would start way back out in the yard to get a running start and then push off the middle fence rail to jump up above the fence. Impressive! 

...we pulled wire at our new house. Our builder let Jason come in and pull all of the low voltage wire. The kids helped quite a bit and our friend, Spencer Dixon, came as well.

These two kiddos worked so hard. We brought all the kids down initially to sweep up and pick up garbage, but they only lasted a couple of hours. Paul and Emma stuck it out, helped pull wire, ran for tools, and whatever else was needed.

...Emma made a presentation at school. They were working on narratives and she chose to write about when we first moved to Pasco when Jason got the job with Benton County.

...the boys achieved some awards at Cub Scout Pack Meeting. They've been working hard. Ben got to share a recycling game that he made with the wolves. Paul's group talked about their composting activity.

...we went Trick-or-Treating. Jason had the day off this year. We didn't care about the rain, we were out to get candy! This is in our new neighborhood. We went across from our house to our new neighbors, Dennis and Francis. We also hit up Krispy Kremes for a free donut.

...I became the new PTO president for the 2015-2016 school year. I'm terrified really. I had a great excuse all ready to go. It didn't matter that I am now in Cub Scouts and don't have a Sunday calling. It didn't matter that Lainey was in Kindergarten which meant that ALL of my kids are in school and I have a lot of time (seemingly) during the day, every day. It didn't matter. I had a good excuse. Only, my friend Nicole King shot my excuse right out of the sky at the PTO meeting, right in front of everyone. It became obviously apparent that I could take the challenge on, and I said yes. I made sure to fill the board before the end of the meeting and away we went. The ladies I work with are great. They are willing to work together and so fun already. 

Week #43: Cooperation and Canning

This Week...

...Claire received an award for cooperation at school. If you know Claire, you know that this award fits her perfectly! Not only did I forget about the assembly, but I got her lunch time wrong when Jason and I tried to surprise her with McDonald's. So we got to see Paul and Lainey in the lunchroom and had them call Benjamin and Claire in from recess. They were excited to see us and it was fun for them to have us there during lunchtime. Jason was in uniform because he was working that day. All of the kids were waving and saying hello to him. Claire ate her cheeseburger even though she had eaten her lunch already (bottomless pit, I tell ya) and Benjamin shared my fries. We walked them to their class and talked with their teacher. Mrs. Lamb is amazing! Claire was acting so silly; she was so happy.

...I purchased a pressure canner. There, I said it. I own a pressure canner. Let me tell you, I'm excited. A little nervous that my house might blow up when I try to use it, but excited nonetheless. I was able to go out to my mom and dad's to get buckets of small potatoes. They are the perfect size for canning. My mom used to can potatoes growing up and I loved to eat them. I've always wanted to can my own, but it never worked out. This year, the field across from my parent's house was planted in potatoes. When they were digging, they would dump the bad potatoes and the ones that were too small just down from my parent's house. It made it so easy to pick through the piles and fill up my buckets. (I will not mention how I went too far off the road and got stuck. No, I will not.)

It took me a little bit of purchasing and returning to get the right canner, but price matching at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and getting advice from the WSU extension office got me on the right road. So I have been successfully canning me some potatoes. Yay! They taste just like I remembered and almost make me feel like a kid again. I have even done some for my mom and dad to put in their storage. Another plus is that my kids and Jason like them too.

...our house progresses. They roofed it this week. We're getting excited. We've been watching Fixer Upper on HGTV and now we're looking into a new paint color for the office and possibly a farmhouse sink. As we were wandering upstairs, I found a face in the studs.

...Benjamin and Claire did a fun activity at school relating our city to another larger city. It was cute to see what large city they chose.

...our friend's retaliated to our Easter egging with a skittles attack. Oh my word! I've never seen so many skittles in all of my life. They were scattered all over my house. They said they used seven pounds of skittles. They were everywhere! As I packed things up to prep for listing and showing our house in the days following their attack, I had Skittles flinging and flying everywhere. They hit me on the head and rained down all around me. I would grab something not realizing there were skittles waiting inside. Ryan and Amie and their kids had such a great time hiding them all around the house. The kids sure loved finding them!

...we found a bird's nest in one of our trees. It blew out with the wind one night. It's so fun to look at and inspect the nest making capabilities of birds.

...I found a face in the potatoes. Faces are everywhere! Once you start looking, you can never turn it off. Faces jump out at you from everywhere you look.

...Emma and Grandma Zirker had an apply pie baking marathon. We have a lot of apples still from when I went picking at the beginning of the month. Emma wanted to learn how to make apple pie and my mom was willing to help her. (Since I wasn't too thrilled about it.)

...Lainey went to the dentist! It's always so fun to see Amber at the office. I have to remember not to talk too much so that she can do her job. Haha!

...they're getting ready to pave Madison. We can't wait! It'll be so nice not to have to wind our way through the neighborhood streets. This will be a straight shot down to where we are building. 

...we went to Riverdance! We went with my mom and dad and my two sisters. It was such an amazing performance. I would definitely go again. We were sitting on the very front row! It was so crazy watching them clog across the stage. Their feet were moving so fast! The only part we didn't necessarily like was having to breathe the fog when they turned it on for effect. It was so hard to breathe through. (We made friends with the man next to my mom. Wish I could remember his name. Very nice!) 

...the leaves are changing. I  love the changing of the leaves.  Fall colors are one of my faves.

This is the view at my moms.

...we went pumpkin picking at Yoke's. Sadly, I did not get pumpkins planted this year. Jason got into the pumpkin area and so they ALL got into the pumpkin area. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to pick out what they wanted. Can't wait for Jason to get carving! Haha!

...I was part of a photo opportunity with the law enforcement wives of our area. Wives from all the different local agencies came together for a photo at Columbia Park to show our support of our husbands and the work they do here in Tri-Cities and surrounding cities. I'm pictured below with the Benton County wives that were in attendance. (me, ?, Kristen Clarke, Sandra Coughy, Bree Benitez, Karen Corten, ?, Andrea Hansen, ?)