Compendium of Lost Words

Help for the...

...Lazy Curator!!!

I really miss this blog.

So, while Kelly and her sisters made dinner, I emptied the camera and curated, just for you, an exhibit of our lives from the last few weeks. 

Naomi had a birthday.

Michael raced in the pinewood derby. He came in 2nd for his age group and 3rd overall.

After all these years of taking kids on their turn for the homeschooling whale watching trip, I took my last two kids. It is hard to believe how everyone is growing up. This past week was Michael and Naomi's turn. It was a great trip. 

We saw a great blue heron looking for lunch...

...and lots of cormorants with a few pelicans mixed in...

...California sea lions lounging around...

...and from my view on the upper deck, a couple of cute kids.

Of course, what we were all most excited about was the opportunity to see some cetaceans!

The captain was able to find a bottlenose dolphin willing to surf the waves in front of the boat and we got a close up view. I learned something new on this trip. Bottlenose dolphin mothers name their offspring with a unique whistle that the dolphins then introduce themselves to other dolphins with for the rest of their lives.

We also saw more whales (all gray whales) on this trip than any other - seven in all! It was amazing :)

Here are two swimming together...

...and the tail of one diving.

The kids had some ocean science instruction on the trip back.

On to other exciting news - Naomi let her Dad pull a tooth.

Finally, some pretty pictures. I took the plunge and, in spite of my black thumb, bought some new house plants. I plan on hanging them in the window when I get around to it, but until then, they have a home on the kitchen counter. They are tillandsias, or air plants and they don't need dirt. I just soak them in a bowl of water every few days. Fun, huh?

I think they are really nifty...

...and was especially thrilled when one bloomed!

New Pets (maybe) and Other Stuff

The kids have adopted a cat...maybe. The jury (Stan and I) is still out. They are having fun anyway while we decide (wear down most likely). We'll take it to the shelter tomorrow and see if it has a chip in it. They named it Griffin Blue. Even I have to admit it is a pretty cute cat.

Speaking of adopting pets, Kelly's 5th grade teacher retired in June and Kelly was able to take one of the class pets home, a Pacman frog. It was unimaginatively named...Pacman, so Kelly renamed it...

I fully expect my sister Sara to get the literary reference.

I've been meaning to post this from last May and am finally getting around to it. Michael took a fencing class and LOVED it. Here he is getting a point.

Finally, a picture of my bff Amanda who came to visit last week with some of her kids. As always, it was a joy to see her. Isn't her grandson a cutie?

 

So, here are the little bits and pieces I have to catch up on. I also have some longer posts to write about Sara's wedding, zoo and museum trips, hiking, camping and graduations. Any requests for which I do next?

Update

Rachel and Heather turned two cake mixes into cupcakes for Mutual the other day. This is what Rachel did with the leftover batter.

Inexplicably, the "after "photo uploaded sideways.

One recent Sunday, Rachel and I were unintentionally color coordinated and decided it would be fun to have a picture. We had a hard time being serious.

For Veterans' Day, we went on an outing. Rachel let me do her hair a la Pinterest.

Everyone was happy to be out of school and together.

I pointed a squirrel out to the kids and Michael tried to keep Naomi from running up and scaring it away.

Heather took some lovely pictures.

We had a delicious lunch. I ordered two sandwiches and an order of onion rings for seven people and we still took extra food home!

Naomi showed me this picture that Rachel made her.

Lastly, we have some very sad news.

On our way to St. George for Thanksgiving, we planned on dropping Bertram Wooster at some friends' to be pet sat while we were out of town. Unfortunately, he flew away while we were all chatting in the front yard. The local shelters haven't seen him yet. We miss him and are sad and lonely.

Bye, bye Bertie :(

From the Last Few Weeks

Bertie loves these little whiffle balls. He loves them to death. He has destroyed at least five and the time from destruction to destruction is getting shorter. Last time I went to the bird farm, I asked how much a case was. They gave me a 10% discount of the per ball price.

Stan's sister Marcia and her boys came for a visit. Heather took pictures one afternoon in the front yard.

Alex

Cameron

We had craft night for FHE and Rachel made this lovely charm bracelet out of my bead stash.

I like how it coordinates with her manicure!

Über-Randomness

I am catching up for the last few weeks. I still have a huge folder of pictures from our camping family reunion, but am ignoring them for today...or maybe forever...anyway, here is what I have for you now...

Naomi "graduated" from Nursery and is in Sunbeams.

Summer received this book for Christmas and (with a little help from her redheaded sister) made little animal pillow thingamabobs for her five youngest siblings.

Stan brought me flowers :)

At the above mentioned family reunion, there were puzzles and games purchased by the grandparents. My mom promised a 750 piece jigsaw puzzle to my brother Matt, but Heather didn't know and was hoping to take it home. I made her give it up because it was already spoken for. Matt could see the longing in her eyes and was kind enough to mail it to her when they were done with it. (Thanks Matt!)

Last Monday night for FHE, we made mango lassis and started the puzzle.

This is how it looked at bedtime.

We ate around it for a few days and finally finished it Thursday, sort of. We are still missing one piece - arghhh! I am guessing it either fell on the floor and got swept up, or someone ate it in their breakfast cereal...

Finally, Gwen looks cute even when you only see her teeth and the tip of her nose!

Nebulosity

What I didn't tell you about sailing class was that, on the last day, Gwen got hit in the head with a boom! It hurt, but she wasn't really worried until she noticed the blood running down her face. They suggested that she go home, but she was a trooper and asked to stay for the rest of the class.

We have baby lizards in the backyard. I like the blue on their necks :)

Our home teacher gave Michael another computer to disassemble. He is sharing it with his sisters.

Last week, we went back to the park where the girl's took their sailing class to feed the ducks again. Everyone was looking forward to it except Summer and Rachel, but they had fun once I let them use the camera. Here are my favorite photos they took.




Finally, just for fun...

Last Week

Friday night, I went to the temple with some of the young women in the ward. It was Heather's first time doing baptisms for the dead. I love being in the temple and it was extra nice to go with the girls.

Saturday, Michael asked me at least seven times if I had anything he could take apart. Any old radios? Broken toasters? I had to tell him no every time. Amazingly, everything is currently working.

Sunday, our home teacher asked if there was anything he could do for us. I asked if he had anything that was broken to get rid of. His office had just replaced their computers, so Michael hit pay dirt. A whole computer to dig into! I think he spent a good six hours on it, and there is still more to disassemble.

Here are some of the batteries he unearthed and two of his favorite parts. Circuit boards? I have no idea.