Bubba's Single-Wide on a Stick

Sam is SUCH a meanie!! When I visited last year, I refused on principle to go to the Clinton Presidential Library. (click on title for link) On this trip, we all loaded up into the cars because he was going to show us all around Little Rock. Somehow we all arrived at the Clinton Library. Sigh.

At least it wasn’t a complete waste. They had a replica of the Oval Office and another of the Cabinet Room. That was really interesting.

I still preferred the neighborhood tours of Crepe Myrtles and the game "Guess what the neighbors are like". ;^)

The Big Bang

Mom had a few odds and ends of fire works that she let the boys shoot off, or did for them. The fun really began when Ray arrived. Then the smoke bombs came out. Ray also let the boys get creative when it came to setting off firecrackers – in cans, under rocks, even trying to shoot them with the BB gun!

The boys had a blast in Iowa. Not only did they sleep in the tent, they also got to shoot Rays old BB gun. They spent three hours on that the first day. They started out either standing or lying on the ground to shoot the target. After a while Mom and I went into the house for a while. When we came back out, Larry, Mike and the boys had lined up the lawn chairs and were passing the gun back and forth, not even bothering to get up to shoot! ;^)

Jeremy had a blast terrorizing the cows across the road. When the cows came up to eat, he crossed the road and started mooing at them. The poor things were so frightened of him that they wouldn’t go near the food. Jeremy thought this was great and tried to repeat the process every day.

Jeremy also spent a great deal of the time in Iowa trying to catch a rabbit. This is turning out to be a tradition for him. When we were home last time, he asked Mom to leave the trap up – until Easter. He was worried the Easter Bunny wouldn’t visit if he tried to catch rabbits.

Joshua enjoyed catching fireflies. He had a jar, but was not happy to discover that they generally don’t last the night in a jar.
Larry let the boys drive the riding lawn mower. They had a blast doing that!

Sleeping Under the Stars

(Photo by Jeremy)
Mom thought it would be fun to set up the tent for the boys to mess around in during the day. Then she decided to offer Jeremy $5 if he would spend the night in it. Of course Joshua had to get in on this great deal.
We sent them outside for the night knowing they would last about half an hour, tops. They actually lasted the night! (My boys are serious about earning money if there is no work involved!!)

Little Big Horn

We went on a car trip back to Iowa and then to Little Rock this summer. On the way we stopped at Little Big Horn. (Click on title for link.) We were only able to stay a short time as the park was closing, but it was really interesting.

Family Camp

We had church family camp this weekend. Mike and the boys went for the entire weekend and had a great time. I just went for the day on Saturday and had a great time at home by myself! ;^)

While at camp, Joshua got first hand experience of why he should avoid poison ivy. It was not a pretty sight. Here you see Jeremy on the giant "spider web". It has here he learned about mosquitos. They can't wait to go back next year, of course!

The Last Day of Preschool!

I survived the first year of teaching preschool. We invited the families of the children to a graduation ceremony. I made up a PowerPoint slideshow set to Watercolour Ponies and Butterfly Kisses. We were told we need to provide Klenex next year! One parent even told us she liked preschool better this year than last year. That made us feel really good as we kind of felt like we were stumbling through the year, and the teachers last year were exellent!

Joshua Earned A Stripe!!

Joshua got his first stripe for Tae Kwon Do today!

September 11: Bearing Witness to History

Flag found in the debris of the Twin Towers (CLICK ON TITLE ABOVE)

Tonight we took the boys to the Washington State History Museum. They had a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian dealing with the September 11 attacks. It was very moving. They had photos of all the crash sites, of course, but they also had objects saved from the Pentagon and the Twin Towers. Nothing larger than a phone book exists from the Pennsylvania crash site. There was also a 10-minute film about the news coverage that day. We were on the road that day traveling home from a trip, so we didn’t get to watch much of the tv coverage. It was very moving to see Peter Jennings break up.

At the end there was a place where you could write your impressions of the day on a card. They would possibly display it there, and would definitely add it to the Smithsonian’s collection. Jeremy decided he wanted to do one. He drew a picture of the towers. One tower was on fire and a plane was heading for the second. He wrote that he was watching cartoons and them someone changed the channel to the coverage. I was surprised at the detail he gave. He was only 4 years old.

Georgia on My Mind

Mike and I went to St. Simon's Island, Georgia for a seminar. We flew into Florida (so I could say I've been there) and drove up to Georgia. This picture shows Fort Frederica. The fort was built as a buffer zone between the English colonies and Spanish Florida. It is of great importance to Methodists as it was where John and Charles Wesley came to be missionaries. They were utter failures!
The picture shows part of the fort in the background. The foreground shows the walls of the storehouse that was also used as the church. (Click on the title for more info on the fort.)

What Kind of Dog Are You???

On Good Morning America this morning they did a segment on a test you could take to see which dog breed you most closely resemble. I decided to check out the website. Click on the title above, then on Game to see what kind of dog you are!

I came out to be like a Basenji.

• Some of it's traits:
  The Basenji is a small, short-haired hunting dog from Africa, also known as the African Barkless Dog, and is one of the oldest "natural" breeds known to man. Ancient Egyptian carvings of Basenjis have been found on the pyramids. (I'm old and don't talk much.)
• The Basenji is highly intelligent but independent. It can be stubborn and difficult to train, becoming bored quickly with repetitive-type training methods. (Hmmm. I seem to remember my mother and mother-in-law discussing how stubborn I am.)
• Forcing a Basenji, or hitting it to make it do something it doesn't want to do, will likely cause it to growl or even snap at you. However, treats, praise, rewards, or sweet talk will almost always get a Basenji to cooperate. (Sounds good to me!)
• The Basenji loves its human family but can be "stand-offish" with strangers. (Who, me??)
• The Basenji is a natural hunting dog, and when it sees a bird or even a scrap of paper flying down the street, it will try to run off in pursuit. It is a strong and fast dog, and its intelligence, determination and highly developed hunting instincts can sometimes cause it problems. Once it sets its sight or senses on something, it is not easily discouraged or distracted. (Ok. So I'm either scattered or have tunnel vision!!)
• The Basenji has not been long out of the jungles of Africa, and is not as domesticated as other breeds. Treat it with respect as you would a "wild" animal, but let it know where it stands in the "pecking order" of your household. (Which, of course, should be at the top!!)

Jeremy's Birthday Party

Jeremy had three friends over for his birthday party. As you can see they were all very calm and well mannered children! ;^) Actually, once we got past the pizza, cake and presents, things calmed down and a good time was had by all!

Joshua vs. The Rock

Yesterday at school Joshua was hit in the eye with a rock. A girl threw a rock at his back, but, unfortunately, he turned around and it hit him in the eye. The school called us and we took him to a doc in a box as his doctor’s office feels the need to close down between 12:00 and 2:00 every day. (How stupid can you get!) Luckily, it was just a scratched cornea. The school nurse thought it was much worse than it was.

I took him back to the doctor today, and it was completely healed. The doctor was surprised it healed so fast.

The girl who threw the rock has been suspended for school for the remainder of the week. The principal assured us (and informed the girl’s family) that if we wanted, we could hold her family responsible for any medical costs we incur. That is all well and fine, but what ever happened to a good old-fashioned sincere apology?

Joshua's Birthday Party

Joshua had eight friends over for his birthday party. It was loud! For some reason, he never wants to have a party again and would prefer just to have a couple friends spend the night! :^)

Snow!

We finally had a dusting of snow. It was gone by noon.

Should I Worry????????????

Snowman a la Calvin and Hobbs (Click on the title for a good laugh.)

The father of a friend introduced Joshua and Jeremy to Calvin and Hobbes a few years ago. It remains one of their favorite comics. Joshua made this 2-headed snowman in honor of Calvin and Hobbes.

Fort Clatsop

On the way home from Oregon, Joshua wanted to stop at Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark spent the winter before the trip back East. (Click on the title above to see the website.) For some reason Lewis and Clark didn't like it here...something about only having 6 sunny days out of the 100+ they passed in the Pacific Northwest!

Lewis and Clark Salt Works

The Lewis and Clark explorers had run out of salt, so they set up the salt works. They spent about a month boiling seawater dry to obtain enough salt for the journey home. The salt works were just a couple of blocks from our beach house.

Sunset at the Beach

We spent the week after Christmas at a beach house in Seaside, Oregon. It was great -- the weather even cooperated for the most part! The beach was great and the area rich in history. Seaside is known as the end of the Lewis and Clark trail.

Jeremy and the Big Man in the Red Suit

Looks like this will be the last annual trip to the mall for the privilege of paying through the nose for the kids to have the opportunity to give Santa their huge wish list. I have suspected for some time that Jeremy is unsure of his belief in Santa, but he finally fessed up today that he only believes at Christmas time.