8th grade semi formal fun

My beautiful L. had her 8th grade semi formal dance Saturday night. She looked lovely! The da started with the 12 girls going to get their nails done, then half came to our house to begin getting ready for the 6:15 pm dinner reservation and 7:30 dance. L. wore a slate grey strapless dress that had many tucks and gathers in the bodice. The dance was held at school in the gym but it had been completely decorated. I thought it really looked nice! (how did I see it you wonder- I sneaked in at the end of dance when I was picking up 9 girls). The girls all had cute short dresses and went in a large group. There were 16 at dinner (5 boys) and then everyone danced with everyone else. It was a low pressure "date" event but high pressure wardrobe event! The girls all came back to our house to spend the night. It sounded like they stayed up all night talking but I know they had a ball!

My New Obsession-Geocaching!

Our family is planning a big trip to the Pacific NW/BC later this month and we wanted to do some geocaching while we were there. If you are not familiar, " Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online" according to geocaching.com. So I decided we needed to try it before we left so we would know how. I got an app for my droid phone (geobeagle) and it is so easy with a huge arrow that points the way and lets you know how many meters away it is. We started on Saturday around 2:30. First it was just H. and me to make sure we knew what to do before we dragged the kids all over town. H. found the first cache- which he was THRILLED about. It was so much fun, and the first was was .5 miles from the house so we went back and grabbed M. and her friend and our neighbors and we all left for an adventure. We ended up doing 3 more in about 2 hours with an ice cream stop! We had to crawl under a fence to get into a cemetery for one cache. BIG FUN! Sometimes they are tiny and some have goodies but all have you sign the log. Monday we did 3 more. Sometimes we couldn't find it so we stopped but would come back the next day and be successful. We went in late afternoon on Tuesday and Wednesday donned in rain boots for creekside mud. Today I did 4 (all while my kids were at school)!! I am hooked!

My mom turns 70!

It is not a secret because my 7 year old has told EVERYONE! We celebrated with lunch outside at a local hotel! The food was delicious! I had a grilled salmon salad with farmer's cheese and strawberries, mom had a heirloom tomato tart, dad had local grilled trout and M. had a four cheese grilled cheese. But the best was dessert- profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce! It was a wonderful celebration! The only thing missing was K., L. and H (who did join us for dessert)! May is such a busy month!

Junior/Senior Prom 2010

Last night was the PROM! We spent the whole day getting ready-literally! There were hair appointments at 8:30 am, nails at 11:00 am, light lunch with friends, pictures at 5:00 pm at one location (unfortunately rained out), pictures at a second location at 6 pm, dinner for 15 couples with appetizers beforehand at one child's home, dance at 9 pm (started at 8 but no one wants to be on time), breakfast at midnight and then bedtime at 2:30 am. I am tired just from the recounting of the day! Whew! Okay, I was not really there for a lot of these events. I participated from 6-8 only then got up at 2:30 am just to get the scoop from my oldest K. She had a great time and looked absolutely gorgeous!!!! The most beautiful girl I saw and I am not bias. I can actually remember both my junior and senior proms like they were yesterday. I went to both with H. who is now my husband, so that is kind of fun! I also feel old, where did the time go?

Last field trip . . . in first grade

The first grade classes went to a local university's farm on Friday. I went because M. LOVES for me to go and that only lasts for a few years! So I took my camera not having any idea what we would be seeing. Well, it is a research farm for both plants and animals. The kids saw the chickens first and immediately decided that they REEKED!!! Next we went to the swine research section where they are experimenting with different types of food for pigs, especially trying to find something sustainable, cheap and not corn! The piglets were super cute and the big guys were so muddy. There was another noxious odor here too, but not quite as bad. M and I talked about her grandmother's pet pig, Chubby. My mom tells the best stories about Chubby and we got a laugh thinking about her with that pig! Next the kids got to pick organic strawberries at their peak! M. loves to pick but not to eat. So she picked 3 cartons for me. They looked so good she decided to taste one this year to see if she liked them now. YEAH! She likes them! We ate one carton that was so juicy and warm from the sun. Delicious! Lunch at a park then I scooped her up and we went home early. Picked L. up on the way back so the 3 of us enjoyed a couple of hours of extra day together! Fun Friday!

My new toy!!

I bought myself a NOOK! It was for Mother's Day (another story entirely)! I have had it only a little over 1 week and I already LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I have downloaded one book and finished it. Read samples of several books, read several articles from the New Yorker, downloaded the second book in the Percy Jackson series to read with M. and downloaded my book club's newest selection. I take it everywhere! I ordered a lovely lime green faux leather cover with the Martin Tupper quote "A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever." If I go in a Barnes and Noble I can read anything on it for free and they have Free Fridays where you can download the chosen book for free. It is the best gadget I have ever had!! I am a big reader and in 3 book clubs so I think it is the perfect gift for me (from me!). Okay I realize this sounds like a commercial. Sorry, just happy with my new toy!

A run to remember

We live in a great neighborhood that has lots of parks and greenways. I walk our dogs usually twice a day and through the greenway (sometimes letting them off the leash). It is really nice with lots of flowering plants, a path that twists and turns beside a creek. Well H. and I decided to go for a run, for exercise, and take the dogs. This might work if you had one dog or two extremely well trained dogs but with ours, it became "a run to remember"! We each held one and headed out. There were multiple stops to pee, poop and smell and then the tangling of the leashes and the prickly ball obstacle course on the path. We are lucky none of us (dogs included) ended up with a twisted ankle or worse. If anyone had been watching this spectacle from behind, they would have died laughing!!! One dog would stop, the other, go full speed, then change direction as the stopped dog started catching up. If anyone had been watching this spectacle from behind, they would have gotten a good laugh! It was HILARIOUS! I don't think we will be repeating this for a long time.