Night school

For the next two weeks Kendall and Cooper are taking a hunter safety course through our state's department of fish and wildlife.

Little did I know when I accompanied them to their first class last night that Cooper would march straight up to the very center of the very front row, smack dab in front of the instructor, and motion me over to sit by him, for the next THREE HOURS STRAIGHT.

This of course ruined my plan to stealthily play on my phone in the back of the room the entire time, and I'm not going to say those three hours felt like purgatory... just that they felt CLOSE to purgatory.

The only thing that made me feel better was when Russ called as we were finally leaving at 9:00 pm to ask where the heck we were. I explained how long the class was and his reaction was: "It's that long every night? Oh my GOSH, what have we gotten ourselves into?!"

And to this I laughed because it's his turn tonight and sometimes nothing makes you feel better about a night spent in near-purgatory than sending your significant other straight into it next.

(Of course, my laughter was short-lived because I know Russ is going to absolutely love it and will probably stay an extra half hour afterwards talking about hunting even more because his love for the subject knows no bounds.)

Side note: I didn't take a picture last night so just now googled "ODFW hunter safety images" to see if there was something I could use in this post, because two days in a row with no pictures in my blog? Lame-o! Well what do I find right up near the top? A picture from their website of my brother-in-law, Tim, and nephew, Sam! Made me laugh.

Plus, now I don't even need to feel bad for swiping a pic from their site ;)    

Monday Confessional

Sometimes I sit down on the couch at night to write a blog post for the next day, and logging in to blogger leads me to catch up on several blogs I follow, which then leads me momentarily to Facebook (don't ask me how, it's all a blur now), from where I follow a link to a youtube documentary about human rights in Saudi Arabia, of all things, and the next thing I know I've watched three more incredibly interesting videos on the same subject, feel slightly more enlightened than I was an hour and a half ago, but am nowhere closer to actually writing a blog post than when I first sat down.

Is that called procrastinating?

I'm very, very good at it.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:
- When you post a picture on instagram of your friends wedding vow renewal and caption it as their "vowel renewal ceremony", which you actually typed on purpose because you miiiight have thought that's what it was called. Momentarily, of course.
- When you shake your Costco sized black pepper over the casserole you're making and the top pops off and a CUP of black pepper falls in your mixing bowl. No matter how much you scrape out, people are still going to sneeze while eating your dinner that night.
- When your husband, out planting trees along the neighbor's cattle fenceline in the pouring rain, leans his wet forehead against his metal shovel while simultaneously kneeling in a puddle, and accidentally hits the electric fence. Next thing he knows he's waking up flat on his back with bits of chipped teeth in his mouth. TRUE STORY.
- realizing that I secretly wish I could have videoed that.
- The amazingly short honeymoon period Blake had with his cast. Exactly 48 hours after getting it, Blake announced he was ready for it to be sawed off. And thus begins an agonizing month of daily reminders of how much longer he has to wait before he can bounce on the trampoline again. Le sigh.

Awesome:
- Dads who date their kids. Russ and Coop went out on a man date last week, and based on these pictures Russ sent me, I think Cooper gave the night a thumbs up.

Five Guys and Yogurt Shack after a movie... I'd give that a thumbs up too!

- Getting a raise at work totally out of the blue, yeah me!

- Brunch dates with my sisters-in-law and the fun of catching up group-style with two of my best friends.

- This guy. He makes life fun (self-electrocuting notwithstanding), and he cleans up pretty nicely!

- Only thirty or so school days left till summer break! Oh yeah, I'm TOTALLY counting down!

Easter weekend 2014

Why hello! I'm alive! It would seem I've been a blog slacker lately. It happened quite unintentionally, the result of a boring, nothing-to-report week, followed by a full, too-busy-to-report weekend.

Followed by an unplanned, return trip to the doctor yesterday for a child with a broken arm.

Can you see it?

It was a hard, emotional time. OR NOT.

Blake injured his arm playing basketball 9 days ago, but didn't show signs of an injury (no bruising or major swelling or lack of mobility). Even so, we took him in last Tuesday to get xrays just in case, even though he didn't act like it was bothering him, because remember when that happened to Cooper just over a year ago? And it was broken? And we felt like terrible parents???

After x-rays of his wrist and hand showed nothing, the doctor concluded it was a light sprain. Over the weekend though, Russ and I noticed Blake favoring his arm more and more and his hand was swelling so I took him back in because, PARENT INTUITION, and asked for an xray of his whole forearm. And sure enough, there it was.

Conclusion: don't always go by what a kid says ("it doesn't hurt!") because sometimes they have their daddy's high pain tolerance and can't be trusted.

Back to the weekend! Let's recap, shall we?

Friday night: chili feed and egg dying at Grandma Tracy's with 21 or so children.  And their egg-dying mothers. We couldn't help ourselves... the eggs just called ;)

Saturday afternoon my Mum took the kids to the pool for an Easter egg swim - a fun and creative idea!

With the help of his siblings, Cooper won himself a free swim with this haul.

Later that afternoon Russ and I attended our dear friends wedding vow renewal ceremony, which was a beautiful and meaningful event. They eloped ten years ago so this was the wedding they never had and it was simply gorgeous! 

Happy honeymooning, Beth and Andy!

Easter morning, Russ surprised Kendall and I with roses before church. I love that man.

Church. Kids choirs. Music specials. Balloons with candy. Worshipping Jesus and celebrating the resurrection of the King. Hallelujah! Part of our service was watching this adorable little video clip and darn it all if it didn't make me cry, stick figure animation and all! 

And what's a special church service without a group family shot? I LOVE MY FAMILY. (Cast of characters: my sister Kelly with her husband, Dave, and two kids, my brother Jay with his girlfriend, Christine, my parents, Nanna and and Papa Duke, and  us.

 

Egg hunt in almost 70 degree weather! We celebrated with Russ's side of the family and played outside most of the time, which was glorious. 

I have no idea. I asked the girls to gather for a shot and this is what I got. Looks violent!

We left Russ's sister's house around 5 pm to go to the egg hunt up the road at Grandma Tracy's, and were on our way home for the night around 7:30 pm when we realized the Blazer playoff game was on and we were about to pass Tim and Cara's again. So we pulled back in unannounced and ended our night with a Blazer victory and some major celebrating. 

It was the best Easter ever. 

Ten on Tuesday: farming, fishing, and a touch of awkward

1. I didn't mean to skip blogging yesterday. What happened is that I was strong-armed gave into playing Hay Day this weekend after resisting it's siren call for at least two months, and lo-and-behold I am now a bona fide farmer who cares for little else besides harvesting crops and tending animals and the likes.

In other words, I've been busy playing a game on my phone.

2. And this is the part where I eat crow for making fun of many of my friends for the past few months for their addiction to the game. I get it.

3. Let the record show, however, that I did quit Candy Crush a over a month ago (after reaching level 425), and it is now dead to me. I can only obsess over one game at a time.

4. In real world news, we had a lovely weekend. Low-key, awesome weather, friends over Friday night and then dinner out at different friends' Saturday night, cards and qwirkle, church and naps, it was pretty perfect.

^^Dave, Kelly, and Qwirkle^^

5. Well, pretty perfect until late Sunday afternoon that is, when Blake hurt his arm playing basketball. We iced it for the evening and watched it all day yesterday and even though he says it's not really bothering him, it looks funny. Funny as in, we're off to get x-rays this morning.

6. This didn't stop him from going on his first salmon fishing trip yesterday though... Russ woke him up at the ungodly hour of 4:45 am to join Russ's buddy, Brian, and his son Brooks (age 4), on their boat in the Columbia River and they were gone until 4 pm in the afternoon. They returned happy and rosy-cheeked but sadly salmon-less.

7. Here is the point where I would normally show you several great photos of said trip, if only Russell had remembered to take any. SAD DAYS :(

8. Instead I will show you a pretty Spring picture I took out my car window while driving through my sister's neighborhood yesterday. I love gardens in the spring! (Just not mine with it's sole two tulips.)

9. In an update on the boat project, Russell has received 4 offers to purchase it so far, without actually advertising it yet or even beginning any work on it. I don't know how he does it but the man is gifted.

10. And last but not least, a helpful hint from yours truly, the ever-awkward Jodalamode: if you let your daughter babysit someone else's child for the evening in your own home, please remember that someone will be coming to pick that child up late at night, and you won't want to turn all the lights in your entire house off and go to bed, especially when you currently have no front porch and therefore no accessible front door. This will avoid the mortification of a timid knock-knocking at your unlit backdoor when you have no bra on. Or pants. 

Helpful, no? You're welcome :) 

Friday photo dump

Reasons I'm so happy it's Friday:
- it's gorgeous outside!
- I'm sitting with a hot white mocha in my hands and it's delicious.
- it's not Thursday anymore, a day that was very long and tiring and was topped by the awesome event of me locking my keys, purse, and phone in my car and having to be rescued by my husband.

So yaaaay, Friday!

Beautiful tulips. Sadly, after our sheep escapades of last spring and summer, they are my ONLY two tulips that returned! 

When children melt butter in the microwave and leave it for you to find later in this hardened state. Nice.

Getting organized for grocery shopping last week...

and running into a friend to shop with once in town (yay for shopping buddies!)

Supporting our nephews' team... 

and supporting child labor! (Kendall is thankful it's a riding mower and not push. Can you imagine?!)

Free coffee from a beautiful friend at bible study...

and non-free but totally worth it shakes from Big Burger - YUM.

Also yum: VEGEMITE. 

(NOT MARMITE. VEGEMITE.)

(Apparently I'm in the minority in my preference between the two.)

Have a great weekend!

What happened on Monday

Yesterday was just a regular Monday... with the usual Halverson mishaps/adventures involved.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE.

Mishap #1
A month ago we heard about a local Royal Rangers group (think Christian Boy Scouts) that meets Monday nights, and decided to let Cooper sign up since he's not playing baseball this spring. The next week when he was supposed to go for the first time, we completely spaced it and forgot to take him. Big bummer.
The week after that, we remembered to take him but forgot to pick him up, until 5 minutes after the pick up time. Awkward.
So I put a handy alert in my phone to go off 10 minutes before the end time, (an alert that said, "go pick up Cooper!"), and last night it went off as scheduled. Which was my first clue that we'd forgot all about the meeting in the first place. AGAIN. Darn it! 

We are superstar parents.

Mishap #2
Blake, playing on my old android phone that I wiped clean and then loaded a few games onto for our road trip last month, managed to reconnect to my old AT&T account and make an in-app purchase of 4.99, without even knowing what he was doing. ("I can't read the words, Mom, so I just click-click-clicked!")

This led to a very frustrated half hour trying to disconnect from my account, block future purchases, etc. etc. which was ultimately a fruitless task and led to another half an hour on the phone with tech support. The bottom line is my old phone is now wiped clean again, and no longer holds a SIM card. The good news is that tech support credited back the charge Blake made and all I lost besides an hour of my time was the last of my supply of nerves for the day.

Adventure
Well the short story is, as of 8 pm last night, we now have a 20 ft. fishing boat sitting in our backyard.

Yep, Russ has taken on another "fix & flip" project, this one to complete from start-to-finish with Cooper (hard-worker-in-training) so they can put a concrete slab and basketball hoop in front of our shop.

I understand if this is confusing news to you because we are already in the midst of a new front porch/deck project. OH I UNDERSTAND. The thing is, Russell can not say no to an opportunity to help a friend (a friend who wants someone else sell his boat for him), while making some extra income himself, and I can not say no to a husband who lays out a solid game plan with enough enthusiasm, optimism and overall excitement to beguile the hardest soul. (Not to mention the use of phrases such as "this will be a great learning experience for our son").

So you see, I practically had no choice.

Yep, just a regular ol' Monday ;)

To whom it may concern

Dear PBS, apparently you started season 3 of Call the Midwife and failed to notify me personally. I only forgive you because, catch-up time! wooop!

and along those same lines...

Dear CW (the teeny bop channel), this is slightly embarrassing to admit, but I am highly addicted to your cute but campy show Hart of Dixie. Which I thought still aired on Monday nights and had just gone on a lengthy hiatus. Turns out checking TV Guide once in a while produces all kinds of surprises! Who knew you'd moved the show to a different night and I was almost a month behind?!  

Dear Kendall, congratulations on finding my Achilles heel to letting you stay up late: offering to play with my hair 10 minutes before you're supposed to go to bed. You know exactly what you're doing, I know exactly what you're doing, yet there we are, half an hour later and me practically purring at your feet while you french braid my hair for the tenth time in a row. Well played.

Dear husband, yesterday you drove all over the kingdom returning tables and other heavy items I borrowed for Scrap Around the Clock, and you never complained once. I like you. And your muscles.

Dear Mike and cousin Linley visiting New Zealand, I'm so excited you're finally there! I want updates, lots of updates! I need to know that Mike is immediately falling in love with every. single. thing. Also, if you choose to bring home a little chocolate to share with certain family members... it won't be taken amiss ;)

Dear forecast, finally! Some 70 degree weather around here! This calls for sandals and a dance party! Maybe a night off for the cook too... in celebration? (Always worth a shot.)

Dear in-laws, I am loving this new tradition of "first Sunday of the month" family dinners. Let's not stop! How else can we all laugh together at stupid YouTube video clips while also discussing politics, how to share pictures on dropbox, and whether the Midwest is a valid option for a romantic anniversary trip or not? (My gut says not, but what does it know? It won't even accept caffeine anymore, the wimp...)

Dear Cadbury cream eggs, WHY CAN'T I QUIT YOU?

Deck progress and a few other things

It's coming along! Russ never fails to impress me with his building skills. Of course, I'm impressed with my own panoramic shot, taken with my cell phone, so maybe I impress easily?

The workers:

Head builder: hard working. Confident and resourceful. Doesn't like to stop. A wee bit impatient with interrupters who just want to take a picture, for goodness sake. Completely offended if you ask skeptical questions when you obviously have no building knowledge at all. (It might not have helped that I then called him touchy and also perhaps suggested that his father come by for a spot inspection ;)

Assistant #1: a recruit, not a volunteer ;) Learning the ropes. Good attitude. Aims to please. Loves time with Dad but sighs with relief when he's released from duty!

Assistant #2: 100% volunteer. Gets distracted easily. Good at playing with dirt and misplacing tools. Happy to help, as long as it's not too heavy.

When the deck is done we'll put new porch posts up and cover the bottom half of them with stone of some sort... it's going to look great!

In other news, yesterday before school Cooper made me breakfast as a sweet surprise (such a lovely boy.) The real surprise was how much he thinks I must eat: he fixed me 3 eggs, a bowl of granola, a toasted english muffin with butter, AND a bagel with berry cream cheese.

Suffice it to say, it fed myself and all three kids quite nicely.

And completely unrelated and quite random: I read this blog post by Jen Hatmaker yesterday and inwardly felt great relief at someone so perfectly articulating my feelings about the subject. What subject, you may ask? Oh just gays and Christianity. You know, light fare! (I haven't read Jen's books and probably don't agree with everything she teaches but I do love her blog because I enjoy her humor so much, her adoption posts, and her thoughts on American Idol ;)

Speaking of which... time to go see who got the boot this week! (please not Alex!)