Halloween 2011

Days like today I really miss Ashley. It reminds me that the time she was a little girl went by so fast and I want to turn back the clock and do it over, do it better. I love you Ashley, even though you're in Arizona you are here in our hearts.



Today's home ec and health lessons were tied in with the pumpkin carving. Rebekah now knows (as do I) that pumpkins are high in vitamins A (for your eyes), C (to fight off colds) and E (for your skin). And the seeds are a good source of protein! We are soaking the seeds to be roasted tomorrow.

On to the sketching and planning, we have a pumpkin to carve.

Pumpkin gut removal...always a little gross.

But tadaaa....so worth it, cause these are going to be yummy tomorrow!

It says "This pumpkin Loves Halloween"...well yeah, what pumpkin wouldn't?

A couple of beauties!

Meow! All dressed up and ready to go!

And a shot of the tail...Cutest little black cat in town :)

Happy Halloween 2011

Making Butter!!!!

What a fun day! I am fortunate to know someone who has a cow and I got some milk...yum! Fresh! If you can see the line Rebekah is pointing to, that's the cream line.

So we used a turkey baster to suck the cream out of the milk jug. A fun job for a 6 yr old...

Then we poured it into the mixer bowl and let it mix...for a really. long. time. I was starting to wonder.

But then it happened!!! We started seeing the fat granules! Squeeeeee!!!!

We used a slotted spoon to get most of the butter out of the milk (and saved the milk, for something, I don't know what) and squeezed and rinsed the butter in ice water.

Oh the joy of making something from scratch...she's so excited!

And it is oh so very yummy! Seriously! Tonight? Ice cream!

Today seemed like it started a lot longer than 15 hours ago!

Rebekah, after specifically being told not to, tried to give the cat a bath in the bathroom sink (quietly with the door closed). She maybe would have gotten away with it other than the fact that she shattered a drinking glass in the process. Mind you she was supposed to be fixing her hair and getting ready to do school work.

Since she's been on a roll with not listening and getting distracted at the drop of a hat, she got a writing assignment. : I will stay on task when I am told to do something, and I will NOT do things I was told not to do. 20 times!

So she was sent to her room for her writing assignment, about 45 minutes she comes out with 2 sentences done and I said, "seriously?". She said "whaaaat? I was taking a rest!!" Right. Back to her room to write until lunch time.

Lunch was eaten and we had an appointment to pick up milk at a friends house at 1:00.

On the way to our friends house we saw two hitch-hikers (carrying a case of beer...good luck with that), and Rebekah asks me why they had their thumbs up. So after I explain to her what hitch hiking is and what a bad idea it is and why, she very seriously says, "oh, I thought they were giving you a thumbs up for your really good driving skills"...LOL You know, now that I think about it, I'm just going to assume that's what people are doing from now on :)

After a short visit (and Rebekah played with my friends homeschooled kids), we stopped at a little country produce stand we'd never been to. It was cute and reasonably priced and the owner was really sweet and chatty so we hung out there for a short while discussing the history of the building, avocados and chickens. You know, the usual.

On the way home we go by the Kingdom Hall, and I say "that's Aaron's church right there", and she says, "oh, we haven't seen him for a long time". I said, "yeah, they gave up on us". She asked for an explanation so I told her that they wanted us to go to their church but they know that's not going to happen because we love our church so they don't come around much anymore. She asks why do they want us to go to their church? I said, "well they don't think we know all of the truth at our church". She says rather disgusted " No one knows all of the truth, not Aaron, not us, not anyone...only God, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit". I swear she's going to be an evangelist someday. She makes me smile though.

Back at home, Rebekah continued working on her writing assignment while I put away groceries and chopped veggies for pico de gallo and cleaned up the kitchen. Still putting things in order from the kitchen remodel.

She did finally finish right before supper, which was nachos...mmmm! Unfortunately that took up most of her day so she'll be doing make up school work tomorrow which is usually her (and MY) day off. Oh well...live and learn and better to learn these lessons now I figure!

 Today the library had a face painting class for kids called "Paint Yourself Silly".

This is Rebekah's before picture.

It was very basic, which was good because it's apparently harder than it looks and requires much concentration.

Applying detail with a q-tip...

 

 What am I ???

A pony, she says....There is a heart on one cheek and a star on the other and she wrote love across her chin. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was backwards to the rest of us because she was so darn pleased writing it while looking in the mirror. And yes...she did go to gymnastics that way. LOL

Another cell phone picture

Got another couple of snap shots from Arizona :)

 

Ashley and Colin sent me this picture from Arizona today. It's still not real to me that she's a grown up (I don't mean that in a bad way honey), it seems like she's on a trip or something. The fact that she is living several states away and starting her life long adventure just kind of blows me away.

For Mom

These two comments from my husband today...

"Whoa, your inner Martha is really starting to come out, dear"

And later

Me: Well no use crying over spilled milk, right?

Grant: Unless you have to drink it after it's been wiped up, then you might cry over it.


LOL :)

The way home...day three

 This picture was taken the morning we left Bozeman. This is the lobby of the Hotel and we texted this picture to Grandpa Rory because he loves buffalo ( and Rebekah :)).


Our first stop of the day is just about half an hour outside of Bozeman. I've always wanted to stop here because it just looks so darn cute.

 Inside it smelled of heavenly carbs and the farm cuteness factor was a 10! See the tractor seat lunch counter stools?

Back on the road we did a search for the next available Redbox, and came up with Anaconda, Mt. Well Anaconda is a little off the freeway and the rest stop we went to just before that turn off showed a scenic lake if we kept going. Turns out there was a loop we could take (I think it was called Pintler Scenic Loop) and it was about 40 miles but put us back on the freeway in under an hour. It was gorgeous! 

It was a very long day of driving. I always love to see the wind farm come in to view once we're approaching the hills before the Cascades.

Rebekah crashed shortly after we ate in Moses Lake and wasn't awake for much more of the 5 or 6 hours we had left to go. Long day but good to get back home and sleep in our own beds!
 

The way home...day two

Before we ever got to Bozeman, we had promised Rebekah a trip to a Target store on the way home. She had some money that she wanted to spend on My Little Pony products and since we don't live by a Target, that would be a special treat for her.

 Because God loves Rebekah so much He placed a Target directly across the street from the hotel we had made our reservation at.And because He loves me he placed a Costco right next to the Target...lol

Decisions decisions. You can see in the picture above there was quite the debate about which Pony's to purchase. She did quite well and enjoyed the shopping immensely.

After shopping, Daddy needed a nap (still fighting off a cold we picked up in Minnesota), so Rebekah and I went down to the pool. We had forgotten to pack a life jacket and apparently stores in Montana only sell floatation devices in the summer (even the sporting goods stores). So Rebekah practiced floating which she had never been able to do before....and TA DA!!!! She did it! Ok, this picture doesn't really look like it, but trust me, she did :)

During our stay in Bozeman we asked the front desk clerk for a scenic drive route. She sent us up to the Hyalite Reservoir. It was really a beautiful drive and just what we were looking for!

Grant wanted to drive up some of the more primitive mountain roads. This is about as far as I was comfortable going and we got out to switch drivers because I did not want to drive down the road I just drove up. It was really pretty though!
 

After that we had dinner at Fudruckers, and a little browsing at Barnes and Noble. Just a side note. When your 6 yr old is learning to say Fudruckers, that whole "udr" part is REALLY important! Just sayin'. :)

The way home...day one

 We had a really good visit in Minnesota, but all good things come to an end. Since we drove really hard on the way there to make it in only 2 days, we rewarded ourselves with a slower trip home.


The above picture is Rebekah reading the letter Grandma gave her to open in North Dakota. It gave her something to look forward to because goodbye is always hard for her.

I've always wanted to stop at this North Dakota landmark. So we drove the short distance up the hill to see Salem Sue. She was BIG!

And the view from the top was quite pretty as well...
 

Say cheese!

 

On to Montana. Oddly enough, we hit some pretty hot weather for October in Montana! We were glad for a nicely functioning AC unit. Not sure if you can actually see the temp on that picture, but it says 93 degrees.
 

Sundown in Montana...because yes, it does take an entire day to drive through that state!
 

We pulled into Bozeman late, just enough time to eat some instant oatmeal, say our prayers, and fall asleep!
 

The next day, Rebekah left this note for housekeeping. I hope it brought a smile to their face :)
 

waking up in Bozeman was just beautiful and the hotel was so lovely we decided to stay another night. The adventure continues...