June was Wonky

It's crazy that we're already starting July. June just disappeared before our eyes. It makes me kind of nervous. In some ways we're ready for our new little one (I'm already ready to be done being pregnant, and it's only going to get worse-so to speak), but in other ways I'm not. I don't know if I've ever felt prepared for them coming. Somehow it all works out though.

 After recovering from the Noro Virus it's taken me a month to regain the weight I lost in that two day time period. If only it could normally be so, but probably not the best thing during pregnancy. On our first walk after being sick I discovered these poppies in the yard of one of the shacks on our street. I got nearly two weeks worth   before they were all gone. I'm assuming these, along with lupine and other flowers that popped up this year, were from all the late rain we got. Currently we've had thunderstorms come in in the late afternoon and evening which is nice in that it helps cool off the warm weather. It's been in the low 90's/high 80's- which is ten degrees cooler than Reno and the surrounding areas. Yay for the mountains!

 Pherson is getting to be such a big boy. He's up and potty trained himself- even dry during naps and most nights (though we do diapers at night still just in case). He always wants to run with the big kids and for the most part, to my surprise, can keep up. It's quite remarkable to watch him on a playground. He'll repeat something that's new for him several times until he has it in his body and can do it easily. He's a much more physical little fellow and uses as few words as possible to communicate. Yet, in some ways, his communication is remarkable in that at only 2.5 he will use his words to say "I angry. Cash made me sad." It's probably just a personal mom thing, but I'm so proud of him for being able to do that.

 Ah, Cash. He's definitely going through growing pains. Still my sweetheart and helper, he's branching out and acquiring more freedoms with his bike, the summer time schedule and really feeling like a big boy. He LOVES to swing dance and we have been blessed with a group of homeschoolers that have been attending our jitterbug night which makes him feel even more included. We are struggling with his temper (which I admit whole heartedly he got from me) and how that affects our home and his friendships. I'm not overly concerned for our home life because he often balances things our with his sweetness and devotion to us, but in friend situations it's trickier because due to the amount of time spent together they don't get as many sweet moments to balance it out. Plus, we're dealing with a lot of other dynamics- age differences, number of kids playing, etc. Overall he does well, but when people leave him our or get mad at him and it provokes his anger things go downhill fast.

 We did the rennaisance faire again this year. We got another good deal on groupon and then if the kids wanted something extra they had to pay for it themselves out of their piggy bank. Luckily Cash had just finished his money unit so he knew how much  each of the kids had. They decided to all pitch in for a ride on the giant rocking horse. Tuppy loved it, Pherse wasn't sure what to think and Cash was terrified. The sweet fellow in charge of the horse was so good, gentle and patient with them, keeping Cash engaged in conversation while he rocked them slowly.

 Their favorite area was the free games- ring toss, some board games and catapults.

 We watched the jousting tournament at the end of the day. Tupp really wanted to be the princess they fought for, but we were in the back of the crowd. She got to meet the knight afterward and he made her feel quite the princess.

 One of our many and exciting blessings this summer is a free pass to ride the short line train as much as we would like. I don't want to abuse the generosity, so we have ridden the diesel once and the steamie once so far this month. Pherson would ride the train every day if you let him. As it is they scramble to see the train whenever they hear it pulling in or out.

 Dancing to the Killers and eating papa murphey's pizza. This typafies the perfect night for me. I'm so tired of cooking (mostly too tired to do anything come four o'clock) it's nice when daddy can take care of it for the evening. I take them when I can get them since many nights Clay is doing volleyball or basketball or church meetings. I encourage it since he has a desk job now.

 We haven't started our time unit, but I'm all ready for it with my homemade "Judy clock,' Not sure why they are called that....

 During the second week in June,  a week after recovering from the flu, I was asked to do a Scottish performance that turned into an assembly at one of the local elementary schools. My three helpers came with me and showed off their kilts, tartans and Cash even did a few Cape Breton shuffles. It went really well!

 Afterward, because they were so good to sit quietly during the assembly, we went to a park in  Reno and met some other homeschoolers. It was great fun until the thunderstorms came in. But those are fun too.

 Our garden is puttering along. I have a lot of stuff going to seed. Luckily it's stuff that, for the most part, I dont' care about. I have two squash like plants, three elderberry trees, three peach trees (only one that I grew on my own- thanks for the other two dad!), lettuce, potatoes, a few measly carrots, seven strawberries and something that I have no clue what it is. I'm just not very good at this container gardening thing and it requires so much more  work than when we lived in California. Wah, wah, wah.

 this is how we kept cool before we got an awesome deal on the local pool pass.

 My reverse tie dye shirt that I had to have for our Young Women's High adventure identifier. I originally had another shirt and tried a different pattern, but after four failed attempts I discovered that there really are some shirts out there that are immune to the effects of bleach. Who knew?

 Our jitterbug nights, while not exactly defined as successful, are at least improving. They fluctuate greatly, and for the last couple of months have been rather pitiful, but thankfully they picked up starting in May and have been pretty good in June. In large part due to our new homeschooling contingent but also a surge in others coming back. It would be nice if July keeps it up, but the reality is come August we'll probably be taking a break, maybe even possibly moving venues. We'll be almost starting from scratch again. Ah well. We've done it before, we can do it again. At least this time we have some contacts that we've gathered over the last year.

 The Carson Gun club put on a family event and the kids had a blast. Tupp and Cash got to shoot some BB guns and then Tuppy won a two person inflatable boat in a raffle contest. Cash was trying for a compound bow, but it was pretty popular so someone else got it.

 She needed two hands to shoot this one! She looks so teeny.

 We've lived here over a year and I have never been inside this church. It sits catty corner to the Catholic church. I've noticed that during the week someone had been there doing some sort of renovation work. Imagine my delight when we discovered it open on a Saturday! The simple pleasures.

 Speaking of  simple pleasures, Clay set up the projector downstairs with surround sound so we can watch movies like we're at the movies. Our maiden voyage was Star Wars, but I also watched Maleficent on it. Loved that movie!

 We, meaning the kids and I, went to California for a week in June. Our YW high adventure was from Wednesday to Saturday and I wasn't allowed to bring the kids. Clay couldn't watch them because he'd just started his new job so Oma and Honey were good sports to take the bulk of the childcare. I came a couple days before so I could see friends, etc. since we wouldn't be back until the holidays due       to the baby. I had a fantastic visit with all my girlfriends, the kids got to see Gigi for a couple of hours and I got some prep stuff done for the YW trip.

 Our first day we got the group settled and then went to the beach to pick up garbage. Not the awesome service project I'd had in mind, but no one had anything that would fit 8 people for 2 hours. The next day we traveled to San Francisco and spent the morning at the zoo, the afternoon at pier 39 and then home for our fireside.

 Our last full day we hit Armstrong Redwoods, the beach (again) and we  were going to go to the Oakland temple but there was a freak accident in Santa Rosa (a truck fell off an overpass onto the freeway) that put us so far behind schedule that we would have been in  rush hour traffic the whole way and who knows when we would have gotten there. That was the only bummer part of the trip. Instead we headed back to Windsor for dinner and fireside and games.

 By the time we made it home my car was making some more new noises, of which I can't imagine how much they will cost to fix. I did get an oil change and was notified that I need all new tires and an alignment at the very least. So that's now two cars that need tires, my transmission and the volvo needs a whole new motor. Our poor cars just keep limping along.

 Our steamie ride. They've been running the steamers all week due to the 4th this weekend. Pherson is in heaven.

 I really need to crochet and knit more regularly. I forget how in between projects. Which was probably a good thing since I discovered I've been doing knitting and purling all wrong. I made it through this bonnet and discovered it was too small so now Tupp is using it for her baby doll (which she's been sleeping with). Just started a second bonnet, different pattern, and am relearning how to do it correctly this time around.

 The pool at the Silverland. I love it because it's indoors so we don't have to sunscreen up, it has a hot tub and it's not used nearly as much as the outdoor public pool. Clay knows the owner and was able to get us a 50% discount on a monthly pass. So far we've used it four times within the past week. Getting our monies worth baby! And it turns out Tupp is a fish- she loves going under the water. Cash is in need of much practice in preparation for his baptism but we're already seeing improvement. Pherse loves to just sit in the shallows and then go for rides with me. The hardest part is keeping him from running around the pool. When you call him to walk he switches to a scamper tip toe trot. Silly goose.

 In an effort to get more lindyhoppers out and because one of my favorite bands from Sonoma County was on tour and playing in Reno, we had a Lindybomb on Monday. After dinner we took the kids with us over to this place called the Pignic Pub. It's a weird but cool idea. You can bring your own BBQ stuff or buy it there and then they have BBQ's you can use. They ask that you spend money at the bar but in our case, since we weren't eating, just pay $5 to the band. We had a decent turn out for a small venue and the kids had so much fun dancing too. Cash said it was one of the best days ever and Tupp was so happy people danced with her she said she wanted to live there. She also wants to live at the Silverland she likes swimming so much. ;)

 As an aside, someone has been cleaning up the shack across the street from us. They've cleaned out the inside but (most importantly to us) also the outside. Gone with the old stove and random junk lying around. Turns out they're trying to sell it. And get this- for $60,000! I think it includes a double lot, but you essentially get a shack and a pit for that. Good luck on that venture is all I got to say. At least it looks a little better in the meantime.

 I've been picking up books I remember from my childhood at the library to read with the kids. One is the series by Beverly Cleary. We started with Ribsy and just finished Beezus and Ramona. Anyhoo, in Ribsy the little boy Henry pulls his loose teeth by tying them to his dog and sending him running. Cash thought this rather clever and so with his second loose tooth he decide to tie it to an arrow. Low and behold, it worked! I"m so proud of his bravery. Unfortunately once it was pulled it fell out of the string and due to the wildness of our yard there is really no possiblility of finding it. Cool nonetheless.

That's pretty much it. The kids are all jazzed about the fourht of July. We'll be in the Virginia City parade and then have a BBQ with friends and then everyone will be here to watch the Virginia City Fireworks. We did two decorative projects yesterday. I have a garland I need to retie from last year but I'm debating on whether to do it since we keep having rain and thunderstorms and they're projected throughout the coming week. Clay has the day off tomorrow which will be nice. And now I'm rambling.
love you all and have a great holiday weekend.