Back to School

It's about the last week of August when John and I start singing "It's the MOST wonderful time of the year".   The kids are restless and fighting....I'm royally sick of dealing with restless, fighting children.  And then the awaited day comes when they go back to school and I'm always surprised at how sad I am to see them go and how much I miss them during the day.  Derek started high school this year.  He was less than thrilled when I stood by the door with the camera the first day of school for the ritual picture.  He was more compliant when I told him I would chase him down the street in my pj's until I got a picture.  Christian started 4th grade. He's nearing the top of the food chain for elementary school and informed me that it was really important that he have "cool" clothes this year (at the same time he broke it to me that I didn't know what "cool" was...ouch!!).   Emma started Kindergarten.   She loves her teacher, Ms. Burt and has a couple of good friends in her class.  They all hugged each other and held hands and giggled when they got their class assignment (girls!)   Megan starts another year at Homelink. We are doing a parent taught Home Economics class this year in which I am going to teach her how to sew (mom...I know you're laughing as you read this).    This should be interesting.    My little Brett started preschool.  I'm a little unsettled by this, especially since he is SO anxious to leave me.   I took him for his orientation and as all the other kids are clinging to their mothers legs he was screaming at me to leave him alone and that he didn't want to go home.  I'm guessing this means an end to my calling him "baby", too.  

SO... now I get to channel all that nurturing into our new puppy "Lucy" (the name at the moment - thanks Mindy!)  We went out to see her today.  She is 5 1/2 weeks old and is growing at an alarming rate!  Three weeks and counting until the house is destroyed!

Birthdays, puppies and braces

My little entrepreneur's

Ready for preschool?

Derek's 15th birthday and beloved new cell phone

New addition to our crazy scene....1/2 Great Dane, 1/2 St. Bernard...

What were we thinking?

Christian's new bling and our retirement funds

The pics of the week pretty much sum it up.  Derek turned 15 and got his first cell phone (he was sure that he was the LAST child over the age of 6 left without a cell phone - Christian's friends were mocking him).    The kids had a lemonade stand this week.  Christian decided that he wanted a puppy and they put up signs all over the neighborhood that they were trying to earn money for a puppy.  Puppies and kittens....the kids know how to pull in the sympathy business.   We decided to help them out and actually bought a puppy anyway....a Great Bernard (or St. Dane)....BIG is what it's going to be.  We're having a name the dog contest.  No prize, just fame and recognition plus a years supply of manure for your garden.  She is 4 1/2 wks old now...we'll bring her home in 3 weeks..I'm sure she'll weigh 70 lbs by then and be bigger than Sparky (our fat lab) by Christmas.  

School starts this week.  We'll have a high schooler, middle schooler, 2 elementary kids and a pre-schooler.  Lots of diversity.  

Risenmay Family Reunion

Last week we headed to Island Park, Idaho for the biannual Risenmay reunion.   It was the usual beautiful chaos that we all love.  Lots of food, kids, noise and laughs.   We spent a day in Yellowstone and hit the highlights.  It was quite the caravan with all of us - cousins were switching around to different cars - it was a wonder that we didn't leave someone behind.  Also a highlight was the designated "Stay Day" that involved doing nothing all day but watching movies, playing games, and eating.  The visit to Bear World was also a favorite.   This is supposed to re-create the "Old Yellowstone" with a drive through animal park where you can get up close and personal with the bears.  A little cheesey, but lots of kiddy fun!   Here are some of the kids favorites from our trip:  

Derek "pulling up to the cabin after Yellowstone day!"

Megan  "Cuddling with the baby deer at Bear World"

Christian "Rock convention and beating Matt, Chris and Derek at Halo"

Emma  "Bear World and playing with Sydney"

Brett "Ummmmm....sand (?) and Bear World

My favorite was the campfire the last night and hearing the famous "shhuuuup" story from Dad.  John added that the "togetherness of being one, big, happy family" and of course - Mom/Elaine said that her favorite was hearing of Matt's college escapades.  Grocery shopping and pee pucks to be specific!!

It was a great time!!  We can hardly wait for the next one!

Milestones

John and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage today.  Yeah!!  Every year John sends me a rose for every year of marriage.  The tradition started with the gift of a beautiful vase that we have now outgrown. 17 years...wow.  That's a lot of roses!!  We were planning on stealing away for some camping and hiking for the weekend near Wenatchee, but John threw his back out and we ended up postponing the adventure until he could walk (an important part of hiking).   

Another important event - it seems that we have found Megan a horse.  After years and years of pleading, crying and begging we have finally made the leap (excuse the pun).  So it seems that in addition the all the kids I'm hauling around - I will learn how to haul a horse around, too!!  Her name is Rosie and she is a beautiful Red roan and seems to have enough spunk to keep our spunky Megan busy.

Family Bonding

We finally took a family vacation to Sandpoint, Idaho in July.  With the help of the "stick of negativity" that John employed on kids that were less than happy (you know...."beatings will continue until morale improves") we had a marvelous time.  We rented a home that was advertised as 200 yards away from Bottle Bay...hmmm...not quite the truth.  The house itself was pretty plain - but had a most memorable characteristic....the smell!!  A combination of 100 year old mold, Marlboro smoke and tacos!!  Yum!   The first day we spent the day at Silverwood, which is an amusement park with rides, shows and a waterpark.  The kids had a fabulous time.  We arrived at opening and left as they were locking the gates at 10pm.  The rollercoasters were the highlight of the day.  Emma won the prize as the most daring 5 year old around and went on a few sizeable coasters.  She said "It felt like I was falling and it was really scary, but then I liked it!"  Well put...   The next day we parked our fannies on the beach in Sandpoint.  Sitting on a beach all day is pure luxury.  The kids played in the sand and ate ice cream.  Another highlight was when Derek and I got scolded by the lifeguard with her all powerful bullhorn for having a good old fashion shoving match on the swim dock...hee hee!!  The last day there was my favorite (the kids all claimed that Silverwood won their vote).  We rented a ski boat and tube and spent the day on Lake Pend Orielle.  The kids had a blast on the tube and swimming in the lake.  The pinacle of day was when I took the helm with John on the tube and drove a little too fast...oops...and sent John sailing across the lake.  No worries though...Derek drove the boat later with me on the tube and got revenge for his beloved father. Later that night we had a great meal on the resort on the lake and made it back to the smelly house just in time for a magnificent lightening storm to roll through which knocked out our power.   We all piled into the living room and pulled the blinds and watched the storm, with our only source of light being Derek's IPOD.   A nice memory... 

4th of July

4th of July is great!  This year we spent the 4th in Portland with Travis, Mindy and their brood.  Little Brynley was being blessed.  She is such a delicious little chunk!!  We were excited to be able to be part of the event.  On the 4th we had a great BBQ and curbside fireworks (thank you Grandpa).  Luckily we didn't start any forest fires.   The night concluded at the firepit with smores and some good old fashion Grandpa ghost stories.  

John Kayaking Trip

Every year John heads out into the wild for a kayaking adventures with friends.  This year they went to Ross Lake in the Cascade Mountains.  He came back totally relaxed.  We brought him back to his stressed state in no time  :)