My man and the mountain

Click here for Mount Rainier climb info

Well, Trev just left for 4 days. He is climbing Mt. Rainier. I have a few mixed feelings about this. I'm excited for him, because he has been wanting to do this for years. He's been training and he and his friend, Joel, are ready.
I'm a little worried, but try not to think about it too much. He assures me that if there is any chance of danger, they won't continue. They are going with a group of about 20 I think, and they will be with guides that have summited over 100 times.
That is reassuring.

I do hope the weather is good for them, and that he has a great time. Hopefully this isn't the start of a trend for him, but if you know my husband at all, it very well could be.

My life is never boring because of this man. I already can't wait till he gets home.

The missing egg

Monkey C found it!

It was 45 days ago that we hid the eggs for our outside Easter egg hunt. When the kids finished up, we realized we were one short. Where was that last egg? We all searched high and low for it, and came up with NOTHING!

I assumed as we mowed, weeded and played outside we would come across it eventually, but we never did.

Yesterday, M.C. came rushing in the house with a pale, dirty egg in her hand. She was giggling with delight at her find! She found the last Easter egg!
It was half burried in sand and a tuft of grass underneath the jungle gym play thingie.

Hasta la Pasta!

HASTA LA PASTA kite tube! I hardly knew ye.

Trev took it back last night. I'll just have to concentrate on bettering my skiing, tubing and wakeboarding. Love all those anyway, although I'm still a little skittish about getting up on the wakeboard again after my last face plant. OUCH.

Ain't Nothin' Like!

Every single day I drive my kids to school.
Every single day they want this song in the CD player, and we turn it up and they sing it with gusto. Even Monkey D shouts out the chorus each time, "Aint nuffin wike!"

You may not be a country music fan. Or maybe you are, but aren't a fan of Brad Paisley. That's okay. Just thought I'd share a morning in the life of the Larson family with you.

If you can picture a carload of enthusiastic munchkins smiling and dancing to this tune, maybe it will give you an idea of how it makes me feel. I look forward to it each day!

Want to hear a bit of the song and get a taste of our morning commune? (click on song title to hear)

Ain't Nothin' Like

I like kickin' back on the sofa
Flippin' through the channels just to see what's on
I enjoy eatin' eggs over easy
Soppin' up with a biscuit 'til the yellow's gone

Chorus
Ain't nothin' like watchin' a bunch of young'ns
Run screamin' through the sprinkler in their little bare feet
And ain't nothin' like finding twenty dollars
In the pocket of the britches that you wore last week

I get into getting out on my mower
In the early mornin' hours 'fore the sun gets hot
And I like goin' down to the Kroger
When the carnival comes to the parkin' lot

2nd Chorus
Ain't nothin' like throwing a hula popper
Draggin' it across a spot a big 'un oughta be
And ain't nothin' like having him for supper
With some good hush puppies and some sweet iced tea

Bridge
This old world is full of simple pleasures
They're all good but some are better

3rd Chorus
Ain't nothin' like finding that woman
That you know you're gonna love for the rest of your life
And ain't nothin' like knowing the Lord's a comin'
Back one day to make you want to do right

Repeat 1st chorus
Repeat 2nd chorus

4-wheeling in Elmo's World

Saturday we got out on the ATV's.

The kids have their own as do Trev and I, and it's a family thing we really enjoy. Trev and I take turns passing Monkey D back and forth as we ride.
She sits on my lap with her huge pink goggles and pink flowered helmet. As we race along with many bumps in the path, and the wind flying through our hair, she is loving it. As soon as we sit on the thing, she always yells with a loud voice, "Ready? Let's GOOOOOO!"
I had a wonderful time. It's always great to be outdoors under the big blue sky, a few fluffly white clouds, warm air, and the roaring rumble of the engines. I love seeing my whole clan in front of me on their machines. The girls' long blonde hair flying behind them under their helmets. Monkeys A & B always in front leading us to new paths as we go.
This day was a little different. As we rode, M.D. continued to serenade me nonstop. It went something like this. "Wheeee-haaa!" "La la la la, Elmo's World! Elmo loves his goldfish, his crayons toooooo! That's Elmo's world!" "Yeeeeee-Haaaaa, Mama!", then the "ABC" song sung over and over, more "Whooooo-Hoooos", and back to "Elmo's World".
I was cracking up the whole time, as I realized she was enjoying herself as much as I was.

Kite Tube

Okay, yesterday was my birthday! Yay! I had a wonderful day.
Got to watch the trusses being put on the house - thrilling, got 2 dozen roses waiting at my table at Anthony's for dinner with Trev - romantic, got gifts from friends and family - so nice, and happy birthday hugs, kisses and songs from my kids - sweet!
But, I must mention the time Trev, my bro Craig and I spent on our boat. Perfect, sunny, 95 degrees, no wind - kickin!

We all tried the kite tube for the first time, and I had an absolute blast. It took us a little bit to figure it out, but once we got it going, it was amazing. I got at least 12 feet in the air and managed to stay adrift for quite a while. It was really just exhilerating. So, I'm still pumped about this, and thinking about how fun it was today. I looked into it a bit on-line though, and found that someone has already died on it, and many people seriously injured. Hmmm.

Here's a link to comments from some users...
kitetube

What do you think?
(I still had a GREAT day!)
ps - mom & dad, I'm sure I already know your comments ;)

Mom's Day

A picture of my kids in Hawaii (the 3 that are not wearing coconuts or leaves). Our 2 year old, Monkey D, stayed home with family. (see picture of her in my "Popcorn & Pilates" post).

Since Sunday was Mother's Day, I was just thinking of my 4 wonderful kids. I know I am stating the obvious when I say they are the reason I celebrate Mother's Day. I of course celebrate my own mother and my mother-in-law, 2 wonderful women beyond compare.

I felt a little shift in my attitude this Mother's Day though. I think in the past, It's been about ME. I'm a mom! I deserve flowers and chocolate!

This year, I know more what it is really about.
It's about those kids! I celebrate them, and I am blessed to be their mom. How blessed I am to be surrounded by them! They are not the lucky ones, I AM THE LUCKY ONE! What a gift for me. And same with my mom. She isn't special just because I am her daughter! Can anyone say ego? I celebrate her because I get to have her in my life!
Are you scratching your head at my profound insights yet?
Just thought I'd share.

In my opinion

Happy Monday!

I think I have discovered that there is nothing like building a house to make you realize how opinionated you are. I don't think of myself as a picky person, but I now see that I must be.
I have in my head the range hood I would like. So I look into it, and find that all hoods resembling what I want are NOT in my price range. They are a bit pricier, and I am determined to stick to our budget on things that are not "needed". I am still on the search, maybe even finding one on ebay for less. Can I picture a different type? Not really.

In this building process I find myself saying, "I know I don't want that". What do I want? "I don't know, but I don't want that." This is where Trevor rolls his eyes. And, I have to say I don't blame him that at the lighting center, he ended up kind of pushing his chair back, arms folded, with a few sighs escaping his lips. I think "resigned" would be the best description of his state of mind.

All in all though, I think we have had a lot of fun picking stuff out. The lady we work with, Susan, has even commented, "Wow! You guys are easy!" in response to our pretty much being in sync as to what tiles and other surfaces we want. So it's nice that Trev and I have similar tastes, and don't like to be wishy-washy about everything. It's only a house after all. I think what you fill it with makes it your home.
As we move from house to house, the things we find we can't live without are...
each other, friends, adequate bathroom space for a family of 6, and maybe the ice and water feature on the front of the fridge. If it came down to it, I really could take or leave the range hood.
But honestly...I think I'll take it (if I can find it).

Flower happy

I am the temporary caretaker to a sad little garden.
I'm sure it is sad partly because renters have moved in and out of here, and don't want to invest time and money on a bit of dirt that doesn't belong to them.
It also doesn't help that whoever dug out the garden beds did not take into consideration the placement of the underground sprinkler system. Therefore, half the plants do not get watered.
I admit I do not want to put much time or money into it myself because of this problem. We live pretty much in the desert. We don't see much rainfall, and I think some of the more delicate plants might not make it by the middle of summer.

After moving in here, I cleared out the 4 ft. weeds that had taken over the beds, and discovered a little mound of thrift here, a clump of lillies there. I then planted a few heartier plants to fill in the now cleared out beds, and hope they survive. I would love to do more, especially since the owners of this home will be moving back to it in the fall right after we move out. He has been serving in Iraq for the last few years, and she had twin babies right before he was shipped out. She went to live with family somewhere until he returns. SO, I want to leave this place a bit better than we found it. I can't promise much, but will do my best to nurture what is here for them.

Having said that, I took a lovely walk this morning! Don't you just love that word? It was lovely because the birds were chirping like crazy. I love that sound. I passed by homes with gardens that took my breath away. They weren't professionally landscaped, but they were full of the owners' favorite plants. My favorite kind of garden! I got to see purple clematis growing like crazy on what must have been a very mature vine.
I passed a yard with masses of iris! Smelled so good, just like the iris garden on the grounds of University of Lincoln in Nebraska. A few different yards had my favorite peony plants just full of buds on the verge of blooming. Can't wait to see those on future walks/runs. Lastly, I saw quite a few quail families. Love those. They are so cute with mom and dad leading the babies, and always making sure they are safe before crossing the street. I think I will be dreaming and scheming my future garden for the rest of the day.

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." - Claude Monet

"Flowers are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade." - Rudyard Kipling

"Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought..." - Sophie Scholl

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." - Emma Goldman

"When bright flowers bloom
Parchment crumbles, my words fade
The pen has dropped ..."
- Morpheus

New House Update

Just took a few pictures the other day of the house progress. They are starting to frame now. The house is a rambler with daylight basement. As you can see, they haven't started the upstairs part yet. These photos are of the garage and family room side, and then the back side. The other one is just a bit of the surrounding neigborhood.
We are excited!

Sib Family Photos

Had to post these pictures!
All us siblings and our families got together at mom & dad's house for a BBQ last weekend.
As you can see we had too much fun posing for pictures.
One of the best things in life - getting together with my family!
Happiness is being surrounded by these fantastic people. Mom & Dad, sister Kristi, and little brothers Mike & Craig. You guys are the best!

Indy and my kids

This was great!
My kids, Monkey A (11) and Monkey B (9), decided to watch Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark yesterday. We have an old VHS of it, and they picked it up as if finding a lost treasure themselves. "Can we watch this movie? What is this one about?" YIKES! My kids didn't have a clue about Indiana Jones!
I warned them it had some scary parts, but assured them they would like it.

The great part was, I could hear the movie playing upstairs, and the kids commenting on what was going on. Then it got to the part where the big guy shows up with his big old sword and starts swooshing it around all fancy and scary-like.
Indy pulls out his gun, kind of rolls his eyes and shoots the guy. I listen for their reaction. ..belly laughs, "HA! That was awesome! Did you see that! That was great! Rewind that! " I think they rewound it 3 times.

I guess that is what makes a movie a classic, right? I remember seeing that scene for the first time (how many years ago?) and getting the biggest kick out of it. I remember my dad laughing, maybe even with those "Anglesey laughter tears" some of us have inherited.

Anyway, it was a small but great moment.

diddly-poo

Am I still jogging?

Yup! I'm happy to say that I am, although it is not every day. I follow a fitness calender I make, and try to do some form of cardio and some other form of exercise every day. I end up jogging about 3 times a week, and do some other cardio on the other days. It is getting easier, I went 25 minutes yesterday.

Some friends of ours run for 3, yes 3...THREE hours straight at a time. Can you say ouch? I would. Makes my 25 minutes seem like diddly-poo, but oh well, I'm still proud of myself.
And no, I do NOT have a goal to run 3 hours at a time.