Wahoo!

It's official: I'm an Eastern Eagle!

I called the office of admissions today to find out if I'd been accepted or not and they said that as of today I was officially a student. So congratulations to me!

Now I'm just anxiously awaiting the Communication Disorders department's decision about whether they'll allow me to start on MONDAY (yikes! - this program runs on semesters instead of quarters like the rest of the school) and take the pre-req's concurrently or if I need to do the pre-req's and start the program next fall. There's only 2 pre-reqs that I need, but the program only accepts new students fall quarters, which would mean a year of classes that I don't really need. I'm not holding my breath, but I am crossing my fingers. If you have a second, send up a silent prayer that they'll let me in and hopefully shave that extra year off of my education!

School is Cool. Or kinda hot if you start mid-August...

It's mid-August and you know what that means: BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!!!!

What? Your kids don't go back until after Labor Day? You poor things. Uh, I mean, how lucky for you to spend two MORE weeks with your kids.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY KIDS. But they are bored, bored, bored being home all day with me. And I am apparently the kind of mother that is too lazy, lazy, lazy and poor, poor, poor to take them to do fun stuff all day long everyday. It's not that we haven't done fun stuff this summer, because we totally have. Why, just last week they spent an entire day at Silverwood with Daddy and they had a blast. But let's be realistic for just a moment. No way on Earth would Aile put up with going, going, going everyday. I'm lucky she puts up with it when we DO do something.

And so I (and Caden), rejoice in the happy routine that is going back to school. Today is Caden's first day of 2nd grade. He is lucky enough to go to a small enough school that there is only one class per grade. This means that he already knows most all the kids that will be in his class. Also, this year he has the same teacher from 1st grade because that's one of the things that this school does is cycle the teachers for 1st and 2nd grade. (Next year Mrs. Grant will go back to 1st grade and this year's 1st grade teacher will cycle up with her class to 2nd grade. Get it?)

In light of all the other major changes happening in our lives right now we are extreeeeemely grateful that Caden's school allows parents to 'choice' in from other districts. Hooray for some continuity in his little life!

Oh, wait

Turns out commenting is only a great way for me to get in touch with you if I already have your email address. If I don't it becomes very difficult to tell you what's going on. SO.

Either leave me a comment with your email address in it (yeah, right). OR you can email me at actuallybrunette at gmail dot com and THEN I can get back to you. (Betsie, this means you)


That is all. Resume comments.

Aaaaand, I'm back

I have to start blogging again. Not because I have anything spectacular to write about. No. Quite simply I miss getting email from random people I may or may not know. Gigi, whoever you are, you made my day. Thanks for leaving a comment!

I'm going through some major life changes right now and my biggest problem is sharing what's going on without having to SHARE what's going on. So here's what I think I'll do: If you know me and don't know what's up, you should get in contact with me. Hey! Commenting is a GREAT way to do that. On the other hand, if you don't know me then it's not going to matter whether or not you know the whole backstory to keep up with the current story. Capice?

Yeah, I'm not sure I followed that last bit either. But you could still leave me a comment anyway. ;)

Happy Independence Day!

It was a gorgeous 4th of July! We went to the wading pool in Millwood, played at the park, had lunch and naps and then a great BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids colored flags, we made a 'jello poke' cake and decorated it with blueberries and strawberries to make it a 'flag cake', and had our mini fireworks display out in the driveway.

We all had matching flag t-shirts ($3 at Walmart), and so we took some cute pictures of the kids (with our camera, so you won't be seeing them here yet), and then a couple of cute family pics as well. The kids did sparklers and pop-its, had baths and were in bed just in time for Mommy and Daddy (that's us) to take off to watch the big display downtown.

Uh, in Spokane it is actually illegal to set off fireworks, so our little display only included things that we figured didn't count because they didn't shoot up into the air. Let me tell you, im-press-ive. Yeah.

But the downtown display was awesome. We found a large patch of empty grass on the Riverpoint Campus of EWU downtown and had it all to ourselves. Then we jogged back to the car and beat the rush getting out of Dodge. BONUS! It was a great night.

Hope all y'all had a safe and happy 4th too!

Some of what we've been doing so far this summer...

Playing peek-a-boo.

Riding in the Big Red Car.

Playing with tops Grandma and Grandpa bought in Greece.Playing the accordian.

Bouncing on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath.
Learning to ride bikes.Just being cute.

Eating chocolate doughnuts. Mmmm, doughnuts.

We also went to HoopFest - the world's biggest 3 on 3 basketball tournament that's held right here in Spokane. While we were downtown we rode the carousel and went on the big red wagon slide. We even took pictures, but of course they're on our camera and we don't have a way to put them on my parents computer. You can obviously infer that these pictures were taken with my parents camera.

You're so smart.

The last thing to mention is that CADEN IS NOW OUT OF SCHOOL. We had his endoftheyear picnic at the sprinkler park in Liberty Lake. It's a lot of food, people, and fun. I'm so glad that school's out!

Oh, so's Caden.

Caden Rides Again

We loved our duplex. We were back off the road and had a nice big yard, and even though it wasn't completely fenced in it was back off the street and so I felt comfortable sending the boys out to play together. Of course I checked on them a lot when I couldn't be out with them, but still. The only thing that was a drawback about the situation is that while we had a concrete pad on which to park right in front of the garage, the whole rest of the driveway was gravel. This was not the most conducive to learning to ride a bike. But Caden did learn. Just with training wheels. And even when he outgrew the little bike and graduated to a bigger one he still had training wheels.

Since staying at my parents house we are now surrounded by nice, wide, fairlytrafficfree streets and so Caden has been putting in time riding around the block. He goes by himself and checks in each time he gets back around. I'd been noticing how little he is actually using the training wheels and so Friday evening we practiced how to start on a bike without sitting on it first. After a few times he had it down, so I coaxed him into taking off just one of the training wheels. After one time around the block he was ready and we took off the other one.

And he did it! He didn't fall once! He was soooo incredibly proud of himself, you should have seen him hugging everyone and jumping up and down. We got a picture of him, but of course it's not uploaded yet. I am so excited for him - it's the thing that everyone says you never forget, and now he's done it. We've been outside a lot since then getting more and more practice in.

Way to go, Caden!

Finally got the picture added!

In Which Ryan GRADUATES

Saturday was a momentous day for our family. We attended Ryan's graduation from Eastern Washington University with a BS in Geology. This has been a very long road for all of us, and while we're still staring two more years of school in the face for his Master's program, it was extremely gratifying to see this particular chapter of our lives come to a close.

We were not the only ones there to celebrate the big day. 2,500 students walked at the graduation for undergraduate degrees (There was a seperate ceremony for Master's students that afternoon). This was also reflected in the amount of traffic pouring into little Cheney, Washington. Cheney lies 6.5 miles from the freeway, 18 miles outside of Spokane. With still a mile to go to the Cheney freeway exit we hit a standstill. We eventually crawled into town and hustled to the stadium where the stands were filled and the graduates had already begun walking in. It all worked out in the end; we eventually found seats, and Ryan found his department and then Commencement began.

Everybody was very brief in their remarks, which was very much appreciated by all in attendance in the hot, hot sun. Among the caveats offered was one by a student who reminded them, "Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear." Super. The one exception to the brevity were the remarks from a Russian professer from Russia for some award. She apparently didn't get the memo. But then finally, FINALLY it was time for the main event.

I don't know how it works at other schools' graduations but at Eastern you write your name on a slip of paper and hand it to the professor announcing names. Among Ryan's graduating class we had Captain Jack Sparrow, Lakewood's Finest, and Ryan "Rocks" Carter. After the ceremony we met back up and had a quick lunch and then took a few pictures before all the boys piled into the car to head over to Lynnwood for Uncle Brent's high school graduation that night.

That last picture is because we ALL graduated. While Ryan is the one to actually earn the degree we ALL worked hard and made sacrifices in order for him to be able to do it. We are so very proud of Ryan. He is the very first University graduate from his immediate family, and that is a HUGE accomplishment. Congratulations Ry!

We have video of Ryan walking but the file is too big for blogger's maximum size and I don't know how to edit it. If you can tell me and it works, I'll send you a cookie PLUS I'll be able to post the video!

We're Going On A Bear Hunt

My parents have been called as Service Missionaries for our local mission. This means that they work in the Mission Office 35-40 hours a week. It's been very convenient for us since we're living with them, and with them gone most of the day we don't feel like we're in their way all the time.

Bonus for us, they can't go on vacation while they're serving. And since some of their time-share points were going to expire, in an extremely generous gesture they asked if we would like to go somewhere in their stead. So we looked around and looked around for something fairly close by this summer.

HA.

I forgot that you basically have to book these things a year in advance. Especially for summertime. But then, just as I was ready to quit searching - there it was. Time in Yellowstone. Not just time. CONSECUTIVE TIME. DAYS IN A ROW. MORE THAN ONE DAY. UNHEARD OF, I'M TELLING YOU.

So we're going to Yellowstone in July. This is so exciting! I'm thrilled for Ryan, since he's a Geology major. I'm thrilled for the kids, because I semi-remember going when I was young(er). AND, I'm thrilled for me because we are going to see Yellowstone WITHOUT HAVING TO CAMP. No bears in the food/tent/vehicle for us. I will have access to a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and, my personal favorite, a shower that I don't have to share with strangers.

For all you hard-core campers that think this sounds like a cop-out, pthwwwwtp! I don't care what you think. It is totally possible to enjoy nature without smelling like you are.

Plus there's a pool. ;)

My poor abandoned blog. I don't feel like posting anything, and yet I must. A lot has happened since the last post, case in point is Caden's 7th birthday party. But the computer is packed up and my parents' doesn't have the software to upload the pictures from our camera, and so I haven't blogged about it. This doesn't mean it wasn't awesome. Because it was. But you really need the pictures to appreciate it. Perhaps in August, when we have all our own stuff again.

Everything is in storage. The duplex is empty and CLEAN, and we will have our walk-through later this week. Melanie has moved to the Tri-cities, which is good for her and bad for me, and Ryan is closing in on the last week and a half of his bachelor's degree.

Life in a nutshell is busy, full, and stressful/fun depending on who you are.