Last Day of School

Today was our last day at ORLA! woohooo
Let the summer fun begin!

Yesterday, the boys participated in ORLA's spring "arts" show. They got to show off some of their karate skills. They have absolutely loved karate, especially Brendan. I probably need to figure out how he can continue in a more advanced way. It's fun to watch because they are so into it.

Then, today was our last day of classes at ORLA. I am beyond relieved. While it has been a great resource for us as homeschoolers, it has been difficult too. I'm glad to be done with the commitment!

And, wow! Has everybody changed so much this year, or what?!

First Day of School

 

Last Day of School

(you can see Brendan's karate "posture" has significantly improved! This is a weird picture, but it was the best they gave me! It was time to go home!)

 Here are some pictures from their karate "show and tell"

Grandpa Visit

It's always fun to have visitors. It was a little different this time with Rand being largely unavailable and it was just a short 5 day visit, but it is always fun to have Grandpa Mike around to tag along with us to all the places we go.

Added perk: Rand's dad is also helping Rand out with some of our accounting stuff for the FH. It's nice to know people who know stuff! :) It was good timing to have him here to set some stuff up and give Rand some answers to questions he had.

Can't wait for the next visit!

Easton would have nothing to do with the picture taking. (See above photo of him...)

Hair Cuts

It was haircut time around here!

Brendan loves getting haircuts.

Wyatt has been growing his hair out, shooting for a long, ninja-style ponytail, refusing a haircut.

Easton is terrified of getting his haircut.

Annabel doesn't know anything about it, but she does really like her hair.

I suggested haircuts Sunday afternoon. Everyone said yes and so we went for it!


Brendan and Wyatt got the classic clippers.
Easton won't do clippers but allowed scissors, but only for a little while and so what you see is what you get with him.
Annabel also wanted a haircut and so she sat on the stool and I pretended to cut her hair. She loved it.

Goodbye long hair! (sorry Nana)

 

I forgot to get a before picture! But I love his eyes!

 

She really was showing off her hair in this picture! :)

Rand's Big Birthday

We just hit a whole new level of busy. It makes me spin when I sit down and try and put my thoughts in some kind of order. I do better if I just keep going, going, going. Busy is not my style, but it's definitely my life right now! I'm just going with it!

Where to start with this story? Most of you who would be reading this right now probably know most of the story. We married, went to seminary, had a change of plans and went to mortuary school, worked in Shelton for my Dad with some long term plans. Those plans changed and it was back to pastoral. Move, move, move, and we wound up back in Funeral Service in Arizona. AGAIN, things changed and we wound up back in Washington at a different funeral home, same company. My Dad's Funeral Home was out of the picture and sold to someone else who was in the right place at the right time about 5 years ago.

About a month ago Rand got a phone call from the current owner of McComb Funeral Home. He was ready to be done and called Rand first to see if it might be an option for us. Wow! It has been a whirlwind. The details are irrelevant, but it has been a super huge deal that has occupied almost all our time and thoughts and conversations.

Rand's last day of work at Mills & Mills was May 24. It was so surreal. He spent a little over a week transitioning at McComb Funeral Home and what he has done is nothing short of CRAZY. I keep looking at him kind of unsure if he is a genius or totally insane. There is a very fine line, you know? I've hardly seen him, he hardly sleeps. He is doing project after project after huge project. His official take over date was June 1st. His birthday was May 31st. He took main call that night and got his first call at 10:45 pm. First time I've ever seen him jump up and yell, "YES!!" when he's gotten a night call. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAND! It really will be a birthday we will never forget.

Because the Funeral Home needed a bit of an overhaul in many ways, Rand has cleaned up, rearranged and reorganized absolutely everything about the place (it's what he does best. he should have been a professional over-hauler). He is running the place basically by himself. There used to be 4 full-time staff there. He has a part time back up team in place to train and get set up to help him out with the nights, at services and on weekends. It has been impressive for me to watch him work like this. It almost feels like he finally has a project big enough to satisfy him!

Also in the switch over we acquired another car! Hallelujah! No more taking Rand to work and picking him up!!! Especially since I would be taking him to Shelton now and that is a 20 mile difference! I do miss him though.

We feel really blessed to have gotten this opportunity for a second time. I grew up in that place and while it is so incredibly weird to be there again and watch my kids run around playing just like I used to, it strangely feels normal. Kind of like coming home or getting something back that used to belong to you. It's hard to explain!

So for Rand's birthday we made and brought him an ice cream cake that we all enjoyed at the funeral home. I realize that most people would shudder at the thought, but for us....it's normal. The next day we came back to the FH (I don't think Rand ever came home) and watched the Forest Festival Parade. The very place I grew up watching that parade from my whole life.

We are excited and scared and stressed out and confident. Rand is working like a mad man now, but once his systems are in place this is going to be a very, very good thing!

Only God could have worked out the details of this story the way they have happened. We're holding on to see what happens next!

 

Worlds only limbo-ing Paul Bunyon?

Flubber (or so it used to be called...)

I was informed that I dated myself by calling it "Flubber" and I literally had no idea, which in and of itself, dates me. Well it used to be called Flubber and now it is called something else but I forget what. I had about 10 bottles of Elmer's Glue, half used, a bunch of bored kids, and the school year is almost over! Who needs glue when we aren't in school? So I found a recipe and made Flubber! It's a fun little science experiment because of the quick chemical change that happens when you combine water and glue and then pour in some water/Borax. Instant fun. Both Easton and Annabel took a good 5 or 10 minutes to work up the courage to touch it, but then they realized it was fun and we are still playing with it.

Easton::Cast Update

It's off!! It's actually been off for just over a week, but I have been computer-less for a bit so no word from the blog-front. (Not to mention my life is crazier than it's ever been and there is no guarantee I would have blogged by now anyway!!)
So EASTON! I actually got his appointment moved up a couple days because his shredded cast was cutting into his feet and toes and causing him quite a bit of pain. So they squeezed him right in. THANK YOU!

We went back, straight to cast removal. They didn't even give him a chance to get worried. I told him to cover his ears and she just went to town. He looked at me with total panic, but he held it together. Did we want to save the cast?? Ummm, No.  We have pictures. That will be good enough! That thing was gross!

He is still limping and walking kinda funny, but I'm pretty sure his ankle is stiff and not quite back to normal. We are enjoying getting dressed, going to the bathroom, getting around, and taking baths with great ease! He doesn't have any pain and I don't care if we never have a broken bone (especially a leg) ever again!

More Baseball (this is just the beginning)

We finally got to play our first games...and our first full week of games. 4 games a week from now until June. Whew! I love it, but I am really looking forward to a little calmer summer. Brendan and Wyatt were little studs in their games and Rand and I have so much fun watching them. It's fun to watch them anyway, but when they do well, it's just super fun. :) Wyatt accidentally got a home run in one of his games. He was pumped. He didn't hit his ball past the infield, but error in this level can get you a long ways, and he just kept running! Ha! Brendan hit a couple doubles in his first game, I think one was legitimate...the other...errors! It's fun watching the improvement from one year to the next and the better understanding of the game. Now....if it would just warm up a little bit!

Wyatt

  

 On third

Pitching

 

 Brendan

 

 Hitting