May

May May What Happened to May?

May was full of all kinds of fun things. First and foremost was our 20th Anniversary!! Wow. 20 years. That's a great milestone. Here's to another 50!! This just doesn't seem like that long ago.

Behold our engagement photo!! Oh yes...double denim and all. I was even wearing one of Tyler's shirts because it was the 90's and baggy clothes were in and none of my shirts were baggy enough to be cool for this momentous picture. Hilarious.

We had a fun night on the town as we reveled in being married for 20 years. We bought plane tickets for a little getaway vacation after school gets out since things in May are always too busy to head out of town.

We had a fun night! We love our town too. I am so glad that we made the decision to get out of Utah and to raise our family here.

You know... to gross out the kids!! It's hard to kiss when you are laughing and taking a selfie!!

The next day we took the two little girls to hike Tubbs Hill that over looks Lake Coeur d' Alene. This is such a great family hike. Reilly and Kameron were both busy earning money that day so they weren't able to join us. I love this hike. I remember doing it with my grandparents when we would spend the summers up here. I even remember doing it once with my other set of grandparents who came up to visit my mom's parents. Lots of good memories and it was gorgeous!!

Seriously, it doesn't get much prettier than that!

I love hike where you can get in the water when you are done!!

After that some ice cream was in order. I was THRILLED to see that DQ finally brought back our family's very favorite blizzard...COTTON CANDY... it was so good! It has been about 10 years since we last had one. Delicious.

This was the sight when we were barely out of the parking lot! Ha Ha!!

Then Tyler got to accompany Ailey and the 5th graders on a field trip downtown. Ailey absolutely loved it!!

Ailey and her BFFs and her (and our family's) very favorite teacher...the beloved Mrs. Antonio. She is the greatest!! She has taught all of our kids at one time or another...except Bryn...who can't wait to get her too. Mrs. Antonio has promised that she will not retire until she teaches Bryn. We are holding her to that!! She is the best!

I got to go to Bryn's Kindergarten Mother's Day Party. Kindergarten is the best. I am going to miss having a Kindergartner. It is such a cute age!  Bryn has had such a fantastic year and a wonderful teacher too.

It has been so fun to have these two in the same class this year. They were so excited to have us as their special guests and to give us our awesome t-shirts that they made for us.

I am now the proud owner of 4 of these lovely t-shirts!!

One day during the week I let Reilly skip school and we drove up to Sandpoint to hang out with my Mom. We had a fun day and a gorgeous lunch over looking Lake Pend Oreille.

Then it was the Jr. Lilac Parade...

For this parade the kids representing the different schools wear funny outfits and Kameron's school dressed up as minions.

Kameron is in the middle on the trumpet.

Second from the left

Video:




I remember talking to my Uncle Mike on the phone around this time last year when Kameron was in the Lilac Parade. He was telling me all about when he and my Mom and their brothers would march in the band, in the same parade, down the same streets, when they were kids and he had me laughing my head off at all the crazy things those siblings would do. Such a great memory and I love that my kids are carrying on the family tradition. :)

Kameron was NOT A FAN of their minion costumes this year.

But Bryn sure was!! It was quickly given to her and she LOVES it!! So much so that she smuggled it in her backpack at school and then put it on and was caught out at recess in it by her big sister. Busted!!

Ailey's activity day girls had a Mother/Daughter Day where we played Minute to Win It. It was pretty hilarious!! Ailey did great and volunteered to do many of the challenges. 

We got to exchange special letters that we had written to each other. It was a fun and crazy night!

Then it was Mother's Day!! One of my very favorite days of the year...

I am blessed!!

It was a wonderful Mother's Day with breakfast in bed, the kids and youth singing in church, a special luncheon and program at church, presents, and a special dinner and fun activities from my cute family!! I loved it!!

Delicious crepes!!

Attempting to make Mother's Day videos for the grandmas. Believe me, it took MANY attempts!!

Next up was the Kindergarten music program:

Video:



Very cute!! I love that Bryn is a seasoned performer. Yes, that's right!! Look right at Daddy who is filming you. Nicely done. Elle is on the front row.

Then Ailey was Glinda the Good Witch in their 5th grade musical:

She did a great job belting out her song. They had some mic problems and the wicked witch's mic wasn't working. The main voice that you hear is Ailey. It just astounds me that she will sing a solo. You couldn't pay me enough money to do that!! These songs are very catchy...they are still stuck in our heads around here and we are in mid-June.

Video:

Then it was cheerleading camp at the high school:

This was especially fun for Bryn because several of her big buddies from preschool last year were the cheerleaders putting on this day camp. Very cute.

I spent most of this month preparing for Farm Chicks,,,no surprise there. I had so much inventory that I actually needed to rent one of these. It was the best decision ever!!

Memorial Day Weekend:

We spent part of it in Sandpoint at my mom's house 3D rendering our booth. This makes all the difference!! We lay out our booth spaces and place all our furniture virtually before hand. I love it and I love the guy that does it for us!!

We took flowers to the cemetery to put on my great-grandparents and my grandpa's grave for my mom. Then we went to the lake briefly to dig some raspberry starts. The water was like glass. Deep in the brambly jungle of the raspberry patch we found a bunch of yellow roses and floated them on the lake in memory of my Uncle Mike. I think he would appreciate that those lone yellow roses were right next to the old outhouse and I had to crawl under the raspberry and cat infested jungle to get those little beauties!! :)

Then it was back to DQ for more Cotton Candy Blizzards

We set up the old slip and slide... it seems very small...the next time we do it the red neck way. Our side yard is on a slope so it should work like a charm.

It was a pretty month with lots of flowers blooming in my yard...

I love Hawthorne bushes!!

My little baby snowball bush is going great!!

Kameron's band won a bunch of awards at a big band competition and they got to party it up at Silverwood Amusement Park.

I know that I have forgotten a ton of things but that the gist of it for now!!

Onto June!!

April

Remember April?

I barely do. I am so far behind on blogging. April seems so long ago...especially now that it is June. Pretty much the biggest thing that happened in April was Prom...after Easter and Bryn's birthday of course. Oh and Kam started track. Here are some pictures from long ago April.

Prom Prep...

Reilly and I went Prom dress shopping and somehow wrangled Tyler into coming with us. (Believe me I needed the back up support! Teenage girls and their mothers don't often see eye to eye on dresses.) Luckily we found a cute dress that all three of us really liked pretty quickly and the whole process was fairly painless. It was a little prom miracle. Then we ended up having a fun night hanging out just the three of us. That isn't something that happens very often these days. So we reveled in it.

See everyone was smiling!! Well, it kind of looks like Tyler is grimacing but we will take what we can get!! (He grimaced a lot this month it appears.)

One of the rejects...but one that she knew Ailey and Bryn would love!! Princess dress!!

Finally the perfect dress in the perfect color. It is kind of hard to tell from the pictures but it is an almost neon coral color. Perfect for Reilly. It was super cute and the minute she tried it on we all knew that it was the perfect dress.

Then it was onto mall chair massages...well earned and Dole Whips...also well earned.

Those massage chairs are more painful than relaxing. We were all yelping in pain most of the time.

Who needs to go to Hawaii or Disneyland when you can get a Dole whip right at the mall here in Spokane. For years I have heard about how amazing these are...the hype was well deserved. Delish. I will try the Dole whip float next time. Yay Spokane. Finally getting with the program.

The big day arrived. Reilly was busy all day getting fancy. There were hair appointments, spray tan appointments, and nail appointments. It was pretty exciting,

Her up-do...done by our friend and hair dresser to Tyler, Reilly, and Kam...Stephanie.

Her fancy nails...

The tickets

These girls were very excited for their big sister!!

They went to eat at Olive Garden downtown and then went to the dance...and Reilly went to a prom party after that. So crazy that Senior Prom is over and done.

The official photo

And then it was onto things like this...

Creating the Senior Tribute for the yearbook, ordering her cap and gown, designing graduation announcements, paying off her school debts (how one girl can lose and destroy more books I have no idea?!), remind her to finish her senior project, and schedule all of those end of the year Senior activities.

 Official Announcements

Then it was Western Day at the elementary school and a Western Dance that night. Daddy took Ailey and Bryn and they had a fabulous time!! Kameron and I had another awesome Mother/ Son night. We again watched movies and ate junk. It was great!! I love that he still wants to do stuff like that with me. I fear this may be fleeting once girls come on the scene although my brother Kirk and my mom had their CSI and Parmesan Popcorn nights until he was in his 20's so maybe there is hope or Kirk is just weird. Ha ha! Kidding Kirky. :)

Mother/Son Night O' Fun!!

We also had a fun girls day too during the month of April!!

Then track season started...

Yes, I am aware that this picture is slightly blurry. That is some stellar sports photography right there...and I think I paid $20 for it too. Oh well. Squint your eyes...Kam is really cute.

During track season while waiting for Kameron's events...which were always at the end of the meet... I forced Tyler to take a million selfies out of boredom. Hence his grimace. Although it looks like the dude behind us was into it!

Hey, I get my kicks where I can and I find hideous selfies très amusant. Tyler, not so much.

We also attended a Pre-Farm Chicks Party downtown. Here we are with my friend Michelle. It was fun to see many of our friends and to get excited for Farm Chicks. On that note, my Mom and Stacey headed to Omak to participate in the Vintage Faire Show there. I didn't go this year as it was the same weekend as Prom. I spent most of April working my butt off preparing for Farm Chicks.

And that's about all I can remember about April...

Random thoughts... Blogger should get emoticons. I barely know how to express my feelings without those weird symbols anymore and while we are at it how about a "like" button. Sometimes comments feel too taxing. (That is the level of laziness I have succumbed too.)

From The Duff (one of the movies I watched with Kameron and yes, we were both mortified at times) but I loved this scene.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

A Leaf On the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon

I read this wonderful novella on my Kindle and ended up crying in the orthodontist's office while my daughter was getting her braces on. It was fantastic. It is a perfect little side story that tied up some loose ends in the world that is Outlander, but not only that, it brought Dolly and Jerry McKenzie to life and I LOVED them!! Seeing Frank from another perspective was intriguing and it was fun to see baby Roger. I read this after reading Book 8 and I think that was the perfect way to do it. The whole Jerry, Roger, and Buck story line from Jerry's perspective, after reading Roger's, was awesome and don't even get me started on Jerry and Dolly!! Worth every tear in the orthodontist's office!!

From Goodreads:

...In this original Outlander novella, Diana Gabaldon reveals what really happened to Roger MacKenzie Wakefield’s parents. Orphaned during World War II, Roger believed that his mother died during the London Blitz, and that his father, an RAF pilot, was killed in combat... Now, in “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows,” readers finally learn the truth.

My Rating: I LOVED IT!!

The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy

From Goodreads: 

Pat Conroy's father, Donald Patrick Conroy, was a towering figure in his son's life. The Marine Corps fighter pilot was often brutal, cruel, and violent; as Pat says, "I hated my father long before I knew there was an English word for 'hate.'" As the oldest of seven children who were dragged from military base to military base across the South, Pat bore witness to the toll his father's behavior took on his siblings, and especially on his mother, Peg. She was Pat's lifeline to a better world-that of books and culture. But eventually, despite repeated confrontations with his father, Pat managed to claw his way toward a life he could have only imagined as a child...The Death of Santini is at once a heart-wrenching account of personal and family struggle and a poignant lesson in how the ties of blood can both strangle and offer succor. It is an act of reckoning, an exorcism of demons, but one whose ultimate conclusion is that love can soften even the meanest of men, lending significance to one of the most-often quoted lines from Pat's bestselling novel The Prince of Tides: "In families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness."

Let's just set the record straight...anything written by Pat Conroy is pure magic. This wove a tale of dark magic as he recalled and relived his turbulent childhood, dysfunctional family, strained family relations, mental illness and depression, failed marriages, all while experiencing great literary success and notoriety. I was definitely drawn in. Learning more about the real Great Santini aka Don Conroy was both painful and cathartic. It was fascinating to read about how Pat Conroy journeyed from a deep and well deserved hatred of his father to his ultimate redemption, forgiveness, and love for his complicated and fatally flawed father. I love how he showed us that this journey to forgiveness can be beautiful despite the pain. I found it profoundly moving. I started the book despising Don Conroy and was surprised to find myself with tears running down my face while reading his eulogy at the end of the book.

I also enjoyed the exploration of the darker side of his mother because of course she had to have had one. What causes a person to stay with someone who violently abuses them and their children over the course of several decades? Fascinating stuff.

I also loved reading the back story of getting his books published, movies made, and all that he experienced through out that whole process. I wish there was more about The Prince of Tides...my all time favorite Conroy book but perhaps that is a memoir for another day...and this book is about The Great Santini after all.

The writing is gorgeous as usual, despite that dark subject matter. I love Conroy's style and voice. I adore his musings and fluctuations through time. I appreciate his sarcastic dark humor...a necessary tool for navigating family dysfunction. I appreciate his struggle to find peace...to choose forgiveness... and it is chosen...every. single. day. I found this book to be heart-breaking at times and  achingly honest. Powerful and compelling...despite it's raw brutality.

Family dynamics...they are complicated. Parent/child relationships are complex. Sibling relationships are even more so. Sometimes they are ugly and confusing. I loved that Conroy often contradicts himself. His father pure evil. His father was brave and courageous. His mother was a goddess. His mother was selfish and vain. His siblings are *assholes*. His siblings are his saving grace. That is truth. No one is all one thing...not all bad and not all good. None of us are.



“Not a single family finds itself exempt from that one haunted casualty who suffered irreparable damage in the crucible they entered at birth. Where some children can emerge from conditions of soul-killing abuse and manage to make their lives into something of worth and value, others can’t limp away from the hurts and gleanings time decanted for them in flawed beakers of memory. They carry the family cross up the hill toward Calvary and don’t mind letting every other member of their aggrieved tribe in on the source of their suffering. There is one crazy that belongs to each of us: the brother who kills the spirit of any room he enters; the sister who’s a drug addict in her teens and marries a series of psychopaths, always making sure she bears their children, who carry their genes of madness to the grave. There’s the neurotic mother who’s so demanding that the sound of her voice over the phone can cause instant nausea in her daughters. The variations are endless and fascinating. I’ve never attended a family reunion where I was not warned of a Venus flytrap holding court among the older women, or a pitcher plant glistening with drops of sweet poison trying to sell his version of the family maelstrom to his young male cousins. When the stories begin rolling out, as they always do, one learns of feuds that seem unbrokerable, or sexual abuse that darkens each tale with its intimation of ruin. That uncle hates that aunt and that cousin hates your mother and your sister won’t talk to your brother because of something he said to a date she later married and then divorced. In every room I enter I can sniff out unhappiness and rancor like a snake smelling the nest of a wren with its tongue. Without even realizing it, I pick up associations of distemper and aggravation. As far as I can tell, every family produces its solitary misfit, its psychotic mirror image of all the ghosts summoned out of the small or large hells of childhood, the spiller of the apple cart, the jack of spades, the black-hearted knight, the shit stirrer, the sibling with the uncontrollable tongue, the father brutal by habit, the uncle who tried to feel up his nieces, the aunt too neurotic ever to leave home. Talk to me all you want about happy families, but let me loose at a wedding or a funeral and I’ll bring you back the family crazy. They’re that easy to find.” -Pat Conroy, The Death of Santini; The Story of a Father and His Son.

See! Don't you want to read more. It true...true of every single family out there. Including my own.

Thank you Pat Conroy.

My rating: Excellent. 

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

From Goodreads:

During the summer of 1941 the Metanov family are living a hard life in Leningrad. As the German armies advance their future looks bleak. For Tatiana, love arrives in the guise of Alexander, who harbours a deadly and extraordinary secret.

This book came so highly recommended from so many trusted sources that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. So many people absolutely adore this book and series. Unfortunately, for me, it did not live up to the hype. It really reminded me of Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah...which I didn't love...and yet found to be a more interesting and compelling tale of the same time period. The fall of Leningrad during WWII. Maybe this time period just doesn't do it for me...so sad...so depressing... I don't know. I just found this book to be okay. I am not even super interested in reading the rest of the series. Maybe when I am in a book slump I'll reconsider.


My Rating: Definitely didn't live up to the hype.

Food: Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

From Goodreads:

Bacon. McDonalds. Cinnabon. Hot Pockets. Kale. Stand-up comedian and author Jim Gaffigan has made his career rhapsodizing over the most treasured dishes of the American diet (“choking on bacon is like getting murdered by your lover”) and decrying the worst offenders (“kale is the early morning of foods”). Fans flocked to his New York Times bestselling book Dad is Fat to hear him riff on fatherhood but now, in his second book, he will give them what they really crave—hundreds of pages of his thoughts on all things culinary(ish). Insights such as: why he believes coconut water was invented to get people to stop drinking coconut water, why pretzel bread is #3 on his most important inventions of humankind (behind the wheel and the computer), and the answer to the age-old question “which animal is more delicious: the pig, the cow, or the bacon cheeseburger?”

Loved this book! LOVED IT!! I was laughing non stop. But listen to the audiobook, don't read the actual book. I did both and hearing Jim Gaffigan's crazy slew of voices takes this book from funny to hilarious. I made the mistake of reading Amy Poehler's book Yes Please. I learned from my mistake. Super fun audiobook. Would make for great summer road trip listening. I am a huge Jim Gaffigan fan and this was Gaffigan perfection.

My Rating: I loved it.

FEVER SERIES BOOKS 3-7 by Karen Marie Moening

Okay... I've read the whole series so far...apparently the author is still writing more. I kept reading find out what the heck was going on in this series and who exactly certain characters were. It took me to pretty much book 7 to get even a few answers. That said, the later books were certainly more readable than the first few books in the series but I can't think of a single person to whom I would recommend this series. It is an interesting world that Moening builds but a raunchy and vulgar one.

My Rating: Skip this series...but in all truthfulness I will probably read another one when it comes out, and yes, I am embarrassed to admit it.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

I saw this book on Goodreads and thought that it would probably be entertaining fluff. It was. Nothing too deep, or dark, or introspective. Good old fashioned chick-lit with a bit of a Practical Magic flair.

From Goodreads:


The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.

For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories. Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways.

My Rating: Okay...perfect pool side reading.

The Space Between by Diana Gabaldon

Joan MacKimmie is on her way to Paris to take up her vocation as a nun. Yet her decision is less a matter of faith than fear, for Joan is plagued by mysterious voices that speak of the future, and by visions that mark those about to die. The sanctuary of the nunnery promises respite from these unwanted visitations . . . or so she prays. Her chaperone is Michael Murray, a young widower who, though he still mourns the death of his wife, finds himself powerfully drawn to his charge. But when the time-traveling Comte St. Germain learns of Joan’s presence in Paris, and of her link to Claire Fraser—La Dame Blanche—Murray is drawn into a battle whose stakes are not merely the life but the very soul of the Scotswoman who, without even trying, has won his heart.

I love every single thing Outlander. This was the same. A delicious treat. A perfect novella that reacquaints us with a few minor characters from the Outlander world and takes us on an adventure all the while giving us hints and revealing secrets that pertain to the main Outlander series. It was awesome and I devoured it and was left wanting more!! I really enjoyed learning more about Joan and Michael and especially the Comte St. Germain!!

My Rating: I loved it!! Definitely recommended reading for Outlander fans...read it after Echo.

That Time of Year

That Time of Year

Hello May. You are passing by in a stressy blur. So much to blog about and no time to do it. It's May with all it's usual antics...all the sports, performances, meets, concerts ,parades, field trips, and parties are in full swing. Throw in that I am preparing for Farm Chicks...my biggest vintage show of the year...and preparing for graduation...and dealing with life in general...and yeah...no blogging.

I'm barely treading water people. My common refrain is "talk to me after Farm Chicks...graduation...the end of the school year...when I get back from California, the fourth of July, after I get back from Montana, after our time at the lake, after...after...after...oh yeah...talk to me in the fall.

Plus there's this...

Why do teenagers decide to act the worst when life is the busiest? Why when she is about to leave our house does she suddenly decide do her darnedest to kill us on her way out? Ever hear of leave on a high note? Good terms? Apparently not. Our pediatrician calls it "shatting the nest". I guess technically his official words were "soiling the nest"...Tyler and I call it "shatting" on a good day and !@$%^&*& on a bad day. According to Dr. Morgan, who has seen it all in his many years of being a pediatrician this is a stage of life that should be celebrated. He nearly clapped his hands together with joy as he asked me one day how Reilly was doing and I gave him a weary bleary eye. He replied with "Fantastic! She's right on target!" Well yehaw. Apparently teenagers must soil the nest in order to be able to leave it. Especially kids who come from close, loving, supportive families. It must be done or they have a very hard time leaving home. Then he said, "You don't want a child who can't leave home, Kristin. Believe me." Oh I believe him but it doesn't make it any easier.