Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Be Still My Galloping Heart

This evening, my baby girl had her very first horseback riding lesson. She (and I) had no idea what to expect really because by the time I started taking lessons, I had already been riding for years. When we arrived at the barn (Eaton Equestrian Center), Jordan’s instructor had her participate in getting her pony ready from start to finish, which I absolute love that she did. Jordan curried, brushed, hoof picked and tacked up Sabastian before she ever got on him.







 
She even had to strap on the splint boots!

 
Off we go to the arena!

A final tighten on the girth before we mount.



And we are up!

For some reason, this is where I started to choke up a little.  She was really nervous about letting go of the saddle and doing “arm exercises” to help learn balance.  After a few minutes, she was riding all around with NO HANDS.  It got me, I don’t know why.

Working on keeping those heels down is really hard.

And the heels are back up but her back is nice and straight!

A hug and pat pat for Sabastian for being such a good boy.

See you next week Sabastian!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Alaska State Fair Time!!


I really don’t know how we do it. EVERY YEAR. Even if the forecast calls for rain, if the Powers clan is hitting the Alaska State Fair, the rain disappears. Not that I have absolute faith that it will happen every year, which is why all the rain coats...

Because of the grand expense of taking three kids (who want to ride every ride now that they are older) we only go once per year now. Usually with our church youth group. Like this time. I grabbed the kids from school, walked to the other end of the building with them....




....and hopped on the bus to the fair. Side note: Our bus driver was super hawt.


At the front gate, waiting for daddy (aka “hawty bus driver”) to park the bus. This is our friend Gavin. His dad is the Jr. High youth pastor at our church. He and Josh are the same age and will be starting kindergarten together next year.

The first thing we did was eat a little. My kids can’t handle spending extended time wandering and eating and I can’t handle spending extended time at the rides so we did a little of this, and a little of that, then back to this and so on. It was the perfect solution.

(Note to self: pack food for the kids next year. They just don’t appreciate a $9 corn dog like they should.)

I, on the other hand, fully appreciated my seafood bread bowl to the fullest of my capabilities. The giant earthquake burger is a fair favorite for Darrin as well. I didn’t get a picture of it this year but 2 years ago it looked like this.

Ride time.

The first ride of the year was this brand new caterpillar roller coaster. The boys rode it, Jordan didn’t (until later). They have a new found love and fascination with roller coasters thanks to Remlinger Farms and Washington Grandma.



Jordan couldn’t wait to get on the carousel. Girl has horses on the brain lately.



While I indulged Josh and Jordy with this lame waste-of-ride-tickets kiddy ride...


Daddy and Jake rode the hang glider.



Then it was time for another food run. Oh look! Hula hoops!

Jordan gave a good effort.


But I had no clue that Jake could rock a Hula hoop like a master.




Darrin had heard a rumor that the fair had kangaroos this year. We were skeptical because we couldn’t find them. Until we found them.



Then Grandma Diana took the kids into the bird cage to feed all the little gold finches or whatever they were. The wire mesh messed with my picture taking but basically all three kids went in, sat down with their hands full of food and the birds attacked. Jordan flipped her lid, lost her mind and food went flying everywhere and as her screams died down we all noticed that Jake, sitting quietly on the floor, had about 10 birds perched on his hands nibbling away. They landed all over him and he just sat there, loving every second of it.


Pelicans.


Grandma Diana brought this giant umbrella that we didn’t need. But if you know my kids, you know they are obsessed with umbrellas so we had to snap a photo under it.



We used up the last of our ride tickets on the GIANT SLIDE!


Josh and Gavin got to do a ride together. Best buds forever!


We ended the day at the toy booth where each kid picked a prize for being AWESOME. Seriously. Darrin and I reflected on it later that night. The kids were amazing. Their behavior was exceptional. No whining. No fighting. No making me want to stab my eyes out.

So proud of my super sweet babies.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Truth

I found this on Pinterest this morning and had to share. Original credit (I think) goes here.

Anyway, I’m sharing because it’s the truth.

The Truth for Mature Humans.

1. Part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize that you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to take a nap when I was younger.

4. There is a need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (I actually know the answer to this, thank you Martha Stewart.)
Fold A Fitted Sheet

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start the directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make great stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I didn’t make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this - EVER.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring, but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice-mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night that more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was happening when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it approriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when and entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber and dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver, I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian, I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a purse, finding their cell phone, and pinning the tail on the donkey - but I’d bet my life, everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Big Day.



I feel like the first day of school snuck up on me this year. Maybe because I wasn’t focused on preparing a new kindergartener, but I just wasn’t anticipating/dreading it so much this year, and as a result, I found I wasn’t completely prepared this morning.

No coats.

Okay, I have big bulky winter jackets ready to go, but in today’s soft, cool drizzle, a parka was overkill. But the short sleeves they were both wearing probably wasn’t a good option for recess. So I dug out a couple of nasty old light weight coats and put them on while I donned a load of guilt on myself for not sending them to school on the first day with nice new play coats.

Dumb, I know. Not just for forgetting but for making a big dumb deal about it now. Whatever. Mom’s care about this stuff.

When we arrived at the school, Hubby was there in the gym waiting for us and we found our teachers quickly. Jordan has Mrs. Wetzler, whom Jake had last year and we love and Jaycob has Mr. Szepanski who happens to be Jake’s best friend’s dad.

Jake ditched us pretty quickly to find his friends but I hung with Jordan while she had a mini breakdown. Overwhelmed I think, with all that curly hair.


Jake and his best buddies


Jordan and her teacher, Mrs. Wetzler.


Jordy at her desk.


Jaycob at his desk way in the back corner.

Have a wonderful day babies!

OH CRUD! I forgot to put love notes in their lunches!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Twas The Night Before...

The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!




Doobie’s not going to school yet but he sure looks cute in his new bunk bed.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Kids’ Camp

Earlier this month, my eldest baby went to Kids’ Camp with our church. Alone. Like, without a mommy.

I was against the idea from the beginning. Jake REALLY wanted to go. And Hubby really wanted to let him go. When he first came home from church begging to go, I just smiled, patted him on the head and said a little prayer that he’d forget all about it. Quickly. I remember looking at Darrin like, NO WAY, and him looking back at me and shrugging like, WHY NOT?

Gasp!

NO!

HE’S A TINY BABY!

Who will make sure he eatswellwipeshisbutttakesashowermakesfriendsobeyshisleadersgoestosleepbrusheshisteethrememberswherehetookhisshooesoffhangsuphiswetstuff??????

Well, WHO?

Then Hubby went and signed him up for camp, two days before camp started, without a word to me.

So, I was forced to accept and embrace the idea within a span of two days.

The morning I dropped him off at the church for camp was worse than his first day of kindergarten for me. HE WAS SO EXCITED and I was a nervous, idiotic wreck. I made him practice carrying his backpack and sleeping bag/pillow around the house before he left so that I could assure myself he could carry it all from the bus to the cabin by himself when he got there. We practiced brushing our teeth and spitting because this was his first experience with real tooth paste, not the toddler kind you can swallow. I packed and then made him repack his bag so that he knew where everything was and where everything went. I reminded him to hang up his wet stuff and put his dirty clothes in the plastic bag I’d tucked in there.

He immediately climbed onto the bus and sat with his best friend (who he’s been best friends with since they were babies together. THEY ARE STILL JUST BABIES!) After I stood outside the bus blowing kisses and making faces at him for five minutes, I motioned for him to get off the bus to give me another hug. As he began bounding down the steps he stopped and turned to his friends and said, “I have to get off the bus for a minute, my mom needs to hug me.”

And then I left. ‘Cause I was getting choked up. WHAT?

But everything was going to be okay, you know why? Because he is eight years old. He’s not a tiny baby. And his best friend’s parents were going to be there the whole time. And his kindergarten teacher’s husband was his counselor, and the kids’ pastor’s wife was going to keep me posted via Facebook messages and phone photos and because one of the girls on Hubby’s basketball team was going to be there and make him call me every night.

This was the first photo I received. Lunch on the first day. He later told me that all the food was gross so he only ate bread and cake. When he called me that night he said, “Hi Mommy! I’m just calling to see if you’re okay.”

Sweetness and light. That’s what this boy is. Then he told me that he hung up his swimming shorts and wet towel like I told him but they weren’t by his bed because there was no good spot but it was SORT OF CLOSE to his bed so don’t worry.


This was the 2nd photo. Dinner on day two. (Notice he’s wearing the same clothes? Which, incidentally are his PJs). They had to do a silly lineup for dinner. More bread and cake.


This was taken before going home on the last day. Those are the tattoos he helped his team win and then applied to his arms and face.

When he came home at 10pm three days later, he was exhausted, excited and full of stories. He handed me an envelope with what was left of his snack shop money ($5.25 out of $10) which he didn’t use much of because they didn’t have anything healthy there. WHAT?

He laughed and pounded the table with his fist when he told me that he got to shower in the girls' bathroom because the girls’ dorms had their own showers. He admitted that he sometimes took longer than two minutes because it was SO WARM. When I asked if he used soap, he couldn’t remember.

As he sat before us, at 10:30 at night, regaling us with hilarious stories, he pounded two pieces of pizza and a yogurt because he was starving from living off bread and cake.

The important thing is, he had the time off his life. And he made it through. He came home smelly and hungry but SO HAPPY. I survived, by the grace of God, and I think it’s good sometimes for a tired stay-at-home mommy of three to have a reason to miss her babies.