Cold

Now that the school year is coming to an end germs seem to have taken over my classroom. Strep is making the rounds. I've had to send home three different warning notices from the school nurse with my students. I thought earlier this week I was just having problems with hayfever, but this morning I became convinced that I have a terrible head cold. I managed to get some laundry done, but most of my day was spent drinking tea and watching Jane Austen movies previously recorded from PBS. I also spent some time looking through some of the thousands of photos my dad gave us. For those of you who also read my sister's blog, I'm sure you've seen some of her lovely fashion sensibilities from the seventies. But she hasn't posted any of mine so here is a photo of my brother and I on the first day of school in September 1972. Boy I used to be very blonde naturally, and I used to get a great tan every summer that didn't come from a bottle.

Noah's baseball post season starts tomorrow at 8:30 AM. He and Forrest have to be at the field by 7:15. Alyssa and I have chosen to come later on. If I had my way we'd be having our team party tomorrow with pizza and trophies and that would be the end of it. The boys played 20 games in their regular season, and now they have at least three more in this tournament, maybe more if they win their pool. And guess what? Football tryouts are on Saturday June 7th.

Long Weekend

Memorial Weekend as usual found us on the road east.  Alyssa balked at missing school Friday, but Noah was pleased to miss a day. We got to see our niece, Allison, in an adorable kindergarten play about the Little Red Hen Friday afternoon.  I'd never seen the story as an operetta before. The songs were stuck in our heads the rest of the day. 

On Saturday lots of relatives came by.  My mother-in-laws cousins and sister, our nieces and nephews and their children. It was a full house.  We got to meet our nephew Roland's little girl for the first time.  Her name is Savannah and we got to meet her on her first birthday. Forrest as usual was the baby hog.  Little kids love him, and Savannah was no exception.  I love the photo of Forrest with our big girl and the newest little girl in the family.  Noah went fishing with our niece Mellisa's husband, Jay.  Noah caught a small land-locked Kokanee Salmon and was very proud of it.

On Sunday we went into Spokane to see the falls.  Due to higher than usual snowpack and rapid spring melt the falls are running much higher than usual.  Lots of people had the same idea so lots of cameras were flashing. The gondolas over the falls weren't even running because the water was so high. 

 After the falls we went to see  my grandma and attend a family reunion before we headed home.  There was a nice crowd at the reunion, more young people with children than usual.  I certainly hope I'm as sharp as my grandma when I'm her age.  I love talking to her and learning from her.

Pioneer Day

Today was a great day at school!  The grandmother of one of my young (25 yrs. old) teammates came to our town from Cashmere to conduct one-room schoolhouse simulations with each 4th grade class.  Mrs. Griffith is a docent at the Pioneer Museum in Cashmere.  She brought period costumes, quill pens, slates, McGuffey Readers and Spellers, marbles, and dominoes.  The children were very engaged and excited all day.  They were quiet, respectful, and thoughtful.  I'm so proud of them.  They all learned so much today.  I hope we'll be able to do it again next year.

National Honor Society

It's official!  Alyssa is now a member of the National Honor Society.  She was inducted last night along with 49 other sophomores.  This is the largest group her high school has ever inducted.  But then I think her class is considerably bigger than the junior and senior classes currently at AHS.  The freshman class is even bigger.  The symbolism of the candles representing scholarship, leadership, service, and character was lovely, but because of technical difficulties it was difficult to hear the speeches given by this year's officers.   I was disappointed that the ceremony was held in the commons rather than the brand new performing arts center which has amazing acoustics.  It was also disappointing that the high school principal didn't bother to show up.  These kids are his best and brightest leaders.

Either I have selective memory or Honor Society has become much more rigorous to get into and stay in than it was for me.  I remember that anyone with good grades got in pretty much automatically.  But the form Alyssa had to fill out about her service projects and volunteerism was quite detailed.  She had to write an essay and get approval from all of her teachers.  To stay in this group she will need to perform 15 hours of community service individually each semester and 15 hours of service as part of a group.  She already puts in 10 hours or more each month individually volunteering in my friend's kindergarten classroom so that part will be easy.

Alyssa found out last week that she has the daycare job she applied for.  She had to pass a background check, get a clear TB test, and take a CPR/First Aid class.  She hasn't had any babysitting jobs lately and is feeling poor so she can't wait to start work next month.  I'm so very proud of all of her accomplishments.  Alyssa is a star!

Finally Some Warm Weather

Friday brought us temperatures of about 80 degrees and Saturday was nearly 90. Today was a more comfortable 75. Forrest got the patio and deck power washed, and Alyssa and I started putting the new patio furniture today. We spent 2+ hours on the job and still only got halfway there (5 out of the 10 pieces). Just too many bolts and washers for us girls.

My folks came up this weekend to celebrate Noah's belated birthday. Noah got Guitar Hero and spent a lot of time this weekend looking like a rock star. Dad gave us three great CDs of family photos and history to watch. Noah's team won a close 1-0 game yesterday. His friend, Drew, threw a no-hitter. Noah was supposed to pitch part of the game, but you can't really pull a kid who has a no-hitter going.

We always eat lots of yummy restaurant meals when the folks are here. Tonight we were all feeling a bit sluggish and over-stuffed so we just had salad for dinner. I'll have to try and put more than 10,000 steps a day on my pedometer this week to make up for the extra calories I consumed this weekend.

Noah's final baseball game of the regular season is tomorrow night. Then we have to wait and see what happens with the rest of the teams in the division. They'll end up either 2nd or 3rd. Then we'll have a post season tournament against teams from other Little League divisions. Hopefully the tournament will start after Memorial Weekend because we have plans to be out of town over the holiday weekend. We'll get to see family members from both my family and Forrest's.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but here is a plug for my camera, a Nikon D40. This was the Christmas present that Forrest and I gave each other. Then we added the 55-200 zoom lens to it. The great baseball photos I've posted lately have been taken from outside the field. I stand just outside the centerfield fence which is just the right height to rest the camera on to take photos. Although it's a lot bulkier and heavier to carry around, it's definitely worth it.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a very satisfying day. Forrest brought me the paper in bed followed by Noah a few minutes later with coffee. Forrest and the kids made me eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns for breakfast this morning.

Noah continued to work off his debt by mopping the kitchen floor, vacuuming the stairs, pulling weeds, and shoveling and spreading bark. Alyssa tried a new rhubarb recipe for dessert today (recipe to follow) and Forrest barbecued salmon for dinner.

I filled a few more of my pots on the deck. I've put a variety of salad greens in a couple of containers so we'll see if they'll grow well and provide us with salads this summer.

Forrest and I spent a small part of our rebate check on new deck furniture this
afternoon. Now we just need some warm weather so we can enjoy our favorite space.

Warning if you're watching your weight don't even read this recipe for

Utterly Delicious Rhubarb Dessert

Mix one yellow cake mix according to directions but substitute milk for water. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Finely dice 4 cups of rhubarb and sprinkle on top of the cake batter. Pour one pint of whipping cream over rhubarb. Sprinkle 1-2 cups of white sugar over all (to your taste). Bake at 350 for one hour.

**Alyssa's batch overflowed and is burned onto the bottom of my oven so I'd recommend putting a cookie sheet under the pan.

Noah is 12

Noah is one of the last kids in his circle to turn 12. There's only one boy on his basketball team who is younger than he is. His birthday is next month. Today is his official birthday, but he had his party this past Saturday night. It was a slumber party complete with a cookie fight, very little sleep, amazing amounts of food consumed, and lots of noise. When Noah and his buddies play basketball they love to put his ipod in the dock and blast music so it can be heard over the slam dunks on the short basket. The neighbors complained this time so they had to turn it off. It's a good thing those neighbors work and aren't usually home during summer break because that's what Noah and his friend Tyler do almost every afternoon.

Today he took giant chocolate chip cookies to school and he's treating his baseball teammates to cupcakes (Alyssa made them) after tonight's game. Then he'll also get to party again when my folks come up on the 16th.

His early birthday present of a cell phone in March has gotten him into some financial trouble. He got access to the Internet on his phone and rang up $100.00 in extra charges to our family plan. He's doing 10 hours of hard labor to pay it off. The phone has been confiscated till he has at least 5 hours completed. Forrest has now blocked all access on our phones to these extra sites.

I've been getting some weird text messages. Actually they're very offensive. I called the number and it was a teenage boy's voice. I left a message to let him know that he's been messaging a teacher in her mid forties and that he'd better knock it off or I'd take extreme measures to track him down. I'm sure he thinks he's been messaging a girl at school and he has the number wrong. He's probably wondering why he hasn't gotten a rise out of his intended party.

The Boy Went Yard

Last night Noah hit his first official, over the fence, out of the park HOMERUN. The ball cleared the fence by at least three feet. He's hit "homeruns" at some of the fields that don't have fences and the balls can roll a long way, but this was the first over the fence hit. Alyssa is claiming an assist on this hit as Forrest's final instructions to Noah were to think about being mad at your sister as you swing. Of course I didn't have the camera with me, night games are too hard to shoot.