Monday, October 5, 2009
Claire's Dream
Claire wants to be a chef when she grows up. Her long-term plan is to go to college and get a business degree, go to culinary school, and then open a restaurant -- ambitious! She loves to watch any cooking show on tv and she LOVES LOVES LOVES to cook. If it weren't for the messes she never cleans up, I would let her cook as much as she wants. This was a little caprese salad she made on her own. She paid great attention to the plating. It tasted a great as it looked.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Summer Vacation
Just catching up...
Last Summer we had the chance to take a fun trip to Sun Valley with my family. We were joined by my parents and my two brothers, their wives and kids. My sister Anne couldn't join us this year. Our group is on the small side but we sure had fun.
We stayed in Matt's brother's house in Hailey (just south of Ketchum/Sun Valley) which was great. He has a big yard where the kids played lots of games and ran around. Matt, my Dad and brothers took the kids fishing several times and they caught multiple fish each time. Other than my Dad's tumble in the river (losing his glasses, hat, wallet, and phone) that was a highlight for the guys. The girls did a little shopping in Hailey and Ketchum. Overall we had a great time just hanging out. Here are some of the pictures.
Last Summer we had the chance to take a fun trip to Sun Valley with my family. We were joined by my parents and my two brothers, their wives and kids. My sister Anne couldn't join us this year. Our group is on the small side but we sure had fun.
We stayed in Matt's brother's house in Hailey (just south of Ketchum/Sun Valley) which was great. He has a big yard where the kids played lots of games and ran around. Matt, my Dad and brothers took the kids fishing several times and they caught multiple fish each time. Other than my Dad's tumble in the river (losing his glasses, hat, wallet, and phone) that was a highlight for the guys. The girls did a little shopping in Hailey and Ketchum. Overall we had a great time just hanging out. Here are some of the pictures.
Matthew, Jake and Katie reading about the swans at Sun Valley.
My Dad doing something with his fishing line. He also spent time tying his own flies. He is sure a master fisherman and he even makes his own fly rods.
My brother zonked out on the couch holding one of his 2 month old babies (who wasn't very interested in sleep at that point).
Miss C. showing off her sucker (which she got from the Grandma Store, see below)
My mom who is the master of all things creative, brought along a good behavior motivator for the kids. "Grandma Linda's Country Store". The kids earned "Grandma Dollars" by making good choices, helping out, or obeying and then they got to spend their dollars at the store. The kids LOVED it!
Some of the offerings in the store and their prices.
Grandma Dollars
Matthew holding Baby R. Two cuties.
All of the grandkids.
My Dad doing something with his fishing line. He also spent time tying his own flies. He is sure a master fisherman and he even makes his own fly rods.
My brother zonked out on the couch holding one of his 2 month old babies (who wasn't very interested in sleep at that point).
Miss C. showing off her sucker (which she got from the Grandma Store, see below)
My mom who is the master of all things creative, brought along a good behavior motivator for the kids. "Grandma Linda's Country Store". The kids earned "Grandma Dollars" by making good choices, helping out, or obeying and then they got to spend their dollars at the store. The kids LOVED it!
Some of the offerings in the store and their prices.
Grandma Dollars
Matthew holding Baby R. Two cuties.
All of the grandkids.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Good Day
Saturdays are good days, packed with things from start to finish. Today, though, was especially good. We started off with Matthew's football game against rival Skyline. Oly played great, winning 40-14. Matthew didn't get many chances to touch the ball but he made two great blocks that left his guy admiring overhead cloud formations.
After football, we came home to find that we had killed one of the many rats that have been eating our tomatoes. The picture below shows what our tomato plants look like thanks to those rats. So, I emptied the dead carcass out, reloaded the trap with more peanut butter (making sure to leave the rat "essence" that I was sure would attract more rats) and then put the trap back out. Within 20 minutes, we had another dead rat, and then within an hour we had our third dead rat. I don't like to think of myself as bloodthirsty, but I loved to see those dead rats. (Matthew and I proudly display them below.) We are hoping that's it for the rats.
Inspired by the vanquishment of the rats, we went to Jake's soccer game. Jake played great, scoring two goals and assisting on another. What I was most proud of though, was his red face. It was hot, but he hustled all game.
Later, I finally convinced Jake to let me pull his tooth that had been hanging down like the single tooth of an old hag. When he finally did, I held on for dear life and when he tried to push my arm away and -- voila -- no more tooth. He looks like good old Jake again (not like an old hag) -- just with fewer teeth. (See below)
We also got the house clean while Amanda was taking pictures. A huge accomplishment for us. Like I said, it was a great day!
Tomato eaten by rat. I hate rats!
Large rat trap loaded with peanut butter.
Dad and Matthew proudly displayed two of the three dead rats.
Jake's toothless grin. The kid looks good again.
After football, we came home to find that we had killed one of the many rats that have been eating our tomatoes. The picture below shows what our tomato plants look like thanks to those rats. So, I emptied the dead carcass out, reloaded the trap with more peanut butter (making sure to leave the rat "essence" that I was sure would attract more rats) and then put the trap back out. Within 20 minutes, we had another dead rat, and then within an hour we had our third dead rat. I don't like to think of myself as bloodthirsty, but I loved to see those dead rats. (Matthew and I proudly display them below.) We are hoping that's it for the rats.
Inspired by the vanquishment of the rats, we went to Jake's soccer game. Jake played great, scoring two goals and assisting on another. What I was most proud of though, was his red face. It was hot, but he hustled all game.
Later, I finally convinced Jake to let me pull his tooth that had been hanging down like the single tooth of an old hag. When he finally did, I held on for dear life and when he tried to push my arm away and -- voila -- no more tooth. He looks like good old Jake again (not like an old hag) -- just with fewer teeth. (See below)
We also got the house clean while Amanda was taking pictures. A huge accomplishment for us. Like I said, it was a great day!
Tomato eaten by rat. I hate rats!
Large rat trap loaded with peanut butter.
Dad and Matthew proudly displayed two of the three dead rats.
Jake's toothless grin. The kid looks good again.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
New Addition to the Family...
This new addition to the family comes in the adult form. My sister Anne is recently engaged to be married! Read all about Anne and Brian here.
We are so excited to have Brian be part of our family.
We are so excited to have Brian be part of our family.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Today's Project
Matt had to work today so this is what I spent my day doing. Editing photos taken of Matthew's baseball team. For the past few season's Matt has used my photos to create posters of each of the players to give them as a gift. It is kind of fun and the kids love it. Here are a few from the last crop. I know that I post a lot of baseball photos but since it is ruling my life, that is what I am photographing. I don't have much time to photograph flowers these days.
This is a sequence of Matthew pitching that I did as an experiment (click on it to see a bigger version). It is pretty cool but I decided that I need a faster camera :)
This is a sequence of Matthew pitching that I did as an experiment (click on it to see a bigger version). It is pretty cool but I decided that I need a faster camera :)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
My second family
I had the great pleasure of photographing my friend's family last weekend. I have been best friends with Stephanie since Kindergarten. (Not many people can say that they have had a friend for that long.) Her house was my second home and her family was my second family. I love these guys so much so I am always happy to see the. These were taken up at their farm in Midway. I so love it up there. Here are some pictures from that day.
Gotta have a tractor picture.
Looking up toward the hills.
A VERY old truck.
This is a familiar sight -- Steph's dad off on one of the motorcycles.
Gotta have a tractor picture.
Looking up toward the hills.
A VERY old truck.
This is a familiar sight -- Steph's dad off on one of the motorcycles.
Out but not Down
Matthew's superleague baseball team ended their season last Saturday. They had to have a win to make it to the post-season tournament but unfortunately they lost. Guess what though, it is okay. Luckily Matthew is SO evenly tempered he didn't seem sad about it. To be honest, I am a little sad that this season is ending. Matthew has made great friends, Matt has made great friends, and even I have made great friends. The other families that we have spent our Saturdays with for the past few months are wonderful and I hope we will continue to "play baseball" with them for years to come. Thanks to all of the coaches that taught Matthew so much and made it fun to play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
