It's the way we roll

We are making newborn kits for a Humanitarian aid project at church. We decided as a family that each of us could make a kit. Here are the guys sewing their receiving blankets. They each picked out their own fabric. I think they are having fun with it. Cloth diapers are next...

This quilt is going to our friends who are moving back to India. I thought a Cowboy/Western/Americana theme would be a great souvenir from their years spent in America.

I asked the boys to move some rounds of wood from the tree David fell last year and here they are, farming it kid style! I love how innovative they can be. The wagon has bark on it. Whew, I hope they used enough chains!! This is how they spent part of the first day of summer break. They also mucked out the chicken coop and cleaned the nesting boxes. I have to harness their willingness to help whenever I can! They leave in the morning to camp with dad in Wallowa. They are so excited about this...maybe that's why they are so willing to help?

That's it for about a week. I'll post again when I am back from the east coast. I'm pretty excited about going. Have a great week! Ta!

Trippin' in a Mini-van

I did it and it goes against all that I believe in. I drove a mini-van on a road trip! I don't know, maybe I'm a better person for it, but I had told myself it was something I would never do. I showed up to leave for the Middle School field trip to Antelope Oregon and was told I would be driving a mini-van of students on this trip. We have enough students to fill two buses and then about 10 more, so rather than take another bus, the school district rents vans for the overflow. One would think that one would need a special permit or something, but I guess I was just the one who seems crazy enough to say "Sure, how bad could this get?" Yeah, so paybacks really are hell!! Try spending four hours in a mini-van (!!!) listening to show tunes and six Middle School girls singing full bore the whole time. Whoo hooo!! I discovered this great phenomenon as we were driving, though: If you leave the Columbia River Gorge, you will encounter this yellow stuff called sunshine. Sunshine, blessed sunshine!! I almost forgot all about you!! So we get to Antelope and the place we stay is called Wild Horse which is where the Rajneeshe compound used to be. Now it is a Christian youth camp- a weird dicotome, I know. This field trip is a huge reward for the students. It was rough for me once we were there. I had to make sure the zip line would be fun...in fact I had to go down twice to make sure it was ok. Then after everyone was blinded by the whiteness of my legs, I hung out by the pool and just chilled. Have I mentioned how tough my job is?? We spent the night, repeated activities of the previous day and then headed back to the dreary drizzle of the Gorge.

This week has been more field trips with work. Yesterday and today I was in charge of a student with an authority defiance/agression disorder as well as ADHD and adolescent hormones. What was I saying about paybacks? As a culminating activity to an ancient Greece study unit, we went to the Greek Cuisina in downtown Portland. Awesome food!!! Wow!! The kids did some Greek dancing and had a chance to break plates. Good times. Today, though, I accompanied the squirrel to the Portland Zoo. I'm certainly thankful that my kids don't have behavior disorders or academic difficulties. I guess that's the best part of my job--greater appreciation for my guys.

Speaking of my perfect children, portfolio night was last week. Older C scored 2 points below the max on state math testing. He also had a band concert tonight and they really sounded great! Younger C is also a genius...reading and doing math above grade level. This really gives him a leg up for next year.

So now we have 1 1/2 days of school left and I will be leaving on Tuesday the 10th for the Middle School Washington DC/New York trip. Then I will just hang out with my own kids at home...I'm really looking forward to that! Ciao, babe