Yikes- time has gotten away from me

So- apparently I am loosing track of time.  So back to January- the super moon

SNOW!!!  Rocket was so happy

as was the dog.

Frisbee in the snow is awesome!

goodies arrived from Austria.  We miss you Lukas. 

Me in San Diego with a work colleague who I have worked with since 2008 and who I have not seen since 2012.  We are some crazy girls at 11 pm at night (1:00 am in the morning to my body)

the next day, in the office parking lot. 

the last day- at the beach for dinner and drinks.  I love the water.

See- me at the beach.  this is right after I talked to Rocket.

Sunset at the beach

Full dark at the beach.  it was pretty cool- just to the left of me was a soccer team practicing on the beach.  I guess that is a way to get the boys to work- let them run on the beach too.

After I got back, it was pretty boring around here- I got sick, I had my birthday and life went on.

Last week, Rocket had a day off school and we went to the place (that is the name) and played video games, laser tag and ate pizza with friends.  Ok- the boys did all the games and mommas talked.

we had some more snow and ice.  Actually this was .25inches of snow and a sprinkle of ice.  Rocket had the day off school because of this.

Rocket has decided he wants to bake- these are some hand fruit pies that he made and coated with powdered sugar (castor sugar).  they were yummy

There was some basketball again this year.  They did not win a single game.  It was a hard year.

The cheese cake that Rocket made me for me.

YUMMMMMMMM.  He is in charge of making my birthday cakes from now on.

a picture of the boys at the place- most of the basketball team plus a few more friends.

This sunday was scout honor court- the boys as the ceremony started.

Lulu's birthday!

The flooding down at the river.  this is the park we usually go to - everything is underwater.  the river is at 60 ft which is well above flood stage.  I think flood stage starts at 48 feet, but I am not sure.  this is the worst flooding in 20 years.  After snow, we have weeks of rain (it feels like), but the reality is that we a week of significant rain, over 5 inches of rain in 2 days.  that caused the flooding. 

Here is the Big Mac bridge and the flooding. 

We might go down to look at the flooding in the next day or 2- these pictures are from the local news website. 

 

thankfully we are 15 minutes drive from these areas.  But, we have some water leaking into our basement.  not a lot, just enough to wet the edges of the carpet. 

Basketball, tree sales and snow

Rocket had 2 games this weekend, unfortunately his team lost both games.  I did not get any pictures of the first game, only this warm up picture with Rocket, 2 team mates and the coach.  I was in charge of the scorebook, so heads down work.

The second game, I was training 2 people on how to do the scorebook, so I only got photos from the second half.

the games were Saturday morning and Sunday night, so that left us plenty of time to do other things.  Falco was gone this weekend, hanging out with other AFS students at another volunteer's farm.  We really missed him, even though it was nice to be together as our small family.  We are going to be a mess when Falco leaves.  I am not ready for it.

Saturday night, we had our last night of tree sales.  We got to the lot and there were only 8 trees left to sell.  We sold half of them and finished up a big part of the clean up.  the Sunday crew closed the lot down while we were at church.

Rocket and his buddy taking down the tree stands.  Rocket was happy that his buddy was working with him.  I spent the night talking to the buddy's dad who is also Rocket's doctor. 

the four lonely trees- 2 Frasier firs close to us, and 2 white pines in the back.

Last week the boys melted ice on the hot barrel (the fire barrel for warmth), this week they held pieces of wood against the barrel and set the wood on fire.  this is literally about 10 seconds against the barrel to spark the fire.  you can see how hot the barrel is where the metal is turning red.  We had to burn up all the extra wood/large pieces of wood before we left, so we had a nice hot fire all night.  We also got to take home the smaller pieces of wood.  I have a bunch for our fire pit.  Maybe I need a bonfire this winter????

 

Enjoying hot chocolate and electronics by the fire.

Today the snow started falling.  The boys still have school as the worst was just to come and there is not expected to be much accumulation at all.  I think Pablo will enjoy the snow more than the boys.

Speaking of Pablo, this is what he did to the new work gloves I bought.  This is my pair or at least the pair I was using at the tree sale.  thankfully, we have 2 other pairs- one for Falco and one for Rocket, so I am not down a pair of leather work gloves.  there is that saying that parents need to be worried when their kids are very quiet and not in the same room as the parents, well the same is true for dogs.  I should have known something was up when I was cooking last night and Pablo was not at my feet in the kitchen begging for food.

 

that's all for today.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

A couple of snow days and racing cars

On 10Feb2016, we had snow and rocket had the day off school.  it was not a lot of snow, but it was enough that he got to sled.  We went over to the middle school and sledded on the small hill.

I convinced him to try "snowboarding" on his sled.  He did great and he loved it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, 15Feb2016, it was a US holiday.  Rocket got the day off school and I took a vacation day.  We were supposed to go tubing with friends, but plans changed.  Instead, we had a lazy morning at home and then after lunch we shoveled the driveway (there was a snowstorm on Sunday evening/night), and headed over to sled on the school hill again. This time Rocket started off snowboarding.

Pablo even got to go out to the sledding hill.  I walked him around the fields while Rocket sledded.

But, we both decided that Pablo needed to go sledding too.  This is the second run down the hill.  I took him down the first time.  We are not sure if Pablo liked sledding, but he did not complain.

We finally went home when Rocket and Pablo got too cold.  They were happy to get home to warmth and warm food.

 

Tonight was the Pinewood derby at scouts.  This is the last derby for Rocker as he will be bridging up to boy scouts in March.  There were some cute snacks.

The cars built by the Sr. Weblos (Rocket's group).  Rocket's car is the 3rd one from left between the gold and the blue car.  His car is a glittery minecraft car.

There were some games before the race while cars were weighed and checked in.

There was pack award ceremony for all the awards the boys have earned since November.

Ready for the race to begin- Let's go racing boys!

Rocket has never won one of the 5  awards for each group of racers.  He has come close over the last 4 years.  He as been a good sport about not winning, supporting his den mates, trying hard the next year and always being positive.  this year, he won 2nd place. One hundredth of second out of first place! I am so proud of him for always trying his best and working hard.  These are his best friends, they have been classmates since kindergarten and scout mates for 5 years.  this is their last year in scouts together.  Come March, some of the boys might leave scouts, some will go to other troops, but at least they will still be classmates.

from the back row, in tan shirt, E (1st place), Rocket (2nd place), in blue shirt T (3rd place- he had never won an award too). In the front row, in blue shirt A (originality award- he had the Chewbacca car), and P (craftsmanship award).  L did not win an award this year, but he has won in the past.

cars- left to right- T's car, P's car, Rocket's car, L's car, E's car is missing, and A's car.  What talented boys they are.

My boy with his car and trophy.

These are the belt loops that Rocket has earned over the last 5 years.  Lots of hard work, lots of fun and lots of effort.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb