New Job

We have been blessed. Craig starts his new job Monday. We have been enjoying the time to do things together as a family whenever we wanted, without the restrictions that work brings. Boaz has bowled and golfed and ran errands with his dad for months now. Josh has been enjoying these pleasures since school got out earlier this month.

I'm sure there will be a period of adjustment for both boys. They will now be stuck with me. I am less fun than Craig. But I will be looking for things to do with them over the summer. There is the summer reading program at the library, parks and games. But no more golf during the week. That will have to wait for weekends. And since everything will have to wait for weekends, Saturdays will not be the full out play day. Sigh . . . .

But we are feeling very blessed that Craig has found such a good job. He will be furthering his experience and learning new things. This job will be challenging without being overwhelming. We are grateful that Heaven has cared for us these past months and acknowledge His timing. We pray that we continue learning the lessons He would have us learn. Life is an adventure. :)

Head waters of the Metolius River

 
 
 

After stopping in Sisters for the quilt shop and ice cream we stopped to see the headwaters of the Metolius River. A spring under the butte empties out the side of the hill and the river begins wide and clear. No merging of little brooklets, but a full river from the start.

We counted chipmunks as we walked to the headwaters. One little, cheeky guy was bold enough to sit still about 2 yards away while I took his picture. On our way back, he might have been the one who actually ran toward us on the path. I didn't have my camera on, so I missed that photo op, but he was charming.

A fun little walk to see the birth of a river.

stoppping at the bridge

 
 


There is an awesome bridge that crosses the Crooked River Gorge between Madras and Redmond. I have driven over it so many times telling my boys that we will stop on another trip. But since we moved and no longer drive over the bridge so often, this time I stopped. The boys liked getting out of the car probably the most. But we walked across the old bridge and looked down at the river 300 feet below. We talked about how the gorge is getting bigger because of the water freezing the the cracks each winter. We looked at the pile of rocks down at the bottom. We looked at the drainage holes in the bridge. The boys wanted to play longer, but I had things to do, so off we went.

After a good day on the ranch

 
 

I took my boys to visit my very good friend, Loretta. She lives on a ranch. The trip was more for me, and Loretta and I spent hours talking about fabric and quilts and catching up on old friends. The boys went outside to play and found her bird bath, cat and dog water bucket. It's a lovely feature that the boys discovered that they could dump and build dams and mud cities and generally mud anything.

They were satisfied and I sent them immediately into the shower. I was glad they found a good place to play while I played with my friend. :)

At the South Falls

 
 


A really good day.

A really great tree stump

 
 
 


It only took a little encouragement from mom and the boys went in to see what they could see.

Mugging for the camera

 
 
 
 


My boys love the photo op. Boaz is goofy and Josh goes for the GQ thing.

Behind the waterfall

 
 

Trekking through Silver Falls

 
 
 


This was our science day. We talked about a few science things. We looked at different trees and berries and ferns and moss. We looked at water falls and trails and root systems. We climbed down stairs and trails and went behind water falls. And then we had to go back up to the car. I stopped talking and concentrated on walking.

What a boy does when he is trouble

 


Banned from the TV and given flash cards to practise his math facts, this is what he came up with. I thought it was impressive.

Can you believe it's done?

 
 
 


Well, almost. I still have the binding to do, but the quilting is done. I picked up the quilt from the quilter and I love it. Today was the last day of school for Josh and he came home and found the quilt on the bed. This has taken me two and half years or more to get to this point. I think I have about 8 - 10 hours left on the binding and then I have to figure out how to protect the thing.

The Olive Branch

 
 


Yea! it's done. All the quilting and the binding and everything.

I love it.

Extremes

We got in the car and my 5-year old told me I runined his whole life.

How did that happen? This morning we washed the car. Boaz was in charge of the hose for the most part. I told him it was his job to water the grass. He watered himself mostly. He got to rinse the car and wash the car, but mostly he played in the water. After we dumped the water out of the bucket, I got his goggles, and he looked in the bucket and was amazed. He helped me dry the car and then wash the suburban. The grass did well, I think.

He changed his clothes and played a bit while I did a few things in the house and then we were headed out to do a few errands. Because his sandles were soaked from the car wash episode, I had him put socks and shoes on. Somehow that destroyed his life.

We drove to Josh's school to drop off some boxes. The teachers are moving classrooms and need boxes. Boaz helped me carry a few and I took the bigger stack. I balanced the boxes against my hip and one arm. Boaz told me I was amazing. Not 30 minutes after I had ruined his whole life.

At Safeway, I bought him a donut and now he and Josh have inhaled the donuts and they are off to the slip and slide to play in the water again.

I think his whole life has recovered. :)