Here's the video I mentioned leaving out of the last post; I figured out how to edit, so my apologies for the abrupt ending, and not sharing our address with our entire audience of 4. 

If you know my daughters, you'll recognize this as classic Kiana and Mikela. 

Happy Tuesday!

Sunshine and Bubbles

Yikes. 

Sorry about that last post; I am, indeed, a pessimist (really, I prefer "realist") by nature, but Idon't want that to be the nature of my blog.  Let's try this again, and watch some very random oldies-but-goodies that bring me back to my happy place:

I don't really remember what we were talking about here (maybe Oprah?), but Josh's hair was classic. 

 Also, note the voice cameo by Jennifer D.

 

My baby girl.  I love how I'm correcting her poor grammar (calling Kiana a "he")

with my speech impediment (I don't know how to spell my mispronunciation--"sche," or something like that); they've all picked it up at one point or another, but Daniel's been able to counteract the effect. :)



There was another video of Kiana and Mikela that I really wanted to post, but it seems 7-year-old Kiana was in the habit of signing off all of her videos with a complete recitation of our home address and phone number, and so I leave those in the archives. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Doom and Gloom

Let me just say this:

This little man will be entering the final year of his teenage-dom on Wednesday.

The sweet little girl on the right turns 11-years-old

about a week after that.

 (And now despises being called cute.)

And, finally, the mom and the dad in this picture

turned 56 and 57, respectively, last month.

I have a sense that this latest bout with writer's block is related to the lack of discussion regarding the birthdays of these people, punctuated by the recent passing of a dear, dear woman we have considered family since I was a child.  All have served as reminders of the swift passage of time:  unsettling, lump-in-my-throat-inducing, wow-I-guess-I'm-not-the boss-of-everything reminders.

Happy Monday! :-p

(Just kidding.  I mean, do have a happy Monday,

and maybe check in later to see if I've come up with some way to properly end this post. :)

Miki Mouse

To see Mikela's blog, click this awesome, radical link that will take you to the best blog ever!

This has been sitting in my drafts since July; not sure why I never got around to posting it.  I may have set up permissions for it, so if you're interested, message me, and I'll decide if you're worthy (and stable :-9) enough to keep up with Middle Daughter. :)

In other news, we had another fabulous weekend, and I've got nothin' to show for it.  Well, maybe a better tan; today was amazing, a lucky-we-live-Washington kind of a day.  (I just annoyed a few Hawaiians with that sentence. :-9)

All for now; have a great week!

Horsing Around

Words don't always come easily, and I guess it's one of those weeks.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of horses, and a few converted horse lovers:



Ready to go!



Who wants to halter Darlynn?

The usual volunteer.

Waiting to begin the real work...

The Real Work.



Patient, patient horse (as they stick labels on body parts).



Buddy, not quite as patient, wondering what's going on.

Horsey Hairdresser.

A moment of sweet, from my little Miss Sassy.

Checking out the latest horse fashions.

Learning how to tie up the horse.

Brushing Darlynn.

Kiana lunging Darlynn, helping to get the friskies out
 before they ride.

Miki's turn.

Malia calling Darlynn over after lunging her.
A bit apprehensive?

Learning to fall off the horse.

Trying to stay ON the horse.

The real horse lover in the family, confidence slightly shaken. 
They're so....BIG.

My favorite part of the whole day. :) 
Teaching Kiana how to show the horse who's boss.

These pics are from a 3-day Beginning Horsemanship series* the girls did this week; so much fun, and a valuable learning experience for each one of them.  It's interesting to see a shift in confidence, after learning they are capable of being the boss of a 1300 lb. animal.  I trust they won't try to use any of the methods learned on their mother.

Happy Thursday!

P.S. Thanks to Heidi for all the pictures in the roundpen.

*This program is offered by Tina Meekins.  The following is her description of the program:

   "This will be a real life horse experience in which your child will experience all aspects of horsemanship, starting with stall cleaning, grooming, ground manners, riding, and everything in between. A trail ride may be possible, depending on the confidence of the rider, the weather, the horses, and whether mom or dad is willing to side walk alongside your child. I will use a modified version of the 4H Horsemanship Manual as a curriculum as much as possible in this limited time period.

Please note: I am not teaching lessons, but rather, this is a chance for your child to experience having their own horse, with my oversight, for a short time.


I can take two children per week, extra siblings can be an exception depending on if mom or dad can stay and help me, since the safety of the children is the first priority. I have had children as young as two riding Darlynn, so I will leave it up to you as the parent to decide if your child is old enough for this, ie., their maturity level, and what you feel your child can handle."  

For more information, contact her directly at gilligansginger2@gmail.com .

Last Weekend

It's been a couple of busy weekends around here; much to talk about, but maybe when things quiet down.  In the meantime, a few new pics, just to make it look like someone's home:



Friday

We watched this little ball of cuteness, while Jen and Adrian took a few hours to breathe; that's their other ball of cuteness in the background.

Little Miss Tori, and Finnigan.

Saturday

We took in our first ice-skating competition at the Sprinker rink in Tacoma; I fear I see lots of ice skates and sparkly outfits in our future.

One of the skaters. 

Three of the other skaters, taking notes.

 After the competition, we stopped in at Heidi's, to help Jake celebrate his 11th birthday; any excuse to eat cake, you know. :D

The birthday boy, and his cool cake.

Licking their bowls clean.

Sunday

After gospel meeting, we had the usual suspects over for dinner, plus some new ones. :)



The kids.

These guys aren't afraid of babies.

Evidence in Finn's case against The Big Boys. :-9

And, finally, the amazing next-day results when you become a charter member of the Haselwood YMCA:

 

I imagine the results will be even better once it actually opens... :D

Happy Saturday!

♥ ♥ ♥

My posts, as of late, have been decidedly self-centered, with nary a mention of the truly interesting people in this household;

let's come back to center now:







 We picked up a new camera, and the girls are having fun with it, both behind, and in front of, the lens:

Malia entertaining the troops, while Kiana tries to set up the shot.
Miki being cooperative, as usual. 

All right, little sister; our turn....



My heart.

Happy Aloha Friday!

Good Stuff (Sir Ken Robinson)

I'm getting tired of facing my failed attempt at coolness, so let's change it up, and hear what this guy has to say:

P.S.  This "clip" is 20 minutes; long-ish for a blog post, but he has some good stuff to share, particularly for this mom, who also has a tendency to "live inside my head."

Happy Thursday!

One More

Check this out. 

I have no idea what it is, but it makes me feel cooler.  See?

(I have no idea what this means. 
My little brother throws it as he walks out the door and
 tells me he loves me, so I hope that means it's not something
I'll get beat up for using.)

I'm so cool now, I figured out how to work a webcam. 

All by myself. 

Just kidding; still the same dork I was 5 minutes ago. 
Thankfully my kids like me that way.



 Back to work!

Fishy

Wha--?!



I didn't even realize this had been invented. 

I have a coupon for this.  Not on purpose--it came with my Sunday paper--and I had to, you know, LOL when I came across it; just seems like a strange idea to a girl who prefers to eat it like this:

Oh, yeah....mm, mm, goooood.

I've got this, and other Hawaii not-so-delicacies on the brain (trust me, there's nothing delicate about Hawaiians eating ;-9).  We're having some friends over for dinner tomorrow, and, since it's entirely possible they love Hawaii more than we do, we figured we should feed them right.

Hope your weekend's a good one;

Happy Saturday!