Skiing with the kids!

We managed to get up to Mt. Spokane with the kids twice this year.  And this time, Ben got to give it a go!  He gave it his best, but for the most part, he just tagged on to Joe or me, and held on tight.

I'll tell ya, the old school two-seater chairlifts made my heart stop, especially since Kayte and Will had to ride up on their own.... But no one fell off, no one broke a leg, or ran head-first into a tree.  So I'd say the day was a success! ...Plus, the snow was plain awesome.

My dream come true: my three year old doin' the snowplow!

I didn't catch Will on film, but I was really hoping to get a video.  He's killing it!  And Kayte isn't far behind him.  They both managed a blue run pretty well, and they both tried out a jump and caught a little air.  Yep, tearing up with pride.  Just a little bit.

And...Joe and I took the day off all on our own to experience some spring skiing.  But when we got there, it was like January in March.  So.much.powder.  I thought all my squats and lunges would pay off out there, but honestly the speed made my legs burn.  That's living.  No doubt.

We made it!

We're here!  With much help and ado, we got all moved in yesterday.  Sara's been fighting the stomach flu, and possibly my little Ben too, so I'm trying to stay one step ahead by not sitting down.  Ever.

But I had to pop in and say, I'm absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude to all the people who pitched in in the last couple days, in a myriad of ways...and all of those who offered to help, and got a cool 'I think we're good.'  Well, as I expected, I completely underestimated the enormity of this task!  (Did I mention the house is 3 stories tall?)  So anyway.  I really appreciate you all.  My cup overflows.

PS.  We moved 11 times before my 12th birthday, which I would like to say, should've been enough to have my parents committed.  I can't say I'd be real sorry if they dragged me out of here in a pine box. 

Really truly.

And so it begins....

I think 'Madness' is an appropriate adjective for today...

Undesirable Mileposts.

Last week I let Will ride on his bike all alone down the street two whole blocks.  The worry demon inside me fought me tooth and nail on that one.  Now he is making his way around the whole block.  I've warned him about looking both ways, staying on the sidewalk, remembering the cars can't always see you with the sun glare and the texting, and don't talk to strangers, and watch out for cars that are slowing down next to you for they hold possible evil, and don't ever ever ever ever go out without your helmet.  Is that it?  Is that all I can possibly think of?

You know, back when we were teaching him how to ride a bike, it was all exciting and congratulations.  But now he actually wants to ride it.  Alone.  Without my supervision.  And I'm terrified.  And the kid in me is rolling my eyes, cause back when I was 6, I'm pretty sure me and my sister were walking solo two whole blocks to Modern Way to get our Jolly Rancher fix with our 50 cent allowance. 

I wonder if it gets easier, letting your kids grow up.

Shamrock cookies :)

Today, I made cookies while listening to my favorite soundtrack:  Kayte on violin, with a side of Ben, hollering, "Mmmm...my belly's hungry..... Sara, what part of you is hungry?"

Yep, I'm still procrastinating, giddy in the fact that I have my house back, and my kids home, nowhere to go, and well, I've taken the week off from the gym, which means I have loads more time to bustle about in my kitchen, my second favorite room of the house.

(Isn't she lovely?)

I do actually have a moving goal for the day:  pack the junk closet (Yes, a junk drawer is far too small.  We have a floor-to-ceiling closet dedicated to our junk.  With drawers.)

I am happy to report that I do have the move on my mind, because when I cleaned my house this week, I didn't bother to dust.  Truly, what's the point?  It's all gonna be packed up in a box before anyone really starts to notice anyway.....I hope.

(And, to be honest, I really really really hate to dust.)

Oh!  And I did haircuts.  That's something!  Now I won't have to worry about people's hair on moving week.  So, see!  I'm getting there!

Downtime

What's our favorite spring break pasttime?  Playing school, of course!  Kayte is super-organized and would actually make a great teacher, I think!  I scored some teacher lesson plan books and grade books in the dollar bins at Target awhile ago, and she's been working with her little students all week long.

Kayte is a hard little worker and astonishes me at what she can accomplish in a day with a smile on her face.  She's had a very busy schedule lately.  One real day in the life of Kayte:  school, 3:30 ballet class, 5:00 basketball game, 1/2 hour of violin practice before dinner, another 1/2 hour after dinner, and then a 1 1/2 hour school project before crashing in bed at 9.  I'm not sure if she even squeezed in a bathroom break.  Some days are harder than others, but this one wasn't atypical for her.

I'm so thankful for her spring break.  She needed one.



Reason 3million&six that I love my Sara:

She always uses the word 'ain't' correctly.

Except she doesn't say ain't, she says "am'nt".

For example, "I'm a princess, am'nt I, momma?"  (And yes, that would be the correct use of the word 'ain't'.  I actually know this stuff.)  Country girl with flair, that's Sara!

In other Sara news:

She got to recite Psalm 1 with her class for the assembly the other day.  She wanted two little buns in her hair like Greta from the Sound of Music.  I did my best.  She carried it off with her usual grace and made us proud!

Love you Miss Sara!



Where's IT when you need 'em????

I wanted to get all spring-y up in here, but my computer refuses to allow me to upload a picture for my header, which leaves us with Christmas dresses and stockings hung with care.  It says I have exceeded my upload limit and will have to pay for more storage.  Well, there's nothing this girl loves more than a good purge.  If only they'd let me at it.  Or.  I could ditch blogspot and head over to wordpress where all the cool bloggers go....  I'm gonna save that threat and send it to corporate.  That'll make 'em rethink things.  Who pays for anything on the internet???

More 'yay'!

Ben and I have been loving having our house back.  It seems like ages and ages since we didn't have a showing (or 4) looming, waiting to swoop in and insist on a spotless house at a moment's notice.  Last week there was a flurry of workers coming in and out of our house, working on getting our house ship-shape for the new owners.  The bank appraiser was scheduled for 10 am Friday morning and the minute she left, Ben and I looked at each other (and I know for a fact, he was just as giddy as I was), we realized we were all alone!  It had been awhile, but I was pretty sure we had time to whip up a batch of ginger snaps before it was time to go get Sara from school.  Baking is my very very favorite way to pass a lazy morning.  And it might just be that my almost 4 year-old had never been introduced to the kitchen aid before (or a lazy morning!  Ok, I exaggerate.....A little.).  He rolled those little gingers into balls and dipped them in the sugar like a pro!

So very very happy!!!

My little carpenter...

Will got a wood-working kit for Christmas, and what better time to dig in then Spring Break?

He made this little treasure chest almost completely by himself!  So cool!

The Big News!

Yay!

Yup, we sold our house!  We are moving out in a little over a week!  Ack!

We've been planning this step for about 8 years now, planning our little dream home out on a little square of land somewhere.  And now that we're here at the jumping off point, we aren't quite sure exactly how to proceed. 

First, I'm in complete denial about the move.  Last time we moved we had two point zero kids and not enough furniture to fill even the living spaces, let alone the bedrooms.  The storage closets were great big empty shelves that we couldn't possibly imagine filling.  Moves in my relatively short adult past have mostly involved throwing some boxes in the back of my car, and having one extra guy with his truck to help Joe move the bed.  Maybe a fun little painting party, too!  I know that I should get started, at least with the hall closets, and maybe some purging.  But my mind says, What's the hurry?  So I put it off another day.

Secondly.  What on earth do we know about countertops or flooring or hardware?  We've done just the ittiest bit of remodeling in our time, and suddenly, come to find, Joe and I have completely opposite tastes in almost everything.  Which came as quite a surprise to us both.  We both like farmhouses and colonial style homes, and we have similar tastes in paint colors....but what about showerheads and cupboard doors, mmm?  Apparently there is so much more to building a home than what color the shutters should be.  I know, big surprise!  We packed up the kids and headed to what will surely be the first of many many many trips to Home Depot to scope things out a bit.  And we picked out a wood floor.  And I brought a little piece of it home.  One more step in the great big project.

We sat down to discuss landscaping last night, and I got out my little colored pencils and we sketched in a lawn here, raspberry bushes there, and oh yes, we'll need eight 100-year old oaks to line the driveway.  I dust off my hands and walk away, and think, I just penciled out the next 10 years of our lives in landscaping (and that doesn't include the 90 extra years for those oak trees.)

But I'm so excited.  I love a good adventure!  And I think it will all become real once the packed boxes start filling up my hallway and the uhaul arrives....that is, if I ever get around to packing any boxes.

This is us, two years ago, on our land:



And away we go!

Sunshine!

The weatherman predicted seven days of rain and snow and wind following our beautiful spring Friday.  We woke up Saturday to more sunshine and I kept telling the kids, "go-play-outside-it's-a-beautiful-day-it's-gonna-rain-until-you-have-to-go-back-to-school."  All.day.long.

And they did!  They climbed trees, played in the pond, played fetch with the frisbee (Yep.  Fetch.  Ben ran over and grabbed it in his mouth and fetched it back to Kayte.  Until 'the Mom' caught wind and nixed that gross germy game.  I know!  What a kill-joy.), and they rode bikes as fast and hard as they could.  And they came inside smelling like grass and dirt, and it was wonderful.

Until Sunday.  Sunday it rained and snowed and stormed.  And then they came to me begging for movies and video games and veg time saying, "Pretty soon it's gonna be sunny again and you're gonna make us go play outside all day."

Yep, that'd be a real bummer.
(That's Sara's "ack-the-sun-is-getting-in-my-eyes" face.  We Idahoans just aren't used to that in March.)

VACATION!!!

My daughters are at cousin-sleepovers, my sons are downstairs, snuggled up together with a big bowl of Doritos watching Planet 51.  Joe is at poker, and left me with a fire, a glass of wine, and sole power of the remote control.

Welcome to Spring Break.  Casebolt-style.

Think spring.

It was 55 and sunny today, a nice break from the snow we've been getting lately.  Joe took the kids ice-fishing.  A sunny spring day drives that guy to distraction.  He's only cured when he finally reaches water.  Even frozen water.  A whole foot thick. 

Sara came home and promptly changed back into her sundress (that she wears every day, even in the snow.)  When I saw her, not wearing the pants that I nearly had to force on her before sending her out on the ice, she quickly defended herself, "I just had to change.  I just got so hot out there ice-fishing......I wish the pool was open today.  It's sooo hot."

That's Idaho kids for you.  It isn't always easy living in the northen part of the country.  It certainly takes a certain type of person to stick it out up here, especially when it would just be so easy to choose somewhere else.  Somewhere with sand.  Thank heaven God makes snow beautiful.  And without winter, where would be the excitement of those crocuses pushing up from the still-hard ground?

Sara popped out again from the next room.  Still defending herself, "I was so hot.  It feels like summertime."

Isn't that easy to please!

Princess. . .

. . .with an all-day sucker.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got to spend the day with a cherub and a whole lotta pink sugar cookies.  Mmm. . .life is good!

Will's Birthday!

Today, Will turns 8 years old.  If I could pick any 8 year-old to be mine, this is the boy I would choose.  He is sweet and funny, athletic and smart.  He thrives on good hugs.  He wears a button-down to school cause I told him it makes him look good.  Even if it isn't Friday.  He is passionate about fishing and skiing, which makes both Joe and I happy.  He's super-brave and extremely cautious.  Keeping his family safe and happy is always on his mind.

The only thing he wanted for his birthday was a BB gun that I think Joe promised him for his 8th birthday back when he was 5.  He was excited to get home from school and shoot it, and he was just a bit worried his little bro would get a hold of it and hurt himself while he was off at school.  That's Will.

We always do presents and donuts first thing, cause I believe in dessert first.

 He was pretty excited that a basketball game was scheduled on his birthday.  He couldn't wait!  And, it turned out to be an awesome game and they scored their second win of the season!  (That team has really come along this season, and everyone had a stellar game!)

We hurried home for a ham & banana dinner, some brownies, and then Joe took Will and Jasper to Zeppoz for some arcade games.  It was a super-fast night of celebration and excitement.

 What a good kid.  He makes us proud!

Giggles.

*** Warning: unless you have children, the language in this post may shock. ***

But.  I can't help myself.

Ben called me for some of the usual help in the bathroom. 

When I came in, he reminded me, "Don't flush the toilet!  I want to do it!"

But of course, out of habit, I reached right up and flushed it.  "Oh Ben, I'm so sorry!  I forgot!"

"Oh, that's ok Mom!" says my little Ben, all chipper, waving me off.  "I'll poop again tomorrow!"

I'll tell ya, I'm just happy all this is happening in the bathroom.  There was a day, not so long ago, that I didn't believe that was ever gonna happen.  Hang in there people!

P & J, plus 8.

This morning started with my final 5 AM wake-up call for my beating at the gym by our very own Annie Rench.  I did it!!!  6 weeks (minus the strep-throat-with-a-flu-chaser week, that was a bummer :()

Anyway, I'm still super-proud of the work I completed there (and yes, I'm the kind of person who regularly needs to pat her own back.)  And by final wake-up call, I mean I will never ever ever ever again get up that early unless I'm catching a plane to somewhere super-exotic and sunny, or I'm hitting the ski slopes for a perfectly sunny day of powder hopping.  I can think of absolutely no other justification for it.  I really admire the people that do it on a regular basis.  Especially the chipper ones. 

I thought it might be like my distaste for running.  Like someday I would hit my stride and 5 AM would not feel like the very gate of death.  But I'll be honest, squat thrusts even come second to the actual alarm clock that got me there.  Today I decided if I was not able to work out sometime between the hours of 8 am and 9 pm, it simply would not get done.  You've seen the posts on pinterest.  "Get it done", "Just carve out time", "It's worth it".  Whatever.  I wouldn't do it.  I'd stay home and eat a box of pop tarts every night instead.  (I know this without a doubt, simply because it is exactly what I do when I get pregnant.  Yes, a whole box.  Every night.)

Anyway, from the gym I headed home at 7 AM to the 8 Driskill kids.  Now, anytime that they arrive sans the parents, it is such a flurry of excitement I actually feel like I've gone from 0 children and a quiet pristine house, straight up to 8 kids and total chaos in 60 seconds flat.  So from then on they are all just a mass of Driskills.  Heaps of lunches and clothes and belts and hair-dos later, and with Joe's help, the 5 oldest are delivered at school and I head home to clean the house.  The deep-clean kind that must be done on a regular basis to maintain sanity.  My theory here is that by the time the naps are done and the basketball game is over, I'd be dropping all 8 kids back at their own house with a trusty babysitter, and I'd come home to quiet and pristine again.  (This is an important part of the story, so remember my game plan here.)

By the time I get Henry down for his morning nap, I'm eager for that shower.  At this point, all I can think about is food-shower-sleep.  I can't decide which I want more.  Three seconds into the shower, I decide that that is my least fav.  My arms are worthless from my gym-beating, and washing my hair is almost torture.  That rules out any food intake as well, any arm-lifting of any kind is completely out of the question, so now all my energy beams in on the clock, and I watch each minute click by until 2 when I get to put them down for naps.  (My 0 kids nap at 12:30, so this is extreme discipline on my part.) 

I pick up the kindergarteners and head to Mickey D's for food and easy clean up, plus a little exercise for the kiddos.  (Yes, at this point my standards hit rock-bottom).  Each minute lasts five and then finally finally finally, it is almost time.  Everything is moving on schedule now.  The olders get home from school, we do a little homework, we head to the basketball game, we scream and yell and WIN! 

We head to the Driskills to drop their 8 kids with a babysitter. . .and the door is locked.  Joe does his best to break in, he seems so confident that he can do it, I almost believe him.  The neighborhood dogs root loudly for him.

Needless to say, we end up home, with 8 tired and hungry Driskill kids to my quiet and pristine house.  Two hours till bedtime.  Eternity.

All the guilt I may have had for ditching town in the middle of their move last weekend is now absolved.  It's semi-quiet in my house.  I have a glass of wine.  Not only do I admire early-risers, I submit all my respect to those with 8 kids.  How on earth is it done?

Fun on ice.

What better way to get out the post-school dodrums than a race around the snow ice with a little sister hunkered down in a sled.  He loves to hear her squeal, and she isn't afraid of speed. . .

One of these days I'll have Joe upload the video I took of the two of them.  So much fun-ner in action :)