Pick Me Up

Need a pick-me-up?  Looking at this works for me...

And this...

And so on...

Run Boy Run!

Buttermilk Sky had an excellent track season last spring.  He had the opportunity to run the mile in the state meet for 2A schools and made his fastest time (4:54--sweet!).

 He also had an excellent cross country season this year.  His whole team went to the state meet for 2A schools (they went last year, as well) and they all did a great job.

 Buttermilk Sky came in 18th--way to go!!

Eggs on Toast also ran cross country this year, for the first time, and also had the opportunity to run in the state meet for middle school.

 He came in 16th--yay!!

Run boy run!  They're trying to catch you!
Bonus points if you know that song...

Strings Concert

Junior and Eggs on Toast have been able to participate in the "Strings in the Schools" program here, learning to play the violin.  These pictures and video are from their first concert, which was in December.

Behind the beginning group are more advanced students playing the melody.

They were a little nervous, but they did a great job!

We Freezie and See Kokanee

A week and a half before Halloween, I got to go to Eggs on Toast's school field trip to Taylor Creek (near Lake Tahoe) to see the Kokanee salmon.

After beautiful, endless, sunny summer and fall days, this day slushed in the valley and snowed in the mountains.  Just three weeks before, we had been at the lake, swimming.

I don't know how the poor little wet, shivering kids survived.  I almost didn't.

Eggs' class had been studying the life cycle of the Kokanee.  By the time we got there, they were nearly finished spawning.

The red color of the salmon was spectacular and it was cool for the kids to see what they had been studying.  However, we were so very, very cold, it was a little difficult to enjoy.  But I think everyone was still glad that we got to go.

After I got home and changed into dry clothes, I got into bed and stayed there until the kids came home from school, and I still felt cold.

Check out the video below to see exactly where we went and what we saw (minus the snow).  Although, in the video, the narrator says that the bears eat the salmon, but the tour guide told us that while there are many bears in the area, they don't eat the salmon.  She said that they don't for two reasons.  One is that the fish are about to die and they are pretty much rotten so they wouldn't taste good to the bears.  The other reason is that fishing is a learned behavior for the bears and because the salmon are not native to the area, the bears do not know how to catch them.  So now what are we to believe?  The tour guide or the movie?

Time to be Nine

Eggs on Toast turned nine years old recently.

We were so lucky to have Aunt Lori and the Silly Grandma here visiting.

We went roller skating to celebrate.

This was the Silly Grandma's first time roller skating.  She kept going and going until by the end, she was skating pretty well.

Some serious limbo contemplation is going on below.

Happy Birthday, Eggs!

Tank Cake

Eggs on Toast refined his cake-making skills for his Blue and Gold Banquet.

Eggs was pretty proud of it, and it was a hit with the banquet-goers.

Catch Our Disease...(Please, Baby Please)

At the beginning of the year, four of us tested positive for Celiac Disease. (Myself, Buttermilk Sky, Eggs on Toast, and Junior.) While it requires dietary changes and vigilance, really, if you're going to have a disease, I would choose this one over many others. And, it's lucky for the boys that we have discovered it early before they have developed unpleasant autoimmune disorders or cancer due to gluten damaging their bodies.

Since this discovery I have heard Eggs say things to his friends such as, "Guess what? I have a disease." His friends eye him and say, "What disease?" Eggs says, "I'm not sure, but it's the one that means I can't eat glue--um, something with glue." Then later he comes to me and says, "Mom, what disease do I have?"

So, now that you know that we are diseased, why don't you come on over a little closer and see if you catch it? It's not so bad--all you have to do is stop eating glue.



PS. You know I'm joking about catching it, right? Celiac is hereditary but not contagious...I don't want to spread any misconceptions. Please don't shun us! At least not more than usual.

Pinewood Adventure

Eggs on Toast turned eight just in time to be in the Pinewood Derby. He was so thrilled.

They had a high-tech set-up this year with a joke-telling emcee and everything.

Shall we have just one more "round of applause"?

Eight is Enough

Someone turned eight years old a couple of weeks ago. Someone who once looked like this:

And who now looks like this:

He wanted an "arachnid" birthday party. We ended up focusing on the spider aspect of arachnids.

The Silly Grandma made this fabulous cake, of course.

The party-goers hunted down a giant egg sac which was hid in our house by a giant spider.

We then hung it from the basketball hoop,

and bashed it to shreds.

Because that is what one does with giant egg sacs which have been extricated from one's house.

And once the egg sac was bashed to bits, the party-goers scrambled to gather the innards which had been spilt upon the ground and put them into little bags to feast upon later.

How frightfully delightful.

Happy Birthday, Eggs on Toast!