Steelhead on Salmon

 
 

Alex, Katherine, Grandpa, and I visited Pullman on a quick trip during the weekend. Grandpa and I went to fish for steelhead trout on the Snake and Salmon rivers. The adults--Grandpa, all the uncles, and I--had an exciting time riding upriver on a jetboat, and then had continued good luck fishing (we hooked about 20 steelhead, landed 12, of which 6 were keepers: hatchery trout).

The kids got to spend the day with Great Grandma, practicing math, playing games, visiting the library, and eating ice cream for dessert. They had a blast.

Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa.

Mysterious Errands

Rebecca keeps herself busy, even if we don't always understand why. Right now she's carrying her onesies, one by one, to a yellow basket in the kitchen. Is she packing?

Kids and money

After Katherine heard Alex did a great job on a chore which usually earns three pennies:

Katherine: "Why can't you give him four pennies?"
Me: "Because I said three."
Katherine: "Can't you just give him four pennies?"
Me: "No. Three."
Katherine: "But don't you want us to earn money so we can buy things out of the earning bag?"


Alex: "How many dollars do you have, Mommy?"
Me: "Enough for what we need."
Alex: "Then why can't you pay for me to go to Lunch Bunch?"

On Orphans

As a lover and writer of children's stories, I understand the need to get the parents out of the picture. Still, it's a little disconcerting when your own kids start doing it:

"Let's pretend our parents moved away and locked the house and didn't leave us a key."

"Let's pretend our parents died."

"Let's pretend our mother died but she kept it a secret so our dad got remarried."


I hope it's nothing personal.

Recognition At Last!

Many of you know that I'm participating in a church musical production, a collection of numbers meant to be a "Tribute to Broadway." When I tried out, I hoped that I would land one of the coveted solo spots. Instead I was assigned to the chorus. Then I hoped for one of the solo lines sprinkled throughout the choral music, but those all went elsewhere. So I was astonished today to finally receive my overdue recognition for my talents with a new assignment:

Page turner!

Yes, I will be turning the pages for our pianist. She assured me that it's very important and takes a lot of musical talent. I turned pages during our last rehearsal run-through today, with a 99% success rate. (Once I flipped too far and landed on a blank page, which made my heart thump with fear, but I recovered quickly. When I apologized afterwards, the pianist assured me that she hadn't been worried, she knew I'd fix it. See the trust she places in me?)

Anybody who's interested in coming to the show can find out more about it and request tickets at www.tributetobroadway.org. Shows are Oct 16, 17, 23, and 24.

How can you answer these?

Katherine: "Could you hold something that came up as high as your legs?"
Me: "Like what?"
Katherine: "Like a quarter. Because it's made of silver."


Alex: "What's the kind of skyscraper you can hold?"

When Lar is away...

Had a long two weeks the last two weeks, with Lar gone most of the time (goat hunting in Utah, and working in New York).

Things that wore me out:
--Getting all three kids up and dressed to get Katherine to school or Alex to preschool
--Rushing to school on the day Katherine forgot her homework and "Student of the week" sharing time prop
--Buckling all three kids with carseats into a Toyota Camry (we borrowed it from my parents because the minivan is in the shop)
--Getting rear-ended in the borrowed Camry (fortunately not hard)
--Learning the minivan will be in the shop another week
--Loads of extra laundry due to diaper disasters
--Taking the kids to the Science Center (Rebecca was NOT satisfied to sit in her stroller)

And some good things:
--Sinking and floating chocolate bars when I had a quiet evening to kill (Results: Twix bars float in water but sink in oil)
--Enjoying two Ranger's Apprentice novels (except that book 5 ends on a total cliffhanger, and book 6 has 272 holds at the library)
--Having a friend amuse Rebecca during church while I taught Primary singing time
--Inviting another friend and her two girls to dinner (verdict: the girls like dress-ups but not pesto pizza)
--Finding a box of chocolates on my pillow after the Science Center trip and knowing my husband was back