Garage Sale Finds

Having just taken an entire van-load of stuff OUT of my home, I was none too eager to bring any more stuff in. But then there are garage sales and second-hand stores that just entice me with all the fun stuff that I am sure that I really need… This Saturday was no exception.

Friends were having a missions trip fundraiser at their church. And the boys REALLY wanted to go, so I did.

Thankfully things were pretty picked over by the time we got there and I just really wasn’t in the mood to shop. :o) But I did get to visit with a friend and we came home with only two things!

One that I love… And one that Andy found and LOVES!

 Obviously this is the one I love! :o) I am just sure that Christmas cookies will taste even better from a plastic Santa head!

This is what Andy loves! He found a complete set of “Armored Vehicle Recognition” cards from 1987.

Each card includes the country it is used in, stats, weapons and all-angles to-scale views.

Andy was so excited about them that he looked them up on the internet and discovered that complete sets sell for $20 on Amazon! Way to go Andy! Now we will know exactly what kind of tank it is when we see one driving up the street… :o)

Homeschool Day at the Capitol

Tuesday was Homeschool Day at the capitol in Olympia. With Zack and Andy doing Washington State history this year, we figured it would make an excellent field trip.

Will took this picture of the capitol building

Hall of Justice

 

As usual, it was fun to see friends and hear from the Christian Homeschool Network about what is going on with them. But our favorite part was hearing from the state legislators themselves. It’s great to hear them talk about their faith in Jesus and their hope for our country’s future! It really motivates you get involved and make a difference…

We also got to meet Senator Benton, visit the GOP caucus room and stand on the floor of the Senate! The senator has had an all-homeschooled staff for the past 6 years!

It’s too bad they had so much trouble with sound because it meant we missed a lot of what our speakers were saying. :o(

We could hear what they said as long as they were facing our direction…

They also prayed for each of the legislators after they spoke

     

They even had homeschool students come and perform

Despite the sound issues and the pouring rain, we still had a very good time in Olympia. We are grateful and prayerful for the great country we live in!

Family Flashback- St. Patty’s Treasure Hunt

We have traditions for nearly every major holiday, including St. Patrick’s Day. When the boys were little we would make a St. Patrick’s Day craft of some kind and read the story of St. Patrick.

Andy (4), Will (2), Zack (5)

Andy’s craft

Zack’s craft

I didn’t let poor Will use glitter glue that day. But here’s one I saved that he made when he was 5. I love that the clouds spell his name!

But the best thing we did was a treasure hunt to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! I wrote clues on a piece of paper that led them to another piece of paper with a new clue (one of each of the colors of the rainbow) that led to the treasure of gold foil chocolate coins!

Yup! They found it!!!

Now most of our traditions involve food… :o) Irish soda bread, boiled potatoes and corned beef with cabbage! Oh, and fritters with green sauce for breakfast. 

War Games

Since Chris and I were off to our Leadership Retreat at Cannon Beach (of which I took no pictures but had a fantastic time!) and friends hosted this battle, I’m really not sure of exactly what went on. But friends took pictures (thank you Julianna and Doug) and the words  “awesome”, “intense” and “really fun” were thrown around, so I think they had fun…

And when I look at the pictures, I would agree!

Some of these pics are like a “Where’s Waldo” book

But the boys had fun inside, too…

Do you see a trend in the clothing choice???

 

Just hanging out is sometimes the most fun!

Sister Day Sleepover

After the birthday party for Chris and Grandma, I decided to stay the night and spend the day in Portland. Save gas and have an entire day with my sisters!!!

In order to eek every last bit of fun out of the day, I went to Theresa’s place for a Coal House sleepover! We stayed up late watching Coal House at War on YouTube. I think I like it even better than 1940’s house! The families are so cute and I love that there is NO WHINING!!! We then had an English breakfast in the morning, complete with Theresa’s homemade sauerkraut. Yum!!!

Then Amy and Maggie joined us for an afternoon of shopping at Limbo’s wall of herbs, Cool Cottons quilt store, Edelweiss German Deli and Monticello antique mall. So many fun things to see!

But the fun wasn’t over yet… On Saturday our pig was delivered to Frank & Amy’s place. I wanted to see him before he got too big and wasn’t cute anymore (and before we ate him)! :o) We named him Chester, despite repeated warnings not to name our food. Unfortunately, Chester and Bacon (Frank & Amy’s pig) were not nearly as excited about meeting us as we were of meeting them…

Chester is the one in front with the darker spot on top of his head. He’s not as cute as Bacon, but I’m sure he’ll be just as delicious! :o)

Amy, Theresa, Maggie, Charlie, Ada and I also made a quick stop on the way at Mike’s. The kids were on their best behavior (you’d hate to make Mike mad) and we all came out with one new treasure!

After a long, hard day and an entire discussion of the infamous Rohrer sweet tooth and pie, we decided to pick up a cherry pie for dessert! Coffee and cherry pie was the perfect ending of a very fun day!

Slush Days

As if the freak snow we had at the end of February wasn’t enough, it tried all of Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday to snow again! Our house was right at the snow line The boys were determined to find snow, and hiked up the hill in search of the white stuff. They found it up towards the water tower.

We did get some at home, but not too much until Thursday. Even so, we all went up the hill to try some sledding. And while the wet late-winter snow was perfect for packing but not so great for slippin’ and sliding.

Mostly we just messed around, walked to the water tower and just enjoyed the beauty of the snow…

Until it started to rain… I think this will be the last snow fall of the season.