Weekly Update

I honestly can't believe this is Friday already! While some days have seemed very long, overall I just don't know where the time went.

Monday Chris won 4 dollars on a lottery ticket. He also knew the sound bite on the radio station. called in and won 2 meals at McDonalds, 2 movie passes to the new movie theater, a free bag of popcorn while we are there and a tee shirt.

Tuesday the 9th grade had a football scrimmage against Flathead (where I worked last year). It was a different feeling, but I think we will all get used to having 2 schools here soon. Chris had a bowling meeting, so I actually spent some time with the kids! Chris still got to cook supper, but after we went out and kicked the ball around some. I did this so much more with Isaac when he was younger than I have with Zoey. She can (soccer)dribble the ball very well, but I can't get her to be a little competitive. I wanted to use another word to make that sound better. But Isaac and I would race to the ball to see who could kick it first, well Zoey runs to the ball and lays on it. Now no one can kick it and the game has stopped. We ended the evening with dilly bars and bedtime. While Chris was at his meeting he got a phone call letting him know he got the job with NOMAD. This should be fabulous!!! He will be starting at more money than what he is making now, plus they have quick advancement. Chris is excited about working 4 days a week again.

Thursday--I was home at a decent time last night, but I don't think I accomplished anything.

I am going to take the kids to the Flathead varsity football game tonight for however long they last. Glacier is out of town so I will see how the kids from last year are doing as well as the new athletic trainer. Chris is going to climb Bomber Mountain again this weekend with my brother Bill. I will work Glacier's first home volleyball game tomarrow. Then I have two more days to play with the kids.

Bringing Montana to You

I don't know how this works, so I am just giving it a try. The videos I posted are from my camera and not the video recorder so they are short and there will be NO sound.

short update

We got a small short rain the other day and a lot of wind. It cleared the smoke out of the valley for about two days. It actually smelled great here for a short time. It is settleing back in again.

Isaac gets tired of waiting for Zoey and I to catch up to him when he needs a push on his bike so he learned how to start himself. No more pushes needed, but welcomed.

Chris had a job interview the other day for Nomad Technologies. They build communication trucks/portable stations for various companies around the country including our government. He would be excited to work 4 days a week again, but we haven't heard back yet. Not sure about the pay. I think we are just going to keep our options open for now.

I didn't get the hours I was hoping for. For the time being I am working 6 days a week with a pay cut and no summers off. The kids are in daycare 5 days a week now for full days. I think they are doing well with that. I don't know was I supposed to check on that? I drop them off in the morning and they are clean and smiley. I guess that's good?? Actually Zoey has stopped crying when I drop her off at daycare. I hate when they cry and then you just have to hand her over to the caregiver and run fast as to not make matters worse.

after thought

I almost forgot. Last night while we were bowling, we were sitting there waiting for our turn and Isaac looks at Chris and says "You're a great dad." Doesn't that just make your heart melt. Not I kinda like ya or you are a good dad, but GREAT. In case no one can tell I am pretty proud of my crazy little Isaac!

Another New Milestone

We had a pretty good weekend. The Northwest Montana Fair was on in Kalispell. Gillette does not really have a "fair" so it was nice to go and see everything. The kids got to ride some rides and eat junk food like cotton candy. We did that on Saturday.

On Sunday we took Isaac's training wheels off his bike. I don't know if he was ready or truly if I was ready. But he was getting a little out of control with those training wheels and I told Chris we had to do it. Isaac did so well. It took him about 10 minutes to learn. He still doesn't know how to break, but we have practiced that too and he is getting better. I was so excited for him this weekend, he just does so well at everything.

Last night we went bowling with some friends. Ike and Zoey bowled some and really enjoyed that. I had one good game of about 106, everything else stunk. Chris has joined a bowling league and will be doing that on Tuesday nights.

Back to School

This week has been 100% busy. All sports started on Monday. I don't have my training room ready yet. Just got ice yesterday. I don't have mornings off anymore, so I have been getting up early and working late, plus the smoke is just getting worse so I think that is slowing me down a bit as well. After practice I have been giving massages and Tuesday we gave a sports medicine conference for the coaches in Erueka (probably more than an hour north of here).

Chris's birthday was yesterday. He is now 32. We went out to eat at Byerly's. Since the kids did not seem hungry, it was a long meal. Zoey ate her ranch with her fingers and none of her chicken. Isaac tore his corndog apart, but didn't eat it. Chris told Zoey that if she didn't eat she would have to go sit in the car by herself. To Chris's surprize she opted for the car.

This moringing I got a packet of info for Isaac to start school. I can't believe he is in school! (or will be on Sept 4). His school list is different than mine was when I was his age. He needs rubber soled plain inside slippers, any size indoor plant or tree, change of clothes and a picture of himself. I got a list of events through out the year listing conferences, thanksgiving feast, christmas bazaar, graduation and play. He even gets a spring break! I am so excited for him. Yesterday I asked him what he did that was fun (as he already told me he had fun all day) and he said he did a paper. Which means he did a dot to dot or counting or letters or something. So I think he will really like going to school. Every day he will have math, reading, language, circle (calendar, weather, presentations, graphing, experiments ect), listening comprehension/rest and this year they will be rotating times for spanish/art/keyboarding/pe. Plus they have the option to take swim lessons, which cost extra of course.

This all comes of course with fund raisers. They collect box tops, ink cartridges and soup lables for anyone who would like to help out. Labels include: Campbell's, Pepperidge Farm, Pace Sauce, Prego, Swanson and V8 products.

What a Fabulous Weekend!

I had two strong days of football. It feels good to be back at it again. Yesterday, after I got home from work, we went camping. I have not been camping in such a long time and missed it. We went on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir and stayed at a campground called Devil's Corkscrew. We did some minimal fishing, ate hot dogs and the kids played flashlight tag. It was wonderful. The only bummer is that with fire restrictions we couldn't have a camp fire. The kids asked to go to bed, so we all climbed into the tent and found our spot. It took the kids a good 20 minutes to calm down and stop talking and asking so many questions. I find it amazing how much I like to sleep in the tent when I kept rolling towards the bottom and was up all night making sure Zoey wasn't too cold. Chris does well taking us all into the wilderness, but we are a loud and somewhat demanding bunch. He gets stressed and I am not sure I can talk him into taking us for two nights.

My head is still filled with thoughts of things to do and not exactly the laundry, dishes and toys that will need to be attended to before tomorrow starts. Its more like how many massages should I be doing, how many hours will I be spending in the training room (especially since this year I will have Chris here to help out) and should I check into becoming the strength and conditioning coach this fall. Why not. I would enjoy it. Oh, I am also teaching myself this weekend how to knit a hat. So far so good, but I am not very far. On the ride home I realized I really need to focus on the things I am already doing and possibly not start more things. I enjoy my job, when politics are not mentioned and my family is wonderful. Chris is still willing to put up with me, even though I am constantly preoccupied with a handful of other things. I just have to stay busy. Last Thursday as we were going around the loop, I stopped to say hi to one of the neighbors. We had a very nice chat and our kids got to play together.

PS.. Montana does not suck. Please come visit us.

Montana Sucks

I have always heard about the website Montana Sucks. Not as funny as I had hoped, but I am passing it on none the less.http://www.montana-sucks.com/index.html This is supposed to be a site to keep tourists out of Montana and visiting Alabama and New Jersey instead.

No More Rhubarb

When I visited Minnesota, I made four very delicious rhubarb pies. I wanted so much to make one for Chris when I got back to Montana (assuming he likes rhubarb as much as I do). Well, guess what--No rhubarb! I have been to several different grocery stores in a couple different towns, including the fresh produce place on Hwy 2 looking for either fresh or frozen and there is nothing. I may just have to make it berry instead.

This morning I did some fanagaling. I was quite surprized actually. We were supposed to take one of my co-workers out for breakfast at 7am this moring, being her last day of work. Well, even though it seemed a little early I wanted to be part of the team, but not so much with my childrens. So I asked Chris to get the kids dressed and take the kids to work with him and by the time he would get to work at 8 I could just go and pick them up. It worked beautifly. We went from Chris's work to daycare. I totally forgot Sherman Bear and some of Isaac's papers there yesterday (wasn't sure we would make it all the way to today for them). Also we resigned the contract so the kids can be in daycare 5 full days a week starting next week. With Sherman Bear in hand we headed to the new high school. I was so excited the Pepsi guy was there. He's all like " I have your coolers, cups and ice machine. Where would you like them?" I show him my training room and find out we don't have the proper outlet (anywhere) in the training room! People are working on it, but would it have hurt to think a head a little. So Isaac helped fill med kits and unpacked my coolers. Zoey helped some, colored some and cried and screamed a lot. Now we are having a blissful naptime. Both are sleeping. Even though Isaac will still tell you he never needs to sleep. He is so silly.

The Smell of Rain

Yesterday, as I blogged, we got a short but hard bout of rain. So even though seven more fires started, I can see the mountains today. It smelled so good outside today. It hasn't been as hot either--low 80's upper 70's.

I watched Oprah today to see what she had to say about women in their thirties. It really wasn't as eye opening or revolutionary as I expected it to be. One lady did make note of how important your friendships are in your thirties to pull you through on whatever road life has you traveling down. I have to agree with that.

Well sports are officially in full swing. We had a coaches meeting this morning (at which a wonderful breakfast was served). The meeting was at 7am. Guess how early I have to get up to get me and the kids ready for that. Way too early. Practice starts on Friday and the first football game is Aug 17th. I am so glad I love what I do. I am so excited that the new season is here. Everything is a very fresh start with a brand new highschool. We are all excited and have high standards to set. I may have enjoyed not working much over the summer, but I have to admidt I don't know what I would do without fall sports starting up! By the way--did any of you happen to watch the X Games? That fall that Jake Brown took was AMAZING.http://http//sports.espn.go.comand click on X Games or Jake Brown. I still can't believe that he walked away--or LET him walk away. I have been watching the X Games for about 5 years and have not seen so many nasty crashes. I would love to cover the X Games some day, not sure what the requirements are. I nearly forgot that Barry Bonds hit homer #756. Sports are so political and crazy these days--but booing someone for doing their best just seems rude.

Quick Pics

Both these pictures were taken from my front deck. One on a smokey day, the other on a clear day.

Glacier National Park still has very small amounts of snow. The other picture is Hidden Lake after we climbed (through, up, over?)Logan's Pass.

My Cute Little Sprouts

Yesterday Zoey pedeled all the way around the loop on her tricycle. I don't know that she is ready for a timed race yet, but she goes pretty good. When she goes fast she says "Lightening McQueen" (because that is who Isaac likes to be when he is riding).

Also yesterday during naptime arguments, Isaac said "I am going to stay up forever. I don't need to sleep" and fell asleep before I left the room.

This afternoon we went to Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. I really liked it. Probably one of the better ones. When we got out the smoke had really set in in Whitefish and ash was falling. Can't wait for that rain.

Rain Rain Come Again

All day it has felt like rain. I wish we would get a good hard rain, well actually a thunderstorm, but the lightening would be bad right now. It actually sprinkled for a minute today, but not enough to calm the smoke.

My kids are growing up so stinkin fast. It is amazing to see them so big, but sad to see my babies go. Zoey is getting so tall and with her hair in a pony tail and dressed up for day care with her back pack on her back, she looks like she is ready for school. She can put on her own shoes, buckle her car seat and is mostly potty trained. These pictures were taken a year apart. She is such a determined little girl and knows exactly what she wants. She still doesn't sleep. No naps the last two days. Her hair has grown from just barely having a plume for a pony on the top of her head to me being able to french braid it. Not sure this is good public information, but she WONT use a portapotty when needed. We had some trouble at Kyle's baseball game again, very strong minded.

Holy Smokes

Yep, we are kinda in a fire zone. I personally have not seen the fires, nor are we being evacuated, but the smoke we have here is amazing or something. Its kinda like a stinky fog.

Well I am back to work, with meetings and politics and trying to put together a new training room. No ice machine, no coolers for water and the football players get to run in the smoke. We are still working out my schedule for this coming school year. Much negotiation.

On Saturday we went to Glacier National Park and drove up to Logan's Pass. From there we hiked to the Hiden Lake. It was a pretty cool hike (not so much the weather, but the hike). There was very little snow left, but of course the boys slid down it on their tummies. Isaac got cold and started crying about half way down.

Sunday I worked on getting my house back in order after being gone. Getting reaquainted with my house again. My one and only house plant died while I was gone. The kids have been swimming in the river almost everyday. Isaac will tell me he has a plan and it usually includes swimming at the river. Yesterday we baked some cut out peanut butter cookies. Both the kids enjoyed that.