Marina's First Foray into Fruit Art

We are now enjoying fruit salad!

This Week

Yesterday Willie was working on his homework.  He had to write an current event piece for his science class.  I said, "I just read one for my science class check it out!"  He read the article about a car sized asteroid hurling though space and passing right next to Earth.  I then asked him why this would be important enough to earn an article on Fox News.  He stared at me blankly.  "It was an asteroid similar to the one that caused the dinosaurs to become extinct."  I said.  The following round of input ensued.

Willie:  "So, if that asteroid would have hit the Earth dinosaurs would have gone extinct again?"
Marina:  "NO!  She is telling us that if the asteroid had hit the Earth WE would be extinct!"
Falcom:  "I don't want to be extinct!"

Willie's Robot....Gift to Mema's Garden

I started laughing.  I didn't pee myself, but it was close.  All three of them displaying the true nature of their character in one interaction.  I still laugh thinking of it today.

Valda turned 72 on Saturday.  She doesn't like to make a thing out of it so she never tells anyone.  Vince always finds out by accident and we scramble to do something fun.  Three years ago he called me on his way home from town and said, "It's Valda's birthday and I'm stopping by Fritz Creek for cakes, find some candles."  The only candles I had were a 6 and a 9.  We put them on the cupcakes and pecan bars and pie and Valda came in and said, "How did you know I was 69?"  When she turned 70 she was in Africa having brunch near a group of hippos. 

This year he found out a day early and Vince decided that we should surprise her for breakfast.  We took all the components for breakfast over to her house before she woke up.  We put the biscuits in the oven and waited for her to come out.  We heard her moving around back there.  We sat on the couch and we waited.  We waited.  And we waited.  Finally Vince took Willie's cell phone and called Valda's house.  Valda came out and walked straight to the phone, past the oven which was on, past the eggs and vegetables waiting to be cooked.  "Hello. Hello."  She said.  I was laughing so hard, we all were laughing so hard.  It didn't register to her that anything was wrong.  Then she looked over at us and we were all laughing and saying, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

She started laughing!  We had a great time all day laughing and telling how we surprised Valda.  Marge said, "What would you have done if she had come out naked?"  Vince said, "Closed our eyes tight and when she walked back into her room gotten the heck out of here!"

We love you Valda!

Another Fantastic Anthem!

Today Falcom was asked to sing the National Anthem for the Homer Mites hockey game. Great Job! I can't upload the entire movie through touch, but I think you get the point.

Too busy to blog!

List of overwhelming activities:
Girl scout cookies arrive
Willie takes college placement exams
School
Talent Show
Homework
Babysitting Iris
Singing at Hospital (fal not me)
IEP type Meeting for Willie

Thank Heaven for all the help! Write for real soon!

Guess Who Has Become The Annoying Kid In Class Who Sets The Curve?

No, it's not Willie, Falcom, or Marina. Here are Willie and Kaylene at their Valentine's dinner. Are they not darling?

Valentine's Update

To my dear friends and family with love:

If you were here there would be a strong cup of coffee and a lovely bunt cake waiting for you under the glass.  You would have all of my attention for two reasons, mostly because with school much coffee drinking gossip is interrupted - Biology, Psychology, Geology.  Oh, I might tell you about Super Volcanoes and their connection with the 2012 Mayan calendar, but besides that...you would have gotten all the updates from this blog. 

Sometimes, after a long absence from blogging it is very hard to take it up again.  Where to start?  How to conclude?  When will I be able to get back to it if I start something?

Vince was able to get our arctic entry attached to the house.  There are many ore steps to get through before the conclusion and all of our shoes are out of our kitchen, but we are well on the way. 

 

With all this construction going on I got excited for construction projects of my own.  While at a benefit auction weekend before last, my Mom pointed me to this:

Yes, it is a wonderful hand painted sink on a console.  I was at the auction and I saw this beautifully mosaic-ed piece after MY MOTHER said, Oh, look!  How could I not fall deeply in love?  It was an easy score as most of the people at the auction had their eyes on trips to Hawaii or gravel yards or whatnot.  After easily winning this gorgeous piece there was the question of getting it home.  Luckily my friend Jeff Middleton was there with his big truck.  Not only did I score on getting the help, but I also scored in that I knew that if Vince were to see me bring this baby home with Jeff he would be less likely to go bizerk.  See, this is how marriages stay long lived.  Vince was surprised to see the new sink, but was happy for it when I explained how I came about it. 

So far, the sink still sits in the kitchen waiting for a place to store it in the basement until the bathroom gets built down there.  Marina said we could use it at dinner as a salad bar.  Great Idea!  But Mema thought that might be a bit germ gross. 

 The Brownie Troop has been very active!  Two weeks ago was Women of Art and this week was Winter Carnival Parade.  The theme was "Flannel Fleece and Funk" and so we brought the warmth of flannel and fleece with the warmth of the aloha spirit.  Look at Halle in her cute aloha bathrobe while her sister is in her traditional fur lined kusbuk and flannel hula skirt.  Falcom joined us.  In this shot you can see the proof of his becoming a teenager. He was hating it!  Even though he had the choice to participate...

 Further into it, and further along the parade route when his friend joined him everything changed.  Does it surprise any of you that with the leadership of SUE CLARDY we WON!  Of course this is not yet official and is all based on donut gossip at Assisted Living, but I am still claiming it!

Don't be dismayed by my largess in this photograph.  It was 5 degrees at the parade and I had on two sweatshirts, sarong, jacket, snow pants over my fleece pants and my hula skirt.  It was an unflattering ensemble for sure!  But it didn't keep me from dancing.  Vince and Willie drove the float down the road.  Willie helped hoist girls in and out of the truck whenever the weather became unbearable for them.

Speaking of Willie.  He and Kaylene went to the Valentine's dance at the High School together.  On his way home he hit a moose.  I dont' know if his telling me that he had an intuitive feeling that this was going to happen helped me and my motherly anxiety or not.  It was about 11pm.  It was almost in front of our house but not quite.  He came in and told Vince, "The moose was fine.  It got up and walked away.  There is just a small hole in the windshield."

Does this look like a small hole? So far, in it's short life with us, this Subaru has been up a tree, towed home after the clutch gave out without much warning, and now...moose ass.  And no the moose was not 'fine' and no it is not in our freezer.

Iris spent the night Saturday night and came to church with us on Sunday.  She came in like she owned the place and told Pricilla that she hadn't seen her in a long time and that she had missed her!  And could she call her great grandma and of course, would she come to Iris's birthday?  She sat between these two grandmas as happy as a lark for the entire service.  Very nice. 

After the kids were finished running around in the basement and eating snacks we went to Maygen's studio where we all had fun spinning clay.

Teacher Maygen is a fabulous potter and we all delighted in playing around in that warm room while the 2 degree day shivered on outside.  Be sure to visit Maygen's show at the Pratt going up in April!

I'd better get back to studying... 

Proof Willie is a Great McDonalds Employee

This is a picture of Willie's name on a plaque. It didn't work did it? Things are good here. One more test this week and hopefully I'll have time to do some serious blog work over the weekend!