WHEN THE OLDEST & YOUNGEST SIBS SPEND THE DAY TOGETHER

It's not uncommon for people who work at a church to end up sacrificing their families and/or their general well-being on the altar of ministry, so Silas and I had a chat way back when he first got on staff at our church about setting boundaries, continuing to make time with family and friends a priority, and pointing out some role models in that area.  He and I have similar personalities, so I know how easy it could be for him to let work consume his life. It's hard to say no to things you value and enjoy, but he's seen firsthand through his extroverted mom who likes to be involved in everything exactly what it looks like to be over-committed. It's not pretty. 

Right now he's paid an hourly wage, not a salary, and there are limits on how much time he works because he's a minor, so there are built-in boundaries for how much time he spends at work, but so far he's done a great job of continuing to make the relationships in his personal life a priority. One of the things I've loved to watch is how he makes a point to do something fun with his siblings almost every Monday. That's the one day he has completely off each week and he usually initiates some sort of outing with them. This week Devon and Naomi are out of town, so he gave Tyler a ride to work (he's filling in for Devon), treated him to some Dutch Bros, and then they spent time in the river at Mary S. Young Park. 

Once they'd done all the jumping they wanted to, they swung by the church so Silas could pick up his guitar (and struck a silly pose in the parking lot), bought groceries for dump cake (which they made for their dinner while Tim and I were on a date), and picked up a free Redbox with a code I wasn't using. 

Feeling grateful for the time he'd spent with Tyler that day, as well as the time he takes with his sibs most Mondays, I asked for a picture with him. Sappy mom.

Silas and Tyler hunkered down for their movie, watched Studio C videos later, and went to bed after Tim and I did.

This is what I woke up to this morning. Ha!! They'd actually made a double batch of dump cake last night, a large pan for Tyler and two small ones for Silas. 

Making memories, right? 

EXPRESSIVE FACE + KNIFE = HAIRCUT BY DEVON

Devon's been talking about cutting his hair for a while, but wasn't ready. Just pondering the option. It takes a really long time to get length when your hair is curly, so chopping it off is a bigger deal than it would be for someone with straight hair. But the time finally came last night. He hemmed and hawed a bit, but finally decided to just go for it. 

First, some pre-cut pictures. His hair had been pulled back for a couple days and was looking a little ratty, but you can still see how long it was when he stretched it out.

He's been telling me for months that whenever he cut his hair, he'd do it with one of his knives. His new style may not be funky, but the process of getting it sure was!

An "I can't believe I chopped it" grin at the first shortened section.

His facial expressions cracked me up!

I showed him the previous picture, so here's the face he made for the next cut. Ha!

His hair kept shrinking and he enjoyed the cutting process.

Funky chopped hair.

I evened out a few ends at his request, added a little gel, then he was good to go. Haircut was finished, but not his ever-changing facial expressions.

My and my favorite fifteen year old, minus a big pile of curls.

COUCH TO 5K, ROUND THREE

Last week Tyler finished Couch to 5K, a nine week program that takes people from not running at all to running three miles (or thirty minutes, if your pace is slower than ten minutes). He'd tried the program a couple years ago, but only made it partway through week six. It was just a lot for short, five year old legs in the hottest month of summer. 

This time, though, he rocked it! A few runs were challenging at the end, others he cruised at top speed, and most of them he steadily ran the distance marked out for him. Here we are as we got home from the final run.

Tyler's mostly dairy-free, so the traditional reward of going to Cold Stone when you finish the program wouldn't work for him. He asked for $5.00 worth of candy and gum instead. Done! Cracks me up how he struck a running pose with his feet as I snapped the picture. Funny kid.

Super proud of him for seeing this program through to completion! He's running for thirty minutes now, but hasn't quite hit three miles. That's our next goal, to run a full three miles no matter how long it takes him. I bet he'll reach that goal pretty quickly!

FAMILY FUN FRIDAY - TERIYAKI & YAHTZEE STYLE

We've been having Family Fun Friday for a long time now, but it seems the default has become to always watch a movie. And not everyone who's home participates. Namely me, as I'm often grumpy and craving time alone by that point in the week.

Last night all 6 Ws were home, which is very rare occurrence, so we scrapped the dinner plans that were already underway and walked down to Hungry Lion for some food. I love their teriyaki chicken!

As a sidenote, this is an area where I'm thankful between the balance between my personality and Tim's in our marriage. Until recently, we've never budgeted for eating out. There simply wasn't financial wiggle room for that indulgence. As circumstances started changing, Tim began occasionally bringing us restaurant food on nights he knew I was overwhelmed or just for kicks. He'd get pizza from Papa Murphy's, burritos from Chipotle, or sandwiches from Subway. It wasn't anything extravagant and he'd use money from our grocery budget. Although I sincerely appreciated the gesture, I'd also freak out a little because I can feed the six of us at home for days on what it costs to eat out for one meal.

So, we talked about it. He explained that he really wanted the freedom to treat his family now that there was a little more breathing room. I explained that it's stressful to see a chunk of the grocery budget I have for the whole month disappear with just one meal. We solved the problem by adding an "eating out" category to our YNAB account. We don't put gobs of money in it, but there's enough that we can enjoy eating out from time to time without taking away from our regular grocery budget. Win, win.

After dinner, we walked back home and gathered around the table for a game of Yahtzee. Tim won, of course.

I know there will be plenty of move nights on FFF in the future, as well as nights where I'm feeling anti-social, but I'm glad we were able to all hang out last night in a way that allowed us to chat and laugh together.

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TIME WITH TYLER

Twelve hours after five of us returned from my 25th class reunion, four Ws left to work at our church's kids' camp. They were gone from early Monday morning to early Thursday evening (late Thursday for one of them), so Tyler and I had four days together. I was obviously going to take time to play with him, but I had big plans for being productive while there would be fewer interruptions to my days.

Yeah, about that. Let's just say my productivity level was next to nothing. On one hand, I'm really frustrated because it's my own fault that I didn't accomplish what I wanted to. On the other hand, it was really nice to just take a few days to relax and play. 

Monday's plan was to go for a run, then snag a bunch of library movies. Tyler was going to get a leisurely day of a movie marathon while I'd have several hours to crank out a bunch of work. We went for a run and got movies, but that's where things fell apart. Not a single responsible thing happened after our run. We watched movies. We took naps. After a full weekend of inadequate sleep, that's probably what I should have planned for anyway.

Tuesday was play day. That morning we slept in, then Tyler used a free pass he earned from the Woodburn Public Library's summer reading program and I dipped into my personal fun money budget for a round of miniature golf at Bullwinkle's. The couple behind us took our picture near the start.

Then we took our own picture later on.

The weather was perfect, we laughed a lot, and I won. I'm not usually on the winning end of things, so I have to document the occasion when it happens. Next up was running some errands, then busting out a coupon for lunch at Panda Express. It turns out this guy's a huge fan of orange chicken. Who knew?!

More movies and puttering around the house that afternoon, then off we went to the library for a free concert. This is our eighth year of attending Music in the Park, so it's a key part of our summer schedule.

Wednesday started off with another run, but I can't account for most of the day. I know I took care of some budgeting stuff, but most of the morning and early afternoon was wasted. That afternoon, though, we headed back to the library for a performance from BJ the Clown. Tyler (right side, gray shirt) loved the show and I loved getting to hold my friends brand new baby.

I told him we should document the outing to go along with the other pictures from our week. He suggested making silly faces. So I did. And he didn't. Punk. He said it was the perfect thing to do after a clown show. Ha!!

Wednesday night was church. We don't normally take pictures, but we couldn't break our streak of taking pictures. It was a little different than usual, though. No family. No Gabi. No Marie. Our van is usually filled up on Wednesdays, but it was pretty empty this week.

Natie had zipped back from kids' camp to town to help at church for the evening, so we wrote a note for her to take back to Gabi in the morning.

Popsicles for dessert after church, then off to bed for a decent night's sleep.

Thursday morning I insisted on a "lazy morning" picture. Our camera will take a picture if we say "cheese", "LG", or "whiskey". In theory, anyway. Lately it likes whiskey more than cheese. It's a little strange for a non-drinker to call out "whiskey" to her camera, and it's even stranger when the little Ws do it, but we do what needs to be done to get a picture. This time I turned it into full sentences. "Little kids shouldn't drink WHISKEY." "I've never had WHISKEY." "Put down your WHISKEY." Tyler was cracking up!

Tyler had to fill in for Devon at his job mid-morning, then we made a spontaneous trip to ReStore. A couple purchases for me, free popcorn for Tyler. Everyone wins!

Best purchase? A seasoned piece of Pampered Chef stoneware that sells for $25.00 - $55.00 online, but that they were selling for $5.00. Even better? The whole store (almost) is 50% off through Saturday, so I got it for just $2.50. Super happy about that!

Our week may not have looked like I'd anticipated it would, but we had a great time. Thankful for my time with Tyler!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for my sense of hearing. What's one thing you're thankful for?

SONLIGHT GUEST BLOGGER: JUNE - JULY 2019

I've had a couple posts on Sonlight's blog this summer. The first is a fun spin on school assignments, the other about the importance of delegation.

Eating Your Curriculum: 3 Ways to Devour History and Geography
You Can't Do It All: Do This Instead for a Happy Homeschool

What are some ways you've incorporated food into education? How do you decide which tasks to delegate?

Disclosure - I was invited to be a guest blogger with Sonlight for one year in exchange for some free curriculum. All post topics and opinions are my own. If you are a first time Sonlight customer, click this link and use referral code BW20197051 to get $5.00 off your purchase of $50.00 or more. That referral code is totally separate from my role as a guest blogger and will give me credit toward my own purchases. The referral code can also be found on the sidebar of my blog.

MY 25TH CLASS REUNION

Fifteen years ago, with a husband and two year old in tow, as well as a baby I was 39 weeks pregnant with, I went to my 10th class reunion. Five years ago I sat at home and cried in a pity party because I couldn't go to my 20th. This year, with a husband and three kids in tow, but without the one who can't take time off work during the summer, I went to my 25th class reunion. It was disappointing that Silas couldn't come along, so I made everyone pose for a family picture before we abandoned him on Friday morning.

The rest of us finally made it to the place my heart calls home, a town filled with beauty, memories, and people that make me smile. I feel myself exhale and relax every time we arrive there.

We showed  up a little before the reunion fun kicked off, so we got ourselves situated in the home of the friends we stayed with and then headed out. Some of our classmates got together for happy hour before everyone met up for dinner, but I had other priorities. Specifically, to visit two stores I didn't know about when we were in town last September, but have been following online for several months.

First stop, Wildwood: The Shop of Multifarious Goods. This place is packed with all sorts of decorative items, clothing, kitchenware, candles, pens, cards, pens, jewelry, bags, and other treasures. I even spotted my sister's cards, which they recently started selling, next to several other cards and stickers that are perfect for tourists and people who love Oregon.

We left there with a bag of goodies for me and some locally brewed coffee for Tim.

Next stop, Semi Aquatic, the gallery of local artist Spencer Reynolds who I'm familiar with because he was a senior my freshman year. Not only is there a bunch of his art on the wall and other products featuring his work in the store, but he also sells some neat products from other artists. The vibrant colors in some of his paintings are so fun, and his scenes from Brookings, as well as more general water and tree pieces, help soothe the soul when I'm feeling a little homesick.

We snagged an ornament I've had my eye on for a while, as well as the cards pictures above. One for each kid (the three who were with us picked their own, Tim picked one for Silas) and two for me.

We still had a little time to kill, so we headed to Azalea Park and let the kids run around while Tim and I rested for a bit.

Finally, it was reunion time. I normally take a gazillion pictures of everything, but I didn't take many over the weekend and, with the exception of posting the population sign on Facebook right after we pulled into town, stayed completely offline. I just soaked up time with friends and family instead, knowing there would be plenty of pictures to choose from once everyone started posting theirs.

I don't think it's possible to have a class reunion (or a trip to Brookings, for that matter) without eating at Pizza Deli, so a bunch of people came and went throughout Friday evening.

Someone asked in our class Facebook group if any of our teachers had been invited and I mentioned that I'd love to have Simmie stop in. She's not a teacher, but every single school should have someone like her at the front desk. Her sweet disposition, thoughtful gestures, smiling face, and beautiful handwriting are all things I remember and appreciate about her. She and her husband each have a daughter I graduated with. Neither of the girls made it to the reunion, but I asked Simmie's daughter to send Simmie our way. She and her husband both came for dinner! It was wonderful to give her a hug and get each other caught up on our families' lives.

We never got a shot of all the people who joined the group for dinner because arrivals and departures were staggered, but we did try taking one group picture. There may or may not have been a communication breakdown with the little W taking the picture that resulted in a whole bunch of pictures where not everyone knew the shutter was clicking. Oh well. At least we have proof some of us were together!

Other than Simmie, the other picture I made sure to get was of the Ws and Jason. We met when we were eight years old and our families were friends as we grew up, but I haven't seen him in 24 years. His mom, Pam, has been an important person in my life for decades, and has become one of Naomi's favorite people, so I wanted to show her picture proof we were all together. Hoping his wife and kids will be able to join us next time!

Views similar to this were common throughout the evening. You can't see it in Devon's hands, but Tyler had brought in a Rubik's Cube that entertained several kids and adults for quite some time.

Five hours after we walked in the door, we shut the place down. It was late and we'd had a long day, so our family hit the sack about midnight.

Saturday morning we blitzed up river to spend the entire day at Loeb. Picnics are common when you're up river and we'd packed all sorts of healthy finger foods to graze on all day, but we polished off our leftovers from the night before as soon as we arrived. Nothing like cold pizza mid-morning to start the day off right! Especially one of my two favorite pizzas ever.

One smiling shot of the Ws before everyone else showed up.

Then a silly one.

We hung out at a picnic site with other classmates for a while, then eventually everyone headed down to the water. We couldn't have asked for better weather. A beautiful day!

One of the Julies has kids that are synced up in age with two little Ws and they all hit it off, spending hours playing together. Tyler and Jordyn floated around, climbed up the opposite bank to throw rocks in the water, then warmed up and relaxed back on shore.

Naomi and Jaxon swam in the river, played with rocks, and (one of them) made silly faces when asked to smile for the camera.

The four of them even sat together at breakfast the next morning. So fun to see my kids having fun with the kids of people I've known most of my life!

I was able to chat with so many old friends over the weekend, but seeing Kater (I'm in the background wearing green shorts, she's standing next to me) was a treat. She's the one who sent me flowers on my mom's birthday each year of high school and I haven't seen her since we graduated.

There were various group shots taken over the course of the day.

These two, Johnny and Mandie, are the classmates our family stayed with while we were in town. She's also the one who coordinated all the weekend's activities. Needless to say, we're thankful for them!

Several of us met up for a tasty dinner at Superfly for dinner later in the evening, including Andy and Travis, two classmates who run Brookings Fishing Charters and missed daytime activities because this is a busy time of year for them. I'm glad they stayed up past their early bedtimes to spend a little bit of time with part of our group on Saturday night.

Our class has a plethora of short girls (as well as girls named Tiffany or Julie and people with names that start with J, but I digress), including the four of us. So much laughter with this bunch!

Several people got together for drinks after dinner, but the Ws headed back to Johnny and Mandie's for a fire, s'mores, kids playing together, and adults chatting (and laughing, then laughing some more). The evening also included this concoction. Looks like an ordinary s'more in the firelight, right? It's not, though! We were introduced to one of Johnny's concoctions, a perfectly puffy roasted marshmallow put in the middle of half an ice cream sandwich.

Good gravy, it was delicious!!

Two days down, but the fun wasn't over yet! Sunday morning a group met at Blue Water for a delicious breakfast. We got one final group shot for the weekend before everyone took off.

Mandie suggested we add in spouses, significant others, and kids for another shot. Evidently the Ws were the only family not smart enough to figure out how to stand near each other, but whatever. The family shot was a good idea! 

Finally, we headed to Harris for a quick visit. Johnny, Mandie, and their boys joined us, as well as two brief appearances by two of the Tiffanys. There was rock climbing, frisbee throwing, beach walking, sand digging, and a conversation with an artist who was painting the scenery.

Oh, and one last minute picture of me and Tim before we hit the road.

Of course, there were other good things about the weekend that didn't get photographed. The packets of Chugwater Chili chili and dip seasoning packets a classmate from the teeny tiny town (as in there are only 200 people there) of Chugwater, Wyoming brought from home and shared with some of us. The bag left for me at Johnny and Mandie's door, which I was expecting from a non-classmate friend, but that I didn't know would also include a sweet card and a bunch of goodies for pampering myself. Walking up from the river to the picnic area just long enough to grab some food and having the brother of one of my oldest friends happen to drive up right then. The friendliness of the local man who stopped and chatted for a while in the Freddy's parking lot while we filled our cooler with ice, then offered to throw away our empty bag for us.

It was a fabulous weekend filled to the brim with faces from my childhood, perfect weather, tons of conversation, lots of laughter, and good food. I hope the next five years flies by so we can do it all again!

Thanks to Brett, Jess, James, Bub, Jamie, Chris, Tiffany C., Julie A., Julie S., Mandie, Tiffany S., Joey, Jason, Johnny, Isaac, Tiffany H., Tiffany D., Vanessa, Brian, Elvira, Kater, Amber, Andy, Travis, and Rochelle, as well as any family members you brought along, for being part of this year's reunion. 

Photo credit for some of the pictures at Loeb and Superfly: Andy, Tiffany, C. and Mandie