4th of July Celebrations

~erica

We had to do our fireworks on July 3 due to Ryan's work schedule. That afternoon Ryan and Tovah went shopping for the good stuff as we still had a box of sparklers and little stuff from last year that we got tired of lighting. I'm not sure how it happened but Rush and Tovah were the primary pyros this year, the other boys did 1-2 but then went and sat back down.

 

 



Colored smoke bombs are a tradition but this year only Jonah ran through the smoke. The other annual photo is Arin and his lightsaber in the smoke. When I have my camera set slow it takes cool, ghostly images of him. I am still working on how to set my camera for fireworks. I print a tutorial while Ryan and the kids get set up. Next year I should read and practice several weeks before but I never think about it. I also want to take some cool sparkler pictures (we still have a huge box to practice with.)

The parade downtown is an annual event. It's very convenient now that we have friends living a block from the parade route (but getting away from their house as the parade let out wasn't much fun, I need to rethink where I park). It's always fun to see friends in the parade and the kids get excited to have candy thrown at them.

 

The chairs were for the adults but they got co-opted by the teens who weren't so excited about tootsie rolls and waving to people they know. After the parade we met Ryan at Burger King for dinner before he went to work and we went home.

Rush Graduated on Saturday

~erica

 

 

 

Friday Phone Pictures

~erica

This has been a busy week- I started indoctrination orientation at Evergreen with 2 very long days and 2 half days. I was glad to get to Friday when I had nothing but family and fun stuff.

Sunday- Jonah's 13th birthday, he played Minecraft all day | Do you recognize any of these socks? Please claim them, they have spent the summer at my house after your boy left them... | "Please hang me on the wall instead of leaving me languishing behind the door in the office since Spring Break"

Tuesday- Convocation speaker, Carlotta Walls LaNier. She was one of the Little Rock Nine in 1957 who went to Central High. Her book is good and she was a good speaker (but the Drug & Alcohol speakers were better) | Wednesday- this girl has no fear, she jumps on the ball as its being dribbled down to the goal | Thursday- Jonah's football game. He's #8 on the sideline (last week he played a minute and was SOOOO excited). They lost by 3 pts. this week because they had a TD taken away for excessive excitement or something like that- BOO!

Friday- I got up and went running. The first time since July. I made it home and needed chocolate milk before I could get up the stairs | Mini Cheer Night at the football game. | Rush (in the gray hat) playing the bass drum at the football game- We won!

Ryan didn't work until late last night so he got to go to the game with us and he got to see Tovah cheer, he missed last year. He leaned over at one point, when she was down on the track doing jumping-jacks with the cheerleaders after a TD and said, "you know cheer costs more than any other sport." Um, yeah, but she'll be the only one at home by then and I should be done with my Masters...

Friday Phone Pictures

~erica

It seems so simple, but can I be consistent? I want to try and download my phone pictures, whether or not I used them on Instagram, each Friday. This way I can have at least some record of our school year.

Monday- I saw the Google Street View car as we left the orthodontist- Arin only has a couple more months in braces | I finished reading the Bible in 87 days! | I finished my Crazy Rib gloves

 

I am nuts!  I bought a crossword puzzle book, in Spanish... | Tovah's first soccer game in Mossyrock (it was really cold and I wished I had brought my new gloves) | Tuesday- had my first orientation day at Evergreen, then a PTO meeting, afterwards I was ready for mindless so I brought home Box Tops and cut and taped and counted for 3 hours while I watched TV.

 

Wednesday- the sun turned red and then disappeared behind all the smoke that is coming from the fires in eastern Washington | Thursday- I'm reading The Ornament of the World for my first day of classes, I decided I needed a timeline to keep it all straight | Finished Ornament and started The Song of the Cid and needed a brain break so I started a new pair of socks.

Seventy-six Trombones minus a few...

~erica

Yesterday I sat down to do my homework and heard drums. We live in a noisy house so there is always noise from somewhere- TV, computer, XBOX, boys, etc but this was real drums and then other instruments. It dawned on me that it wasn't raining and it was 6th period at the high school so it was time for band and they must be outside practicing (it did take me a few seconds to work this all out). I grabbed my camera and Arin and we took off- he got the camera out and ready while I drove the 500' to the main road of town. We were just in time to catch the band marching down the street.

Seventy-six trombones led the big parade

With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand.

They were followed by rows and rows of the finest virtuo-Sos,

the cream of ev'ry famous band.

Read more: MUSIC MAN - SEVENTY-SIX TROMBONES LYRICS http://www.metrolyrics.com/seventysix-trombones-lyrics-music-man.html#ixzz1tqQZq421
Copied from MetroLyrics.com

I'm pretty impressed with Mr. Brumbaugh- he's marching backwards while playing the sax!

I started thinking about how this is one of the reasons we have chosen to live in a tiny town- I never would have had the chance to be "paparazzi" along the band's route. Even as former/ current homeschoolers I know half the kids (that's Rush up there with the cymbals and silly glasses), 2 of the boys are my former Cub Scouts, a couple more were Cub Scouts ahead or behind Rush, others are generational Adna so my brother or I went to school with their parents or aunts or uncles.

At the school road one of the seniors ran out and took over the directing. Arin and I had circled around to get back in front of them so I could get them marching down the road at the head of the parade (all the parents coming to pick up their kids after school).

They are preparing to go to Oregon tomorrow to march in a parade on Saturday. We had reservations to go to the beach with them for about 3 weeks until I got Jonah's tournament schedule and I knew we couldn't be gone this weekend (plus Ryan isn't on his new schedule at work).

The Rock is back to blue after spending a week painted orange by a rival school.