It's a Celebration!

Do you know what March 14th is?  My brother's birthday and Pi Day! We,
of course, celebrated with our favorites. 

The leprechaun left some goodies on St. Patrick's Day!

We were privileged to go to Rex's retirement ceremony. We all wore our Navy blue in his honor.

Here he presented his flag to his Mom after a sweet dedication to her.

We had a fun reception at the church.

Afterward, we celebrated Papa's birthday at the Airbnb we were staying at.

Then we headed to the Martin's for dinner.

It was a fun trip and really lovely what the Navy presented Rex with. 

We were having the missionaries over for dinner on the night when Lizzy was supposed to cook so I suggested that she try smoking. Here she is after putting the rub on her pork shoulder.

She smoked it with Daniel's supervision. Here he's shredding it. It was so good!

In school, she worked on building planters.

Daniel and Lizzy got to see a demonstration from the fire department.

Our neighbors had a controlled burn that they started way late at night, here it is at 4 am. I was not sure if it was controlled so I was watching it for a bit to see if I needed the fire department. They had it well in hand, but it was crazy.

We were lucky enough to have Sal and Caitlin join us for a bit. 

We took a walking tour of the historical homes.

Henry really liked the map.

No cousin time is complete without a lightsaber duel!

Sal showed us some cool chemistry by burning different substances. The kids loved it.

Back in school, Lizzy participated in a flower arranging competition. She did very well.

Art by Ari

 Lizzy had two friends have their birthdays in March, so she drew their favorite animals. I think she did an amazing job!

The boys had a blast building a castle.

Teddy has discovered the function of a rubber duck!

Lizzy got to help the CattleWomen group make chili for a competition and then they served it at a homeless kitchen.

Emily got a shout-out for her art.

Lizzy's teachers have been great about sending me pics throughout the school year. It's fun to see what she's up to.

With the price of bread going up, I decided to go back to baking my own. I found a great whole wheat recipe that is easy to use: Here. Isn't my loaf pretty? I end up making bread once a week.

The library had knitting and crocheting kits for the kids to try, They had fun figuring it out.

Lizzy helped plant flowers around the middle school.

 As class representative, Charles introduced a composting program. Here they are separating their trash after lunch. He also got on the crosswalk team, so he's really having fun working with others at school.

Here's my handsome son in his new glasses!

 

Playing Through

 The rest of February went like this...

My second LARP was amazing.

 I was a single mother whose eldest son was estranged. My character also hosted some of the event so I had Lizzy draw up the garden spots where the characters could gather. The sphinxes were a particular favorite.

I tried my hand at painting for a FOE craft exchange. I also made a paper bag book that showed off Goldendale. 

Lizzy keeps busy with FFA.

Making frendship bracelets.

 

      Charles had his eyes examined and now had bifocals! He just needs a little help and the Dr is hopeful he will only need them for a year and his eyes will compensate.

We took advantage of President's day to have a playdate, but it snowed so we left pretty quickly.

Mt. Adams looking gorgeous. We get a good view on the way to the Dalles.