Colette Goes to the Dump

This is the first time in my married life that I have taken a trip to the dump, so it is noteworthy. First of all, up here, I don't think people call it "the dump". The posted signs say, "Transfer Station" and there is a big mural of green trees and green grass on every side of a covered open shed. In the middle is a big pit. I backed into it and literally threw my stuff over the ropes into the pit. It was great fun. A man dumping yard waste beside me helped me with the big stuff. 

But, before I got to the big pit, I learned I would be charged an additional $25 if I didn't cover and tie down my load, according to Washington state law. So, I headed back home. Fortunately, Callie remembered one of the items in the load was a trampoline cover (don't even ask). Brilliant!! So, we pulled over to the elementary school that is just a few blocks away from the dump. We easily tied down the load and covered the whole thing. Oh, and in case you are wondering, signs were posted all over the place about making sure the load is covered and tied down. I must have been too busy enjoying the mural and wondering what could possibly be behind it!

Before all of this, I had stopped at the dump on the way home from a nice lunch with friends, to find out logistics (cost $24.25 minimum, hours of operation - closes at 5:30, procedure for dumping - "if you take your microwave and lawn mower to Factoria, you can recycle them for free", didn't find out about the covered load part though). I rushed home and loaded up the rental truck, excited to be getting rid of things, and only considered for half a second driving during rush hour to Factoria to recycle vs dumping to middle earth, or wherever that pit leads.

Chips Forever

I've been laughing all day about this:

Callie's class at school is doing a "Secret Pal" gift exchange for each day this week. She learned her pal likes chips so she scrounged up three different chip-like foods to give him today. If you look closely, one type is a rice cracker, one is a regular potato chip (only it has pepper on it - definitely not kid-friendly), and the third is my favorite tortilla chip - Trader Joe's Blue Tortilla (but does a tortilla chip really count as "Chips"?). 

She is great isn't she? And, I wonder if you'd be surprised to learn I've never been accused of being the kind of Mom who does everything for her child -- hahahha, I offered to take her to the store to buy some good chips, I promise!

This is all reminiscent of an Easter egg hung a long time ago where the kids were each going to fill a dozen eggs to take to the party. Somehow Callie passed over the goodies I thought I provided, for she filled her Easter eggs with pebbles and paper clips. We didn't discover any of this until at the party when a little girl opened her egg in disappointment to find paper clips!!

It still fits Mom!!

I added another exclamation point to the post title because that is how I hear the phrase being "spoken" to me.

I have been getting pictures from my google feed reminding me of what was happening x years ago. One of the pictures was of my sweet Callie wearing her strawberry shortcake costume that was one or two years old.

She is just funny.

Now, fast forward to this year. I was in charge of the family reunion (I'm still going to post about it, I promise) and in doing so, wanted to do t-shirts. My talented sister-in-law Melissa did a whole bunch of shirts for me and conveniently lives near my sister Janie. So, when the t-shirts were done, they were very kindly delivered to Janie who then sent me pictures of how they looked. 

This is what she sent, with a message saying, "I think they might be too small."

Hahahahah, I simply laugh every time I see this picture. I love her little boy so much. He has kind of a contrary facial expression about 95% of the time so I'm glad to have that preserved in the picture, but this shirt and his cute little prego-belly, hahahha, oh, tears streaming down my face funny. Janie and I laughed and laughed and laughed at the time. I was kind of stressed about the reunion anyway, so it felt good to just let it all out. Then, I said, "What am I going to do?!!" since all the shirts were printed and done. 

Anyway, long story short, her little boy was wearing his little sister's shirt after all (when he got in the correct shirt, he said, "But, I liked the other one better.") and my sil Melissa made some more shirts for me to make it so we'd all have a shirt that fits. She's super awesome and I just think this whole story is a good one. 

He Hasn't Hurt Anyone Yet

4th of July Fun

Carson's Fortunate Day

Unfortunately, my boy woke up not feeling well on Monday.
Fortunately, he was able to power up and go to school.

Unfortunately, he forgot his Orca bus card.
But, fortunately, he knew the way to school, so he walked.

The route took much longer than he expected (4.6 miles).
Fortunately, the fresh air cleared his head.

Unfortunately, he missed all of 1st period.
Fortunately, he was able to learn for six other periods that day.

Bingham's Organic Valley (haystack)

Unfortunately, after school, Carson walked (remember - no Orca card) to Bike Lab at the Boys and Girls Club.
Fortunately, his instructor Lance, helped him fix Mom's bike, which Carson then rode home (3.8 miles).

Unfortunately, he was a little late for soccer practice Monday evening.
But fortunately, Carson loved every minute of the time he got.

Carson found out the shoes Mom purchased from Value Village for $7 were actually football shoes .

Rattlesnake Ridge

Fortunately, he hasn't been kicked out of a game yet.

Unfortunately, Carson could really hurt someone if keeps playing in those shoes.
Fortunately, he hasn't hurt anyone yet.

Unfortunately, Carson didn't get to play his
board game of choice, "Spy Alley" for Family Home Evening.
Fortunately, he showered and was in bed by 10:00.

Rattlesnake Lake

Glimpses

There have been a couple of times in the past week where I've appreciated "glimpses" of life as a mother.

I woke up one day and saw my youngest had gotten up earlier and taken care of her dolls. This is what I observed out the back deck.What had gone through her little mind? Did the dolls need some sun? Maybe they were out enjoying the fresh morning air. Such good friends they must be, to be willing to share a chair :-).

A week ago, my husband and I went to a fun show in Seattle, Jim Gaffigan. This was my first time in Key Arena, which is memorable. And, I just always love going into the city with Darren.

I was told, by my oldest son, about partway through the night that dinner (made by oldest daughter) was, "burnt rice-a-roni" and that they were all doing great.We came home to a pretty messy kitchen, but sleeping children, which is TOTALLY worth the cleanup. 

The evidence on the kitchen counter, of the rice-a-roni, made me smile, and the note sitting in the dish (notice the rice-a-roni shaped like an "O", another example of "glimpses" into the mind of a child) filled me with all kinds of love for these three kids I claim.

Just a small side note, the arrows are pointing to a small shard of glass, no problem really. I discovered the slightly chipped glass the next day.

Thus you see just a slight snapshot of a regular couple of days in my life :-).