rake 'em up

I'm a big believer in giving little people little jobs, like putting clothes away, helping me load/unload any sort of appliance, groceries, weed pulling, etc. So when we were going a little stir crazy from the coming cold weather, we dressed up and headed outside for some good old fashion yard clean up. The kids loved it. At first.

Look at these colors! So soft and mellow compared to Summer Brilliance.

Mont telling me he was too cold to rake any longer. Oh Mont, it is going to be a hard winter for you..

But he perked up enough for another moment before getting to go inside:

Quasimodo/Emmybowdo: Bows under hats don't work all that great I'm figuring out! ha ha 

But she still had enough 'umph' to take a chance to roar back to her Montster brother:

squirrel, crocodile, skunk and ghouls

Halloween, 2013

Base trick or treating ^^ 

Squadron trick or treating ^^ 

What are the odds of two squirrels at the same party!? Granted, one has wings. Emmy still loved it. And this is about as good of a picture we ever get these days with Emmy girl; 

she hardly ever looks at the camera! 

first day of preschool

Mont has been excited to start preschool since the beginning of summer. So the morning of, he was so compliant with all of my requests/orders. haha Getting an okay picture of him was a different matter entirely. 

He doesn't wear a uniform, but I dressed him up anyway. I read somewhere a mom dresses her kids up nice every first day of school, and when her son asked "Why?" She replied, "So that your teacher will love you." I thought that was so funny I decided to do the same, so that one day when Mont asks why, I can reply with something just as fun. Even though his teacher would love him (or any student!) in mud and leaves too. She is wonderful. 

 There we go! 

Emmy was a mess all morning long without her best friend at her side. She cried the entire time, and no distraction was worthy of stopping her tears. She worried and fretted for the entire two and a half hours of preschool. She did much better the next time, when my neighbor came along as a distraction. 

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

When we first drove through Winnipeg, we checked into our haunted hotel and then kept driving on up to Winnipeg Lake... where I did not get in. ha! But Mont has no fear yet, so he changed happily into his suit and waded around like a natural water lover.  

Mark took all these pictures of us and the only one of myself I approve of, 

I'm not even looking at the camera! ha Maybe one of these days. :) 

Assiniboine Park (pronounced: a-cinna-boyne) 

Went to the Winnie the Pooh museum at Assiniboine Park, then also the Winnipeg History Museum (VERY cool, and very huge! and yet no pictures!)

the little silver notebook

I have been afraid to click over to this little sad and forgotten blog the last couple months.. I'm not even sure who even checks in on it any more. Google Reader has gone off the radar, and things for blog-hood just don't look that bright anymore. It's a sad realization. Though, I'm still a frequenter of my favorite blogs, but even my friends' blogs have been harder to check in on for me. Time seems to swiftly go by these days in these warm summer months, where enough time cannot be spend out doors, listening to the cicadas and bumble bees collecting nectar near our backdoor. My computer and phone are mostly put to use with instagram and pinterest, where projects, thoughts and works are being projected into the world of cyber-space at an alarming rate.

Veering down the other prong in the cyberspace-fork-in-the-road, where things don't move quite so quickly, my laptop of 7 years has gone to sleep and won't even think about waking up (going on two months now). When I walk into the Apple Store with my eyes narrowed and a determined smile on my face to talk it through, they actually have the gall to call my still-used-in-movies-[probably as a prop]-computer, "vintage." It has outlasted all of my desires for a new computer, and has worked ever so valiantly to produce all sorts of electronic goods, be it newsletters, blog posts, letters, journal entries, photo-books, or other fun and imaginable things.

I was at the point of photo-collection where my next photo-book project was in the works, (of course) and now I have to think of a way to get them all off the hard drive. Plan A is to get a new laptop in a couple months, and have someone with very thick glasses remove the data from storage and put it on the fully-memory-loaded computer. It wasn't even a virus that took my sweet little silver baby. It was just too much pressure on the Starting Disk (whatever that means... it even was sweet enough to warn me for, like, 3 months while I clicked and re-clicked the "ignore" button. oh dear..) It will probably work just fine once I get all the photos and music off of it. Mom, I think it will finally be time that you have a 'new' vintage computer all of your very own. ; ) You'll love it like your own, I'm sure.

Signing off until the next update,
Jayci R.

The Winsteads

One of the few times we actually have taken a photo when we have had guests over for dinner. This family has been very dear to us for a good long while, as Colonel Winstead (far right) has been Mark's boss, the Group Commander for our base. Mark served as his Executive Officer for the past year and some odd months, going through the refiners fire of OPRs and extensive other things (of which I have no idea what to call them). Col. Winstead was the epitome of a good, patient boss. He taught Mark so many things about what it takes to being truly a good leader; he was very wise and calm, even when everything was crazy in the office and in the wing. This man and his family are absolutely wonderful. He retired when his time was up at this base, and he and his wife have gone on to traveling and warmer weather. Their children are just as sweet and kind, and their son is so devout a Catholic that he hopes to become a Priest and serve within the Vatican City itself. And sweet Sarah, who has an innate gift with children, wishes to become a teacher. Dodie (isn't that a cute name??) has been a mentor for myself and a friend as we have been serving as key spouses the last year and a half. We miss her and her entire family dearly!

4

August 6, 2013, Mont turned 4 years old 

Boundary Waters + Soudan Mine

My fuji camera barely saw the light of day at the Boundary waters, so here is a compilation of pictures from both phone and camera:

Gearing up for our canoe trip - canoed for about 3 hours on the waters (not sure what the life jacket is doing in the air):

Oatmeal Cream Pie break (for the kids) while watching a bald eagle:

Lakes sort of... gross me out. HA! I love being near and on them. But in? I have to leave that to the kids. Fish... alive and dead.. that brown thing by the duck? What is that?? Lake.

Soudan Mine was incredible. Mark and I were as excited (maybe even more so) than the kids. It was unreal! Something I never thought I'd get to experience outside of the movie theatre or novel:

Mont making the "ch-chh-ch" noises of the mining carts we rode in: 

Emmy was a lot more nervous than Mont, and wanted to be held almost the entire time. It was pitch black at one point when they turned off the mining lights just so we could feel the utter blackness and depth of where we were. It was insane! 

Mont and Max checking for sparkles on their hands after rubbing some rocks:

At a wolf refuge. Emmy, ever the animal loving Snow White:

Mont aka Mickey Rooney meets Iron Will: 

Our sleeping arrangements. Mark with Mont on the bottom (with access to the fan), Emmy and I above. It was tight, hot, and full of mosquitoes. While we loved the trip. We really didn't love the itching.

Back to North Dakota... home sweet home.

...and the in-betweens

((iphone pics))

Fuchsia (name of a flower, not only just a color! who knew?)

Emmy found these little 'dancing' mushrooms (they watched a lot of Fantasia this Spring)

Giant Poppies in my parents yard:

Fresh, beautiful carrots at Tacoma Boys:

LeMay Car Museum (boy heaven!)

Car art for the Fourth of July:

instagram pics from Washington

Pao's Donuts (said like Po - easy for the kids to remember and they still ask for them - months later!). Best donuts I've ever had! (in Tacoma)

Lots of umbrella weather even with lots of sunny days. This one never made it to IG.. I delete most selfies. Figure if I'm not on my own blog at least, I'm not anywhere! haha

Cutest park after Pao's donuts, and Emmy found a great photo op:

This kid sheer will power and running legs were enough to get this kit off the ground with no wind AND in the drizzling rain. Such motivation!

On one of the many warm and sunny days, Emmy thought she'd take a rest. Such a diva sometimes:

On the ferry boat ride to Vashon Island from Ruston:

Fourth of July:

after racing go-carts, we got a token for the batting cages (my favorite!) so my little Mont man got to watch and he now wants to play pro-baseball. Because, well, I do. HA

My little Norman Rockwell boy:

Emmy got in on the fun with Mont: