Where the White Things Are: Event-full

Even though there was no school on Thursday and Friday, it was still a jam packed event-filled week.

We burned a pile of yard waste and several pallets on Saturday morning.

Monday after cross country practice was another round of high school parent teacher conferences and piano lessons.

Tuesday afternoon we had a cross country meet way out in Moses Lake, a 1 hour and 45 minute bus ride away. We left at 11:30am and got home 9.5 hours later. Jay and Rose both ran in the varsity races, and they both hung on for dear life and finished with their second best times of the season, even though they both didn't feel especially good during the race for various reasons. As a coach, I was able to hug one of our girls while she cried about feeling so tired and finishing in last place. As a mom, I got to watch my Jay and Rose race and work hard. As a human being, I talked with a lady named Kim who I knew at church 10+ years ago when she organized the Relief Society to bring us meals 3x per week and babysit tiny Jay and Rose every day while I was super sick and pregnant with Amber. Kim has aggressive terminal cancer and only has a few months to live. She was at the meet watching her youngest child race for the last time. I hugged her in her wheelchair and told her it was good to see her, to which she replied "this is the last time you'll see me." My heart nearly broke with the ache of seeing her husband push his wife in a wheelchair around the course to cheer on their daughter. Sniff. Saying goodbye to earthly angels is bittersweet.

Wednesday after cross country practice, Jay had a chiropractor appointment. We had about 45 minutes at home before it was time to leave again for Rose's final middle school Wall of Fame award ceremony. Students who kept a 4.0 GPA for the entire preceding school year received an award. Rose got a special Star award for keeping a 4.0 for her entire 3 years of middle school. Rose coordinated with the principal to move herself and two classmates to the beginning of the ceremony so they could leave right afterwards to go to their first high school orchestra concert, arriving 5 minutes before the concert began. Rose played in the freshman Concert Orchestra, and Jay played in the experienced Chamber Orchestra. Jay actually got to play with Rose's orchestra, to fill out the sound, since freshman music numbers are low.

Thursday there was no school, so we had cross country practice at 10am. I went on my second run of the week, and my tendons cooperated. It felt like such a treat to go on a run. Recovery is slow, but it is happening! Jay and Rose went to a youth activity to a corn maze that night.

Friday was another no school day, and we finally got to breathe...after cross country practice of course! That was a lovely relaxing afternoon full of screen time and feet-up time.

Saturday, we put the cross country captains in charge of practice. Jay had his boys team do a milk mile, where they drank a cup of milk before each lap of the four lap mile. Only one kid puked, but they were all looking pretty ill by the end, haha. The girls watched and timed, then did some cross training in the barn. Jeff and I burned our entire season worth of yard clippings in a massive hot blaze while the kids ran. Saturday night, Jay and Rose went (semi-reluctantly) to a stake dance hosted by our ward. Jay wore a pumpkin T-shirt and Rose dressed up like an elegant masquerade queen. Jay made green witch finger cookies to bring to the dance. Jay and Rose said the dance was fine, but they aren't big on dances in general so they left early. They lasted over an hour though, so I was still impressed!

Sunday was Amber's last ever primary program at church! She gave a sweet little talk about the 12th article of faith that she wrote by herself, and she sang all of the songs with a darling earnest face. Amber was also asked to give the closing prayer for sacrament meeting after the primary program ended, and she did an impressive job. While she was praying, I thought to myself "wow, I've never heard Amber pray like this!" Afterwards, she told me "I was wracking my brain for words to say in my prayer. I'm still nervous about it and I don't think I did a very good job." I assured her that she did an excellent job. Length isn't everything, but her prayer was longer than the prayer's I've given in sacrament meeting! Her prayer was so sweet and thoughtful, it warmed my heart.

I ran three miles THREE TIMES this week! I am not in much of running shape but it was lovely to be able to move and run again.

Rose showed me her biology group's bottle biome project during parent teacher conferences. It was pretty neat. Their praying mantis laid eggs!

Amber, faithfully practicing piano. She has really become more interested and committed to piano over the past few months, which makes my life so much easier.

Our varsity girls team on the starting line! (Rose is on the right.) I love these girls.

Go Rose!

Rose! She ran a 5k in 24:41.

Go Rose! I took quite a few pictures of Rose in her race, but didn't get as many of Jay. Boys run so much faster; it's hard to get pictures before the race is over!

Our varsity boys on the starting line, with Jay looking a head taller than most of the boys. (Jay is just to the left of the team in white shirts.)

Jay, kicking it in to the finish! He ran an 18:40.

The pastel sunset looked so pretty with the Moses Lake Temple, seen from I-90 through our school bus window.

Amber doesn't mind going to cross country meets for some reason...

Rose at her Wall of Fame ceremony, where her teacher-of-choice, Mrs. Smith, read the nicest, sweetest essay of why Rose is so great. I was so touched and happy to hear a teacher who could really SEE who Rose was at her core.

Mrs. Smith gave Rose the paper of kind words that she wrote for Rose. What a treasure!

Rose with her Star Award, in the hallway of her old middle school...with Amber's bunny ear fingers. Grr, Amb!

Jeff restrained Amber so I could get a picture of Rose without bunny ears.

Jay, on the left through the window, lugging his string bass into the concert hall.

The combined high school orchestras, with Jay in the middle of the bass section and Rose as first chair cello.

Zoomed in, Jay's profile is visible and the back of Rose's braid is visible.

Extra zoomed in...

I never managed a picture with Rose's actual face!

The tiny high school Chamber Orchestra, with Jay on the bass.

I was SO HAPPY to run in the sun with minimal tendon pain on Thursday. I wore my new rubber ducky sports bra and life was GOOD.

I cleared out our tomato garden this weekend. There were SO MANY tomatoes! I hauled three wheelbarrows of foliage and tomatoes, all from the two tomato plants and one accidental jalapeno that I planted in June. I forgot to take a before and after picture, so this is the "in the middle" picture. I gathered up the black landscaping tarp to finish clearing the garden.

Another yardwork project this week: I began excavating these annoying heavy landscaping rocks from around our shed. I was amazed at how many rocks can fit in just one square foot of ground. It was kind of backbreaking.

Our neighbors were quite social on Saturday morning. The goat got stuck and the cows came to investigate. We couldn't free the goat this time--he was too stuck, so we fed the goat and cows some weeds and went back inside.

Rose laughed her head off when the cow's black tongue grabbed the weeds from her hand.

Jay made pizza from scratch for the first time on Friday night. I love his interest in cooking foods he enjoys. He said the cheese wasn't the greatest--we didn't have any mozzarella so he used string cheese!

The milk mile finishers! (minus one guy)

Jeff, feeding the blazing bonfire of yardwork past. We were under a burn ban all summer through September, so we had quite the mountain of stuff to burn.

Jeff, adding fresh berry clippings to the pyre: they burned up so fast for green things.

Jeff worked for the first half of the fire and I worked on it for the second half of its life. It was SO HOT, my skin was singed.

My face was totally singed by the heat of the fire, especially between my eyebrows, since my hat kind of trapped the heat there.

Jeff took Jay to his long-awaited (5 months late) birthday meat treat on Saturday. They went to a Brazilian meat restaurant in the tri cities and ate practically their weight in tender meats. They showed off their bellies to me when they came home.