Update. . .

Just a quick update to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Very busy with school, staying slightly busy with work, quizzing has started up again and I'm working on keeping us on a "normal" schedule. This leaves very little time for me to keep up my blog!! The post I've been working on is all about the weekend before last which was very long and pretty exhausting so it hasn't been much fun re-living it through pictures. I'm always glad when I have something to look back on, though, so I'll keep working on it until it is finished! I'm also putting up some beautiful pics from the time we spent recovering up at the cabin. For the most part, life is good. There's more to come. . .

Random

A few weeks ago, a truck pulled up in front of our shop and the driver went into the Pawn shop next door. In the front passenger seat, there was a very talkative bird. Rob had a little conversation with it and then walked away. The bird was NOT happy that his conversation ended so he began to scream. Very shrilly. His screaming caused the dogs in the backseat to howl and they all created quite a ruckus.

It even caused people that were dining at the Stagecoach across the street to come and investigate the commotion. It seriously sounded like someone was dying.

It was hilarious.

The Crayfish. . .

We tackled the poor little crayfish last week. . .

I kind of felt sorry for the little guy. . .

I had to remind myself he'd been dead for awhile and wouldn't feel a thing. . .


Zach was much more willing this time to dig in. Literally.

It was very crunchy. . .

Reminder to self: he is DEAD. Do not feel sorry for him.

The worst part for me wasn't the cutting, it was the sounds that got to me- the tearing and snapping and crunching. Ewww. . .

For your viewing pleasure:

Two creatures down, four to go. . .

Sunday. . .

Last Sunday was a celebration of summer coming to an end and life returning to some semblance of normality. I went to church. . .


. . . hung out all day at Roaring Springs with Kristin and the girls. . .


. . . enjoyed a beautiful sunset. . .

. . . and took comfort in the knowledge that, at least for today, my Mother-of-the-Year award is still intact.

Football . . .

I've been a fan of football for as long as I can remember. My grandma and I used to watch the Raiders when I would visit- they were her favorite team back then because there were always fights and it was fun to watch! My dad was a big Dallas Cowboys fan so, if anyone asked me growing up what my favorite team was, I would always say the Cowboys. Rob, on the other hand, grew up loving the Minnesota Vikings. I tried to like them, I really did, but I couldn't be unfaithful to the Cowboys. I have many good memories of lazy Sunday afternoons, lounging on the couch, watching football. . . . And now, we don't have TV because the government sold a bunch of signals (?) and we were too busy to get a converter box and I don't want to get sucked into cable SO if I want to watch a football game, or anything else for that matter, I have to go elsewhere. My in-laws have always been generous with everything they have so that has become the logical place to go. They have even welcomed my friends with open arms. AND lots of snacks.

All of that rambling about football really has very little to do with this post except for the fact that last Saturday we watched the BSU football game at my in law's house with the Sacketts. Tyler found the dress up hats that my kids have had fun with for years.

He found the wigs, too. . .

I always love it when the wigs come out. . .

Gloria begged me to try one on and I told her I would if she could convince Kurt to do the same. He, of course, took it a step further and tried on a hat, too! I followed through on my part of the bargain but since I'm the one behind the camera, there are, thankfully, no pictures. . .

Grandpa had given Gloria this lovely pink ball cap when we arrived and she wore it very sweetly. . .


Since it looked so cute on Gloria, wouldn't you think that would translate to just about anyone????

Not. . .

Food Expo at The Qwest Arena. . .

In our industry, one never knows what to expect from day to day. We do everything from renting out a couple of speakers to setting up everything necessary for a big (big, not HUGE) outdoor concert. Sometimes events come up at the last minute and we just have to roll with it. Fortunately, the event that came up last Saturday was pretty easy and somewhat interesting. Although just one of us could have handled it (meaning Rob or Kurt), when I found out Laura was going to be there, I decided to hang out just for fun. Rob came along as well, even though Kurt had volunteered for the job, and the four of us spent the day together sampling all kinds of interesting fare and learning new cooking skills. . .

We ended up leaving that day with sacks full of produce and samples as well as all kinds of new information that I will never put to use. . .

The End. . .

The last Nampa Nights of the season always makes me a little nostalgic. It was our very first gig 7 years ago (6 years ago??? Can't remember. . . ) and it gave us a jump start in the audio business. We used borrowed speakers and had piles of cables that we dumped onto the grass when we pulled up. I knew next to nothing about audio and the only experience I had in setting up mics was due to the fact that Rob and I had been in a band and I helped set it up when we practiced. I knew what a vocal mic was and the importance of a monitor but that's about it.


Our first season at Nampa Nights put our name out there and one show led to another. By the second summer, we had Nampa Nights and a few other regular gigs and I still really didn't have a clue what I was doing. . .


Looking back I think it was a good thing that I was clueless or I would have run for my life. What you don't know won't hurt you, right??

I would say it was a little like the blind leading the blind only Rob actually knew what he was doing. Kind of. I have heard him say things lately that have led me to believe he was flying more by the seat of his pants than I knew. . .

We still fly by the seats of our pants but I know stuff now. Not just about setting mics and monitors up on a stage but about what to expect and how to prevent possible catastrophes. . .

OK, catastrophe is too strong of a word for this instance, but I'm a realist and I plan ahead for possible glitches. I'm off base quite often but sometimes my foresight has saved the day. Rob and Kurt would probably disagree but, I'm just sayin'. . .

Anyway, the first 3 or 4 years were a blur of bad dreams for me. I got really good at pretending I knew what I was doing! I learned the lingo and knew just enough more than Joe Public to get by. . .

I know enough now that I know I don't know nearly enough. . . BUT, now I know what's around the corner most of the time AND we have grown by leaps and bounds as a business AND we're not alone anymore so I can relax (sometimes) and go with the flow.

My little trip down memory lane brings me back around to the last Nampa Nights of 2009. We had a fun crowd of friends and family so I didn't even pay much attention to what was going on up on the stage!

Hailey and I were both using my camera and we were able to capture some of the fun. . .

It's always more fun when Laura and the kids come out. . .

Laura's dad even came out and seemed to enjoy himself. . .

Sweet little Justin needed another picture of us. . .

Me and the girls. . .

Peas in a pod (so true and kind of frightening. . . )

Tyler helping his dad:

I laughed so much that evening that my insides ached. It was a good ache. . .

It's good for me to reflect back on where we were and to see where we are now. It's not that it's not difficult sometimes and it's a HUGE amount of work but it's definitely not a bad dream anymore. . .

School. . .

Every year it gets a little harder to make the transition from work to school. We were busier than we've ever been over the summer and school was the farthest thing from my mind. I usually make a plan by mid-August, gathering my materials and making a color coded Excel file listing every book and subject we'll be studying and finding a way to fit it all in. August came and went and I hadn't made a spreadsheet much less ordered any of our materials. I don't even try to start until after Labor Day, but I start to really feel the pressure when everyone else goes off to school. I told the kids that the Tuesday after Labor Day would absolutely be our first day of school. With or without the spreadsheet, we had to start. Tuesday came and Gloria didn't have any books so we spent school day #1 shopping for books and then she went to Melanie's house to learn Home-Ec. And I worked. I told the kids that Wednesday would absolutely be our first day of school. Wednesday came and we found we needed supplies. Lots of supplies. School day #2 was spent shopping for supplies. And then I worked. I told the kids that we ABSOLUTELY had to start school on Thursday. And we did.
We managed to fit in History, Math, PE, Science and Reading before we went to Nampa Nights so I could work. (Only Nampa Nights isn't really work!)


Once we get the ball rolling, it gets easier. I enjoy teaching the kids and letting them teach me. It's just a matter of taking that first step as we ease our way back into school.


Last year, as a Sophomore, Zach took Biology. He really enjoyed it and read the text and did most of the experiments on his own. Except for the dissections. I hated Biology when I was in High School so I found one excuse after another to put off buying the things he would need to complete his course. I knew I would have to face this at the beginning of the year so we could move on to Chemistry. Here is our lovely bag of specimens. . . :


They really couldn't make it any easier for us with everything we need right inside a neat little box. . .

Zach gathered more sharp objects, just in case. . . (Don't worry, we didn't actually use the pizza cutter. . . )


Over the next couple of weeks, we'll dissect most of our little creatures but we started out nice and easy with the earthworm. . .

Unfortunately the earthworm was at the bottom of the bag. . .

Ewwww. . .

The worm looked pretty harmless. . .

We had to get in the right frame of mind before we could begin cutting so Zach turned on Weird Al's "Like A Surgeon". . .

And then we cut open the worm!! And pinned down his sides!!

Ewwww. . .

It wasn't as bad as I thought and I think I'll be ready to help him tackle the frog next week. I'll do anything to put off Chemistry . . .