A few more Spring Things around here....

 

The last week (or so) around here has been absolutely insanely wild. Pretty sure I need notes to remember it all. If I fall back on the photos I've taken, they tell just a bit of the story.

 

Please note, I have softball photos, too: 3 double-headers in four days! But I'll save softball stuff for another post. In the meantime, here are a few for you.

 

So, this is Emma's second year of doing Mother Goose Preschool. We do the curriculum as a group of moms, taking turns teaching in our own homes. It is similar to the Joy School program that I used to do with my older kids. I totally would do Joy School again, because I enjoyed it, but it's not the program that the other moms are doing right now.

 

These last two weeks, it was our turn to have preschool at our house, and it's actually our last turn this year. That's how I snapped a few photos of the kids "playing soccer" one sunny morning...

 

I love the blooming forsythia in the background! And I do love that we have a really large grass area in the back yard where the kids can run to their hearts' content. Todd had just mowed this for the first time this year.

Another day, I was taking pictures of the forsythia and cherry blossoms, and Emma was showing off on the trampoline for me. I try to take advantage of the times that she poses for me and the camera, even if sometimes it's the cheesiest smiles and fakey poses.

... because sometimes, I get a shot that I absolutely love:

Alyssa and Darcie have been screamin'-busy with school-related stuff. Softball, as I mentioned before, is daily after school for 3 hours, plus games. Both girls have been trying to stave off injuries and soreness, and the trainer has been taping them (different locations, and for different reasons) constantly. Don't ever let anyone tell you that there's anything "soft" about softball.

Alyssa has been working hard to get her presentation completed for her Senior Project, and the deadline is looming. And that's another blog post to get written: she's gotten some great photos to share with you.

Darcie has been campaigning for the junior class secretary. This year, she's been the sophomore class vice president. I think she enjoys student council -- and I'm proud of her for having the confidence to put herself forward. You might remember her campaign for vice president in 9th grade. This latest campaign wasn't as involved, but it was successful: I found out just this morning that she won! Congrats to my baby girl-that isn't a baby anymore.

By far, though, the most exciting thing to happen around here is still going on right now: the girls are off on a trip with the high school band to sunny California and Disneyland!! "Thrilled" doesn't even begin to describe their excitement for this getaway. It's like having a second Spring Break. I hope they're taking a lot of pictures for me.

On the day they left, they stopped by Welenco to tell us goodbye before heading down to board the bus. (Yes, they took a bus to get there. It's close to a 24-hour drive to get there. Yikes!!) Todd and Alys sat down together for a look at some new cleats for her -- we order online for the brand and style that works best:

 

That's her look for me. The caption would be, "You're actually going to take a picture of this?"

Yes, I am. Because I have a lot of memories of sitting on my dad's lap when I was much too big to sit on his lap anymore.

 

Darcie grabbed a picture of our good-bye hug. Oh, how I love these girls!!

 

Then she turned  camera on herself. I hope this is her, "I'm so excited to go to Disneyland" look:

Bahahahahahahaha!!!!

How I Spend My Time. Lately, that is.

 

Life keeps kicking right along. Most days, Emma comes to work with me, and she's there until her loving sisters rescue her come to pick her up in the afternoon, after school. She has her own playroom there, and things to do, so she's usually not bored. Her latest game is to play Hide-and-Seek with me, and let me tell you, there are a lot of places that a little four-year-old can hide in a stove store.

 

Sorry for the quality of these photos, but they're phone pictures... what can I say? We decided to have a little fun and take some self-portraits:

 

 

 

(That was supposed to be a sign, to send to Cameron. When I realized we'd not gotten the message in the photo, Emma decided that she was done posing. Oh well. I sent him a picture of just me with the sign. I hope he's ok with that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upgrade

There are a few "absolutes" in life. (Death and taxes??)

There is a particular "absolute" for us in our hearth products store. And that is, that without fail, we ABSOLUTELY must have a service van in good working order. No excuses. Since the van was getting on in years, and especially getting on in mileage.... Todd decided that the time was right for an upgrade.

(It's amazing how long these things can take, though!)

So here's Todd with both vans. I guess this means that for the time being, we have a fleet. At least, until we decide to sell the old van. The new one is pristine and ready for its paint job, which is actually supposed to happen tomorrow.

There is also the process of moving all the storage bins and equipment from the one van to the other, as well as the ladder rack on top, and the pipe carriers (that's the long white tube on top of the old van in this picture). It will come. In the mean time, we snapped a shot of the family sitting in the new van:
And Emma had her own ideas. It made a perfect dance floor.

It will never again be this clean, or this cleaned OUT. Maybe THAT'S why I was snapping these photos?

How Much Wood could a Woodchuck Chuck?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He'd chuck all the wood that a woodchuck could
If a woodchuck could chuck wood!

Or, he would chuck all the wood he had to.........

So, the current house at the Haven has three (count 'em) fireplaces. One of the three, we converted to gas. The other two are still woodburning fireplaces, one with an old Welenco insert, and the other with a new Regency Hampton insert. During the winter, like so many other Northern Idahoans, we use the wood inserts to do a good portion of heating the house.

A few days ago, Todd had the chance to buy some more firewood that looked pretty darn good.... and so he bought it and had it delivered. The guy was nice enough to bring it right into the back yard and unload it for us. At first glance, it doesn't look like much, peeking out from around the camp trailer.

The camper needs to be winterized and parked, but we just haven't gotten that little task done yet. When you walk out a bit further, you can see there's a bit more wood there......

But ACTUALLY...............

It's a pretty darn big pile of wood!!!

And while most of it still has the bark on, it is mostly in rounds and looks great. It will also be a great source of heat for us on those cold winter nights. We love the feel of wood heat, and you can't beat the cost savings. I do foresee a bit of a project for Cameron and Todd to split and stack it all.....

Working Girls

Since the whole "Vancouver Trip" is still happening for Darcie & Todd (Game 3 today, by the way!), and since this week is filled with summer service calls, SOMEONE had to be at the store. Enter, Marilyn.

And since Emma is practically joined at the hip, she goes everywhere with me. (She may end up being difficult to wean when the time comes!) But since it's work, I need an alternate baby caregiver for when I am helping customers. Enter, Alyssa.

And (whoever said you should never begin a sentence with "and" ought to have been shot. I'll write how I like!) despite Alyssa's claims to the contrary, Emma does love her, as shown in this picture from this morning. You can also see one of the gorgeous Welenco paint colors behind them... actually two, if you look very closely.

Normally Cameron would have been the one to come to work with me, since he has more experience with propane, but he is home, shirtless when possible, recovering from a 2nd-degree sunburn. Todd says he must need to get a nasty burn every 4-5 years or so, just as a lesson to remind him that he really does need sunscreen. Alyssa got burned also, (also with blisters), but she is naturally less sensitive and therefore has less damage.

And speaking of propane, why is it that some people step away a few feet from the dispensing station, like they're afraid of something? Because let me tell you, first of all, if it were all that dangerous, do you really think OSHA would allow me to stand there to pump it? And secondly, if by some stretch of the imagination, there were to be an explosion, believe me..... standing 10 feet from ground zero is not going to do you a bit of good. You'd have to be like a block away. And thirdly, propane explosions at dispensing tanks really don't happen, (when was the last time you heard about one on the news? NOT.) because the trained attendant (ME) knows what to do, and really doesn't want to get blown up either.

Being back at work is a little weird for me, and I'm not entirely up to snuff on the newest products or pending orders. I have to admit, I REALLY LIKE being a stay-at-home-mom. This fall will probably change that, and Emma will need to get used to hanging with Mom and Dad at the store.

Wishing Darcie good luck, and I'll get back to my project of de-cluttering (and therefore freeing up shelf space).

Not quite Jack Kennedy

Ok, I readily admit that Todd's office needs to be remodeled. Todd would agree, if you asked him. At the bare minimum, it needs new paint and carpet. (Especially since I LOVE the results of our color-block painting of the showroom at Welenco) A full office re-do would be worthy of an HGTV makeover show.

But even when we do remodel the office, I really want him to keep his desk. I don't know how old it is, but it looks like it may date from the '40's or '50's. It's all-wood, nothing special. It has a high-gloss varnish -- where it's not worn off! To say it's "aged" would be a kind way to describe the wear on this desk. A piece of glass has been custom cut for the top. But to me, it's a piece of history, in a good way. It will be a great look. I actually wish we could repair his old wooden office chair, too. It's history as well, but its hardware may be beyond help. Todd had these same office pieces ages ago when he worked at Welenco as the shipping manager. When he moved to sales, he turned down the desk in that office, and brought his old desk with him. (I'll have to ask, but it's possible that this office furniture had been left in the old building from when it had previously been the McMonigle Chevrolet dealership in the 50's-60's.)

There's another desk that has some history, and you've seen the famous picture of a father working there, with his child playing at his feet. Let me remind you:

Well, yesterday I spent some time at Welenco re-writing an article for an advertising section in the newspaper. As usual, Emma went with me. She did pretty well, and when I saw her playing at Todd's feet, I had to get this shot:

Our desk will never be as famous, and it certainly isn't as fancy. As usual, I didn't have my camera with me, so I used our old digital camera, and was in such a hurry to try to catch the shot, that I ended up with several that were "good" shots that were blurry because the flash never went off.

Emma came away with dust in her hair and filthy dirty hands and knees - she's crawling extremely well now. I'm not sure what it is about a stove store (I seriously suspect it's the shop out back though), but it's never truly clean unless the carpets were professionally done in the last week. Otherwise the floors seem to have soot or paint or both all over them. A far cry from the White House, but it's home to us.