8th Grade

 She is almost a high schooler! Yikes! Her first day of school above and she actually volunteered to help mentor 6th graders the real first day of school(she gets it off normally) She helped them find classes, opened lockers, helped out and did presentations to classes on appropriate dress and bullying. She even bought candy to give them if they could answer her questions right. She's a bit sad she won't be there when Fieldin gets to middle school :( 

 In the mean time, she loves, cheers on and protects her little bro. She helped him fill out his job applications to apply for a classroom job he wanted. Turns out Fieldin thinks job applications are a waste of time:) 

4th Grade

 9 years old and off to 4th grade. 

 with his special pal Tater Tot before he ran out to the bus.. 

Seattle

 I have a picture of these two at the mariners stadium when they were wee ones and Fieldin was in a stroller! 

 They can now make it through an entire game without us having to leave early or visit The Moose. This is nice because we can actually visit with old friends and enjoy. 

of course, a trip to Seattle is not complete without going to record stores for this girl. She also likes to see all my old workplaces/digs and she likes to checkout the amazon buildings and spend time in Fremont. Fieldin likes to see the troll and eat chocolate.. He really just likes going for the food. 

Fishing

 

An afternoon fishing at the pond near our house. Patience and sitting still is a bit hard for this fellow but it paid off. It got thrown back to live free. 

Camping

We started camping again this summer. We do it the old school way still, in a tent. The kids do well and can venture around together alone a bit, so it was time. 

 Our friend, went with us to The redwoods  and to do some caving. 

 below, trying to get some last minute worksheets done to get his Jr. Ranger badge 

 If you didn't already know, Paul Bunyan talks. Out of all the people there, he chose to freak out Fieldin and it was pretty darn hilarious. After guilt tripping him about only getting his picture taken with the ox, he finally took a pic with Paul, even though I secretly think he was kinda freaked out. :) 

 whittling. He spent a lot of time on this. Did it look like a pencil in the end? Surely not. It was a work of art..ahem.. 

 You will find this girl in any crevice at the ocean looking for treasures or signs of life

 lots of hiking and below at an Indian village 

The Unexpected

 We always said we wouldn't own a piano. So of course, we have a piano. After Gret taught her self piano her music teacher suggested we get her into lessons pronto. It went something like this. Taught herself piano, a few months later made it into a talent show playing a classic rock song on piano, private lessons then a piano. She is improving leaps and bounds and we can't keep up with the books she needs for her lessons. She now plays piano as well as percussion in the highest level school band. This time last year she had no clue how to play at all.
In the end, I love the piano. Hearing her play makes me so happy. 

Around Here

 The first pea pods of summer! 

 building the statue of liberty 

 my second knitted blanket.. this one is for Greta. We all know the cat claimed the first one. 

 checkers at grandpa's 

 friend time

 lemonade stand moolah!

 being a revolutionary soldier at the beach

 love...

 This little dude can make his own macaroni now.. problem is he wants to eat it every day

Tater Tot

 Sweet tater tot has become such a special part of our family. She still will not go outside but she is happy, playful, likes to do tricks and loves her special blanket. 

Camps

 Greta went to an all girls camp this summer to learn some survival skills. I was thankful someone sent me this after she went into a mud pit. 

 Fieldin got into the brainy camp that his sister used to go to. A bus picked him up and drove him to his classes in Corvallis. He chose engineering where he had fun building bridges and designing robots,etc. He also took a lego robotics class as well as a painting class that he was excited about. 

 These days he says he is interested in being a civil engineer

 Family day trying to build the tallest sturdy structure.. it got a little competitive. 

 two Fieldin's! This is his self portrait. He got his first three class choices but if one was full, he was going to take french. 

Greta also spent a full busy week at music camp and loved it. She only did percussion and was wonderful. It is amazing how many instruments this girl can play. Through percussion she doesn't get bored. Most times she plays multiple instruments during one piece of music.  

New Book Box

 Our first lil' library was busting at the seems so to appease the toddler set, Uncle Larry was nice enough to make us a second box. It was lovely. Fieldin made it his duty to hang it and he did a great job. 

 Now, the littles in the neighborhood have a box of their own which they continually stock with wonderful books and toys for each other. 

I started painting rocks with quotes or fun drawings and hide them in the side yard and they always disappear within the hour.