Drawing for Grandpa

Ava, Rielee and Harper have a Tuesday morning ritual of drawing pictures to give to Grandpa Dan when he picks up Rielee for school.  No matter how busy they are, and this morning they were dressed for dancing, they drop everything to get a picture done for him.  The couple times they've put it off, well, they just made him wait until they hurried and drew him one, no way he could leave empty-handed.

Lexi and Auna volleyball

Both Lexi and Auna played volleyball in Longview today so we were able to watch both of them.   To quote Emmy "they are both such studs!" and played so well, saw both of them get many aces.  Here is a YouTube link for Lexi http://youtu.be/Sxev3SOZmoM and one for Auna http://youtu.be/UOoEwMF1Eco

On to State!

 Bridget came up to play this morning.  They played dress-up and then with the magnetic dolls, then when they were having a  snack, Bridget realized her Granny wasn't around and started to cry so her Papa came to get her.

This is Harper having her hair washed with peanut butter, it was her 4th shampooing of the day (3 times earlier in the tub).  The peanut butter didn't help so I washed it a 5th time  with extra shampoo, still no luck.  Yesterday on the ride home she somehow got gum all over the back of her head.  Mom first tried using peanut butter to get it out but then switched to Vaseline.  As it turns out, Vaseline seems to be harder to get out than gum!   Fortunately, Harper likes having her hair washed in the sink.

Macee and Dad-ecstatic and relieved after the girls won their Regional game over Blaine tonight, in OT, 60-55!  Macee had 22 points, Tierney 21, on to Yakima next week!

Ava's name

 Ava wrote her name today and she was so happy.  When she talked to Mom and Dad  later and they asked her about it, she yelled "Yes, I did it all by myself!" 

We went to Parker's last basketball game in Kalama this afternoon and afterwards Harper asked Des if Parker could come over so she could see him.  He and Rielee both came over and played hide and seek and chased them around, I finally got out some cards and had them sit and play a matching game so they would settle down a little.  Rielee had the girls giggling uncontrollably when they were all sitting at the table, she's really good at that.

Rielee at the Bike Park

 Rielee wanted to go to the Bike Park on the river this morning.  She hasn't been there since they finished it, and was surprised at how difficult it was.  Even the small hills and paths were too much for her on her big bike.  Papa walked with her around one trail and over a boardwalk and then let her ride down it on the end and that was scary because she lost her balance a little and headed for the edge but then caught herself.  She was much happier when we got back out on the big trail, she made a stop at the playground for a bit before we headed home.

Basketball history

The girls won tonight, beating Montesano 43-32 to earn Castle Rock's first-ever District Championship!

They needed a lesson on how to cut down a net, and then everyone took a turn.

Seniors and best friends, Tierney, Maddie, Macee, and Kenzie with their pieces of net.  Happy girls, on to Regionals next Friday..

Sunshine!

Charb dropped off the twins on his way to the State wrestling tournament this morning so they could spend the night with us.  The sun was out early and so were we,  going for a long walk and then the girls spent lots of quality time in the sandbox.  We went back out in the afternoon and Rielee came over to play, too.  In the evening, Rielee invited the girls over, they had lots of fun playing dress-up with Rielee's many princess dresses and putting on a show.  Rielee came back over with us and they listened to music and played restaurant  with the Play-Doh.

Valentines Day

 We had some happy little girls this morning.   They were so ready for Valentines Day to finally be here!  First they got a gift sack from us with light-up necklaces, little stuffed animals and a My Lil' Pony, and of course, candy.  Then Rielee came with candy bouqets for them, and then Auna showed up with stuffed animals and clapper toys.  They had candy before, during and after breakfast.  Then it was time to get ready for Bridget to come up and they were all going to decorate some heart cookies.  Except when Bridget came, she ran right to the play kitchen and right past the table, she had no interest in the cookies.  After a little playtime though, she came around and frosted a couple of them to eat. 

 When they got done with the cookies, Uncle Alan came over with Valentines and bags of candy.  Suckers and Reeses for everyone, it was sucker sampling time and they were in heaven! 

 When Aunt Cathy came to pick up Bridget, she brought candy for the twins, too,  what a perfect Valentines Day!

Valentines

Grandpa Dan brought the girls Valentine cards and candy this morning when he picked up Rielee for school.  They were so happy  and quickly ate their oatmeal and toast so they could eat a piece of chocolate.  

Luke basketball

 Saturday:   We went to Vancouver to watch Luke play basketball.  I thought his coach (on the left) looked familiar, Kelly told me he is KATU reporter. 

 Ava and Harper spent their time at the game mostly snacking and chatting with everyone.

The team getting some serious advice from the coaches.  Luke played really well, as did his team, coming from behind to win the game.

Rielee came over when we got home and spent the night.  We watched the Lorax and played beachball volleyball.

This morning we got up early and when Parker came back from spending the night at the Dolan's we did some crafts for Valentines Day.



Reading, bakery, district

 Rielee and Harper doing some early morning reading.

 The girls were invited to play with Bridget this morning, again they said it was okay to drop them off because they were "big girls".  When we picked them up we headed to the bakery for a treat, of course they wanted one of everything!   They got cinnamon twists but once we got home they shared them with Papa so they could have some of his maple bar.

This picture is from the girls district 53-30 win over Rainier tonight.  Tierney had 21 points, Macee had 11.  Tierney is shooting a foul shot and the Woodland band members are cheering for her, it was so cool that the Woodland band stayed after their game was over to play for the Rockets since our band wasn't there. 

Valentines

It's been easy to keep the kids busy these days, we have blank cards, stickers and markers on the table all the time, so whenever they are bored, they can sit and work on their Valentines.  They usually draw a picture of whoever the card is for, and sometimes Ava will put stickers on the hands of the person.  Today she drew a very nice picture with what I thought were shoes, but she informed me that the person had on boots and gloves for the snow, which she then added to the picture.  We've talked a lot about the meaning of Valentines Day.  They got so excited about it today that they had to take some cards home for Mom, Dad, Luke and Lexi. 

Rocks

The girls played with rocks all afternoon.  They brought some in and played "store" with them, with Ava bringing in only the "shiny" ones which she took in the bathroom and washed.  Their conversation was so funny, at one point, Harper had one little brown rock she was holding and she told Ava "this little rock is so sad, he can't find his Mommy".  Ava ran outside and found a bigger brown rock, washed it and gave it to Harper and told her "here is his Mommy, he's not sad anymore". Before long, Harper took the biggest pot outside and filled it with gravel, or "baby rocks" as they call them, to make some rock soup.  Alan was here visiting at the time, and he and I agreed that Papa handled it all quite well as more and more rocks were hauled in the house, much better than he would have a couple of years ago.  He has mellowed considerably with these two.

Helping with the firewood

 

The girls love helping Papa get the firewood, all the while telling him how strong they are and how many muscles they have!

Here is a link to YouTube showing Parker making one of several 3 point shots he made today as his team beat Hockinson 49-37.  He had 16 pts. total. http://youtu.be/nu1h6pFGCsk

Senior night, Parker's birthday

 Tonight was Senior night for Macee, Tierney and 5 other Rockets. Tierney had 22 points, Macee had 15 in a win over Toledo.  They were undefeated in League for the second year and district starts next week.  After the game, it was time for Parker's birthday party.

13 years old already! Des made 2 cakes, one for me also.

  The twins had been so excited for the party and had asked about it all day.  "Is time for Parker's party yet?"

Parker was so happy to get this hat, he has wanted one like this forever. 



                                                  

He got lots of sports-related stuff, a basketball and  "new money" as Harper called it. It was a fun party.