Just random pictures of the homestead. (where we Reneer's grew up)

To say that this is the place we grew up would imply that some maturing went on as well. Let me be the first to say that growing up and maturing are two totally different things. No maturing whatsoever took place here.

My mom is probably cringing as she see these pictures of her home. You see, this was taking in early May before she got all her flowers planted. I will have to post an updated picture with all her "color" as she puts it.

The girls room is the window on the far left. Window in the lower center is the kitchen.
The back of the house. Window is to the boys room. yes, it was very handy to crawl into when you had been locked out of the house. Below is the storage shed for pantry items and freezer.

Just some random shots of the creek. Still running high from spring.

Nope. Jakey did not catch anything this time.

The girls spending the afternoon doing one of my favorite activities. Watching water go around a stick in the water.

Neighbor's dam broke this winter. Is currently reaking havoc on my parents meadow.

You have got to be kidding me??

I went to get a nice cold glass of orange juice. You know the kind, where the beads of condensation trickle down the sides of the glass while you drink it. It sounds so good your mouth waters in anticipation. Yes, I had high, high hopes for this glass of deliciousness.









only to open the fridge and find this..............

I am not ashamed to say I wept openly. I an ashamed to say that the child that left this did not feel any remorse. He thought (no names will not be mentioned as the guilty is a minor) that I should prolly go to the store and buy some more orange juice if I wanted it so badly. OUCH!

a work in progress

The kiddos and I have grand plans for Dan's plot. Yesterday was phase two. Phase one being placing the headstone.

The soil is clay. Not clay like or containing a lot of clay. It is 100 % clay. We could make some lovely pots if we cared to. So we brought up some manure and potting soil and blended it in.

It is also very windy and arid up on the hill and I do not know the watering schedule there. I chose plants that would like full sun and little water once they got established. Getting them established is going to be the tricky part. This is where Barb is going to come to the rescue.

You see our "little" project turned into a family project when Vertie, Barb, Amy and Katie joined. I was so glad have them all there. Barb has some great ideas for plants to add and Vertie and I have some ideas for a bench also. He is going to check so see what exactly the plot size is.

Yesterday was the best weather we have ever had up there. Sunny and no wind! What a pleasant way to spend a morning. Daniel helped amend the soil while Ike ran through the hills riding a rake. Then girls had fun looking at all the bright floral arrangements set out for the holiday and picking up worms.

Ike and Jake went with Papa to get pizza so could all meet up back at the Brown's for lunch.

Ike's moment in the spotlight

Isaac was one of about 50 students in the Spokane School District that was chosen to have his artwork on display at the School District office downtown. I was a very proud Mama.

So I loaded up the six kiddos. Drove downtown. Found great parking. Unloaded the crew. Went into the building, looked as picture for 10 minutes. Loaded everyone back in the car. And headed home. No, they did not keep their hands to themselves. No, indoor voices were not used. Yes, I was frazzled after the excursion.



And now I present for your viewing pleasure, Trees in Despair, in pen and ink, By Isaac Brown

Drive By??

Daniel was a victim of a drive by walking home from school last Friday, May 19,2011.

Some one drove by and threw this at him

Smacked him right upside the head. I guess you could say he was touch by the Spirit.

We were trying to figure out what exactly made this man decide throw this at my son. Some of our theories,

Was he trying to spread the word of God one concussion at a time?

Or was he actually disgusted by the word of God and throwing it away and Daniel's head was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I like to think of it as "drive by proselyting".

Things to be grateful for..

It was not the Old Testament
He was not a Mormon because a Triple Combination would really pack a wallop.

messes

My house is full of messes. I cannot keep up with it. Came home last night from being at the temple and snapped! I gave them each a list of what needed to be done. I came home to nothing being done! I WAS TICKED!! My solution.....





keep them in their rooms until it is time to come out for breakfast and get ready for school. their rooms are trashed, of course, so they do have plenty to keep them busy. Right now I am listening to Ike and Jake fight, as usual.





My dog, not wanting to be left out, decided to barf in the hallway and in the tv room. You are prolly wondering what is the signifigance of those two areas that she chooses to barf in them every friggen time she pukes? They are the ONLY places with carpet in my house!!! So have been able to spend my morning listening to my children fight while scraped up dog barf trying not to gag myself and shampooing carpets.





No. I am not in a good mood. Thanks for asking.

A bit closer towards my goals.

This last Tuesday I had to take a college placement exam. Everytime I thought of taking this exam a four letter word kept popping up in my head. No worries. It brought such fear I never said it out loud. But I will spell it for your reading enjoyment. M A T H Yes, I know, it is a very dirty, dirty word. I feel dirty just spelling it. I did okay on the reading, and writing. Sure not college level but I will be in class 99. Um, math i scored a touch lower. and by a touch lower I mean I did not come close to touching level 99. In fact I am not even level 92. infact i have to take FOUR quarters of math to get where I need to be!! Oh well, I can do it. I have to! And if push comes to shove I will pay Daniel or Ike to do my homework for me. :D

I will be taking English 99, Math 91, and Biology 241 this fall quarter. As you can tell I am super excited to get this next chapter in my life started.

Mothers Day

My daughters made books all about me at school and gave them to me for mothers day. I did not know we had so much in common.

first, my favorite color is pink, which is also Anna's favorite color.
second, my favorite color is purple, which is also Maria's favorite color.
third, my favorite food is spaghetti. Also happens to be the girls favorite food too.
My favorite thing to do is to cook for them, to take care of them and washing the dishes.

Wow. those are best things ever! they also drew adorable pictures with each activity.

Jakey made me a card with coupons in it. every coupon says the same thing. NAP. He knows me so well.

Ike also made me a card on Sunday morning. Which is amazing because he was very busy Sunday morning keeping the little ones out of my room so I could sleep in. He threatened them with death or dismemberment. I know this because the girls know how to call my cell phone now. they snuck the phone into their bedroom and called me saying, "Mommy, Isaac is going to hurt us if we wake you up." Then I heard Ike in the background realising what the girls were up to. the phone was dropped, screaming followed but soon faded as they ran back into the tv room.

Ike's card...

Happy Mother's Day!

there I said it.
Now you can go about doing your chores that you do everyday anyways, but with a smile on your face.
What? this does not seem sincere?
Here, lets try this...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!! LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!

"OOOO's" added for extra emphasis.

Love, Ike.

On a totally un-related side note. Why does 35 mph feel so fast when my son is driving? Riding around with Princess Princess the other day as she ran a stop sign and backed out into on coming traffic. I did not even flinch. She was impressed. What can I say? I am the mother of a teenage driver.

the CAKE OFF!

And now for the story behind Ike's two birthday cakes.

My dad offered to make Ike a cake for his birthday. I did not want him to worry about that. I am his mom, although Ike denies this fact, and so I would gladly make his cake. I told my dad thank you for the offer but I got this one. He shot back with, "What? You think you can make a better cake than me??" Uh, Duh. Of course I can. And so he said the following two words......"It's On."
Seriously?? I mean did he seriously think he stood a chance against ME?? I spent many an afternoon, (*many,many years ago mind you) eating frosting by the tub. I would like to think I know a thing or two about cake by that fact alone.

So I made a quadruple layer german chocolate with a sweetened layer of cream cheese filling in between each layer. I choose german chocolate because that is what the birthday boy wanted.....or so I thought......
Turns out I misheard him. He said he wanted anything BUT german chocolate. OOPS! so being the good sport I am, and knowing my dad was prolly going to make a german chocolate cake also because that is he specialty, I called and let him know of my mistake and to change his cake making plans. A poor sport would have let him continue with his plans setting him up for failure, but I was so secure in my spot as winner I kindly threw him a bone.

Well I show up with my masterpiece to be greeted with a 9x13 yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I was stunned. Did he think so little of my cake making abilities that he thought he could win with this? Or did he just assume I would eat the cake before the contest? (a very real possibility) Oh he has stories. Yes, he has excuses of a grand german chocolate cake that he spent all week making, even traveling to Germany to learn the proper technique but having to throw it out last minute due to an ill timed phone call.

But I think the following picture shows the clear winner here. On the left is my cake. On the right is......well you get the idea.
Will this be the end of baking contests between the two of us? No, it will not. He is a glutton for punishment. ha ha ha ha

*okay, maybe not many,many years ago. but it has been a few days!! Don't judge me!!! :D

Ike's Birthday Bonanza

This is the sleepover/ up all night gaming/ gorging themselves on junkfood/ tp'ing/ crew.

This picture is Ike. Through and through. You wanna know my Ike. Just look at what he carries with him at all times. Well there is one thing missing in the picture. That would be his knife. I have a feeling it was in his pocket at the time this picture was taken. It is always in his pocket. My washer can attest to this fact.
Ike wanted to spend his birthday with his friends sharing what he loves to do. Fishing and hiking. The fishing is lousy this time of year, but I think the all had a fantastic time.

This is a close up view of their "prime" fishing spot.

Here is the scene from across the creek. It was truly a beautiful spot to be.

Ike and his birthday cakes. Yes, he had two cakes. More on why that was in the next post.

Happy Birthday my little boy. 12 years old on May 4th!!