Snow Day

UGH it's been way too long since I wrote on this lonely blog.  Fate intervened and we have a snow day today.  A snow day that's exactly 4 days away from a two week Christmas vacation for the kids.  To clarify, today is not a full snow day, it's a virtual learning day which means Will is holed up in his room powering through all of his classes as fast as possible and Reina and I are sitting on the sofa while she works on earth science and I write this post.  Later we'll do some baking, maybe some house cleaning (ha ha ha) and start the Christmas letter.  Glenn is on a work trip and may be there for a little longer than planned if this storm is a bad as predicted.  I'm going to catch us up with one post an hour today.  Here we go!  

Obligatory cute cat picture

Randomness

I'm trying to get back into the habit of documenting some of the minutiae of our daily lives.  This year, I've touched on the highlights of kid sports and accomplishments but when I look back on old posts, I enjoy remembering some of the randomness that takes place in our household.  So that's my goal for November. More randomness.   

We finally had our first snow of the season this week.  We ended up getting between 3 and 4 inches.  Yah for moisture!  I'm saying that now .... check in again in a few months.  

The view from my office as I left work.  It was really starting to accumulate. 

Our chickens have been molting like crazy and they didn't appreciate the snow.  We have two old chickens who lay once or twice a year and three younger girls who lay regularly when they aren't molting, being broody or whatever their current problem is.  

The spectators for my morning workout.  It's slightly disconcerting.  Do they think it's a drive through window?  

Halloween with big kids

Halloween was on a Monday this year which felt weird but we made the most of it. Reina trick-or-treated with a group of friends in our neighborhood.  Will was tempted to go out there but he was home from school because he was feeling under the weather so that made the decision for him.  We had a lot more trick-or-treaters than usual because the weather was mild (it wasn't 10 degrees and snowing) and I enjoyed seeing all of the costumes. Tootsie and Trigger loved greeting the kids and their candy buckets.  Charlie did not.  Charlie's least favorite evening is Halloween. 

Facebook reminded me of the many costumes the kiddos have had over the years.... cowgirls, pirates, slice of pizza, Union soldier, football players and so much more.  This year, Reina went to a school dance a few weeks ago as a 1920's flapper but she needed a warmer outfit so she opted for scary clown face.  

All makeup by the artist.  Nailed it!  

Without any cute toddlers available to dress up in costume, my attention turned to the cats.  Coco as a scary fish.  Eeeek!  She definitely has murder on the mind.  

Thankfully, we still have people in the house interested in pumpkin carving.  Glenn and I grabbed this giant pumpkin at a farm a few weeks ago and it was big enough for multiple faces.    

Happy Halloween!  

 

Reina's Confirmation

 

Reina was confirmed at our church on Sunday.  She's had a different confirmation experience than most.  She started the process during the Covid shutdown, had a lot of zoom classes, then in-person classes and finally confirmation.  We are proud of her and can't believe that she's growing up so fast.  To wrap up their classes, each confirmand was asked to write a statement of faith.  Here's Reina's (sharing with her permission). 

My faith statement, what God means to me.

                To me, God is faith, God is someone that will always be by you in sadness, anger, fear, grief in any emotional state you might be in. God is a friend, a friend you know is there, a friend that you can talk to, a friend you can trust. He understands you, understands when your angry, sad he understands you always. God knows when your hurt, he knows what you’re feeling and is always with you when you are in pain.

God wants me to live my life with no fear, he wants me to be always happy, sadly he can’t always control that, so when I am suffering he wants me to know that he is always by my side no matter what I am going through.

To those who struggle to believe in God, he isn’t mad, he understands, and he is there to lead you through every step until you find the mindset to believe in him, and if you still don’t, he is always there never mad, never sad, he will love you always. He forgives your sins; he accepts your apologies without any doubt because he knows you love him, and he loves you.

When you are under God’s wings you will never fear death you will never fear pain or grief because you know he is always there for you. Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be that dismayed, for the lord thy god is with thee wheresoever you go.” The verse from the bible is exactly what I’m trying to say.

September

We are in the whirlwind of school, sports, dance, work, gardening, hunting and everything else that can be accomplished in the month of September.  The kids are settling into their schedules.  Glenn and I count down the days until the weekend.  We have a lot of football happening at this house - much to Reina's dismay but she's being a good sport about it.  Will is playing JV and Varsity.  On Friday he got his first varsity start against Laramie and it was very exciting.  These pictures are out of order but here are a few memorable moments:  

Will sacked the quarterback on 4th down and this picture would be less blurry if I hadn't been simultaneously screaming and taking photos.  

Will's first start - he's #28.  He actually got the first defensive tackle of the game but that picture did not turn out at all.  

#28 under the lights.  

Reina's dance season has started and she had to get fitted for new pointe shoes today.  Thanks to technology we were able to do a fitting virtually so she put on her dance clothes and we went down to the basement/gym/taxidermy room and zoomed with a store in Colorado.  I'm so amazed at what she can do in those shoes - look at that balance!  I don't think she inherited that from my side of the family.  

All is well.  Stay tuned for more football/dance/hunting/gardening/pet pictures.  

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for 10th grade and 8th grade.  And yes, I got a little teary-eyed.  It feels like they are slipping through my fingers but that's a lament for another day.  I couldn't get a group shot because Will is taking 0 hour weights which is a fancy way of saying that he takes a class in the wee hours of the morning and it's weight lifting.  He leaves the house before I'm fully conscious but I rallied to get his picture.  

He's growing his hair out along with the majority of the teen boys in society.  The 80s are back!  

Reina goes to school at a slightly more acceptable hour so we snapped a few photos in the sun and with a cat as an ankle accessory.  

 It's only been two days but the school year is off to a good start.  Will travels with the football team to Sheridan tomorrow and Reina has a slumber party on Saturday.  Whoever agreed to hosting a slumber party on the first weekend after school started was obviously not thinking clearly LUCY.  

Fourth of July

I logged on to write a big post about all of our August happenings but then I saw that I had this one waiting in the draft folder so let's wrap up the Fourth of July!  On August 13!  We headed over to The Fry Farm for bbq and fireworks.  July 4 was a Monday this year so both Glenn and I had to work the next day which is a really boring way to say that we left before the really big fireworks started.  It was a cooler evening and we had fun sitting outside watching the cousins race around.  

Mixed doubles for whatever this game was.

Those are foam swords which I feel like I should mention because this picture makes it look like they are swinging broom handles at each other.  Which they probably have.... just not at a time when I could capture it photographically.  

The cutest 6 yr old in all of Wyoming showing us his box of Pop-Its.

Girl cousins and watermelon mustaches.