Let's call it what it really is

Tonight is book club at our house--we're discussing R J Palacio's book Wonder, which I L-O-V-E.  I think every parent and every 4th grader on up should read it.

In preparation for the book club, I was making a grocery list this morning and telling Jason and Rhiannon what I planned on making for tonight:

Kathy's Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Chocolate Raspberry brownies
Seasoned popcorn
Crackers and cheese ball
Veggies and dip
Fruit

Jason's eyebrows arched up and he said, "I think you should call this what it really is--Treat Club."  :)

I'm looking forward to it!

Update:

Success!  6 friends showed up, along with Rhiannon and Wade, and we had a good time.  I woke up smiling about something Wade had said and posted it on Facebook this morning:

Funny Wade time:

Last night at the book club I invited both Rhiannon and Wade because they enjoyed the book.

We were teasing Wade about his dad saying he'd take away Wade's man card for joining us, and Wade goes, "It's okay, I've got 3 of those."

He calls these Chuck E Cheese credit-card looking things his "man cards." No one else knew what he was talking about, but inside I was laughing SO HARD!!!!!!

Fun Family Home Evening

Max Sheen, Verity''s grandpa, who was a teacher for 37 years

Inspired by my brother Jordan's posting on Facebook, we talked about family history tonight for our family home evening.  We looked through pictures and records that Jordan had scanned while he was at Grandma Sue's house one visit, and it was so neat!

Then we opened up a file of Jason's Grandma Lola's recipes that his cousin Brittany had spent a lot of time typing out.  Jason recognized many of the family favorites--everything looked so good!  We will have to try a bunch of those out this summer!

For treats we ate knock-off jelly beans and played Scattergories--it was a fun night!

We feel very grateful for the family connections that we have, for Jason's family, for the Sheen family, and for our own little Jason-Verity-Rhiannon-Wade family.  Life is good!

Extended "Family"

This morning we all jumped in the van and headed to a local elementary school to help with a community service project.  There's this large desert area full of scrub brush that kids walk through to get to the school, and it was FULL of trash.  We had a surprisingly good time working with friends in our LDS stake and other community members, filling bag after bag and finding everything from furniture to toys to swimsuits.  We only stayed a couple hours but felt we'd put in a good effort!

Then tonight we went to an open house to say goodbye to some friends moving back to Utah.  The Kimbler family opened their home to us all and hosted the party for the Calls.  There was a HUGE turnout.  HUGE. Wall-to-wall people.  Kids everywhere, plenty of food, and adults mingling all over the house and yard to visit and catch up.  When we left there were close to 20 kids running around just in the front yard, if that gives you an idea.  We were kind of the outsiders being from a different ward, but we knew so many people there and had a great time.  The Calls are off to Logan, UT so that Ben can get his PhD and teach engineering--he was telling Rhiannon and me that Texas A&M would be a place he'd want to teach at.  We geeked out over that!

There are times when I wish we lived closer to our grandpas and grandmas and aunts and uncles and cousins and really miss all the fun family times that we can't attend because we live too far away.

It's tough.

But we are blessed to live in this small community full of good people who look out for one another and become extended family for each other!

This week a woman posted on a Ridgecrest Facebook page with questions about the community.  She said her family was LDS, coming from Cedar City, and she wanted to know about it all--schools, wards, weather, houses, neighborhoods, community, renting, all of it.  The response she got was overwhelming, over 100 comments and counting.  She said she felt the love and her family was excited to come.

I learned a lot from this woman, someone I've never met.  I admire the way she jumped in and was doing homework on Ridgecrest, trying to have an upbeat attitude and really get to know the place, instead of moving into town and waiting for people to get to know her.  Through that simple Facebook inquiry, I think half of our stake knows her and can't wait to see which ward her family moves into, ha-ha!

She is definitely preparing to bloom where she'll be planted.

I love that.

Pedal to the metal

For Webelos this month we've been working on the Sportsman badge.  It's been SO much fun!  Tomorrow night we'll go for a bike ride with 8+ boys around the neighborhood near the church, and, believe me, I'm looking forward to it, crashes and all.

Rhiannon graciously let me borrow her bike for this thing, and I hopped on it this afternoon for some practice and rode with Wade over to his piano lessons.  We're talking a 2-minute bike ride, but it was exhilarating, ha-ha!

I miss the bike I had in college that was stolen.  Boo.  Time to think about getting myself a bike!

WINNER: Grilled Honey Pork and Vegetable Kabobs

Boy, did we have a tasty, easy dinner tonight.  It's one I've made once before, a recipe from the website Melskitchencafe.com that the Deals To Meals blog adapted.  Had to share!

Grilled Honey Pork and Vegetable Kabobs

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (I just used 2 teaspoons of jarred minced garlic cloves)
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2.5 pounds boneless pork chops (or chicken), cubed  (I used one whole boneless pork loin)
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into large pieces
1 large red onion, cut into large pieces
8 oz. mushrooms, stemmed
2-3 cups fresh pineapple chunks (canned pineapple that's been drained is fine, too--that's what I used)
(I threw in 2 small Italian squash, cut into disks, too)

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, pepper, garlic, and oil.  Measure out 1/4 cup of this marinade mixture and place in covered container in the refrigerator to use later for grilling.

Place the cubed pork in a large ziploc bag and the cut-up vegetables in another bag.  Pour half of the marinade over the pork and the other half over the vegetables.  Seal the bags and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 24 hours is okay).

If using wooden skewers, soak them for 30 minutes in water prior to cooking.  Then thread the pork pieces onto skewers and alternate the veggies/fruit on separate skewers.  (So we had skewers with all pork, and skewers with all veggies).

Preheat a grill to medium heat and grill the skewers, flipping every couple of minutes, until the pork is cooked through (about 6-10 minutes total, depending on the heat of your grill and size of the pork pieces).  The vegetables only need a few minutes per side.

Brush the reserved marinade over the pork and veggies during the final minutes of cooking.  Serve immediately.


We had this meal with Doritos and sliced strawberries on the side--SOOOOOO good!

Here's the link to the original Mel's Kitchen Cafe recipe, in case you're interested:  Grilled Honey Chicken and Veggie Kebabs

Random, fun iPhone pics from April

I'm having some technical difficulties loading videos to the blog this morning.  Grrrr.  I guess I'll have to go back later and add them.  For now, to end my blogging spree this morning, here are some of my favorite random pictures taken off my phone:

70-pound Oscar dog sitting on my lap.  Yikes.  And, no, I didn't pose him.

Easter Bunny teeth on Samson!  Who needs decorations around the house when we've got him!

Toy Story clouds from Saturday.  The picture doesn't do them justice.

The Cushings are ready for the weekend!  The kids get off from school on Friday tomorrow, and Jason is going to take a day off to be with us and get us to mix work with play.  :)  Looking forward to it!

Touch of Class Dance

Last Friday Rhiannon went to the last middle school dance of the year, a "fancy" one called Touch of Class. Her parents had two stipulations:  her dad said she needed to find some friends to go with, and her mom said that she had to have a modest dress.

Lovely ladies!  Rhiannon with her friends Sydney Marler and Emily Haugen

Ready for the dance!

Say cheese, Daddy!

We had the girls over for pizza before the dance and then I drove them over.  It was a special moment for me, watching my beautiful daughter walk into the sea of strapless, mid-thigh dresses.  I asked Rhiannon later if anyone else had worn a dress like hers, and she said no.  We're so proud of her for keeping high standards!  She had a really great time with her friends and was glad she went!

Band Extravaganza

On April 9th, we watched Rhiannon play in the Band Extravaganza at Burroughs High School here in town.  Both middle school bands and the big high school band crowded into the gym at the high school and played their hearts out.  It was a lot of fun!

Panoramic view of the bands.  Rhiannon's band is on the left, directed by Dan Peterson.

Getting ready to play.  The Murray band played two songs on their own and did pretty well.  Rhiannon said the Pirates of the Caribbean song would have been better if their tuba player had showed up! :/

I spy Rhiannon!

Photo bomb by Wade

A couple months ago Rhiannon brought home a letter from Mr. Peterson from the high school band director, Mr. Austin.  8th graders were encouraged to audition to play a piece with the high school band, called Emperata.  Mr. Austin bent over backwards to help us get Rhiannon in to play for him.  It was nerve-wracking until we got to the high school band room and he made her play just 5 notes of the song and said she was good to go!  We were really surprised!

Well, fast forward to the Band Extravaganza, and Rhiannon and a handful of other middle school kids had their names announced and were invited to join the Burros band for their piece.  Rhiannon said it was pretty bad because she didn't realize she was missing a piece of the music that hadn't been printed out, so she froze during some of the song.  We were proud of her for sticking through and doing her best, though!

The best piece of the night was when all 3 bands played a John Williams mash-up together.  

It was amazing.  

It was brilliant.  

It was flawless.

It was breathtaking.

And I forgot to take video of it because I was too entranced.  Boo.

Oh, well!  We're happy for Rhiannon and excited to see what experiences she'll have in the high school band next year!

Rhiannon's piano adjudication

In preparation for Rhiannon's piano honors recital that's coming in a couple weeks, she participated in a piano adjudication, or piano judging. She had a good time and the guy was really cool.  He gave her some good tips on the piano piece she'll be playing, called L'Orage.

Rhiannon really enjoyed working with this musician, Steven Vanhauwaert, because he gave her LOTS of tips on how to improve her piece and did that in a kind, energetic way.  She had a good time!

You can learn more about Steven and his group here:  Felici Piano Trio

Here's Rhiannon playing before the session:

And here's a clip of her session with Steven.  He gave her great tips on dynamics, using the pedals, and creating more drama.  It was great!  We're looking forward to her performance on May 3.

Junior Olympics

Wade participated in Junior Olympics on Saturday.  Man, it was a blast.  Half of Ridgecrest was up at the track at Cerro Coso College, watching their kids and schools compete.  The weather was warm and perfect, at least for us spectators.  I felt bad for the kids who would get checked in for their events and then have to stand in line for an hour in the sun.  Otherwise, it was a great morning!

Wade ran a 400M relay with 3 fifth graders, based on his time at his school.  The boys had never practiced this together, so it was a little nerve-wracking for Wade.  He was signed up to run a 400m relay but had never done it before!  He was the 3rd runner and said he was the slowest on the team, but he laughed and was grateful a fourth team didn't show so that his team could at least get medals for coming in third place, haha!

Here's a video of Wade running the 100M race.  Again, he laughed because he was near the end, but I thought it was cool to see him run his fastest!  (Please excuse my noise--I was a little excited!)

WAY TO GO, WADE!

Some really great books

This morning I'm cranking up iTunes radio and trying to prepare mock Battle of the Books questions for our group at Wade's school.  In just a couple weeks my friends Becky Anderson, 4th grade teacher Allison Hays, and I will join 13 or 14 fourth and fifth graders to two different competitions--at Pierce Elementary here in town and then across the mountains to Bakersfield to battle with other students on 30 books they've read and studied this year.

It has been quite the experience for me.  Every Wednesday for 30 minutes we've met with this fun group, encouraged them to read the books on the list with activities, treats, and "book talks," and now we're in the final review and practice phrase.  As I put together my half of the questions this morning, I found myself thinking about the books I've read on the list and what a remarkable list it is!  Many of these books were stories I'd never read before or heard of, and they are great!  I'm so glad I took the opportunity to volunteer in this unique way.  It's taken some work and some time, but it has also been a blessing.

Here's the list of book titles and authors' last names (I've marked my new favorites in all caps, but they've all been good.):

SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS, by Rawls (author of Where the Red Fern Grows; I like Summer of the Monkeys better)

IDA B, by Hannigan

The Best School Year Ever, by Robinson

MISS RUMPHIUS, by Cooney

All About Sam, by Lowry

Fables, by Lobel

The Million Dollar Shot, by Gutman

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Dahl

The Velveteen Rabbit, by Williams

THE HOBBIT, by Tolkien  (I read this for the first time ever last year--what a great book!)

Regarding the Fountain, by Klise

RUBY HOLLER, by Creech

Dealing with Dragons, by Wrede

SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, by MacLachlan

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Catcher, by Coville

SNOW TREASURE, by  McSwigan

Ralph S. Mouse, by Cleary

Island of the Blue Dolphins, by O'Dell

Sign of the Beaver, by Speare

Wanted...Mud Blossom, by Byars

Night of the Twisters, by Ruckman

THE WESTING GAME, by Raskin

Where the Mountain Meets the  Moon, by Lin (great story on gratitude!)

EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS, by Wiles

Worth, by LaFaye

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, by Birney

Tuck Everlasting, by Babbitt

THE GREAT BRAIN, by Fitzgerald

Inside the Earth (Magic School Bus) by Cole

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, by Erickson

Happy Dog

This was back in March.  Had to share!

Fun Things to Do In and Around Ridgecrest

At our Relief Society activity tonight they are doing 5-minute classes and rotating around.  I'll miss it so I can go to Rhiannon's "Band Extravaganza" at the high school, but I offered to help put together some info for one of the classes, with help from a Facebook query.  There are a LOT of places/activities on this list that I've never done--might be time for some family day trips!

Fun Things To Do In and Around Ridgecrest, CA

This list was compiled from a simple Facebook request—“what can you do for fun around here?”

Milkshakes at the Indian Wells Drive-Thru Dairy at corner of Norma St and Ridgecrest Blvd

Whitney Portals—about an hour north; there’s area for picnics and a giant fishing pond

Visit horses and burros around the perimeter of the BLM Wild Burro facility (call to check)

Open Mic Night at USO building, non-flex Fridays

Geo caching—everywhere!

Fossil Falls, north of Ridgecrest

Death Valley (beautiful in the wintertime) So much to see! Sand dunes, Scotty’s Castle, Gold Canyon, Artist’s Palette, Devil’s Golf Course, etc.

Sand Canyon

Go up to Short Canyon and do a hot dog roast

Burro Schmidt Tunnel (FUN, but you need a vehicle that can handle the rough road; bring flashlights!)

Support local sporting events—high school and college, IWVYB youth baseball games, etc

Walk the labyrinth at the Matarango Museum in townTop of Form

 Hiking trails behind Cerro Coso College

Watch stars and meteors out at Wagon Wheel

Go to the post office at 2am and slide around on the floor in fluffy socks

Free Home Depot workshops monthly (these are well-attended by kids in the community)

Theater productions by the high school and CLOTA

Desert Community Orchestra events

Schat’s Bakery in Bishop

Support local businesses and shop at fun places on Balsam Street

Randsburg fun, including ice cream sodas and root beer floats at the general store there

Sodas from the Indian Wells Brewery

Hiking in Red Rock Canyon, south of Ridgecrest

Robbers Roost

Walker Pass (great for a quick picnic and hike!)

Trona Pinnacles

Cuddeback dry lake bed south of Red Mountain, Disney movie "Holes" was filmed there, also several music videos.

Kernville—floating down the Kern River

Darwin Falls

Lake Isabella and Lake Diaz

Play tennis at Leroy Jackson Park

Trail of 100 Giants past Kernville—a must see!

Camping at Troy Meadows

Try the Mustang burger from Mt Whitney Restaurant in Lone Pine

Gem Day in Trona

Try John’s Pizza Breadsticks

Talk to the Lundwalls about riding their train!

Browse Swap Sheet and browse garage sales, community events, etc; printed every Thursday and available for free

Stop by the Matarango Museum for pamphlets on day trips!  Great info!

“Bloom where you are planted!”  Take advantage of all the interesting places in and around Ridgecrest!

Conference weekend

General Conference weekend was a good one.  Jason got back Friday from travel, Rhiannon passed her audition for playing the high school band this coming week, the kids helped me plant our garden, and we all sat back and soaked up every minute of General Conference and the beautiful weather we were having.  Happiness!

How cool is this!  I found this on Facebook this morning and had to share it.  It was created by Morgan Shauerhamer.

I used my knitting loom to make a couple hats while we listened.  Very relaxing and fun!

Samson enjoys his perch on my lap outside.  It sure was beautiful this weekend!

Wade's last official Pinewood Derby!

 It's a little bittersweet to write that this was Wade's last official Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout.  Where does the time go???

Jason and Wade spent a LOT of time together on this car, and, boy, did it turn out perfect!  Wade called it the Spider Mobile.  He didn't place at the races and was pretty bummed about that, but he gets 5 stars for a SWEET car!

So cool!

Happy boy!

Gangstas at the derby

Wade took this with my phone.
I
LOVE
IT.

So glad to have Howard and Sandi there with us!  Thanks, guys!

Jason was on business travel in Tucson, but Wade and Rhiannon were texting and FaceTiming with him during the whole thing.  I was off handing out Red Vines to the masses.  :)  It was a great night!

Spring is in the air!

If you look really closely, you can see Wade's new bands on his braces.  He chose white and pink, in honor of the Easter Bunny!  So funny!

I felt like a little kid putting together this Lego set that I bought for myself.  So worth it, though!

Splurging at Home Depot.  Their garden department is hard to ignore this time of year!

I did it!

One of my projects to get ready for my parents' visit was to recover our kitchen chairs.  I did not include a before picture because they were horrendous--the fabric was not only dingy but was tearing apart and revealing the padding underneath.

I went to a site called Warehousefabricsinc.com and bought some red heavy duty vinyl fabric, and then, with a little help from Youtube, a brand-new staple gun, and Jason's blessing, I recovered those chairs.

I've never done anything like that before--it was a huge accomplishment for me!

Grandpa Rich and Grandma Donna come to visit!

Oh, man, where to begin?  We had a BLAST for Spring Break this year with Grandpa Rich and Grandma Donna!  We didn't go to the beach or visit Disneyland, nope, we just hung out in the desert and enjoyed each other's company the whole time!

Some highlights:

The girls got pedicures.  Thank you for that treat, Grandma!  It's been 2 weeks, and I'm still enjoying the results from mine!

The boys golfed, got donuts, played basketball, and bought a "treat" for our garden patch.  Grandpa said Wade did pretty good driving the golf cart--just needs to take corners more slowly, haha!

A LOT of pool was played!

We had gorgeous weather the whole week except for Wednesday--that day the wind was CrAzY!  Grandpa and the kids braved the wind and played a little b-ball at the park, but we spent most of the day indoors and played board games.  

One day we drove to Walker Pass for a picnic and hike.  Grandpa and Grandma were troopers!

Grandpa joined Jason and Wade for some gun-shooting, too.

What am I missing?  Grandma Donna SPOILED our dogs and gave them SO MUCH attention that week.  We went to church together, we ate at Ale's Steakhouse one night and invited Howard and Sandi to join us.  We got in the hot tub, watched lots of movies, and had fun watching HGTV shows with Grandma Donna.  A side benefit of driving them to and from the airport in Ontario was that we got to do some retail therapy at Ontario Mills Mall.

What a fun time!  We love you--thanks for coming to see us!

Webelos Day Hike to Sand Canyon and Pretend Campout

Time for some serious blog updating, folks!  Rewind to last month when Jason, Wade, and I joined others for a Webelos day hike to Sand Canyon.  What a gorgeous day!  We had a great turnout from both parents, family members, and Webelos boys.  

Jason did a great job leading the boys on a 3-mile hike, we did a clean-up service project, and my friend Judith put together a fun orienteering activity for the boys.  Everyone brought a sack lunch.  It was a fun, easy morning.  Last year's day hike was my very first foray into being a Webelos assistant leader.  We did a lot more at that one, like building a fire and swimming in a pond, but both Judith and I felt this year's day hike was more enjoyable because it was laid-back, quick, and easy to plan for.  The weather was better, too.  Win, win, win!

A couple weeks after that, the boys joined us in the Nation family's backyard for a pretend campout to finish off the Outdoorsman badge.  What a blast!  We roasted hot dogs and made S'Mores, and the boys put on some really funny skits for us.  I think Wade was back at the table getting food--wish I'd gotten him in this picture.  I absolutely love being in Webelos with him.  What a blessing!  The boys are great and I get to work with one of my best Ridgecrest buddies, too--Judith and I have known each other since our kids were babies.