Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My kids and I went to the library today. I had one of those neat moments when you look at your kids and think, "I am so very grateful I have you. You are all so dear." They were all at tables, looking at books. (I probably was able to have the moment because it was one of the rare times they were all quiet at once). The scripture came to my mind:
"Children are an heritage of the Lord"--
This statement is so true!
Anyway, tonight we were gathered around a classic I had read in my youth. There is a simple little sketch on each page, and I found it was definitely more fun to read it TO my children than it was to read it AS a child. It's all about candy! Even Saxton (4) was interested!

The Wizard of Oz-- Illustrated

This is another very good one we have read. The children loved it, and there was so much detail that wasn't in the movie (such as walking through a little village where all the people, animals, and buildings were made of fine china that moved (that is, if you were a person or an animal)...or the real story of the flying monkeys) I highly suggest reading the original version, written by Frank L. Baum-- I've seen watered down retellings that just simply aren't as good-- and the full color illustrated copy done by Michael Hague has enough pictures to keep little children interested.

What I do in my spare time...

We run a store. When we came, it was very empty, except for some gourmet kitchen stuff which a local store owner put in it. This stuff didn't sell very well, and so we had the opportunity to fill the store with souvenirs and stuff! Some friends of ours who have a lot of experience in retail helped us set things up, learn how to order, get the display equipment, etc. So... I've had a lot of fun ordering from catalogs, going to buyers markets, setting merchandise, pricing, etc. It's been interesting to see how this end of retail works. For instance, did you know what Net30 means? It means a store has qualified for "terms" of paying for merchandise within thirty days of receipt of goods. This gives the store a chance to make some money before paying bills. But you have to establish lines of credit with other vendors before you can qualify for terms.
"Made in Montana" is quite a big deal here. There are special little stickers that vendors put on their products that are made in this state. I don't think we had anything like that in Idaho. Probably because our sticker would be a potato, and who wants to buy something with a potato on it? Maybe if it were scratch and sniff? Maybe not. I digress... So a big display in the store is all made in Montana stuff, such as candles, lip balms, jewelry, metal art, etc. It is neat to find people who make really cool stuff! There are some talented Montanans out there, and I hope their wares sell in our store. So far, so good.
At my first buyers market, I was pretty clueless and didn't realize how hard it would be to get away from vendors who want to sell you things...but then I developed a little thicker skin for my next one and knew by that point what we needed in the store (though Cory teases me for buying some kind of weird stuff, like those little doggie figurines-- well it's for the KOA camping dog lovers, of which I might say there are a plenty.. But those little plastic visors.. well, I don't know who will buy those. I must have been up in the night on that one).
It took me months to get up the courage to spend thousands of dollars that weren't my own, but when I found out how much fun it is to put it all up, I couldn't stop ordering! (until my budget ran out...)

All Gussied Up!

Yes, it snowed in June here!

These pictures were taken on JUNE 11th! Not kidding! It felt like Christmas break because the kids were all home from school, playing board games because it was too cold outside! We were planning on hosting all the local businesses out here on this day for a barbecue and to show off the campground.... guess that didn't happen!

Brinley gets our first broken bone...

I could have guaranteed four years ago that she'd be the girl to break something. Bless her heart, she just gets going sometimes without looking or thinking about what she's doing. I feel terrible. She fell in our playground-- she was walking backwards and fell into this tunnel thing. Fortunately it is a minor fracture (a wrinkle fracture--her little wrist bone has a "wrinkle" in it that is horizontal to the length of the bone.), and she'll have her cast off in 4 weeks. She is allowed to play at the water park, but not to get it too wet! She's been brave through the whole thing.

Our 9th Anniversary

Here's my young husband and me. He is a sweetheart and such a fun daddy to our kids. His first priority is our family, and I am grateful for that. The years are going faster all the time!

Brinley's First Graduation

Out marched the three Kindergarten classes at Mountain Crest Elementary, each wearing a tie dyed shirt to match their teacher. They stood on the hill in a long line and sang songs and recited some poems. Brinley was a cutie, and I bawled as I saw her proudly marching out. She has a contagious spirit and a love for life! She loves to sing and dance and play. She loves to eat yummy healthy food and grazes all day long. She wrote Saxton the sweetest letter the other day and is a loving sister who likes to pretend all the time that she is his mother. I don't want her to grow up!

Second Grade Musical--"Stone Soup"!

Ellie was a cute little old lady in their school play. They'd sing "We're gonna have Stone Soup", and she and the other old people would hold up their earphones and say, "What kind of soup?" It was fun. She is a great kid. I'm starting to have real conversations with her-- the kind when we are both thinking and reasoning-- so that is a new development in parenthood-- and she even makes up jokes now that are pretty funny-- She surprised me the other day when she came home and said, "Mom, I need to do some research on magnetism." She got online and looked up Wikipedia and read about magnets. I think my kids will pass me up in computer knowledge at about the 5th grade level. Anyway, Ellie is a sweet big sister. The other day she got up with Nathan at 5:30 when he wasn't feeling well and got a glass of water for him. She brought him in to us and went back to bed. She has one more day of the Second Grade left, and then it's summer! She'll sing the High School Musical song about summer. Speaking of songs, (and I know this post is getting long) I have to write about something she did a few months ago. She dressed up and stacked up the couch cushions up on the couch. Then she stood on them and had Saxton and Brinley stand on either side. She told them to sing "doo wah doo wah.....doo wah doo wah....." and then she started into her song (she had taped the lyrics in front of her on the chandelier). "I'll do anything you want me to, oh yeah... I'll do anything you want me to oh yeah... I'll do the dishes, I'll fold the laundry, I'll vacuum the floor.....Thank you very much" (Elvis style there) It was quite hilarious. Hmmm now if she really always felt that way about housework.... I love my girl.