Halloween 2010

Bobert in real life... after being imagined for all of these years!

Pumpkin carving!

The masterpiece!

Philip spent a lot of time trying to decide if he was going to be anything for Halloween.  Caitlin didn't.  I ended up thinking of costumes for both of them.  Philip wanted to be something bloodly/gorey/violent, but I said no to it all and suggested being a Nintendo DSi.  I even managed to get the box spray painted black before I found out he thought my idea was a pain to wear.  Philip didn't end up being anything.  He sprayed some black hairspray in his hair left over from last year and seemed happy enough.  Caitlin has an imaginary creation that she has been drawing and talking about since about 7th grade.  His name is Bobert.  She has incorporated him into pictures and stories all over her classrooms at school.  I got to make a Bobert costume, which, thankfully, was really easy and required no pattern at all.  Even better is the fabric ended up only being $2 for it.  How lucky were we?  She seemed thrilled with the idea of it all.  And all of her friends loved it as well.

I bought 3 pumpkins to carve as well.  How is it that you are only seeing one finished product?  Caitlin was motivated.  Philip thinks pumpkin guts are gross.  Rik didn't think he could carved anything worthwhile in two hours.  I think the plus side of this is that we have lots of Thanksgiving/fall decorations and that I am only baking one pumpkin tonight instead of three. 

Trip to the White Mountains...

Fall break came and we were wishing we had some fall colors to go and see.  We packed up the truck and went camping near Big Lake.  Lots of good food, campfires, and fall colors.  It was also a LOT colder than in town.  Like 30s in the mornings, but I suppose that's why we brought the hot chocolate and cider.  I even took our Christmas photo.  Hopefully one of them will work!  The kids were funny in the fact that they wanted to sit by the campfire and read.  It didn't help that the day before we left I took Caitlin so she could buy the new Rick Riodian book.  She read it every second she could.  And then Philip conned her out of it so that HE could read it.  The funny thing was that I brought a couple of books to read and tried really hard to every night.  I think I read a total of five pages while we were there, and I'm afraid that includes the title page!  That's what happens when you're the mom I guess!  I need to figure out how to take a reading vacation!  (Though, truly, no complaints about our trip - it was really needed and a nice getaway!)

Did I never show first day of school photos?



My eighth grader and sophmore!

 I need to for posterity...  after all - we are well into second quarter of school and I'd hate for you all to miss out on seeing the kids as they were on August 5th, 2010!  And, if you were wondering, they are both doing great this year.  Caitlin had straight A's in her mostly Honors courses and Philip had 2 B's and the rest A's.  I couldn't be happier!

Cross country...

We've spent the last month driving from cross country race to cross country race.  Until it ended a little over a week ago.  Of course, just as the weather was becoming nicer.  Philip did pretty well this year - he even ended up earning a couple of medals in the process.  He even has been branching out into more than junior high running as you can read about here.

His school team did pretty well - winning a city meet and coming in second in the division.  Now on to the next sport....

Have you been wondering where the Brenton's have gotten to?

We're still here.  After taking a two month posting vacation, I'll get you up to speed by giving you the quick and dirty low down on the past couple of months.

* June - Philip spent a lot of it gone.  He got invited to go to Snowflake, AZ with a friend and his family.  He took no pictures worth showing, so imagine Petrified Forest rocks.  Actually, I take that back.  Imagine *a* Petrified Forest rock.  Don't know what one looks like.  Google it.  There you have it.  The sum total of his pictures.  He also spent a week at Scout Camp at which he took zero pictures but managed to spend the $10 I sent him with for badges on soda... (but Mom, ALL they had to drink there was *water*!).  *sigh*  We also chicken sat for a friend of mine.  I even kept them alive.  I felt obligated since they were named Easter and Bunny.  The kids and I also went with my parents up to the Verde Valley and took a train ride through it.  It was a little warm, but quite worth it.  There were stunning views - and we even saw some bald eagles flying!

My boogie boarding kids!

* July - Philip is gone again.  This time with Rik's parents to the White Mountains for the 4th of July.  I'm sure some pictures have been taken, but I have yet to see any.  Also, I found out that I don't like my kids being gone on major holidays.  It just wasn't right.  When Philip returned, he turned 13 the day we left for our CA adventure vacation.  We celebrated his birthday the day before with a small family party in which I accidentally added cheese powder to the angel food cake mix.  Don't ask.  We'll just say that party prep and camping prep shouldn't go on together.  We ate it and still lived to tell about it!  Beautiful trip to Santa Cruz Island which is part of the Channel Islands National Park.  If you ever have a chance to go, do it!  Secluded beaches, island foxes, beautiful views... priceless!  We also took a couple of days to explore Ventura since we were there and really needed a shower after spending four days on the island without one.  We kayaked, boogie boarded, ate, and went to the Farmer's Market.  I'm sold on the fruit there.  I am convinced obesity in America would not be a problem if all fruit tasted like the fruit I bought there did.  My only regret is I couldn't bring it all home.  Back from CA just in time for me to go to church Girl's Camp.  Lovely because it was out of town and not a billion degrees.  The girls were great and we had fun.  Back from camp long enough to sleep in our own bed and then we went to see my parents again because my sister and her family we visiting... who we hadn't seen in three years... including the newest addition to her family... Weston - totally cute guy!  And, finishing July with a trip, just me, to Las Vegas for a girls weekend.  Saw a Cirque show and and Blue Man show.  Totally enjoyed sleeping in a comfy bed at the Bellagio and enjoying great company.  My only complaint was that it was way too hot.  I had no idea there was someplace hotter than here.  There is.

Pristine beaches on Santa Cruz Island

August: School started August 5th.  Caitlin is a sophmore and Philip an 8th grader.  Can you believe we've already been in school for a month now?  Insane I know.  Rik also celebrated his 40th birthday (I'm sure I'm not anywhere close to his age!).

Are you all caught up yet? :)

Happy 15th Birthday Caitlin!

Caitlin celebrated her 15th birthday on Memorial Day this year.  She got to go shopping for her gifts earlier in the day with dad and came home with some shorts and shirts and decided to order some shoes online.  Dad also took her to lunch (Chipotle) and dessert (Cold Stone).  We celebrated having her around for so long by having a barbeque dinner and cake (made by mom - with an exploding, singing candle!).  How did she get so grown up so fast?

Veggies already!

Rik has decided to become a tomato and pepper grower. He's quite dedicated and waters and cares for his plants daily. He's bought cool clay pots and researched which hot peppers are the best to eat. So far, he's gotten one pepper... and the sad part is that he thought it was a hot pepper of some sort when he bought it, but, after planting it and reading the tag, he discovered it was mismarked and said "Golden Pepper." Not a big deal right? Well, it looks like that it really isn't a Golden Pepper either. It's never turned any color at all. It's been on the plant for several weeks now, so, instead of risking it rotting, he decided to pick it. It's beautiful. I'm scared to eat it knowing how much work has gone into this pepper!

I on the other hand, am caring for a bunch of plants that somehow made it through the winter and didn't die. Not through any care on my part! It just so happened that we had a rainier than normal winter, so they didn't die. My artichoke and eggplants are what I'm talking about. In March I noticed that they were both showing signs of growth... so, I decided what the heck and actually started watering them! I have had about 20 artichokes... this photo being the most I have picked at once. I have been reading about grilled artichokes and am planning on trying them... if you have any info, let me know about it. And, I have had 4 eggplants with TONS more on the way - they are small ones, the kind that fit in the palm of your hand, but very tasty! Even my non-eggplant loving friends would like these (you know who you are!). I've been grilling them in a foil packet and even Rik admits that he likes them - and he is one of the non-eggplant loving people out there.

Spring in the Desert

Spring this year in the desert was one of the most beautiful in a long time. Lots of rain in Jan, Feb, and March made for amazing wildflowers! Ann and her kids wanted to go to Ventana Canyon... and I did too... how many years have I been here and never been there? One afternoon we strapped the kids to our backs and took off. Lots of yellow and blue/purple flowers all over! And... water... running... without being attached to a hose. I know - it's just something I'm not used to seeing!

When I went to work the next day, I was talking about what a beautiful day it had been and my friend Debbie wanted to go see it as well. Two weeks later we went, and while there weren't as many blue flowers and not as much running water, the yellow flowers had exploded all over and it was just amazing to see. What a difference just a couple of weeks can make!

Philip's trip to Catalina Island

Philip got to go on the same school trip that Caitlin went on a couple of years ago to Catalina Island. I guess I was expecting the same type of pictures that Caitlin took... you know, meaningful one of the island, herself in a wetsuit, and herself with friends. Well, Philip had a different way of looking at this trip... here are the highlights...
I guess he saw some water and a bathroom and they stayed somewhere to sleep. Or maybe I'm interpreting his photos wrong?

What the Brenton's spent April and May doing...

Track & Field...

We purchased new running shoes for him and also a pair of track spikes... think flat athletic looking shoe with sharp spikes on the bottom. I made sure to stay out of the way of those guys while wearing flip flops!

Philip was a long jumper and a 100 meter dash guy. He also ran in the 200 meter and the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay a couple of times. He was picked to go to a special invitational at the UofA where mostly only 8th grade kids competed where he competed in long jump. He was also one of the few 7th graders who got to the district invitational.

One thing I didn't know about track meets... they take forever and a day. With all of those events going on, everyone has to share the track and field for their events, so it takes a lot to coordinate. Not that it's bad, I just hadn't realized that you didn't show up and see your kid run or jump or whatever and go home. You might show up to watch two events that while one happens a few minutes after you get there, the other might not happen for another couple of hours.

Philip had an awesome season. Can't wait to see how he improves by next year!

And, while there is only a ballet performance, which differs from going to see a track meet every week, that doesn't mean we're not in it for the long haul. Classes and practices 3x/week, including 12-4 on Saturdays. Caitlin is dedicated! While she didn't particularly love dancing with this guy, here is her premire dancing with a guy (besides dad!). She did a beautiful job.

And, again, I'm going to save you from all of the school dance class photos (because there aren't any). There were four performances in a row... Rik and I took turns going. While I did really enjoy watching Caitlin dance, the rest was loud and enough to give one a headache. See my previous post about the December dance concerts, and you've pretty much got my review of the one for the end of the school year!

Now, we're in a dance break... only to be gearing up for dance camp to begin next week!

Easter Eggs

This year for Easter we decided to try dying eggs with natural things - like onions, chile peppers, beets, spinach, blueberries, and carrots. We even invited some friends over to try it out with us. I was too busy chopping and boiling veggies to take any pictures of the event, but, I am here to show you the result. What's missing from this picture and what were the prettiest egg of the bunch were the beets and the blueberry dyed eggs. I don't know what I did wrong with the onions... everywhere I read people were thrilled with the results... I don't know... we got kind of a sickly tan color. At any rate, it was fun!

Ketch-Up!

Where did March go? Ack!

Here are the highlights of the last few weeks (and probably not everything!)

Philip played more soccer... it's over now and he got nominated as C Team Soccer athlete of the season. Yay! We have to go to a barbeque honoring him next month.

We went on a climbing trip to Cochise with our friends Ann and Angela. At this point my knee was not good, so I went as a spectator. It was a beautiful day out and I enjoyed not being home for the day!

And, this week has been spring break. While I can't compete with the Disneyland trip of last year, we are having the laid back version. Sleep in. Relax. Not a lot going on. I went with my favorite hiking partner to Romero Pools on Monday. It was beautiful! I can't tell you how many wildflowers there were out there! Rik took some pictures of them - on that old fashioned film stuff... so hopefully they will turn out great!

When we got home, the kids (who didn't want to go on the hike *who's kids are these anyway???*), had spent the day NOT fighting, but making cookies. They were delicious! I'm totally impressed that they spent the day doing something constructive together.

Interesting article...

Who knew I commanded such a high salary? :) Wall Street Journal Coupon clipping article

Find out how I spent my Saturday...

Click here for my other blog.

Soccer Season...

Philip hasn't ever played soccer before... at least not on a formal team. So, I was surprised when he came home at the beginning of Jan telling me that he was trying out. Actually, the conversation was more like, "Mom, I need soccer cleats, pads, and shoes by tomorrow so that I can try out for soccer." Um, yeah. Why do kids ever only give you about 3 seconds notice for something they deem life and death? After determining that yes, everyone makes a team so I am not buying soccer gear just to spend money, Rik took him to Sports Authority and dropped $70 on the cheapest stuff that money can buy... read just good enough to make it through said soccer season. How come cheap stuff still costs a lot? I figure even if he wants to play again next year, he will have grown, so I will have to rebuy it anyway. I'm sure that's why they make cheap gear.

So, now he has tried out, made "C" team - and was told he almost made "B" team (cool since he has never played before), we are a few games into the season. He is in a defender type position. I'm not up on my soccer terminology having never attended more than just a few games that my nieces and nephews played in when they were 5 and no one really payed much attention to the positions anyway. I'll get back to you on what it's called. All I know for sure is that it's not goalie! They have won one game, lost one game, and tied two. And, soccer looks hard. I know I couldn't get the ball going anywhere near the right direction with people chasing me. I think I'll just stick to more individual sports!

He's #12 in the photos.

Annual anniversary trip

Our pick this year? Silver City, NM. Why? Rumored to be artsy, outdoorsy, fun place to go. Well, some of it was true. So, when we woke up on Friday morning... we saw snow! Who knew? It did melt within the day, but it was foggy most of the day, which meant no driving anywhere. Except to Walmart 3x (we didn't even have an ice scrapper with us!). And we did visit a lot of galleries in which we couldn't afford anything. But, the owners/artists were really nice. And I think they really wanted someone to talk to. ;)

Day two... Catwalk. Cool walkway along an old mining trail. It is over a stream so it makes it even cooler. It would be awesome to start backpacking there. It is right on the edge of the Gila wilderness. We tried to also find a trout hatchery... unfortunately we found a one land winding mt road that ended at a ghost town. It was a nice ghost town as far as they go, but we never saw the trout hatchery.

Day three... City of Rocks. Nice place to go to. Cool petroglyphs. Then home.

Trip summary: Lots of fast food (WHERE were the fun places to eat????), snow (yay!), Rik (yay!)... so, while I wouldn't recommend going there for more than a travel stop on the way to a cool backpacking trip... I was with Rik the whole weekend... the phone didn't ring... I didn't drive one kid anywhere... and I slept in a very warm room (ours is on the cool side).

Fun stuff...

Think back to our trip to Wyoming/Utah this past summer... what was one of Rik's favorite things? Kneaders french toast. So, I tried to copy it... it turned out really well. Very easy... make your favorite cinnamon roll recipe. Instead of making it into rolls, make it into bread instead. Slice it up and make into french toast. Now just to replicate the sweet cream butter.... ;)

And, I got these cool dishtowels - and I saw a cool idea for decorating them out there on the internet somewhere... so, I ended up doing this. Of course, the kids have been instructed on how to wash their hands (again!) so as unlike every other dishtowel we own they hopefully won't end up with a big gray stain in the middle.

Eggs!

So excited! I have found a lady who has real, honest to goodness chickens in her yard that lives about 10 min away. She is selling her eggs for cheap - like $2/dozen cheap which for free range organic is cheap since she could probably get $4 or $5 at a farmers market around here. I got 2 dozen. They are so pretty - light brown, dark brown, off white, and blue/green. The kids are fascinated. They of course want the blue/green ones first! It's really cool because she even penciled in on the egg which eggs were laid when! It's the little things that get me way too excited. I. must. get. a. life.

Happy New Year Run!

Thanks to all who participated in our 2009/2010 run/walk/crawl/scoot... well you get the idea!

The participants...

Rik & I

Brett, Tyler, and & Rebecca Anderson

Porter & Stayc Webb

Steve & Jennie Boher

Allison Claridge

Not everyone took a picture, but everyone had their own way of participating from walking the local track to running around their neighborhood to running in the snow. It was even pretty fun running around our neighborhood at midnight (even though the sad but true fact was that we had to set an alarm to do it!). I had no idea that there were so many people outside their houses for New Years! I think we are going to try and make this a yearly event (after all, I loved hosting something and not having to clean my house!), so, please plan on where ever you are or whatever you are doing to make a resolution to participate in the 2010/2011 version of this event. My own children even have committed so that is encouraging! It would be fun to see people across the country do this! And what a great cause this was for. Thank you!

Goal for the New Year...

Fortunately or unfortunately for my family, I've been doing lots of reading on nutrition. I had no idea how many nutrients were lost in commericial breads, even those that are made with whole wheat. So, Rik graciously gave me part of his Christmas overtime check to purchase a wheat grinder so that I can grind wheat to make bread for our family. It came the week after Christmas and I am happy to report that I have made 6 loaves of bread so far out of the wheat I have ground. I've been grinding enough wheat to keep some in the freezer so I don't have to grind every bread making day, but about every other time. It really is much easier than it sounds. There is a tried and true great whole wheat bread recipe at http://www.urbanhomemaker.com/ - I highly recommend it! Of course, this all comes with a price. Rik's thing now is eating a peanut butter sandwich every time he gets a chance because the bread is so good. Either I should start rationing the bread or he's going to have to run a whole lot more!

Christmas break climb...

A lovely day at Prison Camp. Rik got to use his new Christmas gear. Lunch in the sun. Cold in the shade. What more do you need to know? (Rik probably wants you to know that he led a 5.10)

Christmas was...

Fantastic! :) And, since it was Christmas Eve a month ago, I thought it high time to get it posted and make a vow not to fall behind again! Caitlin was happy - mini video camera - I think she is going to make us all You Tube stars... Philip was happy - guitar... he can play quite well for a beginner... Rik was happy - for the first time in my life I got him something he actually wanted (OK, so he really had to write it down, show me the site to order it off of, let me know when the good deal was going to happen, and, OK, order it)... BUT, I think it's the first time ever he hasn't considered returning what I got (really trying not to think of last year's camera fiasco!). I am spoiled and got a new hot pink iPod nano and some really cool clothes (including a jacket I LOVE). I have since found that I am a podcast addict. I am using it as a early morning (chilly) run motivation. Grammar Girl, Stuff You Should Know, Manic Mommies... the list goes on!

Pre Christmas... the only way to go!

What's life without a little Pre-Christmas excitement? The kids and I went up to Phx the week before Christmas to visit my parents and sister and have a little Christmas cheer - early! We planned on getting there at lunchtime, but, had a 3 hour delay on the freeway on the way there... a dust storm caused a huge accident on the other side of the freeway, so, we had some unplanned time together!

That evening, we went to visit the Mesa Temple and their Christmas lights - beautiful! They also had a nativities from around the world display inside - it was really cool to see. I would have looked longer, but the kids wanted to move on and there were really a lot of people looking, so, it was hard anyway. There were nativities from every corner of the earth. The one pictured here was from Amish country. I would love one like this!

The next morning we had gifts - and as you can see, Caitlin had a lot of help with hers from Cocoa, the very busy pug!

Turkey...

Mmmmm.....


And - I decided to try a new way to cook our turkey when my parents came to visit for our 2nd Thanksgiving of Thanksgiving weekend. The Martha Stewart way. Basically, you cut our the backbone, smash the breastbone down, and bake for just over an hour. Done turkey. In this link is a pictoral step by step instructions. Martha Stewart Spatchcock's a turkeyWeird but true. The hardest part was cutting out the backbone, but after that it was totally stress free! And, it was *moist* and *tender*. Until someone, who will not be named, let the dogs in while he left the house and the dogs managed to get the turkey off the stove and crashed on to the floor. But that's a story for another time. ;)

The saddest picture of the year...

Not because of the subject matter, but the quality. Ugh. If you're looking for Caitlin, she's in the middle where it looks like 2 girls are running. She is the closer of the two. All the rest were too awful to even post.

So, Caitlin is taking dance in high school. Very cool because she now gets to dance at the studio and school. And, she is the only freshman in the advanced dance class. But, I am also a freshman mom, and even though she may be experienced in dance, I am not in the art of getting reserved tickets. This program took place over two nights. Night one, Philip had a homework makeup night at school (darn kid needed to make up some homework - ugh again), but he and I made it there by intermission. Caitlin didn't perform until after intermission, so, yay, we didn't miss it. Rik and his mom somehow got into the reserved seating, through a story that was not well explained to me, so when I got there, some people next to them left, so we had great seats! And since I didn't get there until late, the box office had closed and it was a free show for me. Too bad I didn't bring my camera. I figured I would just do the picts the next night. Well, the next night, I am there on time, but have to sit in open admission seating, which turns out to be the farthest seats back you can sit in with out being in the parking lot. Thus, none of my picts are very good since I am far far far away and at a weird angle - and the dance was really quite fast. I know, excuses, excuses! So, now I have at least emailed the teacher and have found out how to get advanced tickets for the spring performance!

The girls did a great job - and you could tell that they worked hard doing it. I just didn't like the whole thing because of the theater etiquette. It was hard telling if we were at a rock concert, pep assembly, or baseball game because of the noise level and behavior. I felt sorry for the girls and their concentration - esp some that were doing solos and someone from the audience calling out "HEY MELISSA!!! WOOT WOOT!" has got to knock you off your game. Of course, I could just be getting old too. Yeah, probably that.