At Home In Idaho - Homeschool Blogger

Yep, It's Been A While...Here's Some Pics.

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:52:00 -0500

*edited to add: I'm now down to 157 lb. and a size 10. I've got about 25 pounds to go and another dress size and then I will be happy. w00t!

Usual goings-on around here, with a few extras. Lots of drama, but hey, that's the way things always go. Pretty soon we'll be cataloging snowboard injuries and pictures of white stuff covering everything too.

Jay painting the girls' nails, Hannah cheesing for the camera:

We had the dogs inside on some single-digit nights, Jay with Lhasa. That old fart is ten years old, and has good lungs, eyes, and heart. He's a good dog.

The girls got to go to the Halloween Mall Trick-or-Treat thing, courtesy of our church. They dressed up slightly more this year, although the capes were still de rigeur, for some reason.

Jay with the kids:

Me with the kids:

The girls in their face paint:

That's all for now. I'll be sure to update you the first time I bust my face on my new board.

Weight Update

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 19:41:00 -0500

Keeping myself accountable here...

162.6

Wearing a size small men's snowboard pants. W00t!

Some Random Pictures

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:38:00 -0500

that were hanging out on the camera...

Hannah-Bu:

I R happy gurl:

Some ladies I met on the Internet (yeah, joke all you want, they're cool):

Deer twins in the backyard:

Baby closer:

Weight Loss Update

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:08:00 -0500

Just so you know, my all-time high weight in February, when I came home from the hospital with Hannah:

215

And as of today:

169.8

So the weight is coming off, slowly but surely. Looking forward to wearing size 8 jeans again. W00t!

Nothing Much To Report

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:15:00 -0500

For those who are popping in, it's summer here, which means for me, a lot of housework and playing with the baby. The kids have been playing way too much computer (hey, it's summer!) and bopping around on the trampoline.

My motorcycle adventures were abruptly ended (on a ride with Dad, no less) due to a dirty carb that must be dealt with, probably during a long afternoon with lots of swearing. This displeases me greatly, and also will motivate me to drop the gas when I put the bike up for winter this year.

Jessie has now lost a grand total of two teeth, and Josh decided - of his own volition - to play Tooth Fairy with his own money.

So Jessica is now $20.00 richer and none the wiser. He's a cool kid.

Looking at curriculum, had a bad moment when I thought Landmark was offline and no longer providing curriculum. We start school on September 14th, and I'll be homeschooling THREE kids this year. Should be interesting. At this point, Jay and I have agreed to homeschool Joshua through junior high; we'll see how advanced he gets for high school.

Which means next year I have to start keeping a transcript. *eek*

Other than that, we have visitors coming up for the next few months; Inge, Steve & Debbie, and my dad and Bonnie are all coming through here.

Still need to convince Jon to come by with Claudia; I'm hoping the allure of epic powder conditions (plus new boards for Jay and I) will be enough to get him here sometime in January.

Random Goodness

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 18:12:00 -0500

Some pics of the goings-on here...

Mike and Hannah:

Mom and Mike with the kids:

Eating sushi with Jenny and Mom (darn you Jenny, for being so photogenic):

MOOOOORE SUSHI!!!

Jessica opening a box of presents. Always a thrill around here.

Blowing out the cake:

Oh gosh, trick candles:

Hannah attacks a toy ball of Jessica's.

Sarah's birthday is Sunday, August 9th. She gets the same run-through as Jessica: church, eat where she wants (probably Red Robin, since that's what Jessie picked, they're twinning these days, how fun), and then a trip to pick out a bike.

It's hot, the bugs are out, and we're looking forward to winter with a vengeance...

Yellowstone, Part Three, More Pics

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:54:00 -0500

In Old Faithful Park, the scurrilous chipmunk with his hard-won cracker (it was on the path). Note the devilish gleam in his little eye:

Lined up, waiting for the blast:

...and...here's the blast!

I forgot to add this picture in earlier. It's the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance. We could see this from our cabin:

That's all for today. Another update coming directly after this one, as I did #4 before #3. I need more sleep.

...

Yellowstone, Part Four, Folks!

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:10:00 -0500

Buffalo calves:

Chico Hot Springs. Natural hot springs piped into two pools, one warm and one really hot. Hail is pretty when it hits the pool:

Hail is not so pretty when it hits your shoulder and it's dime-sized:

At Teton Lake. Of course, it was cold:

Family shot in front of the Tetons and the lake (Hannah in car):

Mr. Bear, ten yards from the road on the way back from Teton. People were getting out of their cars and posing with their backs to the bear. No ranger around for this guy. He was alternating between digging for bugs and considering eating the guy that stood - with his back to the bear - less than ten yards away:

Another shot:

The Grand Tetons:

Another shot:

The Lewis River:

Wild n' woolly scenery, for sure. Last update later this week. Camera is...out there, somewhere...
...

Yellowstone, Part Deux

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:45:00 -0500

Yes, so pretentious to use French. Sue me. *snort*

More pictures.

Kids in the car. I wish I could say they were so cheery like this all the time, but they weren't. All things considered, they did admirably well.

(for those wondering, there is a DVD player in the Denali)

Oh look, it's the Continental Divide! Again!

Lava Creek. We took the kids here to give them a break after heading out into the Lamar Valley and then going to the Northeast entrance.

Sarah in a contemplative state:

There's that big bugger of an elk again. Same guy, roughly same place, different day:

Playing in a different creek on the way home from Old Faithful. This is where I received the mysterious bites/blisters, the remnants of which are STILL on my feet...no one else got them but me. Lots of mosquito and blackfly bites, but not the Mysterious Donut Blisters Of Death. The water here was really warm, as it was fed by a thermal stream up the way.

Joshua goofing off:

These guys were EVERYWHERE, and slowed/stopped traffic constantly. They appeared slow and stupid, which led people to do very stupid things near them:

Some scenery up by the northeast entrance:

Black bear snoozing by the road:

More coming in a few days...

Yellowstone Part 1

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 11:47:00 -0500

I figure if I break this up, it'll be easier to read (and load pictures). Not going to go to too text heavy, as there's a lot of pics.

Starting out...

We crossed this several times, six if I remember correctly:

Our Lady of the Rockies, outside of Butte (which we referred to as "Butt" the whole trip, Joshua thought that was really funny). You can read about it here: Our Lady Of The Rockies

Some rocks on the Yellowstone River outside of Gardiner (where we stayed). I believe I'll build my castle here:

On the road:

Mammoth Hot Springs:

Different spot. It was REALLY hot this day, and I got to walk up and down and up and down stairs and slopes with Hannah on my front and a (heavy) backpack on my back. I'm glad to note I gained not one pound on this trip, must've been all the walking because we were not eating exactly healthy.

The girls standing by a large crowd of elk. The elk were lolling all over the lawn and the ranger was yelling herself apoplectic to keep people away from them:

Hard to see, but this was a mama black bear with two cubs down in the valley:

Another black bear, grubbing for bugs by the side of the road:

Jay got a picture of a grizzly on a hillside, but it's pretty far away and hard to see. Which is a bummer, because it was really big.

Coyote trotting down the road:

This guy was here two days in a row, right next to the road:

And on a final note for this entry, don't molest the bears. They don't like it.