Setting: We were driving home from my sisters house. Caitrin and Tarren were in the very back seats and Trent was in the middle row in front of Caitrin. Mind you, all three of them had been bickering with each other ALL day.
Caitrin: Hey, Trent. (no answer) TRENT!
Trenton: What!?
Caitrin: I have a water bottle and it's not yours. (with the neener neener attitude)
Trenton: Caiti, I know it's yours and I don't care.
Mom: That's enough you two. Caiti, we all know that's your water bottle, so stop trying to pick a fight.
A few minutes go by....
Caitrin: Hey, Mom. When you and me get home, I'm gonna pick a fight with YOU.
(No surprise there, the child is bull headed)
Mom: Really? I'm going to tell you right now to chalk that one to a loss.
Caiti just smiles. You know her wheels were turning.
I swear I'm going to check myself in to the 5th floor on her 13th birthday!!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day 2009
I have been wanting to go back up to the falls since last year. With the gas prices SO high last summer and Eric being laid off right after the 4th of July, we really didn't go anywhere or do much. So I BEGGED him to take me up to Elk River for Memorial Day. He graciously agreed.
I asked my sister and her family to accompany us. All the boys rode up in Eric's truck and the girls all road up in my car. (Please don't ask me what the deal is with the sticks in the mouths, I have no clue and it just doesn't end here... you'll see.)
All these kids are such posers. There were many fallen trees on the trails. I'm glad that I opt not to bring the stroller. I would have ended up carrying it more then pushing it. Caiti Bug was a real trooper.
This was at the lowest falls. I didn't take a picture of it, but there were people swimming and playing around at the bottom of water fall. It was still a little too cold for me.
This was the Middle Falls. The tallest of all three. There is a game trail that you can take to the very top of it. My parents made me take it when I was 14. When the kids are a little older, I'm sure I'll do the same. There were people all over those trails.
My sister and I. Need I say more.
Like I said earlier, Caiti was such a trooper. It's a total of almost 2 and a half miles round trip, by this point we had about a half a mile left to the parking lot. She trucked all those steep hills and narrow trails. If you have taken that trail, you'd know it's not a straight stretch.
But what's going to Elk River without scoping the town. There were many trailers and truck trying to hit the road and head back into town.
And you can't go to Elk River without going to Huckleberry Haven and having their famous Huckleberry Ice cream. It's the best. I highly recommend it. They had a Huckleberry pie in there for sale, it ran for $21.00, or $7.00 a slice. We just settled for the ice cream.
After the ice cream we went up to the lake for some fishing. Caiti had other ideas. The boys weren't happy with her since she was splashing around and "making noise". She didn't care and apparently the water wasn't too cold for her.
I guess it wasn't fair, 3 boys and 1 pole. I didn't think we'd have enough time, so I didn't bring the others. I'll know better next time.
Bug and her dirty face. I swear it's a magnet for the dirt. All in all we had an awesome time. It was really relaxing and I honestly didn't feel rushed. We did what we liked, took our time. We had no where we had to be at any given time.
I asked my sister and her family to accompany us. All the boys rode up in Eric's truck and the girls all road up in my car. (Please don't ask me what the deal is with the sticks in the mouths, I have no clue and it just doesn't end here... you'll see.)
All these kids are such posers. There were many fallen trees on the trails. I'm glad that I opt not to bring the stroller. I would have ended up carrying it more then pushing it. Caiti Bug was a real trooper.
This was at the lowest falls. I didn't take a picture of it, but there were people swimming and playing around at the bottom of water fall. It was still a little too cold for me.
This was the Middle Falls. The tallest of all three. There is a game trail that you can take to the very top of it. My parents made me take it when I was 14. When the kids are a little older, I'm sure I'll do the same. There were people all over those trails. 
My sister and I. Need I say more.
Like I said earlier, Caiti was such a trooper. It's a total of almost 2 and a half miles round trip, by this point we had about a half a mile left to the parking lot. She trucked all those steep hills and narrow trails. If you have taken that trail, you'd know it's not a straight stretch.
But what's going to Elk River without scoping the town. There were many trailers and truck trying to hit the road and head back into town.
And you can't go to Elk River without going to Huckleberry Haven and having their famous Huckleberry Ice cream. It's the best. I highly recommend it. They had a Huckleberry pie in there for sale, it ran for $21.00, or $7.00 a slice. We just settled for the ice cream.
After the ice cream we went up to the lake for some fishing. Caiti had other ideas. The boys weren't happy with her since she was splashing around and "making noise". She didn't care and apparently the water wasn't too cold for her.
I guess it wasn't fair, 3 boys and 1 pole. I didn't think we'd have enough time, so I didn't bring the others. I'll know better next time.
Bug and her dirty face. I swear it's a magnet for the dirt. All in all we had an awesome time. It was really relaxing and I honestly didn't feel rushed. We did what we liked, took our time. We had no where we had to be at any given time. As soon as the Cedars open up, I'm sure we'll be taking another trip up that way.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
A boy and his toy
Eric decided that this was the weekend that he'd bulldoze the backyard. 
Yeh for me!
Yeh for me!Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Trent's first game
Tonight was Trent's first game. He's still in Farm League, which is pitching machine. I'm hoping we'll be able to go up to live arm next year, but we'll see. He seemed a little gun shy of the ball, but relaxed once the game got going. When he was up to bat for the first time, he did strike out. The second time proved to be better, he got on base but never made it home due to outs.
Just like last year, he's being groomed to be a catcher. He absolutely loves it. Of all the kids catching, he was the only one that would scoot close to home plate. All the others were clear at the back stop. We have told him that the ball isn't going to hurt because of all the gear, that's what it's there for. Get in front of the ball.
Papa decided to grace us with his presence. In doing so, he out right spoiled his grandchildren. Caiti Mae being his princess, got hoards of candy. He spared no expense with the girls, buying them nachos, gatorade, suckers, laffy taffy, and other sugar crap that I yelled a him for. His excuse is that they are his to spoil and I have to back off.
Here is his pouring (literally) sugar in to Caiti's mouth. I had to turn away, it made me sick. Eric told Dad that he was going to be on night duty with her, since she's going to be bouncing off the walls.
I would like to think that our boys won, but being in Farm League, they don't keep score. Both teams hit and fielded well. It's a lot better to watch then T-Ball, that's for sure. Tarren has her game tomorrow. It seems like every night this week is designated for a game or practice, but that's not different then any other week. Poor Caitrin, she's going to spend every spring and half her summers growing up at the ball fields. A ball field brat.
Just like last year, he's being groomed to be a catcher. He absolutely loves it. Of all the kids catching, he was the only one that would scoot close to home plate. All the others were clear at the back stop. We have told him that the ball isn't going to hurt because of all the gear, that's what it's there for. Get in front of the ball.
Papa decided to grace us with his presence. In doing so, he out right spoiled his grandchildren. Caiti Mae being his princess, got hoards of candy. He spared no expense with the girls, buying them nachos, gatorade, suckers, laffy taffy, and other sugar crap that I yelled a him for. His excuse is that they are his to spoil and I have to back off.Here is his pouring (literally) sugar in to Caiti's mouth. I had to turn away, it made me sick. Eric told Dad that he was going to be on night duty with her, since she's going to be bouncing off the walls.
I would like to think that our boys won, but being in Farm League, they don't keep score. Both teams hit and fielded well. It's a lot better to watch then T-Ball, that's for sure. Tarren has her game tomorrow. It seems like every night this week is designated for a game or practice, but that's not different then any other week. Poor Caitrin, she's going to spend every spring and half her summers growing up at the ball fields. A ball field brat. Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Conversations
Setting: Eric and I are sitting in the living room just relaxing. I told the older kids to hop into the shower, and told Caitrin to go to her room to get her jammies on. Her room looks like a bomb hit it. I just haven't had time with all the softball practices and games to make her get in there to clean it.
She comes out whining and crying.
In the highest, whiny voice possible " I can't get my jammies..... it's too dangerous"
You think......
She comes out whining and crying.
In the highest, whiny voice possible " I can't get my jammies..... it's too dangerous"
You think......
Saturday, May 16, 2009
4 Days off
This week I have had Thursday and Friday off making it a four day weekend for me. Thursday was Tarren's 4th Grade Rendezvous. I attended that with her and some of her class mates. I found it quite interesting. They learned how to make candles, carved canoes out of Ivory Soap and we went on a horse drawn wagon ride with the big horses. After that got done, I had Business After Hours (BAH) at Inland Cellular. I had never attend one of those fancy affairs. It was different to say the least. I'm not a mingler, and that's what you are suppose to do. I walked around with the camera and snapped everyone. It was a kick off for the NAIA World Series, so all the ball players were down there scarfing all the yummy food and of course the free beer and wine. I couldn't partake in those festivities because Tarren had a softball game. I didn't think it would be nice to show up to my daughter's game half wacked. Needless to say I was tired by the end of that day.
I had Friday off because my job pays us for our birthday, so I took that day as my birthday holiday. I did a lot of running around, mowed the yard, refinanced my car, went to Costco, then had Trent's practice that went for 2 hours. Honestly the attention span of six, seven, and eight year olds isn't very long so to run a practice for that long, I was ready to kill the coach and the rude, unruly little boys. As soon as that was over, I called it a day.
Today Eric had to be to work at 2am. I slept in, kind of, as much as a three year old will let you. I had a wonderful idea to got to my sisters house and lay out on her black trampoline. I know that I'm one gene away from albino, but that doesn't stop me. Any guesses on what happened next?? Yep, I burned. My poor chest, tummy, and face fried. I really don't tan, my freckles just get bigger and darker. The shower killed. I told my sister that I would be back in a couple of days.. I'm a glutton for punishment. My sister got the good tanning genes. One day in the sun and she's dark. That's what I get for having the red hair in the family. So, then we were given tickets to a luau at the fair building. There they had a silent auction, a dinner from Rosie's Ribs, and a live auction. Then the grand prize drawing for 2 tickets to see the Seahawks play (my one and only dream). I'll know tomorrow if I won that prize. We had to leave early because poor Eric was up since 1:30am and just wanted to go to bed. I bid on some Seahawk jammie bottoms, a cool lil purse and I think a pampering set.
Tomorrow, the only plans are to go to church, do laundry and wash the two vehicles. I might let the kids break out the slip and slide. It's supposed to be in the 80's. I have enjoyed my four days off, but I'm ready to go back to work. I know that there will be a pile of paper work waiting for me. I'm hoping my next "vacation" will be in August going to the coast with Lynz. Planning is already in the works for that, ( and Eric is pushing that I go, too)
I had Friday off because my job pays us for our birthday, so I took that day as my birthday holiday. I did a lot of running around, mowed the yard, refinanced my car, went to Costco, then had Trent's practice that went for 2 hours. Honestly the attention span of six, seven, and eight year olds isn't very long so to run a practice for that long, I was ready to kill the coach and the rude, unruly little boys. As soon as that was over, I called it a day.
Today Eric had to be to work at 2am. I slept in, kind of, as much as a three year old will let you. I had a wonderful idea to got to my sisters house and lay out on her black trampoline. I know that I'm one gene away from albino, but that doesn't stop me. Any guesses on what happened next?? Yep, I burned. My poor chest, tummy, and face fried. I really don't tan, my freckles just get bigger and darker. The shower killed. I told my sister that I would be back in a couple of days.. I'm a glutton for punishment. My sister got the good tanning genes. One day in the sun and she's dark. That's what I get for having the red hair in the family. So, then we were given tickets to a luau at the fair building. There they had a silent auction, a dinner from Rosie's Ribs, and a live auction. Then the grand prize drawing for 2 tickets to see the Seahawks play (my one and only dream). I'll know tomorrow if I won that prize. We had to leave early because poor Eric was up since 1:30am and just wanted to go to bed. I bid on some Seahawk jammie bottoms, a cool lil purse and I think a pampering set.
Tomorrow, the only plans are to go to church, do laundry and wash the two vehicles. I might let the kids break out the slip and slide. It's supposed to be in the 80's. I have enjoyed my four days off, but I'm ready to go back to work. I know that there will be a pile of paper work waiting for me. I'm hoping my next "vacation" will be in August going to the coast with Lynz. Planning is already in the works for that, ( and Eric is pushing that I go, too)
Friday, May 15, 2009
Just a thought....
Since Eric has started DeAtley, any planning of doing ANYTHING is out the window. Even the weekends are hard to judge because the call for overtime on Saturday can come at quiting time on Friday. I really wanted to go on a fun vacation this year. But how do you plan when you don't know where he's going to be in August or September? So my thought is to go on a vacation with just the kids and I.
My really good friend, Lynz and I are in the planning stages of doing this. Her husband works for DeAtley too, but on a different plant. Vacations for our husbands are few and far in between. Why not do one with just us girls and the kids? I'm starting to research renting a condo or small house for a week or two. I would love to get out of the valley and Caitrin has never seen the ocean. But I'm torn at the thought of being selfish by going without Eric. We have gone on ONE vacation since we have been married and that was to Mt. Hood for his sisters wedding.
I'm think of setting this up in September. Rumor has it Eric could possibly be in Oregon, towards the coast by summers end. If he's close, he could come "visit" us for the weekend. Nothing is set in stone, I'm trying to get over feeling guilty for even thinking of doing this. Like I said it's just a thought......
My really good friend, Lynz and I are in the planning stages of doing this. Her husband works for DeAtley too, but on a different plant. Vacations for our husbands are few and far in between. Why not do one with just us girls and the kids? I'm starting to research renting a condo or small house for a week or two. I would love to get out of the valley and Caitrin has never seen the ocean. But I'm torn at the thought of being selfish by going without Eric. We have gone on ONE vacation since we have been married and that was to Mt. Hood for his sisters wedding.
I'm think of setting this up in September. Rumor has it Eric could possibly be in Oregon, towards the coast by summers end. If he's close, he could come "visit" us for the weekend. Nothing is set in stone, I'm trying to get over feeling guilty for even thinking of doing this. Like I said it's just a thought......
Monday, May 11, 2009
Happy Birthday - Coop!
Today is my nephew's 10th Birthday. It was funny when my sister went into labor with him. It was late on my birthday. She swore she'd tie her legs together and not undo it until 12:01 am on the 11th. She was born on my dad's birthday and hated sharing that day with him, and she didn't want the same for Coop. So needless to say, he was born on the 11th around 5 in the evening. Happy Birthday Big Guy.Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day at 28
Happy Mother's Day to all you dear mothers out there. Thursday, May 7, 2009
Conversations
Setting: We are in the dentist office waiting room. In the toy basket there was a little handheld game of Yahtzee. All Caitrin was doing was pushing the buttons in hope of making the thing make noise.
Caitrin: Mom!! I got a Nahtzee!! Me: You mean Yahtzee.
Caitrin: No Mom!! I said I got a Nahtzee!!
She is a poster child for that era - blond hair and blue eyes.
Caitrin: Mom!! I got a Nahtzee!! Me: You mean Yahtzee.
Caitrin: No Mom!! I said I got a Nahtzee!!
She is a poster child for that era - blond hair and blue eyes.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Putting the old dog down
It was a sad day at the Reel house yesterday. We had to put our old beast down, her name was BIG RED. She has been in our family since Eric and I were married. We bought her from Eric's dad shortly after Tarren was born. His parents were moving to Texas and needed some extra money. Eric was always in love with her and had to have her. We knew what was potentially wrong with her, and being a mechanic Eric knew he could do whatever need be to keep her up and running.
I cursed her for many years. I think there might have been some jealousy between us. I knew she was the second love of Eric's life. Right after Trent was born, we actually sold her to a co-worker when Eric worked at SWIFT Trans. We needed a bigger truck, one with the extra bench in the back. She just wasn't big enough for our growing family. Poor Eric searched high and low for something to replace her. After a month of looking, he actually went back to the guy and offered to buy her back for double what we sold her for. So not only was she paid off the first time we had her, we proceeded to take her back and pay for her ALL over again. Do you see where my hatred came in.
But in her defense, she was always faithful. Whenever my car broke down, Big Red came through. I hated driving her. I knew I took years off the clutch whenever I drove her (which wasn't very often). I won't lie there were some great memories. When I was pregnant with the younger two, Eric would take me for a ride in hopes of inducing labor. Eric lifted her by 5in before Caitrin was born, so imagine me being 8 months prego climbing in to that beast.
When Eric took the job with DeAtley, he knew her days were numbered. We knew that Eric wouldn't be in Kooskia forever, and would have to move to a far from home plant. She coughed and wheezed coming up and down River Road. It broke my heart when Eric couldn't come home for Tarren's softball games because we just didn't know if she'd make it back. Our decision came about a week and a half ago to replace Red. Eric had my computer in the evenings and would search on line for something more "dependable". (We refuse to buy in the valley). I know that Eric had a heart to heart with Red. He explained to her it was high time that she retire. He promised to do good by her, maybe rebuild the engine fully, give her a new paint job, make her feel pretty and new... some day. He told her that the next one had some big shoes to fill, since NO ONE would be able to fill her place in his heart. Soooo... with out further ado... here's our new member of the family.
Haven't decided on a name yet, but we bought her in Coeur'd Alene. Since MY car had to go into the shop,and Ford gave us a loaner, what better car to go up in. It wasn't miles we were putting on my car. The new truck wasn't EXACTLY what Eric wanted but he took it for a spin, and he thought that she'd serve his purpose. He said the ride home was awesome. She actually had a radio that worked, she didn't wheeze and cough, and the ride was smooth. As I was following behind Eric coming home, I realized that this new truck fit Eric perfectly. The side mirrors stuck out more then I thought they should have and it reminded me of Eric's ears. Perfect fit. I even called Eric and told him that, he just laughed.
I cursed her for many years. I think there might have been some jealousy between us. I knew she was the second love of Eric's life. Right after Trent was born, we actually sold her to a co-worker when Eric worked at SWIFT Trans. We needed a bigger truck, one with the extra bench in the back. She just wasn't big enough for our growing family. Poor Eric searched high and low for something to replace her. After a month of looking, he actually went back to the guy and offered to buy her back for double what we sold her for. So not only was she paid off the first time we had her, we proceeded to take her back and pay for her ALL over again. Do you see where my hatred came in.But in her defense, she was always faithful. Whenever my car broke down, Big Red came through. I hated driving her. I knew I took years off the clutch whenever I drove her (which wasn't very often). I won't lie there were some great memories. When I was pregnant with the younger two, Eric would take me for a ride in hopes of inducing labor. Eric lifted her by 5in before Caitrin was born, so imagine me being 8 months prego climbing in to that beast.
When Eric took the job with DeAtley, he knew her days were numbered. We knew that Eric wouldn't be in Kooskia forever, and would have to move to a far from home plant. She coughed and wheezed coming up and down River Road. It broke my heart when Eric couldn't come home for Tarren's softball games because we just didn't know if she'd make it back. Our decision came about a week and a half ago to replace Red. Eric had my computer in the evenings and would search on line for something more "dependable". (We refuse to buy in the valley). I know that Eric had a heart to heart with Red. He explained to her it was high time that she retire. He promised to do good by her, maybe rebuild the engine fully, give her a new paint job, make her feel pretty and new... some day. He told her that the next one had some big shoes to fill, since NO ONE would be able to fill her place in his heart. Soooo... with out further ado... here's our new member of the family. 
Haven't decided on a name yet, but we bought her in Coeur'd Alene. Since MY car had to go into the shop,and Ford gave us a loaner, what better car to go up in. It wasn't miles we were putting on my car. The new truck wasn't EXACTLY what Eric wanted but he took it for a spin, and he thought that she'd serve his purpose. He said the ride home was awesome. She actually had a radio that worked, she didn't wheeze and cough, and the ride was smooth. As I was following behind Eric coming home, I realized that this new truck fit Eric perfectly. The side mirrors stuck out more then I thought they should have and it reminded me of Eric's ears. Perfect fit. I even called Eric and told him that, he just laughed. As for Big Red, she'll sit in the drive patiently waiting for Dad to give her some extra TLC, when he has time.
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