close call

You've probably read about some of our other past encounters with wildlife, including pigs, goats and, recently, rock chucks. But none of these visits has filled me with fear like the experience I had last night.

Andrea was asleep, as I was up late irrigating the lawn and field. I finished up about midnight. As I walked along the ditch bank back towards the house, I was startled to see two glowing eyes reflecting light from my head lamp. "Oh," I thought, it's just a cat. But I soon realized it was not just a cat. This is what I saw:


That's right. Standing about 5 feet away on the grass below the ditch bank where I stood was a skunk, a polecat, a Mephitis mephitis. And he was mad. His tail was up in the air and he hissed angrily, ready to dispense his unique brand of stinky vengeance.

I froze. "What do I do?" I thought. As my life flashed before my eyes, I contemplated turning and running, or jumping in the ditch, or yelling at it to scare it off, but in my mind each alternative seemed equally likely to end up in me sleeping outside for the next month. So I just froze, eyes locked on the business end of this hissing nightmare.

Miraculously, a few seconds later the skunk lowered his guard and hightailed it across the yard into the darkness. My heart still pounded as I finished closing the head gates and went in to go to bed.

I'm grateful we live where we do, away from the city (really away from what most people would actually consider any sort of a real city) and a stone's throw from nature. But I'm also very grateful to have dodged nature's bullet last night.

A word about volleyball

Okay ... I lied. It's not gonna be a word; it's gonna be a whole heck of a lot of words.

Back in the day when I was a wee lass, my dad asked if I wanted to attend a volleyball camp. It was the summer before fifth grade. My dad was (and is and always will be, I think) a volleyball coach. I didn't know a soul younger than 40 who would be there. But I told him that I'd go.

Thus started my love for the sport. I've had the pleasure of playing at summer camps, on school teams, on club teams and on college intramural teams throughout the years.

Then I got married. And got a "real" job. And quit my "real" job to be a mom. And had more babies.

Don't get me wrong--I don't regret any of those decisions. But as those infinitely more important things moved to the forefront of my life, volleyball sat on the backburner until it was cold.

Enter Brooke. Or, re-enter Brooke, as she is an old friend. Brooke asked if I wanted to join their stake in their open gym volleyball nights. So I started attending every once in a while. Once the agonizing pain of not having played in a decade had faded, I realized that the love I once had for volleyball is alive and well.

When Brooke extended an offer for me to play on a team for Apple Athletic Club's volleyball league, I decided to give it a go.

Although our team didn't have the most stellar win/loss record (4/9), designated positions (we just rotated around and played wherever we stood) or scholarship-level talent (I'm just speaking for me ... I honestly have no idea about the other girls on our team), we did have some awesome team shirts, support from our fans (friends, husbands, fathers, children) and a lot of good times.

Our team, "Serves You Right," during a time-out. It's hard to see everyone, but I promise we're all there (starting with me and going clockwise around the circle): Andrea, Brooke, Kim, Kylee, Melissa, Jessica, Heidi.

Andrea hitting the ball. And now you know why I chose a muffin to go on the front of my shirt.

Andrea and Seth at the game. Seth is a good water boy, photographer and joke teller (although I honestly can't remember what we were talking about).

Thank you, Brooke, for organizing the team, allowing me to play and acting as our captain. Thank you, Kylee, Heidi, Jessica, Melissa and Kim, for letting me play with you and putting up with my playing errors. Thank you, Seth, for encouraging me to play even though it meant that you had to put the girls to bed by yourself at least once a week. Thank you, Mom, for watching the girls for us a few times so Seth could attend a game or two and watch me play. Thank you, Dad, for taking pictures, giving me pointers on my passing and introducing me to the game.

To see more pictures of our last games, click here. (Although, be warned ... most are of me rather than the other players. That's what happens when your dad is a photojournalist extraordinaire.)

Bekah is 6

Bekah feels that her birthday date is unfair. How can Miriam, Analee and Seth all celebrate their birthdays before her?! You'll notice that list doesn't include me. Yes, I magnanimously have THE last birthday of the year in our family. That's what you get for being born in the fall.

Despite the long wait, Bekah had a splendiferous birthday.

It started with a T-ball game in the morning. (Actually, it started the evening before when Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis took the big girls to the dollar store and out to eat for dinner since they knew they'd miss the festivities the next night. But I don't have pictures of that. So we'll start with T-ball.)

Bekah playing first base during her T-ball game.

And ended with a family picnic/party in the yard that included guests (Grandma and Grandpa Scott, Aunt Jessica, cousins Mack and Tav). Dinner ("pineapple pizza," just what Bekah requested) was followed by presents:

A box of Trios from Mack and Tav.

A personalized towel from Grandma Scott.

A fluffy tutu from Aunt Jessica.

Which was followed by a piñata. (You'll notice that this is a store-bought piñata, which is unusual for us. But when Wal-mart is clearing out old Hannah Montana piñatas for $2, I can splurge.)

Ana supervising while Bekah tries to whack the piñata.

Which was followed by birthday singing and cake (which, if you can tell from the picture, looks a lot like a previous birthday cake).

Bekah finally getting to blow out her candles. By the time we had sung "Happy Birthday," the wind had blown out all her candles. We had to re-light them and have Grandma Scott hold up paper plates to block the breeze so she could have the honor of extinguishing them.

To see more pictures, click here.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks

It's round two of Ucon T-ball for Rebekah. And it's apparent that she remembers a lot from last year. She can still:

... hit the ball,

... hustle around the bases,

... hang onto that helmet,

... beat her teammates to the ball,

... exhibit ninja-like skills in returning the ball to the tee and checking on the runner to make sure he's out,

... have a little fun,

... enjoy the familial support,

... and cheer for the other team when all is said and done.

(All pictures taken by my ever-faithful father. I was too busy keeping an eye on one kid on the field and two kids off the field and huddling under a blanket. Dang Idaho June weather.)

Near miss

Today I was mowing our back field. It has grown to unruly heights, and since we don't yet have a beast to keep it under control (or a fence to keep the beast under control), I took it upon myself to take care of the mess of clover, dandelions, alfalfa and grass.

So there I was, rocking the sunglasses and Seth's hat (Sh! He doesn't know I borrowed it.), singing along with my iPod, driving the mower and enjoying the rare sunshine. I was just finishing the little strip of grass in the middle when something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement on the ground. I steered sharply to the right to avoid decimating one of these:


Seriously. I wasn't sure if I should cry or laugh as I saw it bolt away. Who would imagine that a yellow-bellied marmot would take up residence in our back yard? (Looks like I need to add it to the list of animal visitors to our property.)

in the evening

My wife

All the kids are in bed
And the lights are turned down low;
In the twilight of the evening,
This is how we roll.

Fishing

Just like in years past, we drove north to go fishing at Henry's Lake during Memorial Day Weekend. This time, we stayed longer than the typical 1- or 2-night trip. That's right, folks. We stayed a whopping three nights at Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks' cabin. That means we got to fit in two fishing outings for the girls, a trip to Mesa Falls, a jaunt to Big Springs, three nights of cabin sleeping and attendance at the Island Park ward. Good times.

Highlights:

• Bekah catching two fish on Saturday; Analee also catching two fish on Saturday. Yes, sometimes "catching" a fish meant reeling in a fish that had gotten hooked on somebody else's line, but it's all good.

Analee with one of her fish on Saturday. Yes, that is my finger over the cell phone camera lens.

Real men wear camo. And fish with a minuscule Disney princess pole.

The scene from the dock at Frome Park. The surroundings in Island Park are always gorgeous.

• The girls' interest in gutting fish. These kids are learning the facts of life at an early age. I still don't like to stand too close to (let alone participate in) such things, but they don't even bat an eye as the entrails come flying out.

Uncle Doug talking on his phone while Grandpa Dennis and Seth gut fish and Rebekah and Analee watch.

Seth ripping guts out while Bekah watches. Go ahead and click on that picture to see it bigger. You know you want to.

• Spending time with Seth's family. Aunt Rachel, Uncle Justin, Cousin Cooper, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Kent, Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Uncle Doug and Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks were all there at various times. Aunt Melissa got a healthy dose of lovin' (read: maulin') from the girls. Cooper and Miriam tried to show each other who was boss--Cooper through physical actions and Miri through verbal screeching. I got schooled by Kent, Rachel and Seth while playing Settlers of Catan.
  
• Taking the little kids to Big Springs while the big kids went out to shoot guns.

Miriam at Big Springs. Although the big fish weren't camping out under the bridge, we still enjoyed the scenery.

• Rescuing Ana from gravity. Okay, not really a highlight, but still worth mentioning. Saturday night after we tucked the girls in bed in the loft and were watching a movie downstairs, we all heard a giant crash. Seth and I ran upstairs and found Ana on the ground. Poor little girl had fallen out of the double bed she was sharing with Bekah. After some loves and considerable preventative bed-tucking, all was back to normal. So normal that Ana didn't remember the incident at all the next morning. (Also remarkable: Bekah and Miri slept through the whole thing--crashing, bawling and all.)
• Taking the big girls to Mesa Falls Sunday after church while Miri napped at the cabin. Although it snowed ALL morning Sunday, it stopped long enough for us to enjoy the overlooks at both the Upper and Lower Falls.

Seth let the girls borrow his binoculars to look at the falls. Most of the time, they used them to look at more mundane things.

Rebekah, Andrea and Analee at Upper Mesa Falls.

• Eating the girls' fish (and others' fish) on Sunday night. Grandpa Dennis makes scrumptious fish and potatoes.
• Going back to Frome Park Monday morning to try our luck at fishing again. Everybody got skunked except Bekah who caught two fish completely by herself. As she reeled in the second fish, she even got an ovation from the fishermen on the other pier.

Bekah trying (in vain) to hold up her fish by the line. It was considerably colder Monday, so the girls wore their winter boots, gloves and hats.

To see more photos, click here and scroll down past the dance recital pictures.

Ana turns 4

Yes, it's been over a week since Ana celebrated her birthday, but ... hmmm. I seem to be short on excuses. We were out of town for Memorial Weekend? (Post to come ... sometime.) We were busy with Bekah's final days of kindergarten? Aliens switched the bodies of Seth and me, and I had to flounder through a whole lot of Pascal and Linux at his workplace?

Anyway, here's how we celebrated Analee turning 4:

When Ana discovered that the afternoon kindergarten's end-of-the-year party (of which I was in charge) was the same day as her birthday, she was ecstatic and immediately began planning games (pin the tail on the donkey, a piñata, etc.). I informed her that we would do all sorts of fun things for her birthday as a family, but the games for the kindergarten party would be under my jurisdiction. So she got to rotate with Rebekah and play some Duck, Duck, Goose (due to inclement weather ... my original plan was to have the kids draw on the playground with sidewalk chalk), eat a homemade popcicle with a prize frozen inside, and supervise a craft that the kids made for Mrs. Campbell. (And I have no pictures of any of this. I was busy taking care of 17 kindergartners, after all.)

However, we did do her piñata the day before when the Grover clan had gathered for a family dinner.

Bekah and Ana with our homemade piñata. Ana painted it and colored the castle on it all by herself. I paper mached, duct taped and zip lined it all by myself. (Can you tell that both girls were pretending to be Pinkalicious that day?)

Seth manning the rope while Ana tries to whack the piñata. Cousin Cooper, Analee and Rebekah took turns battering the piñata; Bekah beat a fist-sized hole in it, and we let Ana finish it off so the kids could collect their prizes.

The Grover clan: Aunt Melissa taking a picture of Miriam and Uncle Justin, Analee eating her cotton candy, Grandma Susan and GRandpa Dennis watching Cousin Cooper, Bekah talking to Seth.

Then on the special day (May 24, in case you were wondering), after the class party, Seth's return from work and the arrival of grandparents, Ana got to eat dinner, open presents and eat cake.

Analee modeling the froofy tutu Aunt Jessica gave her while riding the inchworm she received from her parents.

Analee with her birthday cake. She had wanted me to make a recreation of Bekah's fourth birthday cake. But, unlike Ana, I remembered the terror that is fondant. So I looked for ideas on the Intertubes and came up with this happy compromise. I think Ana was happy with the results. In fact, Bekah has made me promise her that we make the same cake for her sixth birthday in less than two weeks.

In the end, I think her birthday turned out well. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been hopping up and down and saying, "This is the best birthday ever!", right?

To see more such photos, click here.