Baseball

And very quickly, life picked up its pace.
A pace that I have to figure out fast.
I was out of town for baseball Thursday, Friday, and today.
Tomorrow afternoon Willem is in Ellensburg and Merit in Selah.

This game.
We remember why we love it and why it is so hard.

The focus is critical, the over thinking sometimes detrimental.

I am a tired parent sitting on the sidelines.

What must these boys go through.

Feeling grateful.

Now I need to tend my my laundry, garden, flowers and dishes!

The good Stuff

Oren is LOVING his time outside! Building, rock collecting, playing baseball, and bike riding are some of his favorites! The big boys helped him clean his room yesterday. Oren is a hoarder and a collector and he has he ability to re-purpose a lot of things. I wonder where he gets it! He likes to save shoe boxes, cereal boxes, and tissue boxes and puts paper and stickers on the outside. He draws often too and adds his art to these boxes and to his walls. He is such a funny kid. His outdoor home is a play set/tree house. It includes an interesting funny collection of things!

Sometimes a teacher visit is the best visit! Rosie (Ms. Rosenow) came over last night. It was so fun to have her here!

I may not have the best eyes, but I can sure spot snap peas on the vine. - Hazel, age 10

Their teamwork is one of my greatest JOYS

Their "teamwork" is one of my greatest JOYS!

The way they help each other out is such a sweet blessing!

Hazel! with the trick kite -

It takes coordination and power to steer this.

Recent Happenings

 Fostering kittens is a love and a joy

The new road is going in to what will be our future home! 

For fifteen years we have been interested in purchasing the acreage to the north of us. We have been in touch with the land owner. About four weeks ago we realized it would be listed. 

A little more back story...

We did not know if or when this land may come available to us. So Vance was kind of ready to move forward, maybe purchasing land somewhere else in Moses Lake. He has had an itch to build, I have not really. 

Crab Creek is home. The view that allows us to see for miles, the basalt rock, the dessert trails, and the sound of the water has become HOME. I did not want to budge. :-)

I love our house! Simple, homey, and beautiful. But Vance is so excited about a bigger kitchen, new windows, a home office... and it will be fun. And we can take our time. 

So, when we were able to purchase this land, we became so excited. We are so thankful! 

And the road building begins! 

We are so blessed to get to STAY on Crab Creek and build a house here!

Vance has been driving the water truck for four days. Justin, our road builder, has brought all of his equipment in.

We plan to build a shop first.

Tonight's Sunset

 I cannot begin to describe how much I love where we live!
Tonight's sunset, gorgeous!!

Hot, sweaty, little shade, and baseball - truly, this is right where we want to be

Don't Hate Me, It's Heavy

Merit had a big decision to make this week and the heaviness I saw in him made me want to take it from him. But I can't. He will be 18 in October. Think of how many big decisions he will make over the next five years. Being a mom enters new stages of goodness and new stages of hard constantly.

I am so thankful for prayer.

Natasha had a cardiology appointment yesterday. She is retaining some fluid. This is all part of the heart's decline but not easy to hear. I wonder, how does she take that news when there is sad and bad news all around us. Pray for her heart, for Lesha's too.

Yakima Hospitals are hit hard with this COVID. Some say they are out of beds. Some say Inslee has exaggerated that and they are not out of beds. Well, their high number of cases makes my heart sick. And I hope Inslee sees the importance of honesty and integrity.
An article I read stated that capacity is exceeded because of the lack in staffing.
No matter how you cut it, Yakima hospitals are facing tough times.

I don't handle the heat quite like I used to. 80 degrees is terrific, 90 degrees makes me sweat and search for shade. My chickens get a little irritated too when it is very hot. They have a good space though and are let out for evening bug hunting and dust baths. Three of my chickens fly out of the coop as they please. We tried wing clipping, clipped the wrong wings... pinterest fail.
Anyway, Vance gets tired of those free range happy birds pooping in the yard. And one, Gia, lays her eggs in the garage. So, Vance wanted me to lock them up - solitary confinement - take a break from yard poop and the garage nesting box and determine where they will go from there. So we did. These free range flyers are not happy with us. We glanced at them last night, sweat dripping down our backs. Vance said " I wonder if your chickens would be better off dead."

Thems fightin' words.

Yes, I annoy him too. He just doesn't blog about it.

There should be medals for 20 years of marriage and the medals or trophies increase in value in five year increments.

Highlight REAL
vs. Highlight REEL

Life's hard, marriage is hard. But there is so much good too! And typically, as you know, I blog about that. But my friends, not today.

June Days

 Hoping and praying this little one finds a good one.
A stray had five kittens. This is one.

Cabin Cozy

June 18

 lavendar blooming

 sunset goodness

Rain, blooms, bike rides, Covid

The big boys and I went for an awesome, long bike ride in the rain last night! It started with a sprinkle and then was pouring! The backs of our shirts were soaked and covered with mud splatters! It was so fun and a bit cold.

We have had quite a lot of rain and thunderstorms over the past week or more! Some of the sky colors we have seen have been remarkable. Right now the rain is really coming down. 

We have seen a big rise in Covid 19 cases over the past 4 days here in Grant County. This virus is hard to navigate.

What is especially tricky, I feel, is we were primarily home for 75 days but now Merit and Willem are playing baseball and Merit went to a few graduation parties. It is difficult to take a break again from  socializing after it has been re-introduced. Gathering small and outdoors is important.  

Prayers for guidance - 

Prayers for those with underlying health issues too - 

Coop Fun!

When I was a little girl living on the Sunrise Road, someone anonymously dropped off a rooster and a hen in a gunny sack. If I had to guess, I would guess I was six or seven years old.
Someone pranking my dad, my mom thought... we let them out of the sack and let them run. The hen was the sweetest but the rooster was mean. I remember wanting to run out into the yard but looking out the window first to try to determine the location of the rooster, wanting to avoid being chased. Oh! I wish I could remember it all better!! It did leave an impression.

Fast forward 20 years. Vance and I bought a fixer upper in Boardman, Oregon and moved there. There was a chicken coop on the property. A co-worker of Vance told us he would like to bring us some chickens and roosters. He had too many. We said sure. He brought us TWELVE ROOSTERS!!! The crazy thing is they never caused a problem other than an early morning wake up call, or 12 early morning wake up calls. It's a blur as to how we even cared for them. They were primarily free range. They weren't cocky or bullies I guess because there were not any hens around. One of the roosters rode on my mother in law's car or my brother in law's truck to the hotel on the river there in Boardman and found a new area to roam. They were visiting when Merit was a newborn and told us about the rooster hitching a ride.

Well, now I have this cute hen house and six egg layers. We have accidentally gotten two roosters in the past three years and they were COCKY!

Merit played some baseball in Idaho this weekend. 

A fun tourney with an all day rain delay yesterday.

 on my walk last night I got some fun shots of these guys....