Fun Stuff

 

Life has been full of good times lately. It has been busy, but a good busy. I feel almost all better now, and have been getting out to walk and jog almost everyday. The weather sure makes it nice, it has been warm, with more sun than clouds, and the smell of fresh dirt is in the air. Dirt is one of my favorite smells. Dirt and a freshly mowed lawn... talk about Heaven. Oh, and flower trees smell heavenly too, but we are not quite to that stage of spring yet, but soon! 

I have been taking more pictures of just everyday life stuff... the above picture is of Daniel crashing and burning after his benefit concert and party. He went from the high, to the low, of performance. It is exhilarating and then exhausting. It was all so fun though. 

I took these pictures during a walk. The river has been flooding pretty bad this year with all the snow and rain we have had.

I think maybe this company might regret building right next to the river. If they would have called me, I could have told them not to build there! The flooding may be worse this year, but it has flooded in that area quite often, from what I have seen. Crazy!

 Talk about waterfront property!

The flooding has caused water in places it does not normally go, and there was a new area to play in next to the bike trail.

When the sun came out, so did all the people. The trail was full of people enjoying the beauty of the day.

 Yes, it is haircut time, he got one yesterday.

 Flowers! There are coming!!!

Henry wanted to hold a flower. 

 We stopped at a park to play.

 Sammi has still got it.

 Hooray for warm and sunny days!

 Do you know how happy flowers make me? I kind of freaked a little when I saw them.

 Glorious sun! The kids all decided to wade in the water.

 Zoie joined the party.

 Oh man, we have been waiting for the spring to come. We van Ormers need to be outside!

 Taking in the Vitamin D.

 Zoie seems to like the water.

 Happiness.

 We went for a Sunday night drive and enjoyed the sunset.

 We saw a bunch of deer.

 Puppy cuddling. I think it might last a few more weeks, then she will be too big to carry.

 A morning walk by the river.

 The river is so crazy high!

 Another morning at the park.

 Swings!

I got together with my friend, Rachelle, and Zoie got to socialize with Sadie. A very good thing for puppies to do.

She is a really great dog, but it is not always a picnic with her. Puppies are not for the faint of heart, that is all I have to say. I will write more about it later. Good thing she is cute.

I have been taking her for walks and trying to wear her out, so she gets the exercise she needs to be happy and healthy (and so she will sleep through the night).

We have had so much going on, that I have been slacking on making dinners. We have had straight-from-the-store kind of dinners lately.

 Hooray for deli food!

 I got a gate for the kitchen... it has been fantastic. Having her underfoot was just too dangerous.

 More river flooding... Henry told me not to go down that path.

 Green grass!!!!!!

 Green on the trees!!!!

 Zoie is learning how to stay with me when walking. She is doing really well.

 Henry just being cute.

 I wonder what she is thinking?

I have decided to take daily gratitude walks. When I take Zoie out, I purposefully think about things I am grateful for. Gratitude is like a secret weapon to combat fear and anxiety about the future. It may seem a simple thing, but it is by small and simple things, that great things are brought to pass. The first morning I did this, I was greeted by two rainbows! It was amazing! I will write more about the power of gratitude later. But, wow, it is really life-changinig when gratitude is focused on.

 Another morning walk... It was grey, but the sun was fighting against the darkness.

 Do you know how hard it is to resist this face? Sometimes her eyes will twinkle, like she is saying "pretty please, can I have a treat?"

I will have to watch these two together for quite a long time... they just feed off of each others energy.

 Guess how long the hat lasted?

 Henry wanted to get on the stage before the benefit concert. Sammi loves that stage too.

 I was working the cameras.

 Daniel's junior high benefit concert was really fun.

 It was a Broadway musical show. Daniel was Marius from Les Mis. I will post video and photos later.

 After the concert fun

 Yep.

 It makes me happy to see Sammi and Daniel as such good friends.

 Mr. Scott, the junior high choir teacher, is the BEST! We sure love him at our house.

 Henry was so happy to be running the halls, and then he had enough.

 Hugs.

 We had a post-performance party at our house.

 It was fun to feel the energy from all the kids. It is enlivening to be around the youth.

Daniel is a "gatherer." He likes to be with loads of friends, and he likes to gather people to him. I realize as his mom, I need to find ways to accommodate this more. Sometimes I just don't think about that need, since it is not one that I have. But he is not me, and he just loves being with his friends. I love my friends too, I just prefer them in smaller groups, not the masses: Dan loves the masses. I actually love to do parties, so it is one way I can help him do his thing. And when it comes down to it, guess where I want my kids and their friends? Yep, at my house. It is a safe place for people to gather, and I am all for that!

Ice-cream cookie sandwiches... so yummy! Albertsons makes the best cookies. (I did not have time to bake my own.) Tillamook ice-cream was on major sale, so it was perfect!

Sometimes I wonder how I am old enough to have junior high and high school kids? But this year is actually my 20th high school reunion? Say what? 

 Games.

 The girls spent a lot of time singing Disney songs.

 They all gathered to watch Into the Woods, since they performed some music from it.

They just all piled into each other. Daniel said later he was so happy to be in the middle of a pile of his friends.

 I showed Henry this picture and he said, "It's me and all my friends." So cute. :)

 Cute girls.

 More fun stuff to come...