Homecoming and Home Life

September is moving along, and so is life. I know we are supposed to live one day at a time, but sometimes the days go by so fast, it seems absolutely crazy! This last week we had some good times. Along with the normal routine stuff, there was Homecoming for Sammi, her first high school dance. I am not sure about all of this growing older stuff, it is too much if I think about it for more than a moment.

But life is good, even if it is going at warp speed.

Here we have Zoie being groomed. The doodles are prone to clumps of matted fur, and they need to be brushed out -- it is loads of fun, let me tell you. I like her fur long though, and I am not partial to the shaved doodle look. I read that there long fur actually protects them from heat, so it is not a burden for her to have her all-natural flowing locks of fur. She is like the rest of us, with our unruly, long, often out-of-control hair. 

We had a week of really bad smoke. It was hard to feel good with such a thick layer of crud in the air. The air quality even got to purple, which is worse than red. The fires in the west have been intense this year, the whole world seems to be in commotion. They are predicting another heavy snow year for us. I just hope it is not the 7 snow days (school canceled) we had last winter, that was nuts!

 I still have ash on my van that needs to be washed off.

 Zoie is getting so big! She is mellowing in some ways, but the puppy energy is exhausting sometimes. Daniel is also growing at a crazy rate. He is a 14 year old man. Dan the Man. And the name fits. He arm-wrestled me the other day, and I think he might be as strong as his dad. He has been doing loads of push-ups every night before bed.

 Henry made a "hill" for his cars to go down.

I picked up Henry from kindergarten and somehow, he had his pants on backwards? Somewhere along the way, he must have used the bathroom, taken off his shoes, and turned his pants completely around. I had a good laugh as he walked out the school doors. Also, another funny Henry thing, he said to me while walking into school, "Mom, hold my hand, I don't want to run away!"

He came along to the orthodontist for Daniel's appointment. He loves to brush the monkey's teeth every time.

I found this. I wish I could say it was great, but it was not. The other pumpkin pie gelato kind was way better, and I mean WAY better. Not all pumpkin ice-cream products are worthy of my palate. This is not a repeat. I was, however, notified that they have pumpkin muffins at Costco... I might just have to make a special trip.

 Cuddle time, her fur is really nice to pet, when she will sit still. She does love to be loved though, like most dogs.

 I was out for a run, and there were beautiful sun rays bursting through the clouds. After all the smoke in the sky, this was an especially lovely sight.

 Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day...

Homecoming 2017

Sammi spent the day with her friends. She went to her friends house to have her hair done, she went ice-skating, she went to a fancy dinner at the church, then to the dance, and to a gathering after the dance. She had a great day. She liked ice-skating, and she didn't fall down, so she was super excited about that. She said the dance was not the greatest, because it was so loud and not the best feeling there, so the whole group decided to leave after about an hour to go to a planned after party. She said they did not even play any slow songs during the school dance, so they danced at the party afterwards. She just had a really fun time, despite the actual dance not being the greatest.

She made a bit of a mistake having her hair done before ice-skating, because it went flat. Luckily, I had the curling iron to make it all better at home.

 Her hair looked beautiful.

 I love this curling wand, it was a Christmas present to myself.

 A sweet friend, Katie, was so nice to let her borrow her dress. It was just right. Sammi is not one for over-the-top glitz or bling.

 She will always be my beautiful princess.

 Cheese!

 I could not love her more.

 She kept peeking to see if her ride was there.

Sammi went to Homecoming with her friend, Kyle. They have known each other since first grade. They are in choir together. Kyle asked my permission to ask Sammi to homecoming, and I said, "You have my permission, on one condition, and that is: you must treat her with the same respect you always have." Sammi turned down a few other boys that she did not know very well, but she felt comfortable going with Kyle.

 Cuteness!

 Ahhhh...

 Fun times!

 Daniel wanted in on the action. I said, "Don't touch the hair!"

The group gathered for pictures at a park. A parent took the following pictures... 

The girls. 

Jump for joy! 

The teenage years are full of FUN (and some drama), but mostly fun! 

After getting Sammi off to homecoming, I put everyone else in the car and ran Daniel off to a friend's house for a party before the youth dance. He was out all evening swing dancing at the church. He said it was fun, he loves being with his friends. 

See that ash on the window? Gross. And the Wolverine claw marks? Someone needs to wash my car. Good thing Daniel has an honor society car wash this Saturday.

This is how the other boys felt about all the commotion. They were both asleep, and had to be dragged around all over the place. Poor William got really sick with a fever and nastiness, but he is doing better now, and excited because he just got his trumpet today for band. More on that fun later.

I went by the river this morning for a walk/jog. It has still been hot, and it is not quite optimal running weather, but that is coming. Running with cool clean air is the best. Hot smokey air, is not the best.

 Throwing rocks.

 These flowers are growing everywhere.

 It was really dry by the river, everything is brown and dead.

I found this morning dew on my lawn. I just love water droplets, especially when they catch the sun just right and make rainbows. 

I sent this message to my sister in a text, I loved the message. 

My dad ordered me this Wonder Woman shirt. I love it! I saw the new movie and I really enjoyed it. I love it when a woman figures out who she really is, what she is capable of, and then becomes more powerful than she has ever been -- and I am not just talking about in the movies! Now all I need is a Lasso of Truth and the Bracelets of Submission, and I should be able to continue handling all the chaos that is thrown my way! 

 

Hooray for all the Wonder Women out there who do so much good in the world!