A Healthy, Dirty Glow

A few weeks ago, Thomas didn't bathe for almost a week. Instead, he walked around covered in dirt just like all the other kids having fun in the mountains. Eating breakfast outside a log cabin restaurant in the mountain morning sunshine, I realized that the kids I'd been seeing all week didn't just look dirty. They looked HEALTHY.

There is nothing as clean and healthy-looking as a kid who has been in the mountains for awhile. Their skin gains color, and smiles just sneak right past the streams of dirt and sweat running down their faces. 





In today's world, we don't offer this to our kids enough. We don't give them the chance to be in the mountain air (I'd call it fresh air, but the massive amounts of wildfire smoke make that not really the case).

Summer Awesomeness

I am really bad about updating, aren't I?

Last night, Anne Marie, Thomas and I came up with a list of fun things for the summer. In honor of Phinneas and Ferb, we shot for 104. Can we do them all? We can sure try! Some of them we've already done this summer, so I crossed them off, but we might totally do them again.

1. Go on hikes- hit all of the Pocatello-area trails.- could be tough with the fires, but we've done some.
2. Eat S'Mores. 
3. Play
4 Go to the zoo
5. Hike the lava trail.
6. Swim at Lava Hot Springs.
7. Swim at Ross Park
8. Swim at Downata Hot Springs.
9. Swim at Indian Springs.
10. Play in sprinklers.
11. Go camping.
12. Visit Craters of the Moon. 
13. Go to Redfish Lake.
14. Learn Spanish
15. Fly kites
16. Visit Uncle Tom
17. Overnight with Grandma
18. Summer reading program
19. Go to library
20. Chalk art
21. Sleep in our backyard.
22. Visit Grandma and Grandpa in Missoula
23. Play in every park in Pocatello and Chubbuck
24. Massacre Rocks
25. City of Rocks
26. Go to Museum of Natural History
27. Go to King Tut exhibit at the Museum of Idaho.
28. New Reed's Dairy place
29. Make our own ice cream.
30. Make our own art.
31. Make our own playdough.
32. Slip and slide.
33. Plant our garden.
34. Fireworks at Fourth of July.
35. Parade at Fourth of July.
36. Go to Minnetonka Cave.
37. Ride scooters.
38. Ride bikes
39. Concerts on the Quad.
40. Make cookies.
41. Swim lessons
42. Chubbuck Days parade
43. Swim in backyard.
44. Go to the Tetons
45. Picnics.
46. Geocache
47. Tie-dye something.
48. Scavenger hunt.
49. Kiwi Loco
50. Play Candyland. 
51. Play Memory Game.
52. Play Cooties
53. Make popsicles.
54. Go to a movie. 
55. Bowling.
56. Go to the Drive-in movie in Idaho Falls
57. Mini golf
58. Have a bbq with friends.
59. Penny walk
60. Farmer's market
61. Buffalo Wild Wings.
62. Pint-sized science academy.
63. Bubbles.
64. Go to the fair.
65. Walk to Sonic.
66. Go rollerskating.
67. McKee's Petting Zoo.
68. Disc Golf
69. Water balloon fight.
70. Roast hot dogs.
71. Go to a Chukars game.
72. Go stargazing.
73. Eat watermelon.
74. Date night with each kid.
75. Make green slime.
76. Make sunprints
77. Ice cream zoofari
78. Band at Ross Park.
79. Make a solar oven.
80. Make rootbeer floats.
81. Make banana splits
82. Watch birds and butterflies
83. Learn how to climb trees.
84. Fire Department open house
85. Make cupcakes.
86. Have fancy drinks.
87. Blow up some diet coke with mentos.
88. Make fire kites.- out due to fire danger
89. Home Depot craft day.
90. Make sand castles.
91. Build and break a piñata.
92. Play Go Fish
93. Shaving cream bath paint.
94. Go to art fair
95. Make ever-flowing goo
96. Cloud Watching
97. Visit a ghost town.
98. Hike on the Lewis and Clark trail.
99. Visit the potato museum.
100. Make pizza.
101. hopscotch.
102. Feed the ducks
103. Wash the car.
104. Bag a peak.

Pioneer

There wasn't a lot people knew about Joy Morrison's personal life. Her work was her life, just like many journalists.

The woman worked 60-80 hours a week without blinking. When I knew her, she was the old lady who knew everything about the community and had an old-fashioned idea of community journalism. I rarely gave her family a second thought.

But I do remember one time when I had just dropped Anne Marie off at daycare, and I was sort of feeling down. I didn't say anything about it to Joy, but she seemed to know. She said, "It was always kind of hard — I remember leaving my daughter at Mrs. M's(can't remember the name) daycare. It was hard when she cried, and it was hard when she was happy and didn't mind."

I went to Joy's funeral last week. She was 87 when she passed away, and 84 when she quit working. She dedicated her life to newspapering, and it showed at her funeral, where the newspaper photographers were her pallbearers, and a former editor gave the eulogy.

But she also loved her family, and her daughter's beautiful poem read at the funeral showed that she felt the undying, absolute love of her mother.

I always knew that Joy was a great role model for working women. She started at the newspaper in the 1940s when women didn't typically work, and continued looking for stories and working as an essential part of the community when she got married and raised her daughter. She seamlessly moved through technologies, from typewriters and cutting and pasting to computers and e-mail.

But she was also a great role model for working mothers. When I look at what life was like for working women in those days, I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for her, especially when she became a mother. There were separate want ads for men and women. Often, women were expected to leave their jobs when they began to "show." Women with husbands and children typically didn't work. It's not that I believe women should all be in the workplace, but I treasure that we have a choice, and the right to choose what is best for our family and situation, whether it be a stay-at-home mom or dad, a loving childcare situation or a combination of the three. It has changed so much that I don't think we as women often give enough credit to those women who paved the way for us to have choices.

Siblings

I love to watch these two play together! They make up the best games.

Happy (late) birthday Thomas!

Ahh, this kid.

Thomas,

When you were born, you cried so hard that I asked the doctor if there was something wrong with you. He just laughed and said, "Some kids just come out angry."

What I didn't realize then is that it isn't just anger that you do with intensity. It's everything. You love and laugh the same way. You run with intensity. You play with intensity. It can be tough sometimes, but also incredibly rewarding.

You are the sweetest, most cuddly kid, and your smile can light up a room. You care about animals, and you are gentle with them.  I see you as a leader when you grow up. I love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Highlights of my day:

 • Thomas waking up and peeking through his headboard to his sister's bed just to say, "Happy Valentine's Day, sister."

• Anne Marie running to the car so she could get me the Valentine's present she has been hiding behind her carseat. It was an old bracelet I gave her last week- she immediately hid it and told me she knew what she was giving me for Valentine's Day. SO cute!

 • Matt sneaking a card into the laptop so I would find it when I got to work, even though we said we weren't going to do anything today. One of the best Valentine's Days ever.

Working Mommy Wednesday

This week, for Working Mommy Wednesday, Rachel asked:  Does your job take advantage of your natural talents and abilities?

The wonderful thing about the job I have now is that it can use just about any talent I want to. I have been blessed with a boss who lets you pick your opportunities. My main job is as an editor. I edit press releases and I am an editor, but I can also write in my publications. I decided I wanted to increase my skills in social media — he sent me to a one-day conference and gave me the opportunity to run our social media plans.  I had an interest in presentations — now I put together presentations. My job, and I think most jobs, are what you make of them. It helps to have a supportive environment, but my goal is always to take my job description and find a way I can make it fit for me. I have to work, but isn't it more fun to work if you are doing something you enjoy?

Happy 5th!

In honor of Anne Marie's fifth birthday ( a little late), I'm not going to talk about all the many things I love about her. Instead, I'm going to focus on the funniest one. This girl knows how to pose. So I'm going to take you through a tour of some of this girl's best poses. Some might fool you- you might think I simply got her in a great moment. But in every one, she is definitely aware of the camera and making the best use of it she can.

From the start...

CAMERA!

I got a camera for Christmas! So, after missing Halloween pictures, Thanksgiving pictures, hiking pictures, etc, I finally have some proof that my kids are still here. :)

So, here's a tour of the kids' Christmas. :) We had a great week, hiking, skiing (skiing photos still to come), ice skating, present-opening, bowling and more.

From christmas

Anne Marie got a new camera too. :)

From christmas

From christmas

From christmas

Anne Marie reenacting the nativity- cracks me up. :)

From christmas

From christmas

From christmas

From christmas