This is What Naughty Looks Like

This was my current knitting project.

Thanks to our foster pup, this is what it looks like now!

He's lucky he's cute.

19

19 years of wedded bliss.

Add 5 years of dating

And add another 5 years of friendship before dating

That's 29 years, people!
And he's still hanging in there.

What a guy.

This is becoming a habit

This kind of catch up/ month in review post is becoming a habit.  But it's better than not posting at all, so here goes.....

When your child enters high school you always hope that they find their "thing". An activity or sport or team that they get excited about and want to be involved in.  For Ciara it was marching band.  That has been such a wonderful experience for her.  It has afforded her friends and experiences she never would have otherwise had including a trip to Washington DC to march for the President.

For Max I had assumed that his "thing"would be soccer.  After all he had been playing that sport since he was six.  But as it turns out something else got his attention. From almost the first week of school he became involved in the schools robotics club.  The boys with the help of a teacher and some mentors who work as engineers, have built a robot and taken it to a number of competitions through out the state.

They even featured on the local news....

Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

They put in a huge effort and had such a blast.  And it has whet their appetite for a career in engineering.  There was nothing like this at my school, and I am delighted that the school district here can see the value in these amazing extra curricula programs.

The boys had their last competition just before Easter but it sounds from the enthusiasm level that they will all be back again next year.  Go Bearbots.

The competition at WSU was not quite Iwo Jima but it made for a less than standard team photo op.

Speaking of competitions...Ciara went to state with her school KnoSledge bowl team.  No photos of the competition but he boys and I decorated her car, which she was thrilled about...not!

Still on the topic of competition our next door neighbor Alex came home from college to play an alumni soccer game against he current varsity soccer team.  It was so much fun to watch.  Here is a pic that the team photographer snapped of Alex in action...with Ciara taking her own photos in the background.

On another note...spring is on the verge of making an appearance win the Pacific Northwest, although we had a dusting or snow last week..

I am so ready for the sun. I have started a couple of yard projects and Max has made me some raised garden beds so there should be lots of planting and growing happening soon.

Besides the sun, one thing that makes me really happy is finding a new place to eat.  This bakery is in a run down part of the city, with the owner trying to inject som meet life and a sense of community into the neighborhood.  The place is called the Batch bake shop and I can highly recommend the citrus tart.

I don't want to talk about it

So let's just get it out of the way.  I think I am still traumatized by the Seahawks loss.  We went to a friends place to watch the game. Even the puppies were in the spirit wearing their Seahawks colors.

But at the end it felt like we were at a wake. Enough said about that.  Moving on

Speaking of puppies.  We have had loads lately.  Some have been a little naughty.  This is what my house looked like when I came home from work one day...Oy!

They were so excited to show me what hey had found, I just couldn't get angry with them.

Our most recent ones are a Mum and her 5 babies.  Everyone is super cute.

They made an impromptu appearance at one of Max's Robotics club meetings ...um...and their cuteness was a little disrupting.  All work on the robot ground to a halt.  But it was decided that the puppies should accompany the team to their next competition to provide stress relief.

Puppy snuggles really are awesome.

So, what else has been going on around here?  The family activist attended a human trafficking forum and this week she went to watch proceedings at the Spokane drug court.

She finally decided where she is going to college. Ciara and Matt took a road trip to Montana on a college visit. Six hours drive time each way. But the decision has been made and it's off to Montana State University in the fall. Go Bobcats!

But it's good to know hat despite the fact she is growing up she will still do this with her little brother.  Well, it's one way to get a mattress down the stairs.

Lots of time has been spent over at the rental getting it ship shape.  If you want to see what has been going on there you can check out this link

And I just want to leave you with a photo from my work commute this morning.  Never boring...that's all I can say!