Cherries ~ Cherries ~ Cherries

When we were kids we picked cherries a couple times.  Mom canned cherries every summer it seemed.  At least I remember eating them during many long winter months.  I recall Gabe, Matt and I sneaking jars out to the barn and gobbling them up while sitting on top of the haystacks.  We were starved for sweets....or so we thought!  Shannon always commented on the copious amounts of bread and jam our family consumed, "Yeah, you guys had it pretty rough.  You NEVER had anything sweet.  How much jam did your mom go through in any given year?"  That said, the cherries were another sweet that we didn't really factor in because they didn't fall into the processed-sugar-from-a-bag category.   

I've wanted to head up to the Flathead and pick cherries for a couple years and finally got it done this summer.  I had imagined green lawns and white pickets fences (always white picket fences!) with lush trees scattered throughout.  The powdery, grey dirt surrounding the trees was not what I expected.  But the trees were certainly lush and the cherries were profuse.  I informed the guy we'd probably pick 30 pounds.  That seemed like a reasonable quantity, without buying myself too much work.  

We left the orchard with 90 pounds in boxes and who knows how many in our stomachs. Thankfully, there wasn't a weigh-in/weigh-out of each picker.  We picnicked on the shore of the nearby lake and swam afterwards.  My friend who tagged along with us got a taste of the craziness that is our life.  It was somewhat funny as I pulled over on the side of the highway for multiple discipline sessions on the trip up and and back. A kid can only sit angelically in the car for so long I guess! 

Like 10 minutes.  

Nickles was, yet again, my faithful kitchen helper.  I told him we were canning sunshine for grey winter days.  Now we have 50 quarts of cherries, errr I mean sunshine, sitting on our pantry shelves.  Whenever we pull a jar out, he's all about the sunshine he packed for a dreary day!

Peeking through the branches ~ 

The fruits of our labor.

Never mind. 

There was no labor involved.  We were pretty much done in 15 minutes!

Happy 9th Birthday Nicholas!

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Nicholas!
Happy birthday to YOU!

Where do I even begin?  You light up my life....when I'm not pulling out my hair!  Actually, even then you do.  When I found out we were expecting you all those years ago, Grandma D had just passed away.  Daddy and I felt you were a bit of a gift from her.  Despite your struggle to be good, you have such a big heart.  And even when you're naughty, I have to hide my smiles because, well, just because. 

Nickles, your perpetual smile, even when you're knee deep in trouble, warms the whole house.
Keep smiling, keep bringing joy to others, keep encouraging those around you...you do that so well! 

I love you!

Love,
Mom  xo

Always a thumbs-up, you're ready for any adventure.

You were awesome this day...an entire hike with bare feet.

If only I were as confident...you combed your hair, donned an outfit (damn the hole in your pants) and wanted your picture taken.  

You had the entire photo mentally composed, down to where and how you wanted to pose.  

In a pool full of rather unrecognizable bodies, all I need to scan for is a thumbs-up and a smile!

You are always treated rather special by your godparents on your feast day!

Boo ya! Now you are 9!

Happy 11th Birthday Dominic!

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Dominic!
Happy birthday to YOU!


Ahhhh ~ it seems like yesterday that I was in labor with you.  There was a lot going on that year, but you were MY biggest event!  My favorite memory, and I know I've told you this many-a-time, but the day after you were born was Sunday.  Following Mass, Aunt Rose and Uncle Steve, along with all their kiddos, came to the hospital to see you...beautiful little you.  All their boys were so big.  As you were handed around the room, I was struck by how tiny your body was compared to how big they all were.  I pray that you grow to be a fantastic young men as they have all grown to be.

Dom, I treasure your hugs and how you're just there many a time when I need a "Thank you" or an "I love you" or a "You're the best."  Keep doing the 'Next right thing' each day.

I love you!

Love,
Mom  xo

If I've published this on your birthday previously, sorry, bud.  

It's still one of my favorites.

You've always been in the thick of whatever the big kids were doing.  

While they may not be included in this shot, they were all there and you were prepping 

to do a flip or imitate something they had just done!

Always an adventure, helping Daddy with some animal retrieval!

You and Dad camped together for a few days, hunting and fishing...

and watching movies and cooking and eating junk food and shooting the breeze.....

You're quite proficient in the kitchen.  

And the once a year that we pull out the deep fryer brings your creativity to life. 

You fried donuts, french fries, apples and pretty much everything else that seemed like it may work.

After swimming in some frigid water ~ attempting to warm up for another dip.

So it would have been a nice picture.

When you and Tristen are together, I rarely see you.

And stretching your wings to peddle down the hill to fish is right up your alley....

biking, fishing, best friend/cousin.

Now you are 11!!!

Funnies

Ugh ~ if I need to record one aspect of my life more thoroughly it is the funny parts.  Because I forget how many there are, easily becoming overwhelmed with the negative parts.  

A few I've typed in my phone.....

Nickles as he and I are driving down the driveway, "Well, would you look at that?! Annika is shoveling the driveway and Dominic is playing in the snow! What a lazy bum!"

"Well, why don't you go help Annika?"

"No! I want to play in the snow!"

This one was from Shannon and I was like, huh?

"Holy smokes! I keep biting my cheeks.  You must have cut the lettuce wrong and it's making me bite my cheeks!"

Dom, as he's gazing blankly out the window during school, "Why does Carbon have such a sad face when he's going to the bathroom?"

Kath to Nickles, "We are not going to McDonalds because it is not healthy for us."

Nickles, totally confused, "Whaaaaaat?! We can have a hambuger sandwich and they have, like, LETTUCE on them!"

Nickles totally disgusted as we're looking through pattern books at JoAnn's, " This is total BS.  All of these clothes are lady's.  I need some man clothes."

Random comment one day, Josh walks into the kitchen deadpan serious, "Mom, can I learn tap dancing?  Everyone else swing dances and my body is just not made for that."

The view from my window one evening while I was on the treadmill ~

He's been forbidden to use the business stamp.  

So he placed it somewhere quite discreet.

"Momma, I haffa pee on the fires."

Now I know what the guys do when they're burning slash out of my direct line of sight.

"Max, your toes are terrible."

I'm not sure if I was more concerned that Nickles was such a pro 

or that Max was completely content allowing Nickles to give him a pedi.  

Okay ~ this was the cutest story ever.  I let Max visit the toy section in TJ Maxx AFTER I'm done with whatever shopping I may be doing.  And he is always satisfied to simply look.  But this evening he turned around with his arms wrapped tightly around this inflatable airplane.

"Mom, it's NOT a wipoff! It's not.  It's awesome.  Please, Momma?"

And I couldn't say no.  

But this child is also familiar with 'losing' things between toy sections and the car.  

When he saw me actually paying for the plane he looked at me and at the checker incredulously, "Thank you, Mom!  It's so awesome.  It's so, so awesome!"

And the checker melted, "Oh my goodness.  I have never seen anyone so grateful!"

Then we got home, filled the wading pool, stripped off clothes 

and he played til he was frozen and the moon was up.

May as well test the mattress on the way to the checkout.

Not sure what expedition he was preparing for, but it looks exciting.

"Mom, I looooove the smell of burning money."

Huckleberries ~ the definition of summer in Montana!

Rockstar Grandma, peddling to Mass, helping the kids get bike time in before the triathlon.

Why wouldn't the son of a builder be using power tools without supervision?

Seeley Tri ~ 2018

Michaela and Eric competed in the Seeley Triathlon this year.  Eric had an old swim cap from Theresa, so he wore it in honor of her...and perhaps for a bit of luck.  Annika could spot Eric's stroke way out in the lake after swimming with him this past year, continually assuring me he was in 2nd place.  Then I watched him gear up and come out of the water in 1st!  Michaela was a trooper as she was in the front of the line as well.  I'm always amazed at how well my kids swim, and how speedy in the water they are!  Despite their minimal training, they both did quite well, hoping to compete in a few larger ones next summer.   

A couple fans ~ who would prefer to play in the sand and water!

The sun glistening off the churning water is rather beautiful ~

Our Lady of the Rockies

While Maria and her family visited this summer, we zipped down to Our Lady of the Rockies.  Sadly, it's been years since I have been to Butte to visit.  We spent the day learning of the travails the crew forged through in order to bring the statue to the mountains overlooking Butte.  What a die hard group of men! 

As I dropped my daughters off at their apartment a couple weeks ago, it was reassuring to see the statue above the city and a reminder that Our Lady is watching over them as they live away from the protection of home. 

Not the best angle of Mary ~ but all I could do with the enormity of the statue.

~Louie and Nickles~

My three precious daughters ~

I don't even know what to say about this picture ~ 

What a couple of nuts my sons are!

Annika and Isabelle ~

The tour guide kept stating that he had the entire statue in the frame.

I wondered  how that was even possible since I had failed miserably.

A Random Hike

I wanted to camp the weekend of the Seeley Tri so we didn't have to be driving well before the crack of dawn in order to arrive on time.  Shannon was a trooper and hauled the camper up mid-week so we could get a camping spot.  I went up a day early to hike and swim.  Naturally, I had no idea what trails were around, not having looked at a map or anything, but whatever, we were just going to wing it, which isn't really in my nature.  As stated previously, I am a point A to point B hiker.  I like knowing when I am going to be done, be it two or twenty miles.

We headed off in a general direction where we thought there was a trail head.  We arrived at the end of the road 12 miles later to find the remains of what we thought was a trail sign and a trail heading off into the brush.  We grabbed our water bottles, towels (you never know when you may encounter a swimming hole) and headed out.

Soon the trail crested a hill and began a rather steep descent into a valley.  My rule of thumb is never, ever, ever walk DOWN on the outbound hike.  But I did.  And I told the kids we'd just walk for a bit and see where the trail was heading.  Then, we encountered a section of the trail which had been totally demolished by what Eric thoughts was a bear.  But why stop then?  Did I mention the day was close to 100 degrees?  Soon I thought I heard a waterfall, so we decided to walk for ten more minutes, which turned into an hour.

While walking down the trail I suddenly stopped...it was a teaching moment!  "Kids! We're Democrats!  We have no idea where we are and no clue where we're headed.  We're ignoring all the warning signs (bear and heatstroke) AND we're hoping for a marvelous outcome!  How does our situation model the current political situation in our country?!"

While it took a bit of explaining for Dom, Eric and Annika caught on pretty quickly.

We continued on, not wanting to waste our hour of hiking.  A mile or so later we crossed our first of several small waterfalls.  Then it was a race to the bottom of the valley. When we arrived we discovered a beautiful crystal clear lake.  A dip in the water hasn't felt that good for a long time!

We still had to hike back out, but it wasn't as bad as hiking down.  Crazy, I'm telling you!  As Annika said, "Now we know where we are and where we are going and we have a goal.  Mom! We're Republicans now!"

Okay, okay....that may be offensive to some, but I just don't frankly care any longer.  I feel rather disenfranchised by the entire political system.  I want to form my children and not have the world do that for me!  And I want them to think things through, not rely on CNN or Fox or whatever other news source may be available.  Anyway....I derailed.  Back to the story.

We made it back to camp before Shannon arrived.  After listening to the kids tell of the adventure with momma, he was absolutely amazed that his wife actually strayed that far off the beaten path and wanted to see the trail and lake for himself.  Fun fact - the following day when we hiked in, the trail was more torn up, trees had been ripped apart and piles of bear scat had been deposited on the trail.  Thank Heaven Nickles had been whining so loudly the day prior - he probably scared all the bears!

It was a great adventure - one that my children will never forget.