Mangy Moose Stools

When our kitchen remodel is complete, Corbin will do a blog post on the process, but I just had to put this short one in.

Quite a few years ago, we went to the Mangy Moose - the restaurant and bar at the base of Teton Village (Jackson Hole ski area) - and Corbin was absolutely taken by the ax-handle bar stools. They had octagonal seats made of reclaimed wood, with ax-handle legs. He just loved them. Two summers ago, Corbin noticed the same stools in a carpenter's showroom in Victor. We went in and met the carpenter, Steve Kitto. We were impressed by his work, and got along with him nicely. It turned out that he was, in fact, the man who made the Mangy Moose stools. I, of course, had very little memory of the Mangy Moose stools but fell in love with the ones in Steve's shop!

This fall Maggie and Steve's daughter, Josie, ended up in the same preschool class. We also had Steve build us three sets of bookshelves, made of reclaimed wood from the old Cheese Factory in Victor. We've developed a nice friendship with Steve and now that we are remodeling our kitchen, we were ready to ask Steve to build us some stools designed after those at the Mangy Moose. Yesterday Steve delivered them and we are so thrilled. For us they have a story with meaning ... and they were built by a friend.

The Shirt is Holding Up!

Connor has had two games so far. The first was rainy and freezing and when they called the game after 45 minutes, Connor was disappointed ... he might have been the only kid on the field wanting it to continue! Yesterday his second game was SNOWED out ... he protested saying they could still play. Tonight they had the makeup game, and he was thrilled.

Today he told me that at the first game one of the boys had a shirt that was too small for him. The boy's mother came up to Connor and said, "I notice your shirt is a little big for you, and I see that it's an extra large. My son's shirt is too small. Would you be interested in switching shirts?" Connor's answer was, "Well, my Mom cut this down so it would fit me, so I'm fine." He said to me today, "Plus Mom, I like that I get to keep #46, Jacoby Ellsbury's number!"

Thank goodness ... I don't know what I'd have done if he traded that shirt :-) !!

4H Horse Club

We just signed Brady up for 4H Horse Club! Our good friends, Heather and Harley, are leading the club and are very welcoming. Heather ran the 100 miler in Vegas (then found out she's pregnant!). Harley is her wonderfully amazing and supportive husband. He's also quite a cowboy. His specialty is roping, and he's taught his 3 daughters well. Their oldest, 17 year old Ashley is a champion roper herself.

Harley was very kind to Brady today and made him feel welcome, even as a beginning rider. Brady will learn western riding and horse care. He was, at first, very excited, then later pretty overwhelmed. We'll take this slowly. Brady's love of animals will likely prevail! Official lessons begin in late May or early June.

We arranged to borrow a horse from Harley, so Brady will have the chance to show at the County Fair in August if he wants ... we'll see how this all plays out ... but it's a fun new adventure!

Um ... just call me Olivia Walton ... :-)

Yesterday was "field day" for baseball, a meet and greet with coaches and families. Kids got uniforms; first games are tomorrow (Mon, 5/3). When we went up to the head coach, he said to Connor, "We have a hat for you, but not a shirt ... because of the late registration." Connor's response was, "Oh, OK, so how will I get my shirt before the first game?" The look on the coaches' faces was very telling - there would not be a shirt, ever. As I tried to smooth it over for Connor, the coaches started saying things like, "Well we have an extra coach's shirt, but it's an Adult XL." I quickly jumped on the opportunity and said something like, "I'm sure we could do something with that." Hmmm .... what did I say?! But there was no way Connor was going to play this whole season without a team shirt (or something close). Plus, Connor's faith in me was absolute ... "Oh, yeah, Mom - you can just cut it down to my size and fix it up ... great!"

So my weekend has been spent tailoring an Adult XL t-shirt into a Youth Small t-shirt ... mostly by hand! Have there been mistakes? Yes - in fact at one point I realized I'd sewn a sleeve on inside out ... oops! Is it of Olivia Walton standard? Not even close - there are places where the white thread (only thing I had) shows through, the hem is uneven, even though I cut off 3-4 inches the shoulders are still a little too big ... etc etc. Will it work? Yes - and Connor has enjoyed following my progress all weekend and he loves the shirt.

I do not sew. I can't remember the last time I used a sewing machine, and the only thing I've done by hand is patch up some stuffed animals here and there. So, I just relied on common sense and whatever was left over from the days of learning how to use Mom's sewing machine as a young girl ... perhaps I even earned a sewing badge in Girl Scouts way back when!! I cut the shirt apart and cut it down, then sewed it back together. Then Connor and I made our own stencils for the numbers, which are glued on with fabric glue. Finally, I borrowed a sewing machine from a friend (already set up with dark thread) and stitched the hem as best I could.

The best part (well, other than Connor's enthusiasm and complete support!!) was sitting and sewing while watching "The Waltons" with the kids on Saturday night.

Now, let's see how my creation holds up to 2 games a week for 6 weeks ... and the washing that will require!!

Brady Goes to Double Digits!

Brady turned 10 yesterday. In his words, "This birthday is a big deal, because you go to double digits, and most people don't make it to triple digits, y'know?!" He loves lots of small, special reminders that it's his day. He woke up to a gift on his bed - a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap (he really wanted a Phillies one, but we couldn't find one and this one was the right color - he hasn't taken it off since he got it!). Then the 3 kids gently woke us up at 6:45 sharp (the time we'd suggested the night before as a good wakeup time). We all went out to the kitchen where Brady opened his gifts from us - some Shakespeare for kids books and a BB gun. Needless to say, he was overjoyed! We also woke up to about 2" of new snow. Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, off to school with a box of individually wrapped brownies (that he and I made together for his classroom celebration) each topped with a gummy bear, and a lunch box with a special birthday note inside. Right after school, we took all 3 kids to "Game On," the new business in town with mini-golf, air hockey, and an assortment of arcade games. Brady's been dying to go and what better day to check it out?! Home for dinner - his request: chicken fried steak! Then cake, ice cream and time to open presents that had arrived in the mail. I asked him if he got enough sugar for the day. His response was "yeah - I'm a little jazzed up!" He's really got a quick wit and nice sense of humor, which we love. He was so happy, so sweet, so willing to share his happiness with Connor and Maggie, and so grown up. The fun continues, because he wanted Corbin's homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, "but not on a school day, there's not enough time to enjoy them," so we'll have those this weekend. Plus, this year instead of a birthday party, each boy got to choose a family adventure. Brady chose ATV riding on the sand dunes in St. Anthony - something we did in September, and he loved it! We have the ATVs reserved for next Friday, when the boys have the day off!

I spent the past few days reminiscing about the days leading up to his birth and told him his birth story, which he pretty much knows by heart now :-). Corbin and I kept saying that we can't believe we've been parents for 10 years now ... and that we can't believe that in only 8 years he might be out of our house and off to college. Wow, the thought just gives us pause ... love that kid!

Bear World .... yes, we did it!!!

OK, so Yellowstone Bear World is one of those places you'd call a "tourist trap" ... named to sound as if it's affiliated with Yellowstone National Park. In fact, it's about 10 miles south of Rexburg, about 55 miles away from us and a little more from Yellowstone National Park! I forced the issue and made it our family activity today ... Corbin was a complete trooper, though he could not believe I was making this our outing today. It was very Griswald-eske!! Wildlife in a park ... who wants to see that??? Kiddie amusement rides and candy and a petting zoo with germs galore ... really????

But just look at the smiles on our kids' faces!!! Oh my gosh - I was like a child myself as we drove through the park and saw SOOOO many bears. Corb was pretty impressed, too! That was after seeing elk, including 2 white elk, bison, deer, and mountain goats - oh and with the bears were wolves, one was a white wolf. The park has a drive-through section, where we saw all the wildlife. Then we parked and went into the gift shop, where they offered free fudge tastings :-) . We then went out into the area where there are bear cubs, a petting zoo, and kiddie rides.

Well ... the bear cubs were precious (sadly, no pics of them)!!! We were all enthralled watching the 6 cubs frolicking with each other and the handlers. They will be released into the park again once they are big enough and less susceptible to attack from the male bears and the wolves. Then we went through the petting zoo, which was cool but weird ... country music playing through speakers that looked like rocks ... deer and goats being handfed by kids ... and a moose in the park, but close to the petting zoo fence! Finally, we went to the rides ... they were really at Maggie's level ... but Connor and Brady embraced the opportunity to enjoy the moment. Brady was so wonderful as the big brother and took Maggie on all the rides the first time, helping her climb into seats, buckle seatbelts, and generally get used to the rides. Before long, she was skipping from one ride to the next and riding alone. Brady even got me to go on 3 rides with him :-) ... we had lots of laughs today ... and lots of spontaneous hugs ... ah, such joy!

Before we left the park, we went back through the gift shop and each kid got to choose a piece of their favorite fudge -- the pieces were 1/4 pound each, so they were HUGE! They ate some on the way home, and some for dessert tonight.

The day started with a trip to the dump and the library ... the day ended with us watching "G-Force" which we checked out at the library. This was definitely a family day where everyone was happy and laughing ... wow ... those are rare. Corbin and I exchanged many smiles and cherished the day together, through the kids' eyes!

Two "Near Disasters" for Connor

First, Mom-of-the-Year here missed the deadline for baseball registration (actually I didn't even see that it was going on!). When I tried to register Connor late, I was told there might not be room for anymore kids in his age group. I lost about 3 nights' sleep over this - seriously, if there's one thing I had to make happen it was getting Connor on a baseball team!! I pulled out all the stops and went to everyone I could think of - yes, I was that completely annoying Mom advocating fiercely for her son. Yesterday morning (Wed 4/21) we got a call that Connor was added to a team roster and he should get to practice at 5pm! Phew ... happiness! He missed 2-3 practices, but games don't start until early May and for now they will practice 3 times a week. We're not too worried about him starting a little late. When I went up to thank the coach at the end of practice he said, "Oh you're welcome. He sure seems to know what he's doing out here!" My little baseball boy :-)

Second, Connor has been very excited about continuing his judo classes to earn his next belt. Last week he found out that he would be promoted and receive his yellow belt. The promotion ceremony was on Tuesday (4/20). We all went (Corb, me, Brady, Maggie, and even Gabby!) to be there for him. Now, there are about 4 judo classes, organized roughly by age group, so the Sensei (teacher) had at least 4 promotion ceremonies that day. In each class only some of the kids were being promoted. When Sensei called the names of the students to be promoted, he did not call Connor's name. Corb and I were dying ... Connor was at first confused, and then heartbroken, but he sat there stoically. I tried to get Sensei's attention without being disruptive, but to no avail. At the end of the ceremony (which only lasted about 5 minutes, but felt like forever), I was able to get Sensei's attention. He immediately recognized his mistake and had Connor's belt, with his name on it, grouped with the belts for the next class. He made a big deal of his apology and gathered the class to watch a private promotion ceremony for Connor. Connor's tears were quickly brushed away and he went through the ceremony with great pride! He then happily joined the class for some fun on the climbing wall afterward. What Connor took away from the experience was pride and joy in his newly earned belt. To watch him go through that about killed Corbin and me, but to see the resilience and grace with which Connor handled the situation made us beam with pride.

That Connor is a pretty remarkable little kid!