Desmond Tutu in Tacoma

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great. Sometimes I get tired of the gray and the rain, but most days I'm really glad I live here. There are so many opportunities to do things that other areas of the country just don't have.

Months ago I heard that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was coming to our area, and that he is retiring and this would be one of his last appearances. I asked Chuck if he was interested, and at first I thought of taking Sean. We talked it over and decided the kids would be bored, but we'd like to go.

I've admired Desmond Tutu for a long time. You can read more about him here.

I got tickets late in the game, so the only seats left were in the rafters. I had an email telling about parking, and at the event parking was $20, so we decided to get as close as we could, but not pay $20. We paid $15 and parked in the Brown and Haley parking lot--home of the Mountain Bar. (Another post for another time.)

We didn't have to walk very far, and it was a nice evening for a walk anyway.
It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was great. There was a lot of entertainment. You can see pics here posted by Weekly Volcano. Outside was almost as interesting as inside :-) I do love a good bunch of diverse causes all in one place...

Unfortunately I opted to leave my camera, thinking I wouldn't be able to zoom in close enough for a good photo of anything from our rafter seats. I wish I had brought it along.

After a lot of great entertainment, Craig Kielburger inspired us all with his story of how he started Free the Children. You can read all about that here, and you can read about Craig's story here. It is truly amazing how one person, a little kid, can get passionate about something and with the help of his friends bring about a wonderful change in the world.

Eleven of his friends joined him, and there is a personal thing for Chuck about the number 11. We both looked at each other and smiled. But then it hit me that with Craig that made 12, and I thought of the 12 desciples.

Kielburger said he asked Archbishop Desmond Tutu what he should call him, and he answered that his friends call him The Arch. The Arch was amazing. As he spoke about how God enlists the help of his human partners to bring about change in a hurting world, I once again thought of that 12-year-old Craig and his 11 friends.

There are examples of remarkable children, teens, adults all around us. Kielburger said he told The Arch he stopped reading the newspaper because of the depressing headlines. The Arch told him he sees it as God's To Do List delivered to his door each morning.

I sat with Chuck over breakfast this morning and as we turned the pages of the Tacoma News Tribune and I sighed, Chuck said, "Remember, it's God's To Do List."

And He can't do it without us.  I hope you will click on those links and get inspired to partner with God and make a change where you live.

Guns, Fish and Mother's Day

I had no real expectations for Mother's Day. It has never been a really big day for me. Years past I always got a nice card from each of my kids, usually handmade at school or church. I've kept them all, and they are so special to me.

But when it comes to a big day of doting and pampering on Mother's Day, it's not really me.
So leading up to Mother's Day Chuck was asking what I'd like to do. I had no real preference.

Saturday we spent the day at the Livable Community Fair. I worked the newspaper booth and Chuck worked a couple of booths, including the fire department. Both kids hung out with us there and had a fun time. There were activities to keep Sean busy, like the trout pond, and the touch a truck event.
His favorite was the military area where there were trucks and a couple of sniper guns and camo the kids could explore.

I went looking for Sean and found him here.
I recognized his shoes.

There were big trucks from the electric company and a tow truck that was enormous. Of course the fire trucks were there, and the military had a large repair unit. I didn't get the skinny on that, but heard others talking about it.

Sean caught a few fish, but threw them back. Lilly caught one and gave hers away.

The trout pond is always a big hit with the kids. 

We had a fun day there, even though Chuck and I were both sort of working. After the fair we had dinner together and watched a movie.

Mother's Day was great. I came back from church and was greeted by happy children and a wonderful man who had somehow taken them shopping for gifts. Maybe they went shopping while I was at church, because I can't figure out when he could have taken them without me.

(Chuck told me to just leave Sean with him and he'd bring him to church after he studied for his class.)

Sean chose a nice garden decoration of a dragonfly (one of my favorites), and Lily got me earrings that match the necklace Chuck gave me for Christmas.

The four of us had lunch at El Sombrero. Sean was being difficult because he didn't want to eat Mexican, and Chuck was so wonderful with him. He totally understands him and knows how to handle him. Though Sean said he didn't want to eat, and didn't want a drink, Chuck ordered for him anyway and said "just in case you get hungry or thirsty." We allowed him to have his moment, and Chuck explained there are four of us now and there will be times when not all of us are happy, but we will all have a turn at getting what we want. 

Sean sat under the table and we didn't react. We ignored it and eventually he reached for his plate and took it under the table. Then he got tired of eating alone and came back up and sat with us and ate his burger. We didn't react or mention it, and he blended right in with us.

This gentle way of doing things is opposite of the way I parented Dave and Jewel, but it totally works with Sean. The tools I used with them don't work with Sean. He is not a child I can force, and I appreciate that Chuck sees that and knows just what to do with him.

After lunch we spent a little more time together before Chuck had to take Lily back to her mom's.

Fathers are a big part of making Mother's Day special. I really appreciated that Chuck took Sean to shop, although it wasn't necessary. I would have been just as happy with a rock or leaf or some weed from the yard. The fact that Lily got me a gift was very touching. 

Jewel and Dave called in the afternoon and evening, and I feel so blessed to be a mother. It was a wonderful Mother's Day. 

Terrific Kid

Principal, Mrs. Bond, reads his teacher's comments
 as Sean gets his award.

I would guess that most parents believe they have terrific kids. We all have our moments when maybe we think otherwise, but in the quiet moments the sweet and wonderful things come to mind.

It is so for me. I believe my kids are all some of the best in the world. I've told each of them that I thank God for them every day.

I have mixed feelings about awards. I know a lot of people really like them and think awards motivate, but I'm not sure I agree.

So when I found out Sean's school hands out Terrific Kid awards I wasn't all that thrilled. Each month Sean would come home bummed out because he wasn't chosen as a terrific kid. He thought he was doing everything right, he wasn't getting into any trouble, etc.

I kept telling him he is a terrific kid and we don't need other people to tell us that. I encouraged him to keep doing the things that make him feel good about himself and who he is.

This month he was chosen. The theme this month was Inspirational. So each kid who was chosen had to be inspirational in some way.
Here's what Sean's teacher wrote on the back of his award:
Sean has this uncanny ability to stay calm. I've watched him choose to ignore mean behavior with stone-like ability. He inspires me to be more patient.


After the ceremony I took him out for ice cream. We saw another Terrific Kid recipient at the same Baskin Robins and the dad said to Sean, "Hey, you're the one that got the award for being patient, aren't you?"
Sean was very proud of his award. He also got a pencil and a badge. I'm proud of him, and glad he was chosen, but I'm still on the fence with the award stuff. I like the idea of pride from within instead of relying on outside praise.

Washington, My Home

It was a lesson in state history and songs, and the music program at Sean's school was very cute. I took some pictures, but most of them have a lot of kids in them and I don't want to post those without the parents' permission.

The songs were all about Washington, and things and places here. There were songs about Tacoma, Puget Sound, and even a Geoduck Song.

Chuck went with us, and Sean's dad was there, too.
All the kids did a great job. It reminded me of the programs at the school David and Jewel attended when they were in kindergarten and first grade. I like small schools.

After the program we stopped for dinner and time for Sean to get some of his nervous energy out before coming home.


It was a good end to a great day. I started the day by making calls to all of my friends and family in the South. Tornados ripped through there yesterday and the destruction is unbelievable. Death count was more than 280 today. Some of the places I've spent time and visited have been devastated.

After accounting for everyone and finding out they were all OK, I went to spend time with Chuck on his day off. We had a great morning and ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant - El Sombrero. It's always nice to reconnect and catch up with what's going on after being apart for a few days. He was on shift a lot this week, and taking care of some important stuff on the days in between.

We both have been feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities and obligations we have. I said I feel like I have too many jobs, and he said he feels that way too. We put our phones aside for more than an hour to have a decent conversation and time together, and ignored them as they buzzed and rang. Can't do that for very long or it just makes that overwhelmed feeling worse.

I left his place and it was run, run, run. Check messages, return calls, make calls, get Sean from school, rush home, check emails, and get ready for the program. I'm so glad we had a few hours to stop and relax before we had to hit the ground running again.

I got this list through someone on Facebook, but it goes along with the program tonight, "Washington, My Home." It will give you a glimpse of what people do, and are like, in our wonderful state.

1. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington. 
2.  If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Washington.  
3.  If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Washington. 
4.   If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.  
5.  If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.  
6.  If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington.   
7.  If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern, or Eastern Washington.  
8.  If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.  
9.  If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Washington.  
10.  If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.   
11.  If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.  
12.   If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington. 
13.   If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Washington.   
14. If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington. 
15.   If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Washington. 
16.   If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tullys, you live in Washington. 
17.   If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.  
18.  If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Wenatchee, Spokane, Umpqua, Yakima, and Willamette, you live in Washington.  
19.    If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington. 
20.   If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Washington.  
21.  If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Washington.   
22. If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.   
23. If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Washington.  
24.  If you buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Washington.   
25.  If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Washington friends, you live or have lived in Washington.     By: Laurece Bonner Rust

Eggs, Baskets, Food and Love

I put all work aside and Sean and I spent the whole weekend with Chuck and Lilly.
Dinner is always a question when we have the kids, but Chuck had a pizza kit from a fundraiser and we all voted yes on that for our Friday night dinner. Sean loved helping put it all together. We added a little veggie and olives because the kit came with only pepperoni.

Mmm. Pizza. 

Friday night is always a good night for a movie, so we went to the store and found "Gulliver's Travels." Pretty cute. Chuck wanted us to come back Saturday for breakfast, and we had a full day planned for all of us.
He always puts on a big spread for breakfast. It was cinnamon rolls, French toast, sausage and eggs. I brought Greek yogurt, granola and fresh berries. (I know, healthy.) We all had a little bit of everything and it was really good. Plus he has this beautiful antique china he used and the table was gorgeous. I'll post about it again soon.

After breakfast Sean and Chuck went outside to work and Sean came in and told me about a slingshot he saw at the store while he was with Chuck. I suggested he could make one and Chuck could probably help him.

We walked the property to find just the right tree with the right kind of branch. Chuck took a saw and next thing I knew they were in the house again with the base of it, needing someone with sewing ability to make the cloth to attach to the rubber band for the sling. 

I'll post about this again later. We left it at Chuck's and I don't have a good photo of it.

That morning I took Lilly to shop for a new dress. Dad gave us money and we took off. The thought was to get a dress she could wear to church, but she's still not really comfortable with the idea of going to church with us yet.

But we lucked out on the shopping trip with a big sale at the store Justice. She got a couple of skirts, a pair of really cute shorts and two tops. She tried on a lot of stuff and we had fun oohing and ahhing over some of the styles.

On the way back Lilly asked if Sean and I could spend the night. She offered her bed for him and I said we'd see what he thought of it.

When we got back, the guys had been working on the property with the backhoe and were already planting some trees on the lower end. The plan is to devote part of the property to trees and within five or six years have a Christmas Tree farm.

Sean had a great time driving the backhoe. He helped keep the fire going to burn some of the brush and they worked outside most of the day.

They took a break to come in and color Easter eggs. Chuck had 36 eggs to color.

Sean and Lilly coloring the eggs.

We all had a great time coloring eggs and getting creative. We like the little sleeves that dip into hot water and shrink around the eggs. 

After the egg activity, Chuck and Sean went back outside to work some more.
Sean came in around dinner time and said he didn't feel well. I mentioned spending the night, and mabye he and Lilly could make a blanket fort or something. It wasn't 30 minutes later and he fell asleep. Chuck, Lilly and I watched another movie, "Uptown Girls" while Sean slept. It was good. Then it was really bedtime. Sean was still asleep on the couch, so the rest of us went to bed.

We woke up Easter morning and the Easter Bunny had left a basket for Sean and Lilly.

Sean got a magnet kit to paint, and Lilly got a friends bracelet kit.

Chuck, Sean and I got to church in time for the youth breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Church was packed, of course, and it was a really nice service.

On the way back from church we stopped to visit my grandma for a little while, then headed back to Chuck's for the day. We wanted to hide eggs, and have a nice Easter celebration. It was rainy, but we made the best of it and the kids went out to find eggs when it had stopped raining.

Lilly and Sean had a great time searching for eggs in the yard.

The guys worked outside a little bit more and Lilly and I watched "Tangled," until it was time for me to start dinner. I had a recipe for rack of lamb and fried artichoke hearts. I had never made either of those things, but it didn't sound very difficult.
Chuck helped me trim the artichokes and we followed the recipe exactly. The only difference could have been the recipe called for baby artichokes, and the only ones I could find were probably not baby artichokes. That part of the dinner was a big fail. It sounded really good, and maybe it is good with baby artichokes. Ours weren't cooked enough, and I'm not sure they are worth all of the work to peel it down to the good part.
They look pretty, though.

I should have taken a picture of them in the serving bowl. It was really pretty.

The lamb turned out really nice, but a bit undercooked. Chuck sliced it and we put it back into the oven for a few minutes. The recipe called for medium rare, but I don't like meat much in the first place. Dripping blood is not appealing to me at all.

We had a great weekend together. Not sure if the artichokes will make it into the Easter tradition, but the egg coloring was a hit. The kids seem to be a bit vegetarian, so the next holiday meal I'll incorporate more veggies into the plan.

Rain? HA, we laugh at rain!

Chuck got us tickets to the Tacoma Rainiers vs. the Sacramento River Cats game last night. The firefighters union had a party deck reserved, and we thought it'd be a fun thing to do.
As we approached the turn to the parking lot we realized all those cars that were backed up to the last on ramp were in line for that turn. So we made our way to the next option, and that lot was full. We had to park at a nearby high school and walk.
You must understand something about our Pacific Northwest climate. It's gray. Almost all the time.
So the day had been gray, but not wet. By this time it was starting to drizzle, and we weren't sure what the party deck was like. They recently finished renovations at Cheney Stadium. You can read about it and see photos here.
We got to the gate and made our way to the party deck area and were told our party deck was at the top. Yeah, none of those party decks are covered. And it was starting to sort of rain and the wind was picking up.
The umbrellas that are clearly not effective for keeping the rain off of anyone sitting at the tables made it worse.
Not whining or complaining, just sayin'.

These umbrellas were just big enough to almost protect the table, but anyone sitting or standing at the table had a constant drip on their head or back. 

On the way to the gate.

Military aircraft doing a fly over to say good luck to the Rainiers.

Play Ball! We're not made of sugar.

We're pretty tough and used to being damp and cold, but after a while it was just too much for us. I looked around and even the kids were hunched over trying to stay dry. It was too distracting trying to keep our food from getting soggy and our hands from freezing to pay attention to the game very much.
We stayed until we couldn't stand it anymore, then made our way back to the car.
Rainiers lost 6-5. But I don't call it a total fail. We had a nice walk, saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, and Chuck and Sean got to eat ballpark food.

Island hop

So on Friday we took off for Vashon Island to see the bicycle in the tree.
We've been wanting to see this for a while. We've been reading a book by Berkeley Breathed, "Red Ranger Came Calling," for a few years. You can read about it and other Berkeley Breathed books here. 
I've blogged about this before, and our excursion to Seattle to see the play based on the book put on by Book-It Theatre. (Lots of fun!!)
You can read more about Book-It Repertory Theatre here.
Since reading the book and seeing the play this Christmas we've talked about exploring Vashon to find the bicycle. Last week Chuck was off, I had a little bit of time, and Lilly was here for a few extra days. It was the perfect time to go.
The weather was awesome! We've had a lot of rain, but Friday was beautiful.
If you ever get to Vashon and want to see the bicycle, go to the left as you exit the ferry and keep going until you come to a stop sign. Stop at the little store on the left side of the road for directions.
We pulled into the parking lot of an old broken down building and the bicycle was in the forest behind that building.
Here's a little tour in pictures:

We love to ride the ferry. 

Almost ready to dock at Vashon.

There's a creek, or mushy wet area, you have to walk over to get to the bike. You can see the back wheel in the tree.

A distant view of the treed bike that was supposed to be a Tweed Bike.

It's real. And old.

Sean was convinced Santa put that bike there.

After getting a good look at the bike it was time for lunch. The nice lady at the little store told us about some food places in town. We ate at Zoomies. The island has a mix of all different types of people, and as you can imagine, some crunchies that I can relate to. I ordered the veggie burger, thank you very much. Oh, and they have good ice cream there too. 

We hung out in town while the kids ate their ice cream and we visited a furniture shop. We've been looking at furniture, so we stopped in to take a look around. The kids loved one of the chairs that is like a bed. We had a tough time getting them out of it.

We had some time before the next ferry so we decided to explore the lighthouse on Maury Island. It was closed. It doesn't open until May, but the beach was great. 

Sean loved it.

Lilly found some ladybug friends.

Sean found some kids to play with.

I found this cool log to photograph.

All of those kids got wet and sandy when these big waves made it to shore. They didn't mind the 60 degree weather and the cold water. They ran through the surf and threw sand at each other for a while. Lilly opted out of that fun.

Luckily I had these pants in the car so Sean could have something dry. Once we got to Tacoma we stopped at a Goodwill to buy a new outfit.

We always have a great time together. It was a perfect day. (Lilly got this pic of Chuck.)

Time in the car.

Lilly.

Sean.