Want to Flush Someone??

http://flightofthefuschiaflusher.blogspot.com/

The Flight of the Fuchsia Flusher is a fundraiser for my friends/sister in law's mission trip to Africa. If you are local, please think about someone you would like to "flush"! They hope to blog the whole flight and keep everyone entertained as we raise money for a good cause!

Almost Free Summer Fun

I had big plans for yesterday. The Library was having a biologist come with snakes for the morning. I love the local Library's free summer programs. The weather was nice, so we even walked (Nate rode my bike) the mile and a half to the Library. As a treat, Lily and I stopped for milkshakes to drink on our walk home. It was a fun time, and really didn't cost much.

Then last night my brother Rob took Nate to a free concert at Mt. Baker Theater, watching Harry and the Potters perform. I really don't know who was more excited for the concert. Nate is just starting the 5th Harry Potter book (since he started reading the series in February!), and is a big fan. It was a fun event, and I'm glad they could do it together.

Lily has been wanting to see the Judy Moody movie. Now, I'm not one to pay full price at the theater. I think it's a joke how much you have to pay. I'd rather wait until the movie comes out on DVD and get it through Netflix. That's just the Dutch coming out in me. But a couple weeks ago I found a special and bought two movie tickets for $9. Great deal! So while the boys went to the concert, Lily and I went to see the movie. When we got to the theater, I started digging in my purse for the tickets I had printed out. They were nowhere to be found. I dug around in the car, nothing. In my anger at myself for losing the tickets, it never occurred to me that I could have pulled up the confirmation code on my phone and used that to get new tickets. Nope, I'm not that tech savvy yet to think of those things. I was just plain mad. So, I had an excited 8 year old with her hopes set on this movie, and I couldn't let her down. I paid full price for the movie.......that I had already paid $9 to see. YIKES. Lesson learned, won't do that again, but I have to say the movie was worth it. Lily thinks it was the BEST. MOVIE. EVER.

So my almost free summer fun turned out to be a little more spendy, but in the kid's eyes, it was a great day. I do have other almost free and totally free fun planned for the summer. I will share as we go!

Birch Bay Sand Castle Contest- Grand Champions!

This is our second year entering in the Birch Bay Sand Castle Contest. Click HERE to see last year's entry. We had been playing with different ideas all week and yesterday Nate came up with the idea of a pirate ship. We grabbed all our pirate gear and bought some foam swords last night. I pulled out an old pillow case, cut it open, and Nate drew a skull and crossbones. We had some more help this year (thank goodness!), Tiff's friends Trevor and Teresa came with their kids. So we had 5 adults and 8 kids! I wrangled kids again this year, and the other 4 adults worked their tails off to get the pirate ship done in time. They started a little after 9am and judging started at noon.
It was a soggy morning, but the rain stayed away until noon, which helped. There weren't as many entries this year because of the weather (wimps!). We were prepared to be wet and even brought a small tent to put all of our food and supplies in.

We won Grand Prize! The response from the crowd and judges was great. They love how we have included the kids and made it interactive. Tiff was interviewed by the local newspaper, so I'm curious to see if it will be in tomorrow's paper. We won some great prizes and gift certificates!
We really love this FREE event! If you get a chance, grab family and friends and give us a run for our money next year!!

The End Is Here!

The end of Elementary School for Nate is here. I'm really emotional about this. I truly am excited for him to move on to Middle School, and his excitement is contagious. I am so proud of him and what a great student he is and how hard he works. What's hard is that I have had these last couple years at the school with him. I can stop by for lunch with him when I'm done working, or when I'm subbing I see him on the playground (I was even his Substitute Librarian once). We walk to school together every day. Next year he will be riding the bus, and in a different school. Middle School can be rough, and Nate is sensitive. I just pray that he can make his own path and enjoy it as much as he can.

It's been a busy week with his field trip and then field day today. Here's just a few of my favorite pictures this week. His moving up ceremony is tomorrow. I'll be the one with the BIG box of tissues!

Mrs. Snow

A couple weeks ago I was asked by our principle if I had been in the staff bathroom. Kinda a weird question, and he immediately had to clarify why he was asking. The preschool class had made a poster of their favorite teachers, and the poster was put up in the bathroom. I ranked high enough to be drawn on  the poster of favorite teachers. What's cool about this is I have only been in preschool two days this year! I guess I made quite the impression. I had to take a picture to preserve my fame.....while it lasts!!

13 years

Dan has had no schedule over the last few months. We never know when he is coming or going. He had been working in Seattle doing shipyard work, and there was a chance he would go straight to Alaska when it was done. So when it was time to go camping over Memorial Day weekend, he begged for the weekend off. Not only was it great to have him for a weekend of camping, but it was also our 13 year Anniversary. I am so thankful that we actually got to spend it together. Some people go out for nice dinners, but I was thrilled to sit around a campfire and eat BBQ.

Love you honey, here's to many more years together!