Parking Available Soon

I want to park in the garage! That's a perk of not renting an apartment that I haven't had the joy of yet, because our garage was PACKED with boxes. Even reshuffling wouldn't allow us to park one car. So...

Friday and Saturday we held our biennial garage sale. I opened space to ward members who may want to bring stuff, because I knew I didn't have as much as in the past. People knocked on the door at 6:45 a.m. and we didn't have a break to sit down until 1:00. All told, by the end of Friday we had sold $400 worth of stuff (Ben sold $65, I sold $150). People were buying plants out of my garden and waiting for me to open another box from the garage. (in between sales, I would go into the garage and start to clear out space). I think I could have sold almost anything on Friday.

Word spread around the ward and more people came and set up tables, but Saturday was stormy and alot fewer people came out. We put tarps up over everything during the rain, and de-tarped when it stopped.

Finally gave up at 1:00.

Total sales for the Ottosens....$300 and change.
Total sales for other ward members...275 or so (not everyone would brag).
Parking in the garage...Priceless

I think one more day's work will do it!

Father's Day Fun

We took a long weekend to San Antonio for Father's Day. Nate really needed a break and we took advantage of one of those timeshare sales scams to get a hotel room for the weekend. We have seen the Alamo and Sea World and other common attractions in the past, so we focused on the smaller, lesser known attractions.

On Friday, we visited Natural Bridge Cavern. It was a really great cave! Lots and lots of formations in many different rooms. We only went .5 mile of the 2 miles they have, but will definitely return for more.

On Saturday, we went to the Institute of Texan Cultures museum. It was fascinating to see all the collections they have for the 21 different cultures that settled Texas. Ben went through the dragon exhibit (focusing on how dragons are viewed in different cultures), Nate spent a lot of time in the Danish section, and I learned how to spin cotton and wool into thread...and how to share that with my students.

Sunday was set aside for flyfishing. We drove to 1.5 hours west of SA to source of the Guadalupe river and Nate and Ben fished while I tried to catch all the fry that were swarming the river...as usual with no luck. Ben caught a small Guadalupe Bass for the first catch of the day and Nate caught several perch and a bass.

First week of "real" summer...

Ben spent the week at Lanier Middle School in a reading/math camp. He had a great time despite his reservations about going to school during the summer. He has found a new love for "quzzles" (logic problems)and wrote a really great story. Everyday showed him more confident about starting middle school until Friday, when he found out that the boys have a group shower in the gym locker room. That was very disturbing to him.

Kim has been working out everyday and using the FlyLady system to get back on top of things at home. I still need Mary Poppins to come and help me in the garage, though!

Nate has been under enormous stress from work. He is restoring a flintlock rifle from the 1700's and is finding it quite challenging. He is looking forward to our weekend trip to San Antonio.

We ended the work week by going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and having Ben beat both of us at chess.

Fossil Wood Hunt

Ben and Kim went on a fossil wood hunt with HGMS on Saturday. (Where was Nate? Camping with the scouts, of course!) We drove 2.5 hours to Sam Rayburn Dam and met up with 25 other rockhounds. Then we traveled onto Temple-Inland property (with permission) to "hunt" for fossil wood. Only, the wood wasn't hard to find..



...every log you see was petrified. The hard part was hauling it up out of the creekbed that was 10-12 feet deep and then up the steep hill another 100 yards to the trucks. Of course, we're in SE Texas so it was in the mid-80's for temperature & humidity.



Once everyone was spread out along the mile of creekbed, it was really peaceful. We saw all kinds of forest invertebrates like centipedes, millipedes, weird blue&black dragonflies and these
neon orange mushrooms. Reportedly these had ridges underneath and were edible. If they have paperthin sections then don't even touch them!


We didn't try them.




After hauling out two buckets full of small pieces and two backpacks/arms full of large pieces, we were beat. It was a great workout and a beautiful spot. Too bad the company is selling that property - we won't be able to go back.


But we did get enough to do some polishing and to make great accents in our garden.

5th grade no more...

Last night we attended Ben's 5th grade promotion (graduation). It was a very nice program and I really held it together until they showed the kindergarten graduation picture of my boy. Even thinking about it makes me cry. He was so little, and now he is so little...compared to the big hairy scary 8th graders.

Ben did very well in his end of year state exams (TAKS). He had commended performance on both Reading and Science and was only 2 questions away from commended on Math. He is looking forward to being a 6th grader at a vanguard middle school.

We've been adopted!

We came home last week and found a dog sleeping on our porch. He stayed all week, but we couldn't get anywhere near him. Saturday morning he decided that we were the ones and can't stand for us to be out of sight. Ben is thrilled to have a dog, but is finding that training isn't as easy as he thought. We still are looking for the owner, but a dog is definitely in our future!

Update: May 30th - Dog was adopted by an elderly lady and her daughter.

Ben meets favorite author

Today, Ben got to meet his favorite author, Rick Riordan. Mr. Riordan's newest book, The Titan's Curse, came out Tuesday, and there was a book signing in Timbuktu, Houston on Thursday. Amidst Zeus' thunderbolts and Houston's famous torrential downpours and resulting flashflooding, many drenched fans both young and young-at-heart, gathered at a teeny tiny bookshop to have their copies signed. Mr. Riordan spoke for a couple of minutes and then allowed time for questions. We were only #65 in line, and he took several minutes to speak with us and sign Ben's books.

Ben's Birthday Bash

Ben celebrated his birthday by go-karting. None of his friends had ever driven anything, so it really was a BASH! A good time was had by all and we came home and had birthday cake and played basketball. Fun! Ben received so many video game gifts that I'm afraid he'll turn into a shriveled up white raisin.

Kimcidents

Kim has recovered from her fabulous trip to St. Louis for the NSTA conference. My students aren't even grossed out by the brain dissection pictures...I've taught them well! I won a trip to the American Wilderness Leadership School near Jackson, WY. I'll be spending a week there this summer!

I have lots of creative outlets this year:

• Bookbinding - start my photo album next week. 1 book finished.
• Beading - I created a lapis lazuli & gold necklace and bracelet combo that the instructor liked so much she copied the design to make a matching one. 10 necklaces finished.
• Stamping - Heather & I love stamp camp. We are making slider cards next month. Look for our designs in your mailbox!

We still go to work most days and play Settlers of Catan with our friends once a month. Summer is only 6 weeks away....I can't wait!

Nate News

Nate has been researching the next blackpowder rifle he wants to make. That handcart trek reminded him of how he used to have fun. He has even agreed to schedule a day to clean out the garage to make a workshop. He must be serious!

Nate was also extremely disappointed that his, oops...we mean Ben's pinewood derby car didn't win top honors.

Ben Happenings

Ben went to the district pinewood derby and came in 17th out of 34 Webelos much to his disappointment. He really thought he would take home the championship trophy. I guess learning how to handle disappointment is easier when you are 10 than when you are 20. At least I hope so.

Ben's birthday is Tuesday and he'll be 11. He wants to race go-carts for his party and so we've sent out the e-vite to his friends. He wishes that his cousin could come from Vegas.

We just paid the "graduation fee" for 5th grade graduation. Ben's graduation will be May 22nd. Please join us if you would like to come.