Ruben's Birthday Weekend/Tie Dye/Shooting

Friday we woke up, and I drove Ru to Vacation Bible School, then went for a run.  When I picked up Ru after bible school he was very nonchalant.  In the car on the way to free lunch he said, "Mom, you don't see me crying because I'm not going to miss bible school".  I asked him why and he replied "It was lame".  I wouldn't have taken him back after the first day if he said he didn't like it.  Oh well.  After lunch we packed Ruben's clothes for a weekend with his dad. Well, Ruben played video games and I packed.  We have a deal that he only plays video games on weekends (he gets a little obsessive about them).  We left to meet Jeff (Ru's dad) in Eugene and I said goodbye to Ru till Sunday.

He knows he looks cool

Cool and buff

Ru says I'm a hot momma

I spent a relaxing weekend at home catching up on errand running and watching movies. Saturday night I went to the store to buy a cake mix for Ru.  He requested carrot cake.  I bought a mix and some frosting and came home to make it.  Well, being the type of person to read ingredients I wanted to see just how unhealthy the cake was so I took a look.  After reading "carrot flavored pieces" (there are no actual carrots in carrot cake) I checked my recipe app and found a suitable replacement and made a carrot cake from scratch. With real carrots. 

Sunday I drove down from Salem and mom and I started the tie dye.  I was very excited to dye a new swimsuit, and some zillion thread count sheets for my bed.  (I should have colorful dreams!)

Ru played DJ hero on Max's Xbox. He rocks that game. When Daddy Jeff and Polly arrived at 5pm we had cake and ice cream, and Ru opened presents.  He got an annoying microphone toy that he loved from grandma and grandpa (yea thanks for that) some cool battling spinning tops, baseballs and a bat, cash, and retro video games.

My hot momma coming through with some candles

Happy Birthday Ru!

After the cake and ice cream Grandpa Jeff cooked some delicious sausages, hot dogs, and hamburgers, and we had a barbecue.  The food was tasty, and the company was terrific.  The boys all went outside after dinner and played a game of baseball.  Grandpa Jeff hit a home run!

You can see the ball in the air if you look above Max's head.

We spent the night Sunday and on Monday morning we went shooting up at Grandpa Roy's house. It was hard for me to go up there because I miss living on the mountain so much. (We were neighbors to Grandpa Roy for 9+ years)  We saw a deer with her fawns, and more deer, and that incredible view, and although I tried to hide it I was overwhelmed.  I am homesick.  Ok enough whining.  I shot the hell out of those guns.  Max brought his arsenal and I shot the 22 pistol, 2 different 9mm, his 357 magnum, 38 special, and one more that I forgot the name of. I hit the target the most with the 9mm.  Max did a great job instructing me how to operate them.  Each one is a little different, some have a safety, others don't.  Some you cock, others do it automatically.  Grandpa Roy said I shot well and had a steady hand.  It was sure fun to be one of the guys for once. 

The ones in the middle are mine

When we got back to mom's we ate some delicious pizza and started to rinse out the tie dye.  They were gorgeous.  Sadly they didn't dry all the way before I left and when I got home a few of the lighter colored parts had stained from the darker dye running off onto them.  As I type this my dyed items are in the laundry rewashing.  I'll post pics of them when they are dry.

I knew what I was in for, and sure enough on the way home Ru started to cry.  He didn't want to go back to Salem.  He misses Cottage Grove.  He misses Talisha (his best friend at Latham school). He misses our house on Allen Rd.  He didn't say he hated Salem, he just didn't want to leave Grove.  We had to stop at Cabellas on the way hone for more bullets, and so we made a side trip for a treat. He felt better after some ice cream. When we got home there was a gift for him, a movie that I knew he'd love had arrived from netflix.  He went to bed once again a happy and tired little guy.

Update:

Colorful dreams