Aaron & Janice

Last night, around the dinner hour, Aaron calls and says he's down at Wyatt's corner, that there has been an accident with a semi truck. That is a sharp corner, a couple miles down the road from us- this is all the farms land. Anyhow I hop in the car, with 4 boys of course to check on things....and then went back for my camera!
First off I'd like to report, that amazingly enough the man lived through this accident, crawled out of the cab by himself. We know he had a broken leg, & was taken off in an ambulance....Aaron saw him. I am not sure what really happened, but I think he might have been not paying attention, like distracted with a map- and all of a sudden the corner was there. He had loaded up the bailing twine boxes in a near by town, and was headed to California. The twine boxes were on pallets, loaded on the flat bed.
I like this photo because it shows the BIG tow truck that came out to deal with the problem. Anyhow things didn't work from this direction, a cable either slipped or broke and went flying, thankfully not hitting anyone. They ended up closing down the road for a while, and had the tow truck across the road in the field, dealing with a better angle.

You couldn't just go home, but had to wait and watch. The twine boxes came in handy. In the foreground is Wyatt (brother) & Aaron, Tavin is in orange, then Tommy(father) & Drey...Taft & Tilmann are sitting. These boxes of twine are scattered quite a distance.

This is the truck, and a new one too- it still had plastic on the seats. I took quite a few photos. The local firecrew wanted to know if they could get a few pictures. I did better than that. I had Tearsa put them all on a disc- and brought it back to them before they left! I also had a disc made for the man who was in the accident....maybe he might have a bit of wondering what went on, or perhaps want to talk about the wreak with family....or the insurance...but I'm sure he's wondering about the stranger in Idaho.

The firemen left, and Aaron and the boys were asked if they wanted to help.(they would get paid well) I took Tilmann home and put him to bed (which he didn't want to do, but honestly he was too little)...and made cookies. Another truck came, and everything had to go back into it-which is quite a lot of tonage. It's dark by now, with 13 people working up sweats. I head back with a water cooler & cookies...and to watch. The boxes are 24 pounds each. There is a ground crew lifting onto the back of the truck, and a inside crew that carries them to the back of the trailer truck and stack. Everyone is working like a mad dog, with speed...with assembly lines. They finished around 11:00 p.m...and school comes early. This morning they were zombies, it was also the day that Taft was going skiing with the school, so he needed to be at school early...no rest for the weary. The tow truck owner, who was in charge was so impressed on how hard the boys worked. I was too. I spent a couple hours this morning cleaning up the remaining trash. Most of it they loaded in the truck (I'd hate to unload it!) but in the dark, they missed a bunch. It was just an amazing experience to watch and be part of this event, grateful that they let us do more than just sit and watch. Tilmann is taking pictures to school tomorrow for 'show and tell'.

***Note the change in address for the Food Blog***

Our Food blog is now up and running! We're aiming for a new recipe every day, and I think we can do it! So it is definitely something you should check daily! The site is: foodbytearsamonet.blogspot.com/, or you can always click on the new link on the sidebar to the right! Enjoy! Be excited! We are!!! {photo courtesy of Tilmann}

P.S. Even if you don't want to check out new recipes, please just look at my recipe blog so I will feel loved. Visit it for the pictures, if nothing else...

On March 17th Tearsa competed in a Poetry Contest. There were only twelve schools that were chosen to attend from around the state (not sure how Filer got in, but happy that they did!) And only one student from each school to compete. The winner from this competition would be flying to Washington D.C. as a representative of Idaho, as there would be a representative from each of the 50 states there.

This is not just memorizing the poems. They are recited with proper pauses, slight gestures, voice fluctuations...it's an art! The poems that Tearsa chose and presented are:

"She Walks in Beauty" by George Gordon, Lord Byron
"Dream Song 14" by John Berryman
"Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins

The winner was the 5th one from the left.

The whole thing was amazing to me (not to Tearsa), just by watching these performances. Tearsa did perfectly. With elegance and beauty. I was so proud of her. Tearsa came in 6th place, but I would still put her first. She did get a rose, a plaque, and two poetry books. I'm hoping she will do this next year. The school put us up for the night in a wonderful hotel.

The performance was done in the auditorium of the beautiful Boise High School.

We're creating another blog! Soon we will have a new blog just for food, and we will be posting our recipes as soon we make and photograph the food. We'll update you when we're ready for visitors!

The Fourth Graders rewarded the whole school yesterday with their talents! I love attending these concerts, the recorder can sound wonderful. I found the invitation that Tavin wrote out delightful.

There are only Ten 4th graders in the school. All are in attendance (L-R, Top-bottom): Michael, Alfonso, Thomas, Tavin, Kaden, Raquel, Flavio, Jacob, Daisy & Tony.

Their music teacher, Mr Sweet makes music fun...he is so involved! He is either showing finger-placements of the notes (notice his hands) or mouthing the letters of the notes (he looks like he is singing, but he isn't) I had wondered how in the world these kids could learn so many songs by heart...and now you know! Some of the songs were even the ones Tearsa played in her 4th grade concert.