To live or not to live...

Pinned it, Done it!

2012-01-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

This next gift was for my sister-in-law. I really liked the color of the one I saw on Pinterest and I happened to have the same paint at home! I can't quite remember what size canvas I used but it was "big enough". :) I painted three coats of paint onto the front and edges.

I picked a cariety of fabrics from my stash and chose a few to be the main staple colors and then added other fabrics as the flower grew. I didn't trace the leaf shaes. They were all quickly cut as I needed them. They are also two or three different sizes. I cut and placed all the pieces.

One by one I glued the underside and then glazed over the top with mod podge once it was in place. I painted over the entire thing including the sides around three times.

This is the finished product! I love it and it was so easy!

Pinned it, Done it!

2012-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have finally begun doing things that I find on Pinterest. Unfortunately, they were Christmas presents and I couldn't very well post them before I had given them! So, here is my first one! Woohoo!

I saw this in the background of a picture and loved it at first sight. There wasn't any tutorial so I will share what I did...
I decided to use two 11x14in canvases. I chose colors that would match my parents house versus the cute colors I saw on Pinterest. I painted a few layers of brown paint and decided to stop at two coats because I like the fact that I could see different tones as well as brush strokes. It almost looked wood-like.

I was hesitant about painting letters onto it because I really didn't want it to look messy. I decided to use a textured paper and, at first, I printed on practice paper. I realized it would be easier to not see the lines of the letters when I was cutting if I printed the letters on the wrong side of the textured paper! So, my husband helped me figure out how to print the mirror image on the back side of my paper.

I used really sharp scissors to cut out the letters. I decided on spacing and laid all the letters out. Then I carefully painted mod podge on the back of each letter and placed it back in it's place. I realized I had to quickly paint/glue over the top of the letter because they started to curl.

After everything was in it's place, I painted mod podge over teh entire thing. I painted three coats. On the right is the mod podge still wet and on the left it is dry. I used glossy mod podge this time but I think next time I will buy the matte finish. I was super happy with how they turned out! Pinned it, Done it!

The biggest nose ever!

2011-12-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd stick this on here. A while back a friends and I were trying to think of new games for a carnival. We wanted the kids to stick there hand in one hole and find slime and in another, find a prize. So I thought it would be hilarious to make a huge nose.

First, I found a large piece of partical board. On a huge piece of paper I created the shape of a nose by looking at those goofy glasses with the mustache. Then, I traced it onto the board. I used a saw and cut out the nostrils. Then, I took chicken wire and started forming a nose, stapling the wire on the lines I made on the wood. Here is the chicken wire all stapled on. A view from the front and from below because it's pretty funny.

I cut strips of newspaper and mixed good 'ol fashion flour and water together to create a paste. I paper machéd the whole thing three seperate times, allowing it to dry completely before adding the next layer. Then, I mixed paints creating a skin color and painted the nose. I also painted the board, made cardboard glasses, painted a mustache, and found fur for the eyebrows! Voilá! The greatest nose ever! Well, I guess that depends on what you consider a great nose...

Refinishing Project

2011-09-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well, a while back I chose a new comforter for Aiden's bed once we knew we were moving to help give me direction on what I would ultimately do to his new room. I am one step closer to a beach room for him. He has had a loft bed for a while but with his small room I really want to make it lighter in color and washed white to look even more beachy. I do have the drawers to finish (and you can see the color comparison from the drawer fragments on the ladder picture.) I am super happy with the results! I will eventually paint his room but the living space is first on the list of things to paint. I will put up new window treatments and turn his loft into a cabana with hanging "walls." I won't try and explain. I'll just post pics once it's done, after the drawers. Stay tuned.

Here we are

2011-09-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

Life has been a huge whirlwind. The everyday life mixed with a lot of visiting Ryan and Jess, hosting Andy and his family for a month plus bonus family members, photography, mission trip, more visiting with family and friends, camping with family, Emma's first summer camp, new pta duties, Faith Quest. The list goes on.... All those things are just things until you mix in a whirlwind of emotions with regards to Ryan's health, Jones' health, Jess and the entire families well being and mental state. Then just having all those places to be while laundry continues to pile, dinners have to be thought about and actually prepared... You get the picture. It's been a loaded three months. And now... Now, the kids have all started at new schools. Emma at her new middle school and the other kids at Wildwood Elementary next to our house. No more dropping off and picking up children. Emma rides the bus and the other two walk. But even now, as life seems simpler and the days have routine, the sun begins to disappear. What seems to have brightened my spirits as the birds chirped and the sunny crisp air wafted through the window is now dreary and dark. All of this is such a reminder that nothing is constant save for one. My hope in despair, my light in the darkness, my strength in the storm. I just don't get how people can go through life without the hope of life in Jesus. Life where communities care for each other. Life where the helpless are helped. Life full of mercy and love. Crappy things are going on all around me but I have to have hope that through each curveball, He will hold me and the hope is that others will see a redemption story lived out. Over and over and over. If we can't witness God's redemption and love story to us, the world, amidst all the crap thrown at us, then what is the point of being here? I really think that God's whole plan is to redeem us all, in the midst of our lives. Over and over and over. So, bring on the rest of September. Let's do this.

Projects

2010-11-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Amidst taking plenty of pictures of friends and family, I have also been working on some other fun things. The girls needed something more in their room so I did a painting to match their comforter. I also found an outdated queen headboard and repainted it for the girls' room (picture to be posted later). I'm still working on a painting for the living room that will be on hold for a little bit while we potentially move between now and Christmas! I also got the idea of making cute coffee cozies from my sis-in-law Jess and have been making them with my friend Tabitha to give to friends and teachers for Christmas. :) Assuming we do get to move I have plans on redoing our dining room table which I am very excited about! I will sand and restain the top with a dark stain and paint the rim and legs a yellowy/off white with the distressed look. I think I will also do the same to our living room side tables to bring a little flow between the rooms. They're small but I think it will work well with our leather couch. Anyways, just a bit of what I've been doing.

To live or not to live? I'm all over it!

2010-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have been completely overwhelmed lately at my desire to be creative. I don't know if it's just that I'm in a better place emotionally or what but it's all I can think about. I have all these ideas that go through my head. I want to take pictures. I want to print and mount creatively all these different pictures on my walls. I want to paint all these different things in my head. I'm just bubbling at the seams. (Can you bubble at the seams?) Well, I can!

Anyways, the kids are just about to start school in a couple days and I am so excited for an empty house. I'm excited to have my quiet time at the beach by my house. I'm excited to exercise. I'm excited to only have one pick up time in the afternoon for the kids instead of three. I'm excited for my lunch time not to be interrupted by picking up Izzy from school. So much awaits me and I just want to be thorough and not leave things undone. I want to be able to focus all my energy and do things well. I want to unpack thoroughly and condense and repack the things we don't need right now in our smaller house. I want things on my walls. I'm just so excited about life. Whoopee!

Here are some of the things I've had printed to put up in our home. They're mounted on a special 3/4 in foam board. I've got another really cool one I'll post as well as pictures of our house. But you might have to wait a week or so. I do have to attend Faith Quest which I am also very excited about! Maybe I'm really back to blogging now. Only my posting will tell!

Wolfe Family Sneak Peak

2010-08-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ellie

2010-05-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

I am going to surprise Ellie's mom with pictures of her as my parting gift because I won't be watching her after May ends. I haven't decided exactly which ones are my favs or what I'm going to give her exactly so you'll have to give me your input!

The bane of my existence lately...

2010-04-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Why, oh, why, did I have two children 2 years and 3 days apart? I tell you, it has been ridiculous this year! For those of you with children, even though we try and remind our children that "life isn't always fair" do we not try to have a sense of balance when it comes to being fair? You count every jelly bean that goes into the Easter eggs because they WILL count them. And you don't do something special with one without plans to do something equally as special with the others, right? Well, these last four weeks have been a whirling dervish of balance and counterbalance.

Our conversations began with ideas of what they might want to do for their birthdays. For some reason I sometimes want to think of extra special ideas that we haven't done before but then I also realize that some of the "special" ideas cost more, the more children you invite... So I say, "Izzy, would you like to see if your very best friend, Ella, could come up around your birthday and you could go to the tea room and paint some pottery?" And she says that she would like to do that for her birthday! Great! A plan. :) Well, it just so happened that Aaron was going to come up two weeks before her birthday, so Ella came and we did the tea room thing while the big kids were at school. I brought my camera, took plenty of pictures... One special "party" down ! Right?

Then, Aiden decides that he would like to go to a movie with Aaron and Ben for his birthday! Okay! Easy enough. But, as it turned out, it wasn't feasible for Aaron to go to the movie on that trip so Aiden switched his idea and decided he wanted his Uncle Andy to go with them instead of Aaron. Awesome. No problem. Well, when push came to shove time got away from us and Andy didn't get to go to the movie. During this time, Emma, has felt left out because every body else in the family got to participate in a "party" thing except her. Aiden kindly offered for her to come along. So, the day after Andy went home, Ben purchased tickets and was planning to take the kids to the movie right after school. Then, Izzy says in a tearful squeally voice, "I'm the only kid who doesn't get to go to the movies?!" So Ben makes an executive decision that it will be a special trip with dad to the movies and he will do something else with Aiden for his birthday. (Let me remind you that it is one week and four days before Aiden's birthday still...) They have a great time and Ben and Aiden still have to plan something else.

Izzy gets stuck on the fact that Aiden gets to go to the movie (original plan) AND something else! Aiden tries to explain that it was NOT for his birthday because SHE came! Yikes... Somewhere else in all this Izzy says, "Mom, we need to send out invitations to my friends!" "For what", I say. "For a party!" :0 "You already had your party with Ella! That's what you chose to do!" (squeely voice)"I don't get to have anyone over for a party?!" WHAT? What just happened? All of a sudden it is getting closer to the day when she is going to turn 6 and her "party" has been nullified! I think I went numb.

As the actual birth days approached, we decided that we would be celebrating Aiden's birth (opening presents) on Monday (not Tuesday) because we also got invited to have dinner with friends and I left the decision up to Aiden since it was his special day. He was very excited to have his birthday dinner at their house so we brought the cake! Good times. On Monday, he had cub scouts, so he rushed through opening his presents after we ate dinner and totally forgot to use the camera. Ben snapped some with his iphone. At our friends, I totally forgot about bringing a camera, also! Our friends took some for us but I don't have them yet.

For Izzy's birth day we decided to have her special dinner AND presents on Thursday (not Friday). I asked her if she would like us to invite our neighbors over for dinner, her friend, and she thinks that that is a great idea! It's fun, I take plenty of pictures...

Finally after many lofty ideas of train rides and tons of fun, Ben and Aiden played glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf and video games at the mall. They had a great time. No pics...

All in all, their birthdays were rather anticlimactic and I apparently have a favorite child of whom I take pictures of and one that I do not... And I cannot communicate all the unfairness that was expressed as some had birthday money to spend at all different times while everyone else looked on, suffering. And when some would buy candy and the others had to look on in envy, but then I buy some for the others to make it a fun evening , or whatever, and the one who used their money says, "That's not fair. I had to spend my money!" So I buy theirs... I am sick and tired of mediocre birthdays and trying to live a fair life. Shoot me! (But just with a bb gun, in the arm, or something.)

Here are pictures of one of my children... Please, let it be over....

Teeth

2010-03-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

We have teeth coming out our ears these days. Well, our mouths really. And not my mouth, or Ben's, our kids'! Izzy lost one of her top front teeth this week. Her last loose tooth she allowed me to pull out but she didn't get to a point this time when she thought it was wiggly enough yet. Obviously when it came out as she ate her cereal she realized it was indeed time to come out! It was kind of gross a few days ago when she asked me if there were nuts in our bread. She said she kept crunching! I told her no and she said, "Oh, it must have just been my tooth!" Yikes. If your tooth folds into your mouth and you can bite it, it's time to come out! It also looked so awkward when she would talk because it would totally get in the way. Her lip stuck out just a little and she would pause sometimes in the middle of a sentence to adjust her protruding tooth! Everyone offered to yank it out and she would say, "Nope, it's not quite ready!" We've got one more front tooth left and it is just a little wiggly. Hopefully it won't hang on as long as it's little buddy did.

When you were a kid did you brush your teeth well? I'll be blunt and say that I remember feeling that slimy, clean feeling only after getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist! I think it is hard to train your children how to brush their teeth well! Even if you've got the habit down of specific times when they brush their teeth, there is no guarantee that when they open their mouths for a teeth check that they will look much different than when they went in? "What have you been doing in there this whole time?!" I ask daily, it seems. Then I take my turn at removing the grime that has built up in that single day. How can I explain how to focus on a certain region before moving to the next? Aiden's teeth brushing is like a tornado. The brush spins and scrubs and only touches down, like, every other tooth. His hand moves furiously but it darts from one side to the other in a matter of seconds leaving small clean patches in it's path. It's like a tooth brush with ADHD. Whatever the heck went on in that mouth accomplished extremely little! We also take turns with Izzy still but thankfully Emma manages to come out with squeaky clean teeth. It took 9 years or so, but we have accomplished something! Thank you, Jesus! I hope we keep all our teeth! (At least the ones we're suppose to!)

Our Valentine's Day

2010-02-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

We had a great Valentine's Day! We stayed after church and had a little snack and social hour with our own version of the Newlywed game that was fun for everyone. Once we got home we decided to get the house picked up as quickly as we could so we could have time to go to the movies together before it was time to make our special Valentine's dinner. We saw The Tooth Fairy and it was cute and fun and a special thing to do together.

Back in the days when we lived in Sidney we decided to make our Valentine's Day a family event. With children, it just doesn't seem easy to do something just as a couple because all those without kids are freely going and celebrating their own special day, which leaves us with no babysitting. :) Why not just make it special for everyone?

This year, the kids went shopping with me and we chose to have fillet minion, pink mashed potatoes, pink applesauce, green beans and chocolate covered strawberries. We set our table with our fanciest and picked the appropriate flowers to go with all the sweet valentine's the kids made. And don't forget, lighting is everything and we are big into setting the mood. Any time we've dimmed the lights and lit the candles in the past the kids have attempted to give us the perfect restaurant title but they must have forgotten or are just getting older...

It was a fun day and a special way for us to celebrate how much we love each other!

Family Fun

2010-02-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'll have to say that some of my greatest memories are having fun together as a family. I do love having my camera out every so often to capture fun times like playing at the park. These pics are at a park near our house.
You'll notice Ben's butt barely fits in the slide...

This moment was full of laughter because Ben was playing tag with the kids and he had just tagged Aiden. Unfotunately Ben's arms were long enough to tag Aiden right back if Aiden attempted to tag him. the little guy thought he had a chance...
The good old "spider" on the swings.

It's always important for me to remember to make silly memories like these. I am planning on doing something fun for the fam on Valentines day. We'll see what I think up!

First Day of School!

2009-09-18T13:43:00.001-07:00

The kids started school this week. Well, last week for Emma and Aiden but Izzy, this week. Izzy has been so anxious to start and said, "I can't stop smiling!" on the morning if her first day. She was so glad when she finally got her first homework today because she has been so excited to have homework. Emma has made her homework pages for a long time and today she had to draw or find a picture of an alligator. Boy, there's nothing like real homework!

Emma has her first boy teacher and is now in 4th grade. She is one of the older kids out in a portable classroom now! Aiden likes his new teacher and they have a pet fish named Oscar. It's interesting when their classes get all mixed up from year to year and after being in the same class with friends for two years they're in different classes this year. They don't seem to care too much but I'm probably more attached than they are! :)

We haven't figured out our routine all the way yet but I think we will not be allowing friends to come home after school during the week. There's just not enough time in the day! We also won't be having the tv on during the week. We'll see how that goes. We did just get a new tv from some friends that makes it that much more enticing to watch! It's 50in! Yeah for us!

Will post more things later!

RATS!

2009-08-30T16:44:00.001-07:00

Presenting Baby, Lightning, and Lacy!

Summer Fun!

2009-08-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

I wish I had lots of recent pictures and I think I should be taking more pictures than I am but if I have to cart Ellie around ( the baby I watch) I kind of have enough extra things to worry about. I'm going to start taking more. Plus, I need the practice! Here's some pictures from Fourth of July at our house.

This is a puppy that our friends were watching. The kids have a lot of fun trying to play with it. He's kind of lazy so sometimes their efforts are wasted!

We got a slip and slide. It took a while for all of my kids to get the hang of it. The first time we set it up Emma and Izzy didn't think it was much fun at all. Sounds familiar. :) Once we pulled it out again and we had the cousins over, they realized that it was more fun than they thought. Jayson was a pro from the beginning and Cody wanted to be a pro but he would just run and jump and slip at the beginning of the slide or run half way down the slip n' slide. You can see that Yannick started just pushing him.

Here's my nephew Dylan. He's getting so big and can get around now. He's such a happy little guy. I'm sure I'm going to be shocked after having been away from them for a month. They are visiting Switzerland and will be back in less than two weeks.

As a mother, sparklers terrify me! "Here's a stick of fire that will burn you and spits out flares at you. Enjoy!" I seriously let my kids do one sparkler. That's it!

We had a nice 4th. Even though it's "so last month" it's a new post. So there!

Forts

2009-06-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

I love forts! I am what you would call a fort lover. A blanket and some accessories make the best play time ever.
I'm not sure if it was Ben's idea or the kids' idea but on a sunny morning the kids transformed our wonderful new trampoline into a secret little home. The cousins were over and it was fun times.
When the cousins needed to lay down for a nap we let our kids have quiet time in their fort. They read books together for an hour and a half or so in warm fort bliss.

I used to love taking naps in the forts we made. I remember many specific forts, too, from growing up. I remember the houses we lived in, the way the chairs were arranged, the secret entrances. Sometimes, I would make the greatest little fort and neither Ryan or Tara would want to sleep in it! What the crap? Why would you want to sleep on the floor when you could sleep in my fort? Sometimes older sisters on NOT appreciated! (I obviously had been a little too bossy to want to take a nap with...)

I remember making forts at the Sherk's house( our close friends/"not-really-cousins" cousins). Sometimes we made two because how can six kids sleep in one fort? Funny enough, when I think of forts I think of the Sherks. And we never lived really close when we were little but we always managed to make time for each other... Maybe next time we take our kids to their house we'll build them a great fort... Ahhhhh...forts.

I used to be funny!

2009-05-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

I think I've been a lot funnier lately. Maybe because life has calmed down for me emotionally or maybe the people around me are in better moods. Who knows? I do make Ben laugh a lot more these days and that feels absolutely fantastic. :) I was searching through my blog and was noticing that I made myself laugh in almost every post. Then I thought, "Why am I not so funny on my blog?" So I make a commitment to you, you people who read less and less frequently because I write less and less frequently. This is blog is for me to have fun writing, to be witty and amusing and I commit to remember that! I love you, readers, but even more, I love myself and I will act like it.
Here's a funny picture just for fun...

Best Day Ever, sort of

2009-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

So maybe all you folks out there know what you're talking about. Who knew there was a "compose" and "html"? A few, obviously! My life will be changed forever.

Since I have refound this freedom, I will share with you some pictures of Wilma and Arthur. We found these two birds in our front yard. Don't know where they came from but you'll be happy to hear that I did not take a picture of the one that got ran over by the bike... Eeeks! It was a sad, tragic afternoon. Poor Wilma, Arthur, and Gideon. May they rest in peace...

Witty moments

2009-05-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

So my last post was a cheat of a post so here's another one. I was looking through some of my word documents (don't you do that?) and found a poem I wrote for my dad last year for his birthday. It made me laugh so I think it shall do the same for you.

If I could pick a person…

If I could pick a person who could write with their left hand and their right, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person who could make a game out of a roll of masking tape and a wiffle ball, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to be my harmony during a game of pounce, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to entertain a crowd at one of my fabulous events, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person who knew what the opposite color of purple would be, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to take me rafting in a shallow river, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to clean my garage and my husband was gone (and I had a garage), I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to plant my church, I’d pick you.

If I could pick a person to be my dad, I’d pick you.

Thanks for having sex that one time and thanks for not dying yet.
Happy Birthday!

Izzy's friends

2009-05-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to divorce blogger. Or is it my computer? I don't like not being able to see pictures on my post.

I was going to tell you about Izzy's friends but I don't know which pictures are which. So here are some of her friends...

Back in the day...

2009-03-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's happened. I have noticed lately that, yes, people seem younger and younger. And,I have to think good and hard before deciding if one is in college or junior high because they look so similar. And I have noticed for some time that when I think someone is "about my age" I can assume that I am about 5 - 10 years older. But... here it is, the clencher.

When I was a kid, we only had phones that plugged into walls and it wasn't a collector's item to have a rotary phone still.

When I was a kid we pretended to talk on the phone, not to text. We didn't even know what that word was.

When I was a kid, there was no world wide web. Just mail. Like with stamps. (They're not just stickers...)

And, when I was kid everyone knew what a t.v. antennae was! I bought a new t.v. antennae to go with our digital converter box and the kid who wrung me up said, "What is this thing?"
I said,"You really don't know what that is?"
"Not at all."
"You've never seen a t.v. antennae?"
"I've had, like, an antennae for my radio before.."
"Wow, well, this is what they look like. Now you know!"

He's always had satellite t.v.! Hm!

When will my children get their own cell phones? Will they eventually have their own computer, too? When will I get my first digital t.v.? Will my kids learn what an encyclopedia is? Or just which search engine they prefer? Life is progressing. It makes me want to sing the song from Disneyland from the carousel of progress ride thing. "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow and it's only...."

Life is changing. We may be experiencing a crisis due to our bold decision-making but life is still moving forward. I shall try to keep up and not live "back in the day."

BFFs

2009-02-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

Best Friends Forever... That's how Ben and Aaron will remain. Throughout life. No doubt.

And now a song:

When you're the best of friends
Having so much fun together
You're not even aware, you're such a funny pair
You're the best of friends

Life's a happy game
You could clown around forever
Neither one of you sees, your natural boundaries
Life's one happy game

If only the world wouldn't get in the way
If only people would just let you play
They say you're both being fools
You're breaking all the rules
They can't understand, the magic of your wonderland
Hu-hu-hu

When you're the best of friends
Sharing all that you discover
When that moment has past, will that friendship last?
Who can say? There's a way!
Oh I hope... I hope it never ends
'Cause you're the best of friends

Teeth

2009-01-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

We have teeth issues. As you can see from the pictures above I have chosen to document our current teeth crisis. Poor Emma has been losing so many teeth she hardly has any left to eat with on the bottom. The mouth pictures were taken while she still had one lose tooth (a molar) and then the next week it came out. That's the top one. Aiden had some teeth taken out for crowding and his mouth is it's own piece of art. He will definitely be getting braces later in life. Izzy hasn't started yet but Aiden has his first top tooth loose. Here we go again...

Can I mention my frustration with Blogger? First I couldn't scoot my pictures down to write above them. Then, they don't display themselves on my draft. It's just the html. Then, they have changed the order in which they display themselves. For instance, the picture I download first is on bottom which may work out fine but is not how it used to work. I had a rhythm down and now I have to relearn how to do it correctly. And, by the way, again, I can't see which picture is where while I'm typing!!!

Jesus' Birth

2009-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

This post was a little tricky because my pics never displayed themselves on my draft and I didn't even know if it was working right.

These are a few pictures from Christmas break. I'll post more later.:)

A couple quick stories

2008-12-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

I was making my rounds to the kids' bedrooms cutting everyone's nails. I was working on Aiden and saw he had some hangnails and thought it would be nice to get them trimmed off. He stopped me quickly, " Mom, no! It's my skin collection!" I laughed and laughed and after I calmed down he quickly said, "Mom, don't tell anyone!" He doesn't always like us to tell funny things he says after the fact. It's enough that he lets us laugh while it's happening instead of crying like he used to!

My kids have watched Newsies fairly recently and turned on Little Women this morning. I heard Aiden announce, "Hey, that's Jack Kelly!" I was surprised that he would remember his name because it has been many weeks since we watched it so I told him how surprised I was and his response was... "I never forget a man when I see a man!"
Like, duh, mom!

What a memory.:)

It's almost time!

2008-12-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

Pull out the holly. Put up the tree before my spirit falls again. Hmmm.... hmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmm I may be rushing things but Deck the halls again now. For we need a little Christmas need a little laughter. Need a little hmm hmm Happy ever after yes we need a little hmm.....

I guess I don't know all the words.

The last month may have been difficult but I am very much looking forward to the family arriving on Tuesday night. My parents and Tara, Eric and Malak are coming up for Christmas and then Chelan and Aaron are coming up for New Years. We had a number of days of school canceled due to snow but I am also glad that the kids have a break now for a couple weeks. Time to finish cleaning up the house and get the beds ready. We're having a party called "the Ries party" and it starts Tuesday! Whoopie!

Sickness, always behind, more sickness

2008-12-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

Life has been kind of crappy for a while. All through the crappy parts are many good things but the crappy things have worn me down. That, and I joined facebook... We decided to move, if you remember, very quickly about a week before October finished. We moved November 9th into our house. Since we began to pack our life has been a whirling dervish. It is not normal yet but boy am I looking forward to Christmas break. Here is a choppy run down of life: packing, cleaning, hosting Haloween party, packing, moving things, moving in, unpacking two days, Cindy's death/sudden Portland trip, unpacking, grief, my birthday (day after getting back from Portland...), unpacking, really behind on kids' homework, missed meetings from being gone, lots of homework, cleaning, Thanksgiving at my house, unpacking, more homework, behind on projects at church, christmas decorating, cleaning, unpacking... all the while needing to have laundry done and food on the table. Oh, wait, did I mention Ben had strep before Thanksgiving, Aiden had/ still has a bad cough and ear infection, and Izzy and Emma, and me, and lots of zink and fish oil and garlic and silver and "c" and on top of all that Ben has had hives for over a week due to our laundry soap so everything that has been washed has to be rewashed as well as the mountain waiting to be washed, and rewashing bedding, dish towels, bath towels, cloth napkins and a husband who is freakin' tired of itching and can't touch any one or anything... And more unpacking and cleaning for a Merry Christmas... Don't forget we have to get presents... I'm tired and my throat hurts and I have lines to memorize for a play and people to call for my brother so he can have an income next year... I'm sleeping in tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

In all the chaos of packing and moving and Andy and Yannick moving here to Bellingham and unpacking and Cindy's death and overdue homework and cleaning our old house and unpacking we were suppose to be ready to host family for Thanksgiving! As long as you didn't go in the garage we looked ready for company! We had our meal at Andy and Yannick's house and spent time at our new house as well. My parents came up as well as Ryan and Jess and Art and Lesa. It was great to have everyone here in Bellingham! Here are some pictures of our week.

This is the view from A and Y's living room, dining room , kitchen... It is spectacular.

Jason, Jones and Cody enjoying the fire
We invited Bruce, a guy from church to share T with us. Here they are being entertained by Ben.
The entertainment
Sneaking a peek at the mashed potato process
Taking a picture of ourselves in the mirror
Izzy and India
Some of the cousins on the "fatboy"
Silly Emma

We had sickness and injury but besides that it was fabulous. Now to gear up for Christmas!

It's Inevitable!

2008-11-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

I had conferences with Aiden and Emma's teachers which were very pleasant. My kids won't be expelled any time soon and their teachers like them and all so that's great.

My son is like me. I figured someone would be and they all are in some ways but... Aiden gets distracted easily. All through my elementary years my teachers would say over and over, "Jennifer gets distracted easily and she needs to stop talking to the people around her." Some people aren't as fun as me. Can I help it if there's something more important going on? Aiden has a hard time completing his work. How odd! One generally hopes that others copy the more positive aspects of ones character but inevitably they'll do the opposite. Not like he had a choice in the matter but I have cursed him. I give him no excuse by any means but it is one thing he'll have to work on all his life. Too bad.

I'm 30

2008-11-19T11:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. Unfortunately, it was pretty gloomy. Not because of any of the activities of the day just the reality of starting up life after a death. It's not that I was thinking of Cindy or the family every moment. I just felt a cloud hovering, an utter sadness, where tears and rain could escape at any moment, hiding just beneath the surface. Turning thirty wasn't how expected it even though I was looking forward to the moment. I'm thankful I turned thirty. I'm thankful I can still be with my family. I'm reminded of that luxury that I so often take for granted.

Cindy Wilson (edited)

2008-11-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have not heard, our dear friend, Cindy, has developed bacterial meningitis. She is now on life support and we are heading down to love and cry with our family at East County. Please pray for so many who love her as well as her daughter Natalie who is having to travel from Botswana to be with her.

Cindy left this world to be with Jesus on Wednesday morning at approximately 9:30 am. Natalie will arrive tonight and the service time will be forth coming. We are without words at the loss of such a wonderful friend, mother, and wife.

What would you get with Fifty Bucks?

2008-11-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, really quick I have to tell you about Aiden.

His Uncle Andy bought all his Imaginext from him and he made $50. We asked him what he was going to buy and he said he wanted an XBox. We told him he didn't probably have enough for an XBox but we would look on line to see what we could find. The very next morning he asked me if he could get his money because he wanted to buy something at the book fair at school. It's a good thing to purchase but we already knew what he really, really wanted and he was probably going to need every penny. I told him no and he was very sad and mad because it was his money. Later that morning I walked into his room to find that he had snuck and gotten his money and taken all his fifty dollars to school with him. I called the school and talked to the secretary who took a message for his teacher to call me and that he was not allowed to buy things with his money. It was too late. He was in the office with his teacher when they called me back and he had one dollar left. Despite his disobedience, he was very thoughtful and bought things for Emma as well as two books for Izzy. They kept his purchases there and got Emma's things from her until I could get there to see if we could get his money back. He came home from school and started weeping. It was the saddest thing. He just hid amongst boxes and cried and cried. It was so sad. For the time being I wanted to just comfort him and help him understand that he had decided what he was going to buy already but it comforted him little. I immediately looked on line to see what we could find. We found an XBox and a PS2 for $35 total. When Emma got out of school we painfully returned everything as Emma cried and Izzy cried about the things they couldn't have any more. It was really horrible. When it was time to pick up the XBox we had to have the conversation about his dishonesty and sneakiness and because of that he was going to have to tuck his XBox away until Sunday when we move to our new house. He cried a lot more but was still pretty happy to have the XBox in his hands. Whew! What a hard and sad lesson to learn and it affected a number of different people. Sunday is just around the bend and now he has games just waiting for him.

Ahhem!

2008-11-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

I would just like to note that I know that more than three people follow my blog. So, If you didn't notice that new thing over on the right and you follow my blog, you should click "follow this blog". You can also stick the same thing on your blog when you click on "layout" and "add Gadget" that way you don't feel so rejected when no one has any comments for you. :)

Halloween!

2008-11-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

We had a Harvest Festival at our church building again this year but didn't have it on Halloween night. It was a huge success which is always exciting.

So let's recap. Last year's Halloween was spent at the building. The year before we drove to a few people's houses from church around Sidney and they got some candy and showed off their costumes. The year before we did some trick-or-treating but not with Ben because he had a class on Halloween night in Abilene. And before that Izzy was a baby and we had something at the church. So, this year our family all went out together for the first time to our neighbor's houses. We had a lot of fun together and met some neighbors we hadn't met yet. Too bad we didn't do that last year because now we won't actually be their close neighbors... Our kids really had a fun time.

We threw a late Halloween Party for the Swiss Ries today and I'll post pictures of the table spread later. I'll also post our Halloween dinner. We had bat meatloaf and mashed potato ghosts and Green Goblin Gool squeezed from the heart of a vampire (otherwise known as green lemonade). I had a mashed potato moon instead. Pictures forth coming. :) I just thought it would be nice for them to have a full stomach before going out to collect candy. And what's more exciting to eat than shapes?

Our new house

2008-11-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

These pictures are not in the order I put them in but I can't seem to cut and paste them. It's just not working. Which is why you'll see two of the front of the house... This is our "new" house that we're renting. We haven't moved in yet but will have the keys Monday evening and move everything on the 9th. Here is one of the three bathrooms.
Here is the office on the second floor. Scrapbooking, here I come!

Here is the dining room and kitchen as seen from the front door.
The living room
And the front again.

Merry Holloween?

2008-10-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

These were this years carvings. Aiden's is scary pumpkin. Izzy's is puppy pumpkin. Emma's is Disney Castle. Ben and I love to have a competition when it comes to carving but the past few years all we can manage is carving each of our children's pumpkins! We have some fake ones we need to carve but I'm not sure we're going to have time for that soon, so...

Now, for the Merry part...

Our neighbor's house!

What In the world? We pulled out our scarecrow and they pulled out big blow up Christmas-Go-Round! Then, in one day, they had lights, reindeer, trees, Santa... oh, and two jack o lanterns! You can't put up Christmas before Fall starts!
Do you like the emphasis in the picture here?

"One of the these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess which thing is not like the other? Now our song is done."

Well, like we say every day now, Merry Christmas!

(I am going to be extrememly busy these next few weeks. I'll update when I can!)

Maybe I'm crazy!

2008-10-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be great writing and computer practice for Emma to have her own blog! So we created it together and now she's hoping that her friends in Portland will make their own and check each other's blogs. Check out her first post

Pumpkins! (Edited)

2008-10-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Izzy had her second field trip of the year to the Pumpkin Patch. Not the coolest patch ever or anything but they did have a hay maze.

Who doesn't like a good pumpkin? Carving an intricate picture and displaying in with delicate candle light. I discovered some fake pumpkins last year at the thrift store and actually carved one this year. Greatest thing ever. My creation will never spoil. It remains beautiful and unfuzzy! We haven't carved the rest of our pumpkins yet but that post will be forthcoming!

I've added a picture of my pumpkin from our Texas time. It had two sides. Too bad I don't have digitals of some of my best work!

Ben's conversation

2008-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

So, the following is Ben's conversation with Aiden that he quickly wrote down so as not to forget anything. This conversation happened on the way back to the house from the bus stop. Izzy was there, too.

A: Dad, Jayden likes to have sex with naked girls. ( this kid is a 2nd grader.)
D: WHAT?
A: repeats
D: Who told you that?
A: Some people at school.
D: Aiden what does sex mean?
A: Oh... it's something...you know...I don't know. What is it? (laughing)
D: Buddy, sex is something that only married people should do and I don't think it's appropriate to talk about with your buddies at school.
A:Yeah! You and mom have sex all the time, right?
D:Well, not as much as I like.
A: (laughing) Yeah!
I: Dad, what is sex?
D: Aiden, what did you do today at school?
A: Ah, nothing!

Dad thinks to himself... "Crisis averted!"

So Ben wimped out of that one but, I promise you, I have had to have this conversation many times with all of my children. I have come to realize that trying to discuss these matters with them when they are these ages seems pointless! They don't remember what we talk about at all! I have had some pretty decent explanations, too! But, don't ask for them! That's what your parents are around for. Jeesh!

Ow!

2008-10-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, I hurt my neck. It was a really strenuous activity I was involved in and I really need to be more careful about how I exercise! See, when your lying in bed and your alarm goes off, the best advice is to wear earplugs or figure out some sort of method other than turning it off so that you don't feel inclined to reach over and turn it off, for that, and that alone, is what I did to hurt my neck... And as I lied there, I thought, "that hurt" and I lied there five minutes, six minutes, seven minutes... And with each minute, the pain got more intense and my neck was able to move less and less. Then... I tried to get up. With every millimeter or a move my body tried to make, shooting pains seared up into my skull. Any way I thought I might be able to move was useless. Now, I could have had Ben just pull me up. Yes, the perfect solution. Only guess who was out of town at that very moment? It starts with a "B" and ends with a "en"! The longer time ticked the more I was determined to get Advil and NOW! So, as quick as I could I maneuvered my buns to the edge of the bed and allowed my body to fall off. How else could I force myself to endure the pain that inevitably shot through my brain?
Let me tell you, I had two very full days planned while Ben was gone and that changed rather quickly. I had Izzy taken to school by someone else and canceled my meeting which left me just enough time to lay down very carefully and sleep so as to try and relax every muscle that had tensed up in body.
As the hours go by, I find the pain to transform into something new. A different muscle, a new pain, and actually, ways I can move it and places I can put pressure which allow me to turn certain ways... But, in the last 60 hrs I have prepped a shower for caulking, a counter for resurfacing, watched two boys for a day, packed up my scrapbooking stuff, taken my kids and myself to a friends where we scrapbooked and stayed the night, and layed flooring down for my first time! And church and sleeping but...
This (picture below) is a pressure point I discovered for neck pain. If it's the right side of your neck push on the left hand and vise versa. I've only tried it once so far and am very hopeful! I've never been to a chiropractor since we moved here and we've always had some sort of good deal wherever we've lived thus far so I don't want to pay 50 to 200 bucks for a little poppy pop but we'll see if I'm forced. I am trying to move it and massage it and have some arnica and other drugs... Like pot. Just joking! I've also discovered my most reliable massager. It's me. I'm always available, I know exactly what I need and I'm good at what I do!
Hopefully this will come to pass. Life could be worse. My neck's just stiff. That's all.

Some random pictures

2008-10-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I took at a house nearby that is a public building. We looked around inside and took pictures outside. It was sort of fun. Yah, okay, it was fun! Izzy brought her friend Harsimran. She's Indian. It makes me think of Eva...

To redeem graphic post...

2008-09-25T13:42:00.001-07:00

Birds! (Graphic content)

2008-09-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

This morning was bird morning...

As I took Izzy to school there were some crows eating a freshly killed squirrel. When I headed to the church building I saw a large hawk hop off the road into the bushes with it's freshly killed breakfast. Then, when I picked Izzy up, that same dead squirrel had attracted some seagulls. I was driving pretty slow and there was still one seagull pretty dedicated to his meal. I said, "Move, seagull. I'm driving through here..." And I slowly drove closer and closer expecting Mr. Seagull to hop over to the side of the road and let me pass. So, I'm getting closer and closer, hoping... hoping... Then, thump... THUMP... THUMP! Ahhhh! Yuck! I killed a huge seagull! How stupid are seagulls? "I wasn't gonna take your food!" Darn seagull! (I showed Izzy on the way home.)

Houses

2008-09-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Two bullets on the subject

*I was thinking, for some reason, about the neighborhood I used to live in during some of my growing up years. I lived in the Oakbrook neighborhood. It was a great place to be able to ride bikes, there was a park close by and don't forget the beaver marsh! It wasn't actually a marsh at all but a foresty area with a stream running through it and a path that took you around a long loop. Lovely! And then I thought, if I ever lived in Vancouver again, I wouldn't mind looking for a house in the same neighborhood. Then I thought, I wonder how prices are comparable in that neighborhood to what they are here in my neck of the woods. So, I looked up one of those cool maps where you can see each little house icon in any particular neighborhood and get the details. Two things, I noticed. One, there are some brand new homes on 99th st that amaze me. Only because it was all full of houses already! What did they destroy to errect new ones? And not just one new either! Second, our old neighbor lady on the corner with the poodle's house is for sale. I'm sad to say she probably passed away... I remember her house so vividly.

*I was going to write a different post about how we were going to make an offer on a house. It's right near the church building, big enough, wood floors, lots of light, big yard, green house, not to mention some chicken pens. It's a repo and we've been wiating for a while to see if they were going to lower the price at all because there are many things that have to be done before it's actually livable! We were at least waiting so they would accept a low offer. Well, we made the decision yesterday that we would write up an offer and sign it as soon as Ben gets home on Friday. Well, unbeknownst to my dear husband, there is now an offer pending on it... What?! Darn! Well, isn't that devine intervention? Man! Now I get to sit at home waiting for Ben to come back so we can look more... Poop.

My Garden!

2008-09-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

This represents my feelings toward my garden.

It's gone to pot.

Couldn't save it. It's production was a tease and far less useful than I expected. It's not all over. The tomatoes have survived "the plague" as I like to call it. Some flowers survived. I got some sweet peas, some sugar snaps, some strawberries, one lemon cucumber, one mini cucumber, and two full size green beans. Everything is a shriveled, poopy, stupid, dumb head now. My tomatoes are alive despite me because I refuse to go outside and tend to anything. It's too depressing and I don't want it any more. The tomatoes are suppose to be romas but they are actually the size of cherry tomatoes and they're ripening.

Next year I plan to have a real garden in the ground. I feel capable of having a garden and I proved that to myself even if you guys think I'm a failure at gardening. You weren't here, so you don't know. I've learned very useful things and know things to do and not to do next time. One being few pots! I will reserve them for flowers and I will patch up the holes I drilled in my beautiful pedistal pots. That was a bad idea. Good for you, all you people with produce. Good for you. I'll just get mine at the market now. No more energy for death!

Two Proud Moments... Strike that, three

2008-09-17T21:37:00.001-07:00

So, two things have made me very proud regarding Emma this week (give or take).

At church, if you are unaware, we have one particular scripture that we are dwelling in for an entire year together every time we gather. This consists of reading it together, reflecting quietly sharing with one person what stood out to you and then sharing what you heard your partner saying to the rest of the group. It's a practice in listening in multiple ways. We even do this with many of the children. Or at least read it with the littler ones and talk about it. So as we entered into a new school year and a new teacher with a new style of homework we were working on a reading log. We had finished reading and needed to fill out her paper and after I read the questions with her and she tried to answer them she said, "I feel like I'm dwelling in the word at church!" That's a proud father/preacher right there, if ever there was one! :)

The second is we were walking up from the bus stop and talking about doing homework and she said, "Can we read the book about Tom Sawyer, today? He does such funny things!" Proud mother moment, right there! For one, I bought her the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and two, I started reading it to her! That should make my own mother proud!

Third, Emma knows how to swim despite me with no lessons and no plugging of the nose. End of story.

First Days of School

2008-09-13T14:53:00.001-07:00

Here are pictures from the kids' first day of school. I was worried that Izzy wouldn't be able to go to her first day because I forgot to get her immunizations updated. I was relieved to find out that she has thirty days to get them and we were able to get them after school on her first day. Getting shots was a little sad. I had to hold her tight while she was screaming and trying to fight her way out. It was not pretty. Let me back up a minute. The kids used my keys the night before and I couldn't find them and then locked myself out of the house and didn't have any way to get Izzy to school. My neighbor drove up and was able to take us. (Her daughter goes to Head Start like Izzy but in the other class.) The parents were suppose to go on the first day but I had to figure out a way to get us to the doctors let alone back home. Ben was gone for his birthday with Aaron to a cabin up the mountain. Not Broke Back or anything! My friend, Diane came to the rescue and picked us up and took us to get shots. So, after the shots we thought she deserved some ice cream. What a morning! The kids all like their teachers and Emma says third grade is much better than second grade!

Happy 30th, Benji

2008-09-11T21:48:00.001-07:00

How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways...

A poem

30 years of wisdom
30 years of charm
30 years of jokes
30 years with little harm

Of the 30 years you've been alive
I've known you just 13
But if those thirteen years were doubled
Well, then that would equal 26

So, if you add our youngest daughter
to 26 it would equal 30
And that, my friends, is magic
Not repulsive and not dirty

I love this guy who's 30 today
so much I'd give my left arm
Because that's how much he means to me
But not enough to give up my right arm

Benny, oh Benny you really are great
and I'm thankful I'm married to you
'Cause if I were not I'd be married to someone else
and my life would have turned out like poo

Happy Birthday!

I love you!

Daily lessons

2008-09-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Starting off with a side note I have exercised two days in a row now. Yesterday I did step for a half hour and walked with Izzy for a half hour. Today our walk consisted of walking all the way to Fred Meyer, shopping a little and walking back. We ended up being gone for the whole morning! So, congrats to me. Tomorrow I will clean the church building as my work out. Maybe I'll do lunges as I vacuum!

So, while we were at Freddies we decided to get a doughnut. Don't bring up my choice of snack! I know it's a red light food! We were patiently waiting slightly behind the couple picking out their doughnuts and as they finish a guy runs up, grabs a bag, and gets his hands all in the bins and goes about his shopping... Hello? I can promise you that with a very large bike trailer as our stroller inside the store that we were more than visible... Well, whatever. We just patiently waited our turn. Again. Next we go to the deli to purchase our food and get a milk. We stand a ways back to allow for traffic to flow around us and wait to check out. An employee even asks us if we need anything else while the person in front of us finishes checking out and she gets us our milk and sets it on the counter. Very nice. Then a lady from the left comes wooshing in with her cart and says, "I need a coke!" and she pays for her coke, and I'm like, "God, are you teaching me patience today?" So, I think I shall be more intentional on looking for the things God is looking to teach me. It may be patience, daily! But, whatever it is, I definitely want to look for it.

I have been noticing other ways I can be patient. Like walking slowly with Izzy as she tries to balance on something instead of telling her to hurry up. What am I in a hurry for? I want to appreciate being able to walk to the store. Do I always have to "hurry" and get to the store? As my life begins to find rythym again, I hope to find lots of patience and peace.

Enough is Enough!

2008-09-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the deal is lately but I have been continually woken up in the night. Sometimes it's to snoring, sometimes I don't even know why, and then since we've had company my kids have been on our floor many times and Aiden has started grinding his teeth which drives me insane. There was one night a month or so ago when Aiden was in our bed for some reason and his grinding was right at my ear. "Squeeeak, squeeeak" over and over. I was so irritated that I had to try and continuously try to wake him up. I'd shake him and tap him and gently squeeze his little jaw so as to help him realize what he was doing. Nothing made any difference! I finally woke Ben up to make him carry him back to his own bed.

So last week one night I woke up to Ben snoring and the kids were on the ground. As I'm trying my best to get back to sleep Adien starts squeeking and Ben's snoring is sparatic and very distruptive. I got so angry at one point I actually said out loud, "OH, lose some weight!" because honestly when Ben is slim he doesn't snore hardly ever. I was desperate. I couldn't go any where else either because there was even someone on the couch in the living room! I was so miserable I was even willing to get up and drive to a store just to get some ear plugs! But it was three and Albertson's was only open until two... I was lying there, awake, pulling my hair out for an hour at least! Nigth. mare.
Well, I can't stop waking up. I am so sensitive right now for some reason. I finally bought some ear plugs! I was so excited I didn't even wait to be woken up by something, I put them in before I went to bed. Ahhh. Falling asleep to the sound of your own breathing... Well, it wasn't exactly so great because I didn't get them in very well. Ben worked at the airport back in the day and is a professional when it comes to earplug insertion! So I knew the tactics, I just couldn't do it good enough on one side. I tried again the next night and I woke up in the morning with one ear very itchy. Wierd and annoying. That didn't seem right so I've resolved to just wearing them when I get woken up... Too bad mine aren't pink like Tara's. But then again, Jones won't try and steal them...

Lots of Family Pictures

2008-08-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

We took pictures of all the fam a couple times over. :) It was unfortunate not to have a family picture done of Michelle's family. Next time, hopefully.

ZOOM Baby!

2008-08-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ben surprised me, covered with a lie, and got me a 70 - 300 lens for my camera! Some of these pictures are taken with it and some are with my other lens. The ones that are the most blurry in the background are with the zoom lens. I am so excited.

Updated hair style!

2008-08-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

My hair cut was still a little long so I had a couple more inches taken off. And another little secret... These pictures were taken with my new zoom lens!!!

The Bellingham Gang

2008-08-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

There's a couple pictures of my other new nephew, Dylan. Andy and Yannick got matching tatoos. We've been going to parks and eating lots of meals together. We've had lots of fun and enough naps to create just enough peace. I'll do better explaining and add more pictures next time.

My hair and our new pic

2008-08-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

You know how new haircuts look different every day. Well, this is my hair today. Oh, I mean, I got a new haircut!

We went to the Nooksack Falls today and Andy took our picture. We were due for one. Like it?

Update of many

2008-08-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our trip to Vancouver.

What the...?

2008-08-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Do not use this pick-up line!

"Since we just met I should probably go ahead and feel your uterus."

What?

My doctor said that to me today. I laughed out loud. I even repeated what she said. That was a good one!

I also laughed after she left the room because I had been explaining that I was taking colloidal silver and that I thought it was preventing some problems for me. I explained what I believed it to do and why and she said, "It's interesting that nothings been reported on it if it works so great!"

You dumb medical doctor! I hate how people choose to be selective to their particular practice! There are some amazing homeopathic methods and whatnot and I will not be swayed! Chiro's think their way is the only way, acupuncturists, medical doctors, homeopaths... and on and on. Let's be well rounded, okay?

Behold, India and Malak!

2008-08-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

BEWARE!

2008-08-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Busiest month of my year officially starts today! I may not "talk" much but I'm sure to have more pictures than I could possibly post. Hang on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, the ride is about to begin.

La la la

2008-08-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

I don't want to be boring but I'm not exactly sure what exciting thing I could post about! I don't have new pictures to post.
I've got it!

All my children can ride a two wheeler now! Emma took Izzy's training wheels off by herself one day a week or so ago and Izzy has got it down! She can start by herself, turn without falling and can put on the breaks instead of running into something and tipping over! She is so good that Sunday we took our bikes to a large park with bike trails nearby and had our first family bike ride. It was so fun. We have reached a new phase in life! When we thought we were done having kids at two it was so we could get to those bike rides and hiking trips and whatnot. Well, we had three kids instead but I am happy to say that the moment surprised me. I had nothing to do with the training wheels coming off and then, BAM! Did I mention that Aiden only mastered his bike a couple months ago so Izzy has beat both of them in age. Izzy was proud when I told her I heard a girl in the park say to her mom, "Look at that little girl! She can ride a two wheeler!!" We need to acquire a bike rack that will fit on our van. Although I am confident in everyone's riding skills I am not confident in their road safety. Our neighborhood is decent for riding around for fun but if you want to go any distance at all we are capped by two heavy traffic streets. We tried to borrow a bike rack but are van was made a little different than what the standard bike rack seems to be made for...

Needles to say, we worked it out on Sunday so we can manage to do it again! Go pedals, Go!

More than meets the eye!

2008-07-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, unfortunately I did not realize that I came home from Tuba City without the adapter for my battery charger. This is all the battery I had left on our campout. I hoped to take lots of picutres but... nope. I ordered a new charger and it came today so that is the great news. We camped at Pearrygin Lake. We boated , tubed, tanned, burned, sang, swam, ate, laughed, bathed, ate, lathered, skiied, floated, played and biked. There were kids for my kids to play with who shared dolls and bikes and life jackets. I love camping. One thing I did realize is that I'm slowly getting tired of deflated air matresses. We're going to need to invest in some more Therma Rests or something! Yeah for camping. We hope to do it again before it gets too cold.

Great Goodness

2008-07-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is the great goodness post. A post filled with all good things.
These are not in order.

1. Bellingham parks- Whatcom Falls in the center of Bellingham

2. Camping- We leave on Thursday to go to Perragin Lake for our church campout. I'm excited.

3. Sun- We're getting lots of sun. Different tan lines every time I step foot out the door.

4. Quick trip to Idaho- Our church is a part of a group which is meeting in Caldwell in two weekends. There will be a number from our church attending and I'm glad to be learning more and being with people I like. Not sure at this moment if the kids are coming with or if they're staying in town.

5. Tara, Eric and Malak- They're coming to the NW! I'll get to meet one of my new nephews and I'm so excited! It will be good to see all my other family members, too!

6. Bryan and Tracey and boys- They're going to live in Bellingham for a month! Maybe they won't be able to leave!

7. Andy and Yannick and boys- They're bringing my other new nephew all the way from Switzerland! I'm so grateful they are able to come here. Hopefully they will move to Bellingham permanently very soon.

8. More fam- Almost all of the rest of Ben's family will also be here to visit.

Oh, there's more but it's nap time for me! Too much sun, maybe. :) Be prepared for campout pictures soon!

Why, Lord, why?

2008-07-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong. Jesse is awesome and I really like him. I just thought for sure Deonna was going to pick Jayson. He had my vote! He's from Seattle, he's cute, he's a fantastic guy... Crap! I'm sooo sad for him. It's sad enough that he was left for another guy by his first wife. That's painful enough! Then he gets left again for another guy. I'm pretty sure he deserves to have a fantastic wife... It was kind of funny when he brought up the whole "armor" talk. When he was leaving in the car he said his armor was being put up again. Then at the "After the Rose" he said he's never had any armor! Good one! So, confess. Who watched Bachelorette?

Tuba City, Arizona

2008-07-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. Here are details and pictures from my first mission trip in seven years with our teens from church to the Navajo Reservation. We flew from Bellingham to Phoenix and drove the three hour drive to Tuba City, arriving at 4am Navajo time. (Which is not the same as the rest of Arizona. Navajo's hold daylight savings and AZ does not.) Here is a sun rise from ones of the mornings.
Ben was the cook for the week and made sure we had great meals and plenty of snacks during the day.We were given some time to relax on Sunday and then for a period of the afternoon we went around to the neighborhoods and passed out flyers for the VBS on Tuesday and Wednesday.
We had a devotional Sunday evening at a canyon close by.
Monday we were split into a number of teams and my team re roofed a house. The shingles blow off there roofs constantly from the high winds that blow through. Here is some before and after pictures of our roof.
On Monday evening we participated in a traditional Navajo Prayer Sweat where you sit inside a sweat lodge with hot rocks in it and suffer and pray on behalf of others. It was a very neat time.
Our VBS didn't have as many children as in previous years but it was still great. The teens did a great job both days. (We had it in the afternoons and did our work sites in the mornings before it got too hot.)
Instead of an ark, the story team requested a sailboat for Noah. The craft team concocted this boat from an array of odds and ends. It is complete wit two decks as well as surround sound and flames on the sides!
One evening the Navajo ladies from church prepared Navajo tacos for all of us. The make a special fry bread and other tasty toppings.
Thursday we had finished up our projects so we went to collect fire wood for the Navajo people for their winter heat source. We toted logs from in the forest to take back and split. Good thing is we drove through the Grand Canyon National park to get to the wood on the other side! They didn't make us pay the fee to enter on either end so we had lunch at one point of the G.C. and then left.
Sonic was down the street from the church and there were Sonic runs daily. For dinner on Thursday we all had Sonic. There were also some free range horses that showed up to dumpster dive.
Friday morning we got up before dawn and went to hike down Jack Ass Canyon . It was so fun and a hard hike. We used a rope a couple times to get down some cliffs. At the end of the hike was the Colorado River. It was nice to be able to cool down there. then we hiked the 1 1/2 miles back up and out to end with some juicy watermelon. Refreshing!
Friday evening we cleaned up the place and we happened to catch this face print on the side of one of the vans which a combination of sweaty body and dust storm had left. There's a bit of the skies reflection in it as well.
Our last sunset in Tuba. Bon Voyage.
That's a wrap!

Surprise!

2008-06-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

I finally have new pictures of my kids. Yes, dad that's what will be with your Father's Day card... We did them all while Ben was out of town and got them back right before Father's Day. You'll have to go to Jen's Photography blog on the side there to check 'em out! There are a few of Aiden that I think look like my dad when he was a kid!

End of School

2008-06-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Friday was the kids' last day of school. There's mixed emotions, of course. I don't have to wake up to an alarm, thank heavens. But I'm with my wonderful children every moment of the day... All the arguments, the crying, the... fill in the blank. I am planning on having specific things for us to do during the day, fun things and things to help them learn and retain the things they've been working on at school. But this week I am trying to get caught up on my poor cleaning practices as of late because we'll be heading out of town on Saturday. Ben and I are going with the teens, as well as East County C of C, to Tuba City, Arizona for a mission trip through next Saturday. My kiddos will be going to my mom's for the week. So, I'd like to leave my house in state of orderliness as well as get all the laundry done that's backed up. And pack for 4 people.

But the point of this post was to show pictures of Aiden's kindergarten graduation and their last day of school.

Waiting to come in.
"Everybody wave to your parents. "
His kindergarten class
Getting another wave in
Great participation
Hammin' the cam
Special presentation
Good thing his mother never got distracted...
More good participation
"Thank you for coming. Thank you . Thank you." A nice bow.
The diploma
A picture of the kids with each of their teachers.

What do you think of?

2008-06-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

When I say "bagel" what's the first thing that comes to mind?

What about "rain"?

We played this game at the dinner table tonight. It went something like this...
D(ad):Mom
I: Som

D: pickle
A: tickle

D: plant
E: pot

D:bathtub
M:water

D: cup
I: nup

D: elephant
A: peanut

D: fork
E: knife

D: boob
M: milk

D: light switch
I: night slitch

D: trash can
A: trash

E: light
D: bulb

D: shirt
M: cold

A: giraffe
D: walrus

We laughed every time Izzy did a rhyming word. Even after all the examples she had she said, "I just like rhyming!"
It was fun to play with them. The last game we played was telephone and Aiden kept getting mad when it would get messed up. Emma kept trying to explain that that is why it's fun to play. Sometimes we sing at the table, too. And then there's the times when we say, "Stop playing! It's time to eat!"

Just a dinner table for the effect... It's from last years Valentine's Day.

Our Tenth Anniversary

2008-05-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

We've reached ten years of marriage! Thursday through Saturday we spent time in Victoria Canada together. My mom came up to take care of the kids. We borrowed a car which also happened to be a Mustang Convertible... The weather was great on the way there so we had the top down for some of the trip. I think this was my record shortest and easiest border crossing. He didn't even get his hands on our IDs, asked where we were going and why. When Ben said it was our tenth anniversary he said, "Did you marry her when she was five?" and waved us on through. We laughed for a while! We accidentally let our car die and had to get it jumped before we boarded the ferry. We stayed in a fantastic Bed and Breakfast Inn in the Penthouse suite. The Innkeepers were very kind and were always going out of their way to do things for us and told us any information we wanted to know and more. We went out to eat Thursday evening. Friday we were served an amazing breakfast. I felt like I was living in Food Network land! The plating was lovely and the taste, delightful! During the morning we walked across the street to the Government House which sits on 16ish acres of beautiful gardens and groves of trees. Since our breakfast was so big we snacked and had a meal at about 4:00 at a very nice seafood restaurant. At 7 we went and saw Indiana Jones. It was a lot of fun! Saturday we started with another fabulous breakfast and then headed to the Butchart Gardens. I hadn't been ever so I was glad to finally get there. We had reservations for high tea around noon. It was fabulous. WE headed for the ferry in our convertible and absorbed some more sun before boarding the ferry one last time. I couldn't have asked for a better Anniversary! I am so thankful to have my husband. I feel so blessed that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with. We have had a great and very eventful ten years of marriage. Thanks to all of you who have been involved in our life and have loved us. We are surrounded by so many wonderful people!

This is the bedroom part of our suite with a view of Victoria at our feet.

This is at the Government House.
The Innkeepers had this waiting for us when we came back from our movie.
This is the sunken garden at the Butchart Gardens.

All the rest are also at the Butchart Gardens.

Ahhh... Refreshment

2008-05-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

(Here's a glimpse of my little babies right now. There are others but they're still so young.)

The birds are singing, the sun is shining and the heat is alive and well. No sixty degree weather this weekend! Yesterday was beautiful, too. I spent the second half of the day going through our outdoor storage area and it is fabulous now. You can walk in, find what you need and not have to move and unpile boxes to find it. I've been wanting to go through it for so long but it's been so darn cold, I couldn't bear to get out there. Now I've got stuff for the consignment store and stuff for... some other store. there's only one "office" box that needs some going through. Easy peasy. Ben did the dishes yesterday but the kids' rooms have acquired "stuff" on the floor again. The laundry needs to be worked on and the living room vacuumed but all I can do is stand in the sun and look at my plants. I only have a little bit of dirt left so I potted one plant. I haven't been able to find any dirt yet without buying it "new" but I did go to Starbucks this morning and pick up three bags of grounds for my garden.
This morning was walk/ride to school day and wasn't it the perfect day? We live a little too far for my kids to walk the whole way without dieing on me and I don't trust them yet with their road safety to ride bikes, nor is Aiden capable without training wheels now. So we drove halfway and parked and walked the rest of the way. It was fun. They had a table at the bike racks and they gave the kids a healthy morning snack and they entered their name into a raffle for a few "bike" prizes. Then Izzy and I stayed and ate breakfast with the kids. It was a little silly that we chose this day because we didn't actually eat with them at all. They have been serving breakfast at school a few days a week for the last few months. They are really proud of themselves and so am I. It was great to be able to watch them work in the kitchen and get people their cinnamon rolls.

Have a fabulous day today. Soak up the sun!

Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mother's Day yesterday! I was given many, many hints that many special things were going to happen. First, I was asked what I would want to eat for lunch. Nothing specific came to mind so they came up with their own idea. Then, I had children telling me they were preparing secret things for me at school. Aiden made sure I could pick him up from school so he didn't have to take his special thing on the bus. He couldn't wait 'til Mother's Day so he gave it to me in the car. Then, one child would slip and mention something about their secret with the big mouth cover afterwards and I just pretended not to notice. Then, another would slip and do the big mouth cover. Then, they would ask me if I knew what we were eating and ask me to guess. Then, another child would panic at all the guessing and say, "No more guessing! You're gonna know what we're doing!" So in the end, before I experienced any of it, I knew they were making me soup in a bread bowl, that we were going to a movie, and that we were doing another special thing that was still a secret. Then, in the midst of the day, I learned it was corn chowder for lunch, that we were seeing Horton Hears a Who and was asked by my husband where the closest Applebees was without him thinking about what he was asking. Aiden was the first to wake up and tried to put his special card he made under my pillow. Then Emma brought me in her book of poems she made at school. Izzy brought me hers as soon as she made it on Saturday! I felt very thought of and very loved and am very thankful for my wonderful husband and children. I am so blessed.

I did get to end Mother's Day with the Survivor Finale which was also very awesome. I kind of wish Amanda would have won, though. Good times!

The Compact

2008-05-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard of it. Some of you may be participating. Some of you don't know what I'm referring to. The Compact is a commitment to not purchase anything new for a year. It excludes necessities like food, cleaning supplies, toiletries and underwear/socks. There may be a few other exceptions... The reason for it is to help eliminate waste and keep things out of the landfills. Also to encourage local business and agriculture. Well, my brother, Ryan, and his wife, Jessica, have made the commitment. Since they began Ben and I have thought about it, weighed the cost and decided to take the plunge. From the moment we made the commitment things pop up in my head and I realize I can't purchase them. Seconds after we agreed on it Ben demanded I get some keys made... "Would those be new keys?" I said. "Crap," was his response. We decided that it was a safety issue and I made myself some keys. But, after I had the keys made, I had a handful of keys in my hand and no ring to put them on! That won't work, I thought. So I went home and scavenged through my kids' toys. I found a key ring that they wouldn't miss and grabbed a little chain off a little craft. then I found another pair of finger nail clippers and stuck the chain through it! I always have clippers on my keys because then they don't get lost! Unless you lose your keys... I mean unless your daughter loses your keys... Then I found an army knife in the junk drawer and, voila, I'm set to go! It's kind of fun to be creative. I expect a little anxiety when there's more difficult issues to figure out. We've got a store here called The RE-Store and there is all sorts of materials and building-type stuff there. I thought it would be great for finding the rest of the garden boxes I need for my deck garden. As soon as I'm ready I'll have to find dirt and compost without buying it from the store... Craig's List will hopefully serve me well.
We're also venturing to clean up our home by not using chemicals anymore. I'm not willing to waste for the sake of transition but, for instance, my Windex is almost gone and, then, I won't need to purchase a squirt bottle for my Vinegar and water solution. One problem solved. It will so much safer and healthier for our family and the earth and it will hopefully make the air in our home not so polluted. I'm not sure when I'll transition out of paper towels. I can't handle the stink and nastiness issue of washcloths/rags for reuse... We have resolved not to but anymore napkins. We have cloth napkins that we pulled out. When we have lots of people over I just don't have enough dishes for a large crowd so, to eliminate the desire to buy paper plates,I 'm going to check out Goodwill and Value Village for a good stack of lightweight plastic plates or something... Not sure what to do about enough cloth napkins. Good thing I have someone's sewing machine at my house!
It's a never ending issue. The desire to buy. I think this will be a good year for us with lots of room to learn!

Do Not Pass GO. Do Not Collect $200.

2008-05-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

Remember Monopoly? I never finished a game but it sure is a good one. Wouldn't it be great if life were predictable? I know the game of Monopoly is full of chance but it's a game. Games are suppose to be unpredictable. If we actually knew all the things life might throw at us, would we live differently and prepare accordingly? How differently would I have lived these last few months if I knew Aiden was going to have three teeth pulled out yesterday. Or in a few weeks have a couple hundred dollars worth of work done? Oh, then there's my teeth. Not a good history there. And a few more minor things will need to be done soon. But how much does an oral surgeon cost? Haven't made that appointment yet? Then, there's those things that are predictable. School teachers, the postman/woman, and those that go without professional dental care for 15 years and have beautiful, cavity-free teeth... That would be my husband! It's so thoughtful to be such a giver and not a taker! "No, no let's not spend money on my teeth. We need so much just to repair yours." Well, guess what, Benny, you may enjoy those pearly whites but your going to have to deal with my dentures for the rest of your life!

Then there's the tooth fairy bill... Talk about debt!

Attack!

2008-04-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

There was an attack in our home three days ago. It all started when the piece of wood flooring came up where it meets the carpet... I quickly demanded that everyone evacuate the area so as not to disturb or destroy it any further. Well, later in the evening we were hanging out in the living room together. Some were sitting on the couch some were on the floor and Aiden was spinning on all fours around the carpet area. No problems. Just a little silliness. Well, Aiden's spinning was sort of like the tasmanian devil except there was no center of gravity. There's flailing body and limbs all over. Fun times. But... then, he loses his balance, oddly enough, and does a face plant into the ground. It would not have been such a big deal if it were not for that small area where the wood was gone, leaving a small wood strip with nails sticking out of it... It was a horrible sight. The floor attacked his face leaving it bloody and scared. Five different spots, in one swift movement, were altered for a time yet to be determined. As the crying slowed and we began talking about his owies, he just couldn't bare it. He would cringe as someone would speak of the injuries. He calmly said," When you talk about my owies my brain gets all malfunctional and it sends lightning to them!"

So, please don't talk about it. He'll know!

Dust to Dust

2008-04-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's Earth Day today. Aiden, Ben and Izzy walked around our neighborhood picking up trash. It was kind of funny when they came back two different times because Izzy kept wanting to dump out her sack like it was halloween candy. I kept saying, " Whoa, whoa. Don't dump it on the couch! I'll just look inside." I really do want to treat the earth well. I've been reading and preparing to go chemical free in our home. It's so hard to go organic sometimes because of the higher cost. I really want to eat a lot of fresh produce instead of boxed or canned this and that. I want to take the time to feed my body things that are actually full of the nutrients and vitamins that I need verses microwaving everything out or eating things that are processed to "death." It's just tricky to balance the frugal budget with the healthiest lifestyle. Now, NOT using chemicals is actually a money saver. Jessica and Ryan can attest. Yes, I will buy some safe products like laundry soap and hand soap but, for the most part, cleaning without chemicals is using vinegar and baking soda for the majority of the cleaning. I'm going to buy Green Clean which is sooo helpful for problem solving stains and other issues. I got to read Jessica's copy and I'm hooked. I want to change my lifestyle so that I'm not as wasteful and just wiser with my water usage and what I send down the drains. Also, with how I pollute the air in our home. Eventually, I'm going to try to keep some indoor plants alive to help with our indoor air. I've got some plants started on the windowsill like, herbs and some tomatoes. The tomatoes will join the other pots I have on my deck in a month or so. I think I want to keep the herbs inside so I have easy access but... we'll see. I have started a few plants on our deck so far but will wait for the warmer weather to start the rest of the vegis I have planned. It will be great to be able to eat from our labor later on. It's so exciting to see them sprouting and growing already.

Well, that was a big bowl of goodness. Hope it wasn't too random. Do any of you make efforts to protect our home? However temporary it may be, it is our gift to take care of...

Mothers of Preschoolers

2008-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm doing it again. I chose at the beginning of this year to participate in Bible Study Fellowship instead of MOPS. I don't want a full life with no room for others or for being spontaneous so it wasn't an option to do both. At the Christmas break I stopped BSF because it was really overwhelming. This week I thought, I'm still a mother of a preschooler for one more year after this one... And I haven't found a really close friend yet and I'm suffering a little... I better go to MOPS to find my friend! She's waiting for me. I know it. Or I hope it. So the first and third Tuesdays me and Izzy are going to MOPS. Wish us luck!

Spontaneous Combustion

2008-04-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

So, here was my quick response when asked how our train ride went.

"It's never heaven like you envision... It was a poor choice, yet unavoidable, to have three different head phones for our dvd player. Their was much turmoil over the head phones. The two guys behind me started off drunk and continued drinking all the way to Seattle... Snacks were our Savior, at times. We did take a trip to the "bar", as the kids demanded to call it, and got a couple things to share. That was fun. In Seattle we moved to the seats that face each other. And the last bit from Mt Vernon to Bellingham was a free for all among the children left on the train. They came out of the woodworks and were climbing and hiding and playing with each other and no one cared. I am so glad we did it but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to take a trip by myself or, at least, not with my children, no offense."

The Cheryl's response:
"I am continually amazed at your ability to take new adventures (that seem extremely stressful to me)that may not end up as planned. You make me laugh so much! You never let the stress of your children keep you from always "trying" to have fun. They will thank you someday for how fun you are."

You have a valid point. Fun walks aren't actually so much fun because someone's always collapsing... Trips to the zoo or a museum, there's always a child who's legs are seemingly incapable of going any further, not to mention, they forget that it's fun to be cheerful... Then there's snow! Who takes there kids to the snow with no tears? Do you wait til they're not wimps anymore? I mean, I have not taken my kids on a snow trip until this last January. 3, 5, and 7 years old and everyone still cried! I still haven't made it to the Rose Parade with children. I may be fun but, I assure you, I'm not crazy!

Let's be honest though. If Ben had ever been willing to go to the Rose Parade, I would have gone!:)

When is it in life that you choose to do the memorable things with your kids? I mean, for their sake, no sense in taking a 2 yr old to Disneyland! That's a waste.

My question is, Can you have a memorable time with your family ( a happy one, I mean) when it seems utter chaos and agony? Like, in your children's minds? Are my childhood memories unrealistic because they are not through the eyes of my parents who actually witnessed the real story? I just figure, all I have is now, so let's do it well. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
And, if it makes people feel any better, I don't get out projects to do with my children. I prefer the big shabang, not a phenomenal every day life. I have to set myself up, you know? I can't be "Fantasto Mom" all the time! See, good ol' aunt Tara got the kids cute little dishes with special foods to prepare in them and did I do that stuff with my kids? Nah. I wanted to. But Fantasto Mom doesn't come out all the time. No she doesn't.

Do you guys have good family memories to share? Were you 8 yrs old or 15? 'Cause if you were 15 , that is completely off this topic!

Another toot toot?

2008-04-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yah, we're going on a train!

See, our spring break plans included Jess and her kids coming to visit and then some relaxation at home until school starts again. Well, it was so exciting to have Jess and the kids at our house but India was feeling bad and very sad and needed to see a doctor. So, when Jess decided she needed to leave early she asked if we would like to come back down to Portland with her. We could have driven down but wouldn't it be so much more fun to ride with Jessica and then ride the train back home? We decided to make it a surprise. The kids never saw any packing and they didn't notice us making lunches for the road. Ben took them out to play for an hour and we packed the car up and were ready when they got back. We told them we were going on an adventure. They were all set up with dvd players and away we went. They did great traveling and Emma eventually guessed what we were doing. They were very excited to find out that we would get to ride a train. We've had a fun few days and are going to the Children's Museum today. Tomorrow, the train!

Toot! Toot!

2008-04-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Don't mind if I toot my own horn, but I did create the greatest Minestrone soup recipe ever! I looked at a few different soups and put together my own concoction. Yah, it rocks...

My Minestrone Soup

1 package Italian sausage
3 carrots, cut small
1 onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 zucchini
1 can kidney beans
1 can stewed tomatoes (I prefer diced tomatoes)
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 c. fresh spinach
8 c. broth (I use vegetable)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 c. tomato puree
pasta, spinach pasta if you can find it (optional, soup is great without pasta!)
salt/ pepper to taste

Add 2 extra cups broth if using pasta!

Cook Italian sausage. Get broth heated up on medium heat and add ingredients starting with carrots and celery to allow for longer cooking time. In no particular order combine ingredients ending with spinach and zucchini. You can saute the onions to get them soft if you want. Let flavors blend for around 30 min and enjoy! (I didn't use pasta so just figure out when you need to add it in.)

Prepare for a scare! It's a scary party!

2008-04-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

We asked everyone to dress up in something scary. Aiden was Jack Sparrow.
In order of appearance, scary cowgirl, witch, scary soccer monster, and Jack.
You may not agree, but I was told that this is batman...
There was a bit of pirate theme mixed with scariness. Here is a treasure box with some edible gold among other precious gems and a few snakes!
We began with scary snacks. We had brains (spaghetti noodles), eye balls (black olives), and a fish bowl with goldfish for the eating. They also had there choice of blood (tomato juice) or a secret potion (little water bottles with different colored dye in them) to drink. The blood was not the prefered beverage. I should have thought it through and just bought V-8Fusion. That, at least, tastes good.

Here we have pin the spiderman on the web.

This is Aiden's best friend at school, Hayden. Hayden and Aiden BFF.
We missed out on pictures during the other two games. One was target shooting with a Nerf dart gun. I intended to shoot these stretchy gooey bugs I bought but they wouldn't stay stuck on the window. The other was are "war" game which consisted of two teams with a bunch of army men and a larger warrior man that they had to protect. They set up their army men to protect their big man in the back and the other team had small soft balls to roll and knock down there army. They all ended up getting pirate plates to take home.

We had dirt/mud with worms and ants for our "cake". It was delish'.
Aiden was so fast blowing out the candles that we missed it completely.

The kids took a bag of loot home with them as well as a large handful of army men. Oh, and gooey bugs! Each of my kids thought their own party was the best and that's just how it should be!

It's a puppy party!

2008-04-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

When the little girls got there they received collars and puppy ears and puppy noses. This is Victoria. She came as a black labrador.
Our first game was "take the puppy out to potty." I know I could have made it slightly easier by pinning the tail on the puppy but... It was my first idea...

Next, we had lunch. They ate out of their own personal doggy bowls. Their dog chow was cut up hotdogs and ketchup. also, string cheese pieces and pretzel chunks. And, water, of course!

We ended with a bone hunt. They searched the house for bones and some crabby patties that they had to carry one at a time back to their bowl. Then we handed out stuffed puppies to take home. Instead of cake we just had superman ice cream in dog bowls. Then they all received doggy bags with treats in them to take home, as well.

It was a great party. They were really into being cute little puppies and only had to be quieted a few times when the barking got too loud.:)

The gym

2008-04-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Like I said, I've got ideas...

Right now I have a 2 week pass to Gold's Gym. My friend Diane and her husband got a membership recently there so I decided it would be nice to have the same gym as someone else so I have someone to workout with every now and then. Is it necessary to go to a gym? For me, definitely! Chelan and I had a gym membership in Abilene together and it was awesome. I always went, my kids had a fun place to play, and I didn't have to figure out how to be healthier amidst my children and there ever-so-present needs. Working out at home is like phone calling, for me. There are other things yelling way louder. And whenever I start pilates or step or anything, that's when Izzy is incapable of doing her own thing. "You could walk," you might suggest. If I lived in Texas still! Walking in cold weather doesn't really inspire me. Or rain or snow.

Will I be buying my own membership? I've not given up fighting for it... My jeans are getting tighter. I'm tired of the belly bulge. I'm ready to head to size-six-ville. It's been a long time!

Go team!

Oh, and ask Ben how running is going...

BIRTHDAYS!

2008-04-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today is Izzy's birthday! She is four. On Sunday was Aiden's birthday! He is now six years old.
With family having been at our house we opted for a weekend filled with nothing. We have scheduled their parties for this coming weekend. Izzy will be having a puppy party and Aiden will be having a scary party with a war. (Let me tell you, Ben is really proud of that one. Not.) So far, for Izzy's, we've thought of having a hunt for bones for the little puppies. We have puppy plates and napkins. And we still have more to think of. For Aiden's we will have a scary pinata with all of them dressed up in something scary. Aiden will dress up as Jack Sparrow. We have Pirates of the Caribbean plates and napkins. We have yet to decide what this war will look like without any one getting sad or hurt. We are off to the Dollar Tree later for some inspiration. We are also going to play pin the Spiderman on the Web. We will report with pictures, battle wounds, and a few puppy treats.

Blah, blah, blah

2008-04-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, I'm holding back. There are days when I think of, like, three different things to write about. Then, I think, "You just posted yesterday. You can't give 'em more yet! No one's probably even read yesterday's since you haven't written in two weeks!" My heart says, "Be creative, let loose." But my laundry says, "Yoohoo, excuse me... fold me..."

So, one thing I've been meaning to tell you is that Aiden lost his first tooth. Of course, he's my second child and so I didn't even get a picture of it... Well, aren't I the tooth fairy? Yes, but I'm a nice tooth fairy who paid profoundly for the first prized tooth and left it under the pillow so he could still take it to school and show his class. Then, my nephew touched the little box it was in and so now it's somewhere in my room... No picture. I'll probably find it soon but maybe his other front tooth will be out by then. It's so close.

Emma got a second tooth pulled and it went much better than the first. This dentist had a tv on the ceiling and laughing gas! She even got to pick the movie to watch. High School Musical, of course. There was a little pain at times but at least they cared and were careful. I did love the moment when she asked if they were going to pull her tooth yet and they had already done it! Score for the dentist.

Izzy and Aiden have been to the dentist now to get there teeth cleaned and this was there first time. Aiden has had an appointment before but he was barely 4 and not ready for anything except the counting of the teeth. He will have to go in and get some fillings but, thankfully, Izzy has a healthy mouth. She was fantastic and very proud that she got picture taken of her teeth. I told the kids I should have brought my camera because their hygienist gave them permission to play with the chair. So, when she came back with the x-rays, Izzy said, "My mom forgot her camera. Can she have those pictures of my teeth?" It was funny and fun. And it happened to be the very same place that Emma had her awful experience. You never know what you're gonna get!

There's more to say so I promise I will be back soon to share!

"Hello? Is anybody out there?"

2008-03-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry, guys. I am alive. A couple weeks ago we started preparing for Andy and Yannick's arrival from The Swiss Land and then they got here and then we were busy being together and things of that sort all the while our internet on our destop went hay wire and is not yet fixed. I feel alienated form the world, in a sense, and don't even know the weather forecast! (I don't really gather my weather info from the tv anymore...) I can't google, I can't blog, I can't email. You know, all that sort of thing.

Well, how 'bout we use this valuable time for something useful. I would like some input.

I am in charge of a women's retreat next year and the theme is "Survivor". These are women of many ages so keep that in mind with your crazy ideas. I thought of hidden "immunity items" that win you a prize. I thought of asking everyone to bring a "luxury item" to share with the group. I thought of only trying to incorporate food items that they would encounter or have provided for them. Tiki torches outside, a definite must! What else?

"MAX!"

2008-03-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm not very patient. Do you know who the perfect example of patience is? "Jesus", you may think. He is a good example, don't get me wrong but, honestly, did he ever have children? Can you really test patience accurately? I'm not so sure. The greatest example of patience for me is Ruby. You know, on Max and Ruby? Granted, she's not the mom but, seriously, if my kids even had her patience this would be the most pleasant house in the world. She is so freaking patient, it's amazing. Max does things over and over and over again and she softly teaches him and explains what she would like his actions to be and rarely, if ever, gets frustrated. A-maz-ing! I know I could have put something from You-tube on here but I 'm not set up yet and I don't have time. So check 'em out.

The Dentist

2008-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

It's days like today that make children afraid of the dentist for the rest of their lives!

Emma had had quite a bit of pain which resulted in an emergency room visit this weekend. She has had jaw pain a lot and grinds her teeth at night and we were having a difficult time getting the pain to subside at all. We also knew she had a tooth decaying but she didn't think it was coming from her tooth. The doctor prescribed penicillin just in case it was the tooth and we made a dentist appointment for this morning.

She has been extremely comfortable with the dentist until now. She's had fillings and been numbed and swore to me that she never got a shot... She even hoped she would get numbed today. Well, her cheek was swollen for the last day, proving infection in the tooth, and because of that infection she experienced extra pain today. She was in pain through all the numbing and kept feeling pain, so they'd give her more Novocain. Then they start wiggling it and getting it loose and she's in pain and saying, "Ow,ow,ow,ow." and THEN they start the pulling and she's yelling, "Ow,ow,OW,OW,OW!" and I'm sitting there with Izzy on my lap feeling completely horrible and Emma's crying and ... then she's still crying. Then we see the huge tooth and she's still crying and we wait and she's still crying. Then we're finally back home and she's still delicate and moaning and crying. SAD!

She's better and optimistic now. She's excited about all her special foods to eat and activities and movies. And we're pretty sure the tooth fairy pays big for bravery and pain!

Evil eye

2008-02-25T13:56:00.001-08:00

Ben's in Africa

2008-02-12T19:27:00.001-08:00

Don't forget to check Ben's blog as he updates it during his trip. www.kabiye-kaptive.blogspot.com
There's also a link on the side...

Family night at the Soc Hop

2008-02-11T09:57:00.001-08:00

We planned on going to the soc hop at Emma and Aiden's school together on Friday before Ben left for Africa. Unfortunately, Izzy had a fever all day that day so she and Ben stayed at the house and had root beer floats, instead.

Emma's friend, Cimone, moved to California today so we crammed in as much time together as we could. She came to the soc hop with us. It was her very best friend here.

This was one of the times Aiden had fun during the evening. Most of the time he was crying about something or just grumpy. He was happier thinking about dancing at the soc hop than he was while we were there...

Here's Emma doing the limbo. She didn't win.:)

This was the only picture I could get Aiden to stay in. That was his face the whole time. Unless he was crying.

We had pizza and pop and root beer floats. They did a cake walk. Emma won. Not Aiden... They bought some raffle tickets to win a huge basket of stuff. We were in the wrong room when they called the winners... Maybe we won, maybe we didn't.

It wasn't the family event we planned on with some of the family at home, but Emma and Cimone had fun. The funny thing is, Aiden said he had fun when we got home!

Not, like, grafiti...

2008-02-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

I've been "tagged." Tara "tagged" me and now all of you can learn more about the contents of my deepest thoughts and emotions.

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. My children. I love experiencing each moment I can with them. Watching them. Listening to them.
2. My husband. I love being near him. I can't get over him.
3. Learning who Jesus is. I want more than an "elementary age boyfriend" relationship. (Did you ever forget what your boyfriend looked like? I did.)
4. Changing who I am in Jesus. Allowing myself to be transformed into something better.
5. Worship. Being part of it. Writing music. Dreaming.
6. Finding people to love. As in friends. Finding relationships to sustain me.
7. Serving my family by maintaining our home and teaching my children how to be responsible for themselves.
8. Serving along side the community of believers at Sterling Drive Church of Christ. Learning how to be different and make an impact in our community. Changing Bellingham.

8 things I want to do before I die:
How shallow is this? 1. Go to Disneyland with my family.
2. Witness my children grow up and have families.
3. The music God lays on my heart to speak to others in this world.
4. Exercise daily.
5. Not have to worry about what I spend on my groceries so I can make the most healthiest and greatest meals ever.
6. Serve on a mission trip together with my family before they leave home.
7. Have a great garden.
8.Travel with my husband.

8 things I say often:
1. (this is a sound) clicking my tongue twice.
2. son of a ... :l
3. Izzy says I say "no" and "yes" all the time.
4. "Aiden, what did I just ask you to do?"
5. "No, I'm sorry. You have the wrong number."
6. I kiss my family a lot. That counts. It says a lot!

8 artists I never tire of listening to:
1. James Taylor
2. Norah Jones
3. Crosby, Stills and Nash
4. Casting Crowns
5. U2
6. Go Fish ( acapella kids group that's phenomenal)
7. Ask Ben who I listen to all the time. It's all on his ipod. I can't remember there names...
8. Brandi Carlisle

8 TV shows you love:
1. Lost
2. Survivor
3. The Office
4. The Bachelor
5. Desperate Housewives
6. Iron Chef
7. American Idol
8. Friday Night Lights

8 things that attract me to my friends:
1. They like me.
2. They're humorous. (Different than funny.)
3. common interests
4. good listener
5. Like to have fun
6. Don't need to be entertained.
7. strong personalities (obviously not all the time!)
8. They take on a part of pursuing relationship.

8 Things I learned in 2007:
1. There are blessings all around me. Wherever I am.
2. Texas is no big deal but the people there are fantastic!
3. My anal tendencies really are a hobby.
4. Life is fragile.
5. I'll always be thrown curve balls as long as I'm alive.
6. To shop for my kids' clothes a the thrift store always!
7. I can't remember...

I'm tagging :
Julia
Cheryl
Ashtin
Marta
Chelan

Things are lookin' up!

2008-02-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

I went to the doctor today and will be fine for the next while. God was merciful and this has been the least amount of pain I have experienced thus far. I walked myself into the clinic and out today instead of needing a wheel chair... I am happy. I am thankful. And tomorrow I get to sing on the worship team which is always a plus and Ike will be up here leading worship for us. Life keeps going, we just roll with the punches.

Some things suck!

2008-02-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Would you guys pray for me over the next couple of days? Without going into great detail, I keep having to go into the hospital for the same thing-for the last 9 years. It sucks and I'm tired of it. I was hoping it would be over, permanently or for a long time, but I only made it a year. The next few days are going to suck.

That's it.

Bring on the snow!

2008-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

We've been having snowfall off and on during the last week. It's been very cold but there hasn't been any accumulation until yesterday. It started before dark and we ended up with four to five inches! The kids had a two hour late start which meant Aiden wouldn't have school. I got Aiden and Izzy bundled up so they could play outside. They asked for stuff to make a snowman and, thanks to my mom, I have a snowman kit in the coat closet just waiting to be used! They were out there for a little bit and then came in asking for help. Being the great mom I am, I budled up and we made a great snowman together. They were done being cold by the time I grabbed the camera so we have no account of there presence... But they DID help! A lot! No lies.

It was fun! And when Ben gets home tomorrow he'll get to see some snow, even if the rest is melted by then.:)

Ohhhh, Africa...

2008-01-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

If you weren't quick enough to catch my funny post, you better read it.

I've added two more blogs to my list. One is Andrew and Aimee Jo's Uganda blog and the other is that of my dear husband. He is a little disappointed in himself for giving in but he swears it is only to communicate while he's on his trip to Togo, Africa with his brothers. I'm very excited for him. He's gotten all his shots and is applying for his visa. He'll go to Switzerland first to meet up with Andy and then the two of them will head to Togo together. They're going to have such a great time. They'll get to hang out with Tracey and the boys and, I think, the three of them (Brian, Ben and Andy) are going on Safari together. Ben will be gone two weeks in February. We'll miss him but we'll be having fun of our own, too!

Anal

2008-01-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

I love being anal. Maybe it's even close to obsessive/compulsive... Really it's like a hobby! I love a clean sheet of paper. Don't fold it! IF you fold it you should only fold it in one direction, and you know which direction that is, and you better have a book to put it in so it doesn't get wrinkly. Then when you get home, assuming you did that out of desperation, you would recopy it into a neat notebook so that you can find the information when needed!

I don't like using two different pens on the same paper. I may have piles on my counter but they're straightened and square with the tiles. I haven' t done it in this house yet, but, I have organized my closet by sleeve length and color. (the first, then the second.) If you scrapbook with me, don't ask my honest opinion! I can always find something that doesn't suit me. It tortures me to look at my first scrapbooks.

I have a hard time being a good mom. I'd rather show them the right way to do it than have them learn by trial and error. It's hard to let them help me cook. I do actually do both of those things but I have to try hard. I also am better about always having to be right. I actually like letting my kids say something completely untrue and leaving it alone. Like, "This isn't the way to the church!" I just say, "okay." Or, "Those aren't your pants, they're dads." "Okay" (But what are they really saying?)

It's kind of funny, though, because I'm not like Bree on Desperate Housewives who irons her pillow cases and who's house is spotless. It's more of an ebb and flow. I can't keep up on my laundry for anything! BUT, when I put clothes away, I re-sort their drawers and take out things that are old or don't fit. I like things organized and want a spot for everything. I'm perfectly fine with throwing things away. I have a tub for saving special things of the kids' (papers and such), but if it starts getting full I'll go through and throw other less important things away. Both Ben and I love a spotless house but do we always do what it takes to maintain it? Not necessarily. That's why I just like to say being anal is my hobby! Is there anything anal you'd like to share that I would appreciate? Julia? Cheryl?

We have seen his glory!

2008-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't post immediately, but Malak exists and we know all about him!!!

Tara and Eric got there referral on Monday, the 21st, and are awaiting a court date to be granted custody of Malak Kidu Silvestri.

We are all so thankful that their waiting is nearing an end and hope to meet that precious baby very soon.

Thank you, God!

Baby, come home!

2008-01-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Pray for Malak, today. He needs his mommy and daddy and they need him...

Open your hearts and your minds...

2008-01-11T10:33:00.001-08:00

In Aiden's stocking Santa brought a small little case filled with words for creating poetry. My brother, Ryan, and I took upon ourselves to create three pieces for future enjoyment. Open your eyes and take in such eloquence, such deliciousness.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Amen and Amen.

They're right!

2008-01-10T14:08:00.001-08:00

Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino

Smooth and sweet, you fit in to almost any crowd. No one would suspect you of being a coffee tweaker!

What Flavor Frappuccino Are You?