snapshots

Welcome home, October.

   {all photos circa 2007} 

October Intentions:

1. Get back to Squires Lake and see it in it's autumn glory

2. Host an Apple Party

3. Preserve fresh applesauce

4. And pie filling

5. Cozy up the house with the contents of my "Autumn" rubbermaid tote (the usual candles, wreaths, waxed leaves and such)

6. Finish harvesting, then put the Square Foot Garden "to bed"

7. Plant some mums, kale, and fall pansies.

8. Re-open my long-neglected Etsy shop (and sell that cute pea coat Keston is wearing on Ebay!)

9. Plan my knitting-to-be-done projects. (And finally finish those fingerless mittens, sheesh!)

10. And of course, the obligatory jaunt to Stoney Ridge for cider donuts and a wagon ride.

And how about you, what are your plans? Tell me, tell me, and I'll give one of you some sort of autumn-y-ish prize.

Links You'll Love, I am sure of this....

1. Most excitingly - use your imagination here... Nie was in Chicago and can't say the details. PS- Set your DVR's to record Oprah for a while! Oh how I love her... (Nie, not Oprah.) 

2. This lovley lady, Misha, has plenty to say. She's a wonderful writer. And has a wonderful heart, and what an interesting life! Last winter I emailed with her a handful of times, and then needed to drop something off to her. My husband who happened to be in the car said "Do you know her?" No, not really. He was perplexed as to why we hugged at her door, then spent ten minutes inside. She is that kind of person, so sweet, you'll have to hug her. And wow, look what she and her husband are doing! I LOVE this!!  And side note: she lives in the exact same floor-plan house that we used to. But her's is sooooo darling, just read all of her blog for glimpses. I command you. (And please, Misha, seriously, when do you come over to decorate my house?)

3. A little more of the Charlotte Mason methodology. Anyone else out there going this route? The whole (no longer in print) Home Education series is now online!

4. I finally found a $75 off $100 purchase coupon for Old Navy. Check here on Thursdays (maybe roughly 4pm - 9pm) to try to get one for yourself. Hello autumn sweaters! (I've found many $50 off over the last few weeks too, and my Christmas shopping is nearly done. Wrapped even. I kid you not.) Also, just for practice, try this - In the center picture, move the white arrows until Amy, the mannequin with the navy blue cardigan is in the front. Then move the "A" from the Q&A and drag it onto her cardigan. See?!

(I should add, it's not just a matter of finding the coupon, but finding it quickly, as soon as the site is re-loaded each week.)

5. Starting to think about Christmas yourself? Last year I needed something super-frugal, and did this. Go here, BlueTricycle, pick out your favorite stationary print for around $4, then print as many as you want. Get a stack of cardstock and some envelopes, and print to your heart's content, then tie up bundles of them with baker's twine. Your friends will think you are so clever!

Enjoy! Happy Monday.

Tuesday To-Do List

 

1. Make more jam with my ever-bearing strawberries. (And when they said ever-bearing, they meant it.)

2. Finish writing the Student Learning Plans for my kids. First official day   of homeschooling all three: September 14. Please pray.

3. Choose a book for our book club. Did you know the local library offers over 80 different book club kits? It's awesome. You get a box with ten copies of a book, and questions for discussion. (I'm only in it for the snacks.)

4. Give the cat her IV.  Umm, no, seriously.  Our poor cat got quickly sick, due to some kidney issues. Guess who gets to give her a subcutaneous IV everyday for a week? (Never in a million years did I imagine this one.) If you aren't too busy praying for my skills as a homeschooling mom, you may consider praying for my skills as a cat nurse.

Things You Should Know:

This weekend we went back to Squires Lake for our Sunday Hike, which is quickly becoming one our favorites. There are definitely some things you should know when considering these photos....

1. If you happen to have an extra grand laying around, I would sure appreciate a decent camera. A Rebel xTi, please.  2. I love following behind Keston on hikes, because her little buns are the cutest ever. 3. The lovely purple bell shaped flowers are Foxglove, latin name Digitalis,  used for making a drug to treat heart conditions. Don't eat it.  4. The butterfly is resting on some 'pinks', latin name Dianthus. 5. All that kissing is totally staged. 6. We liked it anyway. 7. I retouched the crow's feet on myself in one photo. Holy cannoli, I am getting old. 8. Ok, it was two photos. 9. Mady is almost as tall as me. 10. All good hikes should end at Rocket Donuts.

 

And number eleven: I really, really, love my family.  

May To-Do List:

1.) Get my sorely neglected Square Foot Gardens into shape.

2.) Continue our habit of Sunday Hikes.

3.) Restock my Etsy shop. (Funds are much needed to support my hippie lifestyle.)
4.) Make my summer calendars.  Every spring I print out summer calendar pages, and block in as many activities as possible. I am an awesome mom in the summer! (Read: much to be desired every other season, ha ha.)

5.) More dates with this handsome guy.

6.) Organize the homeschool closet in preparation for three homeschooled kids. Yikes. (If I keep putting this on the list, one month it will actually get done, right?)

7.) Win the lottery, and visit my aunties and cousins in Tahoe. If only I played the lottery.

8.) Find and make lots o' recipes for my newly acquired nutrition (hippie) plan. Conveniently, my sweetest-ever friend, in a moment of me calling her crying, has stepped-up to the challenge with me. Everyone should have a best friend like this. I am blessed!

9.) Be better about getting my kids to help around the house. Some sort of chore system? What do you all use?

10.) Get up and ready for the day by 8:00. Makes more time for the outdoors!

What are your plans for May? Tell me, tell me.

Re-cap: Spring Break

Hiking at Squires Lake & Beaver Pond, Pacific Science Center, running in the sprinkler, lots of swimming at our timeshare, Tennant Lake trail, dog sitting, 'rainbow stew' science project, and sleeping in. My kids are the funnest people to hang out with!

 
 

 

Did you catch that? Me, touching a snake. And surrounded by about 30 others, not in cages. It was super creepy.  I much preferred the butterfly sanctuary. :)

Thanks to Allison, a post.

 

So I can barely find time for posting lately, thanks to Jen's great plan to make me be organized. (I should mention, items #1-4, #11 & 12 are done, as is my bedroom (repainted even!) and guest bathroom. #6 and #15 each are in-the-midst, but nearly completed). Whew! 

Then I just saw another "Friday Facts" at sweet Alliwoo's blog, and decided to be a full-fledged copy-cat. (And by the way, have you noticed people don't say copy-cat anymore? They say, "oh, I was so inspired by so-and-so", which really translates to "I am a total copy-cat!" Anyway. So I am copy-catting Allison. Down to the photo of summer, which I have been longing for a lot this week. I miss my kids with tanned little faces and sand on their noses, and camping, and Slurpees, and receiving sea shells as gifts, and going to the beach at every moment possible. (But not snakes, I do not miss the snakes. I am already worried). Did I mention my other neighbor, not my favorite Jen, suggested Immersion Therapy? No Christmas cookies for you, buddy. Anyway... Friday Facts. Copy-catted, in case you have forgotten.

Thankful for: waking up without a migraine today!

Listening to: Jenson and Keston helping each other brush their teeth, and giggling together.  

What's for dinner: I have no idea! So much for meal planning! The one area I am pretty good at being organized about usually. Must be all my organizational skills were needed elsewhere...

Looking forward to: the end of February, when the Total Home Organization Project is done, and presumably, my house is Totally Organized. We'll see... also looking forward to our refinance being closed. And our resulting debt-free-ness. I will have a party. :)

Missing: Druann and Sophia, so much! Biggest Loser watching is way less fun all by myself. If they were here, I am sure they'd help me make the 100 tissue covers that need to be made, and they would eat my cooking and declare it delicious, and they would knit and crochet with me, and they would make me laugh til I cried, and we would play Scrabble with really crazy invented words.

Coming Soon: Stories and Pictures

• pictures of my pre-birthday dessert party last week
• the story of my auntie and cousin Sophia's stay last week. I miss them so much!
• pictures of pillows and soap and knits and other things made last week with my auntie and cousin
• the story of my dearest friend Jen and her plan to help me organize
• the story of what not to pour down your disposal while organizing, and how to plunge your sink for hours
• pictures of my sweet girl, who seems to not lack confidence much and has a new phrase to prove it
• the story of and/or pictures of my craft area. before and after.

Things I'll do tomorrow:

• 
• hit the refresh button over and over and over, until I see some happy words here! updated: (It's true! She has updated her blog! I've already read it like, five times. Ok, more than that. So miraculous. Her post was the perfect blend of real, grateful, and love letter to Christian. It's so good to pray for something so hard, and see it come true!! See it here.)
• listen to a little Glenn Beck while I do dishes. Bet you didn't know I was a big fan of politcal talk radio. I know, so unexpected. :) Our local station just replaced Bill O'Reilly with Mr. Beck. And he's a Bellingham native. AND how weird, it totally ties into my above mentioned list item. Even weirder, I remembered this photo existed and spent 20 minutes to find it. I am a really good segue-er. I should be an anchor or something. I know, you're still reeling from my admission to sort of being into politics. Just ask me about Blogoyavich or Burris or what is about to happen at Guantanamo. See what I mean?
• not go near the reply all button. Ever again.
• make my house feel a little more cozy, because as it turns out, we aren't moving! Which is actually very good, but this house needs some love. Who can volunteer to decorate it for me? (Misha? Can you hear me?)
• lastly, teach my beloved Jen to knit. Complete with coffee and a playdate for the girls. And when I say "teach to knit" I mean, show her how to cast on to circular needles and do the knit stitch. Because that's pretty much all I know so far. :)

That's all. What are you doing?

Recently added to the to-do list: fire typepad. Why hollow circles all over the post?

Ten On Ten!

I finally did it! I probably was kicked out of the ten-on-ten club quite while ago, for lack of participation. Nonetheless, here it is!

   

 
 
 

 

:: another round of apple picking. Incidentally, Mops friends, Kim and I went out a couple days following, and picked 154 pounds for a craft... can you guess? :: jenson racing me home from the mailbox :: poor stubby candle, and not even soy! :: ingredients from Shari's recipe tossed into the bread machine :: entertaining one little Nicholas, who belongs to my friend Laura. Mady and I spent the whole time commenting about how much he looks like Jenson. It's the Korean coloring and hair. Gorgeous boy, and so polite! :: sewing.... :: done! wouldn't it be so cute in a diaper bag? :: hanging out at the craft team meeting with Kari. (because Steering and DGL's meetings aren't enough! kidding, I love Mops, and even more so, love getting to hang out with my Mops friends). PS- ask Kari about her hot plumber some time. :: Shari's recipe finished and brought to the craft meeting - cinnamon rolls. so good. :: my craft idea that got axed. involving tiles and sterling bales and cute little necklaces.

Kari, you are much prettier in real life. sorry. it's better than the one with your mouth full and eyes closed though.

Ta-dah! Ten on Ten on Fifteen.  

good things

 

spice cupcakes with fresh cream cheese frosting :: licking the bowl ::  soup for lunch :: prank calling my husband at work to ask if he sells treasury bonds :: lavender dryer sachets in my laundry :: a cleaned-out fridge :: menu planning :: a cozy house on an autumn day.

Autumn To-Do List

Cousin of the "Summer To-Do List", here's the autumnal version. (Be sure to check out the links of the ones that interest you!)

1. Make a creepy-gross Halloween dinner. It should include things like Monster Toes and Salty Bones. (More gross food here.)

2. Plan for some kind of interesting treat to be given out to the Halloween kiddies at my front door. Hmm, maybe Play Doh or something even better?

3. Get some cozy fallish cool-weather sweaters at the uber cheap (and clean!) consignment store.

4. Make caramel corn, straight out of the Better Homes & Gardens red-plaid cookbook. Make lots of it!

5. Make my kids' Halloween lunch bags spooky and crazy. (paint & stamps...)

6. Send a sweet little fall care package to someone special.

7. Make my Halloween trail mix. It involves a big clear jar, layers of the usual nuts and things, studded with gummy worms, creepy eyeball chocolates, and plastic spiders. Deliver it.

8. Make paper decorations with the  kids to tape to the sliding glass door, like I always did as a kid. Stock up on orange construction paper.

9. Definitely make these Gingerbread waffles.

10. Drink a pumpkin-spice latte or two.

11. Put the halloween decorations out while the kids are away, so as to ensure oohs and ahhs from them. Note to self: buy more spiders.

12. Pumpkin Patch. Non-negotiable.

13. Hay ride. (See above). And those tiny little cider-doughnuts, too.

14. Get started on a few hand-made or home-made Christmas gifts.

15. Plan a 'Thanksgiving' Dinner party for my own little family, not actually on Thanksgiving, since we are always away enjoying the in-laws company. Our family party is sure to include some games of Bingo, complete with prizes. Because my cool aunties do it. :)

16. Pick one of those fancy dinners from my Vegetarian Epicure book, listed under Fall Dinners, and make everything it says to!

17. Hike. Take an orange pumpkin bucket to fill up with pretty leaves. Dry them and create an alphabet project.

18. Dip leaves into beeswax for cool decorations.

19. Rainy day bowling. Just to see if he'll still crab walk.

20. Buy dahlias from Sal's Starbucks stand.

21. Make sure to BOO a family!

22. Make these Candy Corn Parfaits. (While not so appetizing to me, I think my children would love it).

23. Pick apples, and let the kids make an apple pie for Frank. Or maybe these cute little guys.

24. Put together a box for Operation Christmas (Samaritan's Purse), to be collected by my Mops group.

25. Dracula Dash after church. Fun, fun, fun! (Local event, look under Community events in the Leisure Guide).

26. Make Twig Looms and God's Eyes with sticks from a walk.

27. Inventory and organize everyone's hats, gloves, and scarves. (I keep them all in wicker storage drawers, one per kid. Easy access all season).

28. Pumpkin carving, of course!

29. For our "family Thanksgiving", give the kids the job of decorating the dinner table. Give them some things they can use, but let them do it all creatively, with no suggestions for improvement by me. Pray for me. :)

30. Two words: orange glitter. On everything!

31. Sort through our book collection and change out our seasonal book basket to autumn books.

32. Paint pumpkin rocks. (Little Momma is a genius!)

33. Skagit Valley's Festival of Family Farms. (Or, tour some family farms in your area!).

34. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this documentary about the lives of my friends Monem and Iman Salam. The movie is fantastic, and I highly recommend seeing it in a group setting - it is so much better!

35. Community Halloween Costume Party at the Food Co-op.

36. Attend a Gallery Art Walk, with scarves and hot drinks!

37. IHOP  Each fall we'll go there to have pumpkin pancakes with the kids, (and reminisce about how we ate breakfast there so often while I was pregnant with Mady). Other than that, make lots of home-made multi-grain pumpkin pancakes, sprinkled with nutmeg. :)

38. Crochet tiny scarves for the little ones' Webkinz and stuffies. Seriously.

39. Make a Gratitude Wrap for myself, and little letter-writing station for Keston with lots of envelopes and fake stamps!

40. Plan a 4th (fourth!?) birthday party for my sweet little girl. It should involve her favorite things, deer and doughnuts.

41. Buy gourds at the pumpkin patch to paint. This should fit right into Mady's folk art lesson plans. (Oh! Or make gourd candles!)

42. Get organized for Christmas! This site is great for doing just that.

43. After Halloween, let the kids pick which candy they'd like to save for Gingerbread houses. (It's this or cavities.)

44. Keep searching Goodwill for great educational toys and rainy day activities. Did you know that most of the board games are 99 cents?

45. Use my awesome autumn cookie cutters (from last years Mops secret sister) to dip in paint and make art. Glitter required. (And after that, use 'em for cookies!)

46. Go to Wolf Night or maybe Owl Prowl at Tenant Lake Interpretive Center. Spooky!

47. Make a big batch of popcorn, and watch Charlie Brown's It's The Great Pumpkin on TV. (The old-fashioned way, not DVR'd)!

48. Start the search for stocking stuffers. My requirements: must be useful, and not just junk. Inexpensive-ish is good too.

49. Help the children each make Gratitude Books of some kind

50. Go to the Whatcom Museums Fall Family Day. These are always fun.

Monday, monday...

Awesome things about today:

There's a brand new library branch in our neighborhood! It is gorgeous, and will have Saturday storytimes soon. Happy, happy.

Mady's  'generous stipend'  for her education just was increased to an even more generous stipend! The world is her oyster.

My auntie announced that she's coming to visit me!

I finally called the phone company to change our listing, and to reflect that my husband and I do, in fact, reside together. It has been incorrect for about three years now.  Don't you love getting those dumb calls made?

I did not get any tickets, despite my tabs expiring yesterday.

I washed and detailed my illegal, expired car. (It's an Explorer, but I still say car. Truck sounds weird, and SUV is kind of uppity sounding. What do you say?)

Veggie pizza for dinner.

And it was, like, 75 degrees today!

weekend top 5

1. An MG date with my husband. Next time I'll put my hair back. (Crazy hairs on I-5!)  We walked Taylor Dock to Woods Coffee. At sunset. Romantic.

 

 

 

2. Made good on my promise to take some small people out in the raft. With only minor complications involving a hole and not very good roping-to-the-roof techniques. We were unscathed.

3. An impromptu black bean taco lunch with my friend Hilary G. at Taco Del Mar.

4. A rousing family game of Boggle. I adore the words a certain third grader comes up with. Today: foo and rit. (As in one Rit cracker). Love him. Past favorite words of his during game night are 'bip' and 'ish'. We give him extra points.

5. Our good fortune of leaving the lake after rafting at the same time as the Dahlia Growers Convention was wrapping up. Free flowers to take home!  Which turned out to be just the nudge I needed to make my home bouquet-worthy and gave it a little scrub. Now we're ready for the week!

My Christmas Wish List

When Mady and I landed in Reno, we were whisked away to Cousin Sophia's school, where she is learning to become an aestetician. It was 'Family and Friends Half-Price Day' - a flurry of facials, waxings, and manicures. Oh, Sophia, good career choice! ;)

 

After being made beautiful, we went downtown to the antique store. If you would like a copy of my Christmas Wish List '08, voila:

 

Since I had to save room in my luggage for the famous vintage dishes, I couldn't bring any of these lovelies home with us.

Although, I did bring home a few rocks from Lake Tahoe. Wrapped in socks to keep them from chipping my dishes. Placed in my suitcase next to my necklace with three silver strands. (This is a really good way to ensure that your carry-on luggage will be inspected for bombs: wires + large dense objects.) Super. Thank you Mr. TSA, for not handling my underwear.

Tomorrow: several ways in which to raft down the Truckee River!

Cutting Grocery Bills

All was not lost.... after I left the bread in the oven for double the baking time, I made it into delicious croutons! (Hazards of playing gymnastics-flip-me-over-the chair-Ta-Da! game with Ruby while simultaneously making bread).  The delicious and easy recipe for whole wheat bread came from this sweet girl. For croutons, cut the loaf into cubes. Heat a 200F oven for about twelve minutes until bread feels almost dried out and crouton like. Pour a small amount of melted butter/margarine over bread cubes, and stir well. Sprinkle with garlic powder and dried herbs of your choice. Bake another few minutes until they are crouton-ly crunchy.

Other ideas I am trying, in order to save some grocery money:

• stock up on sale and loss-leader items. buy as much as you think you will need before the product's expiration date. example: big jar of applesauce was on sale for $1, but expires in one month, so I only stocked up on three. for toilet paper at a great price, I'll buy as much as my budget allows. I am storing the extras in bins, away from my kitchen and pantry.

• bake from scratch. homemade whole wheat bread is far healthier and much less expensive than store bought. try to incorporate other inexpensive, relatively wholesome, foods into meals. (homemade cornbread, muffins, pancakes, bread sticks, etc.) Skip convenience mixes and make it from scratch. You can make ahead and freeze most bread items.

• incorporate potatoes into your meals as often as you feel is healthy (depending on how you cook them). Potatoes are dirt cheap. Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato salad, home fries, potato cakes, potato soup. Look here for lots o' recipes. 1933 of them, to be exact.

• if you don't already have a vegetable garden, consider planning a small one for next summer. one packet of lettuce seeds will probably be enough to harvest salads all summer. I find that because I can harvest as I need, I have very little produce waste. zucchini harvests could feed a small army. zucchini recipes here.

• make more meatless dishes. protein is in so many foods, a full vegetarian diet is both healthy and earth-friendly. you might already know several vegetarian dishes without realizing: homemade macaroni and cheese, vegetable pasta salads, bean and cheese enchiladas or tacos, big dinner salads, spaghetti with marinara, veggie or cheese homemade pizza, and many ethnic dishes are often vegetarian, especially indian, greek, and mediterranean.

• keep track of your fridge. don't let foods spoil.

• eat "out of the pantry" by utilizing what you already have on hand. use this site to help you figure out how to turn those random foods into yummy meals. spend the saved money to stock up on those loss-leader foods for later.

• batch cook. buy foods in bulk quantities, cook many servings, and freeze the rest for later. try any of these sites for help.

• make your own household cleaners and laundry soap. very easy and super cheap.

• we have made the decision to fore go most organic items (with the exception of the dirty dozen) for right now, even though we'd prefer mostly organics. you have to do what you have to do what you have to do sometimes.

• stretch your meals by adding eggs, rice, or beans. each are quite inexpensive and healthy. buy large quantities at a restaurant supply store. (often much cheaper than warehouse stores).

• have "breakfast for dinner" every once in a while. my kids love it, and it is really inexpensive to make pancakes and omelets. (or waffles, scrambled eggs, quiche, french toast, etc.)

• plan, plan, plan your menus, and take a list with you to shop and keep on track.

What do you do to save grocery money? Please share!

Friday's glimpse of summer : edition one

Making progress on our to-do list.

A stay at Homestead :: A trip to Whistler :: a free movie at Regal (Doogal) :: Ice Cream at Edaleen's (40 cents now!) :: spray park picnic (freezing!) :: bike riding :: picking local strawberries :: campout in the backyard (my whole body hurts) :: reading in the grass :: paper making at the library :: library reading program kick-off party :: walks with my husband in the evenings. 

A very good start to our summer, indeed.

Summer Plans and Activity Ideas

Each spring, just before summer gets into full swing, we make a list of all the things we want to do in the summer months. Then we fill it all into a calendar, just to make sure we get to do everything we want, without the days slipping by.

{To make your own list, start by looking in the Sunday papers for ads of local events, and then look to your Parks Department for free activities and community events.} Click on the links I have added, there are lots of great ones!

Here's our '08 list:

1. go camping, at least twice. (tips here.)
2. make smore's in our backyard firepit.
3. birthday parties for Jenson, Mady, and Frank
4. have a memorial day bbq (recipes here.)
5. go to Jetty Island
6. spend a day at Forest Park, including swimming and petting zoo
7. road trip to Ocean Shores to use our timeshare 'bonus'
8. use our timeshare 'bonus' in Lynden at Homestead
9. many trips to Bloedel for beach play
10. trip to Granville Island
11. Whistler business trip
12. read books in the backyard on blankets with iced tea
13. garage saleing to hunt for fun outdoor toys
14. make our own ice cream
15. go for drives in the MGB with the top down
16. Birch Bay Discovery Days parade
17. Buy candy and snow cones at the C Shop
18. waterslides (my own childhood favorite!)
19. participate in the Barnes and Noble summer reading program
20. Participate in the public library reading program
21. go to a couple outdoor movies
22. go to the free Regal children's movies
23. have an Alex's Lemonade Stand
24. Square Foot Garden
25. picnics at out local water spray parks
26. many walks along Taylor Dock, with treats at Woods Coffee
27. Faith Academy camp
28. Relay for Life
29. plant more trees in the backyard
30. shop farmer's markets
31. go to the zoo
32. play horse shoes at Cornwall park
33. Park days with our Mops group
34. Edaleen Dairy for the famous 35 cent cones
35. pick strawberries, blueberries and raspberries locally
36. take many beautiful photos
37. Children's Art Festival, a yearly tradition
38. chalk art festival
39. many walks to Starbuck's with Jen
40. Brown Bag Children's Concerts
41. trip to Tahoe! (aunties, when do you want us?)
42. watch my uncle Johnnie play. He's a rockstar, you know,
43. swim in Lake Tahoe (aka - lay on the beach like sea lions at Skylandia)
44. 4th of July picnic and fireworks
45. invite myself to harvest lovely flower starts from my 'adopted mom's' garden
46. take our little raft out in Lake Whatcom
47. try lots of new recipes for 'summer' foods with our SFG harvest
48. hike
49. day trip to Friday Harbor
50. summer art projects

Oh Happy Day (aka: the longest post evah)

I get such delight in the details, sometimes! Today was a great day for me, in that aspect. Let me tell you...

a. Mady and I received our parcel from Sophia'sFlowers (etsy shop). We ordered two very adorable pens. Mine has a sweet bird on top, wrapped in satin ribbon, and Mady's is a white flower, click pen. But then there was an extra pen for Mady included, with a gorgeous orange peony, with her favorite color (green) ink and ribbon! Sophia has a wonderful shop, she is very talented. And she is my cute cousin, too. :)

b. I ran out of coffee this morning. Had to use a mix of half decaf to make enough for a cup. So this afternoon I was getting a wee little headache (yes! addict, I know!).  I headed to the supermarket for some more compost and a latte. The happy part -  on the counter at Starbucks, was a little pail of free samples of coffee beans! Serious delight! AND to top it off, the barista had an extra shot of espresso, and added it to my coffee at no charge. Those little things are true happiness! I get so excited about great customer service, I really do!

c. Jenson was up vomitting during the night. That part, not delightful. But today, he has been fine, and that part is, in fact, extremely delightful, to both Jenson and I! I am wondering if he ate something that didn't agree.

d. Kelly McCaleb is square foot gardening too! Yay, a whole group to learn from! The kids and I have been working on it, and have one box almost complete, two to go. I was dragging my feet on getting it going (all the bursts of snow weren't all that encouraging either!), but now I have renewed energy for it! Go to Kelly's blog is you want to Garden-Along!

e. Great Wolf Lodge. It would be about time that I told you about that! (It was quite nice, although it was over a week ago.) If you go, here are our tips: bring a husband type. I did it with just the kids and I while Frank stayed home to work. It was fine, but another adult would have been even better as far as logistics of waterpark go. The website is nice becuase you can easily see the rates of each day, midweek versus weekend, etc. We went at the cheapest time, a Monday, and stayed in the low-budget room, the Family Suite. I wouldn't have changed that. There are more expensive rooms with bunk beds and separate TV's for the kids, but we were there to get away from TV and separateness anyway! All the rooms are brand new, and I thought it was fine. There was a fridge and microwave, so I highly advise you to take at least your own breakfast if you want to cut your costs a little. The buffett restaurant was expensive, but it was good. You are somewhat a captive audience once you get there. It is in the middle of nowhere, plus you don't want to keep changing your clothes and drying your hair to leave the lodge. My kids did loads of chores before we went, and earned spending money for the arcade and souvenirs too, and they had fun playing skee ball and air hockey. :) As for the waterpark, it was fantastic! Very clean, and no floating band-aids that I saw. (My worst pet-peeve gross thing!) I think our favorite part was the wave pool. And that it was so warm. I only did the waterslides a couple of times myself, because I had to stay with Keston, who was too short/scared for them. There was a little kids area that she really liked. In this photo, you can see the spot where a giant bucket of water tips every ten minutes. That was fun.

Here are scenes from the wave pool. (I had already gotten dressed at this point and was watching them from above). It is a nice gradual deepening, like a beach.

Very Important Tip: At first, when we got in the wave pool, I thought it was going to be too torturous to Keston. The waves were nuts, slapping into us, and going in her eyes. If you are big, that is pretty fun. But if you are little, or have a little person on your lap, just go out into the deeper area, and the waves are much calmer, and very fun for the little peeps.

Here's the little kids' area:

And here are a few, just random overview shots. Oh, and Flat Stanley. And other random things... (No diving, Stanley!)

Ok, I realize this is getting borderline torturous. Like watching someone's vacation slides. But don't you like to know what to expect? Well, that's it. Fun place. And that is all for my happy day. :)

double or nothing

Since I was tagged by Tamara about a month ago (or longer, Tamara?) and Andi more recently, I'll give you double the random facts because I was so slow to do it.

1. I am hostessing a home sales party thing next week, for the first time. I rarely even go to those parties, but this one was really fun so I decided to do one of my own. It's for A Taste of Home Entertaining. It's cute stuff, not too pricey. Please come. Shameless plug, yes!

2. I was in Project Success in elementary school. It was a gifted program, and it was a full day each week at another school with other smarty pants kids. How's that for an unknown fact? I betcha never would've guessed! I like to blame chemotherapy on my current intelligence status.

3. After graduating from high school, I moved to New York to be a live-in nanny for a family I had never met.  There were four kids, from 8 weeks to four years old, and I stayed for a year. They seemed to trust me with all of them. Oh, until I turned my back on the little one who tumbled down the stairs. He was unharmed, but I got yelled at quite nicely and felt really bad. But really, who leaves an 18 year old with four children under five?

4. I worked at McDonald's in high school, for about two years. Everyday on my break I ate a plain Quarter Pounder With Cheese and some fries with honey mustard. One day, I was taking an order out to the parking lot (the Filet o' Fish wasn't ready, so the car had to be parked and wait). I was hit by my manager in the street. (I hit the windshield, dented the hood of her car, and landed on the pavement). I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, still wearing my drive-thru headset. I got a relatively small insurance settlement, considering I was run over and all. This was a year after going into remission from cancer. Nine lives? I am now a vegetarian and don't run in parking lots.

5. I do not like fruit, milk, green beans, meat, black olives, yogurt, jam, brocolli, ketchup, raisins, or wine. I do like cheese.

6. I was a typical over-achieving firstborn child. Spelling Bee winner in 6th grade. (I got new rugby pants to wear to the district competition).  I sold the most Camp Fire candy in the Samish Council in 5th grade. For which, I earned a credit to spend on Camp Fire catalog stuff. My favorite Camp Fire candy? Almond Roca. One year we sold pepperoni ropes, too. Weird.

7. Most of my jobs revolved around restaurants or kids. I've been a camp counselor, McDonald's worker, Domino's driver, nanny to three families, day care owner, restaurant waitress, caterer, marketing coordinator and owner.  And for extra fun, a duty free employee selling cigarettes and alcohol to truckers and canadians, and a scrapbook store employee. Sidebar: A couple years ago, I "filled-in" at a local mexican restaurant where we knew the owners. Because of my restaurant experience, they figured I could fill in for them while they were on vacation. I showed up to my week of work, to discover that I was the only front of the house worker for the week. Front of the house not only included seating, serving, and bussing, but, oh yes, bartending. I still don't really know what goes into a daquiri, I just winged it all. And the kicker? Their whole computer system for putting back the food orders and getting guest tickets, was in Spanish. I made giant tips that week from many people who felt very sorry for me. Fun times.

8. I'm left-handed, and have no spleen.

9. In addition to cancer at 14, I had a more 'random' cancer at age 19. Get it? Randome Facts, random cancer? Clever, I know. Anyway, when I was 19 and living in New York, I had a cancer called Muco-Epidermal-Carcinoma. It was a tumor in my mouth, and an "easy" cancer - just surgically removed and a few days in the hospital. Doctors thought it was probably the result of radiation treatments. See, nine lives wasn't really a stretch.

10. Unlike many of my friends who did this meme and said they have never been drunk.... I lived two minutes and walking distance from the Canadian border when I was twenty. The drinking age is Canada is 19. Working at a Duty Free store didn't hurt the cause either. But similarly to those other friends, I haven't broken any bones either. Weird, considering my many other ailments.

11. My husband is half-Korean. He said he knew it was true love when I ate Kimchi and liked it. But then it got out of control, and I put it on top of baked potatoes, which apparently crosses some Korean lines and isn't very appropriate. I am zero Korean, so I didn't know...

12. I am severely afraid of frogs and snakes, but don't mind spiders and bugs. 

13. When Mady was three, she and I went on a commercial fishing boat (F/V Reality) with my 'adoptive' family to Alaska.  We got to see them do a couple openings, and watch the whole process from catching the salmon (seiner) to unloading on the tender boat. The scenery in Alaska is incredible, like nothing I have seen before.

14. I adore being a mom and a wife. I guess that isn't an unknown fact or even random, but I can't come up with anymore. I did get up at 4:30 this morning after all.

So there you have it. I tag: Tami S. and Stephanie Z.

things to do at 5 am:

I layed in bed for a while, then decided to just get up. I drank some coffee, ate some health food. (English muffin with butter and brown sugar). Adjusted some Typepad settings. Now, I think I'll add the many photos I take every day, which I never get around to posting. Lucky you. Or not. No guarantee on content quality. :)

1. Spa Day at Mops....

Spa Day is always good. Free lattes, pedicures, hand treatments, games, presents... hard to go wrong, really. Some people even won massages and haircuts, or got parafin hand treatments. (If you are local and interested in Mops, let me know, I'll send you in the right direction. Mops is a faith based organization - but you need not belong to a church or even be a Christian to participate. Everyone is welcome!)

2. For Auntie Debbie and Sam: Thank you for the giant box of KNex. They get much love around here. (Transformed into a bike and a scooter yesterday).

3. Keston thinks she is a model.

4. And a princess.

5. Dates with Jenson. (I've been making extra effort to spend time with him since the girls are home with me all day. Poor middle child...)

6. My birthday tea party was fun.

7. My new nephew Max is cute and tiny.

8. Bittersweet. We owned this restaurant and two others for many years.  Frank and I met here, 14 years ago. Bitter -  I looked in a few days ago and saw that it had been gutted. We assumed it was going to be torn down and replaced with a strip mall, but it looks like it is being renovated instead. But the sweet is, selling was the best decision we ever made. Life is so much better for our family without a 24-hour responsibility, or worrying about weather, Canadian exchange rates or play-off games affecting our livelyhood. We have family dinners every night, weekends off, and fifty times less stress.

And now that it is time for my kids to wake up, I am conveniently tired. The End.

Joy

This post made me see it this morning, all that I have and am blessed by:

• A healthy family
• A happy home-schooling almost-teenager
• A sweet little girl that asks "Mommy, can you hug me?"
• A responsible, hard-working husband who has left for work, to a job he loves
• A good cup of coffee
• A sweet little boy who waved at me as he was running into school
• An able body
• A warm home stocked with food and necessities in a safe neighborhood
• A dependable vehicle and the means to pay for gas
• Access to medicines
• Blogs that inspire me
• Rain to grow my beloved daffodils
• Friends and extended family
• Having plenty to share
• The option to be home with my kids
• Modern conveniences of a washing machine, dishwasher, and shower
• The ability to find joy daily

The Goals. 2008.

• walk a 5k race. then a 10k maybe.
• work my way through the lotta jansdotter book and complete most of the projects.
• make time for yoga.
• read proverbs each day.
• read Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas..
• make natural cleaning products and vinegar/baking soda concoctions instead of using toxic cleaners.
• make stuff. a lot of stuff. it keeps me happy.
• take showers earlier in the morning. I always put it off because I hate the time involved in drying my hair and putting on makeup.
• offer more grace and benefit of the doubt.
• home improvement: make the side area of my house look nicer. maybe plant grass or a privacy garden, or bring the fence up. add more grass to a weird spot in the back yard.
• save up for a digital Canon Rebel XTi, and study photography. I am thinking maybe start the fund with proceeds from putting my kids outgrown clothes in the consignment store, and paychecks from Edward Jones. also, donations gladly accepted and tax deductible. just kidding.
• open, install, and use my Photoshop Elements from last Christmas. Yes, '06!
• find a swimsuit that I really like
• get something else published in a scrapbook magazine. ok, let's just start  with submit something else to a scrapbook magazine.
• be an energetic mom, even when I don't have energy.
• be an encouraging wife.
• be a better listener. also, spend less time with my foot in my mouth. that would be really nice.
• commit random acts of kindness in secrecy.
• add more cutting flowers to my gardens.
• grow a proper "square foot garden" or two.
• take a trip to the east coast. or somewhere.
• engage my kids in more art.
• research about compost barrels and rain barrels. purchase one if it seems like a good idea.
• hike.
• learn how to be a mom to a teenager and give said teenager the appropriate freedom while not having a stroke.
• keep my house in better order, more on a maintain level, rather than hours of cleaning level. clean as I go.
• utilize my cookbooks more. I have so many great ones, but I keep making the same meals.
• use sunblock every day on my face, and moisturize every night.
• facilitate for my kids to have their friends over more often.
• keep my car clean
• have more time for purposeful relaxing.
• drink more Yerba Mate and organic green tea for health.
• make emergency kits for home and car

Oh, and a few more I had forgotten:  Learn to needle felt some cute things.  Take better care of my hands and nails.  Add more plants to my home for air quality. Clean and organize my garage, once and for all!! Have occassional and/or frequent tea parties with my kids. Be much better about thank-you cards. (I truly am so grateful for gifts and kind acts, yet I let written and addressed thank you cards sit around, unmailed, for ages. It is ridiculous, really). Have a better stocked gift-closet of generic, but still lovely, gifts for unexpected parties. Keep my front door pots looking nice for each season.  Keep my craft supplies better organized and less spilling out of closets. Geocache more often with Jenson, he loves it so much. 

the '07 favorites

• met my beautiful, smart, strong, talented, funny, wonderful cousin Sophia
• fun trip to Reno + Tahoe
• acquired my lovely set of vintage dishes
• celebrated my 21st year of being a cancer survivor, and participated in Relay For Life
• got published in a scrapbook magazine
• transitioned my family to eating organically
• potty trained my last baby
• finally had vericose veins removed
• taught scrapbook classes
• got a settlement for my 2005 car accident
• started with medication for migraine prevention with huge success
• found out that I'll become an auntie soon
• bought my husband his dream car for his birthday (a '76 MGB, funded with my settlement)
• took fun family road trips to Leaventworth and Whistler
• finally got a real birth certificate
• received a beautiful new wedding ring for my 13th anniversary
• became a maniac recycler and reduced our trash out-put by half
• painted a green bathroom and more red walls
• built a firepit and planted a tree in my backyard
• became completely free & clear of izzy's pizza, and have no liability. whew.

Happy New Year!

a little shopping roadtrip

my favorite things about yesterday-

• panera for lunch. delicious.
• nordstrom + nordstrom rack
• urban outfitters
• a replenished supply of bare minerals
• my kids throwing pennies into fountains
• plato's closet - thrift/consignment store extraordinaire
• my little ponies for keston
• and legos for her brother
• old spaghetti factory for dinner
• long drives, to and fro, with happy, sleepy, and content children

  

A dozen things -TO DO- instead of blogging

1. Straighten closet. (This one is a little sad.  I am the only one using this closet, so every bit of messy belongs to me, with no one else to blame it on. Sad, right?)

2. Take apart one little girl's crib. (Even more sad!)

3. Laundry.

4. More laundry.

5. Mop floors.

6. Clean out fridge.

7. Finish two birthday gifts.

8. Finish invitations to birthday party for Mady.

9. Date with husband at Anthony's.  (With much thanks to some very sweet MOPS girls!)

10. Play with one cute 2 year old. - Hmm, I feel bad to cross it off!  It's a permanent to-do!

11. Finish batch-cooking manicotti.

12. Sort through paperwork basket.

#1.  - check!

Edited: Is it wrong that I am totally motivated to cross things off a public list?  Yes?   Thought so. But look..