Hello 2014

Wowee it's been years since I posted anything! I was going through these old posts and thinking "Wow, my kids are so old." I just have no time anymore to post anything.

These are photos from our family reunion this last year.

 

Signs of Spring

Living in the Northwest I get excited for Spring. I find myself looking for any small sign that Spring in really on its way. Today, I found these cute little blooms outside. Snowdrops!

Last year after they bloomed, I realized I needed to move some of the bulbs since they were growing under and around a hose that drains our basement.

I thought about replanting them in our garden, but decided to surprise my sisters, mom and the kids teachers with small bulbs.

I'm curious to know if they are blooming in your gardens? Do you have any other signs of Spring in your garden?

Next I plan to go out and see if my strawberries survived my transplanting and the cold winter. Cross your fingers! The straw I asked Rick to get for me arrived 2 days after we had freezing temperatures.

Snowdrops are a fun bulb, since they are about the first thing to bloom, and will often bloom with snow still on the ground, just as in their name. Here's some sites with more information on them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galanthus

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/flower/information-about-snowdrops-and-when-to-plant-snowdrop-flower-bulbs.htm

The Forgotten Blog

Maybe this was why we lost our power.

That is mostly ice and some snow on the road.

That large branch was on the laundry room roof. Our sad birch tree will probably have to be cut down this spring.

Ice cold apples.

More of the birch tree.

Another view of the birch tree. Notice the broken top of the tree. Good thing we decided to move our cars the night before.

This morning I wrote a huge long post detailing the events of the last week. It was long and boring. So to spare my family and friends I've decided to give a shorter, hopefully less boring, version.

Two Saturdays ago it started snowing. The kids were super excited. Yay! Snow finally.

Sunday, I was disappointed church wasn't cancelled. Bumped into the curb turning into church. Car not hurt, kids think I'm a horrible snow driver. Still snowing.

Monday, no school. Mostly stopped snowing. Quick trip to Portland to stock up on supplies and spend Christmas gift cards.

Tuesday, snowing. School delayed 2 hours. Portland schools closed. Unfair. Kids build a snowman.

Wednesday, snowing hard. No school, kids rejoice. Snowman looks like a lump out in the yard. No electricity for most of the day. Generator runs pellet stove and TV.

Thursday, snow turns to rain. No school. Ice starts to build up. Kids try to make snow angels, they can't move their arms because snow is crusty. We have power.

Friday, more rain. Wake up to power going out. No school. Power lines laying in our front yard. Snow so hard we can walk on top breaking thru every now and then. Trees start breaking from weight of ice.

Saturday, scariest drive to work, EVER, and I didn't even drive. Thank you Rick. Trees and branches litter the road. Power lines down everywhere. We see flashes of light and then darkness, others are loosing their power. We are still without power. Still raining. Starts to warm up and after work roads are just wet. Basement is starting to flood, run power cord from generator to sump pump.

Sunday, no church. Snow is slowly falling. Made the kids take a quick bath in the kitchen sink. Woohoo, I know why some people would only bathe once a year. Soon after our power is back on. Hooray. Abby and I celebrate by baking cookies and brownies.

Monday, the clean up begins. Sunny! Rick took the branches off the house. All day at work I heard others tell their snow stories. What a blessing it was to own generators and to have extra food. I really missed hot water, but at least we had water, I know some people with wells who didn't have any.

Tomorrow's forecast: Snow and freezing rain. Here we go again. Rick is building a strong case for a larger generator.....hot water....

Happy Birthday Michelle

Michelle is now 8! We had a fun time celebrating her birthday. She invited a few friends over for a cooking birthday party. We made mini pizzas, chopped up fruit and made a fruit dip and then decorated cupcakes. The girls all had fun using a rolling pin, hand mixer and frosting bags. On April 9th Michelle was baptized. She was so beautiful in her white dress. What a sweet girl, we are so proud of her and of her decision to be baptized.

February in Pictures

My Valentine! This picture makes me smile!

Close your eyes Rannie, you may be getting one as a birthday card. I made these fun shoes as Valentines for the girls, they were so easy to make. I think they would be fun for a Cinderella party. Since the paper I used was 2 sided I didn't make the liner.

Peter's Cub Scout troop had their annual Pinewood Derby. Once again he had a cool red car, we still have a whole can of spray paint. We thought the dragons made it look fast.

Here is his car about to cross the finish line, in front of the others! This year his car won a couple races and now gets to go on to districts.

The line up, do you see the dragon racer?

The 6th graders at our Middle School have a fun section where they learn about ancient Egypt. At the end of their course they have a fun Egyptian Fair. Erin and Anna, do you remember this? One of the cool perks-wearing lots of make-up to school. Coming up with extra credit projects was a fun. Abby and her friends decided to paint pottery. During Christmas break I dropped them off at a pottery shop where they stayed all day. If they offered lodging I think they would have moved in.

Here are the fun jars the girls painted.

Abby said she wanted to make a pyramid as her second project, using cardboard and sand. I suggested rice crispy treats. (I must watch too many cake baking shows on TV). We made a total of 7 batches of marshmallow goodness, 4 on the first batch, 3 on the second. Abby lined a square box with wax paper, then we dumped the gooey mixture in and squished it into the corners. We let it cool overnight. Then decided to cut it in half, we scooped out one side so we could have a burial room, complete with mummy, jars of food, Lego warrior, and golden chariot wheels all made out of rice crispy treats or white chocolate. On the other side of the pyramid Abby painted a white chocolate burial scene, showing a person offering food to the sun god.

Everyone seemed excited by the pyramid, especially when they got to eat it. It was devoured in minutes, all that remained were crumbs, much to the delight of the janitors I'm sure.

I told Peter he gets to make the Sphinx in a couple of years.

Other fun February things: basketball. Abby said they will be studying Greece next-Toga party anyone?

A Little Help Please and a Christmas Update

I just have a quick question for those with more blogging knowledge. In the past I was able to change the color of type permanently somewhere in settings or design. But now I cannot seem to find that again. With my new blog background, the regular type color doesn't show up well and I don't want to have to think about what color would show up when i finally post a better written blog post.

We have been blessed with family this Christmas. Christmas Eve Rannie, Dean, Brandy and Stevie came. We had a late dinner of Swiss Cheese Potato Soup. We quickly made a breakfast casserole to eat in the morning.

Santa came and left some super fun gifts. Then more family arrived and the fun continued. Rick's nephew Michael and his cute wife Christina arrived. We opened presents ate our amazing breakfast and started cooking Christmas dinner.

Michael taught Brady how to make Grammy K's special pie crust. I have figured out how to make her chow mien and tempura shrimp. (While eating leftovers Rick commented that the chow mien smelled perfect. Hooray!) Then Cody and his new wife Amy arrived right in time for dinner and more gifts.

We had fun with Marianne's family longer than planned. Thursday we went to a memorial service for Rick's uncle Jim who passed away Christmas Eve. We were then blessed to see more family at that gathering.

Shortly after the service my parents came to stay with us. Erin and her family came for the evening and then came back New Year's Eve.

Our house is quiet now, laundry is mostly caught up and the house seems to empty and quiet without extra family visiting. We love you all and enjoyed having you in our home!

Happy 2011

Christmas Past

This photo is from our first Christmas Eve in Oregon, 1992. Mom and Dad are wearing their super cute matching jammies.

Here are the 6 of us in our cool pj's. I like the matching hats. Laurie did you come down on Christmas Day? Bottom row left to right Wendy, Erin, me. Top row left to right Anna, Mary, Sarah.