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.

A Brithday and a Craft

Please, everybody, look at me!
Today I'm five years old you see!
And after this, I won't be four,
Not ever, ever, anymore!
I won't be three- or two- or one,
For that was when I first begun.
Now I'll be five a while and then,
I'll soon be something else again!
(Marie Louise Allen)

Can you believe it? How is it possible that time can go so quickly? Cristine had a fun day, or as she told me the best day ever. We had a small party at McDonald's with a couple of friends. Then home to more cupcakes and presents.

Last year I saw a similar pillow on a fun blog. A while ago I bought some very ugly pillows with the plan to recover them for my future new couch. I have yet to get my new couch, but decided to go ahead with recovering the pillows. I wanted to be able to quickly remove the cover and put a new one on next month, so I used a button down shirt as the backing of the pillow. I should have taken a picture, maybe I'll remember tomorrow. The kids really like that the pillow has pockets.

The other pillow was made out of a sweater I thought Peter would wear. He wore it once last year for our Christmas card. The pillow cover turned out lumpy and the train is sitting too high. But we like it. I have two more pillow covers to make, I'd like to make one more snowflake and I may copy the quilting blog again and make the felt circle pillow. I just need to track down 2 more red button down shirts.

Pictures from October

We went to Seattle for Halloween. Something happened to my kids and I ended up with a purple haired spider girl, a tiger, a funky witch and a little rock star. We went Trunk or Treating with Marianne and her family, wowie some of the cars/trailers/tents were decorated nicely.

A visit to Seattle dictates that one must visit the huge Cabela's store. We had fun feeding the fish, watching fish swim in the large tanks and stared at the huge number of stuffed animals. We were done shopping long before Rick, good thing they sell ice cream bars.

The park around the Space Needle has some really neat sculptures.

Look how pretty the blue sky is! Sunshine seemed to follow us in our traveling!

More fun sculptures.

At the Pike Street Market. This photo was taken right before we lost Peter. What a scary thing that was, I din't think I'd see him again.

Cristine's preschool went to the pumpkin patch. Yes that is a spider on her head, we had fun making those.

A Happy Harvest

Last night we picked most of our pumpkins and winter squash. Isn't this fun. Now we need to get them cleaned up and put in our house.

This year we taught Abby how to drive a tractor. Isn't she cute concentrating while she backs up.

This is me on the forklift. I am much more comfortable on the tractor than the forklift, but I manage. Just don't expect me to be quick.

What I've bottled up so far this year: Peaches, Pears, Green Beans (woo hoo for using a pressure canner!), Tomatoes, Zucchini Relish and Salsa. The salsa is truly amazing, crossing my fingers that the next batch tastes as good!

I have learned a lot while canning this year. Here's a few things I've picked up. I miss my mother in law. Last year was so much easier having someone else to help peel and slice. Her years of experience know how were really helpful. While canning peaches I think she was nearby prompting me. Have a network of friends you can call to ask questions. I have called several ladies from church, each one has patiently walked me through whatever I ask. Yea for friends! Start with a mostly clean house. That way just one room is trashed when you finish. And finally: when your husband suggests buying the big container of cottage cheese at Costc0, do it. Pears taste so good with cottage cheese and when you have 50 jars....

Watch Out World

Cristine started her 3 year of preschool. She was so excited to see her friends. While taking pictures she got a little impatient with me! Here's a look back at how much she has grown up in three years.

Cristine in 2008, not quite 3 years old.

Here she is last year, almost 4.

Same sign, this year. She has really grown up this year. As you can tell pink is still her favorite color and she still lets me put flowers in her hair.