Triple the Blessings

It's Santa Time!

2011-12-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

For the first year ever, Gretchen likes Santa! She has been excited to see Santa, and at three different places, sat on Santa's lap and talked to him. It's so fun to see her finally get over her fear of Santa. I of course didn't have my camera with me to capture her first successful visit with Santa, but I did get photos of the second two Santas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

We spent the day at my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. Very small affair - just them, our 5, and my sister and her daughter. It was a nice afternoon, and except for the pumpkin pie, it was full of yummy food! We had a lot to be thankful for - the previous weekend my dad had been in the hospital having two more stents placed in his heart after having some very high blood pressure and pains on Thursday night. So we were all extremely thankful to have him there at the table with us.

I hope that you found lots to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I know God has truly blessed my life with gifts beyond measure!

Beautiful Eyes

2011-08-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

The challenge on I Heart Faces this week is Beautiful Eyes. I had a few different photos that I wanted to enter, but I finally chose this one of Gretchen. We had gone camping one weekend this summer, and in a little town near our camping area they were having a festival. We drove in for it, and I found a great little fairy headband for her that perfectly matched her shirt. I took this photo as we sat to have some lunch along the river. I love her beautiful blue eyes, and the sparkle in them when she smiles!

Please click on photo to see it larger.

See more photos of beautiful eyes at I Heart Faces.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

2011-07-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Dad's birthday today. The kids painted a birdhouse village for him, and it turned out really cute! Dad loved it.

Water Play

2011-07-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

We have not done as much water play this year as last year. The weather has not been cooperative for us! But we did find a nice little wading pool in our new town. It's in the main city park, and is right next to the big pool. But this one is perfect for the kids to just get wet - at the most, it goes up to their knees. The kids were very excited to discover it recently.

Daniel

Austin

Gretchen

My three musketeers!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours! Here is how we celebrated the day.

Coppery Beetles

2011-07-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

Uncle Chet helped the boys find a bunch of these coppery beetles on the bushes around our property. They came back from their little nature walk just covered in them - and giggling the whole time 'cause the beetles were tickling them and pooping on their hands! It was a little on the gross side for me - eww! They wanted to come into the house with them, and I told them not a chance in, well, you know! But, boys being boys, they thought the whole bug thing was pretty darn cool! Gretchen thought they were neat too - but from a distance, and not on her hands. Smart girl!

Sports Camp - Final Day

2011-07-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

The kids just complete two weeks of Sports Camp, where they got to learn the basics of basketball, flag football, soccer and t-ball. They had a great time, and made some new friends. And surprisingly, Gretchen did good too, but did really well when I left the field for a while. If I stayed to watch, she just kept running over to me to sit and cuddle. But if I left to go run a few errands, she stayed in the mix of it all with the boys and the coach and did well. They all got new shirts and hats, and had a great time! Here is a pic of all the kids and coaches on the final day.

Farm Chicks Antique Show

2011-06-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of the Farm Chicks. I went to a couple of their sales when they used to do them in Fairfield, and I loved them! But since they moved their show to the fairground, I haven't been able to attend - something always gets in the way of me going. But this year, I was bound and determined to go. After attending my Relay For Life event all day Friday, overnight, and into Saturday morning, I headed out to the fairgrounds. Holy buckets - there were a ton of people there - it was amazing. By the time I got through all the bays of beautiful booths - say that three times fast! - my poor brain was on overload. It was already mush going into the show, after getting only three hours of sleep on Friday night - or really Saturday morning, since I didn't go to bed until 3:30, and was up at 6:30. But after seeing all the fabulous ideas and items, I was really done for. I did manage to snap a few photos, and I did buy a few things, but mostly I got ideas of how to use what I already own. Now, to just get busy and remember all the ideas!

I will try to load up some of the photos later.

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today Daniel and Gretchen had their last day of preschool, and each of their classes celebrated at different parks, of course. Luckily, it's Friday, and James has the day off, so James took Daniel to his picnic and I took Gretchen to hers. It was Daniel's very last day of preschool - he gets to start kindergarten in the fall. So he got a great little diploma to bring home.

Gretchen still has one more year of preschool, and we already have her signed up for the same one, hopefully with the same teacher. She gave Mrs. Sue a little writing journal as a thank you.

Three New Heartbeats

2011-05-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Spokane Family Farm to get three bunnies to add to our little piece of heaven. I had met these bunnies the previous week when my MOPS table went to the farm for a tour. They stole my heart, and since I had told the kids we would eventually get them each a bunny, I thought it was a perfect fit.

They are only 8 weeks old, so we are still not 100% sure which ones are girls and which ones are boys. But I have a friend who will help me get that figured out in a couple of weeks. And then we will separate them as needed!

Camo, Hoppity and Rosy - our new bunnies

Austin with Camo

Daniel with Hoppity

Gretchen with Rosy

A Soldier's Quilt

2011-05-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

I belong to a quilt group, which I love, and one of our most recent projects has been a soldier's quilt. One of our members has a nephew who is deploying for his third overseas mission at the end of May. One of his wishes was for a warm quilt for his bunk. As a surprise to him, our group got together to make a patriotic quilt long enough for his tall stature. We had 20 different people work on this quilt in one way or another - piecing blocks, cutting sashing strips, sewing, machine quilting, binding, etc. I don't have a photo of the finished product yet, but here is a photo of all of our blocks laid out, ready to be stitched into rows.

Today's Albertson's Deal

2011-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

I was very happy when I left my Albertson's store today. I saved 88% on my bill today! Woo Hoo! Here is what I got - and I only paid $5.41 for it all.
Transaction #1
2 Tropicana Orange Juice on sale for 2/$5
less 2/$1 off coupons (I got a batch from ebay, but they were in a Sunday coupon insert)
less 2/Albertson's doublers
Eggs - Free wyb juice
Transaction #2
Stovetop - on sale for 99 cents each x 5
less coupon for one free when you buy 4
Crackerfuls - on sale for 1.99 each
less 3/$1 off coupons (I got these off ebay, but there was one in today's Sunday coupon inserts)
less 2/Albertson's doublers
= 3 cents back from store - yes, they paid me to walk out with these!
Idahoan Potatoes - 49 cents each - bought them as fillers to get the reduced price on stovetop and Crackerfuls

Not bad for all this good stuff that we actually will use! I would have done more transactions, but James was waiting in the car with the kids, and everyone was getting tired! Perhaps tomorrow I'll go back to see what other good deals I can find!

One of the Coupon Posse gals told me about getting coupons from Ebay. I ordered two sets so far - Tropicana and Crackerfuls - and got them both in the mail two days after I paid for them. I was able to use them in plenty of time for the specials at Albertsons. From now on, when I get the Albertson's flyer, the first thing I'll do is see what is super special that I can find coupons for on e-bay!

Oh, I wish I were....

2011-04-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

...an Oscar Mayer Wiener!

Guess what we found today - the Wiener-Mobile! We were in the drive-thru line at Jack in the Box, and saw it go down the road past us. After we got our Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and Fries - yummy! - we took off to try and find out where it had stopped. It was in the parking lot of the University. We parked nearby, and took some fun photos. The kids thought it was hilarious! And then I told them how their Uncle Nick made a replica of it when he was in Royal Rangers. I wonder if he still has that car?

Doctor, Doctor, give me the news....

2011-04-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

....I got a bad case of.....Giggles!
I was putting together my quiche for my MOPS meeting this morning, and I heard Gretchen giggling like crazy in her bedroom. I quickly grabbed my camera, readied it, and peaked around the corner of her bedroom door. I found her and Daniel playing doctor, and she would giggle crazily every time he tried to listen to her heart or tummy!
They were so stinkin' cute! I had to remind them, though, that we don't play doctor below the belly button. Silly kids!

Sunday Family Dinner

2011-04-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

My parents came over to our house today for Sunday Family Dinner. It was kind of raining a bit when they first got here, but after dinner it cleared up. Grandpa and the kids gathered some fallen branches and stuff, and started a little fire in our fire pit so we could roast marshmallows and have s'mores. Lots of fun! The kids are totally enjoying our new country life!

Happy Birthday Austin!

2011-03-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today Austin turned 6! Wow! He was 14 months old when we first met him and the time has just flown by! I am so very glad that God brought him to our family!

I took cupcakes and balloons to his school to celebrate his big day with all of his school friends. They sang him a special birthday song, and then they all enjoyed the banana applesauce cupcakes.

We always let the kids pick where they go for their birthday night dinner. It's just the 5 of us celebrating together, which makes for a very special birthday for the special birthday kid. Of course, Austin chose McDonald's, so we met Daddy there after work with balloons and cupcakes and spent a couple of hours eating and playing.

Happy Birthday, my big boy Austin! You are so special to us! We love you!

Fashion Shoot

2011-03-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Gretchen decided to get in some shooting practice this morning. I think she is very fashion forward in her ballerina footie jammies with her purple hat! And she's already learned quite the stance for shooting. I'm pretty sure she got the dishwasher good this morning with her nerf darts!

Puddle Jumping

2011-03-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

It has been a rainy day today, but that makes it perfect for puddle jumping! Gretchen had a ball today playing in the rain!

New Purses

2011-03-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my quilt group got together for a sew day, and the project I chose to work on was another one of my purses. They are fun to make, but take a little time. And I love how the finished product looks!

Here is the one I made at the sew day.
I am in love with the pink and brown combo, especially with polka dots!
I learned my lesson with my first purse, and now I double up the pellon
on the handles of the purses I make.

And here is the one I did today.
The denim is from an old pair of Gretchen's jeans, and the
butteflies are little bitty pockets on the front.

The inside of the purse. The pink and white is home dec fabric that
I got out of the remnant bin and paid maybe $4 for it, and I
still have some leftover. The inside pockets are made from the jeans legs.

This will definitely be one very sturdy purse!
The sewing was a little difficult because of all the layers
of denim, heavy fabric and Pellon.

Mmmmm - Mocha Cupcakes!

2011-03-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine posted on her facebook this morning that she was making cupcakes - chocolate, vanilla and coffee. That last one triggered a craving in me, so I searched out a from-scratch mocha cupcake recipe with a cream cheese coffee frosting. And here they are:

Mixed and ready to bake!
Baked and cooling!
Frosted and ready to eat!

They turned out nummy!

The kids also got out the vintage Hi Ho Cherry Oh game to play this morning, and really enjoyed it. Such an easy game for little ones, and no electronics!

Safeway Savings today

2011-03-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

I did it again - I coupon shopped with my kids in tow, something I keep saying I will never do again! Makes for some crazy times, and requires a lot of patience on my part and theirs, but the sale I wanted to take advantage of ended today, and I was left with no choice. But for their good behavior, Daniel & Gretchen got a treat of Jelly Belly candies! And I got to get some good deals on things.

I spent $27.49 on these 23 items, plus got a coupon for $1.50 off 6 Lean Cuisine Meals on my next shopping trip.

2 Doritos $3.99 on BOGO = 1.99/ea
1 Snyders Nibbler Pretzels $1.88 - $1.00 = .88
8 Progresso Soups $1.00 each - $1.00/4 x 2 = .75 each
3 Stauffer Meals on sale for $2.00 ea - $1.00/3 coupon = 1.67 ea
3 Lean Cuisine Meals on sale for $1.88 ea - $1.00/3 coupon = 1.55 ea
2 Freschetta Pizza on sale for $5.00 ea - $1.00/2 coupon = 4.50 ea
2 Pillsbury Sugar Cookie pkgs 5.98 - 50% off store sale = 2.98 - $1.00/2 = .99 ea
2 Dreyers Smoothie Drinks - free because I bought 5 Lean Cuisine/Stauffer meals
Minus $5.00 because I bought the minimum of $15.00 of frozen foods

My total savings was $43.02 - woo hoo!

Last Soccer Game

2011-02-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

The boys ended their first round of indoor soccer today, and what a day it was! Daniel scored 4 goals, and Austin scored 3 goals. Daniel has been doing pretty good at soccer, and gets pretty focused on the task at hand, but Austin had a little more trouble really getting into it. He mostly wanted to hang out with the ref and the coach and talk about the game. But he really got into it today, and stayed focused on the game, and scored 3 goals. The look of joy on his face after each goal was priceless! And of course, Daniel was super hyped to have beat his personal best on scoring!

Here are photos of the boys in their Cougar team shirts. Such cuties!

Princess Castle

2011-01-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

One of the presents that Gretchen got for her birthday was a princess castle tent. She decided she wanted to sleep in it tonight, but she only made it halfway through the night before she was ready for the comfort of her own bed. But she just loves the tent!

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces was Winter Wonderland. Of course, I'm a day late in submitting, but I thought I would share my photos anyway. We've had some great snow at our new house this year, and one particular day it was perfect weather to play in the snow. Here are some scenes from that day.

Oh, and I am asking for constructive critiques of my photos. I've got just a simple point and shoot digital camera, so I can't do a lot of fancy stuff, but I would love to hear some good feedback. Thanks! Of course, I'm a bit biased - I think my subjects are the cutest in the world!

Today's Snowy Day

2011-01-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

We got more snow overnight and all day today. These pictures were taken about 2:30 this afternoon, and more snow fell after this. This is why I got stuck in my driveway today, and so Daniel & Gretchen had to stay home from preschool. Austin went to school because they bus was running as normal. We had a good snow day at home - watched movies, ate popcorn, and cuddled in bed. And Daniel & Gretchen managed to have fun with a spray bottle water fight - harmless fun that got the wiggles out!

My Three Little Reindeer

2011-01-05T11:26:00.001-08:00

My brother Nick took these pictures of my cuties when he was over on Christmas Eve. I love how they turned out!

Daniel's 5th Birthday

2011-01-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Wow - 5 years old! It still seems like yesterday when I first met my little frog-eyed prince! He was 3-1/2 weeks old, and had bright red hair (that changed to blonde right after he turned one) and he had little froggy eyes from being born 8 weeks early. And now he's 5, and will be in kindergarten in the fall, and I'm trying to remember where the last 5 years went!

At one month old, 5 days after we met him and brought him home from the hospital.
He was 5 pounds!

With Mommy and all of his presents - he was so blessed!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

It is 2011 - I can't hardly believe it! This was the scene near our house as we drove into Spokane for the annual Barth Family Christmas Party. Very snowy and very beautiful.

Today Daniel Turns 5!

2010-12-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

Today is Daniel's birthday. He got a coupon for a free Happy Meal in the mail, so even though we had a huge snowstorm today, we braved the roads and drove in. Daddy even got off work early because the weather was so yucky! We all met up at McDonald's, and had a couple of hours of just playtime and eating. Then Daddy took Daniel to his birthday surprise - a hockey game for just the two of them. Daniel was pretty excited! He got to open one present today - a gift from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Tim and Aimee since they can't make it to his party. He got "How to Train Your Dragon" toys, and even though he hasn't seen the movie yet, he really liked the toys.

Grinding your own Grains

2010-12-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

Now that we have moved out to the country, I am very eager to start growing my own garden and raising animals. And as we drive through miles of wheat fields to get to our house, it strikes an urge in me to start making more of my own breads. The kids call the wheat fields "cake and cookie fields" because I explained to them once that the wheat that is grown is ground into flour and turned into cakes and cookies and breads. Of course, all the heard was "cakes and cookies". So now, we drive past miles of cakes and cookies to get to our new home!

Making our own cakes, cookies and breads would taste double nice if done using our own grain grinder. I'm entered to win one, and I'd like to invite you to enter to win one as well - or at least check out the one they are reviewing. It's pretty awesome, and I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I might get one!

Go to Happily Domestic to read her review and see what it takes to enter to win one of your own. And check out some of her other blog posts as well - I'm having fun reading all her reviews and getting great ideas from her site.

Timmmmmberrrrr!

2010-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

This is what I woke up to today. Heavy, heavy snow and down she went! Thankfully it didn't hit our house.

My Grandma

2010-11-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

Mona Christensen
July 20, 1928 - November 30, 2009
I miss her so much!

Happy Thanskgiving!

2010-11-24T15:14:00.001-08:00

Here is hoping that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is a photo of the kids all dressed up for Thanksgiving Eve service tonight at our church. Love to all of you!

RIP Dear Sam

2010-11-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it was only a little more than a month ago when I wrote this tribute to Sam. And now, he's gone. He had not been eating, and had lost a lot of weight, and we think he had cancer in his nose, because he had frequent nosebleeds. We finally had to make the decision to let him go with some dignity today. Not a fun day at all, and my poor husband was in the room with him. We love you Sam, and will miss you. But we know you are happy, and carefree, and chasing balls and bunnies, and saying hello to Gram for us. Rest in peace, our dear faithful friend.

In the Orchard photo challenge

2010-10-18T06:45:00.001-07:00

I Heart Faces (click link above to see their site) has posted their weekly photo challenge, and the theme this time around is "In the Orchard". I love this photo I took of my three kids this summer when we went to pick peaches. We did not spend nearly as much time in the orchards as I wanted to this year - life just got crazy busy - but this day of peach picking was super fun! Just me and the kids - no big group event. We had a fun time, and got a big box of peaches - some to eat fresh, and the rest I froze and will turn in to jam when we get all settled in our new house.

Friday Coffee Chat

2010-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, so that means it's time for a virtual cup of coffee (or whatever beverage you enjoy most) and some conversation. Click on the image above to link to more blogs participating in Company Girl Coffee.

Today was a big day for our family. Daniel and Gretchen had their very first "field trip" with their preschool today. Their old preschool, a Montessori one, did not do field trips. But their new one does, and I was a chaperon for the morning. The field trip was to a local pumpkin patch. Daniel & Gretchen are in two different classes, so I ended up staying with Gretchen's class, since she was a little unsure of going on her own . Daniel did great with his class and his teacher. We would cross paths every once in a while, so I ended up getting pictures of each of them during the trip. They went through a corn maze, picked a pumpkin from the field, met Penelope the Talking Pumpkin, ate yummy donuts, learned about apples and snacked on one, and ended with a hay ride around the farm. They really had a good time. Austin has his first field trip with his kindergarten class next Tuesday, and he's looking forward to it. It will also be his last day at his current school - I've got him all registered to start at his new school next Wednesday. He'll still go 5 days a week, but instead of half days he'll go full days. He'll get on his school bus at 7:40 am and then not get home until 4 pm. It's a long day, but I think he'll have a good time. He has already met his new teacher and seen his new classroom. I think it will go well!

We actually got the keys to our new house today and were able to move a load of things into the shop/garage. I got the kitchen half cleaned, but still need to work on the rest of the house. Tomorrow will be a very busy day of loading up moving trailers and trucks, taking trips out to the new house (about 30 minutes away from our current house) and cleaning the new place up. We had our first uh-oh moment with the new house. Workers had come out earlier in the weak to fix a leak in the seal of the holding tank, and ended up completely emptying the 500 gallon holding tank to do the work. Because the seal had to stay dry for 24 hours, they didn't turn the pump back on. So when we arrived today, there was absolutely no water in the holding tank. It will take about 12 hours to refill it. And then, the power kept tripping to it. So, we'll be hauling containers of water out to the house tomorrow until we can figure out what is going on. Luckily, my dad is very familiar with wells, so he's going to help us figure out what's going on. Hopefully we'll have water soon! Kind of a big deal when you are trying to clean!

The kids zonked out hard tonight at bedtime, especially since they didn't get to bed until 1-1/2 hours past the normal time. We played hard and worked hard today, so they were pooped out!

No pictures today - I did take some, but forgot my camera at the new house, so can't download anything right now. I'll try and put some new ones up this week of our field trip adventures.

Thanks for having coffee with me! Hope to see you back again!

Sam

2010-10-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

Sam was our first "baby" - we got him in June 1995 when he was only 6 weeks old. James and I had been married a little over a year when James stopped by a pet store, saw him, and brought him home. He has gone through everything with us. He has always been so faithful.

Lately, though, Sam is really showing his age. He just turned 15 this year. He's been on epilepsy meds (phenobarb) since 1997 and on thyroid meds since around 2001. His hips are going out, so he often falls down, splayed out like a giraffe, and can't work his feet back underneath him well enough to get up on his own. He's becoming grumpy in his old age, and doesn't like to be left outside for more than 5 minutes at a time. He still follows me around the house, like he has since a puppy, but now he lays at my feet instead of trying to climb in my lap.

I have strong suspicions that he will not make it to Christmas. I'm so glad that we are moving to our new property this weekend - perhaps he can spend the last months of his life enjoying what he used to enjoy so much as a puppy - being outside, going for walks, chasing sticks. Or maybe he'll just find a warm spot in the sun to lay down in. I can't imagine how our lives will be without him when he finally goes. I just hope he goes peacefully.

But until then, we will love on him and keep him as comfortable and happy as possible. Here is to my Sam, who has been a faithful friend for 15 years.

Check out

for more great animal photos.

Wait? Is that Jingle Bells I hear......?

2010-10-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but Christmas is only 10 weeks away! Arghhhh! I know we haven't even hit Halloween yet, but wow! I have not even started planning for Christmas!

Do you want some good tips to help you be uber-organized for Christmas this year? Go to
100 Days to Christmas to find out everything you need to do to be ready, and get some great ideas along the way.

Today they are talking about booking your family photo shoot for holiday cards. If you are in the Spokane area, I highly recommend Sue - she does great photos at reasonable prices, and is a joy to work with! She has already done our family photos at our new property, and I can't wait to get them all back. It was a really fun photo shoot. In fact, you can see a sample of what she did for our family on her front page of her website. Go look!

Great shopping deals!

2010-10-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

I finally got my act together enough to take advantage of some great sales at Albertson's. Look what I got:

Value of 87 items $200.75
I spent $28.04 after store sales and Catalina discounts.
That's only an average of 32 cents per item!
I love it!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am not the best at posting my menus each week. I have them done, and hanging on my fridge door, but don't always post and link up toOrganizing Junkie. But today, I am doing it! Here is what we have planned for the week.

Monday - Sloppy Joes, French Fries, Carrot Sticks and Jello

Tuesday - 5 Cheese Ravioli, Meat Sauce, Garlic & Onion Breadsticks

Wednesday - White Chicken Chili, Cornbread

Thursday - Costco's Pepperoni Pizza (on sale for $3 off this month!)
We'll be moving into our new house this night, so we need something easy!

Friday - Chicken and Rice Casserole

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Roast Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Veggie

Want some other good menu plans? Head over to Menu Plan Monday to see other links for menus.

Packing, packing, packing

2010-10-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

It's moving time at our house. We were supposed to close and start moving this weekend, but the sellers representatives have not finished the task list that needed to be done before closing. They were supposed to do three things - find a property marker, install two new toilets, and dig up the well holding tank, fix the crack, and reseal the entire thing. The holding tank is the only thing they have left to do, and because of it's location, it has to be hand dug. They are supposed to do the work on Monday, get a re-inspection on Tuesday, and then we should be able to close on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm hoping for Wednesday.

In the meantime, we are continuing to pack boxes, and boxes, and boxes. We spent a few hours today cleaning out the garage, and loading more boxes into our moving trailer, and actually throwing things away and putting things in a donation box. I'm trying very hard to get rid of things, but that's not always easy for me. I'm too darn sentimental.

Tonight we worked on the pantry after the kids went to bed. I've got a lot in my pantry, but it makes me feel good to know that I've got plenty of food to feed my family in the case of an emergency. I had lots of boxes of Mac and Cheese, so I guess the next thing I need to stock up on is powdered milk and water, and I've got it made!

Last Day at Montessori

2010-10-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today was Daniel and Gretchen's last day at Early Learning Montessori. My kids have been going there since 2008, all three of them. Because of our move, I needed a preschool a bit closer to our new house, so they will start their new school on Monday. It was a sad day for the last day - it would have been nice for Gretchen to finish one year at Montessori. But the new school is going to be really good - we've already visited it, and both kids seemed to really like their classes and teachers.

The kids with their teachers. The school director is in the middle.

Sitting at their snack table.

In front of the school birthday calendar.

The school - they use part of a church.

So while the kids were all in school today - Daniel & Gretchen at preschool, and Austin at kindergarten - I spent the morning running errands. We are getting ready to move, and I had to find more bins to pack my scrapbook supplies in. And I had to pick up a couple of things I bought off of Craig's List - a new Cricut Cartridge for only $20 and a Fireman sleeping bag set for one of the boys. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning out the garage, packing more boxes, and loading them up in our moving trailer. I can't wait until we close on the house on Wednesday so we can start moving our stuff in. I'm looking forward to this new adventure!

I didn't get the chance to post my coffee time this morning with you, so I thought I would do it tonight. It's decaf tonight for me! Want to have "virtual coffee" with some other great bloggers? Head over to Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary to participate.

You Capture - Faces

2010-10-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

You Capture has chosen Faces as the theme for photos this week. I caught this photo of Gretchen tonight, peacefully sleeping in her bed. Notice the blanket up near her face - this is how she always sleeps. She has to have that silly blanket bundled up near her face all the time - I think it is the smell that she likes, although I can't imagine it is very pleasant since she drags it around the house everywhere with her! She's such an angel when she's sleeping! When she's awake, she is full of energy, spit, and vinegar! I love having a redhead in the family - she definitely keeps me on my toes!
Check out this week's You Capture for more wonderful photos.

My Dinner in Photos

2010-10-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

At I Heart Faces today, the challenge is to share photos of your dinner. I don't have photos of the preparation of this dinner, just the finished product. This was a yummy outdoor dinner we had in June, when the weather was beautiful and the perfect end to a summer day was a good grilled pork chop, fresh fruits and veggies, and a glass of wine. Ahhh - I can taste it again now!

To see more great photos, and some fabulous recipes, go to
I Heart Faces. Believe me, I have already found some great new additions to my monthly meal planning!

Austin's New School

2010-10-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

We are not moved out to our new house yet, but I did drive in to the new town and take a photo of Austin's new school for him to see. He's very excited about going to this new school, even though he loves his current one. I think if he could go to both he would!

Hot & Pink

2010-09-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

What do you think? Should I get them? Are they too reminiscent of the 80's? Can I even walk in them? I left them at the store today, but I wonder if I should go back and buy them. They were priced at $26.99. Hmmm......

Gretchen

2010-09-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

The many funny and beautiful faces my Gretchen likes to make!

I'm not tired!

2010-09-30T23:04:00.001-07:00

Yea, that's what they always say when they are near the point of exhaustion. Case in point:

Purses

2010-09-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I've been making purses lately, and I just love them! My friend Patty taught me how to make them. They are pretty easy, and the color combos are endless. I've made two so far, but have bought fabric to make several more. My next step is to start adding a few flower embellishments to them, and buy the closures for them, because right now they are just open top purses. But here are my first two:

Forever Family Anniversary

2010-09-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the 2nd anniversary of the adoption of our three beautiful, energetic, life-loving children. It was a bright and sunny day, so we joined Auntie Brenda and Nicolas at the Valley Mall for some lunch, and then drove down to Discovery Park for some playtime. The kids had a ball. For dinner, we joined my parents and a friend from church for dinner at Red Robin. We gave the kids each a new book to commemorate the day and had a yummy dinner.

A New Home!

2010-09-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we have made a huge leap - we are buying a house. And not just a house, but 10 acres of land along with it, and a large shop/garage, and hopefully, a lifetime of memories. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I've been so eager to get back to living in the country, and God has found a way to grant me my dream. We got it at a great price, a steal some would say, but I know that it was put there for us. Do you want to see it? Here are a couple of photos of it:

The house - look at all the trees around it! And it's so quiet out there!

The backyard - needs some serious watering, but come next spring, it should look awesome.

We close in a couple of weeks, and start moving things out there soon after. I've been cleaning and packing, but need to move it into high gear now.

I Heart Faces Week 37 - Vroom Vroom!

2010-09-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge was to use some sort of vehicle in the photo. I love this one of Daniel on a vintage farm tractor at one of the Greenbluff Farms last fall.

To see more entries, head on over to I Heart Faces

Winning Pillsbury Bake-off Recipe

2010-09-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm a little disappointed. Maybe a lot disappointed.

Some of you may remember - I don't know, all two or three of you that read my blog - that I entered the Pillsbury Bake-off Contest last year. Here is the post about it if you don't remember.

Out of curiosity, I went on to the Pillsbury site tonight to see who had won the contest. This is the winning recipe. Really? Really? It seems this contest has become more of "how can you super simply use our products", rather than how good are your kitchen skills. I don't know - you tell me - what do you think of this winning recipe?

By the way, the recipe I submitted was for Thai Chicken Pizza, with a homemade sauce on a refrigerated pizza crust from Pillsbury, which was one of the requirements - that I use at least one of their products in my recipe. I actually used two qualifying products - the pizza crust and the peanut butter. Would you like to try a losing recipe? Here is mine, although not in such great detail as the one I had to submit for the contest. But you can get the idea.

Meegan's Peanut Sauce
1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
2 T. soy sauce
1 t. white sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 t. dried pepper flakes
1/2 c water

In a small pan, stir together peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, garlic and pepper flakes until well mixed. Gradually stir in water until texture is smooth and creamy. Cook over medium heat until slightly bubbly.

For the pizza, spread 1/2 of sauce on a pizza crust. Put on a layer of cooked and chopped chicken. Arrange assorted veggies - my favorites are julienned carrots, red onions, and chopped broccoli. Pour remaining sauce over chicken and veggies, and sprinkle with a mixture of feta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven according to pizza crust directions.

Enjoy - we love it!

MOPS

2010-09-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

My MOPS Group started back up again today. It was a good meeting, and I absolutely love the decorations this year. I meant to take more pictures of the cool tables and such, but I ended up only taking the two below. I love how they re-purposed old doors and windows into chalkboards. This year the theme is Momology: The Art and Science of Mothering. Our verse for the year is Psalm 139:10, seen in the photo below. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my table mates this year.

Austin's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

What a big day! Austin's first day in Kindergarten. He has been talking about it all summer. He was so excited. He got his school supplies and backpack two weeks ago, and has been showing it off to anyone who came near him! He has been talking about how "I'm 5 now and I know how it works". Such a smart kid! His first day went really well today, and I didn't cry a bit. There were plenty of other moms crying as they were leaving school, but I think both Austin and I were so excited for this next phase of his life that we didn't even think to cry over it. He had all the confidence in the world going into school, and hardly had time to say good-bye. James got off early so we could all pick him up together, and then we headed out to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate the big day. Such fun!

My ballerina

2010-08-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

Gretchen is now taking very beginner ballet classes at the Y. Today was her second day of class. She is very fickle about it. One minute she loves it, the next she wants to leave. I'm finding that if I just drop her off, then go take the boys to the play center and drop them off, I can then watch her from afar and she does fine. It's when I'm sitting right in the classroom with her that she wants to go home. She enjoys the dancing, and does all the moves well for a beginning 3 year old dancer. She's just so stinkin' cute!

Austin's Invention

2010-08-30T00:21:00.001-07:00

Another week, another theme for I Heart Faces. This time it is Photojournalism. Our definition of Photojournalism for the sake of this challenge: Using an image (or images) to tell a story.

I love this series of photos of Austin. He loves to build - with blocks or anything else he can get his hands on. When we went out to my mom & dad's over the 4th of July holiday, he was in Heaven! So many "treasures" to play with. Grandpa tends to have a lot of things around the farm, and Austin eagerly found a quite place away from the craziness and just started creating. I love watching his mind work through his hands. He is going to do big things someday, I am sure of it!

Faceless Photos - today's inspiration

2010-08-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Over at the inspirational blog post for the day was on photos that don't necessarily have faces in them. This brought to my mind one of my very, very favorite photos that I took last summer while at Gearhart Beach, Oregon. Thanks to Twila and Susan I was able to do some fun editing of it. Hope you like it.

Peaches!

2010-08-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

We decided to go pick peaches this morning before our playgroup date. The kids picked a bunch that weren't quite ripe, but we still got a big boxful of yummy ones. Now I'll just have to get them all skinned and chopped up and into the freezer so that I can make jam out of them once the kids go back to school.

They enjoyed riding the farm tractor back to the farmhouse.

We took some time to play in the pea pit. It's like a big sandbox only with dried peas - dusty, but lots of fun.

We even said hello to the goats and ducks on the farm!

Late Night - Early Morning

2010-08-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to call this - it's late at night, or early in the morning, whichever way you want to look at it. Basically - it's an "I can't sleep" kind of night. I tried - I went to bed around 11:30, after watching the late night news. I laid in bed for an hour, after smooching my hubby good night, and listened to him quietly snore away. It's so easy for him to fall asleep - good night, kiss kiss, head on pillow, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Not for me, though. My mind just won't turn off. It thinks about the things that happened during the day, and mostly the things that DIDN'T happen, meaning my unfinished to-do list. It's always so long! And so I get up, and I write things down, and make a new list. Because that's what THEY say to do - those experts that tell you the tricks to falling asleep fast. Yeah, well, it didn't work - again! So I found the season ending episode to Grey's Anatomy, which somehow I missed, and watched that on my computer. And halfway through, Daniel came upstairs in a half-asleep whimper, saying his leg hurt. I cuddled him, prayed over his leg, and tucked him back in. That was an hour ago, and here I still sit. Mind, please turn off. Please go to sleep land. I really, really don't want to finally fall asleep, only to hear my kids start to get up for the day!

Tomorrow - or today, I guess - is another day. I WILL get things done - maybe not everything on my list, but I will accomplish things. And it will be a good day, no matter what gets done. I will play with my children, and I will clean my house, and I will prepare dinner for my family, and it will be a good day.

Good night, moon.

Beach Fun photo challenge

2010-08-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

This week's contest is Beach Fun, and I had lots of fun beach photos from our trip to the Oregon Coast last summer. I chose the one below with Austin looking up. I thought it was an interesting composition. When I took the photo, I was trying to just get all of our feet in it, with all of us looking down, and just as I clicked the camera, Austin looked up. But when I looked at it later - I actually loved it. Hope you do, too!

Fat Quarter give away!

2010-08-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

I love fabrics, and have really been getting into quilting more and more lately. I recently found a couple new sites to drool over!

Jaybird Quilts is teaming up with Fat Quarter Shop for a great giveaway. They are giving away a fat quarter bundle of fabrics from Moda Fabrics - Pure by Sweetwater. These are some very yummy fabrics, and I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that I might win. But I've also had a chance to look over both sites, and have found lots of inspiration and great fabrics. So hop over to Jaybird Quilts and see what you can do to enter to win these cute fabrics!

Shades

2010-08-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

The challenge over at I Heart Faces is "Got To Wear Shades". I chose this photo of Austin taken in February 2009 - all dressed in his fireman jacket and hat and ready to go!

Row Robin

2010-08-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a swap in my quilt group, Frayed Edges, called Row Robin. Basically, each of us starts with a row for a quilt, and then you pass it to the next person, and they make a row to go with it. They don't sew it on to your row, because you'll want to arrange all the rows you get yourself. It has been so fun! Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take photos of the rows I make! At the next meeting I'll have to take photos of all my rows. But I do have a photo of my latest row, and I really like how it turned out!

End of Swim Lessons

2010-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the end of two weeks of swim lessons for the kids. It was a really good two weeks. The kids did an amazing job. They did what their instructor asked them to do, and had fun doing it. And none of them sank to the bottom! I'm pretty certain that Austin thought he was going to sink, but he really did well. They all got their report cards, and the graduated to the next level, but we probably won't do swim lessons again until next summer. But I'm really proud of them!

It's not easy being.....ORANGE!

2010-07-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

This week at Sunday Shutterbugs the theme is O for Orange. I couldn't think of a better orange than this! Photos were taken in May 2009.

Gretchen in her orange finery!

5 minutes later I had to change her shirt,

as she decided to try out my coffee and spilled it all over her!

I took the kids to our downtown park and carousel

for a fun family day, but my hubby was out of town.

I decided to dress them all in orange so they would be

easy to spot if they left my side!

Happy Birthday Gram!

2010-07-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

Picture from Gram's birthday July 2009

Today has been a melancholy day. It would have been my Gram's 82nd birthday. I miss her very much. I placed some pink and white carnations and a birthday balloon on her gravesite today - she really liked carnations, second only to sunflowers. The store didn't have sunflowers, so I chose the carnations. It still seems very weird not to have her around anymore. I miss her coming over, playing with the kids, having dinner with us - just being there to be a part of our lives. It's been very strange without her around these last 8 months.

Gram - you are misssed and loved. We carry you in our hearts forever.

What a fun weekend!

2010-07-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

I love three day weekends! All of our weekends are three day because James works four 10's and so he is off every Friday. This weekend we packed a ton of fun into it. On Friday we spent the afternoon at the pool playing with the kids, and the evening at the ball game with a bunch of friends. On Saturday, after sleeping in and lounging in jammies until noon, we headed out to the local water slide park for James' company picnic - we all had a blast, and Daniel even went down the giant slides with Daddy. After grabbing a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home, I got to go to a bridal shower while Daddy stayed home with the kids. On Sunday, after a blessed morning at church, I got to go to a baby shower, and then came home and got the family for our Life Group picnic at the park. Tons of family fun this weekend, and the kids are pooped out! I love these kinds of days - just fun and family time. It really refreshes everyone.

Here are some random fun photos of the weekend.

Organics at Bountiful Baskets

2010-07-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Spokane Bountiful Baskets have now added organic fruits and veggies to their offerings each week. It is $10 more for organic. Here are a couple photos of the organic offerings they had today.

Sunday Shutterbugs - N is for Nature

2010-07-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

This week Sunday Shutterbugs has posted Nature as the theme. I have two photos for this, both taken near the Bowl & Pitcher Campground on a June weekend of camping. Enjoy!

Camping with Kids

2010-07-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend camping with our kids up in the Colville National Forest at Sullivan Creek, just above Sullivan Lake. It was a lot of fun. James and I have been going to Sullivan Creek since we were first married (wayyyyy back in 1994!) We are extremely familiar with the area, and have probably camped in almost every spot along Sullivan Creek. It's so beautiful up there. We got up there late this time, lunchtime on Friday, so there were only two spots left, both across the road from the creek. So we camped in the better of the two, and our silver lining was that the bathroom was at the beginning of the entrance into our camp spot. Score! No digging holes this weekend!

Friday was spent just setting up camp and cooking dinner and letting the kids explore our area. We did walk down the road a bit to a good spot to get into the creek, and the kids had fun throwing rocks in. Gretchen and Daniel took their shoes and socks off with me and waded in the creek a bit. Austin left his on, and was throwing rocks, and ended up slipping and falling into the creek, getting wetter than the rest of us. But he did it with such grace! He thought it was kind of funny.

Saturday we fixed a big pancake and bacon breakfast, and then packed into the van and drove down to Sullivan Lake (about 5 or 10 minutes from our camp spot) and swam and had a picnic lunch. The kids had a ball with it! We then drove into Metalline Falls, and treated the kids to ice cream sundaes, right after mommy shopped at Sweet Creek Creations quilt store. This is a famous quilt store with a liquor store in the back end of it. Perfect for everyone! When we sat down for our ice creams, Daniel said, "you mean, we get dessert before dinner? Cool!"

We stopped at Mill Pond on our way back to the camp spot and explored the spillway - the kids thought it was a cool waterfall. Although Daniel almost gave me a heart attack when he started to climb the bridge railings to see the waterfall better. James snatched him down quickly, and it was about 10 minutes before my heart was back to normal pace!

Our dinner that night was yum my rib eye steaks cooked over an open fire - heavenly! After dinner the kids were definitely showing signs of being overtired - running around like banshees chasing each other. But we giggled more than we've giggled in a long time! Daniel got a bad case of the sillies, and was just being goofy, which then made Austin and Gretchen silly goofy, and pretty soon we were all laughing! But we finally got them settled down with some jiffy pop popcorn and a great game of Diego 1-2-3. They were all asleep in the trailer before we even got the door closed I think!

Sunday we had a yummy breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, and then got everything packed up. We were on the road by about 10:30 or 11 am, which was good. We topped off our weekend by eating lunch at the Ram Drive Inn across from my old high school - and ran into some of our church friends while we were there.

It really was a great weekend, and the boys both said their favorite part was helping Daddy build the camp fire, and Gretchen's favorite was seeing the momma and baby deer on our way back from Mill Pond. My favorite part was drinking wine and reading my book and talking with James as we sat by the camp fire - such a relaxing weekend!

Sunday Shutterbugs - M is for Macro

2010-07-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Challenge on Sunday Shutterbugs is to post a photo using your macro setting on your camera. I experimented this weekend with some still life shots using my sister's camera. Although I didn't set it on macro, I tried to take some close up photos for a different perspective on things. Hopefully it worked. Here's my submission:

And here's another one I liked:

I'm not sure if it hits the challenge exactly, but it's what I have for now. I accidentally left my camera battery charger in our hotel room when we went to my brother's wedding Father's Day weekend, so I can't use my own camera right now. I should be getting the battery back by the end of this week, so then I can experiment a little more with macro.

The End.....

2010-06-30T09:29:00.001-07:00

....of some busy things in my life. If you know me even a little bit, you know that it is very hard for me to say No to activities and involvement, and very hard for me to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time. But this week I said good-bye to two activities that have kept me extremely busy for the last couple of years.

I have been a member of my MOMS Club since September 2006. In July 2007 I became secretary, in July 2008 I was voted in as the AVP (in charge of Service Projects), and in July 2009 I was voted in as President. I have had a ton of fun in my board positions, but now, as of this month, I am simply a contributing member of MOMS Club. I am looking forward to the change. A great new group of ladies were voted in to board positions, and I know they will do a fantastic job of leading the chapter.

I have also been involved in Relay for Life since 1996, serving as a participant for the first couple of years, and then as Silent Auction chair since about 1998. In 2008 I was asked to be the Relay Event co-chair for 2 years, and it has been quite the ride. Soon after I began my co-chair position I had my brain aneurysm, so trying to deal with that along with planning the Relay was quite the challenge. But it's been a good two years, with two successful relays under my belt. Of course, the Spokane Relay for Life has been going strong for over 20 years, so I don't think I could have really messed it up too badly! But now, I'm done with that as well. There are two new chairs to handle the event for the next two years, and they will do an awesome job! Now, I can just be a contributing member of the planning committee, and concentrate on being team captain for my MOMS Club team.

So I'm feeling very relieved right now. It's going to be weird, not having those responsibilities on my plate anymore, but I think it will be a nice break. Austin starts kindergarten in the fall, Daniel goes back for Pre-K, and Gretchen starts her first year of preschool. So for three mornings a week, I won't have any kids at home. Wow! That will be a change! But one I'm looking forward to.

I'm mobile!

2010-06-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well, kind of anyway. A very good friend of mine loaned me her laptop, and now I can be on the computer at the same time as hubby. It's nice to be able to sit in the living room, catch up on my dvr'd shows, and surf the web, too. I know, very "couch potato" but sometimes my days get so busy and full of things, having some couch potato time at night is very nice! I'll be able to update my blog on a more regular basis now, too. Yea!

New baby in the house

2010-06-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

We have a new baby in the house! Yesterday around dinner time we took placement of a 3-month old baby boy. I found out today that it looks like he'll be placed with an aunt on Tuesday afternoon, after a court hearing. So we won't have him for very long. I don't know what is more of a challenge - taking care of an infant again, or keeping my own kids out of his little chubby face! They just want to surround him constantly, and I think he gets a tad overwhelmed! He slept ok last - down to sleep around 9 pm, up at 1:30 and 5 am for feedings, and up for the day at 8 am. This afternoon has been a struggle for him - I think he's realizing this is not home, and has been very fussy. But he's good right now - he's cooing to Gretchen while he is in his swing. Hopefully those coos won't turn in to screams!

Scrapbook Page

2010-06-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

The kids went down to bed really easily tonight - they were all asleep very soon after tucking them in. So I took advantage of the quiet night, and the fact that Relay for Life is all done, and I spent some time in my scrapbook room. I'm slowly starting to get it all cleaned up and organized. We put one big floor to almost ceiling shelving unit in the room last weekend, and I was able to get a bunch of stuff organized and off the floor. I have another shelf to put in there, the same size, but that one will be for all my sewing stuff, mostly quilting. Hopefully before too long the room will be just as I want it!

Here's the scrapbook page I did tonight. I followed a sketch challenge on scrapbook.com.

Diamond Lake Gretchen
by Inkyscrapper
Scrapbook.com

I won a prize!!!

2010-06-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? I just found out I won!!! Woo-hoo is right!!! I'm so excited, and can't wait to get the prize in the mail.

Now, go check out the sponsor's site - Blue Moon Scrapbooking and see what great items they have for your scrapbooking and paper crafting projects. Beautiful stuff!!!

Thanks so much to Lynette at Desperate Army Housewife and to Scott & Lisa at Blue Moon Scrapbooking for this incredible prize package!

Wedding Mints

2010-05-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

My mom and dad came in to our house today to help make wedding mints for my brother's wedding. I can't believe that in all the years that my grandma was making wedding mints for family members, I never once helped her. This was my first time making the mints, but it was much easier than I thought. They hardest part was getting the color the mints to match the wedding colors exactly. Even my dad joined in and helped mold mints. It was a fun afternoon! After we were all done with mints, we enjoyed a great steak bbq dinner, complete with homemade potato salad and coleslaw. The weather even held out for the kids to go outside to play with James and my dad. All in all, a good day!

Cake, Batter and Bowl blog

2010-05-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Are you a fan of Ultimate Recipe Showdown on The Food Network? If so, do you remember Kerstin from the desserts episode? She has her own foodie blog, and it's got some great things on it. Right now, she is hosting a contest to giveaway a Thomas Keller Ad Hoc Cookbook. Go to her blogCake, Batter and Bowl to enter her contest. And peruse some of her recipes - they sound amazing, especially her dessert sushi ones.

Sunday Shutterbugs - Kiss

2010-05-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

Another week, another photo theme! This time at Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme is Kiss. And I couldn't resist this photo of Daniel and I exchanging Eskimo Kisses. It was taken in June 2009 by my sister.

White Water Rafting

2010-05-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

I joined a group of 26 other women from my church today for a white water rafting trip down the Spokane River. It was about a 5 mile or so ride, and my very first experience on the river like that. We went with a an outfit called Peak 7 Adventures and I think they did a really good job. I didn't fall out of the raft at all, but I did lose my foot grip going through the Bowl & Picher rapids, and ended up face planting in the middle of our raft. Better than dumping into the river! But it was fun, and something I would probably do again.

Wacky Wednesday

2010-05-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today was Wacky Wednesday at preschool, so the boys dressed in some really crazy stuff!

We also decided to go to the Central Y to try out their pool today. The kids had a blast! They have a really cool water feature for kids, and we pretty much had it to ourselves. There were two kids there when we first got there, but they left after about 20 minutes. So the kids had a blast zipping down the slide and splashing in all the water features. I should have taken pictures, but didn't. Oh well, next time!

Busy Day and Monkey Bars

2010-05-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

We had a busy day today. We started off with running to the grocery store, because I was missing a key ingredient to a pie I needed for my MOMS Club meeting. Then we zoomed over to the meeting, took care of business, and then headed to the park. The kids desperately needed to play off some energy! I had all the fixings for lunch in the car, so we just had a picnic in the park. Ahhh, that's better!

James has been working with Daniel on going across the monkey bars. Today, before I could get my camera out of my bag, he started zooming right across! I managed to catch the last half of it.

After the park, I headed over to my friends house to drop off the kids for a couple of hours so I could get some errands done. What a nice sanity break! Ever since my grandma died in November, I haven't gotten those. She was always so good about coming over to the house a couple times a week to play with the kids so I could get things done. In more ways than one, we really miss her! I miss just talking to her, and the kids really miss having her around to play with. She left a giant hole when she died.

After running errands, I picked up the kids and we headed out to the Y for a kids Zumba class. That was a lot of fun! The kids danced around, sometimes doing what the instructor did. I finally felt comfortable doing Zumba! The kids lasted about 3 songs, and then I took them down to the kids drop and play area so I could sign up for a personal training appt. and chat with my friends. Then we left and met James at Shakey's Pizza for dinner. Our church was holding a fundraiser there, and since we had been so busy, it was nice not to have to cook that night. They have great pizza and a fun play area for the kids.

After tucking the kids into bed, I headed out to a friend's house to help her with a quilt project. It will be a challenge, but I think a fun one. We'll see!

So, that was our day - busy as ever! Whoever termed the phrase "stay-at-home mom" was crazy - we never stay at home!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since I've posted my Menu Plan. Here goes!

Monday - Leftover Love - everyone gets to pick what they want for dinner!
Tuesday - Tacos and Fresh Fruit
Wednesday - BBQ Steak, Bakers, Roasted Cauliflower
Thursday - BBQ Chicken, assorted salads & fruit
Friday - Daddy Dinner - Mac-n-Cheese & Chicken Patties while Mommy goes out with her Bunco friends!
Saturday - Parade Picnic - our annual town parade and yummy food!
Sunday - Lasagna for Home Bible Fellowship night

Check out more than 290 other weekly menu plans over at Organizing Junkie - lots of great ideas!

Jump for Joy!

2010-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Over at
Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme this week is "jump". I couldn't resist putting up this photo of Austin jumping at Gearhart Beach, Oregon. We took our first family vacation there last August. I got some really great photos of all the kids jumping, but this one by far was my favorite.

Scrapbook Supply Giveaway - woo hoo!

2010-05-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Another great giveaway! You've got to hurry on over to Desperate Army Housewife blog and check out the Blue Moon Scrapbooking American Crafts Giveaway. Lots of great goodies are up for grab. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes hoping to win!

Bountiful Baskets now on the North Side!

2010-04-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

You've seen me post about Bountiful Baskets here before, and how wonderful I think it is. Well, now they have a north side location - Salk Middle School on Francis & Alberta. Now you don't have to drive all the way up to the South Hill by 7 am to get involved! Check them out - you'll be glad you did!
Bountiful Baskets

Paper Crafting Giveaway!

2010-04-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Please check out In My Minds Eye blog for a great giveaway! She's got some fabulous patterned papers and decorative buttons to give to her readers. Here's a sneak at what she's giving away:

So go check her out!

This makes me crazy!

2010-04-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

It is stories like this that make me so angry! I just don't understand how some people think!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a little glimpse into our Easter celebrations. Decorating eggs and Grandma & Grandpa's house, church egg hunt, and Easter at our house with the family.

Another basketful of goodies!

2010-03-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

I participated in Bountiful Baskets again this weekend, but this time, I didn't have to get up early to go get it! My friend Alyson picked mine up for me. Another great assortment of items: 1 pineapple, 1 canteloupe, 1 honeydew, 4 oranges, 9 apples, 5 bananas, 6 large baking potatoes, 1 bunch of radishes (9), 2 lbs. + 2 ind. carrots, and 1 head of leaf lettuce. Not bad for $16.50!

Operation Write Home

2010-03-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting blog recently, I'm Crafty and they are participating in a Spring Break Blog Hop hosted by Operation Write Home. OWH's blog hop has links to 94 different blogs that participate in their card project - sending blank homemade cards to overseas troops, and sending messages of encouragement to them as well. Take a hop over to see what I'm talking about!

Bountiful Baskets

2010-03-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

I found out about Bountiful Baskets from another blogger, so I decided to try it out this week. It is fairly new to this area, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was very impressed. The produce I brought home was great, and well over the amount I paid. It was run very efficiently - I showed up a little after 7 am, and was in line, checked off their list, and loading my produce into my bag within 5 minutes. The cost as a first time attendee was $19.50 - $15.00 for the produce, $3.00 for the first time fee, and $1.50 handling. After today I'll only pay the $16.50 each time I participate. I came home with 2 bunches of asparagus, 1 bunch of celery, 1 lb. bag of mini carrots, 8 bananas, 4 honey tangerines, 6 grapefruit, 4 small oranges, 13 apples, 2 beets, 15 red potatoes, 2 cucumbers and 1 large bunch of leaf lettuce. I highly recommend this co-op - it was well worth my money and time. And if you are interested in doing this, and live on my side of town, I'd be happy to pick up for you or we can trade off and on.

At the co-op pickup location.

Today's produce

Couture Cardstock Vintage Challenge

2010-03-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Another challenge on Couture Cardstock - this time it is a vintage theme or element. This page is of my grandmother Mona, who passed away right after Thanksgiving 2009. She is so, so missed. She died at the age of 81, and up until her death, she was extremely active, even babysitting my three kids at least once or twice a week. Not a day, a single day, goes by that I don't miss her and wish that she was still here. But she has her wings, and she's up in Heaven with the angels and Jesus (this is how we explained it to our kids, and it's a huge comfort), and we will see her again someday. This layout was of her as a very small child, probably when she was around Gretchen's age.

Couture Cardstock Circle Challenge

2010-03-17T01:24:00.000-07:00

OK - I'm on a roll entering these contests! Today's challenge was to use at least two circles on your project. This layout is of Gretchen when she was just 2-1/2 months old. So teeny tiny! Check out other entries at Couture Cardstock.

Couture Cardstock Aqua/Teal challenge

2010-03-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for the Aqua/Teal challenge for Couture Cardstock. This is Daniel in his first year - I can't believe he is 4 already! I am so behind on my scrapbooking!!! The colors are much brighter in person on this page, but I did use the aqua/teal combination. Check out Couture's blog for more inspiration!

Couture Cardstock button challenge

2010-03-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

I'm entering this page in an online contest - today's challenge was to use buttons. This photo was taken when Gretchen was only 1-1/2 months old - such a little peanut!
The challenge is being hosted on Couture Cardstock blog - go check them out!

My new haircut

2010-03-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to get a whole new haircut today, and I'm really loving it. I think it will be a lot more sassier and fun than my old limp dishrag hairstyle!

Brownies - yummy & messy! And worms!

2010-03-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

At the grocery store today, the kids saw a package of Little Debbie brownies with m-n-m's on them. Oh, they begged and begged for them. I finally told them that if they would stop asking, we would make some at home, which I am sure would be much tastier than the store-bought ones. They were so excited. True to my word, after naptime, we mixed up brownies. The kids had a ball, and I think were most excited to lick the beaters and spoon when we were all done.

It's been a bit rainy this week, which is perfect weather for worms! Before making the brownies, I sent the kids out to play, and one of the first things they did was find a worm. Daniel giggled like a school girl - "it's tickling me, mommy!" They then dug in the dirt to see how many more they could find. I love it when the little things get them giddy - and Gretchen was right alongside the boys, getting as muddy as possible! Sometimes I wonder if she knows she's a girl!