Watch Us Grow!

The money counter

2012-01-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, there are times like this where blogging comes in handy, because I'm pretty sure Grandma is the one who is going be looking for these pictures :)

This was definitely Rebekah's favorite birthday gift. I wish the two blurry pictures would have turned out better but I was taking them with my cell phone in a dim room with lots of movement! You get the idea though...

Blogging burnout

2012-01-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

At this point, I really just want to load every picture I have taken into snapfish and order one of each and be done with it :)

I've been cleaning house since we got back from Minnesota, yes, thanks to a little unknown flea problem we had brewing here! In doing so, I set our photo albums in the living room. Rebekah has had such a good time paging through them and I like having them out too. But most of the pictures stop when she was about 3. I'm guessing that was about the time I started heavy duty blogging.

I also think that when I started blogging, facebook wasn't being as heavily used. The blog was a way for me to keep my Minnesota family posted on our doings...but now the blog feels a little redundant. So for those one or two people who read this, and are lamenting an update, that's what's going on in my pointed little head!

Now back to facebook :p

Surprise trip to Minnesota 2011

2011-12-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

My last post was a bit of a spoof. I wrote it while we were in the middle of Montana, and I wrote it to make sure my Mom wasn't going to suspect anything...we were on our way to surprise her! And surprise her we did. Thanks to Rory, we were on the porch before she suspected a thing and in the house before she had a chance to process what she was seeing!

Rebekah was so excited to be in Minnesota, but she didn't grow up in cold weather. Apparently she's fairly numb because the next morning my Mom found her out on the porch and took a picture of her, and then a picture of the thermometer....

Really, bare feet?

So much to learn about Minnesota in the winter. The concept of ice fishing produced a rolling belly laugh from the back seat when I asked her if she knew what those little houses out on the ice were, and explained it to her. Then she thought she needed to take off her heavy coat to go into the store because she would look like a "dork". Also? Make sure you leave your regular pants on when you put snow pants on :) The education continues...

2011-12-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

I have one picture for December in my picture file. Sad. I will try to fix that this week, I promise! I do have pictures on my phone, I just have to email them to myself and save them to files and get them uploaded here. Don't you think with technology there should be an easier way?

Everyone is so busy this time of year, us included. But Grant had a nice birthday on the 17th, Rebekah just had a Christmas party for gymnastics that she raved over (I have a couple of pics of that on my phone) and I've been busy with church stuff and getting packages sent to loved ones across the miles.

The house is never clean all at once these days but if you drop in you might find one room clean at a time...lol

Then along comes January with a birthday party for Rebekah and the February my Mom comes to visit and we take her with on our trip to Tucson to visit Ashley...I have a lot to look forward to! I better figure out a better system for the pictures! :)

Sick for a week...

2011-12-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday night marked the first clue of my not feeling so well...we are now at Saturday morning and though I'm better, I'm not 100%. I very rarely get hit this hard with anything but man this week has been tough!

So, no pictures, no crafty wonderfulness, no recipes. Just crickets and tumbleweed.

Some things are going to HAVE to get done around here today. Like the bathrooms NEED to be cleaned! I NEED to wrap some gifts and get them in the mail. And some baking NEEDS to happen! I have way too much to do to be sick.

2011-12-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

Last week Rebekah and I went to the church to help with Christmas decorating. Rebekah's job was to help put "snow" under the trees...this seemed like a perfect photo op :)

2011-11-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight I taught her how to play checkers. She beat me the first game with only small hints, I won the second game giving her no hints but she is a tough opponent and will be winning fair and square in no time. The brain, it works!

Mail call!

2011-11-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

It's a little shaky and low quality, I was still in bed having the first cup of morning coffee when I called her in to see what Grandma had sent, but you certainly get the idea...she was happy! These are the special pretzels she asks my Mom to make almost every time she sees her.

I let her eat half of the small bag before I cut her off this morning :)

She then sat down on the bed to read the new Ranger Rick magazines that were in the box...

good call Grandma! She likes them a lot!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

Well..I didn't take pictures, but there was a turkey! And it actually tasted pretty dang good :)

We had a friend join us for the holiday, who happens to be from Minnesota, so that was really nice! She introduced us to Skip Bo and Sequence (I loved both!) and she loves games as much as I do so I suspect we will be getting together in the future for game time!

The day started with some sad news as my Mom and Dad lost one of their llamas to illness. I felt for them, for the loss they had to deal with first thing in the morning and all of the tasks that entails, I cried. And then I was immediately thankful that we weren't mourning the loss of a child or a loved one who is deployed as other people are dealing with during the holidays. I feel incredibly blessed.

I'm so thankful everyday for so many things. My daughter, all grown up and moved to Arizona now, called me this morning (thankful!) asked me what I was thankful for. I told her, most of all, I'm so thankful that I have the ability to be SO THANKFUL for every little thing in my life. I mean, sometimes I wake up and I just think...Thank you God, thank you for our home, for my family, for the daylight! Thank you for the breath that sustains me!

Grateful that I'm not waiting for anything to make me happy. I am happy. In good times and bad. In all things, give thanks. There is always always always something to be thankful for.

Love you all near and far.

2011-11-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

My friend, Ms. Robin, hates to have her picture taken, which confuses me because she is such a beautiful person. But I have learned that if the picture includes Rebekah, she'll tolerate my snap happy ways!

The art shown here was from a tutorial here fall tree . We really can't keep all of the art projects Rebekah does, so I always ask her what she wants to do with it when she's done. Sometimes she wants to keep it, but usually she already knows who she wants to give it to, this time she wanted it to go to Ms Robin...lucky lady :) I happen to know she's already bought a frame for it.

I don't have any art projects planned for today...we seem to be playing catch up. Rebekah has had a low grade fever and headache for two and a half days, today she's in her room working on something that required glitter and later came out for a broom and dustpan. I really can't bring myself to look and I also don't want to interrupt her. So when she's done, we'll go to the library and maybe this afternoon do school work.

So far today I have done laundry, 2 loads of dishes, made juice, used the pulp to make 2 loaves of pulp bread, made smoothies with the left overs going into popsicle molds, cleaned the cat box and the fridge, fed the kid breakfast and sent a couple of emails. It's 11:15 AM and I'm going to have more coffee to get me through the second part of the day! AMEN :)

Art art art

2011-11-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm loving art time. Since I've made it more of a priority in our curriculum, we get more of it done!

So I used this tutorial found on Pink and Green Mama: Turkeys with crayon and marker resist.

*Note the band-aid on the finger that was slammed in the car door

Rebekah's bird is flying off to Arizona as we speak. I'm planning to stick mine in a file, I'm tentatively planning some home school art classes at the library next year. I thought this would be a good one for all ages and not too messy!

More art

2011-11-13T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well, actually this was a science project on recycling. We made paper with a blender and a screen. Seemed more like art to me :)

And yes, she is wearing her cat costume...we take our homeschooling perks where we can get them!

2011-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Love it when I can help the North Coast News with a picture :)

Part of today's homeschool lesson was voting and what it means to be a democracy.

Halloween in Arizona

2011-11-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

Ashley informed me that I forgot to post these pictures...sorry honey :)

Sickie

2011-11-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

Middle of the night upchucking and a popsicle to cleanse the palette. I know, ick. The past few days have been exhausting. At least she's not throwing up anymore. Just coughing and runny nose.

Lunch with Sharon

2011-11-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of my dearest friends in Ocean Shores! Sharon and I work on Operation Christmas Child together and we are the VBS crafting queens :) Every time we get together I leave feeling happy and full of life, she makes me believe I can do things and is most gracious with my short comings.

Last week Rebekah was lucky enough to come with to one of our lunch meetings because Daddy had to work...she looks all broke up about it doesn't she?

Day #3 of No Facebook November...

2011-11-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

I admit, I don't like it so far. I feel a bit disconnected and isolated. I guess as a homeschool Mom it is a way I stay in the loop. We are out of the house nearly every day...okay, I don't remember the last time we had a whole day at home, but that doesn't always mean knowing what's going on with people. I don't anticipate making it the whole month and will at least check in on this coming Sunday.

This week I added 4 new subjects to the curriculum, and while they aren't really "new" subjects, they have not officially been scheduled before. So this has been a very busy week with art, science, phy ed, and home ec. We've baked cookies and granola, made paper, studied composting, made a prayer banner and today started on a 3 part watercolor and acrylic painting of a fall tree. We both love the variety this week has introduced, but we are both wiped. I think I need to scale back a little as it leaves very little room for the extras in life and we find ourselves rushing through things or still doing school work at 7:00 at night, and that was never my intention. Live and learn.

Rebekah starting her watercolor after gymnastics and dinner tonight, about 8:00 PM. It was great bribery to get her to eat her veggies though! HAAHAA!

Tomorrow we are going to Sears to get our very first professional family picture taken. I still have no idea what we are wearing. Clothes...I guess :)

Yeah...

2011-11-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is what I was talking about in yesterdays post about missing Ashley and turning back the clock...

Read this and see if you don't agree

Today is day #1 of No Facebook November. Started by our youth pastor, Dennis Reed. I'm only a couple hours in to it and already one of my facebook (and church) friends has sent me an e-mail because she doesn't want to lose touch while I'm on my facebook fast. I think that's pretty special and it touched my heart that she made the extra effort to stay connected.

While I don't see myself permanently giving up facebook, I think taking some time to refocus facebooks place in my life is a fabulous idea and I look forward to the changes it brings.

Have a beautiful day and don't forget to take time to make memories.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Days like today I really miss Ashley. It reminds me that the time she was a little girl went by so fast and I want to turn back the clock and do it over, do it better. I love you Ashley, even though you're in Arizona you are here in our hearts.

Today's home ec and health lessons were tied in with the pumpkin carving. Rebekah now knows (as do I) that pumpkins are high in vitamins A (for your eyes), C (to fight off colds) and E (for your skin). And the seeds are a good source of protein! We are soaking the seeds to be roasted tomorrow.

On to the sketching and planning, we have a pumpkin to carve.

Pumpkin gut removal...always a little gross.

But tadaaa....so worth it, cause these are going to be yummy tomorrow!

It says "This pumpkin Loves Halloween"...well yeah, what pumpkin wouldn't?

A couple of beauties!

Meow! All dressed up and ready to go!

And a shot of the tail...Cutest little black cat in town :)

Happy Halloween 2011

Making Butter!!!!

2011-10-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! I am fortunate to know someone who has a cow and I got some milk...yum! Fresh! If you can see the line Rebekah is pointing to, that's the cream line.

So we used a turkey baster to suck the cream out of the milk jug. A fun job for a 6 yr old...

Then we poured it into the mixer bowl and let it mix...for a really. long. time. I was starting to wonder.

But then it happened!!! We started seeing the fat granules! Squeeeeee!!!!

We used a slotted spoon to get most of the butter out of the milk (and saved the milk, for something, I don't know what) and squeezed and rinsed the butter in ice water.

Oh the joy of making something from scratch...she's so excited!

And it is oh so very yummy! Seriously! Tonight? Ice cream!

2011-10-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

Today seemed like it started a lot longer than 15 hours ago!

Rebekah, after specifically being told not to, tried to give the cat a bath in the bathroom sink (quietly with the door closed). She maybe would have gotten away with it other than the fact that she shattered a drinking glass in the process. Mind you she was supposed to be fixing her hair and getting ready to do school work.

Since she's been on a roll with not listening and getting distracted at the drop of a hat, she got a writing assignment. : I will stay on task when I am told to do something, and I will NOT do things I was told not to do. 20 times!

So she was sent to her room for her writing assignment, about 45 minutes she comes out with 2 sentences done and I said, "seriously?". She said "whaaaat? I was taking a rest!!" Right. Back to her room to write until lunch time.

Lunch was eaten and we had an appointment to pick up milk at a friends house at 1:00.

On the way to our friends house we saw two hitch-hikers (carrying a case of beer...good luck with that), and Rebekah asks me why they had their thumbs up. So after I explain to her what hitch hiking is and what a bad idea it is and why, she very seriously says, "oh, I thought they were giving you a thumbs up for your really good driving skills"...LOL You know, now that I think about it, I'm just going to assume that's what people are doing from now on :)

After a short visit (and Rebekah played with my friends homeschooled kids), we stopped at a little country produce stand we'd never been to. It was cute and reasonably priced and the owner was really sweet and chatty so we hung out there for a short while discussing the history of the building, avocados and chickens. You know, the usual.

On the way home we go by the Kingdom Hall, and I say "that's Aaron's church right there", and she says, "oh, we haven't seen him for a long time". I said, "yeah, they gave up on us". She asked for an explanation so I told her that they wanted us to go to their church but they know that's not going to happen because we love our church so they don't come around much anymore. She asks why do they want us to go to their church? I said, "well they don't think we know all of the truth at our church". She says rather disgusted " No one knows all of the truth, not Aaron, not us, not anyone...only God, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit". I swear she's going to be an evangelist someday. She makes me smile though.

Back at home, Rebekah continued working on her writing assignment while I put away groceries and chopped veggies for pico de gallo and cleaned up the kitchen. Still putting things in order from the kitchen remodel.

She did finally finish right before supper, which was nachos...mmmm! Unfortunately that took up most of her day so she'll be doing make up school work tomorrow which is usually her (and MY) day off. Oh well...live and learn and better to learn these lessons now I figure!

2011-10-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today the library had a face painting class for kids called "Paint Yourself Silly".

This is Rebekah's before picture.

It was very basic, which was good because it's apparently harder than it looks and requires much concentration.

Applying detail with a q-tip...

What am I ???

A pony, she says....There is a heart on one cheek and a star on the other and she wrote love across her chin. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was backwards to the rest of us because she was so darn pleased writing it while looking in the mirror. And yes...she did go to gymnastics that way. LOL

Another cell phone picture

2011-10-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Got another couple of snap shots from Arizona :)

2011-10-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Colin sent me this picture from Arizona today. It's still not real to me that she's a grown up (I don't mean that in a bad way honey), it seems like she's on a trip or something. The fact that she is living several states away and starting her life long adventure just kind of blows me away.

For Mom

2011-10-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

These two comments from my husband today...

"Whoa, your inner Martha is really starting to come out, dear"

And later

Me: Well no use crying over spilled milk, right?

Grant: Unless you have to drink it after it's been wiped up, then you might cry over it.

LOL :)

The way home...day three

2011-10-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken the morning we left Bozeman. This is the lobby of the Hotel and we texted this picture to Grandpa Rory because he loves buffalo ( and Rebekah :)).

Our first stop of the day is just about half an hour outside of Bozeman. I've always wanted to stop here because it just looks so darn cute.

Inside it smelled of heavenly carbs and the farm cuteness factor was a 10! See the tractor seat lunch counter stools?

Back on the road we did a search for the next available Redbox, and came up with Anaconda, Mt. Well Anaconda is a little off the freeway and the rest stop we went to just before that turn off showed a scenic lake if we kept going. Turns out there was a loop we could take (I think it was called Pintler Scenic Loop) and it was about 40 miles but put us back on the freeway in under an hour. It was gorgeous!

It was a very long day of driving. I always love to see the wind farm come in to view once we're approaching the hills before the Cascades.

Rebekah crashed shortly after we ate in Moses Lake and wasn't awake for much more of the 5 or 6 hours we had left to go. Long day but good to get back home and sleep in our own beds!

The way home...day two

2011-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Before we ever got to Bozeman, we had promised Rebekah a trip to a Target store on the way home. She had some money that she wanted to spend on My Little Pony products and since we don't live by a Target, that would be a special treat for her.

Because God loves Rebekah so much He placed a Target directly across the street from the hotel we had made our reservation at.And because He loves me he placed a Costco right next to the Target...lol

Decisions decisions. You can see in the picture above there was quite the debate about which Pony's to purchase. She did quite well and enjoyed the shopping immensely.

After shopping, Daddy needed a nap (still fighting off a cold we picked up in Minnesota), so Rebekah and I went down to the pool. We had forgotten to pack a life jacket and apparently stores in Montana only sell floatation devices in the summer (even the sporting goods stores). So Rebekah practiced floating which she had never been able to do before....and TA DA!!!! She did it! Ok, this picture doesn't really look like it, but trust me, she did :)

During our stay in Bozeman we asked the front desk clerk for a scenic drive route. She sent us up to the Hyalite Reservoir. It was really a beautiful drive and just what we were looking for!

Grant wanted to drive up some of the more primitive mountain roads. This is about as far as I was comfortable going and we got out to switch drivers because I did not want to drive down the road I just drove up. It was really pretty though!

After that we had dinner at Fudruckers, and a little browsing at Barnes and Noble. Just a side note. When your 6 yr old is learning to say Fudruckers, that whole "udr" part is REALLY important! Just sayin'. :)

The way home...day one

2011-10-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

We had a really good visit in Minnesota, but all good things come to an end. Since we drove really hard on the way there to make it in only 2 days, we rewarded ourselves with a slower trip home.

The above picture is Rebekah reading the letter Grandma gave her to open in North Dakota. It gave her something to look forward to because goodbye is always hard for her.

I've always wanted to stop at this North Dakota landmark. So we drove the short distance up the hill to see Salem Sue. She was BIG!

And the view from the top was quite pretty as well...

Say cheese!

On to Montana. Oddly enough, we hit some pretty hot weather for October in Montana! We were glad for a nicely functioning AC unit. Not sure if you can actually see the temp on that picture, but it says 93 degrees.

Sundown in Montana...because yes, it does take an entire day to drive through that state!

We pulled into Bozeman late, just enough time to eat some instant oatmeal, say our prayers, and fall asleep!

The next day, Rebekah left this note for housekeeping. I hope it brought a smile to their face :)

waking up in Bozeman was just beautiful and the hotel was so lovely we decided to stay another night. The adventure continues...

Minnesota Fall 2011

2011-09-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've been accused of making a blog that is all Rebekah all the time. While I don't exactly think that's accurate, it does reflect the portion of my life that revolves around Rebekah. Between homeschooling and being a stay-at-home-Mom, I'd say 75-80% of my life has something to do with Rebekah.This post will be no different.

We are on our annual fall trip to Minnesota. Where Grant works at his Minnesota customers sites and Rebekah and I spend a ton of time at the farm and catch up with Grandma and Grandpa (or try to...they move pretty fast). Above you see Rebekah making cake with Grandpa, and below making applesauce with Grandma. We got the apples from my Grandma's farmhouse.

Rebekah spends a lot of time outside, weather permitting, and enjoys the company of the animals.

She was especially excited to play in the leaves this year. After we are done with school work today, we are going to go out and rake up a pile for her to jump in.

And no trip to the farm is complete without a ride on the famous tire swing. Just about every day we take the walk down to the swing and enjoy a few underdogs. The weather has been cooperating nicely thus far, and is expected to hold back the "ick" for quite some time. Yay!

2011-09-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Rebekah: Can we go to Home Depot today?

Grant: No

Rebekah: How about Ace?

Grant: No answer.

Rebekah: Do you know why I want to go somewhere today?

Grant: (trying to read) because you can't handle finding something to do?

Rebekah: Noooo because I want people to see my earrings!

Grant: That's showing off, it's inappropriate to show off, people will see your earrings just give them time.

Rebekah: (matter of factly) I know! That's what I want to do. Give them their time!

She has no idea why we can't stop laughing.

Two different days at the beach

2011-09-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

2011-09-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

I wish I would have marked down the day the demolition started on the kitchen. Seems like a long time ago. The fridge has been in the living room for well over a month.

We do have drywall back up. That's exciting. If all goes well, tomorrow the beadboard will go up on the wall where the fridge and stove go, then that gets painted. Then the other walls get their touch up paint and some on the ceiling where Grant wants to re texture some blemishes. I believe at that point we can lay new subfloor and start putting in the oak laminate that we got for a steal of a deal!

Cupboards are purchased, sink, faucet, and lighting as well. Next will be a stove and dishwasher and counter top. Maybe at that point we'll be done? I hope so...I'm ready to be able to cook a normal meal :)

2011-09-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter stopped by tonight. With her fiancee. To tell me she lost her wallet. To say they had only condiments and some milk in their fridge. To say they are thinking of moving to Arizona in 3 weeks instead of 2 months.

I gave them groceries.

She then asked me to keep my eyes open for candles at garage sales so that when she gets married in July she can line the walls of the church with them.

In my infinite wisdom I told her that when it gets closer to the date you can just order candles in bulk online, that they are not very much money and that would be smarter than having all different kinds from garage sales. Not what she wanted to hear...took her groceries and left.

I apologized for hurting her feelings.

This is why I want to soak up every single teensy tiny drop of pre adolescent time I can with the 6 year old. Yes I know she'll turn 18 and hate me some day too, but right now? She thinks I'm a rock star and I really need that tonight.

2011-08-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

Rebekah asks me tonight, "why does God allow little kids to be poor".

Gotta hand it to this kid, she can ask the questions.

So we talked about how Satan has his time on earth before Jesus returns in Luke 4:5 The devil led him ( Jesus) up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to."

But that God asks us to be obedient to Him and give to the poor, and that there are different kinds of poor. Maybe the children in Uganda are poor in material possessions, but they are rich in spiritual gifts and that they have as much to offer us as we have to offer them.

She said, like foster parenting? I can be a foster sister. I said, welllll maybe. We're kind of thinking this house might be a little small for foster parenting so maybe when we find a bigger house. She says, "But Mom, remember the book we read a while ago? It said if there is room in the heart there is room in the house. This house should be big enough for foster parenting!"

Oh if God isn't working on my life though that child I don't have any explanation....

Morning

2011-08-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

This is rebekah entertaining herself while we have morning coffee. Drawing at her new old desk in her gymnastics leotard :)

I'm trying

2011-08-23T22:37:00.001-07:00

I'm really trying to figure out how to send my pictures to the blog instead of face book. but that picture down below is as big of a picture as blogger will let me send. It's really REALLY frustrating.

Sorry Mom

2011-08-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

Kitchen remodel

2011-08-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

We've started ripping the cupboards out. We've changed our minds a half a dozen times about what we're going to do. We still don't know.

But Rebekah has a future in demolition (yeah...we all knew that). She LOVES it!

New additions

2011-07-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Buster

Sunny or in Rebekah's world "Soney"

Brothers born to a feral mother.

These guys came into the vet weighing just one pound each, today Sunny is 3.1 lbs and Buster is 4.1 lbs.(at 3.5 months old). A local woman was able to lure their mother in to her house with food on a regular basis but could never get close to her. When the mother cat brought her kittens in one day the woman was able to handle the kittens. The mother cat was caught to feed them but she was only interested in that for a couple of days and then started rejecting them.

The "foster mother" had the mother cat spayed, and released her to the wild where she wanted to be, and raised the litter of kittens by hand.

This is what the vet told me when I brought them in yesterday. Kind of a neat little back story on our adopted kittens, seen here lounging with Rebekah watching a movie.

As you can see, they are quite vicious and clearly wild animals :)

Heavy heart

2011-07-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

We learned at church tonight that one of the women on our worship team lost a one year old nephew to a tragic accident. I barely know this woman, we've recently become friends on facebook and I see her in passing on Sunday. I requested her as a friend on facebook because I felt a pull to get to know her the moment I saw her, I don't know why but sometimes I think God just puts those things on our heart.

Her nephew died when his father accidentally backed over him. The father (who is a youth pastor) as you can imagine (or not, I can't even fathom) is devastated, withdrawn, won't talk to anyone. The mother, the whole family is just in this tremendous heart break and I can't even imagine. This has to shake your entire world as you know it.

Such heaviness. The little boy is in heaven, we know he's with Jesus, the Bible makes that very clear. But those left behind...I just keep lifting them up in prayer because there are so many levels of sadness in this. If you are a praying person, Beckie has asked specifically for prayer for her brother-in-law.

In an odd side note. Talking to our pastor tonight, we learned that Beckie's family is from Beaver bay, MN, which is about 6 miles from where Grant grew up and he actually knew of the family. A family of 11 kids that homesteaded and home schooled. What a weird small little world we live in.

And Beaver Bay is where Beckie is tonight, with her family....again, just pray for these people if you would.

2011-07-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

This is every night, but I snapped these pictures on two different nights...

Mom, you do realize you're never getting that llama back, right?

2011-07-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to keep the blog updated. But I am still alive and life is just busy, as it is for most people.

This was a pretty incredible event, probably only Mom and Rory know how incredible this is (besides me).... Our friends Mark and Lorraine, and their teenage daughter Katie, came over to BBQ for my birthday. And without even knowing what it would mean to me, they brought their Scrabble game (which they had not played for years!) and who was convinced to play with us? Who? That man in the plaid shirt, my wonderful husband!!!!! I KNOW, RIGHT???? I'm still in shock.

2011-07-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

I know I shared these pictures on face book already, but I wanted them documented on the blog as well. It has become our tradition to clean up the beach on the morning of July 5th every year.

People flock to our beautiful beach for the 4th of July holiday and they leave behind a good portion of what they bring! It's quite stunning really.

Rebekah wanders around muttering constantly about saving the sea turtles the entire time.

I think it's good for her to do community service though.

It's good for all of us.

Especially the sea turtles.

Sparklers...small medium and LARGE

2011-07-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

2011-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Not too old or too big for morning snuggles with Daddy!

Rebekah's new toy

2011-07-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

No it's not a Barbie...

not a baby doll...

not a stuffed animal...

and it doesn't have a princess on it....

Also? She's obsessed with it!

she loves to jump it...

and even when she gets tired and needs to sit down, no problem....


Dad's supervising

Her and Daddy picked it out online. When Grant ordered it she asked when it was coming. He told her "next Wednesday". A couple of days later I was putting something in her room and I saw on her calendar Wednesday had written "CAR" and a drawing of a dancing girl. There was much talk and anticipation.

She asks Daddy several times a day if they can "vroom" the car around, and she likes to try running it at "full trigger". I'm surprised at how well she controls it, having given these things a try myself in the past. She's definitely Daddy's girl!

Reason 524 I love my husband...

2011-07-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

He can do stuff!

You can see the bare spot of lawn that was our old campfire spot. Today we got the blocks to make a real fire pit. I was amazed it was less than $50! We should have looked into it a long time ago.

Now he's laying out an area around it which will be filled in with 5/8 sized gravel.

It's starting to look like a real yard back there!

A Sleep over!

2011-06-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

It wasn't too long ago, Ashley babysat one of Rebekah's friends, and Rebekah found out about it. That night she told me at bedtime, "Mom, I'm jealous that Maria got to play with Ashley and I never do". I explained to her that Maria's Mommy PAID Ashley to play with her, she didn't just do it because she had some free time to kill :)
Still Rebekah was jealous. It wasn't more than a few days after that my tooth surgery was scheduled and I asked Ashley if she would be willing to take Rebekah the night before since we would have to leave the house at 7AM. She agreed and so they had a sleep over at Ashley and Colin's apartment (which is technically a condo/hotel so very itty bitty).
Rebekah had a great time. They took her to the grocery store where Colin was sucked into buying her a donut and cheetos and hot dogs for supper. Colin taught her how to shift his truck and played basketball with her. They took her swimming (twice), had pillow fights, and prayed for Mommy to have a safe surgury.
Rebekah was a happy camper. She woke them up at 6:30 AM so they wouldn't have to miss one minute of excitement the next day. Hahahahahahehehehehe!!!
Thanks again Ashley and Colin, it was really helpful to know she was in good hands!

2011-06-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

And she's engaged. Time sure does fly (except from the ages of about 14 to 18 man, those years draaaag). Haha!

Lucky for me, I like Colin a lot. He'll be easy to add to the family.

Best wishes kids. Love you!

2011-06-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Before....

This is Rebekah all strapped in and ready for the Minnesota trip, she's got her headphones on, ready to watch 900 movies before we get there and really excited to see Grandma and Grandpa.

*note to self, straps need to be moved up to next slot

After

Almost 2 full weeks at the farm and she doesn't want to leave.

Cried off and on until half way through North Dakota

and has slept with Grandma's stuffed llama every night since.

Good thing we're going back in September!

2011-06-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe, I took these pictures while driving through North Dakota a month ago...

The pictures probably don't show it well enough (try clicking on them to make them larger) but that is dust, making it look foggy! Now there is so much flooding I bet there isn't much for dust storms.

2011-06-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is the cool Christmas gift all of us girls got from my parents last year. A painting of the barn that graced their farm for many years, which finally blew over. The frame is made from the barns wood.

This one is Ashley's copy. The other day when I was going thru pictures, I found this picture of her on the tire swing with almost an identical angle of the barn.

So I pulled the picture out of the album and put it on the back. I think it makes it even one notch cooler :)

Along for the ride

2011-06-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

There isn't much new to report in my life right now so I tend to not blog, which isn't really appropriate but it happens.

The financing on the house did not get approved so we won't be bothering to look again until next year. Apparently when you are self employed, no matter how much you are currently making the ONLY thing they can look at is last years taxes. The banker told us if you work for someone else and you get a raise they can count THAT right away, but not if you are self employed. Right, because people who work for someone else never get let go or down sized or pink slipped, I understand. :)

On Friday I had 3 wisdom teeth removed. One is still giving me problems in the pain dept but it'll get there.

Tonight we had church. I love the group of people that call Faith Community Church their home church. I am confident that God placed us here for a reason and we are along for the ride. Ashley is getting baptized in the ocean this coming Sunday at 1:00. Good stuff.

That's it, pretty much just checking in. Once I feel better I'll try to do some more posts.

On the hunt again...

2011-06-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Still on the pursuit for more space, we've found a place that we really really really like!

http://mls.washingtoncoastproperties.com/srch_mls/detail.php?mode=&LN=29087723&t=&l=

I love the kitchen and the bright airy rooms. The downstairs has a beautiful office space that overlooks the canal as well as a room that is perfect for a guest room AND a bathroom right across the hall from the guest room.

We have some financial hoops to jump through, but all in all some very good things that should happen anyway. We'll see...this is a short sale, and those are sort of hit and miss but getting better as banks are waking up to the fact that they are better off with a short sale than a foreclosure (took them a while!).

2011-06-16T07:32:00.001-07:00

Someday I vow to get real family pictures taken. Until then, a tripod in the backyard will have to do! This is our pre-parade picture for flag day :)

Sleeping with llamas

2011-06-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is how I found her one morning, with her head under a llama. This is also her sleeping on the floor next to our bed, a habit we started ending last night. She slept the whole night in her bed (even though there was a good temper tantrum to start things off) and admitted in the morning that she slept great :)

2 years of gymnastics!

2011-06-12T19:01:00.001-07:00

I got nothing...

2011-06-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

My public is whining about lack of posting... but you see, kinda busy here and nothing note worthy going on so you get squat :)

We got home at 2:30 in the morning Saturday, which meant we were wiped all day. We did unload the trailer and tried to function somewhat normally but that's all we managed.

Sunday was church in the morning, catching up with everyone there felt so good and Pastor Jim always seems to know what I need to hear. Kevin was baptized which I am so thankful we were able to be there for! Sunday afternoon and evening was rearranging the house trying to make things fit because, hello, brought home an entire trailer full of stuff (seriously, what happens to my brain when I go to MN?).

Monday, still feeling hung over and wondering why it's taking so long to get over the feeling. Caught up on gardening stuff, also did some of that the previous two days. Rebekah had gymnastics, got my consult for my wisdom teeth scheduled, tried to organize some more and actually felt like progress was made. Back to school work on this day with much whining and carrying on, not fun. Also got the mail that had piled up for almost 3 weeks, that was good times right there!

Today is Tuesday, appointment at 11 to train for a job listing items on ebay. Talked to library people about the parade on Saturday that all 3 of us are going to be in. Came home, made lunch, followed up school work stuff, more cleaning. Rebekah to gymnastics for pictures today, wiggle her into costume, take her there, stopped to see Gail on the way to give her some maple syrup, get pics taken, come back home and wiggle her out of costume and get it put away without wrecking it before the show even happens! Make supper, do dishes, play a couple rounds of Just Dance with the kid, get her and I through the shower, read stories. Do ebay listing (wait for feedback before doing more). Now I'm ready for bed. OH and I finally broke down and did minor grocery shopping for the first time since we got back from the trip.

Hold on to your socks because tomorrow is some more ebay training in the morning. School work, chores, meals, bake cupcakes for church and be there at 5:30 until bedtime. That's all you get tomorrow :)

Thursday is major grocery shopping in Astoria, OR. Pretty much an all day thing.

Friday is rehearsal for Saturday's recital (3 hours) and praise God, BUNCO night!

Saturday I can get you some pictures because in the morning we will be in the flag day parade for the library and Saturday night is Rebekah's recital which shall probably last until 10 at night because there are 27 numbers. She is in the 3rd and last numbers.

Sunday I will be at church, recharging for the coming week. So now you're all up to date!

2011-05-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the raft went out on the lake, a sure sign that summer is on its way. This was Rebekah's first time putting the raft out with Grandpa, which involves rowing out with a row boat pushing/towing the raft and then setting the anchor so the raft stays where it should be for the summer.

I laughed...only my wonderful step-dad puts 2 dogs and a 6 yr old in a boat with him when he has a job to do :)

Coming back up the hill...she loves her Grandpa!

2011-05-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Rebekah and Grandpa, ready to hit the road for a day of work...well a couple hours anyway, certain 6 year olds are not conditioned for farm work ;) We're working on it!

Favorite shot of the day...

2011-05-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of spring 2011 trip

2011-05-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2 was awesome! This is our bonus day and felt like a real vacation. We actually got to play tourist in Missoula Montana, under beautiful blue skies!

We started the day at Starbucks (hoo yeah!) and went over to the Elk Country Visitor Center which was really cool and educational.

Then over to the Missoula Carousel and Dragon's Hollow playground, oh Rebekah was a VERY happy camper!

Fuddruckers!!! Yummy hamburgers, I mean REALLY yummy!!

With full tummies we headed back to the hotel and took a rare and awesome NAP...we never do that but it was great.

At 6:30 we got dressed and ready for Riverdance.

It was awesome. I wish I could have recorded the look on Rebekah's face when those dancers came out on stage. She turned to me several times during the performance to tell me how awesome it was. It was beautiful. This was our second time going and I would still love to go again, I can't imagine it ever getting old.

Day 1 of spring 2011 trip

2011-05-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today we started the trek to Minnesota. I have pictures on the other camera of the beginning of our journey, but that camera card doesn't work in this laptop (the new one, since the old one decided to crap out in the middle of Montana) but I'll come back and fill those in later.

Speaking of crapping out, that's what the Sportage did a few days before our trip. Since we had planned to acquire a trailer while in Minnesota, it was imperative that we had a vehicle that could reliably make the trip and get the trailer home. So we traded in the Optima on a Honda Pilot.

This worked out really well for Rebekah, as the new vehicle has a DVD player and we were blessed to borrow a hundred pack of Disney movies from our pastor and his wife, oh blessed peace and quiet :)

This first day we drove about 10 hours, from Ocean Shores, WA to Missoula, MT. What a beautiful drive. The passes were clear and dry and the mountains were absolutely stunning.

2011-05-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

No one else finds these things as remarkable as Grant and I do, but I put them down here because I never want to forget.

Our Pastor is in Kampala, Uganda right now. Our church partners with a Pastor in Kampala who plants churches, does amazing works in their community, builds schools and safe houses for orphans.I'll post a link here when I find it, I know there is one out there but I'm not finding it this morning.

Anyway, yesterday we were looking at pictures on facebook from one of our Pastor's previous trips to Uganda. Rebekah was so moved by what she saw that she told me she wants to give half of her spending money (which would equal $3.25) to the church for these people in Uganda (this was completely out of the blue with no prompting whatsoever from me).

So later that day we go to the library to get her bedtime books (we read two stories every night before bed). We're sitting in the children's section and I'm doing some paper work while she looks at storybooks. Out of the blue she says, "Mom, can we go to Uganda?" I said, "yes, we can work on that, I would like to go to Uganda someday honey. Maybe we can find a book on Uganda, I'll check the computer".

So as I'm walking to the computer, she's walking behind me and casually says "oh, here's one". And I don't even turn around because I'm thinking, right, the 6 yr old just found a book on Uganda, sure.

She's stopped so I turn around and look, and sure enough, she has a book: UGANDA

I continue on to the computer to see if there are others, no. Just that one. The only book in the entire library on Uganda and my 6 year old has casually found it while walking past hundreds of other books.

Keep telling me it's coincidence folks.

Rebekah's first dentist visit

2011-05-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

She did great! No cavities, and she walked out of there with a purple balloon, pink toothbrush, floss, stickers, magnet, and a toy. They've got her number!

I walked out of there with a $410 bill and a referral to get 3 wisdom teeth pulled. I want a balloon.

2011-05-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

A friend rented a house for her father and his caregivers to live in while he was dying because local nursing homes wouldn't take him. He passed away a couple of months ago. My friend paid an additional 6 weeks of rent on this very beautiful house for one of the caregivers to live in until she could get moved (in addition to $2000 severance pay). Caregiver took off in the middle of the night recently, leaving behind a huge mess in the house. My friend was nice enough to donate almost everything in that house to Ashley and Colin for their new place, such a blessing. It was very hard for this friend to walk back into the house, A) because her Dad had passed away recently there and B) because she's been so royally screwed by the caregiver (recently found out the girl also took $1000 in prepaid Visa card money that was supposed to be for the Dad's expenses). She asked for help in cleaning and I offered. I am so grateful for her blessing the kids with such a wonderful start.

A new friend and neighbor, does not have a vehicle. She walks and uses the bus system when she needs to go places. They are not dead beats but rather they've just started a business in town, she going to school full time online and her husband is going to school as well (oh and one child in college and the other starting college in the fall). She posted on facebook the other day that the store would not be open as they have a small emergency but will try to be open asap. I then 10 minutes later see her walking towards town, past our house so I run out and ask if everything is okay.Well she said she was going to the ER because she has a pain in her side that has prevented her from sleeping for 2 nights. I said, you're going to ride the bus? Yes, she says, but first she has to walk up to her store to get a check and then to the bank, and then to the bus stop. So I took her to the hospital, where it was determined she needed to have her gall bladder removed. They sent me home because it was going to be a long time until she could leave. I got home and they called saying she could be picked up (this is an hour and a half round trip) because they can't do the surgery until tomorrow. Then took her back in the morning (she offered to ride the bus which left at 6:30 AM, surgery prep was at 10) for surgery. Then back in the next day to pick her up and bring her home. 2 trips to Wal-Mart for prescriptions (1 hr wait time) while in town as well.

I'm the kitchen person for Wednesday night services at church. I show up at 5:30 to put on coffee and set out goodies for both the 6:00 study and the 7:00 service.

I'm on the Library Board of trustees, one other member and I have been asked to attend the 3 interviews for Children's librarian that are happening this week. Each interview lasts 4 hours (2 down, 1 to go).

Rebekah has a sore throat and runny nose.

I'm filling out FAFSA information and talking to college advisors about going back to school.

I only tell you all of this in case you are wondering what happened to my posting everyday. I'm not sure how everything happened at once, but I'm thankful most of it is temporary because I could not maintain this juggling for very long. It has provided some wonderful opportunity for sharing prayer with people who would not otherwise be open to it, and I'm thankful that God is using me as He sees fit. I might need to get some bigger vitamins though. :)

Well said

2011-05-02T22:20:00.001-07:00

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I don't think I could have said it better.

From April

2011-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures back in April, but I still wanted to share them.

This is how fast the kid is growing! In a little over a month, 3/4 of an inch!

In the past year? Three inches!!!

Happy May Day!!!

2011-05-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun morning, Rebekah was so excited she got up at 6:00. I told her she had time to sleep a little longer (like 2 more hours!) so she went back to bed.

Meanwhile I assembled flowers and chocolate and got out labels for her to write "Happy May Day" on.

She got up, got dressed, and wrote out her labels then before church we delivered.

First to Ashley and Colin's new place. I didn't get a picture because they have a screen door so I had to go open that and prop it open so it didn't crush the flowers.

Then to our friend Robin's....

Be quiet....

Very sneaky....


another screen door

Busted :)

Bringing a May basket to Ms Robin was really neat, today was her Grandma's birthday (she would be 108 today!) so this was a perfect way to bring a smile to Robin's face and honor her Grandma.

Happy May Day!

2011-05-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

Guess who's taking showers all by herself now?

Grandma's gonna love this...

2011-04-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

I was just taking this video for fun, she didn't know I was taking it because I had the camera sitting on the table.

She was reading for her school work, and yes, this IS how she reads...there is a commentary after every. single. sentence.

The new pad

2011-04-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

The door closest to the right of the picture is theirs.

Here are the first pictures from Ashley's place. It needs a lot of work, but her and Colin knew that going in and are being compensated for their work with low rent payments for the first six months.

I'm taking the picture from the front door...welcome to the living room and kitchen. Yes, the brown box on the right side of the picture is the refrigerator. They will not be shopping at Costco just yet :)

Kevin has been nice enough to help a lot too!

Just down the hall, you'll find the bathroom on your left. She's holding a candle because the breaker was flipped and it's located in the neighbors apartment (situation remedied before I left). She bought the shower curtain and towels today. Doesn't she look positively giddy?

Then straight back is the bedroom.

A little closer view of the kitchen corner. It will be fun to watch their progress...unfortunately I think I passed that "lets get a project to live in and fix it up, it'll be FUN" gene to her. Oops :)

Ashley's first night away...

2011-04-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Does it make it official when she spends the first night in her apartment? Does that make her a grown-up? As I told someone on facebook it seems like yesterday I was putting her on the school bus for the first time.

What happens, as parents? We go through the tumultuous teen years, counting down years, months, weeks, until they are grown and on their own, and then we get there and those years just fall away and it seems like we go from about 6 yrs old to 18. Or maybe that's just me.

At any rate, I'm happy for her. A little worried (it's a big world after all). A little relieved (we made it this far!). A little reminiscent of myself at that age, how I thought I could handle whatever life threw at me not realizing life has a wicked fast curve ball.

If you are a praying person, please join me in praying for her safety, ask God to give her the tools she needs to cope with life on her own and the wisdom to use them, and that she would be blessed beyond measure in her new adventure.

2011-04-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

This actually happened back on the 11th but I keep forgetting to upload it. Rebekah solo peeled her first orange. Now, I realize there is no prize for peeling an orange at age 6, but since patience isn't a strong suit for Rebekah, we celebrate ALL accomplishments that require her attention for longer than 30 seconds :)

Do not view while eating dinner!

2011-04-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

I know...gross but fascinating at the same time. Had to go look at the beached whale. It was absolutely pouring so I didn't get out to capture a closer look but that's okay, I think we all get the idea. Look at how big it is next to our seagulls, and our seagulls are larger than average!

2011-04-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Little miss pink has her own BB gun now. The neighborhood will never be the same. I kid, I kid :)

Actually, her safety awareness is very high. She was indignant when she saw two kids at a birthday party pointing toy guns at each other. She said to me later, "Mom, I don't care if they were toys, you're supposed to treat EVERY gun like it's loaded and never point it at ANYONE".

Grant got her a red dot scope, which she really likes. Unfortunately, as with everything in Rebekah's life, she gets frustrated with her limitations. The second day after a few rounds she started getting shaky from her muscles being worn out and Grant told her she'd need to take a break. She started sobbing "but I JUST starteeeeeeeeed". It will be interesting to watch this progress.

2011-04-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

I know...it's an all time low when one blogs about their toilet :) But LOOK at this thing, this is what it looks like when it's clean. We've lived here two years, and it looked like this when we bought the house, I've scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and it never goes away.

Let me introduce you to my little friend....the pumice stone on a handle!!!!!

Where oh where was this knowledge two years ago. In about 3 minutes my toilet looked liked this with NO harsh chemicals! I'm a happy camper! :)

2011-04-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just documenting...

Tonight Rebekah asked Jesus into her heart. I love that kid.

By the way, Soul Surfer was awesome!

Easter Baskets

2011-04-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Easter morning started out with the usual, Easter Baskets!

As you can see, Ashley's was a bit unconventional as it was all packed in a laundry basket and included a plethora of stuff she'll need for her new place in May.

After baskets we sat around and had coffee/tea and then got ready for church, which was awesome as usual. Rebekah was happy to finally wear her Easter dress (she also wore her Pegasus unicorn necklace from Grandma and Grandpa).

Colin's Baptism

2011-04-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ashley's friend, Colin, was baptized at our church this morning, what a wonderful Easter celebration!

Getting in!

Pastor Jim asking if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Going under!

Born again!

Congratulations Colin!

All dried off and receiving his baptism certificate.

Something cool and awesome happened!

2011-04-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

People are probably sick of my saying how amazing God is, but I don't care because seriously, HE IS!

So I've been working on getting prepared for our trip to Minnesota. We decided this time we will take 2 nights to get there instead of the usual one, so that it's a little easier on Rebekah. Hoping we can pull into a hotel at a decent time of night that she still might stretch her legs in the pool before bed and enjoy breakfast before heading out.

We decided on Missoula for the 1st night, so I found a great hotel at a great price and booked it. It's one of those deals where once you book it, your stuck with it (that's why you get the good price), so I couldn't change it but that was fine because we decided that was definitely the night we were going to be there.

Moved on to book the second night, which I wanted to be in Bismark so that the next morning we could stop at the buffalo place in Jamestown. Well, everything in Bismark and Jamestown was full. In the middle of the week. Really? So I did some digging around to see what was going on, I never did find anything BUT in digging, I found out Riverdance was going to be in Bismark a few days before that. Which led me to looking at the Riverdance schedule.

We went to Riverdance in Duluth, MN when Ashley was about 8 yrs old. It was AH-MAZ-ING! We've looked into going again but it never came close to us or worked out, and I hadn't checked in to it recently.

The night I booked in Missoula, the 17th (remember, I can't change it). Riverdance would be coming to Missoula....on the 18th. ONE DAY ONLY! My wonderful husband said book another night and get the tickets, do it now!!!!

So I did. I am giddy with excitement. 10 years I've waited to see this show again and the best part is going to be sharing it with Rebekah who LOVES watching Irish step dancing already!!!!

And the hotel I wanted to book in Bismark? Turns out waiting one day opens that room right up. God is good :) I no longer believe in coincidences. One other oddity about this whole experience is that Grant told me afterward how weird it was for him because just a few days ago he had a really strong recollection of our previous trip to see Riverdance and how awesome it was and then boom, here is our chance to do it again.

By the way, Rebekah is beside herself with excitement :)

Eggs!

2011-04-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Our friend Robin came over today, and we dyed a whole bunch of awesome eggs. Good times!

Santa

2011-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Why does this kid have to be so smart?

Tonight, Rebekah is thinking about the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes that we've been collecting stuff for all year. She has a concerned look on her face and says to me...

"So Mom? I thought Santa went all over the world delivering presents to all kids, except the ones who are naughty".

I said, "yeeesss" (how long can you draw out that word to buy you some thinking time, not very long).

"So, these poor kids aren't naughty, are they?"

"nooooooooo"

Heartbroken at the injustice her face is questioning me. "So, why doesn't Santa go to them?"

Damn. What do you say to that? The gig is pretty much up right there. So I took a deep breath and sat down to explain things. Her first reaction was teary eyes and throwing her arms around me to thank me for the pink candy cane and sticker book last year. Her second reaction was to mourn her lost innocence and to ask "why did you lie to me?".

So I explained that it wasn't really lying, that it's like her princesses, even though they aren't real we still enjoy the stories about them and we like thinking about what it would be like if they were real. But, yeah I guess it is kind of lying.

We also had to talk about not telling other kids because that's a parents job and we want their Mommy or Daddy to make that decision.

Of course the next question..."sooooo the Easter Bunny?". I didn't answer that one directly. Yet :)

2011-04-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, she is outgrowing the tractor, but it's hanging in there for now. She was so please she figured out how to hook the wagon to the tractor so she could have a trailer :)

2011-04-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Happiness = Clothes on the line, and a washing machine big enough to handle a king size quilt. First time in forever all of the blankets and quilts on our bed are all fresh at the same time!

And yes, we do write on our fence with sidewalk chalk, as we lack a sidewalk :)

Plant questions

2011-04-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Is this called horsetail? It looks kind of cool, growing in the ditch down the block.

Why is my rosemary plant so ticked off?

Mom, this came from your house, what is it please?
Remember you can click on pictures to make them larger!

2011-04-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Mommy, look what I made all by myself. Can you take a picture?

Sure kid. :)

2011-04-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Look who's busy bringing stuff to the birdhouse...

She looks impressed with his progress :)

Next year as a homeschool project, I'd like to place a closed circuit camera inside of the birdhouse so we can study them!

2011-04-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

From left to right Phlox, peas, liatris, more peas...gettin' springy!

Poor Rebekah

2011-04-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight's writing assignment:

Trust: Ability to believe someone is saying the truth or doing the right thing.

10 times.

Why?

"Rebekah, did you cut your hair?" as I hold a perfect curl that was laying on the bathroom counter.

Straight face "Oh no, I just combed my hair and that was a tangle that came out."

Practicing for the teen years, I'm assuming.

North Olympic Baptist Men's Retreat

2011-04-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures Grant took when they went on their Men's retreat. Looks so peaceful, can't wait for the women's retreat :)

Beautiful days

2011-04-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Beautiful days have been few and far between in Ocean Shores over the past...year? So yesterday when we got nice weather we spent ALL DAY outside, my nose has the sunburn to prove it.

I got some house plants transplanted...

I guess it was time, oops!

Then Rebekah and I dined al fresco :)

I sure hope that we get some more nice days this summer, we thoroughly enjoy them when they show up!

Rebekah got mail...

2011-04-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

What is it?

2011-04-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

A future garage, hopefully!

No pictures

2011-04-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's hard to remember to take pictures when you're busy being productive.

We had a rare case of SUNSHINE today, it was quite glorious and we are expected to see a repeat performance tomorrow, how exciting!

So we were finally able to get those tree from Costco into the ground. Which entailed running to the hardware store to get stakes and twine because with our wind they would tip in short order. I also got two bags of mulch. And since it's Ace Hardware in Ocean Shores, WA where you can get anything you might possibly be needing short of groceries (free popcorn not withstanding), we also bought a cute dish towel and more cute cupcake liners and wide mouth canning jar lids.

Got the trees taken care of and moved on to the gardens, which needed to be cleaned out and have peat moss worked into them. Once that was done I planted spinach, cilantro, broccoli, and radishes. Also went through my seeds to make a mental plan. If it's nice tomorrow I'll plant carrots and kohlrabi and maybe beets.

Found a package of cucumbers and peppers that are getting sent to MN because I have no hope of growing them here (without a greenhouse).

Maybe I can remember to get pictures tomorrow. Tonight I shall snuggle with the Advil bottle.

Newest NRA supporter

2011-04-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well you can relax, it's an air pistol. But still...
Daddy looks almost giddy :)

Tea shopping!

2011-04-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

2011-04-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

This is the chalk board in Rebekah's room. Lately she's been writing messages on it pertaining to the current holiday, or when she has someone over for a play date she'll write their name on it. Grandma is proud, I know :)

2011-04-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Emerson's got a brand new bag...or two.

I made these ones with a home decor weight fabric on the inside so maybe he won't shred them as fast.

Girl Day!

2011-04-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Since Grant is at a men's retreat, I told Rebekah we could have a girl day. She asked, "can we pleeeease go to the big thrift store?". The big thrift store is the 3 story Salvation Army in Aberdeen. I love that child. So we went to Staples and Ross first, at Ross she got a new dress ($10) and hello kitty capris ($12), I love Ross.

Then off to lunch, at the Chinese buffet, you'd never know we had Chinese by her plate, but I love that she thought it was a fancy restaurant, just because it wasn't McDonalds :)

Pizza, garlic toast, chicken nuggets, french fries, and jello. LOL

After lunch we finally got to the thrift store. Little did I know it was 50% off of EVERYTHING day! All of this was $25.

You can't really see but she's holding a bunch of small stuffed animals that will go into our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

And now for the Salvation Army fashion show:

Cupcake Jammies

Picture doesn't do this one justice. Embroidered detail.

This shirt and skirt are a little big at size 10, she has a skirt exactly like this one in a size 7 :)

The poses come natural, I didn't ask for them.

She loves this one but I'm passing it on, it's too small.

Leggings and jammie shirt.

I love Horses shirt.

Another dress, she needed dresses for church. Also found a slip to go under this!

At first she said she wasn't sure this was her "style" but it grew on her and she likes it now.

These don't really go together, just for the picture. Leggings from the Childrens Place, and a smarkley red shirt.

We're pretty sure Ashley is going to love this one.

We were pretty tired after all of that shopping. We decided to call it a day. Well Rebekah had to go potty on the way out of town so we stopped at the farmers market for that and bought a pecan bar to share on the way home :) It's really fun that she's at the age we can start doing these things together. She's not at the point that I can really look at anything for me (she's kind of frantic and rushes from thing to thing), but we're making progress AND she thanked me on the way home without any prompting!