Summer Plans

It's an exciting and busy Summer at our house.  Between High Adventure, Girl's Camp, and Trek, the entire Summer is filled with activities.

Jack has been spending time at Union Reservoir, practicing his canoe skills.  Pretty sure he hasn't fallen in, yet. He leaves Monday to spend the entire week on the North Platte River traveling about 100 miles.  Somewhere along the way, Michael is going to join them.

Girl's camp is mid July.  Ummm....I hope the girls have a GREAT time.

Trek is the end of July and we are trying to get ready (clothes, walking, etc.).  Lily isn't old enough, so she gets to go visit Aunt Tricia and Uncle Marc. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to have "pioneer" clothes.  It's been a Goodwill adventure so far.

Square Dancing Activity - May 2017

What Ever Happened to Blogging?

This used to be a thing.  It's been so long, that I couldn't remember how to even find this site.  A couple stabs at the dark and I managed to find it.  It was fun to take a trip down memory lane.  They say the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.  Maybe I'll plant a few trees today so that I can enjoy them later.

I think I'm going to throw random things at this blog.  We'll see.

New Dinner Recipe

I made a goal to add a few new recipes to my dinner rotation.  The one I chose was fairly simple, but a bit time consuming.  I did manage to get thumbs up from the whole family.  Jack said he preferred the "other" orange chicken that I make.  Shhh, it's no secret that the other chicken is from a Costco box.

Sweet n' Sour Chicken

Did I take a picture of mine?  Of course not, we were too busy eating.  Would I make the recipe different?  I might actually follow it a bit closer next time.  I didn't cook the chicken for the full hour, so my sauce was a bit runny.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's that time of year! As usual, I've waited until last minute to get "cards" for the kids Valentine's Day parties. Luckily, Lily went for her old standby. She'll be putting a sucker in her hand.

Emma tried something new this year and we'll be gluing Hersey kisses on her hand. Done and done!

Unfinished Business

All the stars aligned and I have been finishing unfinished projects around the house. It doesn't hurt that Michael is out of town and I can wear paint clothes all day. I have had the top of my very tall walls mocking me for years. Literally. It's been at least two probably three since I painted the reachable parts. I marched myself over to my neighbors house to borrow a tall ladder before I could think twice. By the way, don't ever have Jack hold the ladder for you. Just sayin'! I was white knuckling it at the top of said ladder and cursing my motivation to finish a project. The weekend isn't over and I'm not done painting, but I'm well on my way.

Whoops

It's been a busy week filled with too many activities. I felt like I was mostly on top of everything and feeling pretty good about it. Then I remembered that I had signed up to take muffins to school, right about the time I couldn't do anything about it. I completely forgot. In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal. Of course I feel like a flake and secretly hope that I get put on the "don't ask to volunteer" list. There is a list, right?!

sNOw Camping for Me!

Nope, I'm not going camping.  The "boys" are going snow camping, which means it's a girl's night!  Curling up in pjs and watching an old movies sounds delightful.  I may even be brave and break out the nail polish.  I'm just about over a cold, not sure if I can handle the fumes just yet.  I have hot cocoa, marshmallows, and Netflix ready to go.

Tooth Fairy

I went to pick up the kids at school this afternoon and was surprised to see my my youngest had turned into a vampire.  She lost one tooth a week or so ago, I didn't realize the other one was close to ejection. Of course, she might have helped it along by eating carrots for snack at school.  I think she was angling for the prize box that the nurse's office has.  Now I just have to remember that the Tooth Fairy should arrive at her pillow @ 10 pm.  With money in hand.

Sew sew

I like to dabble at sewing. If I have a small achievable project, especially one with straight lines, that's the project for me.

An upcoming baby shower is just the excuse to go find cute fabric and sew a small blanket. I think I like to look at fabric more than I like to sew. Anyhow, with fabric bought, the blanket was half way finished.

Since the shower is for Emma's primary teacher, she was invited as well. I felt like this was a good project for her to help out. She did a pretty good job sewing straight lines. I think that the fabric was a little slippery and I hope that the cute fabric makes up for the slightly wonky shape.

With a leftover scrap, we also whipped up a burp cloth. No straight lines, and it turned out cute.

One small achievable goal accomplished!

Just One Word

I remembered that I had the brilliant idea (ok, someone else's idea) to try and think of one word to focus on for the year of 2012.  That word was positive.  I think I did a great job...until February.  At which point I think I completely forgot what my "goal" was.  I'd say I had lots of positive moments...and some not so positive.  (Don't we all)  Perhaps having the word at the forefront of my thoughts was how I wanted to approach situations.

So, it's a new year.  New word.

Happy

Here are a few synonyms;

cheerful, cheery, merry, joyful, jovial, jolly, jocular, gleeful, carefree, untroubled, delighted, smiling, beaming, grinning, in good spirits, in a good mood, lighthearted, pleased, contented, content, satisfied, gratified, buoyant, radiant, sunny, blithe, joyous, beatific; thrilled, elated, exhilarated, ecstatic, blissful, euphoric, overjoyed, exultant, rapturous, in seventh heaven, on cloud nine, walking on air, jumping for joy, jubilant; informal chirpy, over the moon, on top of the world, tickled pink, on a high, as happy as a clam;

Happy can mean a lot of things.  I especially like the content...and the tickled pink.

Mondays

Mondays are a great way to start a week.  Kids go off to school.  Laundry gets started. The house sorta gets back to a state of clean...sort of.

Today I should be doing all that, but I really want to sit down and read my current book.  I got sucked into a mystery, "Broken Harbor" by Tana French.  I am reading it slowly so I don't miss anything.  Usually I speed read through a book and know the ending well before I get there.  I have no clue where this book is going.

I think I'll speed through some cleaning then dive into my book.

A New Year

Happy 2013!

I can tell it's been a long time since I've blogged, I barely know how to log into this account.

I'm still contemplating what goals I would like to make for this year.  I certainly don't want to commit myself to too many goals.  ;)  Mostly I'd like to have a calm, happy, and fun year.  How do I make this happen?

Sewing

After much heckling, I am posting a sewing project. Apparently, if you don't blog it, you didn't make it. I give you...the "Sister Skirt"!

A quick trip to Portland/Marysville last month was very productive.  We managed to make some jewelry, sew a few things, and watch some Bollywood.  I am not a sewer by trade, but I do manage to fix buttons and "franken" costumes together (with a bit of hot glue help).  Keira was determined to make me a sewer, she was a bit more ambitious than I with her spring frock.  Thanks to Debbie, she had this beautiful fabric lying around and I begrudgingly consented to sew a skirt.    It was not hard, but I find that I may only like to sew when I have knowledgeable sisters leaning over my shoulder to decipher sewing instructions.

Last Minute Valentines

I told myself that I was going to be proactive this year and get Valentine's cards done early. Did I? NOPE. It's the day before and the girls VERY nicely asked when we were going to do it. Let's just say that I work well under last minute deadlines. This is a total knock off of Lily's card from last year, but why reinvent the wheel?! I will be staying up tonight and adding the lollipop that gets inserted through their hand. (Jack asked why their hands looked weird)

Useful Stuff

I know we're addicted to another certain website that has taken over the world. Yes, I'm referring to Pinterest! Hours have been lost, opps, utilized wisely for the betterment of our homes and humor. Oh, the humor.

I saw a "tip" the other day on how to fix scratches on your wood chairs. Well, the scratched chairs didn't apply to me, but I have some awesomely scratched banisters. The tip was; rub a walnut over the scratch. How simple can that be?! I happened to have a can of mixed nuts in my pantry and promptly picked out a few walnuts. I did try and wipe off all the salt before I started rubbing on the wood.

I'm not naming any names (Emma!) may have etched her name and a few Xs in the wood quite a few YEARS ago. They were mostly out of the way and I thought trying the walnut couldn't hurt.

The before:

The after:

It didn't remove the scratches completely, but what a difference! Thank you Pinterest.

Winter Advisory

Michael has been on a trip for work, this week, in balmy California. He's suppose to get back tonight. Unfortunately there is a forecast for "blizzard-like conditions" this evening. Yikes! I'm really hoping he gets home before the storm gets bad.

Of course, what does he have planned for Friday night? A Scout camp out! (Shaking my head, thankful I don't have to go!)

2012

Yes, it's been a while...ok, a LONG time. I'd really like to get back on the blogwagon. Here's my attempt to start again.

So, 2012. New Year, new goals. I was reading various blogs/forums and there was an interesting thread about trying to choose ONE word to describe the kind of year you'd like to have. I decided that my word for the year is going to be Positive. I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily a negative person, but I know that I would like to have a more cheerful attitude.

What would your word for the year be if you could only choose ONE word?

Fall Leaves

The weatherman said there was snow in the forecast and I waited until the last second to get some "Fall" pictures of the kids. We took the pictures and ran home because the temperature was dropping and the snow clouds were rolling in.

Jack in 6th grade. Age 11

Emma in 4th grade. Age 10

Lily in 1st grade. Age 6

First Day of School

It's a monumental year at our house. All three kids in all day school...at the same school. YEAH!

Tallest to shortest, the cousins are excited to start school. Jack and Ana are entering 6th grade together and Cameron and Lily are sharing the playground as big 1st graders. The outliers are are Emma and Brady as Fourth and Eighth graders.

Lemonade Stand

A successful lemonade stand happens on a hot day with a captive audience. We combined forces with our friends and sold lemonade at a library concert. It wasn't as hot as we thought it was going to be, I may have some leftover lemonade in my fridge (we'll be drinking it for the next three days). All the money that we made (about $30) will be donated to the library. The kids had fun...we'll have to do it again.

Lily gets to sample some of the lemonade.