Bring on the Tooth Fairy!

Natalie had her first wiggly tooth for what seemed like forever. One fine morning, after 10 minutes of super-drama (from her not me), it fell out in a tissue just before school. If it wasn't for her fear of the impending blood-letting, she would have scored a prize from her Kindergarten teacher.

I had to write the tooth fairy a letter for the tooth back so I could photograph it, as I forgot of course. Second child and all. So here it is. Can you see it? Her tooth is so stinkin' tiny, it's doomed to get lost.

I'm laughing at you squinting to see it.

Momma, Can I Make With You?

This is Marissa's new passion. She asks "Momma, can I make with you?" It's super cute and surprisingly she does a good job. She patiently follows directions, is careful, and has become a superb egg-cracker. Her favorite thing it to gather the eggs from the coop and prepare scrambled eggs right away.

I'm not oozing with patience (silence the laughter) but teaching my little one to cook is simultaneously teaching me patience. So praise God for my little children and food to cook!

Back to School

Back to school at a new school with two kids this year. Hayden went off to 2nd grade with no trouble. The night before I asked him if he was nervous (because I was) and he asked me why he would be nervous. Nice.

Natalie started Kindergarten the day after and was beside herself with nerves. Poor baby girl! I held it together until I stepped out her classroom door and she started crying hard. Ugh.

Marissa started daycare twice a week the week after and is still (8 weeks later) maintaining her hatred of it. Sigh.

So goes Back to School . . . . .

Summer Fun ~ aka Taming the Boredom

"Water sliding" with friends at the church campout. . . .

Free bowling with MOPS friends and an uncountable number of children. . . . .

A

weekend at the Beach. . . .



Boating and intertubbing. . . . .

Many play dates including a friend's amazing pool, jumpy place, McDonald's. . . .

Back in May, a really good, original thought came to me on how to tame the Summer Boredom.

You know, the sleep in until 9 a.m., lay around the house in pjs, where can we go today, what's for dinner, oops the summer's over Boredom.

Each of my children composed a list of 10 things they wanted to do over the Summer, edited as necessary by mommy, as Natalie quickly shouted out "Go to Palm Springs!" We composed the list together on the computer (teaching them computer skills and Publisher ~ good mommy), choosing their own graphics to design it, printed it out, and hung it.

We've done well doing the fun things off each person's list, but it wasn't all about that exactly. For them it was learning to make a to do list and planning outings. For me it was making sure these 3 months "off" were not wasted. My children's time goes by so quickly, I would so much rather it be filled with events and adventures to treasure for all time.

I'm looking forward to next year's lists....

HAYDEN:
1. Spend the night with Trenton
2. Spend the night with Conner

3. Race remote control cars

4. Go to the beach

5. Play date with Talon

6. Hunt for turtles

7. Sleepover with Kyle & Casey

8. Date with mommy

9. Go to the Pacific Science Center

10. Bowling

NATALIE:

1. Go to the beach

2. Ride horses with Ty

3. Spend the night with Ty

4. Play date with Whitney

5. Go to the zoo

6. Jumpy place

7. Putt putt golfing

8. Date with daddy

9. Children's museum

10. Picnic at the river

MARISSA:

1. Slip n slide with Josie

2. Play date with Josie

3. Play date with Max & Sam

4. Play date with daddy

5. Jumpy place

6. Go to the beach

7. Play outside

8. Camping with Ty & Josie

Garden Harvest!

So I lied and didn't take more photos of my garden. I just couldn't do it....the weeds are taller than my children. But we have been eating (and canning) so much yummy food! Yes I said canning....that's a little pat on the back for me. Sorry....spicy pickled green beans, pickles, pickled beets, and jams so far.

My mother-in-law said it perfectly when she came over one night. She said she did her time canning but she had to take a peek at my pantry, because she knows how proud you are when you open that door and see all those beautiful jars. Thankx, mom!

I've also spent many hours baking zucchini bread. Look at these giant zucchini! That was just 3 of the 5 giant ones we came home to from being gone camping over the weekend. The sight of my children carrying those humongous things was too funny.

Maybe we should enter them at the fair.....the zucchini not the children.

Howdy Pardner!

This is Natalie's friend, Ty.


This picture is worth a thousand scary thoughts of her teenage years.


LOVE YOU LIL' COWGIRL! *hugs* Mommy


Brooks And Dunn - Cowgirls Don't Cry lyrics LyricsMode.com

Happy "ish" Hens

I finally talked Jason into getting out his tool belt and making an addition to the hens' nesting boxes, thinking they would be happier with more private spaces to lay eggs. There were only 5 boxes and now they have 10--10 boxes for 19 chickens. Well it worked for a few days....one day we got 5 eggs. Now we're back to 1 or 2 per day. First it was too cold, then they wanted more grass, then different feed, now it's too hot. I tell ya, these birds are so darn hard to please! Hopefully in the fall when the Rhode Island Reds are a full year old, we'll be getting about 6 per day.....

Growing, Growing....

Another few weeks and everything just took off. Of course, I wanted to photograph my garden with the least weeds possible......Impossible! I had to give up that OCD dream. I cannot keep up with the weeding no matter how hard I try. Jason tries to help, he gets a jump at it with a rotortiller, we encourage the kids to help.......Oh well. There's better things to do than weed, right?

But when I get to heaven, I'm having a serious talk with Eve.

Marissa's 3rd Birthday

Thank you everyone for making my baby feel so loved and special!

A girl's dream cake....pink, sparkly, with tractors....

Chocolate crayons from Auntie....

and a new bike from Papa & Grandma!

Marissa's birthday was so fun. Just the family over for home-made cake, presents for the birthday princess, and lots of love for her. PERFECT!

The Garden's Beginning to Show!

One trellis of peas growing nicely

My favorite garden helper

We have 4 rows of corn, coming up!


A glimpse of the beets and romaine lettuce rows
(potatoes in the background)

Natalie (ok her hand) picking strawberries

It's time to garden again! YES! A favorite thing of mine is growing food for my family. I know a lot of people do it, but producing food from seed provides so much enjoyment and fulfillment. I remember one dinner last year we had steak, potatoes, veggies, and salad. Jason said "Is this all from our garden?" Yes it was, including the beef. We raise cows for beef and this year we have chickens too!

When is it officially a farm? Do I have to wear overalls?

It always seems like to much work to get started, mulch, compost, tilling the ground which my hubby faithfully does several times before planting time comes around. This year we added sturdy trellises made from leftover posts and fencing wire. I love to recycle junk.... I'm working on making a bed from a metal antique bed frame, and we're finding the right spot for an old bathtub Jason found in the cow pasture last year. He knew I'd love it....




The kids and I planted most of the seeds on Memorial Day, a late start but I think it was a good thing to wait because we ended up with a few late frosts just up until the week before. These photos are from the end of June. I promise to take some new photos tomorrow to show you how our garden is progressing....

God's Gift to Me

Boy am I blessed! Hubby hates it when I brag about my children but I just can't help it. They're such beautiful creatures from my great and loving God!

1st Camping Trip of the Season

Our first camping trip of the season was to Rife Lake. We were joined by some friends this time! Yahoo! The kids had so much stinkin' fun (literally---that's their favorite thing about camping and my least). Cooked meals outside on the camp stove, stayed up late around the fire, went for a jaunt out on the boat and a few brave souls jumped in the icy water, played lots of silly games, and practice softball of course!


We just relaxed and enjoyed doing nothing.


When's the next trip?

Deep Thoughts by Little Ones. . . .

My children quite often surprise me by their deep thoughts and questions. Here is the conversation between the girls in the car on the way to Bible study Thursday morning:


Peanut (she's almost 3 years old): When we get to heaven, we get to see Charolette and God. (Charolette was our cat.)


Princess: And Grandpa Parker. I miss Grandpa Parker.


Me: Speechless with instant tears in my eyes. . . . There's just nothing better than that--faith of a child.


Mark 10:13-15
13. People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Who would eat a chicken?

Here's what's been occupying most of our time lately. . . .

A few months back, we headed to a farm auction in Enumclaw. We had been working on our coop for several months and were ready enough for some birds. So we came home with 4 hens, 5 pullets, and 21 chicks---go big or go home---and already had 4 ducklings (yes ducklings) purchased at the feed store just a week prior. I mean the chicks and ducklings are so cute, how can you say no? Well, the average person can say no or rather the average person probably doesn't even think "I would like to have some chickens and ducks of my own."

I'm not going to lie.....having all those chicks was a lot of work. The hens and pullets were easy---food and water and a place to rest and walk---but those chicks! The chicks were only a day old when we got them and boy do they need lots of care for the first few months. I learned the hard way (cover your eyes for those of you faint at heart) that chicks cannot be near standing water and lost 3 right away, and last week we lost another 4 from another water incident.

So our farm has grown by 5 hens, 5 pullets, 14 chicks, and 4 ducks, which are all living happily together in a big chicken run. We don't have any fresh eggs but hopefully they'll get to laying soon. The children are totally loving this experience and love to care for them. We've recently watched the movie "Home on the Range" a bunch, and we love to quote to our chickens "Who would eat a chicken?" and giggle with delight.

Hard Lesson Learned

My car window was smashed and my purse stolen on Friday, February 27th. Within two hours, the man and woman had racked up over $3,000 in purchases at 3 stores, including payment of their cell phone bill. All three stores have them on video surviellance and payment of a cell phone bill seems like easy access to their name, address etc. for the police to obtain and make an arrest.

Here's what I've learned:

#1. NEVER leave your purse, wallet, electronics etc. in your vehicle. Locked or not locked, thieves don't mind doing some serious damage to get what they want.

#2. DO NOT CARRY your social security card, check book, or any other significant identification in your purse/wallet (passport, birth certificates).

#3. ROBBERY is on the rise. Our economic situation is forcing people to live as criminals. I was at Safeway on Monday and watched the store manager chase down a man and woman who fled the store out seperate doors....on foot. They were both caught....with a roast and soda.

#4. Unfortunately our police force is too overwhelmed to be able to help everyone, and I've discovered countless instances such as this from nearly every friend I have spoken with. Sad.

BE ON ALERT!
Protect yourselves and your property....
Lock your cars at home even if they're in your garage....
Lock the doors to your houses at all times....


Insurance agent's tip:
My insurance agent phoned me the day after this incident and gave me a homeowner's tip which I want to share. Water leaks in houses is a very common occurance, that in most cases, cause extensive damage (we've had 5 water leaks in our 2 houses....). REPLACE the hoses to your toilets, dishwasher, washing machine, and refridgerator. These hoses and connections wear out and will break without warning.....

Where is Spring?

I thought if I changed my background, it might coax Spring to come. I don't know about you, but this late snowfall, however beautiful it truly is, is just getting annoying. I was just about to start digging into the gardens with some new trees and a few berries for the garden, when we were showered with a few more inches of snow. ? Isn't it March? ? ?

I can see why the Millers are eagerly counting down 'til Disneyland. . . .

BBC Book List

This came to me from Facebook, and it makes me want to run to the library and make more time to read! Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books on this list Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh *
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold X
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zol
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn X
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I Am From. . . .

This journaling poem of sorts was copied from a friend's blog.
I found it to be very thought-provoking. . . .


I am from a big small town of fried chicken, Top Ramen, and grilled cheese.


I am from the big first home that my daddy built, with a big yard; to the tiny city house with a postage stamp-sized yard, where we became a close family.


I am from the Evergreen tree and rhodedendron bush, to the salty ocean air and breeze.


I am from Sunday School, Lifesaver candies, Certs, humor, and hard work, from Grandpa Ward, and my parents, and many aunts and uncles too!


I am from the God loving and revering, loving, stubborn, born leaders, quick-witted, good with crafts, organized, generous, family-driven Tom and Debby.


From "because I said so" and "wait until your father gets home" and "clean your plate--there's starving children in Africa."


I am from a Christian home, saved by the grace of God, raised in church, sheltered and discipled in a Christian school, given a good Biblical foundation in which to be a light in this world and to teach my children.


I'm from sunny California, born into a blessed family of about 60, from fresh baked bread and apple pies, crispy, golden, holiday turkey, and creamy silk chocolate pie.


From the hard-working mother who taught me how to keep house, to sew, and make a happy family, and the family-man father who taught me to learn everything I can, work first and play later, how to garden, keep the yard, and keep my sense of humor.


I am from a house filled with family photos old and new, big photo albums and boxes somewhat dis-organized but fantastic at telling the stories, a giant antique Bible on the coffee table, lots of collectibles that tell of things we love and wish for, and file boxes of old school papers and projects that are treasures to this day, that have taught me that to treasure these little things.

I Never Thought I Would Say. . . .

I've been jotting down a few things I catch myself saying that I myself cannot believe. With three children I guess I was bound to say these things at some point:

"Please don't throw the horse head down the stairs."

"Will you please let your sister out of the refridgerator."

"Um, you really need to stop riding your brother. He's not a horse. Ok or a bull. Whatever."

"Hey! Get your head out of the toilet!"

You know you have also said some PRETTY wierd things to your kids, once you stop and listen to what just came out of your mouth. Share some of yours with me!

Christmas Vacation

I don't care what you say, my kids are the CUTEST kids God has ever created!

The popsicle gang in Palm Springs in Mimi's pool :)

Peanut jumping with daddy!

Oh yeah baby! Princess can swim and jump with the best of 'em!

Of course the man can do that too! WITHOUT water wings!

Christmas Vacation is not only our FAVORITEST movie of all times but really our most treasured time of the year. We have always taken a vacation, it's usually a sunny local, it's packed full of memories, and me and my hubby's favorite holiday (New Years) is so much fun!

We loaded up the family wagon and headed south like birds, with a babysitter and the Jacob's clan to Palm Springs sunshine. The drive was even fun....blessings to my hubby who's patience astounds me day by day. Our kids travel like seasoned rock stars on tour, my hubby takes no notice of the car-chaos, and I praise the Lord we were able to have our babysitter come on this trip with us. THANK YOU KALIE!

7 days of 70-ish degrees, sunshine, pool in the backyard, and no-where to go. The kids' fav was the pool, I was so relaxed with help from Kalie with 3 kids in a pool at the same time, no accidents, good shopping, warm sunshine, family, friends.........Livin' the good life.

Then we came home. Now I'm not disrespecting my home. Don't get me wrong, I love Washington. Even the rain. But for the 1st time in my ~-a-hhhhemm ~ 34 year old life I GET IT. I get the need for sunshine. I get the reason so many people move to the sunny states. The sunshine draws me out of bed. Makes me want to get up and move and exercise and get out of bed. It made me happy. I get it finally.

Dear Mom & Dad ~

I won't be upset if you move back to Arizona or somewhere warm. I GET IT.

Sorry it took me so long.

I will just visit A LOT so get a big house :)

LOVE YOU!

Kristina