media purge.

i can really only blame my lack of posts on not having any interesting thoughts or happenings going on, but i will also attribute it to my trying to stay away from the computer as much as possible and remember what i SHOULD be doing instead.

i admit that i have a slight facebook addiction. believe it or not, i threaten to delete my account almost weekly. i have a number of reasons for this… generally i do it when i get myself into trouble by making a comment about (what turns into) a controversial topic and wind up offending someone that the comment was never even aimed at… but then i think about the ease of connection i have between family and friends and i decide to stick with it. but the thing that has been bugging me about it lately is that i spend too much time worrying about something as stupid as my facebook account. it’s not that i sit here, all day, on facebook. holy cow that would be boring! i would need to have like 4 million friends in order to have anything new to read, and i’m not really a game player. no, it’s how i feel this constant need to check my email. i ‘need’ to see if anyone has commented on anything i’ve commented on or stuff like that. and then of course, i need to go back and re-comment on stuff, at which time i find new stuff to comment on, etc. etc. etc…  it is SO stupid. so anyway, i’ve gone into a voluntary facebook ‘detox’ in hopes that i can break myself from the stupid magnetic pull of this computer. this is why i REFUSE to have an iphone or the like. it’s bad enough that i can’t get away from this box sitting in the middle of my house. i shudder at the thought of having one that followed me around everywhere.

in a couple of months, our direcTV contract is up and it is NOT being renewed. i am SO excited to be done with this. of course, i’m sure my husband and children will completely disagree. i don’t really watch much tv. there are only a couple shows i ever watch, and i could easily live without those. mostly i use the tv for the kids. yes, i admit it. if i need to get something done or have a little bit of time (hopefully) without interruption, i turn on a show for them. i also find myself using it to diffuse situations where someone is tired and hysterical or kids that are getting in each other’s faces repeatedly and need a mandatory break from each other, especially if the weather is bad AND in that hell-like hour between 5 and 6pm. i’m not proud of that. i know that there are better ways to handle situations like this, but it’s just too easy. too convenient. and then there are the times i KNOW they’ve been watching too much because they can’t come up with anything else to do with themselves, or they get all belligerent or hysterical if i make them turn it off. i’m also pretty particular about what they watch. although i’m sure i’ll miss phineas and ferb when the cable is gone, disney channel drives me nuts. although i appreciate the lack of ‘commercials’ that you get w/ a lot of kids’ programs for stuff like toys, candy, and crap cereal, what we get is previews for shows that i don’t allow my kids to watch and music videos from their latest teenage vixens. ugh! anyway, i’ll be glad when this isn’t an issue anymore… although i will miss my dvr. yeah, yeah, jekyll and hyde, here.

anyway. i realize the irony of the fact that i’m sitting her at this computer, typing about how much i don’t like it. i should probably also admit that my children are currently watching a cartoon. :-/  i don’t hate the computer. i don’t hate tv. i don’t even hate iphones… i just hate the negative side of these things. the time-suck aspect and the ‘busy’ aspect. i feel the need to be ‘busy’ with other things. things i need to do, as well as those things that i enjoy doing. it drives me nuts when i set out with the intention to sit down for a half hour and read a book or work on a knitting project, but i just decide to ‘check my email’ first. UGH! before i know it, that half hour is gone and what have i accomplished? NOTHING! there’s 30 minutes of my life GONE.

so anyway, i’d say i’ve wasted enough time here for today, time to unplug myself from here for now.

blah.

i haven’t posted much lately because i haven’t had anything to post that wasn’t depressing. but, i figured i should put up something.

well, the biggest thing right now is that my dear uncle loren passed away last friday. we knew it was getting to be near the end, but not quite that close. thankfully, my husband planned a trip for the kids and i to go down and visit. i have trouble with that sort of planning thing… i’ll say, ‘yeah, i should do that’ but then have trouble actually pulling the trigger. well, he did it all for me, and basically said, you’re leaving tomorrow and you’re staying with barb. we left on thursday morning, got to their house in vancouver in the afternoon, had a little visit, which was SO nice, and then went on to barb’s. as it turned out, he died the next day. i don’t think anyone expected it to happen that fast, but it’s really a blessing. i think everyone’s prayer was that if the Lord was going to take him, that it happen fast, and he not have to live in pain for a long time. goodness i will miss him, but knowing he is in heaven and cancer-free is a wonderful thing to think about. at any rate, his service is this coming friday, so we’re all going down again. i’m really looking forward to spending time with family again, and sharing memories.

of course, all this might have a monkey wrench thrown in (or a spanner, eh kate?) if my kids and their germs won’t cooperate. 2 of 3 are down right now. shane’s got some sort of bad sore throat/headache/looks like it’s moving toward a cold sort of thing, and micah’s got an ear infection. again. he was in to the dr. a couple weeks ago because he woke up w/ his eye glued shut and it turned out to be, not only conjunctivitis, but also both ears infected. we went in yesterday for a re-check, now that he’s finished his meds, and he’s got another infection in the right ear. lame. doc said it could be an entirely new infection. either way, it needs to go away. he’s very grumpy right now, and hasn’t been sleeping well – guess we know why, now – and i’d really love to have happy micah back.

so far layla’s okay, but i’m holding my breath at this point!

we have some pseudo-house guests right now. i say pseudo, because they’ve got their motor-home parked in our driveway. but we still see plenty of them and the kids are having fun (mostly) playing together. layla calls noah her ‘special friend’. it’s pretty cute.

what else? anything?

i’ve got a couple of new knitting projects going right now. one is a lace shawl that might be proving more complicated than i have the patience to deal with… at least while trying to be social. at this point it seems to be a ‘lock yourself in a room alone’ kind of project. i currently have about 4 rows that i have to take out, so it’s on hold because i’d rather knit than un-knit. so i’ve got some bamboo sock(s) going as well. i’m really enjoying this project. hopefully i’ll have pictures to post of something soon!

oh, and the weather SUCKS! it’s been nothing but gloom and rain for weeks now and nothing too promising in the foreseeable future. like in the 55*-65* range. blech! i’m really ready for it to be summer.

white chicken chili recipe

was just chatting about recipes w/ a friend and realized that i have talked about this recipe, even photographed a bowl of it, but haven’t ever posted it on here. what a shame, because it’s one of my family’s absolute favorites! i got the recipe from my betty crocker cookbook, and it’s one of the first things i ever made for dave and i after we were married. i even have the date written down next to the recipe and a smiley face, indicating we liked it. =)

i actually don’t mess with this recipe too much, so here goes… i usually make a double batch so i can freeze some and still have leftovers. it freezes really well, so it’s a nice thing to have on hand.

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped (or pressed)
• 4 cups of cooked chicken (chopped, cubed, shredded, whatever – sometimes i just throw in a couple of the cans of chicken they sell in a 6 pack at costco, if i have them on hand and don’t have any cooked chicken handy) you could also use turkey
• 3 cups chicken broth (i generally use more… more like 3 cans, if i’m using cans)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (i probably use more – or i use the frozen cubes from trader joe’s if i don’t have fresh… but fresh is better)
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 2 cans great northern beans, undrained (these can be tough to find – i get them at qfc and buy lots when they’re on sale. you can also get dry beans and prepare them yourself, or cans of navy beans work fine too)

1. melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. cook onion and garlic in butter, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender.

2. stir in remaining ingredients. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

the recipe says to serve it with tortilla chips… we prefer bread. fresh sourdough is best for ripping and dipping, we think. YUM YUM YUM! you won’t be disappointed in this recipe!

gardening dilemma

the last two years that we have lived in this house, i’ve loved having a garden. although it’s a pain to dig out all the weeds and all that, it’s great exercise, fresh air, a little time and space to think. there’s something about digging in the dirt that puts things in perspective. i love watching little sprouts poke their leaves out of the ground. i love watching nature do what it’s supposed to do. i love that my veggies are free and picked within hours of eating them.

BUT, i’m kind of in limbo this year. this is the time of year when everyone i know is talking about weeding and transplanting and compost and seeds and fresh lettuce and stuff like that, and i’m totally feeling left out.

you see we’re moving. we’re not exactly sure when, and we’re not exactly sure where, but very likely in the next couple of months. at any rate, i’m not going to go to all the work of preparing and planting a garden that i won’t be here to harvest. so i’m frustrated at not having a garden this year, not having veggies that i raised myself, not having the experience this year of digging and weeding and planting and watering and all that.

i am ‘stealing’ some of my strawberry plants. i’ve been digging them out and transplanting them into pots that i can take with me. i need more pots now.  i know i’ll be able to snag some of my dad’s beans and tomatoes, and cabbages perhaps, but it’s just not the same.

anyway, i can’t wait to get wherever we’re going and get started on what will be a GREAT garden next year.

the one with the pizza

so, i bought some yeast a couple of weeks ago. i got this bee in my bonnet about making bread. i was going to do it. i checked out books. and every day since then, i’ve been chickening out. i’m not sure why. something about the unknown… especially when it comes to timing and stuff like that.

anyway, earlier this week, angie posted on her blog that she had made some homemade pizza using a recipe from the book, animal, vegetable, miracle which i am currently reading as well. and so i was inspired. i’ve been wanting to make our own pizza for awhile now… getting to papa murphy’s on friday afternoons/evenings is just a hassle and it’s gotta be cheaper to do it yourself, right? besides. then it’s better for you – knowing what you put into it.  and so, not to be outdone, here was tonight’s pizza:

i have to say, it was QUITE yummy. i didn’t really have any issues with the dough either. it did what it was supposed to do. of course, i deviated from the recipe a little bit – i CANNOT leave a recipe alone – and added some herbs to the flour as i was mixing them. just a little basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano. oh, and a good shake or two of garlic powder. fyi: this was a GOOD idea. so yummy… and especially since you get quite a deep dish pizza. it was like having pizza and a side of really good bread, all in one! angie made round pizzas, i made one big rectangle in my stone bar pan. i just sprinkled it with cornmeal and it didn’t stick at all. i slid the whole thing out onto my big cutting board when it was done and cut it into long, skinny rectangles on there. i used some trader joe’s pizza sauce, tillamook mozzarella, genoa salami, and black olives for most of it. if you think the far left end of it looks different, you’re right. that’s because that was MY end! in addition to the salami, my part has feta and kalamata olives! heavenly! EVERYONE liked it, and even said it was better than ‘normal’ pizza! (well, not everyone, since micah didn’t eat it. but he doesn’t eat ‘normal’ pizza either, so we don’t count his opinion.) i consider this a big complement coming from shane, who earlier today said, “i love store-bought applesauce. it’s SOOOO much better than homemade.” ugh!

anyway, all this creativeness in the kitchen did have a downside. it came in the form of a certain 2 and a half year old who apparently can now open the fridge by himself. i thought he was playing in the living room at the train table, when, in fact, he was standing next to the train table creating this lovely mess:

what is that? oh, just chocolate syrup. ON MY CREAM COLORED OTTOMAN. yup. he not only can open the fridge himself, he can unscrew the lid, turn it over, and create a mess, the implications of which are far beyond this mom’s parenting expertise. seriously! how exactly DOES one get something like this out?

only the third child, i tell you. only the third child is capable of this.

the one about shorts

the subject of shorts has been wandering through my mind today for a couple of different reasons. first off, layla decided this morning that she needed to wear shorts in order to ride her bike. there are only two little pairs of shorts in her drawer that i have placed in there with her leggings – in order to be worn under dresses or skirts, so we avoid ‘i see london, i see france’ incidences. so she tells me this morning that she NEEDS to wear shorts and she knows she has shorts in her pile of summer clothes (which i have been slowly going through and adding to her closet (or the too-small pile) as the weather has improved. so she goes and grabs these shorts (all the $4 target shorts they sell every year in every color/pattern you can imagine). i’ve been dragging my feet about those shorts because they just seem so SHORT! i didn’t buy them, they’re hand-me-downs, but she’s had that style of shorts in years past. well, now it’s kind of starting to bug me how short they are. i guess she’s just grown out of her toddler-legs and now has these LONG, skinny legs and there’s a whole lot more of them! so anyway, she tried on every single pair, even though i told her they were all the same, just different colors, and each time i said, “nope. too short.” i realize that most people would say i’m over-thinking it, she’s not even 5 years old yet, and she looks ‘cute’. i see it differently. 10 years from now, i don’t want my daughter parading around in daisy dukes… so why should i create that standard now?

the other thing that got me thinking (further) about shorts was this afternoon in the car, we were going to get on 522, near the high school, and there must have been a PE class out for a run/walk in the nice weather. most of the students were wearing typical PE clothes – shorts and t-shirts. so i was looking at both the boys and the girls and started wondering about shorts again. boys’ shorts and girls’ shorts are vastly different. i’m not saying they should be the ‘same’. but it just struck me as kind of crazy. boys’ shorts are huge. they come to well below the knee and most of those skinny teenagers could probably fit both legs into one leg opening of their shorts easily. and then there’s the girls’ shorts. they are SHORT. like barely-covering-the-butt short. and tight too!

so then i start to wonder… why do women do this? it’s not just teenagers either, so you can’t blame it on immaturity or whatever. why do women so readily accept, consume, and promote such objectifying fashions? women have complained for years (decades, centuries, whatever) about men that are only interested in their body parts… WELL????

at any rate, this little incident solidified my earlier thoughts. those shorts all will be moving right along into the too-small bin!

sophie – my black, furry baby.

happy birthday, sophie! my dog is 14 today, so i thought i’d do a post in honor of her. i haven’t talked too much about my ‘first baby’ on here, probably because i have 3 others that do more interesting things, at this point. mostly i complain about her shedding all over the place. so here, more or less, is the story of sophie.

14 years ago, she was born as one of 15 pups in her litter (or something crazy-huge like that). her father belonged to a friend from church, a chocolate lab, i believe. pretty sure her mother was a black lab, but as it goes with labs, you can get any of the 3 colors from any combination of parents. as breeding tradition goes, they got to choose ‘the pick of the litter’ to keep. well, they had enough dogs already, i guess, and didn’t intend to keep her. this friend worked on music with my mom at church, and brought said pick of the litter with her one day when she was REALLY little. my mom fell in love. i was home from college at the time, and she came home and told me about this adorable puppy that whimpered and slept the whole time. the wheels were already turning, so i jumped on the bandwagon and announced that a black lab was TOTALLY the kind of dog i wanted to get. so we plotted and presented the issue to my dad who suggested, skeptically, that we bring the puppy home “on trial”. hahaha! famous last words.

at any rate, sophie wormed her way into everyone’s hearts, especially my dad’s! they agreed that she would be my birthday present, as i was turning 20 in july. sadly, i don’t have any puppy pictures of her, since these were the pre-digital days, and i didn’t realize until i got the pictures back from printing, that my camera was broken and i had 3 rolls of completely white prints.

since then, sophie has lived in a variety of places. kirkland, wa, cheney, wa, napoleon, oh, back to kirkland, and now woodinville.

she has shared her home with 2 different cats. my cat, kijika, and more recently, my parents’ cat, beatrice… both of which, she has ‘tolerated’. my parents also used to have quite the collection of rabbits, who she enjoyed chasing, barking at, and generally stressing out in her younger years.

her favorite words were ‘walk’, ‘car’, ‘oops’, ‘cookie’, ‘squirrel’, and ‘cat’. she also liked helping my dad ‘feed the bunnies’. she would accompany him out to give them their food or hay… it was a general excuse to go out with one of her favorite humans and nose around in the bunny poop. gross, i know, but it’s still one of her favorite ‘treats’. i guess you have to be a dog to understand that one.

over the years, she’s had some various medical issues that have had to be dealt with. she’s been under the knife more than once too. when she was only a couple years old, she developed these weird bumps in her left ear flap, which had to be removed. not long after that, she developed a bump on her tail, which turned out to be cancerous. she had that removed, and due to the lack of excess skin on tails, had to have a bandage on for weeks, which had to be changed at the vet’s every few days. THAT was expensive! she also had a tendency to get yeast infections in her ears and had to go to the vet so many times to have them cleaned out or treated (something she HATES) that the experience apparently scarred her for life and she had to get a new vet, just because going to that building made her so nervous that she would shake all over, whine obnoxiously, and ‘molt’. basically she’d leave half her fur on the floor there. she also had some skin issues, but in the last several years, she seems to have finally ‘outgrown’ all of that and hasn’t had any issues at all recently. that’s nice, considering she’s been quite the money-pit dog in that regard, and considering she’s 14 today, i can’t imagine that she’ll stay out of the vet’s too much longer. she’s got a little stiffness now, and she has to take medicine so she can control her bladder, but other than that, she’s doing really well for an old dog! oh, and she got run over by a truck one time too. that was scary, but doggy angels were definitely watching over her because she went right down the middle and came away with just a couple bumps and scrapes. but OMG that was scary! one of the worst things i’ve watched happen.

i’ve had to make her throw up a couple times. being a lab, she’ll eat almost anything, which can definitely get a dog into trouble. the first time, she was only about 6 months old and she ate a BOTTLE of advil. yes, the bottle, let alone what was in it. another time, she ate 16 CHOCOLATE cupcakes off the counter. if you know dogs, you know that chocolate is like poison to them. super fun. but obviously, she survived.

there are several funny, famous sophie stories, all of which involve food. there was the time she snuck over to the neighbor’s house through a hole in the fence. they have a dog door into the garage for their dog – an bearded collie named fergus, and he eats like a cat (as opposed to like a lab – all in one gulp), so there was always food in his bowl, which sophie happily finished off. this time however, she apparently made her way into the house because she came home with a baguette in her mouth. apparently they had left some old bread on the counter to make into thanksgiving stuffing, and sophie raided the stash. oops. then there’s the scone incident. my friend, trudy came by to drop off her son, sean, who was spending the day with shane – i think they were 3 or 4 at the time. well, sophie LOVES people, and also thinks that an open car door is an invitation to go for a ride. she’s also incredibly food-motivated, and so within seconds of trudy arriving, sophie had bounded out the door, leapt into her car, honed in on the half-eaten scone between the seats, and of course, devoured it! but the best story would have to be the night before shane’s 5th birthday. he had very specifically requested a round cake with pink frosting and fish sprinkles. so i had baked the cake, 2 layers, and had it cooling on top of the stove. i was in my bedroom talking to dave on the phone late at night (this was the summer before we got married and he was living in ohio – so this was a nightly tradition), when i heard my mom yell from the kitchen. when i came to investigate, there was an empty cooling rack on the floor, and the remaining layer of cake, still on the stove, had several large chunks taken out of it. the birthday boy had already gone to bed, so i had to inform him in the morning, and then he got to go the the store and select a replacement cake. he was very forgiving.

all in all, sophie has been the most wonderful dog. she is very loving, friendly and kid-tolerant. aside from shedding issues, i’d recommend a lab to ANY family with kids. she would never hurt a fly. well, actually, she’s a pretty good fly-hunter… so i guess she would, but never a person. but you need space, a good brush, a good vacuum, and lots of energy. around the age of 11, she finally outgrew being a puppy! now she sleeps a lot, but still takes her job seriously as the family dog. her duties involve thoroughly greeting anyone who comes to the door, keeping the floor clear of crumbs, pre-washing the dishes, cleaning out crusty casserole dishes, and reporting the weather. she’s retired from duties of protecting us from squirrels and cats, but still watches out for flies and spiders.

we love you sophie! happy birthday! may you have at least a few more, you sweet, sweet dog!

 

photo-heavy hodge-podge

apparently, i haven’t had a lot to write about lately. i’m bored with posting my meal plans. it might return someday, but right now i kind of cringe when i think of posting another one. anyway, here’s a general hodge-podge of dapelo family life, as it is right now. enjoy!

here’s shane petting an alpaca at the alpaca farm we visited when we were in hillsboro a little while back. alpacas ROCK!

then we have micah, bowling with paint bottles. my kids are nothing, if not creative. what you can’t see in the picture is that he was throwing rain boots at them, in place of a bowling ball.

 

that same day, layla decided she was going to bob for apples. well, apple, i guess.

using her teeth didn’t work so well, i guess, so she decided to use her feet.

then there’s micah and his creative outfit. i believe what happened is that he got one shirt wet, so i changed it, and then set the other out on the deck to dry. later, he found the shirt and decided to put it back on… i think he’s a little confused about the difference between shirts and pants. he’s got the neck hole around his waist and one leg through a sleeve.

 

i finally caved and decided that micah could have a buzz-cut. here he is before his first daddy special! (sorry tina. no offense – just trying to be frugal!)

and the first pass of the clipper! i flaked and forgot to take an ‘after’ picture, but it’s REALLY cute and lays down nicely. the way it looks and feels actually reminds me of his newborn hair. so i spend a lot of time rubbing his head.

yesterday was really nice so dave washed the cars. these two helped him. when they ran out of cars to wash, they proceeded to haul toys out of the garage and wash them. good thing, too! that wagon was filthy! you can kind of see micah’s hair in this picture.

and then there’s ‘strange layla’. she was playing with this rubber band and managed to get it hooked on her nose and under her front teeth. no idea. but it was pretty funny.

i’ve been trying to do more stuff myself and buy less prepared stuff… this is part of that. my parents have had this juicer forever and i haven’t seen it in action lately, so i asked if i could borrow it. then i bought a box of oranges from costco and a sieve (i’m a no pulp kinda gal). well, let me say that minute maid has DEFINITELY just lost a customer. OMG! heavenly!

and finally, my friend holly posted this on facebook today and i found it hilarious. the ultimate knitter’s bag! i SO want one of these!

hopes and dreams… or fantasies, perhaps

we all have dreams. things we ponder when we’re doing mundane tasks… things that pop into our minds when we’re doing something, or eating something, or partaking in something that just doesn’t seem quite right. i probably have more of these than most people, because it seems i analyze things more than most people. i don’t know. maybe other people just don’t talk about it as much as i do.

i’m always thinking, researching, checking out books or googling things. there are things that bug me about life, and so i try to figure out how i can change them.

i had a whole big long rant on here, that i just deleted because these are my things. my issues. i think by putting them out there, it’s just spewing negativity into the world and there’s too much of that already. it doesn’t matter WHY i feel drawn to these things, it doesn’t even really matter that i am. but this is my blog and i can write about what i want. you can read or not read. you can agree or disagree. you can comment or not comment. it’s just about me, wanting to put down some of the stuff i’m into right now. things i’m interested in learning about… partly because i’m curious. partly because i’m independent. partly because i think some of these things could be beneficial to our family or the world somehow. partly because i’m just old-fashioned.

bread-baking. we have a bread machine, we used to use it a lot. haven’t for years. but i’m actually more interested in the process of doing it by hand right now. i know that bread had gotten a bad rap lately thanks to dr. atkins and all the low –carb gurus, but a lot of the world’s history is wrapped up in bread. there’s a reason that every culture has their own unique styles, recipes and methods for baking bread. there’s a reason the Lord’s prayer says ‘give us this day our daily bread’… i want to know more about this staple of life, and feed my family healthy food as well. and i’m sorry dr. atkins, the kind of carbs in wonderbread and chocolate cake are not the same as those in a good wholesome loaf of whole grain bread.

poultry keeping. i have several friends with chickens right now. some more than others… ;)angie! it’s something that appeals to me. i like the idea of our eggs being fresh and the kids getting hands-on information about keeping chickens and gathering eggs and all that sort of stuff… at the same time, we don’t use a lot of eggs. maybe a dozen a week. but we do eat a lot of chicken… hmmm… not sure about my line of reasoning here… i asked dave recently if he thought he could kill a chicken. he said he thought he could. i don’t know that i could. and i don’t know how keen i am on cleaning and de-feathering (yeah, see? i don’t even know what it’s called) and stuff. but i don’t want to wind up with a bunch of ‘pet’ chickens. maybe for the time being, we’ll just keep getting our eggs from angie. but the thought is out there. we’ll see how it develops.

beekeeping. this is fascinating to me. a lot of people probably don’t use honey at all, but i use a TON of it. i put it in my coffee every day, put it on peanut butter sandwiches, sweeten things that call for sugar… beeswax is also very useful in making soaps, candles, cosmetics (which i’ll get to later)… plus, having bees around is really good for gardens and fruit trees and flowers.

soap making. this is one of those things that it bothers me to buy. mainly, because you have to buy it in a package of some sort. especially shampoo. it drives me nuts that you have to get a new bottle, every time you have to buy shampoo. i also know that a lot of people do it, so it can’t be that hard. i don’t know if i want to go so far as to make artisan soaps, but maybe just some decent smelling, no-yucky-chemicals-type soaps.

gardening. i already do quite a bit of this, and i really enjoy it. i grew up with a garden, eating veggies all summer long that my dad grew. i want to learn more about healthy, natural methods of stuff like pest-control and weed-control, as well as what things grow best in this location. ideally, i’d like to grow ALL of our veggies, but not sure how i see that panning out.

canning/preserving. this is related to the above interest. people used to eat pretty much only that which they could produce themselves. now we can go to the grocery store and buy any kind of produce at any time of the year… i’m not really sure how i feel about that. so i’m interested in learning how to can, freeze, dry, etc. the veggies and fruits i grow. i’d like to learn to make tomato sauces and pickles and stuff like that, as well as just regular old canned veggies and fruits or jams.

sewing. i know that sewing, at this point in time, is more of a hobby than it is a way of clothing your family… patterns aren’t cheap, and neither is fabric. that said, it’s something i enjoy, it is useful to know, and therefore, something at which i want to improve my skill and be able to pass on to my children.

more or less, i think that the idea of being self-sufficient really appeals to me. it kind of drives me nuts when the power goes out (which it does a lot around here) and we’re all just at the mercy of the power company to get to our neighborhoods. our dependency on that seems so silly when you realize that it’s only in the last century that people en mass have even had electricity in their homes. human beings have survived for generations upon generations without it, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to now. i guess i don’t like the idea of being dependent on PSE, or target, or general mills, or proctor and gamble or any of those guys. i want to be dependent on people who care about me and my family. God, family, friends, and myself.

crazy, huh?

that’s what makes it fun.

latest project!

so this is a freakin’ miracle! this is a project w/ less than a 1 week turnaround time between when it occurred to me to do it and having it complete and FUNCTIONING! this is SO not me.

at any rate, the dresser that layla and micah have been using is not exactly functional. it’s attractive… but falling apart. meaning that the second drawer fell out every other day if layla pulled it out a little too far, the third drawer completely fell apart and the bottom fell out of it (after about 400 times, we finally just pulled that drawer out), and the bottom drawer was stuck half pulled out. so yeah, not exactly functional. that, and it was only a 4 drawer (actually 3) dresser being shared between 2 kids.

a little less than 4 years ago, less than a week before we moved back here from ohio, we found a dresser on the side of the road. it was posted as FREE, so we grabbed it and threw it in the moving truck. it was not the most attractive dresser, but all of its moving parts were functional. we haven’t used it too much as a dresser. for the last several years, it’s been in the garage, storing tools and other random junk.

about a week ago, i needed a screwdriver, so i went out to get one and realized how ridiculous it was to try and find a toolbox in a dresser. which drawer is it in? then when i found it, i had to open the drawer far enough (w/out pulling it out too far) to get the lid of the toolbox open so i could dig through and find the stinkin’ screwdriver. this novel thought occurred to me: what a ridiculous place to store tools! we have shelves! why don’t we just put them on the shelves!?!

a couple days later, i was cursing the dilapidated dresser and wondering where we could come up with a new dresser for them.

DUH! it suddenly hit me. we have a dresser! so i went out and looked at it again and decided that we should definitely use it.

but it’s ugly.

so i thought, why don’t we paint it? people do that all the time! don’t they mary?

so i mentioned it to dave on… friday?

on sunday morning, he came home from church w/ sandpaper.

on sunday afternoon, we went and bought paint and new knobs.

this morning, i put the final coat of paint on.

this evening, we moved it in!

the pink drawers are (obviously) layla’s, and the green drawers are micah’s. i figure, at some point they’ll no longer share a room and layla can have it. i thought it would look kind of cute if we swapped the 2 middle drawers at that point so it’s not so much a his/hers looking dresser, but for now, i like the 2 distinct sides. i chose the colors to match this (and because layla insisted her drawers be pink):  remember those? that was february 09.

anyway, i’m super pleased w/ how it turned out AND for my lack of procrastination on this project. seriously, a miracle!

at any rate, now i have a TON of pink and green paint left… i’m sure i’ll come up with something. maybe i’ll copy mary and get the letters of their names to paint and hang up. who knows.

AND, it was SO fun! woohoo!

kid catch up

haven’t done one of these in a while, so i thought i should update what all the kids are up to about now.

shane is busy as usual. he still has little use for ‘school’, but tolerates it and for the most part, is doing really well. he’s currently studying south america – countries, climate, landforms, cultures, history, animals, plants, and the like. we are all now completely enlightened with the discovery of the capybara… the world’s largest rodent, which is apparently the size of our 60 pound dog. he and i also just finished reading the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe which he was enthralled with, so we’re excited to start on the next book. he’s still helping susie with her gardens, and recently has helped her with a couple of ‘trillium tours’ and redoing all the pathways throughout her acre of gardens with ‘hog fuel’ AKA cedar mulch. another neighbor, recently tore off his roof and is in the middle of replacing it with a metal roof, so of course, shane spent last weekend (and is planning the coming weekend) helping with that. his drama class is winding down their preparations for a musical production of STRIKE!, which from what i can gather, is very similar to newsies. he has a couple of smaller roles, as well as being the co-stage manager for the play. so yeah, busy.

layla is having fun in her own little layla world, as usual. she and micah are good friends now, and spend more and more of their time playing together. good weather is very welcome, and they spend a lot of time in the back yard. and, like a good middle child, she also follows shane around whenever he’s around (and will allow her to). she still likes playing with polly pockets very much, drawing, coloring, writing letters, etc. her big achievement right now is working on learning to read. she can work her way through some of the simple BOB books and can figure out almost any 3 or 4 letter word, either in print, or in her head if she’s trying to write it down. she’s signed up for soccer in the fall, and although she’s been begging to play for years, now she’s decided she doesn’t want to. oh well, the fee is paid, as the rule usually goes, if she hates it, she won’t have to play again. she’s very into ‘babies’ right now. not necessarily human babies. her stuffed animals are all ‘babies’ and she has to take care of them; she recently adopted a ‘baby rock’ that had to be fed and take naps and stuff. oh, and she sings all day long and is very into her hair right now. she announced yesterday that she wants to grow it so long that it will touch the ground. that should be interesting.

micah is hilarious, as usual. he’s very into playdough right now, so we have that out almost daily. he’s also obsessed with sports, mostly baseball. he walks around w/ his bat on this shoulder and (when he’s not hitting the dog with it) announces, ‘i’m playing baseball!’ to everyone. if not a bat, he’s generally got some sort of little toy (usually some treasure he’s stolen from shane’s room) clutched in his hand. i think he hangs onto it until he misplaces it (or shane takes it back) and then he goes and adopts a new one. first it was a couple of different monster trucks, then an airplane, then a garbage truck, last night it was a little shopping cart w/ a dog in it, and today we’re back to the airplane. he goes to sleep with them. it’s pretty funny. he generally wants to do whatever layla is doing, and fortunately, she’s usually very agreeable to it, unless, of course, what she’s doing is whatever shane is doing. then he’s stuck being the little brother, since their activities usually take place in the front yard, on bikes, with tools, or in trees. his big ‘project’ right now is POTTY TRAINING! we’ve got him in underwear during the day now, and he’s doing pretty well. he averages only 1 or 2 accidents a day, but it usually happens when i’m not paying attention to how long it’s been since he last went potty. so yeah, in essence i’m training myself, but whatever keeps the kid out of diapers is good with me! he’s also showing himself to be the good younger sibling sponge by absorbing nifty things like being able to count to 10 and knowing all his letters and a few of the sounds as well!

so that’s the kids. as a family, we’re slowly making our way through the ‘little house on the prairie’ tv series. we borrowed the seasons on dvd from my cousins, but we’re still only a little way into season 1. this could possibly take the whole 10 or 11 years that the show was actually on! we’ll see…

SO excited!!!

they’re here! they’re here! they’re finally here! i’ve been anticipating a package w/ MY name on it and it got here last night!

back story: dave has this pillow that he’s had since childhood. a family friend down the street made one for him and each of his brothers. i think i first saw this pillow when visiting his parents’ house before we got married, along with the the ‘matt’ pillow and thought they were the coolest things EVER! i’m thinking the ‘joey’ pillow was already residing w/ joe and mary at the time, because i didn’t see it until we were staying with them some time later. at any rate, the ‘david’ pillow has always had a home in our living room, and i’ve always had in the back of my head that i wanted to make a set of them for our kids. well, mary beat me. a couple weeks ago, she posted, on her blog, pictures of the super-cute pillows she made for HER kids! OH! i was green with envy (and frustration), but alas, i have no sewing machine! grrr. BUT, unbeknownst to me, my husband and mary were plotting! a couple weeks ago, i found out she was making them for us too! the infamous ‘david’ pillow that started it all (for me, at least).the ‘shane’ pillow.the ‘layla’ pillow. the ‘micah’ pillow.and she even made me a ‘rachel’ pillow! i almost cried when she told me she was making one for me too! so here’s our collection of family pillows! i’m so excited for my kids to be able to take them with them wherever life leads them… and maybe inspire a 3rd generation of pillows!

thanks mary!!! we love our pillows and we love you!!!

amazing feats in bad planning…

so i took a big risk yesterday, and was miraculously successful. i can only give credit to divine intervention, because normally, when i do this, i fail miserably.

i went grocery shopping…

without a list…

and no meal plan.

GASP!

somehow or other, having left my list at home (it only had two items on it anyway), i managed to do my shopping, on the fly, with two of my kids in tow, and mentally pulled together a meal plan and bought everything i needed. WOW.

so, although we’re halfway through the week, i’ll post my meal plan anyway.

on saturday, dave and i were away all day at the christian heritage homeschool conference, and my plan from last week was to make the tater tot casserole that night… with the ground beef that i had forgotten to take out of the freezer that morning… so we wound up having a super healthy meal of mac&cheese w/ hot dogs. AND PEAS! i always feel better if we have a vegetable with it… like it counteracts the crap factor. that, and it’s organic mac&cheese! okay, yes, i’m just trying to make myself feel better here. so, the result of that, was that we had the tater tot casserole on sunday, and then our traditional sunday night breakfast for dinner was on monday. we had scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. last night we had loaded baked potatoes. so, for the rest of the week,

• wednesday: homemade mac & cheese w/ ham (out of the freezer); peas & corn
• thursday: oven swiss steak; veggies; mashed potatoes
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: burgers; veggies; oven fries
• sunday: french toast

so, in posting this now (as in, it’s written down and i can see it somewhere other than in my mind), i’m realizing that i will need to get another loaf of bread before sunday. and of course, i’ll need to get some eggs from angie.

*** funny, TRUE story: angie just showed up on my front porch with a dozen eggs! how hilarious is that!?!***

so anyway, it seems i’ve managed to pull it off for the most part! and, in case you picked up on it and were wondering, i did remember to get the 2 things that were on the list: peas and cheese. ;)

meal plan… two days ago!

blah blah blah…

something happened last week. our meal plan kind of blew up. but that’s good news for this week because i can just transfer a lot of what we didn’t eat last week to this week!

• sunday: burgers; oven fries; carrots (from last week)
• monday: pancakes; bacon; fruit (from last week)
• tuesday: chicken caesar salads
• wednesday: leftover beef stew; sourdough
• thursday: tater tot casserole (from last week)
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: soup; grilled cheese sandwiches

so basically, i don’t have to buy anything! well, that’s not true. i had to buy charcoal on sunday so we could grill the burgers. i could have just broiled them, but it was such a nice day it just seemed wrong! and we’re out of milk and coffee (GASP!) so i’ll have to make a costco run. but other than that, i think we’re good! which is awesome, because my grocery budget is kind of shot.

yesterday’s project

in case you didn’t know, i’m a spontaneous person. most of the time, i complain about this little aspect of my personality, because it’s downside is that i’m a BAD planner. committing to do something more than about an hour in advance has a tendency to give me the willies. i’m a last minute kinda person, like to do things when the pressure’s on. partly, this is because i’m just a bad procrastinator (actually, i think i’m a pretty good procrastinator). papers, for example, were always written at the last minute, the night before they were due – and i always got good grades on them (case in point – i’m good at procrastinating). packing is a slightly different example, but similar. if i’m going on a trip, i CANNOT pack for it until the night before i leave. i can mentally pack prior to that, but actually putting stuff in the suitcase any sooner than that, gives me the heebie jeebies and kind of makes me start to panic. first of all, it’s just a given that most of the clothes i want to take are being washed right then, and can’t be packed until they’re out of the dryer. secondly, i can’t pack anything because i might need it as soon as it’s in the suitcase, and then i’d have to unpack it, which would totally negate the process of packing it in the first place, so why bother? and then you can’t pack stuff like toiletries, because you’re going to need them the next morning before you leave… yeah, i know. i have issues. my final example can only be explained as rebellion. something inside me outright rebels when i have things i HAVE to do. if i try to enforce a schedule on myself for housework, i get less cleaning done then ever. something about knowing that i’m supposed to be doing it, causes me a to have a major resistance to it. i know, it’s ridiculous!

so anyway, aside from the negative aspect of being bad at planning, and resistant to routine, spontaneity can have an upside too. it’s the ‘bee in my bonnet’ experience. i’ll suddenly get inspired to do something, and then there’s no stopping me. one of those, ‘wow this shower is dirty. i should clean it.’ moments. sadly, i don’t have nearly enough of those moments or my house would be in a lot better shape! ;)

okay, enough therapy.

this is what i did yesterday:

all my preschool stuff has been in the garage since i quit teaching before micah was born. i’d been meaning to get out the calendar (particularly for layla) for awhile, but of course, it just never happened. but then, yesterday, layla asked me a question, and i was trying to explain when friday was, and she wanted to know if it was ‘the day after this day’ (she still can’t figure out what ‘tomorrow’ means), and suddenly that bee flew into my bonnet! so i got out all the calendar stuff, sorted the numbers (there are different ones for almost every month – some are mine, some i inherited from my mother), cleared a spot on the wall, and layla and micah helped me put everything up.

i decided i need some sort of signs to help layla understand the concept of words like ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’, and ‘yesterday’, so i decided to print some that we could stick on the calendar and move daily. then i figured that since i was making those, i should make labels for major holidays and birthdays as well. as it turned out, i probably made 30 or 40 labels, covered them with contact paper and cut them all out. it was actually really fun! i also got out my weather chart so we can keep track of the weather (you know, because graphing is always a good time!).

layla was really excited about it, and so far, micah has been able to resist the temptation to yank them all off, although he thinks it’s really fun to drive his monster truck over the dates. oh well.

the saga of micah and the never-ending mystery fever… installment 2

so this post is already anti-climactic because he’s over it! i still don’t know what it was, because he’s certainly not sick w/ anything i can see.

but anyway, installment 2 goes like this. saturday morning, he woke up cool. he was relatively happy, played, etc. once again, i was thinking we were in the clear. then sometime, late morning, he came and got me and told me he wanted to snuggle. red flag #1. so we went and cuddled up on the couch. he wound up falling asleep draped across my lap, and as he slept, i could feel him getting warmer and warmer. while he slept, i stuck the thermometer in his armpit and the highest it went was 100.4. so then i’m confused. it’s up. but not that much. do i take him in, or not?

i decided to call the nurse advice line at our dr’s office and when they called me back they basically said that since it had been that many days, he should probably be seen. so we got an appointment for early afternoon. i LOVE that about our pediatrician’s office. you can ALWAYS get in. even on the weekends.

so we go. he gets examined. the big sigh of relief came when she looked in his ears and they were fine. PHEW! she looked at everything else and said that his nose looked a little congested and his throat looked a little red, but nothing was bad enough to be concerning. so that was a little frustrating, but at least there’s nothing obvious wrong with him. we were told to give it a couple more days and come back on monday if the fever didn’t go away.

well, it did.

saturday was the last we saw of it. dave stayed home from church with him on sunday, and other than not eating a whole lot that day, he was perfectly normal, and yesterday the same.

so there you go, the never-ending mystery fever finally ended, but it’s still a mystery!

the saga of micah and the never-ending mystery fever…. installment 1

my little guy has been plagued since wednesday, with this crazy fever that just keeps going up and down. my first clue should have been the 5am wake up on wednesday morning, and what sounded like some slight sniffles.

layla had an appointment that morning to have her hearing tested, and i had arranged for micah to hang w/ my friend lindsey. he seemed kind of quiet and sleepy when i dropped him off, but i assumed that was due to a combination of being a little sleepy from getting up so early, and being in a strange place.

when i came back to get him, just over  an hour later, he was passed out on the floor of the livingroom, in a pile of toy trains. interesting.

we took layla to preschool and then came home, at which time, micah asked to watch phineas and ferb. so i turned it on and he lay, comatose, for the next half hour on the pooh couch. it was at this point that it occurred to me to take his temperature (duh!) and at 102.6, i gave up on my slow-poke thermometer and just went for the tylenol (and my IM window to apologize to lindsey!).

when he went to bed that night it was at 103.0, and reached that again later yesterday afternoon. that’s when i called the dr. to see if the thought they should see him. they said no. not until saturday, or it goes up to 105, do they need to see him.

UGH! this is so frustrating because he doesn’t seem to have any other obvious symptoms, which kind of makes me afraid he might have an ear infection or strep throat or something. he doesn’t complain about anything specific, but just kind of squirms and moans when the fever is up.

when it’s down, of course (via the tylenol rally), he’s playing baseball, playdough, jumping on the trampoline, asking for ice cream, etc…

i was so excited this morning when he woke up and seemed cool. i took his temperature and it was normal, even though he was very whiney. he eventually perked up, and his fever seemed to be gone! finally!

and then about an hour ago, i noticed he looked like this:

and we’re back at 102.6. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tomorrow AM, he’s either better or at the dr. the momma bear thing is kicking in in a BIG way.

meal plan monday… tuesday…

i have no idea why i didn’t post this yesterday. oh well.

• monday: french dips; veggies (something happened last week and we never had these, so we did this week!)
• tuesday: homemade mac&cheese w/ ham; peas
• wednesday: beef stew; sourdough
• thursday: tater tot casserole
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: burgers; oven fries; veggies
• sunday: pancakes

did the shopping yesterday, and a big thank you to the friendly checker at safeway, who, when my total was $100. 87, allowed me to empty the change compartment of my wallet on the counter, counted out .84 and called it good! all so i didn’t have to break a twenty for 87 cents! so i owe safeway .3!

spring break/cleaning

no, don’t worry, you haven’t stumbled upon the wrong blog. you know, the blog of someone who actually DOES spring cleaning! it’s really me.

it’s friday of spring break. and yes, even though we’re homeschoolers, that does mean something. first of all, any of shane’s classes that he takes are off this week, and HE KNOWS when all the vacations and days off are. it’s like he’s got a sixth sense. you know, the ‘anti-school sense’. of course, he’s probably off learning more this week than he does the rest of the year. he’s been working, full days, w/ susie this week, and happy as a clam about it. sometimes i’m tempted to just forego school and let him work with her all day. she is, after all, what’s considered an official master gardener. she has an acre of partially wooded property, on the lake, that she has entirely landscaped with native plants. they spend hours weeding, planting, replanting, labeling, filing, recording, mulching, and otherwise caring for the gardens. and when they’re not doing that, they’re off doing landscape work for private homeowners and local businesses. seriously. do not tell me this is NOT education.

anyway, layla’s been sick this week. she’s got a cold to beat all, so we’ve been pretty much stuck at home and laying low. nobody really seems to mind though.

i’ve been taking advantage of this time by thinking about decluttering. really! i’ve made this amazing discovery! (bear with me here, i know it’s stupid, but it never occurred to me before.) it’s possible to get rid of just part of something, but not the whole thing. for example, i just sorted through the playdough toys. my first thought when i see something like that is to either keep or get rid of. especially if something is a ‘set’ of some sort. but i have decided not to let that sort of stuff get the best of me anymore! the kids like playing with playdough, so i’m not going to get rid of all of it, but it’s ridiculous when you can’t even reach the bottom of the bin to find the tool you want. so i sorted the playdough toys and got rid of easily half of them! AWESOME! now you can actually see what’s in the bin! i did the same thing earlier in the week with the play kitchen stuff. i mean really, why on earth did we need 4 plastic casserole dishes and 6 plastic frying pans?! i also weeded through the food. awesome!

earlier i hit the drawers in my bathroom. i tossed 2 curling irons and a hairbrush i never use. i can shut that drawer now! i also pulled out 3 bottles of perfume i have been hanging onto but NEVER use.

in the kitchen i decided to get rid of our spinning spice rack. it’s taking up space on the counter and i don’t really use that much. it has 12 jars, and since i own many more than 12 spices, they are also stored in a drawer. why not keep them all together? so that’s going.

next, i think i’ll hit the trains, the ‘box of random toys’, and possibly the duplos - not sure we need 2 bins full of them.

so anyway, that’s what i’ve been doing this week… that, and trying not to get sick! still fighting that off, we’ll see if i succeed.

meal plan monday-ish…

so i’m late. boo hoo.

• monday: scrambled eggs w/ leftover ham and cheese; english muffins
• tuesday: burgers; carrot sticks
• wednesday: roast beef; potatoes; veggies
• thursday: chicken of some sort……
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: french dips; salad
• sunday: waffles; sausage

i’ve already done a little bit of shopping, but need to finish up. don’t need much though, because i already have a lot of stuff – ground beef, buns, carrots, roast, potatoes, veggies, hoagie rolls… love costco shopping! just need to pick up some chicken (and whatever i decide to have w/ it), some salad stuff, buttermilk, and sausages. shouldn’t be too bad!

easter weirdness

so it’s 9:39pm and we’ve just (sort of) finished our easter celebration. what a wacko day. what a wacko weekend. it does not feel so much like easter.

to start, we’re all tired. we had a great little overnight trip south to visit kat and cole, and to celebrate cole’s 40th. kat had a surprise party planned for him. it was totally fun, the kids were just running crazy all day long and having so much fun together, the guys went on some bike rides, etc. etc. we got home last night at around 9, and i had to head straight out to target to get some easter surprises or the kids were going to have empty baskets. yes, that’s waiting til the last minute. i tried to do it yesterday morning, but after spending an hour in walmart and getting everything sorted out and at the checkout, i discovered that my debit card was not in my wallet and i had no way to pay for anything. POO! so i frantically shopped last night, then had to get gas, then had to hit the grocery store.

this morning everyone was still tired, but the kids had fun w/ their easter ‘sbackets’ and we somehow or other made it to church, only a little late.

it was during church that i realized that there was something wrong w/ layla. she was very quiet and not really herself. when dave took her and micah to the nursery to play, she just sat on his lap and cuddled. she said her throat hurt. as the service went on, her cheeks got redder and redder and she got quieter and quieter.

at any rate, it looks like she’s wound up with what shane had last week.

my parents were planning to come over here for dinner, but we were kind of in limbo, waiting to see how she was. well, she took her motrin and rallied, so we decided to go ahead w/ dinner, which at that point was going to be very late. i took a walk w/ shane and micah and micah fell asleep. so he took a nap at about 6 and slept for an hour. needless to say, he’s still running around w/ no sign of going to bed EVER. we ate at about 7:15 and i didn’t think shane was going to make it through dessert. i don’t know what happened to him, but he was suddenly very tired and went to bed right after dinner. he says he feels fine, just tired. but he’s sounded sniffly and sneezy all day, so i think he’s got a cold, and my vomit paranoia is kicking in a little too, even though he said his stomach is fine. layla is currently passed out w/ daddy on the couch, and my parents are still here.

so anyway, it just hasn’t really felt like easter all day. i’m tired, i feel worn down. i’m worried about my kids, even though i know it’s just general whatever sickness… still, it’s a mom thing. we worry. we didn’t even do an easter egg hunt. i kind of want a do over.

but you know what? it doesn’t matter how i feel. it doesn’t matter if dinner was late, if egg hunts didn’t happen, if people aren’t feeling well. it doesn’t have to feel like easter. it’s still easter. Jesus still died for me and everyone else. he still defeated death and the devil and still lives again, so that i can too.

pretty awesome, huh?

easter stuff

okay, so this isn’t ACTUAL easter stuff, but the accessory easter stuff that i want to talk about. good old-fashioned, secular, commercialized easter stuff. NO, i’m not about to embark on a rant, so you can keep reading…

i suppose there’s just as much variation among families w/ christmas stuff of this sort, but i’m always curious about people’s traditions, especially because they seem so different. some people i know are full-on ‘easter bunny believers’. they treat the easter bunny much like santa claus, w/ the filling of baskets and hiding of eggs and all that being attributed solely to the easter bunny. their kids are convinced that the easter bunny is real and responsible for all of that stuff. there are people who have their kids pictures taken every year w/ a shopping mall easter bunny. there are people who do only candy in easter baskets. there are families who hide the easter baskets. there are families who do HUGE easter baskets full of lots of presents. some people don’t do easter baskets at all. there is just so much variety!

i suppose i do with my kids, mainly what my parents did with me when i was a kid. i don’t ever remember being under any impression that anyone other than my parents put stuff in my easter basket. i don’t remember ever getting candy, really, although sometimes i would get a chocolate bunny. i did get a goldfish once, though (in a fishbowl, of course).

with my kids, i’ve traditionally tried to get them some fun little stuff that is something they’ll actually use. ie, not a bunch of crap trinkets that will end up getting tossed a week later when they aren’t looking. sometimes i get them stuff they need, like socks. like my parents, i NEVER do candy. they get enough of that everywhere else, they don’t need to get it from me too. as far as the easter bunny is concerned, i don’t think my kids have ever even heard of the easter bunny. maybe shane, but i don’t know. we usually do baskets in the morning, before church, but i remember waiting one time when we did easter dinner w/ joe and mary so the kids could could all open their baskets at the same time. usually, later in the day we will do an easter egg hunt of sorts. if the weather is nice, we’ll do it outside. lately, my mom has been putting money in the eggs (coins) which is kind of cool for the kids, but other than that, it’s just finding the eggs. OH, and it’s always plastic eggs. my poor, deprived children have never dyed easter eggs. i know! bad mom! but honestly, i just can’t justify it. no one in my house will eat hard-boiled eggs, so i’m not going to waste a couple dozen eggs just so they can color them and then throw them away. they don’t really know they’re deprived though, since they don’t even know they should be doing it. oh well!

so anyway, what do you do? is this your own tradition? did you inherit it from your parents? borrow it from a friend? feed my curiosity!

super-colossal meal plan… thursday?

okay, so yeah, this week has been kinda crazy. and i know it’s actually friday now when i’m posting this, but i made it yesterday and therefore i will be including thursday on the list (ya know, cuz it looks more impressive that way) so therefore, it is meal plan thursday. deal.

if you read last week’s meal plan, you know that we went to portland (hillsboro, actually. although we went through portland and dave went to a basketball game there) last weekend. my original thought was that we would get up early on monday morning and drive home in time for layla and i to be at preschool by 12:15. HA! that was a stupid, STUPID idea. so anyway, we didn’t. we got up all early and stuff and then decided we were idiots, so dave went back to bed and i drank like 4 cups of coffee and visited w/ my cousins some more and shane played like 14 more hours of SIMS w/ elsa.

at any rate, we had to leave eventually, because we had a dinner guest coming sometime around 5:30. yeah, i know. WTH??? i never said we were good at planning… so we get home somewhere around 4:15, and because i’d ended the previous week’s meal plan w/ us leaving town, and had been home for 4.2 seconds of this week so far, there was NO food in the house to prepare. so off i go to the store and pick up stuff to make waffles. so we had a good visit w/ jenna, ate some yummy waffles, etc. advance token to tuesday.

i finished up monday night w/ the HEADACHE FROM HELL and managed to hang onto it all the way until wednesday… so the whole shopping/planning thing didn’t happen so much on tuesday.  my super sweet husband picked up some AWESOMELY healthy stuff at the store on his way home from work, cooked, and fed the kids while i slept on the couch. yay! free pass! advance token to wednesday.

at some point on wednesday, the HFH (see above) decided to take a hike (praise God!) so i knew i was probably out of excuses, until dave IM’s me at some point in the day and asks, “are we going to church tonight?” YES! so i, of course replied, “yes, we probably should because we need to worship God we have NO food.” i love lenten mid-week services. phew! crisis avoided, advance token to thursday.

i made a list. not a shopping list, a to-do list. on it, was ‘make shopping list’ and ‘go grocery shopping’ (dun, dun, DUNNNNNNN), and ‘costco’. and guess what! i got to cross all those off of it! micah and i had a spectacular time while layla was at preschool. i also decided, that, given it was thursday, and i’d been so pathetic this week, and i really didn’t want to have to go through all of this again in like 3 days, i should just plan the rest of this week, and next week too! so i did. so here’s my really long and impressive MEAL PLAN THURSDAY!

• thursday: hamburgers; raw veggies; tots
• friday: duh! pizza; green beans
• saturday: roast beef! baked potatoes; salad
• sunday: chicken; rice; peas & carrots
• monday: french dips! chips; salad
• tuesday: chicken caesar salads
• wednesday: CHURCH!
• thursday: bacon-potato chowder; sourdough
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: tacos

so, total, i spent about $200 between costco and qfc… and that included super-ginormous box O pull-ups, and a bunch of rat traps.

so i’m happy. i’m free! advance token to sometime so far in the future it’s not worth worrying about yet! ;)

dear neighbors which shall remain nameless,

i am writing this informational letter on behalf of your children, your bank account, and your auto insurance company, all of which suspect an impending blow to their current, healthy state.

it appears that you may not be aware of certain traffic laws which pertain to the proper seating and safety of your children while in your vehicle, so i will take this opportunity to share them with you.

 

Washington's New Child Restraint Law
Effective June 1, 2007, children less than eight years old must be restrained in child restraint systems, unless the child is four feet nine inches or taller. A child who is eight years old or older, or four feet nine inches or taller, must be properly restrained either with the motor vehicle's safety belt or an appropriately fitting child restraint system. Children under thirteen years old must be transported in rear seats where it is practical to do so.

The fine for improperly restrained children in motor vehicles is at least $112 per child.

For more information on choosing the safest seat for your child, please call  1-800-BUCK-L-UP toll-free.

you can find the full text of the law here.

so, given that your children are aged 9 and 6, and that your vehicle is NOT a two-seater, the blatant presence of your children in your front seat is clearly against state law.

i also must admit, that this letter is written on my own behalf. the blatant presence of your children in the front seat of your vehicle is a constant annoyance to me. you see, i have children too. children who see the front seat of the car to be the most coveted seat of honor. children who continually pester me to allow them to sit there. children who use the presence of YOUR children in the front seat as ammunition with which to back up their case.

your compliance with this law would be greatly appreciated.

“uncle!”

i ran my dishwasher last night.

i know it’s a few weeks too soon, but i have declared my lenten ‘fast’ over. no, i didn’t just give up because washing dishes by hand was too ‘hard’.

rewind to 8:30ish yesterday morning. i went to get micah some cereal and discovered that there were like 4 mini wheats in the bag in the cupboard. given that i buy cereal at costco most of the time AND that i have no pantry, i usually take one of bags out to keep in the house, and the remaining bag, in the original box, is stored on a shelf in the garage. i went out to retrieve the second bag. it was empty.

HUH?

the empty bag, was in the box, unopened.

then i discovered a hole, somewhere between the size of a tennis ball and a golf ball, in the side of the bag.

HUH?

then i looked down on the floor and around the shelf and discovered some small samples of telltale ‘evidence’ to backup the suspicion i didn’t want to acknowledge.

<insert favorite swear word here>

so i started looking around some more. i discovered more ‘evidence’ on other things and in other locations around the garage.

<more swearing>

then i looked in the laundry room, on the floor by the water heater. BIG ‘evidence’. and by BIG, i don’t mean lots. i mean BIG – in size.

<louder and stronger swear words>

we had a few mice in the garage last year, about this time. it happens. it’s kind a creepy, i’d prefer they stay out, but as long as they’re JUST in the garage, and there’s not like hundreds of them, i can cope. i try not to let the kids eat stuff out there, so as to leave crumbs all over the place, encouraging them to invite their friends. i sucked up any ‘evidence’ w/ the vacuum and they eventually moved out. no biggie.

RATS, on the other hand is an entirely different ball of nasty, disgusting, rabies-bearing wax (so to speak).

i know we live by the lake, and therefore, there are rats around. i’ve heard neighbors complain about them. i quit using my compost bin for food scraps, because of a rat sighting like a year ago. we actually caught one in a trap in the backyard about a month ago.

all slightly disturbing, but par for the course, right?

come in my HOUSE and that’s a whole other story. GAME ON, SUCKAH!

my husband called it a half-day yesterday and came home and cleaned out the ENTIRE garage. pulled everything out, tossed, shredded, reorganized, etc. moved shelves, swept, investigated areas generally ignored out there. bless him!

our next order of business will be to set a bunch of traps and figure out where they are getting in. we also need to get something different for the outside dryer vent. the one that’s on there has a flap that apparently opens when the dryer is on and (supposedly) closes when it’s not. when i went outside to look at it, it was most definitely open, and the dryer was most definitely NOT on. there is also a definite hole dug in the ground just outside. near where the dryer vent is. grrr…

SO, long story short, i feel like my cleaning efforts are better spent in cleaning endeavors OTHER than self-imposed handwashing of dishes.

monthly progress report - february

i’m a little late on this one, but here’s the next installment of my bucket list progress:

1. spin my own yarn – nothing further to report
2. spend more time in nature. – with the weather imroving, i’m definitely getting outside more, but i think actual progress here will involve planning – yuck.
3. read all of jane austen’s books. – on the advice of a friend, i checked out persuasion from the library. i’m like 4 chapters in and, although i’ve enjoyed what i’ve read so far, i’ve not picked it up in a week. darn book ADD! i have like 3 others i’m also reading and fiction always gets lowest priority. boo.
4. can my own veggies/fruits – obviously, no, but i did spend some time starting in on getting the garden ready.
5. acquire a sewing machine – nothing here.
6. re-learn to play the piano – no, but i mentioned it to my mom. does that count for something?
7. exercise regularly (more days of the week than not – really!) – still doing well here. not quite as well as last month, but i’d say 4 out of 7. i’d like that number to go back up.
8. finish reading the entire bible – still chugging away. but i need to be more consistent (duh-story of my life). i’m in judges and 1 corinthians now.
9. make an effort to spend time individually with each of my children – hmmm… well, layla is back at her preschool and it’s a co-op, so every monday, the boys get ditched and she and i go do that (of course, she prefers the days i DON’T go!) this leaves me w/ only micah on 2 other afternoons, but he naps during that time. it’s still kind of fun to just have him. shane is hard to pin down. i’m thinking of trying to institute a weekly ‘coffee date’ w/ him (obviously not coffee for him – maybe it should be ‘hot beverages’ – to quote lindsey meyer) ;) dave and i have also embraced an idea that whenever you leave the house to run an errand or whatever, take 1 kid with you… attempting to rotate which one that is. the little ones love this… but like i said, pinning shane down is tough. i REALLY need to concentrate on improving things there.
10. mellow out philosophically (if you don’t know what that means, just read a few of my posts and you’ll likely find some crazed post where i’m ranting about my strong disagreement about something generally accepted by the status quo) – HA! well, i’m still kind of all over the place, but i’m trying to focus on what is behind my opinions and rants and to make sure that whatever it is, it’s delivered in LOVE. if not, then i’m just spouting hot air and will likely hurt someone, rather than influencing them toward good.
11. beat myself up less (again, just read a few posts) – well. hmmm. yeah, i think i’m doing okay here. not wonderful, but i still deal w/ a lot of THE GUILT and feel kind of crappy about all the stuff i need to do but don’t and how cluttered my house is and all that. BUT at the same time, i’m trying to come to terms with who i am and the way i operate (not to excuse stuff like that – just to explain it) and will hopefully be able to find ways around my personal challenges. wow. that was a lot of psychobabble and will likely result in nothing, but it sounds good! ;)
12. take better care of the dog. she’s 13 now and i need to make the most of the years i have left with her. (okay, this one is making me a little teary) – well, a little better this month. improved weather has resulted in more opportunities for walks, i also gave her a MUCH needed bath and bought a furminator. so, she looks good, if nothing else!
13. get my reading glasses – YES! in fact i’m wearing them right now!
14. spend more time with my mom – well, the knitting challenges are still helping in this area, as well as the fact that i’ve ‘given shane back to her’ for half of his schooling. i do math, science and bible, she does social studies and all the language arts stuff that he HATES (insert maniacal laughter here). at any rate, it means that i’m doing a lot of dropping off and/or picking up and therefore wind up at her house a lot.
15. be less boring – whatever. i have no idea what this means, but given that i now feel like i live in my car, i wouldn’t know what i could possibly do that would be less boring. oh well.
16. attend as many MOMS club events as possible – yeah, not so much. between sick kids, preschool, sick hubby, neglected responsibilities at home, etc., etc… my participation has been minimal, including s&b! that makes me sad. boo.
17. make most of my gifts (stole that one) – yeah, not so much. the only gifts i’ve had to give lately were little girl birthday gifts, not that that’s an excuse. maybe this was a bad goal.
18. create a will – still no.
19. be more philanthropic – well, probably not. i did write letters to our compassion kids, something i’ve been bad about in the past. one of our kids is a great artist and i totally look forward to his drawings.
20. go on 10 dates with my husband – still just the 2. BOO!

way too much fun at the doctor’s office!

so today we went to the doctor for layla’s 4 year old and micah’s 2 year old well checks. yeah, i know how old they are, but i have a valid excuse.
swine flu.
okay, not really. it’s just that the thought of taking healthy children to a pediatrician’s office between the months of october and may seems REALLY STUPID!!! i mean, really i’d rather take them in the summer when the only reason kids are at the doctor is for camp or sports physicals or treatment for poison ivy, sunburn, or playground injuries.
BUT, i realized that this was getting ridiculous. so i bit the bullet and made them an appointment.
we got there early. yes, ME! with children. perhaps the earth reversed it’s rotation today or something, but we arrived early for our appointment. this ensured ample playtime in the germ-infested waiting room. ample opportunity to plaster ourselves to the large glass fish tank and determine which of the two clownfish was nemo and which was nemo’s daddy and ponder the whereabouts of a seemingly absent dory. ample time to get into a fight with twin 5 year old boys over one of those ‘beads on wires’ toys that no doctor’s office would be complete w/out. ample time to write our name 500 times on the chalk board table.
it was during this period of the WAITING, that a little girl came over and sat down next to layla at the table and began to draw also. it was about 5 minutes later that a nurse walked over to her father with a prescription and the instructions that she would have to stay home from school for at least 2 more days, or whenever the fever had been absent for at least 24 hours. ::sigh::
we finally got called back.
there’s something about sitting in a small, enclosed room with nothing but a bench, an exam table, a sink and a spinny stool that causes me to feel like i’m in the zoo. you know. like there’s people on the other side of the windows watching us. i’m the mother (pick your favorite primate here) and 2 of my offspring are bouncing and climbing and spinning around until they fall off and opening drawers and exploring child-locks, and making faces in the mirror and throwing tattered books and magazines on the floor and finding pens and poking holes in the paper.
then they ask us all the questions to which you answer YES, regardless of the real answer.
they poke and prod and wiggle and shine lights in orifices and say aaahhhh…
and then they say that the PA will be back in in a minute to give them their immunizations.
half an hour later…
micah got 3.
layla got 4.
they got tylenol.
i needed a drink.

meal plan monday… deja vu.

i am a HORRIBLE blogger lately! seriously. i have things i want to post. just can’t seem to muster up the desire to sit down and actually write them out. so, for your consolation prize, you get to read another meal plan. oh yay.

• monday: hot dogs (had a major hankering for 2 days now); veggies
• tuesday: tater tot casserole (in the freezer)
• wednesday: supper at church
• thursday: chicken of some sort; veggies of some sort; some kind of side…
• friday: pizza; green beans
• saturday: away in portland
• sunday: still in portland! woohoo!

yeah, you can tell i’m totally unmotivated in the kitchen this week… did a little shopping last night, a little more to come… mainly just to firm up thursday’s dinner. HA! on saturday, we’re off to the south to visit w/ my cousins, so i suppose what we eat is their problem! HA again!