Life Adventures

ehm prays too

2011-06-13T19:35:00.001-06:00

i was getting ready for a night shift and mema was getting the kids to bed i over heard the prayers...
ehm said in her prayers "thank you Jesus, for taking my corner time"

i explained to her that Jesus had to die to save us from the punishment our sins bring on us. that punishment is a very long time out, in the corner by yourself.

i am glad that she gets it.

dreamin like crazy

2011-05-17T22:40:00.000-06:00

lately i have been having all sorts of weird and crazy dreams. the most recent being difficult to remember. i did wake up and wonder where i was and if my kids were alright. i was home of course and the kids were fine.

i was working at the hotel and there was a guest kitchen in the great room (this is just in my dream) a couple who had a baby with them were trying to make dinner for themselves. the husband came to the desk to complain about the stove burning the pancakes, and then he demanded i make some for him. i had a backup person at the desk and so i went to make the pancakes. the guy had the stove turned all the way up on high and then wondered why the flapjacks were turining out black! grrr.

i made several pancakes with this handy pancake dispenser that you put 2 TBS of pancake mix and 1/4 water then shake it. voila! insta mix. after making and cleaning up the pancake mess from the couple, it was time for me to leave as my shift was past over. the boss asked me to stay and get the guest kitchen cleaned up as he had just been told we were going to have an inspection that next day. i stayed and cleaned up spaghetti noodles and cheese, there was some sort of bow tie pasta dish too. and the stove had all sorts of weird things cooked onto it.

all of a sudden, my mom was there helping me. we did tons and tons of dishes. the industrial size dishwasher and the home size one were both running. and we hand washed the rest. some of the pink and orange flower shaped plates broke in the sink, but what do you expect when buying "fine china" from the dollar store?

next came the guest laundry facilities, which looked like a full scale laundry mat. there were clothes all over and soap granules spread over everything.

we got most of that cleaned up and then a man tried to sneak in the back door with his dogs. (in real life, i work at a pet free facility) I confronted the man, and he said his are the allergy free kind of dog. I told him they were still sheading and many people are allergic to hair and not just to dog. i shoo-ed him out again and he went in a different door. then i started getting defensive and the man was yelling at me. i took his things out of his room and put them on the curb and charged his room an additional $250.

i walked around the hotel with my mom and got her into her can so she could go home. there was a pretty used clothing store across the parking lot and they had sequined prom dresses in the window. part of the parking lot was being re-paved. for some reason. i remember walking through gravel and the scrunchy sound it makes. the closest place mom could find to park was at the city park. we finally got to her car and walked her dog (she always travels with her dog) the stairs we had to go down to get to the car were rickity and i was scared mom might fall, so i held her arm and we both went down the hillside instead of using the steps.

by now i had worked over 24 hours straight at the hotel and i was trying to go home, but the inspector showed up and i had to stay and work the desk. i was checking in people and checking out people and trying to get laundry done all at the same time. when it finally came time for me to clock out some 32ish hours later, my hand had swolen too much for the time clock to work. i tried over and over again to sign out, but i couldn't. the boss told me to go home and he would write me out on paper the next day.

crazy, right? hopefully i sleep better tonight.

a little boy’s prayers

2011-04-18T22:25:00.002-06:00

i was getting the kids ready for bed; books, songs, kisses, drinks, bathroom, kisses, hugs, and then my favorite part: prayers.

Yah is 8 (“and a half” she will tell you) she is perfectly capable of saying prayers on her own, but still likes when mommy listens and prays with her.

Ehm is three now and her prayers are more of a synopsis of the day, very cute and she proves her memory is good even though she tells me she doesn’t recall me telling her not to (insert naughty action here).

Jam is two and he prays for everything he sees. this was the case last night and his prayer went like this; “Dear Jejus, thank for today. thank for my fire truck. thank for my car. thank for tractor. thank for my truck. thank for my bed. thank for window.” at this part her got stuck in a vehicle loop where he was thanking God for every kind of rig he could think of. after a bit, “I love you, Jejus. Aman”

i have all i need and am thankful for it. Jam’s sweet prayers help me to be thankful for everything, even french fries and catsup. today i am going to be aware of all the gifts God has so freely given me and i am going to pray like a little child and let His blessings be forefront in my mind.

who needs a groundhog?

2011-03-14T09:40:00.000-06:00

it is early march, normally a very fickle month weather wise. sunny for a few moments then snowing and blowing and hailing and sleet and suddenly sunny again. after several blowing sleety days, we had a mostly sunny and calm day. this of course required us to go outside and explore.

while in the field, we discovered an open gopher hole. the dogs were very excited and wanted to find what had made the hole. Jam thought it was fun to see the dogs digging. when he saw it was an open hole, he got right in there and tried to help. he put his arm clear up to the shoulder in to the hole, trying to catch the varmint that had made it. the dogs thought it was great he was helping them.

Jam could not reach anything in the depths of the hole, so he sat back and said “you dig sum more.” oh what fun! to dig and fling mud and not get scolded.

after a bit, Jam wanted to see what they were after. so naturally he put his face in the hole. they all had mud and dirt all over their faces and in their hair, but isn’t that part of the fun?

the joys of being a boy with a couple of dogs

Latest grocery list

2011-02-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

just a short trip this time
milk (rice)
cheese
tortillas
dog food
chew bones
new fish
shampoo
bananas
noodles
alfredo sauce
bread
onion
sesame oil
cereal

the burned pan

2011-02-28T16:57:00.001-07:00

i have been working too much at the college for the last few weeks. getting ready for load in and tech week takes all my time. daddy-o has been super wonderful by filling in with dinners and baths and bedtime stories. the other night, he made breakfast for dinner. the kids love it! pancakes, eggs, orange juice, and cereal all the good stuff. of course i was working and didn’t get even one pancake saved for me, it was a drive thru bag for me. :(

the next morning, daddy-o was at work and the kids and i were doing some chores around the house. i emptied the dishwasher and found a frying pan with a blackened pancake mark still in it. the rest of the dishes were clean so they got put away, the still dirty pan was put to soak and i went off to the college yet again… fast forward to the next day dishwasher scene repeats! gaahhh why didn’t he scrub this out? i set it to soak and then got out the scrubber. wow, the mark on the pan was super burned on, my arm got tired of scrubbing and i had to rest! finally i got out some salt and that got most of the singe marks off.

this got me to thinking; now daddy-o did not burn the pan on purpose, but sometimes we think the bad things we do aren’t on purpose either, but they are. and those sins leave ugly stains and dirty marks on our hearts. when we try to just throw them in the dishwasher of life and keep on going. the marks are still there in all their ugliness we try to work around them, but just like trying to cook in that burned pan, it makes the job more difficult. we got to take the time to get the marks cleaned off. sometimes the marks are easy to clean. most often they are cooked on and take lots of scrubbing. to get the marks off completely though, we have to get help. that help comes from the One who made us. God the Father in all His glory, sent His only Son to this sin stained earth, where He paid the price for our sins. By accepting God’s free gift, our hearts are washed clean. we then can do the work God created us to do for Him.

dressing with pokeys

2011-02-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

ehm and jam were playing dress up this afternoon. ehm got out the Cinderella outfit and then got my heels and ~~clomped~~ danced around the house. jam thought it looked like fun and he got out a beautiful tutu and ~~clomped~~ flitted through the kitchen. every dancer must of course have a nice rest after such a strenuous work out…so out came the footie pajamas. ehm helped jam put his on (over his clothes, which made them rather tight). she held out one arm and then the next. then came time for the feet, well first she convinced him to sit down and said “give me you feet, not that feet the other feet” after the first one got stuffed down into the leg opening, she said “now the next feet, and shake it all about. do the pokey pokey and do the pokey pokey….” then she got stuck in an infinite pokey loop. like a bad cd. i think it is interesting that now we do the pokey pokey instead of the hokey pokey and all while getting ready for a play time “nap” that lasted all of 20 seconds before they got up and were playing something else. at least they are playing nicely and not hitting or biting like yesterday.

of course it has been a few minutes, and they are playing with the marbles and the screaming and squealing ensues… se la vie.

The Harrison Family

2011-01-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Personalize a picture collage

thanks for reading...

the birthday cake to make

2010-11-22T22:01:00.001-07:00

Well, i think this is the cake i am going to make for our little man's 2nd birthday. it will not be red.

i will post pics of the party and my jam's cake.
if you want the instructions; they are at parenting . com you can click on the link here: dump truck cake

thought for the moment

2010-09-21T20:42:00.001-06:00

most things can be fixed by improvising,

if not, there is always room for new ideas.

starting over isn't the end of the world.

i have been crafting and crocheting and dabbling in felts for the past little while. while making a new pattern for a little monster i had the above realization and decided life is good

thanks for reading...

shower tales

2010-08-25T21:47:00.000-06:00

why is it that the dads get all the privacy? i hardly even get to shower alone. when i start the shower, it is like starting up the automatic kid wash. i wash all three while trying to spill some suds on myself too. i dream about long showers by myself.

thanks for reading...

Summer?

2010-08-23T12:58:00.000-06:00

hello, summer. goodbye, summer.
that is about how fast it came and went. we had fun and worked a lot and went on vacation and played in the pool. but summer was too fast, it always is. i will add pictures soon and you can enjoy it as i reminisce

thanks for reading...

Jesus, Pirates, and the Oregon Trail

2010-05-25T13:03:00.004-06:00

we went to the oregon trail museum in baker city this last weekend. my family, the nieces, and in-laws. if you have never been, you should put it on your bucket list. it is way fun and very informative. there are actual horses, buffalo, oxen, sheep that have been stuffed (is taxadermied the right term?) they are set up to look like they are traveling on the oregon trail. there are foot paths you can walk on when the weather is nice and see ruts from the wagons. it is very neat to be in the place where these brave americans ventured out to find a better life.

while we were enjoying the life size wagon train, we talked about how the people had to walk 10-20 miles each day and once the children out grew their shoes, they went barefoot. this is our last field trip of the school year. and we are now enjoying the summer before third grade (gah! third grade? oh time, please slow down, just a bit)

near the end of the display, there is a man driving his sheep. he has a nice staff and about six sheep. of course his hair is long, because there were no barber shops along the oregon trail. Ehm sees the shepherd and yells out “LOOK! I FOUND JESUS! I SEE JESUS, HI, JESUS!” now i am trying not to laugh, because her faith is so perfectly childlike. but Jesus on the oregon trail? then i took a closer look, it does look like the classic pictures of the Savior that are so often portrayed. Ehm was so happy that she got to see “her Jesus.”

then comes the part of the museum where we start our oregon trail adventure starting at independence, missouri. there is a wonderful display of a ship in a box and Baba thinks it is a pirate ship. she has an unnatural fascination with all things pirate and has for over a year now.

right now in the exhibit room there is a life size wagon and foam blocks that are labeled (beans, rice, fine clothes, work clothes, china, grandmother’s clock, chair, bed roll, bedding, linens, gun making supplies, bullets, whiskey, medicine, cast-iron stove, cook ware, bacon, hard tack, dried fruit, trinkets, toys…there are many others to, i can’t recall any more at the moment.) the idea is to pack your wagon making sure not to exceed the weight limit and to make sure you are taking the necessary things and not wasting room on things you would like, but are not necessary. this is a fun way to learn about how difficult traveling would have been. also makes me grateful for all the things i have and feel that i can not live without.

there is a place to put on a puppet show with animal puppets, and a giant magnet word board (this was my favorite), also a dress up corner and a play camera to see what clothes and hats from that time were like.

the kids loved this part a lot. and who doesn’t like dress up?

all in all it was a very educational and super fun time had by all. and now i have shared it with you so now you know the oregon trail started out with pirates on a ship and ended with Jesus and his sheep.

click on the photo to read more true stories

bucket head

2010-04-25T03:21:00.001-06:00

this is the container for our home made baby wipes. i was getting ready to make some more and Ehm decided to run off with the box. then she came back into the kitchen with the bucket on her ead. it was funny to watch her parading around so proud of herself. whe tried to get Jam to put it on too, but he would have nothing to do with it. Ehm put it back on and played like that for about 15 min. what a goofy, spontaneous, and fun thing to do!

thanks for reading...

homeschooling

2010-04-18T06:32:00.001-06:00

so i just read jasmin's blog about her mom. talk about beautiful. i hope that i can be that kind of fun mom for my kids. you can read her story here:

http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=827&making-up-the-rules

i think we are going to do school out in the yard on monday,
and watch the birds and plant seeds

for the garden...sounds fun and relaxing, and educational.

i sometimes forget it is about the fun of learning

i loved school as a child. that is part of why i choose to homeschool, i like* (read LOVE) school. i have a huge collection of stickers and chalk and papers

and pencils

and sharpeners. and i have "mommy's" crayons (i can have my own set that still has its papers on and are free from teeth marks.) i even have text books on all sorts of subjects that a school was tossing out.

i love the look my kids get on their darling little faces when they understand something. also the look of concentration when Yah is trying to perfect her cursive (she looks like Daddy-o.) the delight in creating something and the joy of completing a project.

we are going to do more "fun" learning things. and i pray my children like* (read LOVE) school and learning as much as i do.

thanks for reading...

HOMESCHOOLERS: the fear of zombie hordes everywhere

farting game "doorknob" and big don

2010-04-18T02:59:00.001-06:00

http://bridgettetaylor.blogspot.com/2009/11/safteydoorknob-game-lmao.html

It's called the safety/doorknob game. If somebody in the room farts that person has to yell "safety" before someone else in the room can yell "doorknob." If doorknob is yelled out first then you get to hit the person that farted.

i used to play this with my stepdad. he had terrible gas. one day when i came home from school, he let a huge fart and i yelled doorknob and he pulled one out of his pocket. i was so surprised. thanks for helping me remember this silly time.

thanks for reading...

another new project

2010-03-23T21:37:00.002-06:00

like i need a new project, right? oh, well. i have already started...oh you want to know what it is? well my oldest daughter needs a little encouragement to read more. not that she can't read, quite the opposite, she reads very well. but she needs a little push to read more. so i came up with the idea to have her write book reviews. what better place to share them but here with you all...
our goal is two small books or part of a larger book each day.

Rudolph to the Rescue by Robert L May

Yah's OPINION: "I like this book because it is a new story and i have never heard it before."
SUMMARY "Rudolph found some animals that were different and helped them find the circus. Everyone loved the new circus. Rudolph helped Santa deliver presents to the kids at the circus."
Ehm had her OPINION too: "Reindeer and Big Papa in a red car." (we call my grandpa Big Papa, and this last christmas season Ehm called every santa she saw "Big Papa")

My OPINION: i enjoyed the illustrations in this book. rudolph is very helpful and caring, i liked that too. of course i like the happy ending as well. lesson is to care for others and be helpful.
Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen

Yah's OPINION: "I like it, I LOVE it! Because the girl is tall like me. This is a really good book."
SUMMARY "A girl with big feet and long legs, all she had to do was walk into a room to be noticed. Sassy got to dance with a tall boy, but the mean girls didn't get to go to the dance school."
Ehm's OPINION: "Cinderella is dancing up there."
my OPINION: i got this book because Yah likes to dance and the pictures are so wonderful. the girl is very tall and teased for being different. we got this when Yah's allergies were very bad and kids at school were teasing her because of it. this book shows that being tall or different is not a bad thing, but to use your differences to help you succeed.
have you read any good books lately, or do you have a book that you would like us to review? let me know!
thanks for reading...

i know what you are doing...

2010-02-01T23:25:00.001-07:00

this is what evey mother dreads to hear...

"i know what you are doing when you and daddy lock your bedroom door."

"oh, you do? tell me what you think" i tried to remain calm and not hyperventelate because my seven year old daughter has a cute smug expression on her face. meanwhile my mind is racing...what did we do last night? i didn't think we were that loud. good greif her room is clear across the house. yes, daddy-o is my man...mmmm. oh right "tell me, honey."

"you and dad smook each others faces for a long time. i am glad you lock the door because i think it is gross."

(smook is her made up work for smooch, it has meant "kiss" for the last four years or so.)

"well one day when you get married, you will like to smook with your husband. just be glad that mommy and daddy love each other. it is a good thing for us to smook. " big sigh of releif. oh man, i did not want to get into that subject today...whew.

i do wonder how much she knows, but for now, i think her knowledge is just right. and for now, this is just another pretty dress...

yes, i had to look twice too. think it is an interesting display.

link up your own true story and join in all the laughter and embarassment with us. thanks for reading...

time keeps on slippin....

2010-01-23T02:39:00.000-07:00

stinkin cow! i didn't think this much time has gone by already. thanksgiving, christmas, new years. happy times they were. i will post something about them later.

as for now i am starting project 365 again. i know what you're thinking. "how long will she do it for this time?" right? well, i don't know. as long as i feel like it. i can not post every day as you know. but i will try to post every few days or weeks. this is more a daily journal than a photographic exposition.

i have been takin pictures and will get them ready to post for later this week. horray!

thanks for reading...

thanksgiving pie recepies

2009-11-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

we are gluten and dairy and egg free over here. yep we are hit hard by the allergy stick, but we manage. actually i think we are doing great. it has been a learning experience for me and trying recepies has not always been fun, or tasty. but i am getting the hang of things. i would like to share with you our favorite pumpkin pie recepies. after all what is thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?

PUMPKIN PIE (chips book)
1 prepared, unbaked pie shell
1 pkg (12 oz) tofu, silken, firm
1 can pumpkin
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

1. preheat oven to 350 F.
2. place all ingredients in blender. blend until very smooth.
3. pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.
4. bake 1 hour or until filling appears set.
5. chill pie. serve and enjoy.

PUMPKIN PIE ( more choices book)
2 uncooked pie shells
1 can (29 oz) pumpkin
4 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 cup Soyagen (soymilk powder) OR non-dairy creamer powder
2 1/2 cups water
1cup all purpose flour (we use gluten free blend)

1. preheat oven 425 F.
2. in small bowl, wisk cornstarch and 3/4c cool water until disolved.
3. empty pumpkin into large bowl. add cornstarch mixture and mix well. add sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. mix well
4. mix together milk powder of you choosing and 2 1/2 cups water until disolved. add to pumpkin mixture. mix well. add flour and mix.
5. pour pumpkin mixture into two 9" pie shells.

*if baking both pies at once, place one on bottom rack of oven and one on top rack. place aluminum foil over each pie loosely. halfway through baking time, exchange pies position in the oven.

*if baking only one pie, place it on lower rack of oven and place foil over top rack to prevent the crust and pie top from over browning.

BAKE for 15 min at 425 F, then lower temperature to 350 F for the remaining 65 min. then remove foil and lightly brown crust for 10 min.

well there you have it! let me know if you try my healthier versions of the thanksgiving classic pumpkin pie.
hope your turkey day is enjoyable and memorable!
thanks for reading...

i have a new job!

2009-11-01T05:33:00.001-07:00

yes, i have been far too busy for far too long. no, things are not slowing down, yet...but i thought i would let you know a bit about my new job. i am the technical theater specialist for the Treasure Valley Community College! i have an office, a computer, a phone with my own extension! and i have KEYS!

i also get to host regular shop hours where i supervise students in the construction of the sets i design. COOL, right? this is a very fun job for me. i am getting to do something i enjoy very much and am getting paid to do it. all the people i work with love me, they really do.

i get to design lights, sets, and audio for concerts and plays at the college. this is a photo of this year's Young People's Concert : Magical Mystery Tour of the Great Beyond i ran the sound, designed the lights, and ran the power point presentation for the seven showings of this concert.

right now i am working on a play. "Heaven Can Wait" i designed the set and painted the floor, i also designed the lighting for the show. i will have pictures of that soon.

just wanted to let you know why i have been rather silent, there are not enough hours in the day when i try to squeeze in blogging too. the play runs this week, then i will have more time again. the house needs attention, and so does my family. guess the house will have to wait!

thanks for reading...

learnin how to be a man

2009-09-27T08:21:00.001-06:00

daddy-0 was changing the oil in papa’s lil red car. Jam was helping. he got into the tools and tried to eat them. how else is he to get to know which tool is right for the job?

he also made sure there was no damage to the papa’s car, he made a free inspection.

Yah loves the rachet. “it makes cool noises” (a girl after my own heart) but she did not want to hold the rag.

okay, see you again in 3 months or 30,000 miles.
thanks for reading…

sweet little piggy toes

2009-09-22T17:53:00.004-06:00

a few weeks ago, Ehm asked me to help put her sandals on. when i put her foot into the shoe, she ~~screamed like i was killing her~~ loudly protested. after a close inspection of the shoe, i decided there must be something wrong with her foot.
.
sure enough, the big toe was gray on the side. weird. i tried again to put on the shoe, *insert more screaming* but it was no use. i finally just snatched her up and put her into the car with shoes in the diaper bag just in case.
.
later that night she kept saying owie, owie, foot. i could not figure it out. so i looked at her foot again to ~~be shocked by~~ discover her in-grown toenail. yes, my dear sweet baby not yet two years old, has an ingrown toenail! What?
.
compelled to ease her discomfort, i got out the clippers and ~~rooted around~~ skillfully got to work. there was putrid green and yellow pus oozing from her sweet toe after i clipped away some of the skin. *you need to know i have had several ingrown toenails myself, so i know how to remedy this sort of owie* while i was ~~torturing~~ helping my sweet baby girl to feel better, she was SCREAMING (yes, in all caps. my ears are still ringing.)
.
ever ~~the one to stick her nose into other's business~~ concerned for others welfare, Yah came into my room to see why her sister was so upset. i explained about Ehm's toe and Yah was ~~disgusted~~ enthralled to find out all about it.
.
i fixed Ehm's toe and after about a week, it was all better and there was no more protesting about wearing shoes. *insert awe and applause for a job well done*
.
.
.
just yesterday, Yah told me her foot hurt....yep, you guessed it now she has an ingrown toenail. What? i did not realize ingrown toe nails are contagious. don't come to my house for a while. Yah's poor toe was bright red and festered, i went to get the clippers and she asked me "what are you going to do?" *whimper*
.
i reminded her of little sisters toe and what i did to fix it. "oh No, you are NOT going to do that to me." she said in total seven year old defiance.
"yes, i am" i said in the "i mean business" tone that every nurse has used with Yah. i got the clippers and the hydrogen-per-oxide and was about to reach for her foot, when Yah ~~screamed~~ said "wait, wait, wait, i have something i need to ask you." what. "if you just leave it alone, what will happen?"
.
~~your foot will turn into one big oozing, bleeding sore and then dad will cut it off with a saw~~ well...i will have to take you to the doctor and they will give you several shots in your toe and then he will cut on your toe with a knife and then he will poke down inside it with medicine and it hurts really bad and you will scream and cry.
.
now Yah's eyes are bugging outta her head and she decides to let "nurse mom" fix her foot. this is going to hurt, but try not to scream, your brother is sleeping and he doesn't feel well, ...and we don't want to scare your sister.
.
Yah was very brave and let me fix her toe. she did cry, but not much screaming. then it was Ehm's turn to wonder what mom was doing to big sister. when she understood what was going on, she took off her sock and said "foot owie" (her foot is fine) i thought it was so funny that she needed a band-aid too.
.
the kids are staying at grandma and papa's house tonight, as daddy-o and i both have to work. when they got to our house to get the kids, Yah told papa:
"guess what, papa? i finally have my very own in grown toe nail! mom fixed it and put on a band-aid"
.
well, isn't that an interesting thing to be proud of?
.
link up your true story and play along with all the fun!

thanks for reading...have a great tuesday!

summer blueberries…yum?

2009-09-20T00:55:00.006-06:00

i got some blueberries for the kids to have. Ehm has never had them. her reaction was not what i was expecting. she got a tart one right off the bat, and she made the cutest face.

but she tried again after spitting that one out. and she loves them. the 3 pound package was gone in about two days. those girls can pack away the berries!

how do you feel about blueberries?
what kind of berries do you like?
as always; thanks for reading…

favorite GLUTEN FREE "flour" mix

2009-09-13T06:43:00.002-06:00

we are gluten free here too, i have yet to find a bread mix that we like, i mix all my own flours, and it is well worth it. we do not like any of the bean flours (garbanzo, fava, soy) most mixes contain at least one of these.

our favorite flour mix is easy!

3C milo (sorghum) flour

3C potato starch

2C rice flour - brown or white

1C corn starch or corn flour (not corn meal)

mix well makes 9C store in the freezer and use where ever recepie calls for "flour"

thanks for reading...

busy, busy, busy!

2009-09-04T23:59:00.003-06:00

just wanted to let you all know... i am still alive and well. i have a new job, and things are hectic right now. getting settled is taking longer than i thought. i am still reading or trying to read all your posts. i will try to post about my new job soon and you will understand the chaos that is our lives right now...trust me, you will love it. i do! this is really all i have time for right now. "see" ya all soon! thanks for reading...

p365 August part 1

2009-08-20T23:36:00.003-06:00

yeah, well i decided waiting till the end of the month to post my p365 is just NOT going to work out. it takes too much time, and then windows live writer gets upset trying to post so many photos all at once. i did finally convince wlw to get the job done, but i will try to make it easier for my self too. i decided to post every 5 days or so. that would make six p365 posts in a month. that doesn’t sound like too much does it? i would hate to have become a bore.
aug. 1
daddy-o and i got to have our night at the hotel. his mom is the head of the housekeeping department and she had rose petals put on our bed,

and swans by the hot tub. she also left coke and root beer in the fridge, and cookies and doritos on the counter. how nice is that? thank the Lord i have such nice family. daddy-o and i had a great time just being together and we went out to dinner at a local irish steakhouse.

aug. 2
when we came home from our “get away” this is what we saw
everyone was in our pool! they were having a great time. Ehm was motoring all over in her life jacket. and papa was throwing Yah and Baba into the water. they loved it and begged for more.
aug. 3
we played inside because it was windy. Ehm wanted to wear her brother’s vest and HAD to have it zipped.

a big wind storm came through and there were black clouds over us. but town had an orangey pinkish glow. it was cool and creepy at the same time. almost looked like a fire. then it rained big drops.

this is “rose bluey” Yah saved her allowance for three months to get fish, tank, and accessories. she is very proud of rose (don’t tell her “rose” is a boy) and feeds her every night. she is responsible for cleaning the tank and telling mom or daddy-o when she needs more water. i am hoping to give her freedom and empowerment by having her be in charge of something.

aug. 4
that loose tooth from july? well it finally came out. you can read more about it and our tooth fairy traditions here. (aren’t you proud of me? i can put a link in my post. i have been dreaming of this for a while now, and windows live writer has a handy little button so i can. wow, i’m so cool!)

a big thunderstorm came through. it was amazing. i went out for about 15 min. and got some great shots. the storm lasted well over two hours. it also started three grass fires in the area.

aug. 5
this is what i heard while i was trying to sleep.

this yellow crop duster has been our “friend” for the last eight years. he flies over and “buzzes” our house. i know it isn’t on purpose, he is just doing his job. sometimes he seems to turn right over our house after every pass!

well, this isn’t too bad, right?
thanks for reading…

hello, tooth fairy?

2009-08-16T23:12:00.004-06:00

that loose tooth from july?

well it finally came out!

when i was little, i always put my tooth into a cut glass juice cup, then put it in the window so the tooth fairy could see my tooth and bring me some coins. i asked my grandma if she still had one of the juice cups that we could have for our tooth fairy cup. she said that they had all broken a few years ago. we went to the thrift store together and we were able to find the same style cup for 25 cents! how cool.
the story goes: you put your tooth into the beautiful cup, then put some water into it and set it in the window. the moonlight will shine down into the cup and reflect the white of the tooth out the cut glass like a beacon for the tooth fairy to find.

this is the only time all summer Yah has been ready for bed before it is dark. and she even refused to finish the movie we were watching so she could go to bed before the tooth fairy came.
we all know that if you aren’t asleep by midnight, then the tooth fairy will have to come back on a different day. there are so many children around the world loosing teeth, if you are not ready for her, she does not have time to wait on you.

when you are good and asleep, then she will come and leave a gold coin and an indeterminable amount of money in the cup. depending on the size, cleanliness and shine of the tooth of course.

and we all know fairies leave behind glitter when they walk. you can see a fairy trail here where the tooth fairy was. sometimes, there is even glitter in the cup!

what are your loose tooth and tooth fairy traditions?
thanks for reading…

Week 29 - “Funny, Silly Faces” and “Pets” Photo Challenge Fun!

2009-08-10T12:09:00.002-06:00

yea for this weeks theme! you may not know that my mom is one silly lady. the kids call her mema and she is a goof ball when around the kids. this last week mom came over to share her adventures she had during this last week in the big sky state (MT). we have a pool at our place and the swimming goggles were on the table. now Yee Yah had removed the rubber parts, you know the part that actually keeps the water away from your eyes. i knew it would be long before mema did something funny with those goggles, i went for the camera and waited for her to do her magic. i was not disappointed, and neither were the kids (you won’t be either)

the funniest part was that she kept right on with her story as if nothing were any different and this was just some “normal” thing to be doing. well my mom is NOT normal, and you know… i’m glad.

it is one of the blessings of family that you can afford to be stupid with them.

i have lots of fun memories of growing up a single child, with this crazy lady for my mom. yes, she is silly, weird, and fun. she is mine, and i love her.

how bout seeing more funny, silly faces? go to i heart faces to get you funny bone fix.

this week is also pets. Yee Yah saved up her allowance for three months to get this fish and tank and fish supplies. it is her pet and she is the only one responsible for the well being of the fish. she has named her ( i know it is a him, but trying to convince my 6 yr old that seems impossible) “Rose Bluey” because rose is a pretty name and she is blue. here is rose bluey happy in her tank.

have a great week! and as always,

thanks for reading…

July 365 my summer in photos i heart faces #30

2009-08-08T01:06:00.004-06:00

I am always chasing down one of the kids with the camera. One of the few occasions when I had left the camera at home, my husband turned to me and asked, aren't you going to take a picture of that? I have learned not to leave my camera in the car, memories are forever lost; and cameras get stolen by the bad guys that drilled a hole in my door. Always take the camera with you, even if you don't plan on using it, you never know what cute things those kids are going to do, and what memory you will be able to forever hold on to.
so there are lots of people doing project 365. i don't know the rules. i am making my own as i go along... i am going to take a photo each day for at least 365 days. i will post them, although not more than once per week (i just don't have the time) and i plan on commenting on what happened that day or about the photo. so i have a thing about starting in the middle of a month and waited till july to start. i thought this makes sense as it is also the start of a new fiscal year for many companies...
i think this will be fun, although i am having some trouble getting all these pics to behave the way i want them to in this post.
the best way to start anything is with family, so here are the babies meeting Grandma GG for the first time. she is 97 and is visiting from CA. we had a great time while she was here. don’t know how much longer she will last. at Granny and Gramp’s house. the girls are playing under the mountain lion (cougar) rug. they had tons of fun chasing Gramps around the house. “just like a lion dance!”

Jam playing in the park while mommy took some other little boy’s pictures.

this is the new kitty. she is so sweet. her name is maid Marion, but i call her baby.

on independence day all decked out.

my sparkler. sparklers are my absolute favorite!

Ehm declaring independence from clothes. i hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…

my place of employment

what i see in the morning when i get home from work

she has learned to drink the milk from the bowl

must pat bottom of bowl to get every last drop out

need to lick underside of bowl to be sure some cereal goodness hasn’t leaked through

yes, i love cereal, can’t you tell?

yes, this is my clothes line, these are just ordinary pants on the line, but just to the left the sprinkler is going…yep everything got soaked. i am trying to get the baby pants to grow into daddy pants no luck so far. maybe they need more water…

first night camping, s’mores are a must. Yah burns her mallows on purpose. yuck!

pretty bike downtown McCall

ice cream alley open till 10 for dancers yea!

danced at the ice rink, nice and cool ahhh

flower from hen and chicks

silly Baba kept making faces so she could see them on the LCD screen. goofy kid

beautiful Payette lake

double rainbow on the way home cool right?
work in the daylight

field growing 4 types of lettuce, looks funny to me. this is just down the road from my house

my fortune, not that i had Chinese food, just the cookie. still not sure what the unexpected event is…maybe “soon” is longer than i think

daddy-o got the pool ready for Yah’s party

invitations to the mermaid party

fluoride treatment. no complaining , she is very good for the dentist and hygienist

in the creek at Albertson’s park. the water is cold. mom and Yah had a fun time at the park by themselves

at the train depot. she is so beautiful

the pond was amazing, lots of fish too

sunset

what i see before i go to work

i did it!

in the front yard

where is ehm? she loves to play peek-a-boo with this hat. looks like holly hobby

my mom workin out. go mom!

this gal stayed at our hotel for her honeymoon and let me take a pic of her in the dress

irrigation pipe across the road from my house

i pass this ditch on my way home. i like the tall grass weeds

she tried to pull this tooth…

no it did not come out on this day, but the string slipped off and she was sure surprised

getting ready to go

ehm loves the animals

8 months old by gate number 8

look! see the sheep?

funny how they both sleep the same way. this actually happens a lot, even when they are in their beds, they will be in the same pose.

i think these are garlic flowers, i know they are not onions…just not quite sure. just down the road from our place

grain ready for the harvest

this is part of our view. fields and the hills

well this has been our July in review, hope you enjoyed coming on this photo journal journey… have a great week and check out all the other summer vacation photos over at i heart faces.

thanks for reading…

lookie

2009-08-03T02:44:00.002-06:00

look, now there are 5, five, 5. yaah woo yeah happy dance rockin and rollin, groovin and moovin. oh yeah cuz i'm cool like that. uh huh. uh huh. ohh yeah right on!! thanks for keepin me floating and as always thanks for reading...

new craziness

2009-07-31T02:08:00.001-06:00

right, like life wasn't crazy enough... well here it goes. i have been feeling so rushed and out of sorts lately. life has been chugging along and i have not had the time to blog about what is happening. i will be posting a my july in review and photos post soon. for the iheartfaces and for my just started project 365. i am enjoying p365. that is when i remember to take a photo before noon. (or midnight for that matter) now you must know that i am currently working the graveyard shift at a local hotel. (to find out which, look for the pic in my p365 post coming later) working graves is a life which i am not used to. i am up all night then i go home to see a sleeping family. yes they all sleep until at least 8a. then i try to do a few and i do mean FEW chores. and then i am off to bed. i sleep til about 1 or 2 p. then up to watch kiddos while daddy-o tries to get some of his work done. and i have to try to remember to take a photo of something, but not of the same thing i did the day before... daddy-o is working as a temporary part-time stocker (not the creepy kind) at the local home improvement store. he works 8:30p-2a. so the kids are with grandparents the nights we both end up working. this is not great for the kids, but at least they are sleeping and not getting too much grandparent overload. and it is summer time, so school hasn't been an issue...yet. it feels like i am a single parent or possibly divorced for as much as i don't see daddy-o. just for the kid exchange and a quick kiss, then one or the other off to work. my nights off, he usually works, his nights off i am working. grr... do i even know this man who is raising my kids?? i have a whole new level of respect for my mom. she raised me all by herself, with the help of her parents, but still. i know i was a hand full at times. (my dad passed away when i was 2 1/2) almost three months of this crazy schedule, and i am feeling alone, sad, and tired. when will i have the same days of (or even day) as daddy-o? can we have a day that there is nothing to do or plan for or clean up? i need to reconnect with my little family and get happier again. so as an employee of this great hotel, i get to do a guest experience stay, for free! and this week, i actually have sat off and so does daddy-o. my mother-in-law works at the same hotel and she went to the general manager and asked if i could use my free employee stay this sat. and boss said yes! grandma-jo and papa will have the kids and daddy-o and i have a jacuzzi suite. i am looking forward to being uninterrupted while in his arms...you moms out there know what i mean... i will let you know some of the details later. hope your sat is great! thanks for reading...

i heart faces #29 at the beach

2009-07-27T02:50:00.006-06:00

i have been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting on our different beach trips. we love to go the the beach, NewPort, OR is our favorite. so many memories there. we spent our honeymoon there and have returned several times.

i have gone back and forth over which picture to enter into this weeks beach theme at i heart faces, and i finally decided to use one from our last trip to NewPort. this photo is my girls at Beverly Beach in OR, just north of NewPort. it was a hazy stormy day in july 2008. we were on our way home from my grandpa's funeral. my wonderful husband stopped here and we stayed for four nights to rest and renew. he is so thoughtful, and shows his love in the most interesting ways. it was on this trip that we learned about Jam and we were asked if we wanted him. of course i said yes, and then realized i should have asked daddy-o first, but when i told him, he agreed too.

here are my beautiful girls and the love between them is wonderful to see. i think the fog makes it look like they are in a dream world, with only suggestions of reality.

i almost used one from this set for the feet theme last week. i love sandy toes... be sure to head over to i heart faces to be inspired by other beach photos and enter yours too! have a great week.
thanks for reading...

i heart faces wk #28 "feet"

2009-07-20T01:36:00.007-06:00

i have been thinking about feet this past week. i have pictures of new baby feet, and feet covered in sand and mud, but i thought there would be several photos like that. i decided to enter some dancing feet. dancing is a favorite past time of ours. these are friends square dancing in mccall, id. the second weekend in july for the past 53 years, dancers from the treasure valley invade the picturesque town of mccall and dance the weekend away. i took several photos this year. and you can see more at idahosquaredance.shutterfly.com

check out other feet photos at i heart faces, there are sure to be many great photos. there always are. i am grateful for the "friends" i have met through the exchange of photos.

i thought these dancing feet are a good look a lot like our life right now. feet are pointed in every which direction, and you are not sure where they are going or where they will end up, but God knows. he has ordered our steps. In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16 and that gives me great peace of mind. knowing that i may not know how the "dance of life" is going to play out, but i am only asked to follow His leading.

remember to let Him lead, and dance on... thanks for reading...

i heart faces #27 “Sports in Action”

2009-07-13T03:33:00.004-06:00

here it is sunday again...wow time just seems to get away some how. i have had a great three days off from work. and we went camping. just got back this afternoon. will be unloading the 16 G camera card soon.

but for now here is my entry for the iheart faces sports in action theme. this is one of our t-ball players. daddy-o was the coach for the little league team this year and YeeYah got to play. i'm not sure who had more fun daddy-o or her. they were both a little sad when it was over, and so was i.

this is afton, she is keeping her eye on the ball, and she nailed it a line drive past second base. i love the concentration on her face. also her mom in the green behind her, having a great time as well. i will post more t-ball pics later, but so far... this is my fav. (out of the kids that aren't related to me)

we went camping this weekend and saw lots of people we know. it was the 53rd annual "funstitute" in McCall, ID. when all the area 3 square and round dancers go up north to dance away the weekend. lots of dancers camp (we do too) and others "rough it out" in a motel.

at breakfast on sat, dick brought his dog, taffy. she is nine years old and had a stroke soon after she was born. her hind legs run faster than the front ones and her head is at a funny angle, but she is cute and freindly as can be. she posed for me to get this shot of her, and she even smiled!

do go over to i heart faces and see all the other pet and action photos, you will be inspired. i always am. this site challenges me as a photographer and i feel i am getting better at something that i love.

have a great week and as always

thanks for reading...

baby boy looking good

2009-07-07T04:46:00.006-06:00

this is my little Jam. he is not so little anymore. 7 months and 16 or 17 lbs! wow he is catching up to Ehm in a hurry. i guess he will be the littel "big" brother. this is how he looks when he stops scooting around. he looks at me and smiles to say "look, i did it." he also rests in this pose a lot too. we call it his "Burt Reynolds" pose. oh yea, all the girls are gonna go crazy
thanks for reading...

now there are two...

2009-07-07T02:07:00.002-06:00

look, Look, LOOK! now i have two followers. this might not be a big deal to some, but i was thinking that maybe i don't matter, now i have two in the same week, just when i needed the ego in flation, so thanks gals! you helped to lift me up. and yes my heart went pat patter pitty pat when i saw two followers. and i got that funny feeling in my tummy like when you go really high on the swing set (you know that feeling like you might be sick or maybe just have to pee, but it is in your stomach instead) so yee haw and cool beans catch ya on the flip side and all that cool happy stuff... thanks for reading...

My Story in Photos: Patriotic Edition {how we spent the day}

2009-07-06T01:52:00.014-06:00

first a big shout out to all the military men and women past and present who fought and gave their time and lives so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. thanks to the family members too. what a sacrifice you give to others every day. so we had no money to go away for the fourth. but we weren't planning on it either. daddy-o had to work on the 3rd and i had to work on the 4th. i work from 11p to 7a and we weren't sure if there would be time in the day for me to see the kids enjoy fireworks or not, so when daddy-o got home at 3:30a on sat morning, we woke the girls and lit fireworks. yea for walmart and combo pack for $7. the fireworks were lots of fun. this is us lit by one of the fireworks. we are sitting on the back deck wrapped in blankets to keep the skeeters away. (Jam is in bed. i did not feel like dealing with a cranky 7 month old, so we let him sleep, he would not remember it anyway) and yes we are in our pajamas

of course there must be a kissing pic too. i am glad we have the independence to marry whomever we see fit. and i am glad to be married to daddy-o.

i really like the fountainy effect of this one.

sparklers have always been my favorite. here is Yah. you can just see her face.

she is concentrating hard on not letting any sparks get on her. looks like she is not having fun, but she said she loves "sparkers."

Ehm did not know what to think, but daddy-o convinced her it was ok.

then she went crazy flinging sparks everywhere. (notice the glow of Yah's face on the left)

of course you have to try to make a perfect circle with your "sparker."

now it is my turn. i have a remote shutter in one hand and the sparkler in the other. i absolutely love sparklers. you can take away all the rest of the fireworks, just leave me some sparklers and i'm good. (looks like i have three legs hahaha)

well after sparklers we went back to bed. daddy-o and Yah went to home depot for the kids workshop. she made a bird house and a picnic caddy. when they came home about noon, i got up and we played. daddy-o has been working on getting the pool ready for Yah's birthday party (three weeks to go) Yah wants to have a "mermaid party." Ehm wanted in the pool, of course, she is a water baby! so daddy-o held her over the side and let her get all wet. when they came in, she took all of her clothes off and her diaper. she would not let me put a clean one back on. Ehm declared her independence from diapers (for a while) and insisted on playing us all a song on the piano (she sang too).

you can see how pleased she is with herself. yeah for "independence" day!

i did convince her to put on a diaper finally. Yah wore her home depot apron all day. she got a notebook, pen, and tape measure to put in the pockets too, just like daddy-o. he works the night restocking shift there.

here are all three kids together. aren't we blessed? hooray for the independence to have a family of your own!

no independence day is complete with out a barbecue! we went to papa and grandmas to partake of one. the kids were playing and having a great time.

Jam decided he had the freedom to have a pink binki. (or rather his mom did) but he liked it just the same.

Yah played with this little light. her eyes are so pretty.

Jam has the freedom to be a mechanic on the tricycle, or to chew in the pedal (same thing.) i am thankful for the freedom we have to choose our own careers.

this is the tree in the back yard well and us of course, in our patriotic outfits. yes i planned what each of us would wear. as a mom i have the freedom to veto outfits on any special occasion. you can choose for yourself every other day.

we did get to stay long enough to shoot off more fireworks at papa and grandma's. here are all the girls (left 2 right) corky (2), baba (4), yah (almost 7), ehm (20 mo). they sat there and yelled out the color of the sparks. too cute.

Jam got to see then too, and he loved it. he just stared and stared and had a funny look on his face. he was really trying to figure out what was going on with all that pretty light.

sun has just set and the show is started.

the kids had a blast. they liked the few that screamed the most. corky tried to whistle too. and Ehm just screamed back at them. then the older girls had to do it too.

i like the glow of the sky in these here. it is difficult to get good pics of fireworks. first it is dark and how do you know where to focus and then i can't figure how to adjust the time setting for the shutter, well and there is only one day each year when we get to light fireworks. no wonder why i got so-so shots. i like them just the same and the memory is here to stay.

it was really fun to watch our shadows "jumping" on the wall behind us. hard to tell in the photo, but it was comical.

after we were done here, i had to go to work and that was the end of the day.

i am glad that our independence lasts for more than just a day. i rejoice in the knowledge that we have the opportunity to be forever free from the bondage of sin and that Christ paid my debt on the cross. so that one day i may live with Him forever.

i am also glad that God gives us free will to choose or not, but He loves us just the same.

i look forward to seeing other's patriotic edition posts. just click on the link below to see more great photo stories. and you should post yours too and tell us what are your traditions and memories of independence day. mr. linky will be open all week. you know you want to...

thanks for reading...

someone is following me

2009-07-05T05:00:00.004-06:00

hello , i actually stood up to type this, weird... uum yea wanted to say thanks for being my first follower. i did the super excited happy dance and turn around in the chair and oh yea oh yea wiggle wiggle. good thing there were no witness, i am at work after all... thanks for thinking i am cool enough to follow, i hope i don't disappoint. as always i will be honest and try to post at least once a week. :o) thanks for reading...

encouragement verse for today

2009-07-01T06:28:00.005-06:00

daddy-o has been a bit discouraged as of late. bills keep piling and money is scarce, as is the food for that matter, but the love is eye deep around here and that is what we are clinging to at this time. this post is to remind us (and you if you need it) that God is with us. He cares for us and loves us. i have been looking for some encouraging texts to share with daddy-o. i think i will print some and tape them to the bathroom mirror so we will see them often. here is one that i will use today:

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept. I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. Psalm 3:3-5

what are some of your favorite verses that you turn to for strength? i would love to know. i also like this one:

The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! Psalm 18:46

i heart faces #25 Wedding Bells

2009-06-29T00:47:00.010-06:00

once again a busy week. i told myself that i would do at least one post before the next i heart faces entry, well yea right... i just don't have time, or maybe it is too difficult to make time. i worked six days straight this week, and that takes lots of my energy. if you can avoid the graveyard shift while trying to raise kids, do so. on my day off, it was uncle ernie's wedding. (my husband's uncle). it is his 2nd marriage and her 3rd. why didn't they just go to the JP? oh yea... grandma booty, the groom's mother, (yes that is what we call her, to her face as well) would not let them. so we went to the wedding, Yah got to be one of the flower girls and Baba (niece) got to be the other. they had fun getting dressed up and i let Yah wear a little pink eye shadow, she is so grown up. well as the only person in the family who owns a nicer camera, i got to take the photos. not that i am any good at all, weddings scare me. (i had dreams for a week before the wedding of losing my camera, running out of memory on a card, lenses falling off the camera and breaking...not good) i did take photos of the wedding, it was not very traditional, also not planned very well. so most of the shots i had planned on getting (and i had a list in my pocket) did not happen. the bride wore a blue formal dress and the groom wore slacks and a button up shirt. this is really dressy for them. the ceremony was held in their side yard, it was simple and short 15 min from start to finish! then over to the front yard for the reception. of course there was cake stuffing going on. (i read somewhere that people who stuff cake at their wedding are more likely to get a divorce. what is your opinion on this? i hate it and we did not stuff at ours) the bride and groom did not seem to want many posed shots they let me take only a few and weren't very cooperative. they seemed as if they had no time for photos or the desire to have any taken...oh well. he seemed much more exuberant than she. and there is glare on her glasses. any suggestions on how to avoid that?
as for my entry we have my Yah being the willing participant and letting me get such a sweet photo of her.
i love her hair and the simple expression on her face. this was taken before the ceremony and you can see the excitement on her face. i am glad she had the experience of being a flower girl. i was as a girl too, and i thought back on it often growing up.
i checked out the judge this week at her web site and her photos rock. jasmine star is AMAZING. i am no where near her level, but i did enjoy looking at all of her site and i read most of her blog last night. thanks to j* for sharing her love of God through her site and also for keepin it real and giving us an incredible insight to her life and career.

thanks for stopping by, and do go check out the other entries this week at i heart faces i know they are going to rock my world. also check out j* at her web site it is jasmine-star.com she is one great photographer!

i heart faces #24 BOYS

2009-06-22T02:43:00.007-06:00

last week went so fast. all of my days off were spent in the hospital with Ehm. it started with vomiting every 10 min, then she could not hold up her head and was very limp. i was scared. the doctors thought it was urinary tract infection, gave antibiotics and we went home. the next day same thing...back to hospital, now they think it might be appendicitis. well when they told me they were calling in a surgeon, i really freaked out (on the inside of course). ended up being severe stomach flu, over night in hospital and IV fluids. then home and daddy-o caught it, then i caught it, then Yah caught it. so far jam is the only one who has not let this auful bug catch him. even mema and grandma v and papa got sick. so i was too busy "enjoying" life to get to post a sepia photo. i feel like i have missed out on so much. including our 8 year anniversary! yes i was in the hospital and daddy-o was at home with the other kids. he did bring a beautiful potted cala lilly and a card. he is so sweet. well there goes date night...maybe next year? hahaha but, i do have some boy pictures: the first is daddy-o's grandpa, he is holding our son Jam for the first time. this is a special photo for me, jam is adopted (my cousin's child) and i was relieved to see that all of the family had accepted him as ours. Grampa is saying "shhh, don't wake him, i want to hold him some more." this is my entry for the kids section. this is oey, he is Jam's biological brother, but we will count him as a cousin sort of (what do you call the relationship between cousins children?). this was last august, at oey's 2nd birthday. you can't get much more boy than this...cowboy hat, messy face, half naked, and outside. yep, that is our oey. running so fast you can hardly get a picture, but when he opened this hat from us, it was love at once. i pray he will grow up to be a great guy.

will you please pray for my cousin and her two children (the ones she has with her)? she is going through a bout of depression, i don't know if it is over the adoption, or something else. (adoption is open and she has seen jam a few times, he is 6months old now) she has a lot to deal with emotionally, and God is the only one that can help her, as she is unwilling to tell anyone what she is needing help with. thank you for your prayers and i will ask God to bless each of you in return. He has blessed us even more than we could think or imagine.

have a great week and go to i heart faces and check out all the other cool boy photos this week.

email to blog

2009-06-03T06:46:00.001-06:00

hey, did you know that you can email directly to your blog? i was looking at the options and found this button and now i am going to see if it works.

it has been an interesting night...a guest called 911 from their room. the lady is about 70 years old and misdialed. well no emergency personell were dispatched, so i guess everything is alright.

I Heart Faces birthday/pets

2009-06-02T17:27:00.003-06:00

here is my darling daughter on her birthday. she is getting warmed after her bath. it was a happy birthday.

this is our new baby kitty, i just took these. then when i saw the theme, i was excited. you can read more about the baby kitty by scrolling down (i don't know how to give you a link to it yet)

go over to i heart faces and check out all the stunning entries. thanks for your comments, have a great week!

i heart faces #20 silhouette

2009-05-26T23:44:00.005-06:00

when i saw the category a few weeks ago, i instantly knew what picture i would enter. this is my niece, baba. we went to beverly beach, or a few years ago and baba had never been on the sand. she did not know what to think. when i took this photo, she was getting sand out from between her toes. this captures baba to a "t" she is silly, energetic, and non stop. notice she did not bother to sit to remove irritating sand...she is still this quirky girl today. just turned 4 in feb. and a bundle of fun. I heart faces is a great place to see other people's photos and to gain insight and inspiration. DO go there by clicking the button and check out all the great photos this week. you may wish to enter, but beware, it is addicting. =) after a few minutes of browsing, i have lots of great ideas for my kiddos.

interesting side bar here: baba calls me "aunt crazy" at first an innocent mispronunciation, but i asked her mom to let her call me this. I LOVE BEING THE CRAZY AUNT!

thanks for your comments and criticisms.

*EDIT*

as for sand in the toes, did you know that when you are done on the beach if you sprinkle baby powder on your sand covered parts, that it will fall right off? just rub on some baby powder next time, no chaffing or blistering from shoes. :) my kids love the beach, but the oldest reminds me to bring the "sand blaster powder"

“My Story In Photos: The Vacation Edition” Memorial Day Weekend-ish

2009-05-25T06:42:00.017-06:00

this is my "vacation" edition for i heart faces. it is the most recent vacation we have been on. we will go camping here again in july, so come back and check for new pics then. i am excited for this week at i heart faces. it is going to be fun getting to know each other a bit better. just click the button to see everyone elses vacation pics.
yes we had memorial day weekend at our house. but it started on thursday and ended on monday. i had to go back to work, but the camping trip was lots of fun. daddy-o had several deliveries to make and all of us went too. then we camped in beautiful McCall at our favorite ponderosa state park. the first night it was just my family. Ehm read us a book. really she looked at the pictures and "talked." Jam and Yah liked listening to the story. we walked McCall. they have caution flags on the corners, there is lots of pedestrians and lots of crazy drivers. Yah got the flag from the holder and gave one to Ehm too. they both thought this was fun. walked out on one of the public docks, and set the camera on the stroller and here we are at Payette Lake. totally wrong time to take a picture, full sun and in our eyes, but we were there and the lake is beautiful. on the way to drop of one of the orders, there was on old meeting house. i convinced daddy-o to stop there on the way back and let me take some pics. Yah is growing up so fast. she will tell you that she is 6 and 5/6 and her birthday is in july.

isn't she just great?

we did a lot of bike riding. Yah on the hitch hiker behind daddy-o. i had the babies in the red trailer. Ehm loves to ride in her "bike." each time we went out, little Jam fell asleep. i asked Ehm if brother was alright and she nodded her head. i told her to keep an eye on him and she put a finger on his head and kept it there for the rest of the ride. she is little but still a good sister. when we got back to camp, they were both sleeping so of course i took a picture.

yah convinced daddy-o to take the training wheels off of her bike. i was very worried. the only and i mean only time she rides is maybe once every two months. we have gravel driveway, making it hard to ride. well off came the training wheels and daddy-o chased her all over the campground. she did fairly well, much to my surprise. but when she fell, she was finished for the day. good thing we brought the tag along too.

there are biking/walking trails all around the park. along our walk, Mema found this fallen tree and went right up the hill to get a pic by it. sometimes my mom is kinda weird, not bad weird, just different weird.

all the biking and walking made my two boys tired. they took a nap at our site for quite a while.

the last night there, it thunderstormed and rained and poured. i am so glad we have a trailer. even at that, the trailer leaked right over our bed and daddy-o got up on the roof to put something over the vent so we weren't soaked. Yah was scared by the lightening and thunder, which is unusual for her. the babies were asleep when the storm started and were not affected by it at all. i felt bad for the tenters, they were dripping wet in the morning.

I Heart Faces #19 Blurb Book

2009-05-19T15:16:00.005-06:00

well, i have looked and looked. part of the problem of choosing a photo was trying to detach from the memories and simply look at the photo for the quality. i think this photo gets my attention the most. my cousin, she graduated this last year and she paid me to take her seinor photos. i feel that i am still an amature, but according to the rules, i did get paid a little to take some pictures once upon a time. i am very legalistic, and am so scared of not getting considered for entering into the wrong section. so here is my entry in the professionals category. (my heart is racing and i feel sweaty) this is the first time i have used photoshop to enhance an image. i think it turned out nice. i burned the edges and took off a fuzz from her shirt.

i feel so inadequate, as there are so many others with far greater tallents. still, my cousin is beautiful and i think she is great.

i love i heart faces, they have some great challenges coming up, you should join! thanks for all your suggestions, i hope to learn a lot, i feel that i have. go over to i heart faces and see all of the breathtaking entries. just push the button below to get there, this is the required wording:

"I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

New Kitten

2009-05-17T05:07:00.003-06:00

our just one year old kitty melanie, had a baby. yes, a baby, just one, which i thought was weird, but maybe because she is so young? she had baby under the storage shed. i came home and was getting kids out of the van when i heard a pathetic little meow. after getting kids inside, i looked under shed. the only thing i could see was a box. so she must have had the baby in the box. a few days go by and i check on baby, really i listened to see if it would meow. no nosies. i wait a few hours, still nothing. well, maybe melanie is not going to take care of her baby. i got down and pulled out the box, at first i didn't see anything in it, i moved the flap and there was one fuzzy, furry ball. baby was clean and had a full tummy. eyes and ears closed. must only be a few days old. put baby back and told kids it looks like baby is a girl. now there are no noises again and i have not seen melanie go under shed for a while. oh man, i should not have touched baby! well, i checked again, this time the baby is not in the box. melanie moved baby between house and picnic table. dog found the baby and stood there drooling, so gross. i know all she wanted to do was lick the baby, but yuck, what cat wants to smell like a dog? melanie moved the baby again. now in a little depression in the ground between the house and a piece of cement board. the space is just right for a cat to get in and the board is easy to pull back and check on baby. baby has lived behind board for about a four days now. the kids have seen baby and think she is cute. we have not touched baby again as we don't want to make melanie mad with us. Yee Yah makes sure to put food right beside the board so "if the baby wants some, she can get it too" well baby still has her eyes closed, but the dog loves getting the left over food when she goes out. horray for life and spring time. God has given mothers such wonderful instincts. i am glad He knows what we need, and is faithful to supply all our needs.

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T00:00:00.005-06:00

happy mother's day y'all! I had a great day. Daddy-o took the kids to church while i slept, i got off work at 7a. everybody (read mom, mil, fil, bil, sil, 3 cousins, and of course my house mates) came over to my house for bbq lunch and then it was time for the games. it was a nice clear day with a high of 76. very nice, maybe a little too nice, i got a sun burn. you know how it goes, lotion up the kids and nieces and nephew, then i forget to lotion myself! this is not the first time i have left me out of the sun scream slathering, and i am paying for it. my face, chest, and arms are a beautiful glowing pink. i do have some after sun lotion and that soothes the heat from the skin fairly quickly. well, what did i do to get such a burn? we played baseball of course! very informal, but tons of fun. all the kids got into it, even little Jezz Man had a "turn" at bat (daddy-o held him). after that daddy-o set up the net and we played volley ball. i like that one, but it is more difficult for the little ones. finally, my favorite bad mitten. yes, we played for two hours. that is when the sun was most intense too. well it was fun, and i will try to put lotion on myself next time. daddy-o and the kiddlets got me a new charm for my family neclace, i will try to get a photo up soon. now my charm family is complete. a little man on the end.

hot tub man

2009-05-06T00:42:00.007-06:00

so, here i sit eating chili cheese fritos...how i love them, but i only eat them once in a great while when there is no husband or kids in sight or within smelling distance...which means i eat them at work. i eat my fritos in a nice way, i just hold it in my mouth until all the chili goodness is sucked off. this, i think, prolongs the enjoyment. and also means i will stop with just one small snack sized bag. if i just horked them down, which i have done, i will eat a family sized bag in one sitting! this is not good for my waist line or my cholesterol, but who really keeps track of that until it is life or death? i run the night audit shift at a wonderful hotel...so there is some down time which needs to be filled and tonight the vending machines were calling to me. well i was on the fourth floor any way. a guest came in and said "i want your penthouse suite." i said very upbeat, "sure thing coming right up"...it was then that i realized he was serious...and that he was slightly (or maybe more) intoxicated. i quoted the rate and he didn't blink an eye, just flipped me his card and waited for keys. well i checked him in and wished him a good night. a while later, phone rings "front desk this is christina, may i help you?" hot tub man was on the other line. he says "there is something wrong with this tub in here" i asked what was the problem. "the jet covers keep blowing off" well i have never been in a hot tub that is in a room since my wedding night and i don't remember any thing about the tub, so i offer to move him to a different room. i ask if he wants to get the key or have me bring it to him. he says "well, i'm naked so could you just bring it to me?" ahh...sure. i take him the key and stop by the vending room while waiting for the elevator to come back up, why do they put that room right next to the elevator? oh yeah, convenience, right. so i wilt under the pressure, i am doing a good job at my job so i can have a little treat, a mug root beer and fritos. ahh bliss. phone rings again, hot tub man..."this tub is doing the same thing! i want you to come up here and look at it so you can see what is going on. give us about ten minutes so we can get dressed and then come look." first of all i am freakin out! i have never gone into an occupied guest room. are they planning to murder me, or hurt me? ahhh! deep breath, things are going to be all right. people only do psycho things like kill the desk clerk in the movies...right? right. off i go, still shaking. now to the third floor and in to the room. hot tub wife is on chair, visibly intoxicated. "hi there!" now i know something is wrong...do i stay or do i go? around the corner to the hot tub, full of water. now i get it they are going to drown me and the housekeepers will find me in the morning. "see that right there? that thing keeps coming out" sure enough it is a jet cover. i reach in and screw it back into the tub. "well lets try it again." hot tub man starts the tub and the thingy flies off again. :well sir i an very sorry. i will go and check the tub in a different room and you can move there if you like?" "i came here for a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined. i don't want to move again. this is just wrong, i want you to comp my room." "well i will have to call my manager, i don't know if i can so that without a manager's code. i can move you, and i will make sure the tub is working before i move you." "no you call your manager and get my room for free. this is not your fault i am not taking this out on you. but i want this to be fixed. this is wrong." "yes sir, i agree, i'm sorry for the inconvenience to you and your wife. i will call my manager and see what i can do to make this right. i will call you back in ten to fifteen minutes." "yeah, you talk to him and get this fixed. and you need to call me and tell me what he said." first of all my manager is a gal. i call mrs h and tell her situation. she says "offer to discount the room. give discounted rate and let them move again if they want. if they choose to stay then charge them for a regular king room since tub is not working." "okeydokie, by the way, sorry for ringing you at 1:00 am, sleep well. see you tomorrow" call hot tub man and tell him what manager said he is very and i mean very upset. "i want this to be a free room, i am trying to have a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined!" "well, i can move you again, or you can stay where you are and i will give you x rate." "i want to stay where i am. do you think that $40 is going to make a difference? i will not move again. do not change the rate of my room, i will come down in the morning and talk to your manager face to face and i will work this out myself." "ok i will leave your rate the way it is and you can talk to my manager in the morning. have a good night sir." wow now i am really glad that i got these fritos. i did need some comfort food, i know that you aren't supposed to turn to food for the answers, but it is 1:30 in the morning and everybody that i would normally talk to are all sleeping, it seems selfish to wake them. oh no, the phone is ringing again! hot tub man again! "hey, how do i get this tv to show me my dvd?" *sigh of relief* "well sir, simply push the source button and blah blah blah." "sure 'nuff there it is, great." i am now out of fritos...maybe i will get some more, it has been a stressful night. ok i will write out my experience as a way to distract myself...right, good idea. this is the responsible option right? interesting side bar: my relief in the morning is a guy, j. hot tub man will think the manager is a guy...hahaha.

just for the record, this is an older post, but it is true and i thought it was funny. join in the tst fun click on the button to see other stories and to add yours as well.

I Heart Faces #17 Hats

2009-05-05T19:15:00.006-06:00

this week's challenge at i heart faces is hats. this is my father in law, we were on the oregon coast. what a great vacation. dad is a great guy too. nice to have such nice family. we went to the zoo last year and our cute baby got a new hat the she left on for quite a while. she was very interested in all the animals.

jump over to i heart faces and check out all the other hat entries, i know they are great. always an inspiration to me.

I Heart Faces #16

2009-04-27T08:07:00.012-06:00

i have just come across the i heart faces blog and i have decided to enter a photo. i spent a lot of time this weekend while waiting for my shift to end just admiring some great photos. i think i will try to do the challenges just to keep me taking and making time for pictures. as life often does, it has been getting away from me for the last few months. new baby, home schooling, allergies, and now new job.... well here it is, my reflections photo for the kids category. this is our youngest daughter, i took this last summer. she looks like a little lady. enjoy, and check out all the great pics at i heart faces. click on the button below to get to their blog.

this is my entry for reflection adult. when we got home from this trip i fell in love with this pic and have scrapped it several times and it has been gifted to grandparents as well. i was standing out in the surf to get the shot, my feet were freezing, but it was well worth it. be sure to check out the other reflection pictures at i heart faces. just click on the button to get to the to the site.

Photo book

2009-04-27T05:56:00.003-06:00

this is the book i made of Yah's "graduation" photos. she is so beautiful and growing up so fast.

just another day

2009-04-27T05:28:00.000-06:00

just another day yep, just another day. did get to the grocers for much needed food, now that there is a paycheck it makes shopping easier. i worked the usual 11p-7a. while working tonight, i got Yee Yah's home school lessons ready for the week. i will be sleeping so daddy-o will be instructing today. there are instructions as what to do and what to say.i am irritated that i have to go back to work. i thought things were going so well. i liked being at home, i was just starting to get into a routine with the new baby and bang. back to work.i am not sure what the lesson to be learned is yet, so i ponder and pray for guidance and understanding and acceptance.it is hard for me not to bitter with daddy-o, it is not his fault that i got a job before he did. he feels guilty. all of the children are having a hard time adjusting, three weeks into a job and things are still in upheaval. well, what did i expect? life would remain the same forever? that is not the way things work. as for now i wait for my relief to come and record my thoughts so that i can process all this junk.

2009-04-26T05:09:00.000-06:00

so, here i am at work, waiting for my releif to come so i can get back to my family. i feel that in such a short time, i have already lost track of my kids and feel out of touch with my husband as well. hopefully husband will find a job, so i can go back to the life i love. being at home with our children, and being teacher mom.i plan on reading up on several blogs that i found tonight. also becoming a blogging community member. well i am new to all of this. with three kids needing me all day, i don't have time for computing at home. or even time to think about how i feel. maybe this job will be healthy for me after all. i will try to be positive.dear husband feels bad that he lost his job. my one application got an answer before 30 of his. he feels guilty "making" me work. i try to be upbeat for his sake and the children. this economy has to turn around soon.

graduation

2008-05-22T16:01:00.002-06:00

Here is Yah's graduation day. She is such a big girl. She said her verse just right and sang the songs with the other kids. When the teacher was talking, she ran down the isle to go to the bathroom. Just like her, has to pee at just the wrong time, oh well.

Yah the Kindergarden Graduate

2008-05-17T13:04:00.007-06:00

so, i have been doing some seinor portraits. most of the photo shoots have been down town ontartio.

while photographing my cousin, Yah asked "mom, why are you taking L's pictures?" "because she is graduating, honey," i replied. "oh, ... well mom, i am graduating too. will you take my pictures?"

wow she is graduating from kindergarden. but we had a photo shoot just the same as the high school seinors. they could not be taken in the back yard, oh no, she had to go downtown ontario just like the big girls. oh dear, she is only five, but going on 19...

the pics turned out great and all the grands and greats were happy to get a collage of their favs. aunts and uncles too.

she is a willing subject, if it is her idea. poses must be the same as she saw other girls do. and i must treat her like a big girl. if only she would act like a big girl all of the time. well, maybe not too big. a meduim girl would be ok with me.

Yah is very intelligent, and is reading at a grade 2.4 level at the end of kindergarden. wow, she is a lot like her mom. i hope she keeps the willingness and excitement to learn her whole life long. she makes me so proud.

mom's new house

2008-04-27T12:54:00.001-06:00

i think this is a funny picture, mom is painting high she is so short. and daddy-o is painting low he is so tall.

mom bought a new house, it is in ontario. only 9.8 miles from my house. it has three bedrooms and two baths, a nice kitchen, and living room has a bump out window. so pretty.

daddy-o and mom painted the whole house before she moved in. even the doors! it looks brand new. mom is very happy, her first house. i am so proud of her. sometimes i think i am more excited than she is, of course i don't have to think about making the payment.

2008-04-25T11:51:00.003-06:00

hooray! Ehm is six months old and now she can start solid foods. rice is by far her favorite and she likes carrots too. as you can see, she is a very happy baby. she likes swinging and music. she has learned how to sit up on her own and that makes me very proud. even though she is little and the doctors say she has failure to thrive, she is getting her develop-mental milestones just fine. yes she is little, but she is sure smart! God has blessed our family with a cute baby.

Fancy Girls

2008-04-19T11:44:00.002-06:00

here is another great shot of my beautiful girls. they are all dressed up to go to church. it is hard to believe they are so big already.

Easter

2008-03-24T10:57:00.001-06:00

for Easter we went to aunt deb's house. there were a lot of us there. 19 in all!

we participated in the annual "eggs to dye for" contest. this is where you dye your eggs and use them to be something other than an egg. there was a tinkerbell egg, purple people eater, disco egg, martian, pimp daddy, army guy, and spring chicken. there was a lot of creativity in this Easter. grandpa david dressed like a clown "pickles" and gave candy to the kids. some of them loved it and others were scared. grandpa had a good time.

we played games late into the night and a great time was had by all.

Frog Sisters

2008-03-08T11:31:00.002-07:00

Granny made Ehm a cute little pink and green frog print blanket. she also got her frog footies, and she found Yah frog jammies too. so naturally, i had to take their picture.

happy family

2008-02-25T10:27:00.002-07:00

this is our family photo. we gave it to family for valentine's day. this was fun trying to get everyone to look in the right direction at the same time. we were the only ones home, and i took the photo using a remote shutter.

Dance Competition

2008-02-23T10:38:00.002-07:00

this is Yah at dance competition. the single shot is her jazz dance outfit, they danced to "Hey Baby" it was really cute. she got first place on all three of her routines. Ehm liked listening to all the different music and Yah enjoyed watching all the other dancers. when she watches them, she gets a very serious look on her face and it seems that she is thinking, "i can do that too." grandparents were in attendance and were very proud of our little dancer. our studio won the overall studio championship award so that was really cool.

Snow People

2008-02-18T22:28:00.005-07:00

here are the snow men that daddy-o and yah made after the big snow fall. the big one is "Yah" and the little one is"Ehm." the next morning, Yah went to the window to see if the snow people were still there. after realizing they were, she put on her boots and coat, then went outside to give them each a hug and tell them good morning. this was the routine for about two weeks, then the weather had warmed up enough to make the snow men lean over and then she didn't hug them any more. now they are a lump of snow in the almost bare yard, the house shades them from the sun so they aren't quite gone yet.

judo club

2008-02-07T09:01:00.001-07:00

in january, i took pictures at the ore-ida judo club and i got them back and delivered this week. i enjoy taking pictures. here are a couple of my favorites: the family hasn't had photos taken in the last five years and they were all very pleased with their picture. then there is the group. i have not taken so many pictures of a group and still ended up with so many with their eyes closed. oh well, this is the best shot of them.

judo is an interesting sport, i don't understand it very well, but from what i can tell, it is a form of japanese wrestling and throwing. you try to throw your partner and then get them into one of several pins. all this time you are wearing a gi (pronounced gee) it looks like a bathrobe and jamma pants. this is their official uniform and it is interesting to see all of them practicing. This is the 6th largest judo club in america.

snow day

2008-02-07T08:26:00.002-07:00

here i sit, baby on one arm and typing with the other, i have gotten suprisingly good at one handed typing. daddy-o and yah just left for school, they had to leave early because of the snow. we have had one snow day this year, the first one in seven years. this is the most snow we have had in the valley in a long time. it usually just rains or it is way too cold to snow. on snow day i took Yah to the baseball field over at the college and we went sledding. She had so much fun, we met some kids from school and stayed for several hours. Ehm slept almost the whole time. now every time it snows, Yah wants to know if it is going to be a snow day. we listen to the radio and when they say "schools are in session" we can finish getting ready.

2008-02-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

okay, i think i have figured out how to get this blog to work. i am excited to add to this but now it is late and there is school tomorrow so i am going to bed.