"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

This was our 3rd Annual Gingerbread Cookie Decorating Party. I can't believe when we first started doing this Denton was 4, Makenzie, Landon and Abi were 2. Can you imagine decorating cookies with 3 two year olds?! This year we added the one year olds, Grant and Caden. They did really great! It was fun to see how much better the other kid's cookie decorating skill has become. We even managed to sing 2 Christmas songs before the sprinkles started to fly. I love having these little people over and spending time with them. This year we decided to shorten the activity time and reduce the amount of cookies to decorate. That was the ticket!! I think they all had a great time...they mostly just like being with each other. I am so grateful they all enjoy each other's company! These type of activities make my Christmas!!! Happy Holidays!

Happy Harvest!

Fall is my very favorite time of year. I love the colors, the smells, the crisp coolness, not so much the increased rain, though. This year the months flew by because we were so busy around this place. I felt like all the plans for the fall I had in mind never materialized. I feel somewhat cheated. Here it is the first part of December and I am trying to recapture Autumn. Let me mention what was on my wish list of things to experience during the fall that when unexperienced.

• A canoe ride around the lake
• A drive over to Leavenworth to see the many colors of leaves
• Rototilling the leaves in after they have fallen
• A fire out at the firepit and roasting something
• Cooking recipes with squash in them
• Making applebutter

Not all of Autumn was wasted on the mundane. I made banana bread with chocolate chips. We went to the Puyallup Fair. we decorated with pumpkins on the porch. I bought a new Autumn sented candle. I may have not been able to do everything that I would've liked, but I still hold this time of the year as my favorite. How ironic...I love the slower pace Autumn has to offer, I was just too busy to notice.

Remember This?

I heard a portion of this song on a commercial the other day. Chuck and I Googled it of course. I was shocked that I still knew all the words. I know for a fact I have NOT sung that song for many, many years! These were the type of songs that I associate with my youth. They were happy, upbeat and yes, very hippyish. I was only 10 years old when this song was a hit. I really was born a little too late for my liking! I would've been into SOME of that hippy scene, I hate to admit. Enjoy!

Boo to You!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. It hasn't always been that way. I remember trying to get 3 or 4 children, at any given time, ready to go Trick-or-Treating. In the past there was a rush to get costumes ready, pumpkins carved, and dinner served, so they weren't just eating the candy that they came home with. I could hardly decorate the house when the kids were little because they would carry off the decorations and play with them.

The reason I enjoy this holiday today is due to the colors. I love the fall colors. I like to decorate Halloween and Harvest mixed together so that it's not as "scary." This year I plan to have the kids over for dinner and a not so scary movie. I am going to make stew in a pumpkin and rolls. This year Halloween is on a Sunday. The kids will not be trick-or-treating since they will be attending church Halloween parties on Saturday. The church parties include Trunk-or-Treat, where they go car to car in the church parking lot. They always end up with a lot of candy anyway. Happy Halloween!

Yee Haw Cousin Camp 2010

We finally had cousin camp for the 4 older grandkids. What a fun time! They absolutely love being around one another. We had to camp inside, due to the weather. We couldn't do our campfire, due to the weather. We had to BBQ our food close to the backdoor due to the weather. But, if you asked the kids they had the time of their lives just running around the house making noise. Thank goodness for Denton reminding everyone what cousin camp was all about, it might have turned into a pity party. I have already started working on ideas for next year. Do we stick to one night or try two? Do we let the babies, who will be 2 1/2 by then join us? Definately hold it earlier in August, due to the weather! Our goal is to do this each year, extending the time frame as they age, and allowing cousin relationships to blossom. Grandma's goal is to get more sleep and exercise prior the camp. I was totally exhausted! Although, I love being around these kids!!

Ride'm Little Pony

I am getting ready for Cousin Camp! I made a stick horse for all the kids that come to Cousin Camp. This year only the four older ones will be here because Grant and Caden are a little young still. This year's theme is Y'hoo! Cousin Camp. It's a western theme. We plan to have a stick horse rodeo, campfire, sleeping in a tent and a lot of fun! I sure hope the weather will work with us. If not, camping indoors will have to do. Hopefully, the kids will enjoy this and we will carry this tradition on each year. Actually, we will be having Cousin Camp each year even if they don't enjoy this! It's all about the grandma you know.

Good Things to Come

The Big "30"

Chuck and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary on Aug 2nd. WOW 30 whole years. Truthfully, I can't remember much of life without him. We met when I was 16, almost to turn 17. We married 2 years later. And what a journey it has been! We wouldn't trade one moment of it for anything in the world. Ok, maybe I shouldn't speak for him! I have learned what a blessing it is to be able to spend all your days with someone that you actually like. Realistically, we've had our moments but, when it comes down to brass tacks, we really like each other's company. Chuck continues to make me laugh and I know I keep him in stitches.

We weren't able to really whoop it up like we would've liked due to work demands but, we found time to escape to LaConner and stay in an extremely charming B&B, The Wild Iris. The weather was great, the bike ride was nice and the shopping was fun. Here's to the next 30 years, honey. Hold on to your hat!

Hats Always Make Me Smile

There's nothing better that a child in a hat!! I am so lucky to have caught 6 of my faves in hats. Hats or dress up seem to bring out the real child. I love to watch these kids play in this way. Their pictures seem to tell enough of a story without my words.

The Simple Pleasures??

What an interesting element to our current culture! Never in my right mind would I ever think I would be paying a fair penny to have someone else paint my toes. The truth of the matter is that I can barely bend over long enough to paint my own. Not to mention lacking the ability of seeing the target unless I'm peering just right through my progressive lenses. I can't believe that a few short years ago I could physically maintain such indulgences for myself but never took the time. As we age, there seems to be more and more things that I find useful to hire out. It isn't even the mindset of living a more spoiled life. Some of it boils downright to neccessity! When I get massages, it isn't because I feel I deserve to be pampered, it's because my body is in so much discomfort I'm looking for an alternative to meds. The need usually results from trying something I should really hire out, like painting my toes. Don't think I don't cherish these simple pleasures...I REALLY am grateful that there are individuals who serve in this fashion. I find it more rewarding to be given these pleasures for gifts than something material. So, since I need to have someone else beautify my feet I feel I should go with gusto. Purple polish and flowers! Could there be anything happier to look at?

Our Little Chick-a-dees

We now are going to try our hand at raising chickens. Couldn't be too different than raising 5 boys, right? We got these little birds about 6 weeks ago when they were just fluffy little peeps. We've kept them in a brooder all this time. Actually, they outgrew their first brooder and are in the larger one now. Hopefully their permanant home will be built this weekend. We are making a "chicken tractor" for them. It will be mobile and moved around a bit. Coming up with names were easy for 2 of them. The blonde is Dalila, the redhead is Gertie and the brunette is Bard (because she is a Barred Rock). I want to call her Dot because she will have white specks in her. Oh well, do chickens really KNOW their names anyways? They sure are social though. They like to be in a group and they follow us around the yard. Amber still licks her chops a bunch when she's around them. We're not sure if you can convince a birddog otherwise. Hopefully, she will grow to love them like we do. We have been learning as we go with these little creatures. See, it is like raising 5 boys!

I love these kids!

Once there was a grandma who was bored. Her grandbabies came over to visit. Perfect! She had a fabulous idea!

I seriously wonder why they keep coming back when they are tortured so!!! Grant had the good fortune to be sleeping. You just wait Grant, you will also have a turn. I love these kids and who they make me when I am with them. I keep telling them how lucky I am to have them as my best friends.

A Night Nurse. Why?

I have been a night NICU nurse off and on for the last 3 years. Currently I am working nights, meaning I work from 6:30 pm to 7am the next morning. I think it's hard for the day working world to totally grasp this life unless you've experienced it. I think there is everything stacking up AGAINST working the night shift compared to the alternative. It is difficult to sleep during the day, it's difficult staying up all night, your temperature shifts at certain hours, your food usually doesn't digest well, it's extremely hard not to gain weight, most night shift workers have health issues, your first day off really isn't a day off because of the fatigue, you can't sleep well during the night on your nights off, etc. I could go on and on. BUT... there is a comfort doing the work I do in the middle of the night. There is a calmness and serenity being with a patient without all the hustle and bustle of the day's business as usual. Maybe it is more of the ambiance for me. The softer lighting to help a baby establish their days and nights, or the quieter room to hold a baby and talk to them in. Sometimes I can't believe I actually get paid to do what I do compared to other nursing positions. I choose to work nights because it helps me to be the type of NICU nurse that I want to be. I realize I won't be able to do this forever. But for now I cherish the night work.

Learning to Knit

I have a HUGE bucket list of things I want to learn! Knitting, or knitting well, is one of them. Some friends at work have been knitting like crazy. They have made some incredible items. Early one morning when I couldn't sleep I had a fabulous idea, learn to knit now. So off I went into Internet land and viola, I found this site! First project, a scarf. It is only about 1 foot long so far. I still need to finish it. I will, really.
Second project, a felted purse. I was too exited to wait until the scarf was finished before I started this one. I found the wool yarn on sale so I had to get started. Before I could even get the yarn out of the bag Amber, aka Marley, had unraveled it from one end of the room to the other. After saving the yarn I jumped into this project. Par for the course, I never seem to do anything without starting over a million times. I wish I could say it for perfection purposes! This felted bag will have flaws in it. It is now a project of refinement and patience. Let's see if I can get it somewhat right so that the flaws don't show up that much. Just like life isn't it!