10 mile bike ride

I bought a trailer for my bike, so I can haul the boys around. I have taken out on long bike rides (with the boys in tow) the last two days. I rode down to the Farmer's Market that is held in my church parking lot (not related to the church, they just rent the lot to the farmer's market people) and then to OMSI yesturday.
I rode to pick up Christian at school yesturday and after class we rode the rest of the way to OMSI. Getting down there was slightly challenging. Getting home was really hard. Liam found a truffle I bought at the Farmer's Market and ate it. I think this is why he had four bowel movements yesturday. He usually only has one, so I only brought one back up pull up with me to OMSI. He pooped twice while we were there. There are not any stores close to OMSI and if I was to stop on the way home, it would be several blocks out of the way and I was almost home, so I decided to just get home. I cleaned him up and put him straight in the bath tub, then he pooped one more time after his bath.
I am very upset that he at my truffle while was at work yesturday and to add insult to injury, I was the one who had to change all those pull ups/diapers that is just too much.
Liam was really acting up at OMSI, so when I got something to eat, I let Christian get an ice cream bar, but Liam did not get one. Now that I know that the little glutton at my truffle, I am even more glad that I did not get him anything sweet.
So back to biking. When I got home, I was exhausted and thinking that I am never doing that again, then I looked up the mileage of the ride and went to an online calorie buring tool and saw that I burned 1200 calories biking alone, this does not count running around after the kids or all the running around at work in the morning. After seeing how many calories I burned, I quickly started changing my mind.
I only need to be able to ride a couple of miles on fairly flat roads to get to the beach when we go camping, so after a couple of long bike rides, my rides at the beach will be easy and that is my goal.
I am going to buy a bike rack for the van today, which is my last big purchase for the camping trip.
Here are my recent layouts.
Credits: Dreams in Color (Light) by MGL Scraps

Credits: Country Belle by Lindsay Jane Designs

Memorial Day

We had a quiet Memorial Day. When I was riding my bike home yesturday, it was raining and my foot slipped off the petal and I have a nasty bruise on the back of my calf. If I have been sitting for a long time or sleeping, it hurts a lot when I get up and walk. The bruise is on the muscle, so I guess it feels better as long as the muscle is moving. I now see why people have special shoes for biking.
We made a enchillada casserole from the freezer cookbook. Christian will not anything other then pasta, but David, Liam and I loved it. Liam had two bowls of it last night. We have left overs in the refridgerator and three more 13x8 trays of it in the freezer.
We are going camping two weeks from today and last night I ordered something for the trip.

An ice cream ball. This will be great. I am taking the boys camping (in a yurt alone, so I have been working on finding and preparing activiites.
I also bought this book:


This has lots of science and camping activites. The boys are a bit young for some of these things, but they have some fun recipes for cooking over the campfire and the boys just love the fires. (Mom will be buying presto logs from Winco, not spending hours trying to build a fire). I am going though the book and getting supplies together, so we can try some of these things.
Their favorite thing is to just play for hours on the the beach, so that is what I am making the most time for.
I did a layout last night. I used Country Belle by Lindsay Jane Designs and the link to the kit is in yesturday's post.

Writing Practice

have a new early morning activity for the boys when they get up at 5:30, writing practice. I have the supplies out for Christian and when he gets up early, we tell him there is paper and a pencil at the table. We had a workbook out for him this morning and he practiced the entire alphabet. I also put out a coloring book for Liam, but when he came out and found Christian writing, he just went back to his room and sat quietly on the bed. The old saying is that the early bird gets the worm, but I guess that at our house, the early bird has the best penmenship.
I joined Tracey Monette's Creative Team this weekend and here is my first layout using Tracey's Quirky Farm

I did a layout with a picture of our cat Luna when she was still allowed outside. Credits: Goth Princess by Pyralis Designs

Lindsay Jane has a fun new kit...Country Belle

If you buy the kit before May 31st...you get these 4x6 brag book pages.

Weedend plans

Our weekend plans...we don't really have any. I have Michael Clayton and Juno from blockbuster.com, so I will watch them. The boys have Stuart Little and they will probably watch that again.
I have to work this afternoon and Monday morning and David has to work Monday afternoon and evening. I get time and a half on Monday and David gets Double time and a half. I would love to say we have some big plans for the extra $$$, but we get to pay our savings account back from a recent Vetranarian bill after our cat Bronte got into a cat fight and got a nasty abcess. She is almost completely healed now. She and our cat Luna are no longer allowed to go outside since they get into cat fights and we cannot afford to support their lifestlye.
Liam and I also have colds, so we need to take it easy. We also have a road trip in a bit more than two weeks, so we want to save our gas money for that, this means we are keeping us close to home, but no worries, rain is in the forcast, so we are not really missing anything.
If I can get some rainbreaks, I might plant corn, beans and sunflowers and buy a few tomato plants and transplant them to the yard.
I do have a garden update. I think we need to run some kind of onion farm. That seems to be the only thing we can grow, the onion family. Our Walla Walla sweets are looking great. I can't wait to eat some of those little delights. They are so good fresh from the garden that you can eat the onion straight.
We have used all our frozen blueberries and ate all of our jam I made last year, so I can't wait for berry season to begin in a few weeks. Our rasberry bushes have buds. I am going to get a single batch freezer jam recipe and just go out and pick a cup or two of rasberries and make jam a few times a week, so we have enough to get us through the winter next year.
Here is a layout.
Credits: Missing the Tales by Sweet Digi Scraps. This is may layout for the Font Jaunt Challenge at Elemental Scraps

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Five years ago

Five years ago we met Christian for the first time in Korea. It is hard to believe it. So much has happened in that time. Christian has grown and changed so much. He has a younger brother.
It is hard to believe that little baby sucking on his fist, bound and determined to roll on his stomach is the same boy who hippity hops around the house, talks non-stop and pretends he is a super-hero.
Here is a little flashback: (Credits below)



Seoul 03: Papers Whispering Forest by Lindsay Jane Designs & Dreams in Color: Potential by MGL Scraps
Five Years Ago: Rufus by Julie Bullock
Then and Now: Missing the Tales by Julie Bullock & What Dreams May Come by MGL Scraps & Studio Flergs

Some people wanted to know how Christian's snack day went today. Some kids really liked the rice and kelp and some did not. It was like most foods and kids. His referred to the snack as a different kind of snack. She meant in a good way. Christian brought this up later in the day and I asked him if he thought different was good and he said yes.

Snack Day and Crafts

Wednesday is Christian's last snack day at school. We talked about different options and I had him ready to make blueberry muffins (I even have the dry ingredients mixed and some of the wet ingredients measured) and cheese. He seemed okay with this until we went to our neighborhood Korean/Sushi place where he and Liam enjoyed Nori (dried Kelp sheets) and rice. Christian decided he wanted that for his snack day. We were just a few blocks from Fubon (a large Asian grocery store). So we went after dinner and picked up sushi rice, nori and a watermelon. I tried to explain to Christian that his friends at school may not be into the whole kelp scene, but he said that they should at least taste it. (Funny coming from someone who never wants to try new things).
I have the rice cooker and ingredients out in the car right now. If his teacher lets me, I can just make the rice in the class room and the nori sheets just have to get cut in half. We would just have to take the Watermelon to the kitchen to wack up. I am very curious to see how his class receives this. I know it would be a huge it at a Japanese or Korean preschool.
The boys also did some crafts today. We made a paper chain to count down to our camping trip right after school gets out and I got a little shoe box out from the sandals we bought Liam last week and I showed him how he could decorate it. He spent the day decorating it, ripping the decorations back off, parking his trains in it and all sorts of things.
Here is a layout I did today. Credits: Tangerine Dream by Lindsay Jane Designs at Scrapbook Bytes

A boy thing

One of the things I have observed about my sons is their focus. They both have a lot of energy and can be quite wild, But, when they settle down and choose a task, I pity the fool who tries to stop them. It could be trying wrap a long plastic snake around a truck and drag the truck around the house or building a Duplo rocket. It might be learning the letters of the alphabet or creating the perfect train crash. Whatever it is, it's the focal point of life. They don't want to talk, interact, get input...they just want to focus.
We were able to talk Christian into going with David to get his haircut instead of going to the more expensive kid's shop on the other side of town. We old him we would give him the difference in cash to go buy a toy.
Here is a layout I did last night. Credits: What Dreams May Come by MGL Scraps and Studio Flergs
I really enjoy this traight because it gives us some good breaks throughout the day and it balances out the high energy levels.

A layout and break in the heat

We had another hot day yesturday, but we seem to going back down to normal temps. It is supposed to be in the low 80's today and down to the 70's tommorow. I like it when it is in the 70s-80s. When it goes over 90, it is too uncomfortable.
My friend's husband watched the boys while my friend, David and I went to the Parenting with Love and Logic class. I packed swim suits for the boys in case they wanted to play in water. When we got there and I mentioned that the boys had swim suits, my friend put the sprinkler out. Both my kids started stripping down on the back patio and getting into their swim suits, they ran out to the sprinkler and started playing. My friend's sons stood on the patio and watched our kids like they were animals at the zoo. I heard that everyone got out to the sprinkler later after we left.
I did a layout with my pictures from Friday. Credits: Tangerine Dream by Lindsay Jane Designs at Scrapbook-Bytes

Global Warming Comes to Portland

This week we went from 50 degrees and raining to 95 degress and hot in just three days. I am feeling some Global Warming and I am not happy. The terrible thing is that this weather makes me want to increase my carbon footprint. Our house is not air conditioned, but our car is. I am tempted to just drive around town in the cool car.
We went to play in the water today, but since it is May and pools are not open yet, everyone is going to the parks to stay cool. It was so crowded that I did not feel comfortable. I had a hard time keeping track of my kids. To make things worse, these dads and their sons came in and decided to have this giant squirt gun fight. They had big squirt guns and were getting everyone else who were just trying to watch their kids. Many of us had camera and did not want to get them soaked. I guess the dirty looks finally got to the squirt gun fight gang and they disappeared. Maybe the went to a wide-open space instead of a crowded city park with small kids who did not want to get super soaked.
I took pictures, but I am too hot and tired to get the pictures off my camera.
I do not have any layouts today, but I thought I would share the kits I am going to work with this weekend. I am real excited.
What Dreams May Come by MGL Scraps and Flergs at Elemental Scraps. This preview is just the papers. You have to go see the elements.

Tangerine Dreams by Lindsay Jane Designs at Scrapbook-Bytes

3:00 am phone call

I had a 3 am phone call situation this morning. I got up at 3:30 am to get ready for work as usual and as I was applying my self-tan lotion, I noticed blood on my finger. I had to figure out where it was coming from and big shock...It was coming from my nose (see yesturday's post). I had another nose bleed. Since I was getting ready to ride my bike to work, I needed to resolve this before leaving. I thought about ramming some kleenex up my nose and heading down, but decided that was not a good idea. I figured I should let my opening manager know there was a problem and I might be a few minutes late. I called Tess, who I usually open with on Wednesday. I told Tess my whole speal and when I was done she told me that she was not opening, Dan our Store Manager was opening. I called Dan, got his voice mail, left a message and my nose was better so I headed down the hill. Dan got the message and changed his route so he could go down the road I take and pick me up if needed, but I was so fast that I got down the hill a few minutes before he did. When we walked into the store, the phone was ringing and we were wondering who would be calling us at 3:58 am. It was another co-worker Allie and she was sitting in her drive-way getting ready to go to work and wanted to see if she was opening. She was the closer. It is funny that Dan had so many people awake and ready to work this morning. The other funny thing is that the four of us are the last four left that opened our store. Christian had his class play tonight. He did very good. I will post a couple of layouts with pictures soon, My attempt to upload this video failed. I will post to youtube tommorow and link it here.

More bodily fluids

Today was my grocery shopping day. I do my grocery shopping without the kids. I was driving to Winco and listening to Manic Mommies. Erin and Kristen were discussing some of the things they hated about motherhood. Erin was sharing how she hates bodily fluids, especially when she has to clean them up in the middle of the night. She was sharing that her younger son has problems with bloody noses. I can relate, because Christian is prone to bloody noses. Just as she was discussing this, I grabbed a kleenex to wipe my nose and I HAD A BLOODY NOSE! I had problems with bloody noses as a child, but do not get them often as an adult. I was just waiting for the traffic to clear to pull into the parking lot, so I was able to pull in and while I am driving and dealing with the bloody nose, Erin is giving a graphic account of her son's bloody noses, which did not make me feel better. I was able to find a parking spot and turn off the car. I was hoping the bleed would stop quickly, but it did not, so I turned off the car, put the seat back and just rested there, pinching my nose and listening to the podcast. I have to admit, it was not too bad. I don't often get the chance to just lounge in the car in the middle of the day and listen to podcasts.
After a few minutes the bleed stopped and I was able to do my shopping.
I also went to Costco. I have a friend, Audrey who works as a chicken roaster at Costco. She has told me all of the horrible stories about how customers treat the chicken roasters. The price of chickens went up at Coscto recently (the cost of everything has gone up) and customers yelled at her for it. I suggested she tell them that if they raised and slaughtered their own chickens, they could probably save some money and the would have free fertilizer from the chicken poop. So I always think of Audrey when I walk by the roasted chickens and I resist the temptation to bend down and start yelling at the roasters.
I was so busy today that I did not get a layout finished. Tommorow is Christian's class play at school, so I will have some picutres to share from that.

bathtub contents

I have wrote here about Liam's potty training - he is now pretty much potty trained. He is not, however, poop trained.
I have also wrote about the Liam's habit of pooping in the swimming pool.
Yesturday, he was taking his nightly bath. We usually get Mexican food for dinner and Liam eats beans and rice which have about 70 grams of fiber. So, I was folding and putting away clothes and Liam was content in the bathtub. Too quiet and too content. After a few minutes, I looked in to make sure he was doing okay. Liam had pooped in the bathtub and was sitting in there playing like nothing was the matter. I asked him to pull the plug and got him out. I waited for water to drain and see the extent of the problem. When the water was gone, it was disgusting! I got it all cleaned out and then sprayed down the bathtub and all the bathtub toys with scrubbing bubbles. The can says it kills 95% of the bacteria. Afterwards I put some soap on a wash cloth and and washed Liam up good. He did not have any poop on his body, but still...he had been sitting in a tub full of it. After he was cleaned, he got dressed.
The thing that disturbs me the most about this is that he really did not care that he was sitting in a tub full of poo. Everyone has accidents, but it would be nice if it bothered him.
Here is my page of pictures of Christian from the choir problem. Christian just walked in there and did what he was told. He did not have all of the drama that Liam had, but I give him 5 stars for sweetness and following instructions.
Credits: Kit: Devon by Julie Bullock - Alpha - Brown Paper Alpha by Julie Bullock

Our Mother's Day

We had a quiet, restful Mother's Day. The boys both made cards for me in their Sunday School classes. They were both very tired after the busy days they had on Friday and Saturday.
David and I are taking a Parenting with Love and Logic class, so we started praticing yesturday (I have read some of the books, but this is a more serious attempt from both of us). Last night, Christian was moody and tempermental after his bath. I said "you seem to be very tired." This made him more upset and he started screaming more. I just let him scream and then asked him to get is pajamas on and brush his teeth. He stalled putting his pajamas on, so I took the pajamas to his room and said he could put them on quietly with the door open or he could continue screaming with the door shut. He got his pajamas on and brushed his teeth and asked for his stories. I said that we would not be doing that tonight, but he can go to his room and go to bed with door open quietly or close the door if he feels like crying and yelling. He chose to keep the door open and fell asleep after about a 1/2 hour. David said that they both slept late this morning.
Since David and I are both tempted to say too much, we came up with a code-word to use when the other is not reacting to the kids well, so we don't argue or discuss things in front of them or have to stop, go to a back room discuss and then return to the kids (who are usually not completely in control during these times). And the code word is.....Toe Pick! (watch the movie Cutting Edge if you don't get it)
The boys had their Spring program at church a week ago Sunday. Liam just goes wild when he gets on stage and tries to mess with all the equipment and explore. They finally asked me to hold him while he sang. Christian did a very good job. I will do a layout with his pictures soon.
Credits: Quickpage by Silversword for It's Elementary, My Dear Scrapper Challenge at Elemental Scraps, Elements: Devon by Julie Bullock

On Saturday, I made the Lasagna Roll Ups from the Fix, Freeze and Feast cookbook. I froze several servings, but I put some in a baking dish and grated some cheese and then we were able to cook it up after church yesturday. They were delicious.

Mother's day

I thought I would post my mother's day gifts to my mother & mother-in-law and a vintage layout from 1970 of my mother and I.
This ia picture of some of my first steps on the front pathway of the first house I lived in. Credits: A Mother's Love by Claudi Designs & Princess Sophie

This is a chipboard scallop album I made for my mother. Credits: Rustic Heritage by Little Miss Lizz & Becki Kress, Photo Splitters by Sharia Braxton

I made this chipboard bracket album for my mother-in-law. Credits: Moonlight Mist Bracket Album by Lucy Merino Designs

How we celebrated our annversery and a cookbook reveiw

Eleven years ago, when David and I said our marraige vows, I imagined life would take us down many roads and we we meet many new and interesting "people"
I don't know if expected to include these guys in our lives....


When I renewed our OPB (public radio) membership I got the Sesame Street live family ticket pack as my Thank you gift. How many cd's of amusing banter and compelling stories can one family have. This also goes with my whole anti-clutter theme. Memberships to places like the zoo and OMSI and going to events like this do not take up room in our house.
The boys loved it and our tickets were for great seats and if that was not enough, one of the ushers moved us even closer at the intermission. I am used to buying tickets in the nosebleed section, so it was great to be so close.
Liam wanted to escape and go to the stage to spend time with Cookie Monster. Christian loved the concert, but wanted to keep a safe distance.
Here is a picture of two of them in front of the stage.

Here is my layout I did for using Vintage Elegance by Doin it digi at Designs in Digital. She is the featured designer there for the Month of May

Here is my cookbook review for Fix, Freeze & Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik. The author's of the cookbook were interviewed on Manic Mommies.
The idea behind this cookbook is to go to Coscto or Sam's Club and buy the items called for the recipe in bulk, like meat and cheese. Then you take it home and prepare 4 or 5 meals at one time. The first recipe I tried was Apple Cranberry Pork Loin. The pork loin from costco is HUGE. So since I had to cut it up to get it in the freezer anyhow, I just prepared this up. I cut up the tenderloin and distributed it in the freezer ziplock bags and then just added the rest of the ingredients. I prepared on in a baking dish to have for dinner that night as well.
I froze the rest. Last week, I signed up to take a meal to someone from church and all I had to do is grab it out the freezer and drive it over.
Here is the Apple and Cranberry Pork Loin pg 129
1 Pork Loin (about 8 lbs, don't use tied loin)
6 medium tart apples (about 8 cups)
2/3 cup apple jelly
3 cups diced onion
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tsp dried mustard
3 one gallon freezer bags.
Rinse and trim loin. Cut pork in three equal roasts. Place one in each freezer bag.
2. Divide apple slices and apple jelly evenly over roasts. Into each bag masure 1 cup onion, 1/4 cup cranberries, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp mustard.
to complete
Thaw in refrigerator
preheat oven to 350
Place roast in center of ungreased baking dish, distributing apples and onions around meat. Bake uncovered until roast reads 160.

11 Years ago

Today is our 11th wedding anniversery. I even updated the number of years married on my profile. Tonight we have plans, but they involve Elmo and the Cookie Monster (stay tuned for update). Tommorow we are going to a Parenting with Love and Logic class at a freind's church then we are going out to dinner afterwards.
Yesturday, Christian bumped into Liam, Liam crashed into the couch and put this tooth through the inner part of his lip (it did not go all the way through). This is the second time this has happened to Liam as well as the cut on his outer lip that he got back in March and ripped the scab off when we were driving to Seattle and we had to pull off at the next exit to stop the bleeding. If you look at recent layouts with pics of him, you can see the scar. I am hoping that it will be less obvious after Liam gets some sun this summer. I am starting to think that Liam has one of two goals. 1. He really wants a cleft lip. The lip was intact and healthy when he was born, but he sure seems to want to just rip it right off. or 2. He wants to follow in the footsteps of Harrison Ford and go for the whole rustic scarred up look. Tonight when we were reading, his lip was all swollen up and when he talked, he was just moving part of it and really reminded me of Harrison Ford.
I found a tricyle for $10.00 at a garage sale and a spider man scooter for $5.00. I have been wanting to get both of these items, but did not want to spend too much money. Christian loves the scooter. I think Liam must take after me, he is having some problems figuring out the whole tricyle thing. He gets easily frustrated. We will just have to keep on working on it.
I was able to get some layouts pumped out yesturday.
Credits: Wheelies by Lindsay Jane Designs at Scrapbook-bytes

Credits: Pack O Dots - Pastels, Words to live by mat & frame template 3 by Green Elepant designs by Nicoli at Designs in Digital

Credits: Candy Coated Love - Digital Designs by Jannylyn, Rustic Heritage by Little Miss Liz & Becki Kress & Birds of a Feather by Theresa Hernandez all at Elemental Scraps, Spring Template by Julianna Gordon from Polka Dot Potato

We have had a busy week and I have not had much time to blog. I am from work until Monday and am ready for a break.
The kids have colds and are a bit moody today. It is a good thing that Thursday is the day we don't have things scheduled. I tried letting Liam go to sleep by himself, but he was staying up late so last night I had both boys lay down with and listen to stories on the computer and Liam fell asleep in my arms.
When we have these problems in the summer, I start looking forward to fall when it is dark early (and that is scary, since I hate winter)
Here are some recent layouts:
Credits: Fashion Memories Papers and Elements by Scrap Carli at Designs in Digital

Credits: Memories, You've Been Framed and a blog freebie cluster frame by Lindsay Jane Designs at Scrapbook-Bytes


Creidits: Earthly Pleasures - Designs in Digital May Collab Kit


I also was busy with a couple "projects" that I can't post for a day or two...stay tuned.