Trick or Treat

The boys and I went Trick or Treating tonight. I was exhausted because I opened today. I dressed like Sarah Palin for work this morning. My feet were sore from heels, so I decided to take the boys out in a more Alaska - out doorsy theme and put on a flannel shirt. Walking around in Portland, Oregon with my hair up, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt just does not stand out as unusual.

I did a couple of hybrid projects this week. The boys and I made treat bags using Starbucks handle bags.

Credits: October Magic by Lindsay Jane Designs
This is a Blessings Box. Christian is writing down something he is thankful for everyday and Liam is telling us something and we write it down. We will read them all on Thanksgiving. So far they are thankful for God, the number 100,000 and free samples at Trader Joes. I might take these and make a layout with them.

Credits: Stuffed by Shawna Clingerman, Libby Weifenbach & Melissa Bennett
Here are two layouts I did.

Credits: Template from Lindsay Jane's Blog. Kit: Golden Falls by Lindsay Jane Designs

Credits: Fall Out, Corn Maize, Thanksgiving Brushes by Melissa Bennett, Frame by Penny Springman
I have owned a jogging stroller since Christian was a baby and today, for the first time, I used it as a jogging stroller. Christian rode his bike and I jogged while pushing Liam in the stroller. He only weighs 31 lbs. He is lighter then many one year olds. I need to work on getting a good posture while running with the stoller.

An evening hay ride

On Monday night, the boys and I went to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvies Island for a family night our church was hosting out there. They boys always have fun at pumpkin patches and outdoor activities, so of course they enjoyed it.
Like I said in my last post, we have enjoyed a beautiful, fantistic fall. The sky was blue and clear when we arrived and then we so a great sunset and the stars more visible out there when it got dark. (I forgot to bring a astronomy chart so we could identify the stars)
Here are some photos from the night.




On a personal note, I finally got my eyebrows waxed yesturday and I love them. The picture of me was taken before the wax, but my new bangs are visible. I think the nice bangs and waxed eyebrows transform me from the tired mom look to a bit more polished look.

Pain re-visited

I missed a ballet class a couple of weeks ago when Liam was sick and I had him in bed with me all night. The term ends this Saturday, so I had to make the class up before that. I did my class on Saturday. I had a new teacher for the first time. She is a big fan of repitition and jumping. My legs hurt so much. I was in so much pain all day yesturday. I had my regular class this morning and I thought about rubbing some Ben Gay on before class since I was still so sore. We told our teacher about the things the other teacher has us do and I think she did not want to be seen as a slacker. She had a do a lot of repitition as well. I don't expect to be able to walk tommorow. I have an eyebrow waxing appointment in the early afternoon and I am riding my bike down. I hope that helps put my muscles where they belong. The ride home is nasty, it has a long hill.
For people living outside Portland - We have enjoyed a dry, warm fall this year. The leaves so vibrant and beautiful. Running, biking and going on outings with the boys is so fun with all the wonderful colors. I have missed out on so much by not running and biking in years past. I am getting to know new parts of my neighborhood and seeing great gardens. It is great.
Here is a layout I did with a photo of Christian from the pumpkin patch. I love all the Cosmos in the background. The cosmos remind me of autumn in Japan. They like to plant them everywhere and it adds that last splash of color before we head to winter.

Credits: Golden Falls by Lindsay Jane Designs

My long neglected blog - I return to visit

My blog has been neglected for almost two weeks. We have been very busy and we were on vacation for several days.
We went down to Bandon for Liam's 4th Birthday.
The boys had fun playing on the beach while we were down there. The weather was beautiful.

We went down to the docks to go crabbing. I bought the boys Spiderman fishing poles so they would have something to do. Liam did not get into it very much. Christian spent a lot of time working on his casting. David put a lure on his hook, but we did not have bait, but he still caught a small fish. We only caught two crabs over two days, but on the first day a boat came up to us when they were returning to shore. The drive asked Christian if he caught a lot of crab today. Christian told him we had one. The man asked to see it, so Christian showed him our bucket. The man then opened up his cooler and added about seven crabs to our bucket. We enjoyed crab cakes and crab salad for dinner that night. We had crab cakes for breakfast the next morning too. Not bad for camping food.


We celebrated Liam's birthday at the campsite. I picked up some mini-cupcakes at the store in town. David and the boys played at the playground while I set things up for Liam and there was a little girl playing with them. I invited her over to join us for cupcakes.

We went back out to crab the next day. It was much more windy, so we did not stay as long.

I have taken photos of the boys on this bench on several visits, so we have a bit of record of them growing up.

The boys and I went to a pumpkin patch that has a train yesturday. We picked up a couple pumpkins that are good for carving and came home and carved them last night.






Here are some layouts I did this week

Corn Maize by Melissa Bennett

This layout was made with the Grand Opening Grab Bag by Angie Kovacs & Chrissy W

Kit: Play Date by Sweet Digiscraps - Template by Angie Kovacs

Kit: Woodland Nuts by Tracey Monette

scary night

I was watching Brothers and Sisters last night and I kept hearing Liam coughing in his room. I was listening carefully to make sure it was not athsma or croup. He had a big coughing fit and then Christian started yelling. I ran in and Liam had vommited his dinner all over the bed. He had even slept in it for a while. He got some on Christian's blanket, which started the screaming.
We moved Christian to our bed. David took are of the sheets and I took Liam into the bathtub. We got Christian back to his room by telling him that if he stayed with Liam, he might get sick too. I "slept" with Liam last night. I put sleep in air quotes because it is hard to sleep with his feet in my back. He likes to be attached to another person in his sleep. He usually sleeps with Christian. David was feeling queasy yesturday and last night, I thought I might need to take my turn at the toilet after Liam.
We are going camping on Thursday and we want everyone healthy. I am skipping ballet today to rest since we don't want to be sick in a yurt.
Here is a layout I did yesturday.

Credits: Kit: Rawr by Melissa Bennett, Template by Mushy

Nasty Bruises & Tetnus shots

I know my title looks like it links bruises and Tetnus shots, but the are really seperate issues.
Yesturday in ballet we were doing the Adagio and the teacher wanted us to drop down on one knee. We did the dance several times. I remember feeling a bit of pain around my knee, but it was not enough to make me stop and think about it. I finished class and rode by bike home and when I got home, I was changing my clothes I noticed a nasty bruise on the side of my knee. It doesn't hurt much, but I am glad that it is too cold for shorts because it looks nasty.
I went to the doctor for the dizziness and she said it is vertigo and it is an inner-ear thing that should clear itself up, but if it doesn't there is this procedure where they tilt my head around to the little rock like things in the inner-ear where they belong. They told me I was due for my tetnus shot when I had to get the IV anti-biotics in August. Since I still had the line in and my finger was in nasty shape, I did not want to do anything else to my body. I also felt my immune system had enough work to do.
I told them I would go on ahead and get the booster today and they gave me the paper work to review and it says very clearly that you are not to get the booster if you have a bad cold or infection. I saw a resident on that previous visit not my doctor and when I told her why I did not want the shot in August, she said I made a good call on it. It has been 12 hours and I have almost no pain in the arm. Maybe I will not have the problems this time I had in the past.
Since we are on a health theme...Liam has a cold this week. I am glad he will let me give him honey for the cough this year. Last year he would not take the honey.
Christian is nice and healthy. He has too much energy. I pointed out to him today that if he was in a class room in a school, he would not be allowed to jump around and run off every few minutes like he does at home. He is still learning with all the squirming and fidgeting, so I guess that is all that counts.

Apple picking

The boys and I drove to Hood River on Monday for our annual apple picking exursion. The rain held off until we got home. This was one of our first big outings since Liam's potting training. On the highway going to and from Hood River Liam told me he had to go potty and we were quite a ways from an exit both times. When we finally got to a bathroom it was just drops both times. He told me had to go the the bathroom again while we were out in the orchard and I asked Christian to pull the wagon back while I took Liam to the bathroom. Christian accidently tipped the wagon over while turning it. We had to run back and clean up the apples while hoping Liam would not pee his pants. Again, when we got to the bathroom, it was just a few drops.
We are driving to the South Oregon Coast next week I hope Liam does not wait until we are on the sharp cliffs overlooking the ocean when he has to go and there is no place to pull over.
Here is a layout from our outing.

Credits: Everything by Lindsay Jane Designs
Kit: AutumnPaper: Autumn on the Cards
Frames: Frame Clusters 3
Tree, Tag & Staple: Breath of Spring

We went out to a farm and picked tomatos last Thursday. I have now stewed tomatos (actually, oven baked) and a tomato, orange soup and froze them. Our freezer is bursting and we still have to go pick apples today.
I have been dizzy a lot lately. I need to call my doctor and get a blood test, but I was reviewing what we have been eating lately are realized that we have been pretty vegetarian lately. If the doctor checks my Cholesteral, it should look fantastic, but I am afraid my iron might be a bit low. We have caste iron pans, so I am trying to use them more often and I beef stewed in tomatos in the crock pot yesturday. I also have some pork defrosting to make pulled pork (it's a weight watcher's recipe, so it doesn't have the giant chunks of fat you find in the South).
We went to the farm on the last day before the rain began, so it was mud free. We even got to see our old rooster, who now lives at that farm. He has grown into a beautiful bird. The boys also picked out some pumpkins. We bought four pumkins for $3.00. What a deal.
There is another pumpkin patch that has a train in the area, so I think there will be another trip on the schedule. The pumpkins they picked out on Thursday and good for cooking. We need to get a couple carving pumkpkins for the boys.
Christian started Tae Kwon Do on Saturday. He took it a couple of years ago and we took a year off because it was difficult finding something to do with Liam during class. Christian also has a soccer class beginning tommorow. They have a homeschool indoor park during the same time.
Here are some layouts....This layout has a photo taken on front of the pumpkin patch at the farm

Credits: Tricker's Treat - The Elemental Scraps October Mega Kit. I used a template by Chrissy W. that is in the kit as well.
I used photos from our camping trip in August.

Credits: Old Weathered Frames, Tracey's Boo to You, Mini Glitz Alpha and Tracey's Back to School - Everything by Tracey Monette at Scrapbook-Elements
This is an older photo of Christian that I recently scanned. It was taken about three years ago.

Credits: Spooksville by Melissa Bennett & Amanda Dykan
This layout has pictures taken while picking tomatos

Credits: Autumn Grunge Paper, Starstruck & Oh My Mats

We signed up for our annual pass at the community center. This allows the family to have unlimited visits to the pool and gym. I think we also get basketball and rollerskating with it. I signed Christian up for Tae Kwon Do and Soccer. He loves both and it is hard to make a decision. Since we are home schooling and he would like to get out of the house, I figured both would be okay. It only comes up to one hour and 45 minutes a week. There is a homeschool indoor park at the same time as the soccer class so Liam can go to that or the pool is open at that time. David is also available to stay with one of the kids during both classes so we can divide and conquer.
We went swimming this afternoon. A fire alarm went off and they thought we might have to evacuate. I was telling David we should try to grab our towels if it happened, but after the alarm stopped I saw that one of the lifeguards had space blankets, so like they always say, we should not worry about our things and just get out. I asked the life guard what they do if they have us leave the pool and go outside. They pass out the space blankets and a Tri-Met bus is supposed to come by soon and all the swimmers will board it until they know what is happening. The alarm goes to the fire department automatically, so they showed up with all the lights and sirens on. We knew it was a false alarm by then.
I took time to weigh in while I was there. I have lost nine pounds. This is averaging about two pounds a week, which is what is suggested and I don't have to worry about my Doctor getting upset about my loosing too much. Since I have been running and biking, I am adding a lot of muscle, so that nine pounds is serious weight off. I figured out that it is the equivilant to one Starbucks 12 cup coffee traveler which weighs seven pounds and eight sticks of butter. I know that those coffee travelers can get heavy fast so when I think of going on a run carrying one of them, the thought makes me tired. My body must be happy to have a bit less weight to lug around.
I am a guest CT for Melissa Bennett in October and I am so excited. I just love her designs. I did my first layout for her tonight.

Credits: Kit Rough 'N Tough Collab with Micheline Martin, Mats: Oh My Mat and SewWhat Stitching. The Template is Dani Mogstad's Girl Talk October Template