Tuesday, March 31, 2009

new additions to the hen house



We picked up a couple additions to the hen house this morning. They are living in our spare room in a dishwasher box under a heat lamp right now. They will live inside until it warms up and they are big enough to live with the big girls.
The black chick is a Dominique. She will be black and white when she gets older. I cannot remember the breed name for the black and white chick, but she will have a ball of feathers on her head.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Viewing the cherry blossoms

When I lived in Japan, cherry blossom season was always a great time. It meant that winter was finally over and the beauty of all the trees was amazing. The cherry trees are in full bloom in Portland right now. I took the boys to Westmoreland Park to take some pictures and let them play.







Sunday, March 29, 2009

dogs and rain



We went of to our friend's house yesturday to plant seeds. My friends have dogs and they boys love to play with them. Christian wants a little dog. We have told him he can have one when he grows up.

It has been a rainy weekend and took this photo of the rain in a bucket on the back patio.

This is a recent layout.
Credits: Essential Spring & Simple Masks by Lindsay Jane Designs

Friday, March 27, 2009

Creme Brulee




We went to Pix , a local desert place, this afternoon and shared a creme brulee. They had a little torch so they could carmelize the sugar out front and the kids could watch. With all our eggs, I could probably make some at home for the family sometime.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Easter Photo Shoot



We just finished our annual Easter photo shoot. I like to put the boys in matching clothes and pose them in the backyard with the chickens. Liam does not like to change his clothes so it is always a challenge to get him to change. This year David "accidently" spilled water on him, then he demanded new clothes and I was able to rush in with a fresh set of dry clothes.
I set up a stool by the back of the house. If you look closely, you can see where Liam "painted" the back of the house with dirt a couple of weeks ago. We had the boys sit down and let the chickens out of the hen house. We used Cheerios to lure them over to the boys. We first wanted Christian to hold a chicken, but the chicken spooked and upset Christian. That is why he is not smiling in the photos. I took several photos. The chickens are back in their hen house and Liam is covered in mud now.




I used Tea Party Scene Builder Kit by Alana McCarthy and I also made a quick page which is available on Alana's CT Blog

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Swim Lessons






I took pictures at swim lessons today. I was able to get better photos of Christian since his class was next to a large window and had better light. Liam is also hard to photo in less than perfect light since he is always moving.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Wood Chips and a spring outing


I am posting late tonight. I took the boys out to feed the ducks this afternoon and I got a call telling me the wood chips I requested from a brach trimming crew when I was riding my bike last week were getting delivered today. They just dump them in the driveway and we prefer to park our van in the garage. So when we got home I had to start shoveling. I was able to move about half the pile off the driveway and get the van in the driveway. David can finish it off tommorow. Needless to say, I am tired and a bit sore after an an hour and an half of using a shovel. I also did some lap swimming, so I bet I will feel it all in the morning. I think I will do a gentle jog (or perhaps walk) to the community center in the morning for a high-impact hot tub work out.
Here are a few pictures I took when we were feeding the ducks.


Monday, March 23, 2009

spring break classes


We signed the boys up for free swimming lessons and ballet lessons this week. Liam said he wanted to take ballet and we taked Christian into taking the the class. We we got there, Christian was ready to go and Liam was not willing to cooperate.

They learned first and second postion, a few moves and basic jumps. Christian and I practiced at home. Liam was still unwilling to participate. Hopefully he will come around and try the class.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bed head and cardboard rockets


Liam slept late this morning. Christian took this photo of us after he woke up. It is a good example of classic bed head for both of us.

Some friend from church gave us some empty cardboard boxes yesturday. One of the boxes is in the back room waiting for our baby chicks we plan to get in a couple of weeks. We made a rocket out of the larger box. Christian decided he wanted the Saturn 5 rocket.
I have been scanning in pre-digital photos and I did a couple layouts with some of the work.
This is from a photo shoot we did with Liam

Credits: Tracey & Saxon's Duckys & Bunnys & Eggs, Oh My!
This photo was taken of David and I when we were dating.

Credits: Essense of Cream by Lindsay Jane Design. Template by Chrissy W.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Busy Saturday


We have had a couple busy days. Christian took his test in Tae Kwon Do this morning and earned his orange belt. He is very excited. I had him do some of his test moves in our front yard so I could get pictures in good light.
While we were at Tae Kwon Do, David dug out some Ikea shelves we had bought two years ago to use for garage storage and put them togehter. When I got home, we worked on cleaning out the garage to make room for them. We cleaned out about half the garage, and we will try to get to the other half next week.

I am trying to teach myself to knit. It is going slowly. I have been thinking about it for a while, then I found a pair of knitting needles in David's Grandmother's sewing box that his mother gave me. I have some rolls of yarn that I bought at Goodwill that I bought for the boys to do art projects. The mauve is not my favorite color, but it is a good practice yarn. If I make a scarf with it, it might be the next hot color. I usually loose scarves, so it really doesn't matter what color it is.

I took this picture of Christian when we were playing at the park before his class on Thursday.
Here are two layouts...

Template: Two of a Kind Template Set by Hillary Heidelberg, Photo Mask: Pretty Gritty Photo Overlays by Hillary Heidelberg, Doodle Border - Page Borders by Lindsay Jane designs, Kit Impressions of Heritage - Scrapbookgraphics Collab kit

Template: Flying Solo Template C by Hillary Heidelberg. Kit - For the Boys, Elemental Scraps Janunary Mega Kit

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

so I missed a day


I was not feeling very well yesturday, so I did not spend much time on the computer and did not feel like blogging. Our daffodils are finally in bloom.
It is nice to have that burst of color.

This is the photo I took yesturday of the boys reading.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Day 75 - Chicken Salad Roll Ups


I have taken photos and blogged for 75 days in a row now. I have to admit, I was not brimming with motiviation today. I had ballet this morning and since I am still a bit tired from yesturday's run, I am feeling a bit sluggish. I decided to take a picture of my lunch. I take my chicken salad, which is made with a roasted chicken, onions, celery, lemon peel, lemon juice, tomato chutney, greek yogurt and almonds and roll it up in a tortilla. I love the play between the spicy chutney and the cool yogurt and chicken then the added zing of the salt from the almonds brings perfection.
Here is a layout I did yesturday...

Credits: Masquarade Ball Template Set #3 by Hillary Heidelberg, A Nature Walk by Mandy Mystiques.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Day 74 - 5K race and twister


I ran the 5k Shamrock Run in Downtown Portland this morning. I rode my bike down, which is 5 miles each way and it was raining AND windy. I rode through a mud puddle so my socks were wet before I even started running. I did not work up much of a sweat since I was soaked to the bone. There were 20,000 people participating in the race. I don't know if that is combined events or just the 5k. They said they had record turn out for the 5k even with the rain and high winds.
One of the perks of this race is the cup of beer and bowl of soup after the race. I tend to be a dark beer girl, but I grabbed light beer and started drinking when I saw the dark beer. I was tired and thirsty, so any beer was good.




I bought Twister at the neighborhood good will a couple weeks ago and the boys were enjoying for a bit as a nice rainy day activity. With two boys things did get out of control and David is putting it away.

Here is the carrot cake we baked last night. It has cream cheese frosting. My favorite. Christian likes the frosting so much he licked the frosting off the cake and left the cake. I have a bit a frosting left over so I think I will serve it on graham crackers as a treat this week.