Life in the hen house

1/1/11

2011-01-01T18:58:00.001-08:00

Lost Teeth

2010-03-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

Liam lost two teeth this weekend. They were his first. I wanted to get some photos of the missing teeth, but like most things it involved much drama.

spring comes early to the low-lands

2010-02-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

I know that this winter has been provided most of the country with some nasty weather. California has practically washed into the Pacific. The mid-west, east coast even the south have had freezing temps and snow. While El Nino is brutal for most of the country, we here in the Pacific Northwest get the good side. We get a short winter and long spring, which is why so many flowers are already in full bloom. I don't think we saw many of these flowers until mid to late March last year.

this week in rabbit

2010-01-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have been absent from this blog for a while. David is now on day shift. This is a great change for the family, but now that he is gone all day, all of the house, homeschool and parenting reponsiblities fall on me. (I am aware that this is the set-up most stay at home moms have, I am just not used to it). I am busy during the day, then after a day of being busy, I am often very tired in the evening.
Recent News from our house:
baby bunnies growing and just too cute.
the ducks laid their first eggs today. (just in time to bake my mom's birthday cake on Saturday)
The boys watched Galileo catch a mouse in the backyard today
I am baking all of our bread instead of buying. Good bread, but tired mommy.
Lots of knitting projects in process
I am hoping to join a quilt along. This week I just have to pick out and wash fabric. Pretty easy to start with.
We are learning a lot about Greek Mythology. This is a very boy friendly topic. We are also choosing a character from Greek Mythology to draw during art time. Today Christian drew a Gorgon.

2010-01-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here is my first week in review layout. I used a kit from The Digi Files Eleven availabe at The Daily Digi.

Galileo poses for a few photos

2010-01-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

He likes the balls of Kool Aid dyed yarn. They were removed from him soon after the photo was taken.

We sent him to the bedroom today because he was playing a bit too rough with the bunnies. He always cries for about 2 minutes then takes a nap.

introducing....

2010-01-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

our baby bunnies at 7 days old. Five bunnies survived.

This is their mama, Sarah.

two more things I love....

2010-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of resources we have been using a lot lately that I just love. The first was recently discovered - Pandora Radio. I had seen people mentioning it on Facebook and decided to check it out before Christmas. It was perfect for the holidays. They have several Holiday stations so we can enjoy Christmas music during the season and then we don't have to store cd's or take up space on the iPod the rest of the year. I enjoyed the swinging holiday station the most. It had many of the Christmas songs my dad would play when I was growing up. I hated that music for many years, but now it so much fun to hear. Currently we like the Children's Rock station. Yesterday we heard Alvin and the Chipmunks perform the Time Warp. The kids love to listen and dance.
The other thing I love is Overdrive Media from the library. We go to the library website and find available audiobooks and videos. There is a link that takes us to a central site the the entire state uses and choose the titles we want. There is a seperate program to download, then we get free audiobooks for a week. The boys love this. They get up in the morning, turn the computer on and listen to stories until I am ready to start homeschooling. Christian is listening to a Magic Tree House story right now.

I love coupons

2010-01-04T20:47:00.001-08:00

I have been following the blog Frugal Living NW since last spring. The blog posts promotions, sales, free events and shows how you can use store sales and coupons to get great deals. My friend Cheri is also a skilled coupon user and has shared some of the deals she gets.
I decided to give coupon clipping a shot. I have been following the store adds, cutting coupons and going shopping for a few weeks. I have been getting good deals, but nothing huge.
Today, I finally broke through the glass ceiling of coupon cutting. I found some double coupons for Albertsons that double for up to a dollar. I combined these with coupons and bought...
3 dannon yogurt = total .40 cents
3 for a dollar + a .60 3 coupon
3 Luna Bars = total 2.00 (the most expensive thing)
10 for 10 dollars and I had a buy two get one free coupon
Act Cavity Rinse 2.24
$1.00 coupon = $1.00 double coupon = .24 cents
2 Aquafresh Coupons on clearance for $1.59
$1.00 coupon =.59 cents
Crest Toothpaste on sale for $1.89
$1.00 coupon + $1.00 double coupon = free
Total money saved coupons + sales $13.97

creative movement class

2010-01-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas break is over and today the boys in welcomed the New Year with dance classes. I had ballet this morning. Liam took creative dance in the early afternoon and Christian had a hip hop class in the late afternoon.
David starts day shift with Sunday/Monday off starting next week, so I will move my class to Tuesday nights and I will be able to take each child to his class alone.
I will get pictures of Christian's class later. I will be in my first dance performance in late March. My goal, other then dancing well and not getting humilated in front of an audience is to bring my camera to a couple rehersals and get some dance photos.
Stay tuned for more dance updates.

1/2/2010

2010-01-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

I heard on the radio today's date is a perfect paladrome. This was discovered by someone who thinks playing with numbers is "fun". I am not one of those people.
Today has not been a fun day. I need a carder to prepare my wool to spin. I decided to drive out to Newberg (two counties away) to buy one. I checked the website and they said they were open 9-4 on Saturday's. I dropped David and the boys at OMSI and drove out. The drive was fine. When I get there, the shop is closed. I assume that since it is a holiday weekend and a small business, they took the weekend off. Lesson learned: when traveling 2 counties away to go to a shop, make a quick call to shop to confirm they are opened no matter what the web site says. I drove back to OMSI and by this time it was packed. I was about to drive over to over flow parking when I saw three empty spots next to each other. I chose the middle spot for ease of parking. When I went in it was super crowded. We stayed a bit more then chose to leave. When we got to the parking lot two cars had parked on both sides of me. One car backed in. I drive a mini-van and it is not easy to get out of small spots. David and I both tried to get the van out without crashing in to other cars. David finally saw that a woman was sitting in a car behind us and one over. I went over and asked if she would mind pulling out so we could get our van out without crashing into other cars. She was gracious and pulled out. With David directing from outside, I got the van out.
When we got home, David tried to turn on the portable DVD player that we just spent 17.50 for a new ac cord on, and the screen is on the fritz. It would be so bad if this problem came up the same time as the ac cord broke and we did not spend extra money on it.
This all brings me to my photo of the day. A margarita. Don't worry the thing that is making it big enough to fill a big glass is ice. No need to call 9-1-1 about alcohol poisening. making this was even frustrating since we are not using our ice much and it was partially evoporated.
I now raise my glass and toast to a quiet evening and a better day tommorow.

little abraham and project 365

2010-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

A fluffy new addition came to our home before Christmas, Little Abraham. He is to join our other new rabbit, Sarah to breed meat rabbits for us in the new year. Sarah was given to us by Christian's 4-H leader. She came to us pregnant and delivered 9 babies last night. They were all alive at birth and we will have to wait a week or two to see if they make it. This is her first litter and the mortality rate is high for first litters. She carried the babies to term and delivered them alive and those are both good signs for future pregnancies. Little Abraham should be old enough to mate about a week or two after Sarah would be done nursing her babies. If her babies live I hope to sell them to cover the cost of cages. After that we will sell a couple of babies from each litter to cover overhead costs and the rest will go to the butcher.
Sarah is a New Zealand, Abraham is a New Zealand California mix. They are both sweet, friendly bunnies.
I am in the process of arranging a couple dates for Phina so she too can have babies in the spring. I will use studs until we can find a male angora.
On a different note, I am going to try project 365, where you take a photo a day again this year. I did great last year unil summer then I lost steam. This is surpising since summer has such great photo opps and I got a new camera.

2009-12-29T16:51:00.001-08:00

This morning I was listening to the weather forcast and they said it would rain this afternoon. It has been cold and windy for the last several days and I thought that it would have to warm up quite a bit this morning to get rain. I also saw frozen water on the sides of roads.
We reserved a three day pass to the Children's Museum and it came in today. I picked it up and we headed up there for some fun. The Children's museum is at one of the higher points in the city. They boys wanted a snack and we walked out to the lobby, we were surpised to see snow coming down. At the same moment, David called me to tell me it was snowing at home.
We did not stay at the museum much longer since it was at a high elevation and the Sunset Highway, that we use to get home often has problems in the snow. The roads were clear until we got back on our street.
When we got home, we all put on proper snow clothes and went outside. It is getting dark now and the snow is coming down hard. It is also accumulating. The magic question is...will it still be here in the morning.

a new tradition

2009-12-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

After we decorated the tree, the boys ran to the back room where they keep their art supplies and got busy making presents. Christian made one for Santa. It has two parts. I am not sure what one part is, but he did tell me he wrapped up his map of the world to give to Santa, so Santa would know how to get back to the North Pole. I bet that will earn him a check-mark on the "Nice" list.

Another Christmas Tradition

2009-12-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Baking Sugar Cookies

Traditions

2009-12-20T12:42:00.001-08:00

I bought this little Nativity Scene at The Dollar Tree several years ago. In our family, we don't wrap and place presents under the tree until Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed. We do this for two reasons. The first is practical. Little hands can really shake up or even open presents before Christmas morning and it removes the tempation by not even having the presents there. The other reason is that Jesus and his gift of salvation is the tree purpose of Christmas, so we keep the little Nativity Scene under the tree to remember this.

Christian's big week

2009-12-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

Christian had a big weekend last week. He celebrated his 7th birthday with a couple of friends on Friday, a Tae Kwon Do tournement on Saturday and a swim meet on Sunday.

All I want for Christmas...

2009-12-07T12:42:00.001-08:00

is my two front teeth.
The second front tooth came out this morning.

the pets

2009-12-03T17:50:00.001-08:00

Our new rabbit, Phina is quite a delight to have around the house. She is happiest when she is free and hoping around the entire house. I am not sure where she is right now. I think she is back in our bedroom with the boys. She is very easy going, quite fond of food (have to be careful and watch that), and very affectionate. She likes to be held and is very good about grooming which is important for an angora rabbit. Henrietta was very put out by her introduction into the house at first. I put their cages together, like a rabbit book suggested. The other night, Henrietta was make lots of noise as she re-arranged her cage so she could sit next to Phina's cage. Henrietta is still a bit unsure about spending time with Phina outside the cage. I am hearing a lot of grunting. In this photo Henrietta just jumped over Phina when she wanted to get to a different part of the area rug.

Galelio enjoys having a more engaging bunny around. We still have to watch him since he can play a bit rough. Phina keeps approaching him, so it must not bother her too much. All this playing with bunnies wears the kitten out.

A visit with Santa

2009-12-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

We went to the downtown Macys (formerly Meier and Frank) yesterday to visit Santa. My mother took me to the downtown Meier and Frank to see Santa when I was a child and David and I worked at the store at different times when we were younger. I don't like to shop there, but it is fun to go to Santaland.
Liam was eager to visit Santa. He gave quite the list of things he wanted to Santa. Among the requests were a remote control airplane and a ham. I always dream of getting a Honey-Baked ham for Christmas, I guess we share the same desire. At one point the photographer asked Liam to show her his teeth. He opened his mouth and pointed to his teeth.

Christian is not terribly fond of Santa. He did agree to step in for a couple of photos and show off his newly lost tooth.

Christmas Cards and Kits

2009-11-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have had the pleasure of working with some fantastic Christmas Designs lately...

Templates: Holiday Card Bonanza - Shutterfly Ready by Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics. Today only $1.00

Kit: Christmas Trimmings by Lindsay Jane Designs at pickleberrypop

Kits: One Magic Night by Flergs and Alana McCarthy at scrapbookgraphics

another turkey

2009-11-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

There is another turkey in our house. This one is a little less work to take care of and instead of becoming our Thanksgiving dinner, it will get baked down to go into breads, muffins and pies.
We went to Limbo (a neighborhood produce shop) on Friday. I love Limbo for two things. Their bulk spice and tea section. I think I can safely say it is the best in Portland. Marketspice in Seattle can compete, but Limbo is only a mile away. The other thing I love is their dollar table. They gather up bruised or flawed fruit and veggies package it up and sell it in big bags for a dollar. This giant squash was only one dollar. So for Dollar Tree prices we get a table decoration and several meals. Can't beat that. I just remembered a third thing I love about Limbo. Almost everything is organic and many of their products are local.

a new bunny

2009-11-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

We got another bunny today! An angora. You can read the story of how we got her and why on my other blog Simple Gifts.
She is a sweet rabbit, which is important, since we will have to groom her often.

a field trip

2009-11-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

We went on another field trip yesterday. This time to Zenger Farms, which is about two miles east of us. It is a community farm in the city. They have an egg co-op, honey bees and several gardens. They even raised turkeys this year. There were only three left.
The theme of the field trip was wetlands ecology. The weather was very cooperative with the wetland theme. The kids explored the water and learned about animals that live in wetlands. The rain was forgotten when we got down there and they got the nets, and viewing tools.
We ate lunch then helped with tasks around the farm. Liam really enjoyed seperating garlic. He wanted to peel it and eat it and they had to explain that they were going to plant the garlic in the sping. We also got to remove the kernals from indian corn to use for popcorn. We bought some of the pop corn to pop and use at home.

layouts

2009-11-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

I have some new layouts completed.
Credits
Templates for the first two: Parenthically Speaking by Hillary Heidelberg
Kit for Autumn Afternoon: Mystique by Lindsay Jane Designs
Kit for Winter: Winter Wonderland - a collab by Oscraps
Noel: One Magic Night by Flergs and Alana McCarthy

train trip to seattle

2009-11-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

We joined a homeschool group for a day trip on Amtrack. We left from the Vancouver, Washington station instead of the Portland station. I like this for two reasons. 1. There is free and abundant parking in Vancouver and because we were only traveling in one state, it cost less.
This was the first time I had been on Amtrack in 27 years and it was the boys first trip. They enjoyed the train ride, the scenery and Liam enjoyed re-enacting the movie Polar Express on the ride home. I am thankful that so many people had bus tickets to give him when he went around asking for tickets. Next time we do the trip, I will bring some 4x6 note cards and a hole punch for him to play with. I might need to also bring a shoe box, so he doesn't leave little pieces of paper all over the train.
While in Seattle, we went to the Pike Street Market. There was a large fish that they tug on to make it look alive. It freaked Liam out. He was not happy until we left. We also visited Market Spice to buy some tea and spices. I am drinking the Market Spice Rooibos Chai right now.
After the market and lunch we walked to the Pacific Science Center. The highlight was the butterfly gardens.

We walked back to the train station. I learned that it is a very long walk, especially in a Seattle Downpour and that the neighborhood close to the station gets quite interesting as it gets dark. I think we will utilize the bus system next time.
a quick note...I finished my the socks I have been knitting. Stop by my other blog Simple Gifts to see them! Wool socks and hiking boots are great for a long walk on a rainy day in Seattle.

New Chair -kind of

2009-11-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

We picked up a chair at Value Village the other day. I wanted a comfortable chair to knit and read in, since the couch seems to always me a bus, car or rocket and is not always available for its traditional purpose. Luna is quite fond of the new chair and has taken over.

They boys tried to squeeze in and share the chair with her, but she was not too happy.

I would like to sit down and knit now, I wonder if Luna will allow it.

New Blog

2009-11-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my new blog, Simple Gifts today. I will be using this blog for photography, family updates and scrapbooking. My new blog is about my attempts at empbracing the DIY lifestyle. Stop by and visit.

2009-11-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Credits: Kit - Mystique by Lindsay Jane Designs

images of halloween

2009-10-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

A couple halloween layouts

2009-10-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

Credits: October Magic Add-On by Lindsay Jane Designs

Credits: Halloween by Alana McCarthy

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

from Wolverine and Skippy Jon Jones!

2009-10-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. We had to get out between rain storms and my GPS and I had a major falling out when it tried to take me back to Portland and have me drive back out the way it wanted me to. We found a nice little produce stand and pumpkin patch. The prices were great. They had a fun selection of pumpkins too.
Credits: Halloween by Alana McCarthy

2009-10-23T10:43:00.001-07:00

I read a post over at the Daily Digi a while back that discussed getting lots of photos scrapped. They suggested finding a pack of multi-photo templates and a couple of good kits. Open up all of the templates, add the photos and then use the kits to go from there.
Hillary Heidelberg's Square Pegs Template Set #1 was the perfect starting place to get some of our vacation photos scrapped.
I also used Mid-Summer Night's Dream by MGL Scraps, Fade On White Alpha by Diana Rigdon and some elements from Falling Softly by Dani Mogstad.
Hillary also a snowflake template and rub-on set that I used to embellish the snow pages.

Turkey's last day

2009-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Christian and I drove the turkey out to the butcher this morning. He weighed in at 8 pounds. We are not the kind of family that likes left over turkey for weeksa after Thanksgiving, so he was just the right size. We will also be able to cook him up pretty quickly. There were several other turkeys waiting to get butchered and they were HUGE. I don't even know if one of those would fit in my oven.
I really wanted to get a picture of the turkey when he was all puffed up, but he did not want to cooperate and the ducks were trying to beat him up when I took this photo.

Vacation and family photos

2009-10-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

The blog has been quiet for a while. We went on our vacation to Yellowstone and Montana. I did get to use my tripod and get some family photos. Now I just have to choose one for a Christmas card. I took many other photos. I will show them as I complete layouts.

An autumn walk

2009-10-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Liam and I took a walk this morning. We walked a few blocks away to a house with a large chestnut trees and collected chestnuts. Liam enjoys stomping on the pods to get the nuts out. I remember eating some yummy foods with chestnuts in Japan. I want to look up the recipes and try to re-create them.
Liam also found an apple that had dropped off a tree and snacked on it on the way home.

2009-09-26T09:08:00.001-07:00

Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics has a new template set, Inspired by...Mondrian. These are they layouts I did with the template.
Other Credits...
Kit: Awaiting Autumn: Julia Makoktinsky'
Background Paper, Swirl, Alphaand Glitter: School Stuff by Pamela Donnis
Paper: Solidly Embossed by Sara Marie
Ribbons: Ribbons Galore by Heather Roselli
Buttons: Button Chippes by Fee Jardine

A photoshoot with Boofy

2009-09-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just bought a tripod and remote control for my new camera. The main reason I wanted these items was so I could get good family photos, which are few and far between. We are going to Yellowstone in a couple of weeks and my main goal is to leave with at least one family photo that will work on a Christmas Card.
I took the new toys out today and played with them. I grabbed Boofy from the henhoue to pose with me. She took it all quite well.

Close encounter with a predator

2009-09-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

I bet everyone thought that we got ourselves a new pet after looking at the first few photos. We actually went to the zoo to see the new Predators of the Serengeti exhibit. Christian and I tried to go on the opening day, but it was so crowded we could barely move and the animals did not seem to be very happy either. They were hiding.
The crowds were small today, both kids were in a good mood and cooperative and the animals wanted to show off too.

New sprinkler system

2009-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Not only are our ducks organic pest control and yard fertilizing units, they are also a sprinkler system.
Today is the first day of autumn, but the temp is in the 90's. I filled the wading pool and the ducks were thrilled. They stayed in for about 30 minutes.

2009-09-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

I took some updated pictures of the turkey yesturday. It looks the turkey is a tom. He will not be with us long enough to meet his full manhood. He is very sweet and easy going. He does not like to be picked up. He is a good eater. We bought a chick when we picked him and she is very close to him. It will be sad for her when he goes to the butcher.
Credits: Kit - Shades of Fall by Lindsay Jane Designs at pickleberrypop, Frame - Leaf Stamp Clusters by Lindsay Jane Designs

Project complete

2009-09-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

I finished my scarf today. This was my first big knitting project. I am going to learn how to knit socks in early October, so until then, I will be working on a birthday present for Liam and a couple of other small things. Stay tuned.

a layout

2009-09-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Linday Jane Designs has moved to pickleberrypop! Here is her new kit she just released, Shades of Fall. I also used her Simple Masks.

I received an e-mail from twittermoms saying that my blog is a featured blog. If you are stopping by from the site...Welcome.

I hope to be back later today to share a finished project that I have been working on since July.

Not Back to School Camp Out

2009-09-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Yesturday we joined a group of home school families for a Not Back to School Campout. We went on a hike, spent time playing down at the river, did crafts and just ran around in fields.

Sleeping In

2009-09-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

It is 9:45 am and Liam is still asleep in our bed. I am fighting a cold and I think he might have the same thing. A quiet house is nice on a holiday morning.

Different Layout Sizes

2009-09-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics has a couple 8.5x11 template sets. I have to admit that I was not too eager to work with that size. Then I got a notification for some discounted 5x7 photobooks from Artscow. All of a sudden working with that size had more allure for me. I have now completed one layout from each set and I love them. The layouts would make wonderful wall art or look nice in a photobook. I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I am having fun working with the size.
Credits:
Template: 8.5 x 11 Resized Templates 2 by Hillary Heidelberg
Paper and Flowers: Snapping and scrapping - A collab kit from The Daily Digi
Frames: Everyday Moments by Lindsay Jane Designs
Word Art by The Glam Fairy
Splatters: Millenium Tree House Graffitti by Tangie Baxter

Resized Template Set 1

Night at the Symphony

2009-09-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last night was the annual free Oregon Symphony Concert at Waterfront Park. I used to go to these concerts when I was in High School and College. The concerts did not happen for many years because of the cost and then started back up a few years ago. This is the first time I have been able to go in 19 years.
Portland Taiko and the Portland Youth Symphony also performed. It was a fun time. Liam had a hard time during parts of the conects. Loud music freaks him out. The highlight of the concert was the finale of the 1812 Overture (which was a tradation even when I was in high school). The Oregon National Guard brings actual cannons and shoots them off into the Willamette River during the final movement. After the piece is over there is a fireworks display. Liam hated all this and had a sweatshirt over his head. During the fireworks, he was shaking and I could feel his heart pounding. This was the first time Christian has seen fireworks and he loved it.
I am letting Christian use my old camera and he took the photo yesturday.

2009-09-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

We went to the park this afternoon.
Credits:
Template - Resized 8.5x11 Template Set by Hillary Heidelberg
Frames & Staples: Art & Craft by Lindsay Jane Designs
Kit: Snapping and Scrapping - Collab kit from The Daily Digi
Splatter/Graphitti: Mill Tree by Tangie Baxter

This is a layout I did for a kit that was just released today.
Kit: Cottage Life by Alana McCarthy

Crescia al Formaggio

2009-09-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

I am working my way through the Bread Bible by Beth Hensperser. I baked this loaf today. It is cooling right now. If it tasts half as good as it smells, we should be fine.

Rock Paper Scissors

2009-08-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Christian recently learned Rock, Paper, Scissors. He is now teaching to everyone he plays with including his brother. Liam decided to take a more literal interpretation of the game and brought an actual rock, piece of paper and pair of scissors to the kitchen table to play the game.

Portland to Coast Relay

2009-08-30T17:54:00.001-07:00

Friday and Saturday I participated in the Portland to Coast Relay with a 10 person team. We are supposed to have a 12 person team, so that meant the three other people and myself got to walk three legs of the relay instead of two.
We started at 4:45 am Friday in Portland by on the East Bank of the Willamette River and ended Saturday about 9:00 am in Seaside, Oregon on the beach.
It was a lot of fun, but I was sure sore and very tired. I don't even remember falling asleep last night.

Love at first hug

2009-08-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

We went to visit a friend today who has a litter of five week old puppies. Liam fell in love. Maybe when he is older, he can have a puppy.

two boys and a bunny

2009-08-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

fun new kit

2009-08-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Jane Designs has a fantastic new kit - Art & Craft. It is a has bright colors and lots of art elements. Great for kids art photos and back to school. It also goes great with her Art 101 kit that released last fall. I have used that kit so much over the last year.
I used Hillary Heidelberg's Scallopini template for the finger painting layout.

Preparing for Winter

2009-08-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

The forcast for today and Wednesday is for weather in the 90's. Even though we are in some very hot weather, I am still preparing for winter. I am knitting myself a scarf. I am still learning how to knit, so it is kind of a scarf and sampler all in one. I am hoping to have it done in time for our trip to Montana in October.

The Flu

2009-08-16T17:32:00.001-07:00

The boys and I caught the flu. We have been down and out since early last week. The fevers seem to be gone, but we still have bad coughs and the energy levels are still low. We are resting and trying to get well before the next heat wave is due to strike mid-week.

changes in the hen house and a new header

2009-08-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

One of our younger chickens revealed his true identity as a rooster Sunday Morning. First thing on Monday, the rooster and two of our older hens who have not been laying for several weeks took a trip to the butcher. The young ladies still out there should start laying eggs in the next few weeks. With all of the staffing changes out back, I decded it was also time to update my blog header.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

2009-08-08T17:04:00.001-07:00

We are raising our Thanksgiving Turkey again this year. She is four weeks old. She will gain 10-15 pounds before her special appointment in October. Raising our own is much cheaper than buying an organic one from New Seasons and we really know that she enjoyed a good and happy life. We can also fill her with summer fruits and veggies.
She is living in the hen house. It is funny how you can toss any random bird in there, and the chickens just accept them as one of their own. There was a little pecking at first, but it is better. The turkey has a big surprise for the chickens since she will be twice as big as they are in a few weeks. The turkey will always accept the lower place on the pecking order despite her size.

Holt Campout

2009-08-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

We returned last night from five days of camping in the Oregon Dunes. It was with a large group from Holt International, which is the adoption agency we worked with when we adopted Christian. I have to say that I like camping with a group (with many kids) better than going alone as a family.
The kids had unlimited playmates. We shared several community meals, so instead of preparing full meals, I just had to do one dish. The park we were at has sand dunes and lakes. It is great for hiking, biking, swimming and many other things.

a perfect red rose

2009-07-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Preserving

2009-07-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Credits: Cooked to Perfection by Lindsay Jane Designs at scrapbook-bytes

I took the plums and blueberries we picked over the last few days and made preserves.

Gleaning

2009-07-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I was playing Scattagories with friends. The letter was "G" and one of the catagories was hobbies. I put Gleaning down as a hobby. No one else choose that word and my friend Michelle teased me and said something like "yeah, that is a hobby you see a lot of people doing these days".
I have to say that it has become my hobby. I check out the free section on Craigslist and e-mails from freecycle to see if anyone is giving fruit from their trees away. I picked cherries a couple of weeks ago and today we picked pairs. I will make jam and go through my cookbooks for other plum recipes. I have the basket full of blueberries. I wonder how a plum-blueberry pie would taste. My family would be more than willing to test it out.
If anyone has a peach or walnut tree, let me know, they are on my wish list.

Blueberry picking and a layout

2009-07-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

We went blueberry picking yesterday with David's parents who are visiting. I think the photo above says everything there is to say about taking kids berry picking.

Here is a layout I did with some other photos...

Credits: Template - Scollopini by Hillary Heidelberg, Papers - Salvaged Cardboard by Rachel Young, Elements & Alpha - Sweet Escape and Glee by Rachel Young

Family Photo

2009-07-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Summer Mini Album

2009-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Credits: Summer 09 Template Album (20 pages0 by Hillary Heidelberg
Joe Six Pack by Tracey Monette and Saxon Holt
Art 101 by Lindsay Jane Designs
Wheelies by Lindsay Jane Designs
Another Day in Paradise by Lindsay Jane Designs
Pool Party by Lindsay Jane Designs
Icing on the Cake by Lindsay Jane Designs
Summer Sweetness by Rachel Young
All Organic by Chris Wasielewski
Organic Girl by Kristin from the Digi Files
Summer Sorbet by Zoe Pearn from the Digi Files
Mid Summer's Night Dream by MGL Scraps from the Digi Files
Rhapsody by Gina Miller from the Digi Files
IO Travel add-on from the Digi Files
Pretty Picnic by Sugar Plum from the Digi Files

My new camera has arrived

2009-07-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to upgrade to a digital SLR for a long time. Today after much waiting, my camera arrived. I bought a Cannon Rebel. It is technically my 40th birthday present, but my birthday is not until early August.

Summertime Goodness

2009-07-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I continued working with all the fruit from yesturday. I made some more freezer jam, a mixed fruit pie and blueberry jam. The blueberry jam is really special since it is the first time I have made cooked jam since 2002. I dug out a canning cookbook the I bought years ago and have never used. I used a recipe from the book today. I will be using it more in the future.

Watch out berries here we come!

2009-07-08T20:36:00.001-07:00

We picked about 8 pounds of marionberries today. I think the boys also ate another 10 or 15 pounds of berries while we were picking.
Marionberries are a berry that was developed here in Oregon. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it says that it is a cross between the Chehalem and Ollalie (sure) It is named after Marion County, which is the county that our state capitol is in. I am not sure what the other one is. They are very yummy. I already have made three batches of freezer jam.

First Sunflowers

2009-07-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

When we arrived home from our camping trip we were delighted to find a couple of sunflowers in bloom.

2009-07-07T22:30:00.001-07:00

Here is a slide show from our weekend camping trip to Central Oregon.

front garden

2009-06-30T21:03:00.001-07:00

I took the boys to an all-city everyone participates track meet today, but forgot my camera. Both boys did the high jump, Christian ran the 100 and I ran the predict a mile where you predict how long your mile will take and the person with the closest actual time wins. I was very conservative on my time. It was really my walking time. I had a rough time on the run because of the heat and high pollen count. I had to walk part of the race. Even with all of those factors taken in my actual time was 1:15 faster then my estimate. We will go next week and will use this weeks time as my guess.
I took photos of my garden since I could not get pics of the track meet. Next week I will remember the camera. I told Christian he could photograph me on my race too.

layouts

2009-06-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted layouts. Here are some I have done lately...

Credits: Rainforest by Alana McCarthy at scrapbookgraphics

Kit: Another Day in Paradise by Lindsay Jane Designs

Credits: Template - Flying Solo 2 by Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics, Kits - Oceanside by Melissa Bennett, 365, For Melissa & What Dreams May Come by MGL Scraps

Credits: Kit - More Moments by Lindsay Jane Designs

Credits: Watermasks by Hillary Heidelberg.

herbal infusions and artwork

2009-06-24T14:21:00.001-07:00

I am taking advatage of all our herbs and making herbal teas. Today my infusion has rasberry leaves, lemon balm, peppermint, lavendar and rose pedals. I bring a big pot of water to a boil, cut the herbs from the garden. When the water is boiling, I pull it off the heat and add the herbs. I let it infuse for 20-30 minutes. I drink it hot when it is fresh, then put the rest in the refridgerator and drink it cold. It is very refreshing on a hot afternoon.

Liam decided he wanted to take the different scooters and make Thomas train this afternoon.

Bug Control - The Natural Way

2009-06-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

We added two more birds to our flock. Muscovy Ducks. I have been reading about how duck eggs are much better for baking than chicken eggs and they are also excellent for slug and insect control. They don't trash the gardens the way chickens do. They might nibble a bit, but the amount they eat is probably much less than the bugs they like to eat cosume.
I am waiting for the hens to retire for the night and I will move the these two into the hen house.
The boys picked them out and named them. Rascal and Rosie

Happy Father's Day and First day of summer

2009-06-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

I am making pesto pasta today for our Father's Day dinner. I made the pasta in a pestal and mortar and will roll out homemade egg pasta (with eggs from our chickens) in a few minutes. I will also pick lettuce from the garden to make a salad.

Rasberry season is here! I have all the supplies on hand to make freezer jam. We will also be enjoying them fresh off the vine.

Lightning Bolt is quite the flyer. I was getting ready to dump the kitchen scraps in the hen house and she flew onto my arm and used it as a perch. She and Boofy are also quite friendly. We did a good job on domesticating them.

New Shoes - Kind of...

2009-06-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today is one of my favorite events of the year in Portland. The Annual Laurelhurst Garage Sale. Laurelhurst is a nice neighborhood about three miles from here. I like this sale because the people in the neighborhood own nice things and sell the nice things they are tired of for good prices. When I had babies, I would buy name brand baby clothes at the sale.
I rode my bike around the neighborhood and checked out the different sales. My favorite conquest are these shoes. They are all designer brands, they are all cute and they cost $14 all together. They show signs of being worn once or twice, but are still practially new.

Horseback riding

2009-06-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine from high school raises horses. We went out to visit her today. The boys got to feed and groom the horses. Both boys were given the opprotunity to ride a horse. Liam did not want to, but Christian did. Christian did very good on the horse and had a lot of fun. Liam enjoyed playing with the hose and rocks while his brother was horseback riding.
I had a nasty migraine coming on while we were out there and it hit full force while driving home since my meds were at home. I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss my migraines and how we can treat them with non-narcotic drugs.

DIY and strawberry picking

2009-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

I finished my first knitting project last night. I was just a practice piece and has a ton of mistakes, but Liam's Care Bear, Phillip does not seem to mind. I am now making a blanket for Christian's shark.

We went strawberry picking this morning. I am allergic to strawberries so the boys each picked a pint and they ate them with David before we left the farm. I just took photos. Our rasberries should be ripe soon and I can join in.

Beach Day

2009-06-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Art gone crazy

2009-06-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

We did a couple art projects this morning. The first thing the boys did was make ladybugs out of egg carton section. I got this idea online. They pained the carton red and I punched holes in it where they ran pipe cleaners through.

I also tried a project from this dough book I got from the library. This involved three roles of toilet paper, enough warm water to soak toilet paper, one bar ivory soap and 1/3 cup borax. After the boys mixed it up, they had to be boys about it and started throwing wads of it at each other and around the patio.

The ladybug needed black dots and I decided to let the boys use sharpies for the first time to put them on. I turned around to watch Christian for a few seconds and when I turned back around, Liam was drawing on the house. I don't know why I took a photo since it will be there until we have the time and money to paint the house.
I asked David if cavemen ever got ticked off at their kids for drawing in the caves.

Class Pet

2009-06-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

It is common for many classrooms to have a pet rabbit, mouse or turtle. We now have a bunny for our classroom.
Christian plans to join 4-H in the fall. They have many groups that focus on raising rabbits and small chickens. We now have the rabbit, we just have to find the right group.
We will be studying animals and plants in first grade. We are going to start the plant unit now since we actually have a variety of plants outside. It will also give more time to focus on animals since the boys love to learn about them so much. I think having a rabbit and chickens is good for regular observation.

Galileo hangs with the big girls

2009-06-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Luna and Bronte are starting to accept Galileo. We have even walked into a room and found Luna and Galileo playing. Bronte is very tempermental and does not play well with other cats. She picked him up and body slammed him the other day for bugging her, so he is more cautious around her.

Garden update and mini album

2009-06-02T18:06:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of my garden. The first flower I got at the plant swap, I think it is valerian, but I am not sure. I also took photos of Spanish Lavender, Broccolli and Rasberries.

This is a mini album I just made...

Credits: Template Set - Mini Album Template Set #1 by Hillary Heidelberg, Kit - Impressions of Whimsy - Scrapbookgraphics June Collab Kit

Baby cucumber and a peony

2009-05-28T13:56:00.001-07:00

We have our first little cucumber! We will have to wait a couple weeks before it is big enough to harvest and eat. We have hot, sunny weather in the forcast for the next week so it should have plenty of time to grow. I read that cucumber grows well next to oregano, so I planted it behind my oregano plant.

Our peony bush is in bloom. It had several buds on it but Liam picked most of them so I only have a few flowers.

2009-05-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished this alphabet album for the boys.
Credits: Kit - Everyday Moments by Lindsay Jane Designs
Templates ABC Album by Janet Phillips at The Digi Files

Broody Hen

2009-05-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Our hen Tess has gone broody. This means that she wants to hatch eggs. Since roosters are illegal in the city we have two choices, we can buy her a wooden egg or we can find fertilized eggs for her. I went on to Craigslist and found a farmer who has fertilized eggs and today I picked them up, brought them home and put them under Tess.
I marked the eggs with a sharpie so we know which ones are fertilized. I was so nervous, I forgot to take a picture of the eggs before I put them in for her. If all goes well, we will have baby chicks on June 16th. If they are roosters, we will have to find a new home for them. If they are hens they can stay.

I took these photos of Liam and Galileo this morning. Liam is getting better and being gentle with the kitten, but he still has some room for growth.

Outdoor home-school

2009-05-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

We are in a spell of nice weather. Today is in the low 70's, but it is supposed to go into the 80's tommorow and stay there as far as the long range weather forcast is available. We took our homeschooling outside this morning.
I took the chapter book we are reading now, Rascal, and read that to Christian while he colored in his tropical fish coloring book. David then brought out some wood and the two of them build a bird house.

We let the chickens free range while we were out there. I got some great pictures of Boofy and Christian. Liam did various projects with mud while we were out there.
We have some big plans in for the hen house. Check back tommorow, if we are able to pull everything together, we will have an announcement.

Feeding the penguins

2009-05-25T18:22:00.001-07:00

We have a friend who works with a woman who volunteers at the zoo working with the penguin on Mondays. We were invited to go visit her and get a behind the scenes visit to the penguin house. We got to pet and feed a penguin. We even got to see one of the baby penguins flap his wings for the first time. The boys enjoyed the up close and personal visit with the penguins.

The zoo has a birds of prey show during the summers. Today was the first day of the show. Christian has loved watching this most of his life. The Turkey Vulture landed on the ground right in front of us instead of on his perch. Christian wanted to run up and see him. I had to work to get him to stay away.

Turkey Vulture

Barn Owl

Bald Eagle

Front Garden is in

2009-05-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

I picked up some heirloom tomato and basil plants from ads off Craigslist this weekend and finished planting the front garden. I also got the soaker hose and mulch down. In the back yard we saw the first corn plant popping up today.

Week in Review Layouts

2009-05-23T22:29:00.001-07:00

Kit: Everyday Moments by Lindsay Jane Designs

Template from May Jumbo Grab bag by Hillary Heidelberg. Kit 365 by MGL Scraps, date stamp and title by Julie Marie

grungy love

2009-05-22T20:50:00.001-07:00

Credits: Template for album from Hillary Heidelberg's May Jumbo Grab Bag at scrapbookgraphics
Kits: Impressions of Friendship from scrapbookgraphics
Femnz 3 Grab Bag by Flergs, MGL Scraps, Ziska, Ellie and Sugar Plum Paperie

A. B, Cs

2009-05-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

I am making alphabet albums for the boys so I decided to do my blog post with a bit of an alphabet theme...

B is for Baklava which I made today, I also made spanokopita. We have to let the baklava sit for four hours before we try it. We will taste it after dinner.

C is for Cat, Coffee and Computer, a few of my favorite things.

Boofy, tadpoles and baby pears

2009-05-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

I took a couple of photos of Boofy yesterday. The two babies are still spending most of their time under the hen house. The are starting to pop out a bit.

We went down to Oaks Bottom did a little hike in the afternoon.

Christian brought along a pad and colored pencils and sketched the a pod with tadpoles in it.

These are a couple more photos of us during the hike.

I took a photo of one of the baby pears on our tree.

This is one of our compost bins. As you can see from the weeds hanging out, it is quite full.

A visit to the caboose

2009-05-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to a 4-H event south of Portland to learn more about 4-H and see if it is something Christian would like to do next year. We were at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds and there is a train museum next to the fairgrounds. Liam has been wanting to visit a caboose. I was going to take him to a different place east of town, but since we there anyhow, we took the boys to see the caboose. The museum was closed today. There are many peach farms in the area, so I have a feeling that we will be down there again in the summer.
We enjoyed the 4-H event. The kids were showing chickens and rabbits. I loved angora rabbits as a child and when I saw them, the love was rekindled. They are just too cute. Since I am learning to knit, it would be fun to have a couple angora rabbits, then I could learn to spin yarn and knit things with.
For the time being, I will work on learning to knit scarves and dream of doing more later.

New Kitten and Freecycle

2009-05-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

We have a new kitten, Galileo. He looks an awful lot like Bronte did at the same age. The big difference is that Bronte screamed and meowed if we tried to hold her, Galileo meows and cries if I go too long without holding him. I really wanted a lap cat since Bronte and Luna and only affectionate when they want to be, which is not often. So far, it looks like I have one.

We have a birdhouse right outside the front window. I have been wanting to get a photo a bird on the birdhouse. It is very hard since birds tend to fly away if there is too much movement, like my reaching for a camera. I was able to get this one today.
I had a good week with Freecycle. I finally broke through my impass with knitting and am now officially working on a project. I wanted to get some more knitting needles and some crochet needles as well as some yarn. I put a request on freecycle and got a response. The lady gave me a bag full of needles and yarn. I am set for some starter projects. I also saw a posting from someone giving away empty egg cartons. We need more egg cartons so we can give eggs away when the chickens are laying at full force. I responded and drove out to Gladstone today and picked up a big bag of egg cartons. We are set for a while.

Carmelitas

2009-05-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

I found some carmels on top of the refridgerator this morning and decided to bake some carmelitas. The recipe title in the Better Homes and Garden Baking cookbook I use is different, but I know these bars by the name carmelitas because my friend Gloria used to bake them for camping trips. She would bring a tray along and once I got a taste of these little delights, I would spend most of the weekend following her around begging for more. They were quite addictive. They are also quite rich, I only had one bar today. I will probably want another one to sooth my nerves after the boys go to bed.
One thing I dislike about making these is unwrapping the individual carmels. That it is why this is such a good recipe to make with kids. The boys can sit at the table and unwrap the candies while I mix the other ingredients. I let them each eat one carmel before they began unwrapping and one after to make sure they were not snacking when they should be working. They followed the rule.
Here is the recipe...
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
30 vanilla carmels
3 tbsp milk

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar. Beau until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined. Beat or stir in the flour.
Press two-thrids of rolled oats mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and nuts.
In a medium saucepan combine caramels and milk. Cook over low heat until caramels are melted. Drizzle caramel mixture over chocolate and nuts. Drop remaining one-third of the rolled oats mixture by teaspoons over the top
Bake in a 350 oven for 22-25 minutes or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack and cut into squares.
Here is a layout I did with photos of the different flowers that have been in bloom in our yard this spring.

Credits: Kit - Spring Awakening by Alana McCarthy, Template - Studio Hillary Playday free template

Mr. Potatoe Heads

2009-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Christian and Liam were playing with their Mr. Potatoe head sets today. Christin chose a couple to model.

Here is a layout I did today

Credits: Kit - Saxon & Tracey's Joe Sixpack, Template - April Page Guides by Tracey Monette

setting up the garden

2009-05-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

We worked in the back yard today. We built these teepee style trellis'. We have corn, squash, pumpkin and beans planted around them. I also put the soaker hose down and covered the whole thing with wood chips. The final act was putting up a chicken wire fence to keep the kids and chickens out for the summer. We have put a lot of work in preparing the soil for this garden, so I am looking forward to seeing how it does.
The baby chicks also went out to the hen house today. They seem to be doing fine. The big girls have pecked on them a bit, but everyone seems to have gone to seperate places and appear to be calm.

plant starts and a sore throat

2009-05-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

Liam is doing better. He was up again at 3:00 with a bad cough, but it was not croup. I finally let him put in a DVD at 5:30 because I knew he would do better if he was sitting up. I have a very sore throat now. David is out getting a slurpee for me to see if that helps. We celebrated our 12th anniversery today. A friend watched the boys while David and I went out to lunch. The friend who watched them is the same person we started seeds with about six weeks ago, so we picked up many of our starts today. The above photo is our Spanish lavendar which we planted 7 or 8 years ago.

David and I also went to a farmer's market today. I picked up basil and a cucumber plant. This is the cucumber plant.

Here are that starts we picked up today. We have so much stuff. I will have plenty to plant and a lot to share with neighbors.