I BLAME CHERI

Photo from On Second Scoop

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Eight days ago I hosted a baby shower for Cheri. She's decorated her daughter's room in pink and brown, so we used those colors on the cake, plates, tablecloth, etc. I felt that it was my moral obligation, due to the color scheme, to buy color-coordinated ice cream too, so I stocked up on Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches. Perfect, don't you think?

Well, it turns out that everyone had gorged themselves on salads, rolls, cakes, and cupcakes, so only three sandwiches were eaten. Three out of twenty-four. And I ate one of them.

That means that for the last eight days I've been eating lots of ice cream sandwiches. A couple days ago I ate so many that my reflux started up again. Knowing that I wasn't dying of a heart attack, I chose to keep eating. It was definitely worth all the tightness in my chest.

I'm generally a compulsive eater, particularly with sweets, with no one to blame but myself. This time, however, I'm blaming Cheri. If she hadn't chosen to adopt a girl (because I'm positive she wouldn't have done a boy's room in brown and pink), then I wouldn't have been forced to compulsively eat all the Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches that have been in my freezer.

JOBS, GADGETS, MUSIC, & RAMBLING

Tim's officiating at a basketball tournament and the kids are dragging lunch on forever, so I'm going to do a little blogging.

Last night was nice, much better than the first part of the day. I was able to take a nap when the kids went down. While that meant I was a little behind on some stuff in the evening, I no longer felt like bursting into tears or ripping people's heads off. I think that's a good trade, don't you?

Dinner was hot dogs and potato wedges, dessert was lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting. Three happy kids! Devon had chosen that meal when I made my last menu, so he frosted cupcakes while I worked on some math with Silas and Tim hung out with Naomi. Nice and mellow. We had a quick family meeting about some scheduling/household stuff while scarfing cupcakes, then buried ourselves in blankets for a family movie night. Once the kids were down, Tim played games online and I watched a random movie from the library. Read a little in bed, then konked out. Perfect evening.

Today's been pretty good too. We slept in, then tried a new muffin recipe for breakfast. Tim hung with the offspring while I got beans going in the crockpot and started cleaning some closets. Then he went off to work some games, the kids watched a movie while I cleaned some more, and now lunch is winding down. Perfect morning.

I realize you don't really care what every waking moment of my last 24 hours or so has been like, but there it is anyway. And now for some random things I keep thinking I should mention on here.

Music - We'll start with the movie the kids watched this morning. It was a Raffi concert from the library. Have you ever listened to Raffi? I'd never heard of him until I was an adult and it seems my peers who grew up listening to him had hippy-ish parents. My parents didn't fall into that category, so maybe that's how I missed him. Anyway, he's totally non-annoying, a real plus when it comes to kids' music, and the kids love him. Here's the concert they watched today, but we've seen other movies too.



Job - Tim recently found out he'll have a new job next year. He's spent four years sitting at a computer as a teacher for SK Online, which is one of the programs at Roberts High School, but next year he'll be a face-to-face teacher at the same location. I didn't think that he, a PE teacher, would like teaching online, but he's loved it. A lot. I know he'll miss it, but change is inevitable and we're thankful that he gets paid to teach, a job he loves.

Gifts - I often think of telling you two of the best gifts Tim's ever received, but it's always as I'm washing dishes or driving down the freeway. Well, I'm thinking of them now ... and I'm at the computer ... and Father's Day is coming up. Perfect timing for people who need some ideas.

The first is an electronic bug zapper. My dad gave one to Tim for his birthday last year and it's been a huge hit, no pun intended. Now, all of you "save the animals" readers can just pretend I never told you about this, but the truth is that Tim and the kids get a huge kick out of hearing bugs sizzle to their death. Fun stuff. Perfect for homes without window screens, camping, or any other situation where unwanted bugs abound.

The second idea is wireless headphones. Tim enjoys watching TV in the evenings, but I often need a break from noise by that time of day and nothing makes the boys want to stay awake in bed more than listening to whatever Tim's watching. So, we gave him headphones for his birthday last year and they're fantastic! Here's a link with several different models, but don't spend a fortune on them. Ours look similar to the ones below, were about $15 at Ross, and work well.

Popcorn - We eat a lot of popcorn at our house and love, love, love our popper. It's a West Bend Stir Crazy that my brother gave me years ago, maybe even before I was married. It's served us well, but a few weeks before we moved the lid fell and a handle broke off. We've continued using it, but kernels shoot out the side if you don't cover the gap and it's a hassle to flip over at the end. I see them go on sale for $25.00 a few times a year and a replacement lid cost $23 plus shipping online. Clearly it's a waste of money to just replace the lid and I would have just bought a new popper the next time they were on sale. However, in the midst of moving, getting it replaced simply wasn't a priority. Here's what they look like, since I know you'll want one for yourself.


Anyway, my friend Toni had been asking around for a couple months about what type of popper people recommended and wrote to me last Friday to confirm the Stir Crazy was the one I liked. It turns out that her Goodwill had two brand new ones in stock, so she bought one for herself and I traded her cash for the second one when she came to Cheri's shower last Saturday. The cost? Fifteen bucks for a brand new Stir Crazy!!

I think that's it. It's past nap time now and I need to get some kids tucked in for naps and another settled for down time. Then I'm back to tackling the closets. Right after I eat a cupcake, of course.

5/27/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for public libraries.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

BOOKS I FINISHED - MAY 2010

Another lame month in the reading department. I realize the month isn't even over, but I'm choosing to put reading on the back burner over the next week. Not that it hasn't been here anyway, but whatever. I'm hoping that I'll be back in the swing of things next month, as moving and shower planning are done. Of course, summer is busy, so we'll see how it actually pans out.


Here If You Need Me, by Kate Braestrup
The author, after being unexpectedly widowed, ended up as the chaplain for Maine game wardens. While I don't agree with all her religious beliefs, I love her heart to comfort those who have a loved one lost or injured in the woods and to support the wardens as they search for those who need help.

Cool quotes - p. 119 (In response to a comment that it's nice she's there to keep loved ones from freaking out) "Ah." I smiled. "I'm not really here to keep you from freaking out. I'm here to be be with you while you freak out," or grieve or laugh or suffer or sing. It is a ministry of presence. It is showing up with a loving heart. And it is really, really cool.

p. 149 (Concerning someone's reflection on their drug use) "She thought she was a glass of orange juice, and that someone was going to spill her," Nate reflected later. "And my kids wonder why I'm so paranoid bout drugs?"

p. 150 Many if not most of the deaths I see are caused at least in part by drug or alcohol use. Here's a sobering, personal statistic: in as many years, I have responded to five deaths of people who drowned in water shallow enough to stand in, had they only been sober enough to stand.

TWO FORMS OF SUGAR & A NOTE

Marshmallows - Last Wednesday night I was given a bag of marshmallows by my friend Sachi. However, these were no ordinary marshmallows. They were ginormous!! Check these puppies out. My bandaged, wrinkly, non-wedding-ring-wearing hand is there to give you a little perspective on size.


She said she thought of our marshmallow gun wars when she saw them and figured we'd need a marshmallow cannon for them. I think we'd also need paramedic standing by to give mouth-to-mouth to people who collapse from all the air spent on shooting them.

Note - Both of my boys have been on a big note writing kick lately, asking me all sorts of questions via pen and paper instead of using their mouths. I have no idea what prompted this phase, but the latest note cracked me up.

A few days ago I was a tad bit crabby. Part of it was because I was overwhelmed with all the stuff I needed to be accomplishing, but most of it was because I was completely and totally exhausted. That same day we also had leftover pie from the meal Silas cooked and a bit of ice cream in the freezer. I had commented earlier in the day that we may finish it off after dinner. Well, dinner was over and Silas wanted to know if any sugar was headed his way. He also knew that I was on the verge of a meltdown. This is the note he handed me. I love it.

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Candy - I went to Brianne's baby shower yesterday afternoon. The people were great. The food was great. I survived the crafty portion. Definitely a great time.

There was one part, however, that was spectacular. You see, right in front of me was a little candy dish filled with pink balls. Curious about what they were, I popped one in my mouth and started chewing. Malt balls. That's what they were. I was happy. But wait? What's that flavor I detect? Strawberries!! Oh my word. I had no idea there were strawberry milkshake flavored Whoppers. They're wonderful. Simply wonderful. I think I'll have to buy some and secretly stash them away for days when I need a little morsel of sugary goodness.

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CHERI'S SHOWER

I've spent the last month planning a shower for my friend Cheri, who is hoping to bring her daughter home from Ethiopia in late June, and yesterday was party time. My friends Thea and Heidi, who were incredibly helpful in pulling this shower off, showed up around 10:00, guests arrived at 11:00, most guests left by 2:00, three friends hung out all afternoon, and the last person headed home at 8:30. What a fun day!

We ate tons of salads, breads, and desserts. We drank punch. We talked and laughed a lot. We met people from different parts of Cheri's life. The cake, which Beaverton Bakery made, was cute as can be and tasted fantastic!
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We also played one game. I'm not a big "shower game" kind of girl, but there was one game I wanted to do and one prize I wanted to give. So, we played a game. Everyone was given two pieces of gum and had to turn the gum into a baby. Using the wrapper was optional. So funny! Cheri chose the one she thought was the cutest and the winner scored a neapolitan popsicle soap from The Custom Soap Shop. Brown, pink, and white are the colors of the baby's room and the shower decor, so I absolutely had to buy some of those soaps for the shower. Let me tell you, they smell good enough to eat! Aren't they cute? Love the bite marks!



Let's see, what else did we do a lot of? Oh, Cheri opened a lot of gifts. This shower melded Cheri's life around her home with her online life of the Sonlight forums. The cool part about all those e-maginary Sonlight friends is that they tend to become real life friends. That means I've spent the last three weeks receiving gifts from all over America, and even one from Canada, to give her at the shower. I've also received money from all over America to put toward a group gift. So much was given that the "group gift" folks were able to buy her big ticket stuff and put money toward their travel/expense fund. How cool is that?!

There's one thing we didn't do a lot of. Well, at least that I didn't do a lot of. Any idea what it was? Take pictures!! It's shocking and scandalous, I know, but the pics on this blog post are the only ones I have. I was too busy eating at the beginning and writing the gift list during the rest of the time. Thankfully Cheri's sister was snapping her camera the whole time, so I'll be sure to share those pics when I get them from her. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a picture of the Sonlight girls who were there, including two who drove over three hours to come.

L-R: Heidi, Robin, Cheri, Heidi, Toni, Thea, me

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Thanks to everyone who participated, whether or not you were able to come to the shower, in blessing Cheri with all sorts of fun stuff and some quality girl time!

MY LIVING ROOM

I'm almost 34 years old and have never owned a home. That means I've spent a lot of adult years in rentals. Never feeling a sense of permanency and being a bit frugal, I've never taken the time or spent the money to have a living room that I love.

Our move to an apartment a few weeks ago was solely for the purpose of saving money so that we can pay off Tim's school debt faster. Normally that would make me be even more hesitant to decorate the way I want. However, through random circumstances, our apartment complex painted one of our walls the color of my choice. A beautiful blue.

I love, love, love colored walls, white furniture and a few light/medium wood pieces! A lot. However, I've never had a colored wall in my life. Well, that wall inspired me. I figured that if I already had a little color and if we're going to be here a while, then I should spend a little money to really make this place something I love.

I hopped on Craiglist to look for the furniture that I've coveted for years. I periodically look for it there and drool over it on the IKEA website. Guess what? Not only was it on Craigslist, which it always is in some form, but it was the best deal I've ever seen. Ever. And it was about $10 more than the deposit we were getting back from our rental in Beaverton. Clearly it was God's will that I get the furniture. Don't you think? To make things even better, the sellers, who live over an hour away, ended up giving Tim a discount because of some little marks their kids got on the slipcovers. So, I got both pieces for less than half price. Love it!

Tim, who has the ability to figure out spatial stuff in ways that I'll never be able to, was able to load a couch and chair into our van. I'd never have been able to do that. Then, thanks to the e-mail and digital pictures, Beep and Sonja were able to help me figure out how to arrange the living room. Next up was a collage of pictures on the wall. A couple pics had to be matted and re-framed, so I got some cheap frames at Value Village, mats on sale at Freddy's, and busted out my black spray paint. Then Tim did about 75% of the work in getting the collage done and listened to me stress out while I did my 25%. The man deserves an award.

Here's the almost finished product. I have a couple little frames that we need to fill, but I love the way the collage turned out! The lamp on the left is ultimately going in the boys' room, but the living room is borrowing it until I find the lamp I really want. Meanwhile, the cave feel of the living room had to end. And the couch will eventually have some pillows with a little black and blue in them.
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Now, the whole living room isn't done, but the above view, taken from the hallway, makes me smile. Below is a picture taken from the dining room. All but one of the plants on the shelf will be put somewhere else and I need to figure out what to put on the wall. Maybe a mirror. The "5 Ws" frame was there, but we ended up adding it to the collage. The rocking chair, which my grandparents bought to rock my newborn mom in, doesn't fit in the main seating area, but it makes a cozy little reading corner by the window. And just as an fyi, the couch isn't normally pulled out from the wall and flaunting the lamp cords. I just forgot to push it back after hanging the pictures.
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This is the view from the front door. That big wall space is going to have something colorful and with a chunk of blue in it, perhaps a world map, hung on it. And that cord will get hidden. And something, maybe a lamp, will get put on the TV cabinet.
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So, it's not done, but it's getting there. I think I'm going to have a living room I love. Cool, huh?

5/20/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that Tim worked with me after Bible study last night to figure out how to arrange photos on our wall. He's way better at spatial stuff than I am!

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

PUNCH & SNUGGLES

I'm hosting a baby shower on Saturday and needed to make the slushy base for the punch. So, Devon jumped in as my assistant. He did most of the measuring, dumping, and pouring of ingredients. Of course, that also meant he got a itty bitty taste of it when we were done. I'm pretty sure the sparkle in his eyes meant that it tasted great. As reward for his labor, I'll be sneaking one small cup of punch for him on Saturday, which he's looking forward to.



Later in the night, like at 9:00, which is one hour after he'd gone to bed, I discovered Devon was still awake. I got him up and we sprawled out on the living room floor with pillows and blankets for close to an hour. We chatted about everything under the sun - Tom & Jerry, cakes, ticklish spots on family members, naps, the other kids, etc. - while he got his back scratched. It was such a cool time of one-on-one conversation with the Devs. Loved it!

DINNER IS SERVED

As I was making up my last two week menu, Silas asked if he could make dinner one night. Our kids often help in the kitchen and he's cooked or baked on his own several times, but he's never made an entire meal. Until last night, that is.

The menu consisted of enchiladas (he created the recipe), peas & corn (bags from the freezer), and a lemon pie (a recipe we found). It was all delicious!! I'll get the new recipes posted at some point this week at FOR THE LOVE OF GRUB, but for now I'll show you some pics of the chef and baker in action. Please excuse the horrible lighting.

Making a pie crust.

Baking a pie crust.

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Assembling enchiladas.
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Silas and the meal he prepared.

Silas' comment after seeing all the food, which happened to have a green and yellow color them, together on the table was "I think this is a meal the Ducks would like". Funny guy.

You can read his version of the evening right here.

MENU - SECOND HALF OF MAY 2010

My last menu, two weeks ago, involved the first trip to a different WinCo, one that's laid out opposite from the two I've been at the last eight years or so. As you may know, I make up my shopping list according to the floor plan of the store, so I was completely disoriented through that whole trip. I went again on Friday and wrote down the new floor plan, so I'll be back in the swing of efficient shopping next time I go.

BREAKFASTS
oatmeal
granola (crockpot)
snickerdoodle muffins (doubled & froze half)
pumpkin bread (from freezer)
sausage pinwheels
baked oatmeal (prep night before)
blueberry oat muffins (from freezer)

DINNERS
leftovers x3
tacos x2
chicken casserole/green salad/rice
new pasta recipe (not a huge hit)/broccoli
Silas' enchiladas/corn/peas (Silas is cooking and created the enchilada recipe)
chicken broccoli quiche/fruit
strawberry, kiwi, and spinach salad/garlic bread
minestrone/biscuits
Mexican casserole (eat half & freeze half)/salad
meatloaf/rice/frozen veggie
cracked wheat & rice pilaf/Italian chicken/broccoli
grilled hot dogs/potato wedges/raw veggies
Cajun sausage & beans (double batch & freeze half)/cornbread

DESSERTS
snickerdoodles (making for apartment office & neighbors)
lemon icebox pie III (Silas is making this on the night he cooks dinner)
lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting (boxed mix & store-bought frosting)

SUNNY DAYS

The proof is in the bare legs.

The kids woke up at 6:00 on Friday morning. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. Anyway, I knew it was going to be a long day, due to the kids' lack of adequate sleep, and I didn't have the energy or patience to deal with . So, we packed up some food and grabbed some Benadryl, then headed for the park. We spent 2 1/2 hours playing in the beautiful weather in a nearly empty part of the park. Then it was home for power showers and quick baths before naps. Perfect.

COUNTING

0 - Speech therapy sessions Devon has left. In a nutshell, he's fine for now and if some of the later developing sounds don't work themselves out, then we'll go back in a couple years.

1 - Books I'm currently reading. Almost done with it and have another one waiting on the nightstand.

2 - Times I've fixed Naomi's elbow this week. Thankful I had the ped show me how to do it!

3 - Minutes it takes us to get to church. Our drive is now ten miles shorter in each direction.

4 - Weeks left of work in this school year. We go all year, but ending in June feels nice and starting with new books in July is fun.

5 - Number of live Ws in the house. One more than the number of decorative or magnetic Ws in the house.

6 - Weeks until the boys' birthday bash. Wondering what kind of cakes they'll request this year.

7 - Days until I host Cheri's baby shower. Having tons of fun getting presents in the mail for her from a bunch of our Sonlight friends around the country!

8 - Bedtime for little Ws. Peace and quiet prevails.

9 - Sixty percent of the cookies in a box of Samoas.

10 - Number of new towels I bought this week. Out with the wedding gift towels. They've served us well.

LINKS I LIKE #6

I haven't done one of these posts in a super, duper long time!

Stuff Christians Like - Jon did a great post recently on pursuing the things that interest or matter to you, rather than talking or thinking about pursuing them. I know there are some areas I should do less thinking and more acting. I'm sure you have some too.

Coupon Cravings - This is a handy article on ways to get cash for your unused or outdated electronic gadgets.

From Mourning to Dancing - Monica is a friend who used her own illness as inspiration for this very practical post about how to help a friend battling cancer. It includes lots of helpful things and tells you the things to avoid. Read it even if you don't currently have a friend with cancer, as odds are that you will at some point.

Transformed From Glory to Glory - My friend Summer has done a couple posts this month that are fantastic for parents. Actually, they're good for anyone who may be a parent someday. The first one is an encouraging reminder that we need to be patient in waiting for the results of our parenting efforts, realizing that some things will take more time than others and that no two kids will need the exact same parenting from us.

This morning she had another great post about the phrase "kids will be kids". I was just talking to a friend over the weekend about the same idea. It frustrates and perplexes me when parents think inappropriate behavior, even if done out of childish curiosity or ignorance and not rebellion or spite, is funny or cute. Sometimes I just want to shake parents and say "This is not cute and it's certainly not going to be cute five years from now, so buck up and do the hard work of parenting your fit throwing, mischievious, disrespectful, or whining child!"

I hold no judgement toward a parent or child simply because those behaviors occur, as that's part of humanity. It happens in our family, just like everyone else's. What concerns me is parents who do nothing about it. Or snap pictures to laugh over. Or use that sticky sweet voice to state the behavior "wasn't very nice", yet give no consequences. Or reward the poor behavior through bribery or with giving in to the child's demands. Or let the child merrily go on their way while the parent deals with the aftermath of the child's behavior.

I agree that kids will be kids. Similiarly, I agree that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. However, I think it would be fantastic if parents would be parents. Age and gender can explain particular behaviors, but that doesn't mean they excuse them.

Wow, that was a tangent. Didn't mean to go off on that, but it seriously drives me batty in the present and truly concerns me for the future.

Making Home - Jess looks at the "other" Proverbs woman, challenging women to examine the way they speak, think, and interact with others.

Centsational Girl - Lisa directed me toward this blog and it's super cool. I'm not artistic at all and this woman's taste is a little more formal and fancy than what I'm drawn to, but her ability to transform trash into treasures and re-purpose items, while doing it for pennies on the dollar, is awesome. Lots of ideas for sprucing up your home can be here!!

All righty, we'll call that a wrap. Hope you find something in all those links that you like.

5/13/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for blue skies.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

NO MORE DIAPERS

Naomi, like the boys, has sat on the toilet since infancy. Using it when we've put here there has never been a problem, but she wouldn't let us know when she needed to go. She, unlike the boys, was still pooping in her diaper on her second birthday. Totally repulsive. She, much like the boys, has been hit or miss in telling us when she needs to pee on the toilet. It's mostly been "miss" and she's cared less about trying than the boys did.

Well, as of Monday morning there are no diapers being used in this house during normal waking hours. Naomi, for reasons we'll never know, simply decided to use the toilet all the time. She's been to a school, park, three stores, gas station, and at home. I don't have to remind her to use the toilet, she simply tells me when she needs to go. If we're out and about, then she waits til we can get to a bathroom.

Awesome! She's the one I thought would take the longest to ditch the diapers, but she ended up being the fastest. The boys did it more gradually, while she appears to be an "all or nothing" kind of kid.

Now, we've given our children a rich heritage of bedwetting, so there are still diapers in the house ... but none on children who are awake. Woo hoo!!

CLEAN YOUR HOUSE & HEAL YOUR EARS

For those (and I may or may not be referring to the man formerly known as "Buck") who already think I'm a hippy, I'm going to add some more evidence to strengthen your case.

Cleaning - With the exception of the original scented Pine Sol (and who could resist that?!), I can't stand the smell of cleaning supplies. They're strong, stinky, and linger forever. Blech. Though they come at a significant discount with sales and coupons, they're still not cheap. And they stink. Have I mentioned that part already?

Anyway, I know a lot of people who use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning, but I'd never tried it. Until recently, that is. Several months ago I'd written down the solution my friend Faith uses and I whipped some up a week or two before we moved. It doesn't stink, was almost free, and was amazingly effective for all the deep cleaning (think of nasty kitchen grime in places you didn't realize were grimy) I had to do during the move. I'm hooked!

Here's how I did it. I cleaned out an empty milk jug and measured 1/2 gallon of water into it, drawing a mark in black Sharpie at the water line so that I can fill it from the tap next time. Then I added 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda, put the lid on the jug, then shook it like crazy. I poured some into a spray bottle for convenience and that was it. Easy peasy!

Ears - Naomi started crying and complaining of ear pain, with no other symptoms, four days before our move. You may remember the ear pain she had back in December, the time she complained occasionally over a few days, then ended up with a ruptured ear drum and double ear infection. Well, I didn't want a crisis on moving day, but it was too late to see the doc and the thought of ER charges didn't excite me. So, I tried something my friend Paula had suggested during December's ear drama. I used garlic. Guess what? It worked!

While there wasn't any drainage, I couldn't be sure her ear drum hadn't ruptured, so I didn't want to put drops directly in her ear canal. I perused a few websites for ideas. This Organic Authority site is great at describing what's going on during an ear infection and has a variety of home remedies. We started off with the following suggestion from that site, as we always have garlic in the house.

Another way to use garlic is to take a clove of fresh garlic and cut a piece to the size that will fit comfortably in the outer ear. Do not put the garlic clove into the ear canal; you only want it to rest on the outer ear (kind of like an old-fashioned hearing aid). The raw garlic may cause a burning sensation, which can be lessened by coating the side that will come in contact with the ear with olive oil. This may not be the most socially acceptable way to fight an ear infection, however this technique is very effective.
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I think a garlic clove hanging out of the ear actually looks kinda cute when it's modeled by the Nomes-a-licious all snuggled up and sleeping on her daddy. Wouldn't you agree?
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We kept that in her ear for about two hours. Unsure if it would stay in her ear once we put her in bed and quite confident it would fall out while she ran around the next day, we moved to step two. Garlic oil. Due to time constraints and the work of moving, I opted to fork out money for drops instead of making my own oil. Such is life. I bought Gaia's Children drops, though Herb Pharm (I've used their drops countless times over the years) also had some. The clerk said those two are the best brands for ear drops. I used the following suggestion from Christina's Home Remedies and it worked like a charm.

Put a drop of warm garlic oil on a cotton wool swab and place it like a plug in the opening of the ear. Leave it for 30-40 minutes in the ear and use it several times a day.

I placed the bottle of ear drops in a cup of hot tap water for a minute, then put a couple drops on a cotton ball (we actually cut the cotton ball to make it fit more easily) and put it her ear before tucking her into bed. We pulled it out a bit later when we hit the sack. The next morning she mentioned once, without tears, that her ear hurt, so we did another cotton ball. She didn't complain again. That was it. The end. I actually did one more cotton ball when we left the house around lunch time, just to err on the side of caution, but it wasn't really necessary.

Now, I realize some of you may think she never had an ear infection to begin with. However, she has a high pain tolerance and the only other time she mentioned her ear hurting (that was the December saga and she complained less about that than she did about this) she ended up with a double ear infection. I'm confident this was the start of an ear infection. I wish I'd known about this option back when Devon was having major ear issues. He ended up with tubes, which I'm totally fine with, but I wonder if we could have avoided them. We'll never know, but I'm curious.

So, there you go. I'm just a little more hippy dippy than I was when I was only homebirthing and making my own laundry detergent. Of course, I'll never be a total hippy. I shave my legs too often, don't eat organic food, love anything made with refined white sugar, and avoid incense. I just happen to love things that are easy, frugal, and/or effective, which often sometimes falls into the "hippy" category.

I NEED SOME ANSWERS

Water - Brookings, Ashland, and Beaverton all had tap water that tasted good. Wilsonville, I've discovered, has tap water that makes you think you're drinking straight from a swimming pool. It's disgusting.

So, what do the locals do? Drink it anyway? I won't buy water. So, what's the better option between a filtered pitcher or a filter to put on your faucet. I think the faucet one would be a nuisance, but the pitcher takes up fridge space. I'm leaning toward the pitcher, but I'm wondering what others like and why.

Phone - We've had cell phones since September 2005. We've used Sprint that whole time and never had any problems. Unfortunately, our service tanks about half a mile down the road from our new home. You'd think a suburb of a metropolitan area would have good service throughout the city limits, but ... well, you'd be wrong. If we stand outside or in the corner of our bedroom, then we get enough of a signal that we can have a conversation, but it's still scratchy. Anywhere else in our home is pointless. Sprint sent us a signal booster, but it hasn't helped at all.

I really, really, really, don't want to have to break our current contract with Sprint, but we also need phones that work. Any suggestions for signal boosters? What company do other Wilsonville residents use, particularly people that live past the high school?

Chair - I have a chair that sat in the garage of our Beaverton home because we didn't have a place for it inside. We have space now, but the chair needs some help. The seat was caned, which looks cool, but makes for lousy support if you actually want to use the chair. After a few months of being used for seating, the seat weakened and tore. I've included some pictures of the top and bottom of the chair, so that you can see what I'm talking about.

It's an old chair and I love it, but the seat needs to be functional. I would love to have the caning removed and an upholstered insert made to fit in the hole of the seat. Is there anyone who knows how to do that? Anyone you've used for similar projects that you'd recommend?

A COUPLE MOTHER'S DAY HIGHLIGHTS

As you know, my Mother's Day gift was a day of abandoning motherhood. Today, the actual holiday, was just a normal day. We went to church, ran an errand, and puttered around the house. It was perfectly mellow. There were, however, two highlights to the day.

First, Silas came running up to me at church with something in his hand. A box. A purple box. A purple box of Girl Scout cookies. A purple box of Girl Scout cookies that he'd been told to give to me. Do you know what kind of Girl Scout cookies come in a purple box? Samoas!

A friend from church, who also happens to be the Girl Scout leader I buy cookies from, brought a box of Samoas to church for me. With the exception of three cookies I shared with the kids ... ok, wait, I better explain that. The boys bought their own Girl Scout cookies this year and shared with me, so I'd promised them a sample of my Samoas stash. Anyway, each kid got the first, and last, Samoa they'll ever get from me, then I ate the rest of the box throughout the day. Don't they look delicious?!

The second highlight came later in the day. Amy and Linda, some of my pseudo-inlaws, stopped by to pick up our moving boxes today. Linda had sent me a Mother's Day card earlier in the week and Amy brought me some flowers today. They were so pretty!

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MOTHER'S DAY - 2010

The Queen B with the three little Ws on Mother's Day.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ... TO ME!!

Husbands, want to know the best Mother's Day gift you can give your wife? Particularly if she's the mom of young kids? Give her a break from motherhood!!!

I got an e-mail from my friend Sarah yesterday telling me that we were hanging out today. Evidently Tim had secretly called her and arranged for me to get a break from parenting. As soon as I read the title of her e-mail, "girls' day out", my heart skipped a beat. I didn't even know the details yet. All I knew was it involved girl time and included getting out of the house. I was sold on the idea before I even read her note!

She picked me up around 11:00 this morning and brought me home about 9:00 tonight. We did some shopping (both errands and just for kicks), had a lunch of Costco samples (hadn't been in a Costco in several years), iced our stomachs (the phrase Sarah's husband, Charles, taught me for eating ice cream) and chatted for a few hours at her house, then ended the day with the two of us and Charles scarfing some Chinese food. It was wonderful!!

Major "good husband" points to Tim for giving me the perfect Mother's Day gift. Thanks to Charles for sacrificing his wife for the day. And last, but not least, a honkin' thanks to Sarah for a really fun day!!

5/6/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that Wednesday was a fairly normal day, so much better than Monday and Tuesday.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THE RAINBOW

Today stunk. A lot. So did yesterday. I'm not going to elaborate on the reasons why, but it's safe to say that I have not been a happy camper. Not at all.

I was just about to hop into bed, eager to end this day, when I remembered a picture I took exactly one week ago. That evening I was hacking up a lung for the 16th night in a row, Naomi had an earache, and I was finishing the packing of our house. Another night, like yesterday and today, that didn't make the "happiest days of my life" list.

As I was coughing and Tim was rocking Naomi, the setting sun broke through the storm clouds and this is what I saw out my living room window. If you look closely, then you can barely see the double rainbow in the left corner.
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Isn't that pretty? I love it!

Genesis 9:8-16 tell us that God promised Noah there would never be another flood that would destroy all life on earth and that the rainbow would be a reminder of that promise. Here's what I think is cool - rainbows only come when the weather is lousy. They don't come on warm and sunny days, but on rainy days, serving as a reminder that the storm brewing outside isn't the end of the world. You know what else is cool? A rainbow can't exist unless some sunlight is breaking through. No matter how dark and cloudy the sky may be, a rainbow proves that the weather isn't all bad.

Tonight this picture is helping me to keep things in perspective, reminding me that my current frustrations aren't going to ruin my life, and challenging me to look for the positive aspects of my situation.

I needed that rainbow tonight. I need to remember it tomorrow.

And now I really need to go to bed.

THE BIG MOVE

We could not have asked for a better moving day. Seriously. It was perfect!
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Let's start with the weather. The forecast was 80% chance of precipitation. The reality? Not a single drop of moisture fell from the sky.
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Now let's talk about the time frame. People arrived at our house in Beaverton at 8:00 Saturday morning. Tim walked some of them over to my grandma's. A truck was loaded at each location. By 11:00 both trucks were completely unloaded in Wilsonville. That's right. Two homes with the belongings of six people were totally moved from Beaverton to Wilsonville in three hours. Amazing!
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How about the Nomes-a-licious? She was going to hang out with Brianne and Rowen, but she came down with a cold. Not wanting to share the germs with a preggo and her toddler, we decided to just keep her with us. Well, I decided to. Tim, however, got all sneaky on me and asked Sachi, who had previously offered to help with the kids, to take her. So, she did. She picked her up at 8:00 and brought her back to us around 2:00. Not only that, but she brought me a bouquet when she dropped Naomi off.
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The crew? I must confess I was a little embarrassed once I realized how many people were coming, as it seemed a bit excessive. However, having a big crew is what enabled us to bust the move out in record time and allowed those who had offered to stay all day get back to their homes and families around lunch time.
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A big thanks to Charles and Sarah, Sarah's mom (I'm totally blanking on her name, but I'm sure that loading boxes was the highlight of her weekend visit), Steve, Matt, Mike S., Jay, Jered, Pam, Mike W. and Tiffany, the six offspring of Mike W. and Tiffany, Bobby, Eric, and my dad. That's twenty people, not counting Tim and I!! I think I got everyone, but if I left you out, then know I was grateful.

An extra thanks to Pam, who stayed at my grandma's for several hours and helped her get settled in while we were working at our own place. And an extra thanks to the guys who made sure all of our beds were set up before heading home. It was nice to know we could fall into bed, even if we were surrounded by boxes.
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The next day? Naomi spent much of Saturday night hacking up a lung. So my dad, who had offered to come and help us move because his annual "come till the W garden in May" trip was no longer going to be possible, offered to be the one to skip church with her so that Tim and I could both go. Needless to say, Papa's youngest fan enjoyed having him all to herself for a couple hours.
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Today? Carol came over with some homemade cookies and all the ingredients for a big pot of chicken noodle soup. She had everything chopped and ready to go. I just had to dump it in the pot. That was a total blessing, as I had to do my "beginning of the month" shopping trip tonight, a few days later than usual because of the move, and didn't feel like cooking. The soup was fabulous and cookies were even more fabulous.

The kid's rooms are put away. The kitchen and bathrooms are put away. The living room is just about finished. Our room is almost done. Our closet is filled with boxes that need to be dealt with. The back patio and storage closet are disastrous. No pictures or decorative things have been hung on walls. I do, however, have the perfect spot for my framed work of creative genius that I told you about a while ago.

I'll add one more thing in, just for the laugh. Have you ever said or written something that didn't come across the way you intended? Well, that happened to me. On Saturday night, after the move, I glanced at the label on a box and chuckled to myself. I knew what it meant, but it's not what it looked like. I mentioned it to my dad, who then let me know that the crew who loaded our house had also commented on the label. Lovely. Here's one of the boxes with the label in question.
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Just for the record, the books in the boxes with this label aren't scandalous. They're just not children's books. Next time I think I'll just label these boxes "books" and leave the clarification of ownership to the kids' books. Lesson learned. Laughs given.

Oh, can't forget this. You can see my dad's pics of our stinkin' cute kids having fun at our new place right here.

MENU - FIRST HALF OF MAY 2010

We've got a crew loading up all our belongings into a moving truck, so I thought I'd take a break and do a little blogging.

Kidding! I'm writing this on Thursday and post-dating it for Saturday.

BREAKFASTS
oatmeal with the following topping options - brown sugar, raisins, milk, & sauce
granola (crockpot)
oat & almond breakfast bars (make night before)
morning glory muffins (from freezer)
pumpkin bread (from freezer)
blueberry oat muffins (doubling and freezing half)

DINNERS
leftovers x2
tacos x2
new chicken recipe (not a flop, but not worth posting)/rice/salad
easy enchiladas/beans (crockpot/freezer)/broccoli
creamy tomato & rice soup (crockpot)/biscuits
chicken broccoli divan (crockpot)/rice
chicken soup & dumplings
crustless quiche/salad
baked lentils & veggies with cheddar cheese
rice cooker mac & cheese/frozen veggies
black bean & rice burritos/frozen veggies

DESSERTS
snickerdoodles
apple brownies/vanilla ice cream