7/15/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Clean towels - We have white towels that get grubby pretty quickly from little hands that didn't get washed thoroughly and I recently found a way to get back to super white. We wash laundry in cold water and neither bleach nor Oxi was getting them totally white. Now I toss in a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda with the detergent and they come out white as snow. I'm not sure if it's more of a bleach alternative or a stain remover, as I haven't tried it on any non-white laundry, but I'm happy with the way it's working on our towels!

Dad & Debra - These two came up to celebrate the big boys' birthdays last month and we enjoyed having them here. I'm pretty sure God wants them to move near us, but they're in denial. Or something. It couldn't possibly be that they prefer living where they're at. Nope, not possible.

Father's Day - I know I posted a picture of Tim and the little Ws on Father's Day, but you didn't see how many pictures it took to get that one. It was a lot. We started with one in tears over something ridiculous and ended with one hamming it up so much that they were never looking at the camera. It was hysterical! I present Evolution of a Father's Day Picture.

Abortion signs - Some person or organization put up anti-abortion signs along the freeway in our neck of the woods. Some other person or organization cut all the text out of them and/or wrote comments over the top. I am confident that both groups have good intentions and truly believe they're doing the right thing, but I'm pretty sure that few, if any, people are going to determine their beliefs about abortion because of a poster a stranger displayed on the freeway or because another stranger destroyed the posters. I'm all for standing up for what you believe is right, but neither of those approaches seems like it would be particularly effective. I could be wrong, though. Have you ever changed your views on an issue, not necessarily abortion, because of a poster or someone's response to a poster?

Last birthday - My 38th birthday was last month. That's the last birthday my mom had. I'm not emotional about it or anything. In fact, my neurotic junk that's related to her death stopped once I passed her diagnosis age. I find that's how most things related to it go - the anticipation of a milestone is often harder than the milestone itself. Anyway, I'm fine, but it is a little strange to wonder what it would be like to know this was my last year of life. Perspective.

Garden flop - We had a huge (well, at least for a residential lot) garden when we lived in Beaverton and I've missed it. Our current lot is smaller and doesn't have such a big sunny spot, but I planted a small garden this year. Twice. Things either didn't grow or got eaten by critters shortly after sprouting. So frustrating! We do have some tomatoes, thanks to a friend who had three starters she didn't need and some volunteers from the compost that I transplanted, one zuke that survived, some pumpkins from a friend's starters, three wimpy kales, three wimpy basils ... and that's it. I'd planted tons of cukes, zukes, basil, kale, spinach, lettuce, beets, and green beans ... but they flopped. I don't know what we'll do next year, but I really miss having a nice garden. Maybe I'll just make my own starts.  Meanwhile, we've been given some goodies from friends' gardens and that's been a treat!

Hedbanz - Some friends recently gave our family Hedbanz. We've had fun playing, but it quickly became clear that the game can't be played with Teebs in the room. In case you're unfamiliar with the game, you stick a card in a band around your head. Everyone can see each other's cards, but no one can see their own. The object of the game is to guess what card you have.  Like this.

Unfortunately Teebs thinks it's great to answer everyone's questions by identifying what's pictured on their cards. Stinker.

Humility - It's good to remember that no matter how powerful, knowledgeable, experienced, or influential that we are, the world wouldn't stop revolving if we were to drop dead.

Sometimes, when you're feeling important,
Sometimes, when your ego's in bloom,
Sometimes, when you take it for granted,
You're the best qualified in the room,
Sometimes, when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction,
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist,
Pull it out, and the hole that's remaining,
Is a measure of how you'll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop and you'll find in a minute,
That it looks quite the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is do the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember
There is no indispensable man.

~ Anonymous, quoted in Finish Strong: Living the Values That Take You the Distance, written by Richard G. Capen, Jr.

On the roof - Devon had to get on the roof to clean off some things that were up there. Dream fulfilled.

My thoughts - Your difficult circumstances can explain your feelings, but they don't justify your bad behavior.


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5/27/14 - TEN ON TUESDAY

Fun - Devon melted a bunch of old crayons together and made crayon cakes. Silas made a boiled egg go through the narrow opening of a bottle. Naomi lifted up a bottle of beans with a pencil

Garden - We've been without a shovel for a year and it finally occurred to me that I could just borrow one for the projects I've wanted to take care of all that time. Better late than never when it comes to being brilliant, right? A friend offered their shovel on Sunday and I spent almost five hours working in the yard, shoveling to my heart's content, on Monday afternoon. I moved some perennials around and planted seeds around the yard. I have one little area that's designated garden space, but the layout of our yard has me planting seeds in little areas all over the place. I actually planted several things a few weeks ago, but hardly anything came up. That's never happened to me before, so I'm hoping yesterday's efforts will be more successful. Time will tell!

Hair - It's been two and a half weeks since I had my hair chopped off and I'm really liking it. It's curly, so it never looks the same way two days in a row, but here's how it looked on Sunday.

Memorial Day - My parents used to always take us down to the port in Brookings on Memorial Day for the ceremony they held there. I thought it was kinda boring, but I also knew it was important. As a parent, however, I have never done anything similar with my own kids. I just never think about it ahead of time, so I never know what ceremonies are in my area when the day actually rolls around. This year I finally looked up info weeks in advance and our family went to a local ceremony yesterday. I'm sure the little Ws found it somewhat boring, though some of them wandered around reading names and figuring out how old people were when they died for a while and they all liked the flyover, but I also hope they realize the importance of acknowledging the reason we have a three day weekend at the end of every May.

I think Belle Passi cemetery, which is where we went, is beautiful! The flags that are up over Memorial Day weekend obviously add a special touch, but I love how there are flowers, shrubs, and trees planted among the rows of grave markers and headstones. So pretty!

Music - I love the variety of music we can listen to on Pandora, but I always listen to this station of hymns on weekday mornings as everyone gets ready for the day.  It's a peaceful and positive background to what can be a very chaotic time of day.

Pictures - I got waaaay behind on loading pictures to Picasa, but got all caught up over the weekend.  If you want to see pictures of what we've been up to lately, then click right here or the Picasa link on the sidebar.

Pounding - A few years ago someone coordinated a pounding for our family and it was a huge blessing. This month I've been able to coordinate a pounding for another family and it's been an even bigger blessing. Anonymous and identified givers, people who know the family well and people who don't them at all, food and household items, cash and gift cards ... just a bunch of generosity. I love seeing people rally around those in need, doing whatever they're able, whether a lot or a little, to make someone else's life easier.

Recycling - I came up with a new use for our old crib. I'm not sure if people will think it falls in the "cool way to re-purpose something" category or the "that's really tacky and you should have just thrown it away" one, but I kinda like it and don't really care if it's tacky. The first picture is the head and foot of the crib with peas starting to grow, the second with the peas much taller. The third picture is the sides and bottom of the crib, which will also have peas growing up them and will serve as a visual barrier for the compost piles behind them.

Reflux - Four years ago I thought I was going to die of a heart attack, but it turned out that I had a random case of reflux. At the beginning of May I started having chest pain again and eventually got diagnosed with another case of reflux. I have no idea why I've had these two cases, as it's obviously not a chronic problem, and I don't know why my only symptom is chest pain, but I'm sure thankful for medicine that gets it under control!

Veteran - Grumps, which is what we call my dad's dad, is a World War II veteran who joined five other Marines for a trip to New Zealand earlier this month, visiting the place they had been stationed during the war and turning over the remains of their comrades who had been MIA. Such a neat opportunity for these men! My grandpa is the first Marine shown in the footage of this brief news clip. He's also in a bunch of pictures that the U.S. Embassy staff took, wearing jeans, a red plaid shirt, and a navy blue jacket. He e-mailed a report from someone who was on the trip, but it's long and I'm not going to copy it here.  I've posted it as a note on Facebook and made the setting public, so you can read it here. UPDATE: I also found another short news clip and Grumps is interviewed near the end, at 2:30.

JUST TALKIN'

The 2009/2010 Wall of Love - I take our Christmas tree and decorations down a couple days after Christmas. The cards we receive, however, stay up for the whole month of January. I love looking at them. Here's what came in this year, minus one card that kept falling from the top. So fun to see all the faces and read all the updates!
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Devon - Last week Devon came out of his room and asked me what I thought of his outfit. He was wearing brown shorts and a brown shirt. I told him they matched nicely. His response? "Brown and brown, now I look like my dad and Silas." All right, buddy, we'll let you compare skin color to clothing color.

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Devon, the king of funny faces

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Seeds - I harvested some seeds from last year's garden, not realizing I wouldn't have a garden this spring. I've given some away already, but I have more to share. Four o' clocks, green beans, and purple beans (green beans that are purple on the vine and turn green when you cook them). Any takers?

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Pics - Just a little reminder that I post pics on our Picasa page every Sunday night. Cute kid alert!

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Naomi's Hair - Naomi recently got her first haircut. I ended up cutting about half of it off. While I do miss the super fluffy pom poms I used to give her and the ability to get all her hair up in two pigtails, I'm definitely liking how much healthier her hair looks. The only part that's still ratty is the back, which I'm told will be that way until her car seat days are over.

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The final moment of Naomi's long hair. Notice how dark the bottom is and how light the tips are.

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Bowling - One of the Christmas gifts the kids received was money for us to spend doing fun stuff with them. So, we headed down to the bowling alley last week and let them play a couple games. Silas and Devon each won a round and Naomi got the only strike (with bumpers, of course). Thanks to Tammy for hooking us up with a BOGO coupon and making that Christmas money stretch!!

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Silas happily waits for his turn to roll the ball.

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Shorts - I'm a bit picky about the length of shorts. Basically, that means I like it when girl's shorts have an inseam longer than their underwear. A lot longer is ideal, but a little longer would be a good place to start. I discovered, upon Naomi's birth, that I'm the only one on the planet who feels that way. It drives me batty that clothing for infant and toddler girls are designed to be sexy. Short shorts and low-rise pants are a little ridiculous when the person wearing them is still in diapers. Diapers that, obviously, aren't even covered completely when wearing these particular items of clothing.

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I'm also a bit picky about price and refuse to spend $20 on the rare pair of long shorts I can find for Naomi, as she'll only wear them for a year.

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I'm also a bit picky about my pot-bellied little girl being able to breathe. She's too young to be required to lay down and suck in her stomach just to get her pants on.

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So, imagine my delight when I found Bermuda shorts that fit Naomi at Target for $3.50 last night. Needless to say, I used her Christmas money to buy one in each of the four styles they were selling. They're normally $5.00 and the sale price of $3.50 is good through Saturday, in case you want to snag some too. I'm a happy mom!!

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Girl Time - I am going to Noodles & Company for dinner on Saturday. I'll be at the one in Beaverton on the corner of Griffith & Beaverton Hillsdale. If you would like to join me, then I'd love to have some girl time. We always eat dinner at 5:00, but I'd be willing to go as late as 6:00 if that meant others could make it.

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In addition, I have a BOGO coupon that has to be used soon. So, if you plan on joining me on Saturday, then leave a comment on this post to let me know. I'll do a random drawing of those names on Saturday at noon and treat the winner to a free dinner.

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If no one is interested in or able to join me, then I'll enjoy a night to myself with a mound of pasta and a book to read. I'd be content with that too!

RANDOM PICS FROM LAST WEEK

Granny hanging out at Naomi's party.

Ashley and Naomi having fun together.

Some flowers Beep sent that grew this year from seeds that dropped last year.

Naomi's second birthday cake.


In college I discovered gummy grapefruit slices. They were sold at a little store in Florence that my roomie's sister worked at. A couple years later I found them in a store in Ashland. Last week I found them in the bulk section of WinCo. Oh happy day!

Tim having a lot of fun with the insect killer my dad gave him for his birthday. Few things bring such a big smile to Tim's face, but electrocuting insects certainly does the job.

Boys Camp 2009 - Tim, Braden, Silas (I have no idea why he's closing his eyes), Noah, Austin, Michael, Devon

Silas' new smile. Two teeth lost in a week - one swallowed with a meal (second time that's happened) and one lost at church (which earned him extra tickets for the prize booth).

My dad came up for Naomi's birthday party. Here he and Naomi are hanging out before the little lady hits the sack.

Devon blowing out his flaming marshmallow.

We usually eat extra green beans during the summer, but this year I blanched and froze some. We'll see how they turn out. In case you've never seen these purple beans, then try them out. They turn green when you cook them.

MY YARD

I love my yard. It has the potential to be amazingly beautiful, but we rent and aren't going to spend the time and money to get it that way. Even without being beautifully landscaped, it's such a nice place to be. Lots of space for a city lot, at least a quarter acre. Tons of trees, like eleven or twelve. Breathing space between neighbors, the side of one is at our back and no one else within 100 feet (that's my guess, but keep in mind I'm lousy at estimating stuff like that). After many years in an apartment, it's so nice to have some wiggle room.

I've been outside for several hours each day over the last couple weeks and it makes me appreciate what a blessing it is that we were able to rent this yard. I mean, this house. For those who have never come to visit, let me show you around.

This is the front yard, taken from the right side of the house. You can see our front porch on the right and our driveway just beyond it. The house in the distance is the second closest house to ours.



If you stood in the same spot as the last picture and turned 90 degrees to your right, then you'd see this gate to the backyard. Just out of the picture, on the right side, is a magnolia tree that causes me to rake at all times of the year.


Now turn another 90 degrees to the right and you'll see the corner of our lot, which is also a street corner. The fire hydrant just happens to be a great platform for little boys to do balancing acts and cool stunts on. You can just see the corner of the fence from the last picture on your right. Have your bearings? All right, moving on.

If you walked forward 30 feet from the last pic, toward the corner and turned 90 degrees to your left, then this is what you'd see. It's the side yard. The first tree has a swing hanging from it, though you can barely see it in the picture. It almost looks like a shelf coming off the tree behind it. Our property ends about six feet past the second tree. And no, that's not snow in the grass. It's the love that our two cottonwoods shower on us each year.

Now we'll backtrack and go into the backyard. If you went through the gate that was in a previous picture, then you'd enter the backyard to the right of the swing you see below. This picture was taken from the back patio.

And moving our gaze a little to the left we come to "the mound". That's the name of the area behind the big tree on the left. It's always a mess, filled with trucks, buckets and shovels. The kids spend hours there digging tunnels, building dams and all sorts of other exciting things. It's shady in the summer and dry in the light rain, a perfect place to get really grubby. And those two little trees leaning toward each other in the back? The cottonwoods, evidenced by the white grass all around them.

Now spin a little more to the left. You've turned a full circle now and you're looking at our back patio, garage and garden. What? You want to see more of the garden. Well, forward ... march!

This is the area directly across from the picnic table in the last picture. Strawberries are there from previous years, zukes and flowers are waiting to sprout. That's some sort of wild rose in the background.

Well, a sliver got lost between the last picture and this one, but this is directly across from the back of the garage. Tomatoes are in the cages and a gazillion other things are still in seed form here.

I know you wanted a better shot of my super fantastic tomato cages, so here you go. My dad made them for me a couple years ago and I love them!

Feet getting tired? All right, we'll wrap it up. This is on the opposite side of the garage, across from the tomato cages. It's where corn and pumpkins grow. There's actually a heap of blackberry bushes and a dog run to the right of this too. It's a bit of a mess back there. Anyway, if you looked over the fence in the background, then you'd be staring at our driveway, which means you've just looped around our whole yard. Wasn't that exciting?

GOOD TIMES

October is time for the annual pumpkin patch trip with my dad. This was the weekend he came up and we all had a great time.

Friday - My dad arrived to our house in the early afternoon. We headed to Chuck E. Cheese for a couple hours of pizza, games, rides, and stuff to climb on. When we came home my dad performed a magic trick for the boys, impressing them with his ability to read minds.

Saturday - We headed to Baggenstos Farm for a day of fun in the sun. We hit the pumpkin patch, walked through the corn maze, did pumpkin bowling, ate lunch, and climbed all over a play structure. Everyone konked out for an afternoon nap when we got home, then my grandma came over for dinner.

Sunday - We all went to church in the morning, hit "Old McDonalds" for lunch, then home for more naps. After dinner we headed out to the garden to pick pumpkins. Yes, you read that right. We don't actually get pumpkins when we go to the pumpkin patch because we have them growing in our garden. The boys carved up their pumpkins with some help from Tim and my dad. I made up some kettle corn and then it was off to bed for the little Ws. Naomi, who falls asleep easily at night, would not konk out. She cried and cried and cried. Eventually my dad took her and she immediately fell asleep in his arms.

And that was the end of a wonderful weekend.

THE GARDEN IN AUGUST

Remember when I told you about newly planted garden? Well, here is what it's looking like these days.

SNAPDRAGONS