Sofa, Reupholstered

The upholstery job on the sofa was finally finished a couple of weeks ago. The woman (Dee) we hired to do the upholstering did a beautiful job on the furniture. The cushions were another story. It took 4 different tries before she finally got them right.

On top of that, she is an awful communicator. I think she really does know what she's doing, but she doesn't communicate what she's doing to the customer...at least not to me.

The cushions are still a little puffier than I want them to be, but she has assured me that the feather inserts will settle down over the first 3-4 months of use. She said to sit on them a lot! After that, the feathers will stay put.

Anyway, we love our furniture! We get so many compliments on these beautiful family heirlooms. Thank you for sharing them with us.

On my "to do" list - get brave and reupholster the occasional chair from Nana & Granddad Holman's house.

Piñata

Mark successfully removed the electronic device that someone had thrown over our phone line during the night. He said it appeared to be a little fan/blower device...like the neighbors might use for inflating their front yard population of plastic Christmas folks (snowman, Santa, etc.). It's quite the yard.

I was going to label the photo "old man with ladder and stick," but Mark said it should be called "piñata," and I think his title is better.

Things Come in Threes

Yesterday brought some big changes!

1. I went to the last class of my last class. After 6 years of night classes at PSU, I am finished. I'll still have meetings with my thesis advisor in winter and spring terms, but no more 4-hour night classes every week. No more driving to and from Portland every week.

2. David got the job in Wisconsin! He heard late yesterday afternoon. Originally they had planned for him to begin work in early January, but he offered to begin on Monday, and they said yes. He will fly out on Sunday. Holly and the kids will stay here until he has housing and some furniture secured. I am excited for David and his family, but I already know how much I will miss them...

3. I have a new calling. I have been serving in the Church nursery--and loving it--since June. It is a sweet, happy place to be on Sundays, even when a little one is sad and missing mommy. I figured I'd be there for a long time. Last night when I got home from class, the bishop was at the house. He chatted with Mark and me for a bit, and then he turned and looked at me... He asked me to serve as the Young Women's President. I'll be over all of the activities for the teenage girls in our ward. What a change! There's no way that I could have done this while I was still taking night classes. Isn't it interesting that God knew that I was on my way home from my last class when the bishop went to the house? Isn't it interesting that the bishop didn't even know I had been taking night classes? Isn't it interesting that the bishop and his counselors just made that decision the night before? Hmmm...

This bear is my life....

 Hang in there, little bear! Don't look down, and don't think about all the things about to pile up on you!

 How do bears get into these predicaments? Why don't they think ahead about all the things there are to do? What was the bear thinking, to get so close to the edge?

You can do it, little bear! Somehow, you'll figure out how to get back on top of things again...maybe...

Hahahahaha! Just want to point out that the bear is Mark's messy side of the room, not mine. When I looked over toward Mark's dresser this morning, I noticed the predicament of the poor little bear, hanging over the crevasse. Can you say, "end of term"?

We have our last finals today, with grading time in the afternoon and all day tomorrow. Can't wait for the weekend!

Andie's Apron

I wanted to show you the apron I made for Andie's birthday.

It didn't cost me anything! I was able to make it from fabric pieces and scraps that I already had at home.

I bought her a $.99 box of brownie mix to go with the apron.

Haha - her card cost more than her gift! But I think she'll like it.

Busy Day

Yesterday was crazy-busy.

We had the annual Veterans Assembly in the morning.

Normal teaching / literacy coaching duties during the day (ie: busy, always).

Taught Literacy Council about brain research on boy brains from 3:30-4:30.

Got home around 5:00.

Mark had to go help a handicapped ward member change out a plug plate.

Ate dinner and changed into church clothes and left the house at 6:00.

Michelle's wedding at 7:00.

Home a little after 9:00.

Whew!

Runaway Play Day

This coming Saturday is our monthly Play Day. Mark wants to really get away. The forecast is rainy here on the west side. Central Oregon is forecast for overcast, but no rain. We'll probably hop in the car at 3:15 Friday and head east. Stop where we feel like it. Explore and play on Saturday.

I've wanted to see the High Desert Museum in Bend for years. We're always in a hurry to get to or from Sparks Lake. Maybe this time we'll explore indoors.

Or there's Smith Rock State Park, also near Bend. It looks really cool. If the weather is good enough, it would be fun to explore that, too.

Of course, there are all those sweet little shops in Sisters, Oregon. Those are fun to wander around in.



Who knows what we'll do? Whatever it is, we won't be home Saturday morning. I'll give you a call when we get back in town. I love you!

Sweet Baby...

We had a family birthday party for David this evening. He requested his favorite dinner: roast beef, mashed potatoes, and homemade gravy. That's an easy menu, and I was happy to oblige. Holly made a delicious lemon/poppy seed cake with a warm lemon curd sauce for the frosting. Yum! I told Holly some stories about David's original "birth" day and when he was a little guy. Fun memories.

Oops - I forgot to make sure the flash was on, so some of the pictures are kind of yellow...

Ugh

Oh, my cold has hit with a vengeance today. Feeling really cruddy. I went to the doctor this afternoon. She listened to me breathe, and then had me take a 5-minute breathing treatment. It might have just been water vapor, or there might have been some medicine in it. I was too tired to ask. She said I don't have pneumonia. Now I have a new inhaler (asthma-type) to use every 6 hours for a week. I've gotten to this point before, and the inhaler helps. I don't have asthma on a regular basis, but I do have stress-induced asthma (germs = stress) every 3 or 4 years.

I would love to stay home tomorrow, but I'm scheduled to go to a conference in Portland. At least I can just sit and learn, and now have to worry about kids and my lit coach duties. I will be carpooling with 3 other teachers, so I won't even have to drive into Portland.

It's weird for me to be so sick - two times in four weeks. I almost never get sick. I'm either picking up germs from the grandkids in the house, or from my little nursery children at church. I'm pretty immune to teenage germs, but I'm going to have to build up stronger immunity to little-people germs.

Apple Pie!

We made an apple pie today - a yummy new recipe!

I first read about it on Sarah Maughan's blog, here. She has some really good pictures of making the pie, and how it turned out.

The actual recipe is here.

The thing that's different about it is this - instead of mixing sugar and flour with the apples, you just put the apples (only) in the crust. Then you put a lattice on top. THEN you make a caramel sauce, which you pour over the whole thing.

It's delicious, and it isn't as runny as apple pie usually is. Plus, the caramel makes a wonderful bit of crunchiness on the top crust...maybe you should make it for Dad's birthday next Saturday!

We made an extra one for me to take to Literacy Council on Tuesday...I'm going to try to lure more people to come with an email that says, "Eat apple pie and earn PSU credit." Haha!

Arora was a big help with the apples. We used one of those peeler-corer-slicer gizmos to prepare the apples. It made it much easier since we doubled the recipe and had 16 apples to peel and slice.

Princess and the Pea

These photos of Arora made me think of the old fairy tale. She loved sitting on her blanket "throne." She's playing with a game on her mom's cell phone.

Ender likes to vacuum

Need I say more? He was chasing Mark all over the living room the other day during vacuuming time. He isn't bothered by the noise at all. What a funny little guy!

Feeling Better

I finally woke up this morning with nearly-normal energy levels. Had a good day at school and Mark and I are headed to yoga class tonight.

What Lilly looks like...

...when Charlie is feeding her.

Hahahahaha!!

Thanks for the memories!

I know you were tired from a long trip and ready to be home, but thank you again, so much, for stopping to visit with us last week. I loved having a chance to just sit and visit with you. I love you so much, and it was wonderful to be included at the beginning and end of your odyssey. Here are some fun photos from your visit at our house:

 Helloooo, Hunter!

 You can tell he feels secure and loved.

 3 generations

I couldn't decide which one was best with these next three photos. Such a bunch of little wigglers! It's funny to track Ender...haha! What a short attention span! You can get a better look if you click on the pictures - they get bigger then.

Zucchini Xylophone

Oh, my, the zukes are taking over.

The biggest one is 20 inches long!!

Hahahahahahaha!!

Pioneer Crafts

Josh is a youth docent at the McLoughlin House. On Saturday he helped teach a pioneer craft.

 We were making plant prints. We painted the leaf, then pressed a card paper on top to make the print.

 Kat and Sarah had already made theirs before we arrived. Kat made another one with Grandpa, but Sarah was wandering around, so I didn't get a picture of her.

 Josh in his volunteer shirt

 Kat

 Kat

Some of the adult docents were in period costume. It was a fun craft to do with Josh and Kat!

Happy Birthday Holly

We had fun celebrating Holly's birthday today. She and David and the kids arrived last night (Thursday) about 9:00 pm. They are still adjusting to the different time zone, but they got quite a lot accomplished today for settling in to being Oregonians again.

I made a yellow cake from scratch for Holly. I thought I had a cake mix but I couldn't find it, so I pulled out my cookbook instead. It looked really pretty on the green cake dish. We decided not to try to squeeze 28 candles on the cake.

Ender had fun opening his card from Nana. (Holly also liked her card.)

Max and Maleena and Hunter came by for cake and ice cream, too. Ken and Dorothy Jenson stopped by to drop off some camping gear I'm borrowing for next week, so they joined the party. Then Holly's sister Heidi and her husband Keenan (one of David's buddies from high school) came over with their daughter Maple (a little younger than Ender). It was a good birthday party. Happy Birthday to Holly!

Sorting and organizing

What a busy week this has been! We are doing lots of sorting and organizing to prepare for David and Holly arriving on Friday.

Took 1 load to the dump
Took 1 load to the thrift store
Took 1 load to the computer recycling place in Portland
Did a major clean out - organize of the basement
Emptied the downstairs bathroom cupboards
Emptied Julia's old pantry
Organized my pantry
Cleared off everything (almost) from the kitchen counters
Moved the office desk and filing cabinets to the back porch
Sorted / organized the office desk
Bought a second refrigerator from Craigslist
Weeded the garden
Went to the temple this morning

Tomorrow I'll meet with the grandkids at Julia's house to adjust the packs and get their clothes organized. Mark will be leaving in the morning for 2 days/nights at scout camp. He'll be back Saturday afternoon.

Other family news...Nate and Ashley are moving to Texas. He has transferred to the Home Depot there, and will begin work in September. Ashley and the kids are staying in Texas (they went there on vacation) while Nate finishes up his work here and gets things packed for moving in a U-Haul truck.

Kendra and Chris and family are on a mini-vacation in Kansas City. They found a resort close to home, so they can see how it works with their family. I had a brief text exchange with Kendra on their first day, and she said it was going well. I'm so glad they were able to get away for a little break with their busy group.

David texted me a while ago from a rest stop in Wyoming. They will drive to Twin Falls tonight...they expect to get in around midnight. They'll drive the rest of the way here tomorrow. Whew! Three long days in the car with their kids. I think they will all be glad to get out of the car and enjoy being able to run around.

Can't wait to see you next week!

Lists and more lists...

Whew! I've been busy all afternoon making lists...

...a to-do list for this week. So many things I want to get done before David and Holly arrive on Friday night. Mark is going out to scout camp on Thursday morning, so I only have 3 days for the projects that we want to do together.
...a list of camping gear for us to take to Ensign Ranch when we camp with you and the Carlsons
...a list of camping gear for us to take on our backpack trip to Opal Creek with the Palshikar grandkids
...a menu for both campouts
...a shopping list for both campouts
...a very specific list of foods and equipment to go in the cooler, the kitchen food box, the kitchen equipment box, and the "miscellaneous" category for the Ensign Ranch campout.

By the way, did I tell you about our new toy?


Introducing...Kathy's Kamp Kitchen!

Isn't it dandy? It folds up into a package a little larger than a briefcase. I love all the surface area for food prep, and it has a cupboard that zips to keep the critters out. We tried it with our canoe camping at Sparks Lake, and it was SO nice. It's and REI design, and they thought of so many nice features for it.

Anyway, with Mark leaving on Thursday, and only a half-day turnaround between the two different camping outings, plus new family coming into the house, I knew I had to be really organized ahead of time. Now that my lists are all made, I feel like I can relax and just do what needs to be done, rather than worrying that I'm forgetting something.

See you soon!

Early Reader

David posted a video of Arora during scripture reading time.



She hadn't practiced reading this before; it was the first time she had seen this scripture. She is 3 1/2 now.

In case you have a hard time understanding some of her words, here is what she is reading:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1st Nephi 3:7)

Sweet Babies

 Hunter

Hunter

Lily playing doctor.

(Kendra sent this photo on her cell phone.)