On The Loopy Fringe

Crazy Kids

2010-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take two crazy kids and give them a shoe box?

THIS!

time passes, but nothing ever changes

2010-10-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. And for my one fan out there (hey mom!), I give my dearest apologies. Life is...well, you know. So here is an update of what's been going on:

Blake just turned 7 and one of her big presents this year was a drum set! She's in the garage right this second "jamming". She also is loving first grade. Her teacher keeps things fun!

Ranen on the other hand is not loving 5th grade. His studies are getting more intense and the fact that he's growning up is a bit stressful for him! But he still loves drawing, video games and all things WWE related. We took the whole family to Smackdown a couple of weeks ago. This was one happy boy!

Chris is doing well. He's still looking for a job. Times are tough, but at least he found a new hobby! He's been ripping apart the back yard. He wants to build a miniature greenhouse! He's determined to successfully grow peppers. Perhaps next year...

And me? Well, last month I started with a new group at work. I am now working along a couple of designers updating college identities! It's very exciting and everyday brings something new.

The pets are all doing fine and I guess we're all just trying to get the most out of each sunny day before winter sets in. There's a lot coming up: Blake has a field trip to a pumpkin patch, Ranen is having his 5th grade concert and Chris and I may have a date night planned! Until then!

Who done it?

2010-10-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

It was an ordinary afternoon in an ordinary driveway when we discovered the decapitated remains of Tiger. The children were in shock. I was in horror. And the culprit came back to the scene of the crime!

Zoo

2010-06-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

Last week Chris and I chaperoned Blake's Kindergarten class to the Portland Zoo. Even though it was wet, we had a flippen good time all thanks to Chris. I have to admit that he is the "fun" grownup in our house and it came in handy with the four girls we were in charge of.

We nicknamed the small group the Pink Polar Bears. We had chants, a special hand bump/firework jester and growl. We saw tons of animals and even threw in a game of tag. It was exhausting, but totally worth it.

OMSI

2010-05-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend was beyond disappointing. No sun. No sun at all. What's up with that?

So yesterday, Blake and I went to our go-to Portland blah day place...OMSI. It's been a while since our last visit and we thought we've done/seen everything. But once again OMSI had a few surprises for us.

The first was this huge T-REX skeleton.

The paleontology lab was open so we touched lots of fossils. The holograph room was open as well. They have a hologram of a microscope. If you look in the microscope you see an image. It blew me away.

The Chem lab was open as well so we tried out a few stations. Previously Blake was too antsy to sit through a 6 step process, but she was excited to do an experiment more then one time.

We rocked the safety goggles!

And upstairs, in the 6 and under room, I caught a glimpse of something rare. Something that I may never see again.

It was hard to get visual proof...

It was elusive/invasive and tricky.

But if you look closely, you can see my daughter dressed up in a chipmunk vest.

Rockin'

2010-05-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Chris brought home Band Hero.

We were all in awe. This game is flipping addictive. If the kids were to spend the same amount of time playing on real instruments, then we could totally go on tour as a real band!

We already have our favorite rock star poses.

And our youngest has declared that she wants to take real drum lessons. Cool.

Garden

2010-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have to give Chris some big props.

He worked his butt off in March/April taking out the two trees in the front and making the raised bed, garden ready. This meant digging out the layers of dirt, weed blocker, and pebbles and putting in layers of compost. One day I offered to help shovel and after 1/3 of the truck bed was emptied I was achy and done. It's back breaking work so today when Chris geeked out about eating the first veggie from the garden, a radish, I geeked along with him.

They are a still a bit small, but he needed to thin them out a bit. This year is the first for us and radishes and also for broccoli.

It blows my mind when I see how a veggie actually grows! You mean they don't just magically appear on the supermarket floor??

But what I'm really excited for are the strawberries!

So a big thanks to Chris for doing such a great job on my garden!

Happy Mothers Day...to me!

2010-05-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this is my first post in 2010. Where on earth have I been and why haven't I been blogging? Well, to put it in a nutshell...work has been kicking my ass and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was to sit in front of another computer. But the big deadline has come and gone and though things are still crazy, it's not 12 hr day crazy. So I'm back and just in time for summer fun. Here's a quick run down of what's been happening at the homestead.

Me: Work. I hate to admit but that's been the dominating 'theme' since January. Nuf Said.

Chief: He had a vasectomy on Monday and is doing well. I even made him a "sorry about your balls" cake. Ahhh the things you do for love. :-) He's still in a couple of bands and my hero for being in charge of the garden. He plans on starting back on the job hunt once he can walk without waddling!

Thumbs: 4th grade is almost over and both C and I are a little freaked at how fast he's growing up. He is still way into his drawing classes. I find these random drawings all over the house that make my mouth drop. We are just happy that he has a passion other than video games!

Smalls: Well, this one is ready for kindergarten to be over with. She wants to be a first grader! She's in love with wresting (help me) and Zhu Zhu pets. She tries so hard to be independent but there are moments, like today, when she just needs a hug from her mommy!

The dogs: Both are doing well and getting along. There are times when I see Noro licking Hershey's face. It makes me giddy until Noro then tries to hump Hershey. Ahhh brotherly love.

Here are the kids before the St. John's parade.

Mothers...have a most excellent day! You all deserve it!

Refashion Truths.

2009-12-28T09:21:00.001-08:00

In preparation for the toys Santa was bound to bring, I asked the kids to go through their rooms and remove the things they no longer wanted or played with. In the middle of the big clean, Blake shyly comes up to me with the cake costume in her hand.

B: "Mom, is it okay if I tell you I don't want this".

V: "Sure honey....But you don't want it for dress up?"

B: "Is it okay if I say that I don't like it?"

V: "Oh my gosh! Did you not like it at Halloween?"

B: "No, I felt silly."

V: "So...you wore it for me?"

B: "I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

[big hugs]

So after I explained to her that it was okay to tell me how she feels about things, we went back to finishing her room. We came across two dresses that she didn't want. Feeling inspired to get my craft on, I decided to do a few refashions...

I took a 4T dress

removed the bodice and added elastic to make a skirt.

I then did the same thing to this dress:

And added some mesh to make it poofy

It didn't take long and when i was done I asked Blake what she thought.

B: "I'm sorry mom but I don't like them."

shoot. Well, at least I've learned my lesson. My daughter has a definite sense of what she likes and what she doesn't. Perhaps the next time I feel inspired, I should just ask what she thinks BEFORE I buy or refashion anything.

Cinnamon Bear

2009-12-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago I came home to find Chris and Blake totally enamored with "The Cinnamon Bear". It's a twenty-six chapter holiday radio program originally broadcast in 1937. Blake was amazed that radio was the main entertainment for a family back in the day. She fell in love with Cinnamon Bear and the magical world of Maybeland.

In the days since we've turned on the radio program (thanks internet!), turned off the main lights snuggled on the couch and listened while watching the Christmas tree lights twinkle. It's really been magical and I feel positive this will become part of our holiday family tradition.

So when Chris saw that the Portland Spirit had a "Cinnamon Bear" cruise he had to take Blake! So while I was at work they had a fancy-pants time!

There was, of course Cinnamon Bear:

This picture is dark but we were able to buy a professional shot which seconded as an autograph book.

A few characters were on hand to sign autographs and pose for cute photo ops.

The cost of the ticket included food, drink, and a magic show!

And the view rocked! When all was said and done, Blake said it was the best time ever.

Holiday treats.

2009-12-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

It's awesome when kids bring home treats.

Ranen made this at school. So AWESOME!

BTW. Blake's illness only lasted 24 hours. She is doing great and both kids are very excited for Santa's impending visit!

When kids get sick.

2009-12-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last night we were watching the Phineas and Ferb Christmas special when it happened. Blake refused popcorn. POPCORN. Her favorite thing in the whole wide world. I knew something was up but she had no fever so I took it as her being fickle and we went back to watching the show.

About 10 minutes later, as I was washing dishes, I heard her run to the bathroom. Now as a parent I've been lucky that as a kid Blake has never vomited. It was like she had an iron stomach that could withstand anything.

So it broke my heart to hear her ask, "Mommy? [heave] Am I throwing up? [heave] Am I going to die? [heave]"

Needless to say, she survived the night. She's currenlty napping but as a parent it breaks my heart to see my energetic, spastic kid quiet and so worn out.

Now I'm waiting for the rest of us to join in on the fun! uck.

The Play's the thing.

2009-12-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

The play was super amusing, especially with the littlest kids either being super shy on stage or waving frantically when they saw a parent! It wasn't about the sets or the costumes but about the school coming together and doing something fun. A celebration of the Sitton spirit!

I took pictures but they all came out super dark. But I did manage to get a before shot...

I think she was more excited about the "stage makeup" then anything else.

Upcoming...Must See!

2009-12-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Are you in Portland? Are you in the mood to see silly live theater that will melt your heart?

Sitton Elementary is having it's Winter Celebration "Once Upon A Time" this Thursday, December 10th at 6pm. The cost is $1 per family and concessions will be sold.

Blake will be playing a parrot in "The Beautiful Cockroach."

I'm powering up the camera, warming up my spastic clapping hands and preparing my little heart from exploding with the cuteness of it all.

Don't worry...I'll be buying a couple video copies for the grandparents!

Hershey

2009-11-28T19:52:00.001-08:00

I would like to introduce you to our newest member of our family....Hershey.

Hershey is a 2 yr old chocolate lab we adopted from a Newberg shelter. And he's GREAT!

The first couple of weeks were all about teaching him the rules of our house and for Noro to show his alpha dog-ness. Now it's just more love to go around. Hershey is still a little skittish when we leave the house, but overall he has no problems putting himself to bed at night when he gets tired or showing us he needs some snuggles.

It's been an adjustment but once you have one, having another dog isn't that much different.

And Noro?

Oh...he still get's plenty of attention!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T21:44:00.001-08:00

Why did the skeleton go to the butchers? Because he needed some spare ribs!

A kid told me this yesterday and I'm still cracking up! It's a classic I tell ya!

So it's been a crazy couple of weeks and I haven't been inspired to blog because our camera went capo-wee. Anyhoo, that's been fixed...just in time for Halloween!

When I asked the kids what they wanted to be this year Blake screamed out "CAKE" and then Ranen immediately followed with "FLY...to buzz around the CAKE!". So this year I went to work on our first ever home made kid costumes!

The fly:

The cake with her buddy Dessi as Gabriella from High School Musical:

Chris wore his bee costume complete with beer in hand.

And me...well,

I was the spork. You know, to go with the cake!

But the cutest was Noro as a blazer fan!

Busy Week

2009-10-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we got geared up and found our way downtown for the Blazer Family Fun Fest. We were there early enough to get decent seats. The kids had popcorn and we took turns holding the "claw!"

We had Ranen's half brother with us.

Both Blake and I started classes this week. I'm venturing into the land of Capoeira and Blake is taking swim classes. Our goal is to have her swimming by next summer!

Then today we decided to take advantage of the sun and hit the pumpkin patch.

The kids petted some animals.

Then Blake rode on one.

We picked pumpkins and took silly pictures.

It was a fun afternoon but we are exhausted. I think I'll go take a nap now...

when bad knitting happens to good people

2009-09-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

There once was a sweater. It had a body, arms and a yoke on it's way to being finished. The owls were half way done when a funny looking stitch was spotted.

Without thinking I tinked back to that stitch and came across something I've never seen before. So I tinked back more stitches and was once again stumped.

I couldn't understand why the yarn came from the left then went back the same direction.

So I decided to rip back completely to that spot to reknit. As I was pulling out the circular, the piece that attaches the needle tip to the cable broke.

As colorful words started to spew out of my mouth I realized that the funky stitch that I saw was a wrapped stitch from the short row shaping. I created this huge mess for nothing. I blame the mass amounts of sugar I consumed that day.

Needless to say, the owl sweater is in time out.

Blake turns 6!

2009-09-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my little girl turned 6.

It amazes me to see pictures of her so young. Was she really that small?

Did she really have all that attitude... even at that age?

I wonder where she get's it from? ;-)

Saturday was filled with presents, cake and laughter. We were lucky to have one of Blake's oldest chums over for a play date. This was the first time she had a friend over to play in the new house and she was the perfect hostess showing Katie every toy she owned.

They geeked over making a fort and played in barbietopia that sprung eternal in the room of pink.

Why yes, there are over 30 barbies in that house.

And yes, they are having one heck of a party! And so did my princess.

Only in Portland

2009-09-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

conversation had last night.

me: "So honey, what did you do today?"

c: "Oh...you know. I biked naked down Mount Tabor. The Flaming Lips were shooting a music video."

me: "cool...so what do you want for dinner?"

LOL. At least chris wore my hand knit socks during the shoot!!

Monkey Bar Peeps

2009-09-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I volunteered at Blake's school for two hours. It was a great time for me to see what goes on in her classroom and for me to get to know the kids a bit more.

Blake made a couple of friends. They hug in the morning when they see each other. My heart just filled up with rainbows and cupcakes when I saw this!!

During recess Blake, who had dressed herself in a wild colorful skirt and black tank-top, started to climb the monkey bars. A boy ran right under her, looked up, than ran away! I couldn't believe my eyes!

Later that night Blake started doing flips off the couch when I saw some blue under her skirt. "Are you wearing Bloomers?" I asked. "Yup." she said matter of fact.

I've never been so proud! Forget about her ability to count to 100 or write out words she sounds out herself. She wore fricken bloomers to protect her underwear from being viewed by little boy eyes!

Awesome!!

First Day of School

2009-09-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Blake's first official day of school was Friday.

I drove her to Sitton Elementary and walked her in. She was nervous. Okay okay... I must admit I was a little nervous as well. We've been to Sitton before on a previous carnival event earlier this year so that part wasn't new for her. It was the kids and the organized chaos that ensued.

After the first bell we walked to Room 1. There were a few other kids there with their families. One thing I love about North Portland is the diversity we have. We heard many languages, saw a lot of different skin tones and even a blue mohawk.

We found her hook to hang her back pack and she picked a spot at one of the four tables to sit in. She was quiet so I was hesitant to leave. But I bucked up, gave her a kiss and hug and backed out of the kindergarten room waving and giving thumbs up the entire way.

When I picked her up she was all smiles. "I LOVE school!!" she yelled. And for the first time this week I relaxed, sighed and enjoyed the moment as she told me about her day.

Ranen turns 10!!

2009-09-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Ranen's Tenth birthday. 10. We are talking double digits and it's totally freaking me out.

Ranen isn't a huge fan of cake (i know!) so we opted for donuts and candles in lieu of.

After ice cream and donuts, he opened his presents. As a right of passage, Chris bought Ranen a full stereo set including a turn table.

Chris did an excellent job picking up records that would appeal to a preteen including Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, The Doors and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others.

In the past couple of days we've heard the following from Ranen. "Hey guys, I'm going into my room for a while." followed by heavy metal and the sound of banging feet.

.... and so it begins!

Blake's unofficial start.

2009-09-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today was the official start of the school year for most kids, but for the kindergarten class at Sitton the first three days are dedicated to one on one assessment meetings with the teacher. I really don't know who was more anxious, Blake or me.

All my worries were for not. She and the teacher got along famously. Blake answered all her questions and showed she was more then ready to be a school kid.

Later I cried. I could blame it on the moon or the hormones, but it was more of a realization that my daughter is about to start a whole new phase in her life. It's scary and awesome all at the same time.

Yaaaarn

2009-09-06T19:38:00.001-07:00

Yarn. Oh how do I love thee. And what better way to spend a wonderful afternoon then with great friends, yarn and lots of color!

So this is what happens when someone gives me permanent dye.

Honestly I was a little confused on which direction to go. Part of me wanted perfection. Perfect stripes in multiple colors gently flowing together in a perfect representation of a color wheel. The other part of me wanted to say "frick you perfection!". I wanted to let my hair down and play. So what eventually happened was the mental struggle captured on this blank starting from left to right and ending with Blake's name written on top. How will this knit up as socks? Who knows...but I'm kind of curious to find out!

The next two sock blanks I already had planned in my head. At the sock summit I fell in love with the thought of stripped knee highs. My favorite colors are maroon and green and even though I was risking looking like a walking Christmas advertisement, I went for it.

I don't think this combo will look too christmasy...right? Knee Socks. Rock!

I was a blown away by what my fellow knitters did. The engineer had the most freeflowing and creative samples, the professor had an amazing eye for color, the lawyer had me drooling with her overdye and the teacher kept spitting out color combos that I never would have thought would work...but they did. And they were wonderul. Everyone did amazing work.

So now I need more time to knit. Good thing I finished the promised doggie sweater for Blake's day care provider!

Molly was gracious enough to pose! What a cat!!

Baby Presents

2009-09-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today we planned on attending the Pumpkin Patch opening of their Trailblazer Corn Maze. Unfortunately it was a downpour this morning and as much as we are hard core Portlanders who are not afraid of a little rain, cold mud on the other hand didn't sound as much fun as bowling.

Blake dressed herself. And Ranen ended up beating my score.

I also finished a gift package for Chris's band mate who is expecting a child at the end of this month.

The highlights:

A self screenprinted onesie with the band's logo on the front.

And their tagline on the butt. I know...chris made me do it!

I also made a stuffed elephant.

There's an embroidered heart on the front and the Pan's symbol on the butt. I was inspired by Care Bears.

And of course, the Norwegian Sweet Cap...modeled here by Blake's baby doll.

Since we don't know the sex of the baby I kept the colors as neutural as I could. Everything is machine washable...a must for babies. I hope they like it!

Newfie Legend

2009-08-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Lewis and Clark had a Newfound named Seaman?

Yeah, Newfies are great. Nothing like a bit of BIG Newfoundland love!!

Cape Dissapointment. Part II

2009-08-30T09:20:00.001-07:00

Wednesday after work we grabbed the kids, some gear and headed out for a camping trip with reservations in hand.

This trip was 100 x's better then the last. The camp site was feet from the beach, quiet and had few mosquitoes to fight off. The only trouble came from raccoons who scoured our site for leftovers after dark which drove Noro batty with their chatter.

Every beach trip the kids rolled up their pants and played in the ocean. We hardly had any dry clothes left by day 3.

Crazy Oregon kids... the water was cold!
Noro had some fun too...

We found a hidden fort and spent hours playing and adding to it.

We made great use of sand toys, kites, the bikes and the camp fires for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. It was a great trip to end the summer.

2009-08-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been pretty laid back. We've been taking advantage of the portland summer hanging outside, riding bikes and tending to the garden. We've been lucky enough to entertain and Chris has been busy playing gigs that bring home money. I know, right?

Upcoming events worth mentioning!

This Friday, Aug 29th, Chris will be playing with Canoofle at Airplay Cafe at 7pm. If you've never been there before it's very laid back and VERY kid friendly. They have a full dinner menu with adult beverages! They are located at 7th and Burnside. Hope to see you there!

Portland Public Schools have been holding community care day's this month. It's an opportunity for folks to volunteer at their local school to pick up trash, spread bark dust, and anything else that needs doing. Blake's school, Sitton Elementary is holding theirs this Saturday August 29th from 9am to Noon. Any help is appreciated...so if your interested go to Hands on Portland to sign up! I'll be there and so will the kids if the donut bribe works!

The kids birthdays are rapidly approaching. Ranen will be 10. Blake 6. Can you believe it! OMG. Blake will be starting kindergarten soon. Too soon. My little baby is growing up!

Tomorrow night we are taking the kids to the coast for some camping adventure. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures! Until then.

Blake has some new wheels

2009-08-15T09:07:00.001-07:00

Last week we bought Blake a bike. She loVes this thing. She rides it every chance she gets. It's pretty cool!

Good thing tomorrow is the last of the Sunday Parkways!

Sock Summit Swag

2009-08-08T13:07:00.001-07:00

This week in Portland numerous knitters have descended for the first ever Sock Summit. My credit card groaned at the amount of use during the marketplace. But what I got....oh yeah! So worth it! Among wonderful yarn I bought Dansko's to show off the socks I knit, Handknit Heros...a comic book series, and a really cool hand thrown and trimmed coffee cup by Jennie Lanners.

Hazel knits, Tactile Fiber Arts Studio, Knit Witch yarn, Zen String and Crazy Monkey Creations... Thank you. Thank you for giving me something to oogle.

Blake is back!

2009-08-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Blake is back.

I flew out Thursday morning to St. Louis. Rented a car to drive to southern Illinois and discovered I was in an entirely different world.

There were Amish, corn and lots of good 'ol rock n roll on the radio.

So glad to be home. So glad to have my daughter back. So glad...

Molly's New Hot Spot

2009-08-04T05:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I couldn't find my cat. It was like playing hide and seek and I was loosing miserably. That was until I noticed a familiar shape...

Since Blake has been gone, Molly has had to find other ways to amuse herself. She's been exploring other parts of the house. And Noro? Well, after a few spats on the nose there has come an understanding between the two.

...cats and dogs living together. Mass Hysteria! -PV

Camping at Cape "D"

2009-08-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

Chris and I took a mini vacation this weekend to Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. It's been close to two years since we've gone away, just the two of us. So off we went with gear, beer and a very excited dog!

We showed up around 11am and all the first come - first serve spots were filled. We stumbled around until we found an RV park that had an open "tent" spot. Not quite the experience we were looking for, but we set up camp and were off.

We checked out Benson Beach first where Noro found a souvenir.

His tail was wagging the entire time, he was sooo happy. There is nothing as awesome as watching my boys in their natural habitat.

We drank, chased birds and took a nice long nap on the beach before heading to Beards Hollow. The bog and the mosquitoes had a field day with us. Note to self....remember the deet! At this point Noro was beat so we headed into Long Beach for a nice ride and some Po boys. Though neither of us was up for driving on the beach, we know this is a must do with the kids!

That night was interesting. I can totally understand why someone would want to take modern convinces camping. I can understand a blow up mattress...sure but a mini fridge? Or the karaoke machine and it's Alanis Morissette loving user who couldn't quite hit the high notes? Urg.

We made the best of it with more beer and knitting. As soon as day broke we packed up and tried the state park again. This time there were open spots available but they were all next to more RV's and neither of us was up for that again. So we decided to finish the morning with a visit to Waikiki Beach and the Light house.

We left Washington happy that we explored a good chunk of the park. We checked out the best tent sites (that have NO Electrical outlets!) for future camping trips. This is a great family park. Plenty of spots for kids to ride bikes, hike and hit the beach.

We ended the trip with lunch at Astoria's Rouge Brew. Noro laid at our feet while we had lagers and clam chowder. It was a great way to end the trip.

Summer fun at dad's.

2009-07-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Fred was kind enough to send me some pictures of Blake and some of the things she has been doing .

They have horses. They had to sell her pony Magic, but they have a few more she can ride.

And here she is riding another powerful mode of transportation... a power wheel!

I am unbelievably excited and happy that Blake is spending this time with her dad. They live out in the country. They have lots of animals and even a small grove of apple trees. I've never been there but I can imagine that life is peaceful, quiet and soul enriching in a way she would never experience here in Portland.

She is happy and is having so much fun! And that my friends, is priceless!

So what do people do when their kids are out of the house?

2009-07-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

So far Chris and I have...

Slept in.

Attended a comedy improv show at the Brody.

Volunteered at the Brewers Fest then partaken in the brew afterwards.

Had dinner at a bar.

Knitted / Played bass for more then 6 consecutive hours.

But Ranen said it best, "There's something missing..."

Indeed there is.

Trailer Trash 2009

2009-07-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's funny how scared I get when fast moving balls come racing towards my head. Why I decided to play softball is a mystery that eludes me.

...oh, yeah. Now I remember! It's my coworkers. They are fun, keep me laughing and accept my less than spectacular softball skills.

Go Trash!

14 days counting

2009-07-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Blake left on a jet plane early this morning to spend two weeks with her dad.

It's been a day and I miss her soooo much.

Daddy's little girl.

Noro turns Five!

2009-07-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

Tonight we celebrated Noro's fifth birthday.

We had a special cake for the birthday boy. Meatloaf.

Twinkies for the humans...

And cool presents...ummm chew toy.

This was the before the eating of the cake shot. It's hard to see the dog in this picture, but easy to see the tongue.

And the very satisfied Noro after.

Happy Birthday buddy.

Mississippi Street Fair Kid Parade

2009-07-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to Portland I was scared to explore. The curvy streets, bicyclists on the road and parallel parking scared me almost as much as the thought of leaving my comfy home. Luckily Chris helped me realize that Portland has much to offer and that kids + public events doesn't have to be stressful.

Saturday, after Blake's swim lesson, we drove over to the Mississippi Street Fair. At the children's corner Blake jumped in the bounce house, ate a cookie and decorated a crown and flag for the kids parade.

What kid doesn't want to be in a parade?

We grabbed her bike and she coasted down the street practicing her princess wave. It was quite a sight to see!

It was busy and full of vendors and street performers. I can't wait until next year to spend more time exploring every aspect of the fair.

I heart PDX.

Missing: two front teeth!

2009-07-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

V: Hey Blake...come here. I want to take your picture! Say cheese!!

V: Ohhh, come on, don't be shy. Show me those teeth!

V: PLEAAASEEEEE

V: Pretty Please?

V: Beautiful! Now...can you say "she sells sea shells by the seashore?"

The state of Tioga

2009-07-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

During summertime in Portland, there is always something to do. I seriously think the parents are suffering from a severe case of stuffinitis. The parents are tired.

But the kids...oh they are having a BLAST! They seem to have this never ending supply of energy. If only there was a way for me to stick a straw in their aura's and suck it up for my own evil purposes. But alas, here I am suffering from a cold and sleep seems to be my best friend!

So here are the top 5 activities our family can be seen doing on a weekly basis:

Classes:
Yup. Ranen is still plugging away at his trumpet. The boy is actually blowing out some tunes that I recognize. ..."it's a small world after all" is the song of choice for this lad. sigh. Just when you think it's out of your head, that song burrows its way back in!
Blake is still taking Art and swim classes and next week she starts a week of day camp with Portland Parks and Rec. She's very excited and nervous. But I think she'll have fun. They have art, cooking, and sport activities planned for the week. Plus, they are taking a field trip to the zoo on Friday. Can we say COOL!

Biking:
It ends up we live 5 minutes away from a family friendly bike trail that scoots around Kelly Point Park. The traffic is low enough that we don't fear Blake taking out anyone with her sometimes wobbly ridding. But she is getting better and it's cool to see her and Ranen take such a joy and love from bike riding. Now the biggest complaint is that Blake can't go fast enough. The bike she has is too small so we plan on putting her on larger one by the end of summer. My bike will be going into the shop for a hub repair later this week. It needs a little TLC. And chris... you can see him biking to band practice pulling his gear in his trailer. My dream of having our family become a bike commuter family is becoming a reality and it's fricken cool!

Swimming:
The outdoor pool in our neighborhood is now open so there are more options for taking a late afternoon dip. The kids LOVE to go swimming. Blake tries to be like ranen and wants to go off swimming, but she's just not there yet. It's a little frustrating for her but I keep telling her to practice and with the classes she's taking she'll catch on in no time at all!

Parades/Festivals:
Every weekend there seems to be a Fair, festival or parade of some sort. Yesterday Chris took the kids to a sustainable fair on the eastside where the kids gorged themselves on treats and had fun playing at the booths. Later today is the Mississippi Street Fair and next weekend is the next Sunday Parkway! The following weekend Chris and I are volunteering at the Brew festival. Our calendar is always filled with things to do! It's exhausting, but it keeps the kids outside and off videogames so I can't complain too much!

Other Stuff:
Both of the kids are on a summer reading program. Ranen is plowing through books faster then we can check them out at the library. And Blake always wants "one more please" at bedtime. It makes my heart swell at my little book lovers!
A wonderful friend has loaned me her spinning wheel while she was out on vacation and I used the time to spin up some lovely fiber I bought at the Black Sheep Gathering a month ago. Can you tell which is my first attempt? Yup. The purple/yellow stuff on the left. I'm getting better and I find it relaxing and addicting in a way that knitting is. So I have to be careful and not get too addicted. I'm sure Keri would like her wheel back...eventually!

Oh, and if your wondering about the fourth, we watched a parade in Hillsboro in the AM then watched the fireworks at Blue Lake in the PM. I was a bad bad mom and forgot to take pictures.

Until next time...

Busy Saturday, Slow Sunday

2009-06-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

It seems this family lives for the weekend. For us, Saturday was rockin!. Ranen had a trumpet lesson and Blake had her first swim class of the summer.

She is a goldfish, a beginner and the oldest in her class. This was a new pool for us and it was quite loud and busy. But Blake did great. I'm hoping she will gain more confidence with this class so we can put her into the next stage of classes. I would love to have a swimmer by next summer!

After we were done with the swim and trumpet lesson, we stuck around the neighborhood for the MLK parade. There seems to be a parade every weekend in Portland! But this parade had low riders...

...groups of kids performing step routines....

...and percussion groups...

We took Noro. It's funny how he gets more attention then our cute kids! We spent the rest of the day listening to Michael Jackson and teaching the kids to moon walk.

Here's blake's version :-)

Seriously folks...you can't help but smile!

Wool, Wheels and Balls

2009-06-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy few days. So long in fact that I'm ready to zone out in front of the tube. But before I do...here is what we did!

Black Sheep Gathering:

On Saturday a few friends and I traveled to Eugene to attend a fiber festival.

I bought raw fiber and a spindle. We saw sheep, touched yarn and wool and overall had a great time.

You wouldn't think it, but knitters can get wild!

Sunday Parkways:
On Sunday miles of roads were closed in North Portland to promote bike riding in the city. We made a day out of the event. Chris volunteered to set up booths then later we rode from park to park checking out the activities. There was a cool bike obstacle course that ranen couldn't get enough of.

Awesome food. And even a circus area set up. Ranen was killer at the hulu hoop and chris wowed us with his juggling skills.

But the true star was Blake. On Wednesday night she asked if we could take her training wheels off. By Thursday night she was balancing while striding. By Sunday she could ride. She did relatively well considering. She did ride into a parked truck...but besides that! LOL. She was okay. She just needs more confidence that the brakes will work!

Last but not least...Trailer Trash:

I joined the softball team at work and tonight was the first game. I really don't know what I was thinking. They put me in the catchers spot. Luckily I didn't hit any batters. I did made contact with the ball so overall the blister and the jammed finger were worth it. It was fun, but man...do I need more practice!

Cirque Du Cycling and other fun.

2009-06-14T21:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've last written.

The last two weeks have been difficult. Work stress has been following me home. Bad. I know.

But at least the kids and Chris have been keeping me busy. Constant motion keeps me from stopping long enough to think...which eventually leads to crying.

So yesterday the family checked out Laughing Planet's Cirque Du Cycling on Mississippi. This was our first so we didn't know what to expect. What we saw made us all smile.

The parade was awesome. So many cool one of a kind bikes!

People in fun costumes!

I want one of these....

The one section of the parade I wasn't prepared for was the last bit when about 100+ NAKED bike riders went past. I tried to cover Blake's eyes...but I realized it was a mute point. A snippet of the day's conversation:

B: Hey Ranen! Did you see all the nu-nu's? (giggle)
R: Yeah, some were even painted...did you see those? (giggle)

Later that day, as Chris and I were taking a nap, we were woken up to a puppet show staring these two characters.

Sadly, the orange M&M was attacked and killed by the sock monkey.

And Noro, well, he let this happen as long as we gave him a back scratch. And luckily for us, Chris found something that worked...

New Do

2009-05-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up looking like this.

After an hour in the chair I ended up looking like this.

The parlour in St. John's is awesome! All the staff is friendly and easy going. The walls and adorned by art and you can't help but feel pampered.

I am a client for life!

Dress for Blake

2009-05-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

I finally made something Blake will wear!

It has a knit top with a sew in three tiered skirt. The knitting took no time at all but the sewing was a little more intense for a novice like me. I had to add elastic around the join because of a gap, and the seams on the tiers don't match up...but it works. And she will wear it. So I can't complain.

Now I can't help but look at a pillow case or bed linen and think, "I can totally make a dress out of that!"

wonky weekend fun

2009-05-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday three people were laid off from the group I work with. On Thursday we were notified the rest of us still had jobs and we were now part of a totally different group whose boss (I'm sure) has no idea what it is we actually do. So on Friday I decided to take the day off.

This weekend was about letting go of stress and tension of the previous week. This weekend was about being with the family and doing wonderful fun things. For instance:

Taking Blake to the zoo.

We are old pro's at the zoo bit so we knew exactly what we wanted to see. Of course the petting zoo was first on the list. Our other favorites: sea lion's, lorikeet's, and the giraffes. We had lunch on the concert lawn and enjoyed a relaxing ride on the train.

We also took the kids to an empty lot and practice our bikin' skillz. Ranen shed the training wheels and rode fancy free. I quote, "I'm so addicted to riding my bike. I can't think of anything else!"

Blake rode for a bit but decided to kidnap my camera and went to town. And here I am. Riding on a kick arse bike (thanks sara!) with brand spanking new tires (thanks chris!).

We're working on getting Blake off her trainers as well. I see many lazy sunday afternoon rides in our future!

The great adventure - Lego Land

2009-05-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last but not least in my great adventure regurgitation is our time at Lego Land.

Lego Land offered a more relaxed and easy going time then either Disney or California Adventure. It was like we had the park to ourselves. The most we had to wait for any ride was 15 minutes. Out of the big three, this park offered the most options for Blake. Plus, there were many many photo ops.

It's been a long couple of days.

2009-05-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

I still have a job.

I'm suppose to be relieved or at least happy...right?

The great adventure - Disney/CA Adventure.

2009-05-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

We didn't do Disneyland and California Adventure in consecutive days, but the two mesh and meld in my mind so here we go.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson of Anaheim. The pirate ship water feature with the addition of the pool were the selling points. Not to mention it was walking distance from the parks! The first night we relaxed and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. In the restaurant, I happened to sit under a swaying monkey that the kids swore was going to poop on my head. During our dinner random cries of, "Veronica! Watch out for poo!" could be heard. Ah, yes. Classey all the way! :-)

Disney was fun. We went on a weekday so the lines were very manageable for most of the rides. Blake was a little small for the more intense roller coasters. But she didn't mind. We just split into two groups mid-day and did our own things.

Blake loved any ride that required driving:

Ranen was sweet enough to endure the flying dumbo and other "smaller kid" rides.

Blake ran into Alice.

She's never seen the movie so I had to explain the tea cups...
By toon town everyone was running on empty. DL is definetly a multiple day must!!

Cali Adventure was done on a different day. There were more bigger kid rides (Ranen was geeked) and it had Ariel's Grotto which is a character themed dinning experience. Yup. Blake spent an hour with Belle, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She was in heaven.

Blake also meet Minnie:

And became the "screamer of the day" at the Monster's Inc Ride. But honestly, it was not a surprise!

We didn't see everything, but we did enough. We started out our days with smiles...

And ended them exhausted...

The kids were amazingly well behaved considering how sore the legs were. We ended our Disney adventure by watching the fireworks in front of the castle. It was a fitting end!

The great adventure - LA addition

2009-05-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

In our trip we had two big travel days and after the redwoods was one of those days. We left in the middle of a storm and by the time we passed Oakland, it was warm with clear skies. I was amazed at how quickly the scenery changed from forest to high desert.

We drove non-stop all day and that night stayed at a Motel 6 outside of LA. The next morning we packed up to do some sight seeing.

First stop: Hollywood!

On the way in the kids were in awe. They asked, "Are we stars now?" We walked the stars. We saw a lot of Jokers out and about. The kids didn't really understand about the names and we less thrilled with the cement footprints. I was able to get a shot of Blake on top of Shirley Temples block.

After 5 minutes the kids were done. I had to bribe this picture out of them with ice cream...

Next stop was the Tar Pits. Now I've never been so I had no clue what to expect. The grounds were beautiful and the pit itself was a little stinky. For some reason the kids (and I'm counting Chris as such) were enamored by the statue of a ground sloth. We took 20 minutes taking turns posing.

Blake and Chris on the sloth:

Ranen and Chris on the Sloth:

The kids posing in front of the sloth:

Chris saying goodbye to the love of his life:

We ended the LA sightseeing tour with a trip to the beach. The kids played for hours and got soaked from head to toe. Though it was cooler then the norm that day, the water was still exponentially warmer then the Oregon ocean.

We left the beach and headed to Anaheim...

The great adventure - part 1

2009-05-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

So the story begins on an ordinary day when out of nowhere I hear a gasp and a manly woo hoo. It seemed the remaining members of the Grateful Dead were planning a tour. The following moments were filled with facts, dates, names and other information that eventually sounded like the teachers voice in the Peanut Cartoons to my ears. But I sensed his excitement and encouraged him to plan on seeing a show.

Well, plans for seeing a show in LA turned into an eleven day family road trip to see two shows, camping in the redwoods, Disneyland/California Adventure, beach and lego land! What's the saying? Give a man an inch...

Looking back, the trip was a success. Over 2000 miles and no one was killed due to annoyance! I must confess that Chris rocked the genius button when he bought the kids portable DVD players for the car and 50+ kid movies from Criagslist. But we are all glad to be home and are trying to resettle into life.

Day's 1-4: Crescent City California

I've never been into the heart of Redwood country. So when we first drove into the area I was blown away by how BIG these trees were. Everyone in the car was Ohh-ing and Oww-ing. We stayed in a KOA cabin that was AWESOME. It was quaint, set into the back lot in the trees (away from the campers). The only downfall was the distance to the restrooms.

The first two days were rainy so we kept our walks short and mostly stayed inside the cabin. The kids did great keeping themselves entertained. But on the third day we saw sun and warm weather. We took advantage by going on a super long walk in the woods and on the beach.

There were trees to explore.

Bunny ear picture wars...

and plenty of big trees to see.

At the beach we spent hours talking about all the critters we saw.

We could not have asked for a more perfect day at a NoCal beach!

Before we left Crescent City we stopped by the Rangers office with completed projects that the kids had done. The Ranger put on his hat, checked their answers and swore them in as official Jr. Park Rangers. No questions about when their superpowers would arrive. Our kids rock.

Oh...and if you're ever in Crescent City, check out the play structure!

It's HUGE and even the boy had fun!

We are home...

2009-05-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it's almost been a month since I last blogged in! Bad Veronica!

Well, our family is home from an eleven day trip to california. Yup, we survived. The kids are intact. My car is still running and all is right in the world of the Johnson's-Petryszak's!

So stay tuned. Stories and Pictures from Disney-Dead 09 are on their way!

SOLV Saturday and Blazer Shocker.

2009-04-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a full day. I think I need a vacation just to recoup!

It started early as Chris, Blake and I (ranen was at home recovering from a fever) headed to Cathedral park to participate in the SOLV trash pick up volunteering event. I feel Blake is at a good age to do this kind of thing. I want her to know the importance of volunteering. Of how good it feels to give selflessly to the community and to make a positive impact on the lives of other human beings..

All this was lost when Saturday morning cartoons were being missed. "I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!" She cried all the way there.

But after a donut graciously provided for by the organizers, Blake was ready to go.

She was a trouper. We walked all along the park picking up cigarette butts, bits of trash and the like. It took a bit a time but the use of a trash grabber was well worth it!

The best score was when Chris found a pair of panties under a bush....

By the end we were giving each other high fives. I even heard the words, "This was Fun!" coming from the mouth of the 5 yr old disbeliever.

I took Blake from there and did a bunch of errands. By the time we got home we had about two hours to chill before we left for the Blazer game.

Chris was a trouper. He camped in line for 16 hours to get four tickets to the first Blazers playoff game. We were all so excited. We went early to have some dinner, listen to the live band outside the stadium and get our faces painted.

This was the last of the smiles. The game was...disastrous. It was a long night...

REDEMPTION. Tuesday.

2009-04-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

I just had to share. Isn't she a cutie?

Pre Easter FUN!

2009-04-11T16:10:00.001-07:00

The kids have been so excited about the upcoming holiday.

Today we dyed eggs...

The kids had fun trying out different color combos.

We also went to the Overlook house for their Easter Egg hunt. It wasn't much of a hunt but more of a grab type of event. They opened the doors early so there were more eggs then kids. In the end we gave some eggs back because we just had too many.

...and I finished up a stuffed rabbit for a coworkers baby shower this upcoming week.

She's rather fetching, especially with her fluffy tail!

Rhododendron Garden

2009-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were blessed with sun. It was unbelievable. It seemed the neighborhood awoke from a slumber. Outside you could hear lawn mowers, saws, dogs barking and children laughing.

On Sunday I decided to take advantage of the good weather by taking Blake to the Rhododendron Garden in SE. I, of course, got lost on the way but the trip was worth it.

I took lots of pictures of Blake...

She herself took lots of pictures....

We fed water fowl (cracked corn provided by the garden)...

Overall, we had a blast. I would definitely recommend a visit.

"Wow Mom! Did you see that one? It showed us it's butt!"

2009-04-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the last time I posted was last month. Where have I been!

Life has been steadily moving on at the Johnson-Petryszak household. The weather has finally broke the 50 mark and the sun has shocked us all out of the winter blahs. We've been busy spring cleaning and discovering the joys of working outdoors. Chris has been busy setting up my garden, staining and repainting our decks and other general honey-do list items. Even the kids have enjoyed getting unplugged and took to the outdoors shooting hoops and riding bikes.

Ranen is still very much digging his trumpet. This kid practices every day and can now play a song with noticeable differential notes. It's fricken cool that our little man has found an instrument he likes. Now if only we could get his homework this much attention!

Last week Blake started her music class. I was in the lounge area listening to them beat on drums, giggle, then beat on drums again. At first I was a little unsure if the guy with the Mohawk who had a quiet way about him could work well with kids, but he had them laughing and having fun throughout the entire 45 minutes. Totally worth the cost! Each week they will learn about a new instrument. I wonder what they'll cover this week?

As for me, I'm recovering. Not from the 5K which I was slated to run yesterday but from the crushing blow of shitty knees. I couldn't even run 15 minutes without stopping and limping back home. I bought straps and other knee containing contraptions to help with the pain, but I would rather stop while I still have use of them. The pain tends to go away after a couple of days and quicker still if I don't wear heels. So today I will start swimming. Laps will be easier on the joints and still give me the aerobic workout that I need. But I'm still bummed about the running...

Let's see...what else?

Blake lost a tooth.

Ranen is signing up for his first ever science fair (exploding volcano anyone?).

Thanks to Miss Sara I now have a bike. It needs a few things before hitting the road, but I'm so excited and anxious to do so!

I've been busy knitting. More to come on that later...

Bliss on Rainy Spring Days.

2009-03-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

What a weekend!

It all started with a special date with the most gorgeous 5 year old in the world. I picked up my date from daycare and headed to Chuck-E-cheese for dinner (her choice). We spent almost 2 hours playing games. Usually I get overwhelmed by the whole running kids/blinking lights/binging sounds thing, but the restaurant wasn’t that crowded, so we both had a great time. Next up we ended up in SE at the Community Music Center for a performance of Classical Revolution PDX. Now, I was a classically trained student and am well aware of how long, boring and stuffy chamber music can be. Hell, there were times when I felt bored while playing it! But I was inspired by their mantra so we went. Blake was still bored at times, but the group was able to engage the kids. There’s nothing like having the crowd scream after certain phrases during Beethoven’s Op.18. Classic! I’m sure it wasn’t on the top 10 of greatest things she’s ever done, but I’m glad I was able to share with her something different.

Saturday Chris took the kids to a children’s play where Blake was able to wrestle with the principle players afterwards. This allowed me some time alone. How great was that? Then we were off to Katie B’s birthday party. It astounds me how quickly children grow! Kate and Blake have known each other for almost 5 years now. I work with her Dad and even though we live far apart we make an effort to have them get together for play dates. Blake had a grand ‘ole time. This upcoming Saturday we have another girl’s day out planned...

On Sunday I ran the Shamrock 5K. Yup, I ran the whole entire thing in 34.01. Honestly, I look at my time and I know I can do better. I know now that I need to be closer to the start line. I wasn’t aggressive enough to immediately pass the walkers and the people with jogging strollers. I wasn’t aware enough of where I was on the course so I didn’t push early enough towards the end. And I will need to buy myself a watch so I can accurately time myself so at the end, when the whole group stops yards before the finish line and shuffles across, I can stop my time. (I’m still bitter about that!) So today I’m signing up for another 5K in three weeks. My goal...to come in under 30 minutes. Wish me luck!

Full Moon's Arising.

2009-03-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week this has been.

First off...having a full moon AND Friday the 13th all in the same week? No wonder people are leaving work crying and the most seemingly innocent decision turns into WWIII at our house. I am very happy to see this week end and the moon continuing on it's journey!

HOUSE: So Chris has been kicking some major booty finishing up projects.
-We now have floor molding in our bedroom and in the living room. That makes every room accounted for and frees up a lot of room in the garage for happy fun projects!
-The unused garden bed in the back has been dug out and the soil (and worms!) are now living happily in the front bed. We also seeded our tomato and pepper plants. I hope to start seeing signs of life in the next couple of weeks. Just the thought of my garden puts a smile to my face.
-The front deck has been washed/scrubbed and is waiting for a few sunny days before getting stained and posts repainted. This deck has been neglected for so long it'll be nice to see it cleaned up. I plan on cleaning and repainting all the handmade Adirondack furniture the original owners had made.
-And the best thing EVER...Chris has cleaned, filled and had the spa fixed. We plan on shutting her down this weekend for the summer, but it's nice to know that she's alive and kicking!

KIDS: Our kids are starting to have their own "lives" as well. And all their "stuff" keeps our calendar full!
-About a month ago, out of nowhere, Ranen declares that the trumpet is the instrument for him. We gave it time to see if he was really into the idea and indeed he was. So we rented him a trumpet and he had his first ever lesson yesterday. We are all geeked...the boy loves it!
-Blake declared she wanted to play the piano so we are looking into getting her into the rookie rock class at the same place Ranen is taking his lessons; Sound Roots School of Modern Music.

ME:
-The 5K race is Sunday and I feel ready. Yesterday I ran about 3 miles and still felt like I could keep going. What a difference from where I was a month ago! I realized track running wasn't doing it for me so I switched to running the berm that surrounds Nike's campus. The inclines are tough, but dodging rambling geese and muddy patches keeps me engaged. If I have fun at the race, I have a few more in my que to do this year. I have to be careful or else someone might think I actually like this running stuff...
-I have finished knitting a sweater, a baby sweater set and a pair of socks. What to knit next?
-I fought my nature to bail (includes everything outside the house...can we say Agoraphobic?) and attended the free viewing of imago theatre's APIS, or The Taste of Honey. It has been a while since I've seen a show this abstract. It was wonderful. I'm glad I went!

Boy meets Hoop

2009-03-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

I never thought this was possible, but the kids choose to be outside doing something then spend it indoors complaining they were bored. And why is this, you may ask? Meet Mr. Hoops...

Initially I scoffed at the idea of buying a 10-15 year old hoop. But within minutes of being weighted down and pushed into position, the boy was out there making baskets. At random times we would hear, "I'm going out to shoot hoops."

I'll eat my hat. Good work Chris.

This past week had some spring tease weather. My bulbs that I planted a few months ago are starting to break ground and we've decided to plant a garden. The backyard is way too shady to have one so we decided to take a part of our front yard and convert it to a victory garden of sorts. I don't want to totally ruin the landscaping by filling our front yard completely with boxes so we are going to keep everything as is but use the side bed (what you see below) as the garden. It's not very deep but long enough to put in some cucumber (to grow on the fence), lettuce, onion and pepper. I'll be growing some yellow pear and cherry tomatoes in pots on the deck.

I am so excited to be growing our own food again. And now that St. John's will be having a farmers market starting in July, I'll be able to supplement what we grow here with other 'fresh' veggies.

Noro agrees!

St. John's Bridge...meet my kids.

2009-03-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we walked the St. John's bridge and our kids took their camera's.

Here is what they saw:

It was chilly, windy and a bit disorienting (it's a fricken tall bridge!). But the kids couldn't stop asking questions about how the bridge was built and about what they saw below.

Totally worth it!

Mamma's Weekend Off.

2009-02-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I spent a few day's at the Oregon beach with a group of fabulous people with lots of booze. Yes, it was the celebration of Wine and Seafood!

I needed time away and Newport was perfect. Miss Kate rented a two bedroom house that overlooked the ocean. The two couples took the two bedrooms downstairs and I took the couch. There was a moment when I felt like the fifth wheel but most of the time I felt like the kid. I was entertained, served drinks, and allowed to eat anything I wanted! It was heaven!

There was no beach access from the house, but the view was incredible. We did take a few moments to do some sight seeing before heading to the festival and ended up at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We were able to climb to the top. I've never been to a lighthouse before. Amazing!

We also saw some wildlife....

This is a good representation of my mental state during the weekend...

Chris took me to the Bite of Oregon a few years back, so I was familiar with food festivals. What I wasn't prepared for was the close density of people in such a small area. Imagine lots of drunk people carrying around sharp skewers of seafood...Yikes! But I did come across some tasty fetta olives, a cranberry wine to die for and a white wine that made me wanting more (and I'm not a white fan!).

As we were leaving the festival there was a super long line of people getting in. So if I were to do it again, I would go early on the friday or sunday. And don't worry, we didn't leave Newport without having a beer at Rouge.

Overall good weekend. Now back to my regular scheduled program. I mean, I do have a race to train for! Bah hahahah.

Small Victories.

2009-02-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

The before shot:

Yup. That's what my yarn cabinet looked like earlier this week. It was disorganized and with every opening, random balls would roll out. I realized something needed to be done when one of the balls ended up near Noro's mouth. He sniffed. I shrieked.

Weeks turned to months and the yarn kept piling up. So on Monday I went to target and bought tubs. The craziness turned into something a little more manageable.

I'm a little worried about my fiber "breathing"...though I could be wrong. Do I need to worry about this? Hmm...well either way I'm super happy. And when I needed to find a superwash sock yarn to finish up a project, it took less then a minute to get it. And that is my small victory for the week!

Noro Update

2009-02-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

Shoot.

I occurred to me that I haven't given an update on Noro! Bad mommy.

Well Noro is healing, though not as fast as we would like. He can get up and walk around but not for too long. Occasionally he gets himself in a position where he strains himself and he yelps. But those times are getting few and far between.

It's time to get a second opinion on the extent of the damage. I'll update more when we know!

Birthday, Valentines and Monster Jam

2009-02-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while. There has been so much going on! Last weekend was Chris's birthday and then this weekend, Valentines day. Much to do, much ado.

It's always hard to buy for a guy. Especially for a guy who doesn't want or need anything that he can't buy himself. It's quite frustrating actually. So I decided to make stuff. The coolest of the projects was a deadhead blazer shirt that I screenprinted using a freezer paper template. It was quick, easy and under $30 bucks.

It has been well received and worn out in public. There have been requests from random folks he's met for additional shirts. I refuse to sell them because, well the elements of the design are not my own. But there has been talk of trade...and that I'm cool with.

I also made an illusion scarf. Can you see the skull design? You can only see it in certain angles...cool hugh?

And the blazer socks for valentines day.

They were a day late...but only because we did a big family event on Saturday. Can you guess what we did? ....MONSTER JAM 2009!!!!....

I'll be the first to say that it was fun although I seriously had my doubts. I mean, come on. A monster truck show? But the kids loved seeing big 'ole trucks crush the itty bitty cars. I think my lungs are still clearing out the exhaust...

We have been lucky enough to have a few chilly but sunny days. Blake has this renewed interest in bike riding, so we bought her a new helmet and she's been off.

I am now resolved to buy my own bike. I imagine family bike rides to the library and around St. John's. I can't wait until spring!

Dog Park Trouble.

2009-02-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at the dog park, Noro tripped and tumbled. When he got up he couldn't put any weight on his left front leg. Chris rushed him to the vet and Noro was given an anti-inflammatory shot. We'll know in a couple of days the extent of the damage. Oh it breaks my heart to see our beautiful newfie hurt

We are doing our best to keep him in a restful state. Giving him lots of love and making sure someone is near him at all times.

I feel like we aren't doing enough. For sure we are banning the dog park in lieu of long walks from now on. Something we should have done sooner considering the health problems associated with the Newf. I guess all we can do now is wait and see.

All together now...gentle mental hug for Noro. **HUG**

Why I shouldn't be a mechanic.

2009-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago Chris noticed that my headlights and dashboard lights would flicker off and on. I never saw this so I didn't pay it any mind. But in the last two days the flicker lasted longer and longer until Monday it just turned off. A frustrating moment considering I was driving Germantown Road at dusk. Luckily, after some under breath swearing and frantic turning of the light switch, it came back on.

Yesterday this scene replayed itself multiple times. As I was dreading calling the mechanic and seeing my next paycheck being signed over to the garage, Chris luckily put on his Sherlock Holmes hat and started asking me questions.

C: "this could be a couple of things... wait, didn't you change the front headlight a while ago?"

V: "yeah..."

C: "And everything went okay?"

V: "Well, I couldn't get this one piece back on, so I just kind of set it in there. Is that bad?"

Um yeah. So last night Chris braved the cold and obvious frustration and took a look at my hack job. The piece in question was rolling around all loosey goosey. I guess this could create shorts...or something. Who knew? Luckily Chris was able to fix it and this morning I had no issues with the lights.

So what did I learn? When it comes to my car, for gosh sakes, ask for help!

January fun.

2009-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

We have been wicked busy at the Tioga house. The after-holiday rest period is over and we are now up and running...well for me, literally.

To start, I have decided to run a 5K with Miss Kate and friends. Finishing a 5K has been on my To-Do list for ages, but I've never been able to get past filling out a registration form. Since I've started training (I use the word loosely) my legs have been in a constant state of soreness. But surprisingly I have been looking forward to the next run.

This fall Blake will be starting Kindergarten. I've been busy researching the neighborhood schools and the charter schools trying to find a good fit. I can't wait to see Blake head off to her first day of school...

Hippie Boy had this surge of motivation and we now have crown molding in every room! Just fricken AWESOME! Of course I now have no more excuses as to why I haven't started decorating yet. I have all this freedom to do as I please yet I find myself frozen looking at the blank walls. Ideas are not the problem, only my fear of crappy work is. Bah.

But I have been inspired to create handmade gifts for Hippie Boy's birthday. I can't divulge any specific details yet, but it involves screen-print ink, cutting, sewing and yarn.

And to add to the fun, we had a co-worker and his kids over to our house Saturday night for some Wii fun. His two boys are similar age to ours. There was a lot of running, laughing and overall mayhem. It's exciting to have kids who live close who can come and play. And once the weather warms up, the cool clubhouse can finally get some action!

forever and a day...

2009-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's been forever and a day since I've last posted, and I'm sorry to say that I really have nothing.

Nothing to report.

Nothing to exclaim about.

...well, we did get new dishes!

A great start to 2009

2009-01-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

2009 has started and with no avail our family is off and running.

On Wednesday we took the family to go see the Northwest Childrens Theater's production of The Wizard of Oz. Blake joined countless little girls in wearing their sparkly red shoes. It's been a while since I've seen a play or musical so I was blown away by how much I missed it. I don't know if I'll ever be on stage again but looking at my daughters face as the show was happening gives me a sneaky suspicion the acting bug may have taken hold in our youngest!

Before we closed out 2007, our family put together a time capsule. Inside we put a few of our favorite things and answered a few questions. We opened this on New Year's Day and was blown away by who we all were back then and what our "plans" were for 2008. Nothing turned out quite what we had expected.

Inside the container was this picture:

Since this picture was taken we lost Linda (C's mom) and Goldy, the goldfish and we have since purchased a home. We closed up the capsule and scheduled to open it up again in 5 years and created a new one for next year. We took a new family photo too.

This was a "tester". As soon as we got Molly involved...

It was moments before Noro started chasing Molly. This shot tells the story of our family. Chris is trying to make things work. I'm overly reacting to the situation. Ranen is laughing at all of it and Blake is trying to get away from being slobbered. The dog wants to make friends with the cat and Molly....well, she just wants to get out of Dodge. We could have taken another picture, one more staged, but this is who we are.

I also spent a few hours this week basking in the glow of yarn. I met up with an old friend and we had lunch then spent time in our favorite yarn shop, Twisted. It was a blast! More on that later!

We ended the week by going to the Blazer vs Hornet game. It was less then steller, but thanks to Santa we all looked great in our new Blazer gear. It was a long night but a good one considering we had two kids, the game was boring and it ended up being a late night!

I hope everyone had a great and happy new year!

Back and Happy

2008-12-27T07:43:00.001-08:00

I'm home and I must say I am happy and tickled pink. Santa made a special stop for the kids since we were elsewhere for Christmas. Everyone is still asleep and the house is nice and quiet.

I can't wait to see the munchkin's face when she wakes up.

Here are a few pics from my camera from our vacation. Next up will be pictures that my father took.

Here we are on our way back from touring Neuschwanstein castle.

Here is B posing with Granparents Johnson.

B get's a hug from Grandpa Johnson in front of the Brandenburger Gate in Berlin.

I couldn't resist taking a picture in front of a slab of the Berlin wall. Not only is it a piece of history but a piece of art in of itself.

And here is B looking at a river in Strasbourg france.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

B and I are celebrating Christmas with my dad and his wife...in Vegas! It has been a day of lounging around. Ends up B is getting a cold.

We head back to Portland tomorrow and we are more than ready to go home. I just hope the weather cooperates.

Last night in Germany

2008-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

This will be our last night in Germany and I am very happy to be headed home. This has been a wonderful trip in many ways. We were able to see family we haven't seen in awhile, and we got to experience a whole new part of the world. Traveling while sick is hard. Traveling with a five year old is hard. Add those two together (along with jet lag that won't go away) makes for a very grumpy me. I wish I could just "get over it" as C would say, but I nearly fell asleep in my salad during dinner. How can one be bubbly and bright with dressing on their forehead?

So keep all this in mind while I recount our adventures.

We took an overnight trip to Berlin. It took a long 8 hours to get there. Our hotel room had a bunk bed and not much else. It took us a few minutes to find the restroom which we originally thought was a closet. And what we thought was the toilet was actually a shower. That night grandma watched the tot as the rest of us walked down to the Brandenburg Gate. It was all inspiring.

The next day we had breakfast and walked the whole family down to the gate, passing by the Holocaust Memorial. B couldn't get enough of running up and down the stone pillars. Then the grandparents suggested something ingenious...taking a bus tour of the city! So for 15 Euro a piece we sat in a warm Double Decker for two hours hitting all the major spots. This included the Victory Column, the Parliament building, the Emperor William Memorial Church, the Berlin Wall memorial and check point charlie. We got some great shots, got a feel of Berlin and did it all without taxing ourselves too much.

The drive back was much shorter (5.5 hrs). Exhaustion won, we went straight to bed.

Today we drove to Strasbourg France and walked all along the city center. We saw a huge Gothic style church and shopped the Christmas market. The squares were packed full of people and if it wasn't for our guides (the grandparents), would have easily gotten lost.

We've checked our flight (make sure it wasn't cancelled or anything) and packed our bags. I'm ready for bed and ready to go back to the states. B and I will be spending two days in Vegas before heading back to Portland. I've been watching the weather updates on CNN. Can't believe the amount of snow and ice! Kind of happy we'll be in Vegas for a bit. I hope the airports are up and running by the end of the week!

Heading to the country

2008-12-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we left and traveled south west. The weather turned from cold and rainy to cold and snowy within hours. Whenever I think of Germany in the winter, this was how I envisioned it; rolling hills bathed in white.

Our first stop was Neuschwanstein castle. Getting to the castle is journey in itself. We took a carriage ride to the near top then had to truck it about 1/4 of a mile up a steep incline to where the entrance was. Boy was this castle HUGE! Once at the top we had to wait for our tour to begin. It was cold but the people watching was choice. There were folks here from all over the world.

Once inside you climbed many many steps. That was the theme of this castle i think. Many Steps! My lungs were about to explode. But we were able to see an opulent throne room, amazing wood craftsmanship in his bedroom, a very strange grotto room and wonderful murals painted everywhere.

If you were to ask B what her favorite part of the trip was she would say it was the snow fight that was had once we were back at the car. I think it was when my dad and her joined forces to use me as a target that it really started to get fun! Afterwards we drove to a little ski town called Oberau.

We stayed in a quaint Germany hotel. Our room was large but very cold. Everything was tile or stone, but Blake and I were content once settled under our down comforters watching German TV. The next day we set out early after a traditional breakfast of bread, meat and cheese. We stayed around Fussen for a bit looking at old churches and going through little villages. My dad was able to get some killer shots and B got her fill of snow.

Now I am about to pack for another trip. This time we are headed north east to Berlin. From the Bavarian countryside to the countries largest city we venture!

Bronchitis hits!

2008-12-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

It's almost 4am and both B and I are wide awake. We awoke at the same time wide eyed and bushy tailed. We read some. Tried to go back to sleep but neither of us succeeding. So we resolved to give into our situation.

Yesterday's plans were put on hold when the doctor came to visit, took one look at me and ordered me to stay warm, drink lots of hot tea and take antibiotics. Our hope is to catch it before it becomes pneumonia. Luckily for me, grandma Johnson had a bout of Bronchitis a few months ago and had in stock some wonderful medicated cough syrup and has a respiratory thingy that makes me all jittery but able to breath like a normal person.

So no Christmas Villages for us. But B did go shopping with grandma for two things and came back with quite a bit more. The Opa's went off exploring for a long while and I got in some great knitting time. So the day wasn't wasted. I do feel like a dud though and keep kicking myself. If only I had done something about this cough before I left....

In 4 hours we will be headed on our way to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. It'll be a four hour car ride, but we plan on staying overnight in the area and doing as much as we can. I'm excited to get out and see some of the countryside. There was even talk about making a quick stop to France on our way home...LOL. Not a bakery or restuarant, but a different country! I can't get use to the idea that everything is so much more compact here in Europe. The roads are small, the cars are small, the trash cans are small (they are wicked recyclers here!) and other countries could be within driving distance!

Life in a German village makes me smile with happiness. I've met two sets of neighbors and they have both been gracious and very friendly. I can see why this is the second German tour for the Johnson's. I am blown away that my daughter gets to experience this...even though she did say the sky looks like Portland sky.

"We have icky clouds too" she said...

Comedy of Errors. And other things to laugh at.

2008-12-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

I'll have to admit, I am one of those people who can put unbelievably high expectations on future events. Playing them out in my mind like a lifetime original movie. I always have great hair and the background music is always Oscar worthy.

Well...I believe I have attracted all the possible bad travel juju for years to come because of these expectations. In getting to Germany we have succeeded in the following: Missed two flights, lost a cell phone, lost two video game cartridges (sorry c, will replace!), I fell on some stairs and landed on my back, B had an potty accident and it looks like my little cough that I left Portland with is becoming an infection of some sort.

But here are the good things. The luggage that was on the flight to Germany that we missed was waiting for us when we got here. The counter guy at the Frankfurt airport was very nice. The Johnson's received my last minute email with the new flight information so they were there to pick us up. Good thing since we forgot to get their contact information! Yikes!!

The Johnson's live in Rauenberg Village. It's small, quaint and exactly what I envisioned. And the best thing ever is their next door neighbor is a respiratory doctor who makes house calls!

For our first dinner out we had Turkish food at Can Kebap Haus Bistro and Cafe. It was delicious. Even B enjoyed her food! We tried to eat at two other traditional German restaurants but they both had private parties.

Everyone slept well but me. This darn cough is getting the better of me. I hope after the doc see's me today I can get some medicine to nip this in the bud. Today we are planning on going to a christmas village. It should be fun. Until then....

Getting ready

2008-12-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that this time tomorrow Blake and I will be landing in Vegas. And another 24 hours after that we'll be in Germany.

Today is all about laundry, cleaning, packing and getting as many snuggles with my boys as possible before we go. Of course, this would be easier if I wasn't hacking up a lung every 5 minutes and whenever I get 2 feet of the boys they run away screaming "Typhoid Mary! RUN!!"

Note to self: get some rest and take lots of vitamin C.

I'll try to blog as much as I can. If that means I have to tackle some unsuspecting German to get on his laptop...so be it!

sicky pants

2008-12-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

This has been the week of sick.

It all started Tuesday morning when B complained her neck hurt. I didn't think anything of it since her forehead felt normal. Later that day I received a phone call from her daycare provider saying, "Her temp is over 100 degrees and she's complaining that her neck hurts".

Now I would like to think of myself as a level headed mom. But when I got off the phone I immediately called the doctors office as I Googled symptoms of Spinal Meningitis. I thought back to the stories her father would tell me about his bought as a kid and I immediately went into freak out mode.

But after talking with the nurse I started to settle. I gave her medicine and that night the fever broke. The neck pain turned into a soar throat and my freak became a little less intense.

By Thursday we were back to our normal routine. But once again I received a phone call from her daycare provider saying, "I think she has pink eye." Poor thing. Her right eye was irritated and there were goobers in her tear ducts. So friday I took her to the doctors and it was confirmed that she had Pink Eye AND an ear infection. After many loads of laundry, washing of hands, disinfecting door handles and little B taking antibotics, life is starting to settle.

The whole family worked together to get a truck load to the leaf recycling drop off. It was awesome to see the kids work hard and have fun at the same time. Much better then being glued to the TV on Saturday morning like they usually are! We then bought a Christmas tree from the Optimist Club and made the house all glittery and shiny.

Both kids had birthday parties to attend to this weekend and although B was on antibiotics we only stayed for cake and presents. She was a little upset that she couldn't stay and play but I felt like a heel for taking her in the first place. The doc gave the thumbs up to go, but the thought of parental judgments made me sweat the entire time we were there.

She is doing much better today and her eye looks great. But the week of sick has exhausted all of us. She's currently chilling on the couch watching the Wiggles Christmas special on tape.

But like I've been saying to myself all week...better now then when we're in Germany!!

Oregon Zoo & Food

2008-12-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful thanks to C who decided to cook! Yup that's right. We had fresh baked bread, turkey, pirogi's, stuffing and much much more! I didn't have to do much but knit. Not too shabby!

Friday I took the kids to see Bolt (cute movie by the way), but by Sunday I was ready to break down the walls just to escape. I love our house but it is small. Much smaller then our last house and it's hard to find a quiet space. So by Sunday I was ready to get out. So I grabbed B and we headed to the Oregon Zoo.

Blake had some personal moments with a squirrel. She tried really hard to talk him out of his nuts. But it was obvious who was the nutty one!

Then she couldn't stop saying Egret. "Eeeegret". "Egreeeet". It was cute.

Then we hung out at my favorite exhibit.

If only I had remembered to bring my needles!

I really wanted to take him home with me...

It was surprisingly warm and it didn't rain. The zoo was quiet for a Sunday and both B and I were exhausted when we got home. That's the sign of a good visit!

Gobble Gobble

2008-11-26T08:31:00.001-08:00

This may be a day early but...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Here are some items I am most thankful for.

Family and Friends.
Without them my life would be meaningless and boring. Thanks Deborah for flying to Portland and spending a weekend with us. Thanks Dad for coming with Blake and I to Germany. Thanks to Chris and Ranen for adding a little boy humor to my day (a girl can never be mooned enough!). And thanks most of all to my beautiful daughter who challenges and astonishes me every day.

Work and home.
Sure there are some bad days. But work isn’t my life and it’s easy to leave it in Beaverton at the end of the day. Not to mention it gives me a steady paycheck. The house is the hug that holds my family in its embrace. She’s my patiently awaiting canvas.

Body and Mind.
My family is in good health. What more can I say?

Girly things.

2008-11-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a while hugh?

In Peanut fashion, I am going to summarize the last few weeks in a few bullet points.

* Obama. Right On.

* Crochet. Need to do more. Want to do more.

* Saturday Girl's day out.

We went to the Children Museum for the day then had some ice cream afterward. Yeah, they had fun!

* Saturday Date Night. Chris took me to Miz Kitty's Parlour Vaudeville Novelty Show and Revusical. We had SO much fun. I heart Portland!

* Sunny Sunday. Took advantage and planted some bulbs in the front raised bed while nursing a hangover.

Life is good.

Snack Party at the Pink Palace.

2008-11-03T18:31:00.001-08:00

Last night C and I were invited to a dance party in B's room after dinner. Costumes were required so C and the dog came as a couple. Noro was the husband and C...well, let's just say he is amazing at applying eye makeup!

B was a princess and a gracious host. We received little snacks of crackers and cheese and we each took turns dancing with B to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We ended the evening with a string puppet show!

Here is the party pineapple shot of the night:

The yellow mouse electric type pokemon with a beer bottle shot: (every party has one...)

And here we are at the end of the night dancing away looking all cute:

1st Halloween in St. John's.

2008-11-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

This was our first ever Halloween in St. John's. Let's just say I've finally recovered enough to write about it. We had a great time but it was a looooong night.

I left work early that day so we could get the kids dressed. We decided to spend the first part of our evening at downtown St. John's. After a nice dinner we started hitting the shops. It was so cool to walk along the drag and into these little shops that we would never normally go to. There was lots of foot traffic and it was nice to run into other parents and kids. Not to mention the variety of treats we received. I mean, who can argue with Pumpkin Gelato!

After we exhausted downtown SJ we headed into the neighborhoods. Compared to suburban Beaverton I felt there were fewer houses participating but the ones that did were generous with the size and quality of their treats. Let's just say the kids scored big time! After 2.5 hours of additional walking around the kids were ready to relax at home. Actually it went like this.

Candy

Ahhhhh

Candy

Ahhhh

Candy

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh

I retreated into the bedroom to knit while Chris had the pleasure of keeping the kids entertained. It was a late night and everyone, parents included, crashed at around 11.

Overall the princess and the alien of death had a great night.

Shameless Band Promotion!

2008-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Check this out!

C is in a great band. Their first official show is in December. So if you happen to be in Portland and dig a little sophisticated Hobo music, please join us!

I'll be the groupie in the back with a handmade band shirt... knitting!

v

Oh so happy house!

2008-10-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

"Some kid in that stadium is going to remember this moment for the rest of their lives." -C

Chris was there in '80. He was there during the '83 loss.

Our house bleeds red.

Another Busy Week!

2008-10-26T20:50:00.001-07:00

It's been another busy but fun week. I finally got around to taking a picture of B's new scarf. I had tons of left over swish superwash yarn so I created a simple garter stitch scarf with stripes based on the Fibonacci sequence. The scarf is lovely but declared "itchy". Ah well, at least it looks cute and may one day be worn either by B or by one of her dolls!

C busted a move on the clubhouse. It has walls and a roof now. (roof pieces can be seen on the porch) He needs to do some finishing touches like putting on flashing, the door and a window but with good weather it should be done soon! The kids took advantage of the sunshine and spent some quality time playing house. They put B's plastic kitchen in there and decided it needed a moat. Ahhh childhood!

On Saturday night I took the kids to the St. John's spooktacular. It was super busy so we spent most of the time standing in line looking at all the costumes. It was like a precurser to Halloween and the kids got a kick out of wearing their costumes! I decided to dress up this year and spent $12 dollars and two hours creating a Pickachu costume. Oh, don't worry. Pictures forthcoming next week!

Today we baked halloween cookies. I was humbled when C noted I was using the wrong type of sugar in my frosting and had melted the butter rather than soften it. A man who can hammer AND bake. How did I get so lucky!

We also took some time to go to Sauvie Island to go through the corn maize. It was beautiful, the kids had fun and we now have some super cheesy pictures to add to our collection!

Atop the hay pyramid...

Children of the corn...

Farmer family...

And to top off my week we had a group pumpkin decorating party at work. Our group was assigned "rock group", so we created Kiss pumpkins. Gene is my favorite!

Even though I had a ton to do, it was nice to have some fun at work and bond with my fellow PA's. They truly are a group of great artists and great people!

Clubhouse and Bean.

2008-10-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. I swear I'm suffering from pre winter blues or the I want to be lazies. But we did manage to have a great weekend.

It all started on Friday night when we picked up the bean. The kids were so excited to have her come and visit. Bean stayed with us for an extended time earlier this year and they grew quite attached to her. She is smaller then Noro, smells better and (as sworn by my daughter) has the softest ears EVER! She adjusted to her new surroundings after a day. Then the next, she was gone.

While I was busy reading and not doing much, my dear sweetheart was in the backyard building this...

I know! A Clubhouse. The kids are beyond excited and I'm blown away by his skillz. Now I can't help but look around the house and think, "hmmmm...i wonder what a miter saw and a compression gun can do here?"

Mostly we tried to be outside since this may have been the last weekend we see of the warm sun. We took hikes, chilled outside and BBQ'd.

More action...and pumpkins

2008-10-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

What a week!

We took the whole family to the first pre-season Blazer game. It was fantastic, fun and totally worth the grumpy five year old that showed herself the next day.

Yesterday we went to Plumper Pumpkin Patch. It was busy but we had a great time posing for silly pictures.

There was too much happiness happening so we stuck the kids in the stockade.

But petting some animals, going on a hay ride, traversing many mazes and picking out pumpkins made everything much better.

Today we took a hike in Forest Park. Noro was delighted.

He's the big black blob on the right.

Then we finished the week with some pumpkin carving.

I'm actually ready for a nice relaxing week at work. :-)

sick weekend

2008-10-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

What's worse then having sick kids? Having healthy ones when you, the parents, are sick.

This weekend has been tough. Both Chris and I have colds. Moving or functioning on any level would be impossible without massive amounts of drugs. But we somehow managed with minimal psychological issues forming in our children.

Though sick, we've been keeping busy. We bought Blake a booster seat. She absolutely LOVES being a "big girl".

It was hard to let the old one go, but it was time!

I finished up my sewing class with this little number.

It's a shirt...just in case you couldn't tell. It looks okay on, but it's pretty evident that I need more practice. So I did and created cloth party bags. Dinosaurs for the boys, princess for the girls. I can finally sew a straight line!

On the knitting front I finished the clapotis. The FO pics will have to wait until after Christmas. I needed a quick knit so i whipped up the Lady Detective Hat from Knit 2 together. I just need a decorative buckle to finish it off...

I also started the Mystery Sock Pattern by Through the loops. We'll see how it goes. I'm a big fan of two socks, toe up on one circular needle. I've never knitted top down so I'm curious to see what heel the pattern will call out and how I'll handle the stress!

If it's anything like the new lace shawl that I've frogged 3 times this past weekend, it'll be harsh! At one point chris walked into the room at precisely the wrong time and had to dodge metal needles as they hurtled past his head! Whoops.

The kids have had fun though. The boys got a little Blazer action in at the Family Fun Fest.

And they put on one heck of a puppet show that included a puppet eating shark and little critters that liked to show us their butt.

What a weekend!

Party Success!

2008-09-28T18:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese was a success. And how could it not be? The kids went ape over the games. There was food, cupcakes and ice cream. Blake got to spend time with her friends and she ate up being the center of attention!

The big day.

2008-09-26T20:15:00.001-07:00

Scene: 7am in a pink bedroom.

Daylight streams into the room casting a warm glow over the sleeping child. The door opens slowly. Silent feet gently tip toe up to the bed.

Mom singing: Happy Birthday to you...Happy birthday to you....Happy birthday dear...

Child groans while covering head with her comforter: Mooooooommmm STOP! Your waking me up!

...And that was how our day started. But after some errands we stopped at OMSI and the day became all about Blake and having fun.

By the end we were both super exhausted. But she managed to have enough energy to open presents. Thanks to all family members who sent gifts and for those gifts still in transit.

Tomorrow we have her birthday party. She requested a Chuck E. Cheese extravaganza this year. After two years of planning and throwing parties I was more than happy to let someone else cook, entertain, then clean up the mess.

And honestly, wouldn't you subject yourself to Chuck E Cheese madness for this cute face?

Has it been that long?

2008-09-25T17:45:00.001-07:00

Blake turns 5 tomorrow...can you believe it!

Where or where has the time gone?

St. Johns Rocks!

2008-09-23T14:18:00.001-07:00

The bridge.

This has to be one of the coolest bridges EVER and I get the pleasure of driving over it every day. Blake and I have this new tradition. On our way home, just as we are crossing over the bridge, we lower our windows and scream like we're on a rollercoaster. Our voices are usually trumped by the wind gusts and the cold breeze wakes us up from the commute!

The water.

We are surrounded by the river so there's always someplace to take the dog swimming. Last night we decided to get food on the go and headed to Cathedral Park for a little outdoor loving. The dog swam, the kid danced on the dock and I enjoyed the non-tube time.

St. John rocks. We have settled and we are looking to stay!

Another birthday celebration

2008-09-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Kate turned a young 30 this past weekend.

She wanted to celebrate with roller skating and a white trash evening. I wasn't able to make it for the roller skating due to prior commitments and truly wanted to bail on the evening festivities. You see driving at night freaks me out and add downtown driving to that and I'm practically in tears. But Chris demanded I go and offered to drive. How could I say no? And I'm glad I went. Not only did I get to hang with my favorite birthday girl, but I got to see friends I haven't seen in a long time and meet some new ones!

the boy turns 9 and other wonders.

2008-09-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

This week the boy turned 9. It blows my mind how quickly the kids are growing up. When I met Ranen he was 6, Blake was 2. It's crazy to see where Ranen was and where Blake is headed right now. Wow, a lot to wrap my head around.

We celebrated with Pokemon...his favorite game at the moment. We bought him pokemon books, pokemon cards and characters. We even decorated his cake like a pokeball. It was seriously hard picking out gifts because he's getting past the age of action figures and into the age of video games. And since niether of us want our kids to be completly jacked into the electronics, we tried our best to find alternatives. I think we did an okay job.

This week we also checked out Ranen's new classroom. His school went through a huge remodel this summer and we were glad to see him out of the trailer! Blake has been to so many school functions that she is becoming quite accustomed to the "vibe". She talks about going to kindergarten often. "Soon honey", I tell her. But in my heart I am so glad she'll be my baby for just another year longer!

In other news, we have finally finished painting. Or should I say Chris has finally finished painting! Now we can concentrate on putting the floor trim back up, eventually getting crown molding and decorating! What a process but the house if coming together. Yeah!!

At least Noro thinks so...

wisdom teeth extraction

2008-09-06T18:14:00.001-07:00

(picture by Miss Kate)

I had two wisdom teeth extracted yesterday. I would say it was horrible, but honestly I can't remember any of it because I had them put me to sleep. Before I knew it I was sitting up in the chair laughing because I couldn't feel my nose.

My recovery has been really easy. No swelling. No pain (yeah percocet!) And being waited on hand and foot isn't so bad either. Thanks to Miss Kate who sat with me and watched a cheesy movie while discussing housing projects. And super thanks to the kids who let me sleep even though they were desperate to wake me!

I felt so good in fact that I started a sewing class today! Watch out Martha Stewart! (bah hahahha ).

knit knit knit knit knit

2008-09-02T21:45:00.001-07:00

I have been knitting up a storm lately but since most of the items are Christmas presents, I can't really share with you the FO photos.

But I do have this. During the Stitch N Pitch I was able to complete this button tab hat. Does the yarn look familiar? Yup...I was sweating up to the very end that I had enough yarn to finish and I just had enough!

The best part was picking out the buttons. I even got hippie boy involved!

Last weekend I was able to get the kids to 'help' with a little construction project of mine. Taking my cue from some folks off Raverly, we made this....a Tinkertoy Swift! It fell apart after I finished winding my ball, but it did it's job and doesn't it look good with the Socks That Rock Socktopus?

It worked great and here is the project I started with it (modeled by Molly). Can you guess what it could be?

All about the house.

2008-08-31T18:27:00.000-07:00

Of course, labor day weekend, becomes all about the house. It's nice to cross items off our master list and start to see our planning and effort come into fruition.

When starting to put together the plan for Blake's room I decided I wanted to add some personal touches. A few items that a princess would love and only she would have. Something I wouldn't have to buy at target.

I came across this mirror at goodwill...

After some paint it became this...

It's placed low enough that Blake can see her entire person. I've already caught her "performing" in front of it with a microphone and a toy guitar in her hand. She painted and glittered the hooks on either side. I'm sure there will be boa's hanging there by tomorrow!

Since we had to downsize when we bought this house, one of the items we had to give away was Blake's easel. I wanted to keep a creative piece in her room that wouldn't take up valuable floor space. So I took this...

...and with a little paint it became this. A cool chalkboard to frame her masterpieces. I just need to find an old fashioned tin cup to place along side to hold her chalk!

I added some wicked cool Ikea night lights and painted some leaves to finish the look. I took some foam and batting and added a seat cushion to a toy box. Overall the three projects cost me around 60 bucks.

This house of ours is starting to feel more like a home every day.