You Don't See That Every Day

99 jars of pears on the wall, 99 jars of pears. Take one down pass it around, .... Ok you get the gist. On Saturday my sister and my niece and I canned up 99 jars of pears. We had one jar beak so actually we only 98 jars, but still.... It was a long day. I did learn some things about my family though. My parents showed up in the middle of the day. They were on the way to the coast. Mom offered a few tidbits of advice, since she has been canning since she was a teen. It was interesting to hear how all four of us had different ways of doing things. I learned some new things, and I kept some of my own ways of doing it. Off my parents went to enjoy the cool ocean breezes while we slaved away in a very warm kitchen. Thankfully we did the actually cooking outside. Just as we were figuring out when to wrap it all up and if we were going to church that night, my parents show up again. They didn't make it to the coast because of a bad traffic jam. So they came back to our place. ...

A few weeks ago a facebook friend shared the following website with us. And once I looked through the Inspiration Gallery , I was hooked! I love these little nests and how you can personalize them. A mother's ring, or charm bracelet are something that everyone has, (or could have) but these - I have never seen such a cute idea! The above photo is the one I had made for my mother in-law. She doesn't read this blog, that I know of!, and so won't see her Christmas gift too early. One color represents our kids, the pink represents the colors of G's brother who has girls, and the other brown is for the other brother's children. I'm wondering how I could fit 21 on there for my parents! ;) One more cool thing about this gift - the story behind why the crafter is making and selling these. They are raising money to adopt! And since orphans have been so dear to my heart for many years, I couldn't resist helping out someone who wants to bring a child home a...

I love the beach. I once lived at the beach. The summers in between college years, I was living with my sister and family in a beach town. And even though Oregon beaches are cold all year long, with the exception of one or two days, i still love the beach. The smell, the sounds, the amazing vastness of it all, the awesome views of God's creation. Doesn't this tree stump look like a foot?! I think it is the same stump that has been floating around there for the past few years. Every time we go to this beach, the kids have climbed on it ... until this time. So for Mother's Day we went to the beach - but we went the day AFTER everyone else was there. We went on Monday. G took the day off, we almost pulled the Boy out of school, but for various reasons did not, and so the 4 girls, G and I went to the beach. And it was so cold. The wind was the main culprit, without it, the day would have been pleasant. But that didn't deter the kids much, They still ran along the ...

Yeah - this is about 3 days later now, but I was on vacation (which you'll see in the next post) Mother's day and all you know... We're off and running again. The Big Day has come - Miss M's first race. She has been training with me for about a month now. Back before my half-marathon I would take her out once in awhile when I could fit it into the schedule. Afterwards I tried to make more effort to get her out and running. And she was always ready to go. So this past week we worked her up to 2.5 miles. With some walking.  I wasn't sure how this race would go. She has never in her life run 3.1 miles. But this Saturday she did it! With only one walk, because I Made Her Stop and Walk up a hill! My girl amazed and delighted us. She kept up the pace the whole time, and really enjoyed passing people! She ran the whole thing in 31 minutes and 19 seconds. Wow! I think the deal her dad made her at the start of the race also motivated her - ice cream if...

My Mother's day started out wonderfully at church. The sermon was one on parenting (surprise) but it was so needed for my little ears. I was reminded of how I need to be gentle. (In our household, I'm usually the one who says, "Tough it out" and G is a bit more gentler with the owies kids get.) I was able to listen and actually pay attention the whole time, since all 5 kids were in their own classes. Usually they sit with us in church, but this one weekend, because of timing, it was just G. and I - which made it much easier for me to focus. After church the 7 of us headed west. A day at the beach = one of my favorite places to be; and with some of my favorite people. We ate lunch at Mo's; and then we walked the beach for awhile.The sun was shining. The wind was just barely blowing. We saw seals frolicking along the beach line. I love the lighting at the beach, so I took a number of pictures. I'll just throw them in here.  It was baby K'...

Here's a picture of my mom and her sister. Don't they look like twins? My mom is the one on the right. She's the oldest of her 6 sibling, and today is her birthday! Long ago I used to wonder what my mom did all day. I figured since we were away during the day, in school, she didn't have much to do until we came home. How I laugh now at my naivete! My mom taught me all about cooking; if she gets a call around 5:30 pm, she' ll know it's me asking, "How do I cook this?" She tried to teach me to sew, but I wasn't such a willing pupil in that area. She is now known as the cookie grandma to my kids. All they have to do is walk in her house, mention how hungry they are, and she (usually) asks, "Do you want a cookie?" Happy Birthday Mom!