You Don't See That Every Day

I know, I know, you have been waiting and waiting,  wondering why I haven't written in days and weeks. Well, we went on a family vacation this Christmas break. And what a doozy it was - in a good way. There is so much I am still processing that I haven't gotten a good posting written yet; But I thought I would share a little bit of our time. A teaser ... There was lots of snow, some ice skating, some sledding, plenty of good food, and plenty of craziness We saw God's hand upon us at so many times. Details to follow once I find my notes from under the laundry mountain.

Well we have so far survived the cold snap that passed through our little corner of the world. Single digit degrees! Not heard of in my lifetime - not that it is very long of a lifetime, but still... No broken pipes in our home thankfully; we stayed cozy with our woodstove working overtime and using all the wool blankets. The kids' school didn't fare so well. We got the alert phone call late Sunday evening that a water main had broken, and 6 inches of water filled the middle school. So now they have 2 more days off. What do i do with 2 teenagers home for the day when not expected? Put them to work of course. (In their spare time, the girls hung Christmas lights around the windows.) A brilliant friend suggested I promote the 2 teens to substitute teachers for the day. So I did. Brilliant! It got off to a shaky start, since they are new to this, but I think they got through the work. We'll address the whole who-is-in-charge issue if we do this again tomorrow.

It was a long cold week here. I didn't get out to run all week due to other circumstances. So finally today, after most of the snow and ice is gone, I headed out for a long slow run. It was only 29 out, but it was dry and not the typical wet Oregon snow - so it felt fine. Wearing 2 or 3 layers helped keep me nice and warm. The training for the spring marathon is starting in earnest now. After talking with my niece who is running the marathon with me, I realized I am going to be falling behind if I don't get my act together. I thought I was doing ok getting up to 4 miles, and then my niece, who is down in Chile, responds that she is up to 7.5 and adding more each week. Oh. Dear. So I planned to run 5 today, and actually went over and made almost 6. And it felt really good! Maybe I can do this after all.

Winter made it to our part of the world yesterday. It came in and blanketed our area with snow and ice. This translates to FUN for my children. School wasn't cancelled but it was pretty light towards the end of the day with intermissions of snow ball fights between classes. The other 3 girls at home went out as soon as they could and played until I forced them inside to warm up a little. They were all back at there again this morning, along with a family friend, to play at the nearby school yard. We are now warm and cozy in our house playing card games, baking yummy snacks, listening to Christmas music. Later today I will put the kids to work cleaning up so we can decorate a little. Yep, I have hardly any Christmas decorations out. We did put up some outdoor lights, and a special table-piece. I don't think we are getting a tree this year. Gasp. Yes, there is a good reason for it, I just can't go into it here on this blog.   So we will enjoy this spec...

Even homeschool kids have their days... I mentioned to my girls on Sunday night that "tomorrow school starts up again!" in my happy, yeehaw voice. They were not so impressed. My 8 year old said, "I hate school." I almost argued with her. But then I decided, let's try something here. I told her instead of doing school for the day, she would work all day. My mind gleefully rubbed its hands together in anticipation of all the cleaning I need done around this house. (I know, a mixed metaphor, but go there with me.) So on Monday I had my girls wash dishes, all the floors got mopped, the laundry folded, the craft drawer cleaned, the play room cleaned, leaves raked, and bedrooms straightened up. I had plenty more chores left for them to get to, but we actually ran out of time. Was the experiment worth it? I guess I will find out this morning when I get the school books out.When my child gets into the school work she actually really likes it. But she has heard the l...

15. Hard to believe this boy is now 15 years old. Before we know it he'll be out of the house. Yikes. Slow down! And no, he doesn't even have the book to study to take the test for his permit.

A day of giving thanks for all our blessings. We started out the day with a fun run - 5k in the local park. We did this for the first time last year, at a different Turkey Trot 5k. This year we got smart and found one that started later and was closer to home. G. ran with the older two kids, and I pushed the stroller and ran with the other 3. It was a beautiful, sunny, but cold, morning. Lots of fun. And then it was off to the relatives for feasting and fun! I didn't get any action shots of the whole crowd - there were about 35 of us I think - but I got a picture of this very cool turkey. It is actually a cake! My niece made this using pound cake, Twinkies, caramel, and pretzels. I was pretty impressed - enough to take a picture. So we had a nice long visit with the family, got to see the great-nephews from California. Oh my, they are cuties! I loved watching them play with my little girls and the cousins. My brother had a bunch of old photos he transferred from slide...

It was the second day of 'vacation' for us. And I felt like I was the turkey running for cover. Or running around like a turkey with its head off. Was it the sleeping in until 8 am that did it? Or maybe making pancakes for the crew, and then going for my run that left me feeling undone. I didn't get my own breakfast until after 10, scarfing it down with one eye on the clock. My daughter needed to be somewhere by 10.30 -ish. So we didn't make it there until 11.30. It was a pretty flexible get-together, so it worked out ok. But it left me scrambling to get to the eye doctor and another meeting on time. So, about the eye doctor. Little K has some moves that she uses on her older sister. Moves that involve some screeching and physical contact. Those two fight like ... like ... girls. Sometimes K and M can be best buds and play so well (for a 3 yr old and 8 yr old), and then other times.. sigh... things happen like they did earlier in the weekend. Little K's hand ...

Just a little warning ahead of time, this will probably end up being a pretty random entry. The unifying theme here is the kids, and the month of November. The girls have been taking piano lessons since October, and it has been so fun to hear them play now. The first week ... well the little key -plunking got old really fast, but their enthusiasm never waned. Just like the leaves from our trees. The girls would go out one day and rake the leaves from both the front and back yards; the next day it would look like they hadn't even been there. They haven't been discouraged yet. Maybe it's the novelty of jumping in the leaf-piles, or the fun of climbing in the bin to pack the leaves in a little, whatever it takes, they keep going back out happily, to rake the leaves. Big Miss M. got to go to a little party at a neighbor's house. They made these cute, yummy, little turkeys - they really did look better in person when they were fresh. This was taken a day or so later...

Today was the first time in probably about 20 years, that I have run 2 days in a row, voluntarily. I took the dog out for a quick run (2 miles) yesterday just to get the wiggles out of her, (and to be able to eat some cookies at my sister's.) And then today I actually went back out and ran again. 4 miles. It was my long slow run for the week. And it was, long-lasting, slow and maybe included some running. Finishing the run, instead of cutting it short - which my mind tried to convince me to do - that made me feel pretty good in the end.So it was worth it. And that marathon is looming in my head now. I have 6 months to go until the big day. I think I better get my training routine set out and ready soon.

I've probably already said this, but saving money is so much fun!! This week has been a great one in the savings department. I often go to Fred Meyer, and use my rewards card to rack up points. And then I use the points to get a few cents off my gasoline. And if you look at your receipt closely, there are occasionally surveys (which are super simple to fill out!) and you get more fuel points for doing it. So I did a couple of those in the past month. For whatever reason I had a ton of points on my card, and when I went to fill up my gas tank earlier this week, I got 20c off of each gallon!! Seriously, I wanted to do a little dance right there. So even though the price sign said 3.15 per gallon, I only paid 2.95! Wahoo! And then today, let me tell you - I saved over $13 at the grocery store just using coupons! Wowzer. I print most of my coupons out from Swagbucks , so not only am I getting the money saved at the grocery store, I am gaining swag points to use towards gift cards ...

Today was a work day at the farm. We joined a number of my siblings out there to cut and split and stack wood along with other farm chores. I think my dad sure liked having all the extra hands helping today. He even got my brother and husband up on the barn roof for some repairs and addition. The older two kids got to do some driving, one on the tractor, the other on the forklift. The Boy also got a tutorial in running a chainsaw.   Meanwhile the other girls helped harvest 2 rows of carrots; they filled the back of the pickup, and then we cut the tops off, washed them up, dried them, and stored them in the cellar. Then, since the back of the pickup was empty, we filled it up with firewood to take home. And this last photo ... it just struck me - all the pickups that were at the farm. I don't think they all show in the photo, but there were 6 of them in this little area at the time I took this.  

We got to go to parent-teacher conferences this week. G and I took an afternoon and visited with all the teachers for our 2 kids who are going to school. I can still remember the first time I went to a teacher meeting, as a mom. It was way back in 2004. We had an exchange student living with us. She was a senior at the local high school, and so I got to go and meet with her teachers and make sure she was doing ok in school. All the teachers were in the gymnasium, and I went from desk to desk meeting and talking with her teachers. What a far cry this was from that! We were able to sign up online - which was so nice! And then we went from classroom to classroom, seeing where our kids sit, meeting the teachers, or re-meeting in some cases. We learned about what they were doing in class, as well as how they were doing. And some of the comments we got from the teachers about our 2nd born kind of surprised us, in a good way. It seems that our daughter is starting to show her goofy side to ...

As I am slowly going through everything in the house and slowly throwing things out, of giving things away, that we don't need, I have been struck by an idea to redo the wall art also. (Some of it, not all of it, don't worry husband!) I came across this family tree one day while browsing pinterest and was really struck by it. So later next week a friend is coming by to help draw it on the wall. When I first mentioned it to my husband he had a chuckle, thinking I was going to put the entire family tree on the wall. He figured it would take over the ceiling and move into the next room. I suppose if I did do all my siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles, then yes, it would engulf the house. I've got a couple of photos ready to go up there; but I will probably be searching for some more of our ancestry. I'm not sure how far back I will go either. I guess it kind of depends on what photos I can come up with. So if any of my family members have some grandparent...

How much Halloween candy do you have left?!? So it has been a week since the big party-day, aka trick-r-treat night. And I am finally getting around to showing you my little costumers. This year we had a puppy, an Olympic swimmer, and a hot dog. I think this year Little K. really got into the fun of it. After every house we visited, she would come back and excitedly say, "I got candy!" As you can see, we got a lot of candy too! There were a number of houses where our girls were the only ones, or the very few that came to a house, so the candy was often very freely handed out. At a neighbor's house, we were the last to visit, and they just dumped the rest of the candy into the girl's bags. In our family we dump everything into one bowl to share. I went through and checked all the pieces, and then divided the suckers and hard candy out from the rest. And yes, I threw some away. Throughout the week I have let the kids have some for after-lunch, or after s...

I made my annual foray into the big city today. Every year I am suppose to take my daughter to the back specialist in Portland. Well, I will confess I have not done it every single year. But the time came for it to happen, and so we went. Now for many people, it's no big deal to travel to Portland for a doctor's appointment. But for me ... for whatever reason, it never goes well. My morning was rushed; and then I had to make sure I picked up the kids from school at the right time, to get to my parent's in time, to get to the appointment on time. I didn't have a chance to pack our lunches so I splurged on a fast food lunch for the 6 of us. I dropped them at my parent's home, and headed on to Portland. So I decided to go the back roads as far as I could until I got on the interstate. Well, I took a wrong turn, had to turn around, and finally made it to the freeway. I was sure glad we left 'early'. As we got closer to OHSU, I was trying to find the google d...

We are now 9 weeks through the school year; Math is a not a favorite subject this year for more than one kid; but we're working through it with each of them. The girls at home have started piano lessons this month. So far the older one is progressing pretty rapidly in my opinion, but then I am still stuck in the beginning modes of piano.M and M both love playing, so I expect to be hearing masterpieces from them in no time. (ha!) Every year I try and take a pumpkin photo with each of the kids. I've been doing this since the oldest was just a 10-month old. So far this year I've gotten these 3 out of the 5. Those older two kids - being gone at school so much makes it really difficult to take their picture! I sure love this time of year for photos - the crisp air, the afternoon lighting, the fall colors!   This week really feels like fall is here! Even though the local football season and cross country season is just about over, the nights are finally turning cold...

13. This little curtain climber is now a teen. She is taller than me, wears a larger shoe size and can't really fit into my long-sleeve shirts anymore. We celebrated her birthday twice this weekend (does that make her 26?!) Pie on the hike/picnic on Saturday, and then cake on Sunday. Because some of us just don't think it is a birthday without cake.    She was thoroughly excited about all of her presents, which always makes a parent feel good. Earrings are the big thing, since she just got pierced this summer. And her sister knows her tastes - sour cream and onion no-share chips.   Even though she isn't quite as OSU-crazy as her brother is, she was pretty thrilled with her new boots. I love that she still is young enough to enjoy her American Girl doll - she got a book about hair styling for her doll;    Happy Birthday to our second-born, firstborn-girl who leads the way for her younger sisters.