Birthday Drama

Bunny had his 5th birthday while I was out of blogging commission. We had a nice birthday dinner and put candles on the homemade pumpkin pie he requested. Just as we began to sing "Happy Birthday", PJ got a pouty look on his face.

Seconds later, the dam burst. He was in a full-fledged boo-hoo crying hissy fit for a reason unbeknownst to any of us.

Poor PJ - he was in such a state, but all of us couldn't stop laughing at him. We are so mean. It will be interesting to see if he does this again for Pearly's birthday later this month.

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Mt. St. Helens

I promised pictures of my son and dh's hike to the crater of Mt. St. Helens. They did not bring a camera (what were they thinking?), but thankfully some friends took a few pics.


They are above the clouds here. A solar power is on the left used to power the GPS on the right.

Eating lunch on the rim of the crater - yep, right behind them the crater drops off thousands of feet. That gives me the willies thinking about it - just a gust of wind could knock them off balance and into the crater. I guess that's just a mom for you.

Steam plume - a common occurrence at the volcano.

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Slacker

Yes, I am a blogging slacker. Four words would summarize the last 4 weeks: bum knee, harvest, schooling, and Ravelry.com.

Boy, ravelry is wonderful. I love to see projects worked up in various yarns. What a neat idea. I have been knitting. Finished this little blueberry hat (Ann Norling's, Kid's Fruit Cap #10), but it's a bit small for PJ. So cute, though, and I love the pattern.
details:
Cascade 200 Superwash, Dk Purple colorway (835) and Green Apple 802
Sz 7 circular needles, Magic Loop method (use size 6 next time)
Ann Norling Kid's Fruit Cap pattern
Child's Size 2
5 st = 1 in.
We've canned boatloads of salsa, grape jelly, pepper jelly, and the new one this year is zucchini relish from those mammoth-sized zucchinis that appeared out of nowhere in the garden after a vacation.

Newsworthy stuff: I have decided, after falling and injuring my knee yet again, that sugery is probably in order. The MRI proved that my ACL is completely torn and without the use of a functioning ACL, the knee can be quite unstable. Surgery means 4 weeks of being off my knee. I'm not sure how this will all work out logistically, but it would be nice to have some sense of normalcy without being so preoccupied with falling.

I hope you all are enjoying the fall. The leaves are starting to turn here and sometimes I want to just pull over to soak in the vibrant colors.

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Out of Commission

We went to another family camp on Labor Day Weekend. This 40-plus mom decided to play competitive volleyball. I set the ball, heard and felt a pop in my right knee and then went down on the ground writhing in pain. The next 24 hours, I could not put any weight at all on my right leg. The knee was very unstable and swollen. Dh was very good about bringing me meals, helping me to the toilet, etc, without complaining. Slowly, but surely, I've been able to put weight on my right leg. A trip to the doctor gave the bad news: at least a torn ACL. This morning I had an MRI to see if it's more than a torn ACL and will get the results next week.

I've learned a few things. Disabled people really deserve all the help they can get. Just doing things like going to the bathroom can be such a huge ordeal. Walking in a parking lot is very challenging. Crutches are not fun at all - you use upper body muscles you forgot you owned and your arm pits end up being sore.

Oh, and about MRIs - if you are getting an MRI on your knee, you can knit for the 25-minute procedure. The tech suggested that I take a book in with me and I asked if I could knit. He quickly checked to make sure my needles were not made of steel and gave me the green light to knit. After all was said and done, he told me thnat he was going to write about me in his book of "firsts" - the first person to knit while getting an MRI - lol.

He was a really nice tech. Showed me the MRI and explained enough to verify that I have an injury and fluid on my knee without compromising his job for disclosing medical information. MRIs are very cool, but I wish I could have learned about them without being the victim.

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Family Camp

Just arrived back home last night from family camp. We had a wonderful time on Whidbey Island camping with many families. It was great to have my parents join us this trip. We enjoyed swimming, canoe rides, boating, four-square, lots of competitive games, no cooking/cleaning, good teachings, relaxing talks with friends, etc.

Orange boy is holding what was our "race car" for the "Clinton 500". It was filled with water, but had holes punched out at the bottom. Teams had to have 2 people constantly filling up the car with water before it emptied as the racers ran the car around the track many, many times (there were no wheels on the car, it was pulled by a piece of twine). It was tiring, but very fun. We had a kick watching Bunny take his job very seriously at his young age. What fun!

We are still recovering from our memorable trip. On the way back home to OR, we dropped dh and Tall Dude off with some friends. They spent the night at a cabin on Mt. St. Helens and today they climbed to the top and ate lunch at the summit. I sure hope someone got good pictures.

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Yum

Our garden is getting to the point where I'm going to have to leave zucchini on doorsteps. I'm trying to use up as much as we can. These turned out really yummy:

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

And who can resist these wonderful Rainier cherries?


And hopefully I will have time this week to make another skirt from this thrifted cotton/lycra which used to be homemade curtains in their previous life. Price = $4

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The Girls

I've been getting updates from my girls - and pictures. Don't you just love modern technology?

Here's Pearly at Virginia Beach, VA:

And here's Birdie at Busch Gardens:

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Summer Sewing

Taking a break from skirts, now it's time for pillowcases. I've made so many that it's easy to get in the groove - especially if they are already cut out. Last year I made the kids pillowcases to take to family camp. Dh and I didn't have any, so this year, I made ours. Dh has the brown one - fishing theme. Mine is the floral print. I love, love, love, this fabric. I went to a really neat store in SE Portland called Cool Cottons and found it there. The owner overheard me say that I wanted something that I could lay my head on and immediately showed me this fabric (called "follow your imagination" by Prints Charming for Free Spirit). I've never felt any cotton so soft. It's perfect!

The pirate ones are sure to be hits with the boys' upcoming birthdays. And I also started making travel size pillowcases. You can see PJ's in his crib. And the last picture is for the girls who surely must be homesick for their beloved PJ by now. PJ loves to tuck his baby in when he goes down to sleep.

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Summer Happenings

Before

The girls are on the East coast and now Tall Dude left to go to the Oregon coast with some friends for 6 days. Now I've got 4 kids 9 and under and it is making me appreciate all that my older children do to keep the house in some sort of order. When my son told me of his plans and we only had a few hours for him to get packed, I immediately went shopping because otherwise I'd have to take all of the children and that's not really fun when shopping for shoes - how pathetic is that!

We still had some blueberries left in the fridge that needed to be used, so I made a coffee cake this morning. I could get by with only one since our family is so small. And there was still a nice size piece for dh when he comes home tonight :) It was pretty good, but I think next time I would add some lemon or orange zest. I love citrus zest with blueberry.

After

PJ wishing someone would push him in the swinging chair.

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It was a little too quiet . . .

so I went looking for 2 little boys. . . . and found them:

Bunny feeding PJ popcorn

Looks like happy campers to me :)

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CCC and Bingo

Tall Dude made some delicious chocolate chip cookies last night and while he and Papa were out, the 3 boys and I played BINGO. It was great fun. Bunny sat by me as I called out the numbers and he was pretty good at finding the letter and then the number. As soon as he saw the number he was looking for in my hand, he yelled out BINGO before I had a chance to say the number. Prizes were awarded, too - Baby Ruths. I know my 2 absent daughters won't mind me depleting my Baby Ruth stash. They are obviously having too much fun in VA. They have only called one time. (visualize mama tapping foot on the ground with hands on hips)

The boys wanted me to take a picture of them eating chocolate chip cookies, so I did.

And of course a close-up to prove that they were cooked to perfection. We do have high standards around here.

It is nice to have more than our usual quota of cookies since 2 girls are gone, I must add. We all definitely took advantage of that. Thankfully, Papa has been walking my hips off in the evening .

To my precious girls: Have fun at VBCC tomorrow. Give lots of hugs to that lurking lady with the initials MA and her sweet family. Also, please go find Mrs. T - the one with 6 kids and evidently is in a wheelchair now. You must give her a hug from me, and of course Gma Sylvia and your old choir teacher and their family. Oh, and the family who used to live in Germany and those crazy guys who sing together. I'm feeling a tinge of jealousy that I couldn't have hid in your suitcase.

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I find this sad

3-month old PJ

In this day where so many children have health issues, I find this sad:

New mothers stop breastfeeding too soon, CDC finds

The Associated Press

ATLANTA | Nearly three-quarters of new U.S. mothers are breastfeeding their babies, but they are quitting too soon and resorting to infant formula too often, federal health officials said Thursday.

A government survey found that only about 30 percent of new mothers were feeding their babies breast milk alone three months after birth. At six months, only 11 percent were breastfeeding exclusively.

read the entire article here

I can think of very few things that are as blissful as having a little baby gaze into mama's eyes while nursing. Okay, so I'm a little biased.

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Public Apology

I need to be upfront and make a public apology right now to my few faithful readers. I started a tradition when my 2 eldest children went to Honduras by taking pictures of what is going on around home to "entice" them that there really is no place like home. I will have a lot of competition this time as my girls will be staying with great friends and seeing so many friends from our old church. Pearly was born there and we moved when she was 6 years old, so they have a lot of history in Virginia Beach. I've heard talk of going to the beach, Ocean Breeze water park, Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. That's a lot to compete with and I know they will be reading the blog. So, here goes . . . .

Birdie and Pearly - while you were way over there on the other side of the continent dealing with heat AND unbearable humidity, lack of sleep, etc, we were waking up to comfortable weather in the 70s, no humidity, no bugs, and muffins and smoothy for breakfast. These were muffins with oatmeal, apricot, and blueberries. You already know how good the smoothy was. So sorry you missed it.


Now I'm off to teach younger children how to do the dishes that you should be doing.

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They're Gone

I have been stranded by my daughters and am surrounded by 6 boys (1=dh). My girls went to VA to visit friends. Help me!

One last kiss

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More skirts

Here's Pearly's newest skirt. She had a lot of seam-ripping to do because of putting the tie on the wrong way, but her persistence paid off. I'm so proud of her. This is her 3rd skirt she's made. She's saving me a bundle of $$ and learning new skills at the same time. Total cost: $8

Here's an A-line skirt with zipper my 20-yr old just finished for herself. Total cost of fabric and zipper - $11.25.

Here's another wraparound I completed last weekend. The colors are definitely "me". Total cost = $8

I don't think I've ever come across a sewing book that has been put to such use. And we've only begun because there other styles as well.

Today it's supposed to be 92 degrees and we have no a/c. It feels great to be wearing a light cotton skirt and tank - even cooler than shorts.

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Climber

We have a big climber in our house. Not even 18 months, our Caboose easily climbs up to the top bunk, even dragging along his beloved blanket. Bunny doesn't mind one bit. They stay up there in the top bunk and play. Caboose likes to pretend he's sleeping and "scooches" himself under the covers. It's cute to see these little guys playing together.

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Marathon Sewing

Okay - if you sew, and if you like skirts . . . run out and get this book - Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics, by Francesca Denhartog & Carole Ann Camp. My daughters and I have been on a sewing frenzy. In the last week, I've made 4 skirts, and my daughters have made 4 (combined). I may have mentioned that I am tall - nearly 6'4", and that makes it very challenging to find clothes that fit. My daughters are 5'11" and Pearly hasn't stopped yet. When I found this book, I was definitely intrigued about making a pattern based on our very tall measurements. When we lived in the Philippines years ago, I took a pattern drafting class. My notes are in a binder and I haven't done anything with it. When I took a look at this book and saw the pictures, I had to give it a try.

We all made the wrap-around skirt first. It uses the fitted A-line skirt pattern. It took about 20 minutes to make the pattern and maybe an hour to sew the skirt (we revised the ties just a bit to make it even more simple). We drafted our pattern on special fabric for patterns so we can use it over again. I love the skirt except that the tie in the front causes my top to bunch up. What am I supposed to wear on top? Any ideas?

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Raspberry Coffeecake and Exercise

Here is a picture of my 17-yr old's 3rd or 4th piece of raspberry coffeecake. Yes, he needs that much butter :) Have you seen his legs? He's one long drink of water with not one ounce of fat. Unfortunately, I "need" butter on my piece, too. I can't imagine eating certain foods without butter. What can I say - I'm a butter snob. And good thing I got a new gadget for my birthday last week (turned 43 woop-DE-DOO) and here is my new techno-toy:

This thing rocks. It had great reviews on Amazon. I've never had a pedometer before. This thing is so cool - it comes with graphing software. Connect it to the computer and the software will chart your steps, aerobic steps, distance, calories, fat grams burned. The program allows you to set goals for yourself and multiple users are able to use the same software. I LOVE it. It is very motivating. I want to keep walking in order to see more graphs. That can only mean good things, right? Omron® Pocket Pedometer HJ-720 ITC. I got mine at Costco.

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Bunny

I readily admit it. I am smitten with this child. His porcelain cheeks, beautiful lips, gorgeous eyes, golden hair. People have said he reminds them of the stereotypical picture of an angel. He's 4. Pretty soon, he'll be five and with that age comes much more independence, confidence, and a few attitudes or two. I'm trying to tuck this moment away in my mind because it is pure sweetness.

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Let's Go Veggies!

Climbing Cukes

We're almost there - our favorite time when we get to pick fresh veggies from our garden. This little cucumber is almost 4 inches long. It's an English cuke, so it will probably grow another foot, but right now the plants are growing so fast, you can see the growth overnight. Amazing.

4-in. baby cuke

I'm "forcing" the cucumber plant to climb. So far so good. I have had to use twine to wrap around some branches to help it to stay, but eventually, they put out little tendrils that wrap around whatever they can grab and eventually can support themselves.

Tendrils

It's been so nice lately. After lots of hot, sunny weather, we got a couple rainy days with nice sunny breaks in the day. We don't mind rain every now and then - as long as it doesn't flood our basement. Here's Tall Dude pushing PJ.

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Backyard happenings

I love this time of year. Flowers are blooming. It's amazing how much this echinacea has grown in 4 years. It was only a 6-inch plant when I bought it and it has multiplied many times each year.


I don't know what this cream-colored freckled flower is. It reminds me of foxglove, but the blossoms are about half the size. Any ideas? I also forgot what the yellow one is, too.


Orange boy is standing by his raised bed garden. The weeds in the background are part of the vacant house/lot next door - the one that the developer wants to put 6 crammed 3-story homes in. We're still fighting this. We knew the ground in this lower portion of our backyard was saturated with water most of the year - even running water that goes into our yard, along our fence line, and into a catch drain in a neighbor's yard. What we didn't know is that it is definitely wetlands. Because of all the water, we rarely have to water the raised beds. When my son planted the seeds, we didn't water at all - that's how moist the ground is. The neighbors are wondering how the developer will deal with the water. Evidently, developers are allowed to pay a fine to fill a wetland. Oh joy. That may deal with the wetland, but what about the stream of water that comes through our yard most of the year - so much water that we cannot do any kind of landscaping or even walk? I try not to think about it - it is very upsetting.

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