Monday, June 28, 2010

Camping!

I can see why people own a camper now . . .






Why, yes, that IS my second cup of coffee for the morning in the foreground. Don't judge, people. Don't judge.

We are heading out, as soon as I am off the computer and the remainder of our stuff is packed (What? You thought one bag of clothes and three bags of food was all we were taking? Silly, silly reader.). A little south of us is a place called Silver Falls, of which we have heard some pretty good feedback. There are multiple waterfalls along a fairly short trail, swimming, and a playground. What more could this family ask for?! Well . . . maybe an RV to haul all of our stuff in.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day Four of VBS

Looks a little like this:



Me too, Fish. Me too.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Backyardigans

So much fun can be had in the back yard:









After a morning spent at VBS, we were all pretty spent. As today is also baking day in my house, some time in our back yard was called for. Ben played tag and kept Pillbug from ingesting too much sand while I baked sandwich bread and strawberry bread. I didn't get to the hamburger buns (that I need for tomorrow - yikes!), so that'll have to be on the agenda first thing tomorrow when we return from VBS.

Well, what an exciting post this is:) Probably indicative of the weekend's wedding festivities. A five hour drive, two full days, and another 5 hour drive makes for two very tired parents. But, the windows are open, the house smells yummy, and brinner is on the menu for tonight!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ten Things

From SouleMama (an ALL TIME favorite blog):

And you?? What are ten things bringing you joy right in this moment? Write it down, say it out loud, photograph it, or share it with those you love..

1. A not-really-planned-out trip to the strawberry farm with Treefrog.

2. Watching Treefrog run down the rows of berries.

3. Finding strawberries that say, "Treefrog, you must eat me right now!"

4. Meeting smiling friends at the farm

5. (Okay, enough about strawberries!) A delightful lunch (brought on by a freezer that had been inadvertently turned off by some little hands).

6. Rest time

7. Weekends away

8. Weddings

9. Peeks of sun

10. Gnarly Head Cab

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Summer is Here!!

I have fully embraced summer today. We (and by 'we' I, of course, mean 'Ben') set up the swimming pool. Can I just tell you,

3 boys + 1 swimming pool = a whole lot of fun (and mess, but we aren't thinking about that right now!).

We let Treefrog invite our neighbor over for a swim and they had a wonderful time splashing, getting into trouble, and torturing Fish. Poor Fish. He needs a buddy closer to us. Or maybe I just need to be more intentional about inviting his buddies over. One of those.

The set up of the pool was rather humorous. My mom had purchased this pool for the kiddos when she came out in April. It sat in a closet until today, in its original box. Before we set it up, Ben headed to the store to purchase an electric pump. My mom broke our last pump while setting up a different pool and we have been borrowing a friend's whenever we needed to use our air mattress. We figured it was time to invest in a pump. Upon beginning to blow up the pool, Ben realized there were three caps missing therefore the air wouldn't be able to stay inside. We had three very disappointed boys hanging around at that point. A few unproductive phone calls later (thanks for nothing Fred Meyer!), Ben headed back out and to the hardware store to see if he could find a cap that would fit. He returned semi-successful. The pool stays inflated for a bit, but will need emptied this evening as it won't hold throughout the night. We have the three needed caps on order and will hopefully get them before the weather turns cold again!

Today also continued our strawberry extravaganza. I am trying my hand at fruit leathers. Strawberry puree is currently hanging out on top of our grill outside to dry. I'll see how it's doing after dinner and then I may transfer it into the oven for a bit. I was trying to go low-energy on this one, so I am hoping the oven won't be needed. Oh, and strawberry shortcake is on the menu for dessert again. Hmmmm, I wonder if the kids will remember it is in the fridge . . . maybe they won't notice if we don't have it for dessert . . .

Saturday, June 12, 2010

For the Love of Strawberries

Well, one good thing about all this rain we have been having here in beautiful Oregon is that the fruit becomes out-of-this-world good. Sweet, juicy strawberries were picked on Friday afternoon. Since then, my family has been enjoying them straight up, with a bit of cream, in smoothies, and tonight's feature was . . .


Yum. Strawberry Shortcake.

Don't worry. I shared:


This picture was snapped just in time - I'm pretty sure Fish didn't breath during the two seconds it took him to consume this.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

In Which I Share Too Much About My Feet

I have issues with my feet. I am currently seeking out a support group for my feet. Let me know if you hear of a good one.

I remember as a kid HATING my feet. I was embarassed to wear flip-flops. I don't think I owned a pair of shoes that showed my feet until I was in college. I had to make a conscious decision to Stop. Hating. My. Feet. FortheloveofGod. The reason eludes me now. Maybe my toes were too stubby. Maybe the sides of my feet hung over every pair of sandals I ever tried on. . . who knows.

In college, I remember realizing that my feet weren't all that bad. Sure, they were wider than the average foot, but all in all, not too shabby. I started buying flip flops and I even got a pair of Birkenstocks (shut up - they were cool). I even painted my toenails.

Then I had a kid (and another, and another) and we moved to Oregon (is this a reason why? I'm not sure) and I began to have new foot-issues. You see, I have extremely dry skin. I use lotion like no one's business and still, my dryness persists. However, until a few years ago, I don't ever remember my feet suffering from this. Summers have turned into torture for my feet. They get so dry, they peel, they crack open, they are pretty much a pain in my arse.

For a while now, I have been treating this with lotion and socks at night and not wearing my sandals as much. This system has worked okay. It keeps the awful cracking at bay for the most part. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a spot on the ball of my foot that hurt with every step. I just ignored it, thinking it would eventually heal (it was probably just a cracked spot anyway, I thought). It hadn't gone away and last night, I decided it was time to inspect the buggar. Turns out there is a planar wart hanging out down there. Awesome. I now am hobbling around with an apple-cider-vinegar-soaked cotton ball bandaided to the ball of my foot in hopes that the acid will take care of it. The Internets tell me that this method will take around three weeks, but is less painful than having it cut or frozen and is a more permanent solution. Because, apparently, these things are prone to inviting friends. Awesome.

Don't worry. I'll keep you posted on how this treatment works and whether or not I can regain a love for my feet.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Success!

Well, our pictures were successfully recovered (though all of the organization was lost). Ben is gearing up to leave for a conference, so those awesome posts I have in my head for those two special people who just celebrated birthdays will again be put aside. Maybe this year I will just handwrite a letter to them since this is getting ridiculous.

Another success is in regards to our weather - sunshine is finally here! Only for a day, but I'll take what I can get for now. We have spent most of the day outside and I am hoping that the trend continues for the remainder of the day!

Alrighty, I'm off to cajole my family into taking a walk. Though, I don't think I will have to work hard at this:)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

One Computer Crash Later . . .

We have had a wonderful weekend and beginning to our week. We spent Memorial Day weekend with Ben's family at a campground close to the coast (like within a mile from the coast, but, interestingly enough, I never seemed to make it there). It was truly a great trip for us. The kids had a blast, were filthy, and were totally worn out by the time we arrived home. We then began the birthday craziness in our family. . .

Our dearest Fish was born May 31, 2007. Pillbug decided to make her entrance into the world on June 1, 2009. So, it was our first year of birthday extravaganza!!! We had pancakes two days in a row since each child gets pancakes on his/her birthday in the shape of his/her age. As well as birthday cake and presents for each day. Whew - this is one tired out Mama!

One awful thing did happen this weekend, our computer's hard drive decided to go kaputt. Once again we may have lost all of our children's photographs (there is one more chance that they will be recovered on Thursday - keep those fingers crossed!!). We are for sure purchasing an external hard drive now. No more waiting for us. Uh-uh. We are on it. First thing tomorrow. I am waiting to do the birthday posts for Fish and Pillbug until after I see how many photographs can be recovered. Is it sacrilegious to pray about photos?