The Snowfall of 2008

My Life as a Pot

Youngest son #4 had just finished a lollipop and was sticky with blue goo. Oldest son #1 walked by and said "Eeeech! He's a mess!" and proceeded to grab the sponge from the sink to wipe him off. I thought this was a little gross, but considering I just finished dishes and the sponge was probably clean from dish soap...well, it would be ok. Plus, how nice for Oldest Son to take initiative.
I watched him bent over the wee one swiping his face, when he said "Hey Mom this blue stuff isn't coming off." That's when he flipped the sponge over to the green, scouring side and starting scrubbing!

Audrey's First Trip to the Dentist

She was extremely brave and we were so proud of her. There's not much else to report, but it's a milestone worthy of blogging.

Tips for the Holidays

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnogaholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free.
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

A metaphor for motherhood:

How is this like motherhood? Well if you are asking, you probably haven't birthed any offspring.

As I watched this thin man stack these bricks on his head, I thought how every single muscle in his body must have to work to support this load. As mothers, I would say we use all of our muscles every day bending to tie shoes, lifting a wee one who's scraped her knee, stretching to reach that sippy cup lid that blew beneath the dishwasher rack, and twisting around to see if our rear ends look ok in those sweatpants. Could it be that we use our smiling muscles the very least?

There is the man, first stacking the bricks one by one. Yet when the load grows taller than his hands can reach he begins to TOSS THEM onto the top with great skill. I think of how many "bricks" mother carry every day, stacking them on top of ourselves every morning. How willing we are to take on the load. Could Jesus take these burdens and lighten our loads? How unwilling we are to give them to Him.

The man's friend keeps handing him the bricks...and probably would keep doing so until the load toppled over. Isn't that like the world? It will push us to the very limit if we let it. We can make the choice to stop...stop our bad habits, stop our overcomitting, stop our selfishness, etc. God is the One who makes it possible to say NO.

Once the man decides he's at his limit and can take no more, he turns and walks across a plank. As if the mere act of stacking the bricks wasn't incredible enough, he now carries them over the flimsiest of boards!! Ah, just like a mother. We take all that we can in a day, but still have just a little more energy to soothe the child who's had a bad dream at night, or woken up with a sore throat at 3am. I know that only Jesus could possibly give us the strength to always give a little bit more than we thought we had in us...to finish the race we've begun.

"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30

I know they are small but...

Sorry the images are so small. I'm having trouble scanning, editing, and publishing our family portrait pictures. *sigh*

Pictures of Julian playing soccer:

giggle x giggle x giggle x giggle= you giggle

Could it get any better?

More Christmas play...

Today I had a meeting with all the Sunday School teachers at church to introduce the musical we're doing for Christmas. After giving the framework of the musical, I went over the 4 main characters who had speaking roles.
Immediately one teacher interrupted and said, "Of course you are putting Julian in the role as Max, aren't you?? You just have to!" And another chimed in, "Yes that role was written for him!"

I felt that warm, proud feeling a parent gets when your kids are publicly praised.

To make things even better, I asked for suggestions on who would be good for the 2 girls roles, and several teachers looked back and forth at one another, then to me, and said, "Claire!!"

For that moment I felt like Parent of the Year.

I humbly agreed that, yes, I thought both of my children would be excellent in the play and were natural hams.

They take after their Dad, y'know.

The Drain

After my mother-in-law called on my Day of Birth, I went downstairs to open the cards and gifts that had been awaiting this 39th birthday. When I opened her card, out fell these fantastic earrings!!


"These are just my style," I thought, "and I have so many sweaters that would match them!"



Since I was still in my pj's, I figured I'd go get dressed for the day and don those fine earrings. It just might turn this 10 cent day into a million dollar day!



As I lifted one up to my lobe >>ploink<<> it fell into the sink and sashayed quickly toward the drain. Unfortunately it was faster than my clumsy fingers could recue it. **chink** It went down.



Now I remember this happening to my mom years back, and all I could hear was my dad saying "WHATEVER YOU DO ELLEN DO NOT RUN THE WATER!!" Seemed obvious enough that thus said bauble would be flushed out to sea, but I guess it made my dad feel better to say that instead of "you silly woman now I have to get up from reading the paper".



So thinking quickly, I didn't turn on the sink. I tried lifting out the drain, and of course it doesn't come out. I had a feeling I was gonna have to work for this one. What next? Plumbers wrench? Phillips head? 2 x 4? I mentally threw out the names of all the tools I knew.



Just thinking about tools doesn't, unfortunately, get the job done so I resolved to go ask the neighbor. (Christopher wasn't able to pickup his phone due to being at work)



Neighbor Dave happily e'splained to Lucy (that would be me) how the sink works, how the drain fits into the sink, and how they work together as a happy team to prevent flooding. I was starting to feel like I was at a Home Depot workshop, and wondered if I would get one of those cute little work aprons for free. Anyway, he was quite helpful with his remedial explanation of what I should do. He also gave me this long-skinny-grabber-claw-thingie (try to find one of those at Home Depot!!) to snatch it out once I had gotten the drain out.



Trudging back to my home, I thought about what might be unearthed as I pulled out the drain of our rental bathroom. How many people had lived there? Did they shave their armpits into the sink? I remembered they were Asian and weren't Asians purported to be hairless? At this point I weighed the Vomit Potential with the Earring Cuteness. Maybe I could wear just one and hope the trend catches on?? No, I determined that I would do this without being a sissy. Look at those women on Extreme Home Makeover with their hard hats! C'mon Jill!



Just as Dave outlined, the drain was easy to disassemble and when I pulled it out (eyes closed to a squint) no hair chunks or body parts came out with it!!! Hallelujah!! I used the cool Claw Thingie to rescue the drowning earring. I felt like such a hero I high-fived myself.



But not before I put a towel over the drain hole....I didn't want to drop that earring in again.

Did I mention that I love Fall?

My favorite season, in the Pacific Northwest, is by far the Fall. It couldn't be any more gorgeous here with the shades of evergreens mixed with the reds of the season.

I love when people decorate their porches in "harvest style". Hay, pumpkins, scarecrows, and mums. Simply lovely.

If I was in California, I would tell you that my favorite season is Spring. Love the weather warming up, the blossoming plants, and you can actually wear the lighter clothes they show in the stores!

I'm so excited!!

I am putting on the Christmas play for our church! The Children's Director asked Christopher and I if we wanted to run the program this year, and we (I) accepted. Christopher's kinda the silent partner in the whole deal. I'll just tell him when to show up and what to do ;o)

Anyway, it's called Christmas Show Spectacular...and just between you and me...I want Julian to be in the starring role. Ya think anyone will wonder??

gimmefive

Five Things I Love About Fall:

1. An obvious #1, the leaves turning colors on the trees.

2. We now have a yard that drops LOTS of leaves. Why is that great? When I rake them up the smell is absolutely divine!! Then the kids jump in and about the pile while I smile, remembering how Julie and I used to do that in Illinois.

3. Getting out the warm and snuggly sweaters! (These bulky clothes also conveniently hide the not-so-svelte figure I sport in my older years...)

4. Keeping my Pumpkin Pie or Caramel Apple candles lit all the time. **sniff** ..ahhhhh

5. The anticipation of the upcoming holidays.

Ethan's New Ride

A lesson learned.

Problem: Child #4 wakes up flushed, hot, and shaky. Mother knows right away a doozie of a sickness is coming on.

Solution: Hydrate Child #4 as soon as possible.

Problem: Child #2 has finished off the last of the apple juice without writing it on the grocery list. There is only high pulp orange juice and V-8 in the refrigerator.

Solution: Mother scours pantry to find another non-acidic beverage to mix with water, since Child #4 won't drink the plain water. The mission is successful and Child #4 is satisfied with the concocted beverage. He follows to drink 2 sippy cupsful in a row.

Problem: Child #4 leaves the washable floors of the kitchen to find a plush, beige, carpeted area to vomit up the 2 sippy cupsful of beverage.

Lesson learned: Never give a sick child red gatorade.

Family Portrait

Stay tuned within the next few weeks to see our latest family portrait!

The hottest spoof sensation since Wierd Al! Presenting...Julian Dayton!!

b-o-l-o-g-n-a!

By popular demand:

(Well, it's popular with the "under 12" crowd...)

A Rock City Espresso Event... Mutt Strut at the Park

Julian must be waiting for da ladies...


My handsome husband at Rock City Espresso...


Ethan, Claire, and Grandpa Mark at the park


Watching the dogshow...

hi this is claire...

A Day at the Beach

I think the kids have been reading too much Old Testament this summer...

gimmefive

Five current projects I'm working on:

1. Getting organized for school. Thinking about do more interactive teaching with Julian, and less with Claire so that she'll learn more self-direction and problem solving. Also wanting to sit down 2 times a week with Audrey doing preschool things (not just giving her busy work to buy me time with the older kids, but actually working with her)
2. Unpacking those last 3 boxes that are sitting in the garage from our move. Why is it that I always leave those last few?? Is it a psychological thing where I figure we're gonna move again so why bother unpacking them?
3. Roasting coffee. Ok this is SO much fun! It's not a complicated process but I just love producing these dark, oily, good-smelling beans from little green pellets. They snap, crackle, and pop while they're roasting and double in volume which is kind of interesting to see.
4. Trying to move toward healthier, more wholesome food for the family. Yes, you will still find a bag of Doritos and boxes of macaroni n cheese in the pantry. But a little at a time, I am buying more "whole" and less processed foods, looking at ingredients on a regular basis, and cooking from scratch.
5. Starting a Cooking Club this year for a group of homeschool kids. Twice a month we will meet and either cook or do seatwork/games related to food, health, recipes, etc. I'm really excited to do this and teach the kids some navigational skills around the kitchen.

The Redneck Roadhouse Boo-fay dinner

The seafood platter...

Point Defiance Zoo

Ethan would have stayed at the slide all day and skipped the whole learning-about-animals-thing.

Ethan.....is that you?

A great day was had by all!! What a blessing to have grandparents to make memories with...

The Big Sneeze

Every once in a while I'll go to download some pictures off our video camera, and I'll find some rather curious and mysterious videos. Here's just a sample of one of them:

gimmefive

Five things I haven't done in a long time that I would like to do again:

1. Read a fiction book. And have enough chunks of time where I get completely lost in it.
2. Go to a regular exercise class.
3. Make movies on the computer.
4. Visit my mom's house and my dad's house in California.
5. Go camping with my family.

Five Great Summer Vacation Memories

1. Camping with my family
2. Going to my grandparents cabins on Lake Michigan
3. Finding a baby bunny in my front yard while playing Barbies with Julie
4. Riding my bike to the "White Hen" store to buy penny candy
5. Playing "Ghost in the Graveyard" after dark with the neighborhood kids

July 23rd

For our 13th wedding anniversary, Christopher and I

went to a restaurant in Seattle called Palisade. It was
a meal to remember...


While the place was huge inside and every table packed, it somehow kept a personal touch. It was still intimate though teeming with diners. We sat right at the window and had a gorgeous view as the sun went down.


Thanks sweetheart, for such a lovely lovely evening. You sure know how to spoil a girl ;o)
I love you!

fresh.

I had this one and only simple picture and I was deciding what to call the post. "Why I love the Northwest"? "A bountiful harvest"? They just didn't sound right!

Basically our family has been reinvigorated since moving back here. Yes, I know it's sunny here right now. I know it will get a lot colder. Yet we are realizing that we looked a gift horse in the mouth and had forgotten just what the Pacific Northwest has to offer us.

Delicious water and fresh produce for many months of the year are just a couple of the things we are really appreciating now!

Did I mention we have a tree swing?

VBS

I just finished a week long session of vacation bible school, teaching the kids songs and hand motions. Every day for 5 days. 4 groups a day with 3o kids in each group. That's 120 kids per day.
I think I lost 5 pounds from all that jumping, twirling, and waving!

All in all it proved to be a fantastic experience for me, and I think for all the kids. When I saw them a few days later at church they were doing the hand motions with each other. That's when I knew that what I had put so much energy into made an impact on others. I love that feeling!

gimmefive

(I decided to resurrect these postings...)


Five things I do to keep my house clean and clutter free:

1. Use lots and lots of clear bins. If the kids can see what's inside, they are less likely to open it.

2. Make sure the kids ALL do their share of cleaning. Not just cleaning up their messes, but cleaning that affects the whole family: bathrooms, sweeping, trash, etc.

3. Keep a plastic grocery sack in your car, which can be hung from the glove compartment (Y'know open it then stick a corner in then close it). Amazing how much trash accumulates in the car.

4. Clean on a regular basis. If it gets too dirty or piles up too high, it gets overwhelming and I will avoid it at all costs.

5. Don't dump stuff in the garage that you'll "deal with later". You never will! Put it away or give it away is my theory.

"Oh Lucy, I'm hoooomme!"

Our expansive backyard! We can play frisbee or catch without actually getting in the neighbors yard. The kids both have their own separate forts (Claire's is a "club") back behind the trees to the left where it lines the fence. Might not get a lot of sun in the winter due to the tall trees, but at least it blocks us from the neighbors all year round.


The view from the kitchen nook. Just lovely.

It is like we never left. Really. I'm driving around this past week almost letting the car guide me to where we need to go. Auto-pilot, you could say. There are a few things that have gotten built in the past 5 months but other than that Everett seems to have waited for us.
Our parents/the grandparents have welcomed us back with love.
Our church has embraced our family in such a warm, sincere way.
Our neighbors are nice and actually say hello before they go into their house.
I feel so blessed at how easy this transition back was. I would venture to say that God has gone before us on this one and prepared it for us.

Snippets

I found a cache of video snippets that Christopher had taken with his cell phone quite a long time ago... The quality is SO bad, I know. Amazing what great videos his little phone takes nowadays! Here's a couple of cute ones:

Audrey

Julian and Claire splashing in Washington mud puddles

Can You Just Feel the Love?

Don't worry, be happy

I still love that (relatively) old Bobby Ferrin song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy". It brings to mind lazy, summer days...the happy face pins on the 80 yr old greeter at Wal-Mart...the simplicity of watching a little baby play...waking up and the sun is shining to meet you...stuff like that. The song coos for us to relax, stay in the beauty of the moment, and enjoy our blessings.
Pretty hard to do in today's world, no?
Bills
Spills
Offspring
That potluck--oh what should I bring?
Work
A guy who drives like a jerk
Chores
Stores
Hey mom tonight can we have s'mores?
Back to the store
Gotta buy more
Sports
Can't fit into my shorts
Mall
Traffic stall
Cleaning
Kids screaming
Cook
Return the library book
and.......

I'm sure someone else could continue on for me. Yet the simple song says to "Be of good cheer" just like the Bible does (Matt 9:2). I think I can do that. Life gets better. Circumstances change. The weather clears up.
I would ask myself, do I want to be the bird in this picture or the cat? I can choose and so can you.

Fun in the Sun!

Look who's laughing now...HAHAHAHA

Now that's what I call, A FLAT TOP!!!!