Christmas Coffee

I found this recipe over at Urban Farmhouse and I thought I would share it with you.  What a wonderful treat to serve to your guests on Christmas and on any cold winter morning. Merry Christmas my dear friends.~S

Christmas Coffee

2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
heavy cream
lemon peel

Whip the butter until it is fluffy and then add brown sugar and spices. Mix until well blended. Add a tablespoon of this mixture to the bottom of a mug, fill with strong, hot coffee and cream. Stir until the consistency is just right.

Warmest Wishes

Merry Christmas

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.

Kick-Off To Christmas Break

I've been having a hard time lately. Personal issues that I don't really want to go into. It's been a hard week but then I received a few more bits of bad news that just really bogged me down. I thinks it's interesting how easily I can get depressed and feel down in the dumps. It's so much easier to feel that way than to find peace and contentment in my situations. I find myself looking inward and not really focusing where I should, on my Heavenly Father and His plan. I have to admit, when I get my priorities right, and my focus there as well, it's amazing the peace God gives me. To know that He will take care of us and that there is a reason for these trials and heartaches. The journey may be rough but all things work together for good to those that love the Lord.
I said all this to say, Friday was a great day. How wonderful to have a good day. I didn't feel like everything was caving in on me. Friday I was working at the school. I was loaded with testing and didn't get to join in, but Friday was just extra special and a wonderful kick-off to our Christmas Break. Friday was the Christmas party, all the kids had brought in goodies and gifts. It was so fun to listen to the excited voices of the kids as they gave their gift and the squeals as the other opened it.

Reece and Grace were able to make gingerbread houses. Grace was involved in a book exchange. Reece won "Best Christmas Costume". Maddie dressed up as the Christmas Star. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take her picture before we left the house that morning. It was just a really great day, a special one. How thankful Mike and I are to be able to have the opportunity to send our kids to a private Christian school. We feel so blessed to have our kids education packed full of God's truths and morals.

To end this day, I was able to look at Maddie's pictures. She chose to take her Christmas money and buy a digital camera. She looked threw many Black Friday ads to find the perfect camera within her budget. Here are a few pictures from her camera . . . . the world seen through Maddie's eyes.

A self portrait

Our family bowling on Reece's birthday

Something cool Maddie and Collin built

Madison and her friend from school

A girl from our n'hood

A bowling ball she likes

There were many pictures of shows she watched on TV and just items she found interesting.  She loves taking videos too. 

Christmas Gifting Idea

I LOVE making cookies for our neighbors and friends at Christmas. It is one of those Christmas traditions that I started the first year Mike and I were married. As the kids have gotten older, they have enjoyed getting involved. Since I'm not the most socialable neighbor, I have found knocking on someone's door with a plate full of all sorts of cookies has won me over many neighbors. No longer am I the one who is snobby (I don't think I am, but often since I'm so shy, I come across that way) neighbor, but the sweet one who give away cookies at Christmas time. What fun it is!

This year, we really have knocked back our budget for gifts. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it has messed up my baking budget as well. So, I've been racking my brain for an idea that I could do that would be cost efficient and not look sparse. What joy overcame me when I came across this recipe over at Perry's Plate. She has become one of my favorite blogs to go check out. Fun and yummy recipes regularly appear. You really should check it out and look at past posts because there are some goodies in there!

Anyways, I'm looking at these. This picture is from Perry's page . . . don't they just look so yummy!!! What a great idea!! I think I may just try my hand at these this year.

Cuteness

I had a really cute video to add to my blog tonight, but low and behold, I can't find the little filmstrip that I used to click to add video. Now, all I have is the "link" and "photo". ARG. Can anyone help me on this?

***
Mike took me out to dinner at one of my old favorites, "The Old Spaghetti Factory" for my birthday. The kids were enjoying their meals and unlimited refills of chocolate milk. It was towards the end of our dinner and Reece had just gotten a refill. Mike asked him if he was going to finish his drink.

"No, my water tank is full," replies Reece.

**
Oh yes, did I mention that my son got some bathroom knowledge tonight?  Oh yes, I'm really pleased.  We had to stop off at AMPM to get some gas and Reece ran into the bathroom.  He came out and told us of this wonderful new bit of information he has now learned.
"Hey Dad, you know that word I'm not allowed to say? (that would be suck, it had slipped out of his mouth earlier in the evening while we were looking at Christmas lights) Well that was written on the wall along with bleep bleep."
"Yah Reece, some people don't write good things, do they?"
Thank you bathroom artist for polluting my son's mind.
***
On our way home tonight, we were driving over the summit. It was snowing outside and the snow was covering the road. Everywhere we looked, all we could see was a beautiful, white blanket. I would of enjoyed this crisp white, if we had not been trying to drive through it. As I sat in the passenger seat, trying not to show the stress I was feeling due to these road conditions, the kids sat back and listened to "Adventures In Odyssey." **No, it's not about our van, but a great Christian series on CD**
Grace takes this moment to pipe up and say, "MOM, it's snowing outside!! Does this mean it's Christmas Night?!"
Oh how precious. All our Christmas Movie watching and she is coming away with the fact that is must be snowing in order to be Christmas. Unfortunately, it's not Christmas Night. But how I wanted to box up that child wonder and magic.

Bite It's Head Off

Today is one of those RARE days I actually get to spend the day doing what I want to do.  Too bad it's too cold outside to go for a walk.  I can handle cold, but 25 degrees is just too cold my California Girl Blood to deal with.  So, I decided to be productive and take care of the bills. BLECK!  I was running around town when I bumped into my Father In Law.  I got to spend some time talking with him and catching up.  It's been forever since I have been able to really do that.  Grace was with me and asked to go to Grandpa's shop.  Grandpa has candy there and apparently this time, he has some turtles.

"I'm going to bite it's head off first so it can't see me eat the rest of him." says Grace.

Ummmm . . . ewe and yuck.

**Side note . . . holy cow, Grace's hair is getting long!!!

About To Burst

Ok, so I am really excited about something.  I can't share but I am sooooo excited that if I don't get it out of me somehow, I may burst.  Bursting is not an option . . . the mess I would leave would just be horrible, so this is my outlet.  I'M SUPER EXCITED!!!!  SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!  MORE EXCITED THAN I HAVE BEEN IN A REEEEEELLLLLY LONG TIME.

Ok, I'm done . . . that helped.  Thank you.

Mada's Highlight To Her Day

I haven't written in weeks.  We have been too sick to do anything cute or funny. 

Today, Madison, led a friend of hers, at school, to Jesus.  We are so proud of our dear girl and the lady she is becoming.  She loves Jesus and her friends notice.  Madison was excited to show her friend how to become a Christian.

Quips From Reece

We were driving home from Madison's orthodontist appointment today. The kids were in the back playing around and going bonkers. It had been a long day of sitting, waiting, shopping and a bit of a history lesson at Fort Stevens. They were blowing off some steam and being a bit more rambunctious than we would normally allow in the van.


"OH, you are going to feel the burn!" Mike and I hear coming from Madison. She is taunting him with her tough talk.

"I don't even know what that means, but I don't think so!" Reece chimes right back, not missing a beat.
---------------

As many of you have read, Mike and Reece had quite the ordeal the first time with the jet skis. If you haven't read that story, read this.

Mike bought a Transformer head decal and a  Decepticons (the bad guy) head decal for his jet skis. Mike was out in the garage taking some call numbers off the side of the skis. Mike showed Reece the decals he was going to put on.
"You should put the Decepticon on the jet ski that tried to kill us." Reece says.
Mike did. So now we have the evil jet ski and the good jet ski.

Monday Game Night

Did you think this meant football??? LOL, no way, not in my world. Monday Game Night has officially been started in my house. A night where we sit down and play a board game. Mostly, it's just the kids and I since Mike hangs out at his friend's house and watches football. We've been enjoying all sorts of fun games. Aggravation has been the best. I have to admit, it's fun to be able to play my own hand and not need to help the kids. How fun they are growing up and can count their own dice and read their own cards. FUN!!
The highlight of the night is watching the kids do their own silly victory dance. They are some pretty funny kids; slapping their booty, doing the caterpillar . . . . all sorts of weird funny things.

My Morning Blessings

Three blogs in two days . . . this doesn't happen often. After my total meltdown last night, I feel absolutely horrible this morning. Is it possible to have a hang over after crying, when no alcohol was involved? Well, my first step this morning is to try and find some cheery things to think on. I was greeted this morning by a very sweet email from my daddy. Just what I needed but then, the water works started again.

I feel so blessed to have my parents. How wonderful they are. Yesterday my mother helped me navigate through a really hard situation. The points she made and advice given was just what I needed. I had been praying for wisdom and guidance and the Lord gave it to me, through my mom. - Thank you Mom!

This morning, my dad's words were the comfort I needed. Also, it was such a great reminder of the love the Lord has shown me, by giving me such a great family to surround me. Thank you Daddy!

This morning, my kids got to open up the prizes they won at the party last night. Reece's reaction to his cap guns was priceless. Of course I wasn't able to capture the first run outside, but snagged his second. He keeps telling me how awesome these guns are. Nothing like my kid's own joy and excitement to take me out of my funk. - Thank you kiddos! I hope my neighbors were already up, if not, I'm sorry they had to wake up to a kid screaming, "WOOHOO!" and a pop gun going off.

After a wonderful evening and coming home to post pictures and videos, I of course, jumped onto my Facebook to get caught up on all my dear friends' lives and pictures. Tonight, I got a little note from a family member and it was very sweet, but it also ripped open a . . . . wound, for lack of a better word.

My dear Grandpa Don passed away earlier this year. Summer was pretty tough. Every Summer, my grandpa came up to Oregon. Most years he came up with my sweet Grandma Barb. Every year they either stayed at my home or in town. Then after a few days, they would go stay on the beach a bit south of here, for a week. During these weeks, I really got to know my grandparents. They would share stories of their lives, give me advice and always leave me stuffed full of happy memories. We often would travel around the coast together visiting fun little places. This summer was the first year, since I have moved up here, that my Grandpa wasn't here with me. Every time I saw a biker riding through town, I would recall stories Grandpa told about his adventures riding down the coast. How bittersweet. On my way to a job up north, I pass by a bridge. I remember biking, on this bridge with my grandpa and parents about 9 summers back. I can't pass this bridge without remembering the moment on this little biking adventure that Grandpa passed me and threw out a little encourgement and laugh as he passed me.

I really miss him. How odd it was to not have him or Grandma up here this summer. I looked forward to summer every year because I cherished those times I got with them. But now, those days are gone. All that I have left are my memories.

Summer has passed, the bikers coming through are slim to none and so are those constant reminders. I still think of him often and see his perfectly parted hair in my mind, but I not being reminded everyday.

So tonight when I read my note, I was taken off guard and wasn't prepared to deal with all those sweet memories. The pain of losing him feels so fresh.

I miss you Grandpa, so so much.

Apple Bobbing

Tonight was the family halloween party. Those who know me, know I'm not really a big fan of the holiday, but how can I turn down a good family party? I put some pictures up on my facebook page, so if you are wanting more, go check those out, but if you just want to watch a few little videos of the night, stay here and catch these out.

One of the games tonight was apple bobbing. Reece was a animal. He ended up winning, getting 16 apples in 1 minutes. He threw his whole head into the bucket and was actually pretty good at snagging up those apples. Hmmm, are there professional apple bobbers out there? I think we found our sons true calling.

After the three boys, who were the only brave willing to do it, Madison decided that she couldn't be shown up by the boys, so she tried it out too.

My Darling

My Darling

You don't come around very often
In fact, I seldom do see you.
You like to stay away for months at a time
Usually only staying a season.

I think about you mostly in the mornings
But pine after you at night too
You are on my mind so often
Why do you play with me so?

When you show up I grow faint
Can this really be?
Is it you or are my eyes deceiving me?
It is too good to be true.

My Beloved, come home with me
You add so much to my mornings
You are the perfect ending to my days
We will spend so much time together

My Darling Peppermint Mocha Coffee Mate Creamer .
Welcome Back.

Wonder What I'll Be Doing

I bet you are out there wondering what I'll be doing this Saturday since my husband works and my laundry is almost non-existent with my super big loads being done during the week. With the free time I'll have this weekend, I think I need to use it doing something messy. I mean, really, with that free time I should use it to clean up right?!

I think I'm going to make these. You really need to go and check these out. I'm already thinking of a few people who would be delighted to receive something so warm and gooey.

Wanting To Do Laundry

I'm so giddy. I know, odd right?

Me, giddy?! Oh, so strange. I don't get giddy. I wasn't giddy this afternoon, but this evening, I'm giddy.

It's Saturday. The only day of the week that I am actually home ALL DAY. I like to spend my Saturdays in my pj's and cleaning up my own home. I like to work on all my laundry and fold it while watching a movie . . . of course, still in my pajamas. I make an extra big pot of coffee and sip on it all day. Ahhhh, pure bliss.

Today started off well. Mike and the kids decided to go garage sale-ing with his mother and sister, so I woke up to an empty house. Wow, not only did I get to drink my coffee and put around in my pj's, but I got to do it undisturbed . . . a total treat.

I did a few dishes while my coffee brewed and then decided to hit the computer before going out to get my laundry started. The laundry pile was huge. My washer has been limping around on it's last leg for months now. It doesn't like to spin and I have to go out and give it a good push to get it going. As you can imagine, my clothes have been coming out pretty wet and making my drying work overtime, often taking a load of towels 3 hours to dry. A bit ridicules, I know, but I haven't had the money to spend on a new washer. Plus, I decided I would get every last bit I could out of my washer before letting it give up the ghost.

This morning I finally went out to get my laundry started. I had picked out a movie and was ready. I first went to my dryer. I had already dried this load twice, so I expected it to be done. It wasn't. I was annoyed. I started it up again and then went to my washer to check that it had spun out my towels. It hadn't. So I went through my normal procedure; pushed the button in to trick the washer that it's lid was clothed, pulled the nob out to get the machine running on the spin cycle, and gave the inside drum a big spin to get it going. This time, it spun for a second and died. It used to keep on, but this time it wasn't having it. My machine was done. Too tired to go on. I worked a while longer to try and get it going. Finally, only having two towels left in the machine I tried to get it to spin, it still wouldn't. Now what?! My pile of laundry is out of control already because of how long it was taking to wash and dry, it was putting past piles to shame. I got back online and pouted at the screen while looking again, at washers.

I'll skip the next part because well . . . . . I did a lot of pouting. Mike finally came home and I told him my frustrating news. We didn't want to head into Portland to get a washer, so we decided to trot on over to our local furniture/appliance store and see what we could settle on. I had been doing my homework on the price of washers and what I wanted. I had been saving up for the past few months knowing I was going to have to spend money on a new washer soon.

Long story short, I got the washer I had been wanting. The ORIGINAL one I wanted. The BIG MAMA one. The manufacturer had a special that Sears never told us about, so my sweet baby was the same price as the other top brands that I had thought more affordable. Throw in the local rebate from our utility company and tax rebate and I'm saving even more money. PLUS, I didn't have to go to Portland and haul it back. Mike got it all hooked up and I'm dancing around. Who'd a thunk, huh? hee hee. It's a huge mama bear washer too . . . . 4.7 cu.ft . . . ahhh, it makes my heart sing. It washes in 19 minutes, and spins the tarnations out of the clothes. My old dryer is drying them in 25 minutes . . . we are talking drying TOWELS in 25 minutes!!! I HEART my Electrolux.

Tuck In

"Mommy, tell me why Tinkerbell (our newest little puppy) has those holes on her belly." Says Grace, as I tuck her into her bed tonight.

"Those are puppy titties. When Tinkerbell grows up and has little puppies of her own, that's where she will feed her little babies." I reply.

"They will eat there?!"

"Yes, that's how God made girls. When we grow up and have babies, we nurse them. Mommy used to nurse you."

"And Maddie and Reecie?" Grace asks.

"Yep."

"What about Peyton? Did Aunt Krista do that?" Grace asks full of wonder.

"Mmhmm."

"Aunt Morgan and Anni?!"

"Yes, Gracie. They both nursed their babies." I replied as I shut off the light.

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!!!"

"Goodnight, my darling girl. I love you." I smile and blow a kiss.

"Night." Says Grace and she rolls over and tucks her little face into her cozy blankets.

Our First Time Out With The New Toys

My husband bought a couple new toys this past week. Although I am not happy with the timing of purchase, we have always talked about getting said purchase one day. What is this new toy, you ask? A new video game? Nope, jet skis.Tonight we decided to take them out for a couple of quick rides to test them out. We hitched up the trailer (I say 'we' but we all know, it was more of a hubby thing and I really had nothing to do with it), threw our life vests in the back, grabbed our extra cans of gas and we were off to the lake.

After we got there, Mike decided we would just unload one. I was the lucky one to go first. Hubby showed me how to start it and then I was off. Waves splashed and I flew across the top of the water. Oh . . . how I love to jet ski!! I pulled the trigger all the way and I was going full throttle. I let up a bit and start into my first turn. Bam . . . . it stalled. After a couple of tries I was able to get it going again and I was on my way back to the dock to give my hubby a turn. After throwing my dear hubby his life vest, he jumped on and ran a quick loop by himself. He came back and Reece was first up to take a turn. I gave Reece a little pep talk (not that he needed encouragement, he was very excited to go). I reminded him if he fell off, don't panic, the life vest will bring you right back to the top of the water. Reece flashed me a great big smile and climbed on. Mike and Reece were off. Grace and I stood on the dock and watched them for a few minutes. We saw Mike stall and then start back up again.

I turn my back to take this picture of Grace and I . . .

. . . . I turn back around and see the guys have tipped and are in the water. I can't really make anything out, but I can see the jet ski on it's side. I'm staring it down, waiting to see some kind of movement, but the boys are too far away to really see anything. Then I see it . . . the jet ski gets turned back up and I see the boys moving a bit. 5 minutes go by and I don't see the boys getting on. I keep on standing and watching. About this time a car with a older man comes into the lake area near me and sit and watches out over the lake. Then he takes off. I keep standing there watching. It looks like the jet ski is getting closer. I figure the guys are swimming it in and they had probably flooded it. As I keep standing watch, listening for any kind of yelling from them, and praying for our Lord to let everything be Ok. A woman starts to yell from the shore.

"ARE YOU ALL ALRIGHT?" she yells.

I was pretty sure everything was ok, I had no panic the boys were hurt. They were not going fast and I had seen them moving around.

The lady comes over and asks me if they are all alright. I tell her yes, I believe so, that they just tipped and it looks to be flooded. She tells me she has 911 on the phone. That a man, from the restaurant on the other side of the lake, saw the guys arms flinging around. I have a moment of panic. Could I be wrong?! Are my boys hurt?

By this time the boys are closer, they are swimming it in and dragging the now sinking jet ski behind them. Still too far away for me to see them clearly, but closer than where they tipped. I yell out to them if they are ok. I hear Mike yell back they are Ok. I tell the woman who is talking to 911, that they are ok.

At this time, in pulls the ambulance. I go to meet them and tell them what happened and that I heard my husband yell over that they are ok. Since they have no other calls, they said they'll stick around and help bring the boys in. I grabbed a rope out of the truck and we walk to the end of the dock. The sheriff pulls in now and makes a funny comment about forgetting to bring his water wings. We all giggle. Another 10 minutes pass and the boys are close enough. The ambulance driver tosses the rope to Reece and tells him to hold on, he is going to pull him in. Reece grabs the rope and instead of just holding on and being pulled to the dock. Reece only grabs the rope with one hand and swims over to his daddy and grabs Mike's vest so he can bring him in too. It was a moment I will never forget. It brought me to tears. My dear son, although scared and trying so hard to hold it together and be brave, freezing cold, wants to save his father. The Ambulance People and Sheriff all look at me and smile. They pull the boys in and I whisked Reece away to get stripped and wrapped up into a warm towel and heated truck. There is a little space between the dock and solid ground that has lake water. You have to make a big jump when you come off the dock so as not to step in it. When we reached this, sweet Reece melted down. Relief and the whole big ordeal swept over him. He cried and told me how scared he was. I hugged him and told him how brave he was. Even when he was scared he kept his head and helped his daddy swim all that way pulling the sinking jet ski back in. It's only a brave and strong man that keeps on even when scared and that was him, my Reecie.

Mike got helped in and they helped us load up the jet ski. I guess a plug didn't get put back in and the jet ski was taking in water. Which was why it was stalling on us earlier. Mike was embarrassed 911 had been called and said they were fine the whole time, just very cold.

Juggling

I do not juggle. This was made perfectly clear to me today. I like to pretend I can juggle. I often put the appearance out there that I do juggle, or maybe I don't. Perhaps you are all smarter than I am and have known for quite awhile that I can not juggle.

I have started working at the kid's school two days a week. I do testing and PE there. I LOVE it. I enjoy being a part of my kid's lives, even when they are at school. I enjoy knowing who the kids are they talk about and what things are going on. I wont even go into the selfish side of it. You know, the part where I love to be out of the house, doing something other than folding clothes and washing dishes.

I am still cleaning homes and fill my other days doing that. I enjoy that as well and am SO thankful for the homes I have. I enjoy helping others that are unable to clean their own homes because of age or working outside of the home. It's quiet work and I have time to actually have my own thoughts. :)

On top of these jobs outside of the home, I still have to juggle my home and kids and all the needs that come with that. I suppose it comes as no surprise that I have been finding I am dropping more and more balls these days. I forget things to do if they are not written down on my calender. I don't get my dishes washed every morning, or my house picked up.

Last night Reece started coughing and having problems breathing. Come to find out, he went briefly out into his Grandma's garage where she keeps her kitties. Now, Reece knows he is not supposed to go out there because those cats trigger his asthma so quickly. They show no mercy on my poor son's lungs. Before tucking Reece in bed I gave him his inhaler and tucked him in. In the middle of the night, I woke up to Reece struggling to breathe. I gave him his inhaler again and some water. This morning, he was still struggling, but since I was going to the school today too, I sent him along. Making note to keep an eye on him.

Testing was out of control today, my desk was flooded and my work load doubled. Still, I gave Reece his inhaler and still, he kept on struggling. I ended up taking him out of school early and heading to the ER. His oxygen levels were at a 90 when we got there and they rushed him in and got him started on his breathing treatments.

While the Dr. and nurses are coming and going, giving Reece this and that and taking notes, I start to wonder about Reece's inhaler. Thankfully, Reece doesn't have to many episodes and we don't need it often, I can't remember when I got this one filled. I pull the Albuteral out of my purse and pop the little aerosol out of it's contraption and look at the expiration date . . . . . yep, outdated. No wonder my dear son wasn't getting any better, I was giving him an expired drug. I can't even tell you the amount of guilt I have. Needless to say, I dropped the ball on this one. I always check the dates on our drugs before I give them to the kids or hubby. I don't know why I didn't check this one. After leaving the ER two hours later, we headed over to the pharmacy to get a new Albuteral. I'll pick this ball up and try and throw it back into the mix again and just keep on trying to juggle. I'm sure I'll drop another one soon, but hopefully next time, I'm only missing something small.

Marshmellows

I'm too tired to move right now. After 7 hours of cleaning, I walked into my house and sat down on the first chair my little legs to get me to. Lucky for me, it was the computer chair ;)



So, since I'm procrastinating and not wanting to get up, I'm roaming around on the Internet. I came across this and about died. I'm trying to figure out which one of these kids, my kids would be like. I think Madison would be like the girl that keeps taking picks with her nails. Reece would keep smelling it. Grace, I'm not sure, sometimes she shows great patience when a reward is evident and other times, she could care less.



If you have a few minutes and need some major cuteness, go watch it. http://www.parentdish.com/2009/09/16/the-marshmallow-test-cute-or-cruel/

Christmas Already??

I LOVE Christmas!!! But really, who doesn't LOVE Christmas? I can go on and on about this, the traditions, smells, decorations, kind spirits of others . . . the list is endless. Tonight, I'm going to talk, SHOPPING!!! The best part! I just LOVE to buy gifts for others. Isn't is the most fun to watch them open it up? I love the reactions. Kids are the best part. They are either super excited or on to the next. I love that they give honest reactions.

I bet you are wondering WHY I am talking about Christmas when we have only just started September. It's simple really, I'm an early shopper. I strive to be done with my shopping by Thanksgiving. I usually do stocking stuffers and last minute things in December, but really, my shopping is done by Thanksgiving or the day after ;) Do I even need to explain this one?

This year, I'm doing something I've never done before. I'm making a bunch of gifts. Scary, isn't it? Me, making something? I have no crafty-ness in my bones. I came across an idea on one of the blogs I stalk. The idea is simple and I think I can handle it. I'm going to rope Madison in on the "making" of it. I've gathered some of my supplies today. I'm getting excited to start! I would tell you more about it, but some of you who read this will be receiving this gift, so I had better not go into too much detail. I'll post a little tidbit about it after I do the gifting with before and after pictures. As for now, I'll be working on these in my spare time :)

Tinkerbell

Mike decided we needed another dog.

Meet Tinkerbell.

Rusty LOVES her.

So do the kids. She is part Chihuahua, Beagle and something. She is tiny and adorable.

BACK TO SCHOOL!

What a fantastic day!! What a fabulous day! What a wonderful day!!! BACK TO SCHOOL DAY!!! I'm giddy!! The kids were just as giddy as I was! See for yourself!!!

Sunriver

We are on vacation right now in Sunriver. I think it's funny because Eastern Oregonians go to the coast for vacation and us coastals go to the mountains. Funny. But anyways, if any of you follow me on Facebook, like the little stalkers you are ;), then you have seen these pics, if not, enjoy, leave me comments because I go nutty over them.

We went to Crater Lake this year. WOW!!! Talk about a fantastic lake!! It was calling out to me to bring on the wave runners, but alas, no motorized vehicles in this pristine lake.
A few facts about Crater Lake, so that you can say you learned something from my blog. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and I heard the 2nd deepest in the Western Hemisphere . . . but don't go quoting that last fact, because I'm not sure. It was formed from a volcano. There is also a log that floats around this lake that is famous. I believe I read that it floats vertically and you can spot it all over the lake depending the currents.

We went with Mike's Dad, Brother Ryan (plus his family), Sister Laurie (plus her family) and of course, us. It was a fantastic day. This is a pic of Mike's Dad, Mike and starting from left to right: Reece, Collin (Laurie's son), Grace, Annika (Ryan's daughter), Mike Sr., Austin (Laurie's youngest son) and Mada.

We have been going to the park, that is right across from the house we rented. The kids LOVE it. It's a pretty fantastic park. We have been going for bike rides in the evenings also. Sunriver has plenty of paved bike trails and the kids LOVE this.

I love this pic of Mike and Reece. I snuck up behind them and was taking some pics and heard their conversation. Reece was telling Mike that he was just like him. That day they had happened to wear the same color shirt and shorts. Reece idolizes his daddy and they share such a special bond. It is so sweet to listen to Reece tell his Daddy, in his own way, how he wants to be just like him.

The Tree is the popular ride at the park. The kids love this thing. Mike would get them spinning so fast. They love to try and climb up to the top while it's moving. Crazy kids.

I just had to throw this pic in too. I love this one. I think it's a pretty good one of my hubby. I love this man.

OK, more park snapshots. Trust me, you are getting off lucky here . . . I have quite a few shots of the kids at the park.

On Wed. we went to this fantastic little place, The Bounce House. It was a huge industrial type building that was converted into a wonderful little place for kids. It has a toddler/baby area for those little ones who couldn't bounce . . . . .we've outgrown that . . . . . and then 10 bounce places for the kids. The kids had a blast. They bounced and bounced . . .

bounced some more . . . .

They even had a Velcro wall. Here the kids are suiting up to go jump onto it. I think I have a video of Reece bounce .. . . I'll post that at the end.

Every family has been taking turns and making dinner one night. What a treat . . . I only have to cook one night this week! Even better is the fact that the meal are all delicious and super yummy! The picture above is Mike's sister Laurie, his brother Ryan, Mike, and his other brother Jason.

My amazing and dear sister-in-laws on Taco Salad Night.

All the girls got matching Sunriver sweatshirts. They are so cute. The boys have the same, just different colors and Krista and I ended up buying the same, but different colors too! We have such similar taste . . . too funny!

A few other shots of our vacation:

Grace with her cousin, Collin.My nephew, Austin, pushing the kids on The Tree. My niece, Peyton, loving the fun toys at the Bounce House.
Grace playing with parachute at the Bounce House.

My brother-in-law, Darin, pushing his kids around at the park. Grace spent her Bend money on a build a bear poodle.
My brother-in-law, Ryan, and his daughter, Anni.