The Circle of Life

My son was telling his sons

you have fingers and toes

A head with eyes, nose and a mouth.

Your just like a big person.

 Except  you can't walk, you don't have any teeth,

 and you need someone to wipe your butt.

Actually,  you're more like an......... old person.

Photography by Katie Wells 

A season of Joy

This is how the husband, the boys and I spent Christmas morning,

then later with family

 And as for the next ten days,
I'll be doing a whole lotta of this:

A very Joyous season indeed!

The Griswolds

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, one of the funniest Christmas classics with Chevy Chase. Remember this house? Seemed unreal at the time. What was it, like 1989 when it came out?

Now a days it's not so far fetched. We were watching a t.v. show the other night about people and their Christmas obsessions. There were people who collect snowman, Nutcrackers and one lady who even has over 200 Christmas trees, in and around her house, all themed decorated.

 The most impressive is a guy who took lighting his house to a whole new level. He currently has over 250,000 lights synchronized to music. His goal is to have a million. A million lights!

I'm amazed. He starts planning in January for his Christmas display of lights, which he changes and adds to each year. I'm not sure what his regular job is but it must be flexible and fluid enough to accommodate his hobby.

Oh no, this isn't him. As a matter of fact, this is my neighbor and his son a month ago setting up their Christmas lights. If I'm not mistaken, it's much more elaborate from his display last year. The lights are also synchronized to music and man do they get rockin'. Which we happen to love.

This picture doesn't do the house justice as it is very impressive. I can't wait to see what they come up with next year. The 250,000 light guy better watch out, my neighbor could very well take over his spot...... light.

G.P.P.S.D.

The boys are HERE!!!
 They came via Cesarean Section Thursday November 29, 2012. Born a minute apart and weighing in at 5 pounds 5 ounces and the other 6 pounds even. 

Mom is doing great and the twins couldn't be healthier.

The husband and I arrived Friday and could only stay through Sunday 

Although short, it was the best weekend of my life!

 See these lil' toes, there's 15 more of those nibblers.

Can you say, wanna kiss those cheeks!

I thought that was rather generous of our boy and his wife to give us
each a baby to hold. Who needs to share when there's two.
Oh and about the title, it stands for:
 Grandparent Postpartum Separation Depression

I got it bad!

By the way everyone, thank you for all your advice. I decided to go with Photobucket!

Writers Block

I have writers block but not for lack of things to write about, quite the contrary, I have HUGE news but it comes with a price.

Blogger is telling me I need to upgrade my storage, therefore I can't post any pictures until I do. Now how can I post about my new twin GRANDBABIES without pictures? That would just be cruel and unusual punishment which in turn, would just be plain cruel. 

My dilemma is, I don't know how to go about this without giving blogger my credit card. I tried deleting albums from Picasa to make more room for new pictures but that hasn't worked. So do I start deleting old post to make room for new post? 

I'm OK with doing that as I have booked all of my old post up to this last year so I have a hard copy of them, I just don't know if that would do the trick and I don't want to start deleting if I don't have to.

All I know is I have much to write about, but I'm not comfortable with Blogger dipping into my credit card every month.

Any suggestions?

Not only is it what you know, it's who you know..

The husband: Are those chocolate covered blueberries gone?

Me: Yep.

The husband: But aren't there some in the storage room?

Me: The ones we just finished, were those.

The husband: But there were a couple of packages in the storage room.

Me: And now they're gone. I brought them in the other day and we ate the last of them.

It's what you call death by chocolate, Brookside Dark Chocolate covered Blueberries and Pomegranates that is, made with real fruit.

Those little buggers have me hooked, as well as my, non lover of dark chocolate, husband. Actually I was relieved we had seen the last of them. It's definitely an addiction we can both live without.

We said our morning goodbyes as he went off to seek my fortune and I left to quilt with the girls.  As the day got later we were pushing the time for our out of town date. I came home to quickly change and get ready, then waited anxiously for the husband to arrive.

He finally flew in the door, jumped in the shower and in no time we were headed down the road.  While he was driving I asked:

"So did you by chance happen to pick up some chocolate covered blueberries while you were out and about?"

The husband giving me 'the look':  Out and about? Are you kidding? I've been working all day, unlike someone who had the day off.

Me: Just asking.

A few hours later, after our date and on the drive home I approached him again.

Me: Are you sure you didn't swing by and pick up some chocolate covered blueberries?

The husband again with 'the look': What's up with you, I didn't swing by anything, why do you keep asking?

Me: Because I know how you operate, you can't help yourself.  So did you?

The husband: No.

Me: Are you sure?

He just gave me the, 'you're out of your mind look' and kept driving.

By the time we made it home it was pretty late.

I went in the room to change and the husband went outside to his truck. He came in carrying a few items from Costco.

Among the few were two packages each of the chocolate covered blueberries and pomegranates.

Oh my gosh, was I ever elated. Not because my craving would soon be satisfied but because I was right about the husband. He not only made time to pick up our addiction, but he made sure we wouldn't be running out anytime soon.

I couldn't resist doing the happy dance and poking fun at him. Like I said,  I know how the man operates - just like I know when he's up to something even before...... he does.

Me: Still laughing

The husband: "It's hard being married to someone who knows you better than you know yourself."

How to cook a Turkey.....First Grade style

Thank you everyone for sharing your recipes on how to cook a turkey. Although they sound wonderful and tasty, I think we can learn a tip or two from some first grade students.

Read on:

* One boy said to take a 40 pound bird on the barbecue grill, then serve it with chicken. "No don't use the barbecue insists another boy, cook it in a frying pan for some minutes and then have chocolate chip ice cream."

* Someone else said to just use the microwave and cook the turkey for 10 hours. While you wait you can eat some quesadillas.

* Personally I like the one whose in a hurry, he said his turkey will bake in the oven for only for one minute, but his friend said his turkey will do a slow burn, baking at 50 degrees.

* A couple of girls offered their opinion. One said  she'll cook her bird for 50 minutes then add 'whip cream and a little cherry on the top." The other will cover her turkey with chocolate and ketchup.

What about the stuffing???? No worries, they have it covered:

* "Fill the inside of the turkey with feathers," one girl said. She's not picky,  any kind of bird feathers will do.

* Another girl added, "Her turkey will be stuffed with eggplant and six eggs."

* My favorite, one boy is going to fill his with hot dogs before popping it in the microwave.

There you have it folks,

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, however your bird is cooked!

Turkey talk

As we were sitting around the table in the staff lounge, our conversation turned towards Thanksgiving and the many ways one can cook a turkey. I was all ears, as I have yet to bake a Thanksgiving turkey. My MIL has the honor as she hosts Thanksgiving each year and in turn, I host Christmas. It's become our family tradition.

 I was rather fascinated listening to everyones recipes. One gal said her husband and mother have very different views on how a turkey should be cooked. I got the feeling it's a source of contention around their place.

Someone else shared an interesting  way of cooking a turkey. She said to bake the bird on 500 for the first hour then turn the temperature down and let it cook slowly for the duration, what ever time that was. I can't remember because the conversation continued with, "Oh wow, I guess with the temperature on that high you need to be careful. If your oven is  dirty,  all the grime will bake off and could land on the turkey."

That's a teacher for you, they're always thinking.

As I was taking all this in the school psych piped up and offered a positive statement. He said, "Well at  least your oven will be getting cleaned while your turkey bakes. You'll be killing two birds.......

Before he could finish what he was saying, and the only thing I could contribute to the conversation was completing his sentence by adding....with one stove.

So my question to you is, what's your secret to cooking a turkey?

'With a moo, moo here and a moo.....

Mooo, Mooo, I looked up from feeding our horses and saw Ol' McNeighbors cow from across the  lot staring me down.

I've never paid much attention to the the neighbors cows. They come and go so quickly - which is concerning enough - that I don't want to become too attached.

They've never had more than three cows at a time grazing on their little farm but this year, it's just one. One lonely cow who seems to be more aware of me than I am of her.

Every night we feed our horses and apparently, every night she's been watching.

Moo, Moooooo she calls out. Getting my attention I looked her way and asked, "You mooing at me?" Sure enough the closer I got to the hay shed, the more excited she became. Then I realized what she wanted was what the horses were getting.....hay.

Even though she has plenty to eat in her pasture, I decided to humor her and tossed a small flake over the fence. No harm done, just being neighborly and all.

Well, let me just say what being neighborly can do to a cow. She now comes running when she see's us drive up. She moos all the way to the fence, then she'll do this cute little dance by hopping on her front feet back and forth tossing her head while waiting for her treat.

I believe I've created a Moonster!

Running out of womb

 One month 'two' go!

It's Pumpkin time

"Saimi, I'm going to paint my pumpkin!"

"Paint your pumpkin? Wow."

Sure enough, my little three year old neighbor sat at her dining room table and did a lovely job painting her pumpkin. She was very careful with the paints and knew exactly what she wanted.

As I watched her, I looked over and gave her mom a friendly glare, then turned to my little neighbor and told her she's gonna have to come to my house to carve pumpkins with me.

That's what you do on the eve of Halloween, you carve pumpkins.

Mom was down with that, she made it clear she doesn't carve pumpkins and it would be perfectly fine if the kiddo's came over to make Jack-o-lanters.

True to her word the next day she brought my little helpers over.

Her little brother wasn't interested but let's take a look at who stayed and joined the fun:

Why I do declare, looks like mom carves pumpkins after all! And what a fine job they did too.

Anyone care for a snack?

I caught a witch trying to steal the Halloween candy. Maybe she'll think twice before doing that again.

Happy Halloween!

Mini-cation getaway

It was the last weekend of the month and I had yet to come up with somewhere to go. All month the husband kept reminding me we were going out of town and to be thinking of what it is I'd like to do.

I'm not the best at coming up with ideas, I'm sort of a winger, take things as they come kinda of a girl. I also figured I had plenty of time, until the time came. I don't know, but it sure seemed like this month flew by.

The next thing I knew the 'get away' weekend was here and I hadn't a plan.

What to do, where to go??? Then the husband came through with a most excellent idea. He suggested we should go Skamaina Lodge.

I jumped for joy, Skamania Lodge! Man oh man, we took the boys there years ago on one of our spring vacations. It would be like visiting an old friend, one we haven't seen for a while. It is the keeper of some fantastic memories of mine and we needed to catch up.

The only thing standing in the way was a thing called......a reservation.

Being a winger and not leaving time for planning poses a problem. I called the morning of, only to find out they were booked, full, no room at the Inn so I resorted to plan B and left the task to the husband.

I don't know how he did it but the next thing I knew we were on our way. We even made it in time for the 7:30 dinner reservation for their seafood buffet, which he also booked.

I love that man.

After dinner we returned to our room, snuggled up to the fireplace and listened to the rain outside our window.

 Saturday we spent shopping in Portland, enjoyed the sights and even took in a movie before returning to the lodge.

After a tasty sunday breakfast we packed up, but I had one last minute detail to take care of. You see my philosophy is, if theres not a picture, it didn't happen. 

Not wanting this weekend to go undocumented and since I left the camera at home, the husband took a few photo's with his phone.

My hair misbehaves when it's wet outside.

If I were to sum up our  mini-cation, I'd say I was........well,  spoiled.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust......

This year has been a crazy year for fires, not just in our valley but neighboring states as well. What really made it close to home was a month ago, as I was heading to our property to feed the horses, I noticed a huge blaze coming from that area.

I immediately called the husband and told him one of our favorite hills we ride on was on fire.  It was unbelievable how close it seemed. Even though it was across the street from our pastures and on the hillside, the flames blazing in the wind made it feel much closer.

This was taken by my son's cell phone 

As it burned into the night, it consumed 700 acres of land, luckily no one or any homes were harmed.

A few weeks later after things had settled down, the husband and I saddled up the horses to take a closer look. I was anxious to see how much of our riding area was damaged.

The first little while the horses just jogged along their familiar trail totally oblivious that anything was amiss.  But when we approached the area where the fire had been, they stopped dead in their tracks and were like, 'Dude where's my trail?'

They weren't sure whether they wanted to step on the ash covered ground but we continued on anyway. I couldn't believe how much was burned. Once we rode to the top of the ridge we could see where the fire had climbed up and over to the other side.

I really have to hand it to the brave firefighters. They did a remarkable job saving the orchards that lie at the base of the hill. You see, a ride wouldn't be a ride if I couldn't have a little nibble along the way.

I just love fresh apples, I also love riding with this guy.

Baby shower and a birthday

The mother in law and I drove the hours it took for us to attend my DIL's baby shower ,as well as celebrating her Grandson's 26th birthday. I know, who woulda thought I would have a 26 year old son? Like where does the time fly anyway??

My DIL's sister put on quite the shower and invited all the ladies on their side. Let's just say, it's a lucky thing my son is introducing testosterone to that female dominate family with the expected twins. He's gonna need to keep the playing field even for his own survival.

 My lovely DIL sitting pretty before the guest arrive. What does the tag say on the tall package? Here let's take a closer look shall we?

 Kinda speaks for its self does it not?

Here is a cute idea her sister put together. Those babies in the jumper seats are an outfit stuffed with more baby clothes. 

You're probably wondering what a guy is doing at an all girl baby shower. Well, the soon to be uncle came by with the intention of dropping off his 'girl' friend and hanging with his brother while us women did our thing. Little did he know, his brother was at work.

Being the gentleman that he is, instead of bolting and leaving his girl with a bunch of women she didn't know, he stayed and partook.

We also had some tasty treats.

A couple of hours later, the shower ended and the birthday party started. The Birthday boy fired up the grill and cooked some exceptional burgers.

Then of course, there was cake and ice-cream.

Not to worry, we also treated him to a fiesta,....Mexican style.

Not on the same day of course. 

That's my MIL between me and the birthday boy. She was quite the chauffeur and did all the driving.

The young lady on the left is my son's friend from college. My Aunt also came up for the weekend, she's on my right in the back.

It was an action packed weekend. Besides all the party celebrations, me, the boys and the 'girl' friend visited Dr. Slaughters haunted house for some scary Halloween fun! I'm happy to report, I lived to tell about it.

Night rider

We only had an hour and a forty five minutes before sundown, but the afternoon was too nice to waste. We saddled up our ponies and headed towards the husbands mountain bike playground.  He bikes some pretty awesome trails which make great for horse riding.

Today, he showed me a new trail.

Even though most our rides consist of desert trails, being on something new made everything look different. Actually the higher the horses climbed, the more stunning the view.

After reaching our destination and only thirty some minutes left of daylight, we turned around. The sunset began to paint the sky with pink and purple hues and the night air started to cool down. As I put my jacket on, my horse picked up her pace knowing she was in the direction of home.

With just a few miles left and daylight completely gone, we heard coyotes howling. The horses were unnerved, I'm sure they were more concerned about their anticipated dinner than being dinner.

By now, the only light in the sky was an orange glow coming from the mountains. My first thought it was one of the many fires we've been having lately but I couldn't have been more wrong. In just a matter of seconds, the orange glow turned full moon.

It was so rich in color that I couldn't take my eyes off it and my jaw....my jaw was in danger of being trampled. To say the least, I was completely in awe.

Thirteen and a half miles later we made it back to the trailer, a happy sight for the tired and hungry horses, as for me, It was one of the most romantic, magical rides I've ever been on.

The body part game

"Touch your finger to your ear (repeated by children) touch your wrist to your nose (repeated by children) touch your elbow to your knee, touch your knee to your ankle, touch your wrist to your chin." The song continues with a pop-rock tune as the preschool children follow along dancing and imitating the movements provided by the teachers.

Greg and Steve have been around for years with their educational music designed to target young children, which is why we as a preschool staff, use their Cd as part of our music time.

This particular song brings a smile to my face every time we dance to it, not only because it's a fun and interactive but because of a couple of our children this year have body part issues.

Let me explain. We have one little boy who, due to a type of cancer, has had one of his eyes removed and replaced with a prosthetic one. To look at him straight on one would never know. His mother sends him in glasses, not for his vision but for protection.  When we first met her, as well as her son, she mentioned in a nonchalant way, he has popped his eye out before.  If it was to happen in class, not to worry we can just put it back in.

At this point I thinking to myself, 'Lady if it happens on my shift I'll be calling you.' Can you imagine an eye rolling on the classroom floor with preschoolers around. "Hey kids, stop and listen, we need to find 'Johnny's' eye.

Then there's the other little boy who is deaf without his cochlear implant. His implant is much like a hearing aid but with a magnetic device that attaches to one side of his head.

He's been known to remove it and if that being the case, I'm not afraid to put it back on. The only danger is if the magnetic touches the other side of his head where his shunt resides. It's a tricky situation.

So as we dance and move to 'The body part game' I'm hoping we don't have to, 'Put your eye in the socket, remove the implant from your shunt.......'

"That's the way we play the body part game."

September summery

Back to preschool. My days changed. I'm still three days a week but instead of  working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I now work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. You know, I actually like having Wednesday off, not to mention the three day weekend....I have no complaints.

Attended two funerals.  Two sweet little boys passed away from brain cancer. One was four and the other was five. Their families are very dear to us and their loss is ours as well. Although they will be missed I know they are in the arms of a loving Heavenly Father.

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays. Middle son, me and the husband all celebrated our birthdays. I don't mind being 50 especially if it means being a Grandma. The husband surprised me with a huge birthday celebration, which included a 'roast' from our friends who came dressed in black attire, table decorations, over the hill hats and buttons. When your surrounded by wonderful friends and family, life doesn't get any better.

Saturday service project. Our church did a day of service throughout the community. Even the youth chipped in.

My claim to fame. I met Connie from Shady Creek Lane I know, I know I'm still pinching myself. She and her hubby were in our neck of the desert and stopped by. I even have one of her signature craft pieces. I'd buy out her entire supply if she would come back. Hint, hint Connie!

Fair time. Wrapping up the month and going to the fair. Something the husband and I love to do.

Just an 'oh, by the way' Youngest college son went river rafting on inner tubes with some friends. They didn't get on the water til 6 pm. Not only did it get dark on them, but they were chased by a Moose. Four hours later, wet, cold and a bit shaken up, they made it safely to shore.

Hittin' 100

50's Nifty x 2

This little piggy went to the market....

Little Pig, little pig let me come in......Not by the hair of my chinny, chin chin. Poor little pig didn't stand a chance against the big bad wolf  er...Archie.

There's not a stuffed toy in the world that's tough enough to withstand the jaws of our Beagle Archie. We've actually stopped giving him soft toys because they don't last. He literally can destuff a toy in minutes, especially if they happen to have a squeaker sewn in.

The husband and I were at Costco when he spotted a new Mighty dog toy. One that will make you rethink durability.

The husband couldn't resist. I mean look what they have advertising the toy. A Rottweiler. Who do they think they're fooling anyway? Tough dog for a tough toy, yeah right. Let me show you what a Beagle can do. Now keep in mind this is a blind Beagle.

Archie investigating Mr. Pig. His plan of attack, locate the squeaker.

Still searching

Found it!

And the rest pig is history

Let's review durability shall we?

* Multiple rows of stitching -

* 2 layers of material

*Durable seams

* High durability and quality

It took Archie 8 minutes to locate the squeaker, 5 minutes to rip it out and another 10 to have the pig completely destuffed.

My recommendation, they should use a Beagle to test their toys before putting them on the market because this little piggy, wished he had stayed home.