Bull (by Lee)

I don't know if you have heard but this year I shot the biggest bull anyone has ever seen on Tobbogan hill in the last 30 years.  I went to a spot, it was there, I shot it.  An old timer on a quad gave us a ride back to the truck and ended up back at our camp to see the horns.  Once word spread, other hunters stopped by and verified that this bull was epic.   The most awsome part of the event was when dad was asked, on more than one occasion, if we were were related to Roy or Lee, who haven't been seen in over a decade on Tobbogan Hill, besides ghost stories.  Hunters on that hill still remember those characters.

 Belive it or not, Dad would restrain his response.  I think it's because his heart was speaking way louder than what his voice could deliver.  "Yeah, Roy's my dad and this here's my son, named after Lee, who's my mom's brother".  That's all he would say.      

Dad showed up a day after I shot it.  We went to where it was.  I was worried about the logistics of getting it out and taking care of the meat.  He said, ya done good, we'll gitter out.  He was flawless in getting it boned in no time while I packed.  Once the boning was done he packed what meat was left until it was done.  We got this monumental bull back to camp within two days.  That fat old sunofagun can still cut meat for six hours, on a hillside, put 60 punds on his back, and walk 2 miles... three times. 

Teeth (october 5th)

As I was outside tonight doing some yard work, Natalie came up to me, upset and tearful.  "You threw away my tooth!  The bag wasn't closed all the way and it came out in the trash!"  She had pulled out tooth number 2 for the week earlier in the evening and had put it in a zip lock bag on the counter.  That was the last place I remember seeing it.  Apparently, I tossed it.   Bummer...chalk another one up under Failure Mom. 

I began looking through the trash, which of course was full, all the while telling myself what a horrible mother I was.  Poking through the egg shells and juice boxes, lines from Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout kept running through my head.  I was interrupted by bath time, and the smell coming from Sawyer's diaper, and Natalie's cry of triumph:  "I pulled out another tooth!  You can stop looking!  I saved the day!" Indeed, she was holding in her hand her other top tooth!  Now I really had to keep looking for that other tooth!  I had to find it!  How many kids get to put two teeth under their pillow for the tooth fairy??

I went back at it once the kids were asleep and in bed.  I was listening to the news (which puts the time past 10:00) as I methodically inspected and shook out all of our trash from the last four days.  No tooth.  Big sigh.  Still beating myself up, I began cleaning up the kitchen, tidying and sweeping before I went to bed.  And there it was.  Sitting on the kitchen table on a pile of papers, still zip locked up in it's baggie, was the long lost tooth.  I hadn't thrown it away!!  I'm not a horrible mom!!  Natalie will be so excited!!  I went in and woke her up, telling her that I was putting her tooth under her pillow.  She opened her eyes and dreamily said ok.  She won't remember in the morning. 

Off I go.  I need to round up some cash.  This tooth fairy can sleep happy!

Moments

I took the kids to the park today.  It was a beautiful, not-too-cold fall day.  The sun was bright as were our outlooks.  We played at the play ground, kicked the soccerball around, threw rocks in the river, and ran through the yellow blanket of leaves lying on the ground.  Here's the kicker... I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!  We've been to the park before.  How many pictures do I need, right?  BUT THEN, they were doing the most picture worthy things!  The wind picked up and yellow leaves came fluttering down from up, up, up in the tree.  All three were running, and squealing and dancing among the floating leaves.  When the wind stopped, they piled up leaves and threw them as high as they could above their heads.  It was picture perfect and I didn't have my camera.   As I just sat and watched I loved the moment.  I loved that it was our moment, and it was fun and special.  I loved that I wasn't looking at it through my camera.  I loved that they were so carefree, and I wasn't missing a moment of it.  I may not remember it in the years to come, but today I simply sat and paused and enjoyed.

Anniversary #11

For our 11th anniversary, Lee and I went back to where it all began....North Mason High School!!! 

It just so happened there was a home football game, so we grabbed our coats and hats, and went on our special date.  It turned out to be really fun, and not as scary as I thought it would be...(I haven't been around teenagers in a looooong time.) 

The night was clear and crisp, and the smell of grass and dirt was in the air.  Whistles blowing, fans hollering, and kids chatting it up took us right back to good ol' highshool.  

 You can't see it very well, but to the right of Lee is the scoreboard showing the Bulldogs ahead  14-20.  They ended up winning 14 -28!  Yahoo!!

Hope

Yesterday I was struck by two things, at separate times, in separate ways.  The first thing was this little ad that I saw in a magazine for a book called Disneystrology.   To sum up, it links astrology and Disney to small ones who don't know the difference.  Instead of what's your sign, it's based on your birthday and it tells you what  Disney character you are like.  Harmless fun? Maybe.  But then I read this in the book of Isaiah and it got me thinking...... Verse 2:6 says this:   They are full of superstitions from the east;  they practice divination like the Philistines.   These people received the judgement of the Lord and it was really bad!  Why in the world would I want my kids, who love Disney by the way, to even head down that path of dread???  But it's harmless!  It's Belle and Nemo, right?  What if it's just the beginning of something more??? 

The second thing that struck me was witnessing an excange between Lilly and Sawyer.  I walked in on Lilly sitting in front of Sawyer.  She was holding in her hands a little Bible and she was singing the song,  The Bible is a Treasure Book, to Saywer.  The Bible is a treasure book of stories that are true.  It tells of people long ago of folks like me and you.  I choose reading the Bible. 

So, I have hope.  Judgement and destruction fell upon the people of Judah because of their sin and evil ways.  However, there was promised hope in the "branch of the Lord"  (Isaiah 4:2-6)  I have hope that my kids, who are learning the truth of God's word, the Bible, will remember it as they grow.  In the midst of this crazy world and all of it's temptations and evil that will try to snare them, I have hope. 

"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.   You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,"  declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity.

Big Things

Lilly's first big day of Pre-K

Natalie's first big day of First Grade!!

Our first big egg snack!!   Chicken Jessica was the first to present us with her gift, followed closely by chicken Liz.  Thanks girls (and Fabio, for his male presence!)!!

Our big corn, with a lovely corn flower to showcase it!

Big time fun for a big boy!!

 So yes, September 1, 2010 hosted some big events! Life has turned the "hectic corner" now that school has begun for two of the kiddos.  Lilly was sooo excited to go, and though I am greatful for her chance to be "big" and go to school, I'll miss hanging our with her spunky little self.

Natalie, also excited to go to school, was wiped out after her first full big day.  She said she missed the 1/2 days of kindergarten.  I'm hoping she'll get over it soon as she gets in the rhythm of all day.  Besides, she gets to enjoy three recesses!!

And then there is Sawyer.  He's pretty easy to please...all he needs is a dirt mover.  No problem!

Garden of Eden

Well, not quite the garden of Eden, but on it's way for sure.  Lee, the fantastic guy that he is, created a fabulous garden this spring.  With a bit of input from me (of course!!), he designed, collected and built our new garden. 

The girls helped Lee find the logs here and there on our property, and after

 they were bucked and limbed, off they went to be peeled.

Look at him go!!  (Just for the record, I peeled a bunch of these suckers too.)

All Sawyer can think about is all those weeds to be pulled!!  I was crying too...

(See the windows in the log house?  Woohoo!)

How cool is this!!  Lee was lucky enough to get to go on a treasure hunt looking for curved logs.   Give us a  holler if you know of any!

Presenting.....the chicken coop!  Yes, the chicken coop is part of the garden, but separate.  The chickens will be allowed out after all the tomatoes are picked.  This coop is designed to move as well, so we can share the fertilizer with the rest of the garden.  This is cool: the slats to the gate were made from the packing lumber that our big house windows came in.  Yeah for us, we recycled!  Scroll back up to the picture of Sawyer crying and you can see the window package leaning up on the house.

Here are a couple of the beds Lee made for me.  The right has tomato plants (thanks Elizabeth!!  She grew some starts and was kind enough to share with me!!!)  and the left circles host zucchini plants.  This picture was taken when we first planted so of course things are looking quite different today!  I'll post a current picture one of these days when we get some sunshine and things start growing again (AHHHH!!!  This has been a very frustrating summer.  Sun please!).

Here's the view from the log house.  A nice big, beautiful garden.  Lee, you rock.  Happy chickens, happy kids, happy wife. 

yummmmmmy pie

Yummmmmmmm...

You can't go wrong with a fresh blueberry cream pie.  Not only is it super delish, it is super easy to make.  My mom gave me the original recipe, but I tweaked it by using a different pie crust given to me by my friend Tawni.  She got the pie crust recipie from her mom. Hence, the name...Moms' Blueberry Cream Pie.

Here we go: 

Moms' Blueberry Cream Pie

Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

2 T cold milk

Mix all ingredients in the pie plate and spread out with your fingers.  That's it !!

Filling:

1 cup sour cream

2 T flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

2 1/2 cups blueberries

Topping:

3 T flour

1 1/2 T butter

3T chopped almonds

Combine the filling ingredients except the blueberries and beat until smooth.  Fold in the blueberries and bake in a pastry shell at 400 for 25 minutes.  Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over top of pie.  Continue baking for another 10 minutes.  Chill before serving. 

Easy as pie!! 

Mom's New Toy

Hooray!!  This new toy has millions of miles on it already, and it's not even August!  We've really enjoyed our new ride, as has every kid that has put his/her eye on the thing.  It's super fun, and, you get a workout!  Yeah~~

Big Halibut

I'm finally posting pictures of "the big one" in case someone hasn't seen it yet.  She even tastes yummy!

Fish Camp at Whiskey Creek

Ahhhhh, it was a fun trip!  We left Friday after school was out, and headed north (and then west) to Whiskey Creek.  We got to Fish Camp in time for a dinner of FRESH cought Halibut (way to go Grampa!!).  Lee got up early the next morning with Grampa and headed out to try it himself.  A couple of hours and TWO HALIBUT later, they came in and picked up the kids and I to try our hands at catching some supper.  Natalie cought 3 fish: 2 greenling and a ling cod, and Lilly cought 2 greenling.  YEAH!!!  Sawyer mostly cried.  I think he was too hot, and he hated his lifejacket.  He can try again next year. 

At the campground, Sawyer ran and ran and ran everywhere.  I heard a lot of "Woot, Mom" and "Whas-at Mom."  It wasn't just a lot.  It was non stop.  He was in heaven. 

   

Lilly was her little independant self, wandering here and there, only pausing to play in the sandbox, swing, or to seranade the camp.

Nats was everywhere too...helping me find rocks, playing checkers, and with Lilly, visiting Izzy the neighbor girl.

Lilly slept the entire trip home (about 2 1/2 hours) and then for another 12, so she is all cought up!!  Natalie was awake the entire trip, not wanting to miss out on anything, but had a nice sleep in, and Sawyer ate a big ol' breakfast after a good night's sleep: a fried egg, pancake, blueberries and a bowl of yah-wah to top it all off! 

 

 Whew!!  I'm hanging inside today with my bottle of aloe and drinking water by the gallons.  I got a cheery sunburn on my cheeks and back of my neck.  I hope that will remind me to PACK THE SUNSCREEN next time!

Mother's Day Fun

Our fun Mother's Day adventure began the day before...decorating cupcakes for MOM!!!  Yes, I made them.  I had been dreaming about them for days and days.  They were coconut cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting.  Mmmmmmm, so delish. 

Then, to finish off the evening, a beautiful rainbow came out.  I was standing on the porch, and this was the view down the driveway. 

Here we are at this really cool park on Bainbridge Island called Battle Point Park.   It's huge, and really, really fun.  Here are a few pictures to prove it!

This is about 1/3 of the park.  Baby bunnies were hopping around under the little ramp.  Check out the huge grassy area behind.  How cool is that??

Another big view, with little Sawyer checking it all out. 

And what's a park without a tree to climb?  Lee put Natalie up in it, and up she went!

Pretty fun park, yes?  After our picnic and more playing, we got in the car and headed...to park #2!!!!  Woohooo!!!

Faye Bainbridge State Park was beautiful and really fun.  The clouds in this picture are above the Cascades (!!!), and we could see the Seatle skyscrapers.  We will come back to Bainbridge Island to play!