MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009!!!

Our Pre-Christmas photos!

Porter was willing to wear the elf hat but Abbi had some issues with being Mrs. Santa Claws.

Our ornaments. I do think we need some new ones but the old ones hold great memories for the kids and I .... so maybe next year.

Robee decorating "Alfie" the tree. We buy live trees and then plant them in our yard after Christmas. And they all have names too.

Of course, last year "Charlie" didn't go into the ground until about ... September. I was a little lax about planting. Sorry Charlie!

Felix showing off our tree trimming.

And the finished product!! The cat blanket masquerading as a tree skirt really adds a flair, don't you think??

God Bless Us ... Everyone!!

Goodbye Sam the Cat

Samson came to us the summer of 2005 right after we moved to Arlington. He was at the local feed store, stuck in a tiny little cage and he was huge. There was little information on his past; the family was moving and couldn't keep him.

I had lost Houdini during the move in February and wasn't quite sure if I wanted to take on another cat. But the kids were begging me and he did look so forlorn in his tiny cage.

The previous owner thought that he was about four years old but wasn't sure because she got him from a shelter and they weren't sure.

He lived with us since that time. He was a good cat and sometimes very weird.

Unfortunately, he was one of the collaborators who were peeing in my house during the Great Cat Crazy period and to be put in the garage. He lived here with Zeke and Cynammon until their deaths in the summer of 2008. He then moved to the barn because he was tired of raccoons coming in the cat door of the garage.

Grace, our official barn kitty, didn't take to this but he lived with her in peace.

He came up missing last Saturday during the freeze and I had been looking for him and calling trying to find both he and Grace. Grace finally showed up but no sign of Sam.

Then on Saturday, Felix was feeding the animals and found him in the barn, behind the bathroom door. He died sometime last week.

So we're down to one cat, Grace - and honestly, I think she prefers it this way.

Goodbye Samson, 2001? - 2009. I am so sorry I didn't know you were that sick.

Random pics before Christmas

Felix and Leah at their Christmas Choir Concert last night. Great job girls!!

Felix wore her first pair of HIGH heels last night because she's on the last row of the risers and everyone else is wearing heels and so she looks like she's 3 feet tall.

So ... against my better judgement, I bought her some high shoes.

It has nothing to do with not wanting her to be old (although I do miss with a broken heart, my little blonde pigtailed girl) but the fact is that her balance is .... well .... not the best. I don't like to label her, but she's a bit clumsy. Klutzy even.

As she was walking up to her spot, I was repeating under my breath over and over "Please don't fall. Please don't fall." That was my mantra last night. Come to find out, Leah's mom who sat behind me, was saying the exact same thing in Leah's behalf. Us moms.

This is me holding Ivy at Angie's baby shower that Jen had at her new house (which is beautiful I might add) last Saturday afternoon.

I rarely get any photos of me holding the kids unless I stretch my arm and take them myself. But Kathie (Angie's mom-in-law) had her camera ready and got this shot.

I adore this baby. I have the great opportunity of watching her during the week.

This. What can I say?? This is an ornament that is made to look like my favorite Starbucks cup. It's hanging on my rear view mirror. Isn't it wild??

Ah .... I can almost taste the Green Tea Latte now. I'm totally addicted to those things. I crave them sometimes. And since green tea is good for the body, I figure 10,000 years of Japanese folks drinking it cannot be wrong, eh?

Tundra pics

So here are some pics of the frozen tundra I am now calling home.

This is the goats' water trough. That hole I made using a pickax so the poor things could get a drink.














Ice crystals formed a on log. A weeks worth of freezing cold temperatures.



This is my finger (obviously) measuring the ice from the trough. I think that's about 2 1/2 inches in thickness (minus the fingernail).












Yes. I'm living in the Yukon now and I'm not happy about it.

Freezing Cold Weather

Okay. So last year, I was complaining about the snow (see last year's post around this same time for verification).

This year: it's the cold. It has been so cold (HOW COLD WAS IT?) that we didn't need tinsel on the tree; icicles formed completely on their own --- inside!!! My weather phone says it's 18 degrees --- and the sun is up and shining.

Every water trough for my animals as 3 inches of ice. I have to break it and refill with warm water from the barn so it doesn't freeze again. Unbelievable weather.

I thought that I moved to a temperate climate, one that rained throughout the winter - which logically means that the air has to be warm for rain to fall. The kids want snow (surprise surprise) but I keep telling them that it has to be warmer than this to snow.

I feel bad since I haven't posted for weeks but, man; once Thanksgiving passes, time kicks it up about 15 notches. There hasn't been a day for the past two weeks that I haven't been running like a crazy person trying to get stuff done.

Band concerts, parties, school functions - you name it. AND don't forget the lights on the house. I've been trying to do that too but in this weather, yikes.

I told the kids "If you find my cold dead body frozen to the fence when you get home, just remember that I did this ALL for you. No guilt. I'm just your mom, doing mom things, for you. Whilst freezing my keister, for you." They said "Okay Mom. Make sure you put up lots of lights." See? Parasite sweeties.

Actually, it looks as though I have no recent photos to post. Dang. Something else I need to do. Well Angie's baby shower is Saturday so I'll get some of those posted. We had a birthday dinner for Ben but didn't take any pics of him. The only one I got was of the kids in front of the gigantic horse. =[ Sad day when I haven't taken any pictures to document my life and what's going on. Felix had a band concert but my phone camera has stopped working so I need to get that fixed too. *sigh*

Time to get moving. This is the first day I've actually been able to sit for longer than 10 minutes and I believe my time is up.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Side windows with garland. I've never decorated for Thanksgiving before.


Homemade pies by Felix (and me)

Garland by the front door. I have no idea how the wall will look after I take it down; I had to nail the stuff on. Yikes.

One more Day!!

And I've got four pies done and all the food any competition eater could eat in one day.

Two More Days!!!

That's all I have to say ........... two more days!!

A dumb thing to do

This happened the day of our Canada tournament. I hadn't really told anyone about it because .... well .... it was just a stupid thing to do and I'd sometimes prefer not sharing.

However, I was reading my past blogs from this time last year and realized how grateful I was that wrote some things down. I don't write everyday (well I did try the blog-everyday-in-November-thing and THAT was exasperating) but I do try about once a week. Because my memory sucks bad, reading those past blogs were so much fun and actually remembering what happened was joyous.

So, in light of that, I am going to try to write ... not for the benefit of anyone because I fully believe no one really reads my blogs (I think Kathie does but that's because she's being nice) but because it's great way for me to record my life like a journal. I probably won't put personal things down but events like exactly how much snow we had last year, are important.

Kreshiznik there. Sorry.

Back on topic. Saturday morning about 5 am. We had to leave by 6 to get to Canada before the line up. Showered and dressed, and I'm just about ready when OOOPS!!

The end of THIS falls in my ear:
It actually wasn't even in my ear, just sort of sitting on the outside edge but I thought "Oh! I'll use the end of the stick to get it out" and BAM! The end of the Q-Tip pops directly into my ear canal.

I'm not a real panicky kind of person. I sort of stood there and thought, "Well ... now what?"

I finally went out to the kitchen where Thomas was on the computer (surprise surprise) and said "I have a Q-Tip in my ear and I think it's stuck."

Now Thomas, he IS a panicky person. His first response is "Do you want to go to emergency?"

Right. We have a tournament in Canada today, we have to leave in 20 minutes and I'll be in the bloody emergency room for 3 hours at least since I'm not bleeding out my eyeballs, for a Q-Tip. No thank you. And I don't have a regular doctor because I really don't ever get sick.

So off we went to Canada, knowing that really ... this little thing was not going anywhere since there was no where for it to go (and contrary to rumors, there is something between my ears).

I'm at the tournament, watching the kids, watching Thomas with this little nagging thing in my head knowing that a foreign object is butting up against my eardrum. Not only that, it's slightly hard to hear and I keep getting a little dizzy -- which could have been nerves watching the kids compete.

Drive home at 1 pm. Go get something to eat. Start working on other projects at the house. I still really don't want to go to any clinic. Remember this is at the height of the swine flu and every clinic is stuffed.

Sunday, still in my ear. Still can't hear.

However, I do read on the Internet (O Holy Internet - Give me an Answer) that this is rather common because as humans, we do tend to like to stick things in our orifices even if we're not supposed to.

Several people give several different options. One option is to drip hydrogen peroxide into the ear and let the bubbles bring up the Q-Tip end. Another is to do the swimmers jump (think Seinfeld episode when Kramer was jumping on the plane) and try to bounce it out. That didn't work either. The best one was the vacuum tube to the ear solution ... but just make sure you don't suck out your ear drum (does that even need to be said?). That also didn't work. Damn.

So here comes Monday now. I'm due to pick up Owen at 11:30 and I need this thing out of my ear without it taking hours in a waiting room. I go to a clinic in Smokey Point, which is in a medical building. I walk into the clinic and waiting there are about 20 people, six in masks. Phones ringing off the hook. I did an about face and walked right back into the elevator before it had time to close. I was NOT going to get sick waiting for a Q-Tip to come out of my ear.

I decided to go to my little hometown clinic in Arlington. One NP, no waiting, no issues. Walked in, filled out my paperwork (still embarrassed by this whole thing, I wrote my symptoms was an earache), and paid $39. I told her what happened, she syringed my ear with hydrogen peroxide and water and the little sucker floated to the top. Done. Finished. Painless. And I didn't catch the flu.

She did say that I had ridiculously small ear canals and how in the world did something that size get stuck in there, she'll never know.

And she reminded me of a an old saying, "Don't put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow --- or in your case, a basketball."

I'm now on the search to find an elbow-sized Q-Tip.

Tae Kwon Do in Canada (O Canada!)

Saturday our first tournament in Canada for the year. Thomas got 2nd in 2nd in Sparring, Robee got 2nd in Sparring, Felix got 3rd in Sparring, and I got 2nd in Sparring and Forms and 1st in Weapons. We had a great time as usual.

We like the tournaments for the chance to hang out with each other without a lot of other stuff going on. It's about the only time Thomas is away from a phone and the office stuff is so far away for a change that he can finally relax a bit.


I have pics of Thomas and Robee but Felix and I were competing at the same time so I wasn't able to take pics of her. AND I've rarely had pics of me since no one takes pics of the mom. Thomas doesn't know how to use the camera, which leaves me taking most the photos.


This is Thomas during his sparring match. Some guy said "You know for a big guy, you certainly move fast." Quite funny yet true. His leg, which cannot do a round kick for anything, can come from the front in a twist kick and smack you in the head --- and I've been the recipient many times of that kick during our practice matches.

Green Tea Lattes. The best drink in America.

Oink Oink Oink

See what happens when you don't get the vaccine?

Halloween 2009

Tonight, tho it wasn't Halloween, we dressed up. Sort of a dress rehearsal for the actual day. It was also our church's annual Trunk-R-Treat for the kids. Everyone passes out candy from the trunks of their cars. It's fun and the kids just run crazy from car to car.

This year Felix is an Ice Goddess. She said 'Ice Princess' sounded too young and 'Ice Queen' sounded too old so this is what was decided. Luckily she has a mother that has any sort of make up and colored hair spray one could ask for.

Robee decided to be a cop (much to his father's chagrin) and his was easy. I love his mustache. He looks like something from the 80's.

I am the Queen of Hearts (queen = me who is old) from Alice from the Looking Glass (or Alice in Wonderland). I was going to try to sew a costume from a pattern but Robee, Felix and I LOVE creating our own costumes and this is what I put together with hot glue, felt, a skirt and top from the thrift store. Not to mention that my sewing is shaky at best.

And no Queen of Hearts is finished without the perfect heart lipstick (which was almost impossible to get off - thank GOODNESS for Clinique's Make Up Remover).

And as usual, I was about the only adult there in full blown costume. Just my way.

Favorite Pagan Holiday Celebration (besides Summer Solstice) Halloween!!!

Time to celebrate my most Favorite Pagan Holiday!!! My next Favorite is Summer Solstice because I love summer so much (sigh).

Halloween!!
Front Door with my other boyfriend.

Scary bat on the railing (Owen and I have been plotting to buy this for weeks; finally did it! It goes with him when he moves and that is thrilling to him! I will miss Batty).

Windows and some lights inside.

Ghosties and signs by my really messy flower bed (didn't get a chance to weed yet).

Cobwebs and tombstone by the Japanese Maple.

Felix and I are going Friday to do our traditional thrift store shopping for our costumes. She WAS going to be a "modern" vampire (read: Twilight issues) HOWEVER she decided thankfully, that that costume just didn't enough stuff for it and so now she's going to be an Ice Princess. MUCH better make up indeed. Whew. Disaster averted.

Robee is going to be a cop (much to Thomas' chagrin). This way he can also be "Law Enforcement" for his ridiculous Vocabulary Day at school since they've abolished Halloween Dress-up.

I have no problem if they don't want to celebrate Halloween; I agree that the kids are so hopped up on stuff that they can't concentrate. But just don't masquerade it with Vocabulary Day so they can dress up like a vocabulary word.

Brother.

Good wishes to you Amber Chase

Goodbye 46, Hello 47

My birthday came and went without much fanfare.

Thomas and I set the posts for the new, expanded chicken run for our now, 15 chickens (sad face). After it's done, we are adding two more chicks to our brood to replace our lost Houdini and to give her a friend to grow with as well.

On Sunday, we all went out for a birthday lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate both Greg's (September 22) and my birthday's.

Thomas gave me a lovely watch --- one that I can actually read since my old one's face was getting dim. Or perhaps it's my eyes. Who knows.

And now I'm 47.

Only three more years to 50.

I cannot believe this number that is looming ahead. I really can't. It's almost surreal when you're almost there.

You imagine this day but when you're getting there, you're not really sure where the years went to while getting there.

It really does seem that I was 35 just a couple of years ago. Very odd.

I feel like I'm a 'Twilight Zone' episode where time speeds up even though it's only been a day or so.

Hmmm.....

A Very Fast Fishing Trip

We took a very fast trip to Utah. I mean fast. In fact, it was so fast, it seemed as though we were gone for six months. The more you pack into a small amount of time, the longer the trip seems. Must be some time continuum or something.

Any-whoo, Thomas really wanted to take the kids fishing at his old haunt, the Salt River in Afton Wyoming (or Star Valley). I was hesitant at first; after all, Dick Cheney lives there and duck hunting season is on.

Thomas assured me that we wouldn't be hit by hunters so off we went. I got to see my wonderful father on Friday. Did I mention that I love my dad? He is the greatest guy and is doing so well since Mom died. His personality has changed and he is his old, happy, laughing self again. I missed him all those years.

Daddy also loaned us his loaner truck (he was hit by some moron on 7th street) to drive to Afton on Saturday morning. Thanks Daddy!!



This is Bear Lake. The kids have never seen this part of Utah before. It was shining and blue as always. But no sight of the Bear Lake Monster, dang it.


This is a cattle drive through one of the towns. The kids were amazed at this and Felix was laughing, remembering the movie "City Slickers" that we watched on night.

This is in Afton. This arch claims to be the longest arch made out of elk horns. I'm not sure about that but my phone died, so I had no way to Google that claim to find out it's authenticity.

It was interesting however.

Dad, teaching the kids how to tie on their leader and hooks. I love this picture of my kids watching their dad. We don't get much chance to really go places together and this was a great time for us.

And here are our spoils! We caught between the four of us 7 fish. One of those was a cutthroat and the rest browns.

The kids had so much fun and I fell in the river three times. Thomas had a chance to relax for a minute and we had a chance to just walk.

And then we drove back to Utah and flew home the next morning ........ well actually just to make the trip even longer ..... we missed our morning flight because TSA thought Robee had a knife in his pack; it turned out to be a toy car. Grrr. So we didn't make it home until late Monday night.

It was a nice ending to the summer.

Our Chickens (and the end of this story is sad)

Some of you (especially if you're family) know that during the month of April, we decided to buy 16 chicks. We have been wanting fresh, organic eggs for a long time (as seen below)

and this seemed like the best way to do it without paying $3 per dozen in the store. Not to mention, we have a diverse, rainbow of colors one cannot buy in any supermarket. And once a week, we get a double yolk. That's great fun.

So we have 16 chickens now. All grown up. Pullets is what they are called. Our breeds are:

1. 2 Lakenvelders
2. 2 Morans
3. 2 Barred Rocks
4. 2 Rhode Island Reds
5. 2 White Leghorns
6. 2 Buff Orpingtons
7. 2 Amarucanas
8. 1 Gold Wynodotte
9. 1 Blue Wynodotte

Yes. I understand that this is a lot of chickens for newbies as ourselves. But I have five grandchildren and they had to have one and you have to get a twin for those so they're not alone plus my kids each got two and I did and Thomas did and Jennifer did. Somewhere that doesn't add up but you get the picture.

So we've had a lot of fun with these birds. They really do have their own personality and I've enjoyed feeding them blackberries and watching them run to me. Owen, Felix and Robee have made it a point each day to check for eggs and let the chickens out for a run in our acreage.

Since Felix does goats, Robee decided to enter three in this year's Evergreen Fair; Goldie the Gold Wynodotte. Russy the Rhode Island Red. Houdini (named after my lovely kitty) the Buff Orpinton.

Russy and Goldie came in 4th and 3rd in their class (out of 4 and 3 birds respectively). Not great.

But Houdini came in 1st in her class (out of 21 Buff Orpingtons) as well as winning Best in Breed and Best Variety.

As you can see, Robee is all smiles with his giant rosette.

And this is our prize winning bird, Houdini. She is a big, smart, wonderfully fun bird.

And she is now dead.

This past Sunday, as I was sitting outside with the goats, we believe that a coyote hunted her down and dragged her away. We found a trail of feathers leading to her death. Luckily (since Felix was with me when I discovered this horror), the critter had carried her off to dinner.

The kids were devastated. Thomas even more so since this was his special bird.

I realize we live in a wild area and we take our chances with all these animals (our kitty suddenly Cynnamon disappeared last June) and this was a huge wake-up call.

The chickens are no longer allowed out and Thomas and I are expanding the run so that they can feel a little more free than they do now. They're so offended that we are not letting them out and they cluck at me as though they were scolding. But I will not got through that again. Too heartbreaking.

So Sunday night as I put the girls to bed, I sadly counted 15 chickens.

Three Events that I missed blogging about -- I'm so behind

Jen's Birthday (holding baby Ivy)

My darling baby boy's 10th Birthday! I love you Robee!

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary!! Those years certainly did fly by very fast!! Love you Dale!
And that's just the first week of September. I'm already exhausted.

I. AM. NOT. DEAD. I. JUST. SMELL. LIKE. IT.

I've been at the fair for the past six days with Felix and her goats.

We now have five of the little suckers and each has put their own smell on me as well as their fiber up my nose and in my contacts.

We lived in the motorhome with running water and electricity and it was great.

We ate fair food which costs the same as a mortgage on your home.

We sweated our brains out hauling goats back and forth between arenas.

SHE (not me) mucked out pens daily at the crack - THE CRACK - of dawn each day.

She wore clothes that didn't match and didn't take more than two showers in six days. Me too.



And we had a great time together.

Goodbye Old Dependable Friend

It finally happened. The Landcruiser died.

Well, not died exactly but it was on it's way out to be sure.

Engine failing (350k on it), transmission clunking, heat coil broken and leaking into the car, and just basic age from running around in it for the past 12 years. It gets 12 mpg and is spewing a lot of smog into the air. It's also way tall and I cannot park in underground garages. It's had two major hits (one deer, one kid who pulled a U turn in front of me), and six minor ones (all within the time span of me being HUGE pregger with Robee - yes: I hit the car six times).

It's a '94 and we bought it the day Felix was born. Literally. I signed the papers in the hospital bed.


My sticker car.

Abbi in her favorite position.

Last ride for the dogs. They love going places with me and riding around.

It did get very messy on road trips and riding around with the kids and animals. It smelled of dogs, goats, hay, hot chocolate and Green Tea Lattes on occasion. And we loved the smell.

You were our car and we will always have very wonderful memories of you.

We will miss you, old friend. You have kept us very safe.

We did purchase a new car but I'll post that on a separate posting.

My new favorite picture

These are daisies in my front garden. Nothing says summer like daisies.

Finally I get to hold the baby!!

Yeah!! I finally get a pic with Ivy! Isn't she a doll?
You don't understand. I'm always taking pics of the kids. I have tons of Owen, Alysa, Maxito, Ry and my babies. But I have almost NONE of me holding them. NONE. Very sad for me.

So I'm happy to have at least one of me holding Baby Ivy. And she's sleeping so sweet.

I wish mom were here so I could send this to her; she would love it too.

So thanks to Ivy for sleeping so sweetly whilst I captured this pic of the two of us.

4th of July Breakfast in Arlington

Arlington holds a breakfast on the 4th of July and since we've been living here, it has become a family tradition to attend. It's so much fun and we've been very lucky to have nice weather this year!
After breakfast there are two auctions for lots of things (we bought a go cart our first year). In the afternoon, there are two parades: Kiddie Parade (the kids have been in it for two years and both years won awards) and then the Grand Parade. Both are great fun to attend. However this year we missed the Grand Parade because Jen took the baby to the hospital for a check on her head and we didn't want to go anywhere until we all knew she was okay (which she was: disaster averted).

Then after the parade is the famous Stilly Duck Dash where you gamble (oooo! We're not in Utah anymore!) to see if your duck will be the first at the finish line in the river. They dump about 1,000 ducks (not sure of the number) into the Stilliguamish River and they float down river about a mile to the main park where we all are waiting with our ticket numbers. Each duck has a corresponding number on it and if our duck is first, we win! But so far, our ducks have been not first. They might even be floating out to sea by now (not true; there are lots of 'duck wranglers' on the river to make sure all the ducks make it back to shore).

After the Duck Dash, are the fireworks. We don't usually stay for those because here in Washington where the Rez can sell whatever sort of illegal firework you'd like to light, we can go home and watch stuff in our own yard. Every time I see those giant things shooting into the sky from the basketball court, I marvel that we're not being arrested.

And that is our 4th of July and it is a great day.