Having lived within 300 paces of Traders Joe Bethesda for a couple of years, I forgot just how quirky this store is. This video brought back memories.
(Note from Holly: I watched the video from a link Matt sent me then said, Hey, this would be fun for the blog! And so I click over to it and he'd already posted it. You're the best honey!)
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Our cousins were here
We had so much fun we didn't take ANY pictures of
*the wading pool antics: numerous wardrobe changes as wet swimsuits were exchanged for dry clothes and partially wet clothes were exchanged for swimsuits or dry clothes
*the sidewalk chalk outlines on the patio, April's brainchild of occupying the kids before dinner one evening. Evalyn loved this and has added to the collection.
* the popsicle and strawberry faces (Henry and Lillie seriously downed 5 popsicles one afternoon)
*Troy and Henry vainly trying to swing on our "holey" hammock. yes, the beloved hammock has reached it's end after being left out to the elements too many seasons in a row.
*the garden box makeover that April and Carlin helped us with. Yes, I finally faced the music that it's too late in the season to terrace the slope and build the 3 super duper boxes that I really want. So it's make-do or do without!
*the yummy bbq feast which included ribs that Matt prepared ala-Uncle Dougie. Yum.
*cute 14mo Savannah carefully navigating the toy strewn floor on her two little feet
*the 5 big kids (which includes my 20mo Linnea who acts more like a preschooler than a toddler. sniff. ) playing so nicely together. for the most part.
*Playing Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride: Europe. Always more fun with more than 2 people.
*drinking homemade Italian cream sodas. perfect on a hot day: Crushed ice, Izze Blackberry Soda, a generous splash of cream. stir or swirl glass. bliss.
I DID manage to snap a shot of the kids playing on the front grass after church on Sunday, minus Savannah.
And here's the aftermath, Monday afternoon when all the playmates were on their way home:
It was a fun weekend.
On Friday before they arrived we went on a spur of the moment outing to Sportsman's Warehouse (an hour away in Medford) to buy life jackets for the family (in prep for The Arrival of The Boat). We ended up getting two swimsuit lifejackets for H&E in addition to the Type II jackets for the boat. This was mostly due to Henry's crazy poolside antics when we went to see friends in Sacramento the weekend before. We're hoping swimming lessons this summer will help, but either way we'd rather not have a drowned boy. He will jump in whether you're there or not and getting scared and swallowing water doesn't seem to phase him. Yikes.
The funny thing about going to Medford at the last minute: my sister and her family were due to arrive from Salem that night. We left Yreka for a "quick trip" about the same time they left Salem, figuring we had a good 5 hours before our guests arrived. All the little errands added up and before we knew it I was panicking that April would arrive before we did. And I still hadn't made the beds up yet! We got home literally 20 minutes before they did, just enough time to put our tired ones to bed , set up the pack n paly and put clean sheets on the new "guest bunk". Whew.
*the wading pool antics: numerous wardrobe changes as wet swimsuits were exchanged for dry clothes and partially wet clothes were exchanged for swimsuits or dry clothes
*the sidewalk chalk outlines on the patio, April's brainchild of occupying the kids before dinner one evening. Evalyn loved this and has added to the collection.
* the popsicle and strawberry faces (Henry and Lillie seriously downed 5 popsicles one afternoon)
*Troy and Henry vainly trying to swing on our "holey" hammock. yes, the beloved hammock has reached it's end after being left out to the elements too many seasons in a row.
*the garden box makeover that April and Carlin helped us with. Yes, I finally faced the music that it's too late in the season to terrace the slope and build the 3 super duper boxes that I really want. So it's make-do or do without!
*the yummy bbq feast which included ribs that Matt prepared ala-Uncle Dougie. Yum.
*cute 14mo Savannah carefully navigating the toy strewn floor on her two little feet
*the 5 big kids (which includes my 20mo Linnea who acts more like a preschooler than a toddler. sniff. ) playing so nicely together. for the most part.
*Playing Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride: Europe. Always more fun with more than 2 people.
*drinking homemade Italian cream sodas. perfect on a hot day: Crushed ice, Izze Blackberry Soda, a generous splash of cream. stir or swirl glass. bliss.
I DID manage to snap a shot of the kids playing on the front grass after church on Sunday, minus Savannah.
And here's the aftermath, Monday afternoon when all the playmates were on their way home:
It was a fun weekend.
On Friday before they arrived we went on a spur of the moment outing to Sportsman's Warehouse (an hour away in Medford) to buy life jackets for the family (in prep for The Arrival of The Boat). We ended up getting two swimsuit lifejackets for H&E in addition to the Type II jackets for the boat. This was mostly due to Henry's crazy poolside antics when we went to see friends in Sacramento the weekend before. We're hoping swimming lessons this summer will help, but either way we'd rather not have a drowned boy. He will jump in whether you're there or not and getting scared and swallowing water doesn't seem to phase him. Yikes.
The funny thing about going to Medford at the last minute: my sister and her family were due to arrive from Salem that night. We left Yreka for a "quick trip" about the same time they left Salem, figuring we had a good 5 hours before our guests arrived. All the little errands added up and before we knew it I was panicking that April would arrive before we did. And I still hadn't made the beds up yet! We got home literally 20 minutes before they did, just enough time to put our tired ones to bed , set up the pack n paly and put clean sheets on the new "guest bunk". Whew.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
An Arrival
Matt's long awaited boat arrived today. He and Henry drove up to Medford to retrieve it from the freight company. It's a small pram-style boat that fits in the back of his pickup. A two-seater, just the right size and stability for solo fly fishing on stillwater or small rivers (ie, the boat is small enough for one person to maneuver) OR for more social fishing with a buddy (hopefully me when we can get a sitter : ) or a couple of cute kids.
Spring Creek Prams is the company that made it for him. Jim Wheeler did an excellent job customizing it for him with a motor attachment (for going upriver) and all the extras so Matt is ready to go. Now to carve out an evening in a busy week so we can test it out.
I just thought this photo was cute. Like a little boy on Christmas morning waiting to ride his new bike.
(Matt wanted me to note his circa 1987 phonograph stereo (playing Jackson Brown's The Pretender album as the photo was snapped). Next to it is his vintage 1938 Philco radio. We're still looking for someone who knows how to repair it so we can move it inside at some point.)
Spring Creek Prams is the company that made it for him. Jim Wheeler did an excellent job customizing it for him with a motor attachment (for going upriver) and all the extras so Matt is ready to go. Now to carve out an evening in a busy week so we can test it out.
I just thought this photo was cute. Like a little boy on Christmas morning waiting to ride his new bike.
(Matt wanted me to note his circa 1987 phonograph stereo (playing Jackson Brown's The Pretender album as the photo was snapped). Next to it is his vintage 1938 Philco radio. We're still looking for someone who knows how to repair it so we can move it inside at some point.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
"Does it bite?"
Henry loves bugs. He loves asking questions. Only about half of these I can decipher the first time around. But the phrase "Does it bite?" is very recognizable by now. When we read stories and he sees pictures of animals or bugs or spiders or lizards he always points it out and then asks if it bites. Or if he sees something that catches his eye while driving around or playing outside.
It was so cute when he first started doing it because he'd stick his pointer finger between his teeth, as if to bite it, while he asked the question, quasi-signing it.
Then his questions got more elaborate. "Do dogs bite?" Hmm, well, some dogs bite. They have teeth and they bite their food. But they don't usually bite people. So do I say yes or no?
Next question: "Do spiders bite?" Yes. (That was easy.) Unless he's asking about a harmless housespider, they bite bugs but not people. Right?
"Do cats bite?" Again, they can. Especially if you are mean to them. (We have ongoing issues with certain children not being nice to our cat.) Yes?
Do cows bite? Yes, they can.
Do pigs bite? Yes, they can.
Do sheep bite? Yes, they can.
Do birds bite? Umh, they bite worms. And bugs. They have beaks, not teeth.
Now the question changes.
Do lizards bite? Yes, they can.
Do they have teeth? No, but sharp mouths like birds....
.....whew, are you tired yet? I sure am!
But of course it endears him even more in my heart. Especially when he makes jokes out of it. H: "Does it (his fake plastic bug) bite?" I say with a smile, No, silly it's not alive! H: "Does it bite the couch?!?" Hilarious laughter ensues.
Really, his simple questions make me think 10 different ways. My motherly response of not wanting him to be afraid of things that could bite him but most likely wouldn't keeps me from saying "Yes" right off the cuff. Sure, everything bites. All creatures eat in some way or another. Is he asking if they bite people or just if they have the ability to bite something? I want to soften the blow somehow and give an ambiguous answer with lots of caveats of when and how and what it bites. For food, for protection, etc. Why is this?
And then question changes to is it alive, does it have teeth, does it bite people. I definitely think we have a scientist on our hands here! How best to nurture his curiosity without confusing him with so-called parenting wisdom!?
Oh, and a somewhat related note: The kids and I went to a friends farm and of course they got to see some animals up close. Henry was fascinated that the chickens had wings! Now, I was certain he'd seen chickens up close before, but I guess they'd only been wandering around pecking, no wing action. And with all of our "biting" conversations about teeth and beaks and birds and lizards, he'd figured out that chickens were birds and they didn't have teeth. But where were their wings?!? So when he saw one spread her wings and flap around he was so excited I didn't understand what he was saying at first, while flapping his own arms wildly, "Chickens have wings!!" It's all about connections...
It was so cute when he first started doing it because he'd stick his pointer finger between his teeth, as if to bite it, while he asked the question, quasi-signing it.
Then his questions got more elaborate. "Do dogs bite?" Hmm, well, some dogs bite. They have teeth and they bite their food. But they don't usually bite people. So do I say yes or no?
Next question: "Do spiders bite?" Yes. (That was easy.) Unless he's asking about a harmless housespider, they bite bugs but not people. Right?
"Do cats bite?" Again, they can. Especially if you are mean to them. (We have ongoing issues with certain children not being nice to our cat.) Yes?
Do cows bite? Yes, they can.
Do pigs bite? Yes, they can.
Do sheep bite? Yes, they can.
Do birds bite? Umh, they bite worms. And bugs. They have beaks, not teeth.
Now the question changes.
Do lizards bite? Yes, they can.
Do they have teeth? No, but sharp mouths like birds....
.....whew, are you tired yet? I sure am!
But of course it endears him even more in my heart. Especially when he makes jokes out of it. H: "Does it (his fake plastic bug) bite?" I say with a smile, No, silly it's not alive! H: "Does it bite the couch?!?" Hilarious laughter ensues.
Really, his simple questions make me think 10 different ways. My motherly response of not wanting him to be afraid of things that could bite him but most likely wouldn't keeps me from saying "Yes" right off the cuff. Sure, everything bites. All creatures eat in some way or another. Is he asking if they bite people or just if they have the ability to bite something? I want to soften the blow somehow and give an ambiguous answer with lots of caveats of when and how and what it bites. For food, for protection, etc. Why is this?
And then question changes to is it alive, does it have teeth, does it bite people. I definitely think we have a scientist on our hands here! How best to nurture his curiosity without confusing him with so-called parenting wisdom!?
Oh, and a somewhat related note: The kids and I went to a friends farm and of course they got to see some animals up close. Henry was fascinated that the chickens had wings! Now, I was certain he'd seen chickens up close before, but I guess they'd only been wandering around pecking, no wing action. And with all of our "biting" conversations about teeth and beaks and birds and lizards, he'd figured out that chickens were birds and they didn't have teeth. But where were their wings?!? So when he saw one spread her wings and flap around he was so excited I didn't understand what he was saying at first, while flapping his own arms wildly, "Chickens have wings!!" It's all about connections...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I Want This Bike
So I just saw this awesome bike and contest on my friends blog and figured, of course I'll post about it on my blog and hopefully win it! Really though, I have been poking around at family bike options. With Evalyn in kindergarten this fall and Henry most likely starting preschool as well, I figure I could bike down the hill with Linnea in the back and bike up the hill with both of them! It's only about 6 long blocks... Either way though, the kids are getting bikes soon and I figure we need at least one adult bike for us to ride along with them. Mind, I'm not a bike rider, but I have this notion that if I find the perfect bike, maybe I would be... Forget the new digital SLR: this bike in cream or blue please!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Upstream Battle
Saturday night I went to a showing of a documentary on the Klamath River called Upstream Battle, directed by a German filmmaker Ben Kempas. (watch trailer here) It's North American premier was at the prestigious Toronto Int'l Film Festival last fall and has been making it's way through the film circuits until it could finally be screened in the Klamath Basin where it was filmed. It was a very well done film, following members of the Native American tribes of the Klamath River (Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa, Klamath) along their journey that includes their trip to Scotland to protest against Scottish Power who owned the company that operated the 4 hyrdro dams along the river. It tells the story of their culture, their struggles to maintain their livelihood and save the salmon and the water quality of the river they depend upon. The farming and ranching culture upstream above the dams and PacifiCorp's interests are also addressed.
(from Upstream Battle website)
There were only about 15 people there watching it (sponsored by the Klamath Riverkeeper group), but the director himself was there to answer questions and at the end of the 90-minute film, Richard Myers, one of the Yurok tribe members who was featured prominently in the film walked in the door with his wife and they fielded questions as well. One of the funniest anecdotes she shared was about the part where her husband is shown cutting and deboning and preparing a salmon for smoking. She laughed when she first saw the film because she's the one always preparing the fish and smoking it, not him! Sure, he knows how and does it well, but she's the one that does the majority of the time!
(from Upstream Battle website)
Another insight that the filmmaker shared was at previous showings, people commented on how convincing some of the re-enactments were. Ben's response, "What re-enactments? It was all real! None of it was staged!" He went on to explain that he would follow the story closely and would try to be in the area when a big event would be announced. One instance where Merv George is reading his morning paper, Ben actually got there first and was casually filming breakfast waiting for Merv to read a particular article in order to get his response.
Also, I was impressed that PacifiCorp was on board with the filmmaking. The first time PacifiCorp was approached I guess they said no, but later they asked Mr. Kempas for examples of his other work, etc and decided to go along with it. I think it really gave the movie a more authentic balanced feel. It would feel much more one-sided without that element.
It was as artsy and film-festival activist-y I'd felt in a long time, and it was simply a lowly conference room with laptop and projector. It sure made me miss Silver Springs AFI Theater....
Anyway, I'm not sure where it's playing beyond May (It's in Santa Cruz on Monday May 11th. After that Vancouver BC) or when it will available on TV or DVD, but check out the website and see. Of course there are many parts of the very complicated issues surrounding the Klamath River and dam removal that couldn't be addressed in one film. This one simply follows the story of the tribes that traveled to Scotland and caught the interest of the European audience for whom the film was originally geared toward. As the director said, even the limited characters and issue information that made the final cut was almost too complicated for a non-American audience to grasp. I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity to view it.
(from Upstream Battle website)
There were only about 15 people there watching it (sponsored by the Klamath Riverkeeper group), but the director himself was there to answer questions and at the end of the 90-minute film, Richard Myers, one of the Yurok tribe members who was featured prominently in the film walked in the door with his wife and they fielded questions as well. One of the funniest anecdotes she shared was about the part where her husband is shown cutting and deboning and preparing a salmon for smoking. She laughed when she first saw the film because she's the one always preparing the fish and smoking it, not him! Sure, he knows how and does it well, but she's the one that does the majority of the time!
(from Upstream Battle website)
Another insight that the filmmaker shared was at previous showings, people commented on how convincing some of the re-enactments were. Ben's response, "What re-enactments? It was all real! None of it was staged!" He went on to explain that he would follow the story closely and would try to be in the area when a big event would be announced. One instance where Merv George is reading his morning paper, Ben actually got there first and was casually filming breakfast waiting for Merv to read a particular article in order to get his response.
Also, I was impressed that PacifiCorp was on board with the filmmaking. The first time PacifiCorp was approached I guess they said no, but later they asked Mr. Kempas for examples of his other work, etc and decided to go along with it. I think it really gave the movie a more authentic balanced feel. It would feel much more one-sided without that element.
It was as artsy and film-festival activist-y I'd felt in a long time, and it was simply a lowly conference room with laptop and projector. It sure made me miss Silver Springs AFI Theater....
Anyway, I'm not sure where it's playing beyond May (It's in Santa Cruz on Monday May 11th. After that Vancouver BC) or when it will available on TV or DVD, but check out the website and see. Of course there are many parts of the very complicated issues surrounding the Klamath River and dam removal that couldn't be addressed in one film. This one simply follows the story of the tribes that traveled to Scotland and caught the interest of the European audience for whom the film was originally geared toward. As the director said, even the limited characters and issue information that made the final cut was almost too complicated for a non-American audience to grasp. I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity to view it.
Wildflowers and Mother's Day
On Thursday this week I went on my weekly run in the mountain, thanks to the generous free babysitting that a friend offers every week. At the end of my run I had about 10 minutes so I did a cool-down walk along the edge of the reservoir dam. The morning weather was perfect, light breeze off the lake, sunshine, cool temps with the promise of more warmth later in the day. As I walked along I caught a whiff of lupin in bloom and seeing the bright yellow mustard flowers and purple lupin brought me back to my childhood on the Central Coast of California. As I walked along I even spotted fiddleneck thistle amongst the lupin. My siblings and I mistakenly called this "fireweed" because if you stepped on it or brushed against it man did it sting! And tiny thistle hairs were very hard to get out, even with a good pair of tweezers.
It was lovely to have a quiet morning to myself outside and time to reflect and reminisce on living here and enjoying the beauty of spring. This weekend I delved more into wildflowers as part of a plant workshop at the community college. Friday night was 3 hours of slides and lectures. The next morning I waited with another woman for the college van to pick us up at a nearby grocery store parking lot as it made it's way from the main campus in Weed, CA (real name) and up through Yreka and Hornbrook.
Our first stop was Pilot Rock, just over the border in Oregon in the Siskiyou-Cascade Nat'l Monument area. Besides being a prominent landmark, it also has the claim to fame of being the place where the last Grizzly Bear in southern Oregon was shot. Rather sad if you ask me, but there you go. Pilot Rock is also on the Pacific Crest Trail and I was excited to finally take a freeway exit that I'd never had the courage to explore on my many trips north. Exit 1: Siskiyou Summit, NO RETURN NORTHBOUND. As enticing as that sounded to my adventurous spirit, not having a good map in the car and not knowing what roads I'd have to travel on before I could continue northbound on I-5, I'd never taken this exit. Now I know what lies beyond. That in itself was a fun part of the day's adventures.
Our group of 15 or so listened to our elderly adjunct faculty member patiently identify wildflowers and answer our many questions. His wife and our knowledgeable van driver added to his expertise. There were only a few actual college student in the group, the rest were curious adults or retirees out to further their knowledge of the area. We stopped at a few places along the gravel road that leads up to the trailhead for Pilot Rock and broke for lunch when we arrived at the parking area there. The weather was lovely and we were looking forward to our next stop at Mt. Ashland ski bowl about 45 minutes of backroads away. We loaded back in the van and that dreaded click-click-click-click of a dead battery was all that greeted us. No one had jumper cables. We were a good 30 minutes of gravel roads away from the next available place to borrow some. Fortunately we had cell phone coverage since we were high enough up and near the summit so cell towers were in range. One of the cars that caravaned with us went to get some cables so the rest of us waited and wandered around the vicinity that we'd already explored prior to lunch. I wanted to hike up Pilot Rock in the hour we had to wait, but there was some school policy that we had to stay with the instructor or something for liability reasons so that was a no go.
So we reviewed the Chocolate Lily, Giant Trillium, Creeping Phlox, Daggerpod, Snakeroot, Indian Paintbrush, Yellow Bells, Fawn Lily, Milkmaid, Western Spring Beauty and many other flowers as we waited. Here's some pictures.
In the end we got the van started and drove down to the Hilt, CA exit to return the battery starter contraption and to get some very good milkshakes at the Stateline Service diner/gas station there. We didn't have time for Mt. Ashland so we stopped along the Klamath River Hwy on our way back and looked at some lower elevation wildflowers. Despite not having hiked around all that much, I was pretty tired from just being outside in the sun and wind all day. I took a little nap when I got home. :) After dinner, I went on my own to see a documentary on the Klamath River. More on that in a separate post.
What was the rest of the family doing during all this? Matt and the kids went to Medford that morning to do some top-secret Mother's Day shopping or some such un-disclosed business. Upon opening my cards and gift the next morning, it turned out that my favorite yarn shop in Ashland and the Harry & David store in Medford were two of their stops. : ) They also went by the airport and got to climb around a real airplane. Matt properly spoiled me by providing lots of time off this weekend and cooked some very yummy meals: bacon and eggs this morning with some very yummy blueberry muffins and a favorite Cook's Illustrated Penne and Summer Squash, Tomato and Basil casserole for dinner. The kids had fun picking some iris and lilacs this morning for a bouquet and "secretly" helping with all the preparations. Evalyn was especially cute because she's finally learning how to keep a secret. Henry's still at that "share all" stage so it's a good thing he isn't always 100% clear in what he's saying!
All in all it was a great weekend and I'm actually looking forward to getting back into the daily routines this coming week. We have a trip planned to meet up with friends in Sacramento and my younger sister April and her family will be here for Memorial Day weekend. Plus there's the garden boxes to build and TONS of neglected yardwork to do. Gotta love the spring!
It was lovely to have a quiet morning to myself outside and time to reflect and reminisce on living here and enjoying the beauty of spring. This weekend I delved more into wildflowers as part of a plant workshop at the community college. Friday night was 3 hours of slides and lectures. The next morning I waited with another woman for the college van to pick us up at a nearby grocery store parking lot as it made it's way from the main campus in Weed, CA (real name) and up through Yreka and Hornbrook.
Our first stop was Pilot Rock, just over the border in Oregon in the Siskiyou-Cascade Nat'l Monument area. Besides being a prominent landmark, it also has the claim to fame of being the place where the last Grizzly Bear in southern Oregon was shot. Rather sad if you ask me, but there you go. Pilot Rock is also on the Pacific Crest Trail and I was excited to finally take a freeway exit that I'd never had the courage to explore on my many trips north. Exit 1: Siskiyou Summit, NO RETURN NORTHBOUND. As enticing as that sounded to my adventurous spirit, not having a good map in the car and not knowing what roads I'd have to travel on before I could continue northbound on I-5, I'd never taken this exit. Now I know what lies beyond. That in itself was a fun part of the day's adventures.
Our group of 15 or so listened to our elderly adjunct faculty member patiently identify wildflowers and answer our many questions. His wife and our knowledgeable van driver added to his expertise. There were only a few actual college student in the group, the rest were curious adults or retirees out to further their knowledge of the area. We stopped at a few places along the gravel road that leads up to the trailhead for Pilot Rock and broke for lunch when we arrived at the parking area there. The weather was lovely and we were looking forward to our next stop at Mt. Ashland ski bowl about 45 minutes of backroads away. We loaded back in the van and that dreaded click-click-click-click of a dead battery was all that greeted us. No one had jumper cables. We were a good 30 minutes of gravel roads away from the next available place to borrow some. Fortunately we had cell phone coverage since we were high enough up and near the summit so cell towers were in range. One of the cars that caravaned with us went to get some cables so the rest of us waited and wandered around the vicinity that we'd already explored prior to lunch. I wanted to hike up Pilot Rock in the hour we had to wait, but there was some school policy that we had to stay with the instructor or something for liability reasons so that was a no go.
So we reviewed the Chocolate Lily, Giant Trillium, Creeping Phlox, Daggerpod, Snakeroot, Indian Paintbrush, Yellow Bells, Fawn Lily, Milkmaid, Western Spring Beauty and many other flowers as we waited. Here's some pictures.
In the end we got the van started and drove down to the Hilt, CA exit to return the battery starter contraption and to get some very good milkshakes at the Stateline Service diner/gas station there. We didn't have time for Mt. Ashland so we stopped along the Klamath River Hwy on our way back and looked at some lower elevation wildflowers. Despite not having hiked around all that much, I was pretty tired from just being outside in the sun and wind all day. I took a little nap when I got home. :) After dinner, I went on my own to see a documentary on the Klamath River. More on that in a separate post.
What was the rest of the family doing during all this? Matt and the kids went to Medford that morning to do some top-secret Mother's Day shopping or some such un-disclosed business. Upon opening my cards and gift the next morning, it turned out that my favorite yarn shop in Ashland and the Harry & David store in Medford were two of their stops. : ) They also went by the airport and got to climb around a real airplane. Matt properly spoiled me by providing lots of time off this weekend and cooked some very yummy meals: bacon and eggs this morning with some very yummy blueberry muffins and a favorite Cook's Illustrated Penne and Summer Squash, Tomato and Basil casserole for dinner. The kids had fun picking some iris and lilacs this morning for a bouquet and "secretly" helping with all the preparations. Evalyn was especially cute because she's finally learning how to keep a secret. Henry's still at that "share all" stage so it's a good thing he isn't always 100% clear in what he's saying!
All in all it was a great weekend and I'm actually looking forward to getting back into the daily routines this coming week. We have a trip planned to meet up with friends in Sacramento and my younger sister April and her family will be here for Memorial Day weekend. Plus there's the garden boxes to build and TONS of neglected yardwork to do. Gotta love the spring!
Monday, May 04, 2009
The Park and Some Waterfalls
This was a fun outing with some other moms and kids to a city park and nearby waterfalls down I-5 a bit. The waterfall was a short hike and it was neat to walk behind it.
A Rambling Catch-up
Where to start? It's been a busy spring and keeping up with blogging was the big thing that fell by the wayside.
*evening classes at the local community college, College of the Siskiyous. I signed up for several:
Knitting, Mon 5-7PM, Jan-Apr (every week)
Landscape: Blooming Plants, Tue 6-9PM, Feb 24-Mar 10 (3 classes)
Residential Irrigation, Wed 6-8:30 Feb 25-Apr 15 (6 classes)
Landscape: Year-Round Perennial Garden, Tue 6-9PM, Mar 31-Apr 21 (4 classes)
Plus a Bird Identification class that I decided to drop, it was a one-time Friday night lecture and Saturday field trip (Apr 24-25). But the same instructor is teaching a Plant and Forest Communities lecture/field trip this weekend that I'm also registered for. I had to decide between the two and figured the birds could wait. Maybe I'll take it in the fall.
I learned quite a bit from the irrigation and landscape classes. The DIYer in me was drawn to the irrigation class after paying a local landscape company a good chunk of money last summer to get our sprinkler system fixed and still had problems with it. I learned everything about irrigation and then some! Plus the instructor has his own business and I had him come over for a consultation and he helped me work up my own workplan of what we need to do in the yard/garden areas. I love applied knowledge!
But I also learned to limit my future evening extra curricular activities. We were all ready for Mommy Being Gone in the Evenings to be over.
*Delving into GIS Consulting. I'm still deciding between Siskiyou Geographic or Jefferson Geographic as my business title. A local non-profit environmental resource company, Northern California Resource Center, needed a GIS person so I went in and talked with the director, who Matt knows through work, and they decided to get me set up with some software and soon a dedicated laptop to do some GIS work. It's been exciting and intimidating at the same time exploring the possibilities of working from a home office on a project by project basis. Also, the potential of being a GIS instructor at College of the Siskiyous for a natural resources curriculum the Resource Center is developing. I have a lot of catch-up work to get my head back in the GIS world so that will continue to cut into my social blogging time. : )
*poking around on Facebook and Twitter. I'm still pretty hit or miss on Facebook, but it seems easier in some ways than blogging, less writing, more networks, but more scattered feedback it seems. And Twitter I've just started playing around with but it seems even more "glimpsy" than Facebook, but I like it's simple headline style. Kind of like the Facebook "what are you doing" lines but even more streamlined. still exploring.
*reading a bunch of fun quick reads. unassigned reading. Shannon Hale. Alexander McCall Smith. Barbara Kingsolver. Attempting Tess of the d'Urbervilles on audiobook.
*knitting. while listening to books. and attending the monthly knitting circle, Siskiyou Knits. and contemplating learning to crochet sometime. this project on purl bee so inspired me!
*tending to 30 pepper plants, 6 tomatoes, 12 broccoli, 4 lettuce, 5 cauliflower and a few other hetbs that reside in my front room window or the back deck table. Our last frost date is almost here and I really need to get the garden boxes built!! I also signed up for a bed with a friend at our new Community Garden. I figured this would be a fun way to do some social gardening as well, something to get out of the house in the summer.
*budgeting and spending our tax return. re-building up our savings. buying Matt's boat. plane tickets for our PA/MD trip in early August. bunkbeds for the kids/guestbed. miscellaneous house projects and fun purchases.
*watching Matt's dieting success. He's down 37 pounds with a few more to go to reach his "drift boat goal" when he gets to buy/pick up his 2-person pram that will greatly expand his fishing opportunities. He's planning on continuing to shed another 20-30 lbs when all is said and done. I'm proud of him for sticking to it so well, despite all the crazy business trips that have cropped up unexpectedly. We've both taken to drinking more herbal infusions and less hot cocoa and eating more salad with our dinners. The meal replacements we've bought are pretty good and have been the driving force behind it all of course. A shout out to our friend Lindsey who clued us into Take Shape for Life and the Medifast products. What was so inspring about it was her success and seeing normal people that she knew and have success with it.
*hosting family. My sister Heather came down for a long Easter weekend and Matt's mom and uncle were here this past week. The kids were in heaven being spoiled by Grammum and their doting Uncle Dougie. And Doug also went to town with the paint and made some headway in eliminating the ugly brown trim and gables on the front and side of the house. We had fun feeding the ducks, visiting a science museum and mostly just hanging out and eating good food together. including fresh steelhead that Matt and Doug managed to pull out of the Klamath... :)
*playing with my fabulous kids and being more focused on them. Evalyn is doing well in preschool. Academically/Kindergarten readiness she is right up there but surprising to me was that her teachers say she's shy and reluctant to speak up in class. We went to the kindergarten orientation recently and it almost made me tear up. She's growing up so fast and continues to say the funniest things.
Henry's speech therapy is progressing steadily. it's hard to judge for sure and even though I still feel like he needs more than ONE 30-min session a week, his therapist says he's doing great. sigh. He really is saying more things and is such a sweet hearted boy. BUGS are his fetttish of late. And laundry. And tormenting his sisters when he's bored.
Linnea. Well, she is certainly coming into her personality more each day. Such a loving little helper and always bringing things to us that we need: blankies and lovies to her bro and sis when they're sad, shoes and remote controls and spare change to Mommy and Daddy. She's surprisingly good with a crayon or pencil and my walls are evidence of this. Sadly she's still dealing with some very uncomfortable exzema ever since that bought of hives she had. And all 4 of her eye teeth/canines are coming in together. She is losing her chubby baby face and breaking my heart at how fast she is growing more into a toddler and less and less a baby. sigh. 19 months and counting. (It HAS been nice being pregnancy free for more than 12 months post-partum let me tell you!! I'm down to my pre-Evalyn weight, though not shape quite yet...)
As much as I've missed keeping up with all my blogging friends and family, I've also NOT missed the time it takes. It's been a long hiatus and I'm sad about the little things that I haven't recorded as they happened: hiking trips, cute photos, milestones, ideas and inspirations. BUT I've really enjoyed not being tied down to the computer or that guilt/pressure to blog amazing posts a few times a week. Not that I've been that regular anyway! (Only in my mind.... all those mental blog posts that never made it to the keyboard or "publish" button.) I'm still trying to find that balance and maybe I never will. Maybe I'm one of those people that is too detail oriented to do something quickly and well and time efficiently and feel good about the result. That and just basic time management and priorities.
I feel like I've been a better mom not being on the computer as much. I've rarely been on more than an hour total during the day, with longer periods here and there in the evening or during naps. Again, I'm sure there's a way to balance it all out. For now I'm reluctant to give up the extra time I feel like I've gained back. This is starting to sound like a "blogging is evil" ending so I'd better stop! Besides, I have a book waiting for me...
Enough lengthy catchup discoursing for now. Each of these bullets themselves could/should be a post with photos to document the events. Oh, and I will probably change our blog URL/title in the near future to eliminate our last name and create a pretext of more privacy to these ramblings. And now to publish this and follow it with some pictures of the kids. That's the only reason most of you check in here anyway, right??
*evening classes at the local community college, College of the Siskiyous. I signed up for several:
Knitting, Mon 5-7PM, Jan-Apr (every week)
Landscape: Blooming Plants, Tue 6-9PM, Feb 24-Mar 10 (3 classes)
Residential Irrigation, Wed 6-8:30 Feb 25-Apr 15 (6 classes)
Landscape: Year-Round Perennial Garden, Tue 6-9PM, Mar 31-Apr 21 (4 classes)
Plus a Bird Identification class that I decided to drop, it was a one-time Friday night lecture and Saturday field trip (Apr 24-25). But the same instructor is teaching a Plant and Forest Communities lecture/field trip this weekend that I'm also registered for. I had to decide between the two and figured the birds could wait. Maybe I'll take it in the fall.
I learned quite a bit from the irrigation and landscape classes. The DIYer in me was drawn to the irrigation class after paying a local landscape company a good chunk of money last summer to get our sprinkler system fixed and still had problems with it. I learned everything about irrigation and then some! Plus the instructor has his own business and I had him come over for a consultation and he helped me work up my own workplan of what we need to do in the yard/garden areas. I love applied knowledge!
But I also learned to limit my future evening extra curricular activities. We were all ready for Mommy Being Gone in the Evenings to be over.
*Delving into GIS Consulting. I'm still deciding between Siskiyou Geographic or Jefferson Geographic as my business title. A local non-profit environmental resource company, Northern California Resource Center, needed a GIS person so I went in and talked with the director, who Matt knows through work, and they decided to get me set up with some software and soon a dedicated laptop to do some GIS work. It's been exciting and intimidating at the same time exploring the possibilities of working from a home office on a project by project basis. Also, the potential of being a GIS instructor at College of the Siskiyous for a natural resources curriculum the Resource Center is developing. I have a lot of catch-up work to get my head back in the GIS world so that will continue to cut into my social blogging time. : )
*poking around on Facebook and Twitter. I'm still pretty hit or miss on Facebook, but it seems easier in some ways than blogging, less writing, more networks, but more scattered feedback it seems. And Twitter I've just started playing around with but it seems even more "glimpsy" than Facebook, but I like it's simple headline style. Kind of like the Facebook "what are you doing" lines but even more streamlined. still exploring.
*reading a bunch of fun quick reads. unassigned reading. Shannon Hale. Alexander McCall Smith. Barbara Kingsolver. Attempting Tess of the d'Urbervilles on audiobook.
*knitting. while listening to books. and attending the monthly knitting circle, Siskiyou Knits. and contemplating learning to crochet sometime. this project on purl bee so inspired me!
*tending to 30 pepper plants, 6 tomatoes, 12 broccoli, 4 lettuce, 5 cauliflower and a few other hetbs that reside in my front room window or the back deck table. Our last frost date is almost here and I really need to get the garden boxes built!! I also signed up for a bed with a friend at our new Community Garden. I figured this would be a fun way to do some social gardening as well, something to get out of the house in the summer.
*budgeting and spending our tax return. re-building up our savings. buying Matt's boat. plane tickets for our PA/MD trip in early August. bunkbeds for the kids/guestbed. miscellaneous house projects and fun purchases.
*watching Matt's dieting success. He's down 37 pounds with a few more to go to reach his "drift boat goal" when he gets to buy/pick up his 2-person pram that will greatly expand his fishing opportunities. He's planning on continuing to shed another 20-30 lbs when all is said and done. I'm proud of him for sticking to it so well, despite all the crazy business trips that have cropped up unexpectedly. We've both taken to drinking more herbal infusions and less hot cocoa and eating more salad with our dinners. The meal replacements we've bought are pretty good and have been the driving force behind it all of course. A shout out to our friend Lindsey who clued us into Take Shape for Life and the Medifast products. What was so inspring about it was her success and seeing normal people that she knew and have success with it.
*hosting family. My sister Heather came down for a long Easter weekend and Matt's mom and uncle were here this past week. The kids were in heaven being spoiled by Grammum and their doting Uncle Dougie. And Doug also went to town with the paint and made some headway in eliminating the ugly brown trim and gables on the front and side of the house. We had fun feeding the ducks, visiting a science museum and mostly just hanging out and eating good food together. including fresh steelhead that Matt and Doug managed to pull out of the Klamath... :)
*playing with my fabulous kids and being more focused on them. Evalyn is doing well in preschool. Academically/Kindergarten readiness she is right up there but surprising to me was that her teachers say she's shy and reluctant to speak up in class. We went to the kindergarten orientation recently and it almost made me tear up. She's growing up so fast and continues to say the funniest things.
Henry's speech therapy is progressing steadily. it's hard to judge for sure and even though I still feel like he needs more than ONE 30-min session a week, his therapist says he's doing great. sigh. He really is saying more things and is such a sweet hearted boy. BUGS are his fetttish of late. And laundry. And tormenting his sisters when he's bored.
Linnea. Well, she is certainly coming into her personality more each day. Such a loving little helper and always bringing things to us that we need: blankies and lovies to her bro and sis when they're sad, shoes and remote controls and spare change to Mommy and Daddy. She's surprisingly good with a crayon or pencil and my walls are evidence of this. Sadly she's still dealing with some very uncomfortable exzema ever since that bought of hives she had. And all 4 of her eye teeth/canines are coming in together. She is losing her chubby baby face and breaking my heart at how fast she is growing more into a toddler and less and less a baby. sigh. 19 months and counting. (It HAS been nice being pregnancy free for more than 12 months post-partum let me tell you!! I'm down to my pre-Evalyn weight, though not shape quite yet...)
As much as I've missed keeping up with all my blogging friends and family, I've also NOT missed the time it takes. It's been a long hiatus and I'm sad about the little things that I haven't recorded as they happened: hiking trips, cute photos, milestones, ideas and inspirations. BUT I've really enjoyed not being tied down to the computer or that guilt/pressure to blog amazing posts a few times a week. Not that I've been that regular anyway! (Only in my mind.... all those mental blog posts that never made it to the keyboard or "publish" button.) I'm still trying to find that balance and maybe I never will. Maybe I'm one of those people that is too detail oriented to do something quickly and well and time efficiently and feel good about the result. That and just basic time management and priorities.
I feel like I've been a better mom not being on the computer as much. I've rarely been on more than an hour total during the day, with longer periods here and there in the evening or during naps. Again, I'm sure there's a way to balance it all out. For now I'm reluctant to give up the extra time I feel like I've gained back. This is starting to sound like a "blogging is evil" ending so I'd better stop! Besides, I have a book waiting for me...
Enough lengthy catchup discoursing for now. Each of these bullets themselves could/should be a post with photos to document the events. Oh, and I will probably change our blog URL/title in the near future to eliminate our last name and create a pretext of more privacy to these ramblings. And now to publish this and follow it with some pictures of the kids. That's the only reason most of you check in here anyway, right??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)