Saturday, December 13, 2014
New Year's Resolution Time
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Apple Picking!
The problem I have with blogging, and more specifically being behind on blogging, is that I have so much to say and then I never know if I should write about the past or the current. How can I write about what we did today when I still have to write about last week and last month? That ends up leaving me with nothing. Maybe if I start current, something will get on my blog. I feel terribly guilty about never posting.
So, apple picking. We will start here.
Last year for one of our monthly adventures, we found an apple farm in Bellingham that has Honeycrisp apples, one of my most favorite apples of all times. These apples are terribly expensive at somewhere around 3.99 per pound and sometimes more. If we are willing to make the drive and pick them ourselves, 3.99 per pound turns into an amazing 1.85 per pound and not only are the apples cheaper, but they are so very delicious straight from the tree. There is something that makes anything straight from how it grew, wonderfully delicious. After apples for days last year at a fraction of the price, we knew we would definitely be heading back.
With summer winding down and Honeycrisp apples in full swing, today was the day. My sisters and I loaded up the kids, the lunch bags, and the husbands and it was off to Bellingham for Sunday afternoon apple picking.
The only problem with going up there to get apples is that I am always afraid that I won’t get enough. Of course, I have no where to put them and there are fruit flies galore roaming through my house, but seriously… $1.85 per pound!
It didn’t take long to fill up our bags and boxes and mostly because we were sweating to death, we were ready to go back. Most of the group cruised away on a train while Owen, Angie, Greg, Wesley, myself, and all of my apples missed it. We had a choice, we could either stand in the sweltering sun and wait or walk back. Some of us chose to walk (Angie, me, and my apples) and some of us were forced to walk back (Owen, Greg, and Wesley). More than a mile walk, carrying what we later learned to be 85 pounds of apples, was NOT easy. With little complaints from all and a lot of laughing by Angie and me, we joined the others. I have never been so happy to see that big red barn and not only the barn, but the fact that the train passed us going to the orchard about the time we got back. It would have been more than hideous to make the trek and then have the train beat us back.
I spent $155.00 on apples, we melted in the sun, we bought pumpkins we didn’t need, we got in a little exercise, we relaxed, we laughed, we ate and we played. And with that, we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall!!
Bellewood Acres…. until 2015!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Sitting around waiting.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
The lessons we are teaching
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Man I am Busy
Once upon a time I didn’t have kids in lessons. I was going to say that instead, I had a clean house and was a really efficient lawyer, but that would be a lie. I still got nothing done, but I was home a lot more (I think). Well now, I am running around like a crazy person and my kids are running around like crazy people and who knows if I should be doing any of it.
Ivy is in gymnastics, dance, swimming and piano. Owen is in Tae-Kwon Do, gymnastics, swimming, and piano. Autumn is in dance and gymnastics and pretends she takes piano. We started all of these things as a recreational sport, something to do, something to have fun with and then right before my eyes, they started becoming something else. Suddenly, Ivy is taking gymnastics 7 1/2 hours a week, of which one of those hours includes a mandatory ballet class that I got to add to my monthly tuition. Suddenly, Owen is in the leadership program at karate and is now required to do two extra classes a week on top of his already recommended 3-4 classes. And, to top that off, those extra classes don’t even include the random list of parades I was given for him to be in, which all include multiple practices. We started taking swimming to stay alive, but then once they started learning fabulous things like side breathing, the crawl stroke, the backstroke, and the butterfly stroke, we realized that now we stay in swimming to swim strokes and laps and be amazing. Autumn started taking gymnastics because she was watching Ivy there and the owner guilted Angie and I into a mom and me class. Now she is in a preschool class for kids ages 3-5, while she is only 2, and not only that but often more than once a week. If I let her, she would go everyday. Oh, and that reminds me, Owen’s gymnastics class is once a week for one hour, but without fail, EVERYTIME he finishes, he reminds me how much he loves it and BEGS to stay for another hour. We do this song and dance every week. Then we have piano. I felt that they recently outgrew their teacher and we found another. This requires me to take Ivy, come home, take Owen, pick up Ivy, come home, pick up Owen, and come home, all within a very short time period. They will have new group lessons and competitions to be in and to think, we used to have our teacher come to our house.
Thank heavens we finished baseball and T-ball…. that is until Owen starts back up with Fall Ball.
We started out to have fun at things but we have now crossed the line over to trying to be amazing at things.
I think we are still having fun and I know we are spending a lot of money. In fact, I do hope they become amazing at their things, as they may be their only hope for an education.
Now, if I can only keep my head on straight and remember to work and take care of life outside of lessons, things will be good.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Mudder
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
I love this
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The day she rode her bike
Monday, May 19, 2014
Autumn
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Updates of the Forgotten Life
April has come and gone and here I sit with nothing documented for my future. It is seriously so very depressing.
First things first, we made it through the no washer period of our life.
I look back now and I wonder how that is possible. How in the world did I manage with 3 kids to not have a washer for 2 1/2 weeks? Well, let me think. We made our way to the laundromat on one occasion. Being there was horrible. My kids were insane and thought it was one fantastic day. I was stressed after I realized I only had enough cash for 2 loads (I mean seriously, no credit cards still?) and I had no concept of how many clothes fit into those big machines and people were staring at me. I panicked and just tried to wash the most important things and get out of there. People were just sitting there watching us, people who regularly do their laundry there and I could feel their judging eyes as I probably did a laughable small amount of laundry. We hauled in all of our baskets and then when I realized I didn’t have enough money, I had Owen haul them all back outside as quickly as possible. There was also the amazing part where Autumn was standing in front of the washer, screaming that she needed to go potty. I was hoping to at least get our loads going, but as the crying escalated, so did my sweat and I took her. The best part was the time I realized that I STILL HAD A WORKING DRYER at home! Considering that 1. I had no more money with me and 2. I just really wanted to be done, this was fabulous. We loaded up all of our wet clothes and went home to dry.
So, we did that once and then I was too traumatized to go back. The time we loaded up our clothes and washed at Emilee’s house was much more amazing.
All in all, we survived but I am so happy that is over.
That was fun.
Next up, Ivy.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
April 2nd??!?!
Monday, March 17, 2014
The most expensive farmer's market yet
Saturday, March 15, 2014
I am afraid of her teeth
Blog for Ivy’s School–Elderberries
I blog for Ivy’s school and realized I those posts should be here as well. so here is one of them…...
In my quest to heal my family and stay healthy using natural remedies, I discovered the ELDERBERRY. Cooked elderberries (raw, unripe elderberries can be poisonous) have been used for medicine for hundreds of years. It is believed that elderberries can help with the flu, alleviate allergies, and boost overall respiratory health. (source) Elderberries are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C and a good source of calcium, iron, and Vitamin B6. (source) I came across one study showed that “symptoms of the flu were relieved on average, four days earlier and the use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with placebo." (source)
So, how do you incorporate elderberries in your medicine cabinet? One of the most common ways to take elderberries is by making an elderberry syrup. You can purchase the syrup already made, however….. making your own is so easy! I used this recipe. There are a few out there, but they only seem to differ with the measurement of ingredients.
Making your own syrup:
Ingredients:
2/3 cup elderberries (I buy my elderberries here) which you can order here:
3 ½ cups water,
2 T fresh or dried ginger root,
1 tsp cinnamon powder,
½ tsp cloves or clove powder,
1 cup raw honey. (I use raw local honey from the house down the street from the school. Local honey has all kinds of extra benefits, plus I love supporting local businesses - and it is delicious!)
Directions
Pour water, eldberries, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves into a medium saucepan
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. The amount of liquid in the plan will be reduced by about half.
Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
Pour through a strainer into a glass bowl.
Discard the berries. Let the liquid cool to lukewarm and then add the honey and stir.
The standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ TBS- 1 TBS for adults per day. When you feel any flu symptoms coming on, you can increase the amount by taking the same dosage but taking it 2-3 times per day.
I have come across some information says you shouldn’t take elderberries for more than 5 days at a time, while I know that others take elderberries every day to prevent the flu during the entire flu season. You just need to do what feels right for you. We take it about once a week and my kids LOVE it, which is always a bonus.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
These funny little people of mine
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The rascally one
Autumn.
She is a character. In fact, Angie and I even call her character. She is teeny tiny, hardly has any hair, talks up a storm, and is full of sass, even at 2 and almost a 1/2.
Last night we were lying in bed with the other two kids. They had fallen asleep a few minutes earlier and I was sooo tired. I kept begging her to lie down and go to sleep. She on the other hand, kept turning my lamp on and off, on and off. At one point I said, “Autumn, turn the light off, I don’t want it on”. To which she replied, “Well, I do” and turned it on again. I tried to stay stern but her little sassy words made me laugh. I kept falling asleep and would wake up to click, click, click. When I didn’t respond I heard a little voice and could hear the smile on her face as she said slowly, “Look what I am doing”. Click Click Click.
And it isn’t just me she loves to torture.
The other day Owen was holding something that was clearly his and she wanted it. She was following him around the house crying, with Ivy by her side. He started crying, cause she is so big and mean of course, saying that it was his and she was trying to take it. He stopped in the kitchen to tell me what was going on and while we were talking, her small sleuth like self snatched the toy out of Owen’s hand and then she raced over to Ivy with a look of sheer joy on her face and proudly said, “Ivy, I got it!”. Ivy looked so pleased with her. I turned back and looked at Owen, crying, empty-handed. It all happened so suddenly. Owen causes them grief, but I am beginning to realize that one day (maybe a day not so far away), he will need as much protection from them as they do from him (and maybe more, those girls as a team may be serious trouble).
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Rules to Live By
The kids were all going outside to play the other day. As I was helping Ivy get ready to go out, I said, “Be careful outside and have fun, and don’t get lost”. She turned to me and said back, “I know not to get lost”. And with a small pause she finished by saying, “And, if a dog walks by, run in the house.” Yep, that is right. Be careful, have fun, don’t get lost, and if a dog walks by, run inside. I think she has thought this through before.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
A Light Dusting–(This post was written in part in 2013 and in part today and yesterday)
THIS IS A SCATTERED POST!
That is all it really takes to cancel school around here. I have been begging for the day to come when we had a break from school and I made it down to the last day… that is until they canceled school. Doesn’t the school district realize that for the first time in my life we had teacher gifts ready to go to school today? Homemade teacher gifts of lip balm and vanilla, complete with handmade cards by the kids that will now sit in little bags until January 6th. I also wish the district would know how excited I was that we completed optional homework and it was packed up and ready to go in Owen’s backpack. It was packed up the night before, this is big news around here. We made it to the last day before winter break and we were ahead of the game… and now we are home. I am cursing this day enough now and rest assured, when the end of June comes and we add that extra make-up day, I will curse it more.
So what now? Well, I can’t be awake at 6:00 for nothing, so my blog at least deserved a post, especially considering I only have 11 days to remember 2013 as something other than the worst blogging year of my life. I find with each child I have less room in my head to remember anything. As new tasks and memories enter my head, old ones leave. It is sort of like my head is full and something has to leave to make room for something else. So thank you snow day for making me write stuff down…
Things worth remembering:
* Autumn loves eating “ficken” and “feese” and I adore making her say both. Chicken and cheese sound so much better when they start with an f.
* Some words are cute when they start with an f, other words are a tad more dangerous. For example: Chocolate Milk. Out of Autumn’s mouth, it sounds a little like – fockit milk. And yes, if you say that out loud, it sounds like you think it might.
* Owen made me mad this week last week and I lost all ability to parent nicely. He was mean to me and wouldn’t practice piano. He told me it was too hard and that we give up when things are hard. It was late, I was tired. I transferred $60.00 out of his account into mine to pay for his lesson. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
* Ivy is so competitive and loves to be perfect. Evan did soccer this summer and after watching his first game, Ivy announced “You did good Evan, but you didn’t score any goals”. And then there was the time Lyla couldn’t wait to tell Ivy that she learned how to buckle herself in her car seat. Ivy looked at her and said very seriously, “Good Lyla, but can you unbuckle yourself?”. She has good intentions, she just has has a heart of gold with high expectations. Her poor little cousins. She is taking gymnastics, swimming, piano, dance, and can’t wait for T-ball.
* Greg is probably started a new job in Seattle. I was very scared about the commute, but it is turning out ok. He has to leave about an hour earlier than he used to and he rides the bus, which he says he actually doesn’t mind. His work will reimburse him for the bus pass each month, which makes the commute almost free. Greg seems happy at the new job and I am pleased to say we are settling in to the changes.
* It is time to dust off the yoga mat…. teaching yoga starts started again on January 4th. I cannot lie, it has been harder than I thought. Having your own life with kids is not the easiest of tasks. In fact, after we started teaching, Ivy moved to a two day a week gymnastics class that ends at the same time yoga starts. Greg started working in Seattle instead of down the street. We signed up Evan, Ivy, and Owen for T-ball and baseball and I signed up Greg to coach both of my kids’ teams and truth be told, we have no idea how that will work! Everyday is a work in progress and thought.
* Autumn needs a stylist. Her clothes are awful and most days they are jammies. The night before last she picked out yellow pajama pants with frogs on it, pink work out type shorts over the top, a blue shirt with a monkey on it, topped with a little pink hooded vest. She wore that to bed, for her clothes yesterday, and last night. We are hoping she gets dressed today, but really, that is up to her. I don’t force the issue, I have places to go and trust me, we would not go if I intervened with her dressing plans.
* Every single pair of Ivy’s pants has a hole in the knee, even the same knee.
* Ivy and I got our hair trimmed the other day (Autumn invited herself in for a haircut as well and I am pretty sure she cut nothing off…it is hard to cut nothing off nothing) and Ivy is obsessed with it.
* The kids are all still sleeping in my bed. (Owen comes and goes…comes when I let him, goes when he is in trouble)
* The kids love to “hip hip hooray” for things. For example, “Mom, I earned a Frog Pride at school, we should give me 5 hip hip hoorays”. And then we do that. Autumn is my favorite…”Mom, my coughs are gone, let’s hip hip hooray for me”. And then she throws her arms in the air, jumps up and down and cheers, hip hip hooray.
* Owen wanted one thing more for Christmas than anything else…a suit. My dad gave him a three piece suit complete with a pocket watch.
* And finally, the kids went to the dentist the other day and had no cavities. In fact, the older two have places we were watching and then dentist said the trouble spots were gone. I almost died a little.
And for the sake of finally posting.. the end.