The ways of the Force...

July 2010

2010-08-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a whole year since I last posted, and so much has happened. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say...I went to Australia, Germany, and places all over the US, from Tampa FL to Chicago IL, from LA to Dallas, Grand Rapids MI to Seattle WA. My stamp company is doing well, and I have some big projects coming up at work that will also make lots of people happy with their coloring.

Last month we bought a house. It's an older home in Springfield, which means it has repairs yet to do, but it has a yard! I love my yard and I love that my family has space to run and play. We got a good deal on the home and the repairs are all do-able, even if Brian and I are not the kind of people to do-it-yourself.

If the kids run out of places to play outside, they can always play inside, like in the kitchen sink for an impromptu bath...(we won't go into the things that went into her stomach to warrant needing this bath). I like having a separate living room that I can keep nice and clean for guests, while the kids have a playroom to watch movies and destroy without me worrying so much.

I love all the little things this home has...you can see the stamped concrete driveway and porch in this photo, as well as the solar panel on the roof for the hot water heater. It has 3 garages, 3 bedrooms, a living room and a family room, as well as two full bathrooms. I have skylights, a security system, energy efficient appliances, and raised garden beds. I feel truly blessed!

Technically, we live in the county, so our taxes are less as well as our other utilities. But we're close to everything, and only a few minutes farther from work than before.

The kids love the house. AnnaMae has fun vacuuming. She enjoys cleaning the carpets as much as she loves messing up the carpets. It's a lot of fun to clean in your underwear :)

My annoyance is with the yard. There is so much to do to the yard! The previous owners neglected it quite a bit, so I have a lot of work to do to bring it back up to speed. All the other homes in my neighborhood have really nice yards, so I want to clean up my yard to match. At least repairs on the yard are inexpensive.

Here are the kids enjoying the back porch...I love my giant porch! AnnaMae and her cousin Juliet have so much fun together, and who can blame them? Two little girls, close to the same age, and having a blast all summer long. Thank you uncle Dan and uncle Larry for all the help you've given us with fixing the new place.

Luke just wants to get into water fights with dad every night. As long as it waters the lawn I really don't mind what they do! Strangely, they never seem to water the spots in the lawn that really need it, they prefer watering the weeds and the porch. The blackberries are getting ripe, and we had a few raspberries this year. I have a giant grapevine, so we shall see this fall what kind of grapes it produces. I also have a huge walnut tree and a large, annoying evergreen. However, the trees keep my house well shaded, such that I've only had to use the A/C a couple times this summer.

Summertime means a chance to take photos of the kids in their natural habitat- playgrounds. This summer we've had a chance to get some good shots. Here are a few cute ones to leave you with before I head back to bed...

Great 6th Birthday Party!

2009-08-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Luke and Alona had one of the best birthday parties any 6 year old could hope for. There were so many friends and family there it was great! What better way to enjoy the end of a long summer than with a big party down at the best playground in town, with all your favorite friends from church coming to hang out. Loads of fun! Here I am cutting the cake with Laura and Luke eagerly waiting to get his grubby little fingers into it. Sticky boy...

Wednesday evening I got back in town from a long trip to Southern California. All I can say is that I am so thankful for GPS. There is one point on I-5 near San Diego where there are 10 lanes of traffic in each direction! Overall it was a good trip, and very nice to see all my friends and family again at the wedding of my niece. Here's a photo of Larry and his evil twin look-alike, Ethan. The two were so similar looking they could have been related...oh, wait, they are. It was also a business trip for me, so I visited 5 different stores, 3 different classes at an art school, and taught one all-day workshop. Quick, packed trip.

One thing I picked up from So Cal was a nice little cold. It was small until I had it compounded by 3 flights home. On the last leg of the journey home, San Fran to Eugene I remember sitting in my seat and closing my eyes. I opened them again and wondered why we hadn't left the gate yet, as the engines were on. I looked out the window and there was Mt. Shasta. I was so disoriented that it took me about 5 min. to convince my body that I really was up in the air.

So you can imagine how much I wanted to prepare for a big party. Luckily Laura and I were both super busy this past week, so neither of us had any time to plan. As it was, I did all the prep for my portion of the party this afternoon- grocery shopping, gift baggies, Luke's haircut, etc. Then we zipped on down to the park. (check out Luke's new do - it makes up for a summer of shaggy hair, though he kept begging the barber for a mohawk - fat chance with mom paying for the cut).

Larry and Joshua showed up, as Diana was still feeling a bit sick from their trip to So Cal with us. Grandma Hallock was there, and later that evening Grandma and Grandpa Walker showed up as well.

We were so excited to see all our friends from church. The Ravens, the Daltons, the Ogans, the Roberts, the Nguyens... and so many more! I think there were at least 25 kids there, and just about that many adults.

It was a potluck, so it was all pretty relaxed, and cleanup was easy. people showed up, ate, talked, kids ran around, and then Luke, Alona, and Michelle Roberts had Happy Birthday sung to them. We cut the cake and then the kids opened presents. Then havoc and fun reined until everyone headed home at dark. We're pretty sure that each family made it home with the same kids they came with, but there may be a few strays still lurking at the park...it's hard to tell there were so many kids there.

Overall, we claim success! Easy party, lots of fun, lots of friends, and the kids had a great birthday. We sure will miss Alona and her family when they move to Las Vagas! Here are a few more pics to leave you with...

Come to Our Party

2009-08-12T20:43:00.001-07:00

Luke and Alona Hojnacke were born one day apart at the same hospital 6 years ago. This gives us a reason to celebrate. We are also sad to see Alona's family move, so before they go we want them to know how much we'll miss them. This also gives us a good excuse to party.

If you want to come you're invited! Bring your whole family. Bring friends, bring neighbors, bring the garbage man or the cable guy - it's all good. We're going to have a big potluck picnic next to the playground, or you can come just for the cake at 7pm. Either way, leave a note on my blog or Laura's blog to let us know what you're bringing or how many people will want cake. This is not a stressful party! This is a chance to hang out with friends at the end of a great summer. Don't feel like you HAVE to bring presents either. Kids these days are spoiled and have way too many clothes or toys anyways, so just bring yourself and come have fun and visit.

July Catch-up

2009-08-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Whew! Time sure flies when there is so much going on. To catch you up on the month of July:

4th of July weekend I was down in Los Angeles for Anime Expo like I am each year. It was a long trip, and our convention was right next door to where Michael Jackson's funeral was to be held just a few days later, so the media hounds were staking out the place all weekend. I flew home just fine on sunday the 5th, but my co-workers flew home the next day and they had a couple of hour delay just because there were so many people coming in for the funeral.

Then, I was home for a few weeks. We tried to make the most of it, and sure enough, the garden and children are both thriving. Its been a lot of fun haning out with Grandma and Grandpa Walker, going for walks with Grandma Hallock, and meeting new friends from across the country. Here are the kids on a sunday afternoon visiting with Grandpa and grandma in our driveway. We are truly blessed to have grandparents in town for the kids to enjoy.

Otherwise, we recently had our Ward activity up at Leaburg park. I forgot to take the camera, sorry, so I don't have pictures of Luke doing the kids races or Anna Mae dripping watermelon. Luke is becoming a little mischevious ringleader, leading his little friends into variouse nefarious activities and pretend games.

Luke has had a great summer. His play group just ended, it met every morning from 9 to 12 over at the local park. Luke's supervisor was his old (and favorite) pre-school teacher from Willamalane a few years ago.

Now we get to watch Maple school as it is torn down and the new school is being rebuilt in it's place. This photo is of the old library. I have so many memories of this place... checking out books, watching videos, and practicing for school plays. Now it's nothing more than dirt waiting for final landscaping (I did snag a brick before it got completely demolished). The new Maple school looks so nice! What a great way to start 1st grade, in a brand-new school.

Then, the last week of July I was off to Orlando for a trade show. It was a long trip. While I was enjoying 90 degrees and 99% humidity, the valley here was suffering through 105 degrees, no humidity. I really don't know which is worse. My show and workshops went great, and I had a chance to visit with many of my online stamping friends. Brian puts up with so much while I'm gone, but the kids truly adore him.

Church is going well. AnnaMae always seems to do well in Nursery and Luke gave a talk in primary about his 7th great grandpa, Jon Telford. It was so cute! He can't read well, so he memorized the story and looked at the little pictures I drew for him next to each paragraph. Then he tried to show the kids in primary the pictures, but they had no clue what he was talking about. I think the adults had more fun with it than he did.

The garden is thriving, though it seems like for everything I plant, the only thing I reallyg et are tomatoes, potatoes, and sunflowers. we'll see how everything else does as the sumemr progresses and how many neighbor kids I can scare away from my plants.

A day of Vacation...

2009-08-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

After I got back from Orlando at the end of July, I took one day off for vacation. I know, it's rare that I actually take a day off, but family is much more important than answering e-mails at work. Monday, the 3rd we decided to head over to Florence for some fun.

Monday morning I went over to Laura's to help her plant some things in her yard so it doesn't look so bare. She's trying to get her house on the market to sell, so I became her self-appointed landscaper. I spent a couple hours sweating and digging, with one planter bed looking much nicer, then Luke and I headed home to zip on over to the coast.

This time we went to Honeyman park just north of Florence. The weather was perfect! Not too hot, not too windy, and the sun came out every now and then... enough to give me a slight sunburn on my face and ears and Brian go a slight burn on his knees. The kids were slathered in sunscreen so they were OK.

We rented a pedal-boat for an hour and went around the lake. I love Honeyman lake. It is so warm, peaceful, and quiet. The bottom of it is covered in weeds, so I've never enjoyed swimming in it (just thinking of all the odd things living or dropped into that water makes me shudder) so we just pedaled around, taking lots of great photos. AnnaMae was so excited to be on a boat. She couldn't stop talking about getting on the boat, and was giggling the whole time we were on the lake.

Luke kept trying to fall over. No matter how many times we told him to stay put, he just couldn't keep his feet in the boat. Then, he noticed that he had splashed a bunch of water into the boat so he grabbed our DRY towel and began sopping up the water. Aaggh! We tried to explain to him that it was OK for there to be water in the bottom of the boat. I should have just thrown him overboard...

We haven't gone to Honeyman in years. i think the last time we went was on a campout with the single's Ward before we got married. That was the night that Brian and his buddies got lost on the dunes with only an LED light to lead them back to HWY 101 while I sat back at the campground wondering where the heck they could have gone.

This time we didn't get lost, we just palyed and laughed. Here I am with AM and her big, happy smile. She really didn't stop giggling until we went back to the beach. Luke just wanted to talk to the nice park workers at the dock, and kept trying to run onto other boats while we were getting our stuff off our boat. Brian was pretty sore after pedalling for an hour - I wasn't too bad, as I do that regularly on my way to work (though with all my trips I really need to get back into the habit of riding again.

After boating we headed back to the lodge to gather our plans and figure out what we wanted to do next. AnnaMae just wanted to play in the old stone drinking fountain - check out that tongue! We got a ton of photos of her with the fountain becuase she liked it so much. Too bad she's too small to turn it on AND drink from it at the same time.

Then we drove around to the dune-side of the park to play. here's AM next to the sand castle I built. It doesn't take me much to have fun at the beach, just a quiet spot to build my castles and a little helper to try and knock them down (this time it wasn't my own kids knocking it down but some other little boy).

Luke followed daddy wherever Brian went. There really is no seperating those two. It's great when your best friend is your dad. here they are attacking each other with noodles they borrowed from some kids. I think Luke ended up the winner, as he had snagged a sliding disk and was using it as a sheild. Way to go Luke! After a few hours of intense playing we were getting tired and hungry so we decided to head home.

We couldn't think of anywhere in Florence we wanted to eat, and it was still a little early for dinner, so we headed for home. We picked up a pizza then went to have a small picnic at the Rose Garden.

Here I am trying to catch a bit of a nap. I was worn out even if the kids had plenty of energy. I think I needed a vaction from my vacation! The roses were beautiful, and all the floweres were so pretty around teh gazebo and walk area. It was a perfect time of day too, as the heat had already left the valley as well. We even bumped into one of my co-workers as she biked home from an appointment (I know I had more fun than she did that day!)

The maze of roses are a great place for kids to run and hide. Anna Mae had so much fun darting between the plants. Luke was tired and he kept doing little things to get him in trouble, so he was kept on a tight leash, so to speak. Then we walked over to Skinner Butte Park for some final water and sand play time before we finished off a very long vacation day.

I don't know if I have the energy to do too many more vacation days like that, but that was the perfect summer day with family!

Where have I been? - June

2009-08-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Whew! Summer is a busy time for me. Let me see if I can sum up where I have been since I last wrote (let me also find where I put all my photos).

June
After my trip to Utah I was home for a few days, then we went to Newport to celebrate my in-law's 50th Anniversary. Most of Brian's siblings were there - Susan, Larry, Lori, and most exciting was Richard who came over from Germany. He doesn't have a chance to visit very often, as tickets are very expensive, but we sure love it when he does get a chance to come.

We stayed in a lovely cabin near the beach there in Newport. I always love going to Newport, as they have tidepools and the Hatfield Marine Center, and Brian and I celebrated our honeymoon there in Newport. We played on the beach, flew kites, and sat around the cabin enjoying each other's company. Anna Mae had a slight cold or viral infection so she was out of sorts for a couple days, but otherwise we had a blast.

Then, on our way home we took Richard up to Tillamook to visit the cheese factory. This is Luke's favorite place to go. We stayed there a couple hours and of course, we got ice cream and squeaky cheese. Daddy also bought Luke his first little wooden-handled pocket knife with his name on it. Now Luke won't go anywhere without his pocket-knife. Great. Just what a 5-year-old REALLY needs, a knife.

Richard stayed for another week before he had to head back to Germany. He likes the nonstop Portland-Frankfurt flight that you can catch, as he lives near Frankfurt. Luke and Richard really hit it off while he was here. Someday it would be neat if Luke could stay with Richard in Germany, as I believe that traveling expands a child's view on the world better than books ever can.

Both kids loved playing with their big, new friend from Europe. Luke liked learning German words from Richard, though we'd need to practice with him if he was to rememebr anything he learned. Anna Mae was just being a cute charmer to everyone, and it's hard to resist her sweet looks. Here they are playing on Grandma's couch. We sure miss Richard!

Here's Richard and Luke pouring over the change purse that Richard carries with him. Richard travels for the church setting up Geneaology research all across Europe, so he carries a pocket full of random coinage from assorted countries. Luke was getting excited, as we've been working with him for the last few months on counting with coins (mostly nickels), so Richard's collection was captivating.

We noticed this sign in Newport. Which direction are you heading? Forward or backwards? Just ponder if you are going contrary to the truth and see where you are headed.

AnnaMae and Mom in Utah

2009-06-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a week! We're exhausted, but had a great time.

Friday morning I had a little spare time, so we headed down to the conference center. It was really neat to see, since the last time I was there was for my brother's wedding, and we didn't have time to wander around. Before that, Brian and I had visited while it was still under construction. It was hard to keep AM from climbing into the fountains on the roof.

Right now they are having an art show in the lobby of artwork made by members of the church. It was pretty neat to see the collection. Mom was getting re-inspired to paint, while I tried to keep AnnaMae from touching anything.

While I was busy teaching and demoing all week, my Mom took AnnaMae down to see her relatives. First they went and visited an aquarium. Ever since then AM has been obsessed with fishies. She already loves my mom's big fish tank at home, but these tanks were huge!

Then, Saturday they stayed down in Mapleton with my mom's brother. Mom's family threw her a mini family reunion because we were coming in town. Here's AM with her second cousin and my aunt that I adore.

I missed most of the fun, since I was still up in Salt Lake working, but I was able to drive down and get the last little bit of the action. AM had a chance to visit cousins and see lots of neat animals, like this horse, and the baby chicks that my aunt was raising in her bathtub.

Driving was a nightmare- they had thunderstorms the whole time we were in Utah. What should have been a quick drive was slowed down greatly by blinding rain, lightning, and water-logged roads. Luckily the roads were clearer when we drove back to the airport on Sunday.

It was nice to see my cousins and other relatives again, but it's also great to be home. Traveling with a baby and my Mom is definitely not as easy as traveling by myself.

Here in Utah

2009-06-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't been here in Utah in many years (I don't mean layovers at the airport). Although it's been mostly work so far, we have had a chance to visit with some family and friends.

My mom and AnnaMae are with me. Mom is watching her while I do my demos and teach my classes. Wed, after we flew in and got into our hotel we had some of my mom's relatives come and visit, along with Brent, Brian's old mission buddy.

Now it's all work. My class yesterday was at the historic Armstrong Mansion. This was the home of the former mayor of SLC back around 1893. It was a small class, that lasted all day, then I went and visited 2 more stores after the class. I didn't get home until almost 10pm. Now I've got another day of work. I'll try to post photos soon.

The last days of school...

2009-06-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos my mom took of my big boy at his last day of school, and the last day of Maple as a school. All of my brothers & sisters attended this school except Tom. I'll try to get some photos of it coming down as well.

Luke and old Bear walking to the school...

Luke in his classroom...

Luke and Mrs. Gallagher
Here are a couple photos of the poor old school. I can't remember how many times I went into the gym as a child- for plays, for PE and for lunch. This will be the first section to go....

Biking on his own...

2009-06-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I went out with the girls for a fun evening. My mom took AnnaMae so that Brian and Luke could have some "Guy" time.

I got home really late and Brian proudly showed me a map of the neighborhood with a red line drawn around it (see exact diagram he made).
Just so you understand: the red is the path they took, the black lines are segments where Daddy wasn't holding him. The daqshes are where they had to stop for a break. So you can see that Luke was riding on his own for most of the journey.

That's over 2 miles! Brian was running behind Luke the whole way. Luke was wearing his flip-flops so he kept losing his shoes, but still, not bad!

Luke hasn't quite mastered the whole concept of breaks and turning, but he's got all summer to work on it. This means that Daddy will get a great workout running behind a now very-mobile 5 1/2 year-old.

Luke also has now completed Kindergarten. He is officially a 1st grader. One year of school done, 16 or so years to go. They're tearing down the old elementary school this week, so Luke gets to go to a brand-spanking-new school next Fall.

What a grown-up little boy we have!

WAY TO GO LUKE!!!

Honesty, part 2 - recompense

2009-05-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

The conclusion to the strawberry story from earlier this week...

So I let Brian know EXACTLY what I thought about the little girl who stole the strawberries, and how much I don't want her playing with Luke anymore because she is a bad influence (I've never really liked her and I think she knows it).

Brian encountered the girl's older sister and asked if they really did have a garden "No". So Brian told her what her little sister had done. This was probably Friday, maybe Saturday morning.

Yesterday I was so busy that I never went out during daylight to check my precious strawberries. After church I went out to see if any more were red.Part of the trouble with the strawberries out there (besides theft) is that they get too much sunlight before my sunflowers grow tall and the berries dehydrate before they ripen, so I really won't get many berries from those plants anyways.

I go out there and someone had taken a bunch of store-bought berries and dumped them right on top of my plants. They looked like they would have been great strawberries if they hadn't been sitting in the hot sun for a day or two. Now they are wilted husks of berries.

Our conclusion is that the older sister told the parents. The parents made the younger girl apologize by bringing me replacement berries. Either we weren't home or she was too scared to leave them, so she just dumped them on top of my plants thinking I would find them. I found them, just too late for them to be a replacement.

However, I'm going to take that gesture as it was intended and accept her apology.

I hope the little girl learned her lesson, I'm just bummed that so many fine strawberries gave their life over this little experience.

Honestly? ... Honesty!

2009-05-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Honesty. A simple concept. I may not be perfect at it, but I appreciate honesty when it comes along. Or, if you are dishonest, cover it up a little better...

I was at Laura's today and we were talking about the kids in my neighborhood and how I don't really like the little girls around here playing with Luke because they have not been taught any moral values. Honesty is high on the list of qualities they need to work on...

So when I got home and was taking care of the kids I made my regular rounds of the garden, checked on the progress of my rapidly ripening strawberries (which I am sooo looking forward to) and admiring how dark pink they are getting. Yesterday when I checked AnnaMae accidentally picked a pink one and ate it, green part and all.

You must understand that I am intimately familiar with what I am growing...

So an hour or so later I get a ringing at my doorbell. Two of the neighborhood girls came to my door, each holding a pink strawberry and asked me if I wanted to buy some strawberries. They looked strikingly familiar, those strawberries they were holding. So I queried the two girls "Did those come from MY garden or YOUR garden?"

Innocently they said "Our garden."

To which I answered, "Oh, well, no I'm not interested, I am growing my own strawberries and they should be ripe soon." and I said good bye, then they scampered across my lawn as I closed the door and promptly ate the two berries they were holding. I had my suspicions...

Sure enough, a little while later when I went to check my strawberry plants along my back fence the two strawberries I had been eying earlier that day were the same two strawberries that the girls tried to sell me at my own doorstep!!! (The photo is even the plant they took 'em from, probably the same two big blossoms that you see in the picture)

Can you believe it?? Gaaaahhh!! I know they're only 7 or 8 yrs. old, but 'cmon. show some respect, or at least some intelligence when you do something wrong to cover it up better.

So, to parents everywhere out there, I implore you-
TEACH YOUR KIDS HONESTY.

If you can't teach them that, then at least teach them
COMMON SENSE ABOUT LYING.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a busy weekend.

Friday I got off work early and we headed over to Florence. The wind was so strong on the North Jetty that we couldn't stay for more than a few minutes. The sand was stinging our bare legs and faces. Poor AnnaMae could barely stand. You can see from this picture how the wind was whipping our hair around and making it hard to see anything.

So we headed someplace more sheltered for our picnic, Heceta Head. It was quiet, and not windy. (And it's my favorite beach).

We ate our snack, Luke and Daddy went for a walk under the bridge, and we stayed near the car to finish eating, clean up, and feed the birds. We didn't really feel like heading up to the lighthouse and it was still windy enough that we didn't want to play on the beach, so we just milled around and enjoyed the sights. After about an hour we got tired, so we headed down to old town to window-shop.

It was a great day for photos, and there really wasn't any wind in town. I always enjoy walking around old town, even though we never really buy anything. It's fun to wander

AnnaMae and Luke were all over everything and they kept trying to run into the shops with the most breakables, of course.

We headed home, and since it was dinner time we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a chicken dinner that we ate at a little playground on Buck St. in Eugene. It's a cute little park that the kids love climbing on. Then we headed home to bed.

Saturday we cleaned in the morning, then just after lunch AnnaMae and I went shopping with Laura and her littlest one, while the boys went hiking with Laura's husband and her two oldest kids. That evening I watched her kids for her and got a little bit of time to myself. What a rare treat!

Sunday we had church, then Sunday evening we went up to Grandma & Grandpa Walker's house. I was showing grandma how to use her new camera with the old iMac that we gave her. Now she can organize her digital photos and play little slide-shows for her friends.

He photography has improved with a digital camera. I think she has a lot more confidence in her camera skills and is not as worried about wasting film. I showed her some basic tools for making her photos better. Now we'll see how much she remembers!

On our way home we stopped at Skinner's Butte playground and let the kids run around a bit. Here is a great shot of AM and daddy. I've been fooling around with some of the settings on our cheap point & click camera and I keep being surprised at what I can come up with. I didn't even have to photoshop this (much).

Here are a couple requisite slide shots. Always cute when a kid is coming down a slide. It's the annoying little boys who keep running UP the slide that ruin things (I'm not naming any names, Luke)

And, of course we got more photos. It's too easy to get cute photos of AnnaMae. Luke, however, just turns his back to the camera and all we seem to get are butt-shots.

We got 72 photos of Luke's backside this weekend! What a kid. here are some of the few photos that show his frontside.

When he was climbing the rocks he was even playing a game of "I bet you can't get a good photo of my face" He thinks it's so funny.

Then he'll wonder when he grows up why we have so many more photos of AM than we do of him.

Monday morning was spent cleaning again, and working in my garden. I went to the Value Village 50% off sale and got some church clothes for Luke. Sunday Luke couldn't fit into his shoes or his pants, so off to the store I went.

Dan came over and brought me my final load of mint compost for my garden, so now my last planter bed is ready to grow. We'll see what sprouts up- I really want my pumpkins and squash to do well. In the evening AM and I went and visited my mom while Luke and Daddy were trying to play Rummikube for FHE. AM just can't leave things alone long enough for them to play a peaceful game, so we went for a walk with my mom.

Memorial Day Memories

2009-05-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

This is taken from my Work Blog, which you can enter to win a prize if you post a comment on. However, I want my family to know how much I respect the military. If you have some spare time and like to make greeting cards you can support our troops by helping Cards for Heroes - an organization that sends blank handmade greeting cards to military overseas who don't have places to buy cards to send on special occasions.

Memorial Day- Honor those who served

As I think of all the sacrifices made by servicemen over the years I need to stop and say Thank You!

My father, grandfather, and on back were all in the military. Here is a photo I found of one of my ancestors, Major General Henry W. Halleck. He was the General-in-Chief of all the Union armies before Grant took over during the Civil War.

His face is so similar to my father, it's hard to look at him and not think of all the stories my dad would tell about boot camp and basic training. My father was a teenager during WWII, and entered the service during the Korean War but never went overseas. My grandfather was an electrician for the Navy building the ships during WWII up in the shipyards of NY. All the hours of toil and struggle that these fine men went through so that I could be born in peace and prosperity and enjoy my country.

In February I had a chance to stop and visit the USS Alabama, which was built in 1940. Touring through the ghost of a ship was a sobering experience for both me and my husband. Thinking of all those men, away from their families for months at a time, sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, always on alert from weather or enemies... It really helped me appreciate my freedom and peace here in my homeland. I thank every person who has served, does serve, or will serve in defending and upholding their country.

Please do your part this weekend. Make some cards, make some artwork, visit a memorial, or just tell a military person "Thanks!" Don't forget to appreciate their hard work and sacrifices. Have a great holiday weekend!

My Garden

2009-05-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of Hispanic people in our neighborhood and one older gentleman who lived across the street from us last year would always comment "You must be a farmer's daughter. You always have such a nice garden."

Tis' true. I am a farmer's daughter. Any land that could be growing something edible, should be growing something edible. I'm glad that the Whitmers let me put planter beds all over their property, since it really gives me lots of food each summer. When we first moved here there were no beds and just some big plants along the side of the house. I looked at the lawn along the driveway and I knew it gets perfect sunshine for tomatoes, so my bed-building began.

This Saturday I was finally able to go down to Jerry's and pick up my tomatoes and pepper plants. All the other things I grow from seeds I harvest each year, or from food I find growing in my fridge.

This is my front garden bed. I have 6 different varieties of tomatoes, two potato mounds, Lemon Thyme (come get some if you want it), the purple flowers are chives, onions, cucumbers, two pepper plants, parsley, mint, and the big pot that looks bare has mixed wildflowers. I'll also have a couple sunflowers up front, since it's kind of become our summer landmark.

I put a fence along the driveway side because by August, those tiny tomato plants will be 3 or 4 feet high and consuming my driveway.

My side garden has two beds, only one of which is done right now. I have green onions, carrots, and a beet I planted 3 years ago growing in it, along with a giant onion I should just pull out. If you need carrot seeds I have tons! I let a carrot grow for 2 years and it turned into a tree! I had so many seeds off that monster it was crazy! My other side garden bed has garlic and potatoes. It needs another load of mint compost before it will be presentable. On Thanksgiving I had my nephew go out to the potato bed and dig up potatoes, onions, and garlic and we had sautèed potatoes with garlic, chives, rosemary and onions that I grew all of it from my own garden. It was soooo yummy!

My back fence is lined with sunflowers, like I have growing each year. It's a mix of small, dark-centered sunflowers and large yellow sunflowers. If you need seeds I have plenty, and now is the time to plant.

Those are strawberry plants you see in the foreground. When we moved in here 4 years ago there was one strawberry plant inside our back fence. I let it spread and now I have 3 or 4 inside the fence and 5 or so outside the fence. These are covered in berries.

I hope they taste good- they have in years past, but some people say that you shouldn't let your plants spread like this or else the berries won't taste as good, or something.

My inside back garden is all garlic, sage, rosemary, and a few stray strawberry plants. I was able to dig up a couple hundred garlic starts from cloves I left in the ground this winter and passed them on to people at work, church, and to my mom's neighborhood- all from my little back garden! I still have garlic starts if you need some.

Here is the giant rhodie that is in bloom right now on the front/side corner of our house. I love the color but it always gets in the way as I'm trying to coil up my hose. I put in a small flower-bed along the front walk to the door, and it has day lilies, daffodils, a giant purple iris, and some marigold seedlings that I hope will grow big.

Every year I feel so blessed to live in Oregon, where my garden grows with ease and minimal effort. I enjoy the bounty all year long and I love sharing what I grow with those around me.

Now I can't wait for berry season to start... U-Pick strawberries and blueberries, here I come!

On snails...and possums

2009-05-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

When you live in Oregon you have to deal with snails. This is a pile of them I found on my compost heap on sunday morning. This photo only shows a small portion of the seething mass I found.

I was really tempted to throw salt on them to keep them from eating my garden but that seemed too cruel and heartless to do just before church.

When I was in high school I had a paper route for 3 years. What I hated was on damp mornings, in the dark, I'd be walking along and hear a squishy crunch, and then I'd have a gooey mess stuck to my shoe for a block or two. gross!

When we were little, my brother Dan and I had to weed the yard. Whenever we'd find snails we'd chuck them in the road and see how long it would take cars to hit them. Any car that missed, we'd call them a drunk driver. :)

Now I just don't like 'em. They eat my baby sunflowers, strawberries, and potatoes.

Right now I can hear a snuffing/shuffling coming from my compost heap downstairs. I'm not worried because I know it's just our local opossum eating his fill (I'd try to get you a photo but the lighting is bad). I used to think they were disgusting creatures that you would only see dead along the road. Dan once shot one with his BB gun along our back fence during a sleep-over and actually killed it. Then he chucked it over the fence into the old lady's yard behind us. Now I know that possums are not disgusting compared to Nutria (or Nutria-Rat as people in Louisiana call them). Now there's a critter that's gross...

When It's Sunny...

2009-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

We get to wash the car!

Friday was gorgeous, so out came the buckets and towels and we all helped wash the car. I am not the cleanest person in the car, and our poor little sedan gets packed to the brim very quickly from my bag, the diaper bag, the car seats, emergency kit, and 4 warm bodies. Out came the cookie crumbs, fruit snacks, and other unidentifiable leavings from the back seat.

AnnaMae and Luke were having a great time. Both were a big help, and Luke didn't even soak daddy with the hose when it was his turn to use it. Then they got to play inside the car while we were finishing up. Here they are working so nicely together. Now if only they would work together like this all the time!

Luke does play nicely with AM most of the time, but he still has a lot of jealousy and really doesn't like it when Daddy gives AM attention during the day. He thinks he should get all the attention of his best friend, Dad. Too bad Luke never seems to look at the camera or else I'd have more nice shots of him.

AnnaMae loves her little hats. I get these at the Dollar Tree and she loves wearing them around, looking pretty. When she was a baby you couldn't keep a hat on her for 3 sec. now she'll run around all day with her hat on, or grab any other hat she can find. I think she knows just how cute she is and how much everyone adores her. I like how the sun shines through her little blonde curls in this photo.

Someone in the family needed to be cute, and AnnaMae got the job. What a charmer!

Here she is helping daddy wash the rear of the car. I just liked the angle of this photo. They really worked hard. I worked hard too, but since I had the camera and we didn't want it to get wet there aren't any photos proving that I actually washed the car. Maybe next time...

Sunday, Brian and Luke went up and hiked the Butte. Then Brian took Luke on a tour of his old elementary school, Edgewood, out in South Eugene. Brian also taught Luke to drive while he was there. This was without my knowledge, since AM and I stayed home and enjoyed a relaxing Sunday evening.

Today we went swimming at the wave pool again. It was great! Luke finally got over his fear of the slide and kept demanding that Daddy take him down. AnnaMae kept running out into the waves and trying to climb on inner tubes. She was squealing each time she went down the slide she was so excited. She didn't get to go down too many times because she has n0 patience for a long line and won't hold still so it's hard to make her wait for her turn.

Simplification - make me an offer

2009-05-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

I think that many of us set goals for the year, and are trying hard to forget what those goals were so that we don't feel guilty for not achieving them.

One of our goals this year is "simplification". If any of you are aware, Brian and I are packrats. We love free things and we love 2nd hand things. We are starting to feel cluttered however, and need to thin things down. My brother always pushes us to use Craig's List, but I'd rather help people I know or people in the Church first before letting strangers have it. Otherwise, we'll donate it to Value Village or Next Step Computer Recycling.

So, if you need or want any of the following, just lemmie know. Most is free, but I'll make a real bargain on the other stuff. I want it gone in the next few weeks :)

Free
• Mix 'n Match set of dishes and cups
• 19" TV. Only 5 years old, works great, with remote, but the coax input in the back is broken
• CD player, unknown quality
• 3 megapixel camera from Japan (shutter spring is broken)
• Big Stroller (The Ruhnows are borrowing it for a little while, then it's up for grabs if you contact me/them)
• Panasonic 3 phone system. Has a base unit with connected handset, the others 2 are wireless with incredible range and clarity. The two wireless units need to have the "1" button fixed. Originally worth $250
• Pen/Pencil storage cases (I have lots)- 12 x 16 in. great for organizing markers, pens, & pencils so kids can easily see what colors they have. Sits flat or upright. I use them for my markers. good for a classroom
• Seeds for your garden: Onion, Carrots, sunflowers, garlic, & more

CHEAP!
• Bedding for a queen bed (make offer) We got a new, deep mattress so our old bedding, mattress cover, etc. doesn't fit. Just let me know what you need
• Long Flourescent bulbs

And there will probably be more, this is all I can think of right now.

Then, there are the things I would like to have, so if you know of a great deal or have these to give away, please let me know

Want:
• Piano !!!
• Child size desk/chair
• Brian and Luke like old, classic Nintendo games and VHS documentaries/Kids movies
• Area rug or carpet remnants large enough to be an area rug

Swimming

2009-05-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

We vowed that this year we would be more active as a family (hence all the hiking and going to parks). Part of this has been a promise to go swimming at least once a month for FHE. Splash also just lowered their price for May, so for swimming from 6:30 to 8pm is only $2 each! Totally worth it. I think we may go a few more times this month if Luke behaves in school.

AnnaMae LOVES swimming. We had to wait for them to let us in the pool last night and she ran up to the glass windows hitting them screaming "Slide! Slide!" which is her favorite part of the pool. She giggles the whole way down as we go super fast. Luke is afraid of the slide and will only go down kicking and screaming as slow as we can go, clutching his life jacket. So much for the swim lessons he had last summer.

AM sat on a inner tube out in the deep waves with me and was blowing kisses and waving at everyone. Luke mostly hung out in the baby pool with his life jacket. I did get him out a few times on the inner tube, but he has a huge fear of something, I have no idea what that is all about. Mostly I think we haven't taken him swimming enough.

It also could be that Daddy has never been great in the water, and Luke takes after dad. I used to swim all the time, and was on the swim team in 8/9th grades (I lettered in swimming- can you believe that?) AM would make a great swimmer, especially if she gets my big feet. Luke will need some work.

Anyways, I think swimming is great. I feel bad each time I squeeze into my swimsuit and I look at myself. I ain't what I wuz wen I wuz on the swim team. We'll see if I can work off this baby fat and smooth out those stretch marks. I have a whole closet of great clothes just waiting for me!

Those kids...

2009-05-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

when kids are left to their own devices odd things happen...

Saturday morning I was getting up and taking care of AnnaMae. I checked the bunk bed to see what Luke was up to, since sometimes he's awake and just sitting up there. I look on the bed and there's no blanket and no Luke, just a lump where he'd messed up his bottom sheet and mattress pad.

I knew he wasn't downstairs, so I looked again in his room. Then I noticed that Luke was asleep UNDER the mattress pad, bottom sheet, and the foam padding we have on his bed. He was snuggled up with the foam.

About 20 mins. later he gets up and complains that he itched a little. Go figure. Sleeping under your mattress pad and foam is bound to make you itch a little (he's not allergic, don't worry).

So there was a new one for Luke.

We played at Skinner's butte park in the afternoon, along with half of Eugene-Springfield. Gorgeous! I'm surprised we didn't get sunburned.

Then, Sat evening I was out in the front gardening. Luke was swort of helping me and AnnaMae was inside with Daddy cleaning upstairs. I thought.

Luke got bored and went back inside to watch a video. Some time later daddy comes out with AnnaMae. I guess no one had been watching her and she had gotten into markers. Not my markers luckily, but some of Luke's markers from a spirograph. AnnaMae LOVES markers. and she had drawn ALL over herself. Note the beauty mark near her eye as well.

I tried to wash it off as best as I could. The red came off easily and tinted the bathwater pink. I have no idea what will take off the black. I guess she's really into the 80's punk scene. I'll just tell people we're training her for all the tribal tattoos she'll get when she's 16 and marries into the next clan over, or something like that.

This is why we love our kids- Becuase they are creative with their everyday existence.

13.1 miles and two blisters later...

2009-05-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

I did it!

I completed the Eugene (Half) Marathon on Sunday. And I beat last year's time by 16 minutes!

Sunday morning, 6:15 am I went down to Hayward Field and lined up with the other 6,000 people who were taking place in the marathon or half-marathon. It was steadily drizzling and about 40º or so outside. There were people from 45 states and 13 different countries at the race. And little local girl Marianne who was going to live up to her last name and be a Walker.

There were about 3,000 people doing the half-marathon. 2,000 girls / 1,000 guys, so I was in good company with lots of other women. You can check out the course map and other stats at www.eugenemarathon.com but basically, we went up towards the base of Hendricks park, down and around to 24th, up Amazon quite a ways, then back down Amazon, past Hayward again, across Franklin Blvd, down by the river, across the footbridge, over behind Autzen, and back across the river to the Millrace Art Studios and across Franklin again to finish at Hayward.

13.1 wet, long, walked miles.

At about mile 5 I developed a blister at the base of my big-toe on the left foot. A few miles later I got a matching blister on my right foot. By the end of the race my feet were throbbing and walking around the house on Sunday was very uncomfortable. Did I mention that I had picked up a cold from the kids? I was coughing and blowing my nose the whole race. Having it drizzle rain for 10 miles also didn't help. Needless to say I felt pretty miserable by the end (except for the free cookies they were passing out at the finish station).

But I finished, and I beat my time last year by 16 minutes. Final time: 3 hrs, 30 min, and 36 seconds. Not bad (for walking). The average half-marathon time was 2 hrs, 26 minutes. Those are people who jog a good portion of it, which I didn't. I walked. I jogged a few short bursts, but that was more to use different muscles than to actually try to get somewhere. Still, 16 minutes is pretty good to shave off my final time.

My goal next year is actually jog some of it and finish somewhere between 2hrs, 50 min and 3 hrs. 10 minutes. Since I was walking, I ended up finishing about 150 from the last place which is pretty pathetic, especially when I compared it with my age bracket I finished 307 out of 315. Ouch. Next year I'll have buddies to run with. NO one from work ran with me and no one from church came either. WHERE DID YOU ALL GO??? Back in January there were a lot of people willing to do the race and they all disappeared come May. Since no one was there I don't have any photos of myself in running gear. boo hoo!

Monday I was stiff and sore all day. I forgot how much my lower-back hurts after a workout like that. I needed to keep moving so I wouldn't stiffen up entirely. My blisters felt much better, but my co-workers would laugh at me every time I walked around at work. We got a new person in the front office to help out. She ran the full marathon in 4 hrs and 20 minutes or something. Gaaak! It must be nice to have so much time to devote to training your body to take that kind of cruel and un-wholesome punishment.

Today I'm much better. Still a little stiff, but I think that should work out and not hurt tomorrow. My cold is getting better as well. Still, it was a good race and I look forward to next year (too bad these races are always on Sundays- I feel bad skipping Church). I'll be ready next year, with good training and prepared to jog a bit, not just walk. You who are going to come next year already know who you are...no backing out :)

Dreams- Martha Stewart Saves the USS Enterprise

2009-05-05T04:08:00.000-07:00

I occasionally have full-length feature movies as dreams. Complete with scene changes, flashbacks, the whole nine yards. I've had Harry Potter dreams, dreams about some of the other books I read, murder-mystery dreams, but this dream takes the cake so I had to write it down.

Setting:
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-G.
It is a brand new, giant enterprise, more like a space station than the original or last enterprise Enterprise. It's been about 4 1/2 years since the majority of old crew has moved on- they've all been promoted or retired. A few secondary characters from the original Next Generation crew remain, and/or their children.

Opening sequence, we see Data up close. Remember, he's been sorta humanized, so he's acting a lot more fluid. He's bending over a dark console/table in a dark room, suddenly he looks up. His pupils dilate, contract, dilate, contract, and then we see that he is mechanically massaging a corpse in the morgue in rhythm to his pupils. We shift to the corpse and it is becoming re-animated. It wakes up and although it's legs are stumps it regenerates what looks to be a whole, healthy body in a nice, crisp uniform and it leaves the room, a young officer zombie, excited about it's new body and hard to tell that it's not a human crew member.

We see more of these zombies scattered throughout the Enterprise now. The only way we can tell they're not real is when they sit down to eat the food goes right through them and gets re-absorbed by something larger/scarier/hidden (all you see is a hand) that reaches into each stomach and takes the food as it is consumed (it looks a lot like the corpse stomachs from Pirates of the Caribbean). We see signs of a struggle here and there, but otherwise things look like they're running smooth. Business as usual around the Enterprise.

Out of a service chute in a small hallway slides a perfect, nude body in a loose plastic bag. It's still breathing, as there is steam inside the bag. In some secondary bags come a few loose articles of clothing. The person in the bag works her way out and we see that it is a naked Martha Stewart. They have only given her pants and shoes to wear (so that she can be told apart from the Zombies). She defiantly gets up, puts on her clothing and holds a conversation with the "captian" over the Enterprise P.A. system

Basically we find out that she was kept human becuase for some reason this alien Zombie found her much more useful than anyone on the bridge or any other main character and needs her unique talents (which we still haven't figured out yet and in my dream I kept questioning why they saved the interior designer). She screams her defiance at the alien over the computer, makes a mad dash to the bridge, which is only a short ways away, and then proceeds to dodge zombies.

In this sequence we manage to see a computer roster of the commanding crew. We see a few names on the roster that denote them as children of the past generation, but 75% of the important officers are considered deceased. Some of those remaining alive are like Martha except they have been brainwashed and wholeheartedly support the zombies (they act like the zombies but are actually alive). Rememeber, the Enterprise is a city unto itself, so although the main officers are all zombies there are still hordes of regular people behind the scenes- families, children, teachers, etc. that make up a working space station. Martha figures out that when she "woke up" out of the plastic bag she hadn't been totally brainwashed yet so now the zombies can't utilize whatever latent talent they saw in Martha beyond her ability to arrange flowers.

Martha curses at the computer, (I never realized how sleek her body was, how athletic she is, and how she can curse like a sailor in her neat accent when she wants to), works her way into a storage bay where there are lots of shuttle-craft and steals a sleek black number that looks like the Star Trek team hawked from the Star Wars reject pile (Definitely un-trekkish- it's armed totally wrong as well). Anyways, harrowing chase scene inside hangar ensues, she's dodging little flying computer drones, fighting off everything that the zombies can send her way. She narrowly escapes crashing through a gorgeous wall of windows into outer space and having the vacuum of space suck the entire hangar contents out the window. The shuttle she stole has awesome shields- it must be the private spacecraft of the captain or something because it is NOT starfleet regulation.

At this point in my movie, the young family in the seat in front of me got up , the mom wanted to use the restroom and she was concerned that all the shooting was getting her young son riled up. I was thinking- lady, why did you bring small kids to a Star Trek movie? The son wanted to go play video games (this was much better than a video game, kid) Her husband stayed put- probably still mesmerized by the scantily clad Martha (who by now at least had a loose fitting jacket on that she found in the shuttle- you can still see cleavage though). The family gets re-settled with some sandwiches, and we see that Martha has managed to evade all the computer drones. She hid the suttlecraft behind some storage and is proceeding to escape on foot down a hallway.

After some intense struggles with a few zombies- we find out that the zombies don't seem to be all there mentally, but still enough that it's hard to tell who is a zombie and who is normal- she is suspicious of everyone she meets. Breathlessly running, Martha manages to make it into an old AV closet- the type you see in school libraries, you know, with a couple of TV monitors on carts, and walls of media that are hand-labeled. For some reason this door has a manual lock- not computerized at all and she thinks that this will trick the zombies.

She is hotly pursued by a slightly portly man in a tan, different uniform and a nervous-looking woman. They don't seem to be the main officers that the zombies have so far inhabited. Martha peeks out and they start talking to her, trying to lure her out. What convinces her is that the portly man is trying to catch his breath. Martha timidly steps out and we find the woman to be just an average, secondary support level person- like a minor operations lady. The man however is wearing a uniform because he is a local cub-scout leader. Woo Hoo for the 24th century! The Cub Scouts survive. Way to go! Anyways, they thought that Martha was a zombie and they were trying to kill her. Now that we find that all 3 are not zombies you can tell that we've reached a turning point of the movie.

The 3 start filling in Martha on how much of the ship has been zombified and how the few of them have found to deal with the zombies. Plot wise we're starting to get somewhere.

At this point Anna Mae wakes up and comes in my bedroom crying. Aaaaagggh!! I tried to go right back to sleep to finish the movie but it didn't work (sometimes it does). So I figured I need to write it down somewhere. Sorry to all my readers. I'm sure this was NOT what you were expecting from my usual blog posts, but I have very vivid dreams. Usually I am in control of my dreams (called Lucid Dreaming). Even with these movie dreams I know it's a dream movie so I can throw my two rational cents in as I'm watching the movie. I'm bummed that I couldn't see the end because it was bound to be good-

As I was waking up my mind was throwing spoiler/hints my way about what was going to happen next. It involved somehow getting a message to Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco, collecting up the old crew (Picard and everyone) and they somehow sneak onboard, team up with Martha and her now large band of secondary characters. Somehow they manage to get Data away from the zombies which is the key to winning.

I'm bummed that I couldn't see it in it's full glory though, and my mental hints didn't include any Klingons or Vulcans (double bummer!). This must be my brain's subliminal way of celebrating Star Wars day (FYI Monday was Star Wars Day- May the 4th be with you). I have always been more of a trekkie than a Star Wars fan so I must have mentally retaliated with a Trek Movie. Speaking of which, I probably should go see the latest spin-off and see if it's worth the digital film they printed it on. Ok, back to bed or on to a real post.

Muggy Hiking

2009-05-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

It's not usually humid and sticky outside in Oregon, but yesterday afternoon there was a storm front coming in, the weather was dry, warm, humid, and not a breeze was blowing. So of course we decide to go hiking Mt. Pisgah.

I got off work early and picked up my Marathon Packet and Race information and a new jogging outfit from the Marathon vendor fair, then went and got Luke from Grandma Hallock. She recently had shoulder surgery and can't lift the baby, but she still can have her little buddy hang out at her place during the day. Luke loves helping Grandma and playing with his friend Marcos next door.

Then we were off to get Daddy and AnnaMae so we could go hiking.

Whenever I've hiked Mt. Pisgah I usually start on the far trail and go the long way because it's not very steep (Trail 3). Granted, it is a long hike, but from memory it's pretty easy. Brian checked it out online and he wanted to take the shortest path. "Only 1.4 miles each way if we take trail 1!"

Oooooh boy. 1.4 miles of pretty steep trails, with me and the baby back-pack. Granted, I'm doing this as training for the marathon, but I don't want to kill myself before I go on Sunday. Let's just say that I got my workout. Luke says he prefers Spencer's Butte since it's easier. Here are the two resting on a bench just above the 1 mile mark. Luke thought he was so cool to take off his shirt. AnnaMae was just happy to be alive the whole time. She got tired of the carrier about 2/3 of the way up and just wanted to run from there, or have Daddy carry her (which was fine by me).

Anyways, we had a great time, the top has a better view than Spencer's, and it's been years since we hiked it. The trip down was greusome on my knees, but we all made it intact, little-boy potty breaks and all. AnnaMae insisted on running for about half a mile up and half a mile down. At the top she just kept running in circles. She had a blast! This was the first time she's done one of the local hills with us, and I think she wants to do it again.

If anyone wants to do the hike, they recently added gravel to long stretches of it, so it won't be too muddy. Just be aware that you DO NOT step off that path. The poison Oak is everywhere. We warned Luke and he got the gist. He was so good about not leaving the path for an instant. Here he is trying to keep AnnaMae from eating the new rocks. Why she wanted to eat them is beyond me.

It would have been nice to walk down around the Arboretum as well, but by the time we were done we needed to get dinner. It's been years since we did the lower garden walk. It looked like most weekends they have bir-watching hikes, mushroom hikes, and all sorts of neat guided events.

Then we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Walker's house where the boys hit the hot tub and we girls hung out with the grandparents. They recently had a plumbing nightmare at their house. The upshot is that they got a new kitchen floor and will be getting all-new carpet. The downside is that their home has been a wreck for at least a month. They were pretty happy that we stopped in, though.

Finally we headed home. AnnaMae was asleep before we passed downtown, and Luke was pretty tired too. It was a great hike and we definitely want to do it again, though next time, I think we'll try Trail 3.

Check out my new Summer stamps!

2009-05-01T03:03:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Summer Releases for the company I illustrate for, Our Craft Lounge. I only drew 17 of their 24 new-release sets this time. You can check out all their new sets here. This box and tag are just one example I made from the set "Let Freedom Ring".

I love illustrating for a company that makes people's lives happier. Our sets are made in the USA, and many of the sets I design come from old artwork I made years ago that is just sitting in my sketchbooks wasting away. One of the sets this time, "the Tribe" is from artwork I drew about 5 years ago that was sitting unloved in a box. This is now one of the favorites for our Design Team. It makes the crafty ladies very happy to have unusual stamps to color and when they're happy, I'm happy.

I wish we had one of the stores nearby that carries my stamps. It will be a while before we even want to get into Michaels or Jo-Anns, but we are in a chain called "Archivers" which is a very trendy scrapbooking boutique. They have over 40 locations in large cities across the country. It's neat to think that people across the land are playing with my artwork.

I have been accused of drawing this old granny based on my mom. For those of you who know her I don't see too much of a resemblance, do you?

Anyways, I gotta catch up on my rest. The half-marathon is on Sunday and I need to be ready. No more lazy Marianne!

Home again...

2009-04-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

...And I have the sweetest hubby.

Brian had the entire house cleaned (except for mopping). It looked great! That was hard for him, I know, but he did it.

to my sweet Brian-

thank you for the clean house
thank you for watching the kids ALONE
thank you for being in a good mood when I got home
thank you for being my best friend for almost 11 years
thank you for being my eternal companion for 6 1/2 years and counting
thank you for loving me so much that you're willing to spend eternity with my quirks :)

It feels so good to know that I am home for a month and I have a clean house, a full fridge, and that we all fell asleep for our afternoon nap at the same time. I had to get up, since it's hard to all sleep in the same queen bed anymore. We were all so tired, but 4 people in one bed is too much.

Whenever I go to California, particularly LA area, it makes me long for the clean, uncluttered Oregon. A gentleman on the flight down to OC told me that he just finished at a conference in P-town and learned that there were 3.6 million people in the state of Oregon and there are 3.7 million people in Orange County. Nothing but cars and people down there, whereas we have a gorgeous state, green trees, and a beautiful wetness called rain.

I love where I live, I love my friends, I love my family, and I love my husband.

Coming and going and coming and going...

2009-04-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

This is a weird travel month, even for me. Usually I go on one long trip a month, 4 or 5 days then I'm home. So when I checked my April schedule last month it was easy- one two day trip to San Francisco. one night, two days. Easy. Then I get a call and I end up having to go to Phoenix for one night, two days. OK, that's not so bad, there's a two day break between the trips. Then I gent an e-mail and guess what, One night, two days in L.A. with a two day break in between. Aackk! This was supposed to be a light month. Next month I have have one small trip and I'm sticking to it. No more little day trips to random corners.

So I went to Phoenix for Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow I go to San Francisco and I'll be home late Wed. nite. Saturday I go to LA and I'll be home either Late Sunday (but it's really hard to get a late flight into Eugene on a Sunday nite) or Monday morning.

While in Phoenix I ran into my hair stylist from Cleveland, OH. She was coming to the event I was teaching at and she knew I was going to be there, so she brought my highlight haircolor and her scissors. I'll have to get a photo 'cause I look different :) She already arranged to do my hair at some of my other upcoming events for the next year. It's pretty neat- I have a stylist who will travel and do in-home haircuts (or at least in-Hotel haircuts).

When I got home the kids and I just hung out on Sunday and destroyed the house in the glorious sunshine. My sunflowers are starting to come up and my brother brought me fresh soil for my front planter boxes, so I have big gardening projects I need to start on. Too bad it's still early to plant my tomatoes.

On my Phoenix flight I took the "Twilight" book with me. It was very fitting since my return flight went from Phoenix to Seattle. I like taking books with me that have vague references to where I am traveling to. I really should spend more time drawing than reading, as I have a LOT of artwork I'm behind on.

Speaking of which, I gotta get going, since I only have one day before I leave again. See you all later!

The Easter Bunny and the tooth Fairy

2009-04-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Both Came to Luke on Sunday!

I have been sick with a very bad Flu all weekend. So Daddy took Luke to the church Easter-egg hunt on Saturday. Luke made a bunch of dyed eggs and brought home a healthy stash of plastic ones.

After the hunt Daddy took Luke up to hike the Butte just to get him out of my hair. They had a great time as always, and stopped by grandpa's house for a quick dip in the hot-tub before heading home. The boys have a tradition thing going on now, which I think is great.

Sunday Morning Luke wanted to wear Brian's old nametag, so here's our little missionary knocking on a door. What a cute little prospective elder!

The Easter bunny brought him more eggs on Sunday- I didn't even know that the Easter Bunny had gone and brought home things to give to my kids. Doesn't the Easter Bunny ask before he brings sugar into my house? Luke got his basket, found his sister's basket, and promptly started feeding her GOBS of sugar. Thank you Easter Bunny.

I taught the RS lesson in Church. I was able to share a whole bunch of seeds from our garden with the other members. we put them in cute little packages and passed them out- giant sunflowers, garlic, chives, parsley, yellow onions, small dark sunflowers, carrots, and marigolds. we made close to 300 seed packets and I still have PLENTY more for next week.

After Church we came home and Luke helped himself to an apple. We keep a bowl of apples out and he knows that if he's ever hungry he can always eat an apple. He starts munching along then all of a sudden he YELPS! Crying he comes running to me with his bottom tooth all crooked and hanging out funny. The dentist had told him last month that he had at least 3 new teeth coming in, so we're not surprised. Daddy helped Luke calm down (Luke thought he was going to die) and gently pulled it out. I convinced Luke that he couldn't stop eating just because he was missing a tooth. Now in his prayers each day he prays that the new tooth will grow quickly.

Here's our big boy, missing his tooth. He sounds kinda lispy now. it's pretty cute.

Then we went over to the Tamasakas after a quick nap and the Easter Bunny visited there too. that insidious critter won't leave us alone.

I gotta get back to bed now that I've finished my taxes and done my social networking for the day. Have a great week!

Luke's question is: Is the Easter Bunny a real bunny or is he just a person dressed in a bunny costume? Where does he get his plastic eggs?

Sunny Sunday

2009-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago we drove up to Hendrick's Park to take some early Easter photos while the kids were dressed up and the sun was out. We love this park for photography, too bad more of the rhodies weren't in bloom. Here are some of the shots we got.

Liz came to visit

2009-04-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

We got a random call on the 25th. It was Liz, a friend who we went to institute with way back when. She had gotten married a month after we did and then moved off with her husband. She was an only member in her family and there were only 3 of us for her side of the group at her sealing when she went to Portland.

Liz had been a shy, naive young innocent thing until she started hanging out with our loud, obnoxious, and slightly eccentric group of friends. She said we were the ones who helped her break out of her shell and become who she is today (scary that we influenced her so much! we were NOT the best of influences). We even made some odd movies with her.

So she's in town, we haven't seen her since she got married and what joy we had when we found she was still happily married, active at church, and had two great little kids. Then we made chocolate cupcakes and her kids promptly smeared chocolate all over everything.

Then she came back on Thursday and we got to hang out some more. It will probably be a couple more years before we see her again, but it is so nice when you find a long-lost friend and know that they have been making good choices.

I get to go to Church!

2009-03-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how long it's been since I really was able to attend church. I mean, sure, we go each week, I'm hardly inactive, but when you're stuck in the hallway during classes with a playful toddler and getting the family ready to go is such a chore, and sacrament meeting is a lost cause you feel like you never get any spiritual uplift from church.

AnnaMae is now in nursery. what a blessing! I got to attend Adult Sunday School- wow. I can't tell you the last time I went to that. And then, I got to enjoy R.S. without interruption as well. This is incredible. I actually got things out of the lessons...

One thing that really hit home today was in Sunday school they told the story of the saints leaving New York in 1831. It was May and they had to get from Buffalo down to Ohio. At this my ears perked up- I was just in Buffalo! The problem the saints had was that Ice was blocking the lake and the boat couldn't get out into open water.

Look! Here is the view again out my plane window of Buffalo and the ice blocking the lake. Wow. The saints prayed and the ice cracked just long enough for the boat to get through, then it closed right behind them after they passed. So this won't melt for at least another couple months. In this day and age it wasn't a problem because my life wasn't in danger and I flew right over it. Back then it was a major struggle.

It's nice to know that my travels help me experience the gospel up close in ways that aren't apparent at first, but with the opportunity to actually attend church then I can see the connection. Thank you Nursery!

Niagra Falls, Toronto, and home!

2009-03-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm back! I'm not really sure what time zone I'm in, nor do I have a clue what's going on, but at least I'm home again and I really only have a small trip next month so I've got a bit of downtime.

Monday night I was picked up by a dear Canadian named Laura, who obviously was nice if she shares the same name as one of my BFF's. We negotiated our way through customs with minimal confrontation (we've found that if you have one american and one canadian then you get through either border much easier). We found our way over to Niagra Falls, Canadian side (I guess the American side isn't very exciting). They've built up their side of the falls with casinos, amusement parks, hotels, and all sorts of entertainment which you can tell in the Summer becomes a really happening place.

In the winter everything is dead and frozen. Can you see the lump of white among the falls? That's not an iceburg, those are frozen trees on a little island. They're so caked in ice that you can't tell from far away that they're not a solid block of ice.

Brrrr! It was freezing! The mist off the falls was collecting on trees causing them to be encrusted in ice and to split. I hopped out of the car to take photos and in the minute I was out of the car my eyes were watering from the cold. Everything close to the falls was caked in ice.

The locals informed us that they had already had their Spring thaw. Thaw? What Thaw? I can only imagine what it looked like before all the ice melted off. I guess in Deep winter they have a colored light show on the caked ice. The falls themselves never totally freeze from what i've heard, but there is so much ice on everything that it looks really cool.

Then I taught workshops in Toronto for a couple days. This is a typical scene of what my workshops look like. Imagine 50 ladies in a room huddled around tables with piles of little things to color. Each class is about 7 hrs. and all we do is color, talk about coloring, and then we airbrush and color. It's a really hard job, but somebody has to do it!

After my class on Wed. I got to scramble to the airport in Toronto in a Pakistani taxi (there are tons of immigrants in Canada). I did purchase one touristy thing at the airport becuase I couldn't resist, which is saying a lot because I also don't buy t-shirts for my kids. This t-shirt however, was perfect for little AnnaMae.

Elmo Loves Canada

It's a little large, but it's the smallest size they had. She was very excited and kept running around scraming Elmo! Elmo! I'm glad to know that someone was happy about my trip.

When I got home from the airport at midnight the family had made me this fabulous sign on the garage. We took this photo Thursday morning so you could see it. It's now hanging in the garage so I'll know just how much they miss me when I leave home. Note: the garage door now works! WhooHoo!

Thursday afternoon it was so nice that after work we headed down to the playground at Skinner's Butte. As always, this helped brighten up the kids and wear them out, even though Luke got his fingers slammed in the car door. Ouch. Now it's back to the same old, same old.

I think I really like Canada. They're nice folks and they have a good view of all the foibles of America without having to react the same way we do. If I ever wanted to immigrate I hear it's pretty easy, since they had this ad in their national newspaper. It's now hanging in my office at work: Immigrate the easy way with just one spray of Instant Eh!

Shuffle off to Buffalo, and CT, and MA, and...

2009-03-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm in Buffalo, NY right now. I got in a few hours ago. Where have I been in the last week? It's more, where have I NOT been...

It's easiest if you look at this map to get a scale of where I've been and what I've seen in just 4 days or so.

Wed I got in at 10pm and had to drive in the dark an hour and a half to find where I was going down along the coast of Connecticut. THank goodness for GPS! I have relied on this sooooo much this trip. I love it. Google maps are one thing, GPS is so much better. I was staying at my sales rep's condo. She lives alone with her cat overlooking a gorgeous lake within a mile of the famous Mystic CT Aquarium (which I couldn't go see since i was teaching).

I taught all day on Thursday in Mystic CT, then Friday I did a shorter training session back up near the airport where I flew into, so another 1 1/2 hrs driving back up to Hartford. Then I drove up to my sister's in Pittsfield Mass. I met her at her school where my nephew had play practice, so we sat around during rehearsal, had a quick pizza dinner, then ran off to my nephew's band concert.

Saturday we drove to Boston, since my sister's ward had a temple trip there. It is a very small temple, about half the size of P-town's and it was packed because it was a Saturday. Here I am in front of the lovely Boston Temple. It is only 9 years old, and the interior decor feels very clean and modern. Their stained glass is simple yet elegant. I'm sure that if the flowers were in bloom it would be even prettier.

My sis. lives about 2 1/2 hrs from Boston, so we were driving all day to get there and back. Then we got home, ran errands, and headed to bed. It was my nephew's birthday, but he was never home for us to celebrate.

Here's a picture I worked up of my niece, Hannah. I was showing her some of the simple things you could do in photoshop to turn ordinary photos into things that look like they were custom designed. She loved it!

Today I had to get going back to the airport by 10am so I could return the rental car. Here's a photo I shot of one of the beautiful churches that dot the New England landscape. Everything was rolling hills, piles of shoveled snow, and it was bitterly cold with the wind. They thought it was warmer than usual. This is why I could never live there. All their grass was dead and brown. It looked like our lawns look in August. I'd rather have my green lawns from Sept-June rather than April thru October, since i know that with a little water I could have my lawn green the other 3 months whereas they have no hope of green during their brown season.

I flew from Hartford down to Philadelphia and then up here to Buffalo. Here is my view from the airplane window of the frozen great lake. It's starting to melt around the edges, and you can see the other cracks, but that's a lot of Ice.

The lakes around my sister's house were still covered in ice, but they said it was kinda risky walking out on it this time of year. Lots of people were out on the ice though. I guess the ice gets a couple feet thick in the winter. BRRR! I can only imagine how many people have fallen into frozen lakes and died! My father used to tell me about how int he wintertime they would take their old Model T ford out on the ice after church and drive around in circles, skidding around on the ice. After seeing where my father grew up and the ice in march I really can believe it.

I had Korean food at a little place across the street- I've never had it before. I loved my main course, but the side dishes were odd. The little Korean man brought me a tiny bowl of every odd thing under the sun and I tried a bite of each. THe only thing I liked was the broccoli, which is saying something, since I HATE broccoli. The main dish was some marinated, fried pork and rice. It was great. Now I wish I had some good american dessert to cleanse my palate.

It's late, and I need to get to bed. I miss everyone, but I still have 3 more days and one more country before I'm home. Tomorrow after my class I drive up to Niagra Falls and then on to Toronto. Sleep well!

My Itinerary this week

2009-03-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

This post is more for my mom and family to know where I am, but you'll get a flavor for what one of my business trips is like. I'm sitting at Eugene Airport typing this up:

Wed, March 18: 6:30 am Eugene to Seattle, Seattle to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Hartford. Pick up rental car at 10pm Eastern Time. Drive 1hr, 15 min to Mystic, CT where I'm staying at my sales rep's house.

Thurs, March 19th: Teach a class from 8am to 4:30 pm. Go to my rep's place for dinner. Workshop from 6 to 8pm.

Friday: Drive 1 1/2 hrs to visit a store in West Hartford, CT from 10am-12pm. Get lunch. Drive 1 hr, 20 mins to get to Massachusetts, meet my sister at the school she works at. Evening, Band Concert for my nephew.

Sat: Drive 2 1/2 hrs each way to Boston to visit the temple. On our way back stop to watch my Nephew's play before going to bed.

Sunday: Drive to Hartford, return the rental car. Catch a 1:30 flight to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Buffalo. Get some dinner.

Monday: Teach a class from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Get picked up and drive up to Niagra Falls, have dinner, then go through customs. Drive to Toronto.

Tuesday: Teach a class from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Go out for dinner with my Canadian friend.

Wed: Co-teach a class from 8 am to 3:30 pm. Catch a taxi over to the airport for my 6:30 flight home. Toronto to Denver, Denver to Eugene. Arrive back in Eugene at 11pm a week after I left.

The upshot of this trip is that I'll see my Brother-in-law, Niece, and Nephew who I haven't seen since I was preggers with Luke. I haven't been to my sister's house since I was 15. Aaannnd... since I'm staying the weekend with her I'm not using any vacation days! Woo Hooo! Weekend visit to my sister paid for by work. Now I just need that trip to SLC and Denver...maybe May?

I'll try to post photos for everyone. Have a great day!

Garage Doors

2009-03-17T03:39:00.000-07:00

We have a love-hate relationship with garage doors.

We love that in a happy world you can drive up, push a button, and the thing opens. We love that it allows you to park your car within the privacy of your own home so that if you have forgotten something inside said car you don't have to get fully dressed to go get it (and we even put carpet remnants up to the car doors so you can do this without getting your feet cold either). We love that in this world of having too much stuff we can proudly say that our garage has our car like it should, and not just stuff like everyone else on the street whose garages are full of stuff. We love having a clear driveway because we only have one vehicle and it stays in said garage. This means that in the summertime my tomatoes get full sunlight and the world is a happy place.

However, there comes times when our garage door does NOT make us happy. Like when it comes off track and jams through the ceiling (that's happened a few times). Or like when the main spring breaks...

Sunday morning we had a slight opportunity to get to church early enough for the opening song and for them to announce my new calling (teaching R.S. once a month). We scramble to get everyone in the car and we hit the button and for a slight, blissful moment we hear the whirring of the electric marvel that is our garage door, doing it's duty and lifting, lifting...

Nope. not gonna happen. Today we shall NOT get our car out through our garage door.

You can't squeeze a sedan through a 6" gap no matter how much you stretch the laws of physics. Grrrrr... It's raining and cold, so we're not gonna walk with two kids.

We call up my mom and get a ride to church and inform our landlord, the Whitmers of the horrible plight (this will be the 4th time we've had problems with our garage door in 4 years). We get rides home from church from our friends. All our Sunday evening activities where we thought it would be cool to drive to were stymied. Our dear home teacher, Bro. Stanley looks at the thing after church, as does James, and they both see that there's no way it'll work.

Bro. Stanley has been itching to do some kind of service for us for a long time now. We have taken him up on the offer once in the last year or so that he's been our Home Teacher. Finally, we capitulate and agree to service, so Stephanie comes to get Luke in the morning to drive him to school.

I however, will ride my bike the 6 miles one way to work. It has been at least 9 months since I did this, but I NEED to do this to train for the half-marathon in May that I'll be walking. Lazy Marianne took about 1 hr. and 15 minutes to ride 6 stinkin' miles in a nice morning drizzle. My legs are sore now. Last year I got it down to about 45min. on a good day. I'm just not that fast at riding my bike. I got a ride halfway home so I only had 3 1/2 miles home, which took me 40 + minutes. Joggers were passing me up. From Autzen Stadium to my house took 19 minutes! I could do it in 10 before (Actually, it might be longer than 6 miles to work, now that I think about it).

I get home and they tell us that they can't fix the garage until WED??? I'll be on a plane to CT on Wed. !! They were supposed to at least come and help us get our car out Monday. Hah. that didn't happen. So today I get a ride because my little legs are not up for a 12 mile round-trip stress again. Oh look, it's raining. Even better...

I MISS TECHNOLOGY THAT WORKS!!! Whaaaahhh!

Happy st. patrick's day!

2009-03-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sunny Friday!

2009-03-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Friday was gorgeous! So off we went to Skinner's Butte park, our favorite playground. Armed with a pizza for dinner and lots of sidewalk chalk.

I was tagging Elmos all over the rocks, because some little someone in my family adores Elmo. I won't name any names or else she'll run around saying "Elmo? Elmo?"

Meanwhile, we had fun enjoying the amenities of the playground. All the slides and climbing tubes. This is one of our favorite parks by far!

Brian and I had our engagement photos taken just down the grassy slope from the playground. And there's a branch over the river that in the summer when the water level goes down is perfect for photos. However, this time of year it's underwater so we stuck to playing on the playground.

AnnaMae and Luke were really getting into the sidewalk chalk. I think we created some little tagging artists this weekend. They were having fun writing on everything and no one was stopping them.

Drawing at home isn't the same. If they tried drawing on the fixtures and walls at home they know they'd be in deep trouble. I am glad that AM sticks to drawing on her easel and not on the walls though I know that one of these days I'm going to walk into their room and find the walls covered in gorgeous artwork.

AnnaMae was really being brave. Every time I turned around she was running up the main structure then bending over the deep holes that have ladders and such. I was sure she was gonna fall down and need stitches or something the way she was heading all over. Last time we came to this park she was barely walking so it wasn't as much fun as now when she's big enough to climb onto even the trickiest of things.

However, it was Luke who hurt himself. We hadn't been there 5 minutes and he had fallen down. He was wearing sandals so he got a cut on both feet where the sandals bit into his feet and each knee got skinned. Ouch! We slathered the owies with neosporin then he ran off. Next thing I know he'd buried his feet in the sand to "kill the germs". All this did was cause the sand to stick to the lotion around his wounds. great.

I tried to get photos of Luke but he did not want his photo taken. So of course we got more photos of AnnaMae.

I have a feeling that as the years progress we will have LOTS of photos of AM and only a few of Luke. It's so hard to resist taking photos of those cute golden curls! she's so cute!

I'll post a few more photos of the kids and then I'd better get the kids to bed. I can hear daddy in the hallway playing something that rattles. I think they're stacking the coins we got from Mardi Gras. AM has really been having fun playing with those.

Friday was such a nice way to end a week. Too bad this weekend has been so rainy. Blah. I know we need the rain but it doesn't help when you're tired of being cooped up inside all the time and then it warms up, you get a taste of summer, and you have to go right back to being cooped up.

Anna Mae at 18 month checkup

2009-03-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

AnnaMae had her 18 month check-up yesterday (a couple weeks early). She is 25 lbs, and 33 inches tall. The doctor says she is in excellent health and is developing well in activity and speech. She didn't even cry much when she got her shots.

AnnaMae is obsessed with drawing. She wakes up and the first thing she does is run over to her easel and start coloring. Sometimes I draw pictures for her to color, other times she just scribbles. She is learning her color words and getting into repeating back whatever you say such that you can actually understand her.

She loves letters and anytime she sees them she says "A-B, A-B" her word for the alphabet. She loves everything Sesame street and can tell you the names of most characters. Anna Mae, we love you cutie, smiling girl! We are truly blessed to have a healthy, happy baby. Congrats on surviving to 18 months. Now you can go to NURSERY!!!

The Climbers, part 2

2009-03-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday Brian and Luke braved the rain to climb Spencer's Butte. This is a traditional Father/son activity they do every few months. Brian's parents live only about 10 min. from the base of the butte, so after a long day of hiking they go crash at grandpa's house and go hot-tubbing. This time I finally got them to take the camera and get some photos...

First, here are the two happy explorers goofing off with the camera...

Here's a photo of Daddy that Luke took...
Some photos of Luke trekking up to the top...

Luke's grandma let Luke choose the camoflauge coat. i don't really approve, but he sure fits in when he wears it hiking. Brian was worried that he'd never find him if he got off the path.

And, finally, the beautiful view they got at the top. That's not fog, that's rain you see making everything hazy. The top of the Butte was inside a raincloud. All that climb for this...

Lilacs and Teddy Ruxpin

2009-03-11T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture that I just drew and colored from my work blog. I thought you would find it enjoyable to look at as spring approaches.

Work has kept me VERY busy so I haven't had a chance to post what the family did this weekend. However, we did learn yesterday from Luke that his ancestor is Teddy Ruxpin. Where that came from I have no idea, since we don't currently own nor have we ever owned a Teddy Ruxpin. They're possesed plush freak shows (Things from the 80's can be creepy). The only semblance between Luke and Teddy Ruxpin is that they are equally talented at moving their mouths.

Luke also claims that he is a robot and can "redo life" or rewind segments he doesn't like and do it again so it comes out the way he wants. If all of this is true, then he might really be descended from Teddy Ruxpin. The only question is if it's from my side of the family or Brian's?

the climbers, part 1

2009-03-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

We have a whole family of not just Walkers, but climbers...

While I was at work on Friday I got a message from Brian that AnnaMae was on top of our dresser throwing things. Did he remove her? NO. He just took photos and called me up to tell me what she was doing.

sickly babe

2009-03-04T01:19:00.000-08:00

When I came home from Florida I had a cold. Little AnnaMae was kind enough to take it from me. Now she has had the sore throat, congestion, boogers, and slight fever. Poor thing. She's on the upswing but it meant that I did NOTHING all weekend except watch Sesame Street Videos. I'm starting to think that 15 videos is not enough. I have them all memorized. And if I hear another sick, sad little whimper of the word "elmo" one more time I may go insane, start giggling and shake uncontrollably...oh wait, elmo's already done that.

From Florida to Oregon

2009-02-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

Mom, Dad? Where are you? When will you get home? We miss you!

But we were having so much fun on our first vacation together since 2006! If only Luke were a little older he could have come and enjoyed everything we were doing. It would take AnnaMae a few more years and she could have come with us. As it was, we had 4 flights to get home, and running through airports with the kids then shoving them on airplanes would have been a supreme pain. All things must come to an end, but not without lots of fun and enlightenment in between...

USS Alabama
Saturday we left New Orleans and headed toward Pensacola FL. To get there you cross the bottom of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then Florida. It's only a 3 hr drive, but you see 4 states. On the way along the Gulf Coast we stopped at the battleship USS Alabama where they have a giant museum just outside of Mobile. It's really an all-day event, though we only had about 3 hrs. There was so much we didn't see!

I'll leave you a few pictures from the experience. The thing was massive...A true marvel of modern engineering, and it was de-commissioned over 60 years ago! All the wires, steel, and maze of hallways. With a full crew it held 2,500 men. I don't know where they all fit because once you get inside everything is so small. Where did they fit all the food for that many hungry men?

The thing was covered in guns. Almost every inch of open deck space was a weapon. We climbed into gun turrets, around gun turrets, and over gun turrets. Brian sat at many gun stations, some of which still moved around. We got photos of guns, saw the munitions storage, gun repair facility, and training areas where people practice loading the guns. This truly was a weapon of war. In 1944 it was on about 11 different missions, mostly in the Pacific, attacking Japanese positions and defending Aircraft carriers. We were interested to note how many Japanese tourists were visiting the battleship, taking photos and climbing around. How far relations have come in 60 years!

It took over a hundred men alone just to operate one battery of the giant guns you see in the photo behind me. A hundred men! I know little about today's military, but I have a feeling that it takes many fewer men to run our current large guns.

And think of the conditions- humidity, heat, storms, surrounded by enemies. All alone on a desert of blue. This is what sat out there protecting our Western shore from Eastern invasion. This ship was authorized to be built in 1934, although it wasn't commissioned until 1941. or '42. We knew early that we were going to war, and we had some incredible technology for the day. You can read typed reports of the Kamikazi attacks and what they recovered off the bodies of the dead pilots. Think of the honor and glory the Japanese were bestowed by their Emperor to attack the American ships. We also bestowed honor and glory for defending our way of life, and they proudly show how many Japanese airplanes they shot down painted on the superstructure as well.

What an honor to be allowed to travel back in time to see the real live tribute to our grandfathers. Boy Scouts can stay the night on the sip and really get a flavor of life on the sea.

On the ship they have a list of all the men who served there. I found a "Carl Hallock" which is the name of my uncle who has passed on- though I don't know if it's the same person (all Hallocks are related). He would have been the right age. My dad always lamented that he was too young to go to WWII, so his older brother was enlisted, and my grandpa Hallock was too old, however he was still re-commissioned as an electrician on the large ships (I don't know if he went out to sea or if he just worked in dock though). Every able hand was needed back then. America was pulling out of the Great Depression and we were more productive than we had ever been before.

An interesting side note, but when I took economics in High School, we looked at market trends. In America we go through 7 year cycles. Every 7 years we cycle from prosperity to recession. Every 70 years we have a much larger recessionary event. This current recession falls perfectly in line with the cycle and we had been warned a few years ago to be prepared. We should know better, and learn from history.

A question- do I look better with or without my glasses? I have the same glasses that I got back in 1994. I only use them for seeing things far away and driving at night. My office-mate, Justin, says that I act smarter when I wear my glasses. I think I just look more like a know-it-all librarian. Sophisticated or snobby? what do you think?

Pensacola, FL
We got into Pensacola late Saturday nite and found the house of the dear, sweet lady we were staying with, Jan Marie and her husband, the Colonel. Both were retired military, which is not surprising, since there are 7 military bases in Pensacola, and even NASA has a base within an hour of there. Pensacola is the oldest city in America, and it is celebrating 450 years this year. The King and Queen of Spain visited just last week (as all the locals were quick to tell you a dozen times while we were there).

Laura had visited here about a month ago, so when she was doing my nails before the trip she made me get my toes done in glitter so I could have pretty toes for walking on the beach. Everyone in my Sunday workshop LOVED the glittery toes, since papercrafters love "bling". Here are a few feet shots, just for you Laura, proving that my glittery toes out-sparkled the white beaches of Pensacola.

I had a workshop Sunday evening, so lunch time on Sunday was my only chance to visit the beautiful white beaches of Pensacola. Pensacola proper is on the mainland. To get to the beaches you need to drive across a 3 mile bridge and then out another bridge to get to Pensacola Beaches. This is a strip of land 1 mile wide at it's widest and 28 miles long.

All we could think of while visiting the beach was "Why would anyone be stupid enough to build out here when it is in a hurricane zone?" And according to our hosts, sure enough, during hurricane Ivan or something, the ocean water completely submerged the area.

The day we were out it was super cold and windy. They were also getting ready for their own local Mardi Gras parade, which we couldn't attend since I needed to be teaching a class that afternoon. So we had to park as close to the bridge as possible as not to get stuck by the parade. There were thousands of people out to see the parade. Parking was nearly impossible, and cars were parked between palm trees on the meridian of the road.

We really wanted more time to look around, but since it was so cold we ate our lunch and headed home. Brian went down to the water front the next day when I was teaching and he said it was warm, with no breeze, and no one was around. Go figure. As it was we wandered around the first main shopping area on the beaches, got some touristy photos and tried to stay out of the wind.

Did I mention it was cold? It was cold. I was in capris, a sweater, a scarf, and a jacket. Brian was without jacket or anything since he thought Florida was supposed to be warm. It's February for crying out loud! It's gonna be cold! I get cold just thinking about how cold it was, OK, maybe it was only in the 50's. But with the wind it was cold.

My class on Monday went very well, with about 30 - 35 people attending. I somehow picked up a cold on Sunday, so I had a sore throat sunday afternoon for my evening class, then was fighting a stuffed nose during my Monday class.

Monday during my class Brian headed down to the Navy Base to visit the air museum. They had over a hundred different restored planes. The best part is that it's free to visit.

Brian didn't have the camera with him, so no photos. If you ever get the chance to go he says it's great. Perfect for little boys wanting to climb in and out of airplanes, ride the flight simulator, and listen to war stories. If anyone needs a place to stay while in Pensacola, they can go look up the family we were with, since they have 2 guest rooms and a pool (too cold to go swimming though). Their house is a fabulous collection of antiques and trinkets from around the world.

Tuesday we flew home, and let me tell you- having your sinuses stuffed with 4 flights on one day was not a pretty event. Pensacola airport is about the size of Eugene, so we had to fly Pensacola to Dallas, Dallas to Denver, Denver to Portland, Portland to Eugene. In Portland we met up with Peter Raven who was on his way home from Arizona. Since it was fat Tuesday we left him with a few Mardi Gras beads to take to the family (out of our 80+ lbs that we shipped home). We got in around 9:30 to Eugene and got home around 10:15 pm.

Wed. I stayed home since I was sick and still recovering. The kids were thrilled to see us, and we promptly made a mess of the nice clean house we left last week. AnnaMae loved all teh beads we brought home. I think she would have played with them for hours if we let her.

Thursday I felt a little better, so I was hoping to only do a half- day of work. Hah! A week being gone and I had over 200 work e-mails waiting since Friday plus 70 some personal e-mails (most of which are work related). I am really behind on my artwork. So I had to work all day on Thursday.

Today is my 29th birthday. I don't feel 29. I don't know how old I feel, but it's not 29. Either older or younger. Younger when the kids aren't around, older when they are around. I guess it's the same with most people.

I gotta get going back to bed, but I had to update my blog, since it's my family journal. Have a great weekend!

Mardi Gras!!!

2009-02-21T07:29:00.001-08:00

Brian and I are here in New Orleans, it's Mardi Gras weekend, and we're exhausted. We got in late Wed. nite/early Thursday morning. The flight from Eugene to Denver was gorgeous. Frost was forming on my window as I watched. Tiny, delicate patterns etched in an ephemeral crystal while I stared intently at a blank slate. The segment from Denver to New Orleans was delayed, so I got to chatting with a lady named Risha from Toronto. She also had business in New Orleans, and was going to her first Mardi Gras. She was my age, an engineer for some oil pipeline company, and was so sweet that we gave her a ride to her hotel as we headed to ours.

Thursday I worked for a few hours- I went and made presentations at a Fine Art distributor here that carries our product, then we headed down to the nearest spot to catch the parades for the evening. The locals are amazing! We are NOT in the French Quarter, nor were we down by Bourbon St. so we were in a group of locals who come to the same spot for over 50 years! They were really nice, with their kids, their friends, and they told us lots of lore about each parade. No flashing to get beads, you just stand there and wave and cheer. However, everyone had way too much to drink around us, so there were a lot of high-spirited people all trying to get the cool beads.

There were 3 parades on Thursday - Knights of Babylon, Knights of Chaos, and Krew of Muses. We got 2 LARGE bags of stuff that they were throwing from the floats. The Krew of Muses was loading right outside our hotel so I was able to get a few snapshots in broad daylight. Good thing, since the parades were so dark you couldn't get photos. This photo is the flavor of the Krew of Muses- lots of satire about current events, politics.

It was all women on the floats. To ride on a float you have to be a member of their club. It costs thousands of dollars, and you have to buy your own beads to throw! However, Muses has some of THE best throws (the locals can also vouch for that). I got some really cool stuff from Muses. Knights of Bablylon were a revival of one of the parades from the 1800's so their floats were on the original wagon beds of the old parade. We're talking wooden wheels creaking along under modern floats. Wow!

Between floats are regular parade things- Lots of stunning high school bands, dance teams, cheerleaders, and people on horses. Someone fell off their horse about 2 buildings down from us, which stopped the parade for 10 minutes. By the end of the evening (parades came from about 7 pm to 11:30) we were exhausetd and ready to trudge the 6 blocks back to our hotel.

Friday I had to teach my all-day workshop. Luckily there were only about 10 people in the class, so I wasn't asburned out as I usually get from my workshops. At luch I went to Mulates, a famous local restaurant. I had a fried-Alligator Po-boy for lunch. When we asked teh waiter what Alligator tasted like he said "Like Chicken, squid, and frog-legs". I don't know what frog-legs taste like (nor will I ever, thank you Muppet Movie) but now I do know what Alligator tastes like. Like sweet, rubbery chicken. I liked it. Brian didn't care much for it. For our evening repast we had Asian Fusion. We figured we'd had our share of local food, now we could get what we wanted.

Krew De'Etat, Morpheus, and Hermes were the parades on Friday nite. We thought they said "Herpies" as the parade name,so the locals really got a kick out of those two crazy oregonians. Friday night we had signs saying "love from Oregon". That was the best idea we had all weekend! I got so many piles of beads thrown right at me- it was great!! The locals just thought we were the most exuberant, happy people that they'd met in a long time because it was all so new to us. If anyone wants a good, clean Mardi Gras parade experience, head down to the corner of St. Charles and St. Joseph. On the south side of the street, on the East corner, go down about 1 building. There you will find the nicest, sweetest locals who will give you the best advice on what beads to get.

I gotta get going now. We're driving to Pensacola today. Have a great weekend! I'll try to post more photos later...Until then, we want you to ponder the name of the New Oleans Police- NO PD!

a cozy chair...

2009-02-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had the Elder's Q. Valentine's event. It was a cozy little gathering, with only about 3 couples our age, the rest were older. That's what happens when they don't offer child-care. They had a men's dessert bake-off and Brian was so bummed that he didn't win (if he had about 3 more hours uninterrupted time he might have got his real baked idea done). As it was, he made my favorite fudge recipe and it came out tasting great. Three years ago he won 2nd place with some peanut butter/coconut chocolates he made. He and James Shimanek worked really hard on the decorations for the event, and they were able to keep each other company nicely during the party. I felt like I did when we were dating... Me, Brian, and James. Or, was it Brian and James on a date and I was the tag along...? Whatever. I left early to get the kids (and so I didn't have to clean up).

When I went to my mom's to pick up the kids I found this happy scene and snapped a photo. In my mom's recliner were all 3 of them, asleep (though my mom woke up when I opened the door). How Luke was able to sleep on the arm without falling off is a mystery. He was perfectly balanced on the arm, with one half of him completely in the air (the quilt over the back of the chair is hiding how small it is). If they had been leaning back I'm sure it would have tipped over, the way Luke was hanging off the edge like he was.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Brian and David spent some time down at the Asian celebration. The Celebration committee sold out of the shirts again this year, and I am so glad I snagged one early on Saturday. The feedback I got was that everyone loved the theme this year, and the Fish I drew were very popular.

Sunday after church the guys went back over to the celebration. At the celebration Brian picked up Heavenly Tamasaka, our babysitter from Eugene 5th ward. She is so outgoing and exuberant that she really helped pull my nephew out of his shell (he's very quiet and reserved, so Brian is having a hard time connecting or talking with the kid). Brian swears that they were flirting, but I think they were just being teenagers. Poor brother Lance Stanley came over to home teach while cheerful Heavenly was there and between Brian, Luke, Heavenly, me, and even my nephew and AnnaMae he could barely get a word in edgewise. AnnaMae really likes Lance- she kept piling our whole collection of Disney videos one by one on his lap. What a nice gift.

In the mornings AM brings my nephew little things she finds around the house and piles them on his pillow while he's trying to sleep. Things like blocks, scraps of paper, bits of random food that was hidden under a couch for goodness knows how long... you know, the kind of stuff you find around the house that only her little, sharp eyes notice and she picks up because it looks interesting, then she has to take it Somewhere, and poor David is the lucky one to get the goodies. She runs downstairs each morning shreiking "Davey! Davey! Davey!" She really likes her older cousin a lot.

Anyways, I need to get back to bed. I have so much to do this week before I head off for Florida. It will be a nice trip. It's been 3 years since I got Brian to go out of town with me, so this "vacation" is long overdue.

Check out my new stamps

2009-02-13T22:11:00.001-08:00

My stamp company, Our Craft Lounge, had it's second release today. You can go see the new stamps here. They are showing 28 new sets and I drew 24 of them! Talk about cool. You can buy them at specialty papercrafting stores across the country. Soon they'll be in Hobby Lobby (they're like Michael's, but only for 2/3 of the country). There are over 400 Hobby Lobby stores in the US. Wow!

this is a card I made from one of the sets. this is the kind of thing people make from these stamps. pretty cute, eh? you should see some of the other sets...and come say hi to me or my nephew at the Asian Celebration this weekend.

Asian Celebration this weekend!

2009-02-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Are you going? It's this weekend! I drew the artwork for the poster and you really should go, 'cause it's fun. See what they did with the beautiful fish I drew! There's tons of stuff for kids, teens, and adults. Plus the food is really good and pretty cheap (there are some noodles I get each year, and teriyaki chicken kabobs that are soooo tasty! You'd have to go to their website to find out cost www.asiancelebration.org

Here is a larger version of the artwork I created for them. They really like the fish this year. I think they like it more than the Shoes (07) or the Boat (08) I drew the last couple years. It might rival the popularity of the Manga guy I drew for the 2006 poster, which was the first time they had ever sold out of the t-shirts.

Why the cops came to my door...

2009-02-10T01:58:00.000-08:00

I have told Brian many times that if he ever gets arrested I will NOT post bail. Because if he get arrested it will be for doing something pathetic, like this...

Sunday nite, around 9:40 pm I was up in my bedroom drawing. AnnaMae was asleep, my nephew was downstairs, and Luke had taken a late, long nap so he and daddy were in the office playing Super Mario 3. Or so I thought...

"POUND! POUND! POUND!"

Who in the world would be knocking on my door at this time of nite?

"POUND! POUND! POUND!"

Then I knew that the only people who pound on doors like this are the police.

"POUND! POUND! POUND!"

So I gingerly trudge downstairs and open the door. At this point my nephew has pulled off his headphones and is sitting on his bed, listening to the whole event. I open the door, and sure enough it is a couple of Cops, with those flashlights that you know could take out a rhino at 50 paces.

"Sorry to bother you ma'm, but how many people live in this residence?" the officer asks, noting my pajamas and sweet/dazed demeanor.
"Ummm, Me, my husband, my nephew, and two children" I reply, slightly bewildered.
"How old is your nephew?"
"19"
"And your children?"
right on cue, AnnaMae wakes up, wailing.
"Small, I see. Sorry about that" this was a nice officer, and he recognized that my kiddos were little and sleepy. I'm getting perplexed.
"Where is your nephew now?" Ummm, strange question...
"he's down here, in the living room" I'm still not seeing any reason for this nice public servant to be attacking my innocuous door at this hour. Until his next question -

"Does anyone in your home have access to a laser pointer?" OK, now I have a clue and a strong suspicion about what's going on. With a sigh, a roll of my eyes, and a knowing heart I invite the officer in.
"Let me go see what The Boys are up to." I snag AM as she comes down the stairs, and I go open the office door. Sure enough, Luke and Brian come bounding out. I tell him there's a cop to see him, downstairs. I just go back in my bedroom to get AM back to sleep and ponder what Brian has done now.

I hear them talking for a while downstairs, then the parting "Luke, tell them what your name is..." "Goodbye officer!!" and the door closes. They come back up and I get the "full" story.

Brian and Luke, getting bored, had pulled out my laser pointer I use for lectures and were waving it around the field behind our house. Brian says they were only doing it for a couple minutes (probably closer to 10, I'm sure). Anyways, they were goofing off and pointing it at things, trees, cars, (he said something about "I thought it was a taxi" so I'm guessing I don't want to know if he was aiming the darn thing at the police car) etc. They saw some dude in black moving around in the field. If they pointed it on him or not, who knows. From their perspective, clean, harmless fun at night.

Not so for the policeman.

They were busy staking out a house across the field where there had been a report of a firearm. They were sneaking around, scoping out the place, when all of a sudden they see a laser dot (just like the dots from a scope) near them, their car, etc. They think the person they're scouting out has an accomplice waiting in a top window across the field ready to take them out. Needless to say, the police dove for cover under a tree and out of sight from the laser scope. Then, he and his police buddy come pounding on my door to find out who the second gunman is that got Kennedy.

Great. This is why I told Brian again, that if he ever gets arrested I'm not posting bail. AND I would NOT appreciate my laser pointer getting confiscated (it was a gift from my Dad and I need it for lectures). Brian has a knack for doing stupid, harmless things at EXACTLY the wrong time and getting caught for it.

Luckily, the officer just got his name, birthday, and all the other vital info on Brian. He was pleasant and I think he could tell that the two in front of him were harmless. According to my nephew, Brian was telling the officer how much of a good citizen he was and how he's called the police a few times over things in the neighborhood, and how he thinks they're underpaid, etc. etc. Brian and Luke would have talked his ear off if they'd had the chance, and Luke could have probably got a ride in a police car if they kept it up long enough.

Brian was freaking out that he was going to get in serious trouble. I'm sure they're not going to do anything more than write it up and put it in his file. I just laughed it off since I know the system is overworked and the officer doesn't have the time to follow up on harmless people like Brian. Luke had some interesting comments, though none were relevant enough to write down.

I am truly grateful that we live in a safe society where the police do follow-up on minor things, so the big things don't fall through the cracks. So many minor events each day that we are totally unaware of, yet they all add up to a relatively safe community.

Except for the second gunman in the upstairs window with a laser sight on his semi-automatic Duck Hunt gun... sheesh.

busy busy busy

2009-02-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

Where have I been? It seems like I reel from one thing to the next with no breathing room in between.

Saturday was my Nephew's birthday. His idea of excitement was to go shopping at the local Goodwills with Brian and get a library card, (which meant I missed the baptism) then meatball sandwiches for dinner and The Muppet Movie for family fun.

Friday Brian and my nephew went to First Friday art walk. One of our friends in another ward is having an art show. Gayla Snow is a pretty interesting lady and her art show is made from "found art" or junk that you find and turn into artwork. The photo is of one of her works that was in a gallery in December. January's first Friday Art walk I was busy teaching a lecture on the History of Manga for the Eugene Library so I missed the gallery shows then as well. I didn't see the show because I stayed home with the kids and read The Tale of Desperaux. Luke had a fever after dinner. Who knows why, since he didn't show any other signs of sickness, just a fever.

Thursday was the book fair and reading nite at Luke's school, which is where we got the Tale of Desperaux. Luke had just had dinner, he got a couple cookies and the cheap red punch, which promptly made him lose his dinner. What a great way to visit your school and celebrate reading.

and the eaarlier part of the week just went on and on...

I will be happy to experience some modicum of quietude and time to sort out thoughts. I guess it will have to wait until our trip to Florida in a couple weeks.

Marianne at Work in California

2009-01-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

I have been busy this whole week. I super-miss my family, but I am on a business trip in Anaheim. Nope, no Disneyland, though you can see the rides from my hotel room. All I do is work. In fact, this video was posted of what I do at work when I'm on a business trip. Here is me, teaching people how to color, posted by a company from the Netherlands.

However, I did get to have dinner in Downtown Disney, so I stopped by the Lego store to pick up a gift for Luke. I saw this little guy who was just waiting to quietly follow me home to help Luke defeat the evil Vader/Daddy. Too bad he wouldn't fit in my luggage.

I've been talking for 6 days straight. I'm tired, and I need clean water to drink. I am very ready to go home and get some love from my family. Have a great week!

I like markers

2009-01-21T00:51:00.000-08:00

Brian snapped this photo Tuesday while I was at work. Of course he didn't try to stop her enjoying the markers, but he did get photos. When I got home she was covered in multicolored inks and B said she'd even eaten a few. Oh well, if you can't prevent a mess at least you can take photos of it :)

My mom is convinced that AnnaMae will be an artist just like her mama. So grandma said she's going to start hoarding every scrap of her artwork like she did with me (and still tries to).

These markers were a Christmas gift from grandma to AnnaMae. Luckily they are cheap, water-based things that are going to get ruined anyways.

It came with a bottle!

2009-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

The creature from the pasta lagoon came and stalked my bathroom...

Shortly before sunset it came, cooing and gurgling, covered in dark red slime. It grabbed for me, it's jaws clenched in a hideous grimace as saliva oozed from betwixt alabaster teeth, gnashing and snarling at a milky liquid, it's precious lifeblood contained therein.

What it wanted I did not know. All I could do was react in terror at the monster looming before me.

After tense moments of frozen horror, I finally snapped (a picture) and tried to bend the creature to MY will. Gently, but with trepidation and a desire to avoid it's venomous drippings, I clutched at it's red garment, ripping forcefully the offending clothing and leveraged it into a containment device. One where I could detox the monstrosity and prepare it for eternal slumber.

I mashed a dampened rag upon it's gaping maw and cleansed the foul slime which so recently had horrified me. With narry a pause, I poured water upon it's head in a supreme effort of purification and washed away the iniquities from it's gleaming golden locks.

Much to my chagrin, dripping and snarling, the beast overcame my ministrations and forcibly removed itself from the containment area. It ran, streaking blithely through the night, emitting a mindless cackle as it escaped my attempts to subdue.

With a sigh I gave in. I had bravely fought and accomplished much, though the final battle was lost. The creature still roamed free in the night. As I lay heaving and breathing hard from my exertions I took a slight pause to think on what minor victory I had achieved: I had neutralized it's toxic venom...for now.

on bellybuttons...

2009-01-17T03:23:00.000-08:00

I have one. Most people do. I never thought mine was all that fancy until one of my friends on the swim team long ago thought mine looked funny. I guess mine is a half-innie/half-outie, so it looks like a little deep "C" shaped wrinkle with a tiny nob. When I was little I would always try to turn it inside out (I will save some decency in this post and NOT share a photo of my stretched out skin and odd bellybutton).

Bellybuttons are hereditary and also based on when you were born. I can't remember exactly, but if you were born a premie then you have a higher likelihood of getting one style or another. I wasn't a premie, but AnnaMae looks like she is getting my bellybutton. Luke definately got daddy's (actually Luke IS daddy, it's his split personality reincarnated in child form).

My bellybutton usually doesn't play a big part of my life. I'm sure the majority of you feel the same way. HOWEVER, when I get preggers my bellybutton gets stretched all out of whack. I mean, that's a lot of stretching, and my poor skin doesn't stretch nicely. So when my belly returns to pre-baby state the bellybutton suffers.

Which brings me to today's point:

After Luke was born and my belly went back to normal I kept getting bellybutton infections. Weird, huh? I guess warmth and moisture get trapped in my little stretched wrinkle and then I get an infection. They quickly go away, just a little dab of neosporin does the trick. Now I have a minor one again. Nothing serious, but I had always thought that when a baby is born, it's the baby that's supposed to get the bellybutton infections, not the mom. Oh well, one of the unspoken joys of being a mom.

Photoshop Valentine

2009-01-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I feel the urge to just goof off in Photoshop. More to hone my skill in a non-stressful way. Here is a Valentine that we'll probably e-mail to the relatives. Brian likes to send photos that have been re-touched to his dad.

David is here!

2009-01-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon I drove up to Portland to pick up my nephew, David, who will be staying with us for Winter term. He and his sister came out at Thanksgiving for a week. They both attend BYU-I. David's a freshman and his sister, Kelly is a Junior.

My sister felt that David would get more out of hanging around Oregon for a winter than he would hanging around cold Massachusetts, so now he's sleeping on our futon for a couple months. We are excited he's here and told him he can stay as long as he wants, however, I think it will be the kids that finally drive him away. He's not used to that much energy, particularly when that energy is aimed at him. We'll see how long he lasts. He knows he can always move in with Grandma :).

I on the other hand am used to the madness and enjoy the attention. Sunday was such a nice day and the kids were SOOOO excited to have their older cousin around that they were at peak wild levels. Climbing, making messes, destroying...all the good stuff. Poor David. He doesn't get this kind of happiness at his house, especially after living on Campus for the last few months he hasn't been exposed to any kind of noise and lack of personal space.

I need to get back to my artwork, I have way too many projects that I need to complete in the next week before I leave for Anaheim. However, I'd like to leave you with this cute photo of AnnaMae looking at the temple. In the middle of her climbing she stopped and stared at the temple pictures for a good 15 minutes. They were really taking her attention.

Moments like this make you stop and think about what do little kids really know. AnnaMae is so young, yet she's figuring out things so quickly and she was in Heaven such a little time ago that although we think she's seeing something for the first time, she has probably visited the temple many times before she was born.

I love the little snippets that Luke would tell us when he was 2 or 3 yrs. old and before his thoughts got confused by things in this world. It won't be long before AM can tell us all about her experience, and the more she learns to speak, the more those experiences will slip away.

The Red Girl

2009-01-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

When I'm at work Brian takes the strangest pictures. I don't know what he's taken until I dig back through my photos on the computer and find them. This is what I found from a couple days ago. He had given AnnaMae a strobing-light ball and somehow he captured these 3 frames red. I think they look pretty cool. No I didn't photoshop them (much) except to crop them. It makes you wonder what else happens during the day while Mom is away...

on Jolly Ranchers...

2009-01-06T02:27:00.000-08:00

A word of advice, don't try to walk and talk and suck on a Jolly Rancher all at the same time. In 2007 I tried this very stunt. I did not succeed and I have a molar that can vouch for my failure. Now, because of my ineptitude I spent monday with a numb face and a temporary crown, just waiting for my gold crown to come in a couple weeks. I'm not one for jewelry, but this is a piece of gold I'll probably be better off having.

I hope that Jolly Rancher appreciates that it was worth about $800 in gold. At least it was watermelon, my favorite flavor.

Luke and the tree

2008-12-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a cute one of Luke helping set up the Christmas tree earlier this week. We turned it into a card and e-mailed it to family. Brian picked a 7 ft. Noble fir for our tree this year and the boys put 900 lights on it.

A family Blog, eh?

2008-12-28T14:57:00.001-08:00

I realized that too many of my friends have blogs for their families, and I just don't. So here I am, on a sleepy Sunday, ignoring the kids as they watch Mary Poppins and I create another blog.

Santa visited and brought minimal gifts. We like to keep everything low-key, since we have too much stuff anyways, packaging just fills up garbage heaps, and the kids aren't materialistic. Luke did get his wish- he asked Santa to bring him Super Mario Brothers 2, so he and daddy got to play a new game for their Nintendo. It was like 1985 all over again. Daddy got some movies and a certificate to CD/Game exchange. I got new cookie sheets and the latest Narnia DVD.

AnnaMae got a Groovy Girls doll and some toy food for her kitchen. Laura was kind enough to make her potholders, so hopefully AnnaMae will know what to do with them (besides throw them at her brother). They both got clothes and a few toys from their grandparents. I'm glad it wasn't much. When kids get too many toys at once they don't appreciate them.

For a good half-hour I tried to get a good photo of her in her new christmas dress that grandma and grandpa gave her, but nope. she was having a wiggly day. All through the 3rd hour of church she was running and giggling and playing with another baby her age. 18 months is only 3 months away (I'm not counting, really!) It seems like she and Luke are always trying to antagonize each other in new and invigorating ways. Toys are communal no matter how much Luke would like to think that all toys are his. I'm glad that she has a kitchen and Luke has too many legos so missing a few really won't kill him.

I did get some photos of her de-populating the tree. All our ornaments are at 3 ft. and up. We have plastic ornaments this year and yesterday I stocked up on more plastic ornaments at the sales, then I came and decorated the tree with more un-breakables. Grandma & Grandpa W. made the mistake of inviting us over with their tree done all in glass ornaments at baby-height. It took her only a few minutes to run to the tree screaming "ball!!!" and grab one and promptly break it. When we came back for Christmas Eve they had prudently moved all ornaments above her reach. Way to go! You can teach old grandparents new tricks :) The real trick will be to see if next year they remember.

Then AM tried to share the bounty of her toy kitchen with her favorite friend, Chicken Dance Elmo (his batteries are running down so he sounds posessed. It's really cool). "Elmo" is one of her favorite words, and I'm always finding her trying to shove Elmo videos into the VCR, since she knows that her furry little friend comes to life through the VCR.

I'll leave you with a few more photos of the kids and I'll try to update this every so often. Have a great Winter Break! I'll be teaching a workshop at the Eugene Library to teens on Tuesday afternoon, and on Friday I'll be giving a lecture on the history of Manga as part of the First Friday Gallery walks. AnnaMae and the first snowstorm of the year. It was 18º when I took the photo, so we were out for a total of 5 minutes. Then her mitten fell off and she touched the snow and started to cry.

Here Luke was dressed up like a character I drew in a Children's Book Illustration class I took about 8 years ago. He really looks like the character I drew way back when (I'll try and find the artwork for that somewhere).

Also, congrats to Dan and Carina! They had a new little Juliet Rose on Tuesday. She was a healthy 7 lbs, 9 oz. Now they get to enjoy a messy house with no sleep for 18 years.