EKjourney Backup

How could it be?  Jubilee turned 5 on Friday!  Our second born, our first daughter, 5, already??  We have been so blessed and honored to be the parents of this child.  What enrichment, laughter, learning, and love she has brought to our lives.  What a dynamic she brings to our household.  Parenting surely has been the most challenging of undertakings but no matter how hard it is, I couldn't imagine missing out!! Clearly, we need a bigger vacuum! Opening presents in the morning. Such a Sawyer look!  He is watching the mini forklift deliver pallets of retaining wall block.   The girls. Grandma Tracy and B Waiting patiently for birthday desserts! Chocolate ice cream cones by request.  So, easy to please! And for the rest of the weekend.... By 2:00 or so Saturday morning, I was sick with the flu - AGAIN!!  Throwing up, aches, pains...for the third time this pregnancy.  Phil was sick by noon, Evi threw up twice but it didn't seem ...

Wow, Saturday was a full one!  It started out with Phil leaving early for a day of helping out at my parents and finishing the final touches of a house painting project he started last summer.  Then his wife (that's me) had some sort of bizarre emotional hormonal meltdown about spending our one family day apart (church is an all day affair and the weekends have changed drastically since we made a commitment to a long commute and a fellowship meal...I need to blog on this!).  We changed plans.  Phil came home, I packed up for a day out (diaper bag, lunch, dinner, school stuff) and we went to the pet parade as a family, then to my parents as a family, and then to the house painting job site as a family.  We may not get a whole lot done on the never-ending list of things to do but we do try and prioritize our busy schedules around spending time with one another and enjoying being together as a family. Pet Parade This highlight of the parade...getting ca...

I finally finished my first "official" hat.  I have made several prototypes but this one is a usable one!  I don't have a great deal of time but every once in awhile, I try and sit down for 15-20 minutes and at least do something with my creative brain (what is left of it).  I have found that hats are very individual!  Evi has a nice round face, perfect for beanie style hats.  Hats for Jubilee have proven to be much more difficult.  She has a narrower face and does not look good in beanie styles.  Sawyer also has a long narrow face but the trouble that I am finding with him is making a manly looking hat.  The last one was too frilly. Too busy!  Poor Evi cannot quite make it through the day without needing a little rest.  We worked out in the yard and skipped rest time.  She fell asleep 'reading' a library book on Octopus. Finally, Mommy insists that we have a nap day!  Sweet dreamy bliss!

I don't know what is going on with Picassa!!  For some reason it isn't letting me type and it republished an old post at the top.  Before that, pictures weren't showing up.  I have blogged for a couple of years with no problems so I am not sure how to correct this. The last 2 weeks have seemed very crazy!  I have only been home for three days.  The month has been filled with errands, appointments, meetings, and overnight conferences besides the usual all day out for church, a few fun days thrown in, and of course a little extra time spent at my parents.  While I do occasionally experience cabin fever, I find being home so important for my ability to be keeper of my home, especially with such a young crew in tow!  Routines are established, chores are more apt to be completed, schooling gets done, meals get on the table, and training my little ones is more in focus when I am actually at home to do it!! And now...the Vein Truth!  Fortunately, with Pi...

Saturday, we were awakened by 3 wide awake children who wanted to go to OMSI so we spontaneously packed up and spent a day in Portland at OMSI and then a brief visit to the zoo.

It was cool, windy, and cloudy but it didn't rain so we made the most of it by spending the day outside plugging along on the urban farm. These two pictures (top and bottom) show the continuation of the rock wall right into the hillside retaining project.  With fresh mulch and some pots in place, it looks like a completed section of the garden.  The ducks enjoyed spending the day having recess and gorging themselves on worms! It was getting dark and there are a number of distractions in the way but you can see the second layer of brick starting to go up.  The duck house and pen area will eventually be moved higher up making way for a nice sunny spot for more vegetable gardening. What do we do after a long day of work?  Relax by the fire with grilled hamburgers!  It was so chilly out that we kept a fire in the fire pit all day.  It was nice to have a toasty fire to warm up by.

We got a call around 7:30 in the morning, Mother's Day, from my parents saying their barn had burned down. All my Dad's tools, antiques, gardening equipment, family heirlooms, etc.. all destroyed. This is the second time that my parents have lost outbuildings full of belongings to a fire (first time was the Hull Mountain Fire, 2004 was the date, I think.) but they managed to save many things during the evacuation.  This time, they had no warning.  My Dad heard an explosion around 2:00 in the morning and the barn was already engulfed by the time the police and fire department arrived.  It was burned to the ground 3 hours later.  They think that a raccoon or skunk knocked a heating lamp over while trying to get at a box of baby chicks.  Other option is a malfunction in an electrical chord or a freezer.  The process of sifting through the ashes, clean up, cataloging all their belongs and what it would cost to replace them, trying to run their property with no ...

It was a beautiful day today so I decided to challenge myself a little (or a lot LOL) and take the children to the zoo. I am not a fan of big all day outings (or driving) without Phil but I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do something fun with the children. We had a great time! Sawyer measuring a sturgeon. This is the first time that Brighton has been to the zoo where it has "clicked". He pointed and "hooted" at all the animals and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Four little Kellys! Evi asked at every exhibit if there were monkeys. Here she is watching them. Having a picnic. This is the new exhibit, Predators of the Serengeti (I have to say, having been on Safari in real life at Kenya's Masai Mara, nothing could ever be as impressive as the real thing.)

Listening to Jonathan Park Looking a bit vampire-iss Well, this is one way to play Mr. Potato Head! Brighton has gotten so big the last two weeks. He started walking, waving bye/hello, doing patty cake, very interactive. He has been so much fun lately! Thrilled to be with Big Sister (or not...) I actually crocheted this hat! It is a tad bit too big and a tad too short but I am learning as I go and figure I will have a number of prototypes before I get the sizing down perfect! This is the second hat (different style and stitching) that I have made. I will update with pictures once I finish the embellishments. Helping with the laundry (by helping, I mean throwing it everywhere). I love how babies get into boxes! Two bed mulched (against the fence and the lettuce/kale bed) and one sore pregnant Mama back! Mr. Carrots has been waiting for a hutch since November! Bonnie investigating her new home. The new hutch. Phil did a fantastic job and Bonnie and Mr. Carrots are becoming fast friends!...