When one leaves the nest.

On Thursday a new chapter begins in Heather's life. After living with us almost a year she will spread her wings and fly to Spain. She is so excited! If you had told her this time last month that she would living in Spain she would have thought you had lost your brains! Two weeks ago she would have thought you were crazy~ but in less than 48 hours she will be going to the Southern Coast of Spain.

Her girlfriend Leah left a month ago to be part of a work exchange. Several weeks later the offer arose to join her. Leah is working on a horse ranch. She is living in a villa that over looks the sea. Her host family is a single Swedish mom and her 2 children.

Two weeks later they will move to another farm for a month. In between each move they will have a week to explore Spain. They are hoping to visit Portugal, France and maybe Germany. This will certainly be a whirl wind few months!

At the end of May, Heather will be state side. Her next journey will find her traveling around Appalachia. She has a graduate assistance position work withing her mentor in Sociology. I do not quite understand what she will be doing other than having an amazing time~!

Keep her in your thoughts to be safe, healthy and happy. Maybe occasionally she will end post a few pictures!

~b

Christmas 2010

Every Christmas Eve the kids receive
new jammies.

It was a wonderful feeling not having to go to the airport this year at Christmas. I can hug Heather all I want and not freak out that she will be gone in X amount of days. But I did get a bit of excitement surge thinking back on how totally wonderful it felt counting down the days till she was here. :0)

Christmas could not have been any more wonderful. We are healthy, have food in the kitchen, a beautiful place to call home, and we were all together. There are things we still greatly miss: spending time with Grandma; spending the week after Christmas at the family farm, cutting our tree down in the woods; attending First Presbyterian Church's Christmas Eve children's services and spending time with their Godparents.

Tree shopping is serious stuff!

This year was different. It was not as hectic, hurried, or anything of the sort. We did a little a baking nothing like we use to do. We spent quiet time with one another. Rather exchanging a bunch of gifts, we drew names. Each person make a thoughtful present or deed for whose name they drew. we all enjoyed this greatly. Sarah Elizabeth made a Santa coat for Joseph. She sewed all the around the cuffs and up the  zipper with cotton balls. It is darling! He sleeps in it and wears it constantly with his Santa hat, gloves and boots everywhere! He makes people smile when they see him. :0)
Exchanging gift of  love with one another will definitely be a new tradition with our family.

Even naked,
the grand fir is lovely.

We attended the Christmas Eve service at Bethesda Lutheran. It was a small gathering and very simple. Just the pace we had hoped for. How I love Pastor Malcolm! Dinner was wonderful. Afterwards the girls baked cookies for Santa while continuing another Christmas tradition...watching 24 hours of a Christmas Story! Before bedtime the children made sleeping arrangements. They always sleep in the same room.  I guess to make sure no one peeks! After the younger ones are tucked in the wrapping party begins. This year we could not put presents under the tree because of our 2 trouble making little boy kitties. With our luck the kittens will have had everything unwrapped and played with! Actually Emily thought it was really neat to wake up with all the presents put out. She asked if we could do this again next year.  If your counting that is 3 new traditions!

Christmas day was wonderful. Some napped, some watched new movies or read books they received as a gift. I cooked our first gluten free casein free Christmas dinner. It was wonderful. We had been invited out to our new homeschooling friends, The Smyers', for an evening of games as well as enjoying each others friendship but it did not happen. Too much Christmas excitement for Joseph. A major meltdown with the mere thought of leaving Scooby Do to fight the Black Lagoon creature alone pushed him over the top! Santa gave him the movie. I lost track how many times he watched that DVD that day. Obviously way too many!

The week after Christmas was a huge blessing. The tone of the week was laid back. I got some snuggle time with the younger children reading by the fire. Jeff and I snuck out and shared a glorious lunch of gluten and cheese pizza! The kids went to the beach. I was allowed naps, time to read or write. It was like we were on vacation. (Even then I still get stuck with the dishes.)



For New Years Eve a very welcoming invitation was extended by the Smyers' to go Lake Union and watch the fireworks. We had a fabulous view of the Space Needle complete with no parking issues and a bathroom! We zipped in and out of Lake Union with no traffic. Unheard of in Seattle. How about that on a NYE? Moored beside the pier were multi-million dollar yachts. We were all in awe of the size, furnishings, and everything else. Shoot, some of the dingies were larger than our condo!

We were freezing while we waited for the show to begin. It was very interesting listening of the excitement welling up all around us as people began to start the count down. Prior to the count down it had been fairly quiet. The moment the first rocket shot off so did the cheers. It was such a festive environment! We greatly enjoyed the view of the fireworks. The boat parade marching past us through out the evening was pretty darn cool too. Over all it was a great way to kick off 2010.

New years day we all swore off making resolutions. Instead trying to make a difference as often as we can to keep our family healthy, peaceful, and remind each of them how deeply they are loved. I think this is a keeper.

Blessing of health and happiness to you and your family~blair

25 YEARS

It was just by chance that I had gone to a different dinner hall that night. He was sitting alone. I thought he was too cute to sit by himself. I never gave him another thought. Two years later a different school and he was in my physics class. By the end of the semester we started dating. Three years later, almost to the day we were married.

He even smiled. :0)

What a view!

Jeff was a frozen "PoP". He did not wear a coat.

I sure do love this man.

Twenty-five years and four children later I love that man more today than I did way back then. For our 25th anniversary Jeff made arrangements for my dream to come true, to renew our wedding vows at Kerry Park. Sneaking dog, he made the arrangements secretly. I did not know until a week before!  Most of our Seattle "family" braved the FREEZING weather and snow. I thought the light snow made it feel very romantic. It was so funny after the ceremony a small crowd had gathered and they all cheered for us! Pretty cool.

We had a great party at our place following the ceremony. Heather made our 3 layer cake and Sarah Elizabeth decorated it. They cleaned our house, and set everything up. Everything looked so great.
The girls watched Emily and Joseph so that Jeff and I could spend 2 bliss full days together. Our first weekend away since Joseph was born.

My girlfriend Janet, chose my flowers.

Party following our ceremony.

Too pretty to cut!

Present time!

Those ROTTEN daughters shoved cake in our faces!

 It was a fabulous day spent with wonderful friends and family. We are so blessed.

Joseph Steps

Drum roll please: This is a big one~ Joseph can now take his 7-8 daily pills with water or juice! This is huge!

When he was little he took his medication sprinkles with soy yogurt. It got to the point that he could no longer deal with the horrid taste of "sprinkles". (medication that was grounded up and placed in capsule form)
So we moved to baby food with pills. Joseph has had texture issues for years. I was really worried about this change. After a few days he was taking his medication like a champion. This lasted for 2 years.

About a week ago Seattle got socked in with a very unexpected snow and ice storm. We ran out baby food. He need his medication. I remembered that Joseph had taken a very small pill at the hospital with out any problems. What the heck I thought, might as well give it a try. He needed his medication or he could have a seizure. I handed him a pill and a glass of juice. He looked at the pill, stuck in his mouth and I encouraged him to take a drink. I handed him another pill. he popped it in his mouth, and took a drink. Next thing I know Joseph REACHED for the remaining pills and took them! In the morning same thing but this time he did not need encouragement to take his medication or to drink! Wahooooooo!

 He still will play the game of running away so that he does not take his medicine, but now comes back quicker pops several in his mouth at a time and takes a slug of water, just like a pro!

I am so proud of Joseph! Keep on taking those Joseph steps~ Love you.

Thanksgiving with some Black Friday Shopping thrown in

Sweet potato casserole

This Thanksgiving was the first year we have ever prepared our meal as a gluten free and casein free. It was wonderful. There were not that many changes to our main stay menu and those that we did were really not that difficult.

Gluten free stuffing

Heather's Pumpkin Pie

The corn pudding I made completely from scratch, rather than using canned creamed corn. I made our traditional southern 7 cup salad with plain soy yogurt instead of sour creme. I made 2 stuffings. One was gluten free and the other was not. Jeff made yummy gluten free gravy. He liked it just the same! Heather the Queen of baking taught herself how to make a pie crust from scratch as well as the pumpkin. The pie was out of this world. Everyone pitched in and our dinner turned out great!
On a side note: I do not recommend to cook a large dinner after 9 hours of black Friday shopping and no sleep. I was too exhausted to enjoy all the cooking.




Speaking of Black Friday my friend Harley's Life with 3 boys blog has a terrific gift giveaway:
http://www.hartleysboys.com/p/win-free-toys-from-asq-and-hlw3b.html .

Rained all night, sometimes pouring.

Our entire time waiting to get into Kohl's was spent in the pouring rain. We made some new friends though and got some great deals. Was it worth standing in line? Not this year. Quality time spent with Sarah Elizabeth, yes!

Oh well! It would not be Seattle in the winter if it was not raining and besides it all worked out in the wash. I ended up scoring 2 nicer gifts at Target and for less $$! Ca-Ching! Still have several presents to get and then I am finished. Sarah Elizabeth is an amazing shopper. She goes through the ads, then draws a layout of the store. Plans our attack, then we are outta there!

It is my hope that you and your had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know we did. The best part of Thanksgiving was having Heather here with us for the first time in over 3 years! <3

Halloween

Fall has come as with the cooler weather. Layering of clothing is a necessity these days. The cooler mornings yield to warmer afternoons. The trees are lovely in their full glory. School is in full session and the days are flying quicker than I would like. Before the clocks were turned back is was dark by 4:30 pm, A sign of things to come when winter casts it spell of short days and early darkness.

Steve and Sarah Elizabeth.

I am late posting about Halloween but I could not let it go with out posting a few pictures of our fireman  
(Joseph), Artist (Emily), tree spirit (Heather), Prince Charming (Steve) and Sarah Elizabeth.

Seriously Heather, texting while trick-or-treating?

Trick or treat was so much fun this year because Heather was able to join us and Sarah Elizabeth's boyfriend Steve. Trick or treating starts at 6pm and usually last till the candy is gone or about 9ish pm. This year Seattle was chosen for a 2nd year in a row as the Best place to trick or treat in the county! We thought that was way cool. We went into the City to the outer area of one of the neighborhoods suggested. Oh my golly the kids bags were so heavy that Joseph could not carry his! One house even gave out a treat to all the parents~Margareta's! Wahooo!!!! Nothing like being tipsy in a dark neighborhood your unfamiliar with. :0)

We headed back to our neck of the woods after about an hour. Joseph was tired and told me, " I NEEEEED TO SIT DOWN!" When arrived home I took Joseph around the complex and the older kids went to a neighborhood down the road. We timed it great and were all back in about an hour. They said they would have good farther but their bags were to heavy!

Bear and Heather start a fire.

After grabbing a snack and hot cocoa, it was time to get down to some serious business! Just as all kids do there major wheeling and dealing of candy! It never ceases to amaze me how fast this goes. There was candy flying everywhere. In the end I think everyone was happy with their lot.

A Dentist's worse nightmare.

Heather has her loot all neatly organized.

I was a bit worried about Emily eating candy before I could google it and make sure it was GFCF. After everything legal was identified the kids traded with her and she ended up with a fair amount. This made her very happy. Then the discussion of what to do with all the extra candy. They decided to donate it to the food bank. I kept a bunch to use in stockings we would give away to friends and teacher's at Xmas. Unfortunately there is a mouse in our house and most of that candy disappeared in days. :0(

NO! I am NOT going to give any of it up!

The food bank was so appreciative of all the candy the kids donated. It was almost half of a pillow case! They plan on using the candy for the children's stockings at Christmas.

Too pretty for Halloween.

Gimmie the goods and nobody gets hurt!

Hope that there were no tricks pulled on you and that you had a very Happy Halloween!

Moonlight Beach Adventure

The other night around sunset we went to Edmond's Marina Beach. It is our favorite beach. The city of Edmonds has a discovery program that offers in-class as well as beach classes. Each summer they offer a wonderful evening with scuba divers bringing critters out of the Sound and on the beach.

This years event occurred on a warm summer evening. The sunset was amazing and a slight breeze was coming off the Sound. In the far distance we watched a storm rise over the Olympic Mountains and rain on the peninsula. A perfect summer evening. And don't you know I forgot my camera! So I have had to pull photo's from other times.

It was so cool to see the beach crawling with kids, flashlights and head lanterns. Stretched out across the beach were six plastic baby pools. Children and adults were oooing and ahhhing the contents. Squeals of excitement were made by those of all ages. Occasionally a diver would walk up on the beach with a net bag dumping the contents into the pool.

Other tanks where rainbows of colors. Until I moved to Seattle I had no idea that Star fish could come in so many beautiful colors. I think by far the purple ones are my favorite. Not only does the color vary as the does the texture. Joseph does not like the feel of  star fish or most sea creatures in general. It is so funny when we go to the grocery store. When we pass the fish market he always says, "ewwwww fish" but with a smile on his face! Take him to the aquarium and he could spend the day, put a palate of salmon in front of him to eat and he is a happy camper. :0)

Many of the pools contained several species of sculpin, flounder, and gunnel. The gunnel look like eels. Joseph thought the flounder felt slimy and giggled every time one would swim around. Once the flounder had hidden in the sand he would say "where did he go? where did he go?" From the movie Find Nemo. It was way to funny!

Another cool thing that was available during the Beach Adventure was a live Puget Sound-cam. The divers took camera's underwater with them. Joseph thought he was at the movies! He watched it for almost 2 hours. He even asked for pop corn! :0)

I cannot wait till the next beach walk. Wait, yes I can. It is December. I do not want to wish life to go that fast. It goes fast enough as it is!