It goes on and on and on

I know you all were wondering "How's that kitchen coming?" Well, I thought I would let you see some of my progress. The curtain is on the back door, complete with red rick-rack and the magnetic spice rack is mounted on the wall, thank you Moopie. You can see that I took the time and care to organize my kitchen before I took these, so please no looking for cake crumbs. haha! The cabinets are still waiting to be painted, but all in good time, my friends. This week my Moopie is installing new black outlets and light switches for me!

Performance Night 2008

Ava, "Did you see my earrings?"
Paigey, "Shhhh!"

"If I were a robin in a tree, I'd thank you Father, that I can sing!"

We joined a homeschool co-op this fall called First Class Central Portland, or what everyone calls "Friday School" (cuz it's on Fridays). The kids LOVED it and so did I. We got to know many, many Christian homeschooling families and it was a blessing to go every week. The fall term is over but the last week they put on a performance night, where classes had a chance to show parents and families what they learned. Ava's kindergarten class as well as her Spanish class both sang songs, but Jonah did not have the chance to perform anything. They were asking for parents to sign kids up if the kids wanted to sing or play piano, or whatever, but I didn't even ask my kids if they would want to (normally they don't appreciate being in front of crowds). Well, it turns out Jonah is more like me than we thought and craved the spotlight. He was volunteering to even turn cartwheels across the stage in order to get in the program! His science teacher, our friend Jessica Zeigler, was kind enough to let him stand by the table she had set up and demonstrate the experiments as people came by. He was so stoked and bolted back there as soon as the official program was over. Now we are counting down until Friday School starts up again in mid February.

Getting To Thanksgiving...

We had such a relaxing Thanksgiving Day with our good friends the Durias'. Mindy and I were cooking up a storm in the kitchen and laughing at how our men were jamming on guitars together (we even heard Jon sing, which means he was really relaxed!). After we were all stuffed the adults just sat in the living room and closed our eyes for about an hour. What a blessing to have friends with whom you don't even have to make small talk. The kids had fun watching Christmas movies and playing ninjas or dollies respectively.
Click here to see who all was on our guest list. (Thanks, Ian!)

Arizona Visit 2008

We've been so busy the past few weeks that I am just now getting these on the blog. We went to visit Poppop and Nana in mid-November and had a great time with them as well as with some friends and family. My sister JoAnna and her family drove 4 hours to see us and the Griffins are on furlough there, too. We celebrated Jonah turning 8 and had incredible weather (the kids swam everyday!). Jon and I were blessed by being able to go on lots of dates and the kids were blessed to have some good Nannie-Poppop time, too. It was a great vacation! (If you want to see the captions for the pictures click on the web-album link after the slideshow)

Ava "Shirley Temple" Brawley

Ava wanted to try something new this time so instead of ballet she chose tap dancing classes. I was trying to upload a video of her class doing a little routine to "Lollypop, Lollypop" but four hours later when it hadn't loaded I decided to do a shorter one...
When I asked her this morning if she would rather do ballet or tap, she said she would like to do the combo class of ballet and tap. Maybe we do have a little Shirley Temple on our hands.

Groooooooovin'

In case you can't tell what's going on, these kids really love Neil Diamond (oh yes, Gammie!) and Ava keeps yelling that Brynne's doing "The Worm". . .

Halloween 2008

Jonah was Luigi (from Super Mario Bros), Ava was Dorothy (dress made by Gammie), and Brynne was Toto (in purple jammies). We went trick or treating with some friends in our neighborhood and had a blast! The best part was when one lady gave the kids pennies. Ava came running down the front walk and said "That is a SPECIAL house!! She gave me a PENNY!"

Happy 34th, Jon!!

The annual Pie-In-The-Face for Jon's b-day last week! We had a great dinner out at Jake's Grill, and a wonderful day as a family going to see Wall-E at the cheap theater. At the risk of sounding corny, Jon is the best husband and father and we are very blessed to have him for our own.

Puzzling?

Not for us! Ava and I love puzzles. I remember doing puzzles with my GG (Grandma Grace) when I was little. Ava's Nana bought this 100 piece puzzle for Jonah, and while he hasn't really been interested, Ava's been tackling it often.

Complete with Cheetos on the side.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

"Ricolaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" (I made baby Samuel this sweater and hat and this was the first time he got to wear it)

Boo was a little grumpy that I wouldn't let her run to the farthest field...

BFF Makaena and Clara. Both so sweet and such a privilege to watch them grow together.

The four girls together (L-R: Paigey, Ava, Jolie, Audrey "Rosie")

The three boys together (L-R: Aidan, Tim, Jonah)

Our very own homeschool co-op! Gone are the days when we can all pile into two minivans... :)

New Photos

Brynne at 19 months. Nana (Louise) made the smocked sweater and bonnet--aren't they beautiful?

I love this one!

Sisters in their cute ballerina outfits!

Ava on Herself

Yup, They Look Alike

Last night Jon and I babysat Aidan and Joshua Durias. This is a conversation I had with Joshua (nearly 3) during dinner:
Joshua (Pointing to a picture of Jonah): That Boo-Boo (Brynne)?
Me: Nope, that's Jonah.
Joshua: That Joe-Joe?
Me: Yup, he's a boy. Boo-Boo's a girl.
Joshua: Oh. (pauses, then points to the picture again) That a boy Boo-Boo?

Oh, Man

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Yes that is applause that you hear. Brynne was dancing so funny after this video. Maybe we should go back to no dancing in churches.

My Creative Sister

My sister Jamie is one of the most creative peeps I know. She can draw well, write well, sing (well, maybe not--click here--just kidding Jam), and is a wonderful cook. She's even started a new blog with the motivation to instill the love of cooking into our children. It's called Taste Buds & Blossoms. Check back often as they are always adding new stuff and delish recipes.

Apple Tasting

The kids and I joined the Durias' for the annual Portland Nursery Apple Tasting yesterday. It's one of our favorite things to do in Portland during our favorite time of year.
Click here for photos!

Did I Miss Something. . . ?

Since I have to bring a dessert for the moms in Friday School tomorrow morning, I thought I would utilize some of the delicious D'anjou pears that are in our garage and whip up a Fresh Pear Cake.
It was looking so good. . .

But it fell (insert dum dum dum music here). . . Jon came home right as I was making it. . . and I started talking to him. . . I think I might have forgotten to put in the baking powder. . . Or maybe put in only half. Oh, well. At least Jon's not a picky eater.

Oregon Berries in Sept

Louise planted ever bearing strawberries this past Spring and boy oh boy are they ever-bearing...this is a 2 pint container and we left some on the plants...

Three Days at Nannie-PopPop's

We spent three days at Nannie-PopPop's house while Daddy and Momma went to the beach. We watched movies...

Went to a chili cook-off where they had lots of contests...

I got to climb the rock wall..

And Boo-Boo got to try on some new hats! It was lots of fun!

She's A Going Concern...

Brynne is 19 months and into everything. She is actually pretty smart and knows when I tell her not to touch something but often she will just look at me and touch it anyway. That's when the "mommy-finger-flick" comes in, but then she moves on to something else and it starts all over again (note to self: flick hand harder).

This would be all fine if it were not for the fact that she moved from two naps to one the day we started homeschooling this fall. So, consequently she is up and with us during school, trying to get to Ava's markers, glue sticks, and scissors, and tearing up Jonah's worksheets. I had to talk to Jonah about saying "Bad Boo-Boo!" to her this morning ("Does Momma say 'Bad Joe-Joe to you?'")...

I have made the Little Terror a school box and a bean box that only come out when we do school. Nope, she plays with them for about three minutes (if at all) then goes on back to menacing the Living Room Homeschoolers. I guess school in the afternoon may be our lot for the time being...

Free Audio Books For Kids

Audible Kids is offering free children's audiobook downloads. Click on the link and scroll down and click on "Free Downloads for Children's Literacy" in the lower left-hand corner of the website. There are 9 books available including Rapunzel and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as well as some titles for older kids. You do need to create a free account in order to download the free audio books, but you are not asked for your credit card number or mailing address. My kids love to listen to audio books during rest time or play. Also great to put on the iPod and take on a road trip. I burned about four different CDs in about a half hour (it took me awhile to realize that you have to download an Audible program that works with iTunes, once I did that it was a breeze). We got Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Rapunzel, The Gift of the Magi, and The Emperor's New Clothes.
Let me know if you downloaded any!

Last Ones

Mindy with a really cute hat on the beach.

Eating lunch in Astoria at the Cannery Cafe

Four Coo-Coo's in a row

Walking down the beach

Outside the Cafe in Astoria, overlooking the Columbia River.

J & E Vaca-tion at the O-cean

This weekend we dropped the kiddies off with willing Grandparents and headed out for three relaxing days to Cannon Beach with our good friends Ian and Mindy.

This is how Ian looked the whole time because he kept filming us with his new video gadget thing (what are those things called anyways?)

The last day we drove home through Astoria (since I'd never been). This is near where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific. Several tankers and a cruise ship were making their way on the river today.

Ian slept the whole way home.

Jon scratched this on a huge wall amidst other "natural graffiti". I thought it was so sweet until he continued to scratch out this:

"KISS Rocks"

Ian and Mindy at Haystack Rock

Being silly on the beach

My feet, my book (courtesy of my mom), and my coffee. I was happy, indeed.
Other highlights from the weekend included: Watching "Once" (all but the last 20 minutes when the DVD player broke), renting "3:10 to Yuma" until we figured out the DVD player really was broken), beating Ian at Hearts, drinking really great wine (courtesy of Jerry), having Jon ring the bell at the Cannon Beach Conference Center and us all running down the street like we were pulling off a tremendous and original prank, eating loads of candy, sleeping all we wanted, not having to wipe anyone's booty except our own, walking on the Oregon beach and not freezing, going on a beach weekend and not having to put on a bathing suit (yeah, all you girls know what I'm talking about), and eating fresh seafood (hey, I can appreciate it when it's fried).
We just had a wonderful wonderful time.

The Belly!

Brynne is trying to say new words every day. At the beginning of this video she is yelling "Cheese!" Among her other words are: Me too!, Baba (cup), Bepo (Auntie April), Nigh-night, Eat!, Wii (oh yeah), Do-do (Joe-Joe), and Mo! (more). Jon does this little chant with her and they slap their bellies. It's a good thing we are as silly as our kids or else I think we would all go crazy.

A Windfall of Fruit...continued

In between Impala and carjack now lays half of the fruit. Bartlett and D'anjou pears, Golden Delicious and Macintosh apples, and plums (i don't know the variety; the kind they make prunes out of). Hopefully it will keep there until we get back from our trip this weekend. I forgot to include what Ava said regarding all the fruit in the back of the van: "But Momma, all that fruit won't fit in our fruit bowl." :)

The finished chutney, cooling and preserving in the jars. I guess I'll make more once I restock my supplies (I ran out of sugar, raisins, and vinegar after the second batch)