Family O'Foxes

Maddie and her cast

2009-02-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we went to LCC for Samantha to meet the lady who is in charge of the 1st ever Arthritis Walk in Eugene. She wanted to meet Samantha and talk to her about being the Youth Ambassador for the walk.

While we waited for the lady arrive we entertained ourselves in the court yard. Andrew and Maddie were running up and down the concrete stairs. Then they started jumping down the stairs. Maddie hit the concrete ground and fell. She was more concerned about her cut up hand then she was about her ankle. I took off her boot because her ankle was swelling. I had to carry her because she wouldn't put weight on her ankle.

The interview took a couple hours and at one point Andrew decided to go get Tag so he could take him for a walk. Before I could stop Maddie she had hopped on one foot after Andrew. He carried all the way to the parking lot where he tripped and dropped her on the ground. A college student heard Maddie crying so she picked her up and carried her all the way back to me. I was so embarrassed and thankful for that young lady. Maddie said that girl was like an Angel to carry her all the way back.

That night we waited in Urgent Care for 3 hours for them to x-ray her. It was about 11 pm when the dr. felt her ankle and decided she was just fine and had only sprained it. Once we got out the door Maddie informed us that it really hurt when he pushed on her ankle. I asked her why she didn't say anything and she told me she didn't want him to think she was "a big cry baby."

The next morning I called our Ped. dr.'s office and they got ahold of her x-rays and sent us to Slocum. The Dr.'s there looked at the x-rays and told us that she had fractured her growth plate in her ankle.

She'll be in a cast for 3 weeks. Then in 6 months they will take another x-ray to make sure everything healed correctly.

Below is a picture when Maddie got home on Wednesday with her cast on.

This last picture is right before bed and she is showing everyone owie on her arm from when Andrew dropped her.

Hoodoo with the Youth Group

2009-01-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

We spent our New Year's Eve with the church. I hung out with the 4th/5th graders taking video and pictures of all the fun stuff they got to do. Jay hung out with the middle school group.
Then the next day (Friday, Jan. 2nd) Samantha and Jay got up early to go with the youth group for a weekend at Hoodoo. They stayed at Big Lake Youth Camp. The roads to Hoodoo were bad so it took 6 hours to get there.

I really wish Jay would of had a camera to take pictures because it sounded like they did a bunch of cool stuff in the snow (inner-tubing). When they arrived at Hoodoo the only way to get to camp was riding behind Snocat on innertubes. It takes about 45 minutes to get pulled into camp.

Jay and Sam arrived home Sunday evening. They are looking forward to doing it again next year. Also next year Andrew will be able to join them because he'll be in the middle school group.

Below is a picture of Samantha in the youth room before they loaded the buses to head over to Hoodoo.

This picture shows the piles of stuff (sleeping bags and clothes wrapped in plastic so it doesn't get wet) to be loaded onto the buses.

This picture was taken after Jay and Sam arrived back Sunday night.

Here is Andrew helping out by carrying the "bags" to the van.

Camp Jam!

2009-01-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Today in the mail we received a letter from the Arthritis Foundation. Our good (they are like family to us) friends in Kentucky made a donation to a camp for kids who have JRA (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis) that our family will be attending in August.

Here is what the letter says:

Dear Samantha, Jay, Amy, Andrew and Maddie,
Mr. & Mrs. Hatter have made a very kind donation in honor of Samantha for Camp Jam!
I look forward to seeing your family at camp in August. This camp is going to be so special and I hope the weekend will be filled with lots of excitement and memories for you to cherish.
We appreciate Mr. & Mrs. Hatter's very generous donation in your honor to help with our 1st Annual Camp.
Sincerely,
Janet

SNORTA

2009-01-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

When our Christmas package arrived from Kentucky we got this fun game- Snorta. Right after we opened Snorta! we had to play it.

We had a lot of fun playing and giggling.

Then when Gary, Sara and Cari spent the night at our house we played a couple rounds of Snorta. We got laughing so hard that we could hardly breath. They told me that they liked it so much that they got it for their New Years Eve party up in Portland.

If you haven't played this game then you should check it out. It is made by Apples to Apples.

Santa is on his way

2008-12-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

Andrew did his traditional calling Norad tonight (Christmas Eve) to find out where Santa is....

We also sent an e-mail and we got this back as a response:

You can follow Santa's progress here. The white line indicates where he is delivering presents now!But he won't visit your house until you are in bed and asleep!http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Grace Manor- thank you

2008-12-23T22:01:00.001-08:00

I got a thank you today from Grace Manor for our service.
------------------
Thank You so much Amy we are greatly indebted to you here at Grace Manor for brightening the lives of so many seniors who do not have loved ones to charish Christmas with. We truly do appreciate all you do.

Thank A Million,
From the bottom of our hearts
Daniel and staff

Adopt a Grandparent (service project)

2008-12-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

We did our 2nd annual Adopt a Grandparent program that I set up with the rest home. This year we had 16 more boxes than we did last year.
Here is more info about the program from last year. And here is one more post about it from last year.

After our Christmas party we loaded up our girls and met the rest of the SU at the rest home.

This year I decided instead of having us go door to door that we would come at the end of lunch and sing in the dining room. That would cut down on the chaos in the halls (which you can see in these pictures from last year).

The residents were so nice. As you can see in this picture below one of them wore the Christmas craft the girls made them on their head.

The girls sang Christmas songs and had their presents ready to pass out.

Here are some of the residents opening their gifts and showing me what they received.

Daniel (the Activities Director) took the girls whose recipients weren't in the lunch room to their rooms. This lady was so precious. She told Samantha that it was her birthday and Jesus birthday and she was 94 years old. She kept smelling the gifts and letting us know they had an odor to them. She clarified that it was a pleasant odor. It got the girls giggling that she liked smelling her gift. Daniel told us as we were leaving that she has no family. So, no one to visit her.

Now an update on Samantha: Thursday (Dec. 11th) Samantha didn't feel well. Her stomach hurt so much. It would hurt after she took her medicine. She had the same problem on Friday and that was her best friends slumber party. I talked to the mom about Sam's issue with her stomach and the medicine and we decided to let her go ahead. Sounds like she had fun at the sleepover. Then she was dropped off in the morning at the GS Christmas party. She was doing well to start with but by the time we got to the rest home I noticed Samantha had withdrawn from everyone. Her friends noticed also. Samantha told me her stomach hurt so badly and that she was in a lot of pain and felt weird. She did make it through the "adopt-a-grandparent" project. When we got home she spent the rest of the afternoon resting at home.

Currently she is making sure she eats enough food before she takes her medicine to help keep her from getting sick to her stomach.

Girl Scout Christmas Party

2008-12-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

We had our annual Christmas party on Sat. 13th.

The girls did several crafts and played games.
One of the games they played was a 3-legged race with huge Christmas stockings.

This next game was decorate your leaders. The girls broke into two teams and each team had the same supplies. They decorated us with all the supplies.

Not sure if you can tell but I have bows on my shoes. The girls had a great time making Jill and I look like a beautiful Christmas present.

This year instead of doing a cookie exchange and recipe book we did an ornament exchange. The girls did a cake walk and when you land on the number that was called ...then you got to pick a wrapped ornament. We did not do where you steal the ornament from each other.

Pretty Cool

2008-12-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

An update on Samantha

2008-12-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

Samantha has been such a trooper for us. At class last Monday Samantha's hips hurt so badly that she could barely walk down the stairs. Everyday when she gets up in the morning something different hurts in her body. So, she asked me to call her dr. at Dorenbacher. Last Thursday I talked with her Dr. and he decided the best treatment at this stage is to continue having her taking Aleve 2x a day and to increase her chemo drug up to 6 pills a week. Before this phone call she was weaned down to 1 pill but her normal dosage was 3 pills. Samantha wasn't happy about the increase but she understood it's whats best for her now.

Last Friday night we were in World Market looking around when Maddie came over to her Dad and told him Samantha was on the floor and couldn't get up. Apparently, she had squatted down to look at a toy on a lower shelf and couldn't get up because the pain was too great. Jay had to lift her up. After she was able to get the pain to subside she wanted to keep shopping at VRC. She was still experiencing pain but didn't want to be pushed in a stroller. I suppose no 12 year old wants to be pushed around in a stroller.

On a positive note we will be attending a camp this summer for kids who have JRA (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis). The camp is for the whole family. It is sponsored by The Eagles who put on charity events to raise money for the camp this past year. This camp will be free of charge to the families. Praise the Lord!

Happy 11th Birthday, Andrew

2008-11-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

11 years ago Andrew was born on Black Friday! I guess the Thanksgiving dinner the day before did me in. Actually we really didn't do Thanksgiving that year because I was due.

When Andrew was 5 years old his birthday fell on Thanksgiving. Every 11 years his birthday will fall on Thanksgiving. So, you know what that means-> when he is 16 years old his b-day will be Thanksgiving. No driver license on his b-day. hee hee!

Last night he opened his b-day presents because we have a tradition of the kids spend the night on Thanksgiving at G'ma's house so we can go Black Friday first thing in the morning. We actually didn't see Andrew until we picked him from gymnastics this evening.

All of us plus our friend, Cari (who lives up North), went to Nachos for dinner. I'm bummed I had misplaced my camera and didn't get any pictures. It took a couple hours searching for it this evening to find my camera. I had put it in my other jacket before I changed to go get Andrew for dinner.

Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade

2008-11-27T23:44:00.001-08:00

I got the idea from StephieAnne's blog. I printed off bingo cards and gave the kids pennies to mark their cards. They had a lot of fun watching the parade.

Then for a prizes I came up with a $2.00 bill for 1st place and gold dollars for 2nd and 3rd place. There was a little arguement on who really "won"...so, I decided to keep the $2 and give each kid a gold dollar. Next year I think I might change some of the stuff on the cards (one thing was for Mom/Dad to yell turn off the TV). I could probably come up with something different for that spot. I have a whole year to figure something out. :)

I survived Costco

2008-11-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days we've been trying to get all the leaves to the street while it was nice in the afternoon. Yesterday morning the leaf crew came and put all the leaves from around our area in front of our house. When I left for Costco I backed out the driveway into this pile of leaves. Geesh.

I went to Costco when the business people can get in (10 am). It was STILL crazy. The lines were long and the parking lot was full. I called two of my friends and found out if they needed me to pick up anything.
Below is our pie count:
5 pumpkin pies, 1 pecan pie, and 1 apple pie
Tara took 2 pumpkin and Jill took 1 pumpkin pie.
Costco has great pumpkin pie. It taste just like Libby's Pumpkin Pie. The best part is it is only $6.00 and it is huge. Normally I bake all the pies but this year I took the easy way out. :)

MEME: Christmas

2008-11-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

I saw this on StephieAnne's blog and thought it would be fun to do:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? If I have to wrap it then it is "gift bag" time (I wrap presents like I'm in second grade). Jay on the other hand is a totally different story. He's a fancy wrapper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees.

3. Why are you willing to answer these questions? for something fun to do

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually the day after Christmas.

5. Do you like eggnog? I can't do dairy. But my son loves it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My laptop

7. Hardest person to buy for? it is toss up between Jay and Tara

8. Easiest person to buy for? I'm really bad about picking gifts out for people. Jay is so much better than me at all that stuff.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep. I have several of them. I love the nativity scene.

10. Do you send your card by mail or e-mail? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I won't say since I know people who read this blog but don't comment. I don't want hurt feelings. But those who know me well know what it was. :)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? ELF

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? no certain time. Usually on Black Friday. LOL!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe. Not sure.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? sweets

16. Lights on the tree? Yep. White lights on the Christmas tree

17. Favorite Christmas song? Hmmm...changes from year to year. "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" or "Mary whose child is this" (not sure if that is the correct name).

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? at home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? probably not

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one present on Christmas eve. We actually don't put any presents under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas eve...so they wake up to presents under the tree.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? All the Christmas music. After awhile it gets old (my kids like to play it all waking hours)

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like snowmen

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? kind of like Thanksgiving dinner

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? well behaved kids. just teasing. :)

Choir

2008-11-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Maddie joined the choir today for 1st service. Amy and Emma picked up Maddie early this morning to help us out(3 services). Thank you, Amy, because the two older kids were still sleeping when you picked up Maddie. She had a great time with you.

If you click on the pictures you can see them better. Maddie is in the second row from the bottom (far left).

The next set of pictures are from 2nd service (I didn't take any of 3rd service since they would of been of the same thing).

Maddie couldn't hold still while singing. She had her legs bouncing and then it moved to her shoulders and finally her head.

Samantha is on the far left in the purple Easter looking dress.

It was a lot of fun hearing all of their sweet voices singing God's praises. All the kids did a great job. :)

What pain looks like

2008-11-19T16:04:00.001-08:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that Samantha is being weaned off her chemo meds. It isn't going as well as Samantha would like. She was hoping to be done with them forever. But her body is starting to go into a flare. I took this picture of her this afternoon (after school).

She woke up on Monday barely able to move her head because her neck hurt so badly. The pain is still hurting her today. On Tuesday when she woke up with her neck pain she told me that her wrist and ankles hurt her also. She said she thought she slept funny on them but I knew that wasn't the case. I talked to her Ped. Dr.'s office and they told me to ice and then put heat on the spots (plus Tylenol). Then if the pain was still there the next day to call her Dr. at Dorenbacher.

So, I have a call into her dr. up in Portland.

Samantha has a hot water bottle on her neck and a heating pad on her ankle. After the ice and then the heat she felt a little better. She is going to youth group tonight so she is hoping she can play the games when the time comes.

Report Card Day

2008-11-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today the Samantha and Andrew got their math report cards from Logos.

Fighting Ducks

2008-11-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

I love sitting in the Suite. We took a bunch of pictures with me in them but my eyes were always shut because of the flash. So, here is one without a flash and my eyes are open.

Here are some photos of what it looks like inside the Suite.

Andrew and Maddie reading during the game. There is food all around them. The food is always so good.

Sewing

2008-11-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Last week Samantha asked me to take out my sewing machine. The reason she wanted to sew was because on Veteran's Day she went to the VFW Hall and sewed stocking for Service Men and Woman. It motivated her to want to make one for herself.

She did all of this by herself. I can't sew and she knows that I'm no help. :)

Fly Over

2008-11-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday before the Duck game we were on our way home and Jay took us on the new fly over. It was mine and the kids first time. So, being a dork I documented me right before we got on the fly over.

$4 million or so (give or take a few million) for this road.

Kung Fu Night

2008-11-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night I got the privilege of being the photographer for the Middle Schoolers Kung Fu Panda night at First B. I followed the kids around taking all kinds of fun photos. They had different stations set up (like showing your secret ninja move, ninja star making and so on). The kids had fun dressing up for the evening. We found that dress Samantha is wearing from Goodwill. It is authenic (from Vietnam).

Above is a shot of Jay and the girls showing me their secret ninja move before we headed out for our night at the church.

October's Dr. appointment

2008-11-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to family members that I didn't blog after our last dr. appointment at Dorenbacher's Children Hospital. A few weeks ago we headed up for our every 4 month dr. appointment with Samantha. G'ma kept Andrew and Maddie here that day.
It was a good appointment. Samantha has been on methotraxate for 9 years. At her previous appointment the Dr. weaned her from 3 pills once a week to 2 pills once a week. She didn't do so well for a couple of weeks after being weaned to two pills. But Samantha didn't want me to say anything to the dr. because she hates taking the medicine so much. So, after a couple of weeks she started adjusting to the new dosage.
At this appointment the Dr. thought Samantha was still doing well enough to go down to just one pill. I told him what happened after the last time he reduced her medicine and he told me to let him know if it continues for more than a couple of weeks. Samantha promised to be honest with us about the effects the medicine was having on her.
Again her body didn't do so well being weaned to just one pill. She started having flare ups in her ankles and wrist. After a couple of weeks it seems to have quieted down. She is so happy and hopeful that after taking this medicine for almost her whole life she might be able to be done with it.
She was about 62 pounds and if I remember correctly almost 4'10". She is still the lightest kid she knows for her age. She is content with her small size. The only thing that frustrates her about her size is when people think that her brother is her twin (he is the same height...maybe 1/2" shorter).

Here she is waiting for the Dr. to make his appearance.

Jay and I playing around in the Dr. office. I always look so white compared to Jay.

Here is Samantha at her March appointment.

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

2008-11-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

The day after Halloween (Nov. 1st) we got up early and headed to Portland. Dave Ramsey was doing a seminar on finances. We took all three kids and G'ma. Our friends, Tara & Jim came also. We got there early to make sure to get a seat. The two pictures below are of us there about an hour early. Good thing we got there that early because it was packed. 9,000 people showed up to listen to Dave speak on money.

One of Dave's main things is teaching people how to get out of debt (everything but the house). And once you do you call into his radio show and yell- WE'RE DEBT FREE!! We always said we would do that but years ago when we got out of debt we just never got around to it.

The conference was from 1 to 6 pm. The kids did really well sitting there (2 of them brought Nintendo's to entertain themselves),

Tagged~

2008-11-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

My blog friend Stephanie tagged me for a meme.

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I'm an only child. I always wanted to have an older brother. When I was little I use to pretend I had an older brother.

2. I use to play tennis in high school. I was #1 singles for our team and I played year round.. Here is the irony...we have tennis court right outside our back door and I NEVER play anymore. In the 8 years we have lived here I have probably pick up my racquet to play 3 times.

3. Jay and I met 14 1/2 years ago over the internet. He was a Senior at Slippery Rock University (Pa) and I was a Senior at the U of O. We use to telnet (does anyone still do that?) to a college "talker". It was all text based. This was before computers are what they are today. People didn't have them in their homes.

4. I had our 3 kids in less than 3 years. It was crazy times when they were little.

5. I love watching TV. Probably comes from the fact that when I was 2 years old my Mom threw our TV out the window because she was frustrated with my Dad watching TV. So, I grew up withOUT a TV.

6. I'm addicted to Facebook right now. I've used myspace in the past to keep in touch with our Portland friends and family across the country. Then I got a Facebook and I've been connecting up with my highschool friends.

If you want to know more quirky things about me ...I did another MeMe last June. You can check it out here.

Okay, I tag: Jay, Tara, Jill, Raellyn, Cari, and Becky.

It's My Birthday!!!

2008-11-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Well, actually my birthday was Election Day (Nov. 4th). My day started with Samantha waking me up by singing "Happy Birthday" Build-a-Bear style. She also had gotten up early to decorate. Then G'ma Betty called to do her traditional birthday singing to me.

Before we left for Heart to Heart (at EBF) I had asked Samantha take a picture of me. For some reason I can NOT keep my eyes open when the flash is on. I have a bunch of pictures of me with my eyes closed.

Tara beat me into H2H and had everyone wear a party hat and blow horns when I came in. Then everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and she kept announcing how old I am now (37 years old). I would have to say my cheeks turned very pink throughout the morning.

Then off to my birthday lunch with my family at Red Robin. The lunch went well but we did have an awkward moment at the end of lunch when my ex-boyfriend's (highschool through college) dad came over to wish me happy birthday and visit for a few minutes. hee hee!

Here is my b-day from last year.

Can you find me?

2008-11-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

October had some really nice weather and the kids took advantage of our tree dumping leaves everywhere. They were suppose be raking leaves but I could hear them laughing and giggling. So, I went to investigate and found them burying Tag in the leaves. Tag loved it. He would tunnel his way out. Sometimes he would try to eat his way out.

Do you see Tag in the two pictures below? (you can click on the pictures to make them larger)

The kids moved the leaf pile to the back yard. They created a huge mound and when I let Tag out to play in the back he goes straight for the leaf pile. He jumps (if you can call it that when his legs are so short) and tunnels through the leaves. It is funny to watch.

Halloween Customes #2

2008-11-03T14:50:00.001-08:00

Andrew as Dark Helmet (Space Balls the movie)

Andrew and Maddie both have on our friend's high heels on(boots for Andrew and clear shoes for Maddie). Their feet were killing them. :) hee hee! We were telling Andrew he should be Gene Simmons with the boots next year. He has different ideas for next year.

Halloween Customes #1

2008-11-03T14:49:00.001-08:00

Maddie as a Zombie Fashion Model

Tag as a Butterfly

Samantha as a Kitty Cat

Picasa only lets me do a couple pictures. I will blog again with more pictures.

Maddie's costume got changed the day before (from a Rock Star to the Zombie Fashion Model)because she had an accident with the shower curtain and cut her along her lower lashes. We sat in the Urgent Care for 3 hours. Luckily everything turned out fine.
Jay did Maddie's make-up and hair.

Daddy needs a new pair of

2008-10-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

SHOES!!!

Jay's work shoes have seen better days. One of my least favorite things to do with Jay is to go shoe shopping. He is impossible to shop for because his feet hurt him. He would rather wear a comfortable pair of shoes that have holes in them (see photo below) instead of going through the whole shoe shopping experience.

We went to a new shoe place close by our house (DSW Shoes). Before we adventured out we shopped online at Zappos. By the time we got to DSW we knew just what shoes to look at. It was a pretty quick and painless experience.

If you like shoes then you'll LOVE DSW Shoes. Wow, it was like piece of shoe heaven. I would if Birch's Shoes will survive. It's right across the street. After we purchased the shoes we stopped by Birch's and the store was pretty busy.

Under the weather

2008-10-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

Since last Friday I've been fighting off something. It hit me pretty hard on Sunday but Monday I felt back to normal except for some congestion. On Wednesday I woke up sounding very congested but I still felt fine. About 11 pm on Wednesday night I knew I had strep throat. I was in so much pain I didn't sleep at all that night and I couldn't swallow. Thursday was an awful day for me. I did get myself into the dr. to find out I have strep throat and both ears have an ear infection. He didn't check me for sinus infection but I can tell you that I have that also (I'll spare you the yucky details of how I know I have one). For the first 24 hours of taking antibiotics I always feel worse than I started. So, it is Friday evening and I'm still in pain but at least I can function somewhat.

I'm going to miss the Duck game tomorrow night. boo hoo. :( Jay and I thought it is best I'm not sitting outside in the cold. So, Jay gets to find 3 more people to go with him. Andrew had a few ideas.

Jill and I cancelled our 2 Girl Scout meetings for Sunday afternoon. I think this is the first time in 7 years we've cancelled a meeting.

FireProof

2008-10-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Jay and I went to see, FireProof. It is made by the same people who made, Facing the Giants.

What impressed me about these movies:
1. made by a church (as part of their ministry)
2. Christian values
3. all the actors are volunteer
4. everything was shot with one camera

I'm sure there is more but that is all I can think of right now.

This is a must see movie.

I'm editing this to say another thing that impressed me about this movie is that Cameron made a commitment to his wife that he would kiss no other woman (even in acting roles). So, the kissing scene was done with his wife and camera magic.

Costumes

2008-10-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

I got the dress up box down on Friday afternoon so the kids pick out their Halloween costumes. The animals were feeling left out so we found a few things for them to try on.

Shadow being a butterfly.

Yogurt wanted to try on the butterfly costume next.

Tag was thinking about being a bunny for Halloween. What do you think? I think he might be a butterfly instead.

The Invisible Woman

2008-10-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

My friend, Karen, sent me this video a little while ago. It was great timing as I'm dealing with stuff in my volunteer life and my kids lives. I really needed to hear message.

Tag Tales

2008-09-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

I noticed that since I didn't blog for a month and half I didn't mention we got a new puppy.

Maddie has been asking for a small dog for years. She always reminds us that Andrew and Samantha both have cats and she doesn't have an animal. She didn't buy into taking one of the animals we already have. Without Maddie knowing it we began to research dogs. Jay grew up with Dachshunds and has always wanted one to be a house dog for our family. In my research I came across English Cream Longhaired Dachshunds. We found a breeder in Portland and arranged to come by and see one puppy in particular.

Andrew and Samantha flew with G'ma to Nebraska/Colorado to visit family. We dropped them off at the airport and then we went to the zoo. This whole time Maddie had no clue what we had up our sleeve. After the zoo we took a drive out to Hillsboro to see the breeder. Maddie fell in love with "Elmo." He was a shy puppy who needed a family to give him the attention he needed.

We took him that day and kept the secret from Samantha and Andrew while they were on their trip. When we pick up the trio from the airport they were shocked when they opened the van door to see a puppy.

Tag fit right into our family. He has two best animal friends.
Yogurt the cat:

Metolius the 90 pound dog:

He loves his daily walks with the big dogs. I think this picture is so funny.

On a recent walk Tag was stung on the chin by a yellow jacket. It was a scary experience for Maddie and I because Tag started screaming and running and Maddie dropped his leash. The big dogs chased him down and stopped him before he got hit by a van.

I had to take him to the vet because he got a pelican neck from the sting. He is on antibiotics in case of infection.
Here is his stats: weighs 8.8 pounds and is 5 months old. He is shedding teeth like crazy. He lost one while at the Vet.'s office. Maddie put it Tag's tooth box (he already lost 2 that she found). Everyone at the vet's office coo-ed over him.

One more picture of Tag. This is how Tag likes to sleep in Jay's chair.

WFMW- tattoo removal

2008-09-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today is school picture day and my kids had those temporary tattoos all over there arms (actually Maddie had the most on her arms).

I didn't want school pictures with my kids looking like they had just gotten out of prison or joined a gang. So, I got out the rubbing alcohol and a kleenex.

It is very simple- you just need to pour some rubbing alcohol on the kleenex and rub/scrub the tattoo. It takes less than a minute to remove the tattoo. Then just use water to wash off the area.

To find more Works for me Wednesday head over to Shannon's blog.

Happy Anniversary, Jay

2008-09-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

13 years ago today Jay and I had our big wedding. We got married in Jay's hometown church in Dubois, Pa. Then after our wedding ceremony we went to our reception. There was lots of food, drinking and dancing.

Jay's sister, Jacque, made my wedding dress and all the bridesmaids, jr. bridesmaids and flowergirls dresses.

I doubt my girls will ever be able to wear my dress when they get married (because my girls are short). When they are old enough to get married they will probably think my dress is too old fashion for them. I remember my nieces (Kayla and Melissa) asking me to saving the dress because they want to wear it when they are old enough to get married. I wonder if they still feel that way now that they are in college. :)

Below is Samantha and Maddie wearing my dress this morning before school.

The Big Day

2008-09-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

November 4th is a going to be a big day for 2 reasons:
1. history will be made (either with an African American President or a female Vice President).
2. it is MY BIRTHDAY

I think the latter is more important! :)

Do you think anyone will remember or care that that day is my b-day? Time will only tell!

DUCKS

2008-09-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind in blogging. It is overwhelming. If I remember correctly I never finished blogging about the kids b-day party back in July. I'm going to try to work my way backwards. Or maybe I'll just give up and start fresh.

Here is our yearly picture at the Duck game. This was the first game of the season. Our friends, Paul & Kathryn, went with us. We sold parking before hand for a fundraiser and then went to the game. We get to park at the stadium so it only took us a few minutes to get there.

I love going to the games especially when it isn't wet outside.
The last game Jay took: my Mom, Andrew and his friend, Matt. Kathryn and I went to the dog show.

http://familyofoxes.blogspot.com/2007/10/duck-football.html
http://familyofoxes.blogspot.com/2007/11/it-never-rains-in-autzen-stadium.html
http://familyofoxes.blogspot.com/2007/11/ducks.html

First Day of school

2008-09-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day at Logos. 2nd year for Sam and 1st time for Andrew. The sun was shining in their faces. Plus they were excited to get into their class.

When I went to pick them up from study hall this is how I found them:

Andrew was finishing his first assignment. They have to do the work and then retype up all the answers.

Go Ducks

2008-09-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

After I picked up Samantha and Andrew from their first day of class we swung out to Jerry's to see our friend, Kaila. Andrew is getting so tall that he had to dunk down so not to cover up Kaila.
Maddie wore her Duck cheerleading skirt.

Scavenger Hunt- #5

2008-09-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

6. Picture with an animal

8. Create a public work of art

3. Do exactly what the sign says
DROP OFF ONLY

Scavenger Hunt- #4

2008-09-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

5. "I can't believe we all fit in here!"

14. Make yourselves appear really small

12. Campaign for an unlikely cause -- higher prices outside a discount store?
"NO H2Oing"

Scavenger Hunt- #3

2008-09-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

9. Capture your reflection in an unexpected place

15. Can you find us?

2. Catalog pose

Scavenger Hunt- #2

2008-09-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

7. Take your picture with someone in uniform

13. An unsual perspective -- could be everyone's shoes, or the just top of their head

10. Spell something in people
STOP

Scavenger Hunt- #1

2008-09-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

1. Scene from a Disney movie (explaining it afterwards is half the fun!)
This is a scene from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

11. Mimic a statue

4. Most creative use of ‘leap-frog'

Girl Scout- Kick Off

2008-09-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon we had our annual kick off for scouts.
We did a photo scavenger hunt, ate pizza and had ice cream sundaes.Photo

Scavenger Hunt

The only rule is that EVERYONE (except the person behind the camera) has to be in each picture somewhere. Rotate photographers so everyone can participate.
The key to the hunt is creativity, and the result is new friends, new memories and some really great pictures. Have Fun!

Scavenger hunt:
1. Scene from a Disney movie (explaining it afterwards is half the fun!)
2. Catalog pose
3. Do exactly what the sign says (any sign can work)
4. Most creative use of ‘leap-frog'
5. "I can't believe we all fit in here!"
6. Picture with an animal (the more unusual the better)
7. Take your picture with someone in uniform
8. Create a public work of art
9. Capture your reflection in an unexpected place
10. Spell something in people – family name, hello, SOS . . .
11. Mimic a statue -- fountains also work well
12. Campaign for an unlikely cause -- higher prices outside a discount store?
13. An unsual perspective -- could be everyone's shoes, or the just top of their heads. .
14. Make yourselves appear really small
15. Can you find us?

Please be back to the church by 5:00 pm

Behind

2008-09-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind in blogging it is overwhelming. hee hee

Happy 12th B-day

2008-07-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Today Samantha turned 12 years old!

Here is Samantha when I dropped her off at Camp Funshine (she was a PA at the camp all week long...that means she was a leader's helper).

Here are the kids cakes in my cart when I stopped at Costco before we headed to Amazon for their combined b-day party.

Samantha, Emily and MJ at the b-day party tonight.

Olympic Trial Art

2008-07-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I was blessed to have both of my G'ma's visit in the middle of June to the beginning of July.

While G'ma Betty and I were out driving around we came across these sculptures in a local park. There were probably about 8 or 9 of these stick track and field sculptures.

More from the Track & Field Olympic Trials

2008-07-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

More from Friday June 27th

Nike gave out some cool prizes. They gave the kids a drawstring backpack with a ball and pump in it (model below by Samantha)

Future Olympic Athletes?

You decide

Cheetah and Olympic Trials

2008-07-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Friday June 27th was a fun packed day.

In the afternoon the kids and I went into Jay's office because they had a special guest-> a Cheetah from Wildlife Safari. The cheetah got up the conference table and let all of us observe her while she snacked on raw meat and licked her handlers arm.

It was a great experience.

That evening we had the privilege of going to the Track & Field Olympic Trials. We sat in the suite and had a catered meal courtesy of Jay's work.

t was a hot evening but it was well worth it.

No more brace face

2008-07-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Andrew got his braces removed. This is only phase one so later on he'll have full set of braces on.

Wow! His teeth turned out beautiful.

I wanted to do a split photo of his picture from last year and this year with his teeth fixed (but I couldn't figure it out). So, you'll have to refer back to this post to see the before.

Father's Day

2008-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

This year for Father's Day we gave Jay a day of fishing with his friend Jim. Jim and his family live in the mountains. All of us went along so we could visit.

Jay, Jim and Andrew went fishing. Andrew didn't catch any of these fish but he had fun fishing.

He did eat them AFTER they were cooked.

He & Me event

2008-06-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

This year for our yearly Girl Scout He & Me event we went bowling. Jill and I served pizza and had fun prizes for everyone. We held the event the day before Father's Day.

Maddie and her He (Daddy)

Samantha and her He (TC)

Last year's He & Me event

Last Day of School

2008-06-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month was the last day of school for Samantha.
She did aweseome! Below are some end of year school pictures.

Tagged

2008-06-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Becky tagged me!

The Rules:
~Link the person(s) who tagged you
~Mention the rules on your blog
~Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
~Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
~Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

1. I talk to my cat like he knows what I am talking about.

2. I can swallow several pills at one time. As a kid I couldn't swallow pills. I had to have the liquid version.

3. I like cold pizza better than hot pizza.

4. I have to sleep on the same side of the bed (even when I'm at a hotel). If I have the bed to myself I like to sleep sideways.

5. I can only wink with my left eye.

6. I drive with either the AC blaring or the heat in full force.

Okay, now I tag: Jay, Tara, Jill, Raellyn, Cari, and Amy.

WFMW- Zafu (finding the perfect bra/jeans)

2008-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

*Edit- I thought this post would also work for Fight the Frump by Fussy!*

Today is WFMW over at Shannon's blog. If you want more tips you can check out her blog.

If you need to find the perfect pair of jeans or a bra check out this website- Zafu.

This site isn't owned by any one particular company so you don't have to worry about it being bias. It gives you a range of prices and stores (some are online, some are dept. stores, some are Walmart type stores and some are high end stores).

It takes about 3 minutes to complete the process. If I remember correctly it has a 90% accuracy rate. Can't beat that. Saves you time and money when you go searching for those perfect items. Give it a try.

Knitting baby hats

2008-06-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

This little baby is only a week old and she is wearing one of our knitted hats. I think I actually made this hat but usually Samantha makes the hats.

Samantha has sold atleast half dozen baby hats.

Parade

2008-06-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

After the parade we got ready to head out for the MAX (light rail) to see the floats up close and the fleet week. I am embarrassed to say I must of look like a hick on the MAX. Once I got on I noticed it was crowded and I thought it would be a fun shot to get the girls all crunched together. All of sudden the MAX shot forward sending me flying backwards (almost falling over and taking one of the girls with me). I got a shot of something we couldn't make out; I'll take that over landing on my bottom.

We didn't go on any of the navy ships because the lines were long but we did walk along the water front and look at all of them. This is what we saw when we looked out in front of the fleets (machine guns).

Here is a float up close.

Group shot before we got back on the Max to get to our cars were we headed to the Llyod Center (mall). We were disappointed to find out that the ice wasn't ready to skate on it. I guess they drain all the ice and use it for part of the judging area for the Rose Festival. So, the girls shopped and then we went to dinner.

Rose Parade

2008-06-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

This morning was the Rose Parade up North. So, for part of our Mystery Trip we took the older troop this morning. The girls met at our houses (mine and Jill's) at 6:15 am.

It always rains at the Rose Parade. Yes, one of the Chaperones has a black plastic garbage bag on her head to protect her from the rain. :)

I snapped a few shots as the floats passed by. It is amazing to think these floats are made with flowers and natural materials.

The Peacocks were fun to watch. We even saw one get its head stuck in a tree.

This was an all girl's marching band from Taiwan. I wish I would of gotten a better shot of their instruments because I hadn't seen some of them before.

Maddie's b-day part 4

2008-06-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last of the Maddie's b-day series.

We went to dinner with friends the next day.

Tori and Maddie have become good friends. Too bad they don't live closer.

Our 6 kids all together! Can you believe Samantha is the oldest of the bunch?

Maddie's b-day part 3

2008-06-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

Maddie wanted to model one of her new outfits. Below are pictures of Maddie's new career choice---> future fashion model.

Maddie's b-day part 2

2008-06-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

After lunch the kids and I headed to the mall. We continued to celebrate by going to Build-a-Bear.

Maddie is giving the heart a special kiss before got sewn into her animal.

Maddie's b-day part 1

2008-06-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last month Maddie celebrated her 9th b-day. This year we decided that for all three kids b-days we would only have one friend birthday party. We are renting the big outdoor pool and the kids have invited all their friends.

On Maddie's birthday we went to lunch. G'ma and Jay met us at Red Robin. Maddie opened her family presents. She is showing off her ring and bracelet from G'ma Betty.

At Red Robin they bring you a sundae and sing ~Happy Birthday~! Maddie enjoyed all the attention.

Maddie had saved room for her sundae.

It was record breaking temperatures on her b-day (100 degrees). Hard to believe it was ever that hot since today it is cloudy and raining and in the low 60's.

Monkey see - Monkey do

2008-06-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last month after Samantha got done getting her hair cut, Maddie decided she wanted the same hair-do.

Samantha let her feelings be known that she did NOT want Maddie copying her. So, Kim didn't cut Maddie's hair as short and she rounded the hair around her face.

Maddie looks very cute!

Samantha's new do

2008-06-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Samantha has been growing her hair out so she can donate it.

It was decided that her hair would have to be a lot shorter than she had planned. So, she decided maybe once school starts again the Fall she would begin growing it out again and try for next summer.

She looked so grown up with her new hair-do. She likes her new length. Much easier to manage in the summer time.

Mother's Day

2008-06-05T10:59:00.001-07:00

I know I'm a month behind in blogging. I'm going to try to catch up. :)

Andrew and Maddie work me up and had me come out to the family room. I had to walk through streamers hanging from my door and once I got into the family room balloons fell from the ceiling. Andrew and Maddie had tacked up a sheet to the ceiling and then filled it with balloons. Then they pulled the strings and the balloons floated down just like you see on TV.

Then I was seated at the table and served a wonderful breakfast that Andrew had cooked (scrambled eggs and toast).

We drove to Wildlife Safari for a day of fun. Everyone (my Mom was with us) laughed when the camel reached its head into our van to say "Hi" to me. It totally freaked me out. Samantha got a shot of it with her camera. Everyone said I touched the camel but I don't remember doing that so I think I blocked it out.

I grilled steaks for dinner and made a cute dessert that was inspired by The Pioneer Woman.

It was a wonderful day and I'm so thankful to have 3 wonderful and thoughtful children!

Serving the homeless

2008-05-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday (the day before Mother's day) the scouts got up and made breakfast. Then the girls served the breakfast. They had to be at the church by 6:30 a.m.

The girls did an awesome job. Even though they were a little tired. 3 girls brought egg/sausage casserole and the other girls brought fruit and danishes.

My little knifty knitter

2008-05-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

This past week Samantha made her first baby hat. It turned out so cute. It took her about 4 hours to make it.

Then she did decided to make a Elsa (a friend of the family who is a preschooler) a hat but after she got done we thought it looks like it might be too small for a preschooler's head.

Community Service

2008-05-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Our Service Unit did another community service project at Grace Manor. Our other project we did there was Christmas boxes.

This time we decorated place mats and used the paper we made at the camporee for creating cards. Then we put colorful flower pots on each table.

Each girl brought her own lunch and joined the residents at their table to eat lunch and chat. Samantha and Michelle sat at a table with a lady who was blind and not very happy. Samantha asked her what her favorite food is and she thought Samantha said "what is your favorite mood?" The lady replied very loudly that her favorite mood is - angry. hee hee! It was a good learning experience for the girls.

After lunch we went to their craft room where we did crafts with them. We hung this door hanger on the craft door so the girls would have a visual of what they were going to make to leave for the residents.

This whole project was inspired by Jenn. Thank you for your inspiration. The residents loved them and the girls had fun making them.

If you click on the picture you'll notice some of the girls made tulips also.

Saturday Night's camp fire

2008-05-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't make it to Friday nights camp fire because I was cleaning up the mess from the paper making. But I did attend Saturday night's camp fire.

Here is a shot of the "amphitheater" fire pit. Melinda is explaining the rules around the campfire (no running, etc).

I hosted the singing contest. It is where each troop gets up and sings a Girl Scout song. The rule is no other troop can use that song or they are eliminated. After 48 songs no one had been eliminated and we were ready for s'mores so we ended with everyone being "winners!"
This is Samantha's (far left) troop doing the "I'm Bring Home a Baby Bumblebee."

The fire was HOT! Maddie can hardly roast her marshmallow because of the heat.

1st post on camporee
2nd post on camporee

More Camporee Fun

2008-05-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

I posted the schedule on my previous entry for the camporee.

The younger troop (Maddie's) slept in the lodge. I had us sleep with our heads towards the middle of the circle so no one felt left out and I could quickly see what each girl was doing.
Samantha and Michelle decided they didn't want to sleep in the yurts with Jill. They didn't like the thought of using out-houses so they also joined us in the lodge.

The Oregon coast is great because you find Banana Slugs everywhere. Since we are girl scouts we had to protect the forest natural decomposers by not stepping on them or pouring salt on them.

One of the best things we did at this camporee was "hire" a cook. He was wonderful. He prepared the meals and did the clean up. He was a neat guy.

The girls are looking in the water for salmanders. Maddie is the 2nd from the left.

Camporee

2008-05-06T05:18:00.000-07:00

Our Service Unit put on a camporee. Jill did the planning of the camporee. The camporee had 51 attendees. 36 of them were girls (the others were troop leaders and adult helpers). We had from Daisy (kindergarten) to Juniors (6th grade) for girls who attend. We camped on teh coast.
The girls earned a badge over the course of the weekend.

Date: Friday April 25th 2008
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Schedule:
4:00 – 6:00.....Check in / Lodge
6:00...............Gather in lodge for introductions (Amy, Jill, Melinda, Vicki) and rules (no screaming, no picking flowers, stay on paths, no wandering off, first aid kit, fires are for adults, etc. recycle as much as we can)
6:15................#7 – Wood Products, Past and Present
6:45...................Paper Making Stations
7:30...................Clean up paper making
8:00...................Campfire and songs and smores
9:30...................Back to sleeping quarters
10:00..................Lights out

Date: Saturday April 26th 2008
Time: 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Schedule:
7:00....................Wake Up and get ready for the day
8:00 – 8:45.............Breakfast / Lodge
8:45 – 9:15.............Clean Up
9:30 – 9:50.............# 1 – Explanation of a Forest / Guest Speaker
9:50 – 10:00 ..........Explain how each station will work
10:00 – 12:00...........Each station will take 25 minutes, with 5 minutes of transition time between each.

# 3 – Identifying Trees / Location: Lodge / Jill
Table with photos, books, leaves, needles, pine cones, etc

# 5 – History of a Tree / Location: Porch at Lodge / Melinda
Next to a stump ?
Rings on trees, ages

# 4 – Decomposition, etc / Location: Porch at Lodge / Vicki
Go out on the trail to complete

# 7 con’t – Craft Project / Location: Lodge / On their own
(placemats and cards)

12:00 – 12:45..........Lunch
12:45 – 1:15 ..........Clean Up
1:30...................Gather in Lodge
Talk a bit more about recycling.
Explain newspaper fashion show
(need newspaper and masking tape and music)
Explain craft tables – getting ready for birthday party nursing home (placemats, cards, fences)
2:00 – 5:00.............Free Time (crafts, games, make fashion show attire, etc
5:00 – 5:45.............Dinner / Lodge
5:45 – 6:15.............Clean Up
6:15 – 6:45.............Go get ‘dressed’ for fashion show
6:45 – 7:30.............Fashion Show in Lodge
7:30 – 8:00 ............Get bundled up and head down to campfire for songs and smores
8:00....................Campfire and singing (contest) and smores
9:30....................Head back to cabins
10:00...................Lights Out

Date: Sunday April 27th 2008
Time: 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Schedule:
7:00................Wake Up and get ready for the day
8:00 – 8:45.........Breakfast / Lodge
8:45 – 9:15.........Clean Up
9:30................# 1 -What’s in a forest /Quietly hike down to the lake – listening for sounds of the forest
10:00..............Scouts Own – circle and share what they’ve learned / favorite part in one sentence or what they heard on the hike down.
10:30......... Make Gorp (need: raisins, nuts, cheerios, m and m’s)
11:00.........clean sleeping quarters and lodge
11:30......... Pack up and head out.

We saw these prints all over by the lake. I should of put my hand by it to show how large of a print it was compared to my hand. We were trying to guess if they were bear tracks.

Take your kids to work day

2008-05-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

A week and half ago Andrew woke up and looked at his school calendar and realized it was take your kids to work day. He set it up with G'ma to go to her office in the morning. Then in the afternoon the kids got to go Jill's work. Can you guess where Jill works?

Yep, a bank. The kids are getting to see the inside of a computer and how it works.

This machine was amazing. I just couldn't capture its greatness in this picture. It was fun to watch it separate out all the checks and take digital pictures of the fronts and backs at the same time.

The kids are getting ready to leave. Thanks, Jill.

One last picture. Maddie dressed for success. She told me after our visit to the bank that they sold her on it and that is what she is going to do when she grows up.

More weekend fun from April 11-13th

2008-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Jules was sweet enough to check in on me and see if I fell off of blogger land. :) My life has been crazy with schooling the kids, girl scouts and gymnastics. I'm hoping to catch everyone up with all that has been going on around here.

So, continuing off from my last post the next morning Jill picked me up at 6:45 a.m. to make it the Girl Scout Service Unit Manager's breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the Annual Meeting.

Jill and I won Outstanding Leaders of the Year award for the council. It was very exciting. We've been leaders together for 6 years (7 this Fall). We have two troops. The amazing part is Jill doesn't have a daughter in the younger troop but she gives just as much to that troop as she does to the older troop (which has her daughter in it). We knew were nominated but we told the Council if they didn't pick us as a team (which is not how the award is given out...only given to one individual) then we didn't want to win it because without the other person we are not who we would be. It takes both of us to make the troops run as smoothly as they do.

The next morning (Sunday) we headed to Portland for Andrew's Regional meet. We were very proud of him to make it to Regionals. He did get a medal on vault for 5th place.

It was a long day. There were 97 boys in his session which meant we were there for 5+ hours for competition. Boys came from Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Washington state to compete.

This is a picture of Andrew waiting to get on the pommel. He started on pommel and ended on the floor. Floor is his favorite event.
Andrew 7.9 (floor), 6.4(pommel), 6.85(rings), 9.45(vault), 8.35(parallel bars), 7.3(high bar), 46.250 (all around)

Birthday Boy

2008-04-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Friday the 11th was Jay's birthday.

We had dinner at Red Robin with part of Samantha's Girl Scout troop. Jay got trumped by scouts. 6 girls in Samantha's troop got the Bronze Award. So, we took them to dinner first and then to the award ceremony afterwards.

White Stuff

2008-04-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to SNOW!! How crazy is that? We rarely get snow and last Saturday it was in the 80's.
The weather guy had been saying that we might get snow this weekend. We got a few seconds of flakes during the day time yesterday but that was about it.

front yard

back yard

WFMW- testing egg freshness

2008-04-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

If you need to know if an egg sitting in your fridge is still fresh then I have the answer for you! This works well also if you buy farm fresh eggs because there is no "date" marked on the cartoon for how long the egg is fresh for.

1st- fill a cup with cold water.

2nd- place the egg in the cup and if it floats then it is no good. Throw it out. Otherwise if the egg sits on the bottom of the glass then it is fine to go.

Visit Shannon's blog for more WFMW ideas.

Maddie and Thumper

2008-04-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday I swung by Tara's house to pick up some cereal. She had just gotten a new bunny last week.

I only had Maddie with me when I stopped by. Here are two pictures of Maddie and Thumper.

WFMW- ReRun (Wrapping Paper)

2008-04-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

This week for Works for Me Wednesday Shannon is having us do a Greatest Hits Edition. From our own archives we can re-run one of our favorite of your own WFMWs. I picked a popular one I did right after Christmas.

Here it is again in all its glory!
It is Works for Me Wednesday again and I'm going to show you how to keep your wrapping paper from getting ruined when you put away for next year.

Take an old pair of nylons or tights. Cut the leg off and put the wrapping paper in the leg hole. Then just tie a knot at the top. No more getting out your Christmas wrapping paper and finding it all wrinkled and ruined.

I used my girls old tights for this project.

To find more WFMW check out Rocks In My Dryer.

Do the Conga

2008-04-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last week was Spring break. On Monday Jay came home from work early injuried. His work occasionally does a Boot Camp workout class. During this particular class Jay did something to his back. He could barely walk.

Below are two pictures of the Chiropractor coming out to the van to help Jay walk into his office. Dr. LeGat and I are similar in the fact that we couldn't quit laughing. Jay was in so much pain but watching this big guy barely able to walk just stroke a funny bone with us.

Jay did end up getting a MRI last week. I've spent this last week (Spring break)waiting on Jay hand and foot. Of course, he might not remember the experience quite like that. He did tell me that I should never be a nurse. Guess, he didn't like my laughing and uncaring self.

Easter

2008-04-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

I know Easter has come and gone (earliest it has ever been in my life time). But I still wanted to share some photos from that day.

I made the little Easter baskets out of one sheet of paper. Aren't they cute?! Tara taught me how to do it when I was over having some girl time at her house.

Maddie wanted sunglasses similar to mine so she got herself a pair. Just a tad bit big on her but she'll grow into them.

My First Time

2008-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Last year I blogged about a gift the Girl Scout families gave Jill and I. Here is the post about the gift.
Today Jill and I went to Bello's day spa.

I had Samantha snap a shot of me before I left for my massage. Notice the pink shirt! I found out that I'm a Soft and shouldn't be wearing all that black I normally wear.

Jill and I right before our massages!
We went to Star Bucks afterwards and chatted about non-girl scout stuff. Which is unusual for us because we normally chat about girl scouts!

~We're selling Girl Scout Cookie Here!

2008-03-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

~There only sold this time of year
~So, won't you buy a box or two
~You'll get yummy cookies and please you'll help me don't you see

Raellyn taught the girls that song (above) a couple of years ago. It has been a couple years since Reallyn has lived here. I heard that song over and over again this cookie season! Thank you, Raellyn! The girls have not forgotten it.

A couple of weeks ago Maddie and I did just a booth sale together to help unload our extras and troop 58's extra cookies.

Dr. visit and fun afterwards

2008-03-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

Samantha had her Dr. appointment in Portland last week. The appointment went well. The dr. told her that at her next appointment he'll discuss weaning her off her meds. Samantha was very excited.

Samantha even played a joke on her dr. She "popped" her nose for him which he believed that she was really popping her nose. The Fellow was in on the joke. Samantha did end up sharing her secret of making her nose pop.

Afterwards we went to a pizza and game center. Samantha wasn't tall enough to ride on the go-karts.

Instead they decided to play miniature golf.

Booth Sales

2008-03-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

Shadow loves cookie boxes. He always acts like we are the crazy ones when we laugh at him for shoving himself into boxes. The slit in the back had his fur hanging out it. Silly cat!

Our booth sales were on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for booth troops. Wearing the cookie costume is always fun for the girls.

My prize arrived!!!

2008-02-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

I'm behind in blogging. sorry

My awesome prize box arrived. Remember my post about winning?

I've had so much fun reading through everything. So, much info to grasp. But I really need it.

I took pictures of all the cool things in the box but I can't show you all of them because Piscasa only lets me do three photos per blog post.

I've been reading through the mini booklets, I've been going through the 52 meal recipes CD, I've been reading the magazines and so on..... For anyone who wants practical ideas this box was filled with them.

Maddie graduates

2008-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday (Valentine's Day) Maddie graduated from her speech class. She has been taking speech since she was 3 years old. So, this is a big accomplishment for her.

Maddie getting ready to go see her teacher.

Miss Sarah

Dad and the girls coming out from the graduation

Good job, Maddie! You've worked long and hard on your speech! :)

My little girl is growing up

2008-02-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

We have Samantha's e-mail set up that I get the replies that someone sends to her. We use as a double check to make sure she isn't getting spam or inappropriate e-mails.

Last night her bible study leader, Josie, responded to Samantha's e-mail. I was so surprised by Samantha's e-mail to Josie. I didn't know she had written Josie. Samantha never even talked to me about what she wrote to Josie.

I'm so proud of her that I wanted to share with all of you.

From: Samantha
Date: 2/19/2008 3:54:57 PM
To: Josie
Subject: Helping others!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hay Josie,
Didn't God say that we should help others (the poor).
Maybe we as in are small group we could do something together and earn money and give the money to the missionary to give to poor.
Just a thought but e-mail me back at ______________!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Samantha

Here is what Josie wrote back to Samantha.

Hi honey!!
Yes, God does say to help others and I think that is an awesome thing you want to do!It would be really fun and a great experience for all of us to do something for others together!We should brain storm some ideas of what we could on Wednesday night!
Love you
Josie

God is really working on Samantha's heart! :)

2nd part (GS tea party)

2008-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

At the tea party we play bingo and everyone wins a prize. Here is the table of prizes.

One of the yummy snacks we ate. Also on the menu was chocolate covered strawberries, pb&j sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches and tuna sandwiches.

The girls do a valentine exchange also. Every girl goes home with a bag full of valentines and candy. We line up their bags and then the girls go by one by one and put their special valentine in each bag. Some valentines are home-made, most are store bought and a lot come with yummy candy. Even Jill and I get valentines from the girls.

Well, that is our traditional tea party.

Girl Scout Tea Party

2008-02-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekend ago we had our 6th annual Tea Party. We had the tea party at Jill's house (co-leader). She is very gifted in making the house look elegant.

There are 15 girls and each girl got to invite an adult female guest to be their Valentine. We also collect new or gently loved stuffed animals and donate them to organizations. A couple of years ago we donated them to the Oregon State Police Dept., last year we gave them to the relief nursery and this year we gave them to the Springfield fire dept.

We start preparing a day before hand for the party. Here we are getting one of the many tables set up.

Another one of the tables we were getting ready for our 30 guest.

Here is a picture of the girls with G'ma. Aren't they cute?!

Picasa only lets you post 3 pictures at a time.

Picking up Cookies

2008-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our day to pick up cookies for my two troops. The one troop had 179 cases and the other troop had 70 cases of cookies. 2,988 boxes of cookies for the two troops!!! Each year it is a big process picking up all the cookies and then breaking them down into each girls order in the troop. I'm so thankful for help on this project because this isn't a one person project.

Here is Samantha wheeling out cookies to be packed into the trailer to take home.

The inside of my van on the drive home.

This is what happens when you go around a corner to quickly. Poor, Maddie, had to drive home like that which she thought was pretty funny (and a little painful).

A Friendly Blog Award

2008-02-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

I got my first blog award yesterday. This must the week of first for me. :)

Jennifer at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman gave me an award: Friendly site award.
I love Jennifer's blog. She is one of the most creative people I know. She is the Martha Stewart of blogs.

Well, it is never fun to just hold onto an award; it is always better to pay it forward. So, I'm giving this award to a few blogs that I really enjoy reading:
Mrs. Jules at Casa de Jules
Katherine at Raising Five
Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie
Barb at A Chelsea Morning
Beth at A Mom's Life

7 things about me

2008-02-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to say this is the first time I've been tagged. A blog that I enjoy reading tagged me-Mrs. Jules - I'm to list 7 random facts about myself.

7 random things...

1. I got reminded tonight while eating dinner that I can only wink with only one eye. The kids always think that is funny that Mom lacks winking skills.

2. I'm an only child. I did have a great dog, Bess, who I thought of like a family member. I got her on my 5th birthday. She died when I was in college (15 years she lived).

3. I met Jay on the internet before the internet was what it is now. We were both in college (me at the UofO and him at Slippery Rock). We would telnet to a talker. It was all text based. That was in 14 years ago.

4. I like to be told I'm right.

5. I grew up without a TV in our household. I wonder if that is why I'm so addicted to the TV now?.

6. My name means, Beloved

7. A few years ago our family was in the newspaper for geocaching. And we are also in a geocaching book.

The Rules:

-Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Post 7 random facts about yourself on your blog.
-Tag 7 people and link to them.
-Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

I know I broke the rules by not doing the last two but I wasn't sure who to tag.
Thanks, Mrs. Jules, I loved doing this. :)

One last project I made

2008-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

These are note pad holders

Post-it note holders

2008-02-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Another fun thing I made that night. Who doesn't love post-it notes! I love them!

What I made

2008-02-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying Jenn's craft blog. She is very talented and creative. So, I thought I would share what I made this past at a girl's craft night.

Trident gym holders

And yet another valentine post

2008-02-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

if you look closely on the table, infront of what Samantha is hole punching, you can see the trident gum holder.

For Samantha's girl scout valentine's she made gum holders.
Samantha made 15 of these.

More Valentines

2008-02-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Last month the girls and I went over to my friend, Tara's house to make valentines for the girl scout tea party coming up this weekend. Maddie made hershey bar holders. She made 15 of them (that is how many we have in the girl scout troop).

Valentine's done by Andrew

2008-02-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

back

front and back

These puppy valentines are done by Andrew. They are different sized hearts except for the tongue. He had fun making these.