All Alone... And THOROUGHLY enjoying it!!!

We're all alone and not so lonely these last few and next few days... our little punkins are visiting Grandma and Grandpa Stahr and spending time at the beach! While I wouldn't mind going to the beach, I will admit that much has been accomplished here at the house with the girls gone... for example: I took an uninterrupted nap today; Andrew and I slept in yesterday; Saturday we sat around in 98 degree weather and then went out for dinner and went grocery shopping and went to get food for the hoglets and didn't even have to move car seats or find a babysitter!!!

The best part was that Sunday we rode the motorcycle to church and then to dinner at the Stahr's house. It was absolutely wonderful!!! And no, it didn't cause me to go into labor. Darn. I can't complain though, the weather was perfect on the way to dinner and home again - a little warm on the way there, and just a tad chilly in some spots on the way home because of the light rain, but I love riding with Andrew on his "bipe" (rhymes with pipe - if you ask Margaret), and wouldn't trade yesterday for anything.

I will freely admit that we got some mighty strange looks from people at church when they saw me riding behind Andrew - not too often you see an obviously pregnant woman riding a motorcycle; I simply told people: "drastic times... drastic measures." I do believe that this will be the last ride for a long time though - it's hard to fit three kids on a bike (and I wouldn't try)... and I think Andrew likes the solitude!

So the girls were dropped off at Grandpa and Grandma's house on Friday night... they have a swimming pool (kiddie size and collapsible) and it was warm enough that the girls went right in without waiting for swimming suits - and they will be there until Wednesday (unless we can convince them to stay a little longer...) On Friday, Margaret was in the swimming pool - completely naked since her diaper was bigger than she was because of the water, and Andrew noticed that she was blue around the lips and that her toes and fingers were starting to turn blue. "Do you want to get out?" He asked. "No" her mouth said... her head, on the other hand nodded. We let her play for just a few more minutes, then got her out and got her warm and in her pajamas. No sooner was she in her pajamas and dry than she headed over to the swimming pool... reaching for something inside the pool - Personally, I think she really just wanted to get back in the water - she leaned just far enough that the side fell in, and so did she. So much for clean, dry pajamas. Oh well. At least she likes the water and isn't afraid to play!

And now, since the girls are gone, I'm headed off to clean their room - or at least take the trash out before they get back and Savannah decides that the things I've thrown away aren't really trash! I'll post pictures of the new baby when the baby makes an appearance!

Nothing better than...

Waking up to hearing a two year old sing:

"Tinkle, Tinkle, yittle styar! How I ya ya what you ayar?" And then the remainder - in Margaret speak, which is getting better and easier to understand, but still not quite there.

There is also nothing better than hearing Margaret and Savannah tell each other that they love each other - or hearing the following conversation.

Margaret: "Mommy's home!!!" (this on my return from a Young Women's Activity, the girls were both in bed, but obviously NOT sleeping...)
Savannah: "I don't hear her..."
M: "She is! She is home! I see her!"
S: "She's not coming in here, we're in bed..."
M: "I get her."
S: "How?"
M: "Here, Mommy, mommy, mommy! Here, Mommy, mommy, mommy!"

I sat down I was laughing so hard... and no, I did NOT go in there. After all, I am NOT the cat...

Margaret has also named our rooster. His name is Rupert - mostly because that's what it sounds like when Margaret calls him... "Here Oooper, Oooper, Oooper!"

The girls are currently outside, and I am trying really hard to breathe through a congested nose and sore throat - probably a good thing the baby isn't on the outside yet, I'm sure a summer cold is the LAST thing that baby wants to start its outside life with. Andrew has said that he has never had a baby (never will, and never really wants to experience that - he'll leave that to the women...), but he can't imagine having a cold on top of being in labor. Really - HOW does one breathe through a contraction when one can't even breathe through normal life??? That's just misery on top of misery - according to Andrew. Personally, I'd rather have a kidney stone than try to breathe and not be able to and try to have a baby at the same time. But... I digress.

In other news, things are going well. We're as ready as we'll ever be for this baby (except that if it's a boy we're going to have to get a lot more things, since we have ONE outfit for a baby boy...) and we don't have diapers yet, but that will come. Andrew has work, and the girls are healthy. We are truly blessed. Andrew and I feel very strongly that our prayers have been answered quickly in the past few months, and for that, we are extremely grateful...

The Fastest Way to Gain 50 Pounds...

So several weeks ago, the young women in our ward did a fund raiser for Girl's Camp. One of the girls brought this cake to auction off, and I was lucky enough to get the recipe. I made it a few weeks later, and it has since been dubbed "The Best Cake I Have EVER Eaten" by Andrew. This is significant, since neither of us really are huge fans of cakes - most of them are too dry... but this one... it's definitely worth it!

HEATH BAR CAKE

1 chocolate cake mix (and everything you need to make it into cake...)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large package chocolate pudding
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (NOT FUDGE SAUCE - or any other brand chocolate syrup...)
Caramel Sauce (the kind you would put on ice cream...)
Heath Bar Bits (or 4 Heath Bars broken into chunks...)
1 large tub Kool Whip

Make the cake as you normally would, except add the package of pudding and 1/4 c. extra water. Let cool for 10 minutes, then poke holes in the top of the cake with the end of a wooden spoon. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk on top. Squirt chocolate syrup on top of that so that the cake is completely covered. Pour the entire jar of caramel sauce (I used an 8 oz jar) on top of the chocolate. Sprinkle the cake with Heath Bar bits. Refrigerate. Before serving, spread Kool Whip on the top as frosting, drizzle more chocolate syrup on top, and sprinkle with more Heath Bar Bits. Keep refrigerated.

There now. Have you gained your 50 pounds??? I think the first time I made this, I felt the poundage just packing on while I was putting all the toppings on!!! It's surprisingly NOT a heavy cake - not as rich as you might expect.

This recipe is, however, dedicated to my Dad - who was often (at least in my memory) one of my biggest critics when it came to cooking... And this is proof that I have moved beyond Hamburger Tator Tot Casserole ( although I do still make it on occasion...) Thanks to Dad for inspiring me to keep going even when I was frustrated at the recipe, and for allowing me to succeed (even when there were times that I KNOW he wanted me to move to another recipe!) and to fail because I have indeed learned from my mistakes. Someday, I'll be as talented a cook as Dad...

The dreaded days of summer...

Are finally here. Not that the weather has been dreaded, but Savannah was gloomier than Eeyore yesterday when I picked her up from school because she is all finished for the school year! I have NEVER seen a kid who didn't want to school to end - I think it's going to take some time for Savannah (and me) to adjust.

So we started the day by setting down some ground rules.

1. If it's sunny outside, the kids play outside ALL DAY LONG.
2. If it's rainy, there will be a craft or other project to do in the house.
3. There will be chores to do during the summer... bummer, I know, but some things never change.
4. Just because school is out, reading time doesn't end...
5. There will be no fighting with each other.

That final one ought to be interesting to see how it works - since Savannah and Margaret haven't had one-on-one all day time except on the weekends for a long time... but, I did let Savannah and Margaret know that should they choose to ignore the rules, a strict and long nap time would be enforced. (What they don't know, is that nap time is for me.......)

At any rate, I'm looking forward to a good summer with the girls (and whomever else we decide to add to the family). Andrew and I would like to go camping with the children, and there are a ton of other things to do with the girls that I would like to do - like picking strawberries to make jam and picking peaches to can and you name it... we'll probably think about doing it - except bungee jumping. Or sky diving... I don't know why ANYONE would jump out of a perfectly good airplane...

And now, I'm going to finish cleaning the house, since sitting for any period of time makes my feet swell up like balloons...

Long Awaited Photos of the House...

So this is the view of the house coming up from the freeway - at the end of our driveway.
This is what you might see if you were to drive by and look... Actually - if you're looking, this is exactly what you'll see today... the Rhodies are shedding their blossoms, and I didn't get the front weeded in time to get a photo of them in all their splendor, but there's always next year!









This is the house from the very bottom of the driveway - as if you were pulling in to the first driveway you come to. Our driveway wraps around the house, making it nice for trailers and other such items... and really nice for parking!

And this is the western view of the house. Because it is in the shade a lot more, you can actually see the Rhodies! (And that cutie in blue is Margaret... she skips everywhere she goes.)

The property...

This is the view from the back fence of the property (I spared all of you the picture of the trailer full of Cow Manure and Pig Scat...) you can see part of our garden - not the corn part, that would have involved the manure photo... but the house, the canning shed, the garage, and the swingset are all here!
This is looking towards the pasture... doesn't that fence look GREAT?! Andrew put it up all by himself. The little "pig-loo" there has three little piggies in it. We're good, unless they start building their own houses...
This is towards the south of our property. The Christmas Trees mark the edge of our land.
This is the view from the Canning Shed window... I'm so sad that I'll have to see this for the rest of the time we live here...! And I'm totally just kidding!!!

Not tagged, but...

Since very few have seen the house on such a gorgeous day, I decided to "tag myself" from my sister's blog and give you views from the front door, the sun porch door, and the side door. Don't worry, I'll also post pictures of the actual house for those who haven't ever been here, or who haven't seen the property!!!


So this is from the front door - the neighbor's house and her aunt's hay field... Not a bad view - the traffic is horrendous from 6-8 AM, and from 5-7 PM, other than that... it's a quiet little street!
This is from the sun porch. Unfortunately, it's a little hazy out towards Mt. Jefferson. The tall trees towards the front of the picture (before the orchard) mark the Eastern edge of our property.
And this is from the side door. Those tall trees are on our property - they keep the sun out in the summer, and the wind out in the winter. I was trying to get a picture of Rupert (the rooster) but he wasn't cooperating.

Freeze Tag, Anyone?

Since I was tagged a bazillion months ago, I thought I'd come out of the freeze and finally respond... Thanks to Charity for the "re-tag" via her blog!

The following are my ABC's:
A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend(s): Andrew, my kids, Amy Tuttle, Wendy Banner, and many more...
C- Cake or Pie: Pie, unless it's Death By Chocolate cake made by Wendy Wilson or Heath Bar Cake... YUMMM
D- Day of Choice: Sunday
E- Essential Item: My Camera
F- Favorite Color: Red
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: GROSS!! Nothing gummi for me!
H- Hometown: Wasilla, Alaska
I -Indulgence(s): Very Heavy Snowstorms in a Cup from Dairy Queen
J- January or July: July
K-Kids: Savannah, Margaret, and ?????
L-Life is incomplete without: Answered Prayers
M- Marriage Date: 23 April 2005
N- Number of Siblings: 6- Michelle, Charity, Patience, Justin, Brittany and Ian
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges... unless they're the Honey Crisp variety or Granny Smith with Caramel...
P- Phobias or Fears: Failure
Q- Quote(s): Set yourself on fire with the Spirit of the Lord, and People will come to watch you burn!!!
R- Reason To Smile: Margaret and Savannah!
S- Season: Summer... I love the heat, and Winter... I love the wood stove!
T- Tag Six: Whoever reads this
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I love Crayola Crayons (and yes, I am picky about my brand of crayons...)
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Is Omnivore one of the choices? Because for me, nothing beats a great steak, but then again, there are days when all I want are vegetables...
W- Worst Habit: not folding the laundry as soon as it's finished - letting it age on the floor...
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Neither. The less time I spend in any sort of doctor's office, the better!
Y- Your Favorite Food: Russian, Thai, or Fried Chicken with Rice and gravy.
Z- Zodiac sign- Virgo

On Sisters and Family...

So I was reading the blogs of my siblings (and Andrew's too, for that matter), and realized how profound and thought provoking some of their blogs are. And here I'm telling the world about nearly burning the house down!!! Anyway - I just started thinking about the things that I'm doing in comparison to the things that they're doing - and I think we're all doing fabulously, by the way, but I was inspired by some of the things that they're doing...

So, Charity - in response to the "unnecessaries..." Here's what I've cut out...

1. Unnecessary use of electricity. Call me crazy, but I am partway NOT looking forward to the return of the heat, because it will mean that I won't get to cook on my wood stove anymore, and I really like that... on the other hand, I will be barbecuing a lot more... hmmmmmmmmmm... I wonder which I'll like the best??? As for baking, we do have an oven, and it made a most delicious pizza last night. The other reason for the wood stove and the barbecue is that I really sort of despize my glass top stove.
2. Whole Milk. This is a hard one for me. I LOVE whole milk. The problem is that my pocketbook doesn't, and when I buy milk, it's a lot easier on me to just get 4 gallons of one kind, since that's what we go through in a week anyway.
3. Some who have visited for longer than a day have made the claim that we've cut out heat to our home... I'd like to take a few seconds to put this rumor to rest. We have, in fact, only cut out the wood stove that DIDN'T heat the house, causing those who've visited to be very uncomfortable (sorry, Justin and Melissa, Ian and Christen, Mom and Dad...) and have, instead, added a new wood stove that heats the house very well, thank you very much. So... for those of you having reservations about visiting because you're afraid that you'll freeze to death - just bring extra sweaters, and we'll leave the wood stove on for you!

And then again, there are days when I'd really like to cut out the house cleaning, the gas bill, the grocery bill, and the odd day that I'd like to cut out the children... but none of those are dispensable at this point in time. Ask me again when I'm dead... :)

Gallery Photos

Some of you know that I was invited to put some pictures in a Doctor's office to sell - kind of a gallery setting... I thought I'd share to see what you all think! Check out the new poll - let me know which is your favorite!





O.K. Since these didn't come out on the blog like I thought they were... they are:
The butterfly is called "First Flight"
The sea anemone is called "Not Anemone, A Friend"
The Peter Eiredale is called "The Wreck", and finally the tree scene is called "The View From the Living Room Window."

Let me know what you think!

Whoda thunk it?

So today is June 3rd. As of YESTERDAY, we still have a fire burning in our wood stove. This is NOT supposed to be fire season... Oh well. We have discovered (o.k., so it was mostly ME who made the discovery) that if you let the chimney get really hot, it breaks out in flames...

Thursday, May 22, I started a chimney fire. I didn't do it on purpose, although I did tell Savannah that we were trying to remodel, and I didn't want to go through the whole tear down phase, that it would be easier to just start from the ground up... she didn't believe me. Before I get too far into the story, I should let everyone know that we had no damage to the house, and that there was no smoke inside the house, but it was an adventure.

We had plans to go to Costco for a cheap dinner and a few other food items that we needed... unfortunately, I left the car in "on" position, and the battery died. This particular battery was old enough that we couldn't get it to jump, so we bagged the costco idea, and Andrew left to get a new battery. Meanwhile, I went back into the house and opened up both dampers on the woodstove so that I could get it hot enough to cook on. (yes, we are a bit old fashioned, but I wouldn't trade our energy bill for ANYTHING!) Pork Chops cooking well, I'm reading a book, and the kids are watching Brother Bear. Then Andrew came home.

The first I knew he was home, he came running into the house and shut the stove down, then ran back out of the house - leaving me wondering if he wasn't hungry... not two minutes later, he came running BACK in the house and told me that we had a fire. It took mere seconds for me to erase the "duh - it's in the woodstove" thought out of my head and realize that we had a chimney fire. So... thinking that the fire department needed something to do on a Thursday night, we called them. You have to know - at this point - that we live on a busy street. At the top of a hill, no less, so not only did the fire department from Turner arrive, they brought their own traffic control, the paramedics, the fire chief's truck, AND to make things even better, the fire department from neighboring Jefferson ALSO came. Apparently they didn't have anything to do either. Needless to say, the neighbors had a bit of entertainment, and we had the fire department as guests for the next 2.5 hours.

All ended up well... The porkchops ended up in the trash, and we had Costco for dinner after all. Andrew and I decided that we're NOT doing that again. As nice as it was to know that the fire department is really prompt, we don't need to get to know them THAT well. Especially since the fire chief's kids are school friends of Savannah's, and his wife is the president of the PTO. We'll stick to other ways of involving ourselves in the community.

My whole point to this entry was that it's JUNE, for crying out loud! We SHOULDN'T have a fire in the woodstove! But... we do, and it's keeping the house nice and toasty, thank you very much.