Here HE Is!!!!!

Andrew and Linda are proud too announce the birth of LeGrand Johnson Stahr; born 1 july 2008 at 7:13 p.m. LeGrand weighed 8lbs 11 oz. and is 21.25 inches long. He loves his food, to be bundled, and to look around. (I know, you can't tell from any of these pictures that he loves to look around - he doesn't like the flash of the camera!)

His birth was quick - as in... Andrew almost didn't make it back from feeding the animals to see it... but Mother and baby are doing well and recovering nicely. Linda has decided to nickname LeGrand - "Bruiser" since he was a full two pounds heavier than either of the girls - and has earned it!

We love the fact that Savannah and Margaret are enamored with him, and we love the hair! He has longer hair than Andrew does! (Of course - that's only because Andrew just got his hair cut...) We're looking forward to many happy times with this little Bruiser! Personally... I'm glad he's on the outside now, and not kicking me in the ribs from the inside!!!

Family Home Entertainment

So a few weeks ago, we decided that we needed to take the girls on a picnic. We drove to KFC and got some of their really yummy chicken, then drove to the park where the girls had a blast playing. Turner isn't a very large town, and the park doesn't have swings or really much of anything, but it does have some great picnic tables and the slides were fun for the girls. They kept trying to get me to go down them, but I wasn't sure that I was ready to slide - especially since I was having a hard time breathing (due to a NASTY cold - and baby sitting on my ribs and kicking me whenever baby wanted to!)

Here are some pictures of the girls - just hanging around! Savannah has figured out how to do the monkey bars - and Margaret has decided that if Savannah can hang on something, so can she!

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.

GREAT NEWS!!!

We FINALLY have high speed internet access at the house. Which is why, within a matter of minutes, there were 7 new photos of the girls on the blog! We'll be able to put pictures of a new baby on also - as soon as baby chooses to make his or her presence known. (well... i'm pretty aware of the fact that it's there - comfortable sleep is virtually impossible, and I look like I swallowed a rather large beach ball and then blew it up... but hey - we like the end results, so we're not complaining!)

In other news - Andrew and I are doing well. Spring is in full bloom here with the flowers out like there is no tomorrow - the roses are starting to really blossom, and the rhodies are having a hey day with their blooms. I'll post a picture of the house when I get the weeds out from in front of the stairs so that it looks like the manicured house it should.

Savannah has two more weeks of school - still not sure what we're going to do for the summer, but I won't be working, so perhaps we'll have a lot more fun playing and barbecuing and other such summer stuff. And I'm personally hoping for some warm weather here really soon...

Margaret has learned to get out of her bed - and last night came downstairs completely dressed again - I'm sure she thought that if she were dressed we wouldn't send her back to bed... boy was she wrong! Back in the pajamas, and back in the bed.

More news later! I have a house to clean before Andrew and I go out for a night on the town! (Any bets who will bet the better miniature golfer??? - if you put money on it, put money on Andrew, he's beaten me every time we've ever gone!) Love to all!

Margaret's first haircut...

This is Margaret with bangs... her first comment after getting her hair cut was... "NANA! I see you!!!" I guess I hadn't realized how much she couldn't see...
this is the "I don't want to have my picture taken" pose... after the long bath.
Savannah and Margaret - as previously mentioned that Savannah loves to have her picture taken... i couldn't get Margaret alone. Oh well... Good thing they're both cute kids!

Photos of the kidlets in the top of the Garage

This is Margaret - I asked her to put her hands on the side of her face... this is what she did. Of course, she also didn't want to be up there at the time.
Savannah and Margaret...
Margaret - she had just gotten out of the bathtub - an event that lasted for an hour and a half - Never have I seen such pruny skin! It took her longer than that to get her skin back to normal! So this is the photo that she posed for... just before we cut her bangs.
Savannah - the little poser when it comes to pictures! She loves to have her picture taken, and posed with NO problems when I asked her to.

Been a while???

It's been a LONG while since I posted anything to the blog - but... here's the most recent of updates!

Still no internet access at the house, and it's not easy for me to get pictures loaded from the library. Just know that the kids are still cute, Andrew is still handsome, and I've grown a basketball on my front.

Life is good in the Stahr home - Andrew is currently building me a canning kitchen on the cement pad that used to hold our hot tub (we never used the hot tub anyway, I'm sure I'll use the kitchen a lot more!), and it's incredible. I am increasingly more grateful for a talented husband! He has also taken the time to tear a wall out of one of our upstairs bedrooms (it wasn't being used, and walls are overrated anyway...). Having a house built in 1922 does get one's curiosity up on occasion, and Andrew wanted to know if we had insulation. We don't. But then - anyone who visited us this winter probably would have be money on that one and done fairly well... We have found some really interesting things - such as massive ancient beehives (or wasps nests, we don't know) and some old letters stuffed around the windows with such fun dates as July 7, 1932... we haven't read the letters yet, and are still hoping to find the sheets of uncut $100 bills that may have been used to line the walls... of course, the money is purely fictious, but we can always dream, can't we???

Savannah is loving school. Her reading skills have improved immensely - she loves to find new things that she can read, and is rapidly gaining confidence. With the change in the weather, her new favorite thing to do is to play outside... a blessing for MOM!!! She is a good sister to help Margaret on the swings (Margaret's favorite thing to do...), and loves to dig in the dirt. Last Saturday we had some incredible weather (the view from the house was awesome...), and I made a deal with Savannah that if she would play outside ALL day, she wouldn't have to clean her room. She took me up on the offer, and as hard as it was for ME to be inside cleaning, I cleaned her room.

Margaret just had her first haircut. Her response was, "NANA!!! I SEE YOU!!!!". Should have been a clue to me that the bangs were bothering her. At any rate, she can see now. We miss the cute hair that she had, and she looks a lot more grown up than I was really ready for, but at least she likes it! And, she's still cute. Her favorite things to do are to swing (she seems to think that she can swing on the swings no matter the weather - or how she's dressed...), eat grapes and cheerios (she's figured out how to open the refrigerator), and play with the toys. She's in massive denial about a new baby in the house, but will get used to the idea once baby comes.

As for me... Life is exciting. Baby is due on 7 July, and we're waiting to be surprised on gender. I've been feeling great (except when I stand with my hands over my head... low blood pressure - I have a tendency to pass out if I do that too frequently. The Dr. did tell me that if I pass out, at least it's a self correcting problem!). The other big news is that I was invited to hang some of my photography in a doctor's office in downtown portland (118 N Killingsworth), so I've been trying to get just the right pictures. It's been an adventure!

At any rate, I have three minutes before the computer kicks me off again... so, until next time...

TTFN!

News from the Stahrs...

Just on the off chance that the news hasn't been spread to everyone...

Andrew and I are expecting to add to our family in July! My first doctor's appointment is tomorrow (January 16), and I'll send more news as soon as we have it. Our due date is currently 7 July, but since this is my first appointment, it may change...

In other news, Savannah started kindergarten on 2 January, and SHE LOVES IT!!! (and so do I!) Savannah goes to all day kindergarten, and she is one of 14 students in the class - it's been a good experience for all involved. Margaret is learning to play without Savannah, and I have more time to do more things! (Like... play with Margaret and take afternoon naps... - usually when Margaret is sleeping too!)

At any rate, I'll send more news as soon as we have more news.

Linda

OOPS... I made a mistake...

I don't know my phone number. And since I have a problem with number orders, I didn't get the phone number right. SO... Anyone who's tried to call, my bad. The number is in the wrong order. The first three digits are right (that being the area code...) and the last FOUR are correct. It's the middle three that are transposed. The phone number should be 363, NOT 636. Sorry for the mix up.

More news later! My time is going to expire on the computer here at the library.

Linda

Just a VERY quick update...

Since I'm at the library and trying to finish this before the s finish story time...

Here's the news. We still don't have internet access at our house. Turns out that the house that we fell in love with is in the middle of "no man will provide high speed internet access to your address" land. So... we're trying to figure out another alternative. In fact, I don't even have the computer out of the cedar chest that I packed it into a month ago. Oh well. Other pressing things.

The other news is that because we don't have high speed internet access, we have to have a different phone service. No more the vonage. Are we sad about this? YES! Vonage is a great deal that saves a ton of money... oh well. The new number is 5othree.6three6.4three8nine. And it's working.

The s are doing well. The hogs have taken up residence in the freezer (and they're mighty tasty). We enjoy our new ward, and we're slowly getting everything unpacked.

Christmas this year will be a home-made affair, and I'm looking forward to having everything all complete so that I can take pictures of the finished products.

I'll update as soon as I can and have internet access!

Linda

It's FINALLY HERE!!!

Moving day has arrived. Am I prepared? No. is it here anyway? Yes. We signed our papers today, the new home owners signed their papers today, and as soon as the Canby house records, the Salem House will be not far behind! And then... we'll make the move.

The travel Trailer is all packed (I could PROBABLY fit pillows in, but not much more!), and the garage is mostly empty. I still don't have any of the boxes from the house packed, but that's for later. I have to find the packing tape before I do any of that, and I'm afraid I accidentally donated it to DI sometime. Oh well. If that's the least of my worries, I'm doing well.

The phone will be turned off tomorrow when I return the Internet modem, and we'll be on our way to a more settled life! I think maybe I'll unpack the scrapbooking stuff first... TOTALLY JUST KIDDING! Although if I did that, at least they'd get unpacked!

It's sad to realize that I have boxes that I haven't unpacked for 5 years... Andrew would (as would most people) say, "just throw those ones out!" But you see, I can't. I have to sort through them and decide what is really important. And once I get the first box open, I'll probably realize that NONE of it is really that important, and when am I going to have time to put together a scrapbook of my college years anyway? Oh well... the burn barrels may get some food this winter from the boxes...

TTFN!

The Countdown Begins...

Actually, we've been counting down for a while. Finally, though, we're in our final week (two more days) of living in Canby. We do have mixed emotions, but Andrew pointed out to me last night (as I was blubbering about something else) that the only difference in our friendships here is that we won't see them at church on Sunday. We can still call and maintain those friendships. So... all that over with, the moving begins! I have started loading boxes (the ones that never got unpacked) into our little travel trailer, and we'll start the move down to Salem on Thursday night!

We may not have phone service for about a week (hopefully it won't be longer than that) or at least until we get the Internet back up and running. Other that that, the phone number won't change, and I'll send out "we've moved" cards with our new address as soon as I'm settled! (Don't expect them before Halloween... :))

Field Trip #1

Now... this is my idea of a great day learning! Savannah, Margaret, and I checked out a pass to the Portland Children's Museum from the library the other day, and spent nearly the entire day at the museum. It was such a fun day, that Savannah has asked me if we can go again. And, since admission is free (checked out the pass from our local library), we're going again!

If asked, Savannah will admit that her favorite parts were playing with the flubber (a substance made from liquid starch and glue - not at all like the movie), and the water. I've promised her that the next time we go, we'll spend more time playing with the water.

Our first stop was the picture frame just inside the door...

I had a hard time getting Margaret to move to something else. Either she wanted to have her picture taken, or she was really trying to find a way to get over the top of the little wall...

Then it was on to play dress up. Savannah loves to perform, so getting her to find an outfit wasn't hard. It was a little hard for her to take her turn - there were a lot of other little children there who were taking longer turns at the microphone. However, Savannah handled herself admirably, and waited patiently, even helping some of the other kids so that she could take a turn. Margaret wanted to get dressed up, but then kept tripping over her outfit. She wasn't sad to take it off.

Playing in the clay was more Savannah's style. We made different shapes and other sorts of fun things - Savannah has a great imagination, but if someone is making something cool, she's also very likely to mimic them.

Then on to an area that Margaret could play in, and I let Savannah play alone for a little bit - always keeping an eye on her - she had a great time playing that she was a patient in a medical clinic; building something in the woodshop, and playing with the trucks and cars in the dig pit; Margaret found the slide and didn't want to leave.

Alas, it was time. We had signed up for a special class (the flubber class...), and we needed to get over to our orientation for that. I came home with some great ideas for things to play in; things like "Oooh-Blech" (equal parts cornstarch and water), Flubber (equal parts liquid starch and white glue), Clean Mash (ivory soap, liquid something that I can't remember, and toilet paper), and clean clay - crayola brand. Margaret didn't much like anything in that little corner - probably because it was way beyond her nap time, but like a little trooper, she continued to hang out and eventually tried all the things that Savannah was well into.

Our final stop was the water works. I know how popular this is with the kids, and decided to wait until we were ready to go home. Margaret didn't want to play - until she figured out that there was water involved. That changed EVERYTHING. She brought the little apron that they wear, stood still while I put it on her, and charged off to the water. Savannah was already building bridges and floating boats. It was a very fun day, and we're looking forward to a return trip. Next time, we'll see if there's another mini class that we can take that will be as entertaining as flubber!

Photos from Golden Spike...AT LAST!

Finally - the photos from Golden Spike National Historic Park. We had such a great time that day - even though it was wicked hot outside. I can't imagine how the people who built this railroad survided working conditions - the amazing thing is that they probably didn't complain half as much as people today would! (Either that, or they just didn't record all their complaints...)

At any rate - the last picture is of the entire family... sorry it's so far away and we look like little specks. At least you can see that we're all there. I'm the crazy one wearing the long pants, and regretting it; but as I tell Savannah - you make your own choices, no one makes them for you! Besides - the truck has great air conditioning, and I was cold in it. No complaints here! - Linda

This Old House...

Is going to be ours. We plan on closing on this house October 25th, and moving in that weekend. Plans for Saturday include attending two Halloween Parties, there is a church Super Saturday going on that day, and practice for the Primary Program. The good news is, all of our stuff has been in boxes for the past two months, we won't miss them if they're in boxes for another few days...

We will freely admit that we have driven past the house at least twice since finding out that our offer was accepted; and telling each other on a regular basis (before we go to bed, as soon as we wake up, when we get home from errands... you name it) how excited we are to be moving into this house. It truly is perfect for our needs.

We are looking forward to making this Dream House on the Hill our own. Last night we drove past it to see if we could see it from the freeway... coming from the south, you can! However, it is far enough off of the freeway that we still feel like we're out in the country. (How can you not with all those Christmas trees around you?)

This is what I get...

For telling everyone that we've moved! We're moving again! We sold our cute little purple house, and now we've been looking for another house to live in. If all goes well, we'll be living in a new house by the end of the month.

This is the house that Andrew and I have selected... or maybe this house selected us... we're not quite sure. We just know that we LOVE the house. This house was built in 1922, has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and sits on 2.22 acres. The basement is unfinished, but the rest of the house has been beautifully maintained. Granted, with a house this old, there are some things that need updating, but for the most part, this is the house that we feel like we can live in for a much longer time than just one year!

The view from here is incredible... there are Christmas trees on two sides (the left and the back), and there is a vineyard on the right side of the house. The property has grapes, cherry trees, apple trees, and at least one pear tree. It also has a swing set (which we are planning on asking them to leave - since it is connected to the trees in the back yard) and a hot tub.

So... hopefully no one wrote our old address in their address books using pen! We'll send out "we've moved" cards as soon as we've moved... again. We'd appreciate any prayers on our behalf! We close on the Canby house on the 24th of this month - and hope to close on the new house on the 25th. It's going to be a busy month.

possible old news...

It's entirely possible that this is old news by now, but just in case...

We sold the farm. Someone else bought it. (just as no surprise to anyone who really knows me, I'm sure) This particular phrase makes me laugh. While we miss the farm (not really the animals since we still have them - they're living at the Bishop's house until they're ready for slaughter), we are greatly relieved to not have two house payments.

Currently, we're in limbo. We feel rather like we've never left Oregon. One of the benefits of moving back into a house that you've lived in before is that you can put your things back in the location they were before (provided, of course, that you LIKED them there before), and that's what we've done. The majority of our things is still living in the garage (the car WOULD like its old spot back, I'm sure), but as soon as we figure out what we're planning on doing with the house, I'm sure that will change.

Until the next time (meaning - when I think about doing a new post or finally find the charger for the camera), Andrew's phone works.

Linda

More to come...

So I heard through the grapevine that people want to see more of the girls... I'll have to get the camera out and take some more photos! (Oh, darn...)

We did have a great time this past weekend at Golden Spike National Historic Park. I got some great photos of the family, but they are all on film, instead of the digital camera. So... they'll be posted - eventually!

Anyway, I'll try to get some full body shots of the girls up within the next few days - just keep checking back!

Linda

Margaret Elizabeth

She's walking. She's trying to talk. She has 8 teeth. She drinks from a regular cup with minimal spillage. She's into everything. And, she's developed this great imagination. She likes to take her doll and pretend to feed it. She even makes the smacking noise that sometimes we make when we pretend. And she loves to run away from me. Margaret still loves her milk, and loves the bath. Her favorite thing to do is to play. Her favorite animal is a cat - and she LOVES to play with the kittens that we have. They're not all that fond of her, but they do a great job tolerating her loving them. And she knows pretty well when to just let them go. She can imitate a cat fairly well - and if she sees one on TV or in a book, she'll meow to tell me that there's a cat somewhere. She's getting big - no longer a baby, she's headed to nursery in two weeks!!!

Views toward the Mountain

This is the view from the back door... Andrew was out helping the neighbor with the horses that are in our pasture - I was actually hoping for a little different picture, but I like the sunset anyway...

This was taken right out the mudroom door. I just liked the cloud formation.

Fire on the Mountain...

On June 16 we were standing outside selling the boat, when we saw some smoke on the mountain in front of our house. The fire came from the next street over (several miles away), and travelled just to the field at the end of our street (1/4 mile away). Our house wasn't in any danger ever, but we had a hard time convincing Savannah of that! This is a shot of the fire from the stop sign at the end of the street - taken on my way to work.