Polls are NOW Closed... it's a GIRL!!!

Sorry. Thought you'd all have a little more time to vote than less than 24 hours!

On Friday, 26 February 2010, at 12:45 in the AM, we welcomed a new baby GIRL to our home. She was 6 lbs., 4 oz. and 18.75 inches long. She doesn't fit into anything that we have, so she spent the first 24 hours in nothing but a diaper and blankets, but she's figured out the eating part (MOO...) really well, and will soon fit into the clothes that we have.

Baby was born here at home, and the recovery and time down has been (for me) better than recovery after a hospital birth.

Pictures and a name to follow... as soon as we agree on a name...

If anyone reads this blog...

Please vote on what Gender you think this new baby will be! I'm beginning to think I blog in vain... (The one vote is Margaret's. She's convinced that we're having a Girl...) We welcome other voters... and you don't even have to tell us who you are!

Happy 27th! (Again...)

Yesterday, my Mom turned 27. Again. She's been 27 for a long time, but told me once that she was entitled to pick her own age once she'd hit a certain spot in her life, and she was going to stay 27 forever. "Keeps ya young, you know!" (I stole this picture from my sister, Charity's blog because ALL the pictures I have of my family are on the other computer... Thanks, Charity, for taking such great photos!)

So I thought I'd share some of the memories I have of my Mom.

1. When I went on my mission, I put my Mom's name on my bank account so that she could transfer money without any issues. The lady at the bank asked me how old Mom was, and I told her, "27." The rest of the conversation went something like this. "How old are you?" "21" "And your Mom is 27?!" "That's what she's said my entire life!" "Is she your REAL Mom?" "Yes." "Why don't you have your Mom come in to see us..."

2. One sunny afternoon, I was sitting on the deck waiting for the last few minutes before I had to go babysitting. Mom came out to water her plants, and took that moment to "water" me. The entire pitcher down my back. I should probably admit that I deserved it, since a few weeks earlier we had ambushed Mom at the Farm I worked at and completely soaked her while saying... "Make her grow..." I guess what goes around comes around...

3. Mom taking me to violin lessons, multiple tryouts for the Anchorage Jr. High Honor Orchestra AND Anchorage Youth Symphony (I don't know who was more relieved when I finally made the Youth Symphony - me, for not having to audition any more, or HER for not having to drive me that far any more!), encouraging me to get a JOB when I was in High School, coming to my Volleyball Game - and then encouraging me to NOT stick with a coach who wasn't going to treat me fairly... and teaching me that I am my own person, capable of making choices that are good. And supporting me in them - even the hard ones.

4. My Drivers test. I'm still not sure how Mom knew that I had stopped in the middle of the road and backed up after the light turned yellow because I didn't want to fail my drivers test...

5. Trusting me enough to send me to the hobby shop in Palmer for a can of spray paint three days after I got my driver's license knowing that I would more than likely take the long road home... and then not getting mad when I drove the car off a straight stretch and up a tree. (It's also something that I will NEVER live down, but hey. It could be worse!) I was most humiliated that it happened on a Wednesday night (Mutual Night), and the most popular guy in school happened to see the "A-2 Septic, we're TWICE as good" Truck pulling me out of the ditch. The ENTIRE Mutual program knew that I had "ditched" the car before I even got there. I'll never forget it either.

6. Supporting me through ALL of my trials - "If I asked the Lord to take away my Trials, I'd have to ask Him to take my blessings too."

7. Eating Hamburger Tator Tot Casserole (HTTC) EVERY SINGLE TIME I was asked to make dinner - no matter how many times Dad suggested that they go out for dinner... And then teaching me to make other things so that I could expand my cooking knowledge. Imagine what Andrew's life would be like now if all we ever ate was HTTC?

8. Going to the Temple with me for the first time - and then going to the MTC with me (and, I'm sure, wondering why she was the only one crying...)

9. Teaching me how to disect a grasshopper when I was 7 during her version of Summer School so that I would continue to learn even when not in a formal classroom.

10. All those clothes that she spent hours sewing for me. I never appreciated them as a child; now that I'm hating putting zippers into clothes, I can appreciate that she actually finished all those dresses in time for Christmas. I finished MY Christmas dresses in time for St. Patrick's day... and Mom's actually fit me for longer than 6 weeks (which may be all that Savannah's will fit her!).

11. Finally, letting me learn the hard way that living with Leslie was not the best way to save a friendship. Although we had some good times, ("It's only flat on one side?!" and Spanish Rice?) and made some memories, it was a learning experience I probably should have listened on. Leslie and I would more than likely be better friends now...

And there are a zillion other things that I could put; notwithstanding and nonethe less the fact that she gave birth to me (don't remember it, but I'm grateful anyway), she's been there for me even when I was rotten and I'm sure she didn't WANT to be there... and she's never given up on any of us. I've got a pretty great Mom.

So... Happy Birthday, Mom. Hope the Hamburger, French Fries and Rootbeer Float for $3.00 was worth it! And here's to another 34 of those 27-year old birthdays! (You know... when you've been 27 as long (or longer...) as some of your children have been alive, perhaps it would be o.k. to move to 37... at least then you'd only be 2 years older than me...)

Life's Lessons

At the risk of sounding like the meanest Mom in the World, I have to share some of the lessons that the girls (particularly Savannah) have learned this past month.

Lesson 1. Mom's serious when she says something, and she doesn't play around.

Lesson 2. Cleaning the chicken coop over doing school work isn't as much fun as it sounds.

Now. The stories behind the lessons learned at our house this last month.

For weeks, I've been telling the girls that they need to keep their toys in their locations when they're finished playing with them. The consequence for NOT keeping their toys organized when they're not being played with is that the infamous and somewhat dreaded Gunny Sack comes to eat them. Usually, Gunny doesn't spit them back out, and other children end up with new toys. Not so in this case. After giving the girls the chance to "govern themselves" with some guidance for a week, and then for an entire day, Gunny had reached her starvation point. One Friday, the girls were given the chance to clean their room. In the Stahr home, this means: make your beds, put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket, pick up the Barbies and the Little Pet Shop things (the only two sets of toys in their room), and make sure the books are on the shelf. I've worked with them many times to make sure that they understand this concept. At the end of the aforementioned Friday, I went into their room to see how far they'd come. As a side note, at the beginning of the day, the only things to do were to make their beds and pick up the Barbies. Much to my surprise, (or maybe not too surprising...) Margaret's mattress was OFF the bed, all of their clothes were out of the dressers, the books were all over the floor, ALL of the toys were scattered all over, and it looked like Hurricane Andrew had returned.

Several deep breaths later, I banished the girls from their room and went to work. That lasted for a sum total of 15 minutes before I realized that I was cleaning out of anger and spite, and in that case, Gunny would have not taken toys to Goodwill, but rather to the burn pile, never to be seen again. I calmly walked out of the room, closed the door behind me, and told the girls - calmly, that they were not allowed to clean their room, and that they were not allowed to touch anything in their room, except for their beds.

The following day, I followed through on a promise made weeks earlier that if they couldn't keep their room picked up, the toys were not going to be allowed in their room. Currently, the girls are discovering that swings and books are their friends while their toys are on vacation in the basement - nicely organized into their own little containers. We're going to a "check-out" system for the toys. As soon as I get the cards made up for each drawer or tote. I understand that this isn't a permanent solution to the problem, but it seems to have solved the "I can't function in all this chaos" issue. And they're a lot more appreciative of "play with toys" time.

Lesson 2: Education is important. I've learned this my entire life. Home schooling, while it has its benefits (and I really wouldn't quit for anything at this point, no matter how challenging it may be), also has its challenges. Some are a little harder to solve than others. When I was a teenager, I learned a valuable lesson on the importance of an education. I decided that I didn't want to go to school, and was given a choice: "You can go to school, or you can work around the house." I thought it would be more fun to work around the house. Boy was I ever wrong. It started with scrubbing buckets... with a toothbrush. Then, it went to mopping the kitchen floor... on my hands and knees. (Sometimes I think my parents didn't start believing in mops until I was MUCH older...) And the list went on, until I was more than ready to go back to school the next day. To my Mom's credit, her plan worked. I didn't miss another day of school unless I was truly ill, and COULDN'T get out of bed.

So... I employed the same tactic as Mom did. Only, I'd already DONE all of the inside housework the day before, leaving only the seriously nasty jobs outside to be done.

Savannah has advanced in her math skills to a 3rd grade level. Unfortunately for her, the front of her workbook says, "Appropriate for students in GRADE 4". She thinks I'm trying to get her to skip all of third grade math. She decided yesterday that she would rather NOT do school. Ever. At All. So, I gave her a choice. "You can either do your school work, or you can shovel out the chicken coop." We have 5 hens, and their coop hasn't been cleaned since last summer. I made SURE she was aware of all the ramifications involved in cleaning out the coop, including telling her that it was a dirty, nasty job - and then let her make the choice. I also informed her that once she started the coop, she would be responsible for finishing it.

No matter HOW I feel about Math, I would still choose the math over the poop. Several hours later, after Savannah's choice of shovel and pail (and I mean Sand bucket and toy shovel) were elongating the hours she'd been in the poo..., she decided that it was much more fun to do math. Unfortunately, she also learned at this point in time that I was serious about her finishing a project once she'd started on it.

At 5 PM, I walked to the coop with Savannah to see how far she'd come. She informed me that she'd divided the coop into quarters (see, she was doing math after all...), and that she'd finished one quarter of the poop scoop. She'd done a marvelous job. For someone who had poop up to their knees, she'd done very well moving the poop from one side of the coop to the other.

Mercy took over, and I had her go in the house and get cleaned up - after asking her if she still wanted to not do school. She decided to weigh her options with the NEXT dirty job... and then I informed her that if the FIRST dirty job was to clean out the chicken coop, the SECOND wasn't going to be more fun... Justice still had to be served with the chicken coop - and it still needed to be finished. This morning, I helped her to make sure that it was a lot more manageable for an 8 year old.

Working in the temple has its benefits - at least for this 8 year old. I started to think about how harsh I'd been on her; after all, that's a lot of poop, and she's not any bigger than half the shovel! Working together, we took an hour to finish the cleaning of the coop. I still think that she's going to choose Math over Poop next time...

The lesson - for every action, there is an opposite (although not always equal) reaction... And Mom doesn't back down on the dirty jobs. I think I'd take the bucket scrubbing over chicken coop cleaning any day. And I'll take an education over ANY of that.

Kids say the Darndest Things...

The other day Margaret calmly announced that she was going to the bathroom. Why, I don't know. As she's taking care of business, suddenly I hear, "Mom? Did Jesus have to Poop?"

I was flabbergasted. And of course, I answered, "I'm pretty sure he did...." To which she said, "Why?" My answer? "Because everybody poops."

End of discussion.

Margaret's Big Day... the Big 0-4!

I'll have pictures in a later post, but I wanted to detailize the events of the day... before they are no longer in my memory.

To start the day, Margaret announced about a week and a half before her birthday that for her special birthday dinner she wanted Macaroni and Cheese. The Yellow Kind. From the Box. I had to get special permission from her to make some homestyle macaroni and cheese for the adults who would be in attendance; which she very reluctantly granted. However, we're all grateful that she gave in.

For her birthday dessert, she was insistent on Cherry Pie. When the time came to MAKE the pies, she told me that if I wanted to, I could make an apple pie. So I did. And that's the one that she wanted after all. They were both good. (Not anything like the Shaker Lemon or Lime Pies that I made Andrew for his birthday. Those were inedible.)

I think the highlight of her day was getting a new barbie doll house, and having Macaroni and Cheese. From the Box. While Andrew was putting the homestyle Mac and Cheese into the Skillet to brown, Margaret came into the kitchen, looked at what he was doing, and said (in a very hurt tone of voice), "I thought you said I could have the Yellow kind! From the Box!" I had to quickly show her that I had made her some of her very own dinner, and that the only other people who would eat it were Savannah and LeGrand. I think there were a couple other people who tried the Kraft, but the Bacon Ranch Macaroni was a big hit.

In fact, for all who are interested... Here's the recipe:

Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz. Curly Noodles, cooked and drained according to package
directions
1/2 package bacon, cooked until crisp and drained (And Justin, you get to
pick the size of the package... it is, after all, bacon!)
1 c. 2% Milk
1/4 c. butter
1 package Ranch Dressing mix
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 tsp. Lemon Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Pepper
8 oz. Sour Cream
1 c. (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 c. (4 oz) shredded Colby Jack Cheese
1/3 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 c. crushed Saltine Crackers

Cook Pasta. Meanwhile, in Dutch oven, combine Milk, butter, Ranch
dressing and seasonings until heated through. Add Montery Jack and Colby
Jack Cheeses; stir until melted. Stir in Bacon Bits and Sour Cream until
well blended. Add noodles with Saltine Crackers, top with Parmesan
Cheese. Serve. This is Tasty! Serves 8; comes together in less
than 1/2 hour. There were no leftovers.

If you want the other kind, just go to the local grocery store and pick up a box of Kraft... follow the directions. Serve to your children while you eat the other kind. It's really worth it!

And I'll get pictures up as soon as they're on the computer.

LeGrand's Christmas

LeGrand got a drill for Christmas. Margaret gave it to him. When we sat down for Breakfast, he came running over with it to fix the floor. He spent a good 15 minutes trying to get everything on the floor just perfect. I think he's tired of stepping over the crack in the floor. Either that, or he knows what needs to happen, and is trying to help Andrew with his project.

I'm inclined to believe this is his favorite present... it makes noise, and he's carried it around with him almost everywhere he goes. He's tried fixing the chairs (unfortunately, not the parts that need fixing), the couch (it's not broken), his bed (also not broken) and I think I caught him trying to unscrew someone's belly button with the drill. Might have been Andrew playing with the drill... They've both had a lot of fun with it. The Onesie he's sporting (LeGrand, not Andrew) is another of his Christmas presents. He has, however, figured out how to take them off without unsnapping them. And he thinks they make handy pockets for whatever he wants to put down his shirt. The other day it was swiss cheese. Last night, it was his pretend cell phone. (Then he was frustrated because he couldn't get the phone out...) He's truly a joy to have in our home.

Christmas Morning...

Christmas morning came without the expected excitement. Margaret was the first one awake, and she chose to come crawl into bed with us rather than go see if Santa was coming. In fact, at 8:30, when we all woke up, the conversation went something like this:

Mom: "Margaret! Did Santa come?"
Margaret: "Yep."
Mom: "How do you know? Did you go see what he brought?"
Margaret: "Nope. But I know he came. He hasn't missed a Christmas yet."

The excitement came when we all went downstairs and the girls saw the presents piled and stacked around the tree. I have discovered that putting different parts of the same present into multiple boxes gives the appearance that Santa is wealthy. The girls were thrilled with their presents - and especially with the dresses that Mom made (that still need zippers and hems before Saturday...) even though Mom fibbed and told them that the dresses were for cousins who are almost the same size as them.

One of Savannah's favorite gifts was the Windstopper Fleece vest and hat that I made for her. She'll be able to wear the vest until she's 30. I know. It fits me. The hat, I'm not sure about... depends on how big her head gets.

Margaret's favorite was her Belle Barbie and her porcelain tea set that she got. She's played with BOTH of them almost non-stop since Christmas. I've even had to take the tea set out of her bed when she was sleeping.

LeGrand... There's a whole separate post on him. Complete with pictures. Let's just say, he's trying to be like his Dad.

Merry Christmas to ALL!!!

At the beginning of December, we all got up early and headed to the local tree farm (and I'm not talking about the one right next door, although Margaret did suggest it... "Mom, there's MILLIOMS and MILLIOMS of trees RIGHT THERE! How come we have to get in the truck and go get a tree???") to harvest our Christms tree. Then we all loaded back into the truck to take Andrew to the airport so that he could spend two weeks in Arizona working with the Gila Valley Temple. While he was gone, the girls and I decorated the tree. What you see is the side they decorated. I kept telling them the tree had more than one side, but they wanted to save that side for something else. I'm still waiting to find out what that something else is...

And here they are. The proud decorators. I'm sparing you the photo where Margaret is rapidly moving away from Savannah and she looks cranky. It doesn't seem to fit the Christmas spirit...

And to all... a slowdown of the Christmas season so that you have time to get the things done that you want to get done, and still enjoy each other... (o.k. the slowdown's not really going to happen, so...)

May you all find that Christmas brings Christ more into your homes and your lives this coming year.

All About Savannah...

November and the beginning of December were big for Savannah.

It all started with a birthday. A BIG birthday. In our house, 8 is a big deal. It's the age that you start being REALLY accountable for EVERYTHING you ever do (Savannah's still learning about accountability...). It's the age when you get to decide if you want to be baptized (which, Savannah did...), and it's the age when you get to invite a lot of people to your house on a Sunday night to celebrate your turning 8!

In the middle of November, Savannah invited 75 of her nearest and dearest to witness her baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was reported to be the largest baptism that our ward has had. Ever. I guess when you start advertising in JUNE, people tend to remember to come. (If truth be told, she invited closer to 150 people, or maybe even more... but only 75 were able to come). After the baptism, we were joined by 50 of those people for Cupcakes (filled with raspberry filling and frosted in white) and grape punch. It was truly an exciting day for Savannah.

Grandpa Pierce and Grandpa Stahr gave talks, Grandma Stahr led the music, Grandma Pierce said a prayer, and Savannah had her favorite babysitter, Taylor, say the other prayer. It was, as Savannah said, "A VERY EXCITING DAY!!!!!"

December brought yet another exciting day for Savannah... Her first Piano Recital. She claims that she was nervous, but I'm not sure HOW that could have happened. She plays the piano for anyone and everyone who will listen.

We invited Rudolph and about 20 of his friends to come... the cupcakes were made with chocolate cake mix, frosted with coconut pecan frosting, and decorated with home-made chocolate antlers and whole marischino cherries. Eyes are dabs of black frosting. Rudolph is filled with Bavarian Cream filling. We didn't bring any home. Thank goodness. I'm almost sweeted out!!!

It has been a fun filled few weeks... and now that Christmas is nearly upon us, we'll have another fun filled few weeks! I never realized how busy I actually was until I stopped to look at all the things we've done - and even more at all the things I STILL have to do!!!

(There is dinner to make, desserts to bake, gifts to purchase and wrap, gifts to put zippers into (my LEAST favorite sewing chore), and about 1000 other things to do. And how many more hours??? At least Savannah's major events are finished for the month. We'll see what the new year brings for her!)

Long Overdue Update

Well... It looks like November got away from me, and December is rapidly coming to a close as well. Anyone who can tell me where the last year has gone???? It's flown WAY too fast for me!

Here are a few of the photos and fun things that we've done since Halloween...

Mouths. Savannah made these with green apples and almond slivers.

Spiders... the non-biting kind. The brown bumps are the bodies - we couldn't get the licorice legs to work right, so they all have funny sticky-up pretzel legs. We made 40 something of these, took them to a halloween party, and brought 30 something home... People must have something against eating creepy crawlies.

And it looks like we'll have to do Savannah's Birthday and Baptism on another post... the pictures aren't wanting to upload.

Coming up.... All about Savannah, including a Piano Recital, Reindeer, and the already mentioned big days!

In Memory...

This is my Mom's Mom. My Mom is a lot like her - in all the good ways (of course, I never really knew the BAD ways, so maybe that's not fair...) but... This past week has brought several "shoulda-coulda-woulda" thoughts when it comes to my Grandma. If I had known that her time on earth was as limited (although 85 is really NOT limited in the short term.) I "woulda" done a lot more. I "shoulda" sent a card or called or visited when I had the chance. I "coulda" been a better grand-daughter and sent her this picture (for example). And all of those regrets that I have about my relationship (or lack thereof) I "woulda" done differently if I had only known.

On November 7, 2009, my Grandma Ardella Jensen "Graduated". She'd been sick for a long time, so her passing is a blessing for her. It may be a little hard for me for a little bit - harder, I'm sure, for my Mom (whom I love dearly and hope that she knows that). HOWEVER... I've had several good memories that I'd like to share about Grandma Jensen.

First: She grew up during Depression times, so she saved EVERYTHING. And I do mean everything. My brother has stories about ice-cream that she'd had since Dirt was young. I have learned from her to save important things and let the rest go.

Second: As a child, we ALWAYS opened the present from Grandma Jensen on Christmas Eve. You never knew what you were going to get, but you always knew that she was trying to get something for everyone on her very limited funds. For example: Harlequin Romance Novels for the girls; Barbie Dolls for two sisters who were well PAST Barbie Doll age; Cutting Boards from the Dollar Store (tag still attached) and which I still use; and one of my personal favorites - a Tootsie Pop for a Great-Granddaughter who was not quite two months old. She may have been a little stretched for money and not really known what to get us, but we always had a blast opening the presents and knowing that she loved us.

Two Dollars. Every year for my birthday until there got to be too many of us and she couldn't afford it any more. I still have a two dollar bill that she gave me.

Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house where we put puzzles together with Aunt Carol and loved the visit - I remember the drive with all of us children stuffed into the back (and anywhere we'd fit) of the car and listened to Radio Stories (some of which scared the tar out of me...)

Orange Doilies that Grandma crocheted. And a shawl that Savannah now wears. And all the love that she showered on us. Grandma was always excited to see us when we came to visit - even when I came as an adult.

So. While I miss the opportunties that I DIDN'T take and could have, I dearly loved my Grandma, although I didn't realize how much until she was gone.

I'm grateful to have known her. I'm thankful for the time on this earth that she had. She was a faithful temple goer while she could go, and I will be forever thankful for her example of righteousness.

Grandma... I know that you're no longer in pain. I know that you're in a better place and hopefully know how much we love and appreciate all that you did for our family. After all, without you, we wouldn't have the Mom that we have. May our memories of you be good and our sorrow short.

The Wild Man of Borneo... No More.

Well... I finally got around to turning my little boy back into a little boy. When the siblings think that it's cute to put barrettes and pigtails in a boys hair, it's time to cut it.

So... Last night, realizing that he had yogurt in his hair and needed a bath in the worst way, I sat him on a stool, pulled out the hair scissors, and proceeded to take a lot off the top.

From this........

To this.......

To realizing that his hair sticks up in places that it never used to stick up before when he woke up this morning... I think it's adorable.

Last night as I'm trying to take a nap before work, Margaret was reading the Children's Friend. She came to the story of Christ walking on the water (a story that I have not told her, but it's in the works...) and this is her rendition of the story:

Oh, look! Jesus is walking on the water! And this guy wants to walk too, but his boat is going too fast so he can't catch up. Now it's starting to rain. It's raining hard! So this guys says to that guy still on the water, "Now what am I supposed to do?!" And this guys says, "Keep on the sunny side! Always on the sunny side! Keep on the sunny side of life!!!"

I was laughing so hard, I never did get my nap in.

Just a LITTLE bragging...

Since having our stove finally attached at the chimney, I've done some experimenting. Baking type experimenting. This is my FIRST attempt at bread. Nice and brown on the outside, fully cooked on the inside - and the taste... well, it's divine. I will readily admit that I am NOT experiencing the same type of problems I fully anticipated when we first started cooking with wood heat. This oven is my new favorite appliance, and bakes wonderfully. We've even managed to figure out how to regulate the oven heat! Rarely does the oven get hotter than 375 - the perfect temperature to bake things, and because of the way it heats, our baked goods cook a lot faster than in a normal oven. (Cookies the other day took 6 minutes, instead of the 12 called for on the recipe card... I LOVE it!)

So this is what tired looks like...

Note the drool... I was getting his dinner ready. Apparently, he didn't want to wait.

Where to begin...

Let's just start at the very beginning of this month. It's the very best place to start, so they tell me...

September started off with relatively nothing spectacular to talk about. Except for the fact that we are canning again - 85 quarts of plum juice (really quite fabulous... add a quart of water and 1/2 cup of sugar and it's divine!), 60 quarts of pears and 8 quarts of pear juice, 12 pints of pear butter... Still have tomatoes to do, peaches to do, and apple cider to make... YUM! And we're doing grape juice again this year. If anyone knows of some spare quart jars that they're NOT using, we've already used all but three of ours... And that's saying a lot, considering the fact that we didn't even come close to using all of them last year.

Mid September I suffered through another birthday. I only use the word suffer because I was really NOT looking forward to this birthday. For some reason, 35 just SOUNDS old. Now that I'm two weeks into it, it's really NOT old. I don't even feel different than I did at this time last month. A little more round, but that's because of the new baby. The birthday itself was fabulous. They threw a party at the temple at midnight to welcome in the new day (and because my boss and I have the same birthday... and it wasn't really a party - after all, this is the temple we're talking about... but Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler and a hearty Scout Breakfast, and we were ALL in seventh heaven.). Perhaps the best birthday present actually came the Saturday BEFORE my birthday when Andrew finished hooking up the wood cookstove in the kitchen. I now have a fully functioning kitchen! And it's MARVELOUS!

Remember how I've said that there was going to be a HUGE learning curve with this wood cookstove? It seems that the learning curve is in which stove to use. The one that burns really hot, or the one that works perfectly. We've got the one that works perfectly in our kitchen, and I've been able to successfully make perfect pies, delicious bread, wonderful cookies, and the best brownies we've ever had at this house. The Roast Chicken is divine, the potatoes are smashing, and the oven is my new favorite appliance. It warms the "anti-sun room" to the perfect temperature, and we're all looking forward to some toasty winter meals. Call before you come for dinner to make sure we're actually cooking. Chances are, we will be.

School with Savannah started somewhere in the middle of all that... the first week she was fairly bored. In fact, she told me at the end of the week, "Mom, I really hope that the second week is a lot better than this week. Spelling and Journal writing just aren't going to do it for me. I NEED MORE!" I hastily assured her that we would be doing more math and other subjects, I just had to get the books back from the copiers and have them bound. She's doing much better. Next week we start an incentive to work harder program. And watch for more news on the School for the Stahr's on our new homeschool blog... I'll try to update it at least weekly, if not daily.

I'll apologize now for the lack of pictures, I just haven't downloaded them. So.... you'll get a barrage of photos later this week. Until then, I hope this has updated at least most of you on the things that you didn't already know!

Ta-Ta For Now, as they say...

So I'm sitting here in silence, listening to absolutely nothing but the click of the keys on the keyboard, and thinking that I really should be making the children lunch. Somehow, I don't have the energy to move from my chair. I'm absolutely certain though, that the telephone will ring and I'll be forced to move. So... I gather my energy.

This last month has been an interesting one.

We attended a fabulous family reunion where we did all sorts of fun things, and I didn't take a single picture with my camera. Took some of my Sister with HER camera, but didn't take a single one with mine. Perhaps having new batteries would have made a difference... I don't even think the camera made it out of the car. Yes, that's sad. However, I wait patiently for a disc with all the photos of the reunion on it. And then I will share the pictures.

Until then, you'll have to be satisfied with your wonderful imaginations.

We left Salem on Monday, August 10 after a short day at work; stopped at the credit union to take care of a little business, and then headed to Utah. It was a LONG drive. We pulled into my brother Justin's driveway well ahead of when they were expecting us, but no one seemed to mind too much! If they did, no one said anything... Thankfully, Mom and Dad were still there and hadn't left for the day to do other things. Otherwise, we would have found ourselves sleeping on the lawn instead of on the couches. That was 7:15 in the Morning of Tuesday. After sleeping A LOT, we drove a little farther north to visit with some old friends, the Sampsons. It was wonderful to visit with them, and I came home with a new pattern for some skirts that I am really excited to make.

Wednesday is when things really started to happen for us. While the Pierce Family Reunion hadn't started yet, we had a little of a miniature Stahr Family Reunion - minus most of the Stahr family. Our visit with Doug and Emily and Benjamin and Aunt Louise was one of the highlights of the trip. Emily stunned us with her incredibly accurate, "Linda, are you Pregnant?" question.

And that's the first of the announcements made this week.

Thursday, the fun started with the Pierce's. CAMPING! It's been a long time since I've been camping, it was a first for both Margaret and LeGrand, but it was good. I even got my feet wet in the frigid water of the stream. And yes, it was frigid. It was cold enough to have my feet go numb within about two minutes... But, I'm trying new things, and thought it might be kind of fun. Considering that we used the creek to keep the butter cold that night, I'm not entirely sure HOW fun it was, but I'm glad I did it.

Marshmallow guns aside (I'm going to have to get some of my OWN ammunition and stage an attack, I can tell...), it was good to be camping with family.

It was even better to go swimming on Friday and get all the dirt off. I even did the water slide! (Couldn't have LeGrand showing me up there...) and I loved it. This is saying a lot for a person who doesn't like water slides at all... Andrew and I enjoyed the game, Qwelf, (Wocka, Wocka, Wocka...), and just enjoyed spending time with family.

Saturday was more fun with a baby shower, necklace making, and more time with family. We were sad to have to leave a lot earlier than others...

Sunday morning found us pulling into the driveway at 9 in the AM to find that all of the animals we had when we left were still there... thankfully! And a short time later (10:30), we headed to the coast to see Andrew's sister and her Beau (whom we like greatly, by the way...) and the rest of the Stahr Family that was there. We did, however, miss seeing Rebecca and Matt and their family this last week and send them our love and best wishes in their new location... (Another new adventure, 'eh?). We spent the night at the coast (it was the most comfortable hide-a-bed I've ever slept on), and enjoyed the break from life...

And then... we came home. While it's good to be home, it's also taken me a week to really recover from the vacation. I'm still not there yet.

I was going to do laundry last night, until I found a dead mouse on the floor. Kittens, DO YOUR WORK!!! So now, it's laundry today. And since I've taken way too much of a break... I'll report back later!

Oh, and here's the picture I've been promising Andrew I'd put up.

(it's NOT loaded... don't anyone freak out.)

A Door Opens... At LAST!

Margaret is three and a half. I had hoped (and dreaded a little) that she would be able to open the front door on her own by this point in time. Instead - up until last week, I was summoned each and every time she wanted to go outside.

Last week, to both my joy and my dread, she figured out how to open the door from the inside. She still knocks when she wants to come back in, but she can get outside on her own. This is particularly useful when she is inside and I am outside needing the door opened because my arms are full with groceries or something like that. She's a wonderful door opener.

Not too long after figuring out (with a little help from Savannah) how to open the door, Margaret woke up a little earlier than I wanted to. (side note here: I work the night shift at the Portland Oregon Temple 4 nights a week; I don't get to bed before 4 in the AM on those nights, and greatly value the precious 4 hours of sleep that I get on average.) When Margaret got up, she got dressed and came into my bedroom only to find that at 6:30 AM, Mom was STILL asleep. I know. How DARE I sleep in. Well... to complicate things, Margaret has been blessed with an adventurous spirit and a great love for animals. Especially small fuzzy ones that say meow. We have seven of them.

So... as you can expect from the lead in, Margaret went outside to play with her little furry kitten friends. She shut the door behind her. And then, she couldn't get it opened again. I THINK she went outside sometime around 7 AM - she sat downstairs and read some books for a little bit (that much was evidenced by the books all over the floor when I woke up...). At 7:15, I was jolted from a deep sleep by Margaret SCREAMING my name. As if she were being tortured, screaming. I'm not sure that my feet touched the floor of my bedroom as I ran downstairs to see if she was being injured in some manner. She wasn't downstairs. I threw the door open and hollered her name... no answer. She was running around the house trying to find a way into the house again - screaming my name.

Why haven't I put this up before? Because it's taken me this long to recover from the shock and fear of what could have happened if I hadn't heard her.

Will Margaret go outside again when I'm sleeping? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. She's figured out that if I'm asleep (or downstairs doing laundry, for that matter) I can't hear her, and she is either going to have to find a way to open the door, or wait. (or scream my name in terror... that works too.) That and we've established a new family rule. Kittens are off limits unless Mom is alert and coherent. (try explaining THAT to a 3 year old...)

It was the BIG 0-1!!!

I can hardly believe it, but LeGrand is now officially one year old. We had a GRAND celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Stahr and Aunt Sheila (and, of course, Mom, Dad, Savannah and "Sweetie-Pie") in attendance. It was a day like no other this week, temperatures outside were in the upper (read: 88-90) 80's, we baked the cake in our wood cookstove outside (not an easy thing to do, but the cake was divine!), and canned cherry juice on the same stove. Savannah, Margaret and I all got a tad bit sunburnt, but a good time was had by all. I think LeGrand had the best time of all... after all, all the attention was on him.

Here's a mini-photo essay (sort of) of the birthday party.

This is the cake the the guests ate...

This is LeGrand's own personal cake. He didn't touch the candle, but he wanted to!

He had help (thanks, Dad!) blowing out the candle... oooh. Smoke...

The Joy of realizing that this cake was just for him!

The first tentative little nibble...

Hand over Fist - enjoying the cake...

Finding out that it's Finger Lickin' Good!

Must. Get. All. The. Frosting...

I think I'll just put my entire hand into my mouth... YAY! This is yummy cake!!!

Oh. I think I missed some. Shove more in.

The sheer joy of being one... and getting cake all to yourself.

Finished with cake... and pleased as punch that it turned out well.

Not, however, sure about these presents. Especially that battery shaped one.Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Pierce for the shirt I can wear for the next 3 years!!!

I LOVE IT!

So the birthday party was a success. We put cranky to bed in his OTHER new pajamas that fit divinely at 9 PM; said good-bye to all the guests (before 9 PM), and today, the day after, is clean up day. Oh yeah. And it's return the present that Mom and Dad gave LeGrand because it's kind of a dorky present and the other one was much cooler. We'll just exchange it for the cooler one...