Snow Day

The Treasure Valley is having a snow day today. The meteorologist says this snow day is in the top ten for record snow fall in the area.

We woke up this morning with school cancelled and I couldn't even get out of the driveway to go to work.

With that said the kids have been playing outside all day building snowmen and playing their hearts out!

My Bugs

My kids have grown so much in the past year that I decided to do a quick little photo shoot of them. Seth has grown another inch and a half since February and Sami is growing out of the toddler years. Since I haven't kept up on my blog very well I put together a slideshow to let you see for yourself just how big they are these days.

Sami turns 3!

I am getting really pathetic here guys. So much has happened and I know I have forgotten half of it. So here is a start...

Sami turned 3 years old back on April 30th. I can't keep up! I swear I was just pregnant with her...where did the time go?

What in the world do I say about Sami? She is all...GIRL. It is truly amazing how different my two kids are. Seth is the sweet, sensitive and loving type and Sami is...the opposite. That's not all true really. She can be sweet...after she's thrown the rock at you. She can be sensitive...with that puppy dog eye look after she has used the whole tube of Desitin as "lotion". She can even be loving...you just never know if maybe you might get a little pinch when she gives you a hug. I am exaggerating of course but boy does this girl have some sass in her.

Sami has changed so much in her short little life. We used to worry about her having speech problems because she didn't start talking until quite a lot later than most. Now we can't seem to find the off button. She is a talker! She will go on and on talking about pretty much nothing and every sentence ends in "either". She hardly ever gets the context right. Don't ask me where she got this particular word from but she definitely loves it. She even pronounces it "eater". For example she will say something like: "I like this apple...eater." I have come to the point where I just ignore it.

Speaking of "eater" she is number one in when it comes to eating. She eats better and more than Seth. I have stated even since she was just a baby that she is a bottomless pit and that I truly don't think she gets a full sensation. She used to eat until she threw up. Now I have to monitor her eating and cut her off. I am not talking garbage food...either. She devours salad and fruit and most vegetables. Very healthy eater.

Sami is a lot of fun. I wouldn't trade her for the world. Like most kids she has her devilish, naughty side but for the most part she is a bright, happy and sweet little girl. I am really proud to be her Mom and look forward to watching her grow up and become a beautiful woman. The way the time is getting away from me I'm afraid that is tomorrow.

Love you Sami...my sweet bug.

Shiver Brrr!

I can't resist but to write a little blog on Sami.

As we all know we do need translations for toddlers speech because not all words come out like they should. When an adult is around any toddler other than their own they usually have to look at the parent for some help in recognizing what the little mite is trying to tell you.
Every night I give Sami a bath before bed. When she gets in, no matter what the temperature of the water, she shouts, "HOT!". And every night I touch it just to make sure and it is never hot so I reply, "It's not hot baby" and she'll look at me every time with big eyes and say, "Worm?". The English translation from Sami's toddler talk would be "warm". At this point in the bathing process Sami sits down in the "worm" water as I gather all the necessities to get the job done quickly. To get her wet I take the bath cup and pour water over her shoulders and back. She tends to giggle as the water trickles down her back and she may argue a few more times that the water is hot but most every time she gets a chill. Well I don't know what the average person calls a chill but in my family we have little sayings for most anything. I presume these little catch phrases and sayings sprouted from my Gramps who was full of them. So when Sami gets a chill I say, "Oh you got a shiver brr!" Night after night I would pour the water down her back and she would get a shiver brr.
Well about two weeks ago we were doing the bath routine and everything was going like every other night except this night when I poured the water down her back, Sami looked at me and giggled, "Mommy, SHITTER BIRD!"
How can anyone resist the cute little ways our little ones try and repeat us? Gramps would have got a kick out of that one.

Halloween

I love Halloween! One of my favorite holidays. The wind is blowing, the leaves are falling, the temperature drops and the the feeling is fun. It's not a creepy or scary feeling, it's just...fun!
The kids and I took Grandma and Grandpa with us to this great pumpkin patch out in Kuna this year. They are an organic farm that allows customers to come and pick their own pumpkins out of the pumpkin patch. The farm owner gave us a hayride with his tractor out to the pumpkin patch where we got to pick our own pumpkin that was still on the vine. Sami wasn't much for the hayride as you will see in the following photos. She was pretty happy when we got off. We had fun looking for each of our pumpkins and in the midst of it all Seth found these great gourds that were yellow and warted with green, candle wax-like drippings down the sides. I decided we would purchase those with our pumpkins because they were fabulous. After picking our pumpkins the farmer came back to pick us up and load our goodies in the wagon. Sami enjoyed this ride much better. It might have been that she found her own special rock in the pumpkin patch that she could share the ride with. Seth on the other hand, taps my shoulder during the return hayride and says, "Mom, can we get these too?" While he is saying this he pulls another gourd out of his BSU sweatshirt pocket. I kinda smirked and was getting ready to tell him "sure" when I look down and he is continuing to pull out more gourds from his pockets. They just kept coming out! He is giving me the puppy dog eye look with about 6 or 7 gourds on the haybale and says, "But Mom I really like them." They really were pretty cool so I let it go and decided to get them all. They make a wonderful table arrangement so I guess it wasn't all that bad.
Once up front they had a baby pig for Sami to giggle at and beautiful Indian corn to add with our gourd collection. It was a great farm. I love being able to contribute to our local farms anyway and may come back in the spring when they let you pick your own fruit and berries. They even raise their own pigs and turkeys that they will prepare (nice word for "butcher" for you sentimental folk) for you for the holidays.

This year we were able to celebrate Halloween with Richard's sister and her family. We had a great time. Seth was off the day before Halloween so we decided to celebrate his 8th Birthday on Friday while family was in town. I don't know why we don't have a picture of him with it but Richard and I got Seth a BMX bike this year. We bought it used and fixed it up. It is a very rare Killer B that the frame sells alone for $400. Richard put new brakes, a seat, fixed the tires a little and polished it up really nice. Richard tried to warn Seth that it is a faster bike and he will have to get used to it. Of course, two days after receiving it he comes in crying with his cousin Hunter looking horrifed, "I'm BLEEDING!", Seth cried. Hunter says, "He crashed into the truck." Oh great! What in the world? I guess he was going a little fast and forgot that he now has a hand brake and ran straight into the side of the truck and got a handle bar in the teeth. Thankfully the teeth are in tact but the truck has a nice new dent with the paint scratched off. Another year has gone by and my son is 8...but what year does he stop injuring himself?

On Halloween we carved pumpkins with all the kids. This was a task with 5 children around and parents that ended up carving 8 pumpkins. In the end, all the pumpkins looked great and we were ready to get the kids ready for trick or treating...my favorite part. We headed to Aunt Karen's to gather all the families and started trick or treating around the block. We were quite the mob in the neighborhood with Richard and I, Seth and Sami, Tracy and Aaron with their three kids Hunter, Drake and Brooklyn, Cousins Amy and Dodds with their two Connor and Carter, and Anna and Hayden who were without Matt, Kara and Jacob this year. We all got together and it was great fun to watch the kids go from house to house running, walking, dragging, crying, laughing, falling and their costumes come apart more and more the farther you go. They look so great when you leave the house but by the time you're done you are holding the props, the wigs, the masks and sometimes even the candy and their face makeup is melting off their faces. Us adults have so much fun chatting and catching up. I absolutely love it! Who wouldn't?

All in all it was a great Halloween and it was extra special to have Tracy, Aaron, Hunter, Drake and Baby Brooklyn join us for the occasion. Get ready for next year!

Oh boy, that means Christmas is coming...ugh.

Broke

Quick little story I had to write about.

While we were tide pooling in Oregon (blog below) Richard was walking with Sami along the beach. They were walking on the wet sand which is more firm and packed. Richard decided he would let go of her hand and start running in the sand to see if she would join him. Instead of joining him she became visibly upset. She started whimpering and yelling, "DADDY!". Richard of course stopped short to console her and find out what was wrong. She was pointing to his footprints he had made in the sand. His running had pulled up the sand from the pressure and weight beneath his feet. Richard said, "What's the matter baby?" and she pointed, crying and said, "Daddy...broke." Daddy had broken the sand with his feet and she was not very happy about it. She was pretty devastated over the matter until Richard had her run in the sand with him and she broke it on her own. The broken sand was something to laugh over at that point.

Oregon 2009

I am a little late with this posting...better late than never!

Last year my Aunt and Uncle moved to the Oregon Coast in Port Orford and left behind their beautiful ranch in Ellis, Idaho. I have wonderful memories of the ranch that will be forever in my heart but I can honestly tell you that their new place in Oregon is just as beautiful and wonderful to create even more memories.

My Mom was gracious enough to take me and my kids to the Oregon Coast last year and I absolutely loved it. There was a huge part missing though...my husband. We have discussed for the last year how we really wanted to save up and take a trip this summer to visit but it just didn't seem in the cards for us with finances. About three months ago I couldn't stand it any longer and demanded that we just take the trip. I told Richard I was going to put a little money in savings every week and I didn't care what it took....WE ARE GOING TO OREGON!

So we timed it just right for Richard to stay out driving a little longer than usual so he could take a few more days off. He came home at about 5pm the night before we planned to leave. We were determined to drive all day to get there so we could spend more time on the coast. Boy we had no idea what was in for us. It took us over 15 hours to get there! The highway was closed due to wildfires and the only detour was several hours out of the way and through Crater Lake (which was beautiful to see). The roads were horrendous with winds and curves. Richard and Sami get car sick very easily so we had to stop quite a bit. Not to mention the GPS was set on shortest route instead of fastest and yes there IS a difference, believe me. I wanted to throw that stupid GPS out the window! My husband had more faith in that stupid GPS WOMAN over me with the map even when she was leading us down dirt only, backwoods roads in the middle of nowhere. We were done in but we finally made it.

The next day we hung around Sis and Chuck's beautiful place for the morning and headed out to the "hobbit holes" on the ocean cliffs. Sis had her two grand-daughters Claire and Caylee with her so we took all the kids on this cool trail on the coast line. Gorgeous, lush forests and you could look over the coastline that has jagged black rocks where the waves crash against them. I have never been a real beach person but this kind of coast is down my alley. You can smell the salt and the mist from the fog feels cool on your face. The trail led us to these cool holes formed in the bushes that were the perfect size for the kids to play around in and walk through. We even spotted some sea lions on the rocks below.

The rest of the day Seth played in the Elk River with the cousins back at Sis' house and Sami, Richard, Dad (Dad stays there all summer in Gold Beach to fish) and I drove down to Gold Beach. Dad and Richard fished off the bar while I watched Sami play with the rocks and run from the waves. We ended the day with a weenie roast by the campfire and smores of course to top it off.

The next day was Richard's fishing day with my Dad. My Uncle Chuck was gracious enough to let Richard take his spot on the ocean fishing boat that day since he and Sis took the girls to the airport in Portland. Richard was lucky enough to catch 5 black bass, 2 vermillion and 1 long cod. He caught several other fish but the rest weren't keepers. I was glad that he had a chance to fish since that is his real passion in life. He has been so confined to his truck for the past year that it was nice to see him in his element doing what he loves to do.

Next morning was tide pooling. If you have never tide pooled you really must go sometime in your lifetime. It is great fun. You wake up at the crack of dawn in hopes to find a low tide and search the rocks and the beach for creatures, crabs and starfish. We didn't get in a great low tide this time of year but it didn't seem to matter with the great treasures we found. Our best find might have been the magnificent sea slugs that were heavy and molded to the shape of your hands when you held them. We saw a few jelly fished washed up on shore and several hermit crabs and sand crabs. We even found one smaller than a pencil eraser. The rocks were great. They looked similar to swiss cheese with the barnacles and creatures that burrowed perfect circles in them to the point of hollowing them out. On the way out we saw the most disgusting creature of all that Richard tells me was a banana slug. Probably a foot long it stretched across the trail where Sami and I almost stepped on it. If I had touched it at all I would have gone home and cut off that particular limb from my body anyway it was so gross. Later that day we went to check out the myrtle wood place to see if they could do any better than Richard's wood work...and of course they couldn't. We tried to go look at the litehouse but when we finally reached it it was so foggy there was not point to take the tour if you can't see anything.

Our last day was spent in Bandon. Crabbing of course. I love Bandon, it's my favorite place. I feel we saved the best for last. I was so excited to take Richard there to spend the day I couldn't stand it. Richard, Chuck and Dad went up early to set the crab pots while Sis and I slept-in with the kids. We met them up there and they were just coming in from setting the pots for a second time. First soak they caught a whopping 25 crab! While the pots were soaking we walked to this great pastry shop along the pier and had cinnamon rolls, pastries and coffee. The men and Seth went out to grab the pots while Sis and Sami and I played and chatted on the pier. Great pier! There were little minks playing in the rocks that Sami loved. Right off the pier there is this wonderful little sitting area that a woman must have spent hours upon hours decorating with little rocks and beads and shells that formed into this beautiful, jeweled design. When the boys came in they had caught another 19 crab! We had 44 crab in all to feast on that evening. Dad found out while they packed up that the price of crab that day in town was $21.95 each. We actually had almost $1000 worth of crab sitting in our hot little hands!! After all the cleaning and packing up, Richard and I and the kids stayed behind to walk around Bandon while everyone else went back to the house. There was no way we were going to leave without a sourdough bread bowl filled with yummy clam chowder. We went to the candy store and several other quaint little shops in this little fishing town. Love Bandon. Such a charming small town.

So of course that evening was the crab feast. There is nothing like fresh crab. Chuck has a great set up for a crab feast. He uses one of my Gramps' old chef pots and sets it on top of a rigged torch that boils water in an instant. Boils up all the crab and sets them in nice cool water and throws them in coolers. They pull the coolers over to the patio area where we gather around to eat crab, corn on the cob, marinated fresh cucumbers, tomato slices, bread and many other wonderful foods. When you get done with one crab you just reach into the cooler by the side of the table and grab another. We could definitely get used to that kinda eatin'!

Needless to say with my vacation blog that has turned into a novel, we had a great vacation. We truly needed to get away and we didn't want to come back to Meridian. There was nothing about coming home that was at all enticing. Of course it never would have been the same without Sis and Chuck allowing us stay with them in their newly redone home and being such wonderfully gracious hosts. Dad was great too for taking Richard fishing and just being there to spend time with us on our vacation.

Since coming home, Richard and I are seriously contemplating how we can possibly move to the Bandon area. Unfortunately their unemployment rate is even higher than ours here in Idaho. I must admit that I have added that area to my daily routine of job searching for Richard. We both truly feel that it is where we belong. We would like to retire there, raise our kids and just live.

For some reason this slideshow has cut off some of the pics. You can view them in full if you click on view images.