In the House Where We Live

evolving style

2010-02-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

After not sewing for a few days, I went back to it today. I was digging through more of the fabric piles and I found two projects that were half finished. They were vests for me. A few years back, I thought I would make a vest for each month of the year to fit in that month's decorating theme/season. I had one for June in a sunflower pattern and one for July in a 4th of July pattern.

I took out the two vests and looked at them for a minute, and decided not to finish them. Wearing vests isn't really my style and I wasn't sure they would fit anyway.

For the first time EVER, I decided not to finish a project, and I didn't feel bad about it. I hadn't sewn the lining to the fabric yet, so I cut out as many squares for fabric blocks as I could and then threw away what I couldn't use.

Slowly but surely, I'm going through my fabric stash and making decisions what to do with it. Many of the projects I will still finish. There are more for me to start. They may not go to the person they were originally intended to, and maybe I will use some of the fabric for something other than what I originally bought it for. I've also added the option to simply not finish the project and to cut up the fabric into squares for blocks or other projects.

Deciding not to finish a project doesn't mean I've failed at something. Tastes change over time and maybe that project doesn't fit who I am anymore.

A few months ago, I went through a folder that had pictures I had cut out of magazines. These were pictures of decor or craft projects I thought I would like to do. I threw out almost all of them because they just didn't fit my style anymore. A few were of paint projects that I just wasn't interested in doing anymore. I'm not a painter. I can't paint a doll to look like it has a real face. I can't blend colors to look shaded or make things look real. When we were getting ready for one of our moves, I gathered up all my paint supplies and gave them to the Relief Society. I decided there was no reason to keep the paint when I wasn't using it.

Lately I've been thinking I want to revamp the decorating in my house, especially my kitchen. I'm not talking about giving everything to the DI and starting over from scratch (although that would be fun). Rather, I'm trying to look at everything with fresh eyes and try to imagine using things in places other than where they've been. Just because something's always been in my kitchen doesn't mean it needs to stay there or stay in the same place. I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet, so I'll be taking some time to think about how I want things to look.

goals report for January

2010-02-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I got lots of sewing done, and quite a bit of scrapbooking done, and not much in the way of organizing the files.

I finished a nightgown for C, a pair of pajamas for J, a set of table runners in a snowflake pattern and the crib skirt. I cut out and sewed together the tops for a set of table runners in spring colors--just need to sew on the backing for that. I also cut out lots of blocks of leftover fabric to make fabric blocks for my baby. My final fabric-related project was clearing out odds and ends pieces of fabric that were too small to do anything with. Not too shabby.

I worked on the Alaska scrapbook and I think I'm about halfway done. I'm not worrying too much about making it super cute but I do want it to look good. I do need to get more page protectors to add to the ones in the book already so that's held me up a bit but I plan to work on it lots this week and hopefully I'll have it done by Saturday, Feb. 6.

I haven't been able to get motivated to tackle the files. I'm kind of dreading that because there are several years worth of files that I need to clean out. I look at the files and I wonder, do I REALLY need to keep all this stuff? The past few weeks have been so warm that the snow in the backyard has melted. Last Friday I cleaned out the garage--moved stuff that is normally stored in the shed but had been put in the garage for awhile. I put some old tax envelopes in the "dead file box" and as I looked at the envelopes going back to the beginning of our marriage (we've been married 12.5 years now!) I wondered why I was keeping all this stuff.

I've started a new system for keeping track of electronic payments. Before, I'd print out the confirmation page and then file it in the company folder. Then I got the idea to just keep track of confirmation numbers so that in case of a company telling me I hadn't paid, I would have the confirmation number available. So I set up a Microsoft Excell worksheet with the payment date, the company name, the bill amount, what the bill was for, the confirmation number and the bank account used to pay the bill. I started that with the January bills and so far it's working well. I've never had a company tell me I haven't paid a bill so I'm glad I won't be using any more paper and ink to print out confirmations that I don't even need.

Another problem with printing out the confirmation pages was that I use my bank's Bill Pay feature, so I'd have several different companies on one page. Where do I file it? That was what finally motivated me to set up the tracking form in Excell.

So, while I may not have accomplished everything I wanted to in January, I did make good progress, so I'm happy with that!

projects

2010-01-17T18:28:00.000-08:00

My big goal for this month is to finish projects. For the last 3 days I have been really focusing on sewing. I have finished a crib skirt; made a nightgown for my daughter; made pajamas for my older son; made two placemats of a cute snowflake pattern on dark blue fabric, and have started cutting out squares to make fabric blocks. I have lots more sewing projects to do such as making a few skirts for my daughter; making a crib bumper and quilt to match the crib skirt; making quilts out of old jeans; and finishing projects that were started and not finished. I don't know if I'll get them ALL done this month but I'm going to do as many as possible.

I'm also working on the Alaska scrapbook. That is my one scrapbook goal for January.

I have an organizing project to do too..which is to get all the papers filed and the filing cabinet cleaned out. This will help with getting things ready for doing taxes.

my word for 2010: PEACE

2010-01-01T19:56:00.001-08:00

At the end of 2008, I heard from my friend Nancy about choosing a word that would represent what her focus for 2009 would be. I thought that sounded like a really cool idea and so I chose the word ENJOY for 2009. I think for the most part I did pretty good at remembering to enjoy the moments as they happened, especially with my baby Alex.

So here we are at the beginning of another year and I have decided my word for 2010 will be PEACE. Peace in my home through establishing and maintaining routines that will help get the work done that needs to be done so we can enjoy a calm, peaceful environment. Peace in my family by working on reining in my temper and watching how I talk and the words I choose. Peace in my work by planning ahead and staying current so that I'm not stressing out trying to do payroll at the last minute. Peace in my church callings by preparing ahead of time and thinking things through.

Of course, I would love to have Peace on Earth by having people love one another (think of all the problems that would be solved if we'd love others and think of their welfare). I don't know if that's possible but I do know it can happen in my home so that will be my focus for 2010.

Happy New Year and may you have a Peaceful 2010!

will see you soon

2009-12-31T07:51:00.001-08:00

I haven't abandoned my blog. It's just been really busy with Christmas and all. I'll be back soon with updates and pictures.

planning christmas

2009-11-16T20:40:00.001-08:00

Well, even though I'm in the middle of trying to catch up on my words for NaNo (I won't tell you how far behind I am--it's too embarrassing), I took some time out to put together my Christmas planner. I first heard about this idea from Flylady and OrganizedHome.com/OrganizedChristmas.com. Basically you put together a planner (or a section in your household notebook, again, ideas from these two websites) that is information central for all things related to Christmas.

These are the sections I have in my Christmas Planner:

**Getting the house ready (cleaning), broken down by room/area.
**December calendar with all known commitments already written in. I will write in other commitments as they come up.
**Gift ideas list for all the people we are giving to.
**Gift tracking form (with spaces for how much each gift cost, and if it is wrapped)
**A list of the special meals I plan to make throughout December, along with the specific dishes for each meal.
**A list of the cookie recipes I plan to make, as well as other goodies.
**I will have a manila envelope in there too to keep all the receipts so if something needs to be returned, I have the receipt handy.

I have also seen ideas for forms for if you're going to travel and if you need to ship a package. Google "Christmas Planner" and you'll find all sorts of ideas to help you have an organized, Merry Christmas, in a clean house and without breaking the bank!

I have already got my budget set and I am on the hunt for sales--food, toys, clothes, etc.

Now it's time to get started on all the handmade stuff.

nano

2009-11-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we're a little over a week into NaNoWriMo and it's turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have to make time each day to write, but that's hard to do when I have a daily list of to-dos that's got 25 things on it and I'm always thinking of 25 more things to do. It doesn't help that Christmas is in six and a half weeks. [whoa, is it really only 6.5 weeks to Christmas?!?!]

The bigger problem I'm finding myself with is the temptation to edit. I spent a lot of my writing time today reading up some historical stuff on the internet. I'm trying to make everything historically accurate as far as the time line goes, as well as actual people, events, places, etc. That's not the point of NaNo. The point is to get the story out. Editing can come in December.

I think it's OK to go back and add something new that I thought of, but it's not OK to go back and change things to try to make it accurate. So that's my challenge.

Now that I've identified my problem, back to writing I go....

chores

2009-11-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

[trying something new]

Since my children were about 18 months old, I have had them help around the house. We started out with simple jobs like helping to pick up toys, putting their dirty diapers in the garbage, putting their dirty clothes in the hamper, putting away pajamas, etc. Later I had them take their dishes to the sink after meals, make their beds, help put away laundry and other more advanced chores. For the past while, I have had a rotating schedule of kitchen work and housecleaning. We would rotate through a daily schedule of setting the table, clearing the table, unloading the dishwasher and loading the dishwasher. We also rotated through weekly housecleaning: dusting upstairs, dusting downstairs, cleaning the upstairs bathroom and cleaning the downstairs bathroom. I took care of mopping and vacuuming the floors. It worked pretty well most of the time.

This month I decided to do something different. Mostly I wanted a change, but also I want C&J to learn how to take care of an entire room. Also, I want them to learn that sometimes we pick up messes made by others. So for one entire week, each of us will have a kitchen job and be responsible for one room. This is in addition to their usual chores of cleaning up after themselves in the bathroom, taking care of their bedrooms and doing homework.

So, for this week, Christie sets the table and is responsible for the living room. That means that it is her job to make sure that the living room is completely tidied up each night. It doesn't matter if Alex's toys are scattered around or if Jordan's school papers are left out. She can ask other family members to pick up their own stuff, but it is her responsibility to make sure it gets done. Jordan's jobs for this week are to clear the table and to tidy the family room. Same rules apply. My jobs are to empty the dishwasher and tidy the bathrooms (both upstairs and downstairs). Steven's job is to clean the kitchen. Since that is a rather big job, the person who has the "clean the kitchen" job doesn't have another room to be responsible for.

On Saturday, Christie will dust and vacuum the living room; Jordan will dust and vacuum the family room, and I will clean the bathrooms (meaning, scrub the sinks, toilets and tub).

Next Sunday (11/8), we will rotate to the next set of chores.

Should be fun.

{organizing}

2009-10-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

Recently I have started some small organizing projects. Some of them I have been thinking about for awhile and they've started to nag at me so I decided to take advantage of the time before NaNoWriMo starts and JUST DO IT.

One small project I did was go through my magazines. I had magazines from Martha Stewart Living, Country Sampler, Backyard Living, Creating Keepsakes, a magazine that we get through our banking/insurance company, and a few odd ones I picked up here and there. I also had several years worth of General Conference Ensigns.

I went through the MSL mags and tore out pictures/articles I wanted to keep. I did keep the entire March (gardening) and December (Christmas) issues. I did the same thing for the Creating Keepsakes mags. I kept all the Backyard Living issues as those were really thin mags and chock full of ideas/articles/etc. I wanted to keep. I tossed all the Ensigns (felt guilty about that but reminded myself that the current issue was the most important one, plus I could find all the articles online).

When I started, I had two 6.25 inch wide magazine holders full of mags and a few tucked in beside them. When I finished, everything I am keeping fit into one of those holders.

What I'm keeping:

What I'm getting rid of (recycling):

National Novel Writing Month

2009-10-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

Also known as NaNoWriMo, it's a challenge for writers to write a novel of (minimum)50,000 words from Nov. 1 to 30. Steven has done it for a couple of years now and this year he convinced me to try it.

I'm still thinking about what I want to write about but I am thinking of writing a pioneer girl story.

We'll see how it goes.

I [heart] fall

2009-10-12T06:13:00.001-07:00

I love fall! It is my favorite season! I mean REAL fall, not the sort of "fake" fall that comes when children go back to school. Around here, the end of August when school start is still really hot--all those nice jeans and long sleeve tops I buy at the back-to-school sales are too warm to wear, so my children go to school in shorts and t-shirts.

Lately the weather has been just gorgeous--cool (and even COLD!) mornings and evenings and very pleasant days. We've had a couple of rainy days and the mountain tops are dusted with snow and the leaves are changing colors. It really gets me in the mood to do projects around my home and yard.

I have spent quite a bit of time canning. I have made tomato soup, chile sauce, salsa, peach chutney, and peach jam. I have canned cherries and peaches. I have some strawberries in the freezer I bought early last summer that need to be made into jam. I want to make applesauce. A friend has asked to borrow my pressure canner to can beans--I would like to learn to do that. So apart from strawberry jam, applesauce and possibly beans, I am done with canning for this year.

Maceys had their big case lot sale and I stocked up. Right now all the boxes are in the garage. I need to re-organize my food storage room to move what's left from last year to the front and make room for the new stuff. I didn't buy everything I want to--some things (such as Swanson's broth, baking supplies, Jello, etc.) are cheaper in the holiday period between Halloween and Christmas. So I need to inventory those items and see how much I need to buy so when they do go on sale, I'll be ready! My big freezer in the garage is stuffed full. I've probably got three months worth of food in there!

I've been making a list of fall projects I want to get done around the house and yard before snow flies. Or at least before the weather gets REALLY cold. I need to change out the children's clothes; check and replenish our 72 hour kits; refill the propane tanks (our emergency cooking fuel--I used up all the tanks this summer with the canning and grilling); do final yard maintenance; clean up and organize the garage so Steven can park his car in there; and a whole list of other things.

And one goal among all the "to dos" is to simply step back once in a while (once a day at least!) and breathe in the fresh fall air and notice the colors and just enjoy the season.

One year ago....

2009-10-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

One year ago…

I cannot believe that my baby is one year old today.

One year ago this weekend was General Conference. My doctor’s appointment was on Friday the 3rd. I was due on Thursday, Oct. 16th; scheduled to be induced on Friday, Oct. 10th. When my doctor checked me, I was 4 centimeters dilated. That surprised me because I had never been dilated that much that early with my other two babies. Steven was with me at the appointment and we all agreed I probably wouldn’t make it to my scheduled induction date.

Saturday the 4th we watched both sessions of General Conference. I was having some pretty intense Braxton-Hicks contractions all day but nothing unusual. I’d been having BH contractions for quite awhile. Steven and I both had the feeling the baby would come that weekend sometime. We had already arranged that Steven’s parents would take Christie and Jordan when it came time to go to the hospital. My parents were on their mission in Africa. Anyway, after the afternoon session, and having dinner, we decided to go do some errands—we were almost out of milk and needed some other things. So off we went. I think we went to three stores. I rode in the mobility carts because walking was so uncomfortable. Sometime while we were out my contractions became a little more intense. We started timing them and by the time we got home around 8, we decided maybe we’d better head to the hospital. While Steven helped C&J pack overnight bags, I called the Swains and the interpreter agency. Steven’s parents live in Draper and we agreed on a ‘code knock’ that would identify them so C&J would answer the door. After making sure they understood what to do, hugs and kisses, and a picture of me (practically the only picture taken of me while I was pregnant), we headed to the hospital.

I was admitted to triage, put on a monitor and then we waited. My contractions were still very uncomfortable but weren’t increasing in intensity or frequency the way I remember they did with C&J. We were there from about 8:45 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. We spent the time alternating between me resting in bed and walking around to see if things would get moving. Each time the nurse checked me, the dilation was the same. Finally, the nurse suggested we go home. She gave me discharge instructions and we went home.

I was hungry so I had a quick snack, then we went to bed. I don’t know if my contractions settled down a bit or if I was so tired I didn’t feel them or whatever, but I didn’t wake up til 10 am on Sunday. I only woke up because I had to use the bathroom very badly! Usually I wake up several times a night to go to the bathroom but I slept so soundly that I didn’t wake up at all! I was still tired, so I had a little snack again then went back to bed for another 2 hours. When I woke up at noon, I was feeling pretty good, so I suggested to Steven that we shower and get dressed and get over to Mom and Dad Swain’s in time for a late lunch and the afternoon session. He agreed with that so I went to take a shower.

I had barely gotten dressed when I started having back contractions. I had never experienced back labor with Christie or Jordan so that was really different! It was about 1:15 or so at this time. Steven was downstairs and I didn’t want to try to navigate the stairs, but he hadn’t showered yet so I was sure he would be up soon. So I lay down on the bed and started timing the contractions. Steven came upstairs and I told him what was going on. Over the next hour and a half, he got dressed, ate something, I tried to watch the Sunday afternoon session of conference on the internet, timed contractions and finally at about 2:45 I said we needed to go back to the hospital. So Steven called his parents and the interpreter agency, then he helped me out to the car and back we went. I was having pretty intense back labor
by this time and I knew that this was the ‘real thing’.

We got to the hospital and by this time there was no doubt at all that I was definitely in labor! The admitting nurse took so long to do the admitting stuff that finally I told Steven to ask if we could do all this later—I was sitting in a wheelchair practically doubled over. The funny thing about all this is that I don’t really remember having uterine contractions—I’m sure I did—but everything I could feel was in my back!

We got to a room and Steven helped me change. Then the nurse got me on the monitor again and called the anesthesiologist for an epidural and checked me. I was still dilated to 4 cm. The nurse had some trouble locating the baby’s heartbeat for the fetal monitor so she did an ultrasound and it showed the baby was transverse instead of being head down. So she called the doctor from my clinic who was on call (Dr. P) because if the baby was transverse, I’d have to have a c-section. Five minutes later Dr. P arrived, and did an ultrasound herself. In that time, the baby had flipped to head down! The nurse was flabbergasted and kept saying, “But he was transverse five minutes ago!”

We then had some time when nothing much was happening.

Then things got interesting. The baby’s heartbeat kept dropping low and then going back up. Finally it dropped so low that Dr. P got really concerned and decided a c-section was necessary. I was taken to the OR and given the heavy-duty meds while Steven and the interpreter got into scrubs. I don’t remember much of the time in the OR because the meds made me feel so out of it. I was awake and somewhat aware of what was going on but not really comprehending. We stayed in the OR for quite awhile—each time Dr. P was ready to drape and cut, the heartbeat went back up for a bit before dropping again. She did something to adjust the baby’s position and that helped the heart rate go up and stay up long enough that she was comfortable proceeding with a normal delivery. So we went back to our room where we waited out the rest of the time til I was 10 cm and ready to push. Pushing was fairly easy and not too long.

Our baby boy Alex was born at 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, 2009, weighing 8 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches long. After the initial exam and clean up we had our interpreter call some of our family members (we didn’t have phone numbers for everyone) to let them know and to pass the word along.

We then moved up to our hospital room on the maternity floor. By this time it was pretty late and Steven was exhausted from everything that had been going on the past 24 hours so he headed home. Alex got his first bath around midnight then we both went to sleep.

it hurts to see friends hurt

2009-09-23T09:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday (9/22) was one of my best friend's birthday. I actually met *A* and *L* in summer 1996 when I was living in SLC doing an internship. I lost touch with both of them for awhile...when Steven started working at Sorenson full-time, *A* was his supervisor and we have since become best friends.

Yesterday was not the best day for *L*. Two months ago, she was hit head on by a drunk driver. Thirty hours later, her husband was rear ended. Last Thursday he had hip surgery to fix some problems that apparently had been aggravated by the accident. So they have both had some serious challenges lately.

I knew that *A* would not be in any shape to do anything for *L*. And I was sure that that was really hard for him. So last week I contacted the other ladies in the "group of 5" that we socialize with, proposing the idea of a surprise party for *L*. Then I contacted *A* to work out the details. As it turned out, yesterday was not a good day for *L*. She was experiencing a lot of back pain, so we moved the party to *A* and *L*'s house so she wouldn't have to travel. 4 of our 5 were there--#5 just had a baby so we didn't expect her to come. We had a great time, just the 4 of us, with two new babies, laughing and talking and eating.

After the other ladies left, I stayed for awhile to chat with *A* and *L*. We talked about lots and lots of different things.

*A* started a blog to chronicle their family's challenges. See it here. I had known a lot about what was going on--I have spent many hours over at their house, just trying to find ways to help them get through all this. But I hadn't really realized how bad it was.

It hurts to see your friends hurt. For whatever reason. Another friend of ours, *MM*, was in a terrible car accident nearly 3 years ago. To this day, he is still undergoing various surgeries to fix his legs. In fact, he is scheduled for a major knee operation sometime in the next 6 weeks. Although we were living in Orem at the time this happened, the news reverberated throughout the Utah Deaf Community. I have seen friends struggle with infertility, with the death of a child, with employment, with finances, as well as health issues. And it's never easy. There's so much you want to do for them but you also know you can only do so much.

At times like this, what really helps is to remember the Lord's promise in 1 Cor. 10:13 that the Lord will not allow us to be tested more than we are able to bear. Although it seems at times that our idea of what we can bear and what the Lord knows we can bear are two very different things, still, the fact that we are going through what seems to be a terrible trial, and somewhat surviving, is testament to the strength of the human spirit.

I also find the Lord's response to Joseph Smith's pleading (when he was incarcerated in Liberty Jail) inspiring:

"My son [and I might add, my daughter], peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." (D&C 121: 7-8)

It felt good to do something for *L* to make her birthday a good one. I hope my eyes and heart will always be open to noticing when others need help (even if they don't ask for it) and to be able to give it.

wow, long time

2009-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged here! I have been busy with keeping up with school, canning and other family stuff. Hope to post more often now!

more canning

2009-08-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

More canning! Today (Friday, 8/28) I am making tomato soup! We haven't had any for a year because I didn't do any canning last year with a new baby due. So I have lots of things to make! I have already done 16 quarts of cherries and now I am working on tomato soup. For as long as I can buy tomatoes at the local farmer's markets, I will make tomato soup, chile sauce and salsa. I also bought 3 dozen ears of corn today that I will blanch and freeze. A friend is picking up a box of peaches for me (she got a box for herself) that I will bottle. I also have some strawberries in the freezer to make into strawberry jam. I would also like to make peach jam and applesauce.

One of the best things I ever bought for canning is my camp stove. Seven years ago, the Allen family gathered at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's home for what turned out to be the last apple harvest for our family. G&G had several apple trees. That year the apples were all pressed into apple cider. Everyone who lived in Utah gathered to their home to sort and wash the apples, take them to the cider mill and then to process some of the cider into apple juice. We had three camp stoves set up in the garage and 6 pots of water to process the cider. We set up an assembly line to warm and sterilize the jars, lids and rings; fill the jars; put lids and rings on; get the jars into the pots and watch them. It was pretty cool and I decided when the time came I would do the same. The first year we lived here I bought a camp stove and made tomato soup and salsa. I think that's all I made that year. Anyway it was great for keeping heat out of the house and so I am doing the same thing again this year.

starting up again

2009-08-28T15:09:00.002-07:00

With the start of school, Cub Scouts and Activity Days will be starting up again. This past Wednesday was Pack Meeting and the ward had a BBQ at a local city park. It was a lot of fun and we had fun chatting with some of the neighbors. I am really grateful to our local ward for welcoming our children into their activities, even though we are not members of the ward. They have done a lot for us and it is much appreciated!

back to school

2009-08-28T15:09:00.001-07:00

Well, we are back in school! School started on Monday, August 25th. I took Christie and Jordan to school and went in with them to see their classrooms and meet their teachers. Jordan is in 3rd grade and Christie is in 5th grade. Christie started 3rd grade at Westbrook and we just loved her teacher Mrs. Gertsch so we requested that Jordan be put into her class and he was! Mrs. G. wasn't in the classroom when we went in but since I've already met her it wasn't a big deal. Christie's teacher is Miss Blake. She seems really nice. Seems the 5th grade classes don't rotate among the teachers like they did when I was in 5th grade (eons ago, it seems) but the teachers do rotate for certain subjects. Each day this week Christie and Jordan have come home happy and excited to tell me about what they did that day. Looks like we're going to have a great year!

Landscaping

2009-07-14T17:36:00.001-07:00

[one project done]

After a year of talking about it, we finally replaced the rock wall in front of the house, between the front door and the garage.

This is what it looked like before:

Terrible, huh? I never really liked it because I thought it was too low, and it looked really amateurish and not well done. Then Jordan started pulling some of the rocks off the top and it just went downhill from there.

Last night Steven knocked out the rest of the rocks and broke off the cement and Christie and Jordan hauled the rocks to the north side of the house where we will store them for awhile. We hope to do something with them.

After the rocks were all removed:

This morning the crew showed up and the first things they did were to remove the concrete that the old rock wall had been on top of and to dig the trenches. The first picture shows the pile of concrete that was dug out.

After the trenches were dug, they were filled with gravel.

The first few rows of stone.

A wet saw was used to cut the stones to make the corner.

Front view.

Side view showing the wall in relation to the house.

The dirt that was dug out to make the trenches filled the bed pretty well. We will probably add a few more inches of topsoil later. Now I need to research plants and make a plan for that flower bed. We probably will wait to plant til early fall so the summer heat doesn't kill the plants.

Next project is to replace the rocks on the other side of the front of the house with curbing. I hope to get that project done within the next week.

Day 3: Ketchikan

2009-07-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Ketchikan Monday morning.

Facts about Ketchikan: It's the southernmost sizable city in Alaska. It has an estimated population of about 7,368, making it the 5th most populous city in Alaska. It is known as the "Salmon Fishing Capital of the World". It has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles. It gets an average of 152 inches of rain a year and an average of 37 inches of snow.

Side note: Through NCL, cruise passengers can book "shore excursions" in each town the ship docks at. K&S booked a trip for the whole family in another town. Steven and I decided we would explore Ketchikan on our own.

There's not much land between the water and the mountains so we got off the ship and the town was right there.

The Norwegian Star, looking at the back.

View of Ketchikan from the dock.

The sign welcoming visitors to the "Salmon Fishing Capital of the World".

We stopped at the visitors office and got maps of a walking tour. We went with 3 other siblings and spouses.

Ketchikan has quite a collection of totem poles. I learned some interesting things about totem poles. They were carved to honor deceased ancestors, record history, social events and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.

The picture above shows the Chief Kyan totem pole. According to the sign next to it, the figures represent the Crane, the Thunderbird and the Brown Bear.

We saw totem poles all over Ketchikan and there's a Totem Heritage Center in town that houses a display of original totem poles.

This next picture shows a salmon ladder. It is a concrete structure that was built to help the salmon on their way up the creek to their spawning grounds.

This is a view of the Thomas Basin Boat Harbor from Stedman Street. The ships are docked just to the left of the harbor. There's a wooden street in front o fthe buildings to the right.

Creek Street. Ketchikan Creek runs through the middle and the buildings are built on pilings that overhang the creek. This was the "red light district" of Ketchikan.

Dolly Arthur was Ketchikan's most famous madam. This was her house.

Ketchikan Creek. See all the green moss on the rocks--this area gets over 100 inches annually of rainfall. The area is very lush and green.

Another view of Ketchikan from the docks near the ships.

Ketchikan is very hilly and some streets are actually built of wooden staircases. These are called staircase streets.

This is a view of Newtown (which is located west of the historic district) from the ship. You can see that there is very little land between the mountains and the water. We saw this in each town we visited. You can also see how the mountains are solidly covered with evergreen trees. We also saw this everywhere we went.

4th of july dessert

2009-07-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

We usually have a BBQ to celebrate the 4th of July. This year I found a great deal on raspberries, strawberries and blueberries so I made this great shortcake dessert.

The recipe:

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar

SHORTCAKE:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Dash salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
Whipped cream, optional

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, blueberries and 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine milk and sour cream; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened.

Spread batter into a greased 9-in. pie plate (batter will be thick). Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 350° for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes; cut into six wedges.

Split each wedge in half horizontally. Serve warm with berry mixture; garnish with whipped cream if desired. Serves: 6

canning season has started

2009-07-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

[ cherries ]

On Sunday (7/5), a ward member told Steven about a farm in Utah County where you could pick your own cherries. These type of farms are called U-pick or pick-your-own farms. The farm was charging .65/lb of cherries, which was quite a good price so I got a friend to watch the children and went there to pick cherries. I got about 25 lbs and today (7/7) I canned them.

This was my first experience canning cherries. I've done peaches, pears, apricots and applesauce before. Cherries are definitely one of the easier fruits to do, I think, because there's not much prep work to do. All we did was pull off the stems, wash them, and put them in jars with light syrup. We didn't bother pitting them.

Those 25 lbs of cherries gave me 16 quarts. I would have had 17 but I dropped the last jar as I was bringing it in from the outside stove. Glass jar + tile floor = one big mess to clean up. Ugh! I was mad that I lost that jar!

I would love to go back and get another 25 lbs but I have lots of other canning I plan to do so I need to think about my storage space and how many jars I have. But now that I know about that farm, I will definitely go back next year!

Day 2: At Sea and the Surprise Anniversary Party

2009-06-16T08:40:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Our first full day on the ship. We woke up and had breakfast at the Market Cafe which was the cafeteria-style restaurant on board. It has huge windows so you can see outside.

Then everyone did their own thing until 4 pm when we had a "Family Conference", which was pretty much a sacrament meeting without the sacrament. We had prayers, songs, and different family members shared spiritual experiences related to the family. Steven shared the story of when I had the severe bleeding back in May and was told I had placenta previa and needed to be really careful. After we told Christie and Jordan what was going on and how we (mostly I) needed their help, they were very helpful and every night after that until Alex was born, they prayed that he would be healthy. He also shared how, during labor with Alex, his heart rate dropped and stayed low to the point where I came thisclose to needing a c-section, he prayed that everything would be OK and I wouldn't need surgery. His point was that he was grateful for the power of prayer.

We then headed to the Versailles Room, which is a French-style decorated restaurant for dinner and a surprise anniversary party.

The point of this cruise was to celebrate Steven's parents' (K&S) 50th wedding anniversary (actual date is in September). During the previous few months, Steven's older brother M and his wife K collected pictures of K&S's life from the day they were married to the present, including pictures sent from each family. All these pictures were made into a beautiful book that was presented to them, along with a box of letters and cards from their grandchildren, extended family members and friends. They were completely surprised by this!

Steven's older sister B announced to the room at large that we were celebrating a 50th anniversary and would everyone please join in a round of applause. Then several of the wait staff sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".

Then one of the waiters brought a tray of root beer floats, which is our family's celebration drink. Someone in the family (can't remember who) made a joke that most people celebrate an anniversary with champagne but we celebrate with root beer floats!

A funny side note: Most of the ship staff (waiters, photographers, cabin stewards, etc.) that we met were not American. They all wear name tags with their name, position and country of origin. Most of them were from Asian nations. The waiter that brought the root beer floats had never heard of them! S (Steven's sister who arranged for them) had to explain over and over what they were, and then how to make them. We all got a good laugh when she explained the ordeal!

Day 1: Seattle

2009-06-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 6, 2009

We woke up and got ourselves ready. Some of us went to IHOP for breakfast while the other half went to run some last minute errands. Then we waited around in the motel room for the shuttle van to arrive to drive us to the pier in downtown Seattle.

Once we were dropped off at Pier 66, the first thing to do was have our tickets and passports checked. Then we went to drop off the luggage. Just like at the airport. Then we went through security, which included a health survey (concern about swine flu). After that, we were able to actually get on the ship. The ship's name is Norwegian Star, of the Norwegian Cruise Line (hereafter referred to as NCL). The Star had just arrived that morning from a previous Alaska cruise so the cabin stewards were still working on cleaning and stocking the staterooms. So we went to one of the restaurants on board for lunch. Once we were given the go-ahead to go to our cabins, we unpacked and then walked around the ship to get our bearings before heading up to the 12th deck which is where the observation decks are.

We departed Seattle around 4 p.m. The rest of the evening we spent on the observation decks watching Washington State go by, exploring more of the ship, eating dinner and visiting with each other.

Alaska: Unofficial Day One: Last Day of School and Flying to Seattle

2009-06-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 5, 2009

We started off Friday, June 5th with the last day of school. They had a normal early out day. Steven went to work for the morning to finish up some projects while I did the final packing and cleaning. He came home at 12:30 or so and then at 1:15 we went over to school to take pictures of Christie and Jordan with friends and teachers and to deliver the year-end thank you notes.

Christie and her best buds

Christie and her teacher Mrs. Francis

Jordan and the boys from his class

Jordan and his teacher Mrs. Hanzon

After picking up Christie and Jordan from school, we went to Applebee's for an "end of the school year" celebration lunch. Then we came home to pick up their stuff then took the children over to my best friend Diane's home. She and her husband had the three children stay with them from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

We then ran back home to get our stuff and headed over to the airport. We were a little behind schedule but fortunately getting through security didn't take too long and we had about 45 minutes to spare.

We flew on Delta to Seattle.

All except two couples had arrived that day (June 5th) so Steven's father had arranged for us to stay at a motel a few miles from the airport. We were supposed to call for the motel shuttle to come pick us up. Only problem was that we were flying alone so there was no one to make the call for us. I'm not sure how Steven's father thought we were going to handle that but then again, since a very young age, Steven's been expected to figure things out for himself so in a way, it's par for the course. LOL. Fortunately, a fellow traveler made the call for us and after about a 30 minute wait, the shuttle came. The funniest thing about the whole episode is that Steven's older sister Pam and her husband got on the shuttle at the same time! They had been waiting at the opposite end of the shuttle pick up area. We got to the motel, said HI to everyone, took a short walk over to a nearby 7-11 to get some food and then crashed.

End of Day 1.

The Last Week

2009-05-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

It's the last week of school, and the last week before our Alaska trip! I can hardly believe the school year is over already! It will be a busy week--tomorrow (Monday) Jordan goes to Hogle Zoo with his class, and Christie goes on Wednesday. Thursday is Field Day and Friday is the last day of school.

I am so excited for the Alaska cruise that I can hardly wait! I don't think I've explained about this trip before. Steven's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year and they decided to take their 6 children and spouses on a cruise to Alaska. They told us about this trip 2 years ago, right around the time we bought our house. Two years ago was our 10th wedding anniversary. We had always talked about taking a trip to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary, but with the news that Mom and Dad S. were going to take us on a trip, we decided to forego the Hawaii trip and buy the house instead (with a bigger down payment!). Now it is finally here! I have been doing some research online to see what there is to do in the various towns we will visit and it seems the biggest problem will be deciding what to do in the time we have!

My best friend will have our three children stay with her for the weekend, then my sister will pick them up and have them through the rest of the trip. Many thanks to these wonderful ladies for being willing to have our children stay with them!

The best part of it all? Our last night on board (6/12) will be our 12th wedding anniversary! We have some big plans to celebrate!

While I will be taking my laptop, it will only be for downloading pictures from the digital camera and keeping a journal. We won't have internet access (well, the ship does have internet access but it's not free) so I won't be able to tell about the trip til after we get back.

This week is already so busy---Friday will be here before I know it!!

feeling a little scattered

2009-05-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a little scattered lately. There's so much to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. Alex wakes up only once or twice a night, and after feeding goes right back to sleep, so I shouldn't feel as sleep-deprived as I do. Some nights I can't get back to sleep. Which then throws me off for the rest of the day.

I feel stalled on so many things. I have started and not finished so many sewing projects. Same thing with yard projects. And we are going to Alaska in a week and I have hardly started anything as far as packing goes.

I feel like I spend too much of my time juggling spinning plates--staying on top of really basic household stuff like dishes, laundry, keeping the house picked up and meals. I feel like I spend all day doing basics and don't really get to do the "fun" stuff like sewing, scrapbooking, gardening, planning summer school, etc.

I think I need a new plan of attack. I'll think about this and post my thoughts tomorrow.

happy mother's day

2009-05-10T19:39:00.002-07:00

sometimes ya just gotta spoil yourself

2009-05-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

I was out running some errands and decided to stop at Bath and Body Works. They were having a sale and I decided to splurge and get myself some shower gel.

I've used the Butterfly Flower and Apple scents so far. Love them!

2009-04-12T21:44:00.001-07:00

[spiritual easter]

After the excitement of the Easter party activities on Saturday, it was time to focus on the spiritual aspect of Easter today.

We had a good Sacrament meeting (though I missed most of the talks--I was in the mother's room feeding Alex. Yes, we do have a TV there, but there were other mothers in the room and from where I was sitting, it was a little hard to see the TV).

For dinner, we had ham, au gratin potatoes, asparagus, and carrots & green beans. Then we had a special Family Home Evening focusing on the true meaning of Easter. I had 12 plastic eggs with a scripture relating to the events of Easter and a small visual aid in each one. I also pulled out the pictures from my Gospel Art Kit to add in some of the background information. Christie and Jordan are really good at reading their scriptures and we had a wonderful FHE. Our dessert was more of the Easter basket cupcakes from yesterday.

While Steven and I prepared dinner, Alex hung out in his high chair. This is how he often sits--leaning to his left with his right leg propped up against the chair:

The weather was perfect today--a beautiful, warm, sunny day with cool breezes. I could see some of our trees are starting to bud and some of our tulips are ready to bloom. Our yard is starting to green up and it all was a great reminder of the blessing of "new life" that our Savior, Jesus Christ, offers us through His Atonement.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He suffered and died for us, and was resurrected on the third day. I know that as we strive to live His commandments, and take advantage of the wonderful gift of repentance, that the Atonement will have effect in our lives and someday we can live with Him and our Heavenly Father.

Happy Easter to all my blog readers and may you have a wonderful spring!

easter

2009-04-12T21:41:00.001-07:00

[fun easter]

We had a family party on Saturday (4/11). I was in charge of it and it was all about the children!

We started off with lunch and then once everyone was fed and watered, we started the festivities.

We started off with the children making bunny rabbit masks.

Then they colored eggs.

Our family babies hung out with Julie and Steven while the egg coloring was going on.

The finished masterpieces.

While waiting for the eggs to dry, the little bunnies donned their masks and went downstairs to hunt eggs (the plastic kind). They had chosen a color of egg they would hunt for, and I also told them they had to HOP while they hunted their eggs.

The pink blur in the middle is Christie mid-hop. I made a video--if I can figure out how to get it uploaded, that'll give you a sense of the excitement.

The bunnies with their loot.

After the egg hunt, we had Easter basket cupcakes for dessert.

A good time was had by all, and it was fun to catch up with the family.

so much to catch up on

2009-04-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, life sure has been busy around here lately Both of my older children had "milestone" birthdays these past two weeks. Christie turned 10. Jordan turned 8. In the LDS Church, of which we are members, turning 8 is the "age of accountability". The LDS Church is also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Eight years of age is when children in our church are baptized. Jordan has been looking forward to turning 8 for quite some time--not only because he can be baptized, but also because he can join Cub Scouts. His first den meeting was last night.

Anyway, with the "milestone" birthdays, I told Christie and Jordan they could have friends birthday parties. We don't do friends parties every year--only on the milestone birthdays (5, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 18). We do celebrate as a family each year.

Christie decided on a High School Musical party. They played musical chairs to the High School Musical 3 soundtrack and had a backpack relay race. For the relay race, they took a backpack to a pile of school supplies, put everything in the backpack, ran back to their team, high-fived everyone, ran back, emptied the backpack and ran back again to hand it off. I made a yellow cake with star cutouts of the HSM stars. The frosting was supposed to be red but it ended up being a really dark pink.

Jordan wanted a rocket/outer space theme. The children made spaceships using round cake boards, black plastic bowls and the lids from Slurpees. They also had a Moon Rock Relay where they used tongs ("robot arm") to carry "moon rocks" (plastic balls from the dollar store) to a bowl at the other end of the yard. I made a rocket ship cake using Wilton's football pan. It turned out pretty good although next time I will use different colors so the different elements show up better. For party favors, I made candy rockets. I got SweetTarts, covered them with colored paper, hot glued a Hershey Kiss on one end, and cut out triangles and glued them on the other end for the fins. They turned out pretty good! If I'd had more time, I would have decorated them a bit more, but the kids thought they were great anyway!

We had a great time but two friends birthday parties plus two family parties in two weeks is enough! I'm birthday-partied out!

it's a 15 minute day

2009-03-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

Today I have a lot of things to do that really *need* to be done. So I'm breaking my day down into 15 minute segments. 15 minutes in the bedroom/bathroom, then 15 minutes in the kitchen, then 15 minutes in the living room. Then a 15 minute break. Then 15 minutes handling laundry, 15 minutes tidying up downstairs, 15 minutes finishing up in another room. Then a second 15 minute break. During those 15 minutes, I'll read a book, work on a cross stitch project or do a little scrapbooking. Then back to the 15 minute work segments. I'll keep going through the rooms, 15 minutes at a time until everything is done. This also works for balancing the checkbook, writing in a journal or any other little thing that needs to be done. I love it!

Christmas picture

2009-02-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

Christie, Jordan and Alex in their Christmas outfits.

pajama date

2009-01-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for 2009 is to have more dates with Steven. This can be a challenge with three children, the youngest of whom is only 3 months old and is still nursing every few hours. I came up with the idea of having an "at home" date each month.

Last night was our first date. I changed the name from "at home date" to "pajama date" because I had taken the older children swimming after dinner and we came home just in time for them to get ready for bed. Alex was ready to be fed so I changed into my pajamas and fed him after we had bedtime prayers. Then I put him in the swing where he was quiet for about 30 minutes before falling asleep. Steven also changed into pajamas and we had our date at the kitchen table, playing games and eating popcorn and Oreos. We played Phase 10 (getting through all 10 phases) and 5 rounds of Boggle. We got the game for Christmas from Steven's parents and have played several times--and I have come NOWHERE CLOSE to beating him. I doubt I ever will but we still had fun anyway.

Next month's date will be a movie night. I'm sure I will come up with some other ideas of fun things we can do at home after the children go to bed.

my word for 2009

2009-01-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, Nancy, did something really cool. She chose a word that she would focus on for 2008. Her 2008 word was JOY. She looked for joy in everything she did. She just posted on her blog what her word for 2009 was. Check her out here.

I got to thinking about that. I like the idea of having a single word that sums up what I want to focus on for the year. I will still have a list of projects and goals, but they will tie into that theme word. My word will also help me know what to focus on in daily life.

So, what is my word for 2009? It is ENJOY. Since my little son Alex was born in October, I have tried really hard to enjoy him. I try not to let my never-ending to-do list get in the way of playing with him, holding him, and just enjoying being with him. Even in the middle of the night when he is awake and fussing, I try to remember that all too soon he will be sleeping through the night and that phase will be over. I may not exactly ENJOY it, but remembering my word will help me to not resent it.

My word will also help me to remember my older children. Sometimes I find myself not paying as much attention to them as I should. It's easy to forget, amid the demands of taking care of a baby, that even though they are older and more independent, they still need me.

Even though it seems as though I do the same things every day, remembering my word will help me to keep things in perspective.

What's your word for 2009?

merry christmas

2008-12-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Love,
Merilee

Laundry

2008-12-04T10:51:00.003-08:00

Monday is my laundry day. It always has been. When I was growing up, one of my favorite book series was the "Little House" books. Actually, they are still among my favorites. In the first book, Little House on the Prairie, one chapter talks about the daily lives of Ma, Mary and Laura. They had a specific job for a specific day. The saying went like this,

Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Churn on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday.

Those pioneer women were smart! Yes, I realize they probably did things that way because some jobs took a long time (laundry) due to not having the convenience appliances that we have today plus they also had other things to do (cook, wash dishes, chores, tend the garden). But the principle is good. Do one major job a day and then you'll have time to do the other things you want and need to do.

So anyway, I channeled my Pioneer Woman and set Monday as my laundry day. I will do laundry on other days if necessary but the Big Laundry Day is Monday. And yes, there's times when I put it off for several days. This week was one of those times. Doing laundry is not my favorite job to do but there is something really satisfying about seeing those baskets of dirty clothes disappear, to be replaced by the clean clothes, and to see previously empty drawers and hangers get filled with clean clothes, and to replace the empty hampers in their respective homes. This state of laundry bliss only lasts a few hours--until the first person changes clothes, but I know that those clothes can (and will!) stay in the hamper until the next laundry day.

Even though there's 5 of us now, laundry's not quite the chore it might be. I've set up a system that works pretty well and gets my two older children doing their fair share of work in the laundry area.

So this is how it goes: I tell my children to gather their dirty clothes and bring their laundry baskets to my room. (Even though they have laundry baskets in their rooms, they still throw things on the floor, in the closet and under the bed). They separate out their own clothing. I'll separate the clothes in the basket in my room and from the hamper in the bathroom and gather up kitchen linens from the kitchen). During the day, I'll wash and dry the loads. Then I'll bring the baskets of clean laundry to my room. At this point what happens next depends. If I've procrastinated and started laundry late, I'll dump everything on my bed and call everyone in for a Laundry Dig. Everyone (me, DH and the two older children) will dig through the pile and gather their own things. DH will hang up/put away his own things. OK (older kids) will dump their stuff in their baskets and cart them back to their own rooms and hang/put away. I'll deal with my own stuff, the baby's stuff and "public" stuff like bath towels and kitchen linens. If I'm a good girl and keep on top of laundry, I will put away my stuff, DH's stuff, baby's stuff and public stuff. As I find the OK's stuff, I will toss it into their baskets. When they get home from school (or when I'm done), they'll cart their baskets to their room and put away their clothes. It works pretty well!

So, I finally got everything done yesterday. I know I only have a few days to enjoy the laundry-less time but I'll enjoy it while I can!

long time no blog

2008-12-04T10:29:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been forever (it seems) since I last blogged in August. I've had plenty to say and I've written many posts in my head but when it came time to actually type said posts, I thought about it and said, 'forget it'.

What has happened since the last post in August? The biggest thing was that we had a baby boy! Baby Boy was born in early October. He is 2 months old now and is such a joy! Also Older Sister and Big Brother started school. We have also done some house projects. We celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving. And now it's time to think Christmas!

I hope to blog more regularly about what's happening in my life as well as my thoughts on random subjects such as homemaking, scrapbooking, sewing, gardening--in short, all the things I like to do.

Organizing and projects

2008-08-14T21:14:00.001-07:00

Well, the "nesting" instinct kicked in this summer. I have been working on various organizing projects around my home.

[ scrapbook stuff ]

I have 8 banker style boxes labeled "scrapbook" of various flavors (mission, wedding, kids, high school, college, etc.) stacked up next to my work table. One day last week I pulled out one of them to see what was in there. I was surprised to see a bunch of hanging folders labeled with different categories and some stuff already in them. I put them in one of my crates and started going through other boxes, filing pictures, cards, letters and other memorabilia in the appropriate category. I have now got 3 empty boxes. The crate with the hanging files is stuffed rather full now but things are organized in a way that when I am ready to start scrapping, everything will be together. Once the organizing is done, the actual scrapping should go pretty quick. I admit I did throw away a lot of stuff. Some of it I couldn't identify and other stuff was old cards and letters. I read through them and didn't feel any particular desire to keep them so out they went after a few moments of enjoying them. Can't keep everything!

I finished the Disney scrapbook and put those pages along with the pages from our 2003 trip to Washington State (for a Swain family reunion) into a new binder that is labeled "Vacations". That really thinned out the Family book--which will get filled right back up soon. Another part of this scrapbook project has been to find pages that are partially done, get them done and put in chronological order by year and now they are ready for page protectors and to be put in the family book. I have a stack of finished pages 3 inches thick ready to go in!

[ cross stitching ]

Another hobby of mine is cross stitching. I had a lot of partially finished projects that I decided I would just buckle down to and get done. Most of them just needed the sort-of-boring part done. For example, one project was a snowman that just needed the white part filled in. Which doesn't sound so bad except that there were large areas of just white and I find that gets boring after awhile. But this time I just did it. I need to go get those finished projects out and count how many I've done. Some I will frame, others I'm going to try my hand at making wall hangings, pillows or other decorations. I'll post pictures later.

[ sewing ]

My third hobby is sewing. Again, I had a lot of partially finished projects. Right now I am working on a Peter Pan costume for Jordan. I originally started it as a dress up costume but Jordan wants to be Peter Pan for Halloween so I am working on that one first. With Baby Swain due 2 weeks before Halloween, I need to get costumes done early! Christie wants to be a witch so as soon as the Halloween fabrics come in, I will go get some to make her a cape and a black dress. I also had a basket full of clothes that needed mending. Mostly replacing missing buttons or fixing hems. I was surprised at how quickly I got those mending projects done. I have a box full of old blue jeans that have been outgrown or worn out that I want to cut into squares and make a blue jean quilt. So that's another sewing project to work on.

As I finish projects and get boxes emptied, those boxes go out! The banker boxes I collapse and bind together with bungee cords and store in a closet for other use. Packing boxes get recycled. And I get more "open space"! There's something very freeing about finishing projects and finding places for them in my home and getting rid of the boxes and opening up space. Same for going through storage boxes that usually are full of junk that gets thrown away/donated.

summer school

2008-06-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

I am not a homeschooler but I do believe children should have learning activities during school breaks (especially summer) to keep them mentally sharp and learning. Each May I vow I will have my children do learning activities and each summer we don't do it.

This year I found a new idea that I thought would help us with the school activities. It's called lapbooking. We have really enjoyed and are on our second week of school. June 9-13 we did an unit on outer space. Last week (June 16-20) we were supposed to do a weather unit but we had something going on nearly every day so school got pushed aside. This week (June 23-27) we are doing an unit on the human body. We made lapbooks for the space unit and C&J had so much fun making them.

Before I explain how we made the lapbooks, let me explain how I decided on topics. I decided to use what my children learned in school over the past year for our units so we are not really learning new stuff but reviewing what they have already learned. Next week we will talk about America, and then other topics we will cover are: Australia, Native Americans, Pioneers, South America, magnets, plants and animals.

We cover one topic each week (we do school 4 days a week with a field trip on Thursdays). I choose a religious story that has to do with the topic. I also find books that have information about the topic. Tuesday is our library day. My children can choose 4 books: one must be about the topic we are discussing this week, one must be a grade-level book (to keep up their reading skills) and then the other two can be whatever they want. They write a book report about their topic book. We collect information, draw, color or cut out pictures that illustrate what we are learning, and find other information that then goes into the lapbook. We also do math review.

So, here are some pictures of our outer space lapbooks.

First, I took a file folder and folded the outer edges so they meet in the middle. Then C&J wrote the title and their names on the outer flaps.

I cut a piece of construction paper to 8x11" and used clear packing tape to tape the paper to the left side of the folder at the crease. Then I cut another piece of paper to 8x11" and taped that to the right side of the folder at the crease. This made two extra pages. We made planets out of construction paper and glued them on the black page.

The other side of the black piece of paper has the vocabulary list. The green paper has pictures the children drew of the Creation story (as told in Genesis 1 and 2).

The other side of the green paper has pictures I took at the Clark Planetarium (our field trip) of the International Space Station and a weather set like the one our local TV station uses.

The back of the folder (blue section) has pictures of the scale model of the solar system at the Planetarium.

The left flap of the book has a picture of the space shuttle and one of the children looking through a telescope with a brief explanation of why they are important.

The other flap has pictures of C&J "visiting" the moon and Mars.

We had a lot of fun making these lapbooks. We did something every day to add to the lapbooks so the children were excited about school time. I think this will make it easier and more motivating to do summer school because it is fun and the children have something to keep and read.

i'm an old-fashioned gal

2008-04-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm an old-fashioned girl. I love homemaking arts and being at home. My favorite books are the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I can't decide which is my favorite--Little House in the Big Woods or Farmer Boy. I enjoy these two books in particular because they have so many details of farm life--the work of a farm, butchering, making candles, making fabric, making cheese, smoking meat, etc. etc. So I decided I'd do a book review chapter-by-chapter of Farmer Boy.

FARMER BOY, chapter 1

Almanzo's clothes are described. How the wool that made the fabric came from his father's sheep and what his mother used to dye the wool. I bet the only thing that was "store-bought" were the buttons.

They walked a mile and a half to school. In the snow. Deep snow. I can't imagine too many kids doing that these days--either they ride the bus or their moms take them to school. That would be character-building--to walk a total of 3 miles a day in cold weather and not grumble about it.

Apparently bullying knows no time boundaries. Those big boys from Hardscrabble Settlement sound like quite the bullies. I'd be scared too, if I knew they only came to school in the winter and for the express purpose of beating up the teacher. I do wonder, though, why other families in the school didn't do something about it. Like tell those boys they couldn't come to school or something.

Interesting that a term was defined as the length of time it took for the teacher to spend two weeks with each family. Wonder how many families were in the school.

I like the standards of expected behavior: no whispering, no fidgeting, keep your eyes on your book. Students today could take a page from the pioneer school book.

Well, that's it for chapter one. More tomorrow.

so long, marlee

2008-04-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it was great while it lasted but this week Marlee Matlin got voted off Dancing with the Stars. She had two low scores in two weeks and apparently the fans decided not to keep her. I'm disappointed because I really enjoyed watching her but I'm also proud of her for making it this far and showing the world what she could do.

Thanks for a great ride, Marlee.

dancing with the stars

2008-03-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it--I wasn't too excited about this show before. Occasionally I'd catch a dance or two on previous seasons but never made a point of watching it.

But for Season Six of DWTS, I'll be watching! Why? Because a Deaf actress--Marlee Matlin--is on it! Tonight (Tuesday, March 18th), the women performed for the first time. Marlee was the last performer and she did an absolutely fantastic job! She was in step with her partner, she had expression, she looked like she was having fun!

On this first show, they filmed footage of the dancers explaining their backgrounds, the first meeting between the star and dance partner, and their practice sessions. Marlee had an interpreter with her and while the background footage didn't show a whole lot of the interaction between Marlee, her interpreter and her dance partner, it was enough to be interesting.

Then after the dance, when they were talking to the judges and later backstage, you could tell Marlee was watching her interpreter--even though he was not shown on camera, her eyes were looking off to the side instead of to the camera. But she still looked at the hosts, her partner and the camera enough that you didn't feel she was ignoring anyone.

I went to vote at tv.com and she already had over 3,000 votes! Go Marlee!

Sorry there's no picture--I can't figure out how to load a picture from the web.

six-year-old logic

2008-02-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

Jordan's class had a big 100th day of school celebration not too long ago (sorry, I can't remember the exact day of the 100th day of school).

For his homework he filled in this questionnaire:

If I had a hundred…

If I had a hundred dollars, I would buy candy

If I had a hundred pencils, I would write with them.

If I had a hundred mosquito bites, I would put ice on them.

If I had a hundred friends, I would play with them.

If I had a hundred legs, I would walk with them.

If I had a hundred eyes, I would see with them.

If I had a hundred Moms, I would play with all of them.

If I had a hundred dads, I would play with them too.

If I had a hundred computers, I would play games

If I had a hundred books, I would read them.

Then in class, the children made a 100th day book. It had cute activities like counting to 100 by 2s, 10s, etc. And the last page was another little questionnaire.

Jordan said,

I could eat 100 M&Ms.

I could eat 100 pizzas.

I could eat 100 spaghettis (he later clarified that to mean "scoops" of spaghetti").

But I could never eat 100 sweets (meaning candies).

M&Ms aren't sweets or candy? What are they, then?

Gotta love 6 year old logic!

this and that

2008-02-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

[ winter: hello, goodbye, hello again ]

The last couple of days we've had some lovely weather. It's still cold in the mornings and evenings but the days have been really pleasant. It's been so warm over the past 2 days, in fact, that most of the snow in the front yard has melted. Today (Feb. 13), another snowstorm moved in. It's blustery and windy and hard to see. The first pictures are from my sister's house. The last one is looking out the window of Jordan's bedroom at the storm today.

This winter has been reminiscent of the winters I remember growing up. A storm every few days, and more than 3 inches of snow in the yard! As far as I am aware, we have not had any inversions so bad that the children have to stay inside during recess time.

My sister and brother-in-law win the award for having the most snow. I went up to visit them about a week after their new daughter was born and I couldn't believe how much snow they had.

[ farewell, president hinckley ]

The media coverage for President Hinckley was incredible. I bought the Deseret News the day after he passed away and plan to make a scrapbook page. He has been the only prophet my children have known thus far. We watched and recorded the funeral and some other programs that Channel 5 ran about him.

[ welcome, president monson ]

It was no real surprise that President Monson is our new prophet. Steven and I were pretty sure that President Eyring would be retained. So the big question was who the other counselor would be. And it is...President Dieter Uchtdorf! Now we get to wonder who the new Apostle will be. April 2008 General Conference should be quite interesting!

[ science fair ]

The science fair was on Feb. 7th. We worked right up until it was time to go to get everything ready. Note to Mommy: do NOT procrastinate next year! Christie's project was research on the relationships between the sun, moon and earth. Jordan's was about the water cycle. They both got participation awards and Jordan got a special participation certificate that was given to K, 1, and 2 students.

[ winter blahs ]

This week Christie, Jordan and I have all come down with colds. Not fun.

[ church ]

Not much new here. I'm still teaching the Deaf Valiant class and assistant music leader and Steven teaches the 2nd/3rd Sunday Priesthood lessons.

[ work ]

Again, not much new here. I'm still working on various projects for Deaf Mentor and Steven's doing his usual at Sorenson.

first home improvement project

2008-01-31T14:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 26: We did our first real home improvement project! We installed shelves on the wall above my table to create more storage space. I am so excited! Now most of my scrapbook stuff is off the table, which gives me more room to work--now I will be more likely to scrapbook and do other creative projects because I WILL HAVE SPACE TO WORK!

This is the before: I took the picture after I had already cleared off some stuff but this is is pretty much how it looked:

This is the wall space after everything was removed from the table and the table was taken down:

The mess I made of our office with all my stuff moved:

The shelves installed:

That was quite a project! What we thought would be a 30 minute project turned into about an hour project. The walls in the office are soundproofed so the screws didn't go in all the way with the cordless drill fitted with a screwdriver bit. We screwed in the last quarter-inch or so by hand with a screwdriver. That was rather hard work! We found out our drill COULD screw them in all the way with an adjustment to more power--when there were only 2 more screws to put in. *rolls eyes*. Oh well. We got it done!

And the finished project:

I'd like to do a little more in the way of decorating and I may move things around a bit, but for now, it seems to be working.

Happy crafting to me!

jordan's weather book

2008-01-31T14:19:00.000-08:00

This is a slideshow of a weather book Jordan worked on in school. I thought it was really cute!

christie's indian project

2008-01-31T13:50:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Christie's Indian project she did for school:

This is the speech she gave in class:

The Teepee

The Comanche were Plains Indians. The Plains Indians lived from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to Mexico. They lived along rivers and streams so they could have water for bathing, drinking and cooking. When living in their villages along the rivers, the Indians built earth lodges. The Comanche tribe mostly lived in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

The buffalo was very important to Plains Indians. Buffalo provided meat to eat. The skins were used for teepees and clothing. The bones were made into musical instruments. No part of the buffalo was wasted. The buffalo herds roamed the plains in search of food and water. The Comanche Indians followed the buffalo herds. When hunting, they lived in teepees.

Teepees were made of animal hides. The hides were stretched over poles arranged in a circle. The poles leaned together at the top. The teepee opening always faced east. If the teepee flap was open, a visitor was invited to enter. If the flap was closed, the visitor was to announce himself and wait for the host to invite him in. Teepees could be set up and taken down quickly to follow the buffalo herds.

When a teepee was taken down, the poles were used to carry the teepee and the family’s belongings. This was called a travois. The travois allowed the Indians to travel with the buffalo herds.

The Power of Routines

2008-01-22T18:18:00.000-08:00

This is what my kitchen looked like this afternoon:

A mess, huh?

Some time ago I developed a routine for cleaning up my kitchen quickly and efficiently. It has 11 steps. I know, I know, that sounds like a lot. But trust me, once you get into some kind of routine, it goes fast.

So, the steps are:

1. Clear off the table. By this I mean clear off every last thing--the dishes, the food, the used napkins, the salt and pepper shakers, the hot pads.
2. Give the table a good wipe-down. Pay attention to sticky spots.
3. Make the table pretty. This can be a tablecloth and centerpiece; placemats and a basket of fruit or whatever you have that is attractive. My table decorations change with the season or holiday. Right now I have snow-scene placemats and a wire basket of fruit on my table.
4. Put away all food. Leftovers, food used in preparing a meal, spices--any and all food is put away.
5. Put away anything that is not a dirty dish. Recipes, cookbooks, trash, small appliances--all this is put where it belongs.
6. By now the only thing left to deal with should be dirty dishes. But before we can deal with dirty dishes we need to have a place to put them. So the next step is to put away the clean dishes.
7. Now we're ready to move on to the dirty dishes. This is significantly easier if you have a dishwasher. And it gets even easier if you have the kind that doesn't require pre-rinsing.
8. I always have some things that need handwashing, so that's the next step.
9. After dealing with all the dishes, I wipe down the counters and stove top.
10. I then collect everything that does not belong in the kitchen and put it in a laundry basket to put away where it belongs.
11. Final step is to sweep the floor.

This is what the kitchen looked like after I was done:

How long did that take? From start to finish--45 minutes. Some days it takes less time, some days more time.

I love having a kitchen clean-up routine because no matter how bad the mess, I know I can get it cleaned up without feeling overwhelmed. I just start out with the table and continue all the way to sweeping the floor and putting things away.

Set up a kitchen clean-up routine for yourself! It'll be much easier to keep your kitchen clean!

Open House

2008-01-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2008

[open house]

Welcome to my blog! I hope to share my thoughts about lots of different ideas, from homemaking to scrapbooking to gardening to child rearing to...whatever! I'll post pictures and videos and tell stories...whatever strikes my fancy. Hope you enjoy your time here in my little corner of the blog world!