shhhh....do you hear that?

Are you sure you don't hear anything? That's because it has been blissfully quiet at my house this week! All good things must come to an end, I suppose.

Ian and Chloe are almost finished with their first Cousin's Week at Grandma and Grandad's house. They, and their cousins, Eden and Cora have had a whole week of no parents. I meet my dad to pick them up in the morning, and from the phone reports, I am confident that they have had lots of fun. They have gone swimming, walking at the river, to the park, to the library, watched movies, eaten ice cream, attended VBS every evening, and just generally been spoiled.

It has been a week of blessing for me too. Sometimes (more often than not), a girl just needs some quiet and needs some time alone with her husband. Troy and I have spent a very relaxing week together, gone into Portland for a few days, been lazy, eaten late dinners, watched a couple of movies, and just generally enjoyed our time together. He has had to work for most of the week, so I caught up on ALL laundry, cleaned a little, read 2 books, started 4 more, spent WAY too much time on the internet reading blogs, took 2 naps, slept late, grocery shopped in peace, and put several meals in the freezer for later.


Thanks, Mom and Dad! You blessed all of us this week!

Please understand the spirit of this post...how kids see (or hear) things...

It is in NO way to disparage what families dealing with cancer are going through. When I had this conversation with my kids today, I laughed so hard that I might have snorted (trying to hide my laughter from them) and then I told my mom on the phone this afternoon and I think she might have laughed that hard too!

For some reason, Chloe LOVES watching the St. Jude Children's Hospital informercial. It really IS interesting and we have had lots of opportunity to talk about kids that are sick and how blessed we are and how you can give to help support research and MANY other things.

Today, Ian walked upstairs in the middle of a story and asked what kind of cancer the child had. Chloe said, "I think she has hair cancer, because she lost all her hair." Trying not to giggle, I explained that it was chemotherapy that causes people to lose their hair, not cancer. OHhhhhh....was her answer.

Ian goes on to say, "Oh, that's what Dad had when he cut his thumb." UMmmmm...NO...that was physical therapy.

Needless to say, we talked about all of the stuff that goes along with cancer and chemo and hair loss and such. I love how soft her heart is when she watches the kids. I am amazed by the stories of these kids and their families, and I think that just watching teaches my kids a little more about empathy. We have not been there or done that, but we can still understand that when kids hurt, families hurt, and we pray for them.

flog me with a wet noodle if you must....

I know that this is "foodie" family, but I must say that there is very little food in the world that I love as much as a cheeseburger, small fries, and a coke from McDonalds. I know, you can hate me if you want. I really don't care....it will always be comfort food in my book!

Lucky me...today was $2 cheeseburger Happy Meal Day at our local McDonalds...so, we went! Even better, they had a wonderfully clean play area, and the kids burnt off so much energy there.

Next time, I think that I will just take a book, order a coffee, and let them run to their little heart's content.

Yep...today, it was McDonalds for us, and I won't apologize!

I am ALWAYS the favorite big sister...

I had to remind my brother of that fact today...

but then I remembered that I am not his ONLY big sister...

oh no, what if I'm not the favorite...AND....

I'm probably not in his mind (b/c I called for a specific purpose)...

I was eating Tascosa Hot Sauce...imported to Oregon from Amarillo, TX....my parents were there, what can I say?

I did NOT pay the $15 shipping....although I might under dire circumstances...

NOTHING is like Tascosa Hot Sauce...nothing so great...well, other than teasing my brother that I was eating it, and he wasn't! :)

Field Trip

Kids and I were up early today, got school stuff done, did a few chores to get ready for Yakky's visit tomorrow, and then HIT THE ROAD. We had to swing by the deli, pick up the Safeway card from Troy b/c he keeps taking off with it and they had 25 cent donuts, after all! We needed a sugar high to hit our field trip stride. I did brew coffee at home and we packed a picnic lunch so it was basically a free day.

We took off to Multnomah Falls and then, on a whim, stopped at the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery.

We were all sugared up from our 75 cents worth of maple logs so we hiked to the bridge at the falls and a little further before stopping for lunch. Then we stopped to enjoy our lunch in the sunshine. I know that this will cast a bad weather spell, but it has been BEAUTIFUL since we arrived in Oregon. We couldn't ask for better weather.

Lunch was summer sausage, Tillamook cheddar, whole grain crackers, leftover macaroni salad, carrot slices, and oatmeal choclate chip cookie bars. Not a shabby picnic...and MUCH better than the snack bar stuff that we saw.

Then with all that sustenance, we took off for the bridge again. Yes, our legs are a little sore, but it felt SO good to be out.

Then, heading home, I just pulled off at the Bonneville Dam exit out of curiosity...what a GREAT place. We will definitely be going back there...good picnic areas too.

Unfortunately, Troy was MIA today because he was working, but we had fun and will be ready to take him with us next time!

Now for my favorite spaces in the house...

I'm on a posting roll this afternoon...mostly b/c I am putting off the sweeping and mopping of upstairs before company arrives, but for those of you that follow and care, it is a good thing! :)

The chair is MY spot! The other pic doesn't show up as well b/c of the light, but it is looking into the kitchen/dining area from my chair. I'll try to get a better picture of it later.

home sweet home

I love my new little house, and it is a little house, but it is so much bigger and brighter than my last little house! How is that for a confusing sentence?

I have hardly been away from the house before today (other than a few visits to the park and one to the grocery), but now that EVERYTHING is finished other than one big coffee sign to hang on the wall, we ventured out today!

We visited Troy at his new job, went with him to a GREAT local, organic market to pick up some fresh, whole salmon that he had delivered there, and then took him back to work. Then it was off to Safeway to pick up a few things before company arrives for the weekend. I LOVE being where I can have friends and family visit...family this weekend, and an internet friend (who I have known for 3 years, but never met in real life) on Thursday!

Being here is proof positive that, God has a plan, and it is good. I'm looking forward all that this new home and our experiences here have for us.

I'm tired of blogging...

can you tell...

don't really know that I like all of the pictures "out there" on the web....

however, there is BIG news...

some of you know...some of you don't...

OREGON, here we come! :)