Jake's a Genius!

These are all retro photos because I finally discovered that I had a nose on my face. Which means, my sister told me how to get the photos off the camera onto the computer. It was very easy. (shakes head in chagrin).





J at SMS in Pendleton. He is just inside the door in the first photo. In the second spotty photo you see most of his HUGE jazz band. And yes, there are flutes in there. J is by the speaker. The last one is his award for being the only bass woodwind or whatever he was. (see earlier post)

Dot's iris before the wind blew them over and the rain hammered them into the ground.

Next photos are of the house again! See you soon!

House Pictures (Finally!)

We don't have the camera stuff, but you can get pix on a disk! So, we did. Here is our house:

544 N 3rd.

This is the back..I forgot to take any of the front yard! (I am sorry that some of these are sideways. Not sure how to fix that on a disk photo.) This is only one part of the yard. Please note that like some mirrors, objects in frames are closer than they appear.

Steps leading from yard to house or house to basement and yard. Pix of scary basement, in second frame.

The one room with the chairs is the living room, which leads into the dining room. The dining room is the greenish one. That room leads into the short hall that goes into the pink bath, J's room, and another hall to the left. That tiny hall leads to either the l (outside to the deck that will be our bedroom/bath) or r (upstairs-pix will follow.).

It will be lots of work and when it is done we will have a home to be really proud of. We keep telling ourselves that!!!! I have been cleaning the mice mess in the kitchen appliances!

Not much reading being done. Pretty amazing, huh???? Did some gardening today, planted some plants we brought from Tillamook. I think they will be very happy!!!

Not so Cliff Notes

Well, I have written one blog already today and lost it (that was on my myspace page). I had to rewrite it. So, this one will be a shorter version than the last one. With no pictures yet. Bummer deal.

OK, T called this AM. He has called quite a bit this week. It has been a red letter week~He told us all kinds of interesting deserty like things. Such as: the mosquitos over there are not as numerous as the ones in Alaska, but they are as aggressive. He said there are lots of bats and was very thankful for them. On a duty he had a flock of mosquitos (are there mosquito flocks, that was my term not his.) hovering in front of him and they left when a bat blew through them. He also said there are lots of mongoose. They run along the river banks.

Mail takes ages to reach him, but continue to send it using the new address. (the same as the last one, just drop the palehorse troop and add 'White Platoon Eagle Co 2-2'. All the rest of it is the same. They go back to the Warhorse Camp every 9 or so days for laundry drops, haircuts (although he said that he ditched the line finally and got a basic training cut from a fellow soldier.), and mail.

T was able to observe part of a desert wedding. They are very noisy and involve the large type of hand held weapons available over there. His area was on alert during the festivities. He shared that it was a bit exciting. (I wondered if it was their version of a shot gun wedding!)

J had a band concert last night. He won an award for the most outstanding low woodwind in concert band and jazz band. He did say it was by default. He is the only one. Well, except for a kid on a bass clarinet who has only been playing a few weeks. S said if you are going to be good at something, it helps if you are the only one. He had a tour today. Don't know how that went. His grades are not too warm, but he knows it and we have discussed it extensively.

We are getting closer on a house. We have keys for our own mailbox! Can you believe it? We will have to have a PO box as they don't deliver to the location of where we hope to be living. I don't think I have had a PO Box since I lived in Anchor Point as a kid. I am not sure that S has ever had one. It will be interesting.

Not much else. I guess these cliff notes are the longer edited version! Have a great day and I hope you are feeling as blessed as I am!

Nope, it's winter again.

Summer is over and it is cold and dampish again. Nice for the plants as to the wet, but not for the lack of warmth. The house is still in the paperwork stage. Which is frustrating in more ways than you think. I would love to try and unpack some things and find a few items we are missing. Like the camera disks. And the scanner cords. And some other stuff like that.

Found one of my old Mercedes Lackey books. It is good to read old friends! Spent the Memorial holiday hanging out with a friend. She bought flowers and all of us ate together and then we watched a movie. The last Pirates one. That is so silly!

T called from the desert. He sounds pretty upbeat and in better spirits than he has been. Well, gotta go, Moses is being catty and needs some TLC.

Computer is here!

Our new computer is in and it is very different. Instead of XP we have Vista and it has more bells and whistles than you can imagine! It will take some getting used to and we still have to figure out how to hook up stuff like our printer and the camera and so on and so forth.
I went shopping last week and found a book I had been looking for and it was only 50 cents. I was very happy and just finished it today. A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotsen. Interestingly enough, those books (her older ones) are being reprinted. I was very happy as most of them are pretty spendy on ebay and amazon. Her children's ones are always available, but the adult ones are not as easy to find.
Got some papers for our house today..closing may be soon! Very excited about that. Also did some more planting today. Not sure if I did the potatos right, but they are covered and cut into pieces. Also planted my cukes and will have to figure out how to put up a trellis for them. It was so sunny and warm today that many seeds are up as well as lots of leaves on a variety of plants. It is like we skipped spring and now it is summer. Oh, well. It looks pretty and that is what matters the most. The lilacs in town look and smell loverly and the house we are trying for has several, one of which is white! Very cool.
More on the later.

Non-pictoral news

Just wandering along here and there. Looking at a house in Athena and waiting for real spring. It is very cold out today. Sunny, but COLD. Our new computer is on the way and when it arrives, we will update more then.
T is on his way North of where he is now. It sounds more intense, so keep him in your prayers. Every Cav Scout needs a battalion of angels! J is mowing for S's Aunt and is having fun and earning some money. (which he is planning on using for a sharp object of some sort) Got Mum and Dot the same Mom's Day present..It is cheaper in Oregon, but it will be fun for both. I am anticipating tomato plants as mine have frozen. And a house! (There are two lilac trees in the yard!)
Reading more old favorites. I tried to snag a new Anne and Todd McCaffrey from a friend's suitcase, but it was obvious I was trying to hide it under my shirt. Oh, well, I tried.

It was spring.

We have had some pretty days and some not so nice at all days. Today is one of the latter. On a sunnier day, Grandpa got out some wheels and did a bit of work. Looking good!

We also got to go up on the Umatilla River on Saturday (see last post). Very pretty area and J climbed a hill. We saw a perfect house up there, but S doesn't want to live 30 min from a town anymore. I don't think I would mind much.


Not doing too much else. Mostly reading home improvement magazines in hopes of a home that needs improving! Some of those improvements are a bit much, though! Speaking of magazines, I found one in a dr office with the most amazing prices for kid clothes. I don't recall the name of the magazine, but two in this article were twinkle living and anthropologie.com and had stuff like a popcorn handknit throw for $265 and a baby beanie for $88 (that one was from a different company!). It amused me that someone would put a hat on a baby that cost $88. It was obviously not a magazine for the middle class group. They also had an article about where to take your kids when you visit France with your family.
C'est le vie!

Tulips and S at work

I was finally able to get photos of S in his new uniform and working at his new job. The uniforms stay at work, so he dresses there. J says his uniform looks like a business suit. It has gray pants to go with it. Very chic. He also has a new cart for his tools. But, it is too small. He needs another one!

And Dot's tulips! Are they not beautiful?????


Not much else going on. Just reading old favorites, Pheonix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey, and wishing I was in Tillamook for the THS spring musical.
S might get out the grill tonight for dinner. Pork chop thingys. YUM!

Just another day in.....

Nothing new yet to report. It has been doing a spot of snowing today, my tomatoes I planted have black leaves at their apex, and S bought a placostomus (black bottom feeder) last Sunday that has already died. I told him NOT to get one as they always die no matter what we do, but he did and it did. >sigh<
We saw the movie Expelled this weekend. It was very good and it doesn't matter if you believe in Intelligent Design or what. This was very thought provoking and well worth the time it takes to watch it. Not a warm fuzzy movie, more of an informative one. Also saw The Star of Bethlehem again. I may have mentioned it in a previous post. The website for that movie is http://bethlehemstar.net/ and it is a powerful proclamation of how the technology of today can support the happenings in the Bible. I just need to learn how to spell! Anyway, today we were priveledged to hear a man from Voice of the Martyrs. He shared about the growing spread of Christianity throughout the world and what people in other nations do to seed the gospel in their worlds. There was one story he shared about a Muslim pastor who was taken captive and tossed in an Iraqi holding area. (this is a watered down version) He was put in a cell with 3 Sunni and 3 Shiite and when the 6 asked him what he was doing in there, his response was, "God has sent me to you to share the gospel!" And some of them did come to beleive.
So, I guess that things have been happening. Just not photgraphic ones!
Finally got The Secret Garden and it is as much fun as I remember!

Grandma's Garden

I have some more plants that I bought, but nothing is in color yet. Grandma has several hyacinths up and blooming and a lovely toad that shows up in her yard every year. The fun fishing decoration that is with all the daffodils is Grandma's Christmas present. It was in a Christmas blog.







This latter photo is a bunch more budded tulips and the other stuff is listed in one garden book as rose campion. They are a tall, soft, fuzzy stalk with a single hot pink five petaled flower at the top. They are a great flower. (there are few weeds in the planting areas, but not too many.)
I purchased some yummy smelling lemon thyme and a purplish spreading petunia plant as well as another pinkish one that is hoped to spread. I will plant behind them cosmos and shasta daisies and sunflowers. It should be nice when it blooms....
Not reading anything new. I need to find my The Secret Garden. I want to read it very much so.

YIKES!

I took a photo of my 'garden'. The 'grave' is not a grave. It will be the radish and carrot bed. I did finally get a few marigolds. They are tiny, but have itty bitty buds on them. I also bought another clematis and some lily of the valley starts. I do think mine are not going to come back. However, it is still winter. No matter what the calendar and the dates say. There is snow back on the mountains today.

Well, we took Teddy to the groomers finally. It was a bit spendy, but not too bad. They sedated him and shaved him to the skin. The groomer said she had to use a horse clippers on him to get the mats and stuff off. I felt so mean when she took his leash and led him off. He looked at me with his big brown eyes and almost made me cry. It was about as bad when we sent T off to Germany. Except, T knew what he was getting into and he signed up for it himself. Poor Teddy, all he knew was that mom took him to this cold echoing place where there were lots of yowls and barks and strange smells and left him! They also clipped his dew claws, a necessary procedure as S and I couldn't do it without our dearest neighbor in Tillamook!

So, here is before and after:

Our poor baby! He is kinda cold now and he has a bulge on his side. That was looked at in Tillamook and it was discovered it was just a bulge of fatty tissue. It looks awful now that he is 'bare'. However, he will be much happier this summer and he will be easier to comb and wash.
I did give him a special treat chew toy to help him over his trauma. I think I should have gotten him a bushel of treats!

Updates for April

OK, I was told I needed to add more information. Kinda hard when there is nothing really going on and I have no photos.
First, T called!!!! He is dirty, hot, and fine. So, that is great news. If you would like to send him mail, please contact me as his address has changed to one in Iraq. (Some of you may have his new address, some may not.) The best place for news is a site called armytimes.com A bit gossipy, but very interesting.
I did some sewing for a play this weekend. Will do more next weekend. The play is 'Little Women!' I am also loaning T's Vocal Ensemble tux to the tall skinny kid who is playing Mr. Laurence. The jacket is too short, but the rest is ok. Well, I do have to somehow take in the pants. I finally met someone thinner than T!!!!!!! And the neatest thing, the kid uses a cane the exact colors that are in the vests!
I planted some stuff this week. Most of it was in the seed stage, but I found some garlic chives and chamomile and lavender. The lavender isn't ready to be planted yet. Too cold outside. Also waiting on my tomato plants and geraniums. The geranium is going in the most funky planter in the world. It is called a 'Down Under Planter' and they are made in Australia. You plant them and hang them upside down! Very nifty. I did find a website for them, but we'll let Jake put them on her really odd and random stuff links. (mostly because I am not sure how.)
It is bedtime and so I will chat with you all later.

The Last Days of 'Spring' Break

Well, Wednesday was icky, Thursday was sunny and cold and windy, Friday was back to the start of winter again. (hmmmm. That almost sounds like a Billy Joel song!)

Thursday we were tearing up the ceiling in the old house (we still haven't moved the awkward plant yet so we can fill in the 'cellar') and S realised that the panels were like the cards T used to make houses from. So, that is what J did.

Then, he decided to try and burn it.

But it collapsed and it was caught on film.

So, he tried another plan...and finally decided to make the ironclad. One of T's sturdiest designs.

This one was very well built and did NOT blow over and was satisfying to watch burn.

Then, it proceeded to snow on Friday and then it hailed. The stones were the size of peas!

This is a long post, but I imagine after the weekend, not much will be going on. At least, not much that is photograph worthy!!!

Book of the day: Dear Enemy by Jean Webster--Sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs. EXCELLENT Read!!!!!

Spring Break?

This has been a pretty unusual spring break for Oregon. We have had snow and sun and wind and rain and snow. In spite of the absurd weather, this is what we have managed to do:
Hang out in trees.


Dig holes, one may eventually turn into a tunnel!

Plant strawberries in a raised bed (hope raised beds work here!) and dig up bushes that grow in the wrong place. This one decided to grow inside an entry that leads to the unsafe underground place under the old house. We took some of the larger roots and heeled them in near the strawberries.

Book of the week. Another one by Mercedes Lackey, The gates of sleep. I can't find my Secret Garden book, so may have to check it out from the library!
We are still in the name game, we'll keep you posted!

Name the Bear!

Ok, here is our newest addition. He needs a Tillamooky name. He was created on the Wilson River and he doesn't need to hold a flag all the time. He just has one because I wanted him to hold one. Anyway, help us name him. S and I would like to call him Wilson, but J doesn't like the name. He says it is a brand name for volleyballs.


On another note, Happy almost Easter! My sis, on her blog about the Diverse Work in Progress, has a great recipe using hollow chocolate bunnies, miniture cadbury eggs, and peeps. It is called an Easter turducken (check it out, if you haven't already. You have to look for it in one of her later March blogs.) S and I are co teaching Sunday school tomorrow and I made 'Easter cookies' or 'resurrection cookies'. It took me until I started to mix them until I realised what they were! My sis made them for 4-H years ago, but they were called 'Forgotten cookies'. Someone adapted the recipe and added scripture to it. We are also making nail crosses from some old square nails that S found in an attic of somewhere around here. (Note, the old stuff blog? It is EVERYWHERE.) We'll hang them on red ribbon. After all that work, I just hope we have more kids than 2!
One very exciting note, I got to see Enchanted finally. I Loved It!
Book of the day (one I got for me for Easter!) by Mercedes Lackey, the Fairy Godmother (again!).

Random Whatevers

I so much wish I could write this from driving in my car. I have the best ideas there and don't remember them when I get home. How typical.

I wanted to metion to everyone a happy holy Easter week. This is my most favorite week of the year as Palm Sunday kicks off the whole reason for the existence and ultimately the death of Jesus. I was working with some kids the Sunday before last and we were talking about His arrival in Jerusalem. Jesus said the rocks would cry out if the people couldn't. Can you imagine that? If you were standing in the street and the rocks at your feet suddenly cried out 'Hosanna!' I have seen muppet rocks sing and tell bad jokes, but this is reality. How amazing is that?

Then, on Monday, we had another fun holiday. Did you know that St. Patrick's Day is a bio friendly day??? It's green!

J and I have been working on a project he is doing for US History. Pretty fun, but it would have been better if he had done it more spread out rather than most at once. It is almost done and is due on Thursday.

More scrappin' photos and one of our many really cool finds! We found most of two of those stoves. And for those who wondered. J is the fuzzy dark spot over the light looking spot near the scrap stuff out in the middle of the field. He is riding his motor bike.

Pictoral Notes

J's puzzle project. Grandpa's first fish of the year!


What S does when he is unemployed!!


J on Jo's old bike J riding in the field--look close!

It appears we have the internet again. It is pretty great..but we can't get the camera and the computer to 'talk' now and so are unable to download the photos from one to the other. One of new connections seems to be in the same place and creating difficulties.

It has been very springy here. I will have to go and get some of my favorite spring quotes! We have had wind, thunderstorms, lightening, hail, sun, rain, and assorted temps. Pretty interesting!

Book of the day: The Dark Hills Divide first in a series about the Land of the Elyon by Patrick Carman. Not sure how it is going to go, I am only in the first chapters. They are kid lit. J is reading the Andromeda Strain to S. Sort of carrying on in his brother's footsteps!

G Notes

G notes are for Great Gilly-whopper Wonderful Things. OK, S still hasn't found a job. There are several out there and he has to choose. (I keep having flashbacks to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!!! 'Choose Wisely.') But, we may just be getting the internet in the next week or so. For me, that is totally wonderiffic! To be able to add photos to this blog..to be able to go online whenever I want...To be able to go internet shopping!!! (Well, not so sure about that!). Anyway, we have been internet hopeful before, so I am just waiting to see what happens.
T leaves next week for the sand and we are thinking of sending him another electronic toy. The DS Nintendo is my favorite at this time. The screen is small, but it is very user friendly.
J got cold feet as to his solo. He said it sounded better on an alto sax anyway. I was sad, but not too surprised. The trimester has ended and most of his grades are not too bad. Some are and some are not.
Am reading a new book by Robin McKinly (Beauty) and it is not too bad. A little confusing, but I would like to add it to my collection. It is called Dragonhaven and is about a refuge for dragons and all the hoopla there is in creating a refuge for creatures people don't believe exist..although, they really do. The dragons are either dangerous and need exterminated or they are rare and need protected, but you can't rescue and raise any orphans you find...

In like a Lion!

My kids made lion faces today to celebrate March. I can't wait until tomorrow until they can march around the house all day on March 4th (in honor of Mrs. H!!!!). I won't be watching them, but I hope they won't forget to march forth and up and down the stairs! Anyway, it is very cold and a bit windy outside. Not a lamb like day at all. BRRRRRR.
We have made up a resume for S. I printed out a few, however, he found a typo. So, I will need to redo a page. I am convinced that typos appear magically after you proof read. He has some leads and is busy doing little house jobs and moonlighting automotive jobs. Except they are during the day!
Talked to T this weekend. Actually, S talked to him longer. I was sick and J was on a ski trip where he learned to snowboard. T is doing ok, but is ready to move on to somewhere else. Which happens this month.
No new books, I was sick all weekend and didn't even want to read!