Returning Home

I returned home Sunday night from attending Gracie's service and visiting with Seth and Christy. Besides the experience of grieving a baby's short life, the time spent with Seth and Christy and their wonderful friends and family, as really taken a reflective toll on me.

Such a heart breaking part of life to experience. I know from grief of my mother's death, I cannot begin to understand what Seth and Christy are going through. Just as many of my friends, who still have their mothers with them, couldn't relate to me. But we try. We try to comfort and listen and heal. With time, life continues on as best as it can. Sometimes we stay silent, sometimes we grow apart, and sometimes, if we are lucky, we grow together.

Amongst this awful tragedy, in the grief for Gracie, I am lucky to have found a brother and sister-in-law, two friends I had no idea were there, waiting for me.

Too Much!

You too can have this lovely, "fun" sign in your front yard!Can you believe this? I found it in a 'unique' items catalog. I could almost handle just a dog with the 'No Dumping' but the turd (excuse my French) is a little too much.

Stay tuned for my posting on lawn ornaments on Forest Gale Heights.

Bleach and me

I have a bad relationship with bleach. Wade has almost forbidden me to clean with it. BUT I decided I had to have it for our whites to be really white (the color safe type just isn't cutting it). I promised myself the bottle would not leave the laundry room. No matter what other cleaning job I might want it for, it would not leave the room.

See, the first time bleach turned on me, was moving from our apartment into our new house in 1996. I wanted to be sure we received our deposit in full, no questions. I mopped the kitchen floor with water and bleach and rested the mop on the carpet against the counter. Yes, I know, stupid. The blue carpet had a white streak mark from the mop. Needless to say, $250 was deducted from our refund.

The second offense, was during Chandler's potty training. Whenever he had an accident I would clean the spot and pour Nature's Remedy over the spot. Nature's Remedy is a great product for removing urine smells, which we had on hand for the cats. I always kept the bottle in the laundry area on top of the washing machine. Long story short, and to save my marriage, the bottle I pick up wasn't NR it was bleach. I poured it on the spot without reading the label. I didn't realize it until the spot started turning white.

The final straw, because the bottle never left the laundry room, a new shirt pictured below was wasted. I only wore it once. I placed it on the washing machine's rim to dry. There must have been bleach residue on the rim.

Gas Prices and the Ice Cream Man!?

Today, I heard the familiar song of the ice cream truck. I was excited to share the summertime tradition with the boys.
Growing up on Park Hill Drive, we loved climbing out of our pool, grabbing a towel, and flagging down the truck...just in time!
As the other kids on our street flagged down the truck today, Chandler and Henry just stood still staring at the truck. They looked as if they had never witnessed such a thing. Honestly, I believe they haven't except once with Grandma and Grandpa on Park Hill Drive several years ago (picture above).
Of course, I was mom-of-the-year when I walked over with cash in hand.
What I don't recall from my childhood is the exact price of those ice cream treats. I thought it was around $.50 or so for a pop or cone. Today, the total for two treats $4.50! Only upside, I didn't have enough cash for me to have one also.

Prayers to Seth, Christy, and Gracie-Lynn

I really struggled with whether or not to post about Gracie's passing. I feel a baby's passing (really any passing) is so tragic, I didn't want to trivialize it on a blog. I then considered why I blog, to keep up with family, friends, and love ones. Who else to share our grief with? Most of you know of her passing already, and I really appreciate the emails and phone calls. Please continue your prayers for Seth, Christy, Gracie and our family.

Prayers for Gracie-Lynn

I really don't know what to say on this post, other than please pray for Seth, Christy and Gracie-Lynn.

Chandler Quoted in Local Paper

http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/features/story.php?story_id=121321847609434200

Chandler attended a free writing class sponsored by Pacific University in Forest Grove. He resisted going, or we made him go, as the article states. Once there and sitting with Collin (his teacher's son also in 4th grade) he was glad we made him. If I can say so, Chandler is a very talented writer, from creative stories to poems. I recall his third grade being amazed by a haiku poem he wrote for her. I knew he would appreciate the extra instruction. He also won a book written by the guest speaker. Another big bonus...being mentioned in the paper...his teacher did give him grief about his comment on learning more there then in class.

Monopoly

The Monopoly brutality continues for another generation. I recall, not necessarily correctly, being thrilled as a child to play Monopoly. I think my sisters were pressured to include me, with promises of me falling asleep within 30 minutes, which usually happened.

Both boys are at the age they can play manage their own piece, money, property, etc., so I need to get over it any enjoy the game. To add to the excitement, they have a Pokemon version that Aunt Marguerite won for them on Ebay in 2004.


This last Monopoly marathon lasted three nights. Chandler being the first to fall victim to Wade's high-end hotels or, in this game, Pokemon Markets. We tried to help him out but after the third time landing on Wade's $1900 rental, he had to file bankruptcy. I was next, it took another night but a poor decision in purchasing more centers led to my downfall.
It was down to Wade and Henry. A few unfortunate rolls for Wade, and Henry finished him off. I believe he finished with all the property and about $9,000 in cash, plus all the PokeCenters.
Overall we had a good time. Best moment of the game...Henry asked if he could lend Chandler money so he didn't have to file bankruptcy, and started crying because it made him sad to see Chandler lose.

Last Day of School

Thursday was the last day of school for Chandler and Henry. This card is from their Aunt Suzanne, congratulating them on finishing the school year. We love the gifted reference, I know a few of you will get a kick out of it as well. As "gifted" as the school may say our children are, they still struggle with life's simple tasks. For this school year, I have said it before, they had a challenging one. Henry started at a new school, then they both endured the move and a new school. Really two moves, if you count moving into the new house, which why not, it was a change.

With all that in mind, they had a great school year. I am so proud of them. I have no idea how they finished the year. I am guessing they mail report cards? I can remember as a child the excitement around receiving my report card, or maybe not, depending on how it did. The boys could care less; I think these days, at least for us, we communicate with the teacher so much that grades are not a surprise. Chandler will move on to the upper elementary school, Tom McCall which houses 5th and 6th grades. Henry will be in the TAG group for 3rd grade. Nice for him, he knows five other students in his class going into TAG.

This is our longest summer break yet; they return after Labor Day. I'm excited to have so much time with them and experience Oregon in the summer...again.

Fluffy?

While digging our new vegetable garden, we came across a few items. The first being the blanket. As Wade pulled it out of the dirt, the ball came with it. It took us a minute to evaluate the situation. We soon realized we stumbled upon a pet's grave. Luckily, it was on the outside of the garden where a boarder post was being sunk.
Trying to find the humor in the situation, every dig after that, Wade did a little bark or called out, "Fluffy?"
Have you ever buried toys or such with a pet? I believe my mother buried our childhood cat, Kitty, with a can of tuna and a bathrobe Kitty used as a bed.

get paid to blog

This is a new adventure for me and for my blog. I watched a news program reporting about get paid to blog, I was intrigued by the idea. I decided to research getting paid for my blogging, since I post almost every day. I was surprise by the amount of information available and how easy is was to find. During that research, I found PayPerPost.
After a few quick clicks, I was ready to begin. I am just starting out, this being my first post. It was very easy to register and start my first PPP. I'm looking forward to finding companies that offer products and services I can include in my blog. You know how much I respect cost effective products and consumer conscience companies.
Since moving last November from Arizona to Oregon, I haven't had the time or opportunity to find a out-of-the-home job. With summer break right around the corner, I didn't want to start a job and put the boys into summer daycare for 11 weeks. The other choice was caring for my neighbors kids!!!!! There are about a million things I'd rather do, including having my teeth pulled!
PayPerPost is extremely painless and hopefully profitable.

Let me be brief!

When I returned from my girl's weekend, Wade (Mr. Wonderful) did the laundry for the week. It was such a wonderful surprise. At one time, years ago, Wade was forbidden from washing my clothes. Long story, but it involves an expensive dry clean only suit.

Anyway, I found a few pieces of my clothing folded and laying on my side of the bed. I had to laugh when I realized a top and several pairs of socks actually belong to Chandler not me. I found it very cute that Wade thought they were mine. That was going to be my post BUT I decided against it, not wanting to discourage Wade from future laundry impulses, I didn't even mention it to him, until...

The next morning, when Wade found a pair of Chandler's underwear in his own drawer. Apparently, he had trouble knowing his own clothes too.

At that point, I had to share the mix-up of the top and socks with Wade. We shared a good laugh.

Wipe Out!

Henry had his first big scooter wipe out last Wednesday. Chandler and Henry were riding scooters down a small hill by our house. At a high speed, Henry lost control and fell. Wade came to rescue, to find Henry on the ground and Chandler circling him in a panic. (Not sure if he learned that skill in Cub Scouts!)
Henry was surprisingly okay since the fall forced the cover to his helmet to crack and pop off, good thing he was wearing a helmet. He also had a few big cuts (not boo-boos, according to him, cuts sounds more manly) and moved slower for a few days.
Friday he was asking to return to the hill, back on the horse so to say, which is totally out of his character. Maybe he has matured since turning eight.

Glad you are okay Henry.

Before, During, and After!

Today, after over a year, Chandler's braces were removed!

He did a wonderful job keeping them clean and avoiding "bad" foods. He never had a wire POP or a bracket fall off. The ortho did a great job of rewarding him for the removal, he even received a bundle of balloons.

I let him pick a few of the "forbidden" foods to eat. His first choice...bubble gum; next a Snickers bar; and tonight corn on the cob. He is even looking forward to eating raw carrots.

You look fantastic Chandler. Way to go!

PS May I acknowledge myself for driving him to all those appointments, reminding him which foods were forbidden, and lending a hand with the tiny, scrub brush!

Life is a Beach!

Early May, the whole family went to the west coast. It was the first sunny, weekend day in a while. (The last being the day of my garage sale) It seems like the weekdays are nice and the clouds wait for Saturday.

One thing we weren't prepared for...the cold. In Arizona, sun=warm; May in Oregon, sun=you never know. Wade and the boys wore shorts and I had my capris (or half pants, as Wade calls them). TeddyGram and Grandad taught Chandler and Henry well in Galveston...when going to the beach a tropical shirt is a must...so they both broke out the floral.

Our first stop was KB Toys in Seaside for beach toys. No, I didn't lose them in the move, like my camera and garden tools, just weren't worth packing. We then headed south to Cannon Beach. The first stop was Ecola State Park. It was an awful drive through beach forest and cottages, a few custom homes. We couldn't understand why anyone would live there...at least that is what we are telling ourselves! Once in the park, we drove to the higher view point. Just amazing!

Ever since my first visit to the west coast in 1993 with Wade's parents, I am in love with the Pacific Coast. From Seattle to San Diego, I am humbled by the pines and cliffs meeting the beach and water. This visit did not disappoint me, after 15 years, the view still took my breath away.

Next, after a drive on a small road, twisting around tall pines, we found the beach front. The tide was in so sand was scarce. The beach was mostly smooth rocks and driftwood. We looked like dweebs caring the sand toys. But not for long, we found a small sand area and shortly after that the tide receded and we had tons of sand to play in.

The boys had so much fun playing. Wade and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach, not needing to chase a toddler in Swimmers.