12/9/12

To blog or not to blog?

That is the question.  Why did I even come to my blog tonight?  I can't remember what brought me here.  There are a lot of pictures, and a lot of memories.  Were my kids really that small when we lived in Houston?  Because it seems like yesterday.

Blogging has been forsaken for other more important tasks.  But back then it was a very important task.  It was important for different reasons than I thought at the time.  Still, there is a better way to pour my thoughts out.  To blog or not to blog?  No, not yet.

2/23/12

Last hike of the season





The main event

Happy 40th Grammy and Papa Stordahl!


I don't know how she does it, but my sister is one of the best gift-givers on the planet! She is very thoughtful and creative, a winning combination in the "finding the perfect gift" department.

She sent the kids a sand dollar along with this story. Of course they loved it, sand dollars aren't something you find laying around our part of the country!

Another time she sent them orange blossoms from her tree. They were beautiful little white flowers that smelled fantastic. After we opened the box our house smelled great all afternoon. And then later in the year, she sent us an orange to eat from the same tree and told us all about the variety of orange and why it was her favorite! I mean, really, who thinks of this stuff? Only people like her, who are thoughtful and generous and kind.

It is hard to be so far away from my family. These things she does to connect with my kids mean a great deal to me. I guess the real gift is having her for a sister, even if we are far apart.

It is so much easier to connect with friends that share my faith in Christ. Without it I am hard pressed to find common ground with old friends. Not because they are so different but because I am. I am a new creation, the old has gone the new has come. Most people from my high school, and early college years wouldn't even recognize me now.

I hadn't seen these gals in over four years when we were able to catch up with each other in Spokane for a day. There were no hiccups, there were no awkward silences or moments, we didn't skip a beat. The only differences were the six more kids we had in the last four years!

Of course, being surrounded by the flowers and trees and beauty that is Manito Park didn't hurt a thing! Manito is a favorite spot for all of us in Spokane. Reason #428 to miss Spokane is all the great parks to hang out in.


Ft. Walla Walla Museum

Ft. Walla Walla was originally a fur trading post, and then a military post and has had several different locations in and around Walla Walla. Now a museum, it is filled with historical artifacts and buildings.

Farm implements make me nostalgic. There were so many "tools of the trade" laying around the various places we lived as a kid the things we saw at Ft. Walla Walla brought up some fun memories for me.



This was a wedding dress with a 19" waist! The young lady who wore this must've been about 12, I am pretty sure that was the last time I had a 19" waist!


This is a one-room school house, preserved on the museum property. I was practically drooling over this one! Much of what we do here at home is modeled after a one-room school house as we have kids that span different ages and stages. It works great for us! It also added some dimension to my mental pictures of Laura Ingalls years in a one-room school house both as student and teacher. I LOVE that series.



My great-grandma, who will be 100 years old next month, remembers moving from state to state in a a covered wagon.








This was a fun "field trip!" I would recommend it to anyone looking for a day-trip and look forward to going to the Shakespeare Festival in Walla Walla sometime.
Every kid I know loves LEGOS. Every parent I know wishes there was a better way to sort and store LEGOS.

Not a day goes by at my house that the kids don't play LEGOS. The girls and the boys both enjoy them. But how they play them is completely different. The boys make forts, and mini-figures who battle it out in the forts. Or they make cars and race them all over the house or they reinvent the Star Wars sets and have space battles. It is always a competition or a war with the boys.

The girls however, make the mini-figures into mommies and daddies. They build sweet little houses and gardens. Haley builds cars that hold the whole family and goes to the grocery with them. And praise God that it happens this way! Boys and girls are different for a reason and I am thankful to see these God given differences in their personalities.

The little photo up there is one of Haley's LEGO babies. I find them all over the house and sometimes feel badly when I step on a baby, but the pain keeps me from feeling too guilty. These things crack me up, one little head on one little bitty LEGO. Pretty clever if you ask me.

Sum, sum, summertime, summertiiiiiiiiiiiime!




That title is my rendition of the popular 60's song. I sound better when I am typing it than when I am actually singing it. The first time Michael took me to church he asked "Are you trying to sing that bad?" during the worship songs. But, that story is for a different blog post!

Speaking of Michael, he rigged up this cool little hose/tube/trampoline contraption and the kids had a blast! Can't wait to do it again this summer. We might have to get a patent and come up with a clever name (cool hose/tube contraption just wouldn't sell.) and sell these things!

In my 30's

I'm only 6 months behind in posting photos now! This was my 32nd birthday and now I am well on my way to the 33rd! I always imagined that being in my 30's meant people would take me more seriously, but since I am not really all that much more mature, it hasn't happened!

Since the birthday tradition at our house it to choose dinner and dessert, I think I chose a chicken salad and then cake batter blondies for dessert. Michael prepared it all for me, and having the night off from cooking was a pretty good gift!

Happy half birthday to me!

1/27/12

Working on a collection

I paid about $3 for all three of these bowls at a rummage sale this summer then primed and spray painted them some vintage-y colors. I'm keeping my eye open for more so I can fill the space above my kitchen cabinets with lots of them!
I'm going for something like this:

Or this:With colors like this:
And some of these:

And maybe these:

Crazy hair

More summer fun

Beach vacation

This man was truly living history, piloted that type of plane during WWII and lived to tell some amazing and outrageous stories about it!