The New-ies

I considered titling this post "The News" but that wouldn't work. I'd have you all thinking that I was going to announce something big (like perhaps the reason for my absence from the internet world. The reason? Well, um, busy-ness. Guests. Nieces. Reading. Dishes. Aerobics. House-cleaning. Going through our crocheting stuff, sewing stuff, and hope chests. Baking bread and cookies. CH Chorlae music. Life.).  

 

Anyway, on with the post. Daddy bought a new family computer since the old one was getting on in years and was slowing down with all the stuff we had on it. Once he unloaded all the stuff, he gave it to me for writing. It fits great(ly? didn't want to say perfectly) on the desk, though it kicks the mirror out of business. (No need to worry, though. We've got three other mirrors in our room and two more in the next, and still another in the next room, so we can still see ourselves. =P)

When we were up in Lynden, Hannah McD. and Krista gave me this quilt for a late Christmas gift! I love it!! (Thank you bunches, girls!! Did I tell you that green is my new favorite color? =) I think it goes nicely with the dark-wood bed. (Notice that adorable little dog by the pillow - his name is Lavey-Rob. Stop laughing. He's stuffed with fluff and lavender - Lavey - and Matthew said he looked like Rob.) 

Krissy also gave me this plaque. I love it, Kris!! =)

When Grandma and Grandpa were here last week, they brought Aunt Diane's old hope chest for one of us girls. Hensie was the next in line, so she got it! =)

Filled with her favorite books! =)

Baby-sitting, Painting, Watching Gracie...

The last couple days have been very full!

On Wednesday, Momma, Joe, Lydia, and I went to Lori's (Hainline) to watch her four children while she had a midwife appointment. We were there from around ten to five. We had a very good time - the children were very sweet! Lydia and Graciela played with dolls while listening to music, then Graciela and I tried to play tennis outside (she was the better player! =). When it was lunch time, the girls and I ate in their tree fort. Half way through our meal, it started raining, so we pulled out an umbrella and ate under that! =) That afternoon, we played with play dough, watched "Winnie the Poor" (my absolute favorite child's movie! =), read a book, had a pillow fight, and played with dinosaurs, then Lori came home.

Yesterday (Thursday), Momma drove Hensie and me to Sarah's house to paint, then she took Gracie back to our house, then drove Sar to her chiropractor appointment. When we first opened the can of paint, we realized that their wasn't enough to give the whole room a second coat, so we just painted what we could, then cleaned their house. Daddy picked us up around five forty-five. Sarah and Stephen we able to stay for dinner, which was lots of fun!

And, today, while Stephen and Sarah go to some appointment, we're watching Gracie! =)

Our latest "Gracie news" is - she can walk! Only a few steps at a time, then she gets so excited she falls over! =) It won't be long until she's running around! =)

Silent Blog...

...sorry about that. I've been busy with my new writing blog (if you'd like an invitation, comment and I'll send you one!)

Let's see...what we've been doing that last couple days -

-Volleyball. It's that time of year again! Yesterday, Hensie and I went online and watched some instructional movies on setting, serving, etc. and then worked on those things all afternoon.
-Reading. I'm still reading "Ike the Soldier". It's pretty interesting. I finished reading "Wagon Wheels to Oregon" (they talk about the Wasco Indians. =), and started reading "The Five Little Peppers".
-Watching Gracie. Two days this week, Sarah has come over/dropped Gracie off and we've gotten to watch her! She's a very busy child! She's standing on her own, crawls everywhere, likes to climb stairs and get into toilets, and loves to be tickled and thrown in the air by Auntie Sussy. =)
-Up-coming Trip to Lynden. We'll be leaving on Thursday and leaving Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing you all up there! (And maybe playing a little volleyball, too! ;-)
-Painting. We painted our kitchen a couple weeks back (I still need to take the "after" pictures.) and we're going to be painting Sarah's room today.

And...any day now, Sarah could go into labor! When that happens, we'll go over there and watch Gracie for a couple days. I can't wait for this little niece or nephew! (Leave a comment and guess if it'll be a boy or girl. I'm guessing a boy. =)

I'm Back!

It feels like it's been forever since I've last posted. Our Internet hasn't been working for a couple days, but last night, a man who works at Azure came over and fixed it! Yay! (Opening my email and finding somewhere around ten unopened emails does not happen every day! =)

This last week, we safely delivered Gracie back to her parents, went shopping, all came down with colds, and this morning, Hannah, Laura, and I headed over to S&S's house at to paint Gracie's room, the kitchen, and a few other doors, etc. We're not quite finished, so we'll go back tomorrow to finish it up! Sar and Stephen will be back from their trip Sunday and will come back to a new house! =)

Taping the floors with blue tape, the smell of paint, and paint on my hands brought back floods of memories from this past summer. Of my friends coming over and working with me, late (and sometimes stressful!) nights working, hours sanding doors and painting the house, and volleyball in the evenings, big painting mishaps and paint spills, and just laughing when we've made another mistake and have to do it all over again. I found out today that, I'm beginning to enjoy painting! (A little bit, anyway. =) I'm getting excited about finishing S&S's house, then painting our house!

My posts have been getting randomer and randomer (new word! =P). Even now, a thousand different ideas are flooding my head and my brain's telling my fingers "Write this, now write that!" But, alas, I must leave and get my reading done that was left this morning. Until next time!

Random Stuff (I know. So creative)

This weekend, we're watching Gracie while Sarah and Stephen are on their trip! She's such a cute, fun, sweet, adorable baby and we've been having boatloads of fun with her! It's fun watching her grow up - she's now eating more foods like meat, (gluten-free) breads, and un-mashed bananas and peas. =) She can really get around on all fours - it's dangerous to take your eyes off her! She loves to sit on the piano bench and play the piano. She loves music and swings and claps her hands to it. She likes watching the cats, being thrown in the air, tickled, having songs sung and books read to her, likes chewing everything and puts everything into her mouth. When she's finished eating, she'll either shake her head "no more food", or do the sign language "all done".

Yesterday, due to the weather, our power went out! Since it was getting rather cold in this house and we were going to pick up Gracie that day, Hensie and I went to S&S's and watched Gracie their until our electricity came back on.

Today, after lunch, we all went sledding by the school. The hill we found isn't very steep, but is still fun. It's kind of a semi circle surrounded by school buses, so if you don't turn just right, you'll end up smashed into one of those yellow things. We stacked three people on one sled and tried several times to fly down the course without losing the top people. After a couple tries, we did it. (The people on top are screaming at the person controlling the sled "turn! TURN! Watch out for that bus!") When we came back from sledding, we had hot cocoa with whipping cream, then played all twelve rounds of Scatagories.

Snow Pictures!

The side yard.

Lydia's throne



Smile Joe! =)



After the snowball fight.

Hensie

   

Susi, hold still for the picture!

 <>

Someone's snow angel. =)



We're making frozen strawberry/peach/pineapple shakes...

...and it's snowing outside! =) As Hannah would say, we're making memories! =)

Things

Okay, this is different than my "Stuff" post. A "thing" has another meaning to me, one that I made up. A synonym to a "thing" to most people would be a pet peeve. I use my word like this - I have a thing about bandAids - used bandAids that are stuck or even just sitting around...like by the sink, in bathtubs, or on the carpet. Unlike a pet peeve, a thing isn't just a slight annoyance - it's a big thing (okay, that's the regular "thing"). I get totally grossed out, very irritated, and extremely annoyed by "things". I have a thing about bathtub rings, computer games, bread dough eaten by children, the inside of the trash can lid, our door being left opened, and dirty dishes being put in the stack of rinsed dishes.

What are some of your "things"? =)

Day at Sar's

This afternoon (after I had finished my reading and school. So glad I got that all done in the morning!), Mum and I went to Sarah's house to help her go through, organize, fold, box and bag baby clothes. We were there about five hours. I washed dishes, helped with the clothes and played with/watched Gracie (that child is getting around! She can now stand on her own...soon she'll be walking!). Going through those baby clothes, I was amazed at how much Gracie has grown...I mean, she was just wearing those three-month clothes...and now she's actually going into 18-month clothes?? We also went through some of Sar's boy baby clothes...they are so cute!! I simply can't wait for the newest Hainline!

The Tale of the Three Beds...

This bed was too hard...
This bed was too soft...

And this bed was just right, so Hannah climbed up on it and spent the afternoon - on my bed! Sin'kin must have thought it was a great idea, so she joined Hensie. (That bookshelf looks rather...unkept. I think Lydia was pulling books out and looking at them. =)

New Shoes!

I've been looking at these shoes for a couple months, and finally bought them last week. And they arrived today! They're so cute and I totally love them! I like walking around the house being three inches taller...it's a nice feeling. =P

Yesterday's Shopping Trip

 Yesterday, we all went to The Dalles and Hood River to go shopping. It's been a while since I've been shopping (I normally stay home since I get so sick on the forty-five to hour and a half long drives), but today, I needed to buy a couple things. We stopped at J.C. Pennys and Cash N' Carry (in the Dalles), then went to the Hood River WalMart, then back to the Dalles where we stopped at K Mart, Rite Aid, and Fred Meyer.

I've been needing a jump drive to store all my stories and other important stuff that is currently on my laptop since my lappy is dying and I don't want to lose all my hard work. I had the choice between blue and this pink jump drive  (I really wanted a light pink one like yours, Krissy) and Matthew told me to get the pink. =)

Every trip we take, after it's dark, we girls always ask, "Do either of you boys have your flash light?" So, Hensie and I both bought one of these cute, little flash lights.

Our new calender! All the calenders were on sale, so we, Laura, and Momma each bought one. They only cost $5, but they look like they would cost $20!

Stuff

Now that Christmas is over, I've started up my school again. I haven't been enjoying it since I've forgotten everything I learned and had to relearn it (to a small degree. =P). But, I'm glad to be back to the books. Science has been really interesting...I'm loving Ken Ham's "New Answer in Genesis" books!

Around Christmas, I was too busy to read all my books, and so after Christmas, reading started up again, too. I finished one thick WWII book and started another (thin one ;-) about Eisenhower. Since Christmas, I've also read "Star of Light" (by Patricia M. St. John. She is an amazing author and even though her stories are written for an 8-13 age group, I love her books!) a short book about Robert E. Lee, and I've started "Treasures of the Snow", also by Patricia St. John.

Today, Gracie has been here all afternoon. The poor thing has a bad cold, but still smiles and giggles, and makes funny faces that make the rest of us laugh.

Jon sent us a movie of Betty Jean and we are dying to see that li'l lady! Can't wait 'till they are able to come and visit us!

Matthew has been wearing Phil's old shirts, and so whenever he passes by, I have to look twice.

As a closing note, I'd like to share one of my New Years resolutions - That next New Years Eve, when I look back over the year, I won't be disappointed at any of my decisions or how I lived 2012.

'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house...

...not a floor was uncovered - no place to slouch!

Time to get to work cleaning up! Hope all your Christmasses were merry!

Lydia in the Snow

The Black Trap

There is a black box that sits innocently on a desk in Momma and Daddy's room. When I pass by, this trap waves its bait. "There are unopened emails in your inbox!" I sniff at the bait. It smells good. I stick my hand in the trap. I type the pass word, open Google Chrome, open my email and type my email and password. "I'll just check my email. I won't reply to any emails, I won't check Buzz, I'll check read the emails, then get off." I think. My email opens up and there are four deliciously bold, white emails. I click on the first. "Ah, a survey! I love surveys!" I read through it and several more like it since several of my friends have filled it out. Then, I fill it out. Next, Krista wrote me a long email, so I write an equally long one back. And I read the other emails and reply to them. And I check Buzz, then all the blogs, and post on my own. And, by that time, it's been two hours!!! It's then that I jump off and vow never to spend that much time stuck in that trap again! But, it happens the next day, and the next.

In fact it's happening to me RIGHT NOW!!! I NEED TO GET OFF THIS TRAP!