The bag lady

I just finished another bag and I am truly going to have a hard time giving this one away. I love this one even though it caused me major frustrations. My life would be much easier if I just followed directions.

I didn't have enough fabric to make the bag exactly like I wanted it, so I invented my own design that had the main portion of the bag as one piece with one seam and the bottom contrasting with piping for support. It worked out fine, but was much harder when it came to sewing in the lining to match it up. My other frustration involved taking out all the precisely placed pins as I sewed the seam to completion only to discover the machine had run out of bobbin thread at the beginning. Sewing is such a headache sometimes.

This is my first day at home all week, so I need to get more projects done. Hope you are all in the USA are enjoying your holiday weekend. Thanksgiving was great and the shopping was SO fun. Did you get up early and shop and get the deals?

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A year in the life of a blond...

January - Took her new scarf back to the store because it was too
tight.

February - Ordered new drapes for her computer because it had
windows.


March - Got excited when she finished a jigsaw puzzle in six months
because the box said "2-4 years."


April - Was trapped on an escalator for hours when the power went
out.


May - Couldn't make Kool-Aid because 8 cups of water wouldn't fit
into the little packet.


June - Couldn't learn to water ski because she couldn't find a lake
with a slope.

July - After losing in a breast stroke swimming competition,
complained to the judges that the other
swimmers were using their arms.

August - Told her blonde friend to hurry when trying to get into
their locked car using a coat hanger
because it was starting to rain and the top was down.

September - When asked what the capital of California was, she
answered "C".

October - Hates M &Ms because they are so hard to peel. Threw away
half because they were misprinted W&W.

November - Baked a turkey for four days because the instructions
said one hour per pound and she weighed 120.

December - Couldn't call 911 because there was no "11" on any phone
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It's that time of year... almost

We're through. We're done. It's finished. It is officially the Christmas season at our house. We decorated last night and had a gay (happy) ol' time. We strung the tree and adorned its branches with sparkling ornaments. White Christmas entertained us as we worked. Emma was a fantastic helper this year and I was really impressed with how well she did in her ornament placement on the tree. She has a real creative side and it was fun to watch her. Mandy had a good time too, toddling around smashing glass balls together. Miraculously none of my ornaments were broken in the reverie.

The girls dressed up in finery and my husband commented that this kind of fun was better than Christmas day. His comment was made from a chair as he read a tractor publication, but he was having a good time too.

I purchased the gold scarves at 90% off at an after-Christmas sale. I get a little giddy and illogical around fantastic deals and tend to purchase things I have no purpose for, like the gold scarfs. Emma and Mandy sure love them though.

I LOVE the Christmas tree! It is a big highlight for me. That is really the whole reason why I decorate so ridiculously early. It goes by so fast, so I figure I can enjoy it longer. Next year maybe I'll just decorate in October. My husband thinks I should leave all the decorations up all year -- it would save him some work (this comment was also made from behind the tractor publication).

The decorations on a Christmas tree tell a lot about a family. I like to have a tree that is color coordinated with white lights and garland. I try to keep to the red/gold theme, but I don't deny space on my tree for any ornament. Of course the really ugly ones get relegated to the back, but they are still there and I smile every year as I take them out of their storage tissue. I know some in my classy extended family reject ornaments that don't match, but I think they give the tree a homey feel.

That got me thinking... what do you think makes the perfect Christmas tree? 

I love to decorate the fireplace mantle as well. I am supremely blessed to have an electrical outlet in the middle of the wall perfect for plugging in my Christmas gift shaded lights (also 90% off from Joann Fabric). It is a little known fact that there is a niche in the middle of this wall that holds an electrical outlet. Strange, but true. It is about 18" square and 4" deep, so kind of small for the proportions of the wall, plus the fact that there is an ugly plug-in glaring out of the hole. I really wonder what the builder was thinking with that original little niche. Consequently, I have a picture hung over the top.

Besides the tree, I have some other decorations that I adore. Like my ivory nativity from Africa. Our first trip to Africa was over Christmas and I was incredibly sick with Malaria up until about Christmas Eve. Still I have fond memories of being in Mozambique and celebrating simply with Jeff's aunt, Janice. We got the nativity set on the second trip, also in December, and our friend the ivory carver went a little nuts and made tons of them out of ivory and wood. We purchased all that he made and gave them away for gifts when we returned home. I don't know how our friends and family feel about the slightly odd looking Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, but we are really fond of them.

I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet and you may be rolling your eyes at my early decorating frenzy, but please indulge my celebratory spirit. What decorations do you love at Christmas? And I am also looking forward to hearing what your perfect Christmas tree looks like. :)

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Blessed be the name of the Lord

The baby was squawking from her crib and I entered her warm room to get her. Mandy is a very loving girl and I always except a hug after her rests. As usual, she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. It had been a busy and frustrating day, so I sat down to enjoy the love in the funny colored peach rocking chair with ink on the arm in the corner of her room. Even as she lay on me, I observed many different things I should be doing; there was the bottle of milk that lay upside down on the floor dripping hours old milk, 2 totes of baby clothes begging to be organized and put back in the closet, a laundry basket full of folded sweet girl clothes needing to be put into drawers, and there was Emma who burst into the room with a look on her face that said, "What are you doing giving love away to my sibling and not me?"

"We're just rocking. Do you want to sit with us?" I asked her. She thought about it for a moment. I could tell the independent 4 year old was thinking she didn't need this kind of entertainment, but she succumbed and climbed up on my lap for some reluctant rocking. She asked me to sing that Mocking Bird song so I did. I sang all the words that I could remember from that crazy tune and kept rocking. The girl's matching white blond hair tickled my chin as their heads rested on my shoulders and I felt love and contentment beyond anything of this world. The perfect feeling was helped by the warm peaceful room and the chair that rocked us was so comfy even though any interior decorator would have rejected it at least a decade ago.

I expected the moment of snuggling to be a fleeting one, so I soaked up each second. Emma said, "Sing more songs." I sang what came to my mind, from Silent Night to "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart." It was like a bad 80' mix tape, but I kept singing and rocking and the girls kept snuggling me. I remembered a song from church, Blessed Be the Name of the Lord, and I sang that too. 

Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back into praise. When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say, blessed be the name of the Lord.... you give and take away and my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name of the Lord.

My voice cracked as tears of thankfulness tightened my throat. I heard my voice wobble and I knew this was not a performance that would win any awards on earth. This moment of tenderness was a blessing in its purest form and the beautiful words to this song helped me turn my emotions and my busy frustrating day into praise to the Lord who gives and takes away.

Soon Mandy wiggled off my lap to go find the dripping bottle of old milk and Emma jumped down to play in the baby clothes I should have put away since she thinks they fit her doll. I wiped  the tears of happiness from my eyes and prepared to continue on, feeling completely renewed and blessed by our 10 minutes of rocking and singing. This was better than a jolt of caffeine from a carmel mocha or those yummy coffee beans that I was craving. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

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Sewing hand cramps at daycare with yellow nutrition

I've been sewing a lot lately. It all started when we were preparing for my parent's visit for Emma's birthday and we knew they were bringing the rather large kitchen my dad built for Emma. We needed to make room in her bedroom and that meant taking my "hope chest" up to our room. It is filled with my out of season/maternity clothes. Already in our room is a trunk filled with fabric and we were about to move in another heirloom trunk and it also needed to go in our room. (Call me Extreme Makeover Home Addition and let's have a trunk/chest theme room). 

I was thinking I could consolidate some and maybe get rid of the fabric trunk or at least relegate it to the basement. Opening that lid was frightening. What I found were lots and lots of unfinished projects -- yards of lovely (at one time) fabric that sat abandoned with their patterns and thread, sometimes for years. It was really pathetic and I felt ashamed for my fabric gluttony. I love to go shopping and dream up crafts, I am a creative person after all, but I rarely finish the projects. So I put myself in fabric boot camp, making a goal for myself to finish projects and either give them away or sell them. My goal is to work my way through the huge pile before Christmas. 

I forbade myself from buying anything new for any creative projects I dream up and I MUST finish my goal or.... else. I still haven't decided on a consequence if I do not I use up all my fabric, but anything is better than the over-load of stuff that I have now. My first project is making tote bags out of the fabric that is left over from projects like quilts I've made over the years. I borrowed this idea from my immensely creative friend, Lindsay who is alway sewing cool things. The re-usable grocery style bags are really popular here and I actually use 5 for grocery shopping. I get .06 cents each time I use a recycled bag, so I am all for it. I decided that many people would rather have a nice looking bag to use (rather than bright green from WM). I have completed 3 and used up about 1/567 of my fabric stash. Watch out. You may receive one of these beauties as a gift.

This week I also sewed a curtain and a table clothe from fabric I bought in Africa and of course it took me 2 years to do anything with it. I am so ashamed. Do you crafty people have any more ideas for me of projects that use LOTS of fabric and are also useful? I am getting a little tired of the totes. :)

I made rag a quilt from an ambitious project that I bought fabric for more than a year ago and never even started. My original plan was to make a twin size quilt and a crib quilt for the girls that matched. They would have been lovely, but instead I made this one for new baby Libby.

Since we didn't know Libby's gender until she was born on Wednesday, I quickly worked on putting it together. If you've never made one of these blankets out of flannel, you really should. They are easy and fast (except for all the seam snipping that causes hand cramps) and SO snuggly cute. 

 

Mandy was quite enamored with the quilt and tugged it off my lap and ran away with it when I was in the midst of a debilitating hand cramp. Thankfully I was able to uncurl one of my fingers to snap this picture of the thief snuggled up on the couch. 

In other news, I started watching a little 2 year old girl for a few hours a week. We go to church with her family and she's a good fit with us. Even though I swore I would NEVER, EVER, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS do daycare, I decided to give this a try since Emma knows little Grace from Sunday School. Emma takes care of her mostly -- don't tell her mom that I am not doing any work.

The girls like to play the piano. 

Mandy just woke up from a nap and I gave her lunch. She is a picky eater and isn't at an age of reasoning yet, so I tend to give her things I know she will eat instead of watching them fly off her highchair tray (we've been working on that nasty habit and now she only throws food when she is mad. A bonus). Today she had chicken nuggets, cheese and oranges. If I was trying to keep all her food the same color, I succeeded.

Such a lovely combination on her yellow tray. 

I try not to think of the combination that is coming in the diaper.

On that note. Have a great day.

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My friend Amanda finally had her baby!  I'm excited they had a girl, naming her Libby Corrine Doris. I better get to finishing that girly quilt I started. Read More.. Read More..

Zoo

I recently went to the zoo with my sister and her kids. She has a membership, so we were able to go quite affordably free. I love having rich relatives. :) It was a lovely fall day and I couldn't even resist taking a picture of the animals (I usually abstain because taking pictures of zoo animals seems a bit touristy).

Ben LOVES the zoo and was our tour guide, telling us all sorts of information I never knew I needed to know. Emma enjoyed herself a great deal too, although she doesn't have the same zeal for knowledge. She just wanted to jump in the pen with the bear.

Sitting on the giant frog and getting your picture taken is a must on all zoo trips. I did not get my picture taken because my camera barely knows how to take pictures of me. I didn't make into a single recorded moment of the excursion. But that is why I blog, so I have some identity. I don't need no stinkin' frog.

We even saw a movie star at the zoo that day and I got a picture!

Oops. No, that is just my beautiful sister. Now that we have the same haircut, it is a little eery going in public together because people think we look so much a like. One lady even thought we were twins. As I got ready before heading to the zoo that morning, I methodically pinned my hair back as to change my look a little, retain my individuality and such. And then I saw my sister and she had also pinned her hair back. Do you think we look alike? We don't see it.

Emma looked for the lions everywhere, but Benton said, "No Emma, that exhibit won't be open until Summer of  '09." I think maybe we need to take another trip to Africa and see some in the wild. Although, that is a little more than a zoo membership and takes a bit longer than the drive to Portland.

We left before the kids melted down, so it was a perfect day. Mandy and Nathaniel were asleep before we hit the freeway, but the older ones just went bonkers, as per normal.

Fun day!

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Sunday morning fashion

Emma always picks out what she wears and dresses herself; most of the time there is more than one outfit per day. She loves clothes and loves mixing and matching. I must admit that I rarely argue with her any more because she is so happy in her sometimes strange outfits.

Her need for style now stretches to picking out her sister's clothes. On days where we are not going anywhere, I let Emma choose Mandy's clothes. But I am in charge of Mandy's look if we are going to be seen in public. It reflects badly on me if Mandy is wearing things that don't match and I have pride issues. It is hard enough to let Emma go out looking strange. I realize that someday soon I will have two daughters eager to assert their individuality. I am sure my pride will get more than one hit along the way. Baby steps.

Sunday morning Emma was already dressed in her spring polkadot dress and was helping me with Mandy:

Emma: "I really need Mandy to match me."

Mom: "But Mandy doesn't have any polkadots. She can where her jean skirt and boots."

Emma: "Please, I really need Mandy to wear blue like me."

She help up a blue plaid dress with a fur collar that I was half-hoping would make it through the holiday season without being worn. The dress was a gift and I wasn't entirely sure Mandy could pull off such a "festive" look.

Emma was quite sure that her polkadots and this blue plaid were perfect, so I finally relented. I imagined people would assume our family is fashion challenged, but if we can't be accepted as we are at church, where can we?

It wasn't until Emma put on her shoes that her "matching" began to make sense to me. She had in mind all along to wear her blue plaid shoes with the polka-dot dress, so of course she matched with Mandy.

Let me zoom in on the shoes and Mandy's dress so you can see for yourself that they match perfectly.

See. Matching.

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Encouraged

Check out "A Home for a Teenager" at Christianity Today.com. This article is about my dad's first cousins and the daughter they adopted. Reading the whole story really encouraged me today about how God equips us for every good work. Read More.. Read More..

Growing up

I met my husband's family over 7 years ago now. He is the oldest of 5 kids with a younger sister and brother who both married the year after us and then 2 younger siblings who are 14 and 16 years younger. Jesse was 10 years old when we were married and Juli was only 8. They were such fun kids. I never had younger siblings, so I enjoyed getting to know them. I imagined that they thought I was cool. The jury is still out about whether that was true or not. Now that they are both taller than my 5'10", I don't feel nearly as cool.

We were able to watch Jesse play football yesterday and I was thinking back about my first memories of him. He was a real funny kid and was always making jokes. He loved sports and took any opportunity he could to play or work outside. I thought he was a sweet kid and always hoped he wouldn't lose that as he grew up.

(John, Jesse, Jayne, Jeff, and Juli with Mom and Dad at our wedding in 2002)

Jeff has no idea why he looks stoned in this picture, but asks that you keep your snickering to a minimum.

Jesse is now 16 years old and has changed a great deal. He is 6'4" and a strong, good looking guy, instead of a little kid. You wouldn't recognize him from the picture above -- he stands many inches above his brother who is 14 years older than he. Even though he's grown-up, his sweet spirit remains. Jesse's personality attracts people. I am impressed with how he relates with others, young and old. The kids love him and Emma calls him, "My Uncle Jesse." That's his name and even corrects us when his name comes up. She says, "You mean, my Uncle Jesse?"

She thinks he is extraordinary. 

Yesterday we watched Jesse play a good game, closer in points than most of the others. The Central team is really smokin' their opponents this year. As we cheered for Jesse's athleticism, I thought of how we often forget to cheer on the younger generation for the characteristics that keep them living for Jesus when they are all grown up. I am proud to have a younger sibling who has such substance. 

* I think of these things because I have a hard time following the football game. Cheerleaders and quality character, that's where my mind is.

We have good people in our family and I know we are blessed. Both Jesse and Juli are growing into amazing adults *gulp* (time goes by so fast). Emma and her cousins can keep looking up to their Uncle Jesse. He's a good hero. I pray that someday when we are snickering at the pictures from this time that we see more than the funny styles and changed bodies of our little kids all grown up. I pray we see that our children have grown into admirable young people, worthy of being looked up to.

For those of you who care about the football game as well as quality characteristics in the players, Central won the game and is headed for a State championship (we hope!).

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Insured

Health care coverage for our family is a major stressor to me. Being self employed, it is expensive and we rarely use health care, but I feel it is unwise to not have any insurance. We wrestle with seeking to trust God 100% in our health issues and also wanting to use our resources wisely in the case of a catastrophic health crisis that our emergency fund won't cover. We've all heard the horror stories of people who went from totally healthy to 100s of thousands of dollars in medical bills within weeks. Do we burdon our family now with monthly premiums that we see little result from, or do we bankrupt the family later in the event that one of us has an expensive medical issue?

The struggle begins when we look at the hundreds of dollars we spend each month for private health insurance and then see how little it has benefited us. My husband for example has been to the doctor once in 30 years, making $180 standard office visit worth about $50,000 in premiums, assuming he has had medical coverage for 30 years. We were obviously very thankful for health insurance when I was hospitalized 3 times during my first pregnancy and also for the second, typical pregnancy. Our insurance paid $7,000 the first time and $3,000 the second pregnancy. We considered that money we saved until we added up our monthly premiums and we could have paid for both of the pregnancies/births out of pocket for the same cost over the years.

Recently, I heard about Medi-Share and it sounds like a great alternative. It is "a Christian alternative to health insurance.   It's a primary health care program with real care at an affordable cost where members share and pay the bulk of your bills for you up to $1 million per incident.  Drs and hospitals do bill Medi-Share directly just like they would insurance using the standard insurance claim forms that they're used to always using." 

I've searched the web for something bad about Medi-Share and haven't found anything. I love that it is Christian. I love that they support people who live a healthy lifestyle and that my money actually goes to people in need. So, with all that said, I guess I am just putting out this other option for medical coverage. My current insurance through Providence Health Systems just went up 30%. Seriously, who can afford a 30% increase? I can't see a downside to saving our family $4,000 a year through Medi-Share and still being covered in case of a catastrophic emergency. Do you know anyone who uses this Medi-Share program? I would appreciate your feedback to point out anything I missed in this dilemma.

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My projects for today:

Fold 6 loads of laundry and put it all away

Make dinner for guests tonight

Clean-up house

Update Food Love (done)

The important things in life..... also check out Janice's Journal. My blogging protege is now blogging on her own. I am so proud.

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Digital Scrapbooking

I recently purchased a digital scapbooking kit online. I am working on a Christmas card for my aunt and thought it would be fun to use something other than Photoshop's collection of backgrounds. I bought a Christmas one here and I am now completely hooked. It's addicting and way harder than it looks. The kits are really reasonably priced and you can use the "supplies" over and over again. I love it! Here is my very first digital scrapbooking page.

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Celebrate our freedom on Veteran's Day

Thank you to the armed forced who protected and served and continue to do so!

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A princess cake

Emma requested a princess cake for her party. She talked about it for weeks. Before the princess idea, she had it in her head that she wanted a cake that was shapped like a wrist watch. And before that was a Teenage Mutan Ninja Turtle cake (I am pretty glad she moved on from that one).

I had an idea of how to make the cake, but leave it to Betty Crocker to have a video tutorial. Emma watched it with me and I was very impressed with all the details she remembered from the instructions. She was SO thrilled with the results.

A highlight of the party was the kitchen unit my dad (Papa Tom) made for Emma. He modeled it after Pottery Barn Kids' Kitchen. I think his design is even better. 

I am thankful all our family could come and celebrate with Emma. It makes a pretty packed house (10 kids under 4 years). She received such nice things and flitted from one thing to the next today, trying to decide what to play with. She loves her clothes, pj's, kitchen stuff, Barbie, doll house, and globe.

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Happy 4 year old....

Emma is 4 years old today. It was really an exciting day and this year, more than the previous 3, she looked forward to the presents and the whole day being about her, her and some more her. It was fun to give her a special day, but at the same time I cringed at every occation Emma had to be more selfish. She is so completely blessed and I pray she understands it soon. We had a yummy egg breakfast and she opened her 2 presents from us, a new dress for Sunday School and a horse for Barbie. After a good nap (Praise the Lord), we had her party with her both sides of the family -- 29 immediate family! She got so much nice stuff. I'll post pictures of course, but for now, I thought these of Emma showed her sweet side, and not the side where she is completely consumed with being the birthday girl.

I looked back at the birthday archives and found posts here, here, here and here. She's grown up a lot. Please forgive the posts in the Emma's own voice. I think I was bored or something. I promise it won't happen again.

It is fun to remember when.... she was a baby.... she was helpless instead of steadfastly independant.... played peak-a-boo for the first time... took her first steps....

Emma was the perfect baby. She napped well, was the fastest breast-feeder on record (start to finish in less than 6 minutes), was content to sit and watch the world go by, and loved to snuggle.

Some of her earliest characteristics are now part of her personality. She still loves a schedule and needs routine. She is a good eater and will eat anything, even sea food and chinese -- her favorite food is green beans. She's reserved in social settings, but joins right in after a few minutes. She loves to play with others, but is definitely an introvert. Her earliest love to snuggle now shows itself through willing hugs for those she loves.

When Emma was about 15 months, her strong will started to show itself and we've been in a constant tug of war ever since. When we say "no", she says, "yes." She wears skirts when we advise pants. She takes the long way when we suggest a short cut. She is stubborn and has challenged me to my breaking point more than once (a few more than once), yet I now see the benefits of her strong will. She is very determined and even self-motivated. This last year has given us hope that her "guns are shooting in the right direction," as my grandma described the wish for all spirited kids. I am really proud of Emma and her ability to make decisions based more on the facts these days instead of just choosing the opposite of what mom and dad want.

I haven't ever shared her birth story. I remember it clearly, but the details are fading. I started having labor pains Sunday (the 7th) and went to the midwife the next day. She said to wait it out, the baby would come eventually. Always what a first time mom-to-be wants to hear. The pains were quite strong by the evening and Jeff was a little disappointed because Lord of the Rings was on TV (that is the detail he remembers about Emma's birth). We left right after it started and were at the hospital by 9pm. I was dilated to 5cm, so I was admitted and the midwife came. Somewhere in the middle of the night I transitioned into heavy labor and thought I was seriously going to die. I previously specified NO EPIDURAL, so when I was begging for one it was too late. At one point I screamed at the midwife, "No woman has EVER been in this much pain. You have to get this child out of me NOW!!!!! I want a C-section. I don't care, just get her out!!!" I don't remember the midwife's response, but I imagine she rolled her eyes behind by back. I had all back labor, never felt a contraction in front, so I really thought I was going to die or at least be paralyzed for life. The labor went from horrible to worse and I started to push  and push some more, but nothing happened. I changed positions many time, but the baby's head was turned almost completely the wrong way. I ended up pushing through contractions for 3 hours. I don't remember how I made it through, but I did, ripped to shreds, but I made it. Emmaleigh was finally born at 5:31am on the 9th. She looked up at me with the biggest, most searching eyes and I knew that I was made to be her mother. Somehow all the pain was worth it. Even saying that doesn't make sense unless you are a mother yourself.

She is truly a gift and I love celebrating her life. I am so thankful for her. We'll work on her own gratefulness tomorrow.

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For sale:

Everything sold! I am so excited. With the exception of the accessory binder (going to cousin, Sara), a lady bought the whole lot. Craigslist is the best.

I just posted a sale ad to Craigslist here for scrapbooking supplies and organizers. If you see anything you would like, let me know. The items are left over from my short career as a Creative Memory Consultant. I got such a good deal on things that I would often purchase things hoping someone would want them later. I am left with a random inventory that is taking up space. I would really like to be rid of these items so I can buy more things that I will actually use. 

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My name is...

I have no idea what my children should call adults who are not related to them, like their friend's parents or my friends. I really don't like little kids calling adults by their first names probably because it was a sign of disrespect in our house when I was growing up. I called all adults by Mr. and Mrs. _____. Even now, I have a hard time calling anyone in the generation older that me or my friend's parents by their first names.

I am often asked by my friends what I want their children to call me. Am I Mrs. Peters? How did I go from wearing leggings last week to being Mrs. Peters to a 4 year old?

I need your insight and always great ideas. Leave a comment and vote on the pole. 

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Home again guarding the fort

We returned home from our Canada trip. For all those of you who were very confused that I was posting when I was supposed to be on vacation, I was actually enjoying my time away from the computer and had scheduled posts in advance -- I never run out of things to blog about. I have heard from several sources that we shouldn't announce to our blogging audiences that we are going on vacation and then disappear for weeks on end. Since I am a pretty regular blogger, you would have noticed my absence I am sure. There might be a crazy person out there who would take advantage and come and break into my house or something. They would probably take my most prized possessions like my Vita Mix and the new box of size 4 Huggies from Costco. I know you would never break into my house. It is only the stalkers from Ohio and New Mexico who never comment that I am worried about. In any event, we were gone and now we are not and I am having really great fun catching up on email and comments. Thank you!

We were gone for 9 days and I have lots to share, but I will limit the info to 10 things:

1. We drove 3,011 miles and spent 56 hours in our very comfy and functional mini van going from our house to BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan via Washington and Idaho.

2. Amanda and her family were so fun to be with in Nipawin. The baby didn't present itself like I had hoped. Amanda was pretty uncomfortable. We look forward to their exciting news soon.

3. The weather was gorgeous for the entire trip (the only rain was on the way home). It was sunny and unseasonably warm. It was above freezing during the day -- I never had weather like this when I was going to college in Saskatchewan.

4. The Canadian Rockies were as beautiful as we remembered. I highly recommend the trip north if you have never been.

5. We attempted to climb Sulfur Mountain woefully unprepared. Jeff and I summated the mountain pretty easily when we hiked it 6 years ago in August, minus 2 children, ice and snow. I can now say that I don't need to summit the mountain in order to conquer it. Maybe a good lesson for life in general.

6. A few rural Canadian towns are famous for their "biggest" somethings. On the drive, we saw the biggest dinosaur, pinto bean, teepee, and truck. You don't have that kind of fun in an airplane.

7. Emma is a really good traveler and is always up for an adventure especially mountain climbing, swimming, seeing trains, and playing with Liam's toys.

8. Mandy teethed 2 top molars and 2 bottom front teeth on the trip. She did really well considering her pain. She's a real trooper.

9. I had a run in with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Medicine Hat, Alberta, at 2:30am. I was speeding through on their deserted and well lit highway at 80 kilometers per hour (about 50mph) and missed the sign to slow my speed to 50 kph (about 35mph). The police guy, who looked eerily similar to Benton Frasier from Due South, was quite pleasant and apologized for pulling me over and disrupting my journey. He thankfully did not give me a ticket.

10. Our time together as a family was priceless and we had a really fun time. It is also very good to be home and out of the car.

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Are you ready for leggings?

I stood staring at the display of leggings, filled with mixed feelings. Part of me loves the look of this trendy "new" style and the other part of me is reminded of stirrup pants from 1889 and I am frighted.

I broke down and bought them, fearful all the way. I convinced myself that I am a stylish woman, capable of pulling off the look.

I am still reminded of 1989. Although the outfit I wore to church on Sunday was fashionable, I was quite convinced everyone was looking at my bare ankles and shuddering in horror with thoughts of slouch boots and neon scrunchies from yesteryear.

Ladies, my question is, are you ready for leggings and all the memories they bring with them?

PS Taking a picture of my own feet was much harder than I thought. And yes, the red shoes are so very cute. Thank you.

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