Finding the fence

I've been thinking about fences lately.

You hear so much about sitting on the fence, finding yourself on the wrong side of the fence,

and how the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I've learned that, in order to know whether your sitting on the fence, on the wrong side or wishing for what's on the other side, you have to be able to first see the fence.

The kids have colds, but we decided that spending time outside in the warm sunshine

would be good medicine for them. Since I was doing yardwork, they asked if they could too.

This little plot of land is going to be our garden this year (much larger one next summer), but it's shaded by the neighbor's shrubs growing over the fence.

Yep, there is a fence in there.

They've been discovering treasures all over the yard, but only after

they've dug, trimmed or raked.

Now that the fance was visible, Emma had to take a rest and, just maybe, direct a little
bit of the work being done by Ryan.

They've also been learning that, when you dig, trim or rake, the work isn't quite done.
It's finished once the debris is in the brush pile.
(Thanks so much to Adam and Jamee for this wheelbarrow...it's so easy to use that Emma
can push it over to the pile and empty it all by herself.)

Climbing up for a view of what's on the other side.
(Do you remember this fence from a few posts ago?)

This was my fence.

When we moved in, you couldn't see the fence through the horrible, detested vine that was

slowly choking the lilacs and the cherry tree.

The photo above it after working on it for an hour and a half earlier this week.

And here it is after three hours of grunting, pulling, cutting and sweat yesterday.

It amazed me how the vines wove in and out of the fence and over into the neighbors trees and then back into ours.

Because it was our vine that was encroaching on their space, I had to pull it back up and over the fence and out of their trees...that was the hardest part of the job because there was also the five years of dead, wet leaves that had accumulated with the vines. It did teach me a lesson about how our time is best spent on our side of the fence. It's much too difficult to care for or strive for something on the other side of the fence; our arms can only reach so far.

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I think that the trees just look happier!

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Back to the fences....

I recently heard a wonderful thought about the grass being greener...

If you think that the grass is greener on the other side, water your own grass.

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Happy weekend to all.

We're going to spend it at home nursing colds and sinus infections, with the hopes of warm afternoons spent outside getting some Vitamin D.

These are a few of my favorite things

my favorite breakfast...on lazy mornings, it's the Scottish version for an extra treat

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fresh flowers...color picked by the pink-lover of the house

(sitting next to my new lamp...on clearance at Freddies...yep, I've been
bargain shopping!)
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the smell of bread baking
(although it's not the best thing if you're trying to eat better...
on the other hand, it is whole wheat!)
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taking a bit of time from work to create
(even better when I can combine stamping with sewing!)

(my first care of 2010...can't believe it's taken this long!)

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wrapping gifts in something besides paper.

here, it's a placemat and cloth napkin

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my tea drawer

my favorites are the Stash Moroccan Mint Green Tea and

the Orange Spice Black Tea

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new bloggers

this one is my best friend from high school

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the rest of my Goodwill purchase that I mentioned here

this was brand new, still shrinkwrapped...for $5.99

do you see the fun?

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this song, shared on Kristen's blog

thank you to all of those that serve

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this author that Emma found for me.

when we go to the library, she can hardly wait to go

downstairs to the children's section. So, she helps me find books.

Amazingly enough, I've liked every book she's picked for me.

This author created Mrs. Pollifax, a lady in her 60s that decided

she was tired of belonging to committees and having no excitement in her life.

To change this, she walks into the CIA's office and offers her services as a spy.

She, quite accidently, gets taken up on her offer.

I've read the first in the series and thoroughly enjoyed her writing.

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Lastly, my favorite thing from today was rocking Emma to sleep. It doesn't happen often, but she's been sick with a cold. This afternoon, I wanted her to take a nap. She sat in my lap, I read a story and then sang to her. Then, I put my cheek against the top of her head and waited for the sure sign that she's asleep...the slurp as she tries to continue to suck her thumb as it's trying to fall out of her mouth. Afterwards, I just sat and held her, listening to her breathing, knowing that this won't happen too many more times.

Some of you have asked for more pics of the rooms in the house.

Ryan and Emma's aren't totally unpacked yet. Em and I just picked out two shades of pink to paint her room...we'll start on that within the next few days. It doesn't make sense to unpack Ryan's room and then pack it up again to paint, so it's still got quite a few boxes in it.

I finally got rid of the last box in our room today. Everything's put away...it's put away in both closets so well that it looks very empty!

(The view from the bedroom door)

The room had been recently painted an almost-minty green. Not a color that I would choose...however it will probably be the last room to be repainted. It has really dark brown carpet...again, not something I'd choose because it shows every little piece of fuzz, lint, whatever. I haven't hung any pictures up yet because nothing I have matches it. In the future, I see maybe palm trees or a pale blue to go with the brown carpet. For now, it's almost-minty green! :)

(My closet)

This is the dresser that we bought from a high school classmate that

we discovered lived just a few houses down. She has since moved to CA, but we were lucky that she was unloading furniture. Our room is a bit hard to work with since we have to work around the bedroom door, the bathroom door, two full closets and the heating vent. This was the only space for a dresser. The dresser holds both my clothes and Bob's and was the exact measurement for width and comes just to the bottom of the light switch. :)

It's solid wood and the lower drawer is cedar...and she gave it to us for $40!

(the door into the hallway and Bob's closet; the door on the

left is to the master bath)

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Someday...I can't wait to make this into the bedroom I've always wanted. Now, I just need to figure out what that is! :)

Thirfting

My patience paid off. I've been looking for another side table to go next to the chair in the living room. A month ago, I found this one (near the end of linked post) at Goodwill. It needed to be fairly large to fill the space. I wanted a smaller one for the other spot, and I found it today! Perfect condition...perfect size...perfect price ($9.99). I also found something for the kids, still shrink wrapped, that they've already enjoyed. More on that later...

In the backyard, along the side fence, we have several lilacs (my favorite!),

a cherry tree, and this thing. It's a viney thing that's pulling the lilacs over and pulling the cherry tree branches down. If you look on the left side of the tree where it's lighter brown all of the way to the top? That's the vine. It's about two feet thick on top of the fence and full of dead leaves. I honestly couldn't care how beautiful it might be in the summer...I've reached the point where it has to go. It's taking over everything that's growing near it and is entrenching into the neighbor's yard. So, I started the job yesterday of pulling it out. I worked on it for an hour and fifteen minutes and I'm about half way done. It's hard work because the branches wrap around each other, the other trees, the fence, anything it comes in contact with.

This is where I ended up yesterday. I discovered that there are several bird house bases on the partial wood fence. I have a huge pile of brush (and no idea how to get rid of it in town!) and a lot of work still to do. I can't wait until it's done, though. It looks so much nicer already. I can envision the bed along the fence overflowing with flowers! And lilacs!

Scouts - Blue and Gold

This past Saturday we attended Ryan's Blue and Gold Ceremony for Scouts.

This is our first year, so we're still learning how it all works. Essentially, he

completed all of the requirements to achieve his Bear badge. They had a dinner, a pretty good magician, games for the kids and then the ceremony.

Looks pretty innocent, doesn't she?

A rare photo of Bob and I, courtesy of Emmalee.

Ryan's den painted the "pond" for the fishing game.

Bob thinks Emma's eyes look a tad bit, um, psycho here.

We didn't know that Ryan would get his face painted!

His leader painted his face, with each color symbolizing something.

It was pretty serious until someone "accidently" popped a balloon. Then, of course,

all of the boys got the giggles.

Things have been a bit busy here with unpacking (almost done!!), organizing (never done!) and tax season (April 15th can't come soon enough!)

Here's a little of what's been going on around here.

Emma knows all of her upper case letters. Except that pesky "I" and "L" when they

make the capital "I" look like a lower case "l." See what I mean? It can be confusing for the poor kids. There are about ten lower case that she doesn't know yet, so we've been working on them. This easel has been wonderful to have in the kitchen! While I'm working in the kitchen, she'll draw or work on "homework." When Ryan's home, I'll write multiplication facts on the chalkboard and he'll work on these. Best Christmas present ever!

And they thought it was fun!! :)

The flower beds that run along this fence have about 5" of dead leaves. We've started cleaning them out. It's a lot of work, but it looks so much nicer once it's done. So glad for my little helpers!

Ryan has become interested in carving and wittling. He got a whittling knife and a practice block of cedar with part of his birthday money. He's really enjoyed working on it. There have been a few knicks on the fingers, but (thankfully) nothing serious. Since he's using cedar...it smells so good!

Always...coloring.

This girl loves to color!

Rolling out the sugar cookies.

Emma loves those times in the kitchen when I don't care if she makes a mess.

She loved rolling out the dough and then making volcanoes with the left overs until I needed them for the next batch.

Hard at work

Bob took a few minutes out of working from home one evening to throw

the football with Ryan.

I'm so thankful that he does this. Ryan LOVES to spend time with Bob, and there's just not a lot of extra time in the middle of tax season. Those few minutes while I'm finishing up dinner have become Bob's time with the kids...either outside in the backyard or inside wrestling.

He wants to play football in a bad way.

His mother wants him not to play football in a bad way!

But he's got such a good arm.

Hmmm.....

While the boys were out playing, the girls were in the house slaving away.

(Smile)

I discovered that my red food coloring was all dried up, so

we had light blue Valentine's Day cookies.

A few mornings ago, as Ryan was waiting of the bus to come,

I caught Ryan teaching Emma how to read the first book in

the "Bob Books" series. So sweet! She was

so excited when she did it! She just might be reading before she starts school.

And this one will read anywhere!

This is his favorite place at our new house...up in the cherry tree.

Time in the Kitchen

Yesterday morning was spent in the kitchen.

One of my favorite places to be.

I love to cook, as long as I can give most of the goodies away.

Chicken Alfredo in the crockpot,

banana pinaeapple bread,

and white chocolate/dried cranberry cookies.

Some prefer to just eat the dough.

I've been making banana bread since I was very young. My dad, who drove truck for Fred Meyer, would call from work and tell me that he was coming home with a 40 pound (yep, there's a "0" in there!) box of past-their-prime bananas. I'd make batch after batch of banana bread to stick in the freezer. I came across this recipe last year. You add a can of crushed pineapple to the batter...it is delicious! Very moist.
Perfect warm with honey or with homemade strawberry freezer jam.

Can't you just smell them?