chicken feathers

here we are

One of the goals I set for 2012 was to write at least one blog entry per week.  It's already the 9th and this is the first post of the year...I can only improve from here!  Especially since I seem to remember making the same goal last year and seriously failing.  It's a new year with new delusions.

We are settling into life with a newborn which, honestly, doesn't seem terribly different than life without one.  It's both chaotic and peaceful, depending on when you peek in.  Chaotic when we are trying to mobilize all personnel to get out the door at a particular time.  "Where are your shoes?  Wait, where are your PANTS?"  "Did you change Rita's diaper?"  "You have spit-up down your back."  "If you don't have those Legos put away in 30 seconds they are mine."  And so on.  Peaceful moments are more rare but do come here and there.  They usually happen within the activity of the day.  It's a moment spent reading a book in the middle of folding laundry.  It's a gummy smile from a just-fed infant.  It's the magic moment when I realize all the children are asleep.  

Our days right now are busy but only within the family.  I've been pretty good about reducing my workload out the the house so I can really focus on doing essentials which consist of feeding and changing Rita, making meals and doing laundry.  I get the first two done consistently - everything else is a crapshoot.  We have stepped outside the walls of the house a few times for some fun and important things and here are some pictures to prove it.

:: school christmas program in which three of our four had parts:

...singing

 

...ringing

 

...and being holy.

 

:: Trip to the Oregon coast where we braved winter storms ::

"scary boots" help keep the rain away for a walk on the beach.

 

:: Grant's baptism ::

Grant's comment on the day - "This has been the best day of my life!"

 

:: Rita's blessing ::

Probably not the best moment of her life since it didn't involve eating but she was very calm nonetheless.

 

:: Pinewood Derby::

The silver car is Grant's.

I have determined that there are few things cuter than cub scouts in uniform.

After this flurry of activity there aren't too many big events in the coming weeks.  As fun as they are I find that I'm happiest right now at home where there's all the excitement I need.

i used to be three but now i'm four

One of the happy consequences of zipping over to Idaho to celebrate Tyler's birthday (literally) on October 20th, was that we got to be at Grandma and Grandpa's for Anna's birthday on October 21st.  We brought the birthday crown which she wore all day - even during her nap.  It was so fun sharing her big day with family.  Everyone gamely choked down the purple cake with blue frosting, decorated by Grant with frosted animal cookies.  That's devotion, I tell you! 

There is something very big-time about turning four.  She is an active participant in all our family activities.  She can communicate with ease and clarity.  Her personality is strengthening and starting to truly shine.  And yet she is still so young.  She loves cuddling on the couch.  She loves her family and is so upset when mom and dad are disappointed with her (she covers her eyes with her hands when she is in the hot seat).  She sings wonderful made-up songs when she is intently coloring.  She's in this magical time of being old enough to be quite independent and yet young enough to be totally oblivious to the complicated world of social interaction and finding her place within it. 

Back to her actual birthday, my hands-down favorite moment of the day was when I was talking with her before she took her nap.  I asked her if she was having a good day.  She replied, "Oh YES!  I've had so many smiles!"  

Happy Birthday, smiley girl!  You are some kind of wonderful.

a few weeks ago: the last hurrah

Grant is in all-day Kindergarten this year and knowing this would but a major cramp in our traveling style, we knew we needed to make a trip east to see Grandma and Grandpa before the start of school (which was last week - I'm a bit behind here, no big surprise).  The camera mostly stayed in the bag but I managed to pull it out on a couple of occasions.  Other than running through fountains, and watching Rhett annihilate spaghetti, there was a lot of playing with visiting family from Alaska, swimming, reading, coloring, digging in the sandbox, admiring a classic car show, shopping, ice cream eating, running, jumping...all the good stuff.  It was sad to leave.

Documented event #1: the fountain.  The kids had fun frolicking and getting wet.  Mostly.

Grant was happy.

Zach (the kids' Alaskan cousin) was happy.

Rhett was happy.

Anna was not happy.

About 2 minutes into the frolic, Anna turned into the object lesson for "why we don't run around on wet surfaces." 

Documented Event #2: Rhett annihilating spaghetti.

 

Yum.

laurance lake

It's been a gajillion degrees around here so we took off to higher elevations for the weekend to try to beat the heat.  It was still pretty toasty during the day but the lake was gloriously chilly.

Utter filth was had by all.

 

Heading down to the lake to get the canoe...Oh yes, the canoe...

I think I mentioned previously that Russell bought a canoe.  This trip marked my maiden voyage on the L-team sloop.  Picture this:  Mom and son heading to the canoe carrying kiddy rod and tackle (Grant keeps calling it snackle which I like much better).  Mom is feeling a titch nervous to be a) in charge of operating a canoe that is b) occupied by a bouncy, wiggly 5 year old boy who is c) chomping at the bit to go fishing for the first time ever. 

The memory of what happened on the boat is a little hazy...I remember that there was some fishing that managed to happen (I thank the merciful Lord that there were no fish caught - adding a flopping fish into the mix was and still is too much for me to wrap my brain around).  I also remember that there was a stiff breeze.  Did you know that a stiff breeze makes paddling a canoe for someone who has paddled a canoe ohhhh...maybe twice before just a hair difficult?  You know those Family Circus cartoons that shows Billy going from their house to the neighbor's with the dotted line showing all the places he went in between?  If our canoe trip would have been a Family Circus cartoon, the lake would have been one big red scribble.  I could not for the life of me get that beast to track in a straight line.  We were ducking and weaving like nobody's business.  My personal favorite was when I'd totally lose control and we'd just spin in a big ol' circle.  I swear I could hear an observer on the beach say "There they go again!  Bwah ha ha!"  And so it went for about an hour.  Grant made sure I knew that Daddy was much better at canoeing than I was.  I made sure Grant knew that he need not worry - Daddy would be operating the canoe from now on.

Rhett skipped out on the canoeing but still seemed to enjoy his first camping trip.  He thought the fire was amazing.  Ditto on rustling leaves and the ripples on the lake.  He also feverishly shoveled dirt and rocks into his mouth whenever he got the chance. 

And what camping trip with children is complete without some barfing?  Here's is Grant's illustration outlining Anna's illness done for the enlightenment of the folks sitting in front of us at church today.

 

They appreciated the information in all it's technicolor glory.

Ahh, the halcyon days of summer!  What sweet memories they make.

buddies and blue lake

The weekend before last was a wee bit busy for us.  It all started several years ago when Russell met his soul mate, Terry Anderson.  They bonded over a watermelon seed spitting contest and ended the evening by seeing who would jump the furthest out of a swing.  It was a beautiful thing.  The Andersons introduced us to another fantastic couple, the Westovers, we all hit it off splendidly and now we have all kinds of great memories involving our three families from our time in Eastern Oregon.  All three families have since moved on but we had a splendid reunion last weekend at the Coast.  Before all the frivolity started, though, Russell and Terry had some business to attend to: competing in their first triathlon. 

Okay, there was some frivolity before the race.  The Andersons came to our place Thursday evening and spent the night - there were kids and adults scattered in every possible location.  I was proud of our little 2 bed 1 bath "cottage" housing 12 people!  Thank goodness for tents is all I can say!  Russell and I both had to work Friday morning so we stayed in town while the Andersons went to the Coast.  We drove to Seaside (about 3 1/2 hours) later that afternoon where we had a carb-loading dinner.  Spaghetti and chocolate chip cookies - the perfect pre-race meal!  Russell and Terry talked strategy and compared wetsuits (Terry waited a hair too long to get his and ended up racing in a women's suit which was just smashing on him!).  We arose at 4:30 the next morning and drove back to Portland for the race. 

 
This is the starting line.  It was a staggered start; Russell and Terry were in the second group - the blue caps (they're in the water in this picture).  It was a good thing because they would have missed the race if they'd had to start a minute earlier.  For some reason it was slow going getting into the parking lot - they waited in line for close to an hour and were consequently very late getting to the starting line.

Part of the trooper crew.

Kristi and I had eight children between us.  I lost Anna at one point (I didn't know it but she was missing when I took this picture).  We were waiting for the start when I heard "we have a little girl who is three years old at the starting point.  If you are missing a child, we have one here."  My first thought was "dang, that would be lame."  My second thought was how many kids do we have here anyway?  One, two, three, four, five six, seven...SEVEN?!?  WHERE'S ANNA?"  Sure enough, there she was at the starting point, looking very put out.  The reality of how bad it could have been sunk in and I started to cry.  She stayed pretty close after that.

Once reunited, it was time for the race to start!

On your mark, get set...
GO!

Russell and Terry are somewhere in the middle, being kicked to death.  Well, not to death, but close.  Russell said the swim was a good learning experience.  That's probably all that needs to be said.

  
Whit-wa-whirl! 

And into to the transition area.  I don't know if he's in this shot or not.  I just thought the logistics of all this was amazing.  Being a closet event planner, stuff like this turns my crank.

So, after the .5 mile swim it was onto a 12 mile bike ride.  Russell did great and regained some lost time from the swim. 

Here comes the conquering hero now!

A fast shoe change and he's off again!

WAHOO!  He's off on the final leg - a 5K run! 

And, 1 hour and 24 minutes after starting, he's done!   

I think both Terry and Russell had a great time racing - at least it was great enough to start planning for doing another one in August.  I'm excited for them...but not excited enough to be in the crowd again.  Have you ever tried to keep tabs on two young children (while having a third very young and fussy one strapped to your chest) while navigating your way through throngs of people...all on only a few hours of sleep?  I needed a number on my chest and people cheering me on!   

After the race we piled into our cars and headed back to the beach.  The Westovers met us there and we had a WONDERFUL time talking, playing on the beach, talking, watching movies, talking, eating, talking, playing games, talking...just like old times!

We spent a lazy Sunday morning building sandcastles and collecting sand dollars.  Grant and Anna had been sick the night before and we didn't want to risk vomit on a church pew so we stayed back...they kept their breakfasts down at the beach, thankfully, and were feeling back to normal by mid-afternoon.  We all went to Cannon Beach that afternoon to see remnants of the sandcastle competition that was the day before but unfortunately they had been washed to sea.  After a quick group picture we all said our goodbyes and went, sniff, our separate ways.

 

Miss you guys!

deschutes

You might want to sit down.  Russell...my Russell...took most of Thursday off!  Just because.  We slathered on the sunscreen and went to the Deschutes for a little hike. 

There was much collecting.

MUCH collecting.  Note the huge pile of sage.  Desert sage is my absolute favorite scent and Anna kept me well stocked.  She pulled leaves off every bush we walked by.  Every bush.

Even Rhett was a collector.

Anna is a future taxonomist.  She is walking through "tickle grass."

Once we left the river's edge it dried out...into rattlesnake (and sage) country.  We heard one rattler but didn't see it.  Grant was pretty edgy.  The slightest rustle of grass and he was demanding, "WHAT WAS THAT?!?"

Grant is perched on top of the table for a reason.  The walk amongst the rattlesnakes had him wound pretty tight.  It was also tick season and after our hike we found 5 ticks hanging out on our clothes.  That was enough for Grant.  He crawled up on the table and stayed there while we ate lunch. 

 

A little art therapy to settle the nerves.

It was a good day.

the feast

I have been thinking about this meal for a year now.  Last year we bought a bunch of crab and totally stuffed ourselves with gusto.  I couldn't wait to repeat it.

First, Natalie and I went to the Newport Farmers' Market to pick up accompaniments.  I had some cash reserved for this event so I could purchase fresh food with wild abandon.  And I did.  Delicious mixed greens complete with nasturium flowers; raspberries, blueberries, and marionberries to dot the salad and the next morning's breakfast, fresh carrots for snacking, and some artisian bread to go with the lemon dill and garlic herb goat cheese.  Natalie picked up some blackberry basil vinegar for the salad and three kinds of mushrooms to saute with butter and garlic: shiitake, maitake, and oyster.  It was bliss, I tell you!  BLISS!

Then we were off to the crab shack which Russell and I have supported every time we've come to the coast.  We bought six Dungeoness crabs, some smoked salmon "candy", and smoked oysters.  I was about ready to have a heart attack at this point.

One more stop.  This one to satisfy a random craving I'd been having since we arrived - salt water taffy.  After picking out my custom mixed bag (which was even better than I had hoped), we headed home to unload our precious cargo.

Dinner that night was heaven.  We even managed to have it be mostly kid-less.  We fed them first (leftovers - it almost felt like abuse as I anticipated our own meal)  and then turned on a movie.  They were totally content.  And we were loving every minute of the feast.  The flavors were heavenly.  And the view of the ocean from the dining room was pretty hard to beat.  I get all nostalgic just thinking about it.  I ate more than I should have and had to lay down on the couch afterward.  It was awesome.

Oh, and dessert?  Homemade strawberry ice cream.  I think I'm going to cry.

 
side note:  after the mushroom taste test, shiitake was the winner but they were all delish.

manly men

What is it about testosterone?  I just don't get the way guys rationalize their way through decisions.  Like jumping into the ocean (which was so cold it gave me a headache just standing ankle deep for a couple minutes).  In their clothes.  Just because.

background music: bad to the bone or maybe the james bond theme.  i can't decide.

oh yeah!  phil dove in right away.

yep, it's cold alright!  russell heads further out to sea.

phil might be wondering how long russell is planning on taking to prove his manhood.  he can't leave the water, of course, because then russell would be manlier.

that's enough for russell.

the triumphant return

can't you feel the testosterone?

i love grant's dubious expression

i sure love this guy.  cold lips are pretty hot.

lauthmiller family vacation

We got home last night from an excellent 4 day trip to the coast with our good friends, the Auths (well it was 4 days for everyone but Russell who was only there for 36 hours...ahhhh the joys of canning season).  We rented a great little beach house in Newport for the equivalent of about $93 per night per family.  A pretty sweet deal, especially considering how close to the beach we were!

I really wish that Russell could have been there for longer.  I really missed him.  Not that I wasn't having a great time!  My friend Natalie and I got in all kinds of girl talk time, spent lots of time at the beach, went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, I knitted, went to the farmers' market, blew some cash at a craft store,  and we scrapbooked until past midnight on two nights. 

One thing that I noticed while being away from home was how I was much more patient I was with the kids.  I think having pretty much zero responsibilities helped me to be less distracted and more able to just enjoy hanging out with them.  I also realized that having another couple kids on the trip made a huge difference.  Grant and Anna played with Erik and Sarah pretty much non-stop.  When we got home I was a big source of "entertainment" again and found myself wearying from the constant barrage of questions and stories.  It's good to have that insight now and know what my trigger points are for those feelings of frustration.  Not that that's what I really want to remember about the trip!  That was just a long side-note. 

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from the trip!  We're already planning for next year!

it was a little windy the first day

art by grant

sarah and natalie

at the aquarium (or vegetarium as grant refers to it)

daddy's here!  now we can get more than our toes wet!

m-r-s (dot) ney, mrs. ney, mrs. ney, my! my! my!

A couple weekends ago I took the kids to Lewiston to be there for my Aunt Marcia's retirement party.  She's been at the local Catholic school for 27 years - many of those as it's principal.  Marcia is a Lewiston institution - EVERYONE knows her.  I knew the party would be big...and it was - it was in the school gym and people were standing in the back!  There were bands, bagpipes, skits, funny stories, and my favorite - lots of food.  Actually, my favorite was the skit referenced from this post's title.  The teachers came up with new words to the Idaho fight song.  I was laughing so hard that I started to cry.  Hormones, I tell you.  Shamefully, I didn't take any pictures at the event but here are some pictures from the weekend.

well, this one was taken pre-weekend.  mom came over for a couple days earlier in the week to spoil the grandkids.  they were very open to the idea.

fun at the bbq (at my mom and step-dad's).  our extended family has the market on adorable kids with awesome personalities.

post-hot dog

i love this - it's so our family - everyone chatting away.

roasting marshmallows on some serious roasters.

anna and aunt katherine at the park

grant and his ".5" landing.  i shouldn't laugh...i was snapping away behind the camera as he was losing control.  bad mom.