The end of the year Boy Scout Mt. Hood camp out!

I don't know the correct order of the pictures. There are a lot. You have been warned. I love them all!

My guys. L-R Christopher, Russell and Donovan.

My boys at breakfast time. They are looking a little chilly! They took breakfast burritos to warm by the fire.

One of my favorite pictures.

Another favorite.

Our van with 4 inches of new snow which is sitting on 4 feet of snow!

Another favorite picture. I loved this one so much I made it my background on the computer.

The tent where my guys spent the night.

Another favorite shot. Those flakes coming down are HUGE!

Overall - it looks the scouts had a great snow camp out! All this sledding makes me want to camping up on Mt. Hood this very minute! (With lots of hot cocoa in tow of course. ) lol

It can't be the end of the year. Can it?

This year has gone by incredibly fast. Too fast as a matter of fact. At least we didn't have any broken bones this time around. Russell had some heart problems but is doing well. I had lateral epicondilytis which has improved tons. I am not able to hand quilt any more but I can still do bead stuff and crochet.
We had a great time at Christmas visiting family, staying up way to late, eating lots of good food, playing lots of games and enjoying each other's company.
Russell and the older boys left early this morning for a boy scout snow camp out on Mt. Hood. They are expected to get 6-10 inches of new snow tonight. I am anxious to see the pictures I hope Russell is taking. :) This is a wonderful experience and probably a once in a lifetime one for the boys. I don't know if the scouts go every year or not.
When Russell gets home tomorrow I will share what pictures he took. Driving could be treacherous as the Portland area also has snow right now. They have about 4 inches of sticking snow that isn't going away any time soon.
To top off the end of the year....we have a flood watch in effect for later this week on the coast. Aren't we so lucky? Hopefully I can go to work on Thursday and turn my voucher in at DHS so I can get paid.

My least favorite thing about this time of the year...

Mice. And rats. Big or small. I don't care for them. Any at all.
I went to bed last night around 9:30 and fell promptly asleep. I was having a great sleep actually. Until about 11 p.m.
Russell: "Candace....wake up."
me: "huh?"
Russell: "Candace...wake up - there is a rat in the house."
me: "Did you see it?"
Russell: "Yeah it was really huge."
By this time I am thinking we have gigantor roaming in the other room if Russell woke me up. (Not that I would be of any assistance mind you. I would actually be a hinderance. Wouldn't he remember that from last time?) We go out to the family room and Russell said he saw it come out from the kitchen and start towards the laundry room. When it saw Russ it went back to the kitchen - either behind the refrigerator or under the dishwasher...he thought.
So....
Russell starts moving the refrigerator around to see if there is any mouse/rat behind it. Nothing. Next he unscrews the dishwasher from the counter so he can pull it out. He finds a dead teeny tiny mouse. Not the one he saw earlier. By this time the dishwasher is completely out and he has crawled behind it. Slightly insane if you ask me. Russell has his flashlight looking around. No mouse/rat. He does spy a drainpipe though that is big enough for the critters to come and go through. So he says he needs to go to the garage to get some nails and wood.
me: "Don't you dare leave me alone in this house with a loose mouse/rat."
Russell: "But I need to get the materials to fix the hole."
me: "Fine. Leave me the broom then." Not that a broom is any match for a rodent. I start stomping around the kitchen and banging the broom just so the rodent knows it has met it's match. Likely me running and screaming would be most appropriate in such a circumstance.
Around midnight Russell has finished covering up said hole near drainpipe, reinstalled the dishwasher and put out some mouse/rat bait called OneBite. I love this stuff. We have been putting it under the house and it keeps disappearing every day. This is beginning to remind of the movie Ratatouille when all the rats come pouring out of the little old lady's house. EW.
Anyway - we leave a little pile in the middle of the kitchen floor and go to bed. Soon I hear sleeping sounds coming from Russell. How can he sleep with a rodent loose in the house? I guess it doesn't phase a guy.
Me....
I lay in bed and toss and turn. My feet are popsicles. I am too scared to get out of bed to get some socks for them. Every single noise I hear is...
oh - that's just the fire in the wood stove.
oh - Chris is turning over again.
wait....what's that sound? Should I wake Russ up?
all is quiet.
oh - I hear noises again. Oh...just the wood stove.
Repeat noises for several hours. I think I dozed off around 4:30 or so with being startled by every noise this house makes at night.
We get up.
me: "Russ - I need you to check the kitchen before I go in there to make lunches."
Russell: He goes out and looks at the bait. "Doesn't look like anything touched it. Hmmm. Wonder where the mouse is. Guess it went away."
After he gets dressed AND puts his contacts IN....and goes back to the kitchen for breakfast...
"WOW! This is a big mouse! Pretty plump too!"
By this time Michael and Nephi want in on the action. "Can we see Dad?"
So Russell being Russell starts chasing them around with a dead mouse.
Mouse is found.
Caulking for drainpipe is purchased.
Dust masks are purchased so Russell can go under the house and caulk pipe without inhaling mouse poopies and discard any mouse/rat carcasses he comes across. He is the man of the house after all. Right?
The least favorite thing of this time of year is uninvited guests taking up residence in the house. The very chilly temperatures and sunshine sure are making beautiful scenery on the rivers though. How often will I get to see the Tillamook River start freezing over like it is now? Not very often!

My most favorite time of the year!

And busiest I think! I have been making scarves for each of my cub scouts and have been selling some on the side. I have also made myself a wool sweater vest that I really like and discovered it goes with just about everything in my closet! :)

This week is going to be crazy to say the least. As my boys wander around the house they create mini hurricanes as they go. They don't have school at all this week due to Thanksgiving break. Who ever heard of such a thing? So...

Tomorrow I have to clean the house so it will hopefully be clean by Wednesday when we go to my most wonderful in-laws house.

Tuesday is the baking day. I need to make enough pies for 20 people for my side of the family for Thanksgiving dinner. I will be doing pumpkin, apple, peach, blackberry or a combination of blackberry, raspberry and blueberry. And whatever else my in-laws want us to bring to chow on the rest of the time we are at their house.

Wednesday morning I have to work for part of the time and pack for going out of town.

Can you say busy?

Do you hear what I hear?

My sister Becky has this summed up really well.
Last night I was sleeping soundly. All of a sudden I wake up hearing little pitter patter feet of a mouse scurrying across the floor in the other room. I wake up Russell. This is 3 a.m. He doesn't hear anything. I try going back to sleep. A few minutes later I hear it again. I wake up Russell again. This goes on for some time. Eventually he gets up and goes to the other room to check on flood conditions on the computer. I figure if he's out in the other room there must not be a mouse in the house. I venture out to see if I can still hear anything.
Nada.
Nothing.
Zip.
We go back to bed. I start to fall asleep and start hearing pitter patters running across the ceiling - the roof side of course.
Did you hear that? How can you not hear that? It was right over our heads!
Am I going crazy here? I certainly feel like it. How come you can't hear these noises? Is this mouse just out to get me?

I probably should mention this isn't the first time this has happened either.
So....
Do you hear what I hear?

A Christmas idea update!

At my dear sister's request - a photo of one of the scarves I am working on! This one is for one of my cub scouts. His favorite colors happen to be brown and green.

I have sold 2 scarves already! :)

A Christmas idea....

I have been working on Christmas scarves for my little cub scouts. That got me to thinking...
yeah I know...a scary thought!
I could make scarves for people for stocking stuffers or gift giving for a reasonable price. It's something that could be used over and over with the blustery winter weather coming up and it could be whatever color choice the recipient likes! If there are any interested people that would like scarves for Christmas - let me know right away!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! :)

Oink oink...

Boohoo guess who has the swine flu? Russell does! Apparently his school district has been hit pretty hard in the past few weeks. He brought it home 3 weeks ago and we both were so sick. I had the really high fever for about a week, tired, achey all over and diarrhea. He had all the above minus diarrhea plus nasty cough and runny nose. He has round 2 of the really high fever, tired, achey body, runny nose and yucky cough. The county is saying don't go to the doctor. They won't give anything or check for swine flu specifically. Since the regular flu season doesn't start for another 2 months the doctor offices are treating all flu-like symptoms as H1N1. Lucky us. We are stocked up on OJ, bananas, toast, kleenex, afrin, cough drops, chollidial of silver and whatever else keeps us comfy and not so miserable.

The silver lining? The boys and I are happy and healthy. It's much easier to take care of one sick person than be sick myself.

Oink cough snort snort oink oink......

A not so great discovery....

I was relacing part of my tennis shoe this morning. I discovered while trying this procedure - you need a little bit of hand strength. Which I am clearly lacking in my left hand. Not sure what is going on but am seeing the doctor about it on Friday. I have discovered I can still crochet but after a while my hand/arm/shoulder feel really aggravated. As for hand quilting and such - I can't even grasp the needle properly. So....I have decided that the triple irish quilt I started a few years ago - I will pull out the stitches I have already done (which amounts to 3/4 of it) and give it to my mother-in-law to machine quilt. Mom - if you are reading this...you will have a project soon. :)

Neglect is your ally....

I hope. :) Nothing too exciting has been happening so I haven't posted anything. Just busy working for a few hours a week as a home health care worker. Did my 4 sessions of Family,Church and Scouting last Saturday and our Primary program was this past Sunday. The stress level in my life shot way down so I am feeling a bit lost. lol What to do, what to do, what to do!

I have a part-time out of the house job.

It's official! I have a part-time 16 hours a month job as a home healthcare worker. I had my first day today.

Happy birthday dear Chris!
You have turned into a very handsome 12 year old young man.

You were born during a BYU football game on Oct. 3rd. You weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and were 19 inches long. My how you've grown! You used to be blonder than blonde and now your hair is dark. You try your best to be happy and be a peacemaker. You weren't always this way and it's been a joy to watch you change. I am so happy you are in our family! :)

Emotional Roller Coasters...

Today is an emotional roller coaster for me. I am able to listen to an amazing General Conference - great topics, awesome speakers, could feel the spirit - even while canning tomatoes and pumpkin.
It is also Christopher's 12th birthday! Happy birthday - now you can attend the Priesthood Session of General Conference with your dad and brother. (Maybe not the most exciting thing to do on your birthday - but you chose to come on this day. ) :)
I also found out a dear friend I met on recipezaar died this morning. She had stage 4 breast cancer that mestatized to her brain. Rest in peace dear Ellie. I will miss you and so will your family and all your internet recipezaar family as well.

Christmas in September...

Russell and I have been gathering tomatoes just as they are starting to change from really light green on up to red. The green ones can ripen on the counter - and do in just a few days. Well this afternoon we went out to gather some tomatoes as we had a light frost this morning and didn't want to lose what was growing. I ended up with two huge bowls - making it 4 total with what I already had in the house.
We also picked the remainder of the zucchini so we wouldn't lose that either. There is red and green all over my kitchen! It's looking very festive. :) I love this time of year.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. First it started out as sneezing. Then a runaway nose. Allergies right? I wish. Allergies don't have fevers associated with them to my knowledge. Or achy bodies. It's been a week now.
I was being nice and let Russell go to the doctor on Thursday since he had the same symptoms I do - plus an sinus infection. The diagnosis? A super nasty virus they can't do anything for.
Glad I didn't bother going in.
I am finding out Theriflu tastes horrible but works somewhat. I am hoping to feel better soon. I would like to go to church tomorrow. We are working on our Primary program and I play the piano.

Then as I was chatting with my sister online - the funniest thought came into my head. What if this is ALL in my head and not a virus at all! What if I am having massive hot flashes! That gave me a really good laugh. I've had hot flashes before that have felt feverish but not the achy body. So...
I guess it's back to I really am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

A really neat letter from a favorite author.

Last year in 5th Grade - Christopher's class wrote to different people in the hopes they would receive a reply. Chris chose to write to Cressida Cowell - author of "How to Train Your Dragon" - one of his favorite reads. This was many months ago. Either early this week or late last week he received the following letter. Needless to say - it really made his day!

Cressida Cowell even drew a dragon just for Chris! How cool is THAT?

Cub Scout outing to the Kilchis River Park

This past Friday we took our small pack of boys to the Kilchis River Park. The theme this month is all about pockets and the collection of things boys invariably have in their pockets at all times. We were on the search for smallish rocks so the boys could make a little rock person if they wanted.
All the Wolves and lone Bear needed some swing time before heading out.

Michael emptied his water bottle and used it as an underwater magnifying glass. It worked he said.

We are missing a boy. He and his mom ran up to use the restroom. The boys sure had a fun time though.

The great rock search begins!

This picture I took has nothing to do with the boys. I really liked the little stream with the orange leaves floating down. It's now the background on my computer. I find it a very relaxing picture to look at.

Got Beaver?

We have a new resident on our premises. Russell was out cutting flowers for me and saw a bunch of bushes missing. He was a bit perplexed until he looked closer.

This is the entrance to and from the river where said beaver makes his nightly forages on our plant life.

He/She ATE/TOOK this huge azalea bush. Apparently Russell was wanting to get rid of it anyway. Looks like he had a helper. Some of my favorite flowers have been smooshed to the ground as this said beaver parks/moves his/her cumbersome body around. :(

Well - guess we don't need to hire a landscaper anytime soon! lol Leave it to Mother Nature. She fixes everything sooner or later.

Happy Birthday Nephi!

On this evening 7 years ago - Nephi joined our family! He was on his own agenda and came 5 weeks early. Weighing in at 4 lbs 14 oz didn't stop him from becoming the happy go lucky boy he is today!

And all he wants for his birthday is his two front teeth! (Not really. ) Nephi - we are so happy you are part of our family! You liven things up and keep us entertained. We hope you have a good year ahead of you and that you can be a good example to your friends in school. In another year you can be baptized. This is an exciting time for you!

Garden Gold

In my kitchen pumpkins and carrots are garden gold. I just love this time of year. The harvesting and processing of our garden produce. I find it very fulfilling. I think I was born to be a farmer deep down inside.

These past two weeks have been extremely chaotic (to put it mildly) in my kitchen. I felt like a three ring circus juggling ripening fruit, kids lunches for school and getting dinner on the table at the end of day. I felt overwhelmed at times but plowed through anyway. I've kept a few late nights (much later than I would like - not a night owl). In the end I am grateful for the sacrifices made on everyone's parts as we helped each other in our yearly quest to expand our food storage.