Monday, March 30, 2009

Bovine baths and kine kisses...

It's that time of year again! The farm near us has exploded with about 20 little baby calves. They just happened to be in the pasture next to our driveway today. Awwwwwwwww...

Bovine bathtime. How would you like to wash your baby with your tongue?
At least kisses are somewhat normal. I really enjoy watching the new moms with their babies. Some take to it easier than others. I wonder if the babies wake their mommy cows up in the middle of the night for feedings...
At least there aren't any dirty diapers to change....
Or night time burpings to be done....

Remember the pay it forward entry?

The first three people were Ellie, Becky and Sticky. Ellie - I have your pay it forward ready to come to you today! Hopefully you will like it and find it useful with the blustery spring we are having. Hugs!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'United States of America' ....

My friend Michelle sent this to me in an email. I loved it so much I am putting it here. Thanks to all the military who so willingly go and defend the freedoms we hold so dear. Thank you Russell for having done this for 15 years. You are a veteran and I hope the boys will someday understand why it was such an important part of your life.

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I willget a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan .'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.

'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to the base.'His friend agreed.I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked,'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?''Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.'This is your thanks.'After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me.'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane.When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand. 'Quickly unfastening my seat belt, I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.When we landed, I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you sometime to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich.. God Bless You.

'Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ' United States ofAmerica ' for an amount of 'up to and including mylife.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

Friday, March 27, 2009

Crabbing with Grandpa Dysart

Today we got to go crabbing with Grandpa Dysart and Raphael. I was just a bystander as I don't have a crabbing license. The boys could help because they don't need one.

At the dock in Garibaldi. Michael and Nephi just got their life jackets on and are super excited to go in the boat!
Raphael getting his rain gear on. We were glad to have it today. We had lots and lots and lots of misty/rainy/foggy weather today. But then again....we are on the Oregon coast!

Grandpa getting on his gear.

Getting situated in Grandpa's boat amidst all the crab pots. Two boys are super duper excited!

Grandpa. Our boat driver.

Me. We are leaving the dock and heading out.

Rapheal getting a crab pot ready. He had 9 to take care of.

Grandpa and Raphael getting a crab pot ready to go over. The rope wound up in there is 60 feet long or so. The bay usually isn't deeper than 50 feet so this gives plenty of rope for the buoys to float on the water.

The water was a bit choppy. Not super bad though. We had the tide coming in while we were out. Then the tide turned to go out and when either happens - it creates a channel of sorts and you can see the currents hard at work.

Bringing in crab pot. Not an easy task. Sometimes the rope goes under the boat. Sometimes the rope gets near the motor. Sometimes the rope gets tangled with someone else's rope if they put their pots too close.
The floats for one of the crab pots. Grandpa has 2 usually. They have his name and phone number so if he can't find a crab pot hopefully some honest soul will call and let him know they have his stuff.
By the time this picture was taken we were starting to get cold. Nephi was a real trooper. My hands quit working after a while. Couldn't bend my fingers much less move them at all. Michael thought this was the greatest thing on earth!

And we are off to check the pots! Look at us fly!

Michael helping Raphael pull in a crab pot.

Nephi helping pull in a crab pot. Overall we saw lots and lots of baby ones and female ones. We were only able to keep about 8-9. Sometimes Grandpa comes back with 20-30 crab. This spring break trip isn't one of those times. :(

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Spring Break

We went out of town Sunday after church since Russell didn't have any Bishop interviews. He found out he didn't have any - and asked his secretary to not schedule any. Yippee! The first Sunday in over 1 1/2 years of no after church appointments! We headed to Grandpa and Grandma Zaugg's house for a fun couple of days.

Donovan, Christopher, Michael and Nephi vegging in the family room.
Cleaning up Grandma's toys before coming home! Nephi, Michael, Christopher and Donovan. Growing like weeds as usual.

Packing the van for the trip home. I made a WinCo run while I was near one so we had all those groceries to fit in the car as well. A very productive spring break so far!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Project number one is done!

Several months back I had finished this quilt top. That's all I did. I folded it up and put it with my UFO's. (UnFinished Objects.) Well I decided to follow my sister-in-law Andrea and put myself on probation. Thanks for the inspiration Andrea!

This particular quilt I made to take camping. Hence the denim. I must add - it is VERY heavy.
I used red calicoes and navy blue for the back. I love, love, love reds and denim colors together. Now that this quilt is officially done -can we go camping this summer Russell?
Hint, hint. (wink)

Soundtrack to life...

I was tagged by two people on my facebook account to do this. I got such a kick out of it I am putting it here. The music shuffle I used is from my blog. Go ahead. Do one for you. You know you want to! :)

Soundtrack To LifeIF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

opening credits:
Somewhere (Charlotte Church)

waking up:
Disney Songs - Mulan's Reflection (Disney Songs)

first day at school:
The Star Spangled Banner (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

childhood:
I Write the Songs (Barry Manilow)

falling in love:
That's How You Know (Amy Adams)

fight song:
Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da (Disney)

breaking up:
Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary)

prom:
This One's For You (Barry Manilow)

life:
For Unto Us a Child is Born (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

high school:
Oh Holy Night (Charlotte Church)

college:
What Kind of Man Would I Be? (Chicago)

Mental Breakdown:
Perhaps Love (John Denver)

Driving:
You Raise Me Up (Josh Grobin)

Flashback:
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)

Getting Back Together:
The Power of Love (Hughey Lewis and The News)

Wedding:
I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow (The Soggy Bottom Boys)

Birth of Child:
Disney Medley (Alan Tripp)

Final Battle:
Country Home (John Denver)

Death Scene:
Believe (Josh Grobin)

Funeral Song:
Easter Parade (Judy Garland)

End Credits:
Love Me Tender (Norah Jones and Adam Levi)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

It has arrived...

Spring break that is. Russell's school district started Tuesday after school/work and ours started yesterday after school/work. None of us go back until the 30th.

So...I get to listen to boys not getting along at times, the computers going, the Wii going and other odd sounds going on.

I hope it goes fast!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Three twins...

Three twin quilts are now complete. A family in our ward needed bedding for the children. I told the Relief Society President that I had material from my mother-in-law just for this purpose. So I looked through all the material so I could get inspired as to colors for each child. There were 2 girls and 1 boy.

I made this one for the boy. The top is a panel so don't think I did ALL that. I just pieced together the sides and binding and tied it.

This is for the oldest girl. The top. Once again panels. I just added the black border.

The back. This was a fun one - picking out colors from the top to create a whole new look!

This is for the other girl. I had fun with this one. I went with calicoes since they are my favorite material. I hope she likes them too.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My sister...my nephew...

Today is St. Patrick's Day. It is also my nephew's 3rd birthday! My sister is a cake decorator. She MADE all by herself this totally awesome cake for Benji for his birthday today! You rock Becky!

Can I have a Lightening McQueen car to for my birthday?

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Transplanting my little seedlings...

Let me start off by saying I downloaded the pictures in order. Apparently downloading has a mind of it's own because this is the order I got for sharing.

Let me clarify - this is the end result so scroll down for the beginning. I set these out in my toy room and will only add water to the trays. I will keep doing this until the plants need to be transplanted again - which might happen depending on the weather. Eventually they will make it outdoors. Just not in the month of March. I have zinnias, marigolds, tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers here. I am so excited!

I add the seedlings. The ones on the right have had potting soil added. The ones on the left will have potting soil added.

I fill the yogurt cups about 1/3 way full with potting soil.

I have here my little seedlings I started back in February. They needed to be transplanted desperately. I save my little yogurt containers and poke 4 holes in the bottoms so they can soak up water from the trays they will be sitting in.

Pinewood Derby 2009

Various pictures from this year's Pinewood Derby!

A couple awesome Boy Scouts and a den leader helping the cars get off to a great start.

The crowd watching the cars race.

Lots of people came!

Vroom! Vroom! The race is on!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Just in case you need to check your parental progress...

Are you Prepared for Parenting?

Lesson 1 Go to the grocery store. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home. Pick up the paper. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2 Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their... Methods of discipline. Lack of patience. Appallingly low tolerance levels. Allowing their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's: breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3 A really good way to discover how the nights might feel... Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner) At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM. Set the alarm for 3AM. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial. Go to bed at 2:45AM. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive) Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4 Can you stand the mess children make? To find out... Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer. Stick your fingers in the flower bed. Then rub them on the clean walls. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5 Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6 Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7 Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8 Hollow out a melon. Make a small hole in the side. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air. You are now ready to feed a nine-month-old baby.

The "I's" have it or the "Aye's" have it or the "Eyes" have it...

I had my nerve-racking trip to the dr. this morning for half of the glaucoma testing. Whoever said "It's painless" , "It's nothing to worry about" , "Everything will be fine" doesn't know what they are talking about.

The first part was fine pushing this little button everytime I saw a little blurp. The second part was even fine when the dr. scanned my cornea.

The next part was not fine. He put numbing drops in my eyes. Not cool. I don't even use eye drops. I don't like putting stuff in my eyes at all. Ever. Then he was going to put this mirror thingy IN my iris to look around. NO SIRREE! I wouldn't let him. It's a good thing patients have rights. He did the next best thing. He just LOOKED without the little mirror thingy. Just used his eye dr. equipment.

I have to go back. So he can dialate my eyes and do a laser scan. Russell can come with me so I can go home.

I don't like these mind games. At least for me they are. Wouldn't it just be better to quietly go about my business and then one day wake up and not be able to see? Then I wouldn't have had to go through the traumatic experience of weird lights being shined into my eyes and strange potions being forced into my eyes so they can go numb or be dialated.

One of my least favorite things in the whole wide world. Next to needles and spiders. And heights.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

A lazy kind of day...

I am not feeling very motivated today. It's 1 p.m. and I am still in my pajamas.
I did work on a quilt a little this morning and make cookies. I am also making bread.

Yet - I still feel unmotivated.
I need to bring in more firewood. My chore this week. Yet I don't feel like it.

I know I am super worried about my eye doctor appointment on Friday. I have to get some kind of glaucoma test besides the air they puff into your eyes.

I like my eyes. And I don't like people messing with them. And I don't like not knowing what to expect. I hope all is right with my sight but still worry just the same. My air puff readings for a glaucoma test have been high for the past two years so I really do need to get them checked.

I don't want to. Anyone want to take my place?

Anyone?

Please?

Leprechaun traps...

Michael's second grade class makes Leprechaun traps every year. He has a teacher that likes the kids doing hands on - using their imaginations. The kids design the traps - have mom or dad help them assemble the traps, they decorate it and then present it to the class. Explaining what the leprechaun is supposed to do and how the traps work. This is what Michael came up with - with help from Russell.


You can't see inside very well but there is a pile of gold colored rocks with yarn tied around one of them. The leprechaun tries to "steal" that rock and springs the trap and then Michael has caught a leprechaun!

Michael used all the old sparkly bracelets I had to decorate the outside. I must say.....he is a very creative child. Not that I'm biased or anything like that.
Now - you go make your own leprechaun trap and see if you get lucky!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Recipe requests...

Please click here http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/italian-style-bean-soup-mix.html for the recipes you are wanting - Sticky - and anyone else is welcome too! :)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Pictures from our FOS dinner last night

Working on this Italian Dinner kept me busy for a few days. I really think that maybe I was a caterer/baker/famous chef or something in another life! I love baking/cooking for mass amounts of people. I like the satisfaction of watching them eat and enjoy their food. It means a lot.

24 loaves of french bread I made for the dinner.
Our wonderful church gym all decorated with an Italian flair.

I also made some super yummy forever tasty Italian Style Bean Soup. I added some of my own additions and everyone that ate it LOVED it! I had actually tagged it for the Aussie/New Zealand swap I am part of and knew we had this dinner coming up. So quadrupled the recipe and now there are mass reviews! I will post the recipe on my Dinner Blog.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

FOS Dinner

We just had the most amazing Friends of Scouting (FOS) Dinner tonight. There were a lot of people and everyone had a great time! I will post what pics I have tomorrow. I am tired.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Do you feel ARCHAIC?

I do. This morning at breakfast Christopher wanted to know what it was like for me in fifth grade. I told him my teacher was Mrs. Giovanni, I lived on an Indian Reservation, there were about 30 kids in my class (maybe less - can't remember - senileness must be setting in) and there was just ONE fifth grade class.
Donovan said something about "And there weren't very many computers." I had to laugh internally about that. There weren't ANY computers I said.
Nephi said the people in the office did. Nope - they didn't.
Nephi: "Well then how did they take care of all their stuff?"
Me: "They used paper and pencil/pen."

I am feeling archaic right now. Fifth grade wasn't really that long ago. Was it?

It makes me stop and wonder what their kids will think about their school experiences. Things at the schools these days are pretty high tech. Can they be any more so?

Do YOUR teeth shiver?

Last night at dinner we were talking about upcoming dental appointments. This is what followed...
Nephi: "I don't like it when they put that water in my mouth. It feels weird."

Michael: "Why? Does it make your teeth shiver?"

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

My new do...

I got my hair permed yesterday. Now it's okay for it to be unruly. I don't even have to do much with it. LOVE it! :)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Our new van...

Our new van spent some R&R at the local repair shop recently. Russell brought it home yesterday. The problem was something simple and didn't cost very much. $120 to be exact! The filter in the transmission had gone bad. Therefore the car wasn't working. We are so thankful it wasn't the actual transmission. That would have been spendy.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Doughnut recipe request...

Here is the recipe link for those of you who asked for the doughnut recipe.
http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/krispy-kreme-copycat-doughnuts.html

Enjoy! :)

Pay It Forward winners!

I officially now have three winners for the Pay It Forward thread. Sometime during the year - not saying when or what I will do - I will be making something for each of the following...

Becky
Elli
Sticky
Thanks for playing! I may do this again soon. :)

Pay It Forward...

A few posts ago - see here for details..
http://myfoursonsandhusband.blogspot.com/2009/02/pay-it-forward.html

There are two winners so far. Becky and Ellie are playing along! There is one slot left for one more person! Any takers?

This last week was crazy. Our van died and I have been getting things gathered together for our cub scout dinner and quilts worked on for a family that needs some.

This next week we have a Little Italy dinner I will be making french bread for and some other things. I am super excited!

My most favorite thing to look forward to this next week though is Tuesday. I FINALLY get my hair permed! I had to reschedule and that was 2 weeks ago! My hair has become unruly and needs some serious help. :)

Van first aid

The van we just bought has an illness. It didn't require an ambulance. But it did need the assistance of a tow truck. It kind of just died. We think it might be the transmission or torque converter. We hope it isn't - but are prepared to pay for the worst. So our van is now in the hospital...er - I mean repair shop. Get better soon little van! We miss you!

American ABC's

We had our annual Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet on Friday the 27th of February. The theme for the month was American ABC's. We decided to have a an All American breakfast! There were pancakes, cereal, eggs, hashbrowns, juice, muffins, fruit and milk. The kids loved it.

The cub scout families enjoying their dinners.
Just after we set up. We went with a patriotic theme for decorations. I found the flags online and they are very good quality. I will be hanging on to them for future use.

Our centerpieces.

All the doughnuts I made for the dinner. We didn't bring any home. They are Krispy Kreme copycats.

I just love this picture! The beach...it's the place to be!

I just love this picture!  The beach...it's the place to be!
I think this was in 2004. It was Nephi's first trip to the beach. The boys were all so little! My have they grown.

Meet the Parents...Russell and Candace

Meet the Parents...Russell and Candace
It all started for us when Russell left for Cape Town South Africa on a mission. Candace felt inspired to write him - so she did! We wrote for 3 1/2 years. Candace came home from her mission to the Texas Houston East Mission and we dated for 5 months. We married in July 1994 and have been happy ever after!

Son 1...Donovan

Son 1...Donovan
Our 14 year old boy scouter, 50 miler bike rider, cartoon drawer, computer gamer, book reader, clarinet player, babysitter, 8th grader boy!

Son 2...Christopher

Son 2...Christopher
Our 13 year old, boy scouter, harry potter computer gamer, lego creator, imaginator, book reader, 6th grader boy!

Son 3...Michael

Son 3...Michael
Our 9 1/2 year old drama king, perfectionist (I wonder if he gets that from mom? lol), drawer of many things, 3rd grader boy!

Son 4...Nephi

Son 4...Nephi
Our8 year old keeper of surprises, leg breaker, book listener, lego creator, music enjoyer, 1st grader boy!