It's Spring!

This posting is for those of you that asked to see pictures of the deck and pergola we had built last summer. Although, pictures of the kids still snuck in though! I noticed I didn't put in specific amounts for the homemade kettle korn recipe in my last post, it is now remedied. So if you want to try it, you now know how much of each ingredient to use. Sorry about that!

The last two weeks have again been very busy. Alyssa had a 1st grade music program and Harry was able to record it with Lauren crawling all over him (I couldn't go). I will have to figure out how to post video clips so I can share a little of it. Alyssa did very well considering she missed three days of school that week due to sickness. It is making the rounds now and Lauren and Harry have it, I hope it stops there.

We have been enjoying the typical spring weather of our area. Sunny one minute, then raining, then cloudy, then hailing and sunny.... We had a pretty evening last night, with the sun making one last break through the clouds and reflecting against the houses behind us.

This last week I have been doing some container gardening to add some color to our deck. We pulled out all the furniture a few weeks ago when we had some great weather. My mother's day request was a hanging basket and flowers for the yard. I have the deck done, but there are a couple projects to finish in the yard before I put the flower beds in around the front porch.

This fire pit is enjoyed year around. In the fall, there is nothing like a brisk night, warm fire and hot mugs of apple cider to sip. In the summer, it's all about smores and board games out on the deck.

I have two everbearing strawberry pots this year! Last year, with the one, we hardly ever saw the berries as Lauren would eat them off the vine as they ripened. Maybe this year, the rest of us will get to enjoy them too :)

One of three grape plants that we put in to eventually cover the pergola and give us some beautiful and fragrant shade. We hope they take off this summer and start giving us that shade, as this side of the house gets very warm in the summer.

The side of the house. The picture is at the top of the page, for some reason I can't move it. Between the grapes, I put in some wildflower seeds that Alyssa's teacher gave me. Hopefully, we will have lots of color there that we can enjoy from the seating area. I also planted further up along the house a bunch of veggies: yellow squash, cucumber, zucchini, pepper plants, tomatoes, and herbs from last year, chives, rosemary, thyme, and mint.

In the evenings, we love to unwind out here, listening to the crickets, coyotes, watching a full moon rise over the mountain, or being amazed by all the stars. Harry purchased a telescope last year, so maybe we can finally learn some of the star patterns and names. Last summer, we popped out the screen to the kitchen, and it was our take out window! The kids loved it when they wanted a drink or snack as it was a good height for them, plus they didn't track the outside in.

A picture frame of the nursery behind us. Mount Hood, on a clear day, would be over the pots on the right. Last night, around ten o'clock, there was a tractor hard at work in the nursery, going up and down each row, with its bright lights illuminating his way.

My lounge chair with its little shelf underneath that slides out to hold my book and iced tea :) Can you tell I am ready for summer?! It is supposed to reach the mid-eighties this weekend! The purple wave petunias next to the chair are what I hope to plant in front of our porch. First, we are hoping to put in a railing to give the porch a more private and cozy look to it.

We watched a neighbor and Alyssa's friend for a couple nights while her folks were away. The girls turned the downstairs into a rollerskating rink. Thank goodness no one hurt themselves!

Painting in the backyard. We have a little folding table that this summer will be put out a lot for crafts. Less mess in the house! We had to tape their papers down as it was a little breezy, but they had so much fun!

Alyssa, Lauren and their friend doing circus tricks with the hula hoops. How high can I hold it and still have you jump through it?

Cheeseburger! Hamming it up for the camera.

A little acrobat who has no fear. Lots of bumps, scrapes and bruises, but absolutely no tears! A real sweetheart too!

For an after school snack, we made these deviled egg chicks. The recipe calls for the stuffed green olives and a red pepper nose, but I chose ingredients the kids prefered. There was also 1 teaspoon of curry in the yolk mixture, but I cut it in half and it was still really strong. The recipe made 12, but after cutting three, I made the final 9 in the normal and easier way, in half.

With a sick child and husband all weekend we stayed pretty quiet. By Sunday afternoon, cabin fever began settling in, so we decided to go for a little drive up the gorge. We took the old highway and admired (along with everyone else and their mother!) all the waterfalls, lush folliage, and amazing views. We got off at Bonneville Dam and thought it was a good place for a bathroom break and stretch before turning around to go home. We got to the bottom of the off ramp and then CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK!!!! Whatever it was, it was VERY loud. I hollered "turn off the engine!!!" because my overactive imagination was thinking the car is going to blow up or something like that and my kiddies are in the back. I hopped out and a guy in a pickup behind us helped push our car across the road to an area where we were not blocking the road. Harry popped the hood and discovered a bolt that attaches the pulley to the camshaft had completely worked its way out and left the pulley barely hanging on. The noise was the pulley bumping against the two cooling fans. Two belts that loop around the pulley were also off. First thought: were stuck! Second thought: We are at Bonneville Dam, what are we going to do! Third thought: I hope that is not the timing belt, or our car is toast. I sent up a quick prayer for help after collecting my wits, Harry put in a call to triple A for a tow. Now I am wondering, how are the four of us going to fit in the cab of the tow truck with two car seats??? Then an answer to prayer, a wonderful woman named Betty, pulled over in her Suburu, and asked if we needed help. After we explained what had happened, she said "I am a single mom and I was once stranded on the road with my child too. Someone came along and helped me out and I will never forget how grateful I was for their kindness." She offered to take Alyssa, Lauren and I the forty minutes it takes to get home, while Harry waited for the tow truck driver. We were so grateful! On the way back, since we hadn't yet made it to a bathroom, she got off at an area with bathrooms and I hopped out to help Alyssa use it. Lauren freaked out since I was leaving her in a strange car with a strange woman, although I was only a few feet away in plain site. Getting back in, to try to calm Lauren, I squished in the backseat (Foresters are even smaller than the outbacks) between two car seats and held her hand until she fell asleep. Betty just laughed and said she's been there before (mother's are so understanding of each other, aren't they!). When we were almost home, Harry called on my cell phone and said I left my keys in the car! So, wonderful Betty dropped us off and we waited on the porch until after the car was taken to the shop in Boring and the driver dropped Harry off by the house. The good news is, it was an easy fix and apparently rather common. The bad news, the tow truck bill was outrageous since we are only covered up to three miles with Triple A and we had to go 26 miles or so. But, we are so thankful we didn't toast our engine--at least we still have our car :) I am going to be rather paranoid about the bolt now. Probably each drive or trip, we will be checking to see that it is tightly fastened so we have no more calamities! It is amazing looking back at how the Lord watched out for us: the bolt and pulley didn't come out on the freeway, Betty the wonderful nurse was sent along (plus she told us about her auto service shop, which only works on Subies!), Harry didn't have to wait long for a tow, and it wasn't a major problem with the car. Thank you Lord!!

We canceled the week we had planned over a year ago in Couer D'Alene, Idaho for various reasons. Alyssa needs a little extra help with her reading to get her set for 2nd grade, so we enrolled her in a five week summer reading program. We also hope to have her in swimming lessons the beginning of the summer at the local high school. Also, with Harry still looking for work, it didn't seem clear to go ahead with it. So, sorry to those we hoped to visit and do things with on that trip, hopefully we can plan it again. Some good news for Harry, he has gotten his date for the naturalization exam: June 17! He is studying hard to prepare for it!

I am trying to finish up my last classes as I hope to graduate in June with my B.S. in Dental Hygiene. The independent study class has been hard for me to focus on, but with only a few weeks left, I have got to try! I am looking forward to being done with school and not having that extra stress to carry--there is enough of it anyway!

Hope all you mothers out there had a fabulous mother's day!!

"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1