Walden Island - Day 43 to 47

Catching up:

We had a 'work party' up at the lake to get the boat house started. The guys did a lot of work! THANK YOU - Chad, Cousin, Chris & Jason!!! I did some work too, but not much. : )

We brought up stuff to make Kylah & Kallie a little sandbox to play in.

what do you think she's thinking about?? hehehe...I asked Kallie to 'cheese me' and this is the face!

Jamie went up to the lake on Mother's Day weekend to start the boat house. Neil (our neighbor and who we are sharing the boat house with) and Jamie dug the holes and got the pilings in.

how it looked with the pilings in Jamie driving in one of the pilings - they all got to take turns : )

all in

Kylah wanted to go for a walk in the 'forest'. We didn't end up going the way she wanted and then she got poked by a sticker bush so I had to carry her back to the shed. I did get a couple of pictures before tho...

then I took some pictures later...after the ouwie was better

dinner time!

Leah & T playing SkipBo

We did get to get to play a bit on Sunday. Chad, Cousin & Leah went out for a while on the wave runners. Then Chris & Kris went out while Jamie and I went in the boat.

Krissy

Chris

'Bat-dog'

'the garage' was built!

we now have a real bed - and I brought up my new, cute table

There was a Celebration of Life for Lorraine on Sunday. Lorraine has been on the island for years - her daughter KC lives in the yellow house in front of us and they all live on the island full-time. Lorraine was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in February and passed, in her sleep, with her family and on her island, in May. She said that no one was to wear black or show up on the island in funeral clothes - she will be missed by family and friends.

Jamie and I stayed until Monday afternoon, we still had a few things left to finish. Hopefully we'll be headed back up there this coming weekend!

My NEW screen

I did get my screen painted (from antiquing on Mother's Day Weekend) and am loving it...

The green is probably more like the shade in the photo above. I painted chalkboard paint on two sides.And if you can't remember...it was this ugly orange shade before. I did like the aqua (a little) but just couldn't keep it. I painted the boarders white, but did leave the hinges the aqua.

Grab a tissue

One of the blogs that I follow is Mark Horoszowski's Blog - A Volunteer's Guide to Changing the World. You have to read his post yesterday (click above). It's a wonderful story of a Father & Son - Team Hoyt.

Oh yah...grab a tissue!

Momma's Yard

I love walkng around in my Mom's yard...there are so many cute things to find!

Simplicity Part 2

My sister was laughing at me this weekend about my previous Simplicity post. She was laughing at me even more when I found these great items while shopping over the weekend!

1. The white table was too cute to pass up! It has wheels, a small drawer, and two leaves. I'm thinking it will be a nice addition at The Shed.
2. The highchair is actually my birthday present from my sister. So cute & loved! It's going to look even better upstairs in my hallway!
3. The shutter I found at the dump - it's in great condition and only $2! I'm going to use it to hang pictures on. When I first saw it, I thought it would look great by my desk - now I'm thinking it'll look great in our living room. Who knows... :)
4. The screen...well it's a horrible color but I have a vision! A fresh coat of paint and it will look great in the front room, by my treadmill! As soon as we move the futon out of the room (I can't wait!) and get a comfy new chair in there, it will be like a little reading room off of my office.
5. There were a few little things that didn't make it in the picture, either because they were too small to see or because I haven't finished creating them. More to come...

Mothers Day Weekend

Makena still wasn't feeling well on Friday, so we were hoping to head to Garibaldi early. Somehow...it never ends up that way...I had to mow, pack, work and do some shopping. We arrived early evening; T & Chad had gotten there on Thursday and Gram was over for a visit. We decided to start celebrating Mother's Day right away!

My sister started it (as usual) by breaking out gifts. She had gotten this beautiful necklace made - one for me, one for her and one for Mom - it has our initials on it. So sweet and something I will cherish.

you can tell this is my neck by all the freckles : )Then Momma got out our birthday presents to open up early too!

love her! Woodstock record (also the first record Mom owned) cute new apron

Gram's turn for some Mother's Day gifts
Momma's turn - I had a photo scrapbook made of her and Rudy

love this!

On Saturday, Chad and Rudy went golfing while Mom, T and I went shopping! There was a new antique shop in town that Momma wanted to show us and I wanted to make my usual trip to Wheeler Station Antiques. T & I found some great stuff!! (More on that in another post.)

Jamie surprised us by showing up at Wheeler Station - he had been at the lake since early Friday morning. We're getting a boat house folks! (More on that later too.)

lots going on in Momma's little house - can you guess where I was sitting?

T & I decided to go to CartM's (the dump/recycling center in Nehalem) on Sunday. More GREAT finds! Jamie, Chad and Rudy went golfing again, while Makena and Mom hung out at home. T & Chad usually leave early on Sundays, so it was nice to spend the extra time with my sister.

After golf, Jamie wanted to help with a few things around the house. Momma had found something that she wanted mounted on the house - Jamie said "No problem", Rudy said "No way" - and so it began...

Momma loves it!

We headed home a short time later. Makena and I stoped at a waterfall to take more pictures (again, another post) and arrived home around 6:30pm. Jamie made 'dinfast' (breakfast for dinner) and we tried to get to bed early. What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!!

My sister also has a bunch of pictures that am patiently (anxiously) waiting to see.

I've noticed lately that the pictures I load from my laptop are much darker when I view them on my computer. And...Blogger is killing me again with the editing!! I double space and it doesn't show up that way...I center and it left indents. Oh...nothing is ever easy anymore!

How I've been by Kena(:

Yeah. I don't update much..So here's what I've been up to[:

Still going to school (most of the time.) and my teachers are all still evil. Even if Mom doesn't believe it (trust me, they put up an act around the parents!) I'm getting average grades...Mostly B's but I got a C in science (I missed three days!) And, shocker, I got an A in PE!

Right now we're doing track and field in gym. Which, combines my two least favorite things: running and sweating ]:

iTunes helped me find some really cool music to listen to (if you didn't know, it recommends songs based on what you buy. It's actually pretty good.) I've been listening to the same song for about an hour now...What can I say? It's a really cute song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI0-Q4Ub21w

if you wanna take a looksie, it's there ^^^ The band (even though it's mostly one guy.) is called Nevershoutnever if you like it C: I sure do

Hmm...I've mostly done nothing. I'm trying to get $16 from my mom so I can buy a Nickasaur! (another good one man band) shirt. If you want, you can try and get her to buy it... Only if you really want ;)

Toodles(:
Makena

Pampered Chef

Don't you want to be pampered?? Oh...me too! Especially in the kitchen! I'm not a great chef, by any means, but enjoy cooking and making new foods. If only I could get my family to try the new foods!

I'm going to a Pampered Chef party on Wednesday, May 27th at 6pm! The BEST part; up to 15% of the totals sales will go to the Relay For Life of Beaverton! The host, my friend, Kathy Cina is doing this great FUNdraiser for her team Wee Bees for a Cure!

If you have Pampered Chef items that you've been wanting, what a great time to get them! Let me know if you'd like to come to the party or if you'd just like to place an order. I already have my list of goodies started...can't wait!

Simplicity

My sister gave me this cute little sign a while back. I can't remember if she gave it to me as a birthday gift, or just because, but she knew that I'd love it!

I love any form or phrase of the word "Simple" - Live Simply. Simplify. Simplicity. Live Life Simply. Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be. Simple Pleasures.

I do try to 'Live Life Simply' so that I can be sure to enjoy as much of it as I can. I started looking around my house a while ago and felt a need to get back to 'Simplicity'. We have so much stuff and I was starting to feel suffocated. It's not just the stacks of DVD's that we never watch or the Wii pieces all over the living room, but papers stacked on the kitchen table (Jamie), knick-knacks and just "stuff".

On a recent Costco trip Jamie came home with a new flat screen tv. (I know...you are all very surprised about this.) I was not happy with him (something he's used to) but it ended up being a good thing. We've always had a big screen, but with standing speakers and all of the reciever boxes it was taking up half of our living room. We had a tall shelf for the receiver boxes, but it also held knick-knacks, picture frames, plants, candles and a ton of dust. We cleared it all out, hung our new tv on the wall and bought a new, small console table. All of our gadgets fit in the new console table, and I have space to put a few things on top of it. Right now tho, I only have one small pig on top as I don't want to add all the clutter back. I figure the longer I stare at it, I'll figure out what else needs to be there.

Because Makena hasn't been feeling well, I started disinfecting all of the remotes, door handles, etc. Then I just decided to clean the house...cuz that's how my mind thinks. I started gathering things from other rooms that I just don't think I have to keep anymore...back to Simplicity. Knick-knacks, plants, picture frames and all of those papers on the kitchen table. There are knick-knacks that I love and can't part with, but others that can go. There are plants that I've had for years, but just don't need. There are pictures frames that hold wonderful memories, but I'm thinking a new digital frame may look great on my new console table. (See how I work that!?!) And, all of those papers on the kitchen table can go back to Jamie's office.

Jamie tells me that he really is moving his office this month, so that will give me my spare room back to Simplify. We'll see how it all goes...

Good Things #13

Little Feet (click on the logo for more information)

Steffan Tubbs, a reporter for 850 KOA Denver, received this request from several soldiers while on assignment in Iraq. He forwarded the request to his college friend Trevor Slavick, a pilot for American Airlines, who had a history of giving away balls while on layovers to Central and South America. After comparing stories, the two realized something so simple, a soccer ball, could change a child's life. Little Feet was started in March of 2006 with one Big Goal in mind; send soccer balls to underprivileged children all over the world!

A Soccer ball won't stop a war, and it won't fill a belly, but it might help heal a soul, and let children be children-at least for a little while.

Pajama Program (click on the logo for more information)

The Pajama Program provides donated new warm pajamas and comforting books to children who desperately need them. The Program works with various agencies to prove the PJ’s to children in need and children waiting to be placed in permanent homes.
The Pajama Program has also extended its aid to needy children in Armenia, Bosnia, Brazil, Columbia, Greece, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Ukraine.

“We intend to make a difference - giving back is what it’s all about.” -Genevieve Piturro

Irritating

Things I found irritating yesterday...

1. Annoying people
2. Stupid people
3. Arrogant people
4. Lying people
5. Mean people

Yep...yesterday was just 'one of those days'!

How Healthy Are You?

From Chris Freytag - Health Guru

Every once in awhile it's a good idea to take stock of your habits and routines. Are you doing everything you can to feel good and stay healthy? Here is a fun quiz to get you thinking about some of your habits, as well as some lifestyle changes you might consider…HOW HEALTHY ARE YOU?

Give yourself one point for each question you answer "yes" to:
1. Do you do cardio workouts at least four times a week?
2. Do you strength train two to three times a week?
3. Are you a nonsmoker?
4. Do you wear sunscreen daily?
5. Do you get at least seven hours of sleep per night?
6. Do you take a multivitamin every day?
7. Do you eat fresh or frozen fruits and veggies each day?
8. Do you each fish or chicken each week?
9. Do you take a few minutes to meditate each day?
10. Do you drink no more that two to three cups of coffee each day?
11. Do you wear proper footwear and clothing so that you are safe andcomfortable while you are exercising?
12. Do you own (and use regularly) any resistance bands or a stability ball?

Scoring:
0-4 "Yes" Answers: You should probably lie down to recover from taking this quiz. Your lifestyle needs some attending to!
5-6 "Yes" Answers: Get a personal trainer pronto and put your doctor on speed dial-you have potential!
7-9 "Yes" Answers: You're pretty typical-but are you willing to settle for that?
10-11 "Yes" Answers: Very Good! Now about those "No" answers...you don't have far to go!
12 "Yes" Answers: You are a shining example of great health!

Well...my score totally depends on the week. : (

Great Friends. Yummy Food. Bad Fight. Cute Kids.

Great Friends: we spent Saturday evening at Dawn & John's house with some great friends! Jamie was nice enough to give his money away during poker. : )

Yummy Food: all kinds of yummy food there to eat!

Bad Fight: Hatton knocked out in the 2nd round!?! Nothing more to say...

Cute Kids: TeaLee, Kylah, Ivie, Logan & Kallie! TeaLee will usually pose for me, but was busy playing. Kylah will always give me a smile. Kallie & Ivie are usually hard to catch, but I was lucky. Logan was too fast for me to get any good pictures of...still learning about action shots!

a picture I will blow up and save for Ivie's first date!

Why I smiled

On Friday, Jamie went to help Jason pick up a play structure that Dylona & Jason had gotten for the girls. After doing my 'chores', I went over to the house to visit and pick up Jamie. Kallie was napping while Kylah was catching an orange flying saucer that Jamie was shooting out of a toy. (Great explanation I know...there is a picture below.) Then Kylah woke up Kallie to come and play too.

All great reasons to smile!

When the sun comes out

You see some interesting (or strange) things when the sun comes out...

1. Short-shorts on women who shouldn't wear them
2. No shirts on men that should proudly show their stuff
3. No shirts on men that shouldn't
4. Purple spandex - on a man running - hmmm
5. People in jeans & sweatshirts - did they not notice the SUNshine?!?
6. Pasty-white legs - they could be mine tho too
7. Cute (quiet) kids playing outside with water guns
8. Flowers growing where you didn't think you planted any
9. People on bicycles in weighted backpacks - WHY would you want to make yourself heavier, hello???
10. Me...mowing my yard, then my neighbors yard and then the rental house yard - cuz that's the type of person I am