Honoring our American Heros

We honor those today that bravely fought and continue to fight for our country.

Special thoughts for my great-grandfather who served in WWI and my grandfather who served in WWII.

Wishing that all active soldiers have a safe and quick return home.

THANKS TO YOU we continue to live free.

Goodness; made by me, loved by me

A few months ago, I found a new pumpkin muffin recipe to try. Each time I've added different ingredients, and each time I love them even more! Jamie & Makena don't like pumpkin (I know - WHAT?!?) or oats, so these yummy muffins are mine-all-mine. And...I'll eat them all in just a few days so that I can make a new, yummier batch!

Fun is had by all at Ikea

I conned Jamie in to going shopping with me on Saturday by making him breakfast in bed. He'd had a long night of cards, lost money and consumed a lot of alcohol, but I let him sleep late and made everything he likes to eat. He agreed to go. : )

We have been looking for the perfect chair for our front room for years. We had one, but when Moxie was a puppy, she destroyed it. We had left her at home for a while, her ball got stuck under the chair, and she dug and dug and dug until she got to it. Needless to say, we had to throw out the chair. We think we've found one that we both like, but we've done a lot of shopping to find it! And now that I've painted the room, I want the chair!

One of our stops yesterday was Ikea. I can spend hours there...Jamie can not. (Actually, I can only spend hours there during the week when not everyone else in Oregon is there with thier kids.) But, we were out, and I had some things to take back. After Jamie told me he didn't like most of the shelving that I had picked out, we left - only to find two beautiful rainbows! And look, one of them leads directly to Ikea! : )

I sent this picture to my friend Kathy

- she spends way more hours at Ikea than I do!

We did find a new DVD shelf thing that we both liked. We don't have a ton of DVD's, but the Wii games are the same size and had taken over. I took a picture of the instruction book - look how much fun it is to put together items from Ikea! (By the way - Jamie and I decided to stay dressed - you're welcome.)

Finally...my coffee is cozy. Thanks Kathy!

I received this fabulous gift (picked just for me can you tell?) in the mail the other day. Thanks for thinking of my Kathy!! And, thanks for putting an end to that secret - it was killing me! : )

Kathy made these Coffee Cozies for a Cure for a FUNdraiser. Not only will your coffee be cozy, 100% of the sales goes to the Relay For Life of Beaverton. She is selling them for $3.00 each or two for $5.00. Kathy will also be at HOPE for the Holidays Expo - a Relay Holiday Bazaar on Nov. 15th Red Lion @Jantzen Beach hotel. (I'll be there for a bit too, only I'll just be shopping!) Contact Kathy at kathycina@gmail.com to order your very own.

It smells like drive-thru in here

So, I got into a little trouble last night. Not trouble like I'm going to have to sleep on the couch all week, but trouble. Well...I may have been in the 'couch' kind of trouble, but Makena was home to save me.

"Hey, did I tell you guys that I volunteered to deliver food to a local food pantry?" I nonchalantly say as I'm getting dinner ready

"Mom!?!" - "Sweetie!?!" Jamie & Makena respond at the same time

"I thought we talked about this?" Jamie says as Makena says "I thought we talked about you not volunteering to do so many things."

hmmm...I don't remember having THAT conversation. I remember Jamie telling me that I couldn't volunteer for The Forgotten Network/DoeNetwork (from the new tv series The Forgotten) to help with unidentified, missing persons. And, I remember Makena telling me that I volunteer for too many things. But, I don't recall any other conversations. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

"Well, it's a volunteer schedule that I can sign up to do as often as I want. It's called Fork it Over and I just pick up extra food from school cafeterias and deliver them to a local food pantry." I continue to tell them...waiting to see if they were as excited as I was about it.

"Yuk" Makena says "Who wants our cafeteria food?" Apparentlly she wasn't excited about it.

"People who don't have food." I remind her "I drop Makena off at school and then drive to the schools on my route. I'm out there anyways. It's not supposed to take more than an hour. I can do it once a week, once a month or whatever."

"Sweetie - this can't cut in to your work. From 9 - 5 you are supposed to be working." Jamie "the boss" says

"I'll have to work late on Wednesday then, cuz I won't be in at 9." I smile (with no return smile from him) Maybe I need to find an assistant?? "Let me just see how this month goes."

So, I did my first pick up/delivery this morning! After getting back in the car from my 3rd stop, I realized that the car smelled like drive-thru. I don't really like fast food, so that's not a good smell to me. Good thing I was in Jamie's car huh? (He didn't find that funny when I told him about the smell tho.)

I found the food pantry; mostly because there were several people with small children just standing around a building. Some had boxes, others had carts or baskets. I rolled up in the Benz, ready to full-fill my volunteer duties. (Actually, I was ready to just give all of those hungry people the food I had as well as the coat I was wearing.) A nice man came out with a push-cart to unload what I had brought.

"I can get it." I say as I reach in to grab a box.

"Oh, it's okay." he says "You don't have to touch it."

Here is where I will refer again to 'the Benz'. It seems that I always end up driving Jamie's car when I need to deliver food, blankets, clothes, etc to shelters - which just makes me feel bad. He constantly reminds me that I shouldn't feel bad for things that we have - things that we've worked for. I don't...but I do. The car is 10 years old and well loved, but it's still a Mercedes. For some reason I don't always feel that way when I drive my truck (a Toyota Tundra - new and more loved by me). I'm just assuming that I'm being judged for driving the Benz and I'm not sure why that bothers me. I know I am judged for things, but those things I don't care about. Okay...off topic now...back to Fork it Over...

"I can help." I tell the nice man and grab a box.

"Thank you so much for your help." he says as he begins to return to the food pantry "We really appreciate it."

That's all that I needed to hear - I'm now over the Benz thing! Wheww...glad he brought me back down to Earth.

If you are interested in volunteering with Fork it Over, or know someone who would be, let me know. You get to do a good thing and have your car smell like drive-thru!

Is your light bulb (upstairs) on?

Energy Trust of Oregon wants people to know many new specialty CFL bulbs are just right for those odd fixtures. And until Dec. 31, the bulbs are being discounted at retailers throughout Oregon.

"Most homeowners are surprised to learn that many homes today are wasting more than half of the energy they use, Kendall Youngblood, residential sector manager for Energy Trust, said in a statement. "With lighting accounting for 20 percent of a home's electric costs, switching to CFLs can make a significant and immediate difference." For every 60-watt incandescent bulb you replace with a CFL, you can save $30 in electric costs over the life of the bulb. And no coupon is needed for the new bulbs.

Energy Trust worked with participating retailers statewide, and the savings are reflected in the shelf price. Those retailers include Albertsons; Bed, Bath & Beyond; C&K Market; Fred Meyer; Grover Electric and Plumbing Supply; Haggen; Harvest Foods; Lowe's; Perry's Electric & Plumbing Supply; Platt Electric Supply; Roth's Fresh Markets; Searing Electric & Plumbing; Home Depot; and Walmart.

To learn more about CFLs, including information on recycling and proper disposal, visit www.energytrust.org.

Save me a Twix!

Jamie wanted us to dress up for Halloween this year. I was thinking "no", but it worked out that I was dressing up a bit for the Relay Kick-off anyways. Jamie tends to wait til the last minute to do most things, and finding a costume was no different. He decided to rent a costume on Saturday afternoon. And because I was dressed as the Earthy/Sprite, he chose a Robin Hood costume.

The costume came with green tights (actual tights) to wear under the jacket - ummm, not a good look when going out in public! I told Jamie that he couldn't wear it to go trick-or-treating with the girls. He put shorts on over them and it was much more appropriate. Then, as he was finishing getting dressed, he put a big hole in the tights. (Funniest part of my week right then!)

"Crap! Can you fix this?" he asks and shows me the fist size hole
"No." I answered
"What? Why not?"
"What would I fix it with? It's tights."
"Well is it going to keep getting bigger?"
"Yep."
"Then I can't wear them. We need new ones."
"Honey - I don't think we're going to find huge, green tights right now."
We ran up to Fred Meyers and I found black leggings for him in the woman's athletic department.
"These are so much better!" and Robin Hood was ready to go

this is a pre-leggings pix We started our evening at the Flaherty's so we could go trick-or-treating with the kids. Tracie and Ivie weren't feeling well, and needed to recoup at home. Makena was at her dad's for the weekend, and at a Halloween party that night. We missed you guys!!

TeaLee was finishing up her makeup

a red-neck pumpkin

heading back home to eat our treats! The Flahertys

TeaLee's goodies

always fun times after lots of candy!

We hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Hitting the streets of Hillsboro

After trick-or-treating, Jamie and I headed to Hillsboro to meet up with some friends. The first place we went to had a costume contest that Jamie and Mark entered. Mark took 2nd place dressed as a toaster.

Some of the costumes were good, some were not so good and others, well...I'm not sure if they were costumes or not. Downtown Hillsboro isn't known for it's 'upper class' bars, and these included the two places we went. (Places that I don't plan to visit again any time soon!) I told Jamie that I could see the H1N1 virus floating around and that I was wishing for a bathtub of Purell to dive in to. Neither of us had a fever today, so far so good!

One place that I do want to mention in downtown Hillsboro is the Venetian. (It, of course, closed early on Halloween night.) The Venetian used to be a theater and was beautifully remodeled to add a restaurant and lounge, while keeping the auditorium for live theater and movies. The food is wonderful and reasonably priced. And the atmosphere makes you want to sit and enjoy a glass (or two) of wine or beer even after dinner. I don't think the H1N1 likes it there as it does a few other places downtown, so don't be afraid to visit.

Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo

The 2010 Relay For Life of Hillsboro kick-off was on Saturday afternoon. I was busy helping people register their teams, and ended up missing the entire presentation. I know a lot of great information was given out, as well as yummy Halloween treats.

We were hoping for a better turn out, but were able to register 40+ teams for the 2010 Relay. Are you interested in joining my team (Tami's CUREageous Sprites) or starting one of your own?? If so, let me know! Go to Relay For Life of Hillsboro for more information. The theme for this year's Event is 'A Fairytale Fairwell to Cancer'. We'd love to have you join us in the fight against cancer!

To go along with the fairytale theme, all of the Relay Committee wore wings. And, because our kick-off was also on Halloween, a few of us dressed up too. I'm an Earthy, sprite...something or other...

Social-izing

I spent Friday afternoon chaperoning the 7th/8th grade Fall Social. WAY too many kids in the gym at one time - add sugar and music...wow! : ) Makena spent the first 15 minutes trying to hide from me & my camera. I followed her around until she gave in.

Makena, Hailee & Brittany

Pumpkin Night

We had a good time getting our pumpkins ready last night. Makena has never really liked to carve her pumpkin and usually opts to paint or decorate it. Jamie decided that he was going to paint his pumpkin this year too. I, on the other hand, need to carve my pumpkin. I always imagine how hard my mom tried to not let us (or the house) get messy. That makes carving the pumpkin even more fun! : ) I did decided to do a traditional jack-o-lantern face this year though.

a couple of pictures courtesy of Makena Makena named her pumpkin Sir Quasi
(short for Quasimodo) Jamie said his pumkin looked like a Herman pumpkin guts! yum - baked pumpkin seeds
I decided on sweet seeds this year - sugar, cinnamon & allspice

Did you know?

I know we have all been using hand sanitizer a lot lately. I always have one on my key chain, one in my purse, one in my camera bag, one in my truck, one in each bathroom (only for after blowing your nose), one in the laundry room and one in the kitchen. (Think that's too much? Nahhh!) I am constantly washing my hands, but I love always having sanitizer with me. Did you know this about sanitizer??

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers should contain at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective in killing germs, so make sure you read the label. While you're perusing the ingredients, also take note of inactive ingredients. Avoid alcohol-based hand sanitizers that include "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients list. These are chemical fragrance compounds that could contain phthalates, and research has linked them to reproductive problems. Alcohol-based Purell hand sanitizers, for example—arguably the most popular brand out there—are effective at killing germs but contain questionable preservatives and other ingredients like fragrance, and even PEG, which is often contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, a suspected carcinogen. Also, always avoid any hand sanitizers or soaps containing triclosan: They don't kill off all the germs on your hands, and can contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database ranks EO Hand Sanitizers and Wipes, found online or at Whole Foods, as among the safest. The products contain organic alcohol and a plant-based germ-killer; however, they are a bit pricey at nearly $10 for 8 ounces. (This is my VERY favorite hand sanitizer. The best part is, the organic lavender oil that makes it smell wonderful.)

Look for more natural hand sanitizers and sprays that contain witch hazel, alcohol, and naturally antibiotic essential oils, suggests green-living expert Annie B. Bond, of GreenChiCafe.com, author of the new eBook Natural Flu Protection. "Beware of synthetic varieties, and varieties that say 'antimicrobial,'" Bond warns.

And here's one alcohol-free option we like: CleanWell uses a proprietary, plant-based essential oil blend, mainly thyme oil, to kill more than 99 percent of germs without alcohol. You can find Cleanwell All-Natural Hand Sanitizers on Amazon.com, or in Target, Whole Foods, Babies "R" Us, and other stores.

Good Things #16

Halloween Good Things:

Look for these alternatives to the usual synthetic loot:

1. Yummy-gummy goodness: Try Surf Sweets Gummy Worms or Organic Classic Gummi Bears from Surf Sweets or Let’s Do Organic, both made with organic natural sweeteners and without artificial colors and flavors.
2. The new chew: Look for Glee Gum, a natural gum (no synthetic plastics) in cinnamon, peppermint and tangerine flavours, made with sustainably harvested natural chicle from Central American rainforests.
3. A smarter kind of Smarties®: Sun Drops by Sunspire- candy-coated chocolate or peanut bites with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
4. Fruit Lollipops by Pure Fun or Yummy Earth: organic lollipops in both old and new flavours- lemon, green apple, watermelon, goji berry, tangerine, and pomegranate. No synthetic colors; their colorings come from red beet, red cabbage, annatto extract, turmeric extract, purple carrots, and alfalfa extract!
5. Fair trade eco-chocolate: Try organic dark/milk/white chocolate squares from Green & Black’s, organic and fair trade dark chocolate bites from Equal Exchange, or ethically-traded milk-chocolate squares by Endangered Species.
6. Crystal Cuts: Colorful old-fashioned hard candies from Hammond’s in Grape, Orange, Lemon, and Cherry.
7. Maple hard candies: Leaf-shaped candies flavored and colored with real maple syrup.
8. Spicy Cinnamon Candy by Pure Fun: This certified organic, vegan, gluten-free, kosher candy actually contains red cabbage to get its color!
9. Organic dark-chocolate covered raisins by Sunspire: a much healthier version of Raisinettes®.
10. Organic Jelly Beans by Surf Sweets
11. More pep in your step: Honey Mint Patties by Honey Acres are an incredibly pure version of Pep® mint and chocolate patties- their ingredients are only honey, unsweetened chocolate, and peppermint.

The kids in our neighborhood won't be getting Capri-Suns (with recyclable packaging) this year, so I hope they aren't expecting it. (Jamie says they won't be.) We will be handing out All-Natural Fruit Leathers instead of candy.

Good times at the Pumpkin Patch

Due to busy weekends, we weren't able to get together at the pumpkin patch until this Saturday. Nikki & TeaLee ended up not feeling well and couldn't join us this year - we missed you two! We decided to head back to Lakeview Farms in North Plains again this year. We braved the drizzly Oregon weather in search for the perfect pumpkins, and to ride the train, boat and ponies.

Dylona is afraid (deathly) of snakes, so Kylah surprised her!

Ivie was loving the camera again today - crazy girl.

Kallie thought this tree was funny - it was.

on the boat ride over to the pumpkin patch

Kylah found a baby pumpkin

and Kallie just had to have it!

Makena was helping the girls push the wheelbarrow

Uncle Jamie gave the girls our gloves.

They were a little big, but the girls didn't mind.

Jamie found his pumpkin

Kallie found another one

Kallie was hiding in the hay maze

waiting to ride the ponies

our pumpkins

on the train ride back

Kallie-bug was talking to the piggies

Kylah wanted to join us in the corn maze.

Our first marker!

It took us a while, but we found all 5 of them.

Makena & Kylah were hiding from Jamie

Lunch at Rogue Distillery in North Plains

We got home, dried off and lounged around the house the rest of the day. I think Jamie even took a nap sometime between football games. Thanks again everyone - we had a great day!