Christmas Cards

Now that Christmas is over, what do you do with all your cards and pictures that you received in the mail?

I think I might try what a friend in California does with her cards. Each week (I'm not sure how often), the kids pick out a card and they pray for that family. Maybe write that family a short note letting them know that they were prayed for that week. I thought it was a good idea to use all those pretty cards that you receive and a good way to remember to pray for your friends and family!

What do you do with your cards?

Where We've Been

Merry Christmas!!

I wanted to share with you some pictures from the Big Storm.

This is a view of the trees that fell across the street from our house. They fell in EXACTLY the right spot! The trees are probably 80 feet tall. They fell right in the street and stopped at our mailboxes. As you can see from the picture they fell with the barrel right in between.

This is a picture of a tree that fell on our power line and snapped the power pole in half. Close to this 2 trees fell on a house. (In the background). The trees stayed just like this for 5 days! There were so many trees down and powerlines that the utility couldn't get to all of them. They were too busy rebuilding the power grid from scratch. Down the street from us 2 house got hit with trees. In our immediate neighborhood, 4 houses were hit!

This is a picture from our landing. Down the stairs is the woodstove. Up the stairs are our bedrooms. We blocked off the rest of the house with the sheet to direct the heat upstairs. We had another blanket that hung from where I took the picture. That trick worked pretty well. The family room/kitchen was a toasty 46 degrees, but our bedroom got up to 54 or 55.

This is our make-shift refrigerator. We kept things in a cooler outside where it was around 37-41.

This is a picture of our house. As you can see the tree stopped right at the edge of our driveway. We know that God was certainly protecting our house. During the night of the storm, 100 foot trees looked like spaghetti! It was very scary. We have 2 huge cedar trees right by the boys bedrooms that did not even lose any big limbs.

Here is a picture of the trees from our driveway, just so you can see how long they are. This pict doesn't even get the whole tree in it!

Micah was very nervous when the power was out. He does not adjust easily to change and this was a big change! He was very excited when the power came back on! I became so accustomed to flashlights that when the power did come back on, when I walked into a dark room I would reach for a flashlight instead of flipping the light switch! I'm so glad that much of our house runs on gas! We have a gas hot water heater, so we had hot water. We have a gas stove so we could cook on the cook top by lighting it with a match. We have a gas furnace, but it needs electricity to get started and to blow the hot air around.

We spent Friday night at my Dad's house but unfortunatly Joel did not sleep well in the pack n play. (He would not go to sleep until midnight then woke at 6 am!) We were nice and warm, but Joel loves his own bed. So we came back home for church obligations on Sat and decided just to stay at our house Sat night. Sunday, our church remained opened all afternoon and night for people to spend the night. We stayed there for the afternoon and evening then went home to sleep. Monday we were able to borrow a generator to run space heaters and Tuesday Aaron wired the furnace to the generator. I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear a furnace blowing. Words do not describe.

It really was not too bad at night b/c you could get warm under the blankets. I filled water bottles with hot water and put them in the kids beds. I used hand warmers and put them in Joel's sleep sack. Joel slept great! Micah would sleep with us to keep warm. Thank goodness for a king size bed!

Having the power out has made me think and reflect on the conveniences we have become accustomed to. Its a whole new world when you wake up and your first thought is "Ohhh, I need to go chop wood and start the fire." We have it so easy! I am so grateful for all the inventions that make our life so much easier. All of our "servants" as a friend once called them: the dishwasher, the fridge, the washer, the dryer, the furnace." It also made me think about those who are homeless and must deal with the cold every single night. We had to make due for 5 days and we thought that was bad!

Needless to say, some Christmas events got the axe, so to speak. No Christmas cards, no gingerbread for the neighbors. I'm thinking of sending out New Year's cards, so maybe you'll get a card from us yet. Maybe I'll start a new tradition and send out Valentines cards instead.

WE HAVE POWER!!!

Hooray! Micah and I did the happy dance as we finally got the power back at 8:30 pm today. He had to turn on every light switch just to make sure. He was so excited that he had trouble going to sleep. =)

I feel as though a week of my life was taken.

So this makes a total of 5 days without power. We're buying a generator for next time.

update

So....no power yet. At the very earliest maybe Tuesday. But they think it won't be until Tuesday until they have an estimate as to when the power will be up! The main grid line to our area is down, the transformer is blown and the neighborhood lines are all down. We're heading down to my Dad's house.

Oh yeah, isn't Christmas coming soon??

Blown Away

Just wanted to let you know that we are still alive and kicking up here. We migrated down to my Dad's house in Puyallup because he has power and more importantly, heat.

In case you haven't heard, there are about 1 million people without power here. 80% of our city has no power. We had a major wind store with gusts up to 100 mph. About 12:15 last night we were woken by the carbon monoxide detector. Since it is hard wired b/c of power surges it was going off. Fortunately the kids didn't wake up and Aaron disconnected it. About 30 min later we heard a huge crack and a loud boom. Our entire house shook. It was very scary. Since we were already up... Aaron ventured outside to see what happened. Two trees about 75 feet tall across the street fell towards our house. That's when we decided to move down to the basement. I looked outside and 100 foot trees looked like spaghetti. Very scary. =( Then we saw a bright orange glow over the city. Then a power surge, loud boom, no power. Lights flickered that were turned off. Crazy!

There were about 4-5 trees that fell on houses just within 1/2 mile of our house! Countless trees are blocking streets --still--there are so many that the city could not get to them today. Downed power lines everywhere!

I took lots of picts that I will post when the power comes up... which could be 5-7 days!! I think we might have power tomorrow,though. I hope.

Snacks, anyone?

I was just thinking about food habits. When you travel somewhere to visit friends or family, what are the foods that you MUST have? For example, we must have crackers and fruit. We snack on them continuously. We would probably make a special trip the store to buy them if we had to. Another example: when certain family comes to visit I always get: 1) natural peanut butter 2) real maple syrup 3) ritz crackers 4)real butter 5) diet rite 6) hot chocolate. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those items, we just don't normally have them around. Just thought it interesting to see what other's snacks are. When some friends came to visit I felt so bad because we didn't have their snacks they like to eat. They really really like dairy products and we have close to none in the house. Is it reasonable to assume that one would have cheese in the fridge as a staple?? Now, if you don't have coffee in the house, I'd just assume you were insane. ;) (ahem.. Susan.. cough, cough)

So what are your "cannot live without foods?" If you are staying at someone's house, what would you go to the store to get?

Non Sequitor

I love non-sequitors from 4 year olds. They know just enough language to be dangerous. They can also explain what they really meant, so you know, yes, truly what they said makes absolutely no sense. Rather than just thinking they make no sense like you do with 2 year olds.

"Mom, I'm nervous."
With concerned mommy voice: "Why are you nervous honey?"
"I'm nervous because you took away my cars. That makes me nervous."
"Ohhhh, you mean you are sad."
"Yes, I am sad, I want my cars back."

Whatever!

Or this is my favorite:
"Micah, do you want the red or blue one?"
"Well, usually when I'm at home, well actually one time I put it in there and then usually in the car and...."

Happy Birthday!!!

Micah turned 4 today! Can you believe it? Yikes, I still think of him as "my baby". I guess he'll always be my baby.

Today we had all his friends over for a cowboy party. I will post some pictures tomorrow when I have more energy. Right now I am exhausted.

Monday Morning

Well its Monday, so time for a little football smack.

This one is for Karen:
The Hawks beat the Broncos! (thanks to our kicker...)

Oklahoma beat Nebraska to win the Big 12. As Aaron said if Oregon hadn't stolen won the game, then Oklahoma would be playing for the National Championship.

USC lost, always a good thing.

And finally, the Cowboys won too. (again, thanks to the kicker...)

So all is right in football land at our house.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging...

Repentance

I feel as though I must repent. I have said that transitioning from 1-2 was easier than 0-1. Now, it was definitely an easier transition in the beginning, but now that I have a 4 year old (in 1 week!) and 14 month old, why did I think ever having 1 child was hard???? Joel is also in the fun stage throwing things off the high chair. Don't want it? Down it goes. I wish we had a dog.

Whoever invented the saying "Terrible Two's" , obviously did not have an older child who was 3. For me its defintely been "terrible 3 1/2's" The 2's were a breeze. Well, on the bright side his birthday is coming up and I have noticed major milestones achieved after his birthdays.

I read in a magazine once that one child was an accessory. Two children makes it a lifestyle. Soooooo true! If I only have 1 I feel as though I have none! If I had 3 children and had to take them out in public, I think I would lose my mind!! (Not to mention that we'd probably have 3 boys !)

Enough gripes for today. Oh, wait 2 more things: did I mentiong teething and absent spouse were also fuel for this angst?

Rodent Attack

Can someone please tell me the connection between kids books, Christmas and mice? We checked out 5 Christmas books from the library and 3 of them have mice in them. Seriously, what is the deal with Christmas and mice?

They make is sound so cute... "Mortimer scurried around the Christmas tree picking up sweet morsels of cookies and candies". ( paraphrase) While reading this, I'm picturing a real mouse around my Christmas tree and I think I would be screaming not pondering Christmas joy.

Christmas Music

Since today is December 1st, I thought I would let you know about www.christmasstream.com where you can listen to Christmas music all day, all the time via the internet. Best part is there are very little commercials!

Christmas is coming!

So, I realize that the last picture was kind of lame. I thought you'd be able to see the snow coming down, but it didn't turn out too well. After it did come down I took some more photos.

Watch out, Dad! There was just enough snow to scrape together to make snowballs.

Joel wasn't too sure about this cold white stuff.
Although there wasn't much snow at our house, it was very cold! The high on Tuesday was 28 on our thermometer.

We got the Christmas decorations. It was so adorable to watch Micah play with the Little People Nativity Set.

Here is a close-up. He had the donkey carrying Mary who was carrying Baby Jesus.

We also made cookies this week!

Look what happens when I'm on the phone for just a minute!

Let it Snow!!

Now I know for some of you, this is no big deal, but we rarely get snow around here. If you watched Monday Night Football tonight, (Hawks won, woohoo!), you saw what is was like here. You might have thought it was Green Bay, but alas, no, it was our fair city of Seattle. It is now 11:20pm and traffic is still jammed. What a mess. All the freeways are ice rinks. Abandoned cars everywhere as people give up and walk to motels. I am SO glad the hubby works 4 miles from home. It still took him almost an hour to get home! Did I mention the hight was 37? That's cold for us!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

There is nothing sweeter than watching your baby learn to walk! Joel started taking steps on his own about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday and today he is getting bolder, taking 6-7 steps at a time. I just LOVE watching those first wobbly steps!

Happy 14 month birthday!

Yummy, Easy, Chocolate Cake from scratch

*** I almost forgot, make sure you combine the dry ingredients before you add the vinegar. The reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda is what causes it to rise. If the baking soda and vinegar touch before baking it won't rise!! I've done this before!

Here is a recipe for a chocolate cake that is super duper easy and you probably have everything in your pantry to make it with. It has no eggs and no milk, so its good for allergies. I think the origins of this recipe date back to WWI and II when they had rations on things like eggs and milk. It is very moist and tasty! It is not very "fluffy", but more dense. But for me and chocolate, that is not a bad thing!!

Wacky Chocolate Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour (or rice flour if you are avoiding gluten)
1 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder ( or more!)
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla extract
1 T vinegar
5 T oil
1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients into mixing bowl. **very important! Add vanilla, vinegar, oil and water. Blend well; pour into ungreased 9 inch square pan. (or round pan) Bake for 25-30 min. When cool, frost or sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

I frequently double the recipe to make 1 large sheet cake (13x9) or two round cakes.

Source: The Food Allergy News Cookbook and my Mother-in- Law =)

What is wrong with this picture?

Did you figure out what is missing from the ingredients list??

Here's a hint: Micah can eat this MILK chocolate frosting!

Halloween (at last!)

Finally have downloaded my pictures! We went to Microsoft for their annual trick-or-treating (aka showing off your kids all dressed up) Then we came home and trick or treated around the neighborhood. Joel didn't go...he's not walking...he can't eat candy... and it was very cold that night! We had a cold snap that week. The funniest story: When we came home from Microsoft, the doorbell rang and we explained to Micah that it was trick or treaters. So he opened the door and the kids dutifully said "trick-or-treat" while holding open their bags. Micah said "Oh, thank you, " and proceeded to take candy out of their bag! What do you think, Reader's Digest worthy?


Joel was a puppy dog. More like a stuffed animal puppy. He was might cute!

This is what made the costume super cute---crawling around in it! Yup, he's still not walking (at 14 months). See the blurryness? That's because he is so darn fast at crawling!! Who would want to walk if you can crawl much much faster?
The Friday before Halloween we had a party with play group, complete with apple dunking. Micah really got into it!

Public Service Announcement

Update:
I was able to get 10 boxes for free! They were $1 a box and if you bought 10, the manufacturer gives you $10 off automatically: no coupon required! Unfortunately I can't use them, (Micah's allergy) but hey, they were free! I'm sure the food bank will appreciate it.

Okay, I'm embarrassed at the lack of posts.

I want to post picts from Halloween, but my computer is sooo slow downloading picts that I haven't done it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

On to the PSA:

Run, don't walk to Safeway/Vons on Wednesday. Buy 10 Betty Crocker Supreme Moist Cake mixes. They will pay you to take them. Go here to see it. The prices vary... one friend paid $.30 for 10 mixes, one GOT paid $.60 to take them. Mail them to Tweedygirl, because she likes boxed cake mixes and she cannot get them. With the money you save on the cost of the mixes you can spend it on postage.

That is all. Back to the regularly scheduled blogging.

You Know You're From California If.....

So as not to be outdone by all the redneck, hillbilly, and Texan jokes, you know you're from California if:

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $400,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown,and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. (And that's abnormal, because....?)

8. You can't remember . . . is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station:"STORM WATCH."

14b. AND they do a story about (gasp!) someone who forgot their umbrella!!

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.

16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18. Both you AND your dog have therapists.

19. The Terminator is your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.