Hiking to a waterfall

Katie (my little sister) and her new husband Dan came to town for a wedding. While they were here they asked if we wanted to hike to a local waterfall. Of course we did! This photo was taken after the hike. (Missing from the photo are my sister Jamie, Luke, and me. Four of the other kids are Jamie's and 2 are her other neices. )

Luckily Dan carried Luke on his shoulders the whole way down. Luke whined about it pretty much the entire way.

Samo playing in the waterfall.

Charlie about to go under the waterfall.

Luke played in the water. It was a really hot day and it was SO nice to stick your feet in that cool water.

Jack is coming out from running under the waterfall. His favorite cousin Jordan waits for him. They thought this was the coolest thing ever.

It was a fun hike. I'd do it again, but not pregnant, and not without other adults.

Luke turned 3

This guy is quite a character. We're happy he's in our family.

quick catch up

So my craft show didn't go so well. I don't think it was actually a craft show, but more of a flea market. So the people who did come (and there weren't very many of them) didn't want to spend more than a few bucks on some junk. It was also really windy and everything kept blowing away. It was a mess by the end. Oh well. I sold skirts (size 12 mos to 5 years), button earrings, zippered wallets, and my regular jewelry. I'm going to try and list everything in the next few weeks in my shop.

Better news. We have a family of quail living in our yard. Usually we see them in the back yard in our garden. Are they eating our tomatoes? Maybe. I'd be happy to share with them. They are so cute. There are a few more little chicks and always a mom and a dad with them. The dad always keeps lookout and squacks to tell them to keep away from us.

And I picked this lovely from our garden a few days ago. I was all excited because I've never grown a watermelon before. Apparently I picked it too early because most of the inside was yellow with only a few pink spots. But the pink spots were really sweet. We've got another one on the vine and I think we'll leave it there for a while this time before picking. Anyone know how long you're supposed to wait before picking?


And the best news of all! The kids started school today. I know it sounds horrible that I'm happy about it, but I am not feeling so well with this baby (can you believe I'm 28 weeks?) and I was getting so grumpy with everyone here. It's nice to have a few less kids around. I was much more pleasant today when they came home from school.

Catching up

Wow - we have a lot to do this week!

First of all - thanks for all the name suggestions. If you think of more, feel free to leave them as another comment. We have kind of picked a first name, but we're not so sure about the middle name. I think we need to check into some family names. If you're in our family and know some good ones, please leave those on here.

We just got back from a trip to New Mexico. More on that when I get the pictures uploaded (no promises as to when that will actually be.) But for now we're still cleaning up after the trip. It always takes a few days to catch up.

It's our last week of no school so we'll have to do some fun things. Like camp out in the back yard. Maybe we'll also go swimming a few more times.

I'm getting ready for a craft show on Saturday. LOTS to do! I'm kind of nervous. I've never really done one before (one where I have to bring all my own set up stuff and stay all day!)

Name help

Many of you have asked what we will name the new baby. Many of you have told me you are excited to hear the name. But we are having a hard time coming up with a name!

As you know, I really like 1 syllable names, but will it be okay if Charlie's the only one with 1 syllable? (And just a reminder in case you don't know me well - my kids are Jack, Sam, Charlie, and Luke).

I'd love to hear your suggestions on names. First names, middle names, first and middle together, whatever. We need help in all areas! Thanks!

p.s. The above photos is Luke. I don't have any of the others' baby photos on my computer. I might have to do something about that.

Other July Stuff

I think I forgot to tell you that Andy (my little brother) and Ashley (his cute wife) and their baby girl Callie came to visit us over the 4th of July weekend. The older 3 boys were already at my mom's house. (And when they found out that they missed Andy's family - they were kind of mad at me).

Luke loved Callie. He keeps telling me how there's a baby in his belly and her name is Callie. He will be such a cute big brother.


I grew some hollyhocks from seed. I actually picked the seeds off some plants at my local quilt store. If anyone wants any seeds, let me know and I'll collect some and send them. These ones were about 9 feet tall! The ones I've seen around town are between 2 and 6 feet tall.

I am working on a quilt for baby #5. I started another quilt for him, which I don't love, and I'm not sure what to do with. But I'm liking this one a lot. These are the fabrics.

family photos in Spokane

So my sister Katie has been studying photography for a few years at college. And while we were in Spokane I asked her to take some photos of us. This is on my parents' property. Isn't it beautiful? But there were several problems:

1. When we took the photos, it was bedtime for the kids. And they were exhausted.

2. I didn't realize that my hair is the same color as the rye in the background. (It is rye, right Mom?)

3. It is apparently impossible for 4 kids and 2 adults to all smile at the same time AND at the camera AND look normal. Impossible!

4. I was also not super happy to be taking family photos while pregnant, but that didn't turn out as horribly as I thought.

5. I'm never sure what outfits to wear. I never want to look too matchy but I don't want someone standing out in orange, either. I didn't like how these outfits looked too matchy.

Therefore, here are the photos I've decided to show you. (And thanks anyway, Katie, for trying it.)


Not a horrible photo, and less than half the people looking at the camera.

At least we looked like we were all having fun in this one.

This one would maybe have been great if it didn't look like Sam was nearly grabbing my boobs and if I could have tucked my chin a bit. (Something photographers have been telling me since elementary school - why don't I remember?)

Charlie was pouting for the entire first pose of photos. He kept trying to direct us all on where to stand. So I let him direct us in this pose. He was adamant that he and Dan stand together because they matched. And that Luke stand by me because we matched. He was the happiest in these photos (because he set them up.)

I like this of me and Dan.

Yes - we are horrible parents. Jack started crying hysterically all of a sudden and we were laughing at him. (Because the reason he was claiming seemed funny, I guess). Still. Mean. (There was an entire series of photos of us all trying to calm Jack down - which didn't take long at all. And he was fine.)

The boys here making goofy faces. This series could have lasted all night. Dan was already done at this point and waiting for us in the car.

Spokane

Taking a walk down the driveway.

Sitting on the tractor. Don't you love Charlie's pose? He came up with it all on his own.

One day Mimi took Luke out to the garden and picked some lettuce. Then she taught him how to make salad. I need to put him to work at dinner time.

We always go feed the ducks at River Front Park. This time, Sam found lobsters (crawdads) walking around the bottom of the river. (The real reason I had to go to River Front Park was because I had to have the little mini donuts that they make right in front of you. I could eat SO many of them!)

Goofy goofballs.

Feeding the ducks.

Also at River Front Park - you have to ride the carousel. Here's Charlie with aunt Katie.

Here's Luke with Dad.

Jack on his horse.

Samo the yamo on his horse.

Also on the trip I met up with a quilting blog friend (one I've never met in real life). Why did I not take photos? I think I even had my camera. Kristine was so much fun to hang out with and we never ran out of things to talk about! (And we went fabric shopping - could I ask for anything more?)

I also had breakfast with a friend from college that I haven't seen for at least 14 years. That was a lot of fun too, why did I not take any photos? Let's just blame it on prego-brain.

The whole Spokane trip was lots of fun. Glad we went :)

Priest Lake: The Forest

We had to get out of the cabin so we headed down the main road and found a short loop trail to check out. There are signs posted all over that this is bear country and how you should manage yourself accordingly (don't try to feed the bears, clean up your garbage, etc.)

Sam was scared to death that we would meet a bear on our short hike. This first photo is sad Sam (sad because he wasn't able to talk us out of going on the walk.) Dan's solution was to laugh him out of it, which is why everyone is laughing.


It worked for a bit, but then Sam went right back to being worried.

But he made it through as long as he was holding mine or Dan's hand.

This moss was hanging off all the trees. And Dan's upper lip.

Had to get at least 1 flower in there.

There must be some magical trick someone can teach me about getting a nice photo of a group of boys. What's the secret? (Can you tell Dan's making these guys laugh behind me?)

On Dan's suggestion these guys rested their chins on their hands. Luke didn't quite get it but kept trying it for the rest of the photos on the trip.

It was a nice trip. Nice enough that I kind of want to get an escape cabin at Priest Lake. Maybe if I buy some property now, I can build a retirement cabin on it later.

Priest Lake: The Water

I did mention that we went up to Spokane and spent a few short days at the lake - didn't I? Well, we did. It rained the first day, so we stayed in a friend's cabin (with sweet 1960s decor) and played games and watched stupid movies on tape. Finally on the day we were leaving we got a nice sunny day.

This lake is cold anyway, but when it's cloudy and rainy, it's even colder, so I didn't even get in the water. Dan braved it for about an hour on the sunniest day. The cold didn't deter the boys. They just stayed in the water shivering and vowing never to get out.

Is it gorgeous or what? I love the Northwest.

Charlie is notorious for not wanting to cooperate for pictures, but when Dan said he wanted to take a picture of he and I, Charlie was right in there. Nice.

We found a little birds' nest. We couldn't see how many babies were in there until I got this photo. But I think the boys saw them chirping for their food.

Luckily we only brought one 12 pack of root beer, otherwise Luke would have done nothing else but drink it.