While we were away...

The kids and I just got back from vacation in Oregon. We left Tyler at home to fend for himself, and we visited lots of family for 3 weeks.
This was the first year that the older two kids were left with the grandparents overnight for more than one night! They had a blast!! It is amazing how well they behave without us there to supervise (or so I am told!) Kellen and I headed to the Portland area and bonded (he is now a COMPLETE mama's boy!) and hung out with my sister, Leecia; one of my best friends, Jaime and family; and my parents out at our old house in Boring. We had lots of fun.

Meanwhile, Tyler was back in Texas slaving away in some oppressive heat! He worked most days and then in the evening he would ... golf! There were even a couple days that he golfed twice in a 12 hour period. That is a lot of golf!! But he also managed to get a lot of projects done around the house... 3 bathrooms were painted; one table with 4 chairs were cleaned (and this was major) sanded, primed and painted and then distressed ... I absolutely LOVE the table and chairs!
He also painted two bookcases (which he said was the most work, because they required many coats of yellow); and the outdoor furniture got a touch up too.

That was my honey-do list... and he did every single thing! I guess that is what you get when you don't have TV in the house.

I love this man, for more than just being the best husband ever!!!

I have to admit that I thought he might forget to eat without us here, so thank you so much to a couple neighbors and friends for feeding him while I was gone! I am proud to announce he did not loose any weight (that is a feat all in itself).

Pictures of our trip might be a little while in coming.... I did not bring a camera with us, and had to use a couple disposable ones. Patience is key.

My knee

Don't you just love this? The snowflakes were made as a family all day on Sunday. Colton made the most and seemed to really get the concept down! Such an improvement from last year! It was fun, and the look is just magical. We hung them up on the ceiling all over downstairs, and it just looks so neat. You should o do it!

i know, i know... all I ever talk about is my knee! But first! Look at this CUTE hat that I knitted for a special recipient... it only took a day (it is chunky fabric) and it is about the cutest thing! I am in love with it! Now on to this one for someone else. Yeah, I do a lot of knitting in bed. But that is a big part of my life right now! I am stuck in bed, keeping it elevated or in machine that bends and unbends it most of the day! Not exactly fun. Plus, I can't put any weight on it for 3 more weeks.
Yesterday, Tyler had to do some stuff for work all day, so he left at 730 in the morning, and didn't make it home until 445pm! Good thing, my wonderful neighbor and friend, Becca, came over for most of the day! But I was alone with the kids for a couple hours throughout the day, and it didn't actually go too bad.
My knee seems to be pretty sore now, since the swelling is going down and I can feel more in there. I just have to look at the big picture and remember that my knee will finally be awesome. I haven't had an ACL in 14 years! My meniscus has been torn since June, and the cartilage thing..., I have no idea!

Some crafts we have been up to

Before my surgery, we did manage to get a couple things done in the craft department.
One of them was these adorable owls. I just love them. Becca, our neighbor, and wonderful friend, who also happens to work at the library and do storytime found them on the internet and did this craft at storytime a couple weeks ago. She had some extra, and graciously shared them with us on the day we had Quin and Trent over. The kids LOVED being able to pick the colors and patterns they liked (pink mostly for Ayla, of course!) and the end results were just TOO cute! It was a relatively simple craft (for us, all the pieces were cut out already) and I think you should make one too! What you need::

~An owl body, usually brown out of construction paper, or even a paper bag
~A circle-ish cut out for the belly. We used patterned scrapbooking paper, but again, be creative.
~A goggle-like cutout for behind the eyes, using a different patterned paper
~2 smaller circles for the eyes
~2 buttons of any size for the eyeballs (we used just tape for securing these and it worked perfect)
~2 cut outs for wings, whichever size/shape you desire
~2 cut outs for feet
~1 cut out for beak
you will love to put these up in your windows!

The other craft we did was our advent calendar. This was inspired from the Rhythm of the Home Blog and Publication (a fantastic work of love with great crafts and what not for you and your family... and free!)We always have a ton of mismatched socks AND I usually get socks for the kids for stocking stuffers each Christmas, so this just seemed to be perfect for us. I used a banner made by Camille at Camille Creates and so generously given to me last year! It was the a great backdrop for the socks above our fireplace. I haven't decided if I will make a more "Christmasy" one for next year, or just use this same set up again. I am, however, going to only get the kids, (or make them) socks for Christmas from now on, and this is how they will be presented. I think it works quite well. I have been putting just little trinkets or candies in there... even some money every once in a while. The other day, I put a little note in the sock, saying they got to open a present... this went over very well.

Surgery update::
My surgery went very well; everything was almost exactly what the doctor suspected. They did a total ACL reconstruction, clipped the meniscus on each side (both were torn), and a procedure which replaced a damaged piece of cartilage with an undamaged one from within my knee (OATES procedure). The last thing is what is going to take a while to heal. I am supposed to put 0 weight on my leg/knee for 4 WEEKS!! That is going to seem like forever. Kellen is not yet crawling, and he is such a mama's boy... we will see how it all plays out! Good thing it is almost Christmas break and Tyler can do a lot of his work from home! And I have great friends that have offered to help when they can!

Little crafters

This is what the kids do when I sew or work on a project. They take my scraps and their little kid scissors and cut away and then recently, they added in the pretend sewing on my old machine. It is so cute to see what they make! I like that I can influence them on their future(?) hobbies. Even Colton says he want to learn how to sew when he gets bigger.

The Green Smoothie Challenge is going very well. I have had at least one big glass of a green concoction every day, starting last Monday. I feel like I might have more energy, but it is hard to tell with the ups and downs of 7 week old (can you believe he is 7 weeks old?!) and sleep! I usually have the smoothies for breakfast, lunch, or a pre-bedtime snack... yummy! usually. I made one with collard greens, not sure why, but it tasted HORRIBLE! I choked it down but YUCK! Not recommended!

My little artist

Colton begs on a daily basis to do some sort of art work on his easel. I decided to buy an array of quality art supplies, and found a great website out of Oregon that sells just what I needed. It is called Stubby Pencil Studio, and I heard of it through the Soulemama blog. They have some eco friendly crayons, some crayon rocks, paints, paper, and much much more! Colton has really taken to learning his letters, with his favorite being "W" because of it's abilitly to be either a "W" or "M". What a silly kiddo! Ayla sometimes gets involved, but usually she licks or eats something, so we tend to do the real stuff at her nap time... maybe soon we can include her more often! Well, hope everyone had a great Tuesday... I have been reading a great book called "Real Food" by Nina Planck. Very insightful and full of some useful information. Till next time...

making our easter eggs

The kids had a great time the night before Easter hand painting some eggs... Ayla tried to eat it as she went along, and a couple got dropped on the floor. But all in all, it turned out great. Tyler painted an awesome globe... he is such a geography geek!
The house has returned to our "normal" without Noah, but we still find ourselves missing him a little bit!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

Our weekends always start out slow... we wake up slow; we eat breakfast slow; and we get dressed slow. Ayla takes this to heart, and gets dressed any which way! Here is a typical weekend morning for Ayla... boots, woolies and pajama shirt.

Then we decided to do a little watercolor painting... the kids made some great pictures and it lasted all of about 15 minutes.

This is an example of the training pants I have been making for the kids... adorable! Hope everyone had a great weekend! My friend, Angie and her husband Chris welcomed their 4th child into the world on Friday.. little Anna. And my best friend Jaime and her husband Erich celebrated the first birthday of their daughter, Addy! Yeah!

Hope for America

After staying up half the night watching the numbers from the polls come in, and hearing 2 speeches from two great men who obviously love their country, I have come to realize how much we have to learn here in America. On one hand, Barack Obama offered hope for our nation like no other hopeful could; he represented so much just by being black and having the name that he was given at birth, and he offered so much more with his words and apparent wisdom. And on the other hand, was John McCain, a great man in his own right, who deserves much of the praise given to him by his followers and the respect of everyone in this country. This election did, as all elections do, divide families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, anyone and everyone, because everyone could see that either of these men would do all they could in the next 4 years to make America better; to start the healing process of all our losses. Personally, I voted for Barack Obama, but in my heart I believe that whatever the nation chose last night, it would be for the better.
Part of me is sad for McCain, and heck, even for Bush, because no matter what some say, the Republican party did not do this to our nation, to put blame there would be misplaced, for in reality, we did this to ourselves. Our need for the best, and the brightest, and the need for it now surpassed all of our actual needs, and that shows that we are a superficial country that has come to a point in our lives where we need to make a choice. A choice to live within our means, and put our time and efforts into our most prized posessions..our children. Our children need our time and they deserve or efforts. And when I say our children, I don't just mean those of us that are lucky enough to have our own children, but the children that are forgotten, the children who are lost in the system that seems to have forgotten them and their families. We need to make our schools better, our streets safer, our families stronger. Volunteer your time, your wisdom, your experience.
I hope for our great country that we can overcome these hard times, and I hope for Obama that he can lead us with his words and his actions, and earn the trust of those that are skeptics. Good luck.
On a way lighter note, Colton has been busy playing with playdough and watching Bob the Builder in his free time... what a talented kid! (Just kidding, well, he's talented, but not that talented yet... Tyler built the tractors, but Colton loves them!)
We, meaning Colton, Ayla and myself, went to a playgroup today that sounded so promising. There was childcare for 1.5 hours and free coffee and snacks for me... but I was a little disappointed. First of all, it was located at a church, and not that I have anything against Churches, but I am a little uncomfortable because of my lack of beliefs... however, I was intrigued. So we went. Colton screamed to the point I could hear him where I was (in another room) and so I went and got him. And he sat quite nicely while people stood before us and talked about mostly religious things. I think I would have liked it better, had there been a time to actually talk to other women and just converse and drink coffee! I guess I am a simple person with simple wants, but I think I would have rather played with my kids at home then be lectured. Maybe I'll give it one more chance... free childcare, after all! And Ayla really enjoyed it!