Spring Break 2008

Because I can only post a few photos at a time, I thought I'd blog day by day of our road trip to the Oregon Coast. We were taking our niece, Waklee, (far left) back to Portland and decided to see some sights along the way. So after spending the night in Boise (Day 1) with our great, pinochle playing, friends, the Hills, we got up early and my goal was to make it to Bend before lunch. One thing we will remember about our lunch in Bend, is that Sis ordered a huge plate of nachos that she "had" to have. She didn't even take one bite. "She didn't like it, it tastes bad!" So she didn't live that down the rest of the trip. I don't know if she ever will. After Bend, we traveled through the Sisters. We have been through here before, and loved it. It is beautiful and I wanted to take some scenic byways and see a little more of this area.

We stopped at a little park along the river in Sisters, Oregon.

This was a little side trip off the beaten path to Cougar Dam. It was a pretty drive up with lots of waterfalls. I was wishing it was warmer and we had our boat...looks like a pretty place to tour by boat. Day 2 ended in downtown Eugene at the Hilton where the pool was freezing cold and the kids had to spend their time in the hot tub.

Our Crazy Hair Day!

Has anyone read "Crazy Hair Day" by Barney Saltzberg? Well Pen got us this book a few years ago and Haddi did a book report on it last week for her class. Anyway, her class filled their jar with marbles for good behavior and is having a party. So the class voted and decided to have a pajama/crazy hair day party. In the book, Stanley gets mixed up. He thinks it's crazy hair day and actually it's class picture day. After spending the entire day hiding out in the bathroom, his buddy Larry Finchfeather, finally convinces him to come to class for pictures. When Stanley walks in, his entire class has crazy hair. Well here's to you Haddi and your crazy hair day. I hope that when you walk into class this morning that you are not the only one with crazy hair...

The best cookies

I saw my friend Kelsee Dalling at the annual Mud Lake Lion's Club Basketball Tournament yesterday. And it's Sunday afternoon and I like to bake on Sunday afternoons. But one Christmas, Kelsee made the best cookies and delivered them to my in-laws in Hamer. Her recipe has been my favorite cookie recipe ever since. So I thought that I would share.

1 1/2 c. soft butter/marg.

1/2 c. sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

Cream, add:

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 5.1 ounce pkg. instant vanilla pudding

3 1/3 c. flour

1 pkg. choc. chips

Bake @ 375 for 9-11 min.

The dough is kind of gooey. So you have to spoon it on, and take them out of the oven when they don't look quite done.

By the way, Mud Lakers (Chad's team) going into the championship game undefeated.

Shippens 66 * Mud Lakers 65

They won it with a luck shot from way out...heartbreaker.

Scrapping

I did a little scrapbooking last weekend with my friends. It was so good to catch up. We have been slacking this year and haven't been very consistent about scrapping. Imiss it! So maybe this will get me motivated to start cracking. I love to do it, it's so good for me to have this creative outlet.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Oh my goodness, Easter is early this year and that means that right after Valentine's Day, out came the Easter candy. I came around the isle in the grocery store and saw the Easter candy...I scanned the isle for the blue bag with the pink lettering. Scanning, scanning, scanning...and there they were. I wheeled my cart over there and loaded up. 5 bags later, I'm counting down the days until Easter is over and they are all gone. I'm so excited to see them and eat them and so glad when the season is over and I can't get them until next year.

Reese

So I haven't blogged for a while because I've been so worried and emotional about my little niece who was hospitalized for pneumonia. Things that I might have wanted to write about seem so trivial when your faced with a life threatening illness. Anyway, I think that she is stable and that she is going to be all right but it is going to take a while and she will probably be in the ICU for another week and the hospital for two more after that. I just wish Penny wasn't so far away from all of us. This is one more reason for them to move back! I feel a little relief tonight, like everything will be alright. She's a fighter.

I miss you...

Chad has been gone to Texas for his granpa's funeral and I miss him. It's amazing how you become so dependent on a person. The things my kids do and say are no fun when you don't have anyone to share them with. I also don't like being a single parent and having to carry the WHOLE load by myself. By the end of day 3...It's an act of God that Indee survived today. :)

My Mia

Sicilee was experimenting on Mia's hair.

When is my baby going to talk? She says things like "ugh" and "uhh". I didn't really think she was behind in the talking scene but the more I'm around other kids her age, I'm starting to wonder. My little Mia thinks she can talk. I told her to go and get Sicilee and Haddi and tell them it was time for dinner. She went to the stairs and screamed up them "aaaahhhhhh, ahhhhh, aaahhhh". Whenever she can't find me she goes to the hall way and says the same thing.."ahhahhhhhhhh". That means "where are you mom?" in "Mia talk". I remember when Haddi finally started talking after we "lost" her binki. We couldn't get her to shut up. She still rambles on about things. She will be telling me a long, drawn out story and about 5 minutes into her story, I have to stop her and ask her if this is real? And she replies, "no mom, it was on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. She's not only telling me all about her life but also about some make believe tv show characters in which she spares no details.

I guess I should just be patient for Mia to talk. That is one more thing that will keep her little a little bit longer. (Does that make
sense?)

Grandpa Jack

Grandpa Jack passed away this week. We will miss this gentle giant. He was a great example of kindness. We are lucky to have known him and I'm glad that my kids were able to spend some time with him also. He was such a respectable person. We will miss you, Grandpa Jack.

March Madness

It's March Madness time around here and to tell you the truth, I'm kind of excited about it. Every year Chad plays in tournaments around the area and we all go as a family. There are a few reasons why I like this time of year. 1) I like to watch Chad play ball. 2) We get to go somewhere and it's usually Spring there before it is here. 3) Our family is together. 4) We get to see lots of people that we know and don't get to see that often.

We just got home from Boise and the State Boys Basketball Tournament. That usually kicks off the season. My husband has been "in training" for a month now...which means time on the treadmill and playing as much basketball as he can whether it be pick up ball at the church, city league games, church ball, and/or driving to Mud Lake (140 miles round trip) ((INSANE)) to play morning ball. Last year, his team won every tournament they went to. I'll keep you posted on the 2008 season.