Cinderella

Every year, we make movie with our cousins. Last summer we did Cinderella. In the past we've done Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood, Snow White, and even our own story, Dragon the Prairie. Hopefully, I'll get those up eventually. But for now, you'll have to content yourself with this one.

Portland II

A lovely weekend in Portland with old and new friends. On the way down we stopped at Burgerville in Centralia, where we feasted on cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and french fries - although the french fries turned out to have some gluten in them. :(

We went to sleep not long after wards (well, most of us did) and woke up in the morning to find that their had been gluten in the french fries. Mama and Lou did not feel good!

Nonetheless, we went to Charlie's lacrosse game and cheered him on. Then we headed to Bob's Red Mill and had a wonderful brunch. (gluten free for those who needed it) Pancakes, french toast, hash browns, omelets, muffins, eggs. Need I go on?

After brunch, we split up, half of us going to the Colombia Outlet.

The rest of the day we hung out and as I said, watched basketball, jumped on the trampoline, and napped.

Zaz in the play room/nook.

Lou, Peter, and Leah.

Aunt Betty and Mama catching up.

Oh, how I love trampolines! A beautiful day = beautiful pictures.

Charlie, Pete, and Lou.

Jumping for joy! Me!

Lou and I traded off with the camera, doing photo shoots of each other. So fun!

Portland

We've been here less than 24 hours and I've taken more than 150 pictures. Prepare for a picture overload sometime this week! This morning we went to a lacrosse game, Bob's Red Mill, and the Columbia Outlet. This afternoon was all about napping, jumping on the trampoline, and watching basketball.

Happy Saturday

Zaz's 4th Birthday

I just found this in the drafts. 'Tis long overdue. Uncle Chip, Aunt Janet, Kelley, Hannah, and Abby came to help celebrate. We had a potluck at church after the service and so brought cupcakes to share. Zaz was ecstatic about his gifts. An Indiana Jones hat, cowboy gear, yard toys, a Swiss toy bus, and many other fun things.


I attempted to make some cupcakes from my cupcake book, Hello Cupcake. The beginning stages...


The Wonder Dogs from Jupiter. And yes, they resemble their cousins, the schnauzers and chihuahuas. How observant of you!

Skiing Weekend

Two weeks ago, we had winter break at Ecole Vieux Pin. The previous post done on this subject would have been better named Christmas break, but oh well. We took a lovely two-day skiing trip to Stevens Pass the first day and Mission Ridge the second, after spending the night in Wenatchee.

Zaz was very excited to go skiing as we got ready, but slightly less so when it actually happened.

Cheerful smiles.

Zaz also spent considerable time studying the map. Even though it was upside down...

We had fairly good weather at Stevens, although it rained a bit at the end. Such beautiful sunshine!

Zaz skied very well

More studying of the map over lunch.

Mission was really beautiful too, especially after coming out of dry Wenatchee. Talking to friends later, we realized that we were truly blessed with a clear day. We could see Mt. Rainer and Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood was hiding a little behind some clouds.

The view was stunning. Lou got a bit annoyed at me for taking so many pictures. (i.e. taking my camera out a LOT!)

We also got to see the wing from the bomber that crashed there during World War II and learn it's history.

After lunch Zaz got to go play, and us other five enjoyed skiing together.

Plus a nice ski-patrol man took our picture together.

The way the wind has pushed the snow on the trees, buildings, and these posts at the top of the lift was really cool - and beautiful.

We are very thankful for a fun, successful trip, clear, blue skies, and enjoying God's creation. This was also only the second time we've able to go skiing this year, although Papa and Zaz are off to Snoqualmie tomorrow morning for a ski adventure in honor of Zaz's 4th birthday.

Marina

Christmas Tradition

So it's not Christmas anymore, but it's never too late to share!

In 2006 we started a tradition of making Christmas dishes. Mommy wanted Christmas dishes but she didn't want to spend lots of money. So we've started making our own! We missed 2007 but we've done it for three years - this year we took pictures.

My 2006 Angel.

And My 2008 Snowflakes. I seem to have a blue theme.

Looloo has built up the Nativity scene. In 2006 she started with the stable, Joseph, Mary, the Shepherd, and the baby Jesus.

In 2008 she continued it with the three magi.

Mr. Pete has the Christmas tree...

With the presents under it.

The Zaz wasn't even one in 2006, so he had his first mistletoes...

And reindeer in 2008.

On the back of each plate, we put our hand print, name, and age. Last year, the Zaz was allowed to decorate the back of his plate as much as he wanted, because his hand was already on the front.

With eight plates, we started on mugs this year. Snowflakes, the Nativity, Angels, and a winter wonderland.

When asked what he wanted on the inside of his cup, the Zaz said, "A black snake." Mommy agreed and there you have it.

In case you can't read it, which is very possible, as the lighting was bad, it says, "He shall crush the serpent's head!"

We now have a joke in our house, "There's a dead snake in my cup!"

Mr. Pete opted for a more cheerful inside decoration.

Oatmeal Cookies

New Year's Eve

We had a lovely fun New Year's Eve at the bowling alley with lots of friends!

Even Mama bowled!

The shoes were really nice and Zazzy especially liked them, as he eagerly
asked, "Do we get to take the shoes home?"

We regretfully had to tell him "no."

Zazzy's bowls took several minutes to get down the lane,
and the employees had to rescue several balls.

Mr. Pete-za threw some hard ones!

This is one of the few instances in which Zazzy
actually watched the ball roll down, usually he ran back
to check the screen and grab the next ball.

Winterbreak

Another New Venture: The "Small"

Actually this venture has been going on for a little while; we just thought we should finally tell our friends about it, and Mina helped her Mama get with the times and make an Etsy Mini-Shop here on the blog. In reality, it's kind of a Mini-Mall, because each of the ladies of our household has her own shop. It's what Auntie Janet used to call the shopping mall in Moscow, Idaho, where you could walk the length of the whole thing in seven minutes and where half of the storefronts were empty anyway. It was dubbed "the Small." Our Small is ever so much nicer! And our products are locally grown and handcrafted and repurposed and everything!

So you see, once you browse, you will wonder how you ever did get along without them until now. They are right over there on the sidebar. 46 shopping days until Christmas.

A New Venture

I have a college friend who works at Psychology Today magazine, and she recently invited me to write for them. I was honored and daunted but after prayer have decided to try that new bloggy venue. It's an odd place for me to be....I feel very much a fish out of water. I don't think what I write tends to be psychological; rather it hovers somewhere between the physical and the spiritual. I wondered what I could say that would be Helpful to this crowd of Earnest Pyschological Self-Improvers. But College Friend seems to think that just writing about our Normal Everyday was what Psychology Today blog readers would like and need. Maybe because Normal Everyday is so rare nowadays? Maybe because such reading is like observing a weird wombat at the zoo? Maybe because psychologists in America want to keep an eye on the divergent section of society known as homeschoolers?

Anyways, you can read it here: Lifestyle Design. The title is a kind of a joke with myself. Years ago I attended a college reunion chock full of successful young bankers, lawyers, businesswomen and the like. I was hugely pregnant and had two toddlers clinging to my legs. I felt a little insecure, thinking that the title Mama somehow wasn't good enough -- I am wiser now. Anyway, with reflection I came up with the title Creative Lifestyle Designer. "Hey, Little People," I said, "I am designing your lifestyle creatively!" and hand wrote some business cards to pass out to the achieving masses.

So when College Friend asked me what I'd like to name the blog, that incident came to mind in the wave of my insecure feelings at all those psychological PhDs on the site pontificating about this and that. So there it is. If you too would like to design your lifestyle creatively, have a look. There's also a link on the blogroll to the right. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

New Article

Zazzy has created his own indefinite article, squashing English and Francais together to create “en” as in en ferry, en pancake, en train, etc…  So of course, to prolong the fun we’ve all joined in as well. We hope that you are having en nice time reading about it.

In other Zazzy linguistic news, we were on I-5 South on a clear day and coming round a bend in the road, suddenly there loomed Mt. Rainier larger than life. “Ooooh! Look! Look!” cried Zazzy, “It’s Mount Reindeer!” Be looking for an antlered mountain on our Christmas card.

When Loulou was small she called my brother and his wife Auntie Janet and Auntie Chip. “Auntie Chip” stuck for a long time because we all liked the moniker, even though Auntie Chip himself wasn’t too pleased. Then Zazzy evened things up with his own version: Uncle Chip and Uncle Janet. But now he’s growing up and correcting himself. When I called them that when they arrived the other evening, Zazzy looked at me scandalously and said, “NO! Auntie Janet and UNCLE Chip!” It’s rather sad. I love toddler talk.

So forty, so good

Well, I feel I ought to report from the other side of forty. So far, things are not too shabby at all! The tally in the past couple weeks: one surprise party put on my sneaky, wonderful husband which surprised me most by how many people came over on a Wednesday night, on the first week of school; one weekend getaway in a fancy hotel (thanks to his company and including 3 hours of conversation in the car each way); two weeks of serious on-task schooling for all; one sprint triathlon completed where I cut down on last year’s time by a full 29 seconds; and one slumber party of girlfriends where for one night we got to be 13 all over again, with less angst and more giggling. So my forties have been super busy and a lot of fun! And now I feel fairly justified in not doing much else for the rest of the year.

Appreciation

There's really nothing that makes you appreciate your dishwasher like having a broken one for a couple weeks. I need some hand lotion on these dishpan hands!

Celebrating LouLou

Time to remedy a long lack of posting! May 2009 is fleeting by, but while April is not yet a too distant memory, I'll share a few happy memories of LouLou reaching double digits at her 10th birthday. 

But first, some memories from a little further back…

May 1999 – one month old

December 1999 – eight months

LouLou’s First Birthday

Fast forward nine years to Birthday Morning 2009.  Manuski has a birthday tradition of building names out of Legos. This time, it got a little more elaborate as he built an entire springy scene. 

Close up of the Springy Scene. LouLou is seated on the bench to the left while Zarli is bringing her a giftie in a wheelbarrow!For lunch with some friends we had bunny cupcakes. I wish I’d taken a photo of all the bunnies lined up on the platter! At our little family party, there was a cake with a chicky popping out of an eggshell. On Easter Day, we celebrated a little more with extended family. 5+5=10, get it?  Easter is such a nice time to have a Birthday! Happy Ten, LouLou! Ten beautiful Golden Years.