No Words

Happy 1st Birthday to Elise!

Oh, last year on this day we were all pretty excited!

I remember the feelings of nervousness. I was first worried about my own child, Maria. She had given us quite a scare when she had her first baby. I tried to not think about it but I admit it crept into my mind a bit. Thankfully, that particular drama did not occur.

I remember the feelings of happy anxiousness. I was so anxious to hold and touch and see and smell and love on that new little person!

She arrived and we did all those things!

We bonded with her, even though we really didn't yet know her.

I stayed the night at the hospital so Eric could take care of Cordelia at their home. It was a long night but so precious for me. I got to hold her a lot and I got to spend that night with Maria. I felt so honored!
I also felt so tired, but it was worth it.

This photo is my absolute favorite from the day Elise was born!

It is a year later already. We now know this little beauty as a spirited one year old, someone with opinions and ideas of her own. 

We know she has a great laugh.

We know she loves music and has some awesome dance moves. My favorite is when she throws her head back and forth and the long strands on top remind me of a man with a come-over that has gotten out of control. 

We know she loves balls and dogs and stuffed animals. We know she has a cute way of snuggle hugging that melts my heart. She loves to follow her big sister, play with Betty Sprinkles, loves being outside, blowing kisses to her Daddy...and she is just so cute!

We know there will be so much more that we will know by this time next year!

New Cleaning Ladies and a Gasp

Maria often sends me photos of her girls when I am at work. It absolutely brightens my day!

Yesterday she sent me this one first...

I texted back that I didn't know they had hired a cleaning lady. She responded that she had two.

On another note...

Sunday morning we were out of town. I called to speak with Cordelia just a bit. At the end of our conversation I told her I was going to church with Grandma Carol. She gasped! She said, "Grandma Carol!? She is one of MY grandmas!"

That's it. I just wanted to share a couple of moments that brought me joy. Have a nice day!

Blongo Blog!

Say this three times fast... Blongo Blog, Blongo Blog, Blongo Blog...

I find ways to entertain myself.

My mother-in-law, Carol, recently purchased Blongo Ball. Do you know about Blongo Ball? Well, that is why I am writing a Blongo Blog, so that you will know and understand the game of Blongo Ball. Trust me. You are going to enjoy this game! It is easy to learn the rules, but challenging as you attempt to perfect your skills.

The game is played with two goal apparatuses. It is a bit like horsehoes without all that clanking and dust. My husband and my brother-in-law were the first to break out the box. Each got three sets of blongo balls. These are basically golf balls with holes drilled through them and an attaching string tying them in pairs. There are three yellow sets and three orange set.

I was proud to capture blongo balls in mid-air with these photos.

All you do is throw them toward the goals. If you can loop them onto the top bar, it is one point, across the middle bar it is two points and if you manage to wrap it around the bottom bar, three points. If you get it to bounce off the ground and up over a bar, it counts as 5 points. The first player to 21 wins. Easy enough, huh?

Well, it turns out that you really do better if you can kind of "whip" the blongo balls as you release them. I had a little problem with control. Let's just say that I am grateful to my husband for chasing down blongo balls gone wild.

Sometimes, you need to resort to distracting your opponent. My brother-in-law, Joe, was good at that!

Although it looks like Mike is pretty good at just tuning him out.

He practices that skill on me.

I'm not sure Mike even noticed all of Joe's efforts.

Later we got my sister-in-law, Sue, involved.

She was a natural.

Although we got a little wild, don't worry,

we had adult supervision.

Thanks, Carol!

 Blongo Balls were a fun idea!

Cross in Clouds

Mark 8:34

English Standard Version (ESV)

    And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Camera on Cordelia (and Sam)

\

note: doll originally handmade for Maria by Grandma Grace

Slow Shutter Fireworks

Happy Birthday USA

This is cute... Enjoy!

Camera on Elise

Flour Power?

I expect that my neighbors are curious about my recent actions. Last evening I walked around both the front and back yards, flinging flour around. Even Bode was a bit confused but that didn't stop him from following me around and having a taste or two. At one point he was licking my pants. I wonder why?

Here's the deal. We once had a pretty back yard. Some of it is still pretty but other parts, not so much.

We've got an ant problem. I have tried and tried and tried to convince those ants to practice birth control and to maintain a private area for their own living situation.  They have ignored my pleas. I don't really want to hurt them but I have come to the conclusion I am going to have to be mean.

In an effort to avoid pesticides, I am trying some natural remedies. I tried a little cornmeal already. Maybe I didn't use enough? I don't know. This time, I used a LOT of flour, both white and whole wheat. I'll let you know if it works. In the meantime, do any of you have natural solutions that worked for you?

For once I am hoping it doesn't rain tonight. Flour and water makes paste, doesn't it? Uh Oh!

Floating

The charge nurse told me she wanted me to float today. It turns out she didn't mean what I had hoped she meant.

The Kind Pink Monster

We attended a little art festival in our community yesterday. Our son-in-law, Eric, is the curator for the art museum that sponsored the festival. I am certain he will be tired when the event is over but he has done a great job and the week-end event is going very well.

Our granddaughter, Cordelia, was excited to have her face painted. We stood in line for quite some time before her turn came. I spoke with her about what she might want painted on her face. Would she like a butterfly? How about hearts? Nope. She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to have her face painted as a pink monster!

As Cordelia sat down in the chair for her turn, the artist excused herself to run to the restroom. As we waited, Cordelia ask me, "Will my face be a pink monster forever?" She didn't seem too worried about it, just curious. I guess she was ok with it if it was a forever paint job.

Cordelia was really interested in the artistic process.

She sat still quite well for a 3 yr. old.

Elise may have been a bit concerned about the situation.

The result was adorable!

Although Cordy noted that Grandpa was scared of her 

as a pink monster, she assured me that she was a 

KIND pink monster. That was a relief!

Esther's Heavenly Dipped Strawberries

You are going to love me for this!

I don't very often post about recipes but when I do, it is because I've found something too good to keep to myself. Remember that Hot Fudge Crockpot Cake? There you have it.

This week I remembered something I learned years ago. I can't believe that I hadn't done this in awhile. When we were in our 20's (just a couple of years ago) our little family moved to Issaquah, Washington. Mike was going to college there and  we knew we'd be there for a couple of years.  It was a big adventure but we didn't know anyone in the area.  Not to worry. One of the first things we did was find a church home. That is one of the best places to make new friends!

It was at church that we met an older lady named Esther. Although we felt we were a long, long way from little Turner, Montana, we'd found a piece of home in our new church clear out in the Pacific Northwest. You see, as it turns out, Esther was also from Turner, Montana! She had moved away many years before but we knew her relatives and she knew Mike's relatives. That felt so good! In fact, the "shop" at Mike's family's farm had been an old schoolhouse, moved a few miles to their property when Mike was a little boy. Esther had taught in that little building...or maybe she'd been a student in it, I'm not sure I remember the story exactly but she had some sort of connection to that building. 

Anyway, considering how small Turner is, we had not expected to meet anyone in the Seattle who knew where it was. Esther became a sweet part of our time there. She gave us many gifts and had us over for supper...things like that. This "recipe" comes from one of our meals with her.

OK, are you ready for this?

Wash some pretty red strawberries. Put some sour cream in a nice little bowl (Maria, I bet vegan sour cream would work wonderfully well), along side brown sugar. hold a strawberry by it's leafy top and dip it first into the sour cream and then into the brown sugar. Taste and enjoy!  That's it! That's the recipe to delectable bliss!

On a less than healthy note, I discovered that if you have left-over sour cream and brown sugar in your bowl at the end, you can stir it up together and use it as a dip with potato chips for a wonderful sweet and salty experience. It may not be good for you in any way, but it is yummy!