Surviving the Heat Wave

We are having record highs here in OR and we are striving to survive it. We have the house all closed up and both air conditions going full blast in a vain effort to keep the house cool. The kids and I were outside by 7:30 this morning watering the garden, feeding the chickens, picking fruit and green beans, and playing in the water:) (it was already in the 80's by the time we came in.


The kids are stripped down to their underwear, which is very convenient since Gavin is still potty training and that my friends is a whole other story. I'll probably tell you all about it later, when it's funny, when we aren't living it out every blessed day:)



Wish us luck!

The Sewing Continues

I've started working on school clothes for Miss Kyla. She prefers dresses so my goal is to make her a couple of dresses for the upcoming year. My first success is refashioned from a shirt that I had purchased for myself a couple of years ago and then never wore. We picked up some contrasting knit at Joanns last week and I whipped up this cute t-shirt dress yesterday as the kids watched a movie in the air conditioned studio:)


She of course had to run around the yard to make sure it was play worthy:) I used one of her dresses that fit her well in the torso as a pattern to follow, tracing it right on the t-shirt. The ruffle idea came from a web site that randomly found and now can't seem to find again:) Kyla and I are both pleased with the end result, on to the next project:)

Garden Bounty

When we left for Indiana back in June, my garden was doing respectably well. Since we've been back, it has exploded!

Check out my cherry tom. plant and those sunflowers! (Kyla is around 44 inches tall and the beds are 12" tall)


We've been enjoying beets and butterleaf lettuce for the last couple of weeks and I was able to pick green beans for dinner this morning! I picked a a couple of handfuls of blueberries and about a cup of blackberries yesterday. How exciting!! Here is our bounty from this morning:) The beets are bigger than my fist!


I have realized that I over planted this year. When we did seeds, it looked so empty so I added more:) Now everything is vying for space. Learning more each time we do it:) Our little chicks are doing well and Big Mama is settling in to her new home. Now we wait patiently for her to start laying again. In about three months our babies will be laying too:)

Cock a doodle Dooooooo

We have chickens! We spent the weekend (in the horrible, mind numbing heat) building a chicken coup and a run for our new family members; Big Mama, Emily, Lily, and Matt. (Kyla picked out the names...I know that you're surprised:) ) We have a mama hen and three chicks. They have mostly feathered out and we are just waiting to see if we have laying hens or strutting roosters, hopefully laying ladies, we want yummy fresh eggs someday.

They came to us from a friend of my mom's via the Bonnell Chicken Transportation Company on Sunday afternoon. The mama hen is very protective of her babies and isn't comfortable just yet with her new digs, comfy as they are.


Chad made the coup and run totally from recycled wood. (Go Green Oregonians Go!)We did have to purchase some new hardware and the chicken wire. We have some cleanup to do and some finish work on the coup but our chickens have a happy home:) The kids were trying to be quiet so Big Mama would let the chicks come out, no such luck at that point.


The poor mama chicken...her chicks climb all over her. From one mom to another, I think she needs some alone time:)

Potty Time!

We have officially started potty training camp here at the Riddle house. We started yesterday and Gavin has been doing fairly well to date. This morning we ran to Walmart and Gavin picked out his own big boy undies. Of course they have cars on them:)


He is quite proud of his big boy underpants and wanted to show them off. Big Sis showed him some model moves, too funny:)


They are a bit on the big side, but they're smallest size that we could find. They stay up and they have cars on them, coolest undies ever according to Gavin. He'll eventually grow into them:)

Summer Days

A couple of days ago while Chad was working on a outdoor project, I turned on the sprinkler to water our fruit plants. The kids were drawn to the water like moths to a flame and continued on to have a grand old time. Something that will be forever etched in my memory; the laughter, the excited screams, and the belly laughs. The pictures do the best job of telling the story.

Presenting ... One Summer Evening

The End

Gabe turns One!

The four of us piled in my parent's truck on Friday and made the drive up to the Tri-Cities for my nephew's first birthday. We had a great weekend full of fun, intense heat, and family.


The kids had a blast playing together, Gabe still is a bit wary around the big kids though:) The boys played on Chad's computer (don't worry, no harm done), they hung out in a box, and they swam in the pool - you know, boy stuff:)


Randi took Kyla for a ride on her horse, Britches. You can only imagine how excited Kyla was:) She even got to help sponge Britches off. She loves everything about horses!


We celebrated Gabe's birthday on Sunday after church with a BBQ and a b-day party. Happy Birthday Gabe!! What a great trip!


Thanks Uncle Josh and Aunt Randi for opening your home to us!

The wedding

One of the main reasons we went to IN was to celebrate my cousin Kyle's wedding. This is on my dad's side and we traveled up to Northwestern IN for a long weekend of fun and celebration. Gavin stole the hearts of most of the males, they snuck him food and dessert faster than I could wipe off his sticky little mouth:) while Kyla danced with anyone who would partner with her. It was a great time to visit with my cousins and with my aunts and uncles. The bride and groom's photographer left right after the reception started to I offered to take pics of the festivities. What a fun time!

The Bride and Groom

Kyla and Grandpa Kevin dancing the night awayThe food bandit in action with cousins Abby and Joe and with my cousin Adam

My cousin Kyle and Abby and Gavin during the money dance
My Grandmother, my Dad and I
My cousin Kelly and Kyla and then Gavin with Kelly and her fiance' Justin

My Uncle Bernie