We're Off

We are almost packed and ready to go! We leave the house tomorrow @ 6am and will spend all day traveling. Here are a couple of pics to tide everyone over until we get back in July!

The kids at Grandpa Gary's House

The picture was too funny not to share. Everyone needs a picture of swinging behinds:)

Man Oh Man!

Sorry no pictures for you:) Chad woke up on Saturday not feeling "right." By Sunday morning, he was in major pain...Kidney pain. The kids and I hustled to the car (as much as you can hustle @ 5:30 AM) and rushed him to the ER. After some major pain meds and a couple of hours he was ready to be sent home. The kids spent Sunday and most of Monday with their grandparents while I took care of Chad. He finally passed the stone today. What a long and grueling process for him!

You know how our last couple of weeks have been crazy busy with Kyla going to urgent care and then Gavin being sick and then Chad having a kidney stone... Well, as we drove up the his doctor this afternoon for a followup appointment, the car started smoking. Okay, well we know we have a small oil leak, fixing it is on chad's to-do list. Well, we popped the hood and there was fire. Yes Fire! Just little flame, Chad says. Sheeeesh, fire is fire to me! The fire went out by itself and the smoking stopped. We were able to get home safely but I'm not driving that bomb on wheels until its fixed:) Thank goodness we (the kids and I) leave for Indiana on Wednesday:) I'm not sure how much more excitement of this variety I can stand!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

Chad's company had a family night at the Beaver's game on Wednesday. The kids and I met Chad at Nike (where he is assigned presently) and the boarded MAX. The kids had a blast on the train and it made for worry free parking for us.


Once we got to the field, we had dinner with the rest of the SoftSource families and then headed to our seats behind the thirdbase line and the Beaver's dugout. Gavin was constantly calling out for the beaver mascot and "whistling" which consisted of a horrid combination of him screaching and screaming, entertaining to be sure:) He even was taught the first bump from one of chad's co-workers:) Kyla wasn't as impressed with the game. Once we got popcorn, it was a lot more fun for her:)

The Beaver's won and the kids enjoyed the action. It really made we want to get out my old mitt and play some catch:) Oh what fun we had!

Last day of school

Kyla was able to go to her last day of school today (no fever) and participated in all the activities for the ending of kindergarten.

After Kyla got on the bus, Gavin started his day with a nebulizer treatment for his breathing. Who wouldn't want to wake up and inhale weird fumes for 10 minutes first thing in the morning:) He hasn't had a problem in months but this cold seems to be triggering his asthma pretty strongly. Poor boy.

We were invited to the school to help "graduate" the kindergartners. Grandpa K and Grandma L tagged along for the end. What a joyous day! She rolled down the hill, played with Grandpa, sang songs, and ate watermelon:)
Kyla was excited to be there and can't wait for school to start again:)

Thank you Mrs. Imholt for an amazing year!

Summer vacation, here we come!

Ranting Continued

After talking with our 24-hour advice nurse through our insurance and talking with the on-call dr at our Pediatrics office last night, we decided against giving Kyla the medication. We did some research and found that it was NOT the right thing to give her. She woke up pain and fever free this morning but I took her in to her normal dr anyway and he found no ear infection and was surprised (not pleasantly) that she had been prescribed what she had been. It is not generally given to children under 16 unless its a last resort type of situation.

Now we decide what to do next. We feel like we need to let others know that the dr that we saw made a choice that was not in the best interest of his patient. I want to make sure another mom out there doesn't get duped by this dr. Maybe he shouldn't be practicing medicine...I'm just not sure where to go from here. I think we'll start off with a letter to the Immediate care facility and attempt to get a refund for poor and inappropriate care.

At this point, I do not recommend McMinnville's Immediate Care:)

Venting in progress!!!

What a day! Kyla has had a fever continuously since thursday afternoon and started complaining of ear pain @ 20 minutes till 5 today. Our normal dr was about done for the day so we took her to urgent care. Let me rephrase that, I took her, plus my monkey-like son during dinner time to urgent care. I packed snacks, but forgot most of it on the kitchen counter...Yeah, good move I know. Once we get all checked in, they check her temp via her armpit and it reads really low, 96 degrees low (She was hot to the touch) and the didn't double check the reading. The dr finally comes in after Gavin has attempted to climb on everything and kyla is curled up in the fetal position trying to fit her entire body in my lap while whimpering with pain. The dr does a quick check, gagging Kyla in the process that leads to a waterfall of tears, and then is out the door. We get the prescription and I met Chad in front of Riteaid and ran in. They didn't have the medication...It's not one they carry in stock. What? They were kind enough to call around town and find a place that had it. I should have known something was up. We ended up going to Walgreens to get the prescription and after a minimal wait they ask me for $45. Yes, that's right, $45 for an ear infection. After I watched the dr mix the meds in front of me, he told me that this is some super antibiotic that will wipe everything out of her poor system. It's a very broad spectrum type used generally when the dr can't figure out whats wrong. SHE HAS AN EAR INFECTION! I was kind, I was patient,(actually I was pretty proud of myself) and then I was flabbergasted when the pharmacist said that this medication is rarely given to children. Nothing...that was my response. So, now we have a super antibiotic that I need to give to my daughter, oh wait, we had dairy with dinner so we have to wait four hours and then give it to her. I have a call into our advice nurse to see if this is even safe for Kyla. How crazy is that? I have to double check the dr??

On our way home we realized that not only did we totally get hosed by the dr but Chad had left his car in the parking lot of Riteaid. ARggghghghgh.

We got home and I took the kids upstairs to prep them for bed when I noticed an open glue stick on the foot board of the bed. Gavin had a difficult time falling asleep during nap time today and I guess I didn't hear him on the monitor when he snuck out of his room and globbed glue all over my bed frame! I mean, come on, really?!? A glue stick? Was there nothing else to play with in the entire upstairs?

So, I'm sitting here waiting for the nurse to call me back in hopes of preventing my kid to be poisoned by this wonder drug. I'm going to knock on wood and whisper, Thank God the kids are in bed for the night! Now I have to go and set my alarm so that it goes off every four hours so that I can drug up Kyla with Tylenol before her ear pain causes her to become a blob of misery.

Thank you and Goodnight!

Hmmmm, Strawberries

Well, I've always thought of our strawberry plants as yummy snacking material. Not any more! I went out to pick some for lunch and found that the bed was full of beautiful, ripe fruit. I picked and picked and then sent Chad out to pick more and prepped the bounty of fruit to make jam.

I was able to make THREE batches of super sweet freezer jam! There are enough strawberries close to ripe that we'll be able to get probably three more batches if not more next week! I never thought we could be self sufficient when we bought those two lone strawberry plants. Wow!

We've had a busy day today. Kyla has had a low grade fever since Thursday so she took is pretty easy. Gavin and Chad mowed on the tractor, Gavin even got to drive it all by himself!! (going snail speed of course)

The kiddos got hair cuts at the world famous Riddle salon and now are looking all smooth and stylish for our trip to IN:) I actually made a salon cape for them to wear out of an old table clothe. How fancy is that:) I'm off to do more sewing, turning random material into gifts before we head to out of town. Fun, Fun!

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Chad's 33rd b-day yesterday evening with a dinner at Antonio's and family. The "parents" came and we all had dinner and then headed back to our house for homemade chocolate cake. We are still diligently working to get his cholesterol levels down so the cake was made with whole wheat flour. I must say, it was pretty darn good:) I think it may have been my first cake from scratch and I was pretty impressed with it:) Kyla did all the colorful cake decorating, what a great eye for color she has:)

Happy Birthday Chad!

Birthday Girl?

Kyla's class celebrated her birthday (it's actually in August) today @ school. Here is what she climbed off the bus with:)


If you look closely, you'll see her outline, a list of things her friends like about her, and each classmates signature.

My little helper

As I was making Chad's birthday cake (From scratch!) this morning, Gavin asked if he could help me. He's very "helpful" right now. I asked if he'd like to help get the dry clothes out of the dryer. He was super excited! I should have known what was to come, a normal person just doesn't get that excited to empty a dryer:)

I heard some weird banging sounds behind me...

and there is my boy, IN the dryer! Well, the clothes were nicely put in the laundry basket. What more could a happy mom ask for:)

A Fishing we will go

We started our day with the Lee cousins joining us while we watched the Grand Floral Parade on our new TV. It's gigantic! (well at least for us it is) The kids had home made kettle corn as they feasted their eyes on all the floats, marching bands, and dancers.

Then we were off to Rainbow Lake at Metsker Park for an afternoon of fishing. This weekend it is "Fish for Free" in Oregon, no need for a license. Unfortunately, we didn't plan all that well and the kids were able to fish for only 30 minutes. The lake was opened just for this event, it's stocked and open just for small events. We were not successful in catching any fish but the kids were able to get a taste of the whole fishing thing. Kyla is interested in borrowing the pole once again and trying it out when we have more time. A fisherwoman she wants to be:)

Just some Ramblings

I've had an idea tumbling about in my head for a while and decided to put it out for you all contemplate yourselves.

Do you barter? Do you have skills to barter? It's an "old fashioned" idea to be sure, but it really makes sense! Our economy is giving a large percentage of the American population a wake up call, for some, it's a gentle one, for others, it can be a devastating life change. I know that for us, even with no income loss at this time, we are being more careful with our money and making better choices in our purchases.

I was taught as a girl how to cook, can, sew, grow, and so on. I have just recently taken those teachings to heart and it has helped my little family immensely. I think these skills are something to be proud of and to share. What do you know how to do? Are you a wiz in the kitchen? Do you have a green thumb? Can you sew on a button? You don't have to be Martha Stewart to share your skills! I've jumped back into sewing and I've made or thrifted (or hand-me downs) ALL of my family's summer wear. Hows that for saving $$! I must admit that there is one top for myself that I'm on the third attempt at (still doesn't fit quite right):)

Sorry, got a bit off track there:) Would you be interested in some type of barter system? We, as a strong community of amazing people, have a great network to get a bartering system up and running. It doesn't have to be fancy by any means, it just has to help us be more economically aware, more friendly to the environment, and kind to our wallets.

Here is what I'm thinking...What about posting a list of your barterable skills, products, etc on our blogs (We all have them:) or in a monthly email to friends?

Here are some examples that I have come up with that Chad and I have to barter...

-We have a garden that will be giving us more tomatoes (and maybe lettuce) then we'll be able to eat in the next couple of months, would anyone like some tomatoes? We also have apples, black berries, and figs.
-I know how to make and can jams, do you want to provide the strawberries and some jars and I'll show you how or do it for you?
-I can sew. Don't throw out those clothes that don't fit right or that need a small repair, lets talk:) Or maybe do you want to learn?
-My husband is a wiz with computers
-I do photography, need a sitting?:)
-I play piano, anyone want to learn?

This that I would love to barter for...
-landscaping help
-material for sewing
-childcare
-a haircut for myself
-a massage:)
-fruit to can with
-a heart healthy dinner brought to my home:)

That's just a quick list. I challenge you to sit for just a minute and come up with a couple of things that you yourself can do, is there anything barterable? My s-n-l bakes amazing bread weekly and barters with a couple for farm fresh milk and eggs. I have a friend who makes amazing cheeses (Sounds kind of scary doesn't it:) ) and uses that to barter with. I have another friend who tutors another family's children for car repair work. Another friend made a beautiful quilt as her down payment for her car! A woman I know loves to do landscaping but doesn't have room for a garden, she gets to do what she enjoys and the family lets her share the bounty of their garden. The list goes on and on. The possibilities are endless!

Are you interested? This is not an attempt at getting anyone roped into a business or a commitment, just an idea that can benefit us all. Let me know what you think!

I am crafty, Oh so Crafty:)

I've been a mad woman since I've gotten my new sewing machine, mad about sewing that is. My new machine sews like a dream and can handle anything it seems! Here are some of my latest projects.

The first is a refashion project. I was given these bags from my M-I-L, she had no need for them and thought that I could do something with them. I used some left over felt and fleece to make a square "patch" with their initial. I was a tad bit concerned about using my still sparkling new machine to sew the plastic like material of the bag so I hand stitched the patches to the pockets. The kids love them and now they have dedicated bags to take for overnight trips.

The second is a skirt for Kyla. I have a large tub full of scraps, the lonely leftovers from projects that I have done since Chad and I have been married. I saw a similar idea on some random website and decided to dig through my stash. Low and behold, I had enough to make a super cute skirt for my skirt-lovin' girl:) The pieces come from her first baby blanket I made her, the curtains in the kids room now, two aprons I made for my nieces, and a blanket I made for a friend's baby. I was able to do some lovely top stitching on all the vertical seems and finished it off with a ribbon hem that I learned from Jo. All in all, I love how it turned out and Kyla won't take it off:)

And lastly is an apron that I made for my cousin's little girl. We are heading to IN this month and I like to take gifts with us for our hosts. The material I had in my stash wasn't very girly so I decided to attempt ruffles. I even did some decorative stitching on the pocket and her name on the neck strap. Gotta love a machine that does letters:)