Tiny Handwarmers

These are the tiny hands that were helping me sort through wool for my last blanket.  Olivia's 3 and was wrapping piece after piece around her hands talking about handwarmers.  It's not the right time of year, but she can keep them for fall.

The piece of pink ribbing seemed impossibly small for such a thing, but 3 year old hands are SO tiny, it was perfect.  A little green ribbing for the other end and we were getting there.

I made some tiny flowers and leaves from scraps destined for the scrap ball and stitched them in place.  Sewn into a tube with a thumb slot cut 3/4 inch down the side, they were done.

Here's my phone for size comparison.

They made her a happy girl!

Happy Birthday to me

No pictures, just a few minutes left of my birthday and want to say what a wonderful year this has been.  I have such a great family.
This was the last day of my vacation and it was spent being relatively lazy.  Good.  We went out to dinner.  All in all a very good day.

Graduation at U of O

Last week, we were in Eugene for my nieces graduation.  So proud of her!  It was a perfect Oregon day, no rain and just warm enough to be outside for hours watching the graduation and then moving on to the park for the party.

There was Thai food from a local restaurant that she and her friends love.  It was yummy.  There was also a picnic table full of deserts brought by all.

She looked so cute in her color coordinated sunglasses

My brother and his family.

This is my dad and his wife, he's a U of O graduate.  Growing up, he always told us we could go to any college we wanted, except Oregon State.  He said it in jest, but he really meant it.  Big rivalry here.  My niece gave him her sash after the ceremony.  It was the sash of gratitude, they were supposed to give it to the person they felt the most gratitude toward for their support through college.

It was a long day, Camille fell asleep on the way home.

Rose Festival

Last week we went to Portland's Rose Festival.  We promised the little girls a few rides and elephant ears.  Along the way, we got some fresh squeezed lemonade and cotton candy, too.  The weather was mild all day, so that meant we needed to take some coats for later in the evening when it got chilly.

We missed the fireworks, at the opening 2 weeks earlier, because I had a lousy chest cold and was completely worn out from coughing all day at work.  The rain convinced me that I didn't want to go.  Rain didn't stop me last year.

The warm up ride was a turn on the carousel.  They both liked it a lot.  

Sienna's leery of anything she thinks might be scary.  This was her, "I'm not having fun, but I really am" face.

The next ride was secretly a test to see if she'll have any fun at all at Disneyland next week.  She doesn't know she's going with me and Camille.  I don't think we'll tell her until we get to the airport.  She's a lot like her mother, she'll make herself sick worrying about every tiny detail and drive us crazy with questions.  It'll be my entertainment on the plane, to answer 1000 questions.

She passed the test.  Her first word when it came to a stop was, again!

Hard to get a picture where someone wasn't moving.  I had to settle for this one of the elephant ear eaters.  By now, it was after 9 and the band in the background was quite loud.  The ships were in and the band was all Navy personnel.  They sounded great.

Camille and I went on the Zipper.  Each time I go on it, I think this'll be the year it's no fun any more, but it was still great!

Next year, Fireworks.

Weigh in Wednesday

I haven't been good at all about my diet and exercise.  I only have to crawl, scratch and claw my way back onto the wagon one more time than I blithely leap off.  Is that so hard to do?  I haven't gained any of the 8 pounds back, just haven't lost any of the other 72.  I'm not putting up a picture this week, but I'm going back to the gym today after work and logging back into Weight Watchers.

Camille got her learners permit this last week.  We went driving in a parking lot that day and then around a neighborhood, for a total of 45 minutes.  It made her tired.  :)  She's such a big girl.  I'm beginning to be able to picture her as an adult.

On another front, I've made good progress on my quilting.

Spring Break

Last week, I was lucky enough to have the whole week off with my girls for spring break.  This hasn't happened, ever.  My job involves working weekends and having 2 days off in the middle of the week.  This means that I almost never have days to spend with my kids.  We didn't plan any big vacation, just tried to squeeze in a few things we haven't done in awhile.  On Thursday, we drove from Portland to the coast and went to the Newport Bay Aquarium.  Our group was my youngest daughter, Camille, my oldest daughter, Rachel and her two daughters, Sienna and Olivia.  And me. :)

Rachel, Camille, Sienna and Olivia

Don't the Jelly Fish look like some kind of imaginary creature?

After the aquarium, we went down to the beach.  Sienna hadn't been since 1 1/2 years old, so she didn't remember it.  Olivia had never been.  They were both excited, but couldn't be convinced that it wasn't going to be sunny and hot.  Oregon beaches don't get much warmer in the summer, either.

We were lucky to get about an hour break from the rain.  Just about the time the little girls hands were getting too cold, we started back up the path and felt a few little drops of rain.  It poured the rest of the day.

 Aren't my girls beautiful?

Every picture Camille drew, they had to come over and start digging a stick into it.  She was drawing as fast as she could.  :)

After, we went to Mo's restaurant in Lincoln City for dinner.  They've been there for 56 years and are locally famous.  I'm not a big seafood fan, but I decided to try some of  their grilled salmon and I had the clam chowder to start.  The few times I've had clam chowder in my life, it was gross.  Overly salted, too thick and tasting like old dead fish.  Not a big surprise to a non-fish eater.  But, if they're famous for their chowder, I can try it.  It was great!  Why doesn't it all taste like that?  The salmon was great, too.

We got Dairy Queen cones as we headed home.  All in all, it was a very fine day.

Weigh in Wednesday

I know, it's Thursday.  I worked yesterday and forgot to get to this.

214 pounds, 1 pound lost, 8 so far.  Slow, but going the right direction.  I don't think there's any difference in my pictures, yet.  If I keep losing 1 or 2 pounds each week, there's got to be a point that I can tell it in the pictures.  I'm looking forward to having less belly.

2 nights ago, we had homemade hummus on homemade flatbread.  Even though this little one likes hummus, it took awhile to talk her into trying what came out of the food processor.  Then we had to keep telling her to get her finger out of the bowl.

This is the first time I've made it myself.  Well, I had lots of help.  Her big sister was right with me the whole time.  I wish I'd had the camera out for that.  Next time.  She put most of the ingredients into the processor and ran it.  She added most of the bread ingredients to the mixing bowl and stirred and kneaded the bread.  I was so impressed that a 5 year old could be such a lot of help.  After the bread rested for awhile, I cut it into 8 pieces and rolled out the first bread.  She wanted to try, I thought I'd have a mangled bread to save, but she did it perfectly.  All I did was put the flour on the board and she rolled out all remaining 7 breads.

We ate the flatbread sandwiches with chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, lime, cilantro and spinach.  What a great dinner!

The first day back

I made it through the doors of the gym 2 times so far this week.  It was daunting, just the thought of it.  It was much easier the second time.  It used to feel natural to get in the car to go to the gym.  I'm sure it'll be that way again.
I haven't been very good on my diet this week, feeling a little stressed out over the cold and feeling a little behind at work.  I wasn't horrible, but I'd better be good the rest of the week.
I had 4 days off, great, but nobody put in full days covering my spot while I was gone.  I have a lot of vacation, that'll happen if you stick around 14 years.  Sometimes it's a burden to find a way to use it up.  Getting time off, when there's no one to cover you, makes it hard.
Back to the gym after work again tomorrow, I hope it'll be empty because of the holiday.
We had a birthday party for my oldest daughter yesterday.  I can't believe she's 29, it seems like only a few years ago that she was little enough to give a piggy-back ride to bed.

The beginning- New year, new start

     After many years of starting projects willy-nilly, I think it's time to finish the most important of them and deal with the rest.  There will be pictures of progress and finishes.  I manage to take simple projects and make them bigger and bigger, until I have a hard time getting them done.  My ex bragged to me once, that he didn't have any unfinished projects.  I pointed out to him, that you have to start a project, to have an unfinished one.
     I've also let my weight get out of hand, these last 10 years.  It happened slowly, but surely.  After spending the first 40 years of my life skinny to slender, I was foolish to think I didn't have to diet or exercise to stay that way.  I purchased a 2-year gym membership and will be getting back on a diet this week.  I've decided to take my picture every week this year and I hope I'll have a 52-page fat to skinny flip book by the end of the year.
     I've been a cake decorator for 15 years.  If you have to work for a living, this beats most.  I work for a grocery store chain, so it's not fancy Cake Boss stuff.  I'm going to start taking pictures of the cakes I'm proudest of.

     My family, immediate and extended, is the joy of my life.  Everything really important in my life is tied to them.