Hannah's Cake

I'm sort of proud of this one. For her birthday cake Hannah asked for a white cake with three pink flowers with green stems, green grass and a black spotted cow. I had many ideas for getting a cow on her cake but ended up searching out black frosting and free-handing it. It was fun to make, it'll be a shame to eat it...almost, we ate the corners when I was rounding it to fit on the oval platter and it was yummy!

Grandma Jammies

In the mail today we received jammies for all the kiddos from my mom. The kiddos of course all wanted to try them on. Well, I'm not sure Mod wanted to try them on but she needed to wear them to be in the picture.

1993

Today I found my "portfolio" from third grade. I can't believe I saved it but I did and so here for your amusement (and my embarrassment) are a few gems I found. The above picture is an invention I designed and built, with my dad's help, when we were learning about levers and such. (Also notice the great half side ponytail and the very large glasses I'm sporting.) It is a coin flipper. Yes, a coin flipper. You push a lever which knocks a marble off of it's perch which then rolls down a tube hitting a stick that knocks over another stick that lands on a lever thus tossing the coin into the air. Genius, I know. Not very practical to keep in your pocket for those desperate times when you need to flip a coin but still genius.
And here also is a rap that a friend and I wrote for our "The Farside of the Mountain" book report project. I believe it was video-taped and I'm praying that video never makes youtube. Tara C. I'm begging you, burn the tape. This is not the exact get-up I was wearing but I'm assuming it's close. Lyrics are as follows (and I know you want to try and say them out loud for the full effect, go on, do it):
The Farside Rap:
On the Farside of the Mountain
a good book
you should take a look
at the cover
over and under
on the farside
This book is the most
we don't mean to boast
book you ever read
you can say it in your head
on the farside
on the farside
Sam Gribbley is his name
Alice is his sister
and his falcon Frightful who's taken away
and that's the start of his adventurous day
That's all we're gonna tell you
we won't ruin the surprise
we aren't tellin' lies
you should read this book
open take a look
on the farside
CHECK IT OUT
READ IT!

Hannah's Hat

No post for a few days and then two in one day...I've got to work on my timing.
Today was a mostly lazy day and between reading chapters of Little House on the Prairie I knitted. I didn't have the correct weight yarn for the pattern but I decided to use what I had and make it small enough for Hannah. She's always saying I never make her anything and now that I have let's hope she wears it. I like the pattern so it was fun to try it out and I think I may have to get right weight yarn to make one for me.

Mumblings

What to write about? This is the reason that my blogs are so scattered. I'm never quite sure what I want to write about. So here in random order are random things I've been wanting to tell you. (You as in the general form of you and referring to no one in particular but the great anonymous world of blog readers).
* My garden is growing but is plagued with slugs. I set out beer traps the other night and caught 23 slugs. I emptied the jars of their slugs and was hoping the beer would still attract more slugs, but I'm thinking that I need to put new beer in the jars, either that or the slugs took a night off 'cause there were no drowning slugs this morning.
* Hannah turns 5 on Sunday and I'm not sure how I feel about this. Not that I can stop it! It's just weird to have a 5 year old, it seems so much older than 4. I made her a "little house on the prairie" dress with pantaloons and an apron. I haven't yet decided if I made it because she would really like it, or because I really wanted one like it when I was little. She really likes dresses and it's a fight to get her to wear pants so I think I'm on safe ground.
*As much as I really want property someday I realized the other day that I don't want to leave my house I have now. We've been here almost 4 years and I've definitely put down roots. I've been thinking though that I should be focusing on the fact that no matter what this world is not my home and that home is wherever my family is, it's not my stuff or the roof that covers it.
*I've never really thought that much about my age but I've always felt like I'm not old enough to be married for 6 years and have 4 kiddos. But now as I'm approaching 26 I'm suddenly every once in a while noticing how close that is to 30 and I'm feeling old. Not that 26 is old, or even 30, but that I'm not "young" anymore. That probably doesn't make any sense, it's a hard feeling to put into words.
So there you (see definition of "you" above) have it. I must go feed a baby.

Front Porch

This year I've actually started using my front porch. I even knitted a shawl for the intent purpose of wrapping up in it when I sit on my front porch. In the past I've purchased chairs from Cart'M and they've already been in the process of falling apart so they didn't last long on the front porch, outside in the weather. But this time I've been dreaming of a bench, a really cool one with a cushion. So back I went to Cart'M. I found an awesome full-size headboard and built a bench onto it. I finished it today. I even had leftover fabric from the kid's curtains and left over "stuffing" from a chair re-upholstery project. I think the most expensive part was the spray paint. I love spray paint.

Clayton

Last year on June 12th we took our dear son Clayton to a pediatric dermatologist in Portland. At about 4 months of age he got a rash. Turns out it was really bad eczema, more than likely food allergy related. We knew that if we took him to the doctor we would probably be prescribed cortizone and sent home, we really wanted to avoid that and so we tried almost everything else we could think of. I started making our own lotion to put on him so that I would know all the ingredients in it, I made our own laundry soap and washed everything (everything!) in the house in it to find out if it was a topical allergy, as I was still nursing I went on elimination diets and gentle cleanses to see if it was a yeast problem or a food allergy but nothing really helped. He was still red and itchy, especially at night. He wore socks on his hands all of the time to keep him from scratching his skin raw but he still rubbed it raw with the socks on. I went to a Natrupathic Physican to try and get some answers but together we couldn't find anything either. I discovered during all this that I am a comfort eater and I was slowly going mad not being able to eat anything, so we decided to try and wean Clayton to formula, a homemade formula that the NP recommended. Clayton ended up being allergic to many of the ingredients and we weren't sure what to feed him and I was scared of making his rash worse, then he came down with pink eye, strep and thrush all at the same time and really didn't want to eat. We went to a docter then and gave him antibotics. Finally we made an appointment with the Ped. Derm. and went in. He took one look at Clayton and "strongly urged" us to have him admitted to Doernbecher Children's Hospital right away. Clayton was very mal-nourished and showing many signs of edema and protein loss. So we went and ended up spending 5 days there while we tried to get food back in him. He ended up with a feeding tube down his nose and cortizone to keep his eczema down while he regained his weight. When he was born he weighed 9lbs. 2 ozs. and he started gaining weight right away and was a chubby, chubby baby, when we went into DCH he weighed just over 18lbs, this at 10 months of age. After 5 days we came home with all of the equipment to feed him through his feeding tube, the docters expected him to have his feeding tube in for at least a month or until he took all of his food by mouth during the day instead of through a drip all night. He only had his feeding tube in for about a week. Praise the Lord.
Until about 8 months ago Clayton wore arm bands all the time to keep him from scratching, then we started taking them off during the day and only putting them on for naps and bed time. Now he has not worn his arm bands in 6 months.
He still has some food allergies and we're not sure what all of them are but we are slowly introducing food and watching for reactions. He also loves to eat! A lot.
I am still in awe of how good our God is and what he has done. I remember sleepless nights of crying on the floor next to Clayton's bed because I could not help him, or relieve the itch and I didn't know what to do. I am so thankful that I know the God who is a God of healing and who held me even then. I am so blessed. And this year, at this time Clayton is chubby once more. He's full of character and loves to play in the dirt and boss the dog around. If I didn't have the pictures to prove it and the memories I wouldn't believe it was the same boy. Thank you to all that prayed and thank you for your continued prayers, God is good.

Pile O' Rock

My once magnificent pile of rock has slowly dwindled to become:

only this big. This is all that is left but it has created this:
and so much more, pathways and rock walls and flowerbeds but this is all I have pictures of so far.
Erik asked me if I wanted more "exercise" for my birthday and said that he could get me another year's membership, meaning another huge pile of rock or dirt to move. I don't know what I would do with it but it is tempting. Of course, I really like having my driveway back.

Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday Home

Yesterday at Fred Meyer we purchased a tub in hopes that we can contain the duplo blocks. Somehow most of them end up under the couch and at the bottom of the toy box and the rest are left scattered on the floor for the unsuspecting foot (to then be kicked under the couch after said foot has been imprinted with it's rectangular or square shape and design). After our shopping trip we came home and searched out all of the blocks and transferred them to their new home and promptly closed the lid that they may not offend any feet. The stipulation then became that the blocks could not leave their home until other toys were picked up and put away and then when the blocks had lost their fascination they must return to their home. The living room refused to be cleaned yesterday so the blocks remained in their box until this morning, then while Erik and I attempted to sleep in this morning they found their way out of the box and became Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday Home. Architects and Designers as well as Builders: Hannah and Ivan Dante.