beach trip

Eleanor is going to a day camp in the mornings this week, conveniently during the hours that Sam takes his morning nap. So I have been free as a bird for the past few mornings! The first day I ran around starting half a dozen things at once, I didn't know what to do with myself. Today I thought I'd have time for a quick post about our fun Memorial Day day trip.

We kind of thought the coast was a little too far away for a convenient day trip - 2.5 hours each way just seemed a bit too long. But then we realized that anything fun is about that far away from us - the coast, the redwoods, Crater Lake - so we decided we should try it out and see how bad it really is. It turned out to be very doable. Sam did cry a large chunk of each direction, but he can only get better as he gets older, right?

We went to Brookings and hit the major beach there, Harris Beach State Park. Sunnier and warmer and sandier and less windy than the northen Oregon beaches. Not as many tidepools and shells, though. The kids had a great time splashing in the water, digging in the sand, climbing rocks, and flying kites. And Sam ate fistfuls of sand and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

I was excited to see how manageable the trip was and look forward to checking out more of the area's beaches this summer. Here's a million pictures of our lovely day at the beach (this is for you, Grandmas and Grandpas!):

I need to whisper something in your mouth

I have more pressing matters to post about, but instead I will post this:



Is it just me or do you think President Obama is making a move? The tilting head, the staring at the lips...I just don't know what to think!

(And since I'm sure you are all on pins and needles, we did indeed get Eleanor her silver flip flops on Saturday. We are now all outfitted with a snazzy pair of $1 sandals. Phew! Now you can breathe easy.)

the woes of being a cheap mom

We had a blah morning around here. I felt like I was running in circles, but getting nothing accomplished. So in an effort to shake off the ennui, I took Eleanor to Old Navy to buy her long-desired flip flops.

It only took a few moments of deliberating - silver or pink sea horses? - before she chose a pair and was clutching them happily to her chest. Minutes later, however, a helpful shopper told me that all the flip flops would be on sale tomorrow for $1. Have you met me?! Oh, the things I will do to save $1.50! (Well, actually $3 since I was buying some for Eve... maybe more since I wanted a pair, too...come on, validate me! I'm not a terrible person!) So I left the store a few minutes later with a tearful Eleanor and a firm resolve to get there at 8:55 tomorrow morning so I can be first in line.

So Old Navy Gods, if you can hear me, please make sure that there is one pair of silver flip flops in a size 8/9 tomorrow morning. I can't bear to break Eleanor's heart twice! Also, on a side note, could you please do something about those mannequin ads? I'm sure you think they are zany and adorable, but really they are lame and not funny at all. And kind of creepy. Thanks! xoxo, Gwyn.

planting day

Saturday was nearly 100 degrees, so we of course decided it was a perfect day to spend sweating outside and putting in our vegetable garden. How are the children going to learn the value of a hard work if we wait to do it on a cool, breezy day? We have been intending to do this for weeks, so next year I will know better and start earlier so we don't spend the day expiring from heat exhaustion! But all for a good cause: fresh homegrown tomatoes. And hopefully a few other veggies to go with them.

One of the reasons that we liked this house was because it had a nice, biggish garden box already built in the backyard. And last year, with me being impossibly pregnant, and then me being impossibly tired and infant-laden, we just ignored it completely. But not this year! I sprayed the box with weed killer a month ago to wipe out the jungle of weeds that erupted in the spring (hey, hopefully that means it's good soil.) Once everything died, me and my trusty shovel spent a few hours tilling it all under and adding some manure and topsoil.

We may be suffering slightly from first-year-vegetable-gardeners syndrome. Meaning, we wanted to plant everything! Here is our ambitious list of veggies (and one fruit):

• lettuce (two types: green leaf and a mesclun mix)
• corn
• bush beans
• bush cucumbers
• watermelon
• peas
• tomatoes (um... 13 all together. Cherry, Big Boy, and a variety a friend gave me called Bloody Baron. Like in Harry Potter! We actually want to put in a few more, but we're trying to track down some yellow cherry tomato plants.)
• carrots
• basil

Now that I've admitted this publicly, I will also have to publicly admit my failure if it doesn't work out. So let's hope these babies grow!

We were all too busy sweating to take a lot of pictures, but here are some of the girls the evening before, when it was much cooler. They are very energetically spreading manure - or cow poop, as they like to call it.

Here is how Sam spent much of planting day, which was extremely helpful. Way to go, Sammy!

The final result:

Hopefully it will look a bit more green in a few weeks.

make this: raspberry truffle fudge brownies

For the past month, I have been having a total love affair with these brownies. I have made them four times since my sister-in-law was here and I could happily make (and eat) another batch today. To be fair, one of those batches shouldn't even count. I made it for my sister's baby blessing luncheon and I only got to eat one. One! What gives? I should have eaten fewer baby carrots and more brownies. But I digress.

So for Mother's Day, I always like to go on a picnic to the park, eat the chips that I like eat for once, and watch the kids play in the golden spring dusk. What dessert could possibly complete this vision of perfection? Hmmmm...let me think. But I was too embarassed to confess to Jared that I wanted to make the peanut butter brownies again, so I found a variation that turned out quite nice. I kept the brownie and the ganache the same because why mess with success, so here's the recipe for the filling. It's for a 9x9 pan, so you'll need a half batch of the original recipe. It would probably double easily, but you will definitely need some friends to share them with. They are rich.


Raspberry Truffle Filling

1 c. semi-sweet real chocolate morsels
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. seedless red raspberry preserves

Melt chocolate morsels in heavy saucepan, over low heat. Set aside in small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and raspberry preserves, beat until fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate, mixing until well blended. Spread over top of brownies. Chill until firm. Spread ganache and chill until ready to serve.

Sadly, I have no pictures of these delectable treats. They have all been consumed, several by the missionaries we had over for dinner last night. You will simply have to take my word for it, but I promise you that you will not be disappointed!

art in bloom

Last Saturday, we hit the annual Art In Bloom festival in downtown Medford. It's a fun little festival the city puts together every year to showcase local artists and performers and plant nurseries. While I didn't find the perfect piece to take home, it was still a lot of fun to see our community's artists and to enjoy all the fun activities. The selection was very typically Oregon: earth-goddessy jewelry (beads, unicorns, fairies, etc.), picturesque watercolors, and a lot of wildlife photography. We did see some live ice sculpting that mesmerized the girls and there were some really cool little wooden toys. I was very tempted by the wooden propeller plane! Sam may need one. And there were some fun clocks (though the ones he was selling at the festival were cooler than the ones on line.)

Making Mother's Day cards

There is also an art form unique to this area called smudge pot painting. Smudge pots are deisel heaters that were used years ago to keep the fruit trees from freezing in winter. When you drive past the pear orchards around here, you can see these abandoned, rusty pieces of metal laying by the road or tossed in a forgotten corner. Artists reclaim these old smudge pots and then paint or sculpt them into pieces of art. Some were hokey, but some were pretty cool, like the giant kaleidescope smudge pot. Sadly, we were juggling snow cones and tired kids by this point in the festival and I neglected to get any pictures. Maybe next year! Here's one, thanks to the internets:

Hola, smudge pots!

The snow cones that captured our attention instead of the smudge pots.

The kids loved the children's activities: Mother's Day cards, giant canvases to paint on, the ubiquitous face painting, marigold planting. I'm looking forward to going again next year. The kids will all be a year older, so maybe I'll be able to steal a little more time to look at the booths and hopefully bring something home. But not so much the crystal unicorns.

Eve at the communal canvas

I love the look on Sam's face. I think he was very happy to be freed from the carrier.

moms love shrinky dinks!

I had a perfectly lovely Mother's Day yesterday, complete with sleeping in, cinnamon rolls, and not having to be responsible for anything at church. It was great! One of my favorite things about the day was the sweet shrinky dink necklaces that my girls had made for me in Primary last week. I was out of town last Sunday and Jared had helped them hide them, so I was totally surprised. I thought it was a really cute and unique idea. The kids color them during sharing time, someone bakes them in the church ovens during singing time, and - ta da! - you have necklaces by the end of church.

I wore both necklaces, of course, and was delighted to see every mom at church was wearing theirs, as well. One of my friends has nine children and she had on every single necklace! It made me smile.

happy mother's day

I love you, Mom! I wish I could be there to give you a real hug, but you can't FTD those to Korea.

And I apologize about the picture, but the costuming seemed appropriate. :)

home again

I know this is a little delayed, but not only has it been a busy week since I got home, but I also managed to delete this entire post with one key stroke when I originally typed it on Thursday! Not a good day, I'm telling you. So I'll try it again.

So, my flight home went well. Sam was good, but not nearly as good as he had been on the way over. He had woken up that morning with dried boogers all over his face, which is never a good sign. So I'm sure he was coming down with something and just not feeling well. (Let me take this moment to apologize to my brother and my sister's families whose children spent a great deal of time with Sam last week. I hope your kids aren't sick!) Mostly, he was just tired and refused to be entertained for more than three minutes at a time. And to show he was done with my meager efforts to amuse him, he would launch himself wildly on to the passenger next to me. Not surprisingly, I didn't get her name this time.

The last 15 minutes of the flight were the worst. By this time, Sam had decided he was totally done with air travel and started to complain. As we were descending, he started this panicked, hysterical laughing that didn't let up until we pulled up to the gate. It was very loud, but at least sort of funny. Well, at least for the first few minutes. We were both pretty glad to get off the plane.

I have to say, though, that the trip surprised me. I honestly didn't think that traveling with an baby could possibly resemble a vacation. I had pictured my arms aching from having held Sam all day every day because there was no one to trade off with. I had pictured getting up at night to coax my unpredictable sleeper back to bed, hoping that he wouldn't wake up the rest of the house. I had thought there would be no time for fun with Sam around, but I was so wrong. My trip was so much fun and such a needed break.

First of all, Sam was his usual affable, cheerful little self the whole time. The new places and faces and busy schedule didn't phase him at all. He especially loved being around his cousins. He slept great at night and took naps wherever we were, something that still eludes him here at home. And after he went to bed at night, there was time for relaxing and talking and Cafe Rio. I even got to see a movie one night! In the theater!

But the other reason why this trip was so great was that I really fell in love with my Sam all over again. He so rarely spends one-on-one time with me, it was just so wonderful to rediscover my sweet little guy and enjoy his budding personality. Just the little things were so nice, like being able to nurse him quietly in the morning and then read stories together afterward, instead of trying to feed him in the hustle of our usual school day mornings. I had no idea that I needed this quiet time with my little guy, but I really did. And I think he did, too.

When I got back home, I already had several voicemails and emails about YW stuff waiting for me. My girls - bless their hearts, I was so happy to see them - asked me what was for dinner within an hour of my arriving home. In no time at all, I was back in the saddle again. And it's good to be back. But I'm glad I could take this little honeymoon with Sammy.

having fun in utah

Just wanted to check in and say that we survived our flight over! Sam totally proved me wrong and behaved like some seasoned traveler. He kicked back, enjoyed his complimentary beverage, chatted up the fellow passengers. And then he pummeled the fellow passengers with his feet (those are tiny seats to nurse in!) but the nice lady didn't seem to mind. Thanks, Eileen!

We've been having so much fun visiting with family. My brother and his wife are such great hosts - they put snacks in the guest room! - and have been spoiling me rotten with all sorts of fun things to do. Sam and his cousin E. have been pretty cute together. It's also been great to spend time with my sister and meet her darling new baby. It has been really nice to spend some one-on-one time with her without all my kids clamoring around. (But I miss you guys! Hope everything is going great at home, Jared - you are a trooper.)

I have one more fun day to spend in Utah before heading back home. Hope the plane trip home goes as well as the trip over!