Day 306 (Halloween)

A few pictures from Reformation Day celebrations at church. 

Also, today consisted of going to the dentist for an infected gum. Ouch.

Which means I'll be getting two of my wisdom teeth out in November. Double ouch.

Also, as a side note clove oil swished with water makes an amazing oral pain killer. It doesn't necessarily last long, as in you may find yourself swishing it around frequently. But it touches the pain unlike over the counter pills.

Also, worked on putting away all the lovely Penzey spices we bought the other day.

For Halloween/Reformation Day, this was one of the few times at our church were we didn't stick to a Reformation era theme. Jacob was Harry Potter. Daniel wanted to wear fatigues but apparently we'd gotten rid of them, so he went as himself. Andy left his costume at work, so he had to go as himself. Scott was the axeman and Juli was Robin Hood. And I wanted to be a cowgirl. But at the last minute I couldn't find my flannel shirt. So I had a mini tantrum and then put on a hipster outfit. Which I got way too many compliments on and now I'm torn as to whether I should embrace more hipsterishness in my wardrobe. I like the hipsters I know and enjoy their style, but I tend to lean more towards "classic" with a few modern pieces thrown in.

Day 305

A mural at the local Stillhouse where Sara and I enjoyed drinks together in the evening. No, I don't have a multi personality disorder. She and I spell our name the same way. One of many signs that she has impeccable taste. She got something grapefruity/citrusy and I got a Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey. Which was amazing. 

At lunch time, we hosted two business colleagues of Dad's who flew up from LA. 

And then left for piano and errands.

Day 293

1. Attempting to take pictures of the valley on our way home

Also, thanks to the rain, instead of spending all day working outside, we went swimming, church pant shopping and bought more plants for the grand flower bed project. 

Day 292

1. Saying Good Morning to Bessie Dearest. Every few days I feel that I notice an improvement in her tameness. Who knew that watching John Lyon's horse training videos years ago could come in so handy?

2. While the parentals are on vacation, we are too, ie, I don't feel like homeschooling. So we are doing outdoor school, ie gardening. We have very long flower bed that is in dire need of improvement and we have a load of plants waiting to go in. This afternoon, we got the non-yellow jacket infested section completed. Tonight's mission? Take out the yellow jacket nest that Jacob unknowingly dug into this morning. Ouch. Poor guy.

Day 291

1. Jacob and I spending time with Juli, Scott's fiance* 

2. One of Jacob's and mine fun finds at the mall today. 

Seemed like a fitting t-shirt for these boys. Andrew was jealous.
Also, missing Mom and Dad as they flew down to California for Grandma's birthday. 
Happy Birthday Grandma!

*this being an important event that happened during my blogging absence. I realized yesterday that embarrassingly I hadn't put anything on here yet. I couldn't find my phone to take pictures and now I need to get them off of Mom's phone. A post will be coming!

Day 288

1. Taken while on our way to church... it's near our house and you can walk out to the trees and overlook the valley. 

2. The Oregon City Bridge re-opened finally! They had a three day festival celebrating and some of us went over after church and walked across the bridge. 

Day 290

1. The piggies enjoying their new home for the winter. They'll have access to different parts of pasture that need renovating from the barn. I'm not sure why I chose to move them at night. We ended with a truce. I used folding tables to block of the entrance to the yard and they agreed  not to go under the fence until the morning.

2. I've finally found a way that I like oatmeal. We eat oatmeal quite a bit here now that we do more family breakfasts, but, I would say it is about my least favorite thing to eat. I've never liked smooshy or bland things. However, I digress, my favorite way to eat oatmeal is with a dried fruit, a nut, and coconut. Above is pictured cranberry, raisins, walnuts and almonds. It was delish.

Day 289

1. Honing my tractor skills

2. Several doctor appts later, we found our way into a Boulangerie.

Day 279

Besides a successful morning homeschooling, today's main accomplishment was organizing the family life. A new 3 x 4 whiteboard now contains project boxes for everyone in the family, a chore list, menu/chef list, a bible verse, morning routine lists, basic rules, a prayer request box plus a few miscellaneous other boxes. The smaller 2 x 3 whiteboard that used to contain only the project boxes has been  upgraded to hold shopping and errand lists, which was previously on the 18" by 24" whiteboard, which will now hopefully be used to organize everyone's schedule. 

I'm sure my life will be perfect once this project is complete.

Day 278

Taken on a walk in North Portland with Jacob and little Sam. 

I love the blue morning glories!

Later in the evening, Kate & Scott M. came over for dinner and dessert. Served a lamb ragu with polenta for dinner and enjoyed showing them the documentary Hope Restored.

Day 277

Two of my most used everyday items, my Bog Boots and Goatskin gloves. The first picture shows them in all they're glory. The second picture is an action shot. Here I'm waiting for Bessie Dearest to relax, and Misty took advantage of my inaction to climb upon my lap and get petted.

Day 276

After piano, Jacob and I went to the feed mill to get some straw bales for Bessy Dearest. I asked for five so they had me drive behind the mill, thus the perfectly blurry photo of the back of the mill and the drive-by-tilt of the original farm house.

I also finally updated my About page after realizing it's been a couple of days...