Crossing Over

Last week there was a milestone in C's life. At the last Cub Scouts meeting of the school year he moved from a Bear to a Webelos - which stands for We'll Be Loyal Scouts. He has had two years in Scouting. Last year he was a Wolf and most recently he was a Bear. He recruited all of the other boys in his den! Webelos goes for two years and then he can move up to being a Boy Scout.

He received eleven belt loops for acheivements!

He has already hung his Bear shirt up on his wall since he will be getting a new Webelos shirt for the fall.Pin It

Aviation Day 2014

This was our family's first visit to Paine Field's Aviation Day which is an annual event. The highlight was watching the war birds flying in. We could see them from such a great vantage spot - by the Historic Flight Foundation. There were lots of good photographers set up on a small hill with their super duper lenses to capture the interesting planes. I didn't get many good photos of planes in flight.

We parked on the west side (by the Historical Flight Foundation) which was a good idea. We quickly found parking and then had a short wait to take a shuttle bus to the east side (Paine Field) which had many more planes on display.

We had to get a photo of J & I by a Canadian plane. C took this next photo.
Yes, I let him use my big camera!

There was a display of radio controlled airplanes.

I thought C looked like King Kong next to the plane. :)

There is a Battle of Britain commemoration day coming up in August and we hope to go and admire the Spitfire planes.Pin It

Gardener's Wreath

My latest completed project is this clay pot wreath.

Supplies needed:
- grapevine wreath. Mine was found at a thrift store so it isn't perfectly round.
- wire. I used 20 gauge, copper coloured.
- wire cutter.
- pots. Lots and lots!Pin It

One Thousand Gifts #408 to #421

408. visits from my father in law
409. seeing two ladies praying in Starbucks
410. listening to a Children's choir on Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday
411. the smell of Easter lilies
412. seeing baby chicks at the feed store

413. my youngest enjoying riding his "new" bike

A reading to us while we were out for dinner at Anthony's.

414. my oldest enjoys reading aloud to us.
415. both grandpas attended the baptisms of my sons
416. my youngest son and my dad enjoying the game "hangman" together

417. my father in law (who is over 80) helped spade our front yard
418. my hubby teaching neighbor boys how to play croquet
419. a godly mother

420. a sunny day for Mother's Day
421. mooching lilacs from a friend since mine didn't have many blooms this year.

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I Couldn't Be More Proud

A very important milestone happened today, both of my boys were baptized on profession of faith, became members of our church, and took communion for the first time. My oldest son was extremely nervous about being in front of the church. He has been anxious about this upcoming event for several months.

Our pastor spoke about the boys' names and the meanings. He also gave them each a verse that relates to their name. For A, he gave 1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

For C, he gave Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Our pastor mentioned the Christian heritage of our boys with their parents and their grandparents. Three generations of believers is something to be very thankful for. Our church does pouring for the method of baptism. My friend Rene graciously took the photographs. She even captured the water as it splashed down from the boys' heads!

We had a portrait taken outside after church.

My father in law is on the left and my father is on the right. My mom was unfortunately missing from this special event.Pin It

Pacific Science Center & Spies

This past weekend we received free passes (through my hubby's work) for our family to visit the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. We brought our neighbour friend along.

In the lobby are all these fun hands-on learning activities such as this mirror optical illusion and one demonstrating the lever principle.

The featured exhibit (for which there is an extra fee to enter) at the Center is "Spy: The Secret World of Espionage." It was very impressive. My hubby and I enjoyed it more than the boys did. It was packed with fascinating historical details. There are 300 artifacts and documents in the exhibit including the actual ice axe that killed Leon Trotsky.

One exhibit that stood out to me was the section about dead drops whereby spies would leave packages containing important information in the most unusual objects. One example was putting information inside of a dead rat! The boys enjoyed going through a laser maze, something I created at C's 7th birthday party using yarn.

One of the artifacts is a letter written on H*tler's stationary by a liberating OSS operative
to his young son. There were lots of fun gadgets such as hiding places for cameras, umbrella guns, etc.

carrier pigeon with a spy camera

Enigma - the original coding machine

I highly recommend this exhibit, especially those, probably middle school age and up, who enjoy history and politics.

My personal favourite area of the Science Center was the butterfly exhibit. I love all the tropical plants and the butterflies flying around.

One landed on my leg.

sorry about the icky dry skin.

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Hydrangea Easter Eggs

Yes, I know that Easter has passed. :) This is another part of my spring mantle. It feels good to finish a project that I had in the works for some time. The original idea came from this blog.

Supplies needed:

- Martha Stewart hydrangea punch - available at Michael's.
- paper in light shades of purple, blue, green, and pink.
- 200 to 300 pearl pins (for 2 eggs)
- styrofoam eggs
- patience

Directions:

1. Punch out lots of flowers.
2. Layer two and push a pin through them.
3. Push them into the eggs. I like the random look.

Pretty simple. I only poked myself twice. :)

I put them on top of some milk glass containers from my collection. I don't think I need to take them down now that Easter has passed. They are pretty subtle.Pin It

Spring Blooms

Time for a garden stroll.

My newest plant is a columbine. My mother in law grew them in her garden. I think they are beautiful.

The tulips are quite nice this year. I'm wishing I added some darker ones to contrast the white ones.

Some tulip close ups.

Bleeding hearts are a sentimental favourite. My mom used to grow them back in the day.

I have several hostas in shady spots. I appreciate foliage more than I used to.
That means I'm a true gardener. :)

Hellebores are a new addition to my garden.
They come in so many different colours and bloom very early in the year. I'm a fan.

Pasque flowers - a perennial that looks like a crocus.

I'm looking forward to May when my peonies will be in bloom and also my lilac trees.Pin It

Good Friday - some thoughts.

Behold the Man by Antonio Ciseri

Today is Good Friday, one of the most misunderstood days of the year. Even my children don't understand it very well and they go to a Christian school. One of them asked me why Jesus rose from the dead. One of the simplest reasons is that if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, He wouldn't be fully God and fully man. Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus' death on the cross which is also known as the Passion of Christ.

The art above depicts Pilate with Jesus and Barabbas. The crowd was given the choice by Pontius Pilate to vote on which man should be freed - the criminal or Jesus, who led a perfect life. The crowd chose Barabbas. This article reminds me that I am Barabbas. I am the one who is guilty and Jesus took my punishment on the cross. He took my place and I am released.

Last night at our church we celebrate the Lord's supper with both a meal (soups and bread) and with communion. Yesterday was Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word for commandment -mandatum. Jesus told his disciples:

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:

 just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (ESV)

Our pastor spoke briefly and reminded us that our faith is lived out in community. We as Christians aren't just in a vertical relationship with God, the horizontal (those around us) relationship with fellow believers is important as well. We have spiritual fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters to love.

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Seniors with a Love for Life

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One Thousand Gifts #401 to #407

401. birthday tea with my husband - an annual tradition

402. my husband teaching my boys to prepare supper - chicken rigatoni, to be precise.

403. unexpected sight of turtles on logs at Green Lake.

404. playing games as a family: Taboo, Bubble Talk.

405. singing with the worship team again. I missed several months due to colds.

406. being able to walk to and from an oil change - mechanic near by.

407. being invited to several houses for dinner or just hanging out. So grateful for friends.Pin It

{this moment}

This was on March 31st, during Spring Break. I love C's creativity.

Later, he posed his "guys" (a stuffed mouse, hamster, and merkat) doing surgery to remove the stake.

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Pink and Green Fabric Garland for Spring

This was NOT one of those quick and easy projects. Far from it! I actually started making this garland a year ago. I did stop for a long time, though. :)

I found the inspiration at Two Shades of Pink - flowers and leaf vine garland.

I made the flowers according to her directions (a year ago!), however, I found them too floppy. I decided to use Heat n Bond to make the fabric two layered and then cut out the petals. This made much sturdier flowers. I also made way more green leaves than in the original.  I don't like to see bare string/ribbon/jute in a banner. I love the fullness of this garland.

Close up view:

Materials needed - if you are crazy enough to make one of these!

• pink fabric - maybe a yard?
• green fabric - two different patterns
• jute 
• Heat n Bond 
• felt for the backs of the flowers
• floral wire
• buttons 
• glue gun.

Here is a view of the entire banner. Click to enlarge.

I think this project may have pushed me over the edge to getting a Silhouette die-cutting machine.
I spent WAY too much time tracing and cutting out fabric!Pin It

Spring Break 2014 Getaway

Picking a spot for a Spring Break getaway is always tricky. We don't want to break the bank, but it's hard to find decent weather without venturing far. This year tried something new, and went just over the mountains to the East to spend a couple of nights at Suncadia resort.

We had good weather for both directions of travel, which made Snoqualmie Pass a non-issue for our minivan. The view from our room was beautiful.

After settling in, we took a shuttle to Swift Water Cellars for lunch, and then scaled Tipple Hill -- a man-made mini-mountain created from the debris pulled out of the coal-mine that stood here long before the resort was put in.

That's A in the red and C in the green. Click to enlarge.

The hill was a stiff 45-degree climb.

The boys did it with ease, J made it to the top, but my fashionable boots were simply insufficient for getting more than half way. The view from even part way up the hill was fantastic.

The boys enjoyed finding real coal and brought some home as souvenirs.

The Swim Center is located a 5-minute walk from the Lodge. It housed a good-sized pool and a hot tub, but the main attraction for the boys was the two water slides: one fast and one slower. The boys spent a long time on them. I tried one but I didn't like the complete darkness.

After dinner we gathered around one of their two fire pits and made s'mores.

The fire was fake so it was hard to toast without embers. Finally we looked at their large selection of board games, and ended up playing Clue and Scrabble. I am just a little too competitive to enjoy losing twice at Clue but I did win at Scrabble.

On the second day we explored the nearby small town of Roslyn - where the 90s TV show Northern Exposure was filmed.

Outside of the museum (closed when we were there) we learned about Roslyn's coal mining history and some of the equipment used.

One interesting statistic is that since the mine closed in 1963, 4/5ths of the coal remains unmined.

I found a couple of antiques at Mountain Mermaid Cafe in Roslyn and the boys enjoyed some baked goods.

In the afternoon J and boys rented bikes for an hour and enjoyed the flat trails all around the property. That was their first time doing that. The boys ended up really enjoying it. Good times. We also spent some time altogether at the very large park.

I liked the mining theme of the play structure.

It provided some inspiration for our backyard tree house. If we came back in the summer we could go horseback riding and/or participate in numerous sports and activities.

The restaurant in the hotel is very pricey so we had several meals at nearby Cle Elum restaurants. On our last night at the hotel, the hotel had an ice cream sundae bar which was complimentary.

One small complaint we had regarding our room was that there was no way to make tea and they didn't even have black tea k-cups for the in-room Keurig.

On our last morning there we walked down the 400 steps from the Lodge to the river and then walked back up. That was quite a workout! I'm still feeling it in my calves.

A spent much of our time reading aloud from Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. J and I continue to be impressed by his amazing intonation.

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