Pardon the Absence!!

Hey, all!

Wow, what an awesome week it has been!
As you may recall from my last entry, my mom had just spent her first day with us -- and everyday was such a whirlwind of fun and activity, that I found absolutely no time to blog!
We even took an impromptu trip down to San Jose...and I didn't even bring my computer! So yes, excuses abound~

It's now close to midnight, so no real post today.
Don't worry, though! I will be back again soon (tomorrow?) to bring you up to speed on all that we have been doing here at Chateau Dashiell.

Until then, take care and g'night!!

First Day with Aba! :)

Hey all!

So my mom is in town with us now and what a week we have ahead of us!
It's already started off so grandly~

Due to delays and whatnot, she was finally in our home at 2:30am Tuesday morning (ouch), but that didn't stop her from waking up with the kids and being her usual energized and bubbly self all day long until finally crashing out at 10pm -- woo, that woman is amazing!

Ella Rose was immediately excited to wake Aba (short for "Abuelita") up in bed, where she got to receive some select souvenirs from her trip to London last month. She now has a lovely mermaid lightswitch cover and nifty pencil case with accessories. :) Even little William was more than happy to jump into her arms and even give her one of his signature "kisses" (open mouth plant on the nose). I'm so happy he's taken by her so easily~ :)

After lounging in bed all together while we talked London and whatnot, we had a nice, leisurely breakfast and then Aba and Ella Rose started painting this nifty little wooden doll house that they'll then be constructing. Goooo DIY!! :D I walked William to sleep and then got some work done -- I have a book due on Friday but I think I'll be A-OK getting that done in time.

After William awoke, I figured it'd be the perfect time to catch a flick with Dash, so we left the kiddos with Aba and watched...World War Z!! I'm going to be honest with you, though: loved the book, could've done without the movie. If not for a couple of scenes, I would have felt completely robbed of those two hours. Either way!! It was nice to be away and know the kids were in safe hands.

When we came back, we were thrilled to learn that they'd been out and about at the local park...had fed some ducks...ate lunch themselves...hit up the thriftshop for shoes...and overall had a great time.

Apparently William found this car and wouldn't get out of it for 45 minutes!

Reunited with his mama, William promptly got a second nap (so rare these days!) and then we had a delicious dinner of tortilla española and salad, and then berries on ice cream! Yum!!

It's good to have my mom here with us. She's so positive and eternally patient and great with the kids. Ella even declared "I like Aba more than anybody else in the world!"

So yeah, it's gonna be a good visit, I'm sure :)

Until next time, I hope you are all looking forward to a good week and here's to more Happy Days with Aba!!

Camper Cushions...Complete!

Hey all!

You may recall my blog post from way back in January, about me commencing this DIY camper cushion endeavor...
Well, I'm happy to report that yesterday (a whopping 6 months later!) I finished the last cushion and now our camper has a brand new set of beautiful and comfy cushions for the rear dining/sleeping area!! :)

God, this photo doesn't do it justice!

It really only took as long as it did because of motivation issues. I mean, really, knowing that we wouldn't be taking the camper out for any winter/early-spring trips meant that I was in no hurry to get them done by any particular date.
But! My mom is coming into town tonight (!) and I wanted to have the camper looking good and dandy for her arrival. Not that we are necessarily planning to go anywhere in it while she's here...but who knows! Maybe we will get a wild idea and take a trip somewhere :)
She is the adaptable type so I don't think she'd mind the cramped quarters and outdoorsy activities.

Look forward to more interior shots when we start taking our camper out and about this summer!
Until then, take care and Happy Camper Cushions...Complete!!

Gosh Darn Good Weekend

Howdy, howdy!

So I just gotta share with you all the awesomeness that this weekend has entailed~
Firstly, Daddy rejoined us from his trip to Florida on Thursday -- not to say that the days while he was away weren't awesome too (zoo, garden, dumpster diving, raspberries, etc) -- but it's good to have him back again. :)

Then, on Friday, we started off the day with french toast, had a park playdate with other Peachies, attended a Hawaiian-themed "birthday" party for a local adult care center, and then...watched Ella in her second-ever public performance:

It was at the Pioneer Picnic in Brownsville and was a part of the Cascade Performing Arts Center again.
This time, only two of the five original girls turned out for the performance (Ella Rose and Athena...ages 4 and 7 respectively), but I think they carried it off well enough anyway :)

At home, I passed out early with a very tired child, and didn't even really have dinner -- oops!

On Saturday, I went to the farmer's market to meet a prospective Japanese pupil (woo-hoo!), bought a replacement mirror for one that broke during the Clothing Swap, and then generally laid low at home while Dash took the kids out and about so I could do some tasks. We took a family walk to the high school playground for a while and then had Family Movie Night (one day late) while we munched on delicious Dashiell Pizza -- yum! Then I went out real late to attend a Full Moon Fire gathering at a friend's house. It was cloudy so we couldn't see the moon, but I was still happy to enjoy the fire with cool local peeps.

Sunday (today), I was exhausted since I went to bed at 2:30 a.m. (ouch!) so rather then attend church, I attended "slurch" (our new made-up word for "sleeping at church") which was just my intention and exactly what happened. The First Presbyterian Church has this great soundproof room in the second-story balcony for families with small (a.k.a noisy) children. It has a couch and nobody is every in there during the services except for William and I. He wanted milk and I was sleepy, so we nursed and were lulled to sleep by the singing congregation and the pastor's great storytelling voice... Le sigh~~

Following that, it was still sunny so the kids and I enjoyed some romping around the Central Park, but the rest of the day was rainy so it was mostly indoors with chores done, tidying up completed, and things like that.
Oh! And Ella Rose voluntarily did some downsizing to her playroom (a first!) so that felt good. Finally boxed up toys that are too small for both Ella and William (baby-centric teethy toys and such) as well as play shoes/clothes that she's plain outgrown (wow!). The box will be stored in the attic for the next Holiday Toy Swap, or maybe Vina Moses.

And that's just about all there is to say now...
I really don't mind this rain-sun-rain-sun weather -- I just know that garden is eating it up!!
Now to get some "real" work done while I listen to This American Life. Scooooore!

Until next time, take care and Happy Gosh Darn Good Weekends!

Two Wheels~??

Hey all!

Just thought I'd show you this li'l video of what Ella Rose has been up to:

That's right!
Just yesterday, she went from "omigod, mom you have to hold on!" to "look, ma, no hands!" Ha! :D
Granted, she can't mount nor dismount on her own, but for having only ridden on a two-wheeler twice this summer, I'd say she's making good progress!
And when she made that 90 degree turn that surprised me...my hands didn't even touch her! She somehow stayed up! Wow!!

Well, we're going to be doing more of that this summer, as you can imagine.

Anyway! Hope you guys are enjoying the start of summer and until next time take care and Happy Two Wheels!!

Two Books Read!

Howdy all,

I'm happy to announce that I recently finished two books this past week.
One fiction, one nonfiction.

I actually got the large print edition from the library ;)

The fiction title was "World War Z" by Max Brooks.
Just in time for the film coming out tomorrow!!
Kathy originally read this back in early spring, and told me lots about it, but I had to read it myself before I got watch the movie.
I really enjoyed this book, because it was formatted as though there had been a war against zombies and the author was holding interviews with survivors of the experience -- so I didn't have to worry about beloved characters dying or anything. They're all alive to tell the story!
The way that the book is a compilation of at least a dozen or so interviews with people from all walks of life and all regions of the world makes me wonder how they are going to do a film adaptation of it... I've seen exactly one trailer for it that featured Brad Pitt so I guess they're going to turn him into some kind of central main character~? We'll see...
The book was a fascinating account of how the world might react to any major crisis, not just the unlikely zombie scenario. Like how, when it comes to rebuilding society from the ground up, it's not "creative directors" and "stock analysts" we'll need, but masons and farmers -- people with the old skillz who can create what we honestly need to survive (shelter, food, etc).
All in all, a great read~!!

The other title was "Affluenza" by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H Naylor.
I actually started this book back in, what, April? So it's taken me a while to get through it, but very much worth it!
It's based on this PBS special, so that's kind of interesting that it's a book that came after a film. But anyway, it basically breaks down the aspects of the US lifestyle that are bad for our wallets, our health, and our planet. The lifestyle being namely the obsessive quest for material gain. The book treats these aspects as symptoms of a disease (affluenza) and covers the root(s) to it, the current problems it's causing, and then "remedies" for it.
It's a lot of information -- some depressing, some hopeful -- and all-in-all a reminder of why I am choosing the kind of life I have: my aspirations to be even less car-dependent, working less to make family and community more of a priority, and hoping to raise my children in a way that does not lead to them having affluenza either.
I know I'm doing a crummy job describing this book, but do yourself a favor and either watch the documentary (also available at the Corvallis library!) or read the book.
And then talk to me about it -- I'd love to discuss it! :)

That's all for now.
I now just started a book on parenting/commercialism -- right in line with those other socioeconomic books I read earlier this spring ("Radical Homemakers", and "Your Money Or Your Life"), right? ;)

Til then, take care and Happy Books Read!!

Zoo & Swing

Hey everybody!

So today was another doozy of a day. :)
I woke up at 6:30 (early for me) to get ready for a daytrip to the Oregon Zoo in Portland -- my first time, Ella's second -- with the lovely Clara and family.

We packed a picnic lunch and carpooled there so it was already starting off to be an eco-friendly trip, yay! ;D

Clara's papa knows how to get goofy with the kiddos~!

I gotta say I was muy impressed with the Oregon Zoo!
Beautiful layout, and what looked to be pretty comfortable habitats for the animals. I always feel so torn at zoos. On one hand, they are a "safe haven" for endangered species...but those species are only endangered because we are messing up their original homes so bad, so instead of stopping/fixing that...we recreate an artificial habitat for them miles away from their homestead? Also, they are presumably comfortable because they don't have to worry about predators or injury and their food comes to them on a platter...but that's like if we said a person would be comfortable living stuck in a hotel just because they get room service for the rest of their life...
So yeah, I tried to have a positive mindset this time around, and I must say the zoo seemed to be pretty candid about the reality of these animals' plight with the numerous placards and such describing efforts to restore natural habitat populations and whatnot.

Gah! Enough philosophizing about zoo systems, and on to the animals, right??

Cheetahs have such huge round eyes... I never knew!

William was pretty adventurous and intent on walking everywhere himself, so this is what he looked like most of the time:

He looks like a literal "egg-head" here @_@

And Clara's Papa was such a trooper to always help out whether it was holding Ella by the hand, pushing the empty stroller, or even carrying William!

Thanks for the lift!

We picnicked in this outdoor theatre-type space they had and that was just lovely lovely; so was the train ride that circled around to the Portland Rose Gardens -- I will have to remember that for my mom's upcoming visit!

I quasi-lost Ella at one point, too, but that was resolved quickly and Ella didn't even notice. Ha!
Besides that, it was a hiccup-free adventure and a wonderful day all thanks to the generosity of Clara, Matt, Rachel, and li'l Henry -- thanks, you guys!!

We'll be BACK again soon! (pun~)

 
It was about 5:00 by the time we got home, and while William snoozed Ella and I randomly thought to build a swing in the backyard! Man, we are sharing some pretty creative wavelengths these days, amiright?

Simple, simple

I procured the rope from some leftover supplies I'd used for that stool cushion I made a couple of years back. The seat was some kind of composite wood board that came with the house when we bought it. All I did was cut it to length and drill four holes in the corners, through which I threaded the rope and tied a fat knot on the underside.

Here it is in action~

Ella loves it, William's a little scared but still curious, and I'm so proud of myself for working the saw, the manual drill, and power drill all by myself! :)
Tomorrow we will paint her name on the seat.

A kid's best friend~

Until next time, take care and Happy Zoos and Swings!!