My little women and me

Kangling Year in Review

2011-12-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

{Chloe (9), Hannah (8), Rachel (13), Lilly (3), Autumn (11), and Elise (5)}

This year has been a very eventful one for the Kanglings full of crazy trips and sport seasons.

So here is the girls' year in review:

Rachel: Rachel lives for Starfish and is going back in February to spend a month there with her grandma. She played forward this year in soccer and had a lot of fun. She also played Unified Sports this year for soccer and basketball and really enjoyed that. Her biggest accomplishment this year was completing her Personal Progress award for church (similar to the eagle scout).

Autumn: Autumn got to go to South Korea this year and really enjoyed it. She is progressing in photography and takes amazing pictures (lots of them). She played defense in soccer and had a fun year with her team (your worst nightmares). She is still the comedian of the family and always makes us laugh. She loves reading and when she has a book you won't be seeing her until she finishes the whole thing. She also found a recent love for Shakespeare.

Chloe: Chloe plays the piano like crazy and is now playing hymns and primary songs. We constantly find her picking out songs from all of Rachel's books. She played soccer this year with Chris as her coach. She played forward and was one of the top scorers on her team. Chloe's been doing a lot of sewing and knitting and made a lot of cute things to put in fair this year.

Hannah: Hannah turned 8 this year and was baptized. She still loves horses and has been reading books about them like crazy. We've found her reading out of a horse encyclopedia and she knows about every type of horse there is. :) She started book 2 in piano this year. She had a fun soccer season and was her team's goalie. When schedules didn't conflict she played for Chris' team.

Elise: Elise believes she is the queen of the family. She loves making pies with her "pie maker (Rachel)". She started reading this year and always is excited when she can pick out a word. She's learning piano really quickly now and is learning songs every week. She loves posing for the camera and listening to her sisters read aloud classics to her. (a Kangling first)

Lilly: Lilly is our cuddle-bug and loves to give hugs and kisses. She loves Hello Kitty and is always pretending to be a little kitty and goes around on her hands and knees, meowing. She loves when people read her books and always comes to you with a pile of about 10 books at a time and has to have you read them all, unless you can distract her.

Lilly was being a little silly during our family pictures this year

and in every picture she was making a face similar to this.

tooth fairy shenanigans and more

2011-10-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Elise, our wimpiest Kangling that takes after her mother, lost her first tooth today with minimal drama. (we have been warning her for a week that it will bleed and that she doesn't need to cry about it.) I can't wait for her to lose a few more teeth as she has had the most cavities of all of our girls. I like to blame it on Chris' stroke, her sneaky nature and on the lack of a pantry door lock. (which we did end up purchasing eventually.) Anyway, I would love for those teeth to fall out and for us to get a new start on her mouth. And typing this lovely blog post has reminded me that I better go off and do my motherly tooth fairy duties. Our family hasn't required a visit from the tooth fairy for a while so I suspect that my eldest daughter might be out of practice when it comes to covering my rear. You know the routine. Mom forgets, daughter distracts tooth fairy client, daughter fills in for the oh so sloppy and forgetful tooth fairy, mom wakes up.

Other exciting family news? Our banana is getting baptized this weekend. It got moved up to October from November, which made us all extra happy. Hannah has been counting down for so long that it was a fun bonus to have it come even sooner. The only bad part of this rescheduling was that my mom had a not so lovely surgery last week. This not only prevented her from making the traditional baptism dress, but it also might prevent her from coming. We are hoping that she can make it, but we also don't want her put at any risks for blood clots and what not just to come down. We're excited to have lots of family join us (Mike and his fabulous new wife are coming, along with Beth and James!) but we're pretty disappointed that Lia isn't hauling all 6 kids cross country for the big day. :) Just kidding, Lia. But we are sad that she lives too far away to come to our little family gatherings anymore. Changes stink. It will still be a lovely day, just a little quieter. (in a sad way, Lia!!)

Side note: our Bishop brought this picture to our attention...doesn't it look a lot like our Hannah, complete with personality?

conference, oh how I love thee.

2011-10-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today was day 1 of Conference weekend and I find myself filled with gratitude for the opportunity to listen our prophet and apostles. It was a little tricky making it all work, with 4 soccer players and 2 rather fidgety littles but WE DID IT. It included watching conference at a neighboring stake center so we could get each soccer player to watch one session and much of the thanks goes to our crock pot that cooked up a yummy stew while we were being fed spiritually. (and then lunch was waiting for our break between sessions.)

My notes are still a little scribbled as I wait for the transcripts to be released. (I just can't write fast enough, so I have lots to fill in here and there.) Here are some quotes/thoughts that I just loved:

Richard G. Scott:

scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our life

to memorize a scripture is to forge a friendship

Barbara Thompson:

Remember to first inquire of the Lord (Nephi)

I didn't keep my testimony through those times-my testimony kept me! (pioneer)

the spirit of revelation will illuminate and enlarge your soul

Jose Alonso:

analogy of lost son (sheep): they didn't need a planning meeting to find him and the son didn't even know that he was lost

Christ's love is for all but he never loses sight of the one.

"The Lord expects our thinking. He expects our action. He expects our labors. He expects our testimonies. He expects our devotion." -Thomas S. Monson

Let us do the right thing, at the right time without delay.

Boyd K. Packer (so perfect for our youth!)

Young people are being raised in enemy territory

(His whole talk was wonderful, but full of long quotes that I didn't get completely enough to put on here.)

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (individual worth, in a nutshell)

Compared to God we are nothing, but to Him we are everything.

The Lord doesn't care if we spend our days working in Marble Halls or stabled stalls

The Lord uses a scale very different to the world's to measure the worth of souls

David Bednar:

All about family history for the youth

It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord — not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.

(I just found it to be such an a-ha moment. Of course the youth have been prepared to do family history. Every time I attempt to get help at a family history center, I find myself frustrated that very well meaning and family history saavy workers can't help me because their technology skills are about 10 years behind. Of course the youth are the answer!)

Neil A. Anderson:

Where once the standards of the Church and the standards of society were mostly compatible, now there is a wide chasm between us, and it’s growing ever wider. (Thomas S. Monson)

Motherhood is not a hobby. It is a calling. It isn't something you make time for...It is what God gave you time for.

(LOVED this talk. It summed up my feelings on the matter pretty well. Amen, Elder Anderson....then again I felt that way with every single talk that was given today. Wow. Such a wonderful day.)

Ok...I'm too tired to go on. I've gotta get some shut eye before tomorrow as we are a little spoiled over here with our normal 1 pm church time. I will try to finish this tomorrow, but as the joke goes in our science class (in reference to experiments that involve me going to the store to purchase necessary items) that means never. The whole point of this post? I *love* conference. Hey. Did I tell you how much I love conference? (And that I saw Chloe write across the top of her notes "I love conference!"?? How cute is that?)

our school year and its delayed start

2011-09-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Our big bang of a start to our school year is kind of...nonexistant. (in a good way.) I had a rather silly goal of starting school this past Tuesday while all of the local kids didn't start school until Thursday. I figured it would make up for us taking next week off to play at Disneyland. The problems with this plan?

•I still am waiting for a few books to show up in the mail.

•My house was a mess.

•We need to pack for said trip.

•I haven't even printed up the girls' schedules

The girls humored me. They get an a+ for effort, but my heart just wasn't in it. There was too much to do. So, like any mom who needs a little bit of permission to be mediocre, I asked Chris to tell me to wait to start school. Like a good husband, he did. Like a tricky mom, I waited to tell the kids until Wednesday around 9. (which resulted in a few more subjects being done. Ha.) Instead of school, we cleaned. I think they would have preferred school, but it feels good to have a clean(er) house. School year delayed. Disneyland, here we come. Lilly is excited to ride every ride except for the "roller coaster with the scary monster" and is pretty sure that the princesses are waiting for her. Elise is tall enough to ride just about every ride and plans on doing just that. btw: Disneyland has a great discounts for groups over 10. It is so great that it is worth doing even if you have a couple short of 10.

home sweet home

2011-07-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I am trying to take some time to tackle a seriously long to do list. It seems that we've been awfully busy trying to enjoy each sunny day that hits and in the process, I've gathered a backlog of things that are begging to be done. So this morning is dedicated to my husband, who tends to be more responsible than I am when it comes to putting the "bleh" before the "yippee". So far? Toilets cleaned, laundry started, bed made and a long list of phone calls made. Ok...not a ton done yet, but I am working on it!

(Rachel started her choice and accountability project today. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't have it. She is attempting to tackle my craft room. Maybe it is because she sees it every time she walks out of her room. Or maybe it is because she wants me to hurry and turn it into a bedroom for girlies. Either way, I'm ecstatic.)

treats in my mailbox

2011-07-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

I got a delicious package in the mail today. (delicious as you can get when one has sworn off sweets for the month.) I got a 5 year journal, which was new to me until a few weeks ago. It has questions on each day of the year for you to answer, but it has spots for you to answer it for 5 years. I anticipate it being fun watching my answers vary over the year...because hopefully I change at least a little bit over the years. Right? And the other treat? A well bound book (because I am a sucker for things like that.) that has simple but cute pages for me to record all of the adorable things that my kids say. When you have a memory (or lack of) like me, you need all of the help that you can get in remembering the hilarious things that your kids spout off. So far? All of the pages are filled with Lilly-isms. Do kids stop saying funny things after 3? I hope not because I was hoping for a book capturing all of their cute sayings.

hello.

2011-07-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to slowly (extra emphasis on the word slowly) catch up on some scrapbooking over the past few weeks. It has made me a little more appreciative for my blog as the journaling from my blog saved my bacon quite a few times when my memory failed me. I also managed to lose our Halloween pictures from a couple of years ago, but was able to salvage a few of them from my blog. Does this mean my blog and I might start hanging out again? I don't know. I hope so. One of my best finds in my scrapbooking? This picture of all of us siblings together with our amazing parents. Yep, it had been hiding in my hard drive for the past almost 3 years.

service

2011-05-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

The Savior taught His disciples, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives. Thomas S. Monson

saving lives, one starfish at a time

2011-05-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up what Amanda over at starfish has committed her life to doing. One afternoon we got to sit down with her and go through pictures and listen to her stories. She showed us a picture of one of the babies she got from a dying room. (Oh, they don't exist, right?) Then we got to see him as a toddler. A chubby, happy go lucky toddler that a year and half earlier was slated for death. We arrived at Starfish shortly after Sam arrived. When I saw him, I immediately thought, "Wow. Now THAT is what jaundice looks like." Nope. That is what serious liver problems look like. He was yellow as yellow can be and Amanda was told by a Chinese doctor that he needed a liver transplant. (Which basically equates to a death sentence since a liver for a baby is hard to come by.) Amanda merrily went on her way, taking Sam to an Australian doc for a second opinion. This doctor had better news. It wasn't Sam's liver, but the bile duct (is that right??) was partially blocked. This still required a serious surgery, but at least Sam had an option. I remember us all being so excited to hear this, that Sam now had hope. And then today started out with an email telling me that Sam had died. Sigh. I honestly don't know how Amanda does it. Falling in love with baby after baby but inevitably losing some along the way as she does deal with a full spectrum of serious medical issues...I don't know how many she has lost, but I imagine that it doesn't get any easier. Oh, Amanda. Just as I heard in a story of Mother Theresa making sure babies were held and loved before dying, I am so thankful that Sam was in an environment that provided plenty of love for the last month in his earthly life. And now he is on to much bigger and *much* better things.

on a lighter note: Rachel has been working like crazy to get her operation starfish shop open. It isn't completely done as she has more projects to upload, but you can jump on over for a sneak peak. 100% of the money from these items will benefit the starfish house. I am also adding a donate button on my blog. Rachel's goal is to not only raise money for her plane ticket to Xi'an next year ($1000), but to also raise $4000 for Starfish. Go, Rachel, go. You're my hero. Give her a week and it will be stocked with all sorts of goodies.

Paul, the starfish baby with a little gq in him

2011-05-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is Paul. Not only is he adorable with his naturally occuring faux-hawk, but the only thing that they can find wrong with him is that he is half white. Horrible, isn't it? Apparently, the ladies at the local orphanage didn't want to have much to do with a half-blood of sorts so they concocted a story for Amanda about Paul's blindness. Yet there isn't any sign of vision problems as he is a pretty alert 2 month old who loves making eye contact. He is a little small for his age, but pretty dang healthy compared to the other babies in the starfish isolation room.

There was another baby Amanda got from the orphanage that was "refused" care from the orphanage workers. They claimed that this baby had aids. (and they assumed that this was why he couldn't thrive, even though it probably was because nobody would touch him!) She showed us pictures of him when he came and his skin was hanging off of his bones. The funny (or really not so funny) thing is that the claim that he had aids was not based on any test, but just on word of mouth. Amanda tested him regularly, never receiving abnormal results. When he left the Starfish House, he was a plump and chubby little toddler who had thrived on love.

Coco the sweet

2011-04-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, Coco...you stole my heart. Coco has quite the mysterious background. She came to Starfish a couple weeks before we arrived, right before her 2nd birthday. As I mentioned before, she couldn't sit up when she came. Amanda said that she would fall back immediately after being sat up. By the time we arrived, she was holding her own bottle with both hands. Both of her hands have movement but one isn't on your normal wrist. I'm not sure what the medical term for it is. She also came with some mystery scars and they aren't quite sure what surgeries they came from. I do know that she had a colostomy surgery, which causes her to have horrible diaper rashes. (and I mean horrible...the worst I've seen.)

We are not sure what Coco has been doing in the orphanages for the past two years, but you can't help but think that she spent a majority (or all) of her time laying in bed with little interaction with people. To see her improve so quickly makes this seem like one of the only likely scenarios. While we were at Starfish, she started sitting up better in her high chair and pretty much holding herself up. Although it scared her in the beginning, they started sitting her on the floor for a little bit and we found she could hold herself up there and became quite happy playing on the floor. Before long, she was looking through her books and playing with toys while sitting on the floor! We also started playing with her "other" hand...the one that is basically on a shorter arm and lacking a wrist. (I hope I am not slaughtering her medical conditions here!) It has movement but she wasn't using it. We started playing with her fingers and putting toys in that hand and within a day, she was grabbing toys with it and turning pages of her books with it. Our last experiment was to teach her a new greeting. Coco has this adorable signature greeting that everyone at Starfish knows. It is similar to the sound one says when someone calls their name (huh?) but with more of a mmm to it. Adorable. But we thought we would try a wave. So every time someone would walk into the isolation room, we would go through a big back and forth "hi" session, complete with us waving to her and us waving her arm. A day later, she held her arm up a little longer after someone waved for her. The next day, she wiggled her fingers when her arm was raised. I wouldn't be surprised if she is waving like crazy now. Her learning curve is amazing and I just can't help but wonder where she would be at now if she hadn't spent the last 2 years being neglected. Don't worry, Coco...you have an army that is going to help you catch up. (and love you to bits and pieces all along the way.)

And on that note...it was so encouraging to see the many, many volunteers that come through Starfish. I can't blame them as I can't think of a better way to spend a vacation. But bigger than all of the traveling volunteers were the local Chinese that come volunteer rather regularly. I see their attachment to the babies at Starfish and their concern with the plight of these sweet babies to be a gigantic sign of hope for generations to come. We also got to meet some wonderful volunteers that got to stay much longer than we did and got to see many more miracles than we did. Jealous? Yeah, just a little.

ps: Keep your eyes open. I know of a certain thirteen year old that is working like crazy to open a special etsy shop pretty soon. Shopping with 100% of the proceeds going to Starfish sounds like guilt free shopping to me, don't you think?

China: better late than never

2011-04-26T16:18:00.001-07:00

So I wasn't such a faithful blogger in China. This was partially because we were pretty busy and also because China isn't super keen on blogs. I was lucky to have access to a vpn/remote access sort of thing at the Starfish House, but blogger still didn't work 100% of the time using the vpn. Now I am left with the dilemma...do I start where I left off or just summarize the whole expedition?

I guess I will start by giving the rundown of our time at the Starfish House since Rachel and I both have agreed that this was the highlight of our three weeks, hands down. The last 3 months at the Kang house have been full of preparing all sorts of goodies (mainly sheets and pillow cases) for the sweeties of the starfish house. We ended up with almost 100 sheets and a little less than ninety pillowcases. I can't express enough how prepratory this project was, as I saw Rachel go from being giddy about our impending travels to being truly invested in helping the babies at the starfish house. She went from talking about which hotel to stay at to asking if we could just cancel the rest of our trip and stay at the starfish house the whole time. It was amazing, watching her float around the foster home, finding ways to help and really working like crazy the whole time we were there. She spent the majority of her time in the isolation room, which is where the new babies stay until Amanda feels they are ready to join the rest of the munchkins. This is not necessarily the easiest place to be (even though we would all love to hold sweet tiny babies all day) because some of the babies require a little more care, some of the babies (cough, cough...Luke...) are harder to get food down and some the babies are more likely to spit up all of their food back on you. Outside the isolation room, time is easily spent playing with the toddlers of the starfish house who are anxious to have some one on one time with anyone who walks by. Inside the isolation room, the time flies by as you get one baby asleep only to have another one (or three) crying or needing a diaper change. Think octuplets with special needs. :) Oh, how quickly you become attached to those sweet little babies!

A couple of weeks before we arrived, Amanda had received a couple batches of babies, making the isolation room nice and full. Over the next week or so I thought I would tell a little about each of the isolation room babies as those are the ones we spent the most time with. I'll start tomorrow with one of my favorites, Coco....for reals this time.

It didn't take Rachel long to decide that she wants to make another trip back to the starfish house. This time, she wants to raise enough money to pay for a few surgeries and her trip. (and, of course, she wants to stay a little longer.) She started off talking about going a few times a year, but I talked her down to a goal of once a year. I think what really fed her passion was seeing the full spectrum of babies, starting with the ones who were coming to the house malnourished and needing care, babies healthy and awaiting their surgeries, babies who had already received their surgeries and the ones who were moving on to their new families. What it really boils down to is that we are both inspired by the amazing things that are going on at the starfish house and the sacrifices that are being made by volunteers all over the world, but especially the sacrifices made by Amanda to make sure that these children get to not only be loved and placed in families, but that they also receive the medical help that they need to get healthy.

China and the whatnot

2011-04-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in China. I have a little (and I mean little) Chris in my lap as I type away. He was brought to the starfish house last week and they aren't quite sure what his story is. He has cleft palette but he also has a lovely little scar. They think the scar is from a mystery surgery that went amiss, leading to his abandonment. He is a tiny guy and didn't gain any weight this last week so I am trying my best to get lots of food in that mini tummy of his. I have a learned more about the comings and goings of the Xi'an-ites but I, in my paranoid little being, am not sure what I can write about while here. All sorts of social issues and of course, I've learned a little more about the orphanages around here. The things I feel more at liberty to talk about? Funny thing, but kids in China love all of the things that kids in America love. Being sung to, being read to, being held and being loved. Surprised? Yeah, not me either. The littles that are newer to Starfish (3 weeks or less) all are in the isolation room where they are extra loved and doted on. We're doing what we love to do: spoiling babies with lots of holding. A particularly interesting case is Coco. She has been here for two weeks and is 2 years old. (and so stinking cute!) When she came, she just laid there, not able to move much at all. She gets daily acupuncture (which she hates) and has since been able to hold her bottle, sit up in a high chair and now she can sit up by herself while playing with toys. Amazing progress for 2 weeks! I can't wait to see some of these babies that we are trying to nourish as they get some chub. We were talking with another volunteer about how quickly we got used to their little cleft lips and other difficulties. These are some wonderful little spirits that inhabit the starfish house and my favorite thing is to see them go from cast offs to treasured children in their adopted homes. How I would love to show their birth moms' pictures of how the babies have exceeded their (the birth moms') expectations. I'll talk more tomorrow about our adventures at the Muslim Market and my close call with a squatty potty.

crib sheets for the starfish babies

2011-02-14T12:38:00.001-08:00

We've been busy like crazy over here, sewing away. In fact, it has been enough now that every time Lilly sees us sewing, she asks if we are making it for the starfish babies. Why yes we are, Lilly! On of their big needs right now are crib sheets. Between their non-standard sized cribs and the low quality of Chinese fabric/elastic, they really need us to make these for them. They have 50 cribs and right now we have 49 sheets cut out. (35 in the final stages of sewing) I would love to be able to bring over enough for them to actually be able to do laundry here and there, which is why I am putting out this plea for help. Any of you lovely folk out there that want to be part of this worthwhile and downright easy project, let me know! And for those of you that have already asked for instructions, here they are:

There are 3 sizes of cribs, so the amount of fabric will vary from 1 1/2 to 2 yards of fabric per sheet. PLEASE prewash your fabric as we don't want these shrinking once they go through the wash.

Supplies:

1/4" elastic (93", 100", 110")

fabric: flannel or cotton (to simplify their massive nursery, we're asking for solid blue, red, yellow and lime green. if you want a pattern, stick to the ones at Joann's with white dots on them)

*for the fabric, you will need a piece 54, 61 or 65 inches long. This is the size you want it to be after washing, so I always add a few inches when I am getting it cut. I know that 3.25 yds will make me a small and medium sheet. 5.10 yds will make you one of each size.

•And here comes the hard part. (just kidding...it is super easy.) You cut your fabric to the right length (54, 61, 65) and width (37, 37, 41) to make a big rectangle. Then you cut a 6" square template and fold your rectangle in quarters. (half, then half again) Make sure all of the corners and sides match up before pinning your template on the outside corner and cutting out the corner.

•Now you go to a corner and take both 6" cut edges and serge them together, right sides together. (if you don't have a serger, reinforce with a zigzag stitch.) You're almost done now. :)

•Move on over to the ironing board and you will iron your casing. You start by ironing down 1/4 in hem all around the sheet. Then you fold it over again (1/2 inch this time), ironing it down as you go.

• sew down your casing (I move my needle to the far left for this so I can sew pretty close to the inside edge) and sew all the way around, leaving a 2-3 inch gap for the elastic.

•clip a safety pin on the elastic and put it through the casing, sewing both ends together when you are done.

• sew the casing shut

•fold it. (this is the hardest part, by far. Really, just throw it in an envelope. We're going to make my rather particular husband fold them all.)

thank you, thank you, thank you for helping the starfish house out. I just love what is being done over there. Have you read Silent Tears? Good read. And if you really aren't feeling the sewing thing, we would love to bring over any other goodies you want to share with all of those sweet little babies. We are saving 3 suitcases for them and trying to make it 4.

what we've been up to over here....

2011-02-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am back. At least for tonight, right? So we've been up to the same ole, same ole at the Kang house. You know: homeschooling, sleeping, cleaning up lots of poop (no, I am not a fan of being forced to potty train.)...the norm.

But Rachel and I have been planning a little something that is kind of taking over. We've decided to go on a little (just kidding...it is VERY big.) adventure this spring and are busy planning away. This started out as a trip to somewhere in this big planet of ours to do some humanitarian service, but it has evolved into a trip to China to help in this wonderful orphanage for 8 days, a quick jaunt over to the Great Wall/the Forbidden City and then a week in Korea. (Because, apparently, we aren't allowed to get that close to Korea without visiting my husband's motherland, as he likes to call it.) We're pretty excited, in an extreme understatement sort of way. We have the plane tickets bought, the hanok reserved in Korea, and some cute luggage purchased. Beyond that, we kind of have a lot more to do.

So...a little about the Starfish House. What an incredible place! St. Amanda, as I like to call her, receives babies from orphanages that need extra medical care. A lot of the time, these babies are malnourished and need her to get them back to normal. After this, she arranged surgeries and what not to get these babies ready for adoption. Many of them have cleft lip or cleft palate, others have heart problems...one who was recently adopted had a birth mark on her face. She started with 5 babies, but currently has 45. I, for one, can't wait to go over there and love those littles to death. I've been trying to convince Chris to let me keep one (Please, mommy, can I keep one?) but he isn't convinced yet.

blogging out some grief

2010-11-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

I am supposed to be heading to bed, but a quick stop by my sil's blog has the tears rolling. Since I've been avoiding blogging because I haven't wanted any MORE chances to cry, I thought I might at as well seize the moment. I have a friend that talked about how grief is good at blindsiding you and, to that, I say "Amen, sista." You never know when it is going to hit you or how hard it is going to hit.

The last 8 months have been full of experiences that showed me just how hard our Heavenly Father was trying to make a very horrible experience as easy as possible. When I sit down and think of all of the little things that made such an enormous impact on all of us, I am beyond grateful. How could I be anything but grateful when it has been made so blatantly obvious that my Heavenly Father is so very aware of each and every one of us?

Every time I am in a crying mood, I figure I'll journal one of these moments. I know I have already posted about how appreciative I was for Heavenly Father's preparation for this "tornado". (or more like a category 5 hurricane) I realize that Heavenly Father can't really send you advanced notices regarding upcoming trials in your life, but I think he did just about as much as he could for me. About a month before we found out that Becky's problems went beyond a benign lump in her breast, my family made the trek to General Conference. As I was sitting in the Saturday morning session, Julie Beck's talk spoke to my soul. I could not escape the message that I received, which was a message to simplify. I knew that I needed to stop my photography adventures and focus on my family. I needed to hear the message that a mother doesn't need to do something just because she can.

I came back from conference and put the kibosh on my photography. I pretty much stopped crafting and many other things that were insignificant yet were sucking up a lot of my time. I simplified in a major way. Little did I know that I was being prepared for Becky's phone call (on Chris' birthday, overlooking the Cape Meares light house) telling me that her tumor was malignant. Having just emptied my life of many things that lacked any eternal importance, my schedule was free for quick trips to Washington to spend time with my sweet sister. I did not have anything going on because Heavenly Father had already helped me with that. I count each of those trips to see her as treasures and sacred moments that allowed us to talk about the paths ahead. I always felt like I was on holy ground when I was with her over the summer. There was a special spirit that was with her throughout this and I kind of feel honored just to have been able to spend time with such a choice soul in the midst of this monumental trial.

Becky

2010-10-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Rebecca L. (Tunnell) Veatch
Rebecca L. (Tunnell) Veatch passed away surrounded by friends and family on Friday, October 8, 2010. Becky was the beloved mother of four children and loving wife of Michael Veatch. She left this life after a courageous eight month battle with sarcoma cancer. Despite the difficulty of her struggle, Becky maintained a positive, upbeat attitude and laughed all the way to the end.
Becky was born on January 7, 1980 in Fairbanks, Alaska. She graduated from Snohomish High School in 1998. Her high school nick-name, "Amazon Woman", exemplified her talent for tackling every obstacle that stood in her way. After high school, Becky attended massage therapy school in Orem, Utah and graduated at the head of her class. It was there that she met Michael and married him in the Mt. Timpanogas LDS Temple a mere four months later.
After helping support her husband through college, Becky was a stay at home mom by choice. She loved her children with all of her heart and loved to see them laugh and play. Becky always had a ready smile and faced trials and difficulties with optimism and good humor. Her hobbies included scrapbooking, sewing for her children, doing fun things as a family and just having a good time with those that she loved. Becky was always thinking of ways to make people feel special. She enjoyed shopping the sales at Target and rarely paid full price for anything. She was never late paying a bill and her frugality was legendary. Her goal was for her family to live within their means so she could be a stay at home mom in order to spend time with their children.
Becky was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She relied on the Lord throughout her struggle with cancer and gained strength from the many prayers in her behalf. Over the past eight months, she saw the hand of her Heavenly Father as he blessed her family in many ways. She fought the battle courageously and often wowed her doctors with her positive attitude and will-power.
She will be missed by her husband, Michael; and her four children, Madelynn, Abigail, Natalie and Conner. She is also survived by her parents, James and Linda Tunnell; and her siblings, Annalia Romero, Sarah Kang, Rachel Tunnell and James Tunnell.
Her older brother, Jonathan, set an example of courage and faith in fighting his own battle with cancer seventeen years ago. She was the proud aunt of 34 nieces and nephews. She took great delight in instigating tickle fights with them, which she always won.
Funeral services will be held at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, October 16, at the LDS Chapel in Lake Stevens at 10120 Chapel Hill Rd. The viewing begins at 11:00 a.m. Friends and family members are encouraged to bring memories and stories about Becky on 4 x 6 cards.

Conference recap

2010-10-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

I am trying to distract myself while waiting for Becky news. (really horrible headaches, mri's....you get the idea.) So I thought I would recap conference a little because...I love conference. We have figured out with our little gaggle of girls that our efforts to listen to conference at home are pretty futile. Kids running around, at normal volume and the speakers are easily drowned out by well meaning kids who have too many toys around to want to sit still enough to listen. For this very reason, we dress everyone up and head off to the church to watch the broadcast with the other 2 families within 30 minutes that do the same thing. When they are in a dark chapel, they at least fill restricted to whispering and hear tidbits of goodness while I get to hear at least 5 times as much as I would at home. (and 1/4 of what I would hear if I didn't have my kids there, but Elder Bednar helps me feel fabulous none the less.) We made it to all 4 sessions, but the two that included Lilly were the ones that I have 2 lines of notes on. I have a standard for my girls and it is that they misbehave in age order. And fittingly enough, Rachel took pretty intense notes, Autumn and Chloe worked in their workbooks I printed up, Hannah goofed off a little more, Elise colored and talked bugs (but did keep it to a whisper) and Lilly....distracted us all with her cuteness. When President Uchtdorf spoke, I held her close and whispered, "Lilly, that is Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He is an apostle. Let's listen to him." She turned to our friends behind us and said "That's Dieter Uchtdorf." And now let's fast forward to Wednesday. In an effort to rationalize a trip to the beach, we listened to some old conference talks. Dieter F. Uchtdorf started speaking and what did Lilly say? "That's Dieter F. Uchtdorf." And tonight at dinner she told Chris "Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked in our car." And there we go. All of the wiggling and slight chaos was totally worth it.

Conference Recap Handouts

Conference Funnies (the part I enjoy about this one is imagining a cartoonist watching conference through his silly glasses.)

Bald for Becky Auction

2010-09-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

And our fun little auction (that is actually not so little anymore) is off and running. Stop by for a visit and shop guilt free as every bit of this money goes straight to Becky's family. And be warned: it is all cute. And wonderful.

bald for becky

2010-08-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

This fundraiser is just part of the fundraising that we are doing for Becky's family. We are also looking for donations for an online auction to benefit them. If you have or know of anyone that has any offerings that they might be willing to donate for this, please let us know. We need all of the help we can get and know that there are so many talented people out there that are generous and ready to help.

hello, my long lost friends.

2010-08-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok. I am back. I don't know how often I will be getting on, but here I am. For updates on Becky and her adventures, you can go to a few different places. We have her facebook page, her family blog and last, but not least, the blog with information about the fundraiser that we're putting together. It has been a rather emotional summer that could easily be compared to your favorite roller coaster ride. I'll fill you in later, k? I guess it would suffice to say that I am glad I was inspired to clear my plate off before all of this started. It may sound silly to all of you non crafty people out there, but I seriously have a continuous struggle where I have to remind myself that creating things is *not* what it is all about. Strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father, creating moments, creating relationships, and serving. THAT is what it is about. Everything else....not so important. I am grateful for every day that I get to spend with my family, whether it is in slight chaos or not. (which it is, more often than not)

Update: numero tres

2010-05-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

Becky Update: numero tres

Today Becky had *the* oncology appointment that we have all been waiting on pins and needles for. This is the one that discussed a more solid treatment plan and the pet scan results....and (can I have a ominous drum roll, please? kind of a dum, dum, dum, DUM?) The cancer has spread to the lungs which means a surgery to remove the tumor from the lungs (that includes 3-5 days in the spa. You know...the spa that has their needle "therapists" wake you up during all hours of the night making sure you can't recover a bit because they won't let you sleep?) and a very not so lovely 4-6 month supply of chemotherapy. Yep. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but a treatment plan nonetheless. And we will all unite, being powered by the love of our Heavenly Father, and press on. We will carry Becky along and make this road as smooth as we can, whenever we can. We love you, Becky.

So after having a good cry (I don't know if my kids knew quite what to do with a mother sobbing in the laundry room while folding clothes and singing comforting hymns....I got some intrigued looks as they passed through the hallway!) I got online and did my research. And registered for the Race for the Cure. Anyone want to join us? Team Becky is going to rock it in Seattle on June 6th and we'd love to have anyone join us. Bring a pink bandana and we'll have a Becky love fest for a leisurely 3.2 mile jaunt.

Updates and such

2010-05-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Becky went ahead and had a mastectomy on Friday, which "took a big weight off her chest". (7 lbs 4 oz, to be exact and that is her quote, not me making light of heavy things.) Funny how much a tumor infested breast can weight. This is very uncool of her because now she weighs less than me and is putting even more pressure on me to loose my toddler weight. (I can't really call it baby weight when Lilly is running around carrying on conversations, eh?) Tomorrow she goes in for a pet scan and then a mere week later (which is way too long, if you ask me) we will find out the results and see if the the cancer took any extended vacations to other parts of her body. That is the low down and pretty much all we know right now. Coming from a person that can't stand not knowing if she is expecting a boy or a girl, the waiting is akin to some sort of medieval torture device. And what do we do while waiting? Knit a new boob for Becky, of course. Apparently there is also a long gap between having a mastectomy and getting a prosthetic, which I find pretty intolerable for someone who is now going around with one breast that is at least a DD. I never thought my knitting skills would be put towards something so useful, but here we go!

And my scripture for the week:

Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you. Seek me diligently and ye shall find me. Ask, and ye shall receive. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:63

Dear Breast Cancer: Bite me.

2010-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Breast Cancer,

Bite Me. Your little cousin, lymphoma, sucked enough. You are not welcome in these parts.

It turns out to be good timing for some simplifying as last week my little sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. We are all sitting around in the "calm before the storm", waiting for a biopsy to determine if it will require "just" a mastectomy or a mastectomy and chemo/radiation. When thinking of the fact that she 4 small children, ranging in age from 5 months to 8 years old, this is huge. Breast cancer sucks royally at any point in your life, but when I picture a young mom trying to juggle a baby and a toddler and throwing in the lovely side effects of chemo, I am just plain old sad. Please include Becky in your prayers....

and I will leave you with my favorite quote of the week:

If you will put God first in your life,

everything else will fall into its proper place

or drop out of your life entirely.

{Ezra Taft Benson}

sarah, the nut

2010-05-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a brief synopsis of Sarah, the nut. You aren't going to be seeing me as much on here as I am trying to overcome some of my nuttiness. You know, the side of me that says "Why buy a $3 pack of cards when I could spend an hour making them?" or....the real trouble maker: "I'm already sewing one _______, so I might as well make 20 of them!" I have always said that I plan projects like I have 1 child yet I finish them like I have 10 children.

There is a John Bytheway (did I tell you than I also met him while in SLC???) talk called "What's in Your Backpack?" that we listened to on our little car trip to SLC. Now, John was actually talking to teenagers and he was talking about things that they put in their backpack (teenage stuff like negative self talk, etc) that make their hike/earthly journey so much harder than they need it to be. And all I heard while listening to this was all of the junk that I throw in my pack. You know...mom stuff like sewing projects, a frivolous photography business, crafty crafty fluff, a Pottery Barn house, the perfect birthday party....you get the idea, right?

So I have been playing with this over the past month and these are hard habits to break! I am trying, but it is not easy. I was proud of myself because we had this fun little carnival party but instead of having a long list of things I had done for the party, I had a long list of things that I chose not to do for it. No super cute snacks. No pinwheels for the cupcakes. No handmade signs. (Quickly printed in a matter of minutes and just as cute.) Some things were already in motion and it was too late to eliminate, but I still did a pretty good job and eliminating the unnecessary. I am trying to catch all of these little things and am not doing it all the time (The girls and I started 4 quilts for Mother's Day, but I decided that they will be gifted later in the year after realizing the irony of me being a bad mother to give a good mother's day gift), but am trying to throw all of these stinky bricks out of my backpack. Too bunch junk in the trunk. (Ok, that could apply to my life in a few different ways, but I digress.) Ok, enough rambling. I just thought I would explain my sudden absence. I'll be here and there, but just not so much. I am just trying to refocus a bit and prioritize. Thank you, conference, for reminding me of the end goal here. I am a little dense, but I think I am starting to finally get it. (I know! It's about stinking time!)

may day failure

2010-05-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like today was a slight failure. Yes, we made it to the soccer games, the birthday party and even had time to run into costco. (and I do mean run.) The two things that I really wanted to do today that didn't even get close to happening?

1. I SO wanted to deliver some May Day bouquets today with the girls. We didn't even get far enough to get the flowers.

2. I wanted to head over to our local cemetary to start photographing gravestones with the girls. I *did* carry my camera around all day, planning to go. Does that count?

And my question of the day: When did May Day turn into a day of protests instead of a day to deliver flowers and walk around a pole with ribbons? I say we go back to the cooler one.

its been a long time....

2010-04-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

but here I am again. (and look what I have to show for it!) I took a nice little trip up to Snohomish to work on family history with my grandma and mom. I am almost done with a book about my Grandma Cozette and got to scan in a whole load of very sweet and priceless pictures that we found of my Grandma McAllister. We also got to make a trip to the temple to seal my Grandma McAllister to her parents and to seal my Grandpa to his parents. Rachel got to be baptized for my Great Grandma Robinson and for another ancestor that she is researching right now in an attempt to find her parents. I have gone from needing information for genealogy to feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the information that I have. It doesn't take long to have a gazillion different directions that you are going in! The girls are all begging to work on genealogy, so we are about to fill out their pedigree charts and pass the genealogy bug onto them. I have a theory that there is a great need for youngins to learn more about genealogy. As I have required more help (I think I am going to need to tread this next statement carefully) from the missionaries at the Family Research Library, I have found them to all be sweet as pie and very willing to help. BUT you know how we joke about the technology learning curve for the older generations (I am not excluded from this as texting is something I still haven't learned!).....I think that if the younger generation could combine their knack for technology with a love for genealogy, the genealogy movement would definitely benefit. And seriously: Ancestry.com rocks. You can get sucked up into that site so easily!

A little announcement.

2010-04-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Since my blog has been a little neglected and will continue to be so in the future, I thought I would copy over my post from my photography site for you folks:

Two weeks ago my family and I packed up and headed down to Salt Lake City to hear our prophet and other church leaders speak to us. To keep us busy on the trip down, we listened to some inspiring talks. By the time the weekend was over, I felt like I had plenty of time to evaluate my life and decide on a few things to change. (Doesn't it help sometimes to just step back and look at the big picture?) The biggest change that I decided to make was to stop my photography business. And I guess all of the changes that I plan on making come back to this quote by Julie Beck.

"A good woman knows that she doesn't have time to do all that her heart yearns to do." {Julie Beck}

That pretty much sums it up. Ten years from now, will I care that I have photographed ____ families and ____ seniors? Nope. Will I care if I have neglected my role as mother or if I have done all that I can as a mother? You betcha.

Since Chris and I embarked on the journey of parenthood, we have always been blessed. He has always supported our family and with each additional kid (there have been a few, you know.) there have been blessings to help us make ends meet. I have started feeling a little ungrateful to Heavenly Father. Here he has made sure that I can be a stay at home mom and blessed us accordingly yet I am working for this extra money....just so I can have a little extra money. Quite silly now that I step back and reevaluate.

Now that this has turned into rambling...I will stop my jibber jabber. I am off to the tulip festival with my little herd of girlies to partake of this amazing sunshine that we have today.

Our little conference vacation

2010-04-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we drove down to Salt Lake City to take the girls to our church's General Conference. Conference is held at Temple Square every October and April and we normally visit our church building to watch it via satellite. (because they actually listen when we are in church and if we watch it on the computer at home, it is a zoo.) When Rachel turned eight, we told her that we would take her to Salt Lake to watch it in real life, but real life kind of got in the way. 2 new babies, a stroke....all sorts of things to get in the way and to make the trip a little difficult. And this year, things have calmed down enough that we decided to go for it. It was wonderful. We met Chris' sister and my nephew there and we each got to go to at least one session. There is really nothing to explain the feelings associated with being in a room (no matter how large or with how many people in it) with a prophet of God. Wow. Conference is always a good time for reevaluating your life and setting new goals so amongst my notes are a few things I am going to be working on. There were a lot of talks on motherhood that were so inspiring that one of my goals is to go back this week and listen to them again! My personal favorites from the session that I attended were by Julie Beck and M Russell Ballard. And here is a quote that I really need:

"A good woman knows that she doesn't have time to do all that her heart yearns to do." {Julie Beck}

los pantalones de fuego

2010-04-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ok...so I am a big fat liar. Or, to quote Shawn Spencer, my favorite psychic detective, los pantalones de fuego. No picture of my beautiful shoes and just a poor neglected blog for you folks out there. This week I've been running around getting all sorts of errands done while getting ready for the big girls' conference trip. Make up piano lessons. Hair cuts. (what? Autumn wants her hair short? fabulous!) Oil Change. Easter party. (ok, that wasn't really getting ready for the trip, but it was splendid springtime goodness.) Packing. Costco-ing. Laundry. Oh. And the mandatory endless hours in front of the computer doing genealogy. If someone would have informed me that would be quite so addicting, I think I would have waited for two more weeks to start. Bad timing, but so much fun! Rachel got me started and we have loved making all sorts of ancestor discoveries together. BUT if I hear her say "It is so fun seeing you on Ancestry.com instead of facebook, doing something worthwhile...." one more time, there will be trouble. It is nice having a twelve year old who is helping me grow up, but can she be a little less of a sassafrass pants? ;)

Passing on the genealogy bug: Here are some links to get you addicted, too.

Who do you think you are?

Ancestry.com

This little book I picked up for my trip (I flipped through it and it looks like an easier read that the other, more laborious genealogy books)

And, por supuesto, we've added a day onto our trip to explore the Family History Library in SLC. Yippee! And I am packing my mom's History of Baxter County book. Jennifer: I will be coming to visit you soon!

just the cutest shoes EVER

2010-03-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

disclaimer: not sure why the picture isn't showing up and I have to run. (figuratively, not literally) I will try to get a picture done tonight. You will have to trust me. Just imagine grey pumps with adorable ruffles.

Are these not the most beautiful shoes on earth? (Forgive the picture, but I am lazy and Amazon is helpful.) Can you believe those ruffles? Last night, after an inspiring YW broadcast with my new little young woman, we decided to do a little shopping a la the only store open, Fred Meyers. We ran across nice and....gasp....MODEST dresses for both of us. On a quick run through the clearance section, I fell in love with these ruffly scrumptious shoes but they didn't have my size! So I batted my eyelashes and the very helpful freddy's employee called nearby stores on a search for my dream shoe. Nobody had it. I was a big girl about it and didn't cry for too long. We ended up having to run to a different store to get the right size dress for my girly, getting there a few minutes before closing. While she grabbed her dress, I (being an eternal optimist and doubter of employees) double checked their clearance shoe section. I couldn't find any of these shoes, much less one in my size! Right as I was about to give up, I checked one last spot and there they were. One pair in 8.5. My size. Sweet. And I will now confess to a little bit of jumping up and down and giggling. Just a little, but can you believe my luck? They didn't completely match my new dress, but I had to give them a spin today.

Now, for a little laugh: When I tried on the dress I got, I asked what Rachie thought of it. The best she came up with? "What look are you going for?" Thanks, Rachel. And today at church, two women told me that they almost bought the same dress last night. It is a pretty bold dress, so I am glad the three of us didn't show up sporting it. (Yet they are super cute ladies, so I feel a little better about my purchase, considering the scathing review given by my daughter!)

a little mother help out there?

2010-03-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Not that our house is ever dirty or anything (winky, winky), but do you motherly folk out there have any suggestions for getting your kids to clean their rooms? I would love to hear the tricks that have worked over the years so I don't resort to anything drastic. My next step right now? Packing up all of their belongings. Back in the good ole' days when our house was on the market, keeping rooms clean was easy because just about everything was packed up. And since I would feel pretty mean doing that again, I would love some input here. Thanks, ladies.

ramblings of a crazy and slightly tricky mom

2010-03-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

today? Its been a pretty crazy day. I think it was a combination of a cranky mom, kids that decided to ignore said cranky mom and a general feeling that I have no control or say in anything that happens in our government. Anywho....I started working on Elise and Lilly's birthday parties. Do you know what that means? I am planning the last party of our birthday season. Isn't that great? And this party is going to be quite the happening to do because the whole family is involved. We're all in charge of different booths at this mini carnival that will be made complete by the cotton candy alone. Doesn't that sounds great?

And now I will brag about some motherly trickery. Yep. Motherly trickery that worked! (It doesn't always happen that way so I need to brag it up when it does!) As a book addict, there are many books that I buy simply because I hope that having it close on hand will make one of the girls read it one day when they are feeling like reading something a little different. And it doesn't always work. So here is where the trickery comes in. Thanks to a suggestion from my wise older sister, I was putting some miscellaneous books on the nook right next to the girls' toilet. When choosing which books would win the coveted spot, I chose books that I have been dying for a certain daughter to read. (a certain daughter that isn't ambitious in her book choices and....a certain daughter that loves to read in the bathroom) Emma. Tom Sawyer. Vintage books about famous composers and authors. And the next morning Autumn was reading Emma. (and liking it, to boot.) What did I have to say about it? Mwahahaha......My evil plan was successful! I guess a real tricky mom wouldn't reveal her plan as soon as she saw that it worked. Oops.

bonnet love

2010-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

And the bonnet(s) go to Bethie Poo. Beth is my awesome and wonderful sister in law who just purchased a very cool falcon wagon. I would only be more jealous if it was an early 50's truck. (Yes, that is my dream truck. Chris laughs it off, but the girls point out every "cute car" that we pass by. Someday.....) Beth, I will get your bonnets in the mail asap. And since you are my sister in law, you know what asap means in my dictionary.

Elise-isms

2010-03-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Elise, you smart little cookie. How does a three year old get what she wants?

Elise: Dad, put your hand up. Ok. Now say "I will make Elise popcorn and I will watch Dog Whisperer with her." Say it, dad.

Pretty smart, right? I was impressed even if she was a little disappointed that her little master plan failed so miserably.

Extra! Extra!

2010-03-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is (possibly the fact that I just love my blogging friends) but I have just been in the mood for a giveaway! Run on over to my website and enter yourself (or a friend) for a free photo shoot. Yep. Gratis. $Free.99. Share the love, right?

And yes, you Seattlites. This is for you, too. (I'm up there enough that we can figure out something!)

a little bonnet lovin'

2010-03-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Because we have a few extra bonnets lying around the Kang abode now and because I think every little girl should have a bonnet to put on when the mood hits (like when head off to visit lambs and my 3 year old deems that a very pioneer/bonnet friendly activity), I thought I would giveaway two of my extra bonnets from Autumn's party. Leave a comment and I will pick someone ever so randomly on Sunday, March 21st.

And now I am off to find a way to make our food nice and greeny today. Did I ever tell you that green is my favorite color? Yep. Our last two houses have had at least two green rooms. I am still working on getting a green room here, but have temporary settled for painting everything that gets in my way green. (insert even laugh here)

little pioneer children

2010-03-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Autumn's little pioneer party? A complete success. From the weather (it waited to rain until we were pulling our car away from the Barn) to the chickens (who *happened* to lay enough eggs for everyone to find an egg), it went just exactly how we had envisioned. The party ended up going 4 hours as we had a lot of fun to pack in. There was candle dipping, potato sack races, feeding the goats and chickens, felting eggs and making the biscuits and butter. Whew. It makes me tired just listing it. I didn't think we would have time to do it all, but it came together quite well. The best part of the whole thing? Seeing a bunch of girls in bonnets and aprons. It was just so stinking adorable!! And Autumn has pronounced it to be her best birthday party yet. (I suggested we aim to make this a climax, but she didn't buy it.)

The key to this whole shebang? Our wonderful friends, the Woodwards. They have become our 2nd family since moving out to Forest Grove and I must say that this party would have been quite dull in our little neighborhood. Move it to a barn that is complete with a creek, goats and chickens? Yeah, it makes it about a gazillion times cooler.

my little reader: it's about time!

2010-03-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

I swear by Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and have used it with all of my girls so far. Hannah is 6 and finished it when she was 4, but unlike the rest of her sisters....she just didn't get into reading. I have felt like she was staying at the same level, but I did know from our scripture reading and reading aloud here and there that she was progressing, even if it was ever so slightly. She just didn't feel drawn to books yet. (Until yesterday, that is.) She has her little passport from Magic Tree House and read a good 7 books yesterday. Yes, I realize that if she can read them in 20-30 minutes, they are probably a little too easy for her, but it feels so good to call her and realize that she is in the corner reading. I am just overly happy right now that she is being a book worm. I figure she should be done with all of the Magic Tree House books on our shelves in a few days and then I will get her into Charlotte's Web. And in quizzing her (because I was just positive that she wasn't really reading the book in 30 minutes or less) she is remembering every little detail of the book as she zooms through. Whoot! Whoot! for Hannah!

mom tip #3672

2010-03-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Since there isn't a whole lot that I have to blog about right now, I will blog about what has been taking up my day. An ear infection. Luckily, it was with a daughter that is old enough to deal with it in reasonable fashion, but it has been very painful for her. Her "scale of pain" is a little off as she describes her pain at a 10 when I am pretty sure it is a 3 or 4. How do the Kangs deal with an ear infection? It is stinky, but it is on the cheap and works with amazing speed. We have a nice little bottle of garlic tablets that we've had around for eons. We poke a hole in it, squeeze the super stinky (this is coming from someone who has been known to love garlic) garlic oil in the ear and have them lay on their side while it drips into the ear. With past ear infections, it has only taken one treatment to clean it all up. We've done it three times today, but she is much better. No doctor visits. No antibiotics. Just a little odor. Rachel was on antibiotics all the time when she was a baby. Elise has been on them once for a tooth issue. 6 kids and one time on antibiotics in 10 years. I swear by garlic. If I see gunky noses, I up the garlic in our food and the noses clear up. So there you have it. Mom tip #3672.

a rundown of the week

2010-03-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Humor me. I am mainly doing this for myself to get my week in order. Next Saturday is Autumn's pioneer birthday and I am a wee bit behind for a party that requires this much sewing. (What a time for me to start going to bed early!!) I have 14 aprons and bonnets to sew. Invited still need a ruffle sewn on before delivering *today*. I probably should try the candle dipping ahead of time so I don't look like a shmuck in front of a bunch of 10 year olds. I need to practice felting eggs for the same reason as listed above. I have no idea what we will be eating, but I am thinking of us making biscuits with jam and of course having some very simple cupcakes. And then I plan on throwing some flowers in mason jars and maybe picking up some hay or something for the barn. Luckily, if all of the above goes to pot, we'll be at the Woodwards'. This means there will be chickens and goats to entertain if things get sticky. Oh. And their lovely land to romp about. Wow. I don't think that helped at all as I now realize that there is even more for me to worry about. Great.

At the same time that we are in the final stages of Autumn's party, we are planning Elise's party to happen right after we return for Utah. I am thinking carnival with popcorn and cotton candy and lots of games. I am going to assign the older girls to each come up with and man a game for the kiddoes and I bought a whole stack of beautiful matchy paper to make all of the decorations with. On Elise's list of important details? Balloons, blue cupcakes, water, games and for me to drive 4 hours north to pick up her cousins and bring them in for the fun. Easy enough, right? Oh...and pony rides. We'll have to thank our neighbor for letting her know that people can have ponies at their parties. I told her no way, but I am thinking she is still planning on it. I have a month to get it through her head, right? And I am rethinking having everyone's birthday party years on an even number. It would work better if I hadn't had all of the girls 2 years apart. Why be slammed one year and have the other year completely off? It just doesn't make sense!

Oh. And we've been letting Lilly run around free and nakie for day to top it off. How many accidents has she had? Two. One on my lap, due to a sister asking her if she needed to pee while sitting on my lap.

birthday crafties.

2010-03-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

On the morning of a birthday party for Autumn's friend, my thought process went a little like this: I can spend an hour getting a present for the party or an hour making a present. One would be junkier and cost me a good $15-$20. The other would be free (or at least using supplies I already have bought) and would be 10 times cooler. So we crafted away and didn't have to get out of our jammies.

The result: An apron with a matching journal.

every party needs a pooper

2010-03-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to hanging up some prints that I splurged on last Thanksgiving. I had to find the perfect frames (a la Goodwill, of course.) and then you have to factor in a 3 month turn around on spray painting when sunny days are hard to come by. Then top that off with general slackerness and a lack of ability to focus (SQUIRREL!) and it brings us into March. After hanging these up, I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. They just make me happy. The green frames, the fabulous artwork....they really brighten up our family room/kitchen. And then there is Chris. I wasn't home when he met them, but rumor has it (from a very reliable source) that his reaction included a long moment of silence, followed by several complaints. We grew up singing the party pooper song to my dad and I am happy to say that I can pass that tradition on to my daughters. I did humor him and adjusted them to center them on the wall better this morning, but the majority of his complaining involved the frames and the cohesiveness with our existing home decor. I, on the other hand, think it is a perfect fit. Like I said, pure happiness every time I waltz past them.

Latter Day Homeschooling

2010-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

I was just turned on to what I anticipate being a great homeschooling resource for me. This is coming at a time when I am feeling like I sure do need a little teacher pick me up! When I started homeschooling a good 8 years ago, I had a small list of reasons why I wanted to homeschool and to be quite honest, I can't really recall what those reasons were now. My list has grown substantially and I still am in love with homeschooling. With that being said, I also am feeling the need to change things up a bit. I am rethinking a few subjects and am hoping this LDS Homeschooling site will be just what I need in the form of some good ole' inspiration. Thank you, whoever you are that thought this up!

the 3 wee bears

2010-03-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Rachel apparently knows me well enough to know that when she is babysitting, I would like to come home to a cleaner house or to come home knowing that the girls were doing something so fabulous with their time that cleaning would seem altogether trivial.

While we were at the temple, we got two phone calls from home. The first one was asking permission to use my makeup. (at first, they got a resounding "No way!". After a little explaining that they were needing stage make up for bear noses, I couldn't resist.) The second one was requesting that I bring primroses home with me. After a little investigating, I found that they were looking for cut flowers in general and once again, I couldn't resist, coming home with a few bundles of daffodils.

Chris and I came home to tickets to the girls' production of The Three Little Bears, complete with stage (don't you love backdrops), curtain, set changes and 3 of the cutest bears of all time. I can't decide if my favorite part was Autumn's tie and glasses perched on her nose, Hannah's freckles or Elise's fake crying for her part as baby bear. Let's just say that it was the hit of the season and that it was so good that I was ok with the pigsty that we came home to. It reminded me of the plays that the March's attic must have seen. Oh, my sweet little women!

cheap thrills

2010-02-26T22:20:00.001-08:00

How is this for a good laugh?

After choosing out Rachel's glasses today, we came home and broke it to Chris that the only pair she liked were.....Adidas. Gasp! After enjoying the reaction for a few minutes, we let him in on our joke and assured him that she chose a pair of Nike glasses. And since Chris can't stop laughing now (its a stroke thing.), we enjoyed watching him laugh for the next 5 minutes. And then we giggled about it all evening. You would think that Chris would remember my undying faith to Nike after their amazing support during his stroke, but not so. Anyhow, it was great entertainment for Rachel and me.

We will post pictures as soon as her glasses come in. In the mean time, the 12 year in me that always wanted glasses will be a little jealous that Rachel rightfully earned them with bad eyesight. Some kids get all the luck!

Keys, wherefore art thou?

2010-02-26T00:39:00.001-08:00

ok. it is really way past my bedtime, but I am going to post a super cute funny from my day to make up for the intense neglect that my blog has been suffering.

I am trying to leave to take Rachel to her first night of YW's and cannot find my keys anywhere. We searched high and low for a good 10 minutes when I finally went to the car (where kids were waiting, nicely buckled and all.) and asked if Hannah or Chloe had seen my keys. Elise pipes up from the backseat that she had and that I should look in the coloring drawer. Since most of you have probably not seen my coloring drawer, let's suffice it to say that this clue was only slightly helpful. (It is actually a cabinet and let's just say that its cup overfloweth.) After looking with little success, I had Elise unbuckle and come show me herself. She ran in the house, reached her arm back in the cabinet and immediately returned with the keys. (She is actually pretty lucky that something wasn't lurking in there, waiting to bite off her tasty fingers. Yes. The coloring drawer IS that bad.) While she was doing this, I was grabbing a handful of Hot Tamales and little Elise pipes up. "Can I have candy for finding the keys?" Why, yes, Elise. I always give out treats to kids who hide keys and subsequently find keys. No, really. I do. Or at least I did. If they are missing again tomorrow, I guess I will pull out the Hot Tamales to reinforce Bad Parenting Lesson #1543.

Side Note: This just reminded me of the time I lost my keys when Elise was barely 2. She was learning her body parts in Korean at the time and when I finally turned to her and said "Elise, have you seen my keys?????", she pointed to her ears and said "Keys here!" (Ears in Korean is more of a Gwey, but she did find those for me!) And we did find the keys...in the trash can. (which she was probably also responsible for.)

my favorite daughter of the day

2010-02-23T09:25:00.001-08:00

disclaimer: we have a little running joke at our house that the favorite child status is something that can change at the drop of the hate, even because of something as out of their control as if they came into this world before their due date or not. My theory is that every kid thinks one of their siblings is the favorite at some time in their life, so why not make the whole favorite kid thing sound like nonsense?

That being said, Rachel is my favorite kid today. Why? Because tomorrow is her birthday party and I woke up today unaware of it. What kind of mother would do that? The kind who has a daughter awesome enough to choose a party that requires little or no effort on my part. We did cute little invites with silly knee socks for the girls to wear to her skating party but that is where the effort ended. At some point tomorrow I am going to throw in some cupcakes and buy some ice cream, but that is ALL! Isn't that great? So today is your day, Rachel. Enjoy it because it is the only thing keeping you from being adopted out on this cranky day of yours. (another thing we joke about rather openly in this little non-pc home of ours.)

ramblings of a country bumpkin wannabe

2010-02-20T00:09:00.000-08:00

Ok. We did go to the park, I didn't get to exercise, I didn't get to take Chloe's pictures and we didn't make it to the wetlands. Yikes! That to do list was a complete failure. And to top it off, the house is still a mess. Maybe tomorrow will be better? Nah! We did play at the park for a good 2.5 hours, soaking in the rays. And I did get a lot done Smiling Eyes wise. And I fed the kids! Beyond that? Not so hot.

Oh! I found some fabulous houses in the country that are calling for me. I e-mailed them to Chris and his response was something like: WHY are you looking at houses again?!!??!? I'll tell you why! My neighborhood has something against chickens (what is that about, huh?) *and* I will forever hear the call of the country and the ability to let your kids wander around in nature. I would live in a shack if it meant living in the country. Chris, on the other hand, would have to live in a pretty sweet house to make it worth living in the sticks. Sigh. This house was probably the closest I'll get to a compromise. (you know, living in a neighborhood that is in the sticks.) city rules (no chickens) with country perks. (close access to all things country and a beautiful drive anywhere you are headed.)

Note: this desire for chickens was only slightly hampered after hearing discussions from my 3 lovely friends about the times their chickens have had an egg stuck...and what you have to do about it. My plan if that ever happens to me when I have my own little flock of chickens? (see that optimism?) Call my dad. Or my home teacher. And get the gloves and KY for them. Yuck.

priorities

2010-02-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

On today's schedule?

•Presidency meeting (at the park! Who could sit inside on a day like today?)

•Entice the kiddlings to plant the peas

•Take Chloe out for a shoot in her baptism dress (Yes, I have *planned* to do this with the older 2 girls and never have...so cross your fingers for me!)

•Go to the wetlands for some bird watching (although I am pretty sure our noise level will scare away any birds that we are planning on watching.)

What I should be doing today?

•laundry (lots of it)

•overseeing the cleaning of bedrooms

•vacuum

•mop

•clean my bedroom (novel concept that is unheard of in our house)

See where my priorities lie? Off to the park! We're going to get there early and try to get some mommy exercise in.

weekend wrap up

2010-02-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

This was the big weekend for Chloe that has already ignited a count down for Hannah. Our family all gathered together for her special baptism (minus James' family...missed you guys!). I must say that I enjoyed not being 8 months pregnant this time around and am pretty sure that had a lot to do with us not being on time, but being early! No pictures of little Chloe to share on here, but I do have a picture of my nephew to share with you. I barely missed his arrival on my last trip to Snohomish so this was my first chance to shoot him. (in a photographic sense, of course.) His big blue eyes were quite spectacular, even if he is a little beyond the newborn cuddle up and sleep phase.

Chloe has been so excited for this day and you could see her sweet little spirit was just shining all day long. Her big goal was to read the Book of Mormon before her birthday, which she beat by almost a month. I love seeing her strive to choose the right and trying to help people at every turn. What a fabulous person she is! Ok. Enough bragging on my sweetness. (But she is exactly that!)

the needles and hooks are flying

2010-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, the Kang house has been staying busy with all sorts of knitting and crocheting. Even our cat-dog who loves to play with the yarn-o cannot keep us away from it. I think I am up to 3 knitters and 3 crocheters, ranging from 6-11. Elise likes to knit, too, but hers is the position of assistant knitter. She loves the knitting poem (thanks, Kylene!), saying it for me as I do each stitch and her job is to "run around the back" and then get angry if anyone dares to touch her work. Hannah has become the expert knitter, but attempts to learn crocheting turned into many shed tears today. Autumn, on the other hand, loves to crochet and pretty much lacks the desire to even try knitting. Someday.

Here is the confession: (shhh) I didn't teach 2 out of 3 of my knitters how to knit because of a lack of patience with bad form and primarily because my dad was there to bail me out. He was more than happy to teach them as he definitely has the heart of a teacher, always willing to take things a little slower if it means inspiring someone to learn a new skill. (This is probably why he was the one to teach Rachel how to bake pies so deliciously, too.) Anywho, he was intrigued by this knitting poem I referred to and requested I blog it. And a picture of Hannah's first knitted goods, to celebrate. Everyday it is something new, but it is always something for Haiti. She told me today that she was so glad that she knew how to do something that could help people. Hannah, my dear, I love you.

How to Knit:
In through the front door
Run around the back
Out through the window
And off jumps Jack

How to Purl:
Under the fence
Catch the sheep
Back we come
And off we leap.

happy {heart} day to you

2010-02-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

I am not too big on Valentine's day as I feel like it is pretty commercialized and Chris and I pretty much give keep it at giving each other a big hug and making sure we are extra nice. BUT I couldn't resist a few pieces of eye candy of the red, pink and white nature. First of all, these fabulous valentine's from my favorite antique store in town. I think they will be on each plate this Sunday night.

Then there were these simple paper chains that Hannah and Autumn have been cranking out that involved no new purchases. (see what happens when you have a year supply of paper?)

And these yummy treats for the girlies' friends, a la etsy and their many printable options. Like I said, nothing big.

We are keeping low as we prepare for a house full for Chloe's big baptism day this Saturday. Lucky for me, grandma makes the dress and costco is making the post baptism BBQ. What is left for me? Cleaning the house and....making sure I bring extra undies and towels on Saturday and getting to the church on time. (sounds simple, but I do have a record of failure.) This is the first baptism that I won't be 8 or 9 months pregnant at, so I think we're good.

a moment of relaxation {mommy style}

2010-02-08T22:09:00.001-08:00

Today was not a day that I would like to think is typical in my life. Gosh. I really hope it isn't. There was not a lot of patience in the air and there was an abundance of trying the patience that was there. Whew. I am now glad it is over and that all of the kids are fast asleep in their nice little beds.

Chris worked a little late, which was not so welcomed on a day like today. (I mean, geesh....could we coordinate crazy days with those 5 pm arrivals?) After dinner, I got on all fours and just sat there stretching, closing my eyes and relaxing. Breathing in and breathing out. And along came Elise, putting my saddle on (remember my zig zag saddle?) and going for a ride. Lilly thought that it looked like quite a bit of fun and climbed on Elise's back and we were all ready for our meditations, dog pile style. This progressed to Elise and Lilly jumping on my back (full force, of course) and Elise telling me to hold on to the end of her stick horse as she attempted to pull me, her wagon, along. As Lilly's jumping became more vigorous, Elise chastised her while reminding her that I was trying to rest. Yep. That is how a mommy rests.

Here is to a better day tomorrow. Today reminds me of the song "A lullaby for me" by Joy Gardner. Let's hope tomorrow has less crazy kids, less crazy dogs....but most of all, less crazy moms.

thank you for waiting

2010-02-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

I am glad I have you to remind me of projects that I never post as I have the memory of a rock! My mom was just pointing out to me that I really should blog about the things I do, showing just how little of my life I actually blog about. So here is my art wall. I love it. I would like to add the disclaimer that if I wasn't in a marriage that requires some levels of compromise, this frames would probably be painted in a much brighter hue. With that being said, I do think the white worked still. I am almost certain that I copied this idea from someone, but I can't give credit because I can't remember who the stink it was. Sorry, guys. Enjoy!

old blue

2010-02-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

photographer's disclaimer: these pictures were taken as we were rushing out the door for a meeting. picture quality, not so high. time to make sure her shirt matched the sweater? non-existent.

Meet Lilly's newest sweater, my second sweater that I have knitted in my 5 years of knitting experience. Sweaters scare me because of the whole sewing on arms and what not that I didn't feel like I did to my satisfaction the first time around. (heck, my mother in law did most of the work!) This is why I jumped when I found this pattern that required little assembly, with most of the sweater just magically coming together. It is written by a lady in England (at least I am assuming that that is why I paid in pounds.) and so there were a few terms that I had to look up via google, but it was a pretty easy pattern. Don't be fooled by the cabled yoke. As I was explaining to Chloe, cabling is a wonderful thing in knitting because it looks super duper hard but is actually quite simple. Ah, that there were more things like that in life!

Wrap up: I love the pattern, am thinking about making it again but I do recommend making it with yarn you love simply because it is a lot of knitting for something from your stash that you feel rather indifferent to.

The big question: What color should I make my next one?

tea party wrap up

2010-01-31T01:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, my darling little Chloe is now on the eve of turning eight. She has been counting down to her baptism for a good year (possibly more but my memory just doesn't go back that far any more.) and had her heart set on a tea party. I tried my hardest, in a discrete manipulative mother way to persuade her to have a pioneer party, but she was set in her ways. (which is not normal as she is pretty indecisive and malleable but worked out for me this time as the tea party was so much easier!)

there were the cupcakes, which were super duper easy peasy. I even used store bought frosting. (audience: gasp!)

There were the ice cream balls that came as the result of a special request from the birthday girl. They would have been extra easy if it weren't for the first batch getting ruined because the freezer wasn't shut all the way. (we won't mention any names, but she sure was lucky that it was for her own stinking party!)

Beyond that, all of the food was store bought after a kitchen epiphany that reminded me that eight year olds don't care and that it just wasn't really worth it. The biggest hit? Hot cocoa with endless marshmallows and whip cream. (thanks, Shana!) We made some felted strawberries during the party and beaded some necklaces towards the end. All in all, a success. Why? I simplified. I spent less than $50 on the whole thing and didn't do anything for it until Thursday. And it went quite well (if I do say so myself), Chloe loved it and...it is over. Yeah! 1 down. 3 to go.

Oh. These were the favor boxes. (Thanks, Kylene for the inspiration.) They are made from cups and topped with these flower barrettes that we made from an old white t-shirt. The total for 10 boxes? $6 flat, $5 of which went towards candy to fill them. As if the price didn't make them cool enough, the flowers look like icing on little cupcakes and look absolutely gorgeous in hair. Muy bueno.

The bad news? Although I didn't succeed at convincing Chloe to have a pioneer party, Autumn was eavesdropping and now has her heart set on one. I think I should start sewing now. See how I make my life difficult?

LDS Humanitarian Services: Haiti Relief Widget

2010-01-30T14:33:00.001-08:00

goals shmoals.

2010-01-27T23:37:00.000-08:00

Out of the four not so lofty goals that I made for myself this year, I have been successful at one. Yikes. And it is the hardest of the four that I have actually been doing. Silly me. I figure I want to be successful at these goals by the end of the year, which gives me a lot of time to screw it up and get back on the straight and narrow again. The car is still filthy, I have definitely not been staying off the internet until school is done (thanks to working on my website and other, less important endeavors such as cough...ahem...facebook...clearing throat.) and I am only in chapter 12 of 1 Nephi. And I didn't even dare put weight oriented goals on there! I will pick myself up and get my rear in gear. Pinky promise.

On another note, birthday season has begun at the Kang abode. We have 5 birthdays from here until April. Plan A, which included combining 3 of the 5 into one big shindig, has been thrown to the wayside after realizing that it might lead to some bad birthday memories and many hours in therapy. Plan B includes 2 rather low key parties (when it comes to my time commitment, that is), one overly ambitious party that includes many hours at the sewing machine and a search for a barn and a combo party for the youngest two, who I am pretty sure won't give a darn. And then will come my day of rest. I am sure pictures will follow. or maybe not. (you know me better than that by now, right? You could see them if you are lucky or you might see them 5 months post-partym) Until then, I have a tea to put on this Saturday and invitations to get made for the next birthday in the line up. So goes the poor planning of a mother who did not have the foresight to have her children's birthdays spread out throughout the year. Next Kang baby? You will have June. June hasn't been taken yet. (wink. wink. that was just to see if Chris reads this. NO, I am not pregnant.)

Side note: I do not think it is a coincidence that most of my blogs are categorized under Kang Craziness. That's my life summed up in two words for you.

blah blah blog

2010-01-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

Gee...I don't know what my deal is but I just haven't been feeling the blogging love lately. I am *making* myself blog right now. I'll get over it. Promise.

Check it out: Every time Chris has gone to the temple since his stroke, he gets some new movement back. (That night. Seriously, folks.) It is right up there with Jesus healing the blind miraculous, although it appears that there is some desire for Chris and I to form a habit of it. Last week he was able to straighten out his fingers (which is amazing!) and last night he was able to move his fingers together horizontally. Our new ritual? We now get out of the temple and figure out what new trick he has. Thank you, Heavenly Father. In short, physical therapy and spiritual therapy, all in one.

finally...

2010-01-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally have my website up in a decent form. Change your bookmarks and I hope you enjoy!

quote of the day

2010-01-17T21:31:00.001-08:00

Elise: Oreo pooped on the table! (a minute later) Oh. It's pie.

Ymmm....

a riddle of sorts

2010-01-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, our church now starts at 11:30, which means that Lilly is absolutely exhausted by the time church ends three hours later. Add in a 30 minute choir practice and she has had it. While checking my e-mail after laying her down, I glanced at the clock and thought "Oh, I guess the power went out a mere 56 minutes ago." Fast forward to Tuesday night. The clock still hasn't been changed (probably because I've been trying to hammer out a website or something) and I look at the clock again. This time I think "Cool. Since I haven't changed the clock, it says it is only 11:54. Sweet." What time did I *really* finally roll into bed last night?

my sodium soapbox

2010-01-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

If you have or know someone with high blood pressure, please pay close attention. Chris' stroke was said to be because of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Before his stroke, he was told to lose weight to help his blood pressure. It didn't work. After his stroke, he was told to eat less than 1500 mg of sodium a day and lose weight. (But only in passing....their main solution was for him to pop a pill to solve all of his woes.) While Chris was in therapy, I was reading up on how to cook for this man with health problems common to a 60 year old. It kept coming back to sodium and saturated fat. At his first appt. after getting out of the hospital with a heart specialist, we asked the doctor if he thought his blood pressure could immediately be affected by food. He said that it could be, but continued to suggest us doubling Chris' meds to bring his bp from 140 to 130. Chris took on the challenge to lower his blood pressure through diet and refused the additional meds, but dedicating himself to eating low/no sodium.

•He eats around 100 mg of sodium a day

•His blood pressure hovers around 120/80

•He is completely off of bp meds

•Yes, he has lost weight. Still, if he eats too much sodium (more than 100 mg), his bp sky rockets.

•when you are on bp meds, they tell you to avoid eating too many potatoes or bananas since they naturally lower your blood pressure...and we'd hate to do THAT, now wouldn't we?

Why don't doctors focus on sodium in blood pressure patients? I don't know. Do you know how much sodium is in most of the food you eat? A freaking ton. His dining out options are sushi, mongolian grill or...a salad with nothing on it. At home, just about everything is made from scratch. And it has paid off.

On to cholesterol.

After Chris' stroke, we met with a doctor and pointed out the strict diet Chris was on (no more whole milk and butter, plus grassfed beef and lots of fish) and asked if it might be possible to eventually get off of cholesterol meds. Mind you, we brought this up and might not have heard the next bit of info if we hadn't. Replies the doctor: Yes. And it might be a good idea since cholesterol meds cause liver failure. YIKES. So Chris has been slowly getting of his cholesterol meds while testing his cholesterol regularly to make sure all is a.o.k. For the last year he has suffered MAJOR back pains. We attributed it to the way he compensated for his right side and he dealt with it. He would come home early from work and sit in bed (the only comfy position) until bedtime. It was horrible times ten. Ok...I'll cut to the chase. He's off his cholesterol meds and his back hasn't bothered him since. Yep. Who would have thunk? We were thinking more physical therapy would fix it. Nope.

The moral? In general (I am sure there are exceptions), look at your diet before looking to a magic pill. Yes, it is easier to pop a pill, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is best for you. Blood pressure is this great epidimic in the US, but if you go check out the nutritional info on most food in the grocery store, you would know why. We don't even bother eating chicken since it is injected with so much stinking saline. Are things a little blander at the Kang abode? Yep, but we have adjusted. When we splurge, you can hear everyone complaining about the saltiness. (They say it takes 3 weeks to adjust)

The end. My novel is complete. Eat less sodium. Amen.

better late than never

2010-01-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

oh, dear sweet Anthropologie....I am sorry that it took me so long to visit. You see, normally when I pass you by, I have 6 girls on my arm. 4 of them would love you just as much as I do, but I am pretty sure the other 2 would rip you to shreds and then some.

I finally made it in your magical doors while my cool lil' sis was visiting and immediately fell in love. Yes, most of your wares were well about my price range. I have six little darlings and I am certain that I would get angry if they broke a $200 ____________. So I have a little rule about buying such things. But I can handle a few $4 mugs to help my peppermint tea look a little better. And your amazing measuring spoons? I don't think they can break those! All in all, a fabulous visit. Thanks for having us...and I will try to sneak over for a visit more often. I just have to find a babysitter so I can bring my regular babysitter with me. I am pretty sure she is going to fall head over heals in love with you. Now that is a crush I can handle!

oh, you poor neglected blog

2010-01-05T11:30:00.001-08:00

Meet Oreo. He prefers yarn to dog toys, hasn't quite grasped the where and when of pooping and is always on the lookout for left overs. He is proving to be good therapy as Chris runs around the house with him and Chris swears that he has lowered his blood pressure.

How did this all come about? It all started with a fish. Yep. We went to the farm store in Forest Grove because the girls thought there needed to be a fish in Chris' stocking. There was sweet little Oreo, being the perfect small dog that I wanted in a nice little no-shedding package and being exactly what the girls wanted (a dog of any sorts) and kind of being what Chris wanted. (he did want A dog, but he was aiming for a chihuahua of a yippy, not child friendly sort) Since I didn't really want a dog at all, I kind of got to call the shots on breed. Sounds fair, right?

It worked out quite perfectly as the kids had been debating on what they wanted to do for Halmoni and Halapoji's present and here we are, 2 weeks later, being full fledged dog owners. Yikes.

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

2009-12-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

today

2009-12-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

today?

Well, we have already been to the dentist and back. (Elise's tooth was fixable so she won't be toothless for a few years.) The rest of the day will be filled with baking cookies, sneaking in some pj time during naps and possibly (if the weather holds up, so cross your fingers) a visit to zoolights. And I am such a lazy photographer that you don't get any pictures to prove any of this. I guess I could be making it all up, eh? Let me make it better then. We will be baking homemade gingerbread houses (2 stories, of course) in my sparkling clean house while the kids twitter about, being sweet as candy canes to each other. We might take a break for my homemade chili and hot cocoa and deliver some homemade treats to all of the neighbors. Gee, this no picture things is pretty nice. As Chris likes to say, with a twinkle in his eye, "Everything you read on the internet is true!"

because I said so!

2009-12-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

Today:

•My children will wake up and play quietly while mommy sleeps in, even though they have cousins here to run about with.

•A certain 3 year old (and her partner in crime) will not draw on my fridge with permanent marker AGAIN.

•The magic eraser I go buy will take off all signs of previous art work on the fridge. (and the table.)

•We will be watching Elf at the Grand Lodge (and they won't cancel this time.)

•The UPS man will deliver my Christmas cards way before his normal delivery time of 5pm so I can stick the cards in their envelopes and drop them off at the post office before closing.

•I will stay up late working on jammies instead of surfing. (the net, of course)

•I will sip my peppermint tea in my splendid new mug (a la anthropologie) in the shadows of our Christmas tree, in absolute silence. (of course!)

How do I know all of this? Because I said so, of course. (And everything us moms wish for comes true, right? RIGHT?) And just because I am feeling especially upfront with all of you blog friends out there, I am not going to schedule this post to publish at a reasonable hour so you can see just how late I have stayed up tonight.

update: Erase all of that. Really, I would just like my hot water to work today.

Hotel Kang is up and running

2009-12-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, our guest rooms are filled to the brim (not hard, seeing as we only have the one and all...) and all is a party with the "cool aunt" visiting for a brief (but now less brief) visit. Today was makeover day, which including Aunt Rachel making up my daughters in an effort to freak me out about my near future. (you know...make up, dating, growing up....all of that stuff!) We got so excited about her cute hair that we ran out for a little (as in 10 minutes or less) impromptu photo shoot. (All the while, leaving two very mischievous three olds with little supervision. Good thing the freezing cold kept us hurrying, eh?)

And why is she called the cool aunt? Because she does things like this (a lot):

to pj or not to pj

2009-12-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

I am really struggling with this and I think mainly because I don't want to make jammies this year and my kids, of course, want me to.

Since it was just Rachel and Autumn, there have been handmade jammies made out of $1/ yd flannel that was bought on the day after Thanksgiving. This year, Lilly helped me only get 1 1/2 hours of sleep before the big sale. Joann's fabric wasn't quite as cheap. And now, laziness and enjoying a very slow December is taking over. I like the relaxed mode that is going on at the Kang abode.

Ok...now for the pro argument. I mentioned to Rachel the possibility of not doing pj's, thinking that with her teenageness she would be absolutely with me on this decision. And she wasn't. She was shocked that I would think of getting rid of a tradition that, in all honesty, was made when I didn't think we would ever have more than 4 kids. Six pairs of jammies are more of a time commitment than four! So do I hold on to the tradition seeing that there might be a time in the near future when my kids will not be keen on matching pj's for Christmas Eve?

Input?

the search is over.

2009-12-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

I have been searching for a copy of The Night Before Christmas (not actively, but here and there as I have been out) and the search is now over. Being a slight book snob has its disadvantages, kind of like being a crafter. (A lot of times, I end up making things just because I can't find something that meets my expectations at the store...luckily, I am not so great at whipping out children's books.)

Saturday night, Chris and I had a little compromise date that led us out for sushi (bleh!) and to Barnes and Noble (yeah!). I was picking up some copies of The Christmas Carol for the family to read this month and ran across this fabulously illustrated The Night Before Christmas. Gyo Fujikawa's sweet artwork has graced our bookshelves before and I must say I was more than slightly pleased to hear each girl immediately identify his other works. This is a beautifully done book and is pretty much just what I was looking for. My other search that I would love your help on? A just as fabulous book that tells the nativity story.

Ah, Elise...

2009-12-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

Elise's new "thing"? Whenever she does anything wrong, whether it be sneaking candy, hitting a sister on accident or just being a typical 3 year old, she always apologizes very quickly. And if you aren't quick enough, she will repetitively tell you to say "it's okay" until you do. And if you tell her that you are sorry when she has fallen or when she has gotten hurt, she clarifies that it wasn't your fault.

On another cute note? The kids are all conspiring on Christmas presents for Chris and I. It sure is fun watching them be sneaky and thoughtful, but I am also very pleased with how much my kids get caught up in the giving and care very little about the getting during Christmas. I sure do love my girlies! (Even if they didn't let me change our appointment with Santa. I SO want to celebrate St. Nicholas' Day and take Christmas over as a 100% celebration of the birth of Christ! Next year, my pretty! *picture me tapping my fingers together in a conniving fashion*)

Wiping the drool.

2009-12-03T23:47:00.000-08:00

The book lover in me is going crazy over these. Apparently, Penguin Books understands my love for beautiful versions of the classics. I'm sorry...did I say beautiful? That doesn't even begin to describe these books. They are selling for $20 at Anthropologie, but my dear sweet Amazon has them for $13. Sigh. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility....and if I was in England, I would have access to Little Women and more! Are they not just fabulous? I am in love. And now I will go do some laundry while I continue to drool.

Side Note: Hannah is calling me Marmee, too! (Although hers is a more blatant kissing up, using it directly after getting in trouble throughout the day. Maybe with age, she will learn how to sneak it in to earn more points.)

Oh, Christmas tree!

2009-12-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the day for our yearly outing to find the perfect gargantuan tree for our Christmas celebrations. (oh, how daring of me. Calling it a Christmas tree instead of something more politically correct!) It was a little different because our time at the u-cut place went a little like this:

Me: So. Do you think you could get us a tree cut and on our car in 20 minutes or less?

Parry: Sure thing! What kind of tree are thinking of?

Me: At least 12 feet. Ok....at least 11.

Parry: Did you know there is another u cut down the street for crazies? (nah...that's just what he wanted to say.)

So it turns out that taking a picture of a 12 ft tree with a 50 mm lens is quite the task, which is why I have, for you, a picture of the bottom half of my tree. "What is in the delicious red suitcase at the bottom of your tree?" you ask. Why, that is a genius idea I had around 11 pm last night that required minimal effort on my part. You see, we have a bundle of Bethlehem dress up that we pull out every Christmas Eve for a little Nativity Skit starring the Kang Girls. This year, those costumes are staying in said suitcase, along with a baby Jesus, to be played with all December long. If I may say so myself, it is brilliant.

Christmas shopping? Check.

2009-11-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

Yep. All the Christmas shopping is done. Here comes the bad part....the rest are handmade gifts. Santa is just dying to come out of the closet at our house. All of our gifts are homemade and then Santa just inconsiderately (yes, he has a few kids on his list) buys all of his. I can't wait until the day where handmade can be extended to all of the gifts!

We keep things very simple at our house when it comes to gifts. All of the kids get a santa present (probably $25 or less), a pair of pj's and one present from us. Their stockings are filled with fun and inexpensive stuff. We started this after Rachel's first Christmas was pretty over the top, back when I didn't know that we would end up with six girls to give presents to. All I have to say now is "phew!". Can you imagine 6 x $100 presents? The real reason though? I don't like Christmas being wrapped up in get, get, get. I like the girls to be anchored and practical and as much as I am constantly fighting myself on this, I like to keep it simple. That and...how do we expect them to focus on the Christ's birth if we are focusing on presents the whole time?

What the girls asked for? So sweet.

Rachel: Something girly.

Autumn: a watch and a good book

Chloe: a cute outfit

Hannah: secretly asked for the giant horse at costco that I told her Santa could not fit in his sleigh OR our house. (it took 20 minutes to get her to tell me what she asked for because she was being sneaky....)

Elise: a Daisy train and a big percy (which I don't think exists so we are settling for daisy that I plan on finding SOMEWHERE over the next month)

Aren't those sweet things to ask for? What good girls. (minus the sneaky giant horse request. how many giant horses do we need in our house?)

lillyese

2009-11-16T23:15:00.001-08:00

Dog: Moo-moo (which is Halmoni's dog's name, so of course all dogs should be called moo-moo, too)

Water: Dado

Mom: a lovely "mummy"

Train: choo choo

Candy: nanee (learned on Halloween, of course)

Baby: baby

Bye Bye: baby (with a wave to prevent too much confusion)

Fish: ish

Chicken: bock bock

Please: pease

Piggy Back Ride: back (with actions asking you to turn around and let her hop on)

Rachel: Dodol

Autumn: Anum

Hannah: Haaaannnnahhhh (calling for her just like mom and dad)

Today's new words are yiy-y (lilly), E-yise (Elise) and O-ee (Chloe). All of these words come compliments of Autumn, who taught her to put her arm out like superman and yell "Lilly!". And apparently, it worked.

My all time favorite thing for Lilly to say right now is when she calls for "mommy", looks me straight in the eyes and says "a boo ba dab a dub a. Da buda ba da bu da. Da buda bad a buda bada." She will continue on for sometime, telling me all of the secrets of her soul and meaning every bit of it. Ah, how I wish I knew what she was thinking. But I do know one thing. It is important and she wants me to know all about it. Sweet little Lilly.

my little photographer

2009-11-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

As part of our revamp of school this year to help Autumn with her ADD, I let her choose a subject to add on to our schedule. Much to my delight, she chose photography. (awww!) She has taken temporary custody of my old camera (with the threat that if I see any sigh of mistreatment, it is taken away!) and has learned all about shooting in manual. We quickly discovered that it is the one subject that she needs to wear her glasses for!

The good side of this? When I discovered that I was lacking pictures of myself for a book I am making for Lilly, I asked her for a mini photo shoot. Unlike most pictures that the kids take, these were pretty in focus *and* the exposure was spot on. The whole time I was showing her the basics of photoshop, she kept asking if I would blog about her pictures. So here they are, dear sweet girly. Autumn, you are a rock star! I even think I will rehire you when I have lost a few.

blog black out

2009-11-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

I don't know what to say. I am just not feeling the blog thing right now. It started when I was sick and I am having a hard time jumping back on the wagon. On a totally unrelated note? This no diet coke con vanilla is paying off. Two and half pounds of a pay off. As pointed out by my sister, this probably is pretty unrelated to the diet coke and more related to the mcdouble that I gravitated towards when picking up the diet coke con vanilla. Either way, I see it as a win win. It probably is also connected to the water I am constantly drinking to keep me from wanting diet coke. Yipee!

talk about dedication!

2009-11-11T19:33:00.000-08:00

In a show of support for my husband (and maybe some very rash thinking), I have sworn off of my diet coke con vanilla as long as he eats with his right hand. I don't think my love can every be questioned again. And now? I am off to drink some water.

move on. nothing to see here.

2009-11-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

I have nothing for you. Sorry. It has been such an uneventful week of sickness and blechness and all other forms of ness-es. I am trying to think of something valuable to share here and....nothing. Ok. Much pondering has brought up my new parenting idea that is about 10 years too late. (but genius, nonetheless.)

After sewing camp, all of the girls received lovely $10 gift cards for Joann's from the dear sewing camp ladies. I informed them that they couldn't use them until they sent their thank you notes and the cards have sat on our counter top ever since then. After a quick run to Joann's last week, the kids (and their desire to purchase half of the contents of the store) desire to use their gift cards was renewed and they ran home and all wrote and shipped off their little notes. So here is my new policy with gift receiving: You can't use the toy/present until you have sent off your thank you note. I think it is fabulous and can't wait to see it in effect this Christmas. (and every holiday there after)

Halloween in review

2009-11-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween rundown at the Kangs:

Rachel: It just seems wrong to be stuck in bed on Halloween. When Hannah was sick on her birthday, we at least could reschedule her party. Can't really reschedule Trick or Treating, now, can you? Don't worry. She got all of Lilly's candy and a tax on everyone else's. (Although she assured me that it is the experience that matters!)

Autumn: Tried settling for Pippie to make her sick mom's life easier, but still was feeling a pull to the witchie side. Mom bucked up, took some meds and we cranked out her skirt. Overall, trick or treating was much better without braces as she could actually enjoy her favorite, Almond Joys. note: she gave some of her favorites and a full size to her sick sister...ahhhh

Chloe: The determined Little Red Riding Hood, who saw her sick mom and made her own dang skirt. I think she pulled the whole thing off rather well, as she looks just like I imagine Little Red. Well done, Chloe.

Hannah: Big surprise, eh? A horse? What?? But Hannah doesn't like horses! This costume makes Chris laugh hysterically every time he sees it. When she was given it a few months back, she wore it night and day, making Chris giggle every time she came in the room. In a funny little twist, our little horsey ended up getting a piggy back ride from a friend who was dressed up as a cowboy for most of the night. A horse riding a cowboy? Not right, I tell you.

Elise: Daisy. You know who that is, right? I didn't either. When asked what she wanted to be, she knew immediately. When I turned to the girls in confusion, they explained that Daisy is Elise's sort of alter-ego when they play house. She wears a certain blue dress and talks in a high pitched, sweet voice. Besides being amazed by the sweetness of it all, I was relieved that this really meant one thing. We already had the costume.

Lilly: First costume we pulled out of the box. Oh, I mean a dog. She liked the whole candy thing (big surprise) and had to make her hardest decision at the 1st house that had full sized candy bars. She had a lollipop in one hand. She thought. and thought. (Silly me thought she was deciding which one to get!) She handed me the lollipop and grabbed a candy bar with both hands. Yep. Two full sized candy bars. Smart girlie, eh?

First real Halloween? A success.

Gee, this was a long post. See what happens when I miss a week? You get blog throw up. And no pumpkin carving, as Autumn is still reminding me.

what a sickie sounds like

2009-10-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

Elise and Hannah woke up with fevers and other symptyms of general sickiness. Hannah just wants to lay around, having things like gatorade and chicken noodle soup delivered to her. Elise, on the other hand, doesn't understand sick so much and was just a moody bunch of craziness. The best example to sum up our day with Elise was when Lilly was looking at her and just kind of jabbering "poo, poo, poo, poo". Elise instantly started bawling and screamed "Lilly called me poo poo!" Yep. That pretty much sums it all up. And this morning? I am sick. Good times at the Kang house.

It's Autumn time...

2009-10-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

I think I figured out some of what made it hard to go to Las Vegas last week. I lived in Las Vegas for about 6 years and I really did enjoy it while we were there. When we moved up here, it amazed me how much I had missed out on by not having seasons. I won't even start about the pumpkin patches that they have to offer there (parking lots with hay bales). I hadn't really even noticed it before, but living in the Pacific Northwest brought out this nature-loving girl who welcomed each new season with child like glee. I find myself excited and just down right giddy at the start of each new season, yet I am ready for it to be over and on with the next one at the end of it.

Towards the end of August, I was so ready for fall. School starting, leaves changing colors, that fabulous fall smell and, yes, even anxious for some rain. (as I am typing, I love hearing the sound of cars driving on the wet roads!) Right as I was settling in for some nice fall weather, we pick up and drive down to summer. I must say, it really put a kink into my fall mode. Knitting season had started, we were back in our school groove and loving the colored trees. As we drove closer to home, I realized what it was all about. It wasn't Las Vegas, but it was the lack of fall. The interruption of my seasonal transition and all of that. And it just feels good to be back home. Home, sweet (dirty and unorganized) home. Its good to be back.

Viva Las Vegas

2009-10-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering.....

You now know just how much I love Chris and my in laws. Or I wouldn't be here. :) It is a wonderful feeling to love your home so much that you see nothing that compares in beauty for a good 1000 miles. But family is in Las Vegas so in Las Vegas we are.

We are heading to see the Blue Man Group tonight, where apparently our seats are in the "poncho section". Knowing that, I am sure the kids are going to love it. Later on in the week, Chris and I have a date with the Phantom.

My favorite part of our trip so far? Sitting down with Chris' parents, looking through their old pictures and finding out more about them. That, right there, makes this trip priceless. Now I have a book to start on when I get home and hundreds of pictures to scan. Ah, stories to tell.

knitting counter: 2 pairs of arm warmers and one more on the needles.

an exciting life

2009-10-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

today: piano, errands, cooking, part-ay, laundry (while watching Castle and Lie to Me, of course)

tomorrow: find my other knitting needle, school, more laundry, clean, laundry and....laundry?

side note: anyone have a friend that is due soon? (like 2 weeks soon?) Or that just had a baby? I need to try out a cocoon on a newborn and, oddly enough, do not know a soul that is pregnant *and* local.

Keeping it even

2009-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was talking to Autumn and let her know that I blogged her pictures. Apparently, my children keep score. The immediate response was, "On both blogs?" So now I am blogging on the "other" blog to help everyone keep it nice and fair. (Can I tell you how much I hate that word?)

The hardest thing about these pictures? Getting Autumn to tone down the "I just got my braces off" smiles and to stop laughing hysterically. Autumn recently got her braces off and I have to commend her for being such a sport. (excluding the first trip to the theatre that left in her crying because she couldn't eat popcorn, but we won't count that since I might have done the same thing.) She hasn't touched nuts, chewy candy, carrots (which she actually likes!), whole apples and everything else on the long list of can't haves for those folks with braces. I was constantly forgetting and she was constantly reminding me, in her sweet Autumn way, that would need a substitute.

I thought she rather enjoyed that whole experience, as she was always showing people the new color of rubber bands and what not....until they told her it was time to get them off. She started a count down and told everyone who would listen. And now that they are off? She is just as responsible with her retainer (good thing because I am sure you will all hear about me having to cough up $180 for a new one if she does lose it!) and always goes around with a big, teethy grin, showing off her perfectly aligned pearly whites. It makes it worth it to know that she can have such an unguarded smile, even if she could have had 24 American Girl Dolls instead.

dang

2009-10-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that I did not mean to take pictures of her looking this grown up? Next time, I should pull out the pigtails and a lollipop or something. Maybe a teddy bear for the picture?

Yes, she is gorgeous. But she is my baby! My first born in the wilderness, as we like to call her. Sigh.

camera, conference and kids...oh, my!

2009-10-05T07:58:00.001-07:00

I know, I am a slacker. But I am a busy slacker of sorts. This weekend was jam packed with inspirational conference sessions, soccer games a plenty (3, to be exact), soccer pictures, a mother/daughter dinner and a birthday party.

Yep. It was so busy that I had to work hard to find time to play with my new camera. (Isn't that awful? Large camera purchases should be followed by leisurely weekends that allow for plenty of time to experiment.) My camera's name? Papa Bear. My old camera was going to be baby wee bear, but Autumn has made me name it mama bear instead. Mama bear is being loaned out to Autumn for her photography adventures, completely dependent on her treatment (or abuse) of Mama. At the beginning of the school year, I asked Autumn to choose a subject she would like to add to our school day and she chose photography. We're going to work on her shooting in manual today. So far, she knows that she likes to shoot wide open as she loves fuzzy backgrounds and she gets the correlation between shutter speed and aperture. Go, Autumn!

On a conference note, I loved it. The only part I heard of Saturday's morning session was a little tender mercy of its own. It came as I was walking the halls with Lilly after she had *intentionally* dumped her kix all over the chapel and had screamed at the top of her lungs. Elder Bednar talked about some of his fond memories of craziness when trying to carry on righteous traditions with his children. (you know, crying kids, dumping kix all over the chapel sort of thing) He compared all of the lessons we teach our kids to brush strokes in a painting that might not seem to amount to much at the time, but how they are all integral to the final masterpiece. We wised up on Sunday and had Chris take the older girls to the 1st session while I took the older girls to the 2nd. It was great to actually get to take notes in the 2nd session and I am going to try my darndest to listen the rest of it again this week to take the rest of my notes. Notes have a way of solidifying things in my mushy little brain. See? Busy weekend.

lameness

2009-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Note: I am lame. My camera is still in my car and thus, my pictures from our family reunion are also in the car. Lame, I tell you.
Maybe it is a sort of strike while waiting for Best Buy to get my Canon 7d in. Yep. I nailed it.

The pictures I really want to put on here? The pictures of Elise torturing Aunt Rachel's cat. She loved having animals to love to death all last week. We let Jack out many times just to help keep him alive. Yes, you would think we would let me him in to keep him from the coyotes, but not when it was a choice between Elise and Coyotes. And then there was the time that she was finally successful at capturing a chicken. Yep, the time I turned around to see her holding him by his wing! So as much as we loved the last week, I think there are a few animals at Aunt Rachel's that were happy to see us leave.

reunion: Tunnell style

2009-09-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Today we are heading out to the Hood Canal for a little family gathering. You know it has been a busy summer for all parties involved because this was finalized about two weeks ago. We know what we are eating over the weekend, vaguely. We know what we will be doing over the weekend, vaguely. What do we know for sure? We all get to hang out together and relax it. There is crabbing, canoeing and general frolicking through the woods on the docket. And more importantly, there are showers, beds and a kitchen that is complete with a fridge. What more do we need? We were able to get the whole gang in one spot for the weekend. That, it itself, is an accomplishment. Pictures to be posted....when we get back and are fully recovered. (already looking more doubtful when I phrase it that way!)

Side note: I got to assist Rachel (kind of in a Vanna White sort of way. Helpful, but not so helpful) in extracting honey. Ok. Honestly? Elise helped more than I did. But I did take pictures and promise to share as the process is pretty cool.

Snohomish

2009-09-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

I am up in good ole Snohomish this week, visiting my favorite (red head) sister. Hey, I have 4 sisters. I have to cover all of my bases! So far we have canned like crazy, cranking out spaghetti sauce, green tomato salsa and pickles. I think we are going to try for apple pie filling before the week is out. I absolutely love spending time with Rachel and the kids are loving it just as much. Her house is an old farmhouse on 5 acres, which I love almost as much as I love Rachel. ;) (just kidding, Rachel. The house wins.)

What else have we been up to?
running around Grandma's
watching Psych (because I needed ANOTHER show to love)
girly sort of fun stuff
potty training, continued
Lilly signing chicken ALL stinking day long as she chases the poor chickens
more girly sort of fun stuff
watching Elise yell at the chickens while trying to catch them
trying to keep cat torture to a minimum
even more girly sort of fun stuff
a trip to the best type of dollar store. (you know, the Japanese type.)
cleaning (only minimal sort of stuff. laundry is untouched, of course)
introducing Rachel to Glee
and on tomorrow's schedule? spray painting, blackberry picking and maybe some apple pie filling canning.

pictures, shmictures

2009-09-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

I really need to sleep. Family pictures tomorrow and I don't have a clue as to what the family is going to wear. Not that we are going all out, but I do need clean clothes for 8 people that kind of coordinate. Yikes. I do know what shoes we will wear and that is all that counts, right? Right? Come on, guys. Just say right. Luckily, 2 of the girls have new, especially short and low maintenance hair cuts for the occasion. (That brings hair do's required down to 3.5, since Rachel doesn't require much more than a suggestion. woo hoo!) Bed, here I come. Laundry? I'll get to you tomorrow. You know, somewhere in between trying to squeeze some school into 8-10, a 10-12 meeting, 12:30-4 piano lessons and....6 pm pictures. That sounds do-able, eh?

geography 101

2009-09-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

I am all about following the crowd. (except when it comes to epidurals, c-sections and public schools, I guess.) So when Lia told me she was replacing History for Geography, I decided that I should do geography, too. Did you know that copying is the most sincere form of flattery?

Our geography is going to be slightly a "fly by the seat of your pants" sort of curriculum. I am following a book about preparing for a Geography Bee and kind of adjusting it to the younger kids as we go along.

1. I bought a big ole' honkin' map that is going to be used to allow the kids to conquer countries by doing age appropriate reports and what not regarding each country or area. (once again, thanks for the ideas, Lia!) Chris thinks it sounds like I am teaching imperialism, but as I pointed out, it IS easier to take over a country if you know more about it.

2. I bought this atlas at Amazon that I am hoping the kids will rip to shreds from reading it so much. I can't begin to count the times that one of the girls has told me some great piece of knowledge from some book they read while I was nowhere near them and definitely not while we were "doing school".

3. We are starting by using blank maps to memorize tons of locations of states, countries, bodies of waters and McDonald locations throughout the world. Rachel was sure that this would be horrible for everyone to do together, but so far (day 2, that is) all is well. They move through the blank map binder at their own pace (all printed for free.99 here). Hannah simply helped me find the names of all of the states for me to fill in the map and now is "quizzing" me by asking me which states are north or south of other states. (and of course associating some states with our favorite broadway songs, like "Gary, Indiana", "You've got to give Iowa a try"....the list goes on, but I would love suggestions) Chloe and Autumn fall in between Hannah in levels and assistance, but they enjoy watching me brush up on my geography, too.

4. As we get closer to finishing step 3, I will do what any busy homeschooling mamma would do. You know, turn to the next chapter that morning and find out what I should do next. See? I am the queen of organization.

rewarding bad behavior

2009-09-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

My kids obviously haven't learned about rewarding bad behavior. I slept in today, ignoring the lovely schedule that calls for a morning walk. (But I have done it for 3 days!) When I came downstairs, I found Autumn cooking scrambled eggs and Chloe waiting for devotional to start. Doesn't it sound like I should sleep in more often?

And as of yesterday, our school year has officially started. Lots of this:

Not so much of the crafting to post about. This year we started geography and the girls are loving it so far. I will post some of our plans for it tomorrow, after I find a place for our darn map to go. Other changes in curriculum: New science books, Rachel is starting logic, potty training and we are now using a spelling power book that is not ripped to shreds. Big stuff going on at the Kang house, eh?

thoughts from Lilly

2009-09-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

1. No knitting at soccer. And if you do, revenge will be had. (in the form of dragging your scarf through the bark dust, of course)

2. Cover up, mom. Get some more shade shirts or something! (while bending over to clean up said scarf craziness, Lilly obviously got a glimpse of some cleavage and decided that it was lunch time. Yep, in the form of holding out hands, asking for milk and when being ignored, just going for the kill. Ok, I get the hint. Shade shirts will be ordered soon and until then, bending over will be kept to a minimum)

Thanks for the love, Lilly. You can learn all sorts of things from 1 year olds.

2009-09-11T08:34:00.001-07:00

This morning, after realizing that today was September 11th, I found myself talking to Autumn about the significance of this day in history. We do this every year, but with her being 1 year older, it seemed to impact her a little bit more. I was telling her about United Flight 93 and the brave passengers that were willing to give their life in order to save others. We talked about the feelings that were in the air, across the country, during this time. For our devotional, we opted to sing patriotic songs in remembrance of this day. As we were singing America the Beautiful, I was brought to tears as we sang the third verse.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!

I am grateful for the brave men and women that immediately responded to the call for help on September 11th, 2001. I retold stories of bravery, love and patriotism to the girls that brought me back to that day. It makes me sad to think that so many people have forgotten and moved on. I am grateful for the people who fight for our country, sacrificing time with their family, personal safety, comfort and many other conveniences that we take for granted to keep our country safe from the kind of terror that we saw on that day. I remember.

schedules

2009-09-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

I made these schedules yesterday, in an attempt to get us up and moving earlier. So far, so good. Autumn is running ahead. (she seems to work well with order) I need to hop in the shower or I will be behind. Notice a theme with my board? I would like to display a whole heck of a lot more patience this year. I figure the more reminders I have, the better. Today is what I affectionately refer to as our "soft grand opening" for school. We still have curriculum to throw together, but mainly just a lot of copies to be made. The girls don't want to officially start until Monday because their school "to do list" books start on Monday. Sure thing, girls. (Yet they are all still unofficially doing some school....silly girls!) And I am off!

Hannah Banana

2009-09-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently, my loved ones don't always look at my photography blog. Here are a few shots of Banana for those of you that missed my back to school special. ;) Hannah relished in the success of her modeling debut (especially after I showed her a slide show of her pictures set to cowgirl music) and has asked for a follow up session for her to put on her birthday cards. Was it the ice cream cone or being showered with attention?

crochet {adorned}

2009-09-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been known to turn my nose up at crocheting. (sorry, all of you crocheting friends of mine.) I am a knitter during the months of September to March, which I affectionatly refer to as knitting season. I can't bring myself to knit when it is sunny and hot out, yet there is something about knitting during the winter that ranks up there with drinking hot cocoa and smelling the fresh fall air. But this year is a little different. I have been feeling the pull of the crochet hook as an increasing number of projects call for cute edging that just isn't done so well with knitting.

A few months ago, I tried to master crochet in an attempt to add edging to the girls' pillowcases. My grandma threw her arms up in defeat as we tried to translate crocheting from right handed to left. I finally got desperate enough to watch a video online for us left handed freaks so I could crochet (cutely, of course) around baby socks. Then I ran into Crochet Adorned, which sealed the deal. (or the addiction) I have now mastered all of the little stitches and am busily working on a table runner for the table that will (someday) be free of the sewing machine. And instead of getting ready for school to start, I am crocheting. Just like any responsible homeschooling mom, right?