Our Trip to Roseburg

It's been about three weeks since my family's visit and I am just now sitting down to write about it. Sigh! The life of the busy Mama!

Anticipation had been running high in the Whittaker household. Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, and Aunt Nancy were planning on taking a train trip to the Pacific Northwest and they finally arrived! I picked them from the train station and brought them home to enjoy lunch with the boys.

Then it was time to pack all seven of us and our luggage up in the suburban and head down to Roseburg.

Shoehorn, anybody?

We were all so happy to get out of the suburban and play.

Great Grandpa is the best wrestler!

Block towers were built (and destroyed)

Cousins were loved on.

Baby kisses were given.

We woke up on Tuesday morning and went searching for the Easter eggs that Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Nancy hid around the yard.

Who cares if it's two weeks past Easter! Grandma wanted to give her grandchildren some candy!

We enjoyed relaxing together...

And walking through the neighborhood...

The cousins all cuddled up in their Aunt Nancy quilts for some group photos.

Trikes were ridden around the patio...

...with the help of an older cousin

Aunt Nancy's hand tasted so good (and was so helpful and getting those first two teeth in).

Wednesday dawned hot and shining, so we walked to the neighborhood slime filled "waterfall" to watch the water flow.

When we got back, Great Grandpa was playing the Wii. We just had to watch him play.

Soon it was time for us to leave for the Kumar's house for a delicious Indian dinner and pretzel salad (to celebrate my birthday)

We were serenaded by the children who were staying at the Real Hope Center.

The boys enjoyed watching the kids and clapped along with the singing.

We were having fun and really enjoyed each others company.

Then Thursday morning rolled in with it's death and sadness as one by one the Whittaker clan succumbed to the dreaded stomach flu. Nobody actually died, it just felt like a possibility.

Tim magically appeared in the middle of the night (Greyhound is magical, right?) to take his ailing family home to rest and recuperate. Before we left, I insisted that we get the four generation photo.

Why I Blog

To preserve our family's stories so my children can enjoy them.

April's Date Day

For Valentines Day this year, I came up with 12 date night/day ideas.

Since April is my birthday month, I decided that we would head to nearby Camas, have lunch, and window shop at the local antique mall.

We ended up going to a small Russian restaurant for lunch. I went with a chicken and asparagus filled crepe. It was pretty good. Tim mocked me for taking a picture of my food.

I retaliated by taking his picture. That's how our relationship rolls.

Isaac was our tag along and was content to hang out in the stroller.

After lunch, we walked down the street to the antique mall and began looking at all of the yesteryear items for sale. Of course, Tim found an antique calculator and began figuring out how it worked.

Isaac also enjoyed the trip or at least whenever I cooed at him.

One item for sale was aptly named, "Cool Baby Buggy".

We had a fun time hanging out together (in spite of Tim's deadpan look on his face. It was literally the best picture of the two of us the entire date. How sad is that!).

May's Date Night: stacylaughs.com Roulette

Crafting Corner

A few months ago, my sister handed me a box of fleece material that she had on hand and asked if I would be willing to sew up some twin size blankets for the students of the Real Hope Center.  

What's the Real Hope Center you ask? I'm glad you asked.  Real Hope is a ministry that my sister and brother in law started in southern India.  They hike out to remote villages and provide some basic hygiene products and talk to the villagers about the love of Jesus. They saw a need for schooling for the children of the villages, but had no way to get the kids down the mountains to the school. Monsoon rains would wipe out the roads and herds of elephants would pose a threat to anyone who ventured too closely. Remember the scene in Dumbo where Mrs. Jumbo became enraged over some kids mocking Dumbo? Apparently, elephants rampage when humans get too close (although they don't use their trunks to spank bottoms). Who would've guessed that the sweet elephants at the zoo could be so vicious. 

Anyway, my sister and her husband purchased land and built a center where the villagers could send their children to live while they go to school. Until Real Hope gets enough donations to get real beds, the kids sleep on mats on the floors. These blankets are to warm them and make their beds a bit softer.

The material that my sister gave me had been sitting in my closet as I crafted Christmas gifts for my family, gave birth to Isaac, recovered from surgery, and through the first 4 months of Isaac's life.  Needless to say, it's time to get it out of my closet and back to my sister before they leave for India this June.  

I organized the fabric into color coordinating sections and started cutting and laying out the blanket.  Then Tim stepped in and made the blanket pattern so much better than my attempt.

It was then time to sew all of the squares together. Before I could I do that, my sewing machine broke. I don't mean a jumbled mass of thread break. I mean a 3 week stint in the repair shop break.  There wasn't enough time for me to finish the blanket before I went down to my parents house for a visit, so I brought it with me to work on down there.  Unfortunately, I became extremely ill and couldn't finish it. My aunt, however, finished the top of the quilt for me before she became ill with what I had.  Now, I am waiting for my mom to bring the quilt back up here so I can finish the back of the quilt. At some point, this blanket will get done!  Fortunately, for the kids in India, there was a huge donation of blankets that will get sent over for their use.

Tim picked up my sewing machine this week and I am itching to get back to sewing.

Isaac - 5 Months Old

My baby has turned 5 months old and is getting SO big (he's currently in 9 month clothes) and is learning so many new things to do.

He has become a sitting up pro!

Well, more like a novice...

He has learned (much to his consternation) that he can't crawl forward yet.

 He has discovered a whole new higher octave (much to our consternation).

 

We all love our Isaac boy!

Cubbies Award Night

Every Tuesday night since October, Beniah has been donning a blue vest and heading off to his grandparents' church to attend Awanas Cubbies club.

There have been so many exciting nights, like pirates night and Step up night. He's memorized 26 different Bible verses, learned new songs, and met new kids.

From "Bring a Parent" Night

 

"From Pirates Night"

Elijah HAD to dress up like a pirate too.

 

From "Step up Night"

Beniah is heading up to Sparks next year and Elijah is becoming a Cubbie.  Bonus of having Grandma apart of the teachers at Cubbies is that Elijah got to participate in step up night too! He was so excited and found a blue vest in his closet to wear to match the rest of the Cubbies.

This past Tuesday was Beniah's last night of Cubbies, which means that it was Awards Night. 

Beniah completed all of the Under the Appletree sections of his workbook (kind of like extra credit work) and won a prize for it. He seemed a bit surprised when the leader of Cubbies was talking about him.

Beniah and his teacher, Grandma. Beniah is giving us his "I'm on stage and trying to be serious" smile.

He couldn't keep that look up when Daddy and I were making silly faces at him.

Because Grandma was a Cubbies teacher this year, Elijah even came home with a prize for coming every week to pick up Beniah. I think Grandma just wanted an excuse to give cookies to her grandson. It does help that the boys have their own set of cookies.

Beniah's prize for completing all of the "Under the Appletree" sections was a magnet that he can put his picture in. So exciting!

Beniah is super proud that he finished Cubbies and will be attending Sparks next year.