Christmas day

Ahhhhhh. There is no better feeling than finally sitting down at the end of a long, and very happy Christmas. We were lucky enough to wake up this morning to a gorgeous white Christmas! It was beautiful to see everything with a fluffy, pure white cover and so different from our usual warm San Diego Christmas. The kids got to go out and try to make a snowman out of the powdery white snow that fell the night before. Santa came to visit early this morning and the kids all seem very pleased with the goodies he delivered...no lumps of coal for this bunch! Much of the day was spent getting ready for the big Christmas feast with Grandma and Grandpa and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We had our usual snowball competition at the end of dinner. We started this competition when we were all little kids - Mom made a "snowball" (made of vanilla ice cream rolled in coconut) with a candle in the top of each - the winner is the one who can keep the candle burning longest. It is a silly, fun way to end our celebration. This year we got a family cup to pass from winner to winner each year, this year the cup goes to the Riggs house because Lily won! Truman was pretty upset that his candle went out just before Lily's and he thought he had won...oh the disappointment.

We're looking forward to a few more snowy days in Utah and we going to take the kids skiing for the first time. That should be a great time, we'll keep you posted on how that really goes!


Hope you all had a wonderful day too!

birthdays

When our kids have had birthdays in the past I used to get a little teary thinking about how big they were getting and how fast they were growing up. Now, I try not to get caught with my mouth gaping open from awe at how amazing our kids are growing up to be. Of course I also don't know to spend too much time thinking about it or I'll realize how old it must make me now that I have one teenager and one nearly teenager.



Madeline had a birthday earlier this month and she had a few friends over for snacks and a movie. For party favors I made each girl a cute bag (darn cute if I do say so myself!) from the pattern in one of my favorite books and we filled each one with water and snacks for the movie. OK really it was filled with water and movie candy...snacks imply some nutritional value & there really was none to be found in that bag!

scarves and mittens...

Look under the beds! Maybe with the dress-up clothes? Where would you look for scarves and mittens at our house? Those have become accessories that we play with, not really wear since we've come back from London, but today we were on the hunt since we were going to be ice skating! There is an outdoor ice rink set-up outside Horton Plaza downtown and we went with a homeschool group to do some skating and socializing. It was such a fun time! Too bad all the hats and mittens we spent so much time searching for were quickly discarded - it was sunny and about 70 degrees - the kids were all sweating within a few minutes! It was pretty funny to watch the kids skating - because it was so warm, the half of the rink in the sun had several inches of water on top of the ice - and the kids skating would splash water at each other! Only here in Southern California would you see that!

Day of Thanks

Thanksgiving - what a great holiday. Relaxing, cooking, eating, telling those you love how much you appreciate them - some of my favorite things. It is especially a favorite of mine since there are no gifts to stress about, just an overall feeling of joy and gratitude. This year we decided to try a turducken and some other new recipes rather than our traditional turkey and Schaeffer Sweet Potatoes. While the turducken was very yummy, we all agreed there really is something to be said for sticking with tradition. We loved the new brussel sprout recipe we tried from Bon Appetit and the rolls we made were divine!

We hope you too had a wonderful day!

Pomegranates

Pomegranate juicing day. At our house it should be a recognized holiday - it really is quite the to-do. Kerry and I agreed, he and the kids do the juicing and I'll do the jelly-making. For some reason, even with gloves, my hands turn the most disgusting shade of purply-gray when I try to juice those buggers. But, I do make a mean jar of jelly so it's an even trade! As the kids have gotten bigger, their help has become much more substantial. Maddie and Bea really can almost handle it on their own...there are just so many pomegranates to cut and squeeze, that small hands get tired and that's when there is danger. Kerry does his best to keep the mess to a minimum - his forte - but even under his watchful eye the kids and most of the surrounding area is covered with juice. It's a good thing we live in a place that in mid-November we can be outside in shorts, and barefeet getting covered with gorgeous, sticky juice!

the cats in the hats

Here are my little kittens, without any mittens - but sporting their favorite hats! My kids love wearing hats and lately when we peak at them before we go to sleep they are wearing hats even in their sleep. Too cute.

fall day

Sometimes I wish we lived somewhere that actually participated in the concept of seasons. Most people would think I'm crazy to not appreciate the perfect weather of San Diego, but sometimes I do wish for some crispness in the air, or maybe even a day that called out for a cute hat & fun gloves. While we were living in London I craved the sun. I mean crave in a deep, desperate, drove me to the fake tanning beds craved. While I didn't do well with the amount of gloom, I did love the chance to wear hats and scarves and a proper coat...ahhhhhh to grab cute gloves & hat on the way out the door. Well, since this is where I am, I guess I need to work on my appreciation of flip-flops. Enjoy the scenes of fall from our little corner of paradise.

crafty moment

Ahhhhhh....it's been way too long since I've had the time or energy to actually create something other than a meal for the hungry hoard that seems to always be two steps behind me! This weekend I found a pattern for the cutest elves to embroider. If I knew how to put in a link I would - but for now you'll have to search for yourself on Wee Wonderfuls under her free downloads. Now I hear many of you saying, "I didn't think you knew HOW to embroider?" Well, I don't. But, I had the best time, & found it almost addicting in its nearly immediate satisfaction of that urge to create that has been deeply surpressed for quite a while now. Homeschooling all the kids, and working at the Foundation, takes up a lot of time & mental energy, but I felt a little bit a battery recharging while a stitched away at this adorable little elf. Three cheers for bells on curled up toes!

peep, peep, peep

They're here! They're here! The mailman finally brought our newest arrivals (yes that is a plural!) The much anticipated additions to Schaeffer Farms have arrived...24 tiny, peeping, little chicks! The only sad moment was opening the box and seeing that two of our sweet little peeps didn't survive the journey. I'm always amazed that any of them survive two days through the USPS, but they are tough little balls of fluff. We'll try to get some better pictures of how cute they really are, but at the moment we're too busy ohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing!

halloween

The kids were so excited for Halloween this year. They spent a lot of time and energy deciding what to be and how to make their costumes. Truman has been sure for weeks that he was going to be a robot and would show anyone who was interested what a robot did (he can do a great robot-dance!). We spent a lot of time digging through the craft box & garage to find all the bits & bobs we needed to transform him into a robot from some distant planet - and it really paid off! He was adorable! Beatrice has had an ongoing love affair with the movie Grease for a while now after she saw it on TV one Saturday afternoon and so she wanted to be a 50's girl. We made her a poodle skirt and she spent many hours practicing swirling in it. She looked so cute...maybe we can make some skirts like that for everyday. Madeline saw a cavegirl costume and thought that would be cool - besides, she would get to wear her beloved Ugg boots (an early birthday present that seem to be coming out an awful lot considering her birthday is an entire month away!). She created an awesome looking "bone" necklace out of foil covered with masking tape. It looked great! Ian couldn't really decide what he wanted to be until he found a website that had very clever ideas. There was "Pink Floyd" - you where all pink & a name tag that says "Floyd"...or you could be an "email" - if you are a boy you can wear an "e" on your chest...ha ha e-male! There were several funny ones, but Ian chose to be a black-eyed-pea...so he had a big P on his chest & we put black makeup around his eye. Most of the neighbors got a good chuckle out of it!

pumpkin carving

Yesterday afternoon we took a break from our usual Saturday stuff to carve the pumpkins we brought back from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Our neighbors, John & Paul, came over to carve with us and it turned into quite a party! Truman wanted to make something scary, so we decided to make a spooky ghost and it turned out fabulous! Maddie and Ian shared the monster pumpkin & carved a bunch of bats, another very cool one. Bea kept with the traditional jack-o-lantern faces & it looks very jolly.

beautiful music

Lately Truman is drawn to music...usually playing one of the many instruments we have around the house. He loves to tell me the story that goes along with the song once he's played it. Usually it involves someone being very sad, and then getting happier in the end. He'll sit in the kitchen with me and pluck away - it seems to totally absorb him since he even stops talking while he is playing!

photographer in the making

Madeline has decided - actually quite a while ago - that she would like to be a photographer. It varies from time to time what type of photographer; after we've looked through a cookbook with gorgeous food shots she leans toward food, but usually I think the's got nature in her blood - she's just like her dad that way. She's got a great eye for composition and I love to see what she chooses to photograph. Here are a few of her latest.

new era

This is a hard entry for me to write, my first baby is growing up & I can't avoid it. Ian turned 13 this year! We've officially entered the dreaded teenage years - though, I have a feeling Ian will go through it with his usual good nature and unbelievably wonderful style. He is such an amazing person. I hope he knows how proud we are of him and how lucky I feel to be his mom!

catch up...

We've been home a few days and I need to finish telling you about the final fun days of our trip! On our full day at the coast in Oregon we went crabbing just a mile or two up the road. It was a windy, drizzly, cold Oregon day & we were dressed like typical southern californians, but we still had a blast! Our friends Sean & Geri, came with us to be first time crabbers too but at least they had weather appropriate gear. When we first got the pots with the big fish head tied to the bottom, I must admit my stomach did a little flip-flop, but after a toss or two it was so fun to see the pot full of crabs come up, it was all worth it. We could only take males over a certain size, so the kids had a great time figuring out whether we had girls or boys & measuring the few males we pulled up. We ended up with only one crab, but gave him to an even more unfortunatate crabber when we left. The next day was dumping rain and our reservation was up, so we headed south and spent another night in Ashland Oregon. We spent a few hours driving south on the 101, but it was so rainy and gloomy we thought we'd cut over to the 5 to try to speed up our trip. Monday morning was clear and we decided to head home. The laundry was mounting, my menu ideas were dwindling, and our dread of pulling a trailer through Los Angeles at rush hour brought us to our decision to head straight for home.






Kerry pulled a marathon drive and drove us from the border of Oregon straight through to pull into San Diego at 1:00am the next morning. Although the 5 through the San Joaquin Valley isn't the most scenic drive we had a great time passing the trucks filled with garlic, tomatoes, carrots, etc. We're glad to be home, but already talking about our next big adventure. Although life here in Schaeffer Farms is never boring, Kerry & I love to see what's just around the next bend.

Beach bound

After our stop in Salem we were excited to see some sand & water! The kids were so excited about going to the beach, I was a little worried they'd be disappointed by the weather. I knew the weather at the Oregon coast wasn't going to be quite what my little Southern Californians would be used to, but we'd had such good luck so far I was hoping the weather would hold up. Madeline was so excited about beach combing and finding treasures that I was just keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn't rain the whole time! When we arrived it was a glorious bright afternoon. The sun was gorgeous & there was only a little bit of wind. The kids had such a good time exploring & climbing on logs (another first for my little CA kids - drift wood!) that the oncoming clouds didn't faze them a bit! Our friends - Sean & Geri - arrived from Portland and we all spent some time enjoying the beach before dinner. We made a quick pot of pasta & spent the evening catching up & getting ready for our big day of crabbing tomorrow.

Driving day...

After admiring the breathtaking view at Crater Lake, we headed off to our next stop, which was really just a pit stop in Salem, Oregon. We were heading to what I would call the beach, but I guess here in Oregon they would say the coast. The best part of the day was definitely the drive, it was so pretty! I’m starting to think that anywhere you drive in Oregon is going to be something worth looking at. The big hit of the day came when we stopped at a spot the ranger from Crater Lake had recommended – Salt Creek Falls. We actually had some Oregonians tell us what a hidden gem it is…Salt Creek is the second highest falls in Oregon. What a gem!






We stayed at a really “nice” rv resort…I think we have a different idea of what a great camp site has. I’m a big fan of dirt & trees – with some bugs thrown in for good measure, but I think some rvers prefer a bit more paving and a patch of sod to give that feeling of nature! All in all it was a great day & we’re so excited to see our friends, Sean & Geri, and explore the coast!

Crater Lake, Oregon

Since we were having such a great time in Ashland, it was hard to get back in the car and move on - but my childhood memories of Crater Lake and ramblings of how amazing it was spurred us on. We drove an incredibly windy, mountain road up to the Manzama campground inside the park. Most of the campground was already closed, and the rest would be within the next week, so it was pretty quiet. We were surrounded by the most gorgeous trees and views of meadows and mountains. That night we did a short hike around the edge of the campground called Annie's Loop...very, very pretty, but watching the kids play around next to the cliff at the side of the trail made me a little nervous! We played in a nice fire & the kids all kept watch for bears, since we'd been warned about them being around. Luckily, no one was gobbled up during the night by any rouge bears and we got to drive up the Rim Village to actually lay eyes on the prize - Crater Lake. It was spectacular. The blue of the water is intense and clear. The blue of the sky was so pale in comparison! My favorite view was the deep green of the pines against the intense blue of the water...ahhhhh! Truman wanted to go down for a swim, but we convinced him it was a little too cold. The rangers were all very helpful since we had the only kids there -- everyone else we ran into during our travels was either retired or foreign...what a great time to travel!

Ashland, Oregon

Monday we arrived in Ashland, Oregon – which is actually just above the California border & camped at a great spot called Glenyan Campground. It's only about 6 miles from downtown (such a cute downtown) but you are in some serious nature! Truman found a black widow, a salamander, and lots of squirrels and birds. We spent a whole day walking around Ashland and exploring lots of shops & galleries. There is a great park in the middle of downtown – Lithia Park. There’s a great play spot for the kids to burn some energy – incredible plantings & we even saw some deer in the park! We visited a glassblowing shop & got to watch them make some pieces…that was fun. We had dinner at the Standing Stone Brewery…it was very good. We drove around a few neighborhoods & saw some gorgeous houses…it was a great day.