Making Room in my Brain

I have had this idea stuck in my head for quite some time, just waiting for an opportunity to jump out. I finally let it loose, and now I have room to come up with another...


Yes, that is our sweet boy, Jack (doesn't he have the most darling double chin you ever saw??!). I am considering listing it on etsy as a customizeable silhouette for parents to order for their children. Do you think there is a market out there for such sweet little somethings?

Finding Joy

In the midst of the busy-ness of my messy life... the cooking, the cleaning, the diapers and bath times, the laundry and dusting... the grocery shopping, and, well, you know how it is! These are the things that gave me joy this weekend...

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops.

Cherries always make me smile, and finding them embroidered on the sweetest little corderuoy dress, add in a pair of chubby legs... bliss.

Funky Autumn seedpods.

Playing on a blanket with my baby girl.



Grapes ripening on the vine.

The garden at Summer's end and a nice sittin' spot.

Watching Jack on the brand new swing that his Daddy made.

Happenings

Yesterday morning, Katie's first tooth broke through!

And, later in the day, I looked over to see why she was grumping, caught her eye, smiled, said "Hi!" and waved. Then to my complete shock and surprise, she smiled and WAVED BACK!

Could it be that these baby days are almost over? I can't wait until I get to start having conversations with my baby girl.

And here's why they were giggling yesterday afternoon...

Gettin' Out

It has been a long time.
A very, very long time
since I have been out to an antique mall, show or sale. And I have missed it.

Yesterday, I went to the Barn House sale, then to my favorite antique marketplace, Monticello. Oh, it was bliss! And I even came home with a few treasures.

A little metal pail,

an assortment of frames to fill, some vintage buttons, and two little baskets to embellish (one was filled with bits of vintage trim and beads!).

Ahhhhhhh.... what a way to spend a day. :)

Playing with Scissors Again

I have been playing with a new design to needle punch for a few days now. I was staring at the finished drawing yesterday, and suddenly saw that it would translate well as a papercutting. So I set to work sketching it out again, with some changes, of course, while making lasagne (multi-tasking at its best!) And here is what I came up with...



It has yet to be stained, mounted and framed, but I was so happy with how it turned out that I just had to share!

And Finally...

After being temporarily distracted by some smaller projects, I am finally free to start stitching up a pattern that I designed a few months ago, and I am SO enjoying it! This one will be more along the lines of my Ann Taylor 1785 sampler (follow the link and scroll down on the left sidebar to see a photo), being inspired by and closely resembling in style an antique sampler that I have admired for some time.

Here is a sneak peak for my fellow stitching fanatics...

Some of the Reasons I Love the End of Summer

General Cuteness

They are the reason I am so exhausted at the end of each day, but they are also one of the main reasons my heart is so full. My babies are the sweetest little time robbers you will ever meet...

Katie's 8 Month Photo Shoot

And just for the fun of it, here is Jack at the same age...

True Companion

It was a misty cold night in November of 1998, and we were at Clackamet Park. We sat on the swings and Matt officially asked if I would be his girlfriend. Sounds a bit corny, maybe, but he was my first boyfriend, and he wanted to make the moment special for me. After we were completely chilled to the bone, we went and sat in the cab of his big green 1973 Ford pickup truck, and that is when I first heard Mark Cohn's song "True Companion". It has ever after been our special song.

Just 10 months later on September 4, 1999, we exchanged vows to love, honor, and cherish each other until death do us part.

I have not regretted those words for one iota of a second in the nine years since. I am married to my True Companion- God designed us to be a pair, and despite time, the effects of job stress, sleep deprivation and babies, we are still in love with each other and looking forward to the years ahead.

At this stage of life it isn't easy for us to get away from the house, so we didn't go to a fancy restaurant or resort to celebrate our anniversary. Instead, we stayed home with our sweet babies and had a simple dinner, with a special "Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie" for dessert (the recipe I of course altered- I simply cannot leave well enough alone! If you want my adapted version, let me know).

As I was putting the finished pie into the refrigerator, I was also holding a fussy Baby Girl in one arm, and had the phone wedged between cheek and shoulder because Danny had called to wish us a happy anniversary. Obviously not completely in control of the situation, and once again trying to do too many things at once, it was at that moment that Little Missy decided she wanted some pie too... Can you see the mark she left behind?

And so it goes... But ever and always these days will end, as our 9th anniversary did, side by side, two hearts beating together in perfect harmony.

The intent of this post is to honor my sweetheart with a little tribute, but I also want to share a special treasure with you... My friend Connie (thank you once again!) not only spent many hours on the day of our wedding gathering and putting all of the flowers together, she also, several years later, dug up and brought out to us the very bush that my wedding bouquet came off of. Not many people in this world can step out their back door on their anniversary and breathe in the scent of their wedding bouquet!

Bounty

We are now regularly harvesting and happily eating quite small but very tasty ears of corn. These photos were taken the evening of our very first corn feast of 2008...


Poor Katie only got to feast on Cheerios...

And, after nearly a decade of trouble with deer, goats, and cows munching on our trees, we finally harvested enough tiny little apples to make one small pie. Ohmeohmy, was that a delicious pie! And Jack could hardly wait to dig in!

Getting Behind

I have quite a backlog of blog posts that I have been meaning to get to, but I have been putting them off because we had made the decision to splurge and get satellite internet. Well, when the tech came out today to get us hooked up, lo and behold, our beautiful grove of giant Douglas Fir trees is RIGHT IN THE WAY. In order to get a clear signal, we will have to pay an additional $400 for extra cable, and Matt will have to put a metal pole in the ground to mount the satellite dish, which by the way, already would cost us $300, not to mention the $60 monthly for service. Seriously, there has got to be a better option out there! Now I don't know if we are going to go through with it or not, but I am dreading the thought of being stuck with dial-up for very much longer, and neither DSL or Cable have made it this far out in the boondocks yet.

sigh.

In the meantime, I will gather myself and hopefully get around to posting about the fact that we have now been married for 9 years, that we have eaten the first of our corn crop, had a delicious apple pie from our very own orchard, and what the kids have been up to. But not right now, first I have to go have a dial-up induced pity party.

Curiosity

As a baby, Jack was usually quite content to sit in one spot and play with a basket of the same old toys.

Katie, on the other hand, would rather not see the same toy for more than 30 seconds, and is constantly looking for something new to satisfy her curiosity.

I think that for the rest of their lives, they will not only be best friends (I hope), but will be challenging each other to think outside of themselves. Jack will be showing Katie how to slow down a little, and Katie, well, she will be encouraging Jack to take more risks. And we parents will certainly need to stay on our toes!

If You All Pooled your Money

You might be able to help me buy this for my birthday... (I'm really serious!)

And Whittaker-ness was in the Air

Alternate post titles:
Reunited and it Feels so Good!
Minus 3 Plus 1

In celebration of summer and family-ness, we had a gathering on Saturday here on the farm. The first time it has been just my family all together since Christmas. Well, at least almost all together- as much as we can be, since Danny, Betsy, and Aaron are half a world away.

And we were so glad that Uncle Jeff joined the festivities. We hope he becomes a regular part of our gatherings.

Grandma and Grandpa, we are SO glad that you have moved to the Metro area just so's we can see more of you!

Matt having some quality Daddy time with the kids...

So cute in her little hoodie (thank you Auntie M, it fits perfectly!)

Eating his first toasted marshmallow of the season, and from the looks of it, not so sure what to think of that sticky mess on his face!

Uncle Timmy, Auntie Heather, and Baby Beniah in utero with Katie. Uncle Andy, Auntie Kim and Donny, who is now walking (yeah Donny!). Oh, and is it still a secret???

Did I mention that Auntie Jo ALSO moved to our area? We are happy, happy, happy!

One of our amazing sunsets over Bear Creek Canyon. Yes, people, this is the view from our home, and we really do feel blessed on a daily basis.

Donny taking one last bleary-eyed gaze at the fire before heading home.


And if that wasn't enough Whittaker time for you, go to my Mom's blog to see some more photos, including one that features my impressive athletic skills. :)