Hard Labor

This is what 5 hours of hard labor has gotten me. A very tiny amount of seaglass. I am admitting to you all that I have a problem....I am addicted to finding seaglass. I can't wait until I can find more. Lucky for me, Jeff and the little pirates are great scavengers and help me "find me treasured glass". The pirates get bored quickly and soon Greta starts climbing on rocks and Fieldin starts burying himself in the sand using his little shovel. Jeff helps me sift through rock and sand looking for a tiny piece of the glass.

My name is Raylene, and I am a addict.

Random

By the time I took my last drink of coffee yesterday morning, our last home was turned over to it's new owners. The nice thing about waiting a month to close on our house was that I had time to break ties with the house and move on. Knowing the house is no longer our concern, should lighten the stress load around here a bit. Selling our home was an unusual experience up to the end and I hope to not have to go through it again anytime soon. These last few weeks are catching up to me. Tonight I took a long nap after dinner and probably would have stayed sleeping there all night if I could.

We currently don't have t.v. until we move again in a month. I hopped on the computer to catch up on news and was torn between reading about the life of J.D. Salinger or watch the State of the Union. I chose Salinger. Eccentric over politics...it wasn't a hard choice tonight.

Time to track down some mailing envelopes and then off to bed again for me.

It's almost Friday. Yay!

Fieldin

Little Fieldy is talking up a storm lately. He has always been a talker but lately he is picking up words and conversation at amazing speed. This morning after trashing Greta's dollhouse he actually walked over to her and said"I sorry" and gave her one of his big signature kisses..."mmmmmwahhhhhh". Greta was a bit taken a back. " It's o.k. Fieldy" she said. " Bye Bye" he said and took off down the hall.
Yesterday, we didn't go out at our normal time and he did not like this. At 9:30 he brought me his beloved rain boots and stood in front of me with puppy eyes. At 10 o'clock when I still hadn't taken him out I found him gripping the front door knob saying "outside...outside...outside". Not wanting to see what 10:30 would bring, I got him outside quickly.
The little guy has no trouble expressing himself. As a second child, I think his language skills are extremely good. My theory on this, his sister talks 24/7 so he has probably heard every word known to man, thousands and thousands of times. Whatever the reason, we are enjoying our conversations with him and hearing him repeat our words. He also is getting into more and more mischief. He has only been in time out only a few times, but he loves it. Tonight I mentioned"Fieldy, do you need time out" and before I knew it, he was running happily to a corner and sat there smiling. Oh Fieldy, you fit into our family so well.

Tonight

So...I knew upon moving here, that my favorite pizza place was going to be nearby. In all my travels, I have found nothing comparable. It's a college pizza joint but you will find families among the twentysomethings and even President Obama has filled up there. Nothing beats a good pizza and a microbrew sometimes.

Greta ate pizza crust while singing carols and Fieldin sat in a high chair dancing to hip hop and making the people around us laugh. A fellow walked by, Fieldy stuck up his hand and said"five" (high five) once he got his "five" he nodded and continued to groove. He has already perfected the art of cool. He has learned the art of coolness from his sister, I give her full credit and then some.

We drove home tonight, leftover pizza on my lap and Christmas music playing(Greta still is in full Christmas mode). I peeked back and saw my babies buckled in the back seat, faces turning from dark to filtered light as we drove under the street lights. I loved watching their faces light up. I am so proud of them.

Tonight was filled with those little ordinary moments that make me feel like I have an extra ordinary life.

I'm a lucky girl indeed.

Hello Oregon.

( my new burlap recycling bag)

We've been in Ory-gun for two weeks and one day now. We really like it here but like all new places there are a few things we are getting used to.

1. Having my gas pumped for me. Feels strange, but very nice on rainy cold days...

2. Recycling. I would consider myself a serious recycler but here I feel like a slacker. We have had to figure out a new trash system in the house. Bottles and some plastics go with us to the grocery store to get our nickle deposits back, almost EVERYTHING else goes in the recycling bin. It is pretty amazing, especially for me. I used to argue with our neighborhood recycler over cereal boxes. Here they take almost everything...so cool.

3. Being around so many Duck and Beaver fans. I am used to crimson everywhere. I am not sure what is happening around our house, but Miss Greta has been asking to go to an OSU game, OSU clothes for her birthday and to meet Benny Beaver. I asked her if she would cheer for the cougs at a game or OSU. "OSU" she said... sorry I can't talk about this anymore, it's wrong I tell you.... wrong.

4. T-shirt weather in January.

5. Teaching the children ocean safety. No running into the ocean, no eating shells and rocks, sea lions are cute, like bear cute...you admire them from faaaaaar away.

All in all, we love it here so far.

Thursday

Today:
We went to puppet storytime at the library, I took a wrong turn only twice today (improving), watched the garage door be put on our house and noticed the driveway and sidewalks are all done, we drove with the windows down today, we watched Mary Poppins....a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down...., Greta took Fieldin on our afternoon walk(only she is allowed to hold his hand.She loves doing this each day), played at the playground, met some neighbors, finally!!now that the sun is out, Greta played with a neighbor kid, we had morning dance time, we ate soup for dinner, I ignored our moving boxes today, Jeff is at a meeting at work til after 8 p.m., remembering to take in my recycling for my nickle deposits back..., watched Fieldin sit on stools, steps, and stairs today and yell"I did it", had afternoon tea and now I am headed to bed.....

Stair Warmer

Today Fieldin decided he would take a seat on the bottom of our stairs. He is quite proud. He concentrates while backing up like a dump truck and when the back of his knees hit carpet he..plops down. Then he smiles. He takes a load off for awhile and then he gets up and does it again. Good job buddy.
One could tell that we have moved and are still unpacking. Fieldin started saying "where is it?" this morning while he walked around in circles. He learns quick.

Two Frogs

How does this happen. We were walking downtown and going in some very cute kid shops. We found some pirate rain boots for Fieldin and headed to the toy store where we told the kids "no toys today!". We ended up leaving the store with two frogs. I guess they are not toys, so there you go. We left Nay Nay the fish to a good home in Pullman, knowing she would not have made the trip. We told ourselves no pets for awhile..... So now we have two frogs which Greta named "up" and "under". They have very cute faces and Greta loves to play with them. Jeff and I are a little attached to them to, I must admit.

Even Fieldin will sit still long enough to laugh at them swimming.

Welcome to the family.

To check out the kids being Carousel seat testers and other pics, click the flickr link on the right.

Signs Of Life From The Rock

I think I have owned this rock longer than anything I have ever owned. It was given to me by a neighbor around the time I was six, I believe, so I have owned this rock a couple years shy of 30 total years.

It was once full of chicks and hens, succulant plants, that have died and revived over the years numerous times. It travelled from my child hood home to Central Washington where it lived in my parents back yard. It lived there until Jeff and I bought our first home in Pullman and we had a yard for it to sit in. My dad brought it to us when we moved, along with some of the chicks and hens that multiplied from it. Over the years in Pullman, many of the new chicks and hens were given away to friends and neighbors and they planted them around their yards. Even a few months before moving, I had one final request for a few. I didn't bring any of the chicks and hens with me. Over our 8 year span in Pullman they grew into a succulant bed that covered a whole side yard patch of our home. I decided I would just bring the rock out of sentimental value, since the one last lonely plant inside was pretty much dead. The plan was to take it with us in the car on our journey down to Oregon but it was accidentally put into the moving truck. It sat in the moving truck for 4 freezing nights. I thought it was pretty much done for. This morning I realized the plant was back to its original climate (and a hour and half from my childhood home) and maybe some sunlight and rain would do it some good. The movers had set it right inside the garage for me and when I picked it up today, I saw life once again. A little green plant emerging from the rock.

I will keep this rock forever. It was given to me in kindness and I have been able to pass that on to others through its plants. It continues to live(with many years of help from my dad keeping it alive), flourish and adjust to change. A few very good life lessons I remembered today, because of a rock.

Happy Saturday..

It's almost over, but I hope you all had a happy Saturday.

Cougars In The Land Of Beavers

Here it is in the initial stages of painting. We had kept the color secret from Miss Greta so when we went on our walk to visit this morning, she was pleasantly surprised. "It's Cougar colored!!!!" She shouted. The whole back is in the dark maroon/crimson color. We may be far away, but we are still cougs.

Jeff had a good first day at the new job. Someone was nice enough to decorate his office space with Cougar decor only to find that someone else covered it in Oregon Beaver colors. These Beavs are hardcore. Even a picture of Butch the Cougar had Beaver teeth drawn on it. Very funny. I think he is going to have fun there.

As for the kids and I, we headed outside for a bit when Greta declared it was "recess" time and then spent the rest of the day playing inside. We played a new game....drive thru. I was the driver placing my order(which entailed me "driving" around the kitchen island) while the kids cooked at their little kitchen. No matter how many salads I ordered, I was told I would get extra cheese milkshakes, which by the way cost $10,000. By the time I reached the window I was given fake steak and lettuce which I have to say was much better than a cheesy milkshake.

Tonight I will be digging around for more stuff in boxes. What about you guys?

I Should Have Been Doing Laundry, But Instead I Went To See A Big Red Dog....

Can you blame me? I love Clifford. I don't love laundry.

The kids had a very fun afternoon playing with other kids and sliding down Clifford. We took them to the Children's Museum and Greta loved playing restaurant and Fieldin like shopping for groceries. It was very fun.

We were gone almost all day and came home to find that our future home had been painted and a driveway had been laid. It was too dark to take pictures so I will be dragging the kids out in the morning to take a peek. For more pics from the day click the flickr link on the right.

Tomorrow's Friday everyone! and if you're lucky, a three day weekend.

A Daily Routine

Routines. We can't live with them, can't live without them. I would consider myself less structured than most, but by day 3 of randomness in our days, I am happy to be getting back to a bit of a routine. We are back to playtimes and eating meals together at our table. As of today we are back to doing laundry and we have stopped using paper plates and cups.
I have noticed we have added some new bits to our day that I am really enjoying. The kids are joining us in bed for a morning wake up call, we take the kids out for an afternoon walk, the kids are enjoying having nighttime dance marathons( Fieldin has some new moves and now says"get down") and our bedtime routine is new and improved. After I sing Greta her last lullaby, I walk past a sleeping Fieldin in his room and find Jeff sitting and relaxing on the windowseat in our room. He opens the window and listens to the rain, frogs and creek and I can tell he is happy. He loves the night air and says it feels like he's camping. As for me, my routine is still in flux as I get used to theirs. I am still trying to find things and just happy to have found our mailbox. My routine will come in good time, I am sure.

We Are Home And Finally Wired

First off, I am sorry, it took us a bit longer than expected to get internet. We are all set to go now. I will have more pics on our flickr page by tomorrow morning. (link to the right)

Second, We did make it here safely. Thank you for those that checked on us. The children did great and I hauled the boat successfully...and yes, I had a death grip on the wheel the WHOLE time. :)

We are renting a lovely home from very nice people and were planning to be here until May when our home would be finished. We ended up buying a different home in the same neighborhood and will be moving in a month or so instead. I will get you all updated info soon.

(the house we are renting. So lovely.)

As for everything else, I think that the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are enjoying it here and the kids are very happy to have their toys back, as of yesterday.
(trails in our neighborhood on Saturday morning)

(Our first night in Oregon after that loong drive)

Enjoying the window seat and watching the sunrise.

Greta dressed as a mermaid playing at the ocean.

We are not tired of the rain yet, Fieldins hair started to ringlet around Portland from all the mositure, There is plenty to do and we are enjoying the people.

I'll keep up with the posts as all resumes back to normal.

Crying Over Fairy Dust

It's funny what things trigger emotion. I have been doing very well these days holding back tears. I ended up crying over the most unordinary things today. The first was a final trip to the backyard. Alot of blood, sweat and tears literally went into the landscaping. I recovered quickly and had my biggest cry while sweeping. I swept our wood floors each day and felt a little strange knowing this would be my last time sweeping the floors I loved. It wasn't until I bent over a pile of dust bunnies and cheerio debris that I lost it. Right in the middle of my pile o' garbage was a bunch of fairy glitter from Greta's fairy wings. I sat next to the dust and glitter and had a good cry.

(Fieldin & Greta saying bye to one of the sofas)
(A final pic of our two in the empty house)

(A shirt meant for moving day...)

I ended up crying a couple more times. The mourning process has begun. I drove away seeing Pullman, the kids, our boat and Jeff in his truck in my rear view mirror. The more I drove the more I thought. I was sad that Grace and Greta wouldn't celebrate their first day of kindergarten together. I cried. I won't be in the house next summer to feel the evening breeze blow through the house. I cried. I won't see all my lilacs bloom this year. (unless some sneaky neighbors take pics over the fence..hint hint:)) After a bit I felt better and ready for the adventure to come. I miss you all like crazy and another thank you to Heather and Miss Grace. We couldn't have done it today without you two and of course the wonderful movers.

Happy Birthday To Me

First off, thank you for all the birthday wishes. I loved them. Second, thank you to Heather for watching Miss Greta so we could get some much needed things done!

One would think that packing and getting ready for a big move would ruin the day. Actually this was one of my favorite birthdays. I was given a gift of a new life adventure and celebrating the last night in our home on my birthday. It is one I won't forget.

Just a few things I loved, a handmade birthday banner, teaching the kids to yodel and hear the echos through the house, the biggest bathtub psunami ever, pizza and red velvet cake for dinner with an imaginary candle and a roaring game of hide and seek in empty closets, rooms and cabinets.
Fieldin loved helping the seeker count.."two, two, two" then he'd run off. He was very good at ratting out my best hiding places by standing and pointing my way. He was running and laughing hysterically. Once while I was crunched in the bathroom closet with all limbs going numb Miss Greta couldn't find me. "I hope she didn't turn into a little princess doll" "I hope we didn't lost her". Good fun and a very good birthday. Now it is time to turn over the birthday wishes to Jeff tonight at midnight. I love that we share our birthdays. Love you Jeff.

The Best And Worst

The best part of moving....excited little toes sticking to and snapping on pieces of bubble wrap and the squeal of joy it produces.

The worst.... even worse than the packing, exhaustion, the expense, the changing of information, memorizing new phone numbers and address, lifting, that constant feeling of stress. The worst still are the "goodbyes". The "until next time's" aren't much easier.

It all is a bit bittersweet. Happy for a new chapter but sad to close another.

The coming days are full of moving fun. I plan on posting so check in!

Fieldin At 15 mths

The big boy turned 15 mths today. Here is what I know about Fieldin right now:

He only wants to eat meat and potatoes(literally), he runs, he has a very cute walk, He says "thank you" and "all done" after he eats, he plays dress up with Greta and always has to be "fairy Gary" when she is tinkerbell, he gets tired of dress up:) Greta asked him if he wanted to be Captain Hook and he said"no, bye bye" and took off down the hall., he is a better sleeper, he likes to climb, he hides in the empty closets and peeks out and says"boo" and giggles, he gives us warning before he does something bad "no, no!" giggle giggle, he is walking and running ALL day and has dropped a size in clothing, he still loves to be a pirate, he is very funny, he talks well and asks for some things now, he laughs when he looks out windows, he really gets down and boogies to music( now he bends at the hips, sticks his bottom out and shakes it with arms flailing), he pretends he is packing..it's funny, he likes to color, he tries to dress himself, he loves playing with his bat cave and stacking big legos, he loves chasing Greta, he feeds himself with toddler and adult silverware, he goes to the fridge and hollers at me when he wants a cup of milk, he likes to pee in the tub, he hums Christmas songs and he loves people.

Greta and Fieldin chasing each other in the empty playroom closets.

Fieldin "nigh nigh" he says that when he is ready for bed.

Playing football with daddy. He is center. Look for the green ball he is passing off.

New Years Kisses

Lots of love around here today, and....legos, schoolhouse rock, packing, reorganizing the garage for more boxes, soup, playing Peter Pan, snow, rain, sunshine, more rain, more packing, noodles and sleeptime. Happy New Years Day. Just one hand worth of days left until birthdays and the move.....