A Hip Hop, A Hippity Hop...

I have some fun posts lined up to catch you up on what's been going on, but first I want to show you a picture I took this morning. Our lawn mower is broken so the grass hasn't been cut in a while. The grass is so long that the bunnies are having a grand ol' time hiding and munching. I went out to fill my bird feeder (blue jays are big pigs, by the way) and saw two bunnies hiding in the grass. I love how they think if they freeze no one will notice them. Juan Carlos just happened to be by the fence. I think it would be funny to make a book called "Where's Juan Carlos?" Maybe I will someday. Yesterday morning I saw a coyote running in the field. It probably wanted a cute bunny for breakfast.

Animals Revealed!

We've lived here for over ten months and in that time we have enjoyed seeing bunnies dart across the dirt road as we drive up to our house. Sometimes all we see is the white of their little bunny tails especially if it's dark. Just last week I was able to finally catch one of these elusive animals in a photo. I think the bunnies are getting used to us because they seem to run a little slower and this one hangs out in our front yard in the morning!
We've got even more elusive animals around here. A couple of months ago I heard a strange noise coming from outside, so I opened the bedroom window and heard what sounded like thousands of frogs. At first I wondered if they were crickets, but no, I could hear some "croaks" in all of that white noise. I rushed downstairs to tell Jason about it and by the time we were outside it was completely silent. I couldn't believe it. I thought I was crazy for a minute. We eventually realized that when the frogs feel threatened they all stop croaking. The next night we sneaked down to the frog pond and recorded the loud noise.


Here is a picture of the pond in relation to our house. It's not that close, but we can still hear them with the windows shut! I couldn't believe that I had never seen any of these frogs! It took a while but one of the kids finally caught one.
I can't believe such a loud noise comes out of such a small creature! It does provide a relaxing noise (with some coyote howls mixed in) to fall asleep to.

Camas Plant Fair

I have been looking for an event to debut my floral designs and it was suggested that I try the Camas Plant and Garden Fair. This is a popular event that takes place every year the day before Mother's Day, so I decided to give it a try. I spent weeks planning which designs I would create. I got a business license and buyer's pass at the Portland flower market. I bought all of my supplies including folding tables, a canopy and banner. I placed my flower order 2 weeks in advance. Then, about a week before the fair we all got sick with a bronchitis type illness. I was able to rally when Thursday rolled around to pick up my flowers and start working. Thursday was spent prepping the flowers and making 14 orchid corsages. Friday was the big work day. I started at 6am and didn't stop until 4am on Saturday. I'm not sure why I thought I would be able to quickly create over 20 arrangements because everything took so much longer than I had anticipated. By 3am I decided to stop arranging and started wrapping all the extra flowers I had to sell them in bundles at the fair.

My garage workshop

After a couple of hours sleep, Jason and I got up to go set everything up at the fair. By this time I was not in a good mood. If you know me you know that I get grumpy if I don't get enough sleep. I was actually pretty surprised that I hadn't had a mental meltdown by that point. We set up our stuff and Jason went back home to get the rest of the flowers. We got everything set up just in time for the 9am opening.

My corsages and handmade felt gift card holders

After looking at everything I had accomplished I was very proud of myself. The arrangements looked great and I got many compliments. It was funny how many people asked if the flowers were real! I wish I had taken photos of each arrangement, but I was just too tired. It was pretty much miserable after a short downpour that got everything and everyone wet and cold.

Caleb got the biggest snow cone ever!

I really didn't want to take two trips home with unsold flowers, so I had somewhat of a fire sale at the end of the day. I came home with only one arrangement.

After all was said and done, it was a great learning experience, but not something I will be doing on a regular basis. I thought the flowers turned out great and it gave me a boost of confidence that I was able to accomplish what I did. I couldn't have done it without Jason's support. He did so much to help out. It felt sooooo good to get lots of sleep afterward and have a very relaxing Mother's Day.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I always miss family on holidays, but we managed to have a little fun today. We had a wonderful dinner of ham and cheesy potatoes. For dessert we had Jason's latest creation. It was a sugar cookie with white chocolate mousse and chopped strawberries on top. It was SO GOOD! We had our Easter egg hunt in stages because of the on again, off again rain all day. First, we hid one large plastic egg for each of the boys and they took turns finding theirs with the gps.Here's Hiram looking for his. It's hidden under that tree in the foreground.
Then we did the "golden egg" hunt for a large prize which was a frog habitat. This year we didn't have a golden egg so we used an Easter bunny decoration. Jason hid it in a junky car in our backyard. Hiram found it.
After that we were soaking wet, so we brought the hunt inside. We hid the eggs in the living room, so that didn't take too long. In true mom fashion, I left he eggs that had money in them in a sack in our bedroom, so we took the hunt outside again and Jason hid them in the front yard.


After all that Jason and I decided that the kids are getting too old for Easter egg hunts. Maybe we'll have to think up something new for next year.

Sunny Day

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year. It got up to 70 degrees. When speaking about weather, living in Washington really makes you live in the moment. When it's sunny, you better get outside fast before it starts raining again. You can't go to the store without the cashier saying, "Get out there and enjoy the weather while you can!" Yesterday was one of those days when you just wanted to be outside. I spent the day cleaning out the garage and setting up my new canopy that I'll be using in a couple of weeks at the Camas Plant and Garden Fair.
Ethan mowed the lawn. Whenever he thought no one was watching him I saw him either racing around or doing new tricks on the lawn mower.
Later we dyed our Easter eggs.
Everything went off without a hitch until I left Jason alone in the kitchen. I while later I saw Mia walk by.
I'm sure she'll have an easy next life after putting up with all of our antics. She gets her revenge by throwing up all over the carpet.

Tiptoe through the Tulips

Today, Jason and I took a trip to the Wooden Shoe tulip farm in Woodburn, Oregon. I love driving through the quaint countryside and seeing all the lush farmlands. The tulips weren't bad either. 40 acres of blooming tulips is quite the sight!

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much!

This looked like hard work!

I love being able to explore places that we wouldn't take the time to see if we were on vacation here. Living in the northwest IS like being on vacation!

The Smallest Park in the World

Mill Ends Park was dedicated on March 17, 1948, and officially became a city park on the same day in 1976.

What’s most remarkable about this park is the story of its origin, oh, and it’s paltry size. Mill Ends covers an area of 452 square inches, about 2 feet square. Mill Ends Park is the smallest park in the world.

Oregon Journal columnist Dick Fagan wrote a popular column called Mill Ends, covering whatever whimsy he came up with. In 1946, from his office window overlooking Front Avenue (now Naito Parkway), he spotted a 2 square foot hole in a raised bit of concrete in the median. A light pole was, presumably, intended for the spot, but was never installed. Fagan invented stories of leprechaun exploits in the tiny “park.”

One story, described in the Oregon Encyclopedia entry for Mill Ends, addresses the park’s origin:

One day, as Fagan told the story, he looked out his window and saw a leprechaun digging in the hole. Fagan ran downstairs, dashed across the street, and caught the leprechaun. According to Irish lore, if you catch a leprechaun, he has to grant you a wish. Fagan wished for his own park, but he never specified where or how big the park should be. The leprechaun granted his wish and gave Fagan the hole in the traffic median as his own personal park. Fagan named the spot after his column.

Today was the first sunny day in a LONG time. I knew I had to get out in the sun if I am to survive another week of rain. Mill Ends park has been on my list of places to visit, but I haven't been able to convince anyone to go with me. Caleb agreed to go to Portland with me after I threw in a trip to Powell's books and lunch at Noodles and Co. I probably played up the "park" a little too much because Caleb was expecting tiny playground equipment and who knows what else. Can you see the disappointment in his face? On a high note he claimed he saw Mark Zuckerberg. Then again he thought he saw Jake Gylenhall at Walmart last week "for reals."

We also went down to the waterfront to see the beautiful blossoms and enjoy the blue sky.

Can you tell Caleb loves to get his picture taken?

Steel Bridge

Spring has definitely sprung in Portland!