Southwest Washingon Fair

It was fair week this last week and did we have fun!! The kids and I love going to the fair. We look forward to it every year. This year, the kids even wanted a countdown of days until the fair. We love the rides (though the kids only got one ride a piece this year), the food (thanks family for sharing!), the animals - cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, rabbits, chickens and pigeons just to name a few - the vegetables, the flowers, the photos, the sewing and more, we saw it all.

At 5pm The Numbskulz played and ROCKED!! They are one of our favorite bands of all time - and they happen to be my cousins. The kids love listening to them play live and on their CD in the car. So here is a picture of The Numbskulz youngest fans!!

Felix couldn't make it the full hour of the concert. It amazes me how they can fall asleep during a LOUD concert, but drop a pin at home and they wake up!!

I just love this picture of the kids, especially how Daniel set up his lamby in the head of the lamb, of course!!

Now on to our entries and stuff. My family had a quilt that my great-great-grandmother had made and entered into our local fair, the same one we were attending. Well, a couple of years back, we found the ribbon and entry form to go with the quilt. Since this is the 100th birthday of the Southwest Washington Fair, I offered the quilt as a display item only. They put it up in a nice display in the front of the living arts building. It was very cool to see that and know that it was from our family. You can click on any of the pictures to see them bigger.

I had said earlier that I was thinking about entering some of my work in the fair. Well, I did and won a first place blue ribbon!! I am so thrilled!! I still don't know what I am going to do with the table runner and napkins. I made them just for fun not knowing where they will go or who to give them to. If anyone wants them, speak now and I will send them to you.
Celeste also entered a collection in the Living Arts building. She entered some of her tea set collection and won a first place blue ribbon!! She picked out what to do and how to set it up. I gave some ideas as did my mom, but we made sure that Celeste was the one to put it together. It was very hard to not take over. I just had to let go and let Celeste complete her vision. It turned out very nice. The lighting didn't turn out very well but click on the picture to see it a bit better.
We stayed at the fair until 9 o'clock at night, enjoying it all since it only comes once a year. We came home tired and excited. Everyone slept well that night.

4th of July - Small town style

Sometimes when people are getting together who don't know each other very well, there will be questions asked to "get to know you". Whenever I was asked, "What holiday do you like best?", my reply was always, "4th of July in my home town." My home town is Pe Ell, Washington, population 664, or there abouts. The town actually has a place on a sign at town hall where the population is listed with removable numbers so they can change it when someone dies or is born or moves in or out. When we lived out on our property (60 acres), we would have great bbqs and fun with family and friends then light off fireworks. We are no longer living on our property so we just go out every year to go to the parade in town and this year we stayed for the fireworks at the school football field.

I love the parade in Pe Ell!! Number one, CANDY. The people in the parade throw candy to the people watching. The kids LOVE it - grownups too!! I think the kids pay more attention to the candy instead of the parade. Number two, the participants. Where else but rural america can you find a parade with ATV's, riding lawn mowers, tractors, farm animals and log trucks? There were some other cool cars and people running for office but basically it was a hometown parade. Just to prove it to you, here are some photos.

I don't think the little girl in the first photo was over 5 years old. Seriously.


It was a hot summer day and we had a lot of fun. Here are the kids digging into their candy bags after the parade was over.


Growing up in small town rural Washington, is a part of my life. It helped to define who I am. I am glad that I can give my kids the chance to experience many things this world has to offer. From Paris to Pe Ell, we can enjoy and appreciate all that life has to offer.

Sewing and Creating

I love hand work - hand quilting, hand sewing, embroidery, etc. I have been working on embroidery on and off for several years and seem to always have a couple of projects going. Actually, I seem to have lots of different projects always going. It is the finishing that takes perseverance. I finally finished some blue work. It is a table runner and 4 napkins. I am actually considering entering it into our fair this year. I have never entered anything into the fair but if I do, I will let you know how it goes. The table runner is rectangular with this same pattern at each end. I took a picture of only one end so you could see the details.

I got out my ironing board yesterday. I didn't want to use my mom's (for a good reason), so when I pulled mine out, I realized that the cover was stained and not usable. I remembered my friend Jona had a tutorial for making your own and I thought, ok, I will give it a try. It was so easy and turned out so cute. The hardest part was picking out the fabric to use. I should tell you though, that I did finish the ironing BEFORE making the cover. It was difficult to not be distracted and make the cover then never get to the actual ironing. I used a table cloth in the time between getting rid of the old one and making the new one. No, I did not hand sew this, I did use a sewing machine.


I am working on getting my quilt racks put together so I can start putting together all of my quilt tops with their backs and batting. I don't know the reason why, but feel like I am to have a stack of quilts ready to go by the fall. Summer is not my favorite time to be quilting but with a rack at least it won't be sitting on my lap while I work. I am enjoying this season where the kids are finally getting old enough that I can work on projects for a time. The list of projects is long so I had better get to work!!

What a Week!!

It has been a full and busy week with 4 different occurrences that deserve their own blog entry. By the way, Daniel just informed me that "Yesterday, Daddy was trying to set a piece of paper on fire using a magnifying glass." OH JOY!!! Make that 5 occurrences..... lol!!

Ok, strap on your seat belts, here we go on a whirlwind trip through our week.

Celeste has been doing a Horse Unit Study with a local lady once a week for 4 weeks and this last Tuesday, she finished up her course. She loved learning about horses and wants to get involved with them somehow. Mucking stalls is a good place to start, I think!! My cousin's girlfriend has horses so I think we will be spending time with Ashley this summer.
Here are the three girls that completed the course (all 8 years old). The one on the left with the red hair is Celeste's best friend, Mandy, then Celeste, then Emma a girl from out of town taking the course.
Here is Celeste with Ivan then Ivan being a goofball with Celeste.

After Celeste finished the course, we went out to lunch and surprised the kids with an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. It is 5 miles from our house and we watched it being built. My mom won an overnight stay through a local radio station and she gave it to us to use. The main attraction of the place is a H-U-G-E indoor water park. We had checked it out previously so the kids knew what it was all about so when my mom won, they went crazy. I had surreptitiously packed the bags and David put them in the car before we went to the horse class with Celeste. When we pulled in, the kids started going crazy. I video taped it but can't figure out how to download the videos off my camera into my computer. David will help with that one!! I did take a few pictures of the water park as we spent the majority of our time there. One night was not quite enough to do all that we wanted to do but we are thankful and grateful for our time there none the less.

This is the park from left to right. First the wave pool (with no waves going) and behind that, the "deep" pool at 3ft 6 inches. It had basketball hoops and balls, a lily pad crossing area and other floating things to climb on.

Next is the middle part where all the slides are. There are 6 slides ranging from medium to downright scary! The two older kids LOVED this section, and I don't mean David and Allison, though we enjoyed it too! It also has water fountains and such and if you notice the BIG bucket at the top of the picture, it dumps 1000 gallons of water every couple of minutes.

Then the area we spent most of our time, the kiddie pool. It starts from 1 inch to about knee length. It had two little slides and levers that turned water on and off, down at the bottom of the picture are jet skis (that don't move) and you turn the handles that are squirting water so you can get any one who happens to walk by. I wish I had taken pictures of our room, they upgraded us and it was a wonderful room. We were in the Grand Bear Suite and it was beautiful.


So that was Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday was also my birthday but I don't have any pictures of that. Thursday and Friday were spent with me in bed being sick - I suspect food poisoning but not for sure. Again, no pictures for that either - thank God!! Then today is Felix's 3rd birthday. We had a relaxed day with presents, cupcakes (his choice) and dinner that I haven't figured out yet, better get on that I guess!!


So here is Felix in all his 3 year old glory.

Whew!! What a week!! Celeste just informed me that Daddy is outside right now lighting a piece of paper on fire with a magnifying glass. Better go. Look for another post.....

Girly Girl

I finally have some pictures of Celeste's Easter dress. It was store bought instead of home made but it still is cute and she liked it.

Here is the front.
Here is the back




Yes, her hair is curly and no, we didn't get a perm. My mom has taught me the lost art of rag curls. They give you Shirley Temple curls and you can make them big or small. The ones from these pictures are small curls and I will show you the before, during and after.

Before

During - not combed out

After - all combed out

Personally, I like the curls a bit bigger, this just reminds me of a poodle perm!! It does relax and you can always wet your hair and start again if it is not to your liking. We do rag curls from time to time as Celeste likes the look of curls but isn't ready for a perm. She is such a girly girl and a wonderful one as well.

Home made

We have been working on some projects lately switching to home made rather than store bought. Some are working great, others not so well but still plugging away at making them great. Here they are in no particular order....


1) David is roasting coffee beans. He found a place locally where he could purchase green coffee beans and he has been roasting them with a hot air popcorn popper. He makes small batches at a time and then taste tests with David, Bob (my dad), Randy (a friend), Jessie (my mom), and myself. We are learning to assess the coffee with words such as "earthy" and "complex". I only like to drink coffee with a lot flavored creamer and I can't drink too much too often because my body can't handle the caffeine but I have been enjoying trying the different beans and different roasts. Next is learning how to flavor the beans.


2) My mom and I make our own laundry soap. We aren't necessarily doing this for money savings, though it does help. We mainly wanted to do to see if it would help with all of our skin problems. We, as a family, cannot do laundry soaps with colors, scents and all the extra stuff that is added to laundry soap. The worst for us however, is fabric softener. That will set all of our skin itching, red and very irritated. So after researching online for making soap, we went ahead and made a batch. It has turned out wonderful so far. Our skin is much better and the clothes smell cleaner. We also found that vinegar makes a good fabric softener and we have been using that. I pour in the vinegar in the area designated for fabric softener and the clothes come out soft and not smelling at all like vinegar. The vinegar helps to dissolve soap build up so that is an added bonus.


3) I have been trying to make our own yogurt in a crock pot. It hasn't been turning out very well, though my friend has had great success with hers. I will keep persevering because we all love yogurt, it is good for our health, and I miss the yogurt we could get in France. The yogurt here in the states is WAAAAAAY to sweet and filled with ingredients that our bodies just don't need. Plus it is expensive and time consuming to keep our fridge stocked with yogurt for 8 people who love to eat it!!


4) I have been sewing again and I LOVE it!! I am even getting out of my comfort zone and sewed a skirt for Celeste. It didn't come out the way I wanted it to but it still is cute. I sewed a bag (look for pictures in another post), I am up to 8 blocks on my $5 quilt club (one more to make this weekend), and I am working toward the goal of getting my quilt rack set up. I am planning on having a big stack of quilts ready to go by the fall. Don't know where they will go, that is up to God but they will be ready for when He calls.

If you want any more information about any of the above projects, I will be happy to share specific details. I just didn't want to bore anyone who might not be interested. If you have any projects that you would be happy to share with me, please let me know.

Birthday boys and one bag

Daniel and David just had their birthdays this last week. We celebrated Daniel's on his birthday but David was out of town for his. We ended up celebrating on the weekend. They both picked out their special dinners and dessert. Daniel picked homemade cheese pizza and fruit salad. For dessert, he picked out a rainbow speckled cake mix and frosting. It was delicious!! David picked out corned beef and cabbage and for dessert, apple pie. Again, another wonderful meal. It was great spending time time together as a family.



I tried my hand at making a bag yesterday. I had been thinking about it, found another bag that I used as a pattern/inspiration and just kind of winged it. Celeste helped me pick out the fabric - she picked out the zinnia one and I picked out the striped one to compliment. It didn't take me long to put it together and I am quite amazed at my achievement. I am so hopelessly lost at sewing without a pattern, that I had serious doubts about my ability to wing it. So here is how it turned out.



It is reversible too!!

It's a little bigger than I was expecting but for my first attempt, it will do. I can see me making more for different seasons, occasions......oh the possibilities are endless!!

Easter Sunday

We had a relaxing Easter Sunday. We went to church, ate lunch at the pastors house with his family, then came home to let the kids hunt Easter eggs. This is a picture of Felix taken at church and I will post a picture of Celeste, once I take one of her in her dress. I somehow forgot to take a picture yesterday. I didn't make the dress, it was store bought but it was cute and she loved it none the less. We are back to cold and rainy weather and hoping Spring tries a comeback. But you know the saying "April showers ...."

Ethan's Black Eye

This past Sunday evening, Ethan fell down our stairs. His worst injury is his black eye. He only had one other small bruise on his arm and one small bruise on his foot. Other than that, he was ok. Scared the living daylights out of his parents though!!! I still am a bit freaked about a head injury and keep asking him does he have a headache, I keep listening to see if he is speaking clearly and all the other things a paranoid mother does to her kids when they are injured. Ethan took it all in stride and was most upset when we restricted some of his Wii Fit activities like boxing and running.

This picture is from today. He is most unhappy with me because I made him stand still for a picture and wouldn't let him go play. That is just the saddest face!! The colors on his eye are getting more vivid. Ethan keeps saying, "I just keep waiting for my owies to go away!!"

Other than that adventure, we are doing well, plugging away at school and enjoying the bursts of Spring that keep trying to find their way to the Pacific Northwest.

Me and my boys

This is a picture from last week of me and the boys. They were fresh out of the bath with jammies on. Nothing better than that. We were experimenting with taking pictures of ourselves and this is the best shot. When I first had Celeste (8 years ago), I was told to enjoy the kids because they grew up so fast. I knew it was true but to experience it takes it to a whole different level of comprehension. I almost cried the other day when giving Celeste a spelling test. The word was fourth and I said, "Fourth. You will be in Fourth Grade next year. Fourth." Then came the shock and the tears filled my eyes but didn't spill over. Daniel will be 7 next month, Ethan is 4 and Felix will be 3 in May. I love my family and enjoy every minute staying at home and home schooling them. Even on my worst day as a mom, never does my mind drift to the thought of going back to work. This is my work. Loving and serving my God and my family and I am privileged to do it.

Bread Pudding

I made bread pudding this morning for breakfast. I had some left over baguette which gets hard rather quickly. It is obvious why the French buy their baguettes everyday and eat them in one sitting. So instead of wasting the bread, I decided to try bread pudding. I used this recipe and made a few changes. Instead of raisins, I put in a cut up half an apple and I added one of those little cups of peaches that the kids like to eat. I would make it again but let the break soak for a bit before baking it. My bread was really hard before baking and the pieces that weren't in any or much egg/milk mixture ended up like croutons. I like my bread pudding on the chewy side rather than the mushy side but the hard crunchy pieces were just too much for me. The kids were ok with it but didn't rave either. The surprising hit was the bread pudding sauce at the bottom of the page. It says thanks to Allison, but that is not me. Anyway, it is just a basic pudding and the kids ate that lickey split and were arguing about who got to lick the bowls. They are begging me to make "a bit pot of that stuff". I would feel better about them eating that pudding rather than anything from the store or from any mix, and it was just as easy.

I think we need to get out and exercise after that breakfast!!

Washington Snow

This is how we eat snow here in the Pacific Northwest. Just get down on your hands and knees and chow down!! We had a little bit of snow yesterday, just to remind us that we are still officially in Winter, not Spring. Today is clear blue skies, sunshine, snow all gone but still a bit chilly at 44 degrees. Still good enough to go outside for a nature walk.

Oatmeal

I tried a new way to cook oatmeal today. I found this recipe and thought it sounded intriguing so I tried it. It was good but not what I was expecting. I somehow missed the pudding like consistency reference and I kept waiting for the oatmeal to lose its liquid and be like regular oatmeal. I probably, no I DID let it cook to long but it still turned out fine. I am not sure I would eat it on a regular basis but good for a change of pace. I had the hardest time not stirring the oatmeal!! I have a tendency to "worry" my food as my great grandmother used to say. Flipping over and over too many times, stirring it too often, generally just messing with it instead of just letting it sit. I have always enjoyed cooking and now that we are cooking more and more instead of eating out or boxed/pre-prepared goods, I am enjoying trying new things again. Not so sure the family is enjoying it as much as I am, though!!!

Moose in the back yard

This moose came through the back yard of Jan's house looking for tasty morsels. She mostly ate tree branches but poked around in the pumpkins as well. She tried to get a pumpkin but it kept slipping out of her mouth. She just settled on the greens and them moved on to more branches. The kids thought it was fabulous to see a moose so close and for so long.

My Mother - In - Law

This is a picture of Joan that was set up at her memorial service. She was a wonderful lady, an excellent mother and mother in law, outstanding grandmother and a servant of God. We miss her terribly but look forward to the day when we can all be together again in the presence of our Savior.

Life returning to normal......whatever that is!!

We are back from our second trip to Alaska in about a months time. The first time was December 17th - the 27th. We were up there for Joan's (David's mom) birthday and for Christmas. We had a great time and enjoyed being with the family. The kids got to meet their Aunts, Uncles and cousins and other extended relatives. Joan passed away from cancer on January 7th and we made our preparations to go back up to Alaska. We went back a second time from January 16th - the 24th. We spent time with family, cleaned Joan's place, went through her things and had another good time. The kids were so disappointed when it was time to leave. Lots of sad faces and tears going to the airport. Oh and I forgot to mention a flood in our hometown at the same time that Joan died!! Hopefully we will be settling in to a more normal (for us) routine and continuing on life's road.

I cannot promise that I will be a good blogger - I HATE journaling - but I will try to post the goings on in our household from time to time. If I don't start now, I never will get going. So here it is - the first installment in the Happy Haugan Family blog that is starting out not so happy!!!