Christmas Wreaths

I know it seems alittle early...but Janel and I started making wreaths this week! We have a company that buys them from us, then ships them out. So we will be making wreaths for them for the next three weeks! Then we start making wreaths for our own little business. Last year we made around 75 wreaths. We will probably double that this year. It was such a gorgeous weekend, that we tipped balsam boughs. We filled the Jeep and the Truck. The kiddos had a GREAT time too. Thank goodness it was sunny and (somewhat) warm. 

I hate to brag...

But they dont get much cuter than this.....

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Fall Activities!

Every good leaf pile needs a launch pad

Lots of love for the little pumpkin

In the quest for the perfect pumpkin...pop-pop found this one for Isabelle

Fall is coming! Between soccer games and youth activities, we are desperately trying to get our house ready for winter, and finished on the inside. I say finished, but it will never be really finished, but the projects we have started, need to be finished. Anyway. Painting has begun in the living room. The Entertainment center is nearly finished. Now we just pray I get a house sold, so we can put carpeting in!  I need my living room back!

Beads!

We have discovered the fun world of beads. Isabelle has created a few bracelets and necklaces for us (and herself!) Its very fun to watch fine motor skills and creativity develop!

Very proud of the final product!

House update: Living room is finished with mud and tape, soon to be sanded. Back room is still being mudded. Entertainment system is being build into the wall.  I am within a few weeks of having my living room  back! I am so excited. 

Blueberry time!

We spent the afternoon at the Wilton Blueberry Farm, it is gorgeous and has acres and acres of high bush blueberry plants.  It was so fun!
Isabelle got tired of picking up high, so she found a little shady spot where there were berries down low, Im pretty sure she was eating as many as she was picking. 

 The fruits of our labor.  We picked 10 lbs of blueberries, they will taste yummy this winter! and in the pie I am going to make tonight too!

I Survived!

We take our canoeing very seriously

Girls Camp.....Check

Cute Painted Toes......Check

Another successful Kayak trip.....Check

Back to renovations on the house.....Catch you all later

Rain, Rain...

Go away, come again another day.... Little Isabelle wants to play

ahhh, heck, lets just take the clothes of and go run in the rain anyway!

I am off to Girls Camp (with a group of 15 girls! yikes), Send your kind thoughts and sympathies to my poor husband, whom I am abandoning for the week with a half gutted house and our toddler and her potty training maddness! It should be a fun week ;)

Catch-up

Ok, ok...so I have totally neglected my blog for the past month and a half. Let me give you all an update as to the crazyness of our lives right now. 

Mom had major neck surgery the June 6th. Recovery has been a bit slower this time around, but we have all be able to get a good laugh out of her minnie mouse voice :) Its only temporary. 

Grampa Lish passed away June 9th.  Even with an understanding of a greater plan in this life. The loss has affected more than I thought. 

 

I got my garden in...late but in!

Jim finished the school year and started with

 his summer transition program. 

I swear Isabelle has grown 4 inches this summer so far. All this warm sunshine and rain apparently has the same effect on 2 year olds as it does the weeds in my Garden. 

We have started a few projects around the house. 

Project 1.We made a play area for the house and slide for Isabelle

Project 2. We have NO insulation...I mean NONE. so, we are tearing down the walls re-building the wall (since they are only about 3 inches thick) and putting in some lovely insulation and then sheet rocking it back up. 

This is my living room.... minus plaster and a few lathes. We are finding that this house is built like a barn....

Quick Pics

We found a fun spot to throw rocks in the river by our house!

Sorry about the lack of posts. We have had a very eventful few weeks. I will write more later.

Good Times

Jim had a conference in Freeport, so we decided to make alittle trip of it and we stayed down there with him. It would be our first experience taking a 2 year old to a hotel for 2 nights.... You all can stop snickering now. 

The first night was great. Granted no one fell asleep till 10:30pm. We were up the next morning and headed to the childrens museum for the morning. That was a blast.

 Then we came back, did some browsing around Freeport (we REALLY enjoyed the fish at LL Bean Kids). That night was a bit more exciting. At about 10pm. Isabelle still wasnt asleep and was CRANKY. A small bug bite that itched turned into near hysteria. I had to quickley scoop her up and go for a drive (So that we wouldnt wake EVERYONE in the Haraseekeet). In about 3 minutes she was fast asleep. 

The next morning she was still alittle cranky...so we went for a drive to portland so I could run a few errands. As we shopped around Babies r us, my dear Isabelle asked to be picked up and then proceeded to puke down the front of me. We are talking a soaker here. I asked someone who was working there and was standing near by if she could help me. She just kinda stared in this disbelieve of what was happening. 

HELLOOO...child is puking, get me some paper towels or something!!! 

We cleaned up, and had the clothes from the hotel (we had just checked out) so we changed.

Isabelle was better after tossing her breakfast and fell asleep while I strolled around the other shops in the area. 

Never a dull moment. 

Noses

So Isabelle has a runny nose. But yesterday she came around the corner sniffling and watery eyes.
The conversation went something like this:

Do you need to blow your nose?
Yes.
(Nose is blown)
Ooowwwwweee Momma
Whats wrong?
Pretzel inna nose
You have a pretzel in your nose?!?!?
Yessss (sniffle)
OH MY GOSH!

(A small panic attack...deep breath)

So after some blows and no success. Then a small temper tantrum. We all calmed down and I was able to take some tweezers and pull out the pretzle which was an INCH LONG!

I--------------I

HELLOOOOO, what posses a child to stick that much pretzel in her nose?!?!
I never cease to be amazed.

Congratulations!

Weeeehooo!!!

Baby Bro just graduated college! Onward to grad school!

Nick and Janel just had a baby boy! Silas James... A fine, strapping, handsome baby boy

Siiri and Jared had a baby girl!

It was a busy weekend of Mothers day happenings, graduations and babies...

Whew, I am beat,

back to work in the office!

Sunshiny Days

Loads of fun in the sun, here are some pictures for you all to enjoy.

Happy spring days!

Well the iceburg has offically left my front lawn and green grass has started to grow. I have spent the last week raking AROUND the snowpiles as the slowly melted, but a few days of 60+ weather has freed our front lawn from its icy, dirty mess.

Syruping is done too! here is a great story for you. I ran out of wood so we checked out the hardware store down the road if they had any pallets that they wanted to get ride of...they sure did! so we took home a jeep full of pallets (6 I think) and Jim started cutting them up, well we got distracted and didnt finish cutting them up. Actually he only got through one! so the next day I am looking at this pile of lumber trying to figure out if I am going to have enough that is cut to last me the day. There wasnt enough and I had the sap at a good boil, so I didnt want to have to go through the whole process again of starting the fire up..yadda, yadda. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I am terrified of the skil saw...HATE IT, large rotating blade on a little heavy piece of machinery, hooked with an electrical cord. Just seems like a horror movie waiting to happen. (I do run the radial alarm saw!) I am chicken.

SO, I decided to put my big girl pants on and start the skil saw and cut up my own dang pallets. And sure enough, I did. I brought the large pile to nothing but the spines of pallets.
I was so proud. I am woman, HEAR ME ROAR! We ended saping with 4.5 quarts of syrup! Not bad for my first year.

Family life is good, since the temperatures have warmed up we are spending endless hours outside. Isabelle loves to help out around the lawn (she has her own little rake!)and she is entertaining herself well, which is leaving me with lots of time to get alot of work down on the yard (it needs it, 1 inch of gravel on the front from thsi winter! YIKES!)

I got it to work...here is my masterpiece

March Madness

So how do you kill a blogsite...well, dont write on it in a few weeks. Sorry to all you faithful readers. Here is an update

Boston was awesome. This is the view out our gorgeous hotel room. We saw blueman group one evening. If you ever have a chance to go see them, DO IT. It is nothing like anything you have ever seen. Isabelle had a blast with Nana, ask her for some stories...she has some doozies to tell. Mostly evolving around the bathroom....hmmmm.



Spring has sprung. and with it, my itch to get out of the house. Immediately upon arriving home (and to a nice clean house...thanks NANA!) the next morning I got up and tapped my maple trees. Random, yes I know. Do I not have enough to do...who knows. but I needed one more project I guess. But we have had some success. So far I have made almost 2 quarts of syrup. Which mean we have had almost 20 gallons of sap. I only have 2 BIG old maple trees, so I am pretty pumped about it. The only way I can cook it is in a small make-shift fireplace in my yard. A bit redneck. I know. My father was all to amazed and my husband is wondering about my ability to be left home alone for any extent of time for fear of what my next project might be. But its temporary and then will be replaced by new grass and flowers soon.



Birthday party for Mom and Dad...Dad being the BIG 50 this year...Mom being younger..haha. Isabelle and I made cupcakes, I didnt put her in the outfit, this is one of her own design.

Snow is melting and with it, puddles. Check out my sweet video I made of Isabelle testing out her new rubber boots.
...or nevermind, I cant get the video to upload, I will try again later.

Isabelle has moved out of the crib and into a big bed. She is way to excited about it. We are still undecided on the matter, but it is fun. She is nothing but a little lump in the bed ;)

I am back in the saddle selling houses too. Last summer I got my license, and with a busy fall and even busier winter I havent done anything, but now I am back in the office trying to earn my keep :) If your interesting in buying or selling houses or land, LET ME KNOW!!!

BOSTON!!!

Hey to all...I am reporting here from the big city of Boston. Jim and I took the train in last night and we will be here till sunday afternoon. SO EXCITING. We are in a gorgeous hotel in the financial district (finally after a long night of shuffling hotels because our hotel overbooked!!! YIKES) And I plan on doing a few days of shopping and touring about without a two year old (and a Hubby!) Jim is attending a conference. Isabelle is partying at home with Nana! I am sure she will be spoiled to pieces and Nana will be exausted when we return. Hopefully they all have a good time.



This was Isabelle on Easter Morning with a hand full of smarties and her cool sunglasses she got from the easter bunny!

I dont keep up on politics

Nor do I claim to. I should probably do better, but regardless of your views or personal preferences of our presidential canidates, this video has a great message and is beautifully executed.

OK, dont think I am weird!

I love this band Daft Punk, but I have never seen anything like this. It is the coolest thing.

Check out this video: Daft Bodies, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger



Add to My Profile | More Videos

New Rubber boots

So I think I just made the best investment....rubber boots for Isabelle. Our driveway is slowly (very slowly) thawing, so there is lots and lots of water and mud to be played in. After going out a few times in our normal winter boots, I determined that the rubber boots were a must. I quickly made the purchase, brought them home and she hasnt taken them off yet. I have fight with her about not wearing boots to bed. There is a bonus to the rubber boots being worn inside. We are in the process of potty training, and once we had an "accident," but the rubber boot caught the "rains" before it could make it to the carpet. Rubber Boots are much easier to clean then the carpet!



This springs latest in toddler fashion. Outfit put together by non-other than Isabelle!

Many Thanks

To all those who serve our country. Thank you.

Thank you for your bravery, for your willingness to defend a cause that this country is divided upon.

Thank you to your families for letting you go, and keeping you in their prayers.

Come back to us safe Micah, we are proud of you and we are always keeping you in our hearts and prayers.

Thank you.