This and That

 I celebrated another birthday (crazy how that happens every year) which means I got to try yet another flavor of vegan birthday cake from our local vegan baker. She does amazing cakes and I mainly look forward to my birthday just to try another flavor. This year it was German chocolate cake. I'm a sucker for coconut but Sean isn't so I don't seem to cook much with it. It was sure a treat! This is a 10 inch cake and it's massive so next year I think I'll try an 8 inch cake. 

Throughout the year I put fun things in my Amazon wishlist and occasionally I get gifted some of these items. For Christmas I received a solar light and since it was cold I didn't put it outside until just recently. It's supposed to go in a flower pot so I wanted to make sure something was actually growing before I put it out there. It's a cute little watering can with LED lights. I just love it. 

 

So each year the senior class does a "senior prank". I think it has to be ok-ed by the principal so nothing real serious gets done. This year I pull into the high school parking lot to pick up the kids the last full day of school and there is a row of cars blocking entrance to the parking lot. It must have been 50 cars and there was absolutely no way to get into the parking lot to wait for the kids. Apparently these seniors (who had already had their last day of school) got up at 3 am and all brought their cars out and parked them in a long row so no teachers or students could use the lot. The teachers had to park in a different lot further away and walk. I was lucky enough to wedge my tiny car into a row to wait. It was funny.....yet frustrating!

All of the cats we own have adopted us, not the other way around. They wander to us and then stay for the rest of their lives. This happened with our neighbors cat, Orangie. He used to be pure evil. He'd sneak into the shop and eat all of our other cats food then climb into the rafters and hiss at me when I walked in. We did not have a good relationship. He was rather nasty to our barn cats too, attacking them whenever he got the chance. Well as he aged he got more mellow. He started letting us pet him. He stopped hissing at me. Eventually he just became part of our menagerie. He coexisted with our cats and even started curling up with them to sleep. The neighbor said they found him as a kitten in 2003. That made him 19 years old this year. They moved last June and he stayed with us because he was our kitty. He passed away in his sleep last week. You'll be missed Old Orangie.

 

Well it's an end of an era. We took down the swing set. I remember putting up the swing set (you should look at this, such little babies!) all those years ago. It got so much use! But it was time to go. It was looking rough and no one used it anymore. I saved the lumber so I can use it for another project and donated the ladder to a pastor that is building a swing set for his church. 

The hammock has been put back up for the season and I still love it, although I wish I was using it more than I do. I've been so busy with various landscaping projects. Wesley found a spider on it so he'll never use it again. That kid is petrified of spiders. I guess I've got it all to myself.

First Day

 Usually I do these "First Day" posts to commemorate the kids first day of school. Today I post because it's Sean first day back to work since October of 2019. They found mold in his building in the fall of 2019 and they were all sent home to work. Then Covid hit and they remained working from home. They decided to build a new building so that was recently finished and it's time for them to return back to the office. It's a hybrid schedule right now with some work from home and some back in the office. He's glad he doesn't have to return full time as I think he likes working from home. There is an added perk of free electric car charging at the office, so at least it's a free ride.

Art Deco

My parents invited Max and I to go see an exhibit on Art Deco. It was a nice day and a beautiful exhibit. We sure enjoyed going. 

My favorite piece, I love the colors.

Easter

 We had a nice low key Easter with just us this year. The kids still do an Easter egg hunt even though I think Wesley's not really into it any longer. Candy is candy though and they will still run all over the yard for it. 

I didn't feel like cooking a big meal so we went out for dinner and the kids and Sean got big juicy hamburgers. Talk about a strange Easter dinner. 

Sing!

This was quite a year for Wesley. He discovered his love of singing and it took him many places. He received a 1 rating on his solos which took him to state where he received a 1 as well. There were lots of early mornings and countless miles on the bus with his friends. We are very proud of him for his accomplishments!

Max

Our youngest child who used to go by Greta now goes by Max. Such a talented child, we can't wait to see where this one goes in life. 

 

Baby Greens

We've had some glorious warm weather over the past couple of weeks which always ignites the gardener in me. It's far too early to plant anything as our night lows are still below freezing but it's a great time to plant seeds indoors. Our farrier told us about a tomato variety they love called Black Krim. It's got a smokey flavor they say and tastes wonderful so I bought a packet of seeds off of eBay. I added in a few cherry tomatoes and some Siletz variety as well. Germination was pretty good. I bought an LED plant light which is making them pretty happy, a little leggy but I can plant them deep to correct that. Going to have lots of tomatoes this year!

Two weeks old

 

Taken today at a month old.

I planted peas last night out in the garden along the trellis since they are more of a cool weather crop. I mulched heavily in the fall and put down cardboard where weeds were getting through late in the season. I'm excited to see if the asparagus comes up this spring as I planted quite a bit last spring. 

I also learned about cutting your store bought green onions and putting them in a cup of water to grow more. What a nifty hack to reduce buying more. I can get two more cuttings out of them after the initial cut. I make Pineapple Thai Fried Rice once a week and use the green onions in that dish. It's so good and good for you (you can leave out the oil, it's not needed)! 

Fresh chopped on the right, week old on the left.

Home Improvements

 I got the urge to do some home improvements after Christmas. We haven't really done much updating since we moved in back in 2004. The wall color is aging well so there aren't many plans to paint (even though it needs a fresh coat some day). It seems gray is having it's moment and I've been trying to bring some of it in when buying new things like rugs and towels. Our bay window has never had drapes or shades on it since we moved in. We are far off of the main road and our neighbors aren't close so it really hasn't bothered me to leave them bare. I thought it might be a nice way to dress up the room though so I started looking at hardware for bay windows. Sure enough there are window brackets especially made for these kind of windows. It sure looks nice and the privacy is a bonus. Our youngest child said "Wow, it feels like we are staying in a fancy AirBNB!" Funny kid.

 

Yes, I could have cleaned the table off but it would look like this again in 4 minutes.

We've always had hand-me-down tables. Our kitchen table and dining room table were hand me downs from my grandparents and parents. I like them, they are sturdy and well made. It's the chairs that wear out and need to be replaced. Our dining room has gone through two sets of chairs now and they needed to be replaced yet again. I was looking to buy new ones this time and they are running around $150 a chair at the furniture stores around here (those were clearance prices no less). We'd need six chairs so we'd be looking at $900 in just chairs.....which seems crazy to me. So I got on Marketplace and found someone selling their whole dining set for $400. The table might need a refinishing this summer, we'll see. I like doing that kind of work so that's no big deal. It's nice having comfortable chairs again!

The legs of the table are unique.

The biggest home improvement for the year will be started in April. We finally gave up trying to redo the siding on the house every couple of years and are having professionals come and put Hardie Board siding on it. We are so excited!

This and That

This winter has been pretty mild for the most part and we have enjoyed eating out on the patio at most restaurants. Only recently have we started dining inside again. If infection rates go up we'll head back outside. I've gotten pretty accustomed to the fresh air and sunlight that patio eating has provided.

Jessica's kids came over during the Holiday break. The boys have become pros at Minecraft over the past few years. They all gather online together (Wesley, Alex, Matt and Teddy) and play. It was nice that during the state lock downs the kids were still able to connect and stay social.

They have been playing the "Raise Your Hand" game since they were tiny, still doing it. Last one with their hand in the air wins. Did I think they would still be doing this in high school? No. But it brings back fond memories.

We've sure been enjoying the Nissan Leaf. We've had it for nearly a year now and drive it constantly. It's the go-to car in the garage. It's pure electric and at 100% charged gets about 90 mile range. That seems to be about 85% of our driving needs. It's prefect for driving the kids to school and back and our short little trips into town. It came with a set of Blizzack winter tires and wheels, so Sean put them on. I like the black wheels!

A couple of years ago we picked up a new rooster after our big white one got killed by the neighbors dog. The new one was a Ayam Cemani. They are these impressive all black roosters. They have black legs, black combs. They even have black organs. A gal down the road had two roosters and offered me one. He did ok with us for a short time before turning into turd and chasing us. He'd find pleasure in trying to hurt us. We'd kick him away and the kids took large sticks with them whenever they went into the back yard just in case he decided to come after them. We aren't the type to kill roosters even if they are demon spawn so we just dealt with him. He earned the name Satan. I tried to rehome him since he was a desirable breed (chicks go for upwards of $50 each). No takers (shocker!). A week ago he wasn't in the hen house at bed time which was unheard of. The next morning I did a check of the back yard and sure enough found the pile of black feathers that was Satan. Looks like a hawk or owl got him. I'm ok with this...it's been so peaceful in the backyard. 

 

 Kevin and Cooper are all grown up and settling in nicely. They play really hard together and then sleep for hours and do it all over again. Here are the two goobers passed out. They like to sleep in the strangest positions.

Honor Choir

 Wesley has been having so much fun singing this year. He tried out for the honor choir and submitted his audition online (they are usually in person auditions but with Covid they are all recorded and submitted). He and two others were accepted into the mixed choir. Not many freshmen get in so it was quite the honor. 

He got to practice all day and then we got to see them all sing together. It was great, we are very proud of him.

Christmas 2021

 Another Christmas has come and gone. It's a great time of the year and we have our regular traditions that we try to accomplish. The annual sugar cookie decorating went well and I can say between that, the vegan fudge and decorating the gingerbread houses I probably gained 6 pounds. It was worth it even if it means dieting in January (and February....who am I kidding). 

Christmas 2021 was small with just my folks coming over. We had good food and a fun time opening presents. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Annual Night Before Christmas reading.

Finally a bike that he won't outgrow in a year.

Rudi is always by their side.

Jealous of the sherpa pullover.

Favorite picture. The dogs were praying for something to drop.

Cooper loves a warm lap (or whole body) to sleep on.

So excited to get a cell phone.

Beanie loves all the attention.