We had our little 7 year old neighbor friend, Shaynee, spend the afternoon and evening with us while her parents went hunting. Shaynee is an only child and she loves coming over to our house because there is always something going on and someone to play with. That night the kids had a great time creating forts, being silly, and making a mess together: cutting and pasting, glittering and gluing for hours, making books and creating decorations to hang from the ceiling and windows. At one point Shaynee came giggling over to show me a long white string taped to her bum and a sign on her back that said "Kick me! I'm a mouse or a rat!!"

Since Shaynee was staying for dinner, I thought it would be festive to make a dinner-in-a-pumpkin meal. Years ago I made this dinner and I wasn't too impressed because it was very bland and tasteless. So this time I combined a bunch of recipes from the internet and added some of my own ingredients trying to spice it up a bit. It turned out pretty tasty! To the regular ingredients of hamburger, cream of chicken and rice I added: minced garlic, cayenne, diced celery, onions, kale and various hot peppers sauteed in butter. My picky kids ate it pretty well, though they didn't want the pumpkin flesh part added to their rice. Sometimes kids just don't know what they're missing! (The leftover cooked pumpkin was fed to the chickens- they don't like raw pumpkin, but they will gobble it up when it is cooked)

Rides with Dad

Leif loves to hear his Daddy's motorcycle come putt-putting up the driveway at the end of a work day. Leif will stop what he's doing and listen expectantly, waiting for the front door open. He always wants a hug from Dad, to "talk" with him about the lights (Leif loves lights), and then usually Joel give him a ride on the motorcycle all around the yard. It's a fun routine for them both.

Turtle Applique quilt

See this little flannel baby quilt? It's the project that got me back in the sewing groove. (See Leif? He's the munchkin that put me back in the baby groove--hehe. )

I finished this blanket 3 months ago and I didn't get around to taking a picture until today, hence the disheveled "just barely pulled out of the crib "look.

I enjoyed making this so much that I decided to tackle a little bit harder block type quilt that I'm working on now, whenever I have a spare moment. I'll share it soon. Hope these sewing posts don't bore everyone to tears. Sewing is my favorite hobby of the moment. I rotate through my hobbies on a regular basis-- do you?

Do the Mashed Potato

Birthday boy before dinner.....

Birthday boy AFTER.

Leif loves those homemade mashed potatoes. Besides being tasty eating, he thinks they make a perfect hair gel!

"Oh what a mess I am!"

My roses are putting forth their last beautiful hurrah before the killing frosts of November are here. 2 tone roses are my absolute favorite, especially pink and yellow ones.















Taylor took the rose pictures for me. When I see something pretty I often ask him get the camera out and be my photographer. He knows how to use the camera better than I do. Taylor also took the fall foliage shots in my last post. I think his favorite thing to shoot are interesting textures. After Taylor's photo sessions you always find closeup pictures like these on the camera:
Oh, and these kind of closeups too of course....he is eleven after all. I think this is particular photo is entitled "Self Portrait- the Startled Eyeball"
and this one, "Mein Scar".
However did we manage before the digital camera was invented?

I spent all day Sunday crying over the unexpected death of my friend Sarah's beautiful 16 month old baby girl. The grief and sadness that I know their family is going through kept playing over and over in my heart. It seems like life can throw such breathtakingly hard experiences at us at a moment's notice. We just want to shout "Nooooo! Take this back, take it away.....I don't want to deal with this.....I can't.....

Sarah is the same friend who helped me move from Grand View to Shoshone Falls in 2007 and then this spring, she drove the 2 hour trip from Grand View to spend all day helping us move from Shoshone Falls to Hagerman. With her 4 children in tow she still managed to get more done than Joel and I put together. Sarah has literally helped shoulder my moving burdens twice now but I feel helpless to return the favor though hers is a burden that is ever so much heavier.

This morning when I woke up, the tears began again and I decided I needed to get out of the house. I put Leif in my backpack and off we went. Walking in the gorgeous fall weather I was reminded that God's handiwork is so wonderous and amazing - whether it is the smooth perfect skin of your baby's cheek or the flaming red autumn leaves glowing in the sun. Life is so fragile. It is so beautiful. So finite. It brings a bittersweet ache to my heart and I want to hug my family and treasure every moment I have with them. I need to embrace the beauty of each day. I pray that Sarah, her husband and their girls feel the warmth of God's love wrap around them and carry them through this.

Can't get a hold of me? I wonder why......

I have decided I am waaaaay too irresponsible to have a cell phone for my "main" phone. The next time we move I am going back to a land line. I promise. In the meantime, apologies to everyone who can never get a hold of me. I am probably not answering the phone for a multitude of reasons.

Either:

a) the phone is in Las Vegas (when I myself am in Idaho)

b) the phone is in a USPS box in transit back to Idaho

c) the phone is lost for 2 days because it is hiding in the kids bathroom vanity amongst the cleaning supplies, set on vibrate mode so of course it cannot be heard as we fruitlessly call it over and over trying desperately to find it, seeing as how it is our only way to communicate with the outside world besides email.

OR

d) some other completely random and irresponsible reason

Yes, if I were the parent of myself I would be taking away my cell phone privileges right about now.

Sewing projects and new sink and faucet

Saturday I practically had the whole house to myself because the boys were driving tractor for Grandpa and mowing their garden, Joel was on call all day, and Heidi and Reagan were playing with the neighbor girl. So I had a chance to sit down and play in the sewing room. Yay! One little project I finished was a new washable slipcover for our old high chair. This high chair has seen a lot of use, especially since it's actually a hand me down from my Mom. It still works great and I like it's small profile since our dining room is very petite. Unfortunately, the back seat is cobbled together with tape and Leif 's decided it's so much fun to try to EAT the tape off when I'm not looking. I used vintage-look fabric and ticking to make the removable cover up. It was a really simple project but I'm so happy with it. If you look close at the background you can see the faucet that Joel put in for me last month. I love it. We plan to take it along from house to house, like we've been doing with our bathroom faucets the last couple years. We are faucet freaks. Nothing makes a kitchen or bathroom feel nicer than a beautiful faucet. Joel also put in a 10 dollar sink I found at DI a few years ago and that has been stored in my Dad's barn. It's a big, deep, porcelain sink. I LOVE IT!! It's so much better than the very shallow stainless steel sink I had before. I am afraid I won't be able to take it with me. I actually suggested we try to take it when we move but Joel vetoed the idea. :-)

Here's another sewing project I finished recently: a skirt for Hailey.

She really likes this style of skirt and I like the fabric. I found the fabric at the Quilt Barn and I think it's from the Amy Butler line.If I find some time, I want to make another one for Heidi.

Making music

For a few months now, Torsten has been working at the piano putting together some arrangements for his bell quartet. Heidi and Reagan were inspired to try making their own compositions and told us they wanted to perform them in a show for the family. They went in the bedroom and came back out all dressed up (okay, except for the camouflage pants), and proceeded to "play" their songs. It was sounding pretty discordant and part way through, Heidi stopped and peered closer at her notes, saying, "Hmmm.....I didn't know it would sound like this!!" It was a fun night and we had lots of laughs.But wouldn't it be so great to be able to just pick up an instrument and have the ability to make beautiful music? I've always dreamed of doing that with a cello or violin. Maybe in the hereafter we'll all have the opportunity to make the music of our heart.....

Overheard yesterday......

Me: Hailey, you cleaned my room!!

Hailey: Well, I got done with all my school stuff early, so I thought I'd treat myself to some cleaning.......


No joke. This girl cleans Leif's bedroom, organizes the game cabinet and dejunks my purse FOR FUN!! I think she's addicted. What a wonderful addiction. :-) She certainly does not have her mother's disorganized genes nor her father's packrat genes. Hailey's her own unique person and she helps make the house run so much smoother. I would really be floundering with out her. Here she is dancing with Taylor, doing "Anchors Away" at the family reunion.

Squeeze of Joy!

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" It's little Leif 's birthday! He turned 1 as of 10 minutes ago and we gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to him. We ended up doing it twice because his bewildered and amazed expression was just too funny. Reagan, who coined the fitting nickname "Squeeze of Joy" for Leif a few months ago, has been counting down the hours all morning until Leif's actual birthday time. All the kids love him so much! It makes me so happy that with every baby, our older children are head over heels for their newest sibling and whole heartedly welcome them into the family. It's embarrassing to admit that I was actually the jealous type- when my little brother Tad was born I did naughty things like tip his car seat over on purpose! So they must not get their sweetness from me.....

Later tonight I'll finish Leif's birthday post complete with pictures

Leif is One All Ready!

It was one year ago today, our little Leif joined the Pearson family on a georgous fall day......

Everyone was so excited to see this cute little guy!
hold his hand... and marvel at his incredibly chubby cheeks.

Everyone likes snuggle time with Leif!
It's been amazing watching him grow this past year! There is 5 years between Reagan and Leif so every baby thing he does is new and exciting for the whole family. He's entertained us with his head bobbing and waving bye-bye.....





and his silly expressions.
We really enjoy his mischievous little personality,
and continue to marvel at his fat cheeks, that get kissed numerous times through the day.
Happy Birthday Leif! We love you!