Fitch House Destroyers

Happy Holloween, er kinda...

2011-11-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a holiday more suited to Finn and Katy. They already spend half the year dressed up in some sort of goofy get-up! So were they ever stoked on Monday. We had planned on going to Candy Mountain where some friends were having a get together with a ruckus of kids. They were dressed and ready to go by 9am and despite being able to read a clock, I was asked repeatedly all day if it was time to go. We did go to see Uncle Aaron and Auntie Sarah at their store early How rad is Uncle Aaron?? Yeah, that rad.

and even though it's a terrible harvest this year, Daddy was home early-ish. As Katy was excitedly telling him all about her day, she promptly threw-up. Everywhere. Needless to say poor Katybugs didn't get to trick or treat on Candy Mountain and spent the rest of the night in bed.....Here's some cute pics before she turned from cowpoke into a cowpuke. More proof that they are incapable of taking a normal picture and are indeed the cheesiest hams I've ever met!

Big Blogpost About A Lot of Bloggy Stuff

2011-10-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

I suck. I know. I keep sitting down to write a post and I get all overwhelmed and resign to do it the following day. Only the same thing happens. EVERY. TIME. So here it is, a big huge ol' post about all our goings on since the last time I posted.

First all, Grandpa Charlie came out to visit. We had a great time and the kids enjoyed the undivided attention (like they don't normally get enough, right?). Grandpa also indulges them by pushing them on the tire swing which they can't get enough of.

We also checked out Sacajawea Days which is a reenactment of Lewis and Clark's journey through the area. Pretty cool, till Katy got stung in the face by a nasty ol' bee. Poor thing. She was a really tough especially when we found out at the first aid station that she was number 45 of the morning! Picnic (pre-bee sting)
Lewis (or maybe Clark) and his friend who apparently forgot his trousers. As Finn has taken to saying lately, "awkwaarrrd".

We took Grandpa to our favorite restaurant, Pho Ever (seriously most delicious pho and butterflies).
We even got the whole fandamily out miniature golfing despite the fact that I'm quite positive it was 120 degrees out!It was a really great visit and we can't wait to see Grandpa in Minnesota next year!!

On Katy's birthday we went on a fabulous farm tour with our homeschooling group. We had tons of fun picking apples, going on a hay ride and eating fresh (to die for) doughnuts. We were supposed to press apples for cider but after starting to wash our bin (1000+ pounds of apples) for over an hour, my kids' turkey timers popped and the decision was made quickly that we would just buy some cider at the store! If you ever get sucker..I mean the wonderful opportunity to press apples for fresh cider, do it. Just know it takes longer than you'd think!
Later that day a local artist named Eric Herman performed at Homelink. Totally awesome and he signed a CD for Katy's birthday. Here's a video for you to enjoy!

Then we had her birthday party at Rosie's Diner on Saturday. She had a great week!Of course a bunny cake!

Last but not least, gymnastics. Katy's coach told me last week that she has a natural sense of balance and is doing great in her class. She practices on just about everything and everywhere!

First day!!

2011-09-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of on-site classes for both kids over at Homelink. Katy has a LEGO class at 8:30 for an hour (which is why she insisted on wearing the LEGO shirt) then Finn has Drama for an hour. Then we have a couple of hours to come home and do other school related things. And at 1 p.m. we go back to Homelink for Finn's LEGO class and Katy's karate class. Such a fantastic day!!

Katy loved her classes and Finn of course enjoyed hamming it up in Drama (finally an outlet for that!) and his LEGO class is working with motors and computers this year. The work we are doing at home has been going well too. Although doing K12 with both of them is proving to be a very full time job, but it's awesome and rewarding.

Katy all ready for LEGO class. For some reason posing on the coffee table is all the rage in our house right now!? Almost 5 years of battling pepto pink and glitter explosions and she chooses to wear her black LEGO shirt. Do I win or is this some sort of trap?
Conversation this morning, "Mom, where's my top hat?" "Why your top hat Finn?" "I want to look like a VIP, maybe someone will think I'm like the mayor." Check. Now Finn was ready for drama class.

Gymnastics

2011-09-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

Last week was Super Hero/Princess theme day at gymnastics. It wasn't too much of a stretch for her.....

It's exactly what it looks like.

2011-09-12T14:40:00.001-07:00

My kids dressed up for a goth wedding. Must get that from Terry's side ;)

Lookie What He Can Do!!

2011-08-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

We left the Tri-Cities with Finn completely terrified of riding his bike. Comfortable in the fact that it was just something he was willing to not do till the time was right for him. We got to Bellingham and an hour later, here's what we got.
No help, no talking about it, no nothing. We looked around and saw him riding Liam's bike all like "What? I do this all the time!" And now he's a biking machine! Last night him and Daddy biked all the way to the Doherty grandparent's house, almost 7 miles round trip! Epic thing to have happened this summer.

Here are a few other pics of our awesome trip to see the Massey family in Bellingham.Cle Elum park
Denny Creek exploration
Golden Gardens beach walk
Reid-o!
We see you Liam!!
Clearly a bad idea...

Fishing time!

2011-07-29T11:45:00.001-07:00

Finn got a new fishing pole from Grandma and Grandpa Doherty for his birthday so we've been spending lots of time trying to catch something worthy of keeping for dinner. We even grabbed Grandma Kate and Grandpa Doherty one morning and drug them along. Things go pretty smooth until Katy remembers she's deathly afraid of all things that creep, crawl, buzz or fly and she lets out one of those ear piercing screams that makes others think she is being stabbed. She's going to need therapy after this summer or we will!Katy approves (clearly hasn't seen a bug yet)

Birthday Boy!!

2011-07-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Finn is 7! Too fast....anyways, we had a great time at Dairy Queen with friends and family. Loaded all the kids up with sugar and then released them on the unsuspecting patrons of Howard Amon park.
Guess he got what he wanted!!The whole gang

That's a lot of...

2011-07-14T12:11:00.003-07:00

GLUE! What did you think I was going to say? ;)
New cork board for the homeschool room!

You Scream, I Scream...

2011-07-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

We all scream for ice cream!! I was surprised that this thing actually worked and the ice cream was really tasty too. The kids had to roll it around for 15 minutes, which they did with much enthusiasm. If only there was a way to make scrubbing toilets or dusting as much fun...

This Is How We Do It

2011-07-08T17:40:00.001-07:00

The kids and I made these zesty refrigerator pickles today (our second batch). Oh man, are these good and simple too! No cooking or canning and they only have to sit for a week before they are ready (to be honest we didn't wait the whole 7 days and they were great).
After yard work and a short rest, Terry woke up as an old Italian lady. Dinner prep. Making fresh mozzarella.
For these bad boys
Summer time and the living is easy.... Last night's bread, half price milk, paper thin slices of daddy's house made pancetta, kids handpicked peas from the garden, crank out some parpadelle, and BAM! Pasta e Piselli. That just happened.

The 4th of July

2011-07-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July has always been a tricky one around here with Finn. He loves the idea of fireworks but is so sensitive to the noise he spends the entire time curled up in the fetal position holding his ears. Until this year. Daddy is a genius. Earmuffs. Like the one's hunters wear. Oh my god, what a difference! This was the first year Finn actually enjoyed himself on the 4th. Oh course Katy needed a pair too. They may look goofy, but they sure were happy!

Katy's expression is priceless....

Adventure Time

2011-07-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we decided to head out in search of some good fishing spots and enjoy a nice picnic in the trees. Drove to the Tucannon River and found several good lakes with trout visible withing inches of the surface. We must have been there at the right time of year too because there were butterflies EVERYWHERE! Huge, colorful, beautiful butterflies that Finn and Katy spent most of the time dodging because, well you know how scary those things are. It was sad watching them smash into the windshield and get stuck in a wiper blade so maybe they were kamikaze butterflies...Hope to go back next weekend for a fish dinner and some wild blackberries!!

These were not the giant, child snatching variety but there millions of them too.

Eating theYard, 2011 Edition.

2011-06-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

We are finally getting some warmer weather and that always brings the gardens up to speed after a slow, cool spring. The kids and I harvested berries from the Mulberry tree and raspberry patch and got enough to make some jam. Should have a second batch too. Mulberry/raspberry/lemon jam, too good.
Terry dug up some volunteer potato plants and found these tasty little guys. Tomorrow breakfast, Russian Fingerlings.

Tumble Time!

2011-06-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Katy joined gymnastics about a month ago and is LOVING it. I think having her own activity with all our doting eyes on her (as she shoots Finn a smug look, HA!) has really helped her come into her own. Even so much as her saying "I'm going to get out all my meanness so that all the other girls want to be friends". I hadn't really helped her form much of a game plan for that, and she may have been referring to class time only, so as of yet not much of a change at home from her standing with hands on hips saying "repeat, repeat, repeat". Or occasionally still reminding me that I am meaner than the devil himself, but I like to dream big!

She really does love it and as I attempt to type this, she is literally circling me, jumping up and down talking about watching herself on the balance beam (again). Enjoy some videos!

Finished!!!

2011-06-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

The outside of the house is finished! Hooray! Now all we need is a landscaper!
Terra cotta doors! Glad they turned out. The first round of painting left us with deer hunter orange doors. Eek!

Proof.

2011-06-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

I have photographic evidence that NEITHER of my children are capable of taking a regular picture anymore....

Our field trip to Fort Walla Walla today started out normal enough.
And very quickly descended into the usual mayhem
Furthering my point
And
Bad Finnegan!
Here's a nice one...oh, wait, never mind...
They. Are. Crazy!

Cruisin'

2011-06-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Finn and Katy on bikes = mommy and daddy left in their dust. The conclusion was to get these beauties....1960's matching Schwinns!

It's me! Mario!!

2011-05-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Many of you are aware that my little brother and his lovely wife opened their dream store right here in Richland just a few weeks ago. Here's a little video about it and of course, go check them out!! That Mario looks VERY familiar.....

Vegas Baby!!

2011-05-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Just got back from five days in Las Vegas. No pictures. No stories. I'm just gonna leave it at that......now I need a vacation from my vacation.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

2011-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

I knew this day would come sooner or later.....

2011-03-09T06:46:00.001-08:00

There he is. Off to school sans the chauffeur. Part of me is so relieved I no longer have to get up so early, but I'm truly going to miss that twenty minutes of uninterrupted chatting I get in the morning. I suppose it's just the next step in Tony growing up and while I'm typing I can't help but feel a bit teary eyed....and also? If your out on the roads around town and see a white Mercedes Benz station wagon anywhere near you? I'd move out of it's way!!

Nice Weather!!!

2011-02-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

Ugh. It's been a looong cold, windy, crappy winter. Spring can't get here fast enough as far as we are all concerned! Saturday afternoon though was beautiful and the kids got a chance to try out the new scooters they got for Christmas. Both were a bit unsteady at first, but Finn got the hang of it pretty quick. Katy, well, she prefers a more leisurely approach and probably enjoyed the swinging even more!

Hiatus

2011-01-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

and what a hiatus it's been! The holidays arrived in the usual fashion, a whirlwind of birthdays, anniversaries and the mad dash of preparing for Christmas. Though amidst all the hustle and bustle we managed to have a wonderful end of the year and even managed a few romatical escapes. I won't bore you with too many details, just give you a little summary...

Right after harvest Terry and I ran off to George and stayed overnight at Cave B Inn. It is located right next the the amphitheater where all the summer concerts are played. We stayed in a cave house located along the Gorge with beautiful views, had dinner at the resorts main house and got to taste with the winemaker. What a fabulous break after a very stressful ten weeks!

For my birthday/7th anniversary we headed to Seattle for a Seachicken game. Thank god they were playing the Panthers or we may have been in for the usual ass kicking. After experiencing an NFL game live we can now both die at peace knowing it's way better to watch on t.v. due to Terry's bizarre cosmic luck (or lack there of). Not sure who or what he's managed to piss off, but seriously he is a magnet for the too drunk, red bulled-up, mouthy jack wagon that is also attending most any event and will undoubtedly have seats right next to us. Aside from the actual game we stayed at a wonderful hotel with a roof top pool and hot tub and ate dinner at the Palace Kitchen (recommend). No pictures of this lovely weekend (thank you Katy!).

Christmas was fantastic! The kids have never been sooo jacked up about anything. We began wondering what type of monsters we had created and most definitely got to find out. Christmas Eve we put them to bed, finished up our "secret" business and collapsed into bed at about 11 p.m. Then we heard it, shrieks of "he came!" and "let's look in our stocking!". Terry and I rubbed our eyes in disbelief that morning had already arrived. We dragged ourselves out of bed and down the stairs, prepared to have a couple of shots of espresso and get rolling with these crazed monkeys. We were both standing in the kitchen readying our caffeinated beverages when Terry looked at the clock and burst into crazed laughter. It wasn't morning, at least not for little ones, it was 1:30 in the morning!! AGH! Not ok. We managed to get them both in bed but I don't think either of them went back to sleep because they were at it again at 5 am! It was wonderful to see everyone so happy through those sleepy eyes.

The new year ushered in some crazy prospects like a move to Oregon and the house that got away in Prosser....we have some great travel plans this year and I really do hope to share or adventures with you!!

Nutcracker!!

2010-12-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

Friday night we all got gussied up and went to the Nutcracker ballet. Katy has been wanting to take ballet lessons for awhile and after watching her sit, absolutely mesmerized for two hours, she wins. She'll start classes at the beginning of the next session!

Snow!!!

2010-11-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

Brrr!! Winter is here for realsies! Today's high is supposed to be 18!! We got dumped on and the kids couldn't be happier. Playing in the snow and hot chocolate, couldn't ask for a better day!
That's a lot of snow!
Snow angelsVery cold Katybones!!

Head Holes

2010-11-11T07:22:00.001-08:00

So Finn is loosing teeth like it's going out of style lately and while it's beyond adorable to hear him talk with a cute little lisp, he MUST stop pulling teeth out of his head! He yanked the most recent one out at 9 p.m. the other night and I ask you, how could any DECENT Tooth Fairy be prepared for a child yanking teeth out their heads at that hour? The one right next to the current hole is about to fall out, or if Finn has his way, be pulled out once mommy and daddy climb into bed and begin to drift off. Then we have to take turns pinching each other till both kiddos fall sound asleep so we can make DARN sure that Tooth Fairy visits. At least we'll be better prepared for this one....

Halloween!!

2010-11-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

The kids were dead-set on what they wanted to be this year for Halloween, so it took some searching but we eventually got the look they were after.....
Princess Peach and
Super Mario!!!
And of course Finn was ready to ham it up for me...
Even Grandma Judy was in the holiday spirit!!
Happy Halloween!!!

Watch...

2010-10-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

An effort to explain why we homeschool....
If you want more!

Hanford Homecoming

2010-10-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Check the skies for the flying pigs....Tony actually got all dressed up and asked a girl to homecoming!! Crazy huh? They all looked pretty sharp! Cori, Tony, Jessica and Drew
Cori and Tony

Grapes, grapes, grapes

2010-10-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Daddy is lost to the grape harvest and with his school there are some days the kiddos don't get to see him at all. Today we thought we'd play hooky and bring him some lunch in Paterson. We had all sorts of adventures along the way. We checked out the new Benton City library (very cool), grabbed lunch at a new restaurant there called Bella (also very cool, I had the ham, provolone, red onion and granny smith apple panini. Way yum), played at our favorite park in downtown Prosser (we really need to find a house there!) and checked out the Prosser library (worth another visit).
At the Chateau

Daddy took us on a cool tour. This is actually under Columbia Crest. It's apparently one of the largest underground facilities.
Katy watching a grape truck dump a ton of white grapes
Downtown Prosser park
I love this picture. I'm actually looking up a tube of tires!
For whatever reason Katy was full of snorts and giggles every time she stuck her head out of this little hole!

New Adventure

2010-10-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, my dad was diagnosed with cancer two months ago. He had a pretty big operation to remove a tumor from his colon a few weeks back and while he was recovering the little kids and I decided to pay him a visit in Minnesota. What could be better for a recovery than two, crazy little monkeys bouncing around right? The good, no great news is that after the surgery, CT scan and a PET scan he is cancer free! It hadn't spread anywhere and he doesn't even need one round of chemo. Things have a way of turning out alright.

While we were in Minnesota we got to see some relatives that I hadn't seen since about 1986. It was a great trip and I really want to make it back there soon, this time with Terry and Tony (Terry is up to his eyeballs in harvest and Tony is doing just too darn good in school to miss any, so they weren't able to join us this time).

The kids LOVED the plane ride which was a huge shock considering Finn's reaction to simple carnival rides. It was a straight shot from Pasco to Minneapolis, got us a rental car and about an hour and a half later we were there! Of course I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped, but here are a few to share....

Boarding the plane at 5:30 am
We made it!
Chillin in our zippy little rental car
We found a cool park near our hotel. My kids CANNOT pass up a new park!
It had this crazy, spinny thingy that both kids spun themselves sick on.
Finn even photo bombs his own pictures!
The kids with their Great, Great Aunt Rosalie (my grandmother's sister)

My grandparents old house in Richmond. This is where my mom grew up.
Grandpa Charlie and Finn trying to make Katy smile nicely!

You are welcome....

2010-10-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

The kids and I can't stop watching this video...WARNING: it's catchy and it might get stuck in your head all day and for that, you are welcome!

Katy's brilliant mind

2010-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

The kids have been sick for the past two days and have spent lots of time drawing spooky Halloween pictures and while they were all great, this one of Katy's stood out among the others. Maybe it's his blood-shot eyes. Or maybe his creepy little hands, but a singing, burping, fangle-toothed, bloody pumpkin is just all sorts of rad!

Katy's Fairy Godmother post

2010-09-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Katy got a package in the mail today all the way from Australia! Here's the conversation after she opened it. "I have the bestest Fairy Godmother in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!! I LOVE her soooo much!!! Can I wear it forever?"

Nailed it from across the world Casey! Thank you!

Birthday Time!

2010-09-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

It's just too hard to believe that Katy is really four years old today. She's just such a precious little monkey! We had her party yesterday at Rosy's Diner and Katy thoroughly enjoyed herself with friends and family.What a pretty little lady with those curls and great-grandma's earrings.
Predress-up
Cousins. It's a bird! It's a plane! No wait! It's Superman!!! Finn is quickly becoming the master at photo bombing potentially nice pics! Here's a few more of him hamming it up!Cousin Shelby taking advantage of Finn's momentary lapse of camera mugging.
Homeschool buddy Avery and her little brother EwanFierce!

One last one of Katy Bugs....

Happy Birthday sweetie!!

Lego Class and more....

2010-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

As part of Finn's Lego class at Homelink, we have to continue doing classes at home also. Every day I print off instructions for different Lego creations and then Finn is allowed to photograph them any way he chooses. After sorting through about 50 pictures (a few videos too!) he picked these two to share with you.

Aside from Legos, Finn is doing fantastic with school. Math is his favorite and we are flying right along. He's doing triple digit addition and subtraction with what they call "regrouping" (borrowing and carrying) and is looking forward to multiplication next. We are doing all sorts of experiments in science using the scientific method and all of our scientific instruments. It's very, scientific ;) In art we are studying da Vinci. In History we are learning about ancient Rome and have listened to some really exciting myths and legends. Katy likes to join us as much as possible and it making great strides in her reading. She wants so badly to be just like Finn! She'll be joining Homelink next year too.

My little twin...

2010-09-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have a little twin!! Gotta say, the kid has great taste.

And yes, my hair really is black....you remember a couple of months ago Terry was all encouraging and whatnot and said I should dye my hair red (not really a good idea after all)? Well, after some grow-out I apparently now resembled Bozo the clown (a charming observation), so as he drove off to get groceries this morning I asked him to pick my up a new hair color to attempt to fix my clown-fro. "What kind?" he asks, "I don't know, brown. Whatever." I reply. I could see his hesitation, "I mean, what brand and color?" he asks. "I don't care, just brown. Dark brown" I say. Well, it seems picking hair color is a fine, womanly art and one that should not be dabbled in by men. I now look like I'm back in junior high. Only thing missing is a closet full of black clothes and a crappy attitude!! Live and learn right?

Lego Robotics

2010-09-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

Today was Finn's first day of his on-site Lego Robotics class at Homelink and aside from being prepared to walk to school at 7:30 this morning (class wasn't till 11) and dealing with the crushing blow that he would have to wait a few hours, he had a blast. They are going to be building a Lego city and all sorts of city vehicles. He was just too cute walking around the school saying hi to all his little buddies from last year and even has a few friends taking this class with him.
First day nerves were obviously NOT a problem!

Summer fun

2010-09-11T19:30:00.001-07:00

Since I've been so lax in keeping everyone update with pictures I figured I'd just post some of our summer fun since ya'll know what we've been up to anyways....
Fishing at the cabin

Katy caught at least 40 fish that week!

Turtle hunt!!

Mommy even caught one!

Swimming monkey

Katy's lovely locks

2010-09-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Katy loves having curly hair and will go to extreme to get it. After a nightly bath time routine she likes to put in sponge curlers and sleep on them to get the desired results. Already a dedicated little lady...

It's Dr. Finny Pants to you.....

2010-09-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy and busy filled summer for the Doherty clan and I have neglected to update the blog on a regular basis and I do apologize for that. Now school has started and things are starting to settle into a nice routine, albeit a sometimes crazy and hectic one, but a routine non the less and I should be able to keep up a bit better now.....

With school starting I've been noticing that Finn's eyes have been watering while we are at the computer and that his reading has kinda flat lined. There aren't many eye docs that specialize in little kids but we found one and made an appointment. Turns out, he's got screwy eyeballs like his mom (damn, we were hoping he'd get Terry's great eyesight). Once getting a prescription we spent a thorough amount of time trying on every sort of eyeglasses you could imagine till finally he proclaimed "these are them, I look like a scientist!". So far he wears them just fine and has enjoyed reading again (poor little guy was having trouble seeing and we didn't even know).

Contemplating great things.....

Dinner!!

2010-07-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Daddy brought home a live crab yesterday which the kids were freaking out over! We've had our share of crab, but never a big ol' live one. Terry made the most delicious crab cakes and plum sauce that put our normal date-night appetizers at Anthony's restaurant to shame! Tasty!!

Flower power

2010-07-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

We made these tasty fruit flowers and then froze them for a cool treat when it's 100+ outside. Looking forward to fall....I never have acclimated to the super hot temps here.

Oh yes. That's my little girl!

2010-07-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Katy can ride her bike really well this year. Don't even think about asking her any silly questions about it either, or you'll get this look.

Is that you Darth?

2010-07-12T20:46:00.001-07:00

What the???? Whatever game they were playing on top of the pop-up, thank you Grandpa Charlie for the awesome helmet and chuckles! Reminds us of a movie.....

Campout

2010-07-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

We finally managed to get in our first camping trip of the year. Lake Wallowa near Le Grande, Oregon was where we met up with the Massey/Everheart clan for five days of the most beautiful camping weather I've enjoyed for some time.

Hiking, biking and late nights around the campfire made for a splendid time. In conclusion though, we have decided that five days with all five of us in each others spaces and faces is just plain pushing it! We'll opt for a shorter trip next time!

Lake Wallowa

Get off the lake!! It's almost as terrifying as Tony driving!

Crazy deer all over the campground will walk right up to you and demand snacks! In return they will share their ticks and lice. Yeah!

Photobomb with all three of 'em. I like how Katy is pretending she doesn't know either of them!

A three plus mile hike to Wallowa Falls took us past this scenic viewpoint. The hike may have had something to do with all us being tired of the whole thing. It was pretty grueling and I'm proud of the two wee one's who did a great job.
Katy did cheat a bit on the way down. Can't blame her, I tried to catch a ride myself to no avail....

You can barely see him (he's on the far side of the bridge waiting for us!), but Tony took off running back down the trail after he heard we were going back to camp for lunch.

Mom and Finn relaxing around the campfire

I think this is where we decided the fun was behind us.

Actually, Katy had gotten a sliver at the playground on her middle finger (of course, innocent little Katy Bones) and was crying and showing it off to all the other little kids (you are so welcome fellow campers) and me. She so did NOT learn that from me!

Camera shenanigans

2010-06-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Every now and again we upload pictures from the camera, which is kept at a level that the small fries are able to access. Here's a sample of our findings......

Scratchy Bunny...of course!

What the....????

Finn and Katy's new favorite song. You're welcome....it's their version of the rick roll.

We need a vacation from our vacation.....

2010-06-04T17:24:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we thought it'd be nice to have a change of scenery, so we took off for the cabin. It rained harder than I'd ever seen it rain before almost all weekend. So, instead of staying at home where the kids have 1600 square feet and three floors to run amok in, we jammed it all in about 600 square feet for two days of crazy pent up energy. It actually wasn't that bad. We took advantage of the brief sun breaks and enjoyed some time at Riverfront Park and even got some fishing in. However, Katy forgot two plastic ponies at the cabin and did not realize this till we had left Spokane and she proceeded to cry for the next two hours home. Never mind the fact that she has like a million plastic ponies at home, or that we assured her they would be there the very next time we went to the cabin. It was two hours of WAILING about how much she loved THOSE ponies and they would miss her sooo much and THEY would be sad without her (with big tears and all!).....so, if anyone reading this happens to go to the cabin in the next month and you happen to find those ponies and bring them home with you, I am quite sure Katy would love you even more!

Checking out the best fishing spot..

Learning to play rummy....

Ready to go to the Children's Museum

Bumper cars!! Yeah-ha!

Even though it was too cold to go swimming, Finn just HAD to get in. Blue lips require a nice hot shower!

Fishing in the rain.

No bites this trip, maybe next time...

Sunday

2010-05-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a great day. We were invited to a birthday party where all three kids had fun. Tony entertained all with his yo-yo craziness and Finn and Katy enjoyed the Power Wheel. Instead of gift bags, they handed out kites at the end of the party which we enjoyed flying at the school afterward.

Tony cleans up well!

2010-05-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tony went to the Tri-City homeschool dance last weekend and I dare say he was lookin' pretty snazzy. We spent hours searching for the perfect gear and he is now convinced sweater vests rock (go mom!). And don't tell him you know, but he even danced with a girl!!

He even let me take a whole bunch of nice pics of him (a rarity!).

Last day of school

2010-05-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of classes for Finn at Homelink so they got to shoot off the rockets they made last week in science!

Finn NEVER turns down the opportunity to put on a pair of safety goggles!

Finn sharing some insider secrets with Katy

Daddy came to watch too.

Getting ready to launch

All you can see is the trail left by the water!

Look what I grew!!

2010-05-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

The biggest radish ever! Tasty too...

Tony the crazy yo-yo guy

2010-05-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Check out Tony's yo-yo awesomeness!

School stuff

2010-05-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Finn's been busy with school, but here are two really cool projects we finished lately. Terry and Finn read a book from Terry's elementary school days, Andy Brukman's Tin Men. The boy in the book gets to build robots out of junk and Finn got to build this guy who he named Robi.

We've also been studying the earth and volcanoes. So of course we needed to make a volcano for ourselves.

Road Trip

2010-05-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we woke up feeling homesick for Seattle, so we piled in the van and took off. Many adventures and hi-jinks ensued, ending with a great time at Safeco Field watching the Mariner's and with seats so close, they were real-life size too!

The usual pic of the kids sleeping in the backseat
We stayed in Issaquah at a sweet hotel with an indoor pool.
Finn has become quite the dare-devil in the water, as you can see.

A hike through Discovery Park

Game time!

Ken Griffey Jr. Life size!
Finn's favorite, Ichiro

Holy Sweet 16!

2010-05-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yup. I can't believe it, but Tony is 16. When the heck did that happen? We had a fun day mini-golfing and then went out for pizza at a new place that serves it New York style by the slice. Tony got two new yo-yo's and a new t-shirt that says "Her Royal Majesty's Honored Society of Tethered Gyroscopists". It's pretty cool. Tony walks across the elementary schoolyard on his way home from class and the kids call him the "surfer guy" and beg to see his yo-yo tricks. He thinks it's funny!

Katy was having a good game, I'm sure it had to do with the two hours it took her to pick out her outfit...

Terry, also have a stellar game

Three over par Tony!?!? Come on!

Eating the yard. Already!

2010-05-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's happening, but we are already eating the yard! Here's the first head of Romaine that we had with our Cesar dressing. Yum!

I've also been into making artisan bread and this was the most beautiful loaf as of yet.

Easter!

2010-05-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Egg mania!

Too much candy?!

As always, a lovely family photo...

Tea Time!

2010-03-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday Katy and I went to tea with Grandma Kate. I suppose I should back up a bit and give some background info....

Since birth I have attempted to sway Katy to the dark side and join in my distaste for all things pink, frilly and girly. Having spent nearly four years in this hopeless battle I have accepted that Katy is who she is and loves pink ballerinas, purses and tea parties. In regards to the last one, she has encountered a new book character named Fancy Nancy who is now her favorite person in the world and she now speaks in little quips of French. "Who wants ice cream?" I ask "Oui, oui" yells Katy. Ask what her favorite color is "Fuchsia, because it's fancier than purple". You get the picture. I figured, we might as well have some fun so we made a date to go have a ladies tea.

We spent the morning primping. She knew exactly what she wanted done with her hair and exactly what dress she wanted to wear. Yes, I even did myself up and put on a dress, complete with heels! The Victorian Tea Garden was lovely. Katy's little eyes grew wide once we were seated and she saw that the table was set for a serious tea party. She couldn't believe the dainty flatware, beautifully painted cups and saucers and tiny sugar and creamer. It was a really wonderful time. Katy ordered strawberry tea and Grandma and I got the Oolong. She drank all of her tea and was such a big, little girl! Sniff, sniff...they grow up too fast! It was a wonderful time and we plan on doing it at least monthly.

Here we are all dressed up!

Homelink

2010-03-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Finn and Mommy at Homelink in our Science Fun class. This week we played with sound and made this stethoscope and a kazoo!

Coup d'etat

2010-03-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Aw. Our little barn burners first protest. They grow up so fast (sniff). Once they figure out how to organize your in big trouble! Watch out all you potential babysitters. This is a fair warning that they don't really care to pick up the playroom.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

2010-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

We spent the day doing all things Irish and jammin' to some sweet bagpipes! The rainbow toast turned out better than I thought. The kids thought "painting" our breakfast was too cool! Then I brought out the super surprise. Lucky Charms cereal. Ya'll know that this is not considered food in this house and the kids eyes were wide with excitement! We sorted, graphed and tallied the marshmallows for about two hours. Then I finally let them eat some and they DIDN'T LIKE IT!! They actually asked for some tomatoes and pasta instead. That's my little monkeys. For dinner we got to enjoy daddy's famous corned beef too! What a great day!

Our painted rainbow toast and green milk

Graphing with Lucky Charms

Pretty flowers from Grandma Kate

Tooth Fairy Mania!

2010-03-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

A new tooth has been working it's way through Finn's lower jaw over the past few weeks or so and with a slightly loose tooth we were off to see the dentist to make sure everything was o.k. Turns out, everything looked great. No cavities. The dentist said the tooth would probably come out on it's own within a month or so. Upon hearing that news Finn set to work wiggling and jiggling the poor thing till today when during lunch it finally let loose. At one point Finn was wiggling away and had some blood dripping down his chin when he busted loose into his zombie routine, complete with leg dragging and eye rolling!

Ta-dah!

Holiday

2010-02-15T20:24:00.001-08:00

Between Terry going back to school and our exciting (read busy) days filled with school, soccer, karate, etc. we decided to take off this weekend for a little break. The plan was to leave Saturday after Finn's soccer game, but that quickly changed after the kids got up bright and early and began chanting "vacation, vacation" till we caved and just piled in the van and took off to follow Lewis and Clark's trail along the Columbia Gorge.
Do they look they are ready or what?

Floating down the mighty Columbia...

Can you believe these Columbia Mammoths once roamed here? They were the largest of the mammoth species standing about 13 feet tall!

I don't think we can get a picture of Finn without him pulling a face or giving thumbs up, but hey, it's cute.
So I leave Terry alone in the Discovery Museum for five minutes, only to find him up to his usual flirtatious antics.....puttin his moves on this lady dressed in period costume.
Oops! Nope it's really just a wall mural! It also appears that Finn is picking up some of his daddy's moves...

Apparently dams are really cool too...

Off to the Antique Airplane and Automobile Museum. They had a fun little play area for the kids when they were tired of walking around.

After the kids had been tucked in at the hotel for a bit, we went to check on them and found them fast asleep. You'll have to listen closely. Figures they'd be sleeping peacefully to that!

The next day we visited Multnomah Falls and even though we've been there several times before, it's still a beautiful hike.

All in all it was a great little trip. 48 hours of pure little kiddo time!

Finn's First Day of School!

2010-02-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

Finnegan started school this week at Three Rivers Home Link, which is the same school Tony attends. It's a Parent Partnership program through the Richland school district that works with homeschool families to gain access to classes using the tax dollars we already pay in. Finn is taking three classes there, The Oregon Trail, Fun with Science and an extra karate class. I think he'll have a great time in all of them, plus they are only one day a week so we still have plenty of time to do other fun things. He was dressed and ready way before we even had to go!

We've been invaded!!

2010-02-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

Ruuunnn!!! Save yourselves!!

CHREST

2010-02-01T07:35:00.000-08:00

We took a field trip to The Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science, and Technology (CREHST) this past Friday. It's a museum and science center created to tell the story of the Columbia Basin and surrounding region. Lots of hands on stuff for kids (and big kids too!).

M & M Math

2010-01-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

We found two super fun math books at the library that use M&Ms to teach math concepts. We graphed, grouped, divided, added and subtracted our way through several hours of math fun!

Happy chocolate filled kiddos!

Winter Energy

2010-01-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

It's been cold and wet and generally just pretty yucky out lately, so it's hard to burn off some of that five year old energy Finn seems to build up. We put him on an indoor soccer team with some of his little friends and he seems to enjoy himself pretty well. You can follow him in the video, he's about a head shorter than all the other kids (he missed out on the tall genes) and he's always near the ball!

Finn's an archaeologist!

2010-01-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

Finn got a really cool science kit for Christmas that included a dinosaur digging expedition. We were hoping to use the kit when our science class reached the dinosaur unit, Finn however might have exploded if he had to wait that long!

Ah the holidays....

2009-12-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

The holidays continue to arrive at a faster pace every year, which I think has some direct correlation to my age, but I have no way of proving it other than the fact that I loose a tiny bit more of my sanity every year.

The season was bright and filled with tons of tasty food, family and fun. Christmas morning would have been over in about five minutes if we hadn't slowed Finn down! We managed to stretch it out for about two hours and in the end we felt pretty good about the whole thing. Not a ton of useless junk, mostly useful things, and they loved it all.

Santa came and filled our stockings
New robes! Finn had been begging for a Sunggie and I couldn't for the life of me justifying the purchase of one, so we convinced him that robes were in fact, just backwards Snuggies! Parents are pretty sneaky sometimes.
Tony needed a quick cup o' joe to get moving at Finn and Katy speed.

Kona spent about a half an hour trying to get into his gift. He then promptly destroyed it. Good boy.

Even Ellen got a treat from Santa. You can tell she was amused by it. How do you please a 16 year old cat?

Grandma Judy and Grandpa Doherty got Finn this awesome workout gear and a tennis racket. You can tell by his body language he digs his new threads.

Grandma Kate and Grandpa Terry got Finn this awesome pirate ship which Tony immediately attempted to commandeer (We told him he could pierce his ear when he became the captain of his own pirate ship. Better luck next time Tony!)

Happy Anniversary!

2009-12-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

Even thought the holiday rush was on, Terry and I managed to slip away for a tasty and romantic dinner at Tagaris Winery. Can't say enough about the food. Delicious! Happy 6th Anniversary sweetie. To show you how much I mean it, I will now stab you with my lips!

Finn and his Legos

2009-12-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

After spending hours hunched over a gigantic pile of Lego's searching for the tiny, little piece that Finn needs to complete his masterpiece, we decided to organize them all by color, size, all the way down to little Lego men accessories. Now that he can easily find any part he desires, it frees up brain space to build things like.....
crazy skyscrapers

and Rally trucks (pretty proud of himself)

and Lego men all dressed up!

Fun Jingle Bells

2009-12-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Oh Chirstmas Tree.....

2009-12-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday we set off to cut down our Christmas tree. With the temperature a lovely 11 degrees, we were able to pick the perfect tree within a few short minutes!
Katy's ready!

The tree Tony wanted to chop down

Goofballs

1975 called. They want their tree back.

Thank you thank you!

2009-12-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

What a neat surprise from Grandpa Doherty today! Katy's response when she woke up, "I wuv bunnies and purple is my favorite color!! I wuv him!" She retreated to the basement playroom to cook him some play food and rock him to sleep in the cradle and all things mommy bunnies do caring for purple baby bunnies. Thank you Grandpa D!

My Little Meatballs

2009-12-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

We spent all day Sunday cooking up a storm for the baskets of yummy food we give out to friends and family. Finny and Katy sure enjoy rolling raw meat into balls (ew!) and they actually fight over peeling garlic. Yup, those are Terry's kids!

Bunk beds!!

2009-12-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

Oh lookie! We had some custom bunk beds made for Finn and Katy. They are the size of toddler beds so they don't take up too much of their room and they have tons of room to play. It's a completely sound investment as they definitely got the short genes and I am sure will be able to make use of them until they go off to college.

Sturdy too...;)

An Awful Lot of Falafel

2009-12-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

Now that we have cable we occasionally find ourselves trapped in a black hole, glued to some marathon generally associated with The Food Network. One of our favorites is Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. NOBODY makes you want to eat more than that guy.

While we were recovering from our turkey hangover we happened to catch an episode where he visits a place that serves falafel. Don't ask me how in the world little fried, bean turds looked yummy, but Guy made it happen. Now we had a quest, make our falafel sandwiches at least that good, if not better.....

Kiddos helping

Nailed it

Pureed chickpeas, tons of garlic, cumin, parsley....yum. If you need a quick vegetarian recipe this one is a keeper!

Finn's Native American Song

2009-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

It's actually called the "Indian Song" in his music book, but we prefer a more PC title.....enjoy!

Pumpkin carving!

2009-10-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Friday night was pumpkin carving night. Ohhhhh! Spooky!

Spooktacular!

2009-10-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Halloween in our house has been weeks in the making. Loads of decorations and the hunt for the perfect costume. Finn wanted to be a vampire. Easy. But Katy had other plans. She wanted to be a princess which did not go over well with Terry or I. After some battles over this we gave her two options. Witch or zombie princess. I mean, come on, it's Halloween! She finally chose a witch. So we were off.....

Now most of you know that we don't allow the kids to eat junk food. Especially candy. Dessert in our house consists of an M&M. Yes, one. So we figured why not let them go wild and eat to their little hearts content? Katy is ferocious! She'll stuff any type of candy in her mouth and starts unwrapping the next one before she's done chewing. Finn on the other hand works himself up to almost tears trying to decide which piece he's going to eat (maybe withholding candy hasn't worked out well with him).

After way too much candy and all the excitement and walking finally took it's tole, both kiddos were worn out beyond belief. I think Katy was speaking in tongues and Finn was vibrating and teary eyed. Next bath time, where we might as well have been spraying them with fire hoses. Oh the tears and drama. You can tell, it's a sugar crash in the most awful way.

It's ten o'clock and Katy is still going. She's a fighter! Finn drifted off to pleasant dreams of chocolate bars and gummy bears. Now we have about five pounds of candy that I have no idea what I'm going to do with.

Look what found us!

2009-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago Terry noticed this little guy hanging out in our backyard. We were unsuccessful in our attempts to catch him, only to have him show up the next night. Ye-haw! We caught the little bugger after much ado and have him secured in Kona's old dog crate.

Now I have never felt like owning a ferret, mostly because they have creepy little hands and the oh-so obvious, they SMELL AWFUL!!! We posted signs all over the neighborhood and online trying to find this little dude's family. In the meantime all three kids grow more and more fond of the stinky thing. It's actually cute (except for the hands) and has a very sweet personality. He likes to explore around the house and jumps and squeaks and is very playful. The downsides of this are that I'm quite sure either Finn or Katy in their excitement are going to squish or seriously maim it and that Ellen really, really wants to eat it. We realize it's got to go. Soon!

Luckily a very nice lady who has several other ferrets as well as a plethora of other animals said she would take him in forever or till someone claimed him. Thank god! Tony's room already has a weird teenage boy smell and this guy housed in the basement with him wasn't helping! Even he was tired of the overuse of cologne to make his room tolerable.

So Weasel P. (the name says enough) is gone and we have all learned some wonderful lessons. Tony has learned that he does not, in fact really want a ferret or any other animal that could possibly smell worse than his own shoes. Finn and Katy have learned that mom and dad are really mean and will give away your newest most favorite thing in the whole world. And Terry and I have learned that if we ever do plan on adding an animal to our house it's gotta be big and fast! No tiny little puppies here. Something sturdy and girthy like a mastiff/pony mix.

Harvest

2009-10-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Autumn in Easter Washington is all about the harvest. Countless semis crowd the highways hauling millions of apple boxes and odd looking over-sized bathtubs carrying thousands of tons of sugar beets and carrots and potatoes. I was stuck behind a truck loaded to the gills with red bell peppers the other day. That was the first one of those I've seen. I have some harvest credentials myself. Each year I order up winegrapes to be picked by the tens of thousands of tons. A call from me sets into motion a process of big machines rumbling through vineyards, grapes are loaded and more semis hit the road. During the wine grape harvest, the game the farmers and everyone plays is that no one ever sleeps and everyone is always working all the time. Ten o'clock at night and a grape hauler gets a flat-tire or 3:15 in the AM and a harvester throws a belt, the person at the other end of my incoming cellphone call get's a perky 'This is Terry!', like I was just about to call them to make sure everything was OK anyway and they just saved me the trouble. Ask my wife and kids, it's alarming. I have to call these same farmers at all hours as well and expect not to feel I have inconvenienced them in the least no matter what time or for what reason. So when I arrived at Greene Hills Farm at 8:00 AM and felt as though I woke everyone up, it was a harbinger that the big Ag world I lived in was way, way different than this.

In an effort to get even more connected to the food we eat, where it comes from and how it gets to our plates I, like an idiot, volunteered at a local organic farm to participate in their harvest. Of chickens. I was greeted at the front door by a big strong and bearded young man with a wide smile named Jordan. He was an intern on the farm and lived on site. Greene Hills does not only do chickens but provides organic produce to a few local restaurants and has free ranging grass fed cows and goats as well. Jordan and I kibitzed in the kitchen and soon the owners Jamie and Stephanie joined us and we discussed my motivations over tea. Laura, a trained veterinarian, her husband Russ, and his mother arrived last with two large homemade pizzas wrapped in foil for lunch, a sack of homemade biscuits and a pot of delicious country gravy made with goats milk, from their own goats. I provided a loaf of homemade bread that we enjoyed with fresh blackberry jam. I felt like I was in the right place.

Breakfast was delicious and the conversation was all very pleasant. We cleaned up and I followed Jordan and Russ outside to attempt to help them coral the chickens into an old yellow travel trailer that had been converted to a mobile chicken coup. Between them and the chicken guarding Great Pyranes, Travis, they had it under control so I wandered around looking at their winter gardens and introduced myself to the belted Galloways, the cows. We all began to assemble in the barn behind the house where some equipment and tables were set up. This was to be their largest morning of processing ever, 200 birds in open air and executed as humanely as possible. Using the neighbor Peter's tractor, Russ backed the trailer loaded with the chickens up near the side door of the barn so Laura would have a short walk back and forth from the trailer to the bleeding cones.

Jordan checked the temperature of the scalder. This looked like a large utility sink with heating elements. It maintained a temperature of 150 degrees and was the hot-tub soak the birds got after they were bled out that loosened their feathers. I soon learned that 150 degrees is the right temperature. Too cool and feathers stay put, too warm and the feathers are gone but the skin car tear in the featherer, or worse, the meat partially cooks. Next stop for the birds was what looked like a clothes drier with affixed with flexible rubber fingers that removed the feathers. It spins the birds around and plucks the feathers so that by the time they got to my table they looked more or less like what you see in the grocery store with a few extra parts, namely the head and feet.

As I was looking at the equipment and discussing the process briefly with he folks who have participated before, Laura made her first of 200 trips from trailer to cones and away we went. Once the chicken is loaded upside-down in the inverted cone, she has a method for quickly snapping the spine and paralyzing the bird before she makes the incision that bleeds them out. It is as humane as it can get. I wretch at the thought of how this might happen to an animal at Tyson or Smithfield or IBP. If not for the cones that contain the bird during their last moments they would indeed run around like my kids on sugar after the cut is made. When the scratching stops, the birds are dipped three or four at time into the the hot tub, what Jordan and Laura referred to as 'More soup!'. Jordan gently turned the birds in their bath so all sides get equal coverage and the feathers release easily enough. Then he sets them in the featherer. There is nothing gentle about this piece of equipment. Once turned on, the birds tumble against one another and against he rubbery fingers and the feathers fly. But after maybe 30 seconds or a minute, the birds are washed clean and free from feathers. And then, as I mentioned they get to my table. It was a pretty brief conversation we had minutes earlier. "Do you have any aversions?" they asked. "No," I said, an answer I knew I may regret in short time.

During a phone call a few days prior, Jamie told me to bring a knife. For those of you that know me, that's like asking Tiger Woods to bring a golf club to some event. Not that I possess the skills with a knife that he does with a golf club but I imagine he has a lot of clubs and, thanks to my Dad, I have a lot of knives. I forgot to ask "for what?" and guessed and brought a 10" meat carver. Good guess. It was a perfect knife for removing the heads and feet when the birds arrived at our table. Russ' mother and Jordan traded the knife back and forth to accomplish this stage of production for this was not to be my task for this harvest. I was an eviscerator and we used a 5" slicer. Russ and I each grabbed a bled out, defeathered, beheaded and befooted bird and I followed his lead with a cut here, cut around here, pinch the anus so they don't defecate on you and remove the guts. It was no problem. Once removed, the gizzard, heart and liver were separated from everything else to be washed and collected. Negotiating the spleen away from the liver is not an easy operation. A punctured spleen leaks dark blue radiator fluid like bile all over everything. Contaminated meat is discarded. Enamored by the experience, I flawlessly fly through bird after bird. Conversation was cheery early on as we got to know each other and then degraded to such things as "This ones a fatty" or "Ew, a stinky one." And after I encountered "a stinky one" I couldn't help but feel that I was in the wrong place. It is difficult to keep the walls of the intestines from rupturing during this process and when it does the smell is something otherwordly. Again I think of Tyson and what a hell hole their facilities must be. Laura commented that she thinks it smells like popcorn and I immediately thought, if the popcorn you make smells like this, I never want to eat the popcorn you make. So when the smell hits, I nearly gag, mouth waters, the whole bit. I get over it, and finish the bird and one or two more, but now I am sensitized. I can't help but constantly and violently notice the amount of chicken shit in the 5 gallon bucket at my feet that contains the guts of the 20 or 25 chickens that came before the 'stinky one.'

At this point I have accumulated a few voicemails from my paying job so I excuse myself and get some fresh air. I take care of my work stuff and shoot Holly a quick three word email: This is gross. I have a fairly high tolerance for grossness so I thought this would convey things appropriately. My Constitution momentarily restored I dump my bucket and return to the table. But now I suck at this. I am exploding intestines and grossing myself out on like every other bird and I even punctured a spleen and ruined a bird. I fight through a few more, maybe 40 for the day and then decide I've had the experience, this is starting to turn in to work and I have a job that takes plenty out of me right now. I excused myself and thankfully they were gracious for the help. Wonderful people. They gave me a discount on the birds we had ordered and I was off. I thank them all deeply for the experience.

What I had really set out to do is take part in what it takes to get food on my table for my family. I think everyone who chooses to eat meat should participate in the process at some level at least once. Connect your food to its source and you will make better decisions about what you allow yourself to put in your body. Sorry I missed out on that pizza.

Here's the Food Savered chicken we have to tide us through winter...and Terry gutted them all..yummy.

Kata and Finn

2009-10-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Got some video of Finn practicing inside blocks at the dojo today. Can you tell he REALLY enjoyed himself!?

Frosted

2009-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

We got the hard freeze last night and this morning the pumpkin plants looked awful so we decided to pick 'em. Oh boy were they heavy! Here's some pics....

All nice and round (probably GMO) except for that wonky one by the fence....

Harvest!

2009-10-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

With a hard frost looming in the next few days forecast, we decided to rake in what's left of the tomatoes. Finn and Terry ripped out both gardens and ended up with a wheelbarrow full. So I guess we'll be making ketchup this weekend! Good-bye high fructose corn syrup! Now we can plant our winter gardens. Mmmmm.

Then today we went apple and pear picking with some of our homeschool friends. It was so much fun. I can't believe how hard it is to stop picking! We drove to a little farm about 30 min from Pasco and picked our fill. We ended up picking 20 pounds of apples (Gala, Granny Smith and Fuji) and about 10 pounds of Asian pears. We brought our overflowing bags up to the farmers house to get weighed. The grand total? $7 plus the nice farmer threw in about 10 onions. The kids eat about a pear and an apple a day so I'm sure we'll be eating most of them. But I'm also going to make apple pie filling and freeze it. Next year we are going to rent a press and make cider...big plans!

Monsters vs. Aliens 3-D

2009-10-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Tony gave Katy the Monsters vs. Aliens DVD with the special 3-D extra for her birthday and here we are about to enjoy it with some yummy popcorn!! Movie night yeah!

Miss Katy Bones Is 3!!!

2009-10-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Katy Bones turned 3 on September 29th. My little baby girl is growing up. We spent an hour working out the complex issue of what to wear to the party (her, not me) and finally decided on a pretty dress and great-grandma's clip on earrings. Here she is proudly showing of her new "three-ness"

And what is a picture without Finnegan????

The party was tons of fun. It was so kidtastic I didn't get many pictures. The night ended with glow in the dark masks and some worn out kiddos. Katy's favorite gift was an antique doll cradle and highchair for Scratchy Bunny. She is so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family to help her celebrate her special day.
Finn had been practicing for a week in order to give her a very special birthday gift. Here it is...

Brotherly love

2009-10-08T21:46:00.001-07:00

Awww. Tony "playing" with Finn. Shortly after this picture taken Finn was crying....'nuff said...

Awesome!

2009-10-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Finn has been reading now for some time and we have convinced him what an awesome big brother he'd be if he read to Katy. Hallelujah! Mommy get's a few minutes to do mommy type chores with the kids behaving and not chewing on one another and they both get to enjoy the numerous (probably 30) books we check out every week at the library. It's great to see Finn enjoy reading so much and Katy LOVES having stories read to her.

And in case you were wondering why they are in a tent....Finn got a tent for his birthday and has since taken down his bed and moved his mattress to the tent. Permanent camping. Finn's dream!

GERMS!!!!!!

2009-10-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

EEWWWWW!!! We got germs. The kids and I have swine flu (kidding), but we are all under the weather with some sort of flu. No Dr.'s yet, just juice, rest and garlic. Hopefully it'll pull us through! Once we are a-ok, I'll be back to blog about all the goings on....

Finn's Rock Opera!

2009-09-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

Pretty amazing stuff from the little guy.

Nice day for a hike and some therapy

2009-09-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning and it was too nice not to be out so we decided to go on a hike (and by we, I mean Terry, I had already dreamed up my football snacks and was very ready to happily spend the day watching football. In HD no less!). So off we went to Badger Mountain. Phew! What a hike! Katy didn't make it to the top (I doubt I could have either). Finn and Terry charged on and I think Finny could have made it all the way but they turned back to share some snacks with us and play at the playground for a bit.

We saw some cool bugs. Katy and I followed a grasshopper for a bit and saw the biggest beetle I've ever encountered. I've worked hard since the kids were born to conquer my own "bug issues" and it's been relatively easy to pick up bugs for the kids to study. We've captured crickets, spiders and a number of other bugs to look up in our field guides.

See, I mentioned all that because before I finish this tale, I wanted you to see how much my kids love nature including bugs. Sooo......we get into the car and start out on the road towards home. Tired kiddos. Tired mommy and daddy. Everyone still happily munching snacks when all of a sudden Katy starts screaming. I mean SCREAMING!! Like she was being stabbed or something. Completely caught off guard I try to assess the situation when Finn starts in screaming. I mean SCREAMING. Terry nearly drives off the road but manages to pull over. Meanwhile some horror flick is playing out in real life in the back of our car. I jump out of the van and fling open the van door expecting to have a werewolf or maybe more reasonably a bee fly out. The whole time the kids are screaming (SCREAMING) and crying and completely hysterical and Terry and I are able to catch a quick glimpse of some sort of flying creature apparently attacking our children. The flying creature finally lands on the seat between the two kids and get our first look at it....it was a four pound, 14 inch, man eating, praying mantis!! AGH!! Run for your lives!!

Terry manages to scoop the monster up (seriously, it was huge) and dump it out of the van. Finn and Katy are in the back seat still loosing their marbles. At some point while Katy was screaming and swatting at the nasty beast she managed to bloody her lip and her hair was a complete zoo due to Scratchy Bunny being used as a weapon to fend off the deadly bug. Both kids have filthy tears running down their cheeks and we no closer to getting it together than when this crazy thing started. Once the adrenaline wore off, Terry and I started to get the giggles, I mean come on, a praying mantis!? Neither of the children found it to be funny at all. Katy kept saying "don't waugh, it was horrible" and her little chin would quiver. It was hard to keep it together.

Flash forward to nap time. Katy goes into her run and immediately retreats screaming (SCREAMING) there was a bug on her Twinkle Little Star Bunny. I go in to assess, and find a small piece of black fuzz on her stuffed animal. AGH!! I pick it off and turn to show the kids it's just a piece of fuzz when Finn sees it and starts screaming (probably having flashbacks from his earlier trauma). I start yelling "FUZZ it's just FUZZ!!" but can't even be heard over both their screaming. I am finally able to out yell them and settle the situation down. Now however they are scarred for life and it's 9 pm and Finn can't sleep because he's quite sure he's going to wake up to a gigantic praying mantis on his chest licking it's lips, starring him down. Ready to pounce any second. Katy did go to sleep, but only after I did a recon through her room and she was satisfied there were no bugs hiding out. Neither of them wanted to play outside tonight, which is a rarity and now I am sure they will need deep therapy to remedy this new horror. I'm hoping that we can go and catch some nice, little, non flying rolly pollys and we can put this all behind us....

They grow up so fast....

2009-09-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Aw, look at my little man. He must get that from his daddy who is sporting his mountain man look for harvest.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Round 3 goes to the tomatoes

2009-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

Third round of canning tomatoes and I'm ready to throw in the towel. So far we have canned around 150+ pounds of tomatoes. It's a bunch of work, but I know we'll be thankful come those cold winter evenings and we have Sunday red sauce with fresh garden tomatoes. One more round to go.....This weekend is full of pickling more jalapenos and making tomatilla salsa from all our CSA extras. Harvest has started for Terry so I am officially a grape widow for the next 10 weeks, sigh. It'll be over before we know it as long as it doesn't rain till they get those grapes in!

24 hours in

2009-08-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

I knew it would happen. Terry and I got sucked into a 3 hour long countdown of the greatest rock and roll songs ever marathon. Damn you VH1!!! One the upside, we did spend all morning revamping the kids rooms, closets and laundry room and they rock! I love organized rooms. I hate organizing them, but really dig the chi a nice, tidy closet has. A special extra thanks to Grandma Kate for all her help!!!

Blech....

2009-08-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. The "man" finally won. For almost ten years we have fought the good fight. Bad reception? Just jiggle it to the left or maybe turn off the dishwasher. Windy outside and can't get a picture? No biggie, who needed to sit and watch t.v. anyway? Government says, "we're going digital". No problem, we'll buy your digital converter box. Yeah, that works. So here we are....
Yup. A big ol' dumb t.v. and satellite to boot. Bring on the endless marketing to my children.

In all seriousness though, we spent countless hours debating this one. I hate t.v. and the marketing monster and the blind consumerism it brings with it, but I LOVE me some football. With that stupid digital converter box we couldn't even get in our local stations (Grandpa Charlie was a great witness to one particular golf episode). We would love to sit and watch Nature on PBS with the kids, but again, no picture with the smallest weather interruption. So we did it. Charter is the work of the devil and we decided on satellite. A reasonable package with no bells and whistles. Hopefully we use this newfound technology responsibly and don't become mindless drones (seriously my fear). Who knows. Now that we are joining the rest of human kind in this century, I'll probably get a cell phone next....more blech. I can't help but think MLK is disappointed in us......

Help!! I'm drowning in a sea of tomatoes!!

2009-08-20T22:02:00.001-07:00

Good grief! This is the second onslaught of tomatoes. At least two, possibly three more to go. Is it bad karma to say I am sick of canning tomatoes?