The Church Family

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Precious and Fragile Things..."

We took the kidlets to the little mini-fair they had down at the fairgrounds today. We got face paint, bounce-house bouncing, a firetruck tour, and a bunch of prizes and candy from different vendors. Not terribly exciting for the parents, but the kids had fun and that is what matters most.

And miracle of miracles, I finally found a cabinet for my china set. I have been looking for over a year for just the right one. It had to be tall and narrow to fit my space, a design that I liked, and a good deal. I saw this one posted on CL a few weeks ago and liked the looks of it (even though I was originally going for something more French Provincial that I could paint Heirloom White), but he was asking more than I wanted to pay. I watched, the last few weeks, as he gradually lowered the price because the middle drawer sticks and the door wouldn't close all the way due to the obtruding shelves. Finally he came down far enough, I couldn't take it anymore. Doug went and picked it up for me today and the guy came down even more so Doug would take it and we only ended up paying 40% of his original price which= score. It is a vintage Bernhardt and solid mahogany. As soon as I saw it in person, I fell in love. I know that sounds eccentric, but old things with raw potential have some sort of kismet power over me (explains Doug being 7 years older than me, right? -hee, hee-). Anyway, I cut the shelves down and now my beautiful Craigslist china that has been sitting under our bed and in our closet in boxes waiting to be appreciated, finally gets displayed to full advantage. The drawer we will have to work on some more and I guess the danger in buying a quality piece is that I feel pangs of moral wrongness about painting it as originally planned (with a lovely turquoise or jade colored interior). It is beautiful as is and I just can't justify painting the mahogany- not yet anyway. It would look so adorable painted too, though...

I am so happy.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

"Wild, Wild West Coast, [This is the Coast] I Love the Most..."

Oswald West State Park... well until China forecloses, that is...

Doug and I took a long-overdue break from the kids this weekend to the beach. And by "long-overdue," I mean ever, since we've had kids. It was glorious. A whole 48 hours of a cry-free, whine-free, nap-free, punishment-free good time to be had by all! My Aunt so kindly lent us her timeshare credits to stay at the Worldmark in Seaside, Doug's sister and mom came to watch the kiddos, and the Melansons were kind enough to join us. As we ascended the foggy coast range, I gradually shook off the responsibility of motherhood and the stress of packing and began to resemble the carefree girl I used to be, B.C. (Before Children). As soon as we arrived, we jumped in the hot-tub downstairs to drive away our travel chills and then, sadly, never went there again... We watched movies and played Speed Scrabble and window-shopped and hiked and ate, and ate, and ate, and then ate some more (which equals: best weekend ever)!

We had so much fun with these guys! They were the perfect roommates.
Today, we took turns giving each other thrilling rides down the hallway on the luggage cart before check-out. I highly recommend it.

After an excellent breakfast at the Lazy Susan Cafe in Cannon Beach on Saturday morning, we drove up to Hug Point to find that we had timed it wrong with the tide being in and there being no sand to walk on. The lady who took our picture told us that if we drove up to the walk-in parking lot for Oswald West, we could find a gorgeous hike through an old growth forest leading out to the beach. It really was one of the most beautiful places I've been on the beach (the most beautiful being the remote sandy beach of Camp Meriwether). It was misty, but not raining, and the trail was well-kept. Truly a gorgeous park on a gorgeous day with a slightly stormy sea. Doug thinks it put a little extra spring in my step, and why not? Look at this place!

Pete and Julie

Look at the burl on this tree! So pretty!

Okay, I know... Who wants to look at pictures of wood burl? I was laughing inwardly at myself, taking close-up after close-up of this flippin' tree, thinking what a dork I am! And I blame my father entirely! He took us on a bazillion hikes growing up and never failed to give us a thoroughly guided tour on the ins and outs of an old growth forest: from the Doug Firs and Spanish Mosses to the Oyster Mushrooms and Meadowlarks. I guess some of the nature-beauty obsession was passed down... or just permanently embedded through subconscious absorption...

If nothing else, it would make a nice texture overlay for photography editing, right?

We had a thoroughly rejuvenating weekend that I was not quite ready to come home from. Reality sets in hard, sometimes. So, I have to admit that as soon as I put my luggage away, I passed out on the bed and Dougie so kindly closed the door and let me sleep for three hours. I heart him.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Je Reviens!

Oh, my dear, long-lost blog friends- I return. 'Life is right again,' you say? Thank you, I know.

It has been an unusual month or two of limited blogging and Facebooking for me, and I have to say- I sort of enjoyed it. I like keeping in touch, especially through the "superficial" mediums that the internet provides, but when hackers hijacked my email/ facebook/ blogger/ picasa accounts and I was unable to access anything for two weeks, I went through my withdrawals (even hopping onto Doug's Facebook account just to satiate my consuming curiosity), and then I was over it. When I could finally log back on, I was surprised to find that the siren call was very dim. What freedom! I invite you to experiment.

Anyway, I do have things to share, and I'm afraid it will join the ranks of those never-ending posts of random cuteness and little substance that induces bubbles of apathy to rise up within us, but bear with me- I may surprise us both.

Not so very long ago, my little one went down for a nap. Two hours later, I had need to tip-toe into the room to get something and upon opening the door I found this character riding a pony.

If that doesn't spell trouble to the experienced mother, then surely the state of the room would.

Seeing the pajamas, discarded diaper open on the floor, with a fresh one half-opened and wipes all around in his attempt to change into a new one, I stepped into the room when mine foot detected something cold and wet. A veritable puddle, in fact! The youngling had attempted to eradicate the yellow puddle with his pajamas. Sadly, polyester does not absorb. So, what to do but ride a horse... bare-backed?!

Warning: bile-inducing, random cuteness

Grandma Lynne and Evie rubbing noses

Hylton taking notes on what it means to be a true "baby" from his cousin Sadie so he can continue his career of life-long baby at home.

I just love the threating hand in this picture.

Ho, ho, ho!

Making Christmas cookies for Santa

Santa brought me a hubby with scruff this year. Thank you, Santa Baby!

Ugh, the cuteness is so palpable, I'm choking... egh, agh, ack...

And now for something completely different:

One of my many projects completed- in a day, no less. Why did I wait so long?!
Here is the full transformation of the front-room- thus far, at least.

Before:

A little can of Polyshades (which I love!), a little bit of faux painting, and of course (my staple) some black spray-paint, and voila! So less gauche!

After:

And we finally got some family pictures done. I am so happy. I have a Groupon waiting for a large canvas that just needs the right picture to go on it. I think we have one in the mix here somewhere. Ma belle, Michelle, is awesome.

This one has already been dubbed on Facebook as tryouts for the next Twilight movie.