I'm freaking out!

Really?!?!
What?!?
Seriously...I'm going to lose it.
Not only can it not be true,
but I'm questioning the legitimacy of the time tables that we govern the world with!

Breathe Lori, breathe.
Okay, I might be overreacting...
I have been known to do that on occasion,
but this one is really unbelievable.
Ready?!
Seriously, sit down.
That's better.
Breathe.



My oldest niece is turning 16.
TODAY!


I know?!?!
How did that happen?!?
I'm starting to understand old people...
Wait, does that mean I'm old?
Nah...not at all.
But as a kid I really didn't get why adults were always talking
as if time literally was flying by them at supersonic speed.
I remember rolling my eyes(in the dramatic teenage way)
and thinking that they were becoming senile.
I get it now.

As a teen, time inch by.

There were long stretches of endless drudgery...
school, homework, chores, after school job
(shhh...don't tell people but I loved each and every one of those things
...except chores, no one likes those!)
But anyway...
I would think, "Couldn't I just be an adult already?! Then everything would be just what I want!"

Oh man, how I wish for those days...back in the old days before computers...
(See I'm using those old people phrases again.)

But, seriously.
I try to remind teens to not wish their childhood away.
It's so fleeting.
A blink really.
And then what?
You're an adult forever.
Literally...forever.
And, here's the kicker...
You're expected to be, act, and live AS an adult.
It's a lot of pressure.

Sure, there are bonuses to adulthood,
but at 16 years old, you have so many fun milestones to hit.
 At 36, what is my milestone? 40?
That's not happening!
At least not yet.
It will, but that's okay.
I love seeing my nieces and nephew grow up.
They're becoming amazing people.
My only wish is that time would slowly take them into adulthood
That they will cherish the moments that make them kids.
To use the time to make memories that they will remember fondly.

If that doesn't work,
if I can't make them slow down,
I'll just squish 'em...with love.
And hug them tight.

Happy Birthday Leanna!
You're fabulous in every way.
You'll probably never know how much I love you,
but that's alright.
I love you to the moon and back again.
And above all else...
Seriously, stop growing.
You're getting too tall and I can't purchase much higher heels. :0)
They don't make them that tall.

A pig, a water filter, and a coconut...

The title will make sense (kind of) later on.

Sitting around with a teen and two pre-teens, over Spring Break

I wondering what their thoughts about life...

well, mostly just random things about life.

So I forced them to put away their cell-phones,

turn off the TV, and answer these fascinating...

okay, they're still just random questions.
So...Whatcha Thinkin'?

Very Important, Random Questions

Favorite place in your house?
Jorden- living room, because there's a TV
Joe- out in the front
Leanna- my room, because I can put headphones on and ignore the world.

Favorite place to visit?
Jorden- beach
Joe- I don't know... Miami if I ever go
Leanna- mountains cause its quiet and peaceful

Favorite food?
Jorden- pancakes
Joe- dairy-free ice cream
Leanna- depends on the day (today) a pear. A green one, not a yellow... Just enough swish to be juicy.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Jorden- ?
Joe- S.W.A.T.
Leanna- FBI in the behavioral analysis department- (So I can stare at people and get paid...I added that. In fact any time you see the parentheses it's me...I have a hard time not commenting.)

What is the #1 most played song on your iPod right now?
Jorden- "Remember When" Chris Wallace
Joe- aaaa....nothing.
Leanna- "Mirrors" Justin Timberlake
              "Kiss tomorrow goodbye" Luke Bryan

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
Jorden- Rebecca because its my favorite character on NCIS
Joe- James, like Lebron James
Leanna- Vanessa, because I like the name Vanessa

If you could be a character in a book what character would you be and why?
(Duh...I had to ask this.  The teacher in me was dying!)
Jorden- Katniss-I like her
Joe- ?
Leanna- Alice- in "Go,ask Alice" (me-why?!?) I don't know it's the only book I've read recently"

If you had to pick one animal to describe you, what would you pick?
Jorden- Flamingo, because it's pink.
Joe- Lion, because their called the king of the jungle and Lebron is called the King
Leanna- Squirrel...because I look all sweet & innocent but if you mess with me, I'll go crazy on your butt.

If you won the lottery right now, what is the first thing that you would do?
                               (Please say give money to Auntie!
                                Please say that you would give money to Auntie!)

Jorden- Get a corvette and go on a whooping spree.
             Out have of the money in my college fund...then go shopping. 
Leanna- Custom Hummer...right there. I'd buy several cars
             (How would you drive? You don't want to get your license?)
              I'd just sit in my driveway and be like ya I got this.
             (Hmmm...still nothing for me...maybe I should rethink my will...)

What do you think is one of biggest misconceptions people have about teenagers?
Leanna- that....um... all...why do people ask me these things? That they all are...deceitful, irresponsible people.

You have to eat the exact same meal for the next 12 months. What would you pick?
Jorden- fruit salad
Leanna- Mac 'n Cheese

If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours with one person,
who would you like that person to be?
Jorden- Kennedy, a friend that moved to Germany
Leanna- wait, I have to have someone? I'd like to be alone.
(Seriously, I'd pick Ryan Reynolds or someone funny like Sandra Bullock)













What about laughed until you cried?
Jorden- scaring Leanna- the day before yesterday...
Leanna- my brother running across, no photobombimg Caleb yesterday

If you were stranded on a desert is,
and and you could take three items,
what items would you take and why?
Jorden- 1) 20 year food containers
             2) water filter
             3) pop up tent
Leanna-1) pig, because they're 'funner' to have around
                 and I could eat it-ham
             2) Water filter-self explanatory
             3) Nails- I can build stuff! I don't need a
                 hammer...I'll use a coconut!

 Yeah...good luck with that coconut hammer Leanna! 
Haha! It probably won't work, but I like the creativity. 
www.bonappetit.com

A Dog's Christmas

Christmas came early for Murphy.

Christmas Eve to be exact.

When you only trust 13 people in the world,

it can be a scary and anxiety producing place.

Especially when your human keeps putting strange ears on you!

(But, in my defense, he's sooooooo cute!)

But, Christmas, well it's all about joy...happiness...and spending it with the people that you adore.
Murphy only needs HIS people by his side to have a Christmas of love.








 







This is his story of love and his people.
....well at least a few of them.
Now...a photo journal of puppy love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receiving loves from my brother...

 Even this really strange Santa got the Murphy seal of approval! 

I guess he smelled too much like his grandpa to fool him.

 Now, this is the "Gpa" that Murphy knows and adores...not that weird Santa Dude!

 Nothing makes him as happy as getting love from his GREAT Grandma! 

He loves to cuddle up to her and get cookies too! 

 Leanna, she might get taller, but he can still get to her lips for a big smooch!

Jorden still has his favorite lips to smooch,

but she's learned to be a quick move...she's difficult for him to catch!

 Murphy was happy to see that he wasn't the only one that had to put things on their head!

 

At the end of the night,

he was sad to leave all of his favorite humans,

but thankfully he had a new moose-friend to ease the pain.

Exhausted pup, ready to dream the night away,

 with millions of pets and endless love dancing in his head.

Merry Christmas to all

and to all a beautiful New Year!



Tayberries and Pedicures

~Hello Tayberry~

It's difficult to remember the which day it is during my summer vacation. (I know, I know...the thought makes you feel sick.  But I'm not going to lie...it's true!)  I track the summer days by which berries are ready to pick.  Strawberries, then raspberries, marionberries, blueberries, etc. Growing up around farms and snatching as many berries as I could shove in my mouth, I really thought that I have tried them all.  But what in the world is a tayberry?

Picking berries I wanted something new, shocking, I know. :0)  My niece Leanna and I went to the first farm, though delicious, they didn't have anything that I hadn't used before.  So we travelled a little farther down the road to Smith Farm.

Smith BerryBarn
24500 SW Scholls Ferry Road
Hillsboro
OR 97123
USA
http://www.smithberrybarn.com
(503) 628-2172

It's a spray-free, smoke-free, and pet-free farm.  I sure love the first two things, and I definitely understand the third! (No one wants a dog going potty on your berries! Though Murphy would NOT do that.) Plus they have goats and chickens to feed...bonus!

They had many berries ready to pick, raspberries, blackberries, but also on the list were loganberries and tayberries.  Now, we tried loganberries, and, well, to us, as Leanna accurately describe, they taste like shampoo.  So it was off to the tayberries aisle and me crossing my fingers that they were good. 

Not surprising, since I'm a teacher, I had to know a little more about the berry.  Thank goodness for the information tags located at the end of the row! (Love it!)  The tayberry was originally created in Scotland (Bonus! My mom will love that!) It's a cross between raspberries and blackberries, which are both berries that I love, so they can't be that bad!

The result: good, different, but good....less shampoo like. :0)

So, we picked, and picked...

These berries were a bit difficult to pluck off because of the VERY prickly vines.  My arms are still recovering.  I'm allergic to EVERYTHING...no really....every plant tree or weed in Oregon.  Aren't I lucky?  But it doesn't stop me from doing the things that I love and taking pictures of my niece and her rope bucket.

Awesome huh?  I think she should use it in her senior photo some day.  ;0)

After working our fingers to the bone, in the hot, hot sun (Oregon hot), we deserved a bit of pampering.  So it was off to the nail salon...

Our feet were gross!  I had Leanna picked out the color, which was very mild actually.  I was expecting something a bit more crazy when I gave her the choice.

I recommend that everyone end a berry-picking day like this...

Leanna's Retro-ish Art

Neon colors...they're baaaaaaackkkkk!  I remember being in middle school when neon, was neon.  My bright orange shorts and hyper-color t-shirts got a lot of use.  Well, not surprising, the colors are circulating again and now they will make an appearance on my niece Leanna's bedroom walls.

Murphy and I love having my nieces and nephew sleepover and we love to have something to create or work on.  Leanna chose her inspiration picture from Pinterest and gathered the paint. 

Inspiration Picture from ReadyMade

The color in the inspiration picture was just a little too tame for a teen heading into high school...so bring on the neon orange, neon pink, green, and blue!

Supplies:

• Paint (one color, two colors, or four)
• Canvas (prepped for paint)
• Painters Tape
• Paintbrushes

Now, let's create Retro-ish Art:

1. The day before you wanted to create the paintings, make sure you prepped the canvas. Now you can purchase prep. paint, but I just use some good old house paint or primer. The main point of this is so that the paint doesn't just soak into the canvas.

2. Tape the pattern using painters tape. Remember to press down the edges...we missed some spots and had a lot of touch-up work to do.

 3.  Leanna wanted the colors to be spread out all over the canvas...and NOT TOUCHING!  Food shouldn't touch and now, paint can't touch either. :0)  Some things never change...and thank goodness for that!

4. Now paint, paint, and paint....at least two coats.  You'll complete a third coat with the touch-ups.

5.  Remove the tape before the final coat is dry.  Waiting until in totally dries leaves a greater chance of having paint removed with the tape.  (I learned that the hard way before. )

 When we peeled back the tape, we had an unpleasant surprise.  Whatever is added to the neon colors, (felt slick and looked shinier compared to the others) made the paint peel.  We had to be really careful around those areas, but it still made it difficult.

6.  Now, sigh, the touch-ups began....a fine brush does a great job for touch-ups.

7. Let dry and continue any touch-ups.  If you're like me, you notice every little spot, but remember, up on the wall, those little things would be noticeable.

~~~Murphy was a trouper through the whole process. He really wanted Leanna to just pay attention to him and take him outside to play.

Thank goodness Leanna loves to play outside...even if it means handling a slimy, ripped up soccer ball.

Ignore the lack of grass. Murphy and his friend love to wrestle here!

Talk to my dog, and he'll be scared of you...Play with my dog and he'll be your best friend.  More on that later.
:0)