So Here Are Those Pictures You Were Promised...

Grace, outside "watching" Charlie and Aaron and Ed play with the new car.  Just getting over bronchitis, and bundled up snug in the quilt I made for Erin when she was about Grace's age.

Since family Christmas is mostly about the pictures you take to remember it, here are some from our day...thank you to Erin for sharing those she took.

A car from Grandpa!

Getting it down, fast!

This was his idea: go up on the porch where he can't see the car, and see if he can work it without knowing where it is.  Notice his eyes.
This is one of my very favorite Christmas pictures from this year! (Taken by Erin, thank you so much!)

Grandpa checks out the car.

And this is where Charlie figured out on his own that the radio control needed to be up high enough
for the car to sense it.

Amazingly Cute Grace...love those hands, and those lips!

Grace and Mamaraye, in her new Cupcake Hat I knitted for her.

Of Course We Have Christmas Pictures!

But really not that many...

Christmas 2010 is done, and it left us with sweet memories of a Christmas Eve morning visit to Charlie and Gracie, and a remote control car.  Making my almond braid a day late, but still in time for our neighbors, Steve and Roxan, to have their fix on Christmas morning.  A wonderful Christmas Eve dinner cooked by Ed and enjoyed by both of us.  A quiet Christmas morning, sharing time and memories and opening presents from family.  Then a brunch visit to Aaron, Erin, and Charlie and Grace, to see them open their presents from us and share food we enjoy.

Ed working his magic in the kitchen, Christmas Eve.

My almond braids, at least 20 years running now!

Charlie with what else???  More Thomas the Train.  This is the Cookie Car Set, or as Charlie calls them The Sugar Set.  Appropriate.

Grace with Grandma, and the new doll Erin made her.  Love the red hair!

Grace's first Christmas of course had to include a sock monkey-ette (named Gabriela) to go with Charlie's much loved sock monkey, Ichiro (he DOES look like Ichiro!  Really.) (It also includes a headless Grandma, evidently. :)

Sweet family times and a nice way to wind up the year.

Amazingly, for me, I didn't take a lot of pictures.  I have been having much trouble with my shoulder (an old Kick the Can injury from Korea), and just couldn't do the camera thing.  Besides, I would MUCH rather spend my shoulder energy holding Grace than holding a camera!  And who wouldn't?  Just look at that happiness in a sweet baby girl bundle!

When we get the pictures of Grandpa and Aaron and Charlie with the remote control car, I will share some here.  (Erin?? :)

Happy Week Between Christmas and New Year's!

The verse for this day:

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not depend on your own understanding.  In all your decisions and choices, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.

My version of Proverbs 3:5-6

A Bunch for Brunch

This morning was Ed's Christmas brunch for his group at work.  He manages 21 people, so we thought having a little brunch here at our house would be nice and maybe a bit different for them.

We planned a brunch with fruit, breakfast breads, juice, coffee and tea, and breakfast burritos.  I have been shopping and prepping for over a week, but what fun.

Early this morning, twenty-one people crowded into our living/dining area for a staff "meeting" and some good food.

Erin came over bright and early to help with the prep.  She was the master burrito maker.

What a nice time and what a great way to say "thanks" to the good group of people who work for and with Ed.

Enjoy the pictures.  Brunch is on us.

Burrito Maker Extraordinaire.

Hot burritos, ready for the crowd.

The table before the crowd arrived, and before we got the burritos out.

The Good Cooks.

Life Comes in Cyclones

...to borrow a phrase from James Herriot.

Actually, the quote is "trouble comes in cyclones," but not all that happened in the past 24 hours is trouble, just life.  And good life, too.

On Thursday afternoon I was out doing some much needed grocery shopping when Ed called to say that his sister, Debbie, and her husband, Jeff, would be up here on a quick trip, shipping a car to their kids in Alaska, and needed a place to stay overnight on Friday.  Of course I jumped at the chance to have them stay.  We don't get to see them very often, and Jeff had actually never been to our house in WA!  So...that was sudden, but wonderful.

That also meant I had to very quickly clean out the guest room which was currently being disguised as the catch-all Christmas-cyclone-has-struck room.  This included moving furniture, by the way, too...but I was happy to do it.

The room was ready, the guests were eagerly anticipated.

Then on Friday at about 12:15 pm, Erin called to see whether I could come get the kids because she and Aaron "have sort of a work emergency."  Well, I'll say!!  Alligator Soul, the restaurant Erin has worked at and with for over 6 years suddenly (as in from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm, same day) closed it's doors for good.   Since she and Aaron do all the promo and etc. for the restaurant, they were the ones the owners came to in getting the notifications out that the Soul was no more.  Sad day for all of us...even though life does happen.  So I ran up to North Everett and picked up the grandkids - who were almost literally thrown into my car, things were so rushed - and we came home to catch our breath.

Then later, the phone rang again.  It was Ed.  Guess what, Jeff and Debbie have their son, Cody, with them.  Okay.  We love Cody!  A very welcome addition.  Also, guess what?  It would be nice for the kids to come eat dinner at our house, since they've had such a strange "day off" -- and very welcome, I must say - instead of coming over on Saturday morning to see Jeff and Deb, as originally planned.

So...Throw a Muppets video in for Charlie, get lots more chicken out of the freezer (thank goodness for Costco chicken thighs!), rush around like another chicken who has lost her head, and bingo!

Dinner for nine, on time, with a very, VERY nice visit and time as a whole family.  SOOOO glad to see Jeff and Deb and Cody - SOOOOO glad our kids feel comfortable and relaxed here.  SOOOO glad I had all that chicken in the freezer.

SOOO glad we have the family we do...

Jeff and Deb and Grace and Charlie, with Aaron in the background

Cousin Cody with Charlie, looking at pictures of Cody working on a crab boat

Auntie Debbie and Charlie check out the Christmas scrapbook.

Grace is just adorable...nuff said.

Watching the Muppets Christmas Carol, but NOT the scary part!!

AND, to top it all off...this is who visited my suet feeder this morning before Jeff and Debbie and Cody left for Oregon.  The first time I have ever been able to get a picture of him...

"My" pileated woodpecker.

So That's What You've Been Up To!

Lately it has been raining a lot (shocker!!), so we haven't seen much past the end of our own street.
However, today is so nice and cold and blue that I worked outside cleaning out gardens.

And this is the view from my kitchen window this afternoon.

Hello, I've been wondering when you'd come out of hiding.

What Says Your Name to Me?

Our tree, all decorated by Grandma and Charlie,
with serious help from Grandpa on the whole lights thing.

Yesterday I went shopping for the Christmas packages for family members who live far away from us.

One of my favorite days of the year is the day (or days!) I go out all by myself and just get little "this-and-thats" for people.  I love thinking about each person and what they are like and what they might enjoy.  It makes for a long day, and sometimes an unfruitful one, depending on what don't I find out there, but I enjoy it every year.

Online shopping is great - I mean, in your sweats, nice hot coffee, no crowds, click and pay...but I like to get out in the real world and see what's what.

My favorite stores are the funky ones, the mom and pop ones, the second-hand ones, the antique ones, the book ones...oh, and also the craft ones.  It's fun to see whether I can find something original for each person.  Something that says their name to me.

This is also the year of hand-made.  I made a goal that many, if not most, of my presents for people would be made by me.  That has been fun, too.  So far, the goal seems to be reachable.

I read on one of my knitting blogs about a girl whose family limits the cost of presents for each person to $10.  She gets yarn in that price range and knits for her family.

Sort of like the Woman (with a capital W) in Proverbs.

Verse for the day:
"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet."  Proverbs 31:21

Stay warm and well clothed, no matter what color.

(Disclaimer for Ed, though:  I didn't knit all those socks!  I got the Costco 12-pack.  Some times you just have to do the Costco thing.)

A Charlie Brown...oh, Swaney...Christmas Tree

On Saturday after Thanksgiving, Ed and I invited Charlie over to help decorate our Christmas tree.   Charlie was in charge of hanging the candy canes, of course.

No need to even take off your jacket...just get started with the candy canes!

And don't waste time hanging them all over the place.  Easier to get to this way.

 Also in charge of eating the marshmallow chocolate Santa.

And in charge of unpacking one of the Nativity sets.

This is Charlie's version of the Christmas story.  The Holy Family needed a tree, you notice.  
And Santa had to fly by on his way around the world.  

And when the whole set was out, Charlie asked, "Where's God?"  
So we had a chat about Baby Jesus being God.  That didn't quite work, 
so Charlie hunted until he found "God and His Ladies", shown above.  
I think it's the beard that convinced him.   :)
By the way, the Lady on the left, holding the "flallers" is getting married, according to Charlie.

He was a great help, bringing ornaments to me to hang on the tree, and hanging a lot of them himself.

The only breakage of the day was done by Grandpa!!  Poor Joseph, from the Nativity set, had his hand amputated in a severe fall, and Joe's donkey got its tail cropped.  But, thanks to Gorilla Glue, or as Charlie calls it, Monkey Glue, Joe and his ride are almost as good as new.  The donkey is also missing an ear, but that was eaten several years ago by Theo (RIP, Theo.  We miss you, you big Christmas ornament eater, you.)

After the big decorating session, we went to Kate's in North Everett for a burger and fries.  We were sitting there waiting for our meal, just chatting with Charlie and asking him questions.  Finally he said, "OK, that's enough talking."

Well!

We had a good laugh at that.

It was a truly Charlie Swaney Day.

The Hummingbird's Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving, in the snow, I saw this little guy on one of my hummingbird feeders.  He sat here for ages, just drinking the sugar water, which must not have been frozen solid.  We have seen hummingbirds almost daily this winter.  Funny cute little guys.

Hummingbird, having Thanksgiving dinner.

And today I saw two pileated woodpeckers in my neighbor's yard.  These guys are amazing looking.  Sometimes I see them on my walk, on dead trees in Forest Park, near our house.  Big and very distinctive.

Pileated Woodpecker, courtesy of National Geographic, just like the ones I see.  Thanks, NG!

Lately, one of Charlie's favorite books here is Have You Seen Birds?, a cute book about all kinds of birds, told in a poem.  (And illustrated with Sculpey clay sculptures -- quite unique.)

So, yes, We Have Seen Birds.
(We LOVE birdwatching - or rather, Birding - hence the name of this blog...)

Today's Book Recommendation:  The Grail Bird, by Tim Gallagher.   Very interesting book about the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (looks like the Pileated, but much bigger and different color patterns, and is supposedly extinct, but maybe not really....who knows?)

Happy Turkey...umm, Ribs...Day

I love Thanksgiving weekend.  It's always been one of those cozy family times that are so special.  And this year we had snow, too!  (First Thanksgiving with snow since 1985...and Dad and Mom and Jenny and Jay probably remember that one.  Spent at our house, the coldest house we have ever lived in or hope to never live in again.  That was when Jenny was pregnant with Courtney.  Time flies!)

This Thanksgiving we did something totally new.  Back in October, Erin had this great idea.  So, we had baby back ribs and a bunch of "sides" for our Thanksgiving dinner.

I kept wondering why I was so far ahead on my prep, then I remembered that I...

1.  Wasn't making stuffing.
2.  Wasn't roasting a big bird.
3.  Wasn't making homemade rolls.

Instead, Erin and I made ribs, mashed potatoes, sweet potato bisquits (I highly recommend these!), and a bunch of delicious side veggies.  Erin made these caramelized onions which were just amazing.  I could have had only those and maybe a rib or two.

Ed kept saying he thought this was the best Thanksgiving meal we have ever had.  I would have to agree.  Of course, I did make the mandatory pumpkin and pecan pies.

You could say we pardoned the turkey this year, and pigged out, instead.  Extra bonus:  No triptophan (sp??) effect.

This was Graces' first Thanksgiving, too.  She and Charlie were napping, so the adults had a nice little grown-up meal.  Having them here made me remember the concept of the "kid's table", which was always a wobbly card table, if I remember correctly.  Charlie and Grace got to sit at the big table, though, once they woke up.

Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Gelato. Yum.

Grace had her first Thanksgiving meal right where she belongs, on Grandma's lap.

Grace enjoys her version of baby back ribs.

My brother is so...funny.

Grandpa needs a hat like this.

And this was our pumpkin, later that evening.
Aaron asked me if I had put glitter on a pumpkin, and I had no idea what he was talking about.
So we went to check, and this is how the real pumpkin with real frost on it looked, on our front porch.  Pretty neat.  

Love to you all, and we are Thankful for all of you.

A Day of Grace

I have always loved sayings with the word "grace" in them...

A Day of Grace
Graceful
Amazing Grace
Pretty Amazing Grace (thanks, Neil Diamond)
We're Giving You a Grace Period
Say Grace

So, yesterday was a Day of Grace for me.  Grace arrived at 6:15 AM so her parents could drive down to Portland to meet with a restaurant client.  Since they make the trip there and back in one day, I had Grace All Day...from 6:15 AM to 9:15 PM.

And, it was a Pretty Amazing Grace Day.

We played, took pictures, ate, took more pictures, rocked in the rocking chair, slept, worked on crawling (SOOOO close, Grace!), ate some more, sang some songs, danced to Oak Ridge Boys Christmas CD (Grace's intro into a MAJOR Christmas tradition in our family - it's just not Christmas season without the Oak Ridge Boys!), walked in the walker (not me, yet!), played again, slept again...you get the picture.

And speaking of pictures, here you go...

Grace is NOT sure that spending a whole day with MamaRaye is such a good idea...

Man, I SOOO want those toys...if only I could figure out the whole arm thing.

Did it...my way.

Pretty Amazing Grace (Is that hair getting a tinge of red?  Just like Big Brother.)

Recycle Joy

I keep thinking about this saying...

Joy in life is a woman's best cosmetic.  

I'm not sure who said it {I know I have it in my scrapbook stuff somewhere}, but it is so true.

For the past few years, I have had terrible allergies in my eyes to any sort of face cream or makeup.  The only products I can use are emu oil [yes, from emus in Kalispell, Montana!] and my eye medications.

So, my only cosmetic has to be joy.  Which is free, organic, and recyclable.

Because another one of my favorite sayings is this...

The joy you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.

Recycle Joy.

Dogs Don't Do Daylight Savings Time

Normally I like the whole Fall Back thing.  It's a chance to catch up from the seven or so months of trying to make up the missed hour from Spring Ahead.

However, I usually forget to take Sophie into account.

What time IS it, anyway??

Sophie doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, or Pacific Daylight Time, or Pacific Standard Time, or Quiet Time, or Any Time except Empty Stomach Time/ Eating Time, Sleeping By The Front Window Time and Playing Outside With Ed and/or Raye Time.  SomeTimes she might do Charlie Time or Aaron/Erin Time, and SomeTimes Gracie Time, and at least daily she does Chase the Squirrel Who Is Running Madly Down the Fenceline Time, but mostly she does Staring At Ed and/or Raye Because What Is It With This Extra Hour I Have To Wait For Food? Time.

We have tried most tricks (unsuccessfully):  feeding her part of her food on Daylight Savings Time, and part on Her Stomach Time; waiting for the Real Time to get here (worst plan!); Ignoring Her (like ignoring the elephant in the room); telling her that her staring isn't going to work; giving in to her staring...you get the picture.

So, since we are not cruel Dog Owners...oh, sorry, I mean, we are not cruel Doggie Companions...I am going right now, on Some Sort of Time, to feed Sophie the Pacific Daylight Time portion of her breakfast.

I'll be back at Pacific Standard Time to do a repeat.

The Bad Timing of the Bad Timing Belt

Well...all I can say is that I need to echo Alison's text message from yesterday: "What a wonderful week!", by which she means "not so wonderful."

Have you ever had to replace a timing belt on an Audi or VW?  Let's just say that it's almost as expensive as...a REALLY nice trip to Mexico with first class air tickets...or a REALLY nice treadmill so you don't have to walk in the pouring rain during the winter.

Not that we have either of those things, or will have anytime soon, because...hey...we have (or will have) a brand new timing belt.

If I even knew what a timing belt was, it might make the whole thing more palatable.  Is it a belt I could wear with a cute vintage outfit?  No, that would be the OLD timing belt.  Is it made of braided leather? Would it go with my cowboy hat and my Ariat Fat Baby boots?

When the Audi gets fixed, I will post a picture of it here.  I think we might be repainting it, too, with 24 karat gold paint.

Those of you who had your hearts set on Christmas presents from us will just have to go for a ride in the Audi.

But really, we are so grateful we can even afford to get the thing fixed.  It is still less expensive than replacing a car.

My verse for this post:  "There is a TIME for every purpose under heaven:...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance...a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend...He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Ecclesiastes 3:4,6,7,11

Now the Audi will be beautiful inside and out.  All in good time.

I Love Them All!

Let's go trick or treating, guys!  

Last night was the night Charlie has been looking forward to for at least two weeks.


After a delicious dinner,

What's the deal with having to eat before getting candy??

the grandpas and the dad took the boy trick or treating.

Ed took this one.
The guys had Charlie go up to this house by himself.
I love this picture!

Erin Cat, with her neighbor Jess behind her and me standing up.

All the women stayed home and passed out candy to the trick or treaters who came Aaron and Erin's house.

Erin's always artistic and always cool way of doing things
made keeping track of trick or treaters
(say that three times really fast) as fun as handing out candy.
Final count: 184, when candy ran out.

Pictures are better than words when it comes to adorable almost 5-month olds in ladybug suits, 

The Sweetest Bug Ever!

or three-year-olds enjoying a Tootsie Pop.

When I asked Charlie
to hold up his favorite treat for this picture,
he waved his hand over the pile and said, 
"I love them all!!" I couldn't have said it better, Charlie. Happy November and enjoy the family.  I love them all!!