Jori and JJ

When Tyson and Jenna were little, I thought there would never be a better twosome than the two of them. Now I am not so sure. Jori and JJ have become quite the pair over the past year. When Tyson and Jenna were in kindergarten, Rachel and I started switching kids a couple days a week. On Tuesday she'd take Jori and on Thursday I'd take JJ. It gave us both a kid free day (until baby Reid came along!), which was such a blessing! This year we have continued the kid swapping. This week I had JJ on Tuesday and JJ and Reid for a while on Wednesday. This morning at 9 I brought Jori to Rachel's. Now it is 3:30 and I have had a whole day to myself. I've done 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, sorted through some toys and books, spent some good time in prayer, worked on the blog and prepared my first ever whole chicken, which will be detailed in an upcoming post.

Playing in the neighbors leaves

HUGS!!

Best friends

For those of you who may not know, Jenna and JJ are brother and sister. Their mom, Rachel, is my best and oldest (meaning I've known her for the longest time) friend. Our moms were pregnant with us both in DeMotte, Indiana. I was born on July 20 and Rachel was born on August 19. My dad was the pastor at her church until I was 4 years old. Even after we moved, we managed to stay connected through some deep friendships between my mom and her mom and grandma. Rachel came to Oregon to see me with her grandma, we picked her up in Indiana one year and she came along to visit my dads family in Canada, we went to all 4 conventions together in Indiana, Colorado, Rhode Island and California. We lived in the same dorm our first year of college and currently we live less than a mile away from each other. To say that it will be hard to say good-bye to Rachel when we (eventually) move, is an understatement! I can't even think about it without feeling a little bit sick : (

So, first Rachel and I are best friends, then Jenna is born on May 25, 2004 and Tyson comes along on June 16 of the same year. Jori and JJ have a little bit bigger age gap, but are still just as close as ever! I am so very thankful for ALL the years God has let Rachel and I live by each other and also for the time that our kids have had to become friends. I pray that their friendships will remain as strong as ours did, even when we lived far apart.

Jori's second field trip-to the Fire Station!

On Wednesday, Jori had her second field trip of the year. Darin managed to get some time off from work to accompany her on this little outing. I am so glad he could go and experience all the preschool fun! When I picked Jori up from school, she was very chatty and told me all about seeing the fire fighters, the fire truck, the "gear" and much, much more. Here are some pictures from her special day.

Learning about the fire engine

Time to get down

Listening to the fire chief talk about all his gear

The fire chief asking Jori if he looked scary

So excited to be wearing some gear

Jori's class

Darin said the kids watched a little video, climbed in the fire truck, saw what a fire fighter would look like all decked out in his gear (Jori was not scared, but some kids in her class were), got to look through an infrared camera, tried on some gear, and got some homework. Apparently when the fire fighter said the kids would have homework, Jori's mouth and eyes opened really wide. She LOVES homework, so this was exciting news for her!

At dinner last night, Jori showed us how to stop, drop and roll. It was her solution for every fire related problem we asked her about. Smoke in the house, stop drop and roll. You are on fire, stop drop and roll. Your door is too hot to touch, stop drop and roll. She also said kids are supposed to jump out of windows and find a park or another person's house to run to if their house is on fire. Good to know she was paying attention : )

More of Gram's visit

Tyson in front of EGM's art camp Art prize entry

We did a lot when my mom was here. On the first Thursday, we headed downtown to check out Art Prize. Last year, my mom was with us the one and only time we went downtown for the first ever Art Prize. This time, we had already been downtown to check out some of the art, so we knew what we wanted to show my mom and had also (mostly) figured out what else we still wanted to see. We went back to Art Prize on Saturday to see a few things we had missed the previous two times.

The big pig ( I think it's actually called the steam pig)

A pride of lions, made out of nails

My mom and the kids took a lot of walks down the path, and also made several trips to Love INC and the library. We really were blessed with wonderful weather the whole time my mom was here. I think it only rained one day! It was different having Tyson in school full time. We didn't want to do too many things during the day because he would have missed out on all the fun. Jori, my mom and I did go shopping a few times, went out to lunch, hung out with Auntie Rachel and Bud and Bernice and spent a lot of time coloring, reading and drinking coffee.

Gram painting Jori's nails

One of the best things for Tyson was having Gram bring him to the bus and pick him back up again. I went along on Monday just so I could take some pictures.

Jori riding through the leaves

Telling Gram about his day

Love

On Monday we headed straight from the bus stop to the bowling alley. We had already gone there once for ice cream, but now Gram got to see the two kids in all their bowling glory.

 

 And then it was Tuesday-time to say good bye to Gram : ( First there was time for a quick game of war before Tyson had to head to the bus.

Jori didn't get to play this round. Can you tell by her face?

We love you Gram!

Jori and I took Gram to the airport around noon. It was very sad saying goodbye. I think it made me start thinking about all the other, more long term goodbyes we'll soon be saying. Jori was getting kind of teary too, so that made it extra hard for me! After we dropped my mom off we ran a few errands. Each time we went into another store Jori would say "Where's Gram?" and I'd remind her that we brought Gram to the airport. So sad.

We love you Grandma Willie. Thank you for coming and spending so much time with us and loving us so well!!

Post Family Farm 2010

We love going to the Post Family Farm. There are so many fun things for the kids to do and they make the best pumpkin donuts!! This year we bought a dozen to eat right away and another 1/2 dozen to freeze for later. Yum! Click here to read about last years visit to the farm.

Tyson and Jori both had fun riding the pumpkin train. First they rode it alone, and later they CHOSE to ride together, which was just the sweetest thing to see.

This is love

So glad they have each other

Swinging sissy

After the pumpkin train, it was time to try out the rope swing. Jumping into itchy straw is not my idea of a good time, but they were having a blast.

Tyson's turn

Then it was time to take a couple pictures with gram.

Gram and her special guy

Lovely ladies

Then we fed the animals and played on the zip line. The zip line was their absolute favorite, and I am pretty sure I didn't take any pictures of them riding on it!

We have been having such fabulous weather this October and were very thankful for a sunny day to spend at the Post Family Farm!

Park Pride Field Day

Well, my mom was here and now she is back home in Washington. We had a lot of wonderful times while she was here visiting. I actually remembered to haul my camera out on more than one occasion, so I have lots of pictures to share!

My mom came in late Wednesday night and on Friday, Tyson had his first "Park Pride" day at school. That morning his class also had a visit from the fire department, so needless to say, it was his "favorite day ever". When my mom and I first got to the school, Tyson didn't even notice us! He was that into what he was doing.

Waiting for his turn

Listening to instructions

In fact, it wasn't until he popped his head over the bleachers here that he saw us. He was so happy (I LOVE how happy this kid gets over the littlest things!)

Here is a video of Tyson going after the soccer ball. He always has that little tongue peeking out when he is concentrating. It was so funny watching all the kids run around. They split all the kids up so the grades are mixed together, first through fifth. The first and second graders were a bit lost, but it was neat seeing the older kids encourage them.

After the soccer game, we followed Tyson's group to the bucket brigade. All the kids were getting so wet, so it was nice that they had such a warm, sunny October day to celebrate field day! Here are some pics followed by a video of the water brigade.

See that tongue!

Team work

We are so thankful for Park Elementary School. Tyson has been making so many wonderful friends, learning so many new things and we know God is at work in this place!

My mom is coming tomorrow night. I am so excited to see her and spend lots of time drinking coffee, eating cookies, reading, and just being together. She really couldn't be coming at a better time. I have been in a real funk the last few days, and I am hoping my mom being here will help get me out of it. I am sure she will tell me to "snap out of it" and "get moving", but she'll also hug me and tell me she loves me and that God has all of this stuff in His control.

Right now I just feel like there is a lot of "stuff" that is kind of starting to weigh me down. We've had a few house showings, but no offers. I am already sick of keeping the house clean and cannot for the life of me figure out how our house seems to be filling up after we just had a huge moving sale. I feel like I am constantly finding new things laying around the house and it is starting to stress me out. I do not like living in our house right now. I feel like we can't just be. I am always watching the kids to make sure they don't scuff the walls. I try to keep them out of the basement because Darin patched up the dings and scratches down there and I don't want them to make new marks. I don't ever really feel relaxed. I am trying to remain positive about our house selling, but am starting to feel a lot of dread, fear and worry pulling me down. What if it doesn't sell? What if we can't get what we really do need to get out of it?

Then there's the whole moving to South Africa thing. We have no set date for when this will be happening. It could be spring, it could be summer. Who knows! It just won't be January, which is kind of nice on the one hand because that is only 3 months away, but now the whole moving thing is starting to seem more like a fantasy than a reality. We have no control over the business side of things in SA. We cannot make any plans. When our kids ask us about when we'll move or if we'll be here for their birthdays, we don't have any answer to give them. Sometimes I am not even sure I want to move. I start to think it is all a game and I can just decide to stay right here. I am just struggling to see moving to South Africa as something that is really going to be happening. I don't even really like talking to people about it because I don't even know what to say! We don't know where we are going to live, when the business will be up and running, what the business will be like, when we're moving-NOTHING.

We are trying to sort some stuff out about our sweet boy. I am sure I'll write about it at some point, but right now I can't really find the right words to say.

I feel like Darin and I are on different planets sometimes. I have all these feelings, emotions, questions, doubts, worries, ideas, plans... and he is just not there with me. I am guessing that I am kind of a mystery to him as well right now.

Our precious preschooler is showing some major 4 year old attitude. She is also big into baby talk right now. So I don't really know which Jori I'll be dealing with from one moment to the next, past Jori (the baby), present Jori (at 4 years old) or future Jori (a catty teenager) and it all makes me feel a whole lot of crazy.

I am also reading a lot of books about apartheid in South Africa and that kind of makes me feel heavy all over.

Please God, bring my mom here safely. I need her.

Crafty Fun!

So, I have a lot rolling around in my head right now. Like more than I really know what to do with. However, instead of writing about some stuff that I should probably deal with in the not so distant future, I am going to write about something much happier instead.

Guess what time it is?? It's CRAFTY TIME! Tomorrow I get to join a couple friends for food, fellowship and sewing fun! Remember Tyson's quilt? If not, you should click on the link and go check out the pics from my last adventure into creativity. Now it's time for Jori to benefit from her mom's crafty side. I have been checking out a few on line sewing sites and have big ideas for these two beauties:

Jori and Charity

 

Yes, I am going to tackle sewing clothes, which will be challenging, but I am hoping it will produce some fun results! If you never see a follow up post, then you can just assume it was a horrible, disastrous failure. Hopefully Jori and Charity will soon have a few matching outfits to wear both here and abroad!

Now I will show you the fabrics I've picked out and include some links to sites that show what I HOPE to do with them!

First, I am hoping to make a dress like this one out of a shirt I picked up at Goodwill. Thanks to the helpful lady at Fields Fabric (who are having a sale on Amy Butler fabric until October 11!) I also picked up some fun "trim" to lighten things up.

Shirt and trim

I am also hoping to make a circle skirt similar to this one, but I want to cover the elastic. Tonight I need my dear husband to help me make the pattern for this skirt. Sewing involves math skills, something I am seriously (SERIOUSLY) lacking and Darin has in abundance.

Butterfly fabric for Circle skirt

Once I feel a bit more confident about my clothes making abilities, I hope to tackle the next two projects. First is the Double Layer Skirt. I just loved the flower fabric and think I did a good job of picking a coordinating fabric to go with it.

Double Layer Skirt

Next we have something that seems so far beyond where my sewing skills will ever be that I am not even sure why I bought the fabric to someday try and make it! I give you the Apron Knot Dress. I actually found a tutorial to make this dress on the same site as the Double Layer Skirt, but the ones shown in the link are just so much sweeter! 

Apron Knot Dress

Seeing as I don't actually own a sewing machine, it is going to take me a long time to get any of these projects started, let alone finished! Thankfully I have very generous, patient, super-crafty friends that are willing to share their talents (and machines!) with me. I will say that going to the fabric store is kind of addicting. If we weren't moving, I might even try to get Darin to see the need for me to have a sewing machine : ) I have actually looked on-line at Makro, a store in South Africa, to see how much a sewing machine would cost, but that would not be a "necessity" for setting up house, so I will just have to pray for a crafty, sewing machine owning friend in South Africa as well!