What do you think? Erin at Designer Blogs just finished my new look last night. I think she did a great job. It was a fun process to see the new look take shape from one of her design kits. Everything looks so clean, fresh, balanced, coordinated--I'm loving it!

For my birthday, I had a fabulous night out with my girl friends. Is there anything better than a night out with the girls? We ate our fill of chocolate cake, laughed and laughed, caught up on stories and events, and went to see Duplicity--which was better than I had expected. The plot was interesting and had several surprising twists. Julia Roberts was great but not overly beautiful which made us all feel less average, and Clive Owen on the big screen! Need I say more?! Oh wait, plus gifts?? What a great night. Thanks ladies!

For my birthday I asked Mike for an annual pass to the boys favorite museum. Mike thought I was crazy. How is that a gift for me? Are you kidding? A whole year of the ultimate rainy day solution--cage free happy boys. We went yesterday as a family to buy the pass and kick off a really great year. This morning Luke was still talking about it and asking when we can go back. They took such great naps yesterday.

To quote Christmas Vacation, "the gift that keeps on giving the whole year through."

When you think of popcorn the first thing that comes to mind is probably movie popcorn, maybe caramel popcorn, popcorn balls, maybe even popcorn garlands on your tree at Christmas time.

You probably aren't thinking about the popcorn that lives on ceilings constructed in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately we had that kind of popcorn. It was on the bedroom ceilings upstairs and on the basement ceiling. The bedrooms were scraped, mudded, textured, and painted in one evening through an amazing service project done by some very wonderful people from church just before Aaron and Owen came to us. (That is a whole other post on it's own.) But the basement remained until recently.


After 30 years of living on the ceiling, the popcorn needed to come down. How do you clean it? If there's some sort of explosion or spatter what do you do? You can't clean it. And the spiders LOVE it. It's nasty ugly stuff sprayed up there by lazy construction workers that didn't want to spend the time doing it the right way.

So I've been looking forward to my day off for over a month. And let me tell you it was fabulous. Six whole hours of relaxation--facial, color, cut--plus lunch, magazines, beverages, and nice people treating me like a queen. It was great. All for the rock bottom price of $108 plus parking. I am definitely going again as soon as I can talk Mike into watching the boys alone all day again. ( = I must say he loves me a little bit more after my escape.

Here's the before and after hair shots.

We took out all the highlights. We went permanent due to my addiction to chlorine. And then we added a bunch of layers. It will look different if I blow it straight and round brush it. This was kind of a let my curls go funky look. We had a very good time. ( = I must say after day 2, I'm liking it. It has that great wash and wear ability.

I am loving the color!

I stayed up late making sugar cookies last night for our little decorating activity at play group. I have a box of 100+ cookies cutters and no shamrocks or clovers or even top hats. So we welcomed in Easter a little early with bunnies, butterflies, tulips and daisies. A few of the sweet little girls were confused about no shamrock cookies, but when I told them about the bunnies, butterflies, flowers and PINK FROSTING!! all was better. The boys cookies never even got sprinkles on them, they ate them up too fast. ( =

I have to share this recipe for sugar cookies, it was the best I have ever eaten or made ever. As good or better than any store bought cookie--it rivals those pink frosting ones, seriously. I got it out of an Amish cookbook my sister-in-law, Emily got for me. The ladies in the Miller family all pitched in recipes for a cookbook fundraiser to help thier sick father/father-in-law. Anyway here it is:

Amish Sugar Cookies (I added the Amish part, it was just plain sugar cookies in the cook book.)

3 eggs
1 1/4 C oil
2 1/2 C sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
7 C flour

Combine eggs, oil and sugar; mix well. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Then add milk, vanilla and flour; mix well. Refridgerate for 3+ hours. Add flour as you roll it out so that dough isn't too sticky. Dough will rise a little and expand so roll them a little thinner than you want your cookies. Also don't place them too close together. Bake at 350 for 7 - 9 minutes. I don't like mine crunchy or brown at all, so I take them out a little earlier.

My Works For Me Wednesday tip is we used snack size zip-loc bags for the frosting. It was way less mess with the little ones. Plus there was no lick the knife temptation. It's also a cheap simple disposible way to have 10+ kids frosting cookies with many differnt colored frosting bags all at once. You must make sure the bags are sealed tight and just clip a tiny corner off so the frosting can come out. And beware of the male preschooler with the crazy strong hands who busts open his bag accidentally. (any one I know?) Here's some examples of our masterpieces:







If you want more Works for Me Wednesday Tips check out: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/

We are wearing our green today. I must like green because I had several options. I went with the green on green prints and of coarse my clover socks. A few weeks ago I optimistically painted my toenails green thinking that maybe, just maybe it would be warm enough and maybe dry enough for sandals, good thing I had the socks for back-up. (the bandage is from a chopping accident yesterday, making dinner can be dangerous.) The boys each have on their green shirts (perhaps I will try for a shot of them later--see below) and Mike found some green smiley face stickers for his work uniform.


There's a tradition in Mike's family that if you leave your shoes out the night before St. Patrick's Day then the leprechauns will leave you candy in your shoes. I had never heard of this one until he told me about it. It sounds suspiciously like just another attempt by the MIL to give out hard sugar before breakfast, but Mike assures me it's much better than her corned beef and cabbage.

It was easier to get the boys in bed last night with them anticipating the leprechauns were coming. Except Luke wanted to stay up and see them, since he wasn't quite sure what a leprechaun was. I of coarse assured him they would not come unless he was asleep. And then of coarse he was up at 1am looking in shoes for candy. Needless to say Aaron and Owen were missing some of theirs this morning. ( =

Tonight we are having meatloaf for dinner--one of the boys favorites, with green peas--another favorite. Maybe I'll put a little green food dye in the bath. I need to clean the tub anyway. I'll be up late baking sugar cookies to decorate at tomorrow's play group at the church. (I'm hoping none of the kids turn to their mom and say, "Shamrock cookies, that was SO yesterday!") What are you doing for St. Patrick's Day?

We woke-up this morning to snow. I'm not a fan of snow, but of all the snow, this is my favorite type. I love the big heavy flakes that might stick for a minute or two, but melt away fast and aren't going to trap you in your house. When they hit your car they are bigger than quarters. They're so big it looks like it's raining feathers. That's my kind of snow.

After we got the boys ready for church, they sat and watched it fall which saved me from keeping them clean and out of trouble until it was time to go.

The snow is quiet, but you can still hear the noise of my house as I filmed this from the front deck, with the door closed.

In primary today they asked what everyone thought of the snow. One boy blurted out, "I was hoping we wouldn't have to go to church!" (Last week we just had sacrament due to snow and ice.) His mom was there, she was so embarrassed. But really everyone probably had that thought when they woke-up. Gotta love the kids.

If you haven't checked out The Magic Quilt, you really should. This site represents exactly what I love about quilts and quilting. I wrote about a magic quilt of mine and it was featured today. To read the story click here.

Here's a picture of my magic quilt that a really nice lady named Dawn made for me many years ago. (Sorry for the partial shot, Luke was holding it up for me and photographing a moving target was a little tricky! There's another picture on the post that shows the border and binding.)

I'm not sure she knows how magic it is to me, she made it for me and never got to see me love it.

Have you ever had such a good day that there's really nothing that could go wrong that could ruin it for you? It's when it seems everything is just great no matter what. I've been trying to put my finger on what exactly it is that makes you feel this way so that I can live on cloud 9 all the time.


Perhaps I feel this way because the reality of Aaron and Owen's adoption is finally here. It means no more clearing vacations with social workers, I can hire whatever baby sitter I want, our last names will all be the same so the lady at the pharmacy won't look so confused when I pick up prescriptions, but I think mostly it's just that we will all get to be together forever no questions asked.


But then it's also that I actually won something in a giveaway! Yes I know, I never win anything. And this was a really great giveaway, so great that there were over 780 entries from all over the world. Seriously?! And I won! I love this blog. She makes the coolest things and has the greatest projects. Her blog is one inspiration after another. I just recieved my giveaway package yesterday evening. Mike brought it in with the mail.

How cool is that?! I won two Moda honey buns from V & Co. "Sweet" and "Swanky". Let me just tell you they are cuter in person than they are in the picture. Now I get to day dream about what I might use them for. I need to unroll them to get a better idea of the fabrics, but I just can't bring myself to do that yet. They are just too cute all bundled up with their tags and Moda ties on them. I have left them sitting out and I just smile everytime I look at them.

Well, I guess I would have to say that perhaps cloud 9 is a combination of being blessed and being lucky. And those are two different things to me. The boys are blessings from heaven, carefully guided to my home and the fabric is simply a lucky draw that made my day. I'm not sure I can rig my life to be on cloud 9 all the time, but it sure it nice to be here every once and a while.

I rarely post anything about the in's and out's of adopting through the state. As some of you know we are in the process of adopting Aaron and Owen through the state of Washington. Actually Aaron and Owen aren't their legal names. That's just what we call them and what we will name them when we finally adopt them.

Any adoption agency will tell you it is very risky to bring children into your home that are not legally free for adoption. "Legally Free For Adoption" means that the birth parent's parental rights have been relinquished (they willingly signed papers ending their parental rights) or terminated (the state held a trial and ended their parental rights). Bringing a child home who is not legally free for adoption means that there is a big possibility that the child will at some point go back and live with their birth parents or their legal parents. In fact the primary goal of the state is always to reunite children with their biological parents. Foster parents are licensed to take children into their homes for the state and care for them until they can return to their families or until they are legally free for adoption in which case they will be placed in an adoptive home.


The interesting part of Aaron and Owen's story is that they have been in our home for 18 months now, yet they have not at all been legally free for adoption. We knew we would adopt them. We accepted them, welcomed them into our family, had a baby shower, bought baby books for them, included them in our family in every way you would a new biological baby born to you, yet technically and legally they belonged to someone else. Are we crazy? Perhaps. But really we brought them home on faith. Faith and hope that someday they would be ours. The choice to bring them into our lives was based on our relationship with their extended family and the feelings we had in our hearts for them before we ever met them.

Well, the really big deal is that Aaron and Owen are now legally free for adoption! After 18 months with us, we are now beginning the adoption process. December 2, 2008, their birth mother signed papers relinquishing her rights. (a very brave and selfless choice on her part--I'm very proud of her) She will still have contact with them through an OCA (open contact agreement) we negotiated with the state that she agreed to and signed. On March 4th the birth father's rights were terminated by the state at a trial he failed to attend. (He's been MIA for a wuile.)

It has been quite an experience becoming foster parents, bringing home two baby boys 10 months apart in age, learning their personalities, history and needs, but mostly it has been a joy--an exhausting challenge, but truly a joy. They are doing so well, growing and learning so much. Each is a gift in his own way. We are so excited they will officially forever get to be part of our family! (And also very excited not to work with the state anymore!)

The only way we have been able pull through this uncertain process was through the support of family and friends who encoraged us, loved us, brought meals over when we were sick or in need, babysat for us, but mostly who just believed in us and what we were doing. Never underestimate how powerful little acts of love can be for an individual or a family.

We are planning a huge adoption celebration weekend as an "official" welcome to the family party for the boys and as a huge thank you to all our friends and family who have loved us through the journey. Not sure which weekend yet, we are waiting to hear from our new adoption social worker, but it will be quite a weekend!

When we first moved here we had out of control ivy growing in our front yard. There were totally out of control bushes all over the place. Mike spent hours and truck loads and trips to the compost center taking care of years of neglect. When you live in the rain forest, you have to stay on top of your yard or it will take over your house. It's gorgeous here always green that's why they call Seattle the Emerald City. It's a pretty amazing place.

Here's this week's chapter of NW culture. You may not get it, but this really happens. City park departments hire these guys to take care of the growth here. This is the last installment of my NW culture tribute. If I find anymore of these great spotlights, I'll be sure to let you know. I hope you have enjoyed them.



My mom flies in today for the weekend. It's Mike's birthday and we are taking off alone for 24 hours to celebrate!! Yahoo! We love you mom!

Ok, so I haven't posted in a while. It's pretty much because I have been having a little breakdown. I'll explain. You see I've been reading a new book. (try not to laugh those of you that know I read books not so very often.)


I have to say I really like this book. It's all about being healthy and taking care of yourself and being the best you inside and out. It's got great beauty tips, etc. I really like that it's all medically and clinically based and written by educated reputable people. (I mean Dr. Oz was on Oprah, he's got to be kind of smart.) So I'm reading along and I get to the personality test. I always like those. Ok. So here's what it said about me--"extroverted, stable and open-minded. example: Teacher--You like to learn new things and help others see the way." So that's good right? I felt pretty good about that. And it seems accurate since in my former life (B.C.) I was a full time math teacher. This is why I'm only a little freaking out.

I read on down to the other possible test results and I get to "extroverted, unstable, closed-minded Example: Blogger--You like to let the world know what you are thinking. There are rights and wrongs in the world, and people need to know. (These are often disruptive people.)" What? Bloggers are unstable and disruptive? I kind of consider myself a blogger. I mean I blog right? Am I unstable? I do forget things more than I used to, and every once and a while I snap for seemingly no reason. (really it's because I've heard the same question asked in a really annoying whiney voice 30+ times in the last 5 minutes--and it seems to be the same questions everyday) Am I Disruptive? Well, on Sunday Kami and I were whispering and cracking each other up during the lesson in RS. Hmm . . . but all the bloggers I know seem really nice. They leave nice comments that are positive and encouraging. Many are very talented and inspiring, others are SO funny, and all seem to have super cute kids and families.

So I have to conclude that I'm probably not unstable and disruptive since all the bloggers I know aren't like that. Right? I mean I guess it's pretty dumb to ask bloggers what they think about bloggers. But are there crazy unstable disruptive bloggers out there?