TAH FREAKING DAH......

....and just a shade under a decade too! Here's some photographic evidence of our existence.

Bedtime family photo!
Bella asks to wear the matching jammies everynight.

I am becoming a master of cheap, fun free things to do with the kids. There is this little cafe up the street, by the library, that did cookie cutting, decorating, playing etc. for Valentines. The kids ate it up, literally. What a great idea for the cafe to get traffic?! Anyway, we had fun. I still maintian that Harry may be a chef someday, so it was great practice for him.

Lumberjack Kent. We gotta hand it to him, there is no limit to his facial hair. He is really grateful I don't care one way or the tother. You're handsome no matter what!

I have no idea where the Gardner fixation on cold cereal came from, but apparently it's genetic. Dang. This is second breakfast for the kids, they just want to be like daddy.

Feeding my spirit...

I was dancing in irritating circles around my 'it's Saturday, I'm tired' husband, singing the YW camp song "Rise and Shine and Give God His Glory, Glory."

Kent: Why are you so happy?

Me: (No more circling, short pause, random introspection) Because I fed my soul today by planting the garden. Now stop being Eeyore incarnate and play outside with us.

Now, I realize that the chances of my raised box garden actually producing the organic, beautiful produce I have perhaps un-realistically requested of it are slim to none. But I dug in dirt, I laughed with Bella, I bought the seeds with Harry's input. I fed my soul. There are somethings that just bypass my body, and mind and speak right to soul that Heavenly Father put there. The rest of the list is composed of small things, going to the farm to get fresh raw milk from the gorgeous jersey cows and alpine goats, reading a book that takes my breath away with splendid wordplay and alliteration, healing my kidlets boo-boos with alternative and more effective therapies, and seeing a vista I have never beheld before, and writing. I would add saving money at the grocery store, because seriously this gives me a high of sorts, however I think this is more hereditary, and not really spirit-food in the literal sense. Still great though.

A couple things I want to learn how to do this year:

Kayak
Make my own soap
(I would love to add fishing to the list....I have always wanted to learn how to fly fish....but let's be realistic.)

I am interested.....what speaks to y'alls spirits? or what is it you want to learn?

P.S. I am sorry for my random diatribes....however, I need to find 13.5 second to figure out how to put a picture on this freaking computer.....oh and find my camera.

Poetry...

And yes, those are all of the Latter-day prophets on his back.

I love poetry. I have always been drawn to it as is evidenced by my poem I wrote for my mom when I was 4 about my love for her and kites and drawing paralells between the two (Good grief!)

As I get older though I am finding poetry in so many different places: in scent, in nature, in people, in a perfectly peaceful moment. But I enjoyed a real doozey the other day. As I was applying for health insurance, my daughter threw up ALL (and I mean ALL) over the lady, the desk, the documents and for good measure the book she was holding and her brother. Now that is poetry people, that is poetry! Everyone was super nice, humanity rose to the occasion, the janitor (BLESS HIS HEART) was so sweet and just totally worried about her and the hispanics in the waiting room were all swarming and asking "is she OK, is she OK?" (how sweet is that?). Anyway, I left what remained of my pride there on the floor (so any questions, comments and concerns, there is no pride left here, feel free to ask!) and went and got a slurpee. The up side is that she took a nap. I am a nicer person when BOTH of my children sleep at the same time, this is also poetic.

Anyway, I have been in a blogging funk. My inner blog voice is hoarse and maybe I have run out of things to say.

Here are some of my favorite recent poetry:

"Gratitude is the highest form of intelligence."
-John (the man) Flint

"Live your life so that those who know you, but don't know Him (Christ), will want to know Him, because they know you."

"Have I shown you my 'Charity never faileth' tatoo? It's totally compassionate!"
-Afton

What are your favorite quotes?

We're walking....

"We're walking, we're walking, we're walking......we're stopping."

I love walking. God gave me two legs and one car so you do the math. We walk or ride whenever we can. And bless Oregon's heart, the weather has totally cooperated recently. Anyway, when I walk along a street I have driven past 100's of times I notice things that I swear on a bible weren't there before. My favorite thing I saw today was a bumper sticker that said "As a former fetus I oppose abortion." This I like, ALOT. I'm not going to tatoo it or anything, but fabulous none-the-less. It never ceases to amaze me the things the people willingly and permanent affix to the cars, regardless of value. As an observor, I could probably tell you a little about everyone I see in those cars, if they hold the cell with the left or right, how laid back there seat is, if they are smoking, if they are yelling, if they have an OBAMA08 sign etc.

Plus the kids seem to fight less when we walk rather than ride in the car or "chariot". My dear Harry, captain of the obvious, screams and labels everything that goes by, especially noises. "The loud car go boom, boom."(this in reference to the low riding, high finned, bass boomer....how is that pretty?) "Wisten, train honk, honk." etc.

P.S. WE HAVE A COMPUTER!!! But I don't know how to download pictures yet, I will figure it out and get back to you. There are things that need to be documented, Grandma visits, parks, farms, lions and tigers and bears OH MY!

Light at the end of the tunnel....

Attention all people...

Due to rising fuel costs, war budgets, receding polar ice caps, high unemployment, no health insurance, budget cuts and high energy use, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter.