Coloring Contest

Tovah entered a coloring contest at Anchor Bank. She was very serious about it, she found her Strawberry Shortcake puzzle and made sure she used the right colors on every stripe (Ryan says its because she is exactly like her mother!) She went in and looked at the other entries and said that they didn't use the right colors. Last week they called to say she had won! They started her a savings account with $5 in it. She told everyone that I said she could go to college now since she has a college fund. She's excited to put more money in it and as long as she never discovers that money can come out of it she probably will have a nice little nest egg when she is ready to go to college- maybe it'll buy books her first semester.

Talking about college, I submitted my registration for Centralia College today. I had to tell them what I was planning on doing- I put down Track 1 Associate in Science which includes biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science. My plan is to take whatever is offered at 8 and 9 a.m. and 1 independent study course each term. I'd love to transfer to St. Martins when I'm done but not sure that they offer anything I'd want so I probably will end up at Evergreen. Pre-Med is still my inclination but Med School and the rest would be difficult (not impossible but...)

Count Your Blessings

I am blessed by mud- for it means that we have rain to make things grow and to enjoy the green that makes this truly the "Evergreen" State

I am blessed by mud tracked into the house- for it means my children are active and healthy and can be outside enjoying the day

I am blessed by picky eaters- for it means that my family has plenty to eat and has never had to wonder where their next meal is coming from.

I am blessed by laundry- for it means that our home is full and our lives are blessed with God's exceeding abundance

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings- name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings- name them one by one;

Count your blessings- see what God hath done;

Count your blessings- name them one by one;

Count your many blessings- see what God hath done.

~ Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Trip to Canada

This is my trip to Canada with Centralia First Christian Church. We went up for the Winter Retreat and we also got to hang around Olympic Village and downtown Vancouver. We were going to see an event but the tickets were too expensive (some were going for $1500!)

We went to an indoor water park. It was fun jumping off a five meter tall diving board!

These are some pictures of the trip:


The church we stayed at.

A picture of a medical clinic and pharmacy from the moving bus.

Rush being silly.

Pancake Tuesday

Ryan sent Rush out to the deep freeze to get sausage links for dinner tonight.

Rush: What's for dinner?

Ryan: It's Shrove Tuesday, we're having pancakes.

Rush: What?

Ryan: Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, last day before Lent... eat up all the fat and sugar and meat in the house?

Rush still looks blank.

Regardless of the reason, pancakes for dinner is always a hit (except with Isaac, he ate bacon and cold cereal). The adults put blueberries in theirs and the kids gagged while we ate them. I guess the kids need a bit more church history or culture or whatever- they have no clue about Mardi Gras, Lent, or why you would give up meat for 40 days or even for one day a week.

On the Olympics front: the commercials are pretty good and I've yet to see curling. Ryan and Rush watched the Men's Biathalon today. I really wished I had asked the kids to get me a pair of those red mittens while they were in Vancouver.

~erica

Enjoy!

Olympics- Knitting and otherwise

I realized it's been forever since I posted. The older boys are supposed to post each week as a school assignment. If they don't finish their school for the week they don't get XBox for the weekend (none of them get it). You do the math- the last time all 3 of them posted in a week (they can negotiate other related projects for blog posts) and figure out how long its been since the XBox has been turned on by someone other than Ryan.


Rush's last few posts are actually pages for his WA State History notebook that I've been copying as blog posts for him. He's supposed to do 3 a week since this is a first semester class and I think the semester break has come and gone. But as I polished up his last page Ryan told me to stop getting all Type A about it so I made him help Arin with his post about Christmas Eve. Then I had to walk Ryan through the whole process, Rush was busy and couldn't help him. I have an ongoing list of possible Blog topics on the bulletin board for them to choose from or they can come up with their own idea. We're still working out the kinks....


I've been working on Nate & Cheyney's wedding Storybook. It's ready for them to preview it, it took a lot less time than the procrastinating took. Now I have a deadline for a book for Grandma Hendrickson's 90th Birthday. The party is March 13. I need to be working on it this weekend.


Back to the Olympics. Having them in Vancouver is pretty cool. That's like, we're 4 hours away from Fame and Glory! I'm looking forward to seeing ice skating, curling, Apollo Ohno, bobsledding, hockey, and the freestyle stuff on snowboards. We'll also watch some ski jumping, the luge, the biathalon, and whatever else is on at the same time as stuff we want to see.


We haven't had cable for 14 years but the last couple of years we have toyed with the idea of getting it but never saw a good offer for the stations we want. Well, we got a great offer for DirectTV and it includes Fox Sports NW and MLB so Ryan can watch his beloved Mariners (they have to show me some love to get back in my good graces) and we could get it installed in time to watch the Olympics. We sat down to watch the opening ceremony last night and the kids put themselves to be before the really cool stuff started.


Rush, Arin, and Isaac went to Winter Retreat in Vancouver this weekend. The group couldn't get tickets to any events but are going to be able to go to the Olympic Village and see the torch and stuff. They are going ice skating and playing Canadian 5-pin Bowling. They have enough money to buys t-shirts and pins but it'll be interesting to see what they actually buy as souvenirs.






The Yarn Harlot hosts a Knitting Olympics during the Winter Olympics. The basic rules are you have to cast on during the Opening Ceremony and be done by the time the torch is extinguished. It has to be a challenging project that you wouldn't normally be able to complete in 17 days. I really thought about participating but 1) I'd have to go buy yarn because the only thing in my stash is sock yarn and a pair of socks in 17 days wouldn't be a challenge and 2) I have a To Do list that looks like Santa's Naughty List and I can't drop it all to start a project that would consume every waking minute for 17 days. So, I'm going to work on completing my To Do List and getting Grandma's StoryBook done and working on our 2009 album. And maybe I'll go ahead and cast on that pair of socks and see how far I get on them too.

This is what my To Do List is looking like these days. I even managed to double book my laptop Monday night. I had to take it to Cub Scouts to make Blue & Gold invitations but I told Cheyney Ryan would have it when he came up to give Nathan his Kindle so they could preview the StoryBook.

~Erica

P.S. On the cable front- I'm not finding anything I want to watch. I've watched one episode of Bones, Red Green, and a few Whose Line Is It Anyways?

Christmas Eve

This is Christmas Eve of 2009 in the Engle house we are opening our Christmas Eve presents (AKA our PJs) here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:


Nate & Cheyney got us Halo MegaBlocks!

New jammies are a tradition.

Mt. St. Helens

This is Spiril Lake before the May 18 eruption

We went to Mt. St. Helens on September 10, 2008, to work on my Forestry Merit Badge. On May 18, 1980 Mt. St. Helens erupted, blowing away 1,300 feet of the summit. The eruption killed 57 people. Ten million trees were flattened in seconds. After almost 30 years the mountain is still recovering, however the first trees planted after the eruption are ready to be harvested.

The Toutle River above the Sediment Dam

Reforested areas of the mountain and the crater

The Burke Museum

The Burke Museum features changing exhibits for the general public to enjoy on subjects ranging from current research and recent discoveries in natural history to the finest traditional and contemporary cultural arts.

My favorite part was about all the dinosaurs, even though they say that the dinosaurs lived millions of years ago (I'm really interested about dinosaurs since I read "Jurassic Park").

When my mom was little she saw a mummy at the Burke Museum but its not on display now.

Notes from Erica: The Museum is on the University of Washington campus just off the main entrance on 45th. It is free the first Thursday of the month. You can sign up for an educator newsletter and see the classes and workshops they offer in the Natural History discipline. Last year they did some workshops for Boy Scouts to earn their Geology Merit Badge (of course we had just finished that the month before). Evolution is very prevalent but they have fabulous skeletons and exhibits. We saw special exhibits on Antarctica and gemstones as well as Native cultures of the Pacific Rim.

Primroses bring thoughts of Spring

Do flowers mean anything to you? Can you pinpoint a bouquet of a type of flower and remember what makes it special?

When we were dating Ryan sent bouquets of roses regularly.

The time John Lyons sent me 3 yellow roses just for being a friend stands out.

When we lived on Guam there was bouganvilla and hibiscus and plumeria all over the place but the one flower that stands out isn't even one that I saw- there was one road that if you drove it in the evening after a rain then you could smell the wild orchids. It was wonderful and fleeting and if we ever get back to Guam it will be the first place I go.

We came back to the States in the fall, it was cold and gray and dismal. When I went into labor with Taryn they told me to go walk. We discovered the tulip fields in Skagit Valley. Tulips and Taryn go hand in hand. We try to go to the fields each spring, usually to Mossyrock but we may try the Willamette Valley this year, I've heard its beautiful.

Taryn was diagnosed with leukemia in October, by January I was ready to go home and let it all be over. For the first time I really noticed primroses when they appeared in the stores. I bought some and enjoyed them but 2 winters later after she had died the appearance of primroses reminded me that there is still Hope and Spring is coming. Each winter I've bought a pot or two or three to remind me. Last winter they appeared the week that we lost Ahvri, God wanted to make sure I knew that it's okay, there is still hope in this world, and better things are coming.

Yesterday was beautiful, I went out and poked around in the flower beds, The daffodils have buds, the snowdrops are up, and my primroses are starting to bloom. I've never had much luck growing tulips but every primrose I've ever bought gets planted in the flower beds. One of these days the entire yard is going to be covered in red and yellow and purple blooms. Oh, and I have one very special double primrose that was a gift after Taryn died.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. John 14:1-3

~erica

Aberdeen Museum of History

We've been to Aberdeen countless times and had no idea this gem of a museum even existed. It was $5 for the whole family. It's on 3rd Street close to the high school in the old Armory building.

The Aberdeen Museum of History uses period furnishings from the town's pioneer days. It has photographs, as well as antique fire-fighting equipment, an old Model-T, and an exhibit about logging in the Aberdeen area. It also tells about the fire that happened in 1903, and how they fought it. My favorite part was learning about an old telegraph machine.

Tokeland Hotel and Washaway Beach

We went out to the beach to see if we could see the ship that had been uncovered by recent storms out at Washaway Beach- on the coast just north of Tokeland and just south of Grayland. We couldn't find the ship but we drove through Tokeland and saw the Tokeland Hotel.

The present building took part of its original shape in 1885 as the home of William S. Kindred and the daughter of the homesteader, Elizabeth Brown. In 1889, the Kindreds expanded their farmhouse and opened the Kindred Inn. Two steamers, Shamrock and Reliable, made trips from South Bend to Tokeland. Mr. Kindred used to meet the boats with a big, horse-drawn tally ho. It was during this time that Tokeland gained a reputation as a fine beach resort, attracting guests from as far away as Idaho and southern California.

MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge

This is something called MagiQuest, it is at Great Wolf Lodge, it's really FUN!
You get to choose a wand. There are different kinds of wands to choose from.
You also get a little booklet that tells you what to do and where to go. Here are some pictures from MagiQuest:

The Lady in the Wall gives you your Portal Rune

After you find all the Runes you get to fight the dragon

You can reactivate your wands to play for another 4 days at any time. Mom says next time the weather is really icky and we have Cabin Fever she'll take us up and activate our wands and we can run around all day while she sits by the fireplace and knits and sips Starbucks.

Museum of History and Industry

MOHAI traces the 150-year history of Seattle with compelling artifacts, images, films and oral histories. There are exhibits about the salmon industry, the maritime industry, Boeing development, and about the fire in Seattle on June 6, 1889. There are lots of hands-on exhibits for young children. My favorite part was the exhibit about the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which happened in Seattle in June-October of 1909.

Tovah and Jonah packed salmon into tins- they wouldn't have made the cannery any money at the speed they worked.

Old labels are so cool.

Figureheads off of shipwrecked vessels. They were believed to protect the boat, Hmmm...

MOHAI is free the first Thursday of each month. According to their website they are moving to Lake Union Park into the old Naval Reserve building. They will be just down the hill from the Seattle Center.