Mid-week Challenge

Just finished the mid-week challenge! I'm loving this!

Up and Running Class! Lesson 1

I have enrolled in Jessica Sprague's online course called Up and Running with Photoshop Elements. It is so cool! We have video tutorials that guide us through the entire process of completing digital pages. Our first assignment was to go through the steps to complete the page, then save it for printing and posting on the web. I did it! Then, I made a matching page! Here they are (click on them to enlarge and read the journaling):

The pumpkin has landed

On Thursday, we made another trip up to Newberg to pick up the Grant/Cole pumpkin (designated with Duct tape . . . another use). We met Grandpa and Grandma out at the field and thankfully Mr. Brown was there with his fork lift to hoist the huge pumpkin into the back of our trailer. Grant was thrilled! Our pumpkin is a mere 331 pounds.

Saturday, we were working in the yard (moving plants, yanking things out, cutting things back . . . it looks so much nicer!!), when Mitch suggested that we finally get the pumpkin out of the trailer and onto the porch. It took some thinking, but my genius husband finally figured out that if we put the pumpkin on a board, placed on top of his old skateboard, we could roll it into place. Perfect!!

I'll post a picture of the scrapbooking page that I plan to do (uh, soon) when I do it. (How is that for vague?)

The final pumpkin weigh in!

Grandpa and Grandma took their pumpkins up to the festival in Aurora this weekend. They took 26th place for the pumpkin that weighed 781 pounds! The winning pumpkin was 1408 pounds! Can you imagine?!

Grandpa with his 781 pound pumpkin:


Grandma with the 508 1/2 pound pumpkin:


This is Grant from our visit a while back. He is sitting on the pumpkin that we get to take home this weekend!

WARNING!!: Don't look at these until you read yesterday's post!

Cole before (I just had to show you guys this picture!):



Cole after (in his prison blues):

Cutter's remorse

I cut Cole's hair last night. I asked Mitch how short to cut it and he said, "Like Grant's. Buzz it." So, I did. He looks adorable, no thanks to my buzz skills. Still, I am having massive cutter's remorse.

I cried at least 3 times during church today as people started noticing his hair. I felt like I had to apologize to everyone for doing it. I did have the foresight, though, to talk to a couple of people ahead of time and warn them about what they were about to see. Of course, then I started tearing up. I think people understood that this was a sensitive subject for me.

If you see my son, please don't say, "Oh! Why did you cut his hair?!" I promise I will cry. I don't know why I cut it.

I'll post pics soon.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged--and now, if you're reading this, you get to do it, too--you're tagged. Post it on your blog!

Two names you go by:
1. Kel
2. Sweet pea

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Jeans
2. socks

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. read
2. spend time with family

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Mitch - I always miss him!
2. a Dutch Bros. Annihilator

Two favorite pets you have had/have:
1. Grant
2. Cole

Two things you ate(or drank) today:
1. Milk
2. Blueberry waffles

Two people you last talked to:
1. Katie
2. Grant

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Grocery shopping
2. maybe going to Hobby Night at my church.

Two longest car rides:
1. Oregon to Houston
2. Houston to Florida

Two favorite holidays:
1. 4th of July
2. Christmas

Two favorite beverages:
1. Dr. Pepper
2. Mint Tea

Child locks

I know how much people hate child safety locks. People come over, try to get to the trash can under the kitchen sink and BAM! Denied. They are irritated. I don't blame them.

No, I do not put child locks on my cabinets to keep the kids out of the cleaning products. That is not a concern of mine since I use only non-toxic stuff. The reason I have locks on my cabinets is because little hands are CONSTANTLY pulling things out. I don't want trash all over my kitchen floor. I don't like seeing the hamburger grease jar sitting on the living room floor.

I am now to the point that I am SORELY tempted to put child locks on the cabinets in the office so that I don't see circa 1990 floppy disks strewn about. I already have locks on the game cabinets (for obvious reasons, I hope). I would LOVE to put one on the drawers and doors in the rest of the kitchen. I find that I have to wash the dishes BEFORE we use them as well as after! Of course, that would drive ME nuts, so . . .

One of these days, I will take ALL of the locks off and sit back and relax. Until then, I had better go pick up the baking utensils that are all over the kitchen floor.

Update on the Pumpkin

Today we went up to Newberg to visit Grandpa and Grandma and see how big the pumpkins have grown. John and Dee joined us on this great adventure and even walked through the mucky fields with us!



The top picture is "Hope", the pumpkin in the garden. Grandpa's sign said that she is 530 pounds. Pretty big, but not the biggest!




The second picture is one of the two big pumpkins in the field. Probably the biggest one. I wish I could remember how much Grandpa thought it weighed.




The third picture is the second biggest pumpkin in the field. Grandpa hopes that one of these two makes it into the top 25 in the competition in the Canby/Aurora area next Saturday.




The fourth picture is Cole standing on the pumpkin that we get to take home in a couple of weeks! It is only 350 pounds or so . . . no big deal.




The last picture is Grant walking around some of the other pumpkins. They are big and pretty, but not as nice as Grandpa's pumpkins!

I just remembered . . .

I totally forgot to tell you that we went to Salem Riverfest last Sunday night. Riverfest was a 2 day free outreach event held at Riverfront park in Salem. There were all kinds of activities to draw people in: skateboarding demonstrations, art exhibits, I think BMX stuff. There were activities for kids, dramas, music, etc. The main event was a HUGE concert on Sunday night featuring well known artists and an awesome speaker who made the gospel message so clear and so compelling. He was great. We arrived just in time to watch Big Daddy Weave and then stayed through the speaker. We left right before Avalon. Jars of Clay was supposed to come on right after Avalon. There were so many people there, but, wouldn't you know, Mitch ran into half-a-dozen friends. It was so much fun and such a great memory for Grant. If they do this again, we definitely plan to attend again and bring some friends to hear all about Jesus.