Phew!  This flu season has been the worst!  Since the New Year we have been taking turns being flat-on-our-back sick in this house.  I think I can officially say that we've all made it through the flu and so the worst must be behind us.  It sure makes me grateful for our overall health and the incredible ability of our bodies to heal.  And also good friends who patiently rearrange plans, send essential oils, suggest alleviating concoctions and bring elderberry syrup.  What a blessing to have them in my life!

It sure got me itching to finish some projects, too.  Why is it that I become most motivated when I can't possibly work on a project? =)  As soon as the dizziness left me and I felt safe to drive again, we hit the craft store, thrift store, and recycling center to restock and get to work on some projects.  I don't really have an instructible this week, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.

First, I've managed to keep up on our rabbits and continue to learn about them daily.  I've discovered we have a flighty one in the bunch and have already received many a nip from little Bobbin.  Trying to handle him more so that he becomes more used to us.  I found some wire mesh at the recycling center and have been attempting to secure our little porch for them to stretch their legs in a little.  Now all I need is a gate!

The Oregon Poultry Swap has chosen one of my paintings for their 2017 special edition print for this year!  I'm very honored and am looking forward to my tee shirt with the design on it!  I decided to sign up as a vendor for their Winter Swap here in Eugene and so a lot of my time has been put toward getting ready for that.  I found this awesome, weathered plank at the recycling center.  Gwen and I sawed it down into reasonable pieces and I've been painting barn art on them.  I've already received a great response and several pre-orders!

Then some more painting, crocheting, baking dipping tallow tapers, and practicing face painting for the meet.  It sounds like so much fun!  There's going to be a kids area, seed swap, scavenger hunt, raffle, demonstrations, decoration competitions...   If you happen to be in the area February 11th you should really look it up!

Fynn's 15 Months (Already!?)

Didn't I just have my birthday party?  Hm, oh well I guess a lot has changed with me (Fynn) lately!

1.  I walk pretty great!  And sort of run, too!  It's my favorite thing to do!

2.  Summer was amazing!  So much to see and explore!

3. I love my family!  Immediate and extended!  I give pretty awesome bear hugs!

4.  I'm eating whatever Momma and Poppa are eating.  I've really developed a taste for soup, Lorenzo's salsa, wild cranberries and the ice cream that Amma and Appa gave me!

5.  I don't talk a lot, but I do love my sound effects!  I regularly say "Boom," "Crash," Rawr," "Vroom," and a variety of animal noises!

6. My favorite toys are trucks, trains and balls

7. I LOVE Sunday School!  It's my favorite part of the week!

8.  I don't like to sleep.  I might miss something.

Gotta go for now!  There's exploring to be done!  I'll be a year and a half soon enough and give you another update!

One Year Old!

I'm a whole year old!  My birthday was on the first, but we celebrated on Saturday because we had some other stuff going on.  Poppa told the mine he wouldn't work so he could celebrate with us!  Some of my friends came over for my Puppy Party.  I sure wish I could have had everyone over, it was so much fun!  This is what it looked like.

So here's what's new with me:

I've taken a few steps, but am pretty shaky still.  I get around great with crawling!

I love to toss ball back and forth with Momma, play with trucks, play the piano and guitar, take things in and out of containers, and love to ride on my rocking horse, Copper.

I talk a lot, but my most recognizable words are Mama, Dada, cat, dog, fish, and chicken.

I want to eat whatever Momma and Poppa are, and enjoy spitting my food out as much as I do tasting it!

Most of all I love being outside!  I cry whenever I have to go in.  The only bad part is the mosquitoes.  I'm building up a strong tolerance.

 P.S. here's my birthday present:

Nine Months

It's Fynn again, back for his quarterly update as I'm now NINE MONTHS OLD!!!

Last month began a lot of changes for me.  So I mentioned before that I hate riding in the car.  Well what I couldn't get across to Momma and Poppa was that my long legs were all scrunched up against the back of the seat!  The doctor told Momma that I am now big enough for a forward facing car seat, and now the car rides are almost fun!  I sit and can see out the window and kick my free legs the whole way!  So much more room!  I've always hated being restrained in any way.

I got all four of my front teeth at the end of January and am working on a fifth right now.  I decided this means I shouldn't have to eat baby food anymore.  Whatever my folks are eating is what I want.  My favorite taste right now is when I get a nibble of cheese, but I'm more concerned about being able to feed myself than what it tastes like.  And I must touch my food before it goes in my mouth.

Also, I can now MOVE!  I crawl forward, backward, round and round.  I love to walk with a little help and can pull myself to a stand (I even stood without touching anything for 2 seconds yesterday!).  Look out critters!

Some of the things that make me giggle are Clancey being goofy, watching Poppa start the snow machine or Momma scrape the ice from our steps, and when tickeley snowflakes land on my face.  I get so excited when Poppa gets home from work and when it's warm enough to take a walk.   I also love watching the moose from my nursery window.

My average day still just consists of napping, eating,  playing, and helping take care of the animals with the occasional run into town to do errands.  I still like to help Momma cook, but am becoming more interested with staying on the ground so I can practice moving!  It's so exciting I don't even want to sleep at night.  One day, I'm going to catch those cats!

Some of my favorite toys right now are not toys: empty bottles, cooking utensils, boxes, etc.  But I do really like balls, blocks, and stuffed animals, too.  I really like my books, too.  Momma says my favorite is the one called "God Gave Us You," but I really like them all.  And more than anything I really love my family, my friends and my critters.


Well, just a couple more months now and I'll be back to tell you how my first birthday party went!

And to All a Goodnight

What fun starting Christmas traditions with our new baby!  Josh got Friday off and we packed up sweet little Fynn and drove to North Pole to see Santa at his home.  Since Fynn got croup on Wednesday night, car rides have been even more traumatic, but he held up like a trooper on the way there.  Santa Clause's house was all aflutter and smelling of the amazing fudge, sweets, cocoa and coffee brewing.












Santa was just getting ready to go check on the reindeer out back, so we walked over to the ice park to see this years sculptures and take Fynn down a slide or two.  We pulled him out in a little sled and Josh took him down the big ice slide and I took him in the ice spinning bowl.  He wasn't real thrilled, but tolerated our photographing.

Then we went to meet the big man himself after sampling their homemade fudge and sitting by the roaring fire.  I was worried that Fynn would be afraid (separation anxiety has begun to set in), but he was just cool as a cucumber!  He actually does seem to be more okay with guys with beards than anyone else, now that I think about it!  We read a couple of the letters to Santa posted about, saw the world’s largest Santa outside, and Josh and Fynn sat in Santa’s ice sleigh.

Christmas Eve was fun, too.  Mostly just hanging out around the house during the day, then a service at church that evening.  I kept Fynn back in the sound booth with Josh to avoid spreading any of his croupy germs.  The boys got their Christmas PJs and we hit the hay.

Then it was Christmas!   Josh got up early and got all the presents set up, a fire going and chai tea brewed (so nice!) and we began to go through all the generous gifts that were given.  Fynn made a haul with a bunch of books, a tractor, a train, some CAT trucks, hats, gloves, clothes, and a bookshelf for all his books!  The cats loved the boxes, the dog loved the wrapping paper rolls, and Fynn sure loved the paper!  Again, it’s often the free things…

Josh read Fynn The Story from his Bible book while Fynn intently listened.   Then we made some cinnamon rolls and watched A Christmas Carol while Fynn napped.  When he awoke, he had so much fun playing with all his new toys.  So fun to see the joy on his face!  We (I) decorated the gingerbread house I made with candy from our stockings and later that evening, had a 6 way video chat with my folks, brother, aunts, uncle, Grandpa, and cousins in Washington, North Dakota and South Dakota.  Slightly chaotic, but it made me appreciate technology just for the ability to see everyone, if nothing else.

Dinner was super simple, but yummy: ham, mashed potatoes, salad, sparkling pear and strawberry cider, and chocolate cream pie for desert.  Fynn played with some Cheerios and ate homemade yams and rice with pears for dessert.   Fynn was pretty wiped and fell asleep quickly after reading one of his new books.  And now I’m listening to Josh pick some carols on his guitar as I write.  What a fun season, but most importantly, what a reminder to be grateful for Jesus’ choice to come to give us hope!  A merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!