The Mystery Flower

Way back in spring, during a week or so of lovely weather, I decided to take the frugal road to flowering my yard. I bought flower seeds in envelopes and planted them in seed beds. They grew, and I transplanted them into my front yard flower beds.
Here's the mystery: these were supposed to be Petunias! I bought two packets, one white and one pink. But they don't look like any Petunias I've ever seen. They're tall instead of sprawling. Their foliage isn't velvety like Petunias. The folliage almost looks like a geranium.
So, what is this flower? And why would it be in a Petunia seed packet?

The $5000 Smile...

Worth every penny! Now he just has to avoid all contact sports, because it would not make me happy if anything happened to these pearly whites...

Teamwork!

This is how two brothers read the same Harry Potter book at the same time.

They started reading it Sunday at the swim meet, and finished it today after practice. At first they were trading off, but then they realized they could just read it at the same time and no one would have to wait!

Tomorrow I'm sending the book to Nathan, who called and lamented that everyone at camp has it and he's the only one not reading it right now...

My hunky son...

Here is Dylan (really, it's him!) doing the butterfly at the Langley meet. I just got this picture last week while Dylan was away at Youth Action. I put that really cool quote on it (not mine, but I wish it was!) and framed it for his room. Dylan has worked so hard this season...actually since January. His times are getting way down, his turns are improving dramatically, and he's the man to beat in Div 5 in our region.

Dylan's goal for the season, set in January 2007: four golds.

Outlook for the regional championship: four golds.

He's my goal-setter and my go-getter.

Accidental Butter...

That is what we got when I poured the whipping cream into my KitchenAid mixer, added a little vanilla, and then let it whip on high while I went outside and dilly-dallied. Oops! The good news: we now have homemade sweet butter, which will be delicious on toast or pancakes. The bad news: we had no whipped cream on our blueberry pie last night. Poor us...

All is well at the Murphy household. Dylan and Sean are swimming frequently. They are tan and lean. And now Dylan, in addition to being tan and lean, is braceless, adding to the handsome factor. Yes, he's a hottie and he knows it.

We've been hearing from Nathan 2 or 3 times a week. He sounds upbeat about his summer job, not homesick at all! Last Saturday he spent his whole day riding around in the Safety Boat, and he told me he was thinking, "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this!" Too bad this is only a summer job, I can see Nathan doing this kind of job for quite a while.

We have the Abbotsford swim meet this weekend. Unfortunately the weather doesn't look terribly cooperative...it's supposed to rain, and it's an outdoor pool. But, we have the trailer! And we have hot chocolate! So we're good to go. Two weeks from now is the Regional Championships, and then two weeks after that is the Provincial Championships. The summer is flying by.

Our 4-H club has their first fair this weekend, and I can't tell you how relieved I am to have no part in the planning or attending of this fair. I just know that not being a 4-H leader next year will really take a huge load off of my stress factor. Did I tell you that since Dylan attended Youth Action, a 1-week leadership conference for 14 and 15 year olds, he has decided that he DOES want to do 4-H again next year? It might have something to do with a new love interest that he met there. I told Don that he should take the boys to the club meetings/training sessions, as I will get roped in to something as soon as I show my face.

Okay, I am off to start my day now that I am fully caffeinated and my guilt (from not updating this blog) is somewhat assuaged. Now it's your turn, Mom!

Love,
Cathi

4-H Member Camp

Somehow this spring I was unanimously elected to run the Langley 4-H District Members' Camp. I think my qualifications were that I had a child in the correct age category and I wasn't smart enough to say, "no."

We went to a lovely lodge on Stave Lake, about an hour north of where we live. It was really a beautiful site, and were we ever spoiled weather-wise. Just last week it was rainy and cold, and when we went up on Wednesday afternoon it was clear and 75 degrees. Aaaahhhhhh....

Two other leaders and I went up on Wednesday at four to unload a mountain of groceries and supplies for the camp and basically get it ready for the arrival of our 18 campers and two parents who were staying. They arrived at 7-ish, unpacked and set up their stuff in the two dorm rooms, and then we played some really fun ice-breaker games.

We ate a late snack (pizza) and then played some capture-the-flag type games on the huge grassy field in front of the lodge. We practiced some skits and then walked down to the campfire site, right on the edge of the lake. Did I mention it was a gorgeous site? After skits, we had smores, and then we went on a flashlight hike. When we got back to the lodge, it was 11:30, so we told everyone that they had 30 minutes to do as they wished, and then it was lights out. They were free to talk quietly among themselves, but not keep others from sleeping. We may as well have been speaking Bangladeshi. Finally, around 2:30, after numerous threats and pleading, they finally shut up and went to sleep.

The leaders got up around 6:30 the next a.m. to have lots of coffee and get ready for the day. Sean's grade 6 teacher, Mr. Thomson, arrived around 7:30 as he was going to join us for breakfast and then take the kids fishing. At 8:00 all of the adults took pots, pans, and wooden spoons, banging them through the dorm rooms, singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" at the top of our lungs, trying very hard to sound as bad as possible. The campers were downright incensed!

By 9:00 they were readying their fishing rods. Then they fished, without as much as a bite, until 11 or so. They had lunch, and then broke into two groups: one went canoeing and the others did their tie-dye shirts, then they switched. After that was all done, the whole group played this fantastic survival game with carnivores, herbivores, a hunter, disease, food, water...it's a complicated game but SO MUCH FUN. The kids loved it, and played for about an hour.

They had a quick snack, and then went swimming when the lifeguard arrived.

Which brings us to supper time. We ate spaghetti, caesar salad, and rolls for dinner. After dinner we did an ice cream activity where you put the ice cream ingredients inside a small coffee can, and then put the small coffee can inside a large coffee can. The space between the two cans is then packed with crushed ice and road salt. All lids are duct-taped securely, and then the cans are kicked and rolled back and forth between the members for 25 minutes or so. They loved this, as you can imagine!

We had planned another camp fire for the night-time, but the kids just migrated towards the tables in the living area and started playing board and card games. They were having such a great time that we just let them play. We tried lights out again at midnight, but those rotten children were still up until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday morning everyone got up and packed up their personal belongings, and then took them outside to the lawn area. They had a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, ham, and OJ, and then they started cleaning the lodge according to a checklist. Kids are NOT very good cleaners.

They all left around 10 a.m. and Sean and I stayed behind to mop floors and check everything. It took quite awhile, and I was pretty dismayed at the things the kids didn't do. But, oh well. We finally left at noon and arrived home to find two ecstatic girls and one relieved husband!

It was a lot of work, but the kids had a great time so of course it was worth it. Will I do it again? No! No! No! Please remind me of that next spring when they're looking for another coordinator : )

Mothers to be...

It's so lovely to see Patience and Jordyn being nurturing!

Victoria Holiday

Let me start by apologizing about how long it's been since I've updated my blog. My very good friend Heather told me by email yesterday that "it must be about time to harvest" from my last blog entry, Gardening with Girlies, from so very long ago!

Now, onto our lovely Victoria holiday, which was such a wonderful time for all of us (except, maybe, those who stayed behind to take care of my many children!). The good news is that apparently Don and I have learned to NOT come back from a relaxing vacation expecting a new baby : ).

I brought my camera to Victoria but neglected to bring the charger. So, when my camera battery died the first day we arrived, Heather took over all picture-taking duties.

We had lovely meals out at restaurants that are not appropriate for small children. We toured Buchart Gardens. We had high tea at the Ellis House. We walked around Victoria in beautiful weather. We enjoyed ferry rides and car rides. And we stayed in an incredible two-room suite that was truly fit for royalty. It's almost a shame we never used the kitchen there!

The best part was catching up with my best friend from high school about what our lives have brought in the past twenty+ years. We have so much in common...we have two sons with such grand aspirations for their lives. Her Nolan will someday be the president of the US, and my Nathan will someday be a first-round draft pick in the NHL. We've decided that those two HAVE to meet.

Don and I came home to a very happy brood of kids, and very tired grandma and grandpa. Thanks to everyone who made it possible for us to get away for a long weekend. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Gardening with Girlies...

We've been having beautiful weather lately, and it's supposed to continue for the foreseeable future! Yesterday the girls and I spent a lot of time outside weeding and planting. I don't have a "garden plot" anymore, as the old garden is on the side of the farm that was sold. So I decided to turn some of our perimeter gardens, currently full of shrubs, into little gardens. I have three varieties of winter squash, 2 of summer squash, lettuce, carrots, and beets all sprinkled into the otherwise unused or underused earth. The weeds are sprouting with a vengeance. I need to get my little garden scoot out there and pull everyday, just to keep on top of it.

"It's so great being a little kid!"

These were Patience's exact words when she saw their completed swing set! Don and Nathan spent many hours this weekend building it...usually an hour here, and hour there, and by this afternoon at 4 or so, the girls were all over it!

Jordyn loves to climb the ladder and go down the slide. I'm thinking this is going to give my poor mother some grey hairs when she's watching them (in two weeks!).

Fort Langley Parade

This morning we spent about 4 hours at the longest parade I've ever seen. The Langley Flipper Swim Club walked in this parade...next year I'm thinking we should ride a float, even if it costs a lot of money. We got to Fort Langley about 9:40 and walked at least a mile to our marshalling spot. Did I tell you Patience was with me? So, she walked or I carried her that mile. She's very heavy. And she doesn't hang on too very good.

We then got to wait about 90 minutes with the swim club members and their parents, who slowly but eventually lost their good sense of humor about waiting for the parade to start. The very very very good news is that directly behind our group of walkers was the cutest parade float you ever saw...it was the Teddy Bear Picnic float and it was designed to hold a couple of small children on it...it even had seat belts! The grandma and grandpa who drove the float were fresh out of small children, so they asked if Patience wanted to ride on it during the parade. She did great, mostly smiling and waving at the people, but occasionally making "funny faces" which got lots of laughs.

The parade itself was about another 3 or 4 miles. I was beat at the end of it. I could barely walk because my hips hurt so bad. But the bad news was that when we got to the end of the parade, we had to walk another mile or so to get to our car! We were one very tired group of people by the end!

Cloverdale Fair and Rodeo

I am so grateful it's Monday night, at the end of a three-day weekend, with the girls snug in their beds. I finally have a few minutes to post a picture-filled update.

Every year our 4-H club sets up and mans a club display at this 3-day fair. We started this year on Wednesday evening, when Sean, Dylan, and I took their educational displays and set them up for a competition. Sean's display was on how to make great compost; Dylan's was on the Hubble telescope. Lee, do you remember that mail message you sent us many months ago with those awesome Hubble photos? Well, that was in the inspiration behind this display.

For the competition, Sean's placed 3rd, earning him $15. Dylan's got 7th, which didn't come with any prize money, unfortunately.

On Sunday we spent a good part of our day at the fair staffing our booth. Sean worked in the morning, and then got invited over to another member's home for dinner and the Shrek 3 movie. Score! Dylan and Nathan worked the last shift of the evening. These photos are the boys at the booth.

Don had both girls all day Sunday and he was pretty tired when I got home!

Better....

Do you know what time the sun comes up in our neck of the woods nowadays? Well, I'm not sure, but I know it's BEFORE 5:30, because that's the time Jordyn opened her little eyes yesterday, saw that it was "morning," and started calling for us!
So last night we nailed up a blanket over their window, and that seemed to help. She woke up at 6:10, but I'm hoping to "train" her to wake up later than that so our poor babysitters don't die of exhaustion in two weeks.

The Great Nate Update

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nathan. It captures his easy-going personality, sunny smile, and three of his favorite hobbies/interests: taking a walk in the Christmas trees, his light sabre (you never know who you'll meet out there!) and his San Jose Sharks jersey.

If a professional photographer had wanted to capture Nathan's entire person, and studied Nathan for weeks in order to do that, he would have set up this exact shot. Okay, maybe he would have added Storm in the photo...

Look at all the money we saved not hiring a professional photographer! : )

Okay, more update news on the Nathan front: he IS going back to Quadra for a summer job. Last year he went for 6 weeks as a course cadet in the Shipwright program. This year he was offered a position in the Boat Shed, which means he just might get to put those shipwright skills to use. It wasn't his first choice for positions, but it's not a bad choice for him.

On Tuesday night Nathan was promoted to Petty Officer, which is a senior rank with many privledges. He can now "saunter" on the parade grounds, instead of "double-timing." He can go in the P.O. lounge and have free snacks/drinks. He can boss junior cadets around. And many others.

He has been driving A LOT. Sometimes for his own activities, but mostly to cart his younger brothers around! It has been so nice and convenient. Last night Don and I both had wine with our dinner because, even though Sean had to go somewhere that evening, we knew Nathan would be able to take him there!

School is going okay. Actually his grades have slipped a bit from his great "straight B's" report card of a month or so ago. One grade actually slipped lower than our basketball standard. As in, if any grades are below this line, you don't play any basketball until they're raised. Yesterday Nathan was supposed to have basketball practice after school, but came straight home instead. He was suprisingly positive and pleasant. I made a comment about how much I appreciated his attitude since I knew he was disappointed about not being at practice right now. And do you know what he said, "Well, I am disappointed, but I'm not surprised. It's not like you haven't had these standards for two years." Wow! What maturity!

It's a pleasure to parent him so much of the time. Like 99.5%.

Patience Funnies

Disclaimer: this will probably only be funny to those who are familiar with the Max & Ruby cartoon.
This morning I was getting ready to sew Sean's and Nathan's new emblems on their Sea Cadet uniforms. They both got promotions on Tuesday night, which was GREAT news. The flip side is that now I have to sew these annoying emblems on to their tunics and gun shirts in precise locations, etc.
Anyway, I had the sewing machine all out and turned on. I was pinning the emblems on when Patience came up and asked me what I was doing.
"I'm sewing these patches on for Nathan and Sean."
"For Bunny Scouts?"

Mother's Day 2007

I think I've finally gotten the hang of uploading pictures in reverse order so you can see them chronologically correct! We've had quite the whirlwind weekend, starting with a quick trip to the doctor's office Friday evening at 5:00 for three stitches in Patience's forehead. She fell while jumping on the trampoline and hit her head on the big steel frame. It was very sad but I still can't believe what a good girl she was while she was getting stitched up. She cried, but was very still. I was so proud of her.

Dylan was at a band trip since Thursday, so he missed that bit of excitement, and he just got home today at 1:00.

On Saturday a.m., Sean and I went to a swim meet while Nathan and Don went to a guided tour of Burns Bog. They both had a good time and said it was a very interesting tour. The girls stayed home with a babysitter and Waneta was on-hand in case Stephanie needed her. Teamwork!

After the swim meet, Don and Sean worked with Grandpa on the west side of the shop roof. Nathan went to cadets for a work bee and then to go with friends to Spiderman 3. Rave reviews about that movie...

Today we went to church and then came home and started preparing for our Mother's Day barbeque with the Richeys. They came over around 4:00 and we had fillet mignon, asparagus, Caesar salad, garlic bread, sauteed mushrooms, beans Waikiki...I think that was it for the dinner. But for dessert we had delicious birthday cake made by Waneta, pudding (compliments of the Richey clan), and a fruit salad (also Waneta). Can you say stuffed? Of course we haven't learned to prepare less food or at least eat less of it! After dinner the men-folk played basketball (ask Nathan how he and Dylan did against Don and Dave) while the girls took a nice stroll out back with Jordyn in the backpack. We all felt a little better after the exercise.

Babadee brought Patience some Dora treasures for her birthday: a little doll, a coloring book with crayons, and the wonderful little patio table pictured above. Patience calls it her "table picnic."

It was a wonderful day, a wonderful weekend. And now a new week begins...

More later.

Happy Birthday, Patience!

Good morning! Today is Patience's third birthday! Three years ago, I was still laying in that hospital bed, going through a labor that I'm SOOOOO grateful I had an epidural for. Miss Patience emerged with the umbilical cord not only wrapped around her little neck three times, but also with a knot in it. The stuff some very sad births are made of. What a miracle, and what a blessing she has been to our family.

So why, on Patience's birthday, am I posting so many pictures of Jordyn? Well, yesterday she had her first "professional" haircut. Bangs only, but she sat very still. Also yesterday, I left the girlies out in the yard alone for what, 3 minutes? Only to find Miss Jojo had managed to climb into the sand table! Now, I got the sand table instead of a sand box explicitly so I wouldn't have little girls sitting in the sand, getting sand in their diaper, etc. Blech! What do they say about the best-laid plans? I suppose I should just used to the girls foiling my plans...

I feel like I've been liberated! Nathan's ability to drive and chauffeur is every bit as wonderful as I had imagined it would be. I got home from the pool at 9:22 last night with Dylan, and, in the olden days, I would have dropped him off and then gone to pick up Sean and Nate from cadets. And then gotten to the base and waited around until they were finally dismissed. And then not gotten home until 10. Last night, I got home, took out my contacts, caught up on some email, put Patience to bed, and was relaxing in my jammies when the van pulled in. Ahhhhhh. The sweet smell of independence (mine and Nathan's).

It's a beautiful day here, and we're expecting good weather for the forseable future. I've been hanging clothes out to dry on my new clothesline (thanks, Don Sr!), taking walks with the girls in the stroller, and trying to remember my sunscreen each day.

More later....

Tuesday, May 8

Here are some updates and recent pictures. First and foremost: Nathan passed his driving test yesterday and is now licensed to drive without a "supervisor." We celebrated yesterday by letting him drive himself to band practice. It was a very happy day for all of us! Tonight he'll drive Sean and himself to cadets, and then tomorrow he'll pick up his brothers from the pool in the a.m., drop everyone off at school, and then bring Dylan and himself home from school after their after-school activities! Did I mention we're excited?

The weather has turned beautiful again and we celebrated by taking a nice walk in the double stroller yesterday. My little bundle of kinetic activity, Jordyn, is able to sit back and relax for a long time in that stroller!

I'm sure there is more to write, and maybe I'll get back on later today with more tidbits, but for now I'm off to get the morning rolling.

Cheers!

May Day Pictures