Brrrrrrr

Hey...I've found Facebook! Stop by and say hi. Because I don't spend enough time on the computer already. ;)

It's been a rough week here. The record cold snap really took its toll on Kiska. She's old for a llama at 21, and just didn't have the strength and body fat to stay insulated against the -35° temps for weeks on end...so I made a very tough decision and let her previous owner take her back to her farm, where she could be inside a heated building. I won't go into all the mixed emotions I have. Just know it's like giving up a part of myself, seeing her go.

Tyea and Yentna have dealt just fine with the insane cold, thank goodness, and it looks like it's finally warming up a little.


Yesterday I took the kids to see Marely and Me. Oh. My. Goodness. It's a wonderful movie, but take some tissues. Ginger was never naughty like Marely was, but at the end, as Marley aged, I saw Ginger all over again. She started sleeping downstairs when she couldn't make it up the staircase any more. She slowed way down on our walks. The fur on her face turned snow white. Needless to say, I cried and cried.

This week is going to be all about clearing out the craft room. It's become a dumping ground for all the stuff that's accumulated from the past year. It's time to purge! I need to at least be able to find the floor so we can start tearing out the carpet and get the hickory flooring installed. There will be some serious giveaways involved....

Lizzy in the Hizzy, Yo!

First off, Happy 45th Birthday to Paul! I love you, honey!

(I was laughing so hard taking this picture, that it's a little out of focus...)

Betcha didn't know my dawg could break dance. Check it. heehee OK, I'll stop. Seriously, whenever Lizzy sees a shadow move, she goes into hip-hop mode and does this crazy dance routine.

First she eyes up the shadow to get a feel for the rhythm.

Then she plants her head firmly on the floor.

Then she scratches furiously while spinning in a circle. Really, you'd need video to get the full effect, but she's afraid of the camera. Maybe I'll try to catch her with my phone.

It's entertaining, for sure, but it's gonna come to a screeching halt very soon. And this is why:

We're replacing all the carpet with laminate!!

I'm BEYOND excited to get this done. I hate, no, that's not a strong enough word, DETEST carpet. It never feels clean. It hold smells. I just can't stand it! So we got aged hickory for the living room and craft room and a gorgeous tile laminate that looks like limestone for the dining room and kitchen. My installer (Paul) isn't available for a couple of weeks. He's in pretty high demand at his "day job". ;) So next time he's home we're going to rip out this stinky old carpet in put in the nice shiny new laminate!

The llamas are doing great. Yentna has found her place in the herd as the #2 girl. Kiska is happy to be at the bottom of the list. She's such a sweetheart. There was some back and forth between Tyea and Yetti for awhile, but they've got it figured out now. Age and wisdom won out over sass and youth. ;)

I'll wrap up this recap with some very sad news. We had to put Ginger down this week. She was 11 (or so) and had a wonderful life with us for the past 9 years. She was by far the best dog I've ever had. Always a great friend. We miss you, Ginger.
So that's been my life over the past month or so. Kids are doing great in school. Sage was a cheerleader, and captain of her squad, for about 5 minutes before she decided it really wasn't for her.

Maggie's taking English riding lessons once a week. She looks like she was born to sit on a horse.

Sam switched schools, so he's no longer in the charter school. His reading and spelling are coming along. He's much more willing to pick up a book and read for fun. Now if we can just get him to pick up a pencil for fun. :)

Me, I'm doing the mom thing. Lots of picking up and dropping off and keeping schedules straight. It makes me happy. :)

The Circle of Life

Yesterday morning as I was putting on my boots to go feed the llamas, I saw sweet Salcha lying on her side, obviously in distress. She'd been having trouble with digesting hay recently, and had given us a few scares, but this time was different. I could see right away she was losing the fight to live. For the second time in just a few months, I had to make the heartwrenching decision to end the suffering of one of my precious animals. I hate this part of owning pets. There just isn't anything good about it. Part of me wonders if God sent Hazel kitty to us with her sweet, tiny babies to help ease some of the sadness that was coming. Each of the kids dealt with losing Salcha by cuddling the new kittens for awhile.

Salcha was a good llama. She was small, and had a lame back leg, so she didn't pack or go on many walks. But she had a wonderful disposition, the most beautiful dark chocolate eyes, and eyelashes to die for. I knew she'd always be the first one up in the morning, and took the longest to eat. Long after the other girls were full, she'd still be nibbling on her hay. I'll miss her.

Random Tuesday Morning

So I've had a few people email to ask if I'm still scrapbooking. Yup. I am. But it gets put on the back burner in spring to make time for my other passion, which is gardening. I'm telling you, raking is almost as good as sex to me....almost. There's something about working in the dirt that is wholly satisfying to me. It just puts me at peace with my world.





Not to mention the black hole in my time-space continuum, otherwise known as puppy training. It's no wonder I've felt like I'm just spinning my wheels lately. Every time I turn around I'm either taking Lizzy out or I'm on the floor playing ball with her. She's got this irresistable pull that I just can't seem to break away from. I mean, come on. Who could resist that sweet face?

(click on the picture for a full view of her wrath, I mean, smile)

I think Ginger sensed that I was growing weary of Lizzy's many bathroom breaks, and offered to take her off my hands this morning. Granted, it was 4:30 am, and it really was just a ploy to take her outside and play frisbee, but her heart was in the right place. Seriously, the two of them ran to the door and whined to go outside, and I thought "wow, she's really getting this training thing down!" And instead of walking Lizzy out on her leash, like I normally do, I just let Ginger keep an eye on her. They must have realized they were unsupervised, because instead of heading to the potty spot, they took off for the lawn, grabbed the frisbee, and proceeded to chase each other around like maniacs. Did I mention it was 4:30 am?

See what I mean? I started off talking about scrapbooking, and now I'm rambling on about the puppy.

The llamas are good. Yentna's training is coming along. Her instinct to follow on halter is amazing. She's really comfortable on trails, but is super skittish on roads around traffic. And when she decides she's scared, it's all I can do to keep hold of her lead rope. She's a BIG girl and very strong. When she hikes with one of the other llamas, though, she's completely at ease. We've had some issues with her trying to establish her place in the herd...a couple scuffles with the other girls. So far, I've been able to get between them and break up the fights. I've been told it's all normal behviour, and not to worry, that they'd get it straightened out eventually.

Which brings me to the topic of poop. Llama poop, to be specific. The compost I started last fall is turning into the richest, blackest soil I've ever seen! I'm so stoked to plant some flowers in it and see how they do. I'm thinking of bagging up the surplus poop to sell, if anyone's interested. Just drop me an email. It can be added right into the garden soil or flower beds, or steeped in water, like tea, to spray directly on plants. It works like a natural herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer, all in one. I've been spraying my seed starts with it and they're growing like crazy!

I joined an apron swap over at A Feathered Nest, and have about a million different designs I want to try. Can I fit them all into one apron? heehee The theme is summer. I have a couple of apron orders to do, so maybe I'll get back into the sewing groove here pretty soon. It's just so hard to be inside when the weather is nice. Maybe I can park my sewing machine in the back yard? ;)

PSA: Go check out Farmer Julie's blog. She's a potter and makes the sweetest little vases to sell on Etsy. I'm going to get one of the white ones, I just can't decide which one.

OK, how's that for random? Have a terrific week!

Bringing Yentna Home

Just as I expected, there was a lot of head tossing...
Height checking (Salcha loses this one every time)....
Gender inspecting...
And lip pursing. But all in all, the girls are really warming up to our newest family member. Yentna is so curious and friendly, it's hard not to love her. The girls all got extra treats, to smooth the transition and any ruffled feathers.
Salcha says "Ppthhhhh. He fed me first!"


I've been glued to the window for two days now, watching them interact with each other and establish the new pecking order. Expect lots of pictures of her in the near future!

Introducing...

Yentna! She's on the right, and her baby brother is on the left. We're adopting Yentna, and will pick her up the weekend. Isn't she gorgeous?! She has a very curious, friendly nature. She's turning 4 this Spring, so we'll have lots of wonderful years ahead with her. We intend to train her to pack, so she can come along with Tyea on hikes this summer. I've never trained a llama before, so it'll be an adventure for both of us! And the fact that she's named after an Alaskan river, just like Tyea, Salcha and Kiska, means she was meant to live with us. :)
Remember a few weeks ago when I posted the sneak of the new project I was working on? The black bookcases? Well, they're still black. heehee Thanks in part to my being sick for a week, going on my birthday vacation, and to little sidetrack projects, like finally painting some housenumbers. We've been in our house for 9 years now...think it's about time I put some up? ;) It's hard to see in the picture, but I used some crackle medium with red underneath the antique white. It's a cool, antique look.
Maggie and I had fun building some little nests yesterday. Mag went outside and gathered moss, pussy willows, and some leafy things, and we added Spanish moss and a tiny birdie. Cute. Maggie put hers in the teapot on a cool pewter plate I found in Iowa, and mine's under the cloche.
I finally found a use for the Wedgewood china plate I picked up at a thrift store! The antique silver creamer was a gift from my mother-in-law.
And another sidetracked project...a new shower curtain and window curtain in the bathroom. I found the red and white gingham valance at a thrift store, and just sewed a white sheet behind it, for an instant shower curtain. :)

So, as you can see, I've been pretty sidetracked lately. But totally in a good way. :)

Good Morning from The Girls!

The girls enjoyed the sunny morning yesterday, even though we had a dusting of fresh snow. Can I just say how much I enjoy these guys? It's so much fun to watch them from the window of the living room, and even more fun to be outside, working in their pen and watching them interact with each other. Their personalities are a riot. Kiska is every bit as sweet and loving as she looks. She's just a doll. She always waits to eat until the other two have their hay. She rarely gets into spitting matches over grain, and puts on the saddest little pouty face if she thinks one of the other girls is miffed at her.

Salcha is a happy-go-lucky girl and always has a smile when I walk up to the gate. She's a morning girl, like me...always the first one up and out of the hutch, looking for breakfast. I snapped this picture of her coming to the gate to greet me.

And Ty-Ty. Regal, snooty, gorgeous Ty-Ty. Every herd needs a leader, right? That's Tyea's job. And she's very good at it. She eats first. She gets her pick of the feeders. She leads the way on hikes. I love her attitude. She's one hard working gal!

Thanks for letting me gush about my cuties. I just love these girls!

Thing One

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

Just some random things today.

My GG (Paul's grandma) fell and broke her hip last week. Prayers for a speedy recovery for her. At 89, she's such a trooper. She actually walked around on it for a week before they finally diagnosed it last night in the ER. It was her third trip there in as many days, with excruciating pain, before they finally figured out what was wrong with her.

The sickies are finally leaving my house! Good riddance, I say.

Who else is ready for Spring? Can I get an Amen? I want to dig in the dirt, and plant seeds and watch them grow! It's actually been warm enough to work outside a little, and since I am finally feeling better, I spent some time yesterday mucking out the llama pen and hutch. There's the little matter of what to do with all the accumulating, well, matter. Manure. Poop, to be exact. For the first several months, I wheelbarrowed it out to our yard and spread it in the new flower beds I'm planning for this spring. The llamas obliged me by continuing to poop (aren't they sweet?) until the beds were filled to bursting with rich, fertile manure. But being the overachievers they are, they didn't stop there. No siree. They've pooped out enough of the "brown gold", as I like to call it, to fill in along the entire back perimeter of their enclosure. Even though I tried to convince them that I had quite enough poop, they wouldn't hear of it. Nope. In fact, I think they're planning on adding an addition to their pen, because I just can't imagine where they think I'm going to put all the stuff? Ahhh, the joys of owning large animals. :)

Random

Sage with "Ty-Ty" Tyea

I logged onto Bloglines this morning to find that almost every one of my 90-something subscriptions had new posts. It was like getting a stack of cards and letters from friends in the mail. :) I'm telling you, if you don't use Bloglines, you should! The convenience alone makes it worth taking a little time to set up, and as I find new blogs I like, I just add them to my list, so it's always fresh.

So that got me to thinking that the 4 happy souls who sub to my blog (Bloglines keeps you private, so I don't know who they are) probably would appreciate a "fresh" post now and then from me, since I've posted so scarcely lately.

It's gonna be random, I'm warning you. :)

We looking for another pack llama. Bandito and Tyea were the only two who packed, so now we need a companion for Ty-Ty to go on hikes with. It's so exciting to add another member to the herd! Wish us luck in finding a happy, healthy animal.

I culled my pants closet last night, after finally accepting the fact that I'll never be a size 6 again. The good thing? Sage can wear them now. Hard to believe I was that tiny just two short years ago.

I went thrifting yesterday and scored some totally fun thrifty goodness! Some gorgeous white ceramic canisters, 3 pairs of jeans-Abercrombie & Fitch, Lucky and Hurley, a green and white stoneware crock, a phonics set for Sam, 4 packs of math, time and money flashcards, and I picked up a glass plate and cup to make my own cake plate with. I'll post some pics later. I love, love, love to take a whole day and hit the thrift stores looking for "treasures".

On the scrappy front, I cleared out my "leftovers" bin and cleaned off my desk and am feeling very inspired to make something! I love that clean desk feeling. :)

Told ya it was gonna be random!

Have a great Friday. :)

Bandito

I'm so incredibly sad to have to write that Bandito has to be put down. I've grown so attached to him in the short five months he's lived with us. I've always had a soft spot for him, because he's just so thin and frail, but such a character. He's the friendliest of the four llamas, always ready to have his neck rubbed or get a scratch behind the ears. He's the easiest to halter, and he is a great leader on our hikes. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he's completely lost the use of his hind legs, and that's no way for a llama to live. He's been in our garage since Saturday, and has shown no improvement, so I had to make a very tough decision. Today will be our last day with him, and I plan to spend it feeding him all the grain he wants (his favorite thing in the world!) and scratching that silky soft fur behind his gigantic banana ears.

Holiday recap

Our Christmas and New Year's Eve was was so much fun! I had a friend take some pictures for our Christmas cards that turned out really cute. They should be hitting mailboxes any day now (late, as usual!)

Sam and his cheesy grin! heehee
Ginger has her cousin Sophie as a houseguest for a few weeks while my in-laws are in Scotland. The girls are getting along like BFF's. So cute!
Sage scored a snowboard for Christmas! Since we don't have any hills close to the house, Paul pulled her behind the snowmachine for a practice run. She's a natural!
We're going to try out Hatcher Pass this winter. Wish us luck! Poor girl has to teach herself how to use it, since none of us know bubkiss about snowboarding.
The girl llamas are doing wonderfully. Bandito, however, isn't handling winter so well. For the past week, he's had trouble getting up from the cush position, and yesterday he couldn't stand at all. He was getting hypothermic outside on the ground, so the kids and I got him onto a tarp (no easy feat) and pulled him on the snow into the garage, where he's been since then. The vet seems to think that getting his core temp back up will help him to get moving again. Poor guy is just cold to the bone.
I've been spending lots of time in the garage give him extra attention, food treats, and shoulder rubs and wrapping him in blankets warmed in the dryer. Keep him in your thoughts, please. If he can't walk by tomorrow, we need to make a hard decision.

I've made my annual list of goals (I don't like to call them "resolutions") to include the usual: work out more, create a financial budget, make weekly meal plans; and a few new ones: enroll the kids in a summer camp, find some new llama trails to hike, make a summer reading plan for Sam.

I can't remember if I've blogged about Sam, but last month he was tested for learning disabilities, and we found out he qualifies for help in both reading and writing. I've been concerned about his reading skills for the last two years, but chalked it up to the myth that boys are "slower learners" than girls at his age. And his writing skills were, in my opinion, ever further behind than his reading. He all but refused to even pick up a pencil at school. Unfortunately, I thought it was a behavior problem, and not a learning problem.

The testing gave me a ton of valuable information and insight into his strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing and math. And I learned just what qualifies as a "learning disability". The short version is, through testing, they look for a certain level of discrepancy between cognitive ability and actual performance. In other words, they measure his IQ, then measure his actual current level of abilities in those three areas, and if there's a large enough "gap", then it's labeled as a disability.

I learned he has "average intelligence". His IQ falls pretty much in the middle of the "normal" range. This was GOOD news. His performance in reading and writing, though, fall in the "low average" to "very low" range. He reads at an early first grade level (he's halfway through second grade now) and writes at a Kindergarten level, with a few writing skills falling in the pre-K level. Most of his math skills are in the "average" level.

They test for dozens of specific areas of ability, and Sam's scores were everywhere from pre-K to mid-eighth grade level. His strengths are: he has an amazing memory for detail, and when he hears a story read, his comprehension and re-telling abilities are 7th to 8th grade level. When he reads a story, though, comprehension falls to the Kindergarten level. Knowing this, we'll focus on giving him oral instruction rather than written, letting him take his spelling tests orally, things like that. I'm really excited about using these new techniques to help him!

So he has started going to the resource room twice a day, 4 days a week for reading and writing help. One of my main goals for this year is to focus on educating myself on dyslexia, and multi-sensory education methods so I can do everything in my power to help him improve his reading and writing skills.

What I learned from this? Follow my instincts and don't listen to myths or people who tell me what's "normal" when my gut tells me it's wrong. Then don't waste time worrying about time lost, just focus on moving forward and making progress. :)

So...that's going to be my theme for 2008: PROGRESS. Count the progress made. And be HAPPY for it!

Halloween

I'm a little late with my Halloween post. :) We carved pumpkins the night before...left to right: Sage's bat flying under the moon, Maggie's Bart the Barfing Pumpkin, and Sam's Grim Reaper.
Sage was an elf...or some sort of magical creature. She's really into reading fantasy books lately. And I'm now out of black eyeliner.
Yes, they're real, and they're fabulous! Her eyelashes, that is. Wow. She was a dead bride, but a very cute one.
I don't know how I managed to forget to take pictures of Sam in his mask, so this'll have to do. He was a zombie guy in a sugar-induced coma. ;)
One more of Sage. :)

We lucked out with perfect weather...a warm Chinook wind came through and melted the early snow, and made for a balmy night. We visited GG and trick or treated around the senior center.

It didn't occur to me until after Halloween that we could have dressed up the llamas and brought them along! But now the wheels are turning for Christmas....a llama-drawn sleigh? Antler-topped halters? Maybe a red nose for Bandito?

Tuesday morning...

I love how easy this mini book is! And cute. It's 4x6...perfect for a little brag book or a small theme album. I might make a modified version of it for Christmas cards this year. :) I want to wrap myself up in this Amy Butler paper. Yumm!!
Sometimes you just want a quickie. KISS...keep it simple, sister! I like this one of the fossil dig Sam's class went on last year.
And here's a few more pics from hiking with the llamas. Love this white pen!! It makes the best "doodles". :) I had fun with a little paint on this one (nevermind the black smudge...that's a rub-on gone wrong).
So that's what I've been up to lately. I'm in the process of gutting and reorganizing my craft room so I can get back to sewing for an upcoming craft fair, so no new projects from me for awhile. I'll post about the craft fair when I have the specifics.

Have a great day!

Happy Sunday

Hey! I thought I'd share a picture from hiking Hatcher Pass with two of the llamas on our anniversary. I think this just might end up on our Chirstmas card this year!

Paul's been gone all week on a moose/caribou hunt, so I've been doing some scrapping. When he gets back with the camera, I'll share them here. And I've got a new haircolor for fall! Oooh, I love how it turned out. It's chocolate, mahogany with a tiny splash of honey right in the front.

OK, the llamas are staring at me from the gate...I think they're waiting for breakfast!

Oh, before I forget, there is still room available in the Amy Butler album class on Saturday...call Heather at 376-4430 to sign up!

Time to feed the llamas. :)

I ♥ Alaska Flipbook

Last night's class was so much fun! We shared some funny stories about embarrassing things our kids have said....whoowee, there were some doozies! This is the book we made...it's 12" tall x 6" wide. What a fun size to work with!

My next class is Saturday, September 22nd (I think the time is 1:00) and we're making the Amy Butler fabric album. The "twist" is the pages are all transparencies! It was really hard to photograph, but hopefully this will give an idea of how cute it is in person. :) I love how it turned out! And all the journaling is done with a white pen....so cool on the transparent pages! The pen is included in your class kit. :) There are a few spots left for the class, so call Heather if you'd like to sign up.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! We took the kids and two llamas and hiked Hatcher Pass...so much fun!

Jenn, I don't really post my work anywhere consistently. There are links on the sidebar to a couple of my galleries. I need to get better about keeping them updated, though. :) Thanks for asking!

OK, I've gotta go feed my wet llamas. I'm grateful for the rain...we certainly needed some...but man, are they stinky critters when they're soaking wet!