Seattle Spring Break

long time no see

It has been a long time since the Dodyrollers have had time to blog about life. Our life gets busier and busier and it seems to go faster and faster. Our kids are growing up so fast I can't keep up.
This spring my newest nephew (21 year old Brad) came to visit for a week after he completed Cosmetology school. We had a great time and indulged a little too much whilst he was here.
Gramma Judy came for spring break and we went to Seattle for 5 days. The weather was great and we walked around everyday and found some fun stuff to do.
Ayumi has moved back to Japan and is living with her parents for a few months before she will return to Portland to go to school. She will be living with another family for a while. We have been preparing for my niece to come and live with us for a while. She is coming in June. She has had some trouble in the past and hopefully Portland will provide her some great opportunities to move forward in her life. She will have our family to keep her entertained. Carson and Sam are really excited for her to come. She will take Ayumi's bedroom which Carson has temporarily "taken over".
Plans are in motion for kid camps for the summer. They are gonna have fun!
We are looking forward to Grampa Dody's 80th Birthday party this summer. Sharon's family is coming from all over to celebrate!

Kindergarten Valentines

I love Valentine's Day. Not for the candy and flowers, but for the excitement of passing out valentines at school. This year, Sam finished his Valentines way ahead of schedule. They painted watercolor paper and then cut out hearts. So cute. I invited myself to the Valentine's Day Party in his class and watched the kids reading their cute little cards. Carson is an old pro at V Day, but it was new and exciting for Sam..... This is Sam and his friend, Cady. They are buds.

Temaki Party

The kids decorated the table and made everyone origami! We had temaki and soba. The Dodys, The Nickles, and The Kleins + Ayumi.

Temaki starts with a small sheet of nori. A scoop of sushi rice is added and then you add your favorite fillings (neta). We use carrots, cucumber, daikon radish, pickled daikon, avocado, enoki mushrooms, radish sprouts, sashimi salmon, tuna, and tofu. Then roll it up into a small burrito-like roll. Yum.

I am also getting good at soba and inari.

If you want to come to a Temaki Party.....Let me know. It is now my favorite dinner party to host.

PS. The last photo of the temaki roll was stolen from some web site since we didn't actually take pictures of ours.

New Year's Wishes

I am a little late on the New Years Resolutions and wishes gig, but life is busy with all 5 of us.

Some of my plans for 2011:

Less screen time (should be easy since Carson is always wanting the one computer in the house). I don't need to check my email 17 times per day.

Read at least 2 books per month.

Dinners with friends at least once per week.

Give up cheese. 17 days into January and I am not really noticing that I have given up cheese. Haven't had a craving for pizza yet though.

Listen more. Talk less.


Which one do you think will be the hardest for me?

Crazy Christmas!

I have no words, really.

the not-so-slumber party

7 girls. lot's of screaming. silly talk.

So it came from a Parking Lot........

We had big plans to go cut down the tree but then it rained a gazillion gallons of rain and we were certain that the farm would be a muddy mess.....So I sent them on to the next best thing. A tree from a parking lot. The tree is huge and lovely and smells like the forest. Gramma Judy helped us decorate it and Ayumi got her own ornament to hang. We can't wait for the Everharts. It is gonna be a packed house.

Fancy Nancies

I am so glad this Mother Daughter group is working out. Love these families.

Sam and Elin

We went to Maggie and Melissa's for dinner the other night and someone caught these two playing ball together. Way cute.

Cirque de Symphonie....

Wow. Two near naked men covered in gold tinted paint do amazing body contortion and freakish acts of strength and balance while the symphony plays Christmas music. Amazing. The juggler, the hoop lady, people flying around attached to huge fabric trapezes, the opera singing, violin playing, trapeze artist. How will Sam ever top his first symphony performance? We got to take Ayumi and the kids to the fancy Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium. Later, dinner and a walk through the Recently-Appointed infamous Pioneer Square giant Christmas Tree. All this and no rain!

kids eye view.

I downloaded the photos and this is what I got. Apparently, Manu and Sam took pictures one night when they were having dinner at our house. I love it.

Thanksgiving at Gma and Gpas!

We celebrated Thanksgiving Pacific Northwest style. We don't eat turkey. We eat Salmon. After dinner we had a rockin game of Apples to Apples Jr. We saved our Tofurkey and green bean casserole for tonight!

Off for a week

The kids are off for a week! It is so cold in Portland right now and I just want to cuddle up and drink Peppermint Tea! I bet the kids have different ideas. Roller Skating, Swimming, games, books, arts and crafts. We are going to be busy. I hope we can fit in some time for eating Thanksgiving treats. Maybe Mama Share will make her Chex Mix this week. Uh oh. They just woke up.

RIP Boss Hen

We will miss your waddle.

coop update again

Paul came today and got the coop spruced up. He added the wire enclosures and door. He will come back sometime to do the run. Hopefully soon if he wants to be paid. They chickens are in the coop tonight and they seem to be quite pleased with it. Two are on roosts at last check. Note the Rooster weather vane on the roof. The two galvanized tubs are nearly filled with dirt and are in need of some bamboo. Tomorrow I am going to make the kids go to Home Depot and buy some gravel.

Birthday Party for Ayumi

We were going to have a sushi party for Ayumi and her friends, but then decided to do it American style. Taco bar. Ayumi had 4 friends (other interns) come to the party and we had some neighbors and friends come. Seemed like everyone had fun, but the Japanese girls sat at one end of the dining room table and talked quietly, while all the Americans sat at the other end being loud. HMMMM? She seemed happy with the party and the fuss made over her. Next weekend we will go to Mt. St. Helens to look at mushrooms. Probably won't pick any unless we see chanterelle mushrooms, but I think those were out a couple of weeks ago. Ayumi has never been to MSH so I think it will be fun. I doubt if she will go through Ape Caves (lava tubes). Here is a link to last years mushroom sightings at MSH http://dodyroll.blogspot.com/2009/10/mushrooms-at-mt-st-helens.html

ADDENDUM: Mama Share did all the prep and work for the party while carson and I went hiking with our mother daughter group. I can take credit for nothing but the huge pitcher of Margharitas. Sharon made the first cake on Friday night and it was a bust. I made the second cake on Friday late night and it was flat as a pancake and we pulled a lemon/raspberry cake together Saturday morn and afternoon. Whew!

Glad we didn't name her Grace.

Ever since Carson saw 5 of her friends swim the length of a pool she has been dedicated to learning too. We started swimming lessons 2 days a week and she is now able to do some front swimming. She is extremely pleased with herself! Her arms and legs are so long that they sometimes can get away from her, but she is definitely improving. She couldn't even doggy paddle three weeks ago. Here is her with her swim teacher, Mr. Will. Mr. Will comes to swim lessons in his wheelchair and crab crawls from the deck to the pool since he has some sort of paralysis/deformity in his legs. Carson and Sam admire him and work extra hard because they know he has overcome many obstacles in his life.

geodome house

GEODOME NANNY HOUSE

Our family has been in Oregon for three years now and I am starting to feel at home. We had such a wonderful community of friends in Denver that after we moved I was terribly homesick. I missed having people in and out of our home. I missed sharing my family with good people. Sharon assured me that Portland is full of wonderful and amazing people. I finally feel like we are settling in and finding our peeps. We are sharing dinners with neighbors and friends, trading kids for time off, and watching our new friends lives unfold with new and exciting adventures.
Our neighbors, Melissa and Maggie, are so happy with their new little joy, Elin. They radiate love and gratitude for her. Carson is smitten with her and is excited that someday she will probably be the babysitter.
Our friends Rosa and Jose (Manu's parents) are undergoing a new adventure as well. They are building a GeoDome in their back yard (think burning man) for their nanny to live in. Our friendly contractor Paul has helped them run electric to the Dome so she can have light and heat. I am skeptical of moving into a Tyvek dome home right before rainy season, but they are having fun. What do you get someone for a Dome warming gift?
Ayumi has moved in and that has introduced us to a whole new group of families who host interns on a regular basis. There are many families I am excited to spend some time with and get to know. I like people who open their homes up to strangers and share space and cultures. I want to be that kind of person. I want my kids to grow up around all kinds of people from all backgrounds and realize that we are all here seeking love and happiness in our lives.

Impulse buy of the year

While I wait and wait and wait for Pauly Walnuts to get over here and put the roof on the coop, I plan and plan for my backyard. So today, after much research into the best prices around on 100 gallon galvanized tubs (by my neighbor, Melissa), I made the 20 mile trek to Gresham to the feed/country store. And then.......I came home with these. I don't know what you think, but I am sure this is my best and one of my pricey-est impulse buys (not including the trailer that rotted and was given away on Craigslist or my antique Catholic candle alter that I had to have). Anyway. I left with 190$ worth of galvanized metal to plant bamboo in and a 160$ pair of soft, fits perfect, hot cowboy boots. And I got some good conversation in the boot isles from an 85 year old man who is from Pueblo Colorado and used to tour with a rodeo. He shops in the womens section for boots because he has little feet so we tried every pair on together.

Ayumi arrives.

Ayumi has arrived to 26th Ave. She comes from a wonderful host family not far from us and I wonder if we can measure up. We went to pick her up from the family she has been with for the last 6 months and I felt like a heel. They were all so sad for this transition.
Carson and Sam are so excited to have her here. They are wild and showing off all weekend. I warned Ayumi that they will be back to their normal selves soon.
We got her a pumpkin and we all carved pumpkins last night. She is waiting to decide what to carve on hers. Sam hid all his pumpkins in the corner of the porch so no "animals" will get to them. Today we went to the pumpkin patch for more pumpkins and cornmazes and weird harvest-themed holidays.
We had dinner with the Klein's tonight and Ayumi was a good sport. She played along while the boys (Sam and Manu) were WILD! I say if you have a mattress on your living room floor you are inviting trouble, but call me crazy.
The week starts tomorrow and hopefully we will get back to normal. Or should I say "NORMAL".

Guest Room twice removed.

We are ready for our intern! Check out the great guest room. It is my favorite room in the house now. Welcome Ayumi! Too bad none of you can use it for the next six months!