February

I think about this blog way more often than I post to it. Here are some pics from February!

Here we are all sitting down for Valentine's day dinner.

YAY!! Leela was student of the month for February!

We're redoing the bathroom in the hall. The vinyl flooring was peeling up and the subfloor had water damage. After the bad experience with had with water damage in the kitchen wall we decided it was best to redo it all. So out came the toilet, the cabinet and all the ruined flooring. We decided to lay down tile which is something we've never tried before.

Tile before we finished the grout. I like this brown in the kitchen, but I've decided I don't like it in a windowless bathroom.

I LOOOOVE this green. It's called Rice Paddy, but I can only think about pistachio pudding.

Cooper loves to hang out with Daddy while he works.

We replaced the light fixture and we discovered more ways our house violates building code. That board behind the light is standing in for a fixture box because none can be installed because the sewer vent pipe is in the same location the wiring comes out of the wall. Weird.

Everything was going really well and then we punctured a pipe with a nail. Dave's dad drove up here to show us how to solder copper pipe. Awesome! See that outlet cover? In about two days I will have no idea where it is.

Putting up the bead board Wainscoting.


The wainscoting is finished! Now we'll put the toilet back in, build the cabinet (the other one was made of particle board and didn't stand up to being removed), hang up the mirror and the towel hooks. I'm thinking of using metal straps and a latches to make the stink cabinet look like a trunk.

It's almost done!!

Since October . . .

Here are some pics of things we've seen and done since October.





We found a couple of wet kittens under a bush in the front yard. They lived with us for a month before we found a no-kill shelter who would take them and find a home. Muta hissed, spit and hid the whole time they were here. Poor Muta.


Fashionable Leela.

Scarey Sammy!

Canned kitten haz expired.


Computer time is a family affair.


For Christmas, Sammy's cousin Ellie gave her a costume from "How to Train Your Dragon." It's so cute! She even sent a stuffed Toothless with it. Aunt Sarah must have spent a lot of time helping her make it. Sammy loves it. She added a pair of fairy wings and apparently that's a smile.


Christmas morning at Grandma's house.


Cousins playing on Christmas.

Potatoes!

We dug up a 10ft. row of potatoes today which yielded 16 lbs. Not bad! Not really great, either. I got 3 lbs per row foot last year. Honestly, for a pound of seed potatoes to turn into 16lbs. of food it's still pretty awesome.

Jetty Island

Fun little island a short ferry ride from Everett! The sea is very shallow here for miles so the water is nice and warm for wading and soaking in. The sand is clean, not very muddy, with a prolific amount of wildlife. We found clams, shrimp, we saw all kinds of birds, algae, seaweed, worms, crabs . . . The kids had a blast splashing, digging, chasing birds and Sammy helped Leela dress up like a mermaid with Seaweed. We found if you sand still long enough, you start to sink. Dave got up nearly to his knees before he chicken out. As you can see, we came at low tide. We'd like to come back at high tide when the swimming will be better.

Rutsic Bread

Damn you bread and your crusty, chewycarbs. It doesn't matter how much whole wheat flour I add to you. You will still mock me. So I will drown you in soup and in you I drown my sorrow.

Hidden Lake Hike

When we woke up this morning and looked out the window, we couldn't bare the thought of another grey, rainy day. So we found a hike on the other say of the pass where the weather was beautiful. Located above Lake Wenatchee is a little, quite lake called Hidden Lake. The walk is short at a 1/2 a mile with switchbacks and old growth cedars and pines. The kids were fascinated by all the glittery rocks and sand everywhere. Mica schist. The water was a gorgeous color and so clear.

Ebey's Landing Hike

We had a break of nice weather this summer, so we thought we'd make the very best of it and drive over to Camano Island and walk the Perego Lagoon trail at Ebey's Landing. SO glad we did. Lots too see, very sunny but not hot, spectacular views! 5 miles round trip.