And so it goes--

Updated house pics!

It's raining Vyolettes

Well the rain rain rain came down down down--

It's a lovely Oregonian day today, very fitting for Earth Day to be replenished by much needed rain us here in Virginia. Bryan and I sat in the kitchen tonight with the door open to the deck, listening to the patter of rain and taking in the sweet earth smells as they rose up to meet us. We were instantly homesick for Oregon and I'm plotting on how to get us back home--

The girls started the spring season of softball last week! Wynter and Syenna are on the same team and very enthusiastic, Lily thinks she too should be allowed to play so she brings her giant orange plastic bat and watches from the fence outside the diamond, waiting for the coach to send her in--

Ma Belle Vyolette

Five days late and as big as a minute, Miss Vyolette Stella Graham burst into the world on March 18th at 3:23am. 6lbs, 7oz and 20" long!

We're since home and getting into the bleary-eyed merry-go-round of baby love. She's up to 6lbs, 10oz today after dropping to 6lbs, 3oz after birth -- that kid can eat!!

No baby news yet!

Ohhhhh, the wait.

Aside from a crib (coming), I think we've got everything set up for the newbie. You'd think it would be all done from memory by now but it's been four long years since the last toe tickler came through the door. Lily's fourth birthday is tomorrow! Unfortunately, she's back in the pneumonia saddle again so we're celebrating quietly while she checks out the new stroller and sucks down meds from the nebulizer. =)

I'll keep you posted on cervical developments!

we don't need no water let the.....

Finally a winter coat for the poor house! Bryan's been working like a wildman to get us into the house before the baby comes, I think he just wants to show off ;)

panda baby

While Lily sits here on my lap, singing "Santa Claus is coming to town" (in January), she wanted me to share with y'all the wee panda cub we went to visit at the National Zoo in Washington, DC yesterday.

"We saw him at the zoo today, we saw her at the zoo. He looked like a panda and he had a daddy panda and a mama panda. And he had elephants, monkey and hippo friends but no cats. The pandas today there was lots of playing, the mama panda kissed the baby panda! That's so cuuuuuuuuuuuute! Pandas love to plaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

And on a last note, "You better be bad or good, you better be good for goodness sakes! God bless America!"

To see this bad boy in action, visit his webcam at:
Giant Pandas - National Zoo| FONZ

Graham Crackers

When will I remember what happens when the glow of "let's have another baby" wears off? My feet hurt, my back aches and my boobs? Good lord.

Send cookies. I need backup...

Deck the halls...

Ok, lame christmas reference but it just seems so fitting...



What's 19 feet of decking between friends?

This week has been fraught with hacking and wheezing. Lily contracted pneumonia last Monday night so between her meds and my wheezing bronchitis, we've managed to dominate the pharmacy and get our own wing named after us. We're so proud.

The Iron Butt

Well Bryan's been put back together with gluesticks and is now the proud owner of a shiny new butt. Instead of a full hip replacement, he had a "resurfacing" done, the top of the femur is ground down (ew) and a metal cap is popped on top; a metal shell is then placed in the hip socket so they slide around easily and not ground the bone on bone like before. He's already itching to come home (after surgery two days ago) and will return from South Carolina tomorrow. He says there's only post-surgery soreness and the hip feels great, so cross your fingers he doesn't get thrown to the ground for setting off metal detectors tomorrow!

do do do do doooooooooo

Anyone else hearing the theme music to Alien? The girls went with me yesterday to Wormie's latest appointment and waved at the wee blob on the screen who kicked its legs and twirled for its sisters.

Meanwhile, school starts on Monday! We took the girls on a surprise 3-day trip to Kings Dominion and Monticello earlier this week, the looooooooongest ice cream run ever. ;) They had a great time and we wrapped up the summer nicely before Bryan heads for his latest hip surgery on September 7th.

WHY can't I craft?

I swear it's the bane of my existence. I'm surrounded by very crafty people, you'd think it would have rubbed off on me at least a wee bit. I am mess at Modge Podge, will invariably paint myself some odd color before leaving the house and have a craft closet stuffed to the gills with failed attempts at whatever the craft of the minute was. I think that's why I started graphics, at least then I could blame the computer. ;)

I'm going to crackling soon, talk me out of it now. All of a sudden I feel the need to having peeling paint all over the house. It's not particularly attractive but I feel that if I master the art of the subtle peel, I'll be accepted into the crafting fold and will be able to nod knowingly at the lowly masses that cannot mix glue and paint together and come up with this crap. I haven't decided exactly what to subject this torture too, the kids are too fast after that whole "curtain" incident and I don't have the money to ruin furniture at will. Hmmmmm, Bryan has some silly things he never uses in the basement.... muahahahahaahha

Stay tuned.

Mmmmm -- candles!

thepaperdawlprimitives

My best friend Lisa has opened up her very own shop! Featuring candles from our friend Noelle at Bramble Berry Hill, I can't get enough of their Graham Cracker tarts and candles! Lisa is also a talented crafter of primitive dolls, be sure to visit her during the Primitive Artisans Faire
( http://www.primitiveartisansfaire.com/ ) starting August 29th.

Rowyn

Need I say more??



(click on photo for a close-up of my cutie)

Fairy girls

My friend Rebecca from the Polka Dot Dragon made these wonderful fairy accouterments for Princess Lily and her ladies in waiting. Thanks sweetie!!

http://polkadotdragon.com

Da roof -- da roof -- da roof is finally finished...

With only a faint echo of Bryan's Goofy yell as he fell from the tippy-top of the roof still bouncing around the mountain, he finished the roof last weekend!

Ghost stories --- oooooooh

As some of you know, I've been ghosthunting for nearly 20 years. It started with a research paper in college and evolved into a mini-obsession to see if I could wrap my mind around things I have no control over. I focus on the science of the phenomenon instead of slapping a jewel to my forehead and channeling Elvis (though that would ROCK) but I'm open to all new experiences. I started writing for The Shadowlands (http://theshadowlands.net) years ago but gave it up recently to focus on other things. Below is one of my past articles from their newsletter:
---------------------

Beyond the Pale
Copyright 2005 Stacey Graham

Ghost hunters are a funny breed. What makes us sit alone in a closet for an hour hoping for something to pop out? What are we waiting for? Floating heads?

You’d be surprised to learn that most of us didn’t feast on Friday the 13th movies while growing up, that many had experiences in childhood that they just couldn’t explain and it’s followed them into the twilight of adulthood. Many of you are familiar with Dave Juliano’s experience growing up in a haunted house, here’s an experience that started me on the path to sitting in that closet.

One of my early experiences with the paranormal came from visiting a ghost town in the northwestern USA while on vacation. Now, you’d expect a ghost town to come with the prerequisite residual hauntings or at least a spooky outhouse. This town of Garnet, Montana had its share of rundown buildings as it nestled in a wee valley in the mountains. A gold mining town, it once held the riches of the mountain in its palm and miners flocked to pluck it from between the fingers of the hillside. It grew fat and rich for a time but when the gold ran out, so did the miners. Leaving behind a hotel, a general store, small houses and large pockets dug into the nearby hills (plus the aforementioned spooky outhouses).

My family wandered through what was left of the town, along with other curious tourists, trying to get a sense of what it was like in its heyday. Imagining dirty, desperate men coming from inside a mountain wasn’t difficult, what remained of their cabins told the story better than any signage the BLM had provided. Ruined furniture, rusted pans left scattered about filthy cabins and the feeling of failure permeated the broken walls of the houses, why wouldn’t there be a haunting? It seemed as if that was all there ever was here.

I entered the hotel slowly. Once there was grandeur of sorts, now it looked like a woman ruined by too many men and not enough self-respect. Plaster flaked from the walls and heavy tables stood in the middle of the first floor dining room, looking strangely proud of weathering time and being able to show off their wounds left by drunken gunshots and the flying glass of old arguments. I followed my family upstairs to see the rooms. They were partitioned off by Plexiglas so you could peer inside but not enter. In some of the rooms, the windows were left bare, sunshine squeaked in through the dirty glass and fell onto beds salvaged from the hotel and covered with old quilts. In others, the windows were covered, dusty light shone through the boards that swallowed the glass. These rooms held what seemed to be 100-year-old garbage. It covered the floors and rose up the walls, it smelled like decay and made you want to turn away. I, naturally, couldn’t.

As I got closer, my heart started to beat louder in my ears and my nose started to twitch. I felt lightheaded and wanted to run. I poked my head into the room and at once felt something rushing towards me. I am not particularly psychic, just enough to know when to get the heck out of a place! If I could describe it, I’d say it was pain, screaming and confusion coming at me all at once. I backed away quickly and my investigational gene kicked in. I checked out the other rooms to see if I experienced any similar occurrences and casually asked my husband if he had seen anything out of the ordinary. This man is as intuitive as a brick. “Nothing that a dustbuster couldn’t help…” he replied. 

I knew what I had felt was unusual; I tested it again before we left the building. Again, my heart raced and my nose tingled but this time there was no attack of emotion towards me. I could feel that it sat huddled in the corner, amidst the rubbish and filth, and watched as I moved out of sight and down the stairs, escaping into the light.


To see more of my articles, please visit my ghost site:
Wee Ghosties :: A Beginner's Guide to Ghost Hunting
http://weeghosties.com

To visit a friend of mine who talks to dead people, pop over to http://barbmallon.com :)

This is ground control to Major Syenna...

Ohhh, this is too much fun...

LilyBee

I am having the best time with my newest psp obsession! I'm plucking my kids out of photographs and turning them into fantasy photos, a lot of free time on my hands, eh?

Today we went back to the zoo and saw fuzzy panda butt. Lily wasn't too impressed and was more enamored of her popsicle. At least this time Bryan didn't try to dunk a kid; the last time we all went together, Lily dropped her juice cup into the turtle pond. When no one came to help us get it out, Bryan dangled poor Wynter by the heel over the water so she could grab it. Unfortunately his hand slipped and... well, you get the picture... turtle poo.

This is a picture of Lily's best friend, Myk.

More crumbs :)

Well, my husband has done it again... I'm pregnant with number five!

I'm still recovering from the shock, you'd think I'd gotten this all down pat by now. We're due March 11-12ish, 2006. I'll get more excited after the first trimester. All I want right now is a cheeseburger and a nap :)

This is going to mean a few changes in business, however. I'm keeping the balms going (I think the villagers will revolt if I pull my Black Walnut Balm out from under them) and the ghost site but I will probably be phasing out graphics and cello bags eventually. So gettum while you still can!

GymKids

I have very flexible children. I have no idea where it comes from, I can only guess they get it from their father whom, when falling from a roof 26ft above the ground, basically bounced.

Here are photos from their gymnastic debut in June--

That's Wynter in the pink and Syenna in her disco black--