School Days a Comin'

As August begins to roll into September this weekend, so our lives seem to be rolling forward at an ever increasing speed with the approach of fall. The last two nights have been filled with orientations- first at Eleanor's cooperative preschool and then, last night, at Rynn's elementary school. I feel a bit like a college freshman who has just received my syllabus for the semester, yet instead of papers and exams filling my calender the responsibilities, meetings, work days, fundraisers, school supplies, bylaws, rules, bus schedules, and volunteer forms have taken their place. Is this the University of Mommyhood? I used to long for these days when the girls were babies, and I was swamped in diapers and the endless activity of toddlerhood. Now that it is here I'm surprised to find tears welling up in my eyes watching my girls in their "big girl schools." How does it all happen so fast?
"But, mommy, this book is in Japanese!"

Eleanor is 'so excited' for her school days- two mornings/week at a neighborhood preschool. Lots of fun ahead!

Rynn in her new classroom. She will start her days for the next nine weeks with Yoshida Sensei speaking Japanese and finish her school day with Kelly Sensei (Japanese for 'teacher') in English!

The Oregon State Fair

Jason is out of town, so the girls and I decided to take a little road trip down to see the Parkers in Eugene. Along the way we stopped at the Oregon state fair. It was like Charlotte's Web (which we just read this summer) come to life!

"So, Rynn, what should we do first?," ponders Eleanor.
"How about the animals!"


"Oh, man!," exclaims Rynn at the site of the cows mooing and walking right toward her.

Eleanor stares in disbelief as mama pig nurses her piglets. "Is she OK, mommy?," Eleanor asks.

Check out the dog on that guy's back. What a dog show! and below, look for the same dog in mid-air catching a frisbee!

Eleanor and Rynn belly laugh at the clown show.

We rode the rides....

...and finished the day up exhausted, dirty, and happy at the Parkers' house!

Seasons Change

Our King Sunflower from inside our living room window.

It is difficult to believe that over a year has passed since we arrived in POrtland last summer. One of the things for which I am so thankful about living in the Pacific Northwest is the clearly defined passing of seasons. Cool temperatures have blown into town this week bringing with them the anticipation of fall, the bit of sadness with the passing of summer, and yet the hope of the freshness of new things which come with the cooling temperatures. Eighteen days in counting until the first day of kindergarten. Rynn is marking the squares on my calender until she "gets to wear her Hello Kitty backpack and go learn Japanese." I'm still trying to suck the marrow out of the last bit of sunshine and the lazy pace of summer. As I ran through our neighborhood this morning the smell, the feel of the air, the formations of the clouds, all signaled a flood of memories. Not only did the cool temperatures bring back memories of falls past- in Chapel Hill, in Boston, in Philadelphia, in Houston (no, wait, not in Houston...it never quite felt like this in houston), in Chattanooga, but here in Portland too. I realized that I actually have memories here now, memories of an August past here in this very place. The realization of that made me smile as I ran through a neighborhood that is becoming MINE. It takes time to settle into a place, and we are far from being oldtimers in this progessive city. Yet, as we begin our second year here, with memories of seasons changing, I can now call it home- and mean it.

Bubbling Fun

Thank you, Grampa Bix, for a very fun bubble machine!

Make Hay While the Sun is Shining

The blogs have become less frequent, I know, but the sun is shining, and there are just too many darn fun things to do outside. Check out some of the fun below from our own front porch.

Jason stands beside one of our sunflowers which finally bloomed. We were starting to wonder if it might be a beanstalk from a magic seed!

The hops are flowering!

Rynn and Eleanor enjoy some ice cream after an afternoon at our community pool- which, by the way, is like a scene out of the 1950's. $2 to swim. $1 for a popcorn&grape slushie. A waterslide. Super fun.

summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime...

Rynn strikes a pose in her new sweater knitted by Grammy.

Our Colorado Visit

It was with great sadness and great joy that our family boarded a plane last week to go to Ft. Collins, CO to see Oma, as well as Jason's parents, Opa, sister Gretchen, and cousins. While we were putting off a trip to Colorado until later in the year, we learned that Oma- that vibrant, gorgeous woman pictured below who still swims laps everyday- was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So, we decided to go to Colorado to be with family and give Oma some hugs. It was a sunny, hot week full of lots of noise and life as the four cousins ran circles around all of us grown ups. Oma had a chemo treatment while we were there which lessened some of her pain, but the days ahead will be challenging ones for her. She reminded us all to keep our eyes on Jesus, as HE is our only hope and strength in this life. You can keep up with Oma's status at

www.caringbridge.org/visit/joanlittle

Oma and Opa who will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in September.




rynn under a Colorado sky with Jack in the background....this was, perhaps, the coolest playground ever.



Meanwhile, Molly has fun in the fountains.

Eleanor practices her heavy machinery skills.

Cousins together- molly, jack, eleanor, rynn
grammy with all her babes

Wandering in the Woods

It is six o'clock, the end of a busy week, the first weekend in two weeks without houseguests, and I'm staring into our refridgerator trying to decide what leftovers to enjoy before putting our children to bed early and falling on the sofa with our recent Netflix movie, when Rynn comes running into the kitchen. "Mommy! Daddy wants to know if you want to go camping tonight??!!??."

What is a mother to do? With visions of relaxation dancing in my head I stare into the excited eyes of my five year old. How do I say no? Such began the last twenty four hours (which have felt more like 124) when we embarked on our first family camping outing. I smiled as I watched Jason- the husband who took me to Colorado on our honeymoon, who taught me to cut my toothbrush in half to cut weight in my backpack, who packs out his toilet paper in a little ziplock baggie, who is the KING of low impact- throwing items such as pillows, beer, a cooler, last night's chicken, kids' books and toys, etc.. into the car. Who is this man? I wondered.

One little detail which we didn't really give too much thought to in this whirlwind to get our family out the door to sleep outside was WHERE exactly we would sleep. While we did have a local campground in mind we failed to think through that it was 80 degrees and sunny, Friday night, and the middle of July. Our excitement was a bit tempered when we pulled into the campground to be greeted by a big sign declaring it FULL. Not to be disuaded we checked our handy map and with great focus decided to pursue a tiny little triangle which, according to the map, represented a "campground." To make a long story short, two and a half hours later we were winding our way out of an Oregon forest hoping to not run into a white supremicist. By this time I was on Jason's phone calling the Timberline Lodge up on Mt. Hood. Despite my efforts, I couldn't convince Jason that just this once it might be worth it to get one of their last rooms- a room with one set of bunk beds and a bathroom down the hall. He wasn't to be deterred. Our camping adventure must happen!

Finally, at ten o'clock Jason found a campsite near the road up to Government Camp on Mt. Hood. It was quiet, clean, free, and we were the only people there! After setting up camp in the dark we all fell fast asleep for a precious six hours before the bright summer sun greeted us at 5:30am. The pictures below tell the rest of the story. We all had a wonderful day. We had hot coffee at Timberline Lodge. And tonight, in celebration of arriving in Oregon a year ago, I'm sleeping in my own bed.

Skiers? In July? yep...Mt. Hood is a glacier which means skiing and snowboarding twelve months of the year.

Timberline Lodge...where we almost slept.

View of Mt. Jefferson from our walk on Mt. Hood.....I love this picture.

Rynn practices her mountaineering skills sliding down a snowpatch.

The whole crew...still smiling, for five more minutes anyway.