Off to Girls Camp!

UPDATE: Two down, one more to read...

Bella is up at the church right now, loading her stuff into someone's car, waiting to leave for her first year at Girls Camp. I'm so excited for her.

As per instructions, Bella's taking a sack lunch and a foil dinner for her food today - as if her parents, the laziest of campers, know how to make foil dinners. "She can't roast a hot dog over the fire?" Bri said. Gripe, gripe. There's probably a camp requirement that she has to cook dinner over the coals, or something. I've never had one turn out well, which is just one reason why I'm the tired, bitter old woman I am today.

When we were done grousing, I did find a nice foil dinner website, providing foil dinner recipes that actually sound appetizing and giving expert foil dinner tips (no cheese, unless you want the thing to catch fire - although some people like that burnt flavor). Bella ended up taking a nice pouch with sliced potatoes, broccoli flowerettes, and a big flat hamburger. We'll see how it goes.

In other news: our car is dying. Bri's thinking it might have a cracked head. Since yesterday he's been taking either the bus or his cage car (unmarked cop car) to work. We were planning a trip to Tri-Cities this weekend, but unless our tax money shows up this week, we might be staying home instead. Let's have a pity party for us: Awwwwwww. Our friends Michelle and Mike know a good mechanic so we'll see if that works out.

Also: Another great post by Israeli poster Anna, called Fear of Fertility, touting the benefits of "curviness."

Brennan's High Adventure - July 14-18

These are from Monday-Wednesday (July 14-16). The young men from our ward took a trip up to the San Juan Islands and camped from Monday to Saturday, and enjoyed great food, sea life and lots of fun stuff. Dad (the photographer) was able to go with the boys and other leaders and stayed till Wednesday night.



Brother C (in the cargo area), Eddie, Brady, Xavier, Brennan (who is not a shorts-wearer)



DH & Firstborn :)



Bishop A & Brennan













This picture is our desktop wallpaper right now.

Starfish



This little guy wandered up to the boys on the rocks

Mark & Brennan



Jellyfish



Archery time! Kyle, Brady, Xavier, Brennan, Mark, Eddie

Brennan's mad skills are freaking Mark out.

She Passed!!

Congrats to my sister Melanie, who passed her final LPN exam this week! She now has letters after her name:

Melanie A. Gazdag, LPN

Yay!!! I'm proud of you, Smell!

More happy news: Some dear bloggy friends and I are getting together next month at the Oregon coast for a girls' beach weekend, and I'm so excited! Starting in October 2006 at a Time Out for Women, my friend Claudia and I began meeting them "in real life." Since we check in with each other online pretty often, we've become quite close. Last year we spent a weekend in Colorado together and had so much fun, and it'll be great to see them again! Yay!!!

Harrison's Day Camp

Building a "ship in a bottle" - Harrison and his good friend Austin Cahoon

Thursday was the staff costume fashion show, and I made a lame attempt at Captain Hook. Here's the hat and wig. Thank goodness for those raffia ringlets Mom gave me years ago and I held onto for some reason.

Playing "Simon Says" while they wait for their sand candles to harden.

For more pictures, go here.

Cousin Erin Has a Blog

Cousin Erin and her husband Adam have started a blog! Check it out! I did, and while I was there, I found out Erin's brother and sister-in-law, Blair & Bobbi Flinders, also have a blog! Check it out too! Then I heard from Erin that her sister Keli and husband John ALSO have a blog! Here you go! (Thanks Erin!)

The past few days, I've either been at Cub Scout day camp, or recovering from being at Cub Scout day camp (which I also plan on doing tomorrow). The hermit crab flag is holding up remarkably well. Being at camp, it's been fun to see what everyone else did with their flags - now I have good ideas for the next time I make one.

Last night I found out I was in charge of providing a sea-ish piraty costume for one of the teenage camp staff members, for today's staff fashion show. Ours ended up as an OK-looking Captain Hook. We used the Zorro cape and I wanted to use the Zorro hat, but it vanished sometime last week, after being kicked around the house for about six weeks straight - "Will someone please put the Zorro hat in the dress-up box?" Instead, I had to use Dad's old volleyball hat, which I sewed black raffia ringlets and a peacock feather onto. Under the cape, he wore one of Dad's white shirts. I also bent a dead wire hanger into a hook and hoped our staff member (who is really sweet) wouldn't give himself lockjaw with it.

Pictures later... maybe. I'm really tired and need a shower.

The Latest

A small hodgepodge of pictures...

July 8: Here's Roz, stuck in her shirt. I buttoned the top button before I put it away and she's still trying to figure out buttons... couldn't quite get her head through the neckhole. There's that scabby little nose, which is almost better now.

Yesterday we did the Braid-y thing. I put Roz's hair up in six braids all over her head and did mine in eight or nine (I lost count), then put all of them but the front three up in a clip in back. It felt good having my hair out of the way.

Today I made this flag for Cub Scout Day Camp next week. Our group is the "Hermit Crabs" - trying to find anything with a hermit crab on it was quite the challenge. We bought "watery" fabric, sequinned iron-on letters, an iron-on rhinestone skull and crossbones (their theme is "X Marks the Spot"), and found a picture of a hermit crab online to color and mount on with that sticky spongeboard stuff. Then, of course, we have to have the googly eyes. I'm pretty happy with it but I wish the crab looked as good as the rest of the flag. It hangs from a dowel at the top. I still need to attach a tie so we can hang it up at camp, and I'm thinking of possibly painting the dowel black and attaching black tassels or something - but I've been to day camp enough times to know that the flag gets dropped in the dirt at least twice a day for five days, so there's only so much geegaw you should put on it. (Click on the picture to see the details)

I still have more reunion pictures to post, but I needed a break. I took over 100 pictures (counting the ones of Union Cemetery).

UPDATE: Friday Night Date Report - we went to the T-Mobile store by the airport to return Bri's loaner phone, then drove to Portland and parked at Lloyd Center. We rode the MAX downtown and had dinner at his favorite wings place. Then it was off to Borders - which, even for downtown Portland, has a deplorable lack of homemaking books. We took MAX up to Pioneer Courthouse Square and enjoyed the lovely summer evening. I gave a panhandler $1 (which I never do).

We rode back to the car with a couple of really loud annoying drunks, drove down Glisan to 205, and went to Albertson's for cold drinks and cheese sticks. Tomorrow we're meeting Mom and Bob in The Dalles to have lunch and pick up Bella, and our car doesn't have air conditioning, so we wanted stuff to drink on our hot ride home. Then we came home, and made the kids clean up the very cluttered floor. YAY!!!!

For Melanie

What We Couldn't Stop Singing Last Weekend: SIGN

Daddy Warbucks: Sign!
Miss Hannigan: I make a very dry martini.
DW: Right here!
MH: I make a very wet souffle.
DW: Just your name.
MH: Don't be so mean you mean old meanie!
DW: Come my dear.
MH: Let's you and me make, why shouldn't we make, hay!
DW: I have an appointment at one.
MH: This way!

MH: You ever been to "Bonas Eye-rees"?
DW: Where?
MH: I hunger for the Argentyne.
DW: Argenteen!
MH: Let's me and you fill up our di'ries.
DW: What? Stop!
MH: Buy me a ruby.
DW: No!
MH: Why shouldn't you be mine!?

DW: Come...
MH: I got your number...
DW: close, madam...
MH: you like to rhumba.
DW: While...
MH: I'll call ya "Ollie"
DW: I read...
MH: my hot tamale.
DW: ...this file...
MH: And now I gotcha
DW: from my...
MH: my cucaracha!
DW: ...private eye.
MH: Ay, ay, ay!

DW: You spend your ev'nings in the shanties...
MH: You had me followed?
DW: Imbibing quarts of bathtub gin!
MH: Bronchitis!
DW: And here you're dancing in your scanties!
MH: Great gams!
DW: With some old geezer called Little Caesar.
MH: He's an uncle!
DW: You lock the orphans in the closet!
MH: They love it!
DW: You hock their Christmas souvenirs!
MH: Drink?
DW: You steal the funds you should deposit.
MH: It's fresh!
DW: You make them grovel, while you buy lavoliers.

DW: You'll...
MH: Must you upset me?
DW: ...sit...
MH: Why don't you pet me?
DW: ...out this...
MH: It's you I crave now.
DW: ...century...
MH: Let's misbehave now.
DW: ...in some...
MH: You wanna smoochie,
DW: ...deep dark...
MH: my little poochie?
DW: ...penitentiary!
MH: Jail?

DW: Sign!
MH: I guess I'll never know the feeling
DW: You'll rot in jail,
MH: ...of fingers running through your hair.
DW: ...in Sing Sing!
MH: I guess this means no "Bonas Eye-rees".
DW: Will you sign!
MH: Well, I don't need you,
DW: That's fine!
MH: so just forget me.
DW: The dotted line.
MH: Forget my sweetness,
DW: Don't whine!
MH: Forget you met me,
DW: You can't decline!
MH: This day is sorta,
DW: Just sign!
MH: my bread and Waterloo.
DW: Sign!
MH: Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place? - Swine!

Now we have the words, so we can sing the whole thing right next time. :)

Moving Out

We are trying to get the heck outta Dodge. This has been the plan since three years ago, when we moved from a 1800-square-footish house into this cardboard box we call an apartment.

(Before I go off about how horrible it's been, let me say that I'm grateful to have a home, to be able to stay home with my kids, to have food, clothing, and all of my needs and some of my wants met. Bri is a good provider. One life-changing OMSI exhibit about money and how the rest of the world lives, showed me a couple of years ago exactly how much I DON'T have to complain about.)

So we're in Phase One of the moving process: trying to find a new place to live. I subscribed to the newspaper this morning, for searching and packing purposes. I called Marcie because she announced in Relief Society that her business provides lots of empty boxes (on condition that we don't move out of the ward - suspiciously, I haven't heard back from her). From the weekly newspaper mailer, I've been seeking out and calling prospective landlords about rental homes.

We don't live in a great area of town. Carter's new birthday bike AND his scooter were stolen long ago. Our kitty was taken off our back porch. Harrison was approached by a man and told that "his dad" wanted him to leave with this man. Last week Harrison's bike was stolen, then ridden back onto the property with a new paint job the very next day. Our neighbor upstairs alerted us to the situation, and Bri ran out to the basketball court and made the kid get off the bike. He checked the right brake for squishiness and sure enough, it was Bear's. We now have a blue bike instead of a green one.

And this week, one of the neighbor kids pointed a gun at one of our friend's kids. Supposedly it was a BB gun but it certainly looked real enough. So, we're done. The gun was the clincher.

We're going to try to stay in our ward and/or school boundaries, but we have to go where our new house is.

I look forward to sorting through and boxing up things, and having a house where we have all our furniture and nice things which are now in storage. I look forward to having Neenaw's hutch in my dining room and a fenced backyard and a garage and just more SPACE.

We'd love your prayers for our search and upcoming move. Thanks in advance.

Reunion Part II

Chow Time 2: Stacy, Rachael talking to Tawnee, Becky, Rosalind, Demeter and half of Neenaw.

Uncle John feeding his face; Dad in the background.

Laila, Carter and Roz.

Bella (wearing my stolen-from-Bri sheriff sweatshirt) and Carter. Looks a little smoky.

Ernie taking a snooze

Melanie and Dad. Cheeeese!

Here's a good shot of our scabbed-up kid in our stuffed-to-the-gills van. We took a trip to Union for some supplies - I also snuck in a visit to the cemetery and grabbed some pictures. Obsessed much? (Roz saw this picture and laughed, "I'm so fat!")

Brennan and Bella at the picnic table. Did we miss our Bella while she was in Utah? You bet we did.

Bri and Carter. This is an important moment in history: Bri is voluntarily holding a Mad Libs book. Look at that - it's even OPEN. And you were here to witness it.

Jetta and Jeremy

BC and Dad chatting it up

Chef Karen

Rosalind, Camrynn, Demeter, Berkli, Carter: The Next Generation

Mr. Carter hanging out next to the playpen, his favorite spot. He's loved babies ever since Roz was born - he likes their hair. He used to say to us about Roz, "I want to pet her head." He loved holding all the babies this weekend. They were pretty good sports about it.

Brook, Paisli and Xanden. The blow-up pool worked great as a playpen. The four babies spent much of the weekend playing in it.

Reunion Part III

Matt and his ball game, another popular camp item. I can't remember what it's called but the players get a different-colored band and the ball yells out what color to toss it to next... pretty fun.

Uncle John, Heather, Dena, overseeing the collapse of their tent on Saturday

Whit, and Stanlee sweeping behind her - they were the smart ones who brought the broom.

John and Neenaw

Xanden and Stan next to the babies

Hanging out in the kitchen (where all the food is): Jer, Deen, Heather holding Paisli

Melanie's extreme closeup

Kiley, Brennan, Stacy. Brennan and Stacy are less than a year apart - her birthday is Oct. 4, 1991 and his is Sept. 30, 1992. It's fun that my aunt and I had children so close together, and neat that they're good friends.

BC, Uncle John and Becky. This is on Saturday again and half of us left to go home, so the campfires were doused and smoke was everywhere. I can't tell you how good it was to get out of that smoke smell. I shampooed my hair twice and washed my feet three times before I felt clean. Poor dirty me. My life is so hard.

Rozzie, Berkli, Demeter and Dionysus "Ny Ny".

Melanie and Brennan - I don't think Brennan laughed as much in his life as he did this weekend. And we're pretty funny, so that's saying something.

The Group Picture Ordeal: I'm just glad I'm not a photographer. Good grief. (Group picture will be posted later)

Jeremy and Stacy. We decided we need Stacy to come and live with us for those inevitable bad self esteem moments, because she's so sweet. We loved her hugs and the way she always laughed at our dorky remarks and silly faces.

Dad and Melanie. Ernie said of Mel: "It looks like someone gave her a lobotomy and then smacked her with a bat."

Ernie's no slouch in the stupid-face-making department either.