Early Wednesday morning I awakened to silence and darkness.  Ugh...the power is out!  Next thing I remember is hearing the wind try to tear up our house.  Ugh...a wind storm!  Here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't get snowstorms, or tornados, or hurricanes.  We get rain and windstorms (and an occasional earthquake--but that's another story).

The things that we have to worry about with windstorms are trees falling on power lines, across roads, and on our house.  We have been lucky in the past few years to only lose power once or twice per year and for not very long.  The problem with loss of power used to be no heat and it was typically in the middle of winter.  I remember when my first son was a baby or a toddler, we had a very inefficient wood stove and I would spend all my time trying to get a fire going and watch the temperature in the house slowing increase to about 55 degrees.  Burrr...  A few years ago we replaced the wood stove with a free standing gas stove.  The stove has no electric components, so works all the time.  The other problem with power outages has been no water.  Our community well wouldn't pump water during an outage.  Recently our community dug a new well and installed a large storage tank.

So, here I am faced with a day without power and the wind blowing and not only do I have a warm stove to heat up our downstairs, but I actually have water (and hot water to boot!).  The only thing I don't have is light!  So, believe me, I had no right to complain.  We went through the morning doing school, the kids taking breaks to play with flashlights, of course.  But, I couldn't shake the depressed feeling that darkness brings. 

In the afternoon doing school, I kept sneaking glances at my computer just wishing I could check my e-mail or blog or something (I typically do this after school each day before dinner).  Since I couldn't use my computer, I decided to make a big pot of chicken soup for dinner (we have a gas cooking stove) as I was afraid the chicken would spoil in the refrigerator.  While it was cooking, I sat in front of our free standing stove with a camping lantern and catalogs thinking about Christmas gifts (mostly educational stuff).  By this time apparently the gravity fed water system had run down and we had no water at all.

I was dreading the darkness coming and having to use the camping lanterns and flashlights, but it wasn't so bad.  I cleaned the chicken off the bones and chopped carrots by lantern light.  Actually it amazed me how easy dinner was to make.  My husband came home to a wonderful bowl of chicken soup and buttered bread.  After dinner we found all the candles in the house and lit them all, took turns listening to the radio on the walkman,  and  the kids danced and sang a few songs.

The kids went to bed and so did we.  I don't know exactly why lack of power caused so much anxiety in me.  Is it that we rely so heavily on electricity?  Was I missing my computer?  Was it my concern over our fish who seemed to be struggling with the lack of oxygen in their water?  I awoke at 11:30 and prayed that God would bring back the power and, to my relief, shortly thereafter power was restored.  Aahh...a sigh of relief.  Thank You Lord!!

A hundred years ago most people didn't have electricity, or indoor plumbing for that matter.  We are so blessed and spoiled!!  I need to be thankful for everything we do have and be thankful when we are without, as well.

We've been having the most beautiful weather lately.  We live on an island in Puget Sound and manytimes the wind is blowing so hard it is difficult to enjoy being outside.  On Mother's Day, we met my Aunt M at Bowman Bay, a secluded inlet just North of Deception Pass.  We like to meet Aunt M at this place because it is about half way between our houses.  Bowman Bay is a state park that features picnic tables and a large playground for the kids, right along the water.  6yo daughter, G, had fun playing in the water with 2yo son, J.  G rolled her jeans up passed her knees and waded in barefoot.  J didn't go into the water at first, but the tide was coming in and began lapping at his feet.  Next thing I know he is soaked up to his diaper.  I wish I'd had my camera.  2yo daughter, K, wouldn't get wet, but enjoyed playing in a sandbucket.  G kept bringing me seaweed to inspect.  It was a beautiful golden day!

My three oldest attend an alternative school on Monday and Tuesday.  The school is located in the barracks of an old fort, next to Fort Casey State Park.  On Tuesday morning the nature studies class went up to the fort and I followed them in our van with the 2yolds.  It was so beautiful and warm, barely a breeze blowing and the field in front of the fort was covered with tiny daisies.  I sat in the grass and showed daisies and dandylions to the toddlers.  Many hours later, at my son's baseball game, the wind was blowing so hard that it was cold.  We're used to this so we wear layers.  Most summers I find myself waiting all summer for it to get warm (to no avail).

Today as I was sitting in the van in the park parking lot waiting for my son's baseball practice to end, 6yo son, I, told me he needed to go potty.  Since the nearest bathroom was clear across the park, I told him to go behind a tree in the woods that borders the park.  As I watched him walk behind a tree, I idly wondered if Adam was potty trained.  I mean, he was there in the garden and there were no social mores or rules and if he had to pee, he could just go anywhere.  Such an odd thought!  This is what I get for being a potty training mommy (Not me, Lady Mother, my 2 yolds!!)  I guess there are some things we will never know until we get to Heaven (maybe we won't even want to know).

After my last post the days went by in a blur of activity.  We made friends with the people in the unit upstairs.  They have three kids and we had fun swimming, boating and dining with them.  We had alot of fun with them and were sad when they left on Wednesday night. 

I was also able to find some quiet time in the afternoons to read my books and knit.  The weather improved as the days went by and the lake became like a looking glass reflecting the mountains. 

Here's a picture of "I" swimming:

On Thursday, I went thrift store shopping and found a couple outfits for my toddler twins.  I went to one store that I thought was a thrift store, but was really a dime store going out of business.  Everything was 75% off!!  And, not everything was junk!  I had to be careful not to purchase things that I didn't really need, but there was paper and note cards and toiletries and pencils and everyday things.  What a deal!

Friday morning was fairly stressful as we had to pack everything up and be out by 11 a.m.  As it was, we were out by 11:30 and off to Wenatchee to see have lunch and see a museum.  As I am writing this, I can't remember the name of the museum, but it was in the old town part of Wenatchee and its focus was on the history of the area.  One of its best features was an authentic scale model mountain and railroad landscape.  For 50 cents the train would go around the track three times.  It had tunnels, including a two mile tunnel that is not in use anymore and an eight mile tunnel which is still in use.  Here's a picture of Z looking over the train:

The museum also featured an exhibit on the desert wildlife:

There was also a working WWI apple sorting machine.  A docent turned it on for us.  The apples travel on conveyers and then are "thrown" by the machine into linen bags and then they roll into wooden boxes. Note: the apples used here were made of wood (or else they would be very, very bruised!!).  (This is a very rough description!) Here's a few picts.  Notice the slogans on the walls ("Go Easy!  Bruised Apples=Culls" and "If You Bruise 'Em, You Lose 'Em"):

The museum also featured an old time town with a bank, a blacksmith and rooms from a house.  When I wasn't looking, 2 yo K went underneath the ropes and started to climb up on an old time couch.  Ooops!

After that, our trip home was uneventful. We drove through the mountains listening to C.S. Lewis' "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by Focus on the Family.  This set of CD's is so good!  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia series because they have a new adventure at every island and it was very exciting to listen to!

I am so glad to be home!  The air is so fresh and crisp here (O.K., read cold, but it is wonderful just the same).

Hello there from Lake Chelan, Washington State.  Here we are in the heart of apple growing country.  We saw many orchards as we drove out of the Cascade mountain pass.  No, Lady Mother, this is not "The Sound of Music" and this is not the Swiss Alps!  The only snow we saw was on the mountains; the pavement was dry and the temperature at the top of the pass was 57 degrees (it was 80 degrees on either side).  Our only incident was K falling out of the van onto her nose on the hard cement parking lot at a rest area about 20 miles west of Leavenworth.  Because of this incident and because she finally fell asleep right afterward, we decided not to stop in Leavenworth.  We may be able to stop there on our way home, if we go that way.

We arrived at the condo resort at around 5 p.m.  Our condo has a beautiful view of the lake nestled in the mountains.  I always find these places a bit of a challenge to figure out the best sleeping arrangements for the kids and allow privacy and a bit of quiet time for the adults, but by Saturday evening we had worked everything out.  It is actually a lot cooler here than I expected (and, of course, I didn't pack appropriately either).  The kids have been swimming constantly in the outdoor pool, but I can't seem to go outdoors for five minutes without getting hives from the cold.  Has anyone heard of such a thing?  As soon as my skin warms up, the hives go away and the itching stops.  This has been going on for two weeks.  I've never experienced this before.

Anyway, I've been able to have some quiet time during the toddler twins nap each afternoon.  I've been studying the book, "Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit" by Terry Maxwell and have been blessed by it.  I also spent some time watching her seminar on home management and found it very interesting.  We'll see if I can make her ideas work for my family.  I am hopeful.  The only downfall to our trip so far has been noise complaints from the people in the unit below us.  I've done what I could to have the kids be very quiet in the early mornings before 8 a.m., but we are a big family and being quiet is very difficult.  Do kids actually ever really walk?

Six yo daughter, G has met a little friend from the unit upstairs and they have been having fun swimming and coloring.  This afternoon, my husband is planning on taking their family boating.

I am hoping to take the kids to a museum and maybe the visitor's center at a dam in the next few days.  Watch for additional posts!

In honor of Sandi (titus2woman), who just had a baby girl, I present you with my version of Friday Silliness:

My daughter caught me talking to the fish last night.  I said, "Hey, Guys, how's it going?"  and my daughter said "What?" from the other room.  I wouldn't have even realized I was talking to the fish if she hadn't thought I was talking to her!

The other morning I came down stairs to find my two year old daughter sitting on the bottom step reading a book upside down while wearing bright pink fuzzy feelers on her head.  Of course, I didn't have a camera handy, so I tried to recreate the moment.  I didn't quite succeed, but here's the photo:

My two year old son, J is a big tease.  After naptime yesterday I brought his sister, K, downstairs.  A couple minutes later I returned to find just a blanket propped up in his bed.  Oh, what's that under the blanket!!??  It's J!!  This time I did have a camera.  Here's before and after:

My eight year old son, Z, doesn't get very many phone calls from his friends.  Today his friend E called about Saturday's baseball game.  When they were done talking about baseball, Z said, "So, what do you want to talk about now?"  It was cute because he doesn't have much experience talking on the phone.

Finally, there's the way I behaved over Sandi's labor.  I was like an expectant father pacing the hallways.  I must have checked her blog at least ten times.  I even found that I couldn't sleep and at 4:30 a.m. I got up and checked her blog.  Still no news!!

That's all for today's Silliness.  Congratulations again to Sandi and her precious baby girl!

We are taking spring break this week.  During vacations I often let my older 3 kids stay up a little later.  The other evening at about 9 p.m. as I was cleaning the fish aquarium, my 8yo son, Z, asked me to put them all to bed because he is always wiped out by 8 p.m.  My 6 yo twins responded that they weren't tired and wanted to stay up.  I was busy so I thought they went upstairs to play.  Z and I finished up the aquarium and I prepared to go tuck them in when Z says, "Mom, G and I are asleep in the living room."  Indeed they were!  At the end of this post is a link to their photo.  I wish I could figure out how to post photos directly to this blog!  I am using photobucket.com.  If anyone has any suggestions, I sure could use them!

Thank you to Sweetie for helping me post this photo!!

I am going to attempt to add a link to a family photograph of myself and the kids taken last Christmas.  It is difficult to get five kids to sit still for pictures!