Harrises at Home

Anguitas and playdough

2008-09-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just before our friends the Anguitas left to go home to Chile we got to have the kids stay with us and one day we made playdough!

shelves

2008-07-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been making shelves for my school room. I have been drilling rows of holes to put the metal dividers in like the one behind me. (By the way for Mary's info. I made this T'shirt last week and love it!)

cub scouts on Mt. Lemmon

2008-05-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Mother's day weekend we spent all day Sat. on Mt. Lemmon for the end of the year campout. It was really fun. The kids found lots of wood leftover from the stuff that has been cut down to clear out the burt wood from the fires three years ago. They got pretty sooty but had tons of fun!

co pilote bike

2008-05-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

I love my bike! Dad bought it for me last summer and it came with a back seat for Lucy. She has grown long lovely legs since then and couldn't fit anymore. I bought this cool one wheel bike to hook on mine this last weekend and we LOVE IT!

Lucy loves Louie

2008-05-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Gabey and math

2008-05-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

This is what Gabey thinks of Math!

blocks with Lucy and Jack

2008-05-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Jack and Lucy built themsleves a fort.

Jack's 1st Communion

2008-05-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

Jack and his 1st communion classmates from Holy Family Parish right before they go in to Mass.

Jack with his Godparents, Tim and Jane Rekhart and their daughter Lizzy after Mass.

Tiny owl

2008-04-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is the little owl that Gabe and Jack discoverd on their morning walk through the dry wash that runs behind our neighborhood. All of us have seen him now (except Lucy) since he seems to have a burrow there and greets us each morning. We think he is really cool!

Louie and storm troopers

2008-04-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

This is our pretty amazing cat Louie sleeping up on the boys bed and being attacked by tiny lego storm troopers! hehe

Sock puppets

2008-04-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here are the sock puppets the kids made! Nan's is the yellow one and the supplies for it came from the puppet kit that my mom sent for Nan's birthday. Because it was such a cool gift the boys all got inspired and made their own out of scaps and old socks of theirs!
p.s. Lucy is wearing the tinkerbell costume that my mom made for Nan years ago. She loves having wings! And the material makes the coolest scratchy sound when it's rubbed together!!!

garden spring 2008

2008-04-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

This year (spring 2008) I decided to go "green"......heheh. When the kids bounce in the summer they like to bounce with water and all that water just goes to waste! I had made a trench to funnel it out of the yard last year. We had some really healthy grass growing in the trench this year which made me think the soil must be good. So I put the cinderblocks around the edge of the trampoline where the water always pools and used some of last years dirt and made a gartden! We have tomatoes, basil, oregano, cucumbers, cantalope, and zuchini! Hopefully the added shade will help them produce longer! This picture was taken at 4pm so the hottests part of the day the garden gets lots of shade!

We also have our sunny garden which is just peppers planted from seedlings and watermelons and cantalope from seeds. Then there are lots of sunflowers from seeds planted all around! Can't wait to see what grows!!!

Jack's silver tooth

2008-04-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Jack Harris has a silver crown on his top left baby tooth! He thinks it's cool and you can see it shining when he smiles......oh well!

Trick or Treat 07

2007-11-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Jack is a skeleton, Gabey is Harry Potter, Lucy is a princess, Nan is a hippie, and George is Spiderman, just in case you couldn't tell.

Carving Pumpkins

2007-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day! First we went to Buckaloo Pumpkin farm and picked our pumpkins. Then we came home and carved them up!

Venice Beach, L.A. July 14th

2007-08-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Nan had so many firsts on this day. First time on an Airplane, first time in Ca. first time to see and the swim in the ocean (well she saw the gulf as a baby but that doesn't count) It was a beautiful day and these are such beautiful friends!

Aunt Melinda and Lucy in hats

2007-08-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

2007-06-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Summer Bachelor post #2

Ten days after the previous pictures were taken, the sunflowers are decked out.
I love this cluster of wine-colored blossoms.
There's no honey bee shortage at the Harris garden, and here's a lone bumble bee enjoying a big treat.
This is Big Bertha. That sucker is bigger than my head (and that's saying something, Grandmommy).
This little fella graciously posed for about 20 seconds while I got my act together with the camera.

Flowery Greeting

2007-06-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Summer Bachelor '07 post #1

When I arrived home facing the prospect of a lonely month in an empty house, I peered around the corner to see how tall the unblooming sunflowers were, and my spirits were lifted by an eager-faced first blossom of the season. I call him Fido.
Here's how the garden grew while I was away for a week. (You can see Fido in the middle--I think he's watching for me to show up again on the north side of the house).

The harvest was abundant. Those zucchinis are bigger than my forearms.

I left the veggies alone on the table while I went to get some groceries. When I came back, I found they shared my thoughts...

I consoled myself by enjoying the bounty. The zucchini on the left provided 8 loaves of zucchini bread, and the four leftover cups of shredded zucchini went into the 6 stuffed bell peppers. The beans got canned, the peppers and cucumbers got pickled, and the tomatoes met their fate at the hands of random snackers. The zucchini on the right is still with us, but its days are numbered.

1st zuchinis

2007-05-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

These are the first zuchinis of our spring 2007 garden and they are woppers. I made 3 loaves of zuchini bread out of the big one and we had fresh zuchini for two suppers! Got to love it.

Pool time

2007-05-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Nan dug down deep and shelled out for this pool (with promises from her brothers of helping a little). And is was a good day!

Mt. Lemmon Cabin

2007-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

On Gabey's birthday we got to go up Mt. Lemmon and stay at the scout camp in a wonderful cabin for our troup's family camp. This is the front porch of our cabin where we spent most of our time.
This is a rock pile but at least it's in the mountains.

This is an amazing path that George (and Jack a little) made for me to walk to the bathroom (which was so nice, even flushed, a big improvement on the pit toilets we usually have to use when we are tenting). It also got us to our car easier which was nice since I conviced Gabe we needed to leave a little earlier than planned...hehe. I am really not a camper. But I love the mountain anyway!

Gabey turns 11

2007-05-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

Gabey ordered a blue berry pound cake and it was soo nice. It was encrusted with sugar on the ourside....mmmmm.

Jack turns 6

2007-05-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Jack's birthday was May 4th. He had a chocolate cake with chocolate iceing and mint chocolate icecream (except he ordered vanilla for his dad since he doesn't like mint but we ran out. Sorry dad. But that cake was GOOD!

Shakespeare reading at the Harris's

2007-05-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

May 25 we read Shakespeare's play "As you like it" with some very entertaining readers. Here you see Dan and Justin Rekhart playing Touchstone and the Second Page while Gabe is reading the part of the heroine, Rosalind.
Here is Jane Rekhart in the middle with her daughter Maddie on her right and family friend Francis on her left. Of course we had cheesey taco dip as a dinner opener.
In the forground we have Dan Manship playing the part of Adam (I think). He really got into his part!

Georgie is 8

2007-05-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Goerge tuned 8 on April 24 with a bannana cake with chocolate frosting. It was good!

How does your garden grow taken May 10, 2007

2007-05-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

The sunflowers are almost to the tops of the tomatoe cages.

The tomatoes are almost to the top of their cages too.

See How the garden grows!

2007-04-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Picture taken April 19, 2007. It's been almost 3 weeks since we planted. This is the shady garden, mostly tomatoes which I caged this week (so that the carrots wouldn't get hurt if they decided to grow) and 3 kinds of herbs. The carrots were planted too deeply so we tried a replanting even covering them with a little sand like my mom suggested. We haven't gotten any sprouts from the carrots yet but we are still looking!
This is the sunny garden and the sunflowers are the superstars here! See those big leafy guys in the middle? Those are the gargantuan sunflowers!
That big guy on the left is the zuccini. He's doing grand! I also have two small cantelopes just to his right and one lone watermelon hiding under his left leaves. The small plant at the back that is caged is the green pepper which sports not 2 but three bells!
Just another close-up of the peppers and sunflowers!

Gabe's birthday blanket

2007-04-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Gabe's 34th birthday was Wed. April 18. The kids and I put our hands and heads together and made this crazy blanket for him. The kids finger knitted probably 500 feet of what we call "finger snakes" and I tied and knitted them together on my giant size 50 knitting needles. Here you see the end result! It's wonderful!

Aunt Melinda comes for a visit

2007-04-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

Aunt Melinda came for a visit April 14 and 15. She brought her friend Amy but the pics I took of her didn't come out, too shady! We all had tons of fun. Here you see her climbing the great tree in our back yard with Jack (in black) and Nan in pink and green. George is probably even higher but you can't see him. We sat out in the back yard a lot. Drank yummy drinks, ate yummy homemade pizza and talked and watched the kids. Later the grown ups played games and laughed our heads off. The next morning Mel and Amy ran the "Race for the Cure" and our family got to walk around after the race and do fun stuff like get free Tshirts , talk to Star Wars figures and bounce on bouncy houses. Like I said we all had tons of fun! Thanks for coming Aunt Melinda (and Amy too!) Come again anytime!!!!!

Georgie's cub scout flag

2007-04-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

I decided to help make the flag for Georgie's cub scout den. Their name is the dragons so Georgie drew this dragon for me and I transfered it onto shiny orange material and then ironed that onto this flag along with the iron on letters. It turned out great! Georgie is the one in the middle. He is a great artist, so are Jack and Nan! They helped too, Nan cut out lots of the dragon and Jack kept us all company and cheered us on.

all the kids on the new couch

2007-04-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

We love to read! And I love our new couch! A friend from church gave us a big couch, love seat and rocking chair for free! Thank you God!!! Of course I still like the kids too, heheh.

Our baby garden March 2007

2007-04-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

Planted April 1, 2007. This is Tricia's garden. It's in tons of shade which we hope will help the tomatoes produce longer. We also have basil parsley and orgegano planted with lots of nasturtium seeds and carrot seeds all around. We now have sprouts of everything except the carrots. Nan and I have almost given up on them.
This is the sunny garden (mostly Gabe's). We have bush beans, zuchinin, bell peppers, pickling cucumbers and one tomatoe in the back and five peppers down each side in the front of all varieties even a jabinaro which is the hottest in the world! In the back there are watermelon and cantalope seeds which have finally sprouted. Down the center of the whole thing are lots of sunflower seeds. We bought seeds for gargantuan sunflowers which are said (on the package) to grow up to 16 feet tall! People will be able to see them over our house! There are lots of nasturtiums planted all around too becuase they are good companion plants.

I will post pictures as the garden grows.

Richard the grader

2007-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

At home with the Carpenter fam.

2007-02-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Here is dad. In his TV chair with his cat on his lap, my scarf around his neck and the phone on his ear. The movie is about to start. Poor Mel. She is resting after amazingly getting up and going to the rodeo with us. She had spent the whole night before sick as a dog!
Barrett, Mary (with ball of yarn) and Jackie (with knitting loom in hand). Aren't they cute?

Us at the Rodeo

2007-02-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here is Mom and Dad at the Rodeo. Here is Richard, Barret and me. I think Richard may still be chewing his cornydog.

Rodeo

2007-02-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Mom got us all tickets to the Fortworth Rodeo and it was so much fun.

Model Barrett

2007-02-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

I think this guy might have ing in his future. He definitely wears his new hat and scarf with style!!heheh. I just brought a little book mark for Barrett but after making scarves for Daniel and Dorothy on their request I asked Barrett if he wanted one too and he seemed so relieved that I had finally asked that I went a little crazy and knitted him a hat too!! I love being magic! Thanks to mom for teaching me how to knit!!!!!!!

Papa, Honey and Ellie

2007-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

This is Gabe's dad, Steve, better know as Papa. I think he looks like a rabi in this picture. He has my homemade bookmark on his head and Nan's knitted scarf around his neck. He was so pleased with that scarf. It was as if Nan was hugging him around the neck! Ellie is ing her new hat that Nan knitted for her and Honey is wearing the jacket I made for her. Aren't they just lovely?

Nonnie and Nanna dressed like princesses

2007-02-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

Nan and I knitted and sewed up a storm before my recent trip to Tx for my Dad's birthday. I got to spend my first afternoon in the Dallas area in McKinney with Gabe's mom, dad, grandmother and sister. I brought lots of gifts these two lovely ladies are ing their presents. It makes me smile to see them looking so beautiful together. Papa is in the back ground of this bottom one wearing the scarf Nan knitted for him!

Robbie Burns Supper

2007-01-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Our friend Dan has visited Scottland and we wanted to see his pictures which lead to Gabe finding out that The Scottish poet Robert Burns was born on Jan. 25 and people all over the world celebrate with a Burns Supper. So we did too. Gabe made aleekie soup, neeps, tadies, and cranachan for desert. That translates as chicken and leak soup, tournips, mashed potatoes, and granola with cream and rasberries. It was really good. We read Burns poems, saw Dan's slides of Scottland and heard so many amazing, historic stories. These four men wore the traditional kilts (home made by Trish) and don't they look dashing?

Arizona snow

2007-01-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

Monday morning was a snow day. One friend said it's the first time they saw snow this far south in 16 years! Mt. Lemmon always gets snow. Maybe now our kids won't beg us to drive up there (fat chance). My crazy kids even bounced on our trampoline (with socks on) on top of a layer of frozen snow ice. What can I say, they don't know the proper snow etiquette.

pie in the eye

2007-01-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

Gabe got a pie in the face from the boys who sold more than $500 of popcorn. Poor guy! The kids loved it. He is wearing Nan's swim goggles to protect his eyes.

bald is beautiful

2007-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Gabe paid the cub scouts one shaved head for their outstanding popcorn sales this year . We were the top selling pack in SW Arizona!

Nativity Play

2007-01-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Eve Nan made a lovely Mary in our Parish Nativity play. Jack was a shepard and George and Gabe were alter servers.

Chrismas Eve

2007-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve finger foods are ready and these kidos made our tree lovely!

George and kitten

2006-11-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

George is holding his favorite of the kittens who were born in our yard while we were on vacation. These kitties were eventually taken to the human society and hopefully adopted. Our kids filled their first weeks with lots of love and harrassment.

Dan

2006-11-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

I hope Dan will forgive me for posting this but it's just too good not to.

Three crazy guys

2006-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Jack, George and Nan found Nana's dress ups and went crazy! Well the picture speaks for itself.

Gabey and the Parrot

2006-11-28T19:56:00.000-08:00

Summer 2005 Mckinney, Tx. A parrot flew into Nana's yard. We were all amazed and decided it must have been someone's pet who flew the coop. Gabey was the only one brave enough to invite it onto his arm. It did sit on Tricia's shoulder for a while but she didn't ask it back. It finally moved onto the next yard after a while and was never seen again. It was like magic.

Nan, sprinklers and boot

2006-11-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

Summer of 2005 Nan broke her foot at Finch Park in McKinney, TXduring the second week of our visit. She and the other kids had been running through these cool sprinklers and then sliding down the slides (not pictured). Nan slid and landed on her foot. She wore that "boot" for the rest of the trip.

Katie's Bday cake

2006-11-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Nan made and decorated this cake herself! Tricia had fun decorating a little of it too when Nan said it was ok! We had so much fun. Nan's friend Katie is coming for the day and we didn't get to celebrate her birthday yet (it was about a month ago) so Nan decided to go all out! Hope she likes it!

The top of "A" Mountain

2006-11-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

We climed to the top of "A" Mountain on Sunday Oct. 29th.

Bloody Eyeballs

2006-11-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Cream cheese and Jello

Monster Toes

2006-11-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

Little Smokies in Tortillas with Mustart, Ketchup, or BBQ sause for toe nails.

Witches' Fingers

2006-11-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

Almond flavored cookies with almonds for the finger nails with red jell underneath.

Bloody Hand

2006-11-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

Cranberry juice frozen in a latex glove floats in Nana's famous piano recital punch!

Halloween fun

2006-11-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Nan the indian, George the Clown haired wizard, Lucy the little wich fairy, Gabey the Darth Vader ad Jack the clown haired witch hatted camo clad wizard are about to enjoy some spooky treats.

Nan's new glasses

2006-10-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Nan got glasses on Oct 2, 2006. She says, "I love my new glasses!" And she sees clearer too. Her eyes are nowhere as bad as her mom's. They are more like her dad's, just slightly near sighted but the glasses really help. Hope they stay that way.

Zoo day

2006-08-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

We took one long day to drive out to a little zoo near Gainsville, Tx and it was worth the trip! At least this year we got to ride on a little train. One of these years I will get my kids on a real train!

Nan's 9th Birthday

2006-08-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

Nan's 9th Birthday was a wonderful one! Aunt Honey and Nan took a day to make this wonderful cake and Lucy is helping Nan enjoy her presents!

Sweet Summer Rain

2006-08-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

This is out on my mom and dad's drive way. It finally rained after taking weeks and weeks, it was sweet indeed. Lucy got so wet she lost her clothes! From Left to right it's Gabey, Barret and George, Nan, Lucy, and Jack.

Herd path

2006-08-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is on a path at the Herd Meuseum in MkKinney, Tx.

Ellie

2006-08-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

This is Ellie, Just one month old. She is perfect!

2006-08-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

At the end of June we got to visit my highschool friend Cheri Morgan and her 4 kidos in Pooleville, Tx. It was a beautiful day!

2006-08-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Nana loves to have watermelon seed spitting contests but she had a dickens of a time finding melons with seeds, this is one of three different times when we found the white seeds just don't go as far!

Swim days

2006-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

This is the Janita Maxfield pool in McKinney where we swam 2 or three times a week! In the background you can kinda see the floating snake that the kids loved to fall off of.

George is so cool

2006-08-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

George made this cool hammock for this bear.

George got these cool shades at his last guitar lesson where his teacher told him that all guitarists are cool so of course they all have cool glasses! George is way cool!

bebe Gun

2006-08-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Gabey got pretty good with the bebe gun. Don't worry the little kids are not even allowed on the grass and there is no one begind those bushes.

swim lessons

2006-08-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Jack, Andrew and Owen took swim lessons together. They did great!

finger knitting

2006-08-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

On the first day of "Nana and Papa Camp" I taught all the kids how to knit a tube chain on their hands. Nan and Truett had a contetst to see who could knit the longest.

Dandilions

2006-08-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

Lucy blowing dandilions at Bobby and Ellens house. June 2, 2006

Tractor ride

2006-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

We visited Cousin Ellen and Bobby in the first week of our visit. Truett is actually driving this tractor with Gabe, Nan, George, and Jack in the scoop. Thank you Bobby for a once in a life time ride!

Bikes

2006-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

My dad "Grampa Jack, or Grandaddy" got bikes for all my kids even Lucy and I got to ride. We had some great bike rides on the streets of McKinney.

Dinner time!

2006-08-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

Papa did the honors and cut that fish to smitherines. We all got to taste the crumbly deep batterfried goodness with Powell potatoes on the side!

What she caught

2006-08-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

She caught a big one! A Catfish with wiskers and everything!

Fishing with Papa

2006-08-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

First, Nan had to find the worms herself.... Georgie helped a little.

2006-08-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Lucy turned 2 in Texas this year. She eventually decided on the cake over the thumb!

Lucy loves her new backpack, a present from her Aunt Honey!

2006-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Nana's play room is the best. Summer of 2006, The Harris kids made the most of it!

Almost all the girls

2006-08-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures from the summer trip to Texas. We are all here except Mel, we missed you Mel. Dorothy is showing us her wedding pictures!

2006-07-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Dorothy and Daniel Kent were married on Sun. May 28th amid addoring fans and family!
It was great! And by great I mean really really hot, beautiful, but hot!

The Bear's Lunch

2006-04-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a story that Nan wrote for a Writing Placement Assessment for the online school K-12-Arizona Virtualy Academy

Once upon a time two friends named Katie and Nan had lunch with their bears. Nan asked Katie, “What should we make for our bears?” Katie said, “Let’s make eggs.” So they made eggs (which actually were leaves) and this is how they made them. First they had to pick the leaves and then they got them wet so that they would be soft after they cooked them in the sun.

While Katie and Nan waited for them to be done Nan said to Katie, “Now while we are waiting for the eggs we should make pudding.” So they made pudding and this is how they made it. They had cups and they put pencil shavings in the cups and added a little water to it so it would get thick enough to be pudding. So they stirred and stirred and stirred until it was like pudding. And then it was ready to be served to the Bears. But the bears had to wait because the eggs were not quite ready yet. A few minutes later the eggs were done so the bears each got two. And they were quite delicious. After they finished the eggs they could have the pudding . They were very happy that they could have the pudding and it was very yummy!

And when lunch was over Katie had to leave because she was only a friend of Nan’s so they said good bye and so did the bears. “That was a very good day,” said Nan. She was happy and so was Katie. “Next time we will make the same thing even better,” said Nan, and I think they did.

By Nan Harris April 11, 2006

Easter Dresses

2006-04-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

I love our dresses this year. I made each a diff. style and the material was only 2$ a yard so in all our dresses cost about 7 $ and we will definitely wear them again!

Lucy is all ready for church Easter morning and is taking her kitties for a walk. My mom sent a big birthday box that we opened on Easter morning and she knitted Lucy the Mama and the kittens from the nursury rhyme about the kittens and their mittens. Lucy loves them so much she insists they are in her bed when the lights go out!

Bionicles in the shade

2006-04-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Spring Garden

2006-04-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the garden! It is only partially covered with alfafa hay at the point this picture was taken. Now it's all covered and growing great! The strawberries and tomatoes are especially happy!

coolering

2006-04-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Cleaning the cooler panels. Thisi s one of the hardest jobs of my life, right up there with laboring for my dad when he laid brick which usually just meant pushing a broom and some shoveling of sand. This job started in March and was finally finished in April, just in time for some hot weather. It works beautifully and looks great too! As someone once said, "I'm blessed with work!"

He is Risen Indeed

2006-04-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Crossing over

2006-04-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

On Sat. April 1, 2006, after we set up camp Gabe and Georgie, crossed over from one year to the next, from one rank to the next. Gabe was a Bear now he is a WEBELOWS (stands for We be loyal scouts). Georgie was a Tiger and now he is a Wolf. They each got a new neckerchief to show their new rank.

Here's Gabey recieving his neckerchief

Here is Georgie recieving his neckerchief

Camping

2006-04-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 1, 2006 GAbe set up camp at the scout camp in SW Tucson. He had lots of help!

Lucy, Jack and George sat on the corners of the tent so they wouldn't blow away!

While Gabe set up the tent the big kids lugged all the sleeping gear from the van. It wasn't really all up hill.

Our table

2006-03-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is our beautiful table and chairs that I love so much. For ten years we had a laminated table handmedown and stools and folding chairs. Now we have a beautiful birch table that extends to 10 feet and I got 4 chairs for free and recovered the seats a pretty yellow to match the beautiful yellow walls. Gabe and I still have our mama and papa chairs (mine is soft and his is strong) but they are covered which I really like. I really love it. The tulips are a wonderful bonus. Gabe brought them home for me last night as a surprise after a pretty bad day. They neutralized my self pity and definitely made my day!

Climbing

2006-03-29T10:34:00.000-08:00

Lucy has learned to climb the very high, pipe, loft beds in the boys room. We did deter her for a month or so by taking out the first ladder rung. She soon figured out how to climb with out it by watching her brothers. So now we find her up on Georgie's, or Gabey's or Jack's bed snuggled under their covers or rifling through their private stuff or just swinging her feet off the edge, at all times of the day. This morning I was making breakfast when she started yelling "Mommy" I knew she was up on one of the beds and couldn't get down and wanted to. So I went to the boys room and this is what I found.

Here are some pics or the beds just to get an idea.

Eukranian Easter eggs

2006-03-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of our newest hobby, spearheaded of course by Gabe - Eukranian Easter eggs. We all made some, even Jack, but not Lucy, we paint them when she is napping. They are decorated by drawing with wax and then starting with a light colored dye and drawing some more so that the light dye gets covered and then dying them again in a little darker dye and so on. It is really fun and the end result is amazing.

Chips too

2006-03-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

Last night when I took Gabey to his Den meeting I left lentil leftovers for the fam. to consume while I was gone and I left no mention of chips to go with them. When I got home it was reported to me that Daddy had let them all have chips. When I asked Gabe what he was thinking he said he had to because after seeing her plate Lucy had looked up and said "Daddy, chips, Now!" So he had no choice. hehehe.

See the salsa pics near the bottom of the blog for an idea of how much Lucy likes salsa so of course she likes chips too!

Wedding pairs

2006-03-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

Tricia's sister Dorothy and her man Daniel! Getting married May 28th! Yipee!
Tricia's sister Melinda and her man Ralf! Getting married OCt. 28th! Yahooo!

Lucy reading

2006-03-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

e.e. cummings and Nancy Powell

2006-03-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

by e.e. cummings

This poem makes me think of Nancy Powell. She reminds me that children help us stop and notice the little things that make life wonderful, like the birds, or acorn caps, or ladybugs. And she fearlessly loves knowing things, mostly about people and learns from so many of them. And she loves as big as the sky with one smile!

Little Bionicles

2006-03-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

The Harris kids love to make new Bionicles all the time. These are just a few of what they have made. Georgie and Nan made the little guys called Toa Monkeys, and Jack made the one armed guy called a Toa.

Zomes

2006-03-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here are the Harris kids with an amazing Zome creation. Gabe got these great geometrical contectors and he and the kids create the most amazing structures. This is the biggest they have ever made. the date was sometime in Feb. 2006.

Supper time

2006-03-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

The other day we were having soup for supper and Lucy really liked it so after she finished her first bowl she lifted her now empty bowl and asked for "more poop?" hhehe.

Salsa amor

2006-03-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Lucy loves Hot Sauce, salsa, picante, whatever you want to call it! She even drinks it!