Long time no write

So yeah...It's been a while. In my defense, it's been sort of boring around here. spring is springing, although not quickly enough, Lena and Pilar are growing by leaps and bounds. They keep me busy finding places to entertain them. We've been to a couple different places in the last weeks. Me Too has been a lifesaver. We've gone about once a week since we discovered it. (thanks to SWPCC fundraiser) We visited Pump it Up this weekend. Lena LOVED it, but Pilar didn't get off my lap the entire time. I'm hoping she warms up to it since it is GREAT for getting some energy out. Jason's quarter just ended (it's finals week) and he has a few spring courses. I'm looking forward to him having a calmer schedule. In April I will be visiting California for the birth of my best friend's first child. I am VERY excited to see family and friends. The girls are also looking forward to seeing people, but are mostly focused on the plane ride. It's the first time for Pilar and the first time Lena will remember. Should be fun. :)
That's about all. I'm working on making some more fruits and veggies for the craft fair season coming up. I'll let you know if I make anything new.

Same 'ol same 'ol

One of these days I'll get back to the "something That Rhymes with Mondays," but I feel like I'm still recuperating from the bronchitis I got from the terrible, horrible cold. My body attempted to expel my lungs from my chest for about a month until I finally caved and went to the Drs. Yay for meds! Go Codeine! So you just get an update about goings-on here.
The girls are back up and running after a very long winter break. Lena was literally crying the Sunday night before school started because we wouldn't take her back to school RIGHT NOW!. She's better now. Her classroom lost its bus driver in December and we finally have a replacement. I am cautiously optimistic about it, since this is the second replacement so far. The other one got a better job offer. Lena LOVES the bus as only a 4 year old can. Even though we live 3 minutes from the school, we decided that the school bus was an experience she should have. Also, so much easier on her chauffeurs. At least one of her teachers is on the bus in the morning and afternoon and there is much singing and chatting. Very Lena.
Pilar has been less excited to go back to "school." She's in a 2 hour day care 3 days a week. She loves her teacher (and asks for her often) but has had some separation anxiety lately. Not sure where it's coming from.
I'm heading off to Salem this week for a couple days to help lobby the Oregon legislature to continue funding Head Start. I'm excited and nervous, though not necessarily about lobbying (I figure my Head Start program is not going to let me screw that up too badly) but because I've never been away from the girls overnight. I've come home late when they are already in bed, but never until morning.....we'll see how all of us do.
So about mid morning to mid afternoon this Thursday, send me some good mojo. Hopefully I won't need it too badly.

Facebook

Hi, my name is Lysa and I'm a facebook addict. It's one of those things you think you're only going to check to see if anyone's posted to your wall. Riiiiiight...Then you HAVE to kidnap someone because you just got "Hole through the Earth." And how can you resist finding out which 80s movie defines you (Princess Bride)? And dammit, your cousin beat your Word Challenge score and that cannot stand.....Finally, you absolutely must check out the new photos posted by your high school friend because you just KNOW there will be something familiar and embarrassing there. Oh, and don't get me started on "friends available to chat."
It's been a blast finding and chatting with people from high school and college and keeping up with current friends and family who are far away. I feel like I know what people in my life are up to without having to email or call and ask a ton of questions. It's totally addictive and I love it.

Updates

Jason's about to put the girls to bed. I thought I'd take the time to update some. Here are a few in short:

-Christmas was wonderful. My parents gave the girls a lovely wooden dollhouse from Plan toys and a bunny family each. The bunny families came with clothes, though some of them have since become nudists. Bunnies are so free-spirited. Grandma Gail and Grandpa Dan gave the girls magna doodles which were VERY HIGH on their list of favorite toys. Lena is spelling on hers, and Pilar is trying. Lena can spell her name and has managed "cat" and "rat." It's been fun watching her figure it out. Santa gave them baby dolls and strollers and we gave them mostly handmade stuff. Beautiful blankets from Quiltish, Tutus from Mama Runs with Scissors, some hair clips from Ladybug Limited and nightgowns made especially for them from Bamdesigns. I had a lot of fun planning and crafting this year.

-We had an incredible amount of snow in December. For about 2 weeks we were (for the most part) snowed in, or at least unable to use our cars. I took a few days around Christmas off and had some snow days off work. Luckily we are pretty close to bus lines and a grocery coop, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Especially since the power stayed on. Because Portland has very few snow plows, only the major streets are taken care of, so our street looked like a bunny slope. Lena enjoyed sliding down the street in a plastic bin. Pilar STILL tells us about the time she slide in a box, fell in the snow and cried. If asked, she will say it was not fun. She is SO her mother.

Jason started a new quarter about 2 weeks ago. This schedule is much better than last quarter, though still busy. I still enjoy my work. It's grant season, so I'm getting to do some proofing, which is much more fun than filing. I'm not sure I'm that useful, but I try.

Otherwise, all is much the same. I'll try to think of some better stories to tell soon.

Urgh...

So I am still here. I've been sick since about Christmas....Not bedridden sick. Just not on my game. I'm going to sit on my butt for a while now and watch the first season of Bones on DVD. Just thought I'd share. I'll update more later....Just wanted to say hi.

Still here and very cold

Hey. It has been snowing or snowing temperature here since Sunday. We are not exactly snowed in, since Jason and I were able to walk to the store to pick up supplies (and I walked to the bus to get to work), but we haven't been out and about as much as I wanted. Jason finished fall quarter on Monday, and has been mostly relaxing (as much as you can with 2 small housebound children). I did most, if not all, of my Christmas shopping early so no need to bus to the mall or anything. Almost all presents will be hand made or traded for handmade anyway. People in California and Wisconsin (you know who you are) will have to wait for Christmas presents however, since I don't think I'll be able to make the postal deadline. So it's Christmas in January for you. Hurray!

I finished all my special orders, so now I'm working on treats for the girls. I've made one hat (Here it is on Pilar, but this one is Lena's)
The flower was added to cover up the seams from changing color. I'm not that great at the crochet stiches required to make color change seamless. I also attempted a crown:

This one turned out pretty well. It's a bit big, but she loves it. I'm making one for Pilar once I finish here. I will also be making one for their cousin Anna, so they can all be princesses, or fairies, or whatever together.

This post has taken WAY too long. I had planned to include a list of craft fair vendors, but the girls are making that difficult, so I'm going to go break up whatever argument is currently raging. Whoever said little girls are sweet and demure was full of it.

It's Snowing!

It's snowing! Last year it snowed on Christmas, which was very exciting since Lena had asked for snow for Christmas. Pilar, however, was too young to be much more than confused. So the snow today is pretty exciting to her. I think soon we will be outside playing in it. According to the little weather indicator at the bottom corner of my computer, it will be sunny but cold on Monday. I don't know how much I trust that, however, since it says it is overcast right now and I can look out my window and see it actively snowing.....I'm thinking snow day tomorrow.

Yesterday's Craft fair was a bit disappointing. The vendors were fantastic. They had interesting, quality goods to sell and were great company, but because there were weather warnings all day yesterday and it was COLD and wet almost no one came out. I had a few sales (enough to pay for my table fee and some items I purchased) and most of the tables had at least one sale if not more (I believe) it was still disappointing. I will list the vendors who came on Monday's post (I have to dig them out of my plastic storage bins). On the bright side, the fair accomplished what it set out to do. Make some money for Lena's pre-school. My mother-in-law spent an entire day and most of a night recycling crayons for our sale. The crayons were definitely the best seller: 16 sets. We also made money on the table fees: 12 spaces. So all in all successful for Headstart, though I wish it had been better for our vendors. Stupid weather.