31 Days of Little Things

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging.  Please check out what everyone is blogging about.  I tackled my office year last year. This year I want to do something a little " Different".

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were big things. - Robert Brault

I am doing 31 days of little things - tips, inspiration, and quite possibly the voices in my head. I want to show you the little things that are inspiring me,the tricks I am using to get through my busy life, and or things that just make me smile. I hope that I can make some of you laugh at least at my very imperfect life.

I will be updating this introduction post with days as we progress through the series.

Day 1- Smartphone Tip
Day 2 - Kindness
Day 3 - Thrift
Day 4 - A Little Spooky
Day 5 - Freezer Cooking
Day 6 - Inspiration
Day 7 - Couponing Sanely
Day 8 - Read This
Day 9 - Library
Day 10 - Front Door Decorating
Day 11 - Booking It
Day 12 - Cooking Baking Tips
Day 13 - Sock Bin
Day 14 - Sign Wisdom
Day 15 - Starting the Week Right
Day 16 - Easy Halloween Crafts
Day 17 - Blog Anniversary and a Funny
Day 18 - Wild Kingdom and Squirrel Moment #1002
Day 20 - Been Baggin It
Day 21 - Rubbermaid Mop
Day 22- Do you Pin?
Day 23 - Pendants/Garlands/Banners
Day 24 - War on Frump
Day 26 - Halloween Story
Day 27 - Saturday Breakfast Tradition
Day 29 - Linky Love
Day 30 - Waiting for the Bus
Day 31 - Reading Aloud

National Coffee Day

Source: imgfave.com via Heather on Pinterest

Go ahead, "Drink Up," it is National Coffee Day.  I love coffee not the fru fru stuff either.  I live in the land of coffee, berries, and dairy.  If you don't have favorite coffee stop, you aren't from around here. They take their coffee VERY SERIOUSLY up here. Happy Coffee Day!

Source: media.photobucket.com via Heather on Pinterest

Frogs

These frogs were hanging out on our bird feeder.  Just an interesting photo I thought I would share.

Right Now

In Ali Edwards 52 Lifts Newsletter she invited us to play around with the journal prompt " Around Here" or "Right Now."  Check out how Ali and others answered. I thought I would give it my best shot with a simple digital scrapbook page, "Voices in My Head".  These are the things I am thinking about and are bouncing around in my brain.

Cobwebs

Yesterday morning was foggy.  It was the Scooby Doo kind of fog, if you know what I mean.  There were cobwebs everywhere. They look so neat.  I saw quite a few people out taking pictures, too.

Circle Art

Circle Art by Chuckles

We went to 4th Grade Parent Night at Chuckles school.  On display was some circle art the kids did with kid safe compasses.  I had never seen these types of drawing compasses.  They don't have the sharp metal point.  It was amazing how each kids circle art was different.

Toilet with a View - Iron Goat Trail

After leaving Leavenworth this past weekend.  We did some geocaching. (Totally Surprising) We stop at this Bygone Byways Trail . There were stops all along the trail however all the interpretive maps were missing.  It was still a beautiful place to get out and stretch our legs and find 2 geocaches.

We found two geocaches and saw these little falls.

Next we stopped at Iron Goat Trail.  It is a trail that follows a abandoned Great Northern Railway Grade.We really hiked.  Yes even me with the bum knee hiked. We gained over 700 feet in a mile. I need to invest in a hiking pole and a hydration belt. I felt like a goat. There were lots of switch backs and rock stairs. We hiked up to the old Cascade Railroad Tunnel opening. 

We also saw this AMAZING toilet near the Windy Point Overlook.   Hey, this blog is named after an outhouse.  It is my duty and privilege to bring to you the unique outhouse experience. It had quite the view.

There were lots of people out with their dogs.  From the Windy Point Overlook you can see the current railroad track and tunnel opening.

We found two great geocaches on Iron Goat Trail.  It was really great way to spend our anniversary.

Our Bavarian Adventure - Leavenworth, WA

Chuckles and #1 at Leavenworth Sign

Pappy requested to go to Leavenworth WA for his 92nd Birthday.  He had driven through there many times with his wife. Pappy and Nonna took the train to Leavenworth from Tacoma.  The train stops at Icicle Station. We met them up there this past weekend. 

Pappy with the Maypole in background

We were concerned that the nearby fires would leave things too smokey.  The fires were to the south and east.  The air quality wasn't so bad that we couldn't enjoy our visit.

sun through the smoke

We had a great time exploring Leavenworth.

All of Us
#1 Son, Pappy, Nonna, Chuckles, Giant Man Child, and Me

We did lots of walking and had a very German Lunch - Sausage and Schnitzel and BEER.  Pappy really enjoyed listening to the Polka music.  HE sat for a long while and listened to guy play the accordion. Pappy use to play the accordion.

WE even went to the Nutcracker Museum. 

 

Chuckles with Carl the Nutcracker

Who knew there were so many different kinds of nutcrackers.  This is well worth a visit to check out.  It turned out to be really fascinating. We stayed at the Bavarian Lodge. 

#1Son and Chuckles outside the Bavarian Lodge

Happy Anniversary

To the Love of my Life:

I can't believe it has been

17 years!
Everday has been an adventure.

You
+
ME
=
AWESOME

Love Ya,
H

Love Wall

 

Here is the LOVE wall in all it's glory.  There is some space for some more love stuff too. The photo is a little awkward as the angle to obtain shop. This was part of my home goals that I set for 2012 as part of Nester's Home Goal Challenge.

 I guess we can check this one off the list. 

For more information on the projects pictured click on project below

String Heart
Heart Tree Carving Embroidery

Helicopter Craft

I came across this Helicopter craft on Learn Create Love.  Of course, I convinced Chuckles to do it with me.  I think these turned out great.  He said this was his black ops helicopter.  For some reason, that really cracked me up. It is really hard to convince my boys to craft anymore. 

Craiglist Crazies

I was browsing the general section of craigslist last week and found these little gems. So many of these have me wondering what and more importantly WHY? Some of these made me laugh out loud. Is it that desperate times require you to post on Craigslist.

To whoever, and however many of you there are. Watch your step. Not only have a set a couple things in place around my garage and car which you seemingly cant resist to keep your pathetic crack head hands off of.And also, our dog is waiting in a surprise spot for you. We left a few things out we thought you would just LOVE to sell for another score or whatever it is you do with your pathetic excuse for existence. BUT! You have to get passed the dog ;) and maybe even a 38 special! Come on give it another go, this is just starting to get fun. When I called the police they thought it was a teenager, and I remember one inparticular that threw up peace to me, i remember you, very well. see ya tonight panzy.

We are looking for anybody who has been stalked by a dangerous animal. This would involve seeing the animal, noticing it stalking you and then maybe attacking you. If you have been in such a situation, we'd love to speak to you! We are about to shoot a television series about stalking animals and there may be a chance for you to talk about what happened on screen! If this is you, please do get in touch :-)

Hi,
Okay, so this sounds really bizarre, but I am in need of a small quantity of poop from a healthy person in order to do a fecal transplant which I hope will relieve many months of IBS. I have considered my family, but they actually have similar issues as I have.

You robbed my car and you told someone, someone knows what you did and I will find out. You stole a gun, handgun, a Glock 22. I know your friends are afraid of what you did and you are afraid on what to do with it. You will try to hide it, you might even try to get rid of it. All your choices are bad and will result in bad karma. If you or anyone else wants to get good karma or help out someone who got there car dash destroyed, wallet stolen, personal family heirlooms stolen, and gun stolen, than email me.
The person who did this is fool and might shoot the gun on some bender and hurt you or some by-standard in a new found lust for armed robbery. They most likely live around the Sportplex area, Do you feel safe with a gun stealing thief around? Even more dangerous is the karma to fall on the thief.

So if you need some entertainment check out craiglist.  Evidently it is where the crazies post in the general section.

Artist Point

It has been several years since we have been to this part of our county.  We thought we would get up there before the weather turned bad and the road closes once again. Last year, the road wasn't cleared to Artist point because of record snowfall. 

We couldn't of picked a nicer day to head up this way.  We stopped at Nooksack Falls on the way up and found a geocache and did a virtual cache.  Evidently a lot of others had the same idea to head up to Artist Point.  We actually parked below in a turn out as the parking lot was full and ate lunch.  Then we ventured up to Artist's Point.  The view was amazing.  There is a geocache there too!  We got some amazing photos including this one of all of us.

On the way down the mountain we stopped at picture lake.  The reflection of  Mount Shuskan  reflecting in the lake was stunning.

Squirrel Moment #1001

We saw this Santa's Outhouse at Big Lot's .  Which brings me to a squirrel moment. 

Who in the heck puts this on their tree? What kind of OTHER ornaments are on there?  Go ahead and let that marinate in your brain. I know my whole blog is named after the view of a honeypot BUT does outhouse say Christmas to you.

Booking It September and Uncle Sam's List

Please check out what what everyone is reading at Life as Mom. I didn't request the book that most are reading , Kisses for Katie. So I once again picked a book off the Hot Picks shelf at the library.

I read an interesting book about the Untied States border called Borderlands - Riding the Edge of America by Derek Lundy.  I found this book  interesting as I have lived at the southern border of the United States and now live close to the Northern Border.  Illegal immigration is a hot topic no matter if you live at the Northern or Southern Border.  This book was actually written by a Canadian, Derek Lundy, who rode his motorcycle along the southern and northern border.  He tried to ride as close as possible to the border.  He did it in memory of some friends that passed on.  Derek had some interesting adventures which he outlines in the book along with the history of the US Border and United States relationship with Canada and Mexico. I think the main conclusion he comes to that no fence is going to stop illegal immigration. That overwhelmingly most Americans that don't live near the border believe a fence will stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.  Those who live near the border and those that patrol the border (Border Patrol Agents) don't believe a fence is slowing down illegal immigration and drug trafficking.  The northern border due to the remoteness cannot be secured with a fence.

I especially like this quote  - " The border can't be both things: a goods-and services conduit and a security perimeter. One form must trump the other, and there's little doubt that security will win out." - Derek Lundy

Because I now live near the Canadian border, I really love some the observations/criticisms he made about Americans and their views of Canada.  He stated that Americans are very ignorant about their northern neighbor especially what Canadians are doing to interdict terrorists. I agree.  This book really gets you to think about illegal immigration and the function the border serves.

Tying into this, my friend just started a new business called Uncle Sam's List which lists businesses that pledge to only use legal documented workers. Here is their mission statement:

At Uncle Sam's List, we promote businesses and organizations that commit to employing U.S. Citizens and those lawfully present and legally eligible to work in the United States. We believe that informed consumers will slowly put a stop to the endless flow of illegal laborers that compete with legitimate workers in the United States. The American consumer can succeed where governments refuse to even try. Economic Patriots understand that supporting our workforce will strengthen our Nation.
I think this is a great way to put out to the community that your business is making a conscious choice to only employ legal workers.

Working on a Home Goal

A couple months ago, as in January, the Nester had a challenge involving listing your home goals.  Today, I am one step closer to one of my goals.  See my goal post here.  One of my goals was gallery wall for my love/valentine things.  Today that wall got painted. It is the same shade of builder white but now not grungy builder white. 

We are making progress people.  How many months has this feat taken? ( Don't answer that)

Here is a sneak peak of some of the stuff that is going on the wall.  The post on the heart string art can be found here.

Some of the items going on gallery wall

1st day of 4th Grade

Today was Chuckles first day of 4th Grade.  Wahoo!  We experimented with different 1st day poses for pictures.  I think the top one is my favorite. 

The Choices We Make

You are free

to choose,

but you are

not free from

the consequence

of your choice.

           A universal paradox 

 

 



I am having anxiety.  I  am sending my kid to a new school out of our district.  It is not helping that I didn't know exactly how he was suppose to get to said school until late on Friday. That probably should be a post in itself. I wrote a little about my experience about our transition meeting here.   We have since visited said school.  It indeed is in a very nice location.  The staff is very capable of dealing with my son's behaviors. The environment is very restrictive.  The staff to student ratio and academics are great. My son has had a chance to visit. It is like all our hopes are wrapped in this school being the right place for him. I don't want my anxiety to transfer to my son. Hey, I am a Mom and I worry. This is hard stuff.  This is a new dance for us and our son. There isn't exactly a guidebook. I know I will breathe a sigh of relief when this first day is in the books so to speak. Here is to the first day of High School!

Forget all the reasons why it won't work and believe the one reason why it will - unknown

The End is Near

The Boys Padilla Bay

Our summer is wrapping up. This was our last day before our oldest starts school.  The other starts on the 5th.  We took a little day trip.  Everyone needs a last hurrah. We couldn't have asked for a better more mild September day.  We spent some of the day geocaching along the Padilla Bay Shore Trail. 

We didn't quite make all 4 miles but we went a little over half way.  Our legs were pretty tired.  This flat path would be a great place to bring our bikes. We saw lots of people walking their dogs. This sign gave us a chuckle. 

We also saw lots of Blue Herons. These Herons were out in a field next to the trail which was a little odd.

The Winner IS?

 

This is the official finish day of our travel bug race.  For more details about our race click here.

Racer                                  # of Caches Visited                    total miles traveled
CRAZY                                            3                                          2919 miles
Shrek                                                8                                          1686 miles
Cody                                               17                                            638 miles
Ms Honeypot                                  77                                            189 miles
                                                     ______                                   ____________
TOTAL                                         105 caches                            4,605 miles

It looks like Chuckles beat the pants off of us.  Though my travel racer visited the most caches. It will be interesting to see next year if they are still going strong and who is in the lead.  We settled our bet at Menchies a frozen yogurt place in Bellingham.