Our New Library!!!!

Humble little Grandview, WA just got a beautiful brand new library! I am going to try my best not to end every sentence in this post with !!!!

Ever since we moved to Washington 2 1/2 years ago, we have had rotten luck with libraries. Walla Walla’s library charged an arm and TWO legs for poor College Place residents to get a library card. Since Jeff was a student when we lived there, we didn’t have any spare limbs to pay for library cards. Grandview had a tiny old book nook called the Bleyhl Community Library when we moved here just over a year ago. A few months ago, Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) announced that it would be building a library on its Grandview Campus, and the Bleyhl Community Library merged with YVCC to make one gorgeous haven of literary delight!!!! Ever since the words “Grandview Library” were hung on the outside of the building, I have gotten an Anne Shirley-style thrill when I see it. I even paused on a run one day to peek through the windows.

The grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony was on Monday (Sept. 6th). You may recall that that was my first day of boy- babysitting bonanza. But, I have been withering away in the book-desert for FAR too long to let 4 small children hold me back. It was time for some Shaina-innovation! [or should I say Shainnovation?]

I reconnected with this old faithful garage-sale bike trailer. It came with a detachable handle and front wheel to turn it into a stroller. Perfect for 3 little boys! As for Rose…

Being the youngest, she got the short end of the stick. While puzzling over how to transport 4 kids 1/3 of a mile, I noticed this handy little compartment behind the seat in the bike trailer. I crammed a blanket-lined Costco wipes box back there to give Rose a little support, and then crammed my unfortunate daughter into the box.

After a few minutes, Rose embraced her back seat and calmly taste-tested the yellow blanket while we walked to the library. Man I have good-natured kids.

Steph walked over with us, and she was a great help with keeping track of the 3 little explorers.

The Ribbon. I thought it would be red. Oh well, gold is shinier. This little ribbon-cutting party turned out to be a 45 minute program with speeches by various community college people, architects, and librarians. Even the Mayor spoke! It reminded me of the State of the Union address: lots of clapping after every few words.

This is the Mayor of Grandview. He looks like a bigger version of Jean Valjean to me. Monsieur le mayor. Too bad he didn’t sing for us… or quote some Victor Hugo. That would’ve livened things up a bit! Today as I was leaving the library, I did the polite “hi” to a group of people that passed me. A few minutes later, I realized that the guy at the front of the group that “hi-ed” back was the mayor! I felt famous. Briefly.

Anyways, during the lengthy speech-making, los niños romped and roamed.

Jay led an expedition to get as dirty as possible. He must have been born with an internal dirt homing device. Jay can always find dirt.

I’m not the only one who’s excited about the new library. There was quite the crowd assembled by the end. They finally cut the ribbon, and we wove through the crowd with a chain of little boys to go see the inside of the library at long last. It was too crowded for me to feel comfortable with all those kids running rampant, so we left after a quick glance around.

Today Jay, Rose, and I went to the library together. I felt kind of dumb taking pictures, but it’s so SHINY and PRETTY!

Jay with the reading skunk by the children’s section. I wonder why they chose a skunk. It should’ve been a sage rat. hee hee

Rose basked in the books while I explored and picked out some fun kid stories. There don’t seem to be any new kids books, but I haven’t been able to explore the rest of the collection to see if they’ve added anything. I’m not positive, but I’m optimistically assuming that we’ll be able to do interlibrary loans now, since the library is part of the community college’s system. yay!!!

Jay was happy to find that they brought the cool Lego table from the old library.

While Jay splashed in the water fountain, I read all of the interesting history of books in Grandview in this nice little display case. I love old newspaper clippings! This isn’t a good picture, but you get the point.

For the new system, everyone has to apply for a new library card. Here’s mine. Before, they didn’t even give out library cards—they just asked for your last name at the check-out. This is a welcome addition to my wallet.

Bring on the books!

A friend in need

It all started last Wednesday when I put off doing the laundry for most of the day. I was going to take it over to the in-law’s house to wash it sans-quarters, but it just didn’t happen before afternoon naptime. When I finally geared myself up to lug it down to the little basement laundry room in our plex, I noticed that we had left our detergent at said in-laws’ casa last time we did laundry there. So I had a heap of laundry and nothing to wash it with.

Enter: Google search—homemade laundry detergent. I found a recipe with ingredients that I already had, whipped up a little bucket of soap, and then went trudging down to the laundry room.

Pling plink plink plink plingggg, I’d rather pay a water  bill.  Anyways, my homemade detergent worked just fine. I don’t know if it saves a significant amount of money though, since I probably spend less than $30 on laundry soap each year. Oh well! I felt like such a clever little problem-solver.

Maybe I was just in problem-solving mode or something, because when our neighbor, Susie, (who lives right below us in the basement of The 5-Plex) walked by, we struck up a conversation that lasted a whole hour. She told me her big dilemma. She’s a single mom with 4 kids. Her babysitter just bagged out on her a few weeks ago, and she had to stop working and search for another babysitter. [can you see what’s coming?]

Well, as you may know, when you stop working, you stop getting paid, and when you stop getting paid, you can’t pay your bills. Bottom line: Susie needed a new babysitter asap. I knew that it would be a huge responsibility, but I just really really felt prompted to help out. So-o-o-o, after many more conversations and phone calls and discussions, by that night, I had agreed to become The Babysitter!

Since my main objective is to help (not make big bucks), I agreed to do it for bare bones pay ($3/hr) so Susie can get back to work and cover her other expenses. I found another girl via church connections who’s interested in taking over the job soon, but Susie wants to get to know her better and be able to pay her more before she becomes the main sitter. So it’s the Shaina-show for the next month or 3. Jay likes having a buddy to play with. He and John hit it off instantly. I’m glad Jay can have a friend to play with 3 days a week.

I watch the kids Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 8am-6:30pm. The two oldest are in school, so for most of the day, I just have Jay and Rose, plus John (age 3) and Justin (age 18 months). All those J names tie up my tongue! So far the activity of choice is riding bikes. These boys love wheels.

Monday (Sept. 12th) was my first day. It got kind of crazy at times, but so far, so good. I can either stay in my apartment or go downstairs to their home, so that is very convenient—I can even take our cordless phone and the baby monitor down there. It’s great! The kids’ dad often comes over in the afternoons after work, so I’m off the hook if he shows up—which has happened both days so far. Monday he didn’t get there till after I made dinner for 6 kids and 3 adults. I’m not good at cooking for crowds yet. I left before they were done eating—I hope there was enough for everyone!

Now that Jay has 2 buddies to play with, Rose is spared from lots of his… energy.

Our Bread-Winner

So much happens in September. School starts. Summer ends. The season starts to change (well, it’s still 99 degrees here, but I just know fall is on its way). Jeff started teaching at Sunnyside High School on Tuesday, September 6th. Yay! It took a little while to get used to not having him home all day, but I think we’ve adjusted. Jay has stopped asking where Daddy is every other minute (now it’s just every other hour—ha).

Jeff rides his bike to work every day (he changes into his good clothes when he gets there). It takes him 30 minutes to ride to Sunnyside. There is a convenient paved bike path that goes straight there. [I can’t believe I cut the top of his head out of this picture. Sometimes my photography skills amaze even me].

Jeff bungees a duffel bag with his clothes and teacher-supplies to the back of his bike.

Jeff saves SO much gas by riding his bike to work! He should be Mr. Green instead of Mr. White.

Annnnd, he’s off! Mornings are cool and fresh, but my poor husband suffers through the 99+ degree heat and blazing sun on the ride home. He arrives home damp and limp. (no picture of that) Come on, Fall!

Sunnyside High School has 3 trimesters each school year. On Tuesday, September 6th, Jeff taught 2 French I classes as a .67- full-time teacher. On Wednesday, the principal called him to the office and offered him a 3rd class. Jeff chose to teach Logic (one of his dream subjects). That bumped him up to .91 of full time. On Thursday, the principal brought Jeff into his office yet again and— you guessed it—gave him a 4th class: Ethnic Studies. Guess what that means?

JEFF IS A FULL-TIME TEACHER!

We have been waiting for this day for 2.5 years. It came so gradually, though (one class at a time), that it hasn’t been as huge of a shock as I originally thought it would be. That’s my perspective—I’m sure Jeff would say it’s plenty shocking enough—he has to basically invent and plan 2 new classes in the second week of school. He has been leaving (con la bicicleta) at 5:30am this week so he has time to plan before school.

As for me, I HATE pushing that million pound TRUCK of a jogging stroller when I run. Sooooo, I got up at 4:40am today to sneak in a [dark!] run before Jeff left for work. [I wrote that note in the dark—not bad, eh?]

Jeff’s full-time employment is a HUGE blessing. Adios, WIC and DSHS. Thank you for ALL your help! Now we have to think about things like dental insurance and copays and milk prices.

Grandpa Brown

My Grandpa Brown passed away this week on Tuesday, September 6th, at age 84. This was the first time I’ve had a grandparent die, and I don’t really know how to talk/write about it.

Death is sad because we miss the person who died. But when the deceased person lived a long life and had lots of physical limitations due to age, death is also happy. It’s hard to express my thoughts about death because of the conflicting emotions I feel towards it. What I DO know is how thankful I am for the plan of salvation and the temple because I know that my family can be together forever, even after death.

Ronald D Brown: my Grandpa. His funeral was on Saturday, September 10th, in Washington, MO. We weren’t able to attend it, so here’s a little memorial of my own of what I remember about my Grandpa Brown. Since my childhood was before the digital age, I had to really DIG to find pictures to go along with it.

His fishing boat. (This is at least 20 years ago).

Tubing behind the fishing boat was the perfect speed for me. I remember my daredevil sister Em tried to get Grandpa to go faster once, but the boat was already maxed out! I was very glad.

We loved the lake house he built at Anthony Mills Resort—we had matching white Anthony Mills Resort hats. We liked to go fishing and tubing with Grandpa in the lake there.

We found some pretty sparkly rocks one time and Grandpa helped us bury them in a treasure box.

We loved looking through the deck into a bird’s nest. One time Grandpa  had to go under the porch and save Chickadee from a snake that was climbing the WALL to reach the nest! Grandpa was brave. 

I was baptized in Grandpa’s Washington, Missouri ward building when we visited for Thanksgiving in 1994. (that’s me and my Dad)

For Grandma’s and Grandpa’s 50th wedding anniversary, we had a family reunion. Here they are with 12 of their 13 grandkids—this may be the last time we were all together in one place! I still wear that blue shirt.

Grandpa was always very interested in my running. When we had a track meet in Illinois, he and my Dad came to cheer me on. This is a picture from that meet—even though he’s not IN the picture, he was there! [Oh and yes, I’m getting passed in this picture]

Grandma and Grandpa came to our wedding in Nauvoo. [Can you tell this was about the millionth picture we took that day? blahhhg]

I visited Missouri with the kids last November, and this last April too. I don’t have  a picture of Rose with her great grandpa, sadly. But here he is with 3 of his great-grandsons: Steve, Dan, and Jay.

A few other fond memories I have about Grandpa are:
--He called us all “kidlets” when we were little.
--He was very good at building things.
--He loved good ole Pixie, his dog.
--He always gave very firm, strong hugs, even after he had a stroke (or two).
--He loved eating Grandma’s “Dump Cake,” but hated its name. When I asked him what he thought it should be called, he said “I don’t know, but it should be something that makes it sound like a very good cake.”
--He loved basketball possibly more than my Dad—and that’s saying something.

We’ll see you later, Grandpa!

A Daily Dilemma

Scriptures. I do my best to read them every day.

But often there’s… interference. Some days I’m amazed at how HARD it can be to read one verse. And reading is only half of it—I want to comprehend what I read too.

So what “counts” as scripture reading? What do you have to do to be able to check it off the list and say “I read my scriptures today?” Ideally I would like a minimum of 15 uninterrupted minutes every morning to pray, read, and reflect. That is what I’ve always tried to do. It has become more of a challenge since I had kids—I have to defend my baby, myself, my scriptures, and sometimes even Jay, from physical harm. Reading and pondering while doing all that defense just doesn’t work well.

These pictures are semi-staged, but it was all too easy to recreate the craziness that is Shaina’s scripture time.

It’s amazing how hard it can be to find 15 minutes of quiet time, and I only have 2 kids! Usually, Jay tackles Rose and she starts crying and when I pick her up, Jay decides to climb up with us. He likes to sit on my shoulder and then try to get up onto the back of the chair.

So what’s a mommy to do? Should I…

..ignore my kids to read my scriptures? (that seems backwards)
…play with them while trying to read? (too distracting)
…make the effort to read, and if it doesn’t work try again tomorrow? (the effort is what counts, right? The Lord looks on the heart—he knows our intentions and desires)
…try reading at different times each day, to catch a quiet quarter-hour? (I prefer doing it at the same time so I don’t forget, plus I like to start the day with scripture-time)

I’ve tried all of these things so far, and none have worked. I have branched out my brainstorming. Some new, untried ideas are:

-Figure out a way to water-proof scriptures (laminate?) so I can read them in the shower—one of the places I am less likely to be interrupted. (but I like that relaxing 6-8 minutes the way it is! and I don’t take 15 minute showers. usually.)
--Invest in some quality ear plugs. (but that falls under the “ignore children to read scriptures” undesirable category)
--Get up extra early so I can run and read scriptures before the children awake. (but I need sleep too!)
--Write some verses on a small notecard and carry it on my daily run. (umm, you saw my knees—I can barely breathe and run at the same time. next idea.)

I had one last-hope idea yesterday that has been the most successful one yet, pending Rose’s mood. I told Jay to be very quiet and get a book to read while I read the scriptures—“we’ll read together!” He liked that.

Jay actually sat quietly on the couch for 20 minutes and looked at a book while Rose played undisturbed on the floor and I read my scriptures. It happened again today too.

We may be onto something!

I hope so.

Time for [a] fall

This morning, I left my 3 favorite people at home and went out into the fresh morning for a run. 7 minutes later I regretted that decision.

Just as I was starting to cruise along and enjoy the cool September air, my toe caught on a piece of dust. I went flying and smacked into the pavement hard.

A good Samaritan lady happened to be driving by at that very moment. She saw my bloody blunder and drove me home. I walked into our apartment about 10 minutes after I left, dripping blood. OW. Once I got bandaged up and the pain receded to a dull ache, I realized how embarrassing this fall was—there was no dog chasing me, no startling crazy driver, no biker to bump into me, no uneven trail, NOTHING! And I went sprawling. That lady probably laughed before she got out to help me! Sigh.

Back on the SVU cross country team, I fell all the time. We had a team fall tally—I was in the lead for 3 of my 4 seasons there, I think. It’s no picnic being clumsy. I haven’t fallen on the run in a long time. I’ve had these long legs for nearly a decade—I should be able to control them by now!

I hope you aren’t queasy yet—this is the last gory picture I’ll post, even though once we cleaned out my knees they look even more…impressive? They have huge gashes and they’re all puffy from the bruises. I can’t really bend my right leg very far.

Speaking of queasy, washing all the dirt and tiny rocks out of my wounds made me feel sick. I even used my childbirth pain-control techniques (shallow breathing and forcing my brain to ignore the pain while doing a “mental chant”—something like ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessthiswillbeoversoonOW, repeated over and over). I was still kind of pathetic while Jeff bandaged me up. I whimpered and moaned and trembled.

At last the ordeal was over, and I could let Rose comfort me with her soft, sweet little self.

As silly as this may sound, I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to run more before I fell. I’m glad I wasn’t farther from home when I fell, but I’m sad that I missed out on the therapy of a run today. And I’ll probably miss out on a few more runs next week, all thanks to that big speck of dust.

Peach Pie in 5

If you happen to have freshly baked bread and freshly whipped cream and freshly cut peaches laying around your house, here’s how to make healthy peach pie in less than 5 minutes:

1. Butter the bread [if the sweet fresh-bread aroma overwhelms you, GIVE IN and take a bite]. Place peaches on top.

2. Plop on some sweet cream. Savor every mouthful.

Yum. Thank you, Farmer’s Market, for those tasty peaches!

If you happen to have two sweet little faces hanging around your house, here’s what you can do:

1. Take them to Costco. Buy them diapers.

2. Use the diaper box to invent a new toy. Rose has not even come close to crawling or any other self-locomotion. She rarely even rolls over. I thought she could use a new view of the world. This is a diaper box with a hole cut in the bottom and the johnny jump-up seat hung inside. Instant homemade walker. It’s more like a “stand-er,” because it doesn’t go anywhere—unless you count the couple of times Rose has almost tipped it over with her strong little muscles… I think she kind of looks like Captain Pike from good ole Star Trek in this thing.

3. Make muffins! Jay asks to make muffins all the time. We don’t make them every day, but we do make a lot of muffins! I didn’t feel like taking a picture of our real cranberry-orange muffins, so I drew one instead. It’s pretty realistic.

OK, that peach-bread inspired me to go all out. Say hello to the beautiful, the sweet, the juicy…. butterscotch peach pie:

um, ok, that was the first piece. Let’s try again.

mmmm. It has a layer of gooey butterscotch stuff between the crust and the peaches. [Email me if you want the recipe—I can forward you the one my sister emailed me]

Happiness = armfuls of cute kids and a kitchen full of freshly baked treats. And a husband to help with all of them.

[ahem…I may or may not have made the bread, muffins, and pies all in one day. When the bake-y mood strikes, I embrace it!]