Mission Impossible

Why is it that the wicked stomach bug strikes at 1am, so that mama gets to be up all night with sick kiddies, racing to and from bedrooms, bathrooms and utility rooms. And yet, by 10am, when mama is totally, completely, utterly wiped out from no sleep and piles of laundry, those sick tots are miraculously recovered and couldn't possibly be bothered with resting (or allowing dear mama to rest). Oh, the irony.

Forget Tom Cruise's flicks. THIS is Mission Impossible.

Flowers and Fundraisers

This weekend, we celebrated Grandma Loeb's birthday a few days early with big, bright sunflower cupcakes. Anyone who has met Grandma Loeb knows that her personality is much like a sunflower-- bright and bold and beautiful. So, when we looked through our favorite cupcake book, the girls agreed with me that this was a great choice for their special grandma!

I'm also including a snapshot of our tulip border along the front of the house as evidence that not every school fundraiser is a giant waste of resources. We bought these tulips last fall amid a flurry of fundraising choices for Mary's school, and I spent hours painstakingly planting them. Imagine my delight this spring as they've all come up! So, yes, as much as I dread most school fundraisers, this one scores an A+ in my book!

Rainy Day Fun

We knew it would be too much to expect sunshine every day for our spring break. The inevitable rain set in yesterday-- just in time for our movie day! Our neighborfriend (yes, I think this ought to be one word) is the niece of our local theatre owner, and she invited us to join them for a small showing of the Frog Princess at the movie theatre.

Our little local movie theatre is completely old school and oozing with charm, and only four blocks from our house. So, we walked up in the rain to be greeted by the sweet owner of the theatre. She invited the girls to each have a popcorn to enjoy during the film, and viola, it was the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon! What fun.

Meanwhile, Greta got caught with her head in the cookie jar! Well, with her head in the kibble bin. The girls share the chore of feeding Greta each day, and it seems that yesterday morning Lucy forgot to put the lid back on Greta's food container. We came home to find Greta helping herself to lunch (or likely, lunch, dinner, and tomorrow's breakfast). Oops. But doesn't she look happy?

Greta with her head in the kibble-bin. Oh yes, it's good to be a Loeb dog.

Greta caught red-pawed, and looking awfully guilty about it.

Clearly she isn't Catholic! The guilt is gone, just happy and full.

Welcome Wagon

Seven of the nine children waiting for our lunch table to be set.

How lucky we have been to have spectacular sunny skies for our spring break. The fun began with a fabulous zoo day with cousins, which you can read about here. We loved spending time with all of the Uff cousins. Yesterday, we met friends for playtime at Willamette Park and basked in the warm sun before heading to lunch with a group of pals. The server balked a little when we asked for seating for 13 (nine of whom are children!), but the kids were all wonderfully behaved and loved eating out together.

Last night, I pedaled along the Springwater Trail to downtown Portland towing the girls in the Burley trailer to meet Curtis and our pal Skip for dinner. The ride seemed much longer than five miles pulling 85 pounds of children, but they loved the "commute" as much as I loved the exercise. We dined on the patio, enjoyed the boats in the moorage below us, and best of all, enjoyed our friend Skip.

Yes, Skip is our previously mentioned friend who has just arrived in Portland to start a new job. His wife (and one of my best pals) Robyn, and their two children will be joining him as soon as their house sells in San Francisco. We are excited beyond words to welcome this crew to our neck of the woods, in Al-Roker speak. Hooray for imported friends!

Spring Fever

The gorgeous spring weather has given us a serious case of spring fever. Today is planting day for our raised beds.

Spring tulips.

Phonetic spelling of Arugula, courtesy of our favorite kindergartner.

My impish helpers planted six rows of carrots.

Luck of the Irish

Blue skies and green children made for a great St. Paddy's day parade around the neighborhood.

Bravely going where no one has gone before

Lucy's preschool teacher is a gem. Just look at this art project where she helped the kids create their own solar system. Each planet was so carefully, spectacularly, and accurately created. It is truly a work of art.

And, speaking of bravely going into dark spaces, tomorrow my previously-unexplored left lung gets its first close-up! Could they make this look any less appealing in the brochure? Wish me luck.

An omen

This headline in today's paper is a foreshadowing. Yes, it looks like we might actually have some dear California friends join us in Oregon. And we couldn't be more ecstatic! Details to come as soon as things are officially buttoned up, sealed, signed, and well, official, for our pals.

Work and A Weakling Lung

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to fly down to California for an all-day meeting with one of my clients. It's a fabulous company and though I've been speaking with the owner and other consultants several times a week for a year now, I have never met them face-to-face. Until now, that is. The opportunity to do so was incredible! I feel so fortunate to be working on exciting projects with an intelligent and dynamic group-- all from the little sunroom of our home! It's such a wonderful, flexible consulting job that fits perfectly with my limited free time these days.

Following the meeting, I spent an amazing evening catching up with a few old (in length of friendship only!) friends over wine and spectacular views of the city. I wish I would have had more time to see all of my beloved California family and pals, but time did not allow for it on this trip. Definitely the next one!


Upon return to Oregon, my cough that I was ignoring for weeks became the cough I could no longer ignore. I developed a high fever Saturday night, and wasn't sleeping because my left lung was so tight. So, Sunday it was off to urgent care to determine that yes, indeed, that troublesome left lung that was damaged in my cycling accident is once again causing trouble. The radiologist confirmed that the xray shows pneumonia and my white blood cell count is a whopping 20,000. In the meantime, the antiobiotics and steroids seem to be helping. Today I saw a pulmonologist, and he plans to take a fancy little camera and explore my left lung next Wednesday (sounds just lovely, doesn't it!) to see if there is structural damage from my accident or a specific trouble-spot that would cause my lung to develop pneumonia twice in 15 months. Hopefully, he can also find a remedy so that this isn't an annual affair!

My mother has been an absolute GODSEND in caring for the girls so that I can rest and heal. There are no words to adequately thank her. Here's a small view: I mentioned to her yesterday that I was supposed to bring a meal to an ill friend on Thursday. So what did she bring with her this morning? A batch of lentil soup for my friend's family. Yes, she is a rock star.


Hopefully the next post will be cheerful pictures of sun and children...and a speedy return to good health!