Neighborhood Clean-up!

Further inspired by President Obama's Day of Service, we decided to organize a neighborhood clean-up. We used barackobama.com to create our event. We e-mailed neighbors within six square blocks of our house. The turn-out wasn't huge, but the results were great. We collected six bags of trash!
We rewarded ourselves with yummy donuts from Staccato Gelato!

National Day of Service Food Drive!

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and in response to President-Elect Obama's call for a day of National Service, we joined over 100 families for a morning of collecting food for the Oregon Food Bank.

It was a great way to kick of the Inaugural festivities!

White, Wheat or Rye?

We are trying to instill independence and responsibility in Henry by assigning him simple jobs. He recently expressed in interest in making snacks, so we told him that he should be in charge of making toast in our family. We have always made our toast in the oven, using the broiler. We decided that wasn't very kid-friendly, so we took him to Fred Meyer this weekend to select a toaster. Henry decided on a red toaster with a bagel option. We stocked up on different breads (white, wheat, rye and bagels) and toppings (butter, cream cheese, peanut butter, jam). Henry has been making toast all weekend. Yesterday we had a visitor and Henry was quick to offer toast to our guest. Come over soon and have Henry prepare you some hot, buttery toast!

Little Rippers!

We kicked off 2009 with a fun family adventure... We rented a house in Sunriver with two other families and enrolled the kiddos in Mount Bachelor's Little Ripper's Ski School. We enjoyed a glorious, sunny day on the mountain and the kids loved their ski lesson with their instructor Shaun. This was Henry's first ski experience. He really loved it. It was especially fun with friends!

Hanukkah Snow Storm!

Hanukkah Snow Storm

What an amazing storm... Portland has seen record snow fall - the most in 40 years! Our original Hanukkah guests were not able to make it over to our house, but our neighbors and nearby friends were happy to fill in!

Snow Day!

Friendship!

I discovered Kelly Corrigan last year during my breast cancer scare. If I have learned anything over the past year, it has been to value my friendships and relationships. We are all stretched and pressed for time and too often we let days, weeks, months and years go by without keeping in touch. Let's all try to slow down in 2009 and make phone calls, write letters, have coffee, whatever it takes to keep in touch and support each other.

Author Kelly Corrigan wrote this moving essay about women's remarkable capacity to suport each other, to laugh together, and to endure. The full text is available in the paperback edition of her memoir, The Middle Place, on sale December 23, 2008.