.:Meet the Ritchies:.

Hello friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, enjoying the warm temperatures and sporadic sunshine. We most certainly did! It was a weekend with both girls, this happens every other weekend (the other weekends are spent with their other parental units). So we tried to pack in as much fun as we possibly could. Saturday morning started off with breakfast at this really cool joint on SE Belmont called Slappycakes. The tables have a griddle in the middle (haha, that sounds cute) so that you can make your own pancakes! The girls had fun creating fancy shaped pancakes, topping them with blueberries and chocolate chips. They made a star, peace sign (bet you can’t guess which one made that!), crescent moon, fish and mini cakes. I believe Veda ate 9 total, she is going through a “hollow leg” phase, growing leaps and bounds!

...

...

Then we came home and worked in the yard a bit, planting our steppables along the east side of the yard. Mark took the pressure washer to it last weekend and cleaned it of all the moss and dirt. Then Mark and Drew went to game #4 of the Blazers vs. Suns (lucky dog!!) and the girls and I watched it on TV. And what a great game it was!!! They clenched the win, and the series is tied 2-2 which in my opinion wipes the slate clean, now it’s the best 2 out of 3! Are you a Blazer fan??

In the afternoon we went over to our friends Tony & Julie’s. Their son Evan, who is 2, and the girls were having a ball! And we grown ups had fun too, it’s always fun to hang out together. We are hoping one of these nights we’ll be able to do a double date!

Books were read...

what a sweet boy!

Tony & Julie

Julie and Drew making the kabobs...

Claire being a 2 year old again...

where'd Evan go?

The girls were making sure Evan was going to sleep good that night...

I heart them!!

a little tumbling action...

Veda was teaching Evan how to do some moves...

say "cheese"! and they did!

Thanks for having us over guys! We can’t wait to do it again!

Sunday included tons of yard work. It’s nice to have a yard that’s our own, so that we can do whatever we want to it. Although sometimes that leads to making a few mistakes (pulling things that aren’t actually weeds, yes, that would be my brilliance) and chopping a bush away from the house a little too overzealously (is that a word? whatever, it sounds good to me) which leads to having to actually cut it down because it looks funny now (I’m not taking credit on that one). The girls did some trimming on the front hedges, which was pretty sweet. They were using the little gardening clippers and I was standing there wondering how we did it last year with those little things, when Mark says to me, quiet so the girls didn’t hear, “I will have to take the electric cutters to it later, but so what, they are having fun”. Phew, thank goodness we have electric ones! And how nice of us to let our girls do it the old-fashioned way. Haha. Claire’s the only one that would complain if she knew that. I think next weekend Mark and I are going to make a pathway along the back patio where the grass is sparse from it already being a path from the dogs. I have some research to do on what our best options are! Anyone have any websites they like to check out for landscaping ideas? Please share!

Have a great week!

xoxo

The first Day in the Dunes

As I sat there, silently, motionless, the three blonde heads of my cousins disappeared over the dirt smothered hill.  The wind turbine blades spiraled slowly, powered only by a breeze just cold enough to make little bumps rise up on your arms.  Dirt blew through the air being swept off the ground by tennis shoes beating rapidly against the warm, dry land.

Austin, Justin and Cameron peeked over the hill, where they had earlier scampered down, and hollered at me.

“Come on Claire!” Austin yelled the loudest.

“What?  Oh, coming.” I said, snapping out of my daydream.

Once again their heads disappeared quickly.  I was really in no rush to catch up to them, but too long without supervision leads to them getting in big trouble, so I quickened my pace.  My feet lost traction slipping over the edge of the hill.  Surprisingly, I managed to follow a trail made from other kids sliding down.  With a muffled thud I landed on an oversized tumbleweed, (which in fact, I left there figuring it would create some padding for next time).

When I rose to my feet I was struck by something in the middle of my back.  I turned around and began to ask what it was, but did not get to finish my sentence before Justin butted in and explained that the stick he threw at me was my sword.  (He also added the fact that when someone throws you something you’re supposed to catch it, like I didn’t already know that.)

As my eyes wandered elsewhere I found myself standing in what seemed to be a big dip in the side of the hill.  This was definitely not a typical big dip.  It was the kind of dip where if you looked at it from a side view, it would look as if a giant spoon scooped a huge chunk of land right out of the hill!

“What is this place?”  I thought out loud.

“These are the sand dunes,” Cameron said casually, almost like he’d seen them before.

“Our sand dunes!”  continued Justin with a hint of mischief in his eyes.  As I stepped back and stared bewildered, I was thinking of all the fun we could have here.  I pictured us playing spies, hide and seek, tag and we could dig like archaeologists.  So many future ideas and activities were already being planned in all of our heads!

That was the day that lead to so many of my favorite memories!

by Claire S.  /  2009

6th grade basketball

I feel the need to give you some background on the small town, Arlington, that I grew up in.

Population 475 (give or take a few), which meant that the school had a very small headcount. I usually had 10-12 kids in my class, except for 7th & 8th grade when we combined classrooms. It was also not a very ethnically diverse town. I was not racist, I was just ignorant.

One of my classmates was my cousin Chet. This was sometimes good, but mostly bad. Whenever it was a matter of kids taking sides, Chet usually chose the opposite as I did. It was only about my junior year when he and I started to see eye to eye on things. Mostly that we couldn’t wait to get the heck out of dodge after graduation! When we were Seniors Chet insisted that I be class President, and he Vice President. That way he could “get all the credit while I did all the work”. Not sure that’s exactly how that works. What I do know is, as Senior class President I am in charge of organizing our class reunions. It’s our 15th this year, and I have yet to do this. My sister tells me that each summer in Arlington they have a weekend designated for all class reunions to take place. So perhaps this year I’ll try and get in touch with my other 9 classmates and get this planned. Does anyone know what happened to Carlos?

Johanna was my best friend that I met in first grade when we lived in an even smaller town called Echo, Oregon. A year after I moved to Arlington, she then moved to Pendleton but we managed to stay friends, writing letters back and forth and spending weekends when we could arrange it. I’m very sad to say that I have lost touch with her. The last time I saw her was a very random day in Lincoln City, sitting on the beach I heard a “Melissa?” and there she was with her husband, newly pregnant with baby #2. I haven’t talked to her since. Claire shares her middle name with her.

Tawna was my really good friend in the 6th grade, she later moved to Condon, the next small town just south of Arlington. She lived in the biggest house on the hill, she also had a Nintendo (I did not) and I remember making a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and eating it while playing Super Mario Bros. And if it wasn’t cookie dough, it was nacho cheese Doritos. These are things I didn’t have in my house. My Mom didn’t like to buy us junk food. A very smart woman she was, too bad I didn’t feel that way then.

I was involved in 4-H from 6th grade until I graduated High School. It was such a wonderful thing and I am very thankful to my parents for encouraging my participation. I took Cooking from my Great Aunt Jean (if you remember from my favorites, she is indeed my favorite!) and as you will soon read, I wasn’t very good at it. I took Leathercraft from my Dad, who is an amazing leather designer still and has a shop in the hardware store in Arlington he now owns with my lovely stepmom. I took Hobby Horse (which was a collection of animal focuses including chickens, rabbits, sheep and of course horses) from my Grandma Brooks. Yes, folks, obviously it was a small country town. I was surrounded by many relatives, it was awesome! I also took Sewing, which has become my passion. (Unfortunately for my husband and children, the cooking thing didn’t stick, sorry loves!)

Here is the month of March, 21 years ago:

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

click to view larger

Post-commentary:

It’s pretty bad when you feel like your own slumber party’s are boring. And Hally – for the record – I remember having a lot of fun when staying at your house. I remember making up dance routines, playing tag, playing dress up and just hanging out in your room which was in the basement and I remember thinking that was super awesome. Not sure why, probably because my house didn’t have a basement.

Tiffany was my first rock concert. I remember she had a cold and her voice was really scratchy, she kept apologizing but I didn’t care. I went with my friends and a couple mothers as chaperones. It was in a town about an hour and a half away, so I remember it being quite a big deal!

I love that my Mom gave me the advice “no fighting allowed or else” when I told her about my first boyfriend. I wish I had actually listened.

***

Tune in next week for the month of April! This is kind of fun!

xoxo

… can you find in this picture?

...

I came across this picture on a blog that I read every now and again, and it cracked me up so much I wanted to share it.  It reminds me of my hometown a little bit with it’s back country feel, spirited camo clothing and dead things.  I kind of feel sorry for the kid actually, I mean, at least take out his pacifier before you take the picture of his “first kill”.  What kind of parents are you Ricky and Mindy?  And I’m sorry but I’m pretty sure he’s younger than 4, I think I still see diaper pooch in his pants.  And a pacifier, really?  I’m really glad they didn’t give him any bigger gun than a .410.  Seriously, you have to at least wait until he starts to read before you throw bigger arsenal at him!   And I guess hunting with a pacifier in your mouth is kind of like walking and chewing gum.  He’s learning to multi-task.

What kinds of things do you feel are wrong about it?

xoxo

Last weekend I told you that I had hired Claire to be a guest post-er. She has always had such a beautiful writing voice and I wanted to share it with all of you. So I asked her to write an introduction for the segment, and a title. Enjoy!

Stories in the margins – Intro

You are all familiar with the usual blogger, Melissa, or as I call her, Mom. She has asked me to write a story every week to be posted here on Meet The Ritchies. It can be about anything I want, and I don’t have any troubles because I LOVE CREATIVE WRITING!

This is the prologue to my weekly posts. This is also a non-fiction story about me and how I love to write. I am Claire, I am eleven, and as far back as I can remember, creative writing has been my favorite school subject. Why do I adore something so ordinarily used and seen? Because it is a way to express your feelings. Just one sharpie, and the back of a receipt, and you can create a masterpiece of words. Poems, songs, biographies, stories, anything of that sort is awesome. Not only is it super cool to write it, but to have the chance to listen to it or read it, is even more meaningful.

Throughout the next several weeks, or months, years maybe even decades (but mostly likely not, because in a decade I will be getting my bachelors degree in Literature!) I will be posting about me, my life, my personality, the shows I watch, my family, the food I eat, my pets, everything that is ANYTHING!

I would love to hear from all of you! Please leave comments anytime you want to! Hope you visit the blog next week for another post!

Love, your new guest blogger,

Claire! xoxo

** Please enjoy a random, pre-written story **

6th Grade State tests

Right now I am sitting at a computer and Haley said “pooey”. We are testing but I finished yesterday…So I don’t have to test. Mr. Doster is walking around and told Miguel to not talk. Peter is typing loudly and Shelby is lost in book-land reading New Moon. She just coughed. Mr. Doster’s chair squeaked and my hand is cramping. I will take a break………..shook my hand. Now I’m back to writing. Rebecca needed a ruler. Marques needed a protractor and a, wait! Rebecca needed a protractor and calculator. Marques needed the ruler. My chair is old and wobbly, when I lean back it starts to fold up, making a Claire sandwich. Mr. Doster just sat down and Rebecca returned the protractor and calculator. Calculator, calculator, calculator, calculator…funny word…resting my hand again……… Peter is still jabbing at the keyboard. Typing uselessly in the “username” slot.

I WILL WAIT FOR SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING TO HAPPEN!

Mr. Doster’s computer has a picture of flying toasters and toast in space!!! SO TOTALLY COOLIO! I like toast with Nutella. Sam, he likes me, is asking questions. The row I was sitting in, before Mr. Doster made me move for no reason, went like this… Eddie, Ramon, Haley, Me, Nobody, Jordan B., Jordan M., nobody. My new row goes like this…Althea, Rebecca, Shelby, nobody, Me, nobody, nobody, Peter.

Now Peter is rotating madly back and forth between the M and > keys for no apparent reason… He just hit the table and made the computer right next to me light up because he moved the mouse. Someone blew their nose, a chair got pushed and squeaked, Mr. Doster shooshed us and my hand is almost dead so…. yeah… hope you liked reading about my class….Ow! Bye Bye!

Hello holy cow it’s Friday! This has been the work week from “you know where”, seriously. This would be my quick explanation as to why I said on my last post that I was going to write again the next day, and haven’t until just now.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about a series of posts that I am going to begin writing, titled as above, “This week, when I was eleven…” I have kept a diary since I can remember, but I have only held onto 5 of them for all these years (ha, I sound like I’m 80 in that sentence). It spans the ages 11-17. It amazes me that I kept them, and that I have this insight into the mind of a young Melissa. Through ups and downs, milestones, “firsts”, teenage angst, all of it. On these pages are some of the most personal and private moments that I went through as a young girl, and quite frankly – it scared the crap of out me to read it.

When I first realized that I had pages and pages of my childhood written by my own hand, upstairs in storage, I was so excited! This would help me understand the things Claire was going through since she is the age now that I was when I began to keep a daily (usually) record of my life. So over a couple of evenings I sat and read each entry, sometimes out loud if they were particularly funny and I felt the need to force Mark to listen. He was nice, he humored me even though he didn’t get it. It’s usually a case of “I guess you had to be there” when you try to convey the memories that you hold so dear and remember as being the funniest thing that every happened to you! Like, in a million years! (Yikes, the teenage dialect is starting to sneak back in, I’ll try to avoid that). I thought immediately how fun it would be to put them on the blog and share them with the world! Surely people want to read it, I know if I came across a blog with diary entries from the writer’s childhood I would enjoy reading them! I thought it over for a while with the intention of beginning it on February 1st since that is the day I started, back in 1989. I couldn’t decide if it was a good idea or not. I ran it by my family and nobody seemed opposed to the idea, although my Mother did comment, “I won’t be reading it”. This made me consider creating an entirely different blog dedicated to nothing but diary entries, so that way she could still come to this one and not worry about reading something she didn’t want to read. I’m not entirely sure what she thinks she’ll find, but now that I have read through all of it, I can understand.  But I was afraid that if I had two blogs than one would definitely get neglected, there’s no way I could keep up both!

So here we are, halfway through April and I think I have made a decision.

I will post my diary entries from when I was 11 and possibly through to 13.  But I believe that will be it.  As I got to the pages of my years in high school where I made some less than admirable choices and still somehow managed to stay “good” in my parents eyes, it hit me. I could not possibly type these words and share them without feeling a little bit embarassed. And I’m not sure that’s the tone I’d like to set for this happy blog that we work hard to create and maintain, for both our enjoyment and yours.

I’m sure by now you may be a little intrigued and curious about what I did that could warrant all of these feelings and decisions. I was a very good teenager, I don’t feel that I was doing anything more than anyone else.  In fact, I think that it would make a really interesting book, with made up characters and maybe tweak the plot just a little to add some mystery. I was never very good at being mysterious. I was really quite predictable, wore my heart on my sleeve, you can probably guess where I’m going with that. I have always been a hopeless romantic and most of my life I have been a bit boy crazy.  So there are a lot of “I hearts’ scattered across the pages and it’s pretty ridiculous.  What more can I say?  As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a comment.

My diary had some questionnaire type pages in the front, so I’ve included those as well.  In order to catch up to present day, but 21 years ago (choking on that number, yikes, give me a sec)… I will post all of February this week, March next week and April the following week which should put us right on schedule.  Then I’ll be posting once a week, with the weeks’ worth of entries.  This should be quite entertaining for you.  And I decided that I’ll need to add some commentary afterwards so that you know what’s going on and who’s who.  It will be fun, you’ll see.

Enjoy!

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

click on image to make it larger

Post-commentary:

Last year Mark asked me if I remembered the movie “The Monster Squad” and I didn’t.  So he put it on our netflix and we watched it together.  I started to remember as it began and it turns out, I listed it as a “favorite” when I was 11.  I knew that.

I like how I didn’t have a “worst” gift I had ever recieved, but I could list 3 of the “worst” teachers I ever had.

Why was I vacationing in a Laundromat in Newport, you ask?  Let me tell you what I remember of this incident.  We were on our yearly one week family vacation  (we alternated between the coast and camping in the mountains).  We were doing laundry at a laundromat in Newport.  A man with long shaggy hair comes running up to the door of the laundromat, holding his stomach and bleeding.  I have no idea what actually happened but I remember knowing that he was stabbed.  Mom?  Perhaps you recall?  I was probably in the 3rd or 4th grade so my memories are a little foggy.

I have no idea what book “6 on easy street” was but it just doesn’t sound like it would be appropriate for a 6th grader to read.  I’ll take my word for it though, I’m sure it was awful.

M.A.L.T.  stood for Melissa, Alison, Lyndee and Tricia.  We were a fierce foursome of 6th grade girls.  We owned the four swings at recess.  Owned.  The way I remember it, little kids immediately jumped off the swing and ran when they saw the four of us moving across the school lawn.  I’m sure it was that dramatic.  We also made up names, I was Mercedes and the rest were Bianca, Veronica and another that I cannot remember.   My memory is going, I’m getting old.

I played a lot of sports growing up, and it’s currently basketball season.  Shanna stood literally one foot taller than me, she was also two grades older.  She was the only reason why we won, when we did win, which was very rare.

Dan was my first real boyfriend.  He was a year older.  He had a curly mullet.  He may still have it, it’s been over 10 years since I’ve seen him.  He still lives in the little town we grew up in.

Tricia was the friend who taught me all the bad stuff, like drinking, sneaking out and cigarettes.  Gross!  Not in the sixth grade though don’t worry… that all comes later.

Michael Jay, I’d like to apologize for that comment.  I’m sure you weren’t that gross.

******

xoxo

Mark:  Babe, you make the best cut lines.

Be still my heart, such romantic words to be heard while rinsing off my paintbrush, as Mark diligently slices along the cut line that I drew for him with a blue colored pencil (why is it impossible to keep track of pens and pencils in this house? Does everyone have this problem, or is it just us?). 

We laid down laminate flooring in the laundry room on Saturday.  It turned out amazing! 

Mark:  You make cutting wood so easy!

Oh my gosh, now I’m blushing… *grins*

We make an impressive team, my husband and I.  In all ways that you would ask for in a marriage.  Another home improvement project tackled and successfully so!  Here are some pictures to prove it…

Floor was concrete so we laid down the same laminate flooring we put in the sewing room adjacent...

Major improvement!

The girls and I met our friend Julie and her adorable boy Evan at Fred Meyer on Saturday morning for “Fuschia Saturday”.  Even though I am not a skilled gardener, I have the desire to learn and figure it out so that our yard can be full of beautiful colors and scents!  It was a very blustery morning, but fortunately the sun was only behind a thin layer of clouds and their was no precipitation in the air!  We waited in line for about an hour to have our plants potted for free, and the kids were being incredibly patient!  The free cookies, doughnuts and juice were a significant aid in that, I’m sure!

I love Evan's winky smile!

And of course, there are always way more pictures to share than i have words to describe them so I’ll leave with you some visual enjoyment.  Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  Check back tomorrow for a new segment on our blog where I will be sharing a story written by Claire once a week!

xoxo

Our beautiful friends Mickel and Sascha have every reason to be celebrating, as they gave birth to the sweetest little dark haired angel, well there’s no way I could do her justice, you’ll have to see for yourself!

See what I mean!  I love her sweet scrunched up cheeks so much, I want to give them a million kisses!  I looked up the name Anika online and it literally means “sweet-faced”, how appropriate!!  We met Mike and Sascha through mutual friends and are excited to be a part of their lives!  Wonderful spirits, big hearts and so much grace.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

I had to include this picture of the three of them, I seriously melted when I saw it!  There is so much LOVE and HAPPINESS exuding from this photo, and I believe it captures the beauty and honesty of their family perfectly.  Enjoy!

Frog Tape™, it will completely change the way you paint.  Check it out here.

I literally gasped with amazement when I watched how it works.  No, seriously.  I did.  It’s that amazing.  Okay, enough hype, click on the link already!

Check back tomorrow for news about our very good friends Mike & Sasha and their beautiful new arrival!  Also pictures of our Weekend Project (s)!

xoxo

…of the shed that is!  I am so happy to announce that the shed is now a permanent fixture in the backyard, in all it’s wonderful glory!  Mark and Drew worked very hard, in sunshine and pouring rain, to breathe new life into the fallen structure that Mark set out to build last summer.    I took pictures, as it was happening, in order to show the progress.  Drew’s cousin Aaron also helped the first few days they worked on it.  We were thrilled to have the O’Neil boys’ help!  Drew is a very handy man indeed.  Thank goodness!  Not saying that Mark would not have done a fantastic job without his help, but it sure was nice to have his carpentry expertise.  It happened so quickly, too!  It was three solid days of working hard (with a few breaks to watch the NCAA tournament, eat some food, and grab a cold beer) and it paid off!  Enjoy and THANKS DREW!!

Day One: the shed lay in a pile after the windstorm last Fall did it's thing...

Drew & Aaron building the floor...

adding the walls...

walls are up, now it's time for a little roof action...

Drew insisted that Mark needed a skylight...and then he made it so...

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but they are both soaking wet from the constant rainfall yesterday... now that's dedication!

Finished! Yay! And they are still smiling!

I plan to take some better pictures of the finished product when it’s nice outside, whenever that will be (hello rain, thanks for stopping by, you can go away now!).

I was also productive with my own projects this weekend.  It is so nice to be in my sewing room, now that it’s all fixed up!  So I decided to make a dress with a pattern that I had purchased long ago, for a simple tunic length dress to wear over leggings.  I used a wild patterned knit fabric that I had gotten from one of my favorite hidden gems, the Knittn Kitten, that’s only about 5 minutes from our house.   It turned out great, although there were times where I seriously had to just figure out what to do next by using my brain, because the directions were just confusing the crap out of me!  I am really good with visuals, the more pictures the better!  I like it, I wore it today in fact, but it was so cold in the building that I wore a sweater over it all day long.   But I have lots of knit fabric specifically for making this dress again and again.

yes, the pattern is by Hilary Duff, don't judge me.

...

What’s next on my sewing agenda?  Well, since you asked (did you ask?  No?  Well, I will tell you anyway, since you’re still reading), I will be diving head first into some hats for cutie pie children.  All thanks to my beautiful and amazing mother-to-be (like any day now!!) friend Sascha, who literally lit a fire under my behind and has already found a store in her neighborhood that wants to carry them!  Did I mention how AMAZING she is?  I love putting them together, choosing the fabirc and the notions, all the while imagining the adorable little child who will wear it, and the parent who will enjoy seeing their little wearing it!  So much fun!!

As well as making some fun stuff with… FEATHERS!!

earrings? headbands? what would you like to see?

Oh, not to worry, you know I will be posting about that in the weeks to come!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

xoxo