Newest Member of the Kantola Family

I'd like to announce that our newest family member should be arriving in the coming week. He is a little over three years old and about 73.5 pounds. :)

His name is Racer and he is a Belgian Malinois (pronounced Mal-in-wah).

In one of the very first correspondence emails I had with the breeder, Penny Winegartner, she described Racer as below:

Malinois are dogs that really want to be part of a person's or family's life [so] that getting the bond between you is usually pretty easy. I actually have a young male Malinois (Racer) who would be a very good fit for what you've described about your home life. Racer is just a bit over three years old and was in a home with small children until he was a bit over two years old. The man who had him wanted to do protection sports, but Racer just didn't have enough fight drive for him. Racer is extremely sweet, stable in temperament, moderate drive, very obedient (his obedience is almost good enough to take into the show ring), housebroken, use to small children, good around other animals and is looking for a person or a family to call his own. He is a very responsive dog and really wants to please his people. He is a dog that I consider to be safe in most circumstances. In short he's just about someone's perfect pet dog - I've just been waiting to find him the perfect home.

And now Racer's wait for his perfect home is over. Jason and I are so very excited to get to add him to our family. We're really looking forward to all kinds of adventures with our newest hiking and camping buddy and we're so pleased Siennalee will be able to grow up with such a wonderful companion and furry friend.

Look out for many more posts involving this sweet mug to come!

Father's Day

Last Father's Day, Jason's first Father's Day, we spent the day far apart. For most of the year, Jason was stationed in Kuwait with his Navy Reserve Unit and Siennalee and I spent our days at home; playing, growing, and awaiting his return.

This year, we were able to greet a very happy Daddy with a "Happy Father's Day!" first thing as he came downstairs! This year we got to have a nice, lazy breakfast and watch Daddy enjoy his presents. This year we could have a grill out to celebrate the fact that God gave me the very best man to be my husband and the father of my children and gave my children the perfect man to help give them, prepare them, and support them throughout their lives.

This year we get to celebrate Jason, this wonderful, hardworking, adventurous, funny, handsome, strong, ticklish, chocolate-loving, dreamer of a man God gave to us.

Happy Father's Day Jason.
We love you like crazy.

Washing Ants

As the weather begins to warm up this time of year, as it does most years, the comfortable temperatures bring out more than just the unfortunate white legs and bare arms and backs of indiscreet Oregonians. It brings ants. Sugar ants.

They come, unbidden, unwelcome, and unexpected, into your home, looking for free meals and picnic fodder.
I hate them. Hate them with the heat of a thousand suns.

Siennalee, who - like a good toddler - always watches me very closely, would come up and ask for a "wash" - which is a baby wipe (because they "wash" you). More times than prudent, probably, she'd seen me get tissue paper, stalk angrily over to the nasty black offenders, and wipe them off God's good earth.

And so I would supply the "wash" and she would stalk her little toddler self over to the ants' favorite entry point and go hunting.

She was pretty good. (Oftentimes she would just catch bits of sand or dirt from the backyard, but I never told her. Why crush childhood enthusiasm?)



No decorative rug was left unturned.

She was tenacious.

The ants finally surrendered (the poison I put out probably helped to drive home Sienna's point, too).

"Ant, Mama, ant!"

I do believe she'd like to have these stuffed and mounted... I know I would.

Eadin a Sammich

Hiking Mary's Peak: Take Two

The weather was just barely sociable weekend before last and so Jason and I decided to make a break for it up to Mary's Peak. We knew we'd possibly get rain, but hey, we're Oregonians; rain we can DO, but snow... Ahhh, at last the snow has departed for higher places. And now we scramble up to the new green-ness, just finally freed from winter's white hand.

The trip was mostly a success; the parts that were not included a giant, rudely yellow, metal arm stretching across the road, advising us of its continued closure and that we would not be able to access any trails beyond. Also included in the less than successful details is the fact that this mountain is wonderfully accessible, but sadly not just to us, and so we had to share with groups of other (louder) hikers. Not to mention the nasty nasty litterbugs.

But, joy! We went back to an excellent trail, now free from snow, and hiked it a good way until we were blocked by quite a large tree fallen over the trail. Jason and I paused, exchanged looks, and considered the group of hollering hikers just up ahead of us. And then there was our cranky baby, now well past the time she preferred to lunch and then to be rocked and put down for her usual nap. So we turned back.

I have a feeling that we may need to take a few more running starts before we can finish what Jason and I once used to consider a meager day hike, but until then, we're all enjoying said running starts as well as each other under the big fir trees.

Siennalee and her currently preferred method of hiking.

Off to the big trees!

Beautiful valley views.

Misty mountains.

One of my many stops to appreciate the beauty.

BIG trees.

More peeks of the valley below.



Hi Jess. Did you stop again? (Can you see Siennalee's adorable little face?)



Mountain wild flower. We think this one is called Oxilas.



Wild strawberries.



The beautiful little stream violet!



When I was walking beneath this beautiful green canopy I half expected to see a teeny fairy princess flit in front of my path.

Free from the Kelty Kids Carrier!

Hey Daddy! Where you goin'?

This is a lot more work than riding in the Kelty! Whew!

Ooooo, pretty mountain.

We gotta do this again!

Meeting Bella

Nuthin' cuter than a toddler and a puppy...

This past week we drove down to Uncle Mel and Auntie Donna's house to spend some time with them and Jason's sister Cheri. One of the biggest draws, besides seeing these special family members, who else Cheri was bringing with her for our visit.

Meet Bella. She's an 8 week old red Doberman pup and Chad and Cheri's newest furry baby.



I'll say it again: Todder + puppy = devastating cuteness.



Both little girls were munching on shared saltine crackers. Sienna would head inside, nab crackers from on the kitchen table, and bring them back out share.

Auntie Cheri finally brought out some treats a little more geared towards puppy taste.



"Now remember, these are for Bella... not for you."



There we go.

And for your viewing pleasure, I present Toddler and Puppy: How Cute Is That...

The Green Report

I'm happy to report my garden is growing along beautifully! It's survived a week or so of quite unseasonably HOT weather and then days of sudden drops in temperatures following closely behind.

While my tomato plants are roughing it a bit in these cool weeks...

...my lettuce is thriving!

In fact, I've been able to harvest several salads and fresh fixin's for sandwiches and burgers from the gorgeous, green, organic bounty. My peas have finally begun to take off (they didn't care much for the hot weather and are now living it up in this cool June air)...

...and I anticipate picking them with Jason and Siennalee very soon. The potato plants are beginning to flower a pretty purplish bud and my squash and pumpkin plants are juuust tolerating the cool...

... can you see 'em in the picture? Just you wait, they're quietly growing along, ready to spring forth once the weather warms.

Marigolds stand sentry around my garden box... the pretty red, gold, and yellow blooms are a natural deterrent to many pests who would love to munch on my hard work. Growing on either side of the marigolds in the picture above are baby sweet peas... once they bloom, they'll serve to attract beneficial insects like bees who will help pollinate the waiting fruit flowers.

I mean, how pretty is this?

All in all, things are growing quite nicely. Jason and I look forward to a good summer of good organic eating!

Siennalee's First Recital!

Disclaimer: As you will notice, I am playing catch up on some of my blogging. The month of May just happened to be one of those months fraught with all those extra things (like dentist appts, sicknesses, and other random time thieves) that keep you from blogging. I'll try to add any pertinent dates to the posts that really require them. :)

So on to the fun stuff!

Siennalee's First Recital!

Siennalee's first music recital was Saturday, May 17th! It was precious to see her up there with her little class. Unfortunately a couple kids were out on vacation, but the ones we had there were faithful little musicians and had a lot of fun.

Siennalee is the youngest one out of the class but manages just fine! She danced and played her instruments and did all her little motions just like she should to the three songs they "performed." Miss Mary, the teacher, had the songs cued up on a CD player and played them, along with distributing instruments and props for each song. I went up and stood behind Sienna just like we do in class and so she was right at home and quite comfortable in front of the crowd (who does that sound like? ;0>).

After their performance, I was ready to leave, but Jason thought we should stay as long as we could for the older kids' performances. Amazingly, Siennalee sat very still and all rapt attention on my mom's lap! She took in all the clumsy piano pieces, guitar solos, and musical duets. It was so sweet!

All in all, Siennalee's first recital was a roaring success! Jason and I couldn't be prouder!

(aside: we did get the recital on video, but I seem to be having technical difficulties retrieving the video from the video camera... I may have to call in my IT guy - uh, that'd be Jason...)

The recital was held at The River Center which is the facility owned by a church in Lebanon, Oregon.

Sitting on Grammie's lap, waiting for our class's time slot.



On stage! Just before the first song.
(These pictures turned out darker than we'd hoped.)



Getting ready for "Old MacDonald Had A Band" which is like the original song but with instruments for the animals. Pretty cute.



Old MacDonald Had a Band!



Preparing for the second song of the set.



The second was a Wiggles song (you may remember our ill-fated concert attempt from a previous post) which involves adorable white teddy bears and rocking them to sleep. Siennalee LOVES this song. She's a huge fan of bears...well, anything cuddly, really.



And now for the hard part: Song's over, time to return the bear.



"See how Mommie returns her bear? You can do it!"



The last song of the set was a ribbon song. It involved making the ribbon dance wildly to the fun music and then making your ribbon rest when the music suddenly stopped. Then that wily music would start up again and off your ribbon would go!



Dance, ribbon, dance!



She's pretty good at this.



Music stops. She and her ribbon both rest.



Our family - goofy pic.



We're so proud of our girlie!

Siennalee Snippets

She loves to dance to the Monk theme song!

She has just learned to make the spider for "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and just adores the song!

Siennalee loves to watch Jon & Kate Plus 8 (even more than Sesame Street).

She'll point out all spiders (" 'Pider, Mama!") and bugs ("Butt, Mama!").

She loves pretty things ("Pitty, Mama! A pitty, Mama!").

She's become an earnest lover of animals - we've gotta get her that puppy soon!

She suddenly began loving blankets ("Bankie, Mama!") all on her own. We'd never referred to blankets as Blankies or Bankies before.

She now loves to be rocked before bedtime and naptime. It used to be "rott, rott" and is now "rock, rock" - emphasis on the "k."

Everything is "here" - "Daddy's here" "Mama's here" "More bite here!"

She started saying "up there"

She started saying "herego" for here you go.

Sienna really really REALLY likes purses. Shoes, too. Hey, she's a girl, what can I say?

She is really getting into pretend playing. She gets her baby, her hat, her phone, her bag and/or purse and says "Bye! Bye!" as she heads toward the front door. Then she comes right back saying "Hi! Hi!"

She loves to say hi to people on the phone and blows them kisses.

She LOVES to be outside. It's tough on her that we can't stay outside forever.

She's learning the hard lessons of discipline and timeouts and doing fairly well (as long as she's not overly sleepy!).

Siennalee loves to jabber; she so wants to communicate she'll move right past words so she can talk faster, but each jibberjabber is filled with meaning and she fully expects me to listen and understand what she's earnestly telling me.

She has the same little off center dimple that made me fall in love with her daddy.

She has those same blue eyes of the people I've loved all my life.