Hope Everyone Had a Merry Christmas!!

I had a great Christmas...got a wonderful new quilt and some lollipops! We'll do pictures later when I get it all set up. Michelle did the small tree this year, she didn't feel like hauling out all the ornaments and stuff & doing it all herself, so we just set up on the dining room table. It still turned out well & everyone had a great holiday.

It's starting to look like Christmas

December Mother Bear Project bear holding a couple of the angel ornaments Michelle has been making for friends. And yes, December bear has a definate Christmas type thing going on.

Close up of the face. Michelle likes this face best of the ones she has made.

Happy Halloween!

Have a safe & happy Halloween!

Finally, Michelle gets back to her projects!

Well, Michelle finally sat down & got some projects done...she's been getting her Angels For Hope done weekly, but this is the first time she was done by the weekend. She also FINALLY finished the pink blankie bear that has been a work in progress for over a month-they never take that long! And last but not least she finished September's Mother Bear Project bear...she's usually a month ahead on this, so she's running late by her standards.

Tomorrow Gidgett the Foster Chihuahua gets to be driven to Eugene to meet up with the mother of her new little girl. Gidgett just got her last bath here & is currently running around acting crazy like dogs do when they get out of the bath. She will be missed, but it's a great comfort to know that she's going to a home where she is much wanted & will be greatly loved.

Drag racing in Woodburn

We raced this weekend in Woodburn...They have a big JR dragster Wally race on Saturday, although they let the big cars race also, and then on Sunday it's the All Ford Dragrace/Show/Swapmeet. Doug got perfect light on Saturday! He got stickers for his car & also a t-shirt showing that he's in the Perfect Light Club.

Riley went to the quarter finals on the Wally race, but went out first round during the regular et race & the Run Tough race. She was having major car issues...first she fouled a spark plug, then fuel filter, and then had a flat tire, and finally her clutch driven broke into pieces...by the time we're done it will be a new car!

Here's Michelle's camera bag. It contains video camera, digital camera, cell phone, me, and sometimes Gregg's camera...and on this trip the chargers for all of the above. Saturday the temperatures had to be almost 100 degrees...not good for us Coasties. Thankfully, our hotel had a swimming pool...our first stop after the races.

This was the first time Doug has run a 1/4 mile track. He broke some stuff also. Day one he broke his driveline...it was changed over to his spare. Day two he broke the spare driveline-Gregg & Dean patched one together from the broken two, his starter...again had to be patched together since we didn't have a spare & couldn't find one, and the thing that did him in was his tach broke & he didn't know where to shift. We gotta teach him old school and how to listen to his motor to know when to shift.

Today is Riley's 11th birthday, so a special shout-out:Happy Birthday Riley!

August Mother Bear Project Bear

Michelle just finished her August bear today & got him/her mailed off. She made this one a sleeping bear...just to shake things up a little.

Drag Race Weekend

Here is Riley getting ready to make a pass on Saturday. She didn't run on Sunday because she would've been the only JR dragster & that's no fun.

Her friend Tess came out w/us on Saturday to watch Riley run. She got 2nd place on Saturday. She was beaten by Shannon, someone new to our track, but who has been racing for long time & has a really cool car.

Doug ran on Saturday & Sunday.

You can't see it real well in this picture, but there's rubber from his tires from about where I am clear up over the trunk from him doing his burn outs before the race.

He's not really happy about it, now he's got a mess to clean off his car. He went out 2nd round both days, but had a good time!

Garden & Doggie Updates

Here I am w/Gidgett the foster Chihuahua. We had her for about 10 days & then a family took her for a trial week. They returned her over the weekend while Michelle was at her class reunion. However, she has a great new home lined up & will be staying with us until her new people can make it up here from Southern California to get her.

Here I am in a pot of Dahlias & Impatiens that Michelle recently planted. They are all a pretty happy pink color.

Here is the bush Michelle planted with the Great Crocus Experiment crocuses. They still haven't popped up, but the bush is growing fast!

The Nasturtiums & lavender are blooming in the front planter...

And it looks like we will have tomatoes after all! After the spring we had we weren't sure we were gonna get any tomatoes.

Also still blooming in the front planter...

And we have a few apples! Not as many as last year, but again we didn't think we'd get any after the wet, cold spring we had this year.

And look at this planter on the front porch! Michelle loves the little pink flowers and the geranium has been blooming like crazy this year. I'm gonna have to be better about prompting Michelle to do MY blogs & not just HER blog...but we have been crazy busy lately. Hope everyone else is having a great summer too!

Happy 4th of July!

Have a safe & happy 4th of July!

July 3rd car show in Lakeside

From left to right:Riley's JR dragster, Doug's 66 Mustang, and Doug's friend JR's 57 Ford in the Lakeside July Celebration car show.

Here I am on Doug's car...I'm the little blue bear in front of the windshield.

Here's the plaque Doug won...pretty cool huh, his first car show & he wins a prize!

And here's Doug proudly showing off his plaque.

And of course, not to be out done, Riley won a plaque also! Gregg won the 50/50 drawing so it was a good day for the Kirby clan all the way around!

The Great Crocus Experiment-Failure

As you can plainly see, this is just NOT working out. So we declare this experiment a failure. But...

They're getting a 2nd chance in this pot outside. They are planted now in a half circle around Ashleigh. Will keep you updated on how it works out now that they are planted.

More June Bears

Michelle finished up 3 more Blankie Bears for Child Welfare. That makes a grand total of 7 for this month & a personal best!

Tomorrow I'll update you on how the Great Crocus Experiment didn't work at ALL.

June Bears

Michelle has been busy making bears! These are the four blankie bears she has done so far for Children's Services...she's almost done w/a fifth & made one for her friend for an upcoming baby shower (more later). She's got her July Mother Bear Project bear done, and here's next week's Angel for Hope angel. As you can tell two of the blankie bears are "scrappy" bears, but sometimes those turn out the best!

Great Crocus Experiment-week 14

Well, we missed week 13, Riley had an ear infection and we had to deal with that. So this is week 14. We're not impressed with the progress that has been made in the frig...

So, we've moved them to the window & we'll see how this goes. If we're not happy w/this progress, they're going into the dirt.

Bears & Bears & Bears! Oh My!

Michelle got her June Mother Bear Project done & it will be mailed out today...

And here are the four blankie bears she completed & turned in for May to Children's Services.

Great Crocus Experiment-Week 12

Okay, I really think there's some growth here...one more week & they come out of the fridge regardless.

Drag Racing Today

Great day to drag race! It was nice out & we had a lot of fun. Here I am with Riley...

Here I am trying to hitch a ride in Doug's shirt pocket...

Riley got a first place tropy...

And so did Gregg!

Happy Mother's Day!

The Great Crocus Experiment-week 11

Week 11 & maybe there's slightly more growth going on...two more weeks & they come out regardless...if there's enough growth, we'll do it their way, if not we'll do it our way.

The Great Crocus Experiment-week 10

Week 10, there's only supposed to be three weeks to go, so stuff better start growing soon, or they're going out into the garden.

Good Bears of the World

Michelle & I joined Good Bears of the World! Michelle is a Member at Large & I'm a Booster, since we don't have a den closer than Portland, we'll just be our own den. Right now we're going to try to save up enough money to buy a case of Good Bears to donate to the Women's Crisis Center, since we already donate blankie bears to Child Welfare. I also got an award for patience, cuz my paperwork got lost in the shuffle & they had to find it & sign me up.

Great Crocus Experiment-week 9

Okay, Michelle & I aren't really patient people on a good day. We're not seeing a whole lot of growth here. It's still got four more weeks according to the instructions, but if the growth is not occurring, we're going rogue & doing it our way.

April Blankie Bears

Michelle got four Blankie Bears done for Child Welfare this month...four seems to be about average. We need more help with this project. Oh, and I have a surprise coming up this week that I will announce probably Monday. Check back tomorrow when we'll have week 9 of the Great Crocus Experiment.

Finally, Spring!

Finally, we have continuous days of sunshine and flowers blooming!

The apple tree is in on the blooming too! Michelle loves it when the apple tree blooms.

The pansys are out in full force on the front porch.

And the viola's are growing in the garden quite nicely.

And there's still tyme to hang out w/Garden Goose!