Category Archives: family

About 4 years ago…

About 4 years ago I lost a woman that meant so much to me. And you know what? It was ok. Grandma Peg had lived a good, long life. She had battled cancer multiple times and was on oxygen 24/7 due to Advanced Pulmonary Fibrosis. For a while, I would help out by taking her to radiation. I spent a few years cleaning her house and going grocery shopping for her every week. Then when she couldn’t live alone anymore, she moved into an adult care home. I visited ever other day or so. We spent a lot of time together. She always had such a great attitude. She was an amazing woman. She was ready to go. And it was ok.

To better understand, let me take you back to just 5 weeks prior to this day. You seem my other grandma, who had also been battling Advanced Pulmonary Fibrosis had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and had slipped into a coma of sorts. She was surrounded by family and was never left alone. I went over there at one point to sit with her and as I was leaving her room, I realized that this was the last time I would likely see my grandma alive. I never got to tell her how much I loved her and how much I would miss her and how much I loved being the one to bring her communion at home most Sundays and how much I enjoyed the prayers we said together. Her death was so very hard on me. It was not ok.

So, after that, I didn’t want the same thing to happen when Grandma Peg passed away. So, naturally, I did what I do when most things get tough and I need to collect my thoughts, I wrote her a letter. And then carried it around with me for the next 3 weeks, not quite ready to read it to her yet. When I started to notice she was sleeping more and eating less, I decided it was time.

Through reading that letter, I told her how much I would miss her and our almost daily visits. I thanked her for all she had taught me. I thanked her for listening. I thanked her for the meals we shared together. I told her how I have cherished our time together. I told her how much I admired her and how amazing and strong I thought she was. I told her I loved her.

I cried.

She squeezed my hand.

She smiled the way only a Grandma can smile.

She passed away within a couple of weeks of me reading that letter to her. And you know what? It was ok. I was ready for it. I was ok.

And today, through my tears, even though I miss her, I know it’s ok.

Blackberries and apples and pears, OH MY!

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We are blessed to live on 12.5 acres with huge, beautiful fruit trees that produce some really great fruit. We also have an excess of blackberries. It’s always a shame to see any of it go to waste. I haven’t ever done any canning or food preserving myself and we always try to give as much away as possible. I grew up with my mom and Grandma canning every summer/fall, then we would have pears, cherries and peaches and raspberry and strawberry jams all year long. That holds such great memories for me. This year, I decided I wanted to do some canning. Auntie Kristen came down from Portland on Sunday and we got to work!

First, we spent over 2 hours picking the fruit…{don’t judge, it’s more than what it looks like plus we had Ry with us}

We didn’t finish picking until after 5:30 that night, we made dinner, Ry had a bath and while I was putting her to bed Kristen got to work. That night we made a batch of blackberry jam and got the apples cooked down for applesauce.

The next day, we were up and canning before 8:30 am. Ry was quite the “helper”. Oh, and let me tell you, if you don’t have an apple corer/peeler/slicer jobber and you are planning on doing a lot of canning, for the love of all things holy, GET ONE! It makes things go so much faster.

We had 2 canners going at once so we set-up shot outside. We prepped all the food in the kitchen, then when it was ready to can we brought it out. It worked so much easier this way…good thinking sister!

Like I said, Ry was quite the helper. Rylee enjoyed taking the apples from the dehydrator and putting them in her mouth the ziploc back for storage.

After nearly a full 24 hours of straight canning (minus 7 hours for sleep) we came out with all of this goodness! 17 quarts of pears, 5 quarts and 5 pints of applesauce, 12 jars of blackberry jam, 6 quarts of apple pie filling, 6 quarts of apples, 4 pints of salsa and a bag of dried apples. The best part? All the fruit came from our property. The really best part? Spending the time with my sis.

Now I need your help! A lot of these items will be used for gifts so I want to make up some fancy-schmancy labels for them…the trouble is…what do I call them? Almost like a brand…As in: _____ blackberry jam. I hate “Rice Ranch” and I really don’t like “Rice Farm” either. I was thinking maybe Rice Acres, but I am open for suggestions and better ideas…ready? And…GO! If I choose your name, I may or may not send you some blackberry jam!

Next on the list? I’m going to make lemon cello. YUMM!

Katherine Gets Crafty

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One day during my lunch last week I was browsing blogs when I came across this post about Family Rules from the Pleated Poppy. I’m not gonna lie, I spent the next 40 minutes looking at each and every rule board and I was completely inspired. It was then and there I decided that while Andy was gone over the weekend, I would make my very own “Rice Family Rules”.

I started thinking about the rules I wanted to use and it didn’t take me long. There are some very basic principles Andy and I live by and have started instilling in the little Monster. I was also able to pick up some good ideas by looking at the other Rule Boards I found online. I chose to come up with 13 rules for 2 very deliberate reasons. First, 13 is Andy’s lucky number and it’s also the day we were married.

Friday durning my lunch I hit up Michaels for a canvas. I left with 2 canvases (what!? they were BOGO). And some paper. And some paint brushes. Oh and some scrapbook letters. On the way home from work I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a bottle of wine. After Ry hit the sack I poured myself a glass, busted out my supplies and got to work.

Then only to realize that I had left my rules at work. FAIL! I started with a base coat on the canvas and called it a night.

The next morning Ry and I headed in to town to pick up my rules. During her nap I made quite a bit of progress. That evening I finished it up.

Aside from some bubbling, I am really happy with the way it turned out. The best part about it all? When Andy got home Monday night, he stopped, read all the rules and yelled to the kitchen, “Did you make this?” Obviously I replied with a yes. Then he responded “Huh, that’s cool. I like it. Good job Wife.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be but I love that he likes it!

I hung up the Rice Family Rules right next to the front door as a nice reminder each day as we leave our home of how we should live our life.

In case you can’t read all the rules:

Put family first
Be thankful for your blessings
Remember your manners
Say please and thank you
Laugh often – especially at yourself
Think of others
Lend a helping hand
Do the right thing – even when others don’t
Be honest – no matter what
Don’t just hear…LISTEN
Be yourself
Smile & have fun
Work hard, always do your best, never give up

I need a weekend from my weekend.

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This last weekend was the busiest, most exhausting and most fulfilling weekend I have had in quite a while. And, really, I feel kind of bad saying that considering the fact that Andy was gone the entire time. I am not even kidding when I say that it’s Wednesday and I am still recovering. So much went on this weekend that I need seperate posts for each of our adventures! So, get ready for some major blog reading this week…especially since I was pretty neglectful of the Little Miss blog this last week.

First up: Our Adventures in Potty Training -OR- How on Earth did that just happen!?

Yes, my friends. You read that right. And, if you are my friend on Facebook you already saw my post regarding said potty training. I don’t want to jynx it, and I know there will be setbacks, but I think we just potty trained Rylee in 2 days! (ok, mostly 2 days)

I had a really aggressive goal that Rylee would NOT be returning to daycare this Fall wearing diapers. However, since I was not the one home with her all Summer, I didn’t have much control over the potty training…or lack thereof. Andy’s view was: She’ll do it when she’s ready. My view? Let’s lose the diapers already! By mid-August, I was getting pretty antsy and to be totally honest, sick of changing the kid’s stinky diapers. I decided to take matters into my own hands. Ry and I went to Target, bought some Dora undies and some potty treats (AKA: Peanut Butter M&M’s). On the weekends, when we were home, I would have Ry in her undies and set the timer for every 20 minutes. When the timer went off, we hit the head. That tactic didn’t really work out so hot, but it got the ball rolling. Ry was pooping in the toilet more than she was in her diaper…score 1 for the mama!

This last weekend Ry woke up with a bad cough and a stuffy nose {side note: I now do too. What can I say, she’s a giver}. We decided not to go to the family BBQ we had been planning on all week. Bummer for me, but she didn’t know the difference. Instead, we just hung out around the house. Since we were home, I decided to put her in undies. She was diggin’ it. She had a couple of accidents, but all was well.

Sunday, after we ran a couple of errands in the morning, I put her in undies again. By the afternoon when Auntie Kristen was over, we were outside picking pears when Auntie asked Ry if she had to go potty and Ry replied with a YES! So we ran in the house and she went. This is when things really started to click. I don’t know what happened, it’s just like she all of a sudden got it. She didn’t have an accident all.day.long.

Monday was pretty much gravy. She knew when she had to go and she’d let us know. She did have one accident when she was putting money in her piggy bank. She ran to the bathroom as soon as it happened yelling “I’m leaking!”. Then, that night after I put her in a diaper and her PJ’s on she decided she had to go. Instead of going in her diaper, she ran to the bathroom, pulled off her diaper and sat on the toilet…all by herself! SUCCESS!

Tuesday morning, within seconds of her waking up (still in a diaper) she declared she had to go! And yes, I gave her peanut butter M&M potty treats at 6:45 AM. We sent her to daycare in undies…of course back with 3 extra pair of undies and pants. I am happy to report upon picking her up she was STILL in the pants that I dropped her off in. That’s right ladies and gentlemen…no accidents!

POTTY TREATS FOR EVERYONE!