Catch the Moment: Week 17

A picture a day, for one year.

 So many things to love about this picture. I'm not a huge Mariner's fan, I mean - I'm from Seattle, have lived here most of my life and I will go to a game for the food and company. There, I said it. However, the grandparents are sports fans so every once in a while I oblige and send them a picture like this one. But seriously, when did my baby grow up? She's wearing K-Swiss sneaks, for gosh sakes.

 These are a few of my beautiful sister in laws. We celebrated a couple birthdays at the local trampoline park, which ended with two glamorous injuries (including yours truly) thanks for a moms vs. dads dodgeball. Yes, on trampolines. It's a long story, but basically an 11 year old sprained my ankle and it was so awesome because the next morning we flew out for our trip to Dallas! Yay! Because babywearing 2 kids and hauling a stroller with carseats and carry ons isn't hard enough to do; we needed to add a sprained ankle into the mix to make it interesting.

 Our trip to Dallas was flight #2 in the last year with both kids - and we have our third trip planned in December to fly across "The Pond" to see my parents over Christmas. Our first trip was to Long Beach in October, which was a mere 2 hour flight from Seattle. Seattle to Dallas is about a 4 hour flight, so we learned a few more lessons about how to fly efficiently and sanely with two littles. One huge travel tip came from That Mama Gretchen, who had recently flown to Texas with her littles too, and that was to put the ticketed non-lap child in their carseat for the flight. Penny was comfortable and calm for the flight. She's used to sitting in her car seat for sometimes hours at a time, so this wasn't that different. Miss Ruby, on the other hand.. well, she was a wiggly 15 month old who wasn't allowed to adventure like she wanted to. Again..more lessons were learned, but this was the exciting start for our super fun week in Dallas, which I will share more full details with you soon!

 Due to that (im)perfectly timed sprained ankle, I had to take it easy for the first part of our trip. But that wasn't going to stop me from taking the girls up to the infinity pool at the Omni hotel. How did I manage a 3 year old and a 1 year old in the water, by myself? Babywearing, of course. 

 Ok, I seriously lucked out on the hotel's restaurant. Texas Spice rocks my socks. The breakfast buffet was to die for. My glutinous, eager fingers made this photo come out embarassingly blurry, but what you'll find on that plate are eggs, breakfast potatoes, breakfast veggies, bacon, bread pudding, rice pudding and waay up there at the top were blueberries and raspberries. Why don't I just eat like this every day??

 More poor quality, but this was taken with a cell phone in a pretty much pitch black room so you'll forgive me. Both girls nap for 2 hours in the middle of the day and I was very thankful for their flexibility in our routine. I wasn't sure how it was going to go down with putting them to sleep in our hotel room each day, but it worked perfectly. Watching them sleep together on the bed made me dream more about them one day sharing their bedroom and perhaps even trying out sibling co-sleeping if that suits either of them. 

This picture won't do it justice but I hope you can get a good look. This is a pano of the view from the Giants of The Savannah view point at the Dallas Zoo. I actually ended up visiting the Dallas Zoo on two separate days because there was so much to see on the first day that we didn't get through everything. Thankfully I have an annual membership at the Woodland Park Zoo, which gave me reciprocal membership benefits of discount tickets. Zoos are kind of my thing (here's a list of zoos I've visited), so keep an eye out for what we thought of the Dallas Zoo. 

Catch the moment archives

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Catch the Moment: Week 16

A picture a day, for one year.

Prepare for a week of mostly chicken pictures :)

We've lived in our current town for almost 3 years, and I'm amazed at how connected this community is. I grew up in a small-ish town for 16 years and never felt this involved. Maybe it's because I'm a parent and it matters now. Anywho, our local YMCA hosted an open house / community day and we got to tour the facility and there were literally dozens of local businesses and activities for the kids. Ruby surprised me when she picked up a crayon and grabbed a piece of paper and started coloring along with the toddlers.

Finding the balance between finishing and taking a break from projects is something that my husband and I have been working on for as long as we've been married. We've made the commitment that every Sunday morning we go on a family hike that's not too far from home. This is my favorite part of the loop.

 The Pierogie Flock almost doubled in a single day! I picked up 2 7 week old Cinnamon Queen chicks and 2 yearling Easter Eggers. This little lass is Sugar Cube, the more docile and sweet of the Cinnamon Queen pair.

 Easter Eggers will lay blue or green eggs. I was happy to find that mine lay blueish eggs! There's no difference from any other colored egg; it's just the shell that's different. What the hen eats, how she lives and her quality of life depict the quality of her eggs.

 I'm not a professional thrifter by any means, but some times I luck out. Once or twice a month we hit our local Goodwill and on this day I happened to stop in on furniture discount day. The manager wanted these pieces out, so I struck up a bargain with her and got all of this for $22. !!!!

 Miss Penny was so enamored by the little chicks. She sat next to them, talked to them, convinced them that she was not mean and wouldn't eat them. They were skittish, but we're working on getting them accustomed to being pet and held.

Our older girls (and by older, I mean that they're 2 years old) are so sweet with her. They've learned that she's gentle, safe and brings treats often.

Catch the moment archives

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Catch the Moment: Week 15

A picture a day, for one year.

Again..life got the best of me and I am severely behind in posting my pictures. This week, for whatever reason, I am super mushy and reflective. Here's pictures of my life.

 This is another post in the making, which is regretfully also way behind schedule...but lately I've been partnering with my local women & children's consignment shop and I co-hosted our local Great Cloth Diaper Change event with Grow With Me Boutique. This year I've made it a goal to be present in my community; whether it's as a cloth diaper educator, proponent or encouragement to mothers.

This silly girl of mine. I thought that a 2 year old with a newborn was tough - but I've learned that 3 is even harder. Does it ever actually get "easy"? Probably not. But in the midst of the "no you're not"s and the bazillion questions, she sneaks in one of these silly little smiles and my heart just about bursts out of my heart.

 Lately we have been taking evening family walks, usually keeping the kids in our double stroller so that Adam and I can actually take a brisk walk and focus on conversation between each other rather than making sure that Penny stays safe from the quite steep drop into a creek that's next to the trail. On this evening, Penny gasps with wonder at the field of "bubble flowers," and wanted to pick some. These normally pesky weeds were seen as magical wonder in the eyes of a toddler, who picked each one delicately and presented me with a huge bouquet. She very quickly followed up with "ok, now let's blow them out!" and she blew with all her toddler might, pretending that it was nature's birthday cake. This memory I will treasure close to my heart, forever.

So this day was one where the trenches of motherhood were deep with sticky mud and I was just stuck. I try very hard not to complain about it ever, because in all reality it is such an amazing gift for me to get to spend this time with my children. It is a short season and one day I'll be an old woman who will look fondly back at it. But this day, I just had enough. Somehow my husband knew and he brought home an extremely special treat - a whole pie from our local boutique pie shop - Snohomish Pie Co. It reminded me that even though the days may be hard, my partner will always be at my side and will pull me out of the muck.  

 I guess this week is a very reflective week for me! We were hanging out in the backyard because again, it was an unseasonably warm April day and we had to take advantage of sprinkler time with popsicles. Miss Ruby had finally gotten over her aversion of grass so I was happy to watch her toddle around as she watched her older sister run and shriek through the sprinkler. Adam came home early that day and snapped this picture of Ruby and I. Sometimes it's so hard to come to terms that I am a mama of two, that I've been entrusted in the very important task in raising these girls.

While being a mom of a very opinionated, head and heart strong 3 year old can be hard, it has so many rewarding moments. Sometimes when I am upset with something silly, disobedient and ultimately not important, she stops me and holds my hands and just tells me how beautiful that I am. She compliments my long hair, or my pretty smile and great hugs. She thanks me for making a snack for her earlier that day, and strokes my cheek. Where did she learn this??? It stops me in my tracks and I take a breath to slow down my frustrated heart. On this day she had grabbed my camera and I was showing her how to use it and take pictures. She turns it over to me and says "now you take a picture of me. See how beautiful my shirt is?" This also stopped me and I tried to explain to her that it's not that shirt that makes her beautiful or worthy of a picture. Her sincere heart is just gorgeous to me, and I hope that it teaches me a lesson or two about what is important in life.

On the very rare occasion, Penny wakes up earlier than Ruby. Penny is so much like her dad, and their sleep habits are no exception. They could sleep in until noon if I (and Ruby) let them. This morning she creeped into my bed and whispered "can I give Wooby a kissy-kiss?" and ever so gently gave her little sister a kiss. She silently crept over to the other side of the bed and snuggled in on my other side.

Catch the moment archives

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Catch the moment: Week 14

A picture a day, for one year.

oh my gosh you guys, I totally messed up the numbers on this week. Oh well. 

Thunder Chicken is one of our favorite stuffed animals. But here's the question that plagues all chicken owners.. hen or roo? 

 There's a beautiful tree on our daily walk that blooms strange purple flowers. Penny asks to pick one each time, and this time we discovered her favorite creature inside.

 My husband loves old BMWs, and our "new" addition is apparently very special. We got together with other local e9 owners for a meet up and a drive. The owners hashed over where to get the parts for this 44 year old car and compared the unique features between these handmade cars.

 It's partly intimidating, partly really awesome to drive the e9! It's like taking a step back into history.

 We had our two favorite besties over for a playdate while their mama interviewed. I couldn't get over the adorableness of a 4 year old, 3 year old, almost 2 year old and 1 year old playing together.

 I shopped at the Just Between Friends of Everett/Monroe Spring sale and saved over $160!!

Poor Wooby. She took a huge chomp of a popsicle and really wasn't prepared for the result. 

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Catch the Moment: Week 13

A picture a day, for one year.

 Our local craft store brings in bunnies for the kids to take pictures with for Easter. All proceeds to to the Behind the Badge Foundation too! How awesome. They had about a dozen bunnies to choose from, and all were so sweet and docile. Penny wanted the "small baby bunny with pink eyes."

 The big girl got her face painted for the first time. A year ago, there was no way she was letting a stranger touch her face. I am so proud of her bravery. And she is so stinkin cute!

 Penny and daddy made Frozen Easter Eggs. Frozen as in the movie, not literally frozen.

 I snagged an awesome deal of 40 pounds for $18 of Golden Delicious apples, straight from the grower. Wow! Well, this meant a week of apple inspired meals.. but I am not complaining! Here's two: Crockpot Applesauce and Polish Apple Pancakes.

 I sneak my snacks in the kitchen when I think the kids aren't paying attention. This time I was discovered. I ended up being nice and sharing my goat cheese, fig-orange jam and poppyseed crackers with this pitiful face.

 My parents separated and divorced over the course of my teens. I don't have many stories that tell about their love, but on the morning of my 16th birthday I visited my dad and he told me one of the sweetest stories I've ever heard. After my birth my dad picked a gorgeous bunch of lilacs for my mom to fill her room with their beautiful fragrance. On that day, he decided that he would do the same for me when I turned 16. Last year my husband planted a lilac bush in our front yard for my Mother's Day gift too.

Another counter top treat discovered. This was our third apple treat of the week, Polish Apple Cake (jablecznik). My mom makes it the best, but she was nice enough to freeze some dough for another time and left it in my freezer. This week I've been missing her and it was a perfect pick me up. My version doesn't really stand up to hers, but it was a good shot.

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Catch the moment: Week 13 (and some extras?)

Somehow I got off on my counting. I don't know. So today you get some bonus pictures! Woo hoo!

 The most precious jewels around a mother's neck are her children's arms.

 This is quite possibly the most beautiful rise that I've gotten out of my home made bread.

 A mini heat wave in March in Washington means it's like 60 degrees. So out comes the sprinkler!

 Another warm weather activity..side walk chalk! And three cheers for Ruby finally being ok with being put on the ground outside. Only if there's chalk that she can taste, color with and put into the bucket.

 Miss E turned 4 and we came over for a Princess / Easter egg hunt birthday party. What a blessing this friendship has been to Penny.

 I snagged my niece and nephew for the day while their parents and my husband did some renovating. We drove to grandma and grandpa's house. Having two rear facing kids, two forward facing kids and a 3rd row makes life so much easier! They all just entertained each other.

 My naptime project for the last week was clearing out the garden beds on the front and side of the house, which had been neglected for a LONG time by the previous owners. All of the extra grass and weeds went to my chickens, who have been on lock down from free ranging because quite frankly, I would prefer for my kids to not step in chicken poop when they're running around in the grass during our gorgeous weather ;) When the rain returns, the girls will be let out again.

 We've making use of our fabulous RadioFlyer Wagon (review!) and Penny insisted to pull Ruby around. Fine by me! We made a quick Buy Nothing Project delivery to our neighbor.

 This is the science project of my life. Why do some egg dye colors make bubbles on the egg shell?

It was a hard, hard day. So hard. One of the hardest days of my mothering career. Nothing went right, my voice was raised too often and too many tears were shed by all three of us. So I pulled out one of my favorite dinners to console myself.. and I didn't care if anyone else liked it either. Thanks, The Kitchn, for Spaghetti alla Carbonara. 

Catch the moment archives

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