Ava

My latest sewing project.  These little play skirts have been so fun to make.  Brenda took them to preschool so that the girls could test out the big pocket fun of dressing up in them.  As they naturally look perfect on her, Ava will getting one for Christmas and hopefully wearing it all over Tacoma!  Sweet! 

PUPPY love

Thanksgiving Owl-A-Thon

SUPER 4!!!!!

 

Super Rascally

Super Sweet

Super Curious

Super Serious

Super Silly

Super Playful

Super Bouncey

Super Snuggly

Super Sensitive

Super Intelligent

Super Stubborn

Super Boy

Today

Indian Summer

I love how this summer dragged on and on.  Every time I step outside I think "hey, wow, it's pretty nice out today!"  I think we relished it as much as a busy bunch can.  One of my favorite fall weekends was a trip out to Joemma with the boys and the Arnetts.  We had so much fun Saturday that we came back Sunday to roast hotdogs on the bonfire and beach comb until we had too much to carry back.  On Sunday, Laura came along and documented the sweetness of the day.  Finn entertained the women by the fire, while the bigger boys did all the beachy things that bigger boys do.  You know, like driftwood sword fights and log climbing.  Joemma is so pretty and I love driving out on the Peninsula on a golden autumn day.  

From New to Two in a Blink!

Awww, My Baby Turns TWO!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINN!!!

I just LOVE this little guy, he is silly, sweet and a real toughie.  He is often my comic relief and always my best excuse to slow down and cozy up at home. 

Above, you can see that he spent his summer mastering this fantastic grin.

Below, CLASSIC! What can I say? we both love a good party!

How handsome is Leo?  Notice the awesome matching outfits.

Two Two's

And so I could muse on about oh this! and oh that!  but I really can't because there is too much emotion for words.  More babies for me?   I mostly only consider it when I drive past the hospital, Oh the wonderful hospital vacations!  I know some people think it is crazy, but each time I loved those first few days full of nurses and pudding and no reason to get out of bed.  Especially the second time, when Rachel and Will were there to keep us company.  The other times that I wistfully think of babies are when all the cute clothes only go up to 24 months.  What is up with that?  Four year olds deserve foxes on their sweaters and hats too!  

Matching PJs, IRRESISTABLE!

I knew it would end in tears, but it was funny while it lasted!

4 Neil Diamondhearts

Oh Ladies!  You will never know what it is to love Neil Diamond unless you experience him LIVE in full effect.  I thought I loved Neil.  Lots of fond memories of drunken dancing to his best songs.  Erika inspired us to make a ladies night out of his return to Seattle.  We tried to dress up in as much sequined or leather hot lady rocker gear as we could get our hands on.  We got loose, we were a little late, and I thought I might have to exit for some fresh air the second I had finally climbed over a million pissed off old people to get to my seat, but I rode the wave and Neil was the tide.  He sang so great he made himself cry.  I could not stop grinning, dancing when appropriate, and screaming WHHHEEEWWW!!!.   It was awesome.  After all was said and done, we decided that next time we would make every effort possible to be in the front row and given the chance we would probably make out with him on stage.    

Welcome September!

Labor Day and The Fair

They make the arrival of September something extra special.

We rushed over to Puyallup on thursday after work.  I was a bit grouchy about it at first, feeling really anal about not wanting fair food for dinner.  But who am I kidding, I totally loved eating icecream and scones for dinner while the babies had hot dogs.  We really went hog wild this year, it was a three hour spending bonanza but oh so much fun.  We splurged on gate-side paid parking, some really fun rides like the big slide and the swings (Finn's laughter attracted crowds as he rode the sparkley four-wheeler, his blond baby mullet blowing in the wind behind him), I got two strips from the B&W photo booths, ice cream cones, krusty pups, 13 scones, and to top it all... TWO gigantic inflatable swords.    

Below are a few shots from our Labor Day fun at the beach house.  Lady spent the weekend with us, the weather was just right for me, we just played and played, I love it out there.  Leo learned about naked salty swims from his buddy Rex, and has been loving them ever since.  Come to think of it what doesnt Leo love to do naked? 

I call this one Finn and the Worm

Summer season, in a nutshell.

Oh how the lovely days of summer linger on buzzing and warm, so that you almost forget it will be cold and dark for the next 9 months of the year.  What did I do with the sunny days?  We turned 32, followed by the fireworks of the 4th.  We weeded, sowed, and watered to enjoy a sweet garden that I am now ready to tear apart and rearrange.  We escaped to the beach for weekends of sunshine and sand in between our toes.  Some weekends we worked hard on projects like finishing the fence and stacking a tree's worth of wood.  Hanna was born!  We have been spending Tuesday afternoons strolling the farmer's market down the street and cooking up amazingly fresh and healthful meals with our own vegetable farm share.  We picked a fraction of the blueberries at the farm, but have pilfered many other fruits from the trees in our neighborhood.  We picked a new school for Leo and made a new schedule for our work routines that still manages to keep 3 out of 4 of us at home most days.  Finn has learned to talk, wrestle, and belly swim, but still runs with his arms tucked up like a football star.  Oh yes, we had a lovely wedding weekend that was every bit of fun that it should have been after a very long engagement and intense 4 years of child raising.  And finally, to cap it all off, my favorite, a trip to the old Puyallup Fair.    

More summer recap, with pics!

First, there was the 4th of July!  Look at these two little yankee-doodles!

And after that the birthdays are plentiful, so we have as many picnics, BBQ's, and cakes as possible!  Just in July and August we celebrate for Josiah, many friends, Henry, myself, Joe, and Buffy.  Here are the Howards at Owen's Beach.  A little fox joined our picnic that night but got chased back into the woods.

Sweet Family.

I finally get to share some wedding love

I have been wanting to share some of the pictures that Jon and Heather took for some time now, so here are some of my faves.  Starting with Thursday, the evening that the judge came to the house. Originally, having rented the house for the weekend, we thought it would be fun to have friends over to hang out and decorate and arrange flowers and pre-funk on Thursday.  You know, maximize the fun. But when I could not picture how to do vows at the garden without feeling showy, and as it turned out there was not a convenient moment to squeeze in the judge on Friday, we just decided to do it on Thursday at the house.  I think we pulled in about 20 minutes before the judge, so it was a bit scattered and improvised, but who cares, we had our sweet ceremony and a ton of fun afterward.  There aren't enough pictures of Jon and Heather, they were the witnesses, the background music, the photographers, decorators, and the fun. Erika and family catered, baked, arranged flowers and provided endless fun with a fabulous mixed CD.  And sweet Trista with Chris and new baby Hannah completed the circle of essential friends.  It was spontaneous perfection at it's best!