Mark & Joani

A Belated Christmas Gift

2012-01-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

I was working on one more present at Christmas time but it just did not get finished. Thankfully the gift was for my dear friend, Mel, and she didn't mind a bit. I made another set of placemats using this Pink Penguin tutorial. I used a 'honey bun' of coordinating fabric (pre-cut 1 1/2" strips) to make these and so most of the sewing went together pretty quick (the part that didn't was all of the binding). I still have 1/2 of the honey bun left and some great ideas for using it! Better late than never, I suppose.

Snow at Home

2012-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Just after we got home from Seattle we had a light snowfall at our house! It happened to come on a holiday so Allison & I were able to stay home and play. Allison was a bit funny in the snow this time, she just walked and walked and walked around making tracks. Oh, and she was obsessed with wiping all of the snow off her little play car! Glad we got to enjoy some snow without going anywhere!

Seattle Snow

2012-01-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

Our Seattle visit was made extra eventful with some snow! It started snowing while we were out and about on Saturday and continued through-out the night and into Sunday. Sunday morning we had some complications to our plans so we ended up not making it to church. But we did go outside to take some pictures in the snow! Allison loves playing with Miss Leslie. And I think the feeling may just be mutual!

Eventually we made it over the Crista Ministries campus where Leslie worked this past spring. It was beautiful and Allison was able to play in the snow. She of course did her favorite snow activity, she built a 'baby' snow man! We left Seattle right around noon on Sunday. We had planned to stay longer but with more snow & freezing temps in the forecast I wanted to make sure we could get home easily. The ride home was eventful, several stretches with near white-out conditions on I5 but we made it home safe and sound and very thankful for that!

Seattle Shopping

2012-01-22T16:17:00.001-08:00

Allison received a very special baby doll from Christmas from her Nana & Papa - it is an American Girl doll - one of the bitty twins. You are not able to order one bitty twin by itself online or over the phone so a great deal of planning went into the purchasing of this doll. In the middle of the planning we learned a new American Girl store had opened in Seattle! I had already been planning a trip to Seattle with Allison in January so we decided we had to go to the store! We were going to try to do tea but they only serve tea on week days. Instead we scheduled dinner (which was very convenient, Leslie & I were able to attend a 'scarf tying' class right beforehand at the Nordstrom in the mall). Allison got to have dinner with baby, she ordered a 'bitty picnic' which was essentially a mini hot dog. Baby got her own glass during dinner and a special seat to sit at the table with us. After dinner Allison got to go pick out a new dress for baby. She chose a pink & white dress, of course. We enjoyed our time and look forward to another trip next time we are in Seattle!

Green Lake & Top Pot - Seattle Part I

2012-01-17T19:56:00.001-08:00

We started our time in Seattle off right - with a walk around Green Lake. This had to have been one of the coldest and wettest walks around Green Lake that I have ever had. But a trip to Seattle with Leslie just would not be the same without a trip to Green Lake. By the time we were done walking around (Allison actually walked the last 1/4 mile or so!) we were all cold and hungry. So we headed straight to another favorite place of mine in Seattle, Top Pot donuts. These are some of the yummiest donuts around...I haven't found anything like them down where I live...and that is probably a good thing! Allison of course enjoyed a 'pink' donut, complete with sprinkles. We headed out, hot chocolate in hand, straight for a quilt shop. I have zero pictures of the quilt shop. I am way to focused in quilt shops to take pictures. Especially with a 2-year-old in tow. Let's just say I found some fabulous things...most of which will hopefully make it into the 'Made in 2012' club. After a full morning Allison fell asleep in the car on the way home....

Seattle & Back

2012-01-15T19:14:00.000-08:00

This is my road trip buddy! We took advantage of a holiday weekend to go and visit our good friend, Leslie in Seattle. We had intended to stay through tomorrow but with winter storms moving through we decided to drive home today. I'm actually glad I did - I don't think I've ever experienced heavy snow on I-5 before - and I had several stretches of white-out or near white out along the way home today - including downtown Seattle. Crazy but beautiful - you don't see the city that quiet and peaceful very often. More to come about our trip soon!

Cold Bike Rides

2012-01-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

We had quite a bit of dry weather during our Christmas break. We took advantage of it by going on a few bike rides. Allison's seat really needs to be raised up higher. It was a chilly day when I took these pictures, which was a good thing, it hurried Allison along pretty well and she rode a little faster than normal (and we didn't have to stop at the park - she was so chilled she didn't even object!).

Dress Up Girl

2012-01-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Allison is really getting into the dress-up thing lately. She doesn't always dress up as 'Rella (Cinderella), sometimes she dresses up as a chef and at daycare I find her in all kinds of costumes at the end of the day! 'Rella is definitely a favorite of hers, though, especially since her buddy Bekah gave her a 'Rella dress and her cousin Sophie gave her some 'Rella shoes. Thankfully the 'Rella movie is one Mark & I approve of ;). I love how she is growing up at the same time, in these pictures she's practicing cutting up her lunch!

Dancin' Girl

2012-01-11T19:10:00.001-08:00

I used a gift card from my sister to buy 'Just Dance Kids' for the Wii. Allison and I have enjoyed a few dancing parties courtesy of this game. They are always entertaining. So far her favorite dances are the 'Happy Birthday' song & the Chicken Dance. She would sing happy birthday to Jesus during the Happy Birthday song. She picked out her outfit all by herself. I don't know that she's ever really seen someone dance before so I thought it was pretty funny that she just knew a swimsuit was appropriate attire!

I have no idea where she learned this pose, either, but it was certainly funny!

And she finally crashes on the couch. The best part of dancing parties!

Bunny Hunting

2012-01-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

We found tons of little bunny tracks on our winter hike this past weekend. Allison thought they were fascinating, especially since she has a story book that talks about bunnies in the snow and the tracks they leave. When we stopped for lunch we went on a bit of a bunny 'hunt' trying to track a bunny down. Mark & I knew we wouldn't actually find one but Allison was determined to see one. Mark finally convinced her they were all sleeping....but she still had fun following their tracks around. (She told her Auntie Brittney on the phone all the bunnies were sleeping so apparently she bought our excuse - whew!).

When we got back to the car we played in the snow some more....Allison was pretending to be a bunny, the face she is making below is her bunny scrunching his nose face. Pretty cute!

Now, what do we do when she realizes her 'Uncle' Kep really does hunt bunnies?!?!?

Snow!! Again!!

2012-01-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I think my husband has figured out that snow makes his wife very happy! He called me on his way home from work on Friday and announced 'we're going snowshoeing tomorrow!' He had already stopped by our local recreation shop and rented a sled for Allison. We headed out for the Cascades on Saturday morning. We stopped at Lava Lake and got out. The snow wasn't quite deep enough to bother with snowshoes but it was perfect for hiking and towing Allison in her sled (which she loved by the way!). It was another beautiful day - with the sun peeking through high clouds occasionally. We packed a lunch and enjoyed lots of time outside. I'm so thankful for winter days like this! Even if we have to drive an hour and a half to have them!

My little snow bunny!

We made another 'baby snowman' and Allison loved playing with it and making dinner for it.And I took her out to a little field like area and taught her how to make her first snow angel. Thanks to Christmas she now has some concept of what an angel & this made her very excited!

Waving at our shadows - Allison thought this was hilarious! She's just starting to really understand shadows now, too!

The Tree is Gone....

2012-01-05T19:13:00.001-08:00

Our tree was taken down earlier this week and delivered to the curb where it was picked up. This was a bit traumatic for Allison. She seems to have recovered well and has been saying that our next tree will be a 'pink tree.' We have no idea what that means but maybe we'll find out next year. This week we've been getting back into routine....Allison's daycare buddies keep her on a potty schedule....I started a step aerobics class....Mark doesn't have any more side jobs scheduled so he's working a 'normal' schedule now. We loved our vacation but we're so thankful for normal life, we are definitely a family that thrives on routine.

P.S. Do you think 2-year-olds can come any sillier than the one pictured above?

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

We welcomed the new year in the best way possible - with a trip to a local recreation area to enjoy some time in the great outdoors. The weather was fabulous, not too cold and just slightly windy with the sun shining through fog. The snow was not abundant but was adequate for playing in. We are so thankful for days like these in the midst of a dreary and rainy winter and we look forward to more in 2012!

Our girl loves the snow, even the sledding on this trip although it took some warming up!

Ah yes, our good friends, the Wagners joined us on this adventure. It is always more fun with friends along. Especially when there is a small snowball fight to be enjoyed!

Really starting to like the sledding!

Hmmm...do you think someone needs to learn how to steer?

Nate said Bekah would be walking next year, but with a Mama like that I'm thinking Bekah can ride up for another 10 years or so, don't you think?

This girl is such a joy to be around. Allison absolutely adores her and I love her fun-loving attitude! This girl was made for fun!

Handmade Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

I made a lot of our Christmas presents this year. The last week before Christmas I felt like I was in quite a mad dash to finish it all but it all managed to get done (or done enough). Here is a sampling of what I made along with links to tutorials as applicable! First, was Logan's quilt (I know I already had a post on this but now I had it all done). I made the quilt using this pattern from the Winter 2010 Quilts & More Magazine. I made the wide strips two inches bigger, though, than the pattern said to make the quilt big enough for a full size bed (the pictures are on our Queen size guest bed). the pillow shams I made up myself. And there will be more on the sprocket pillow later.

The back was put together with 2 yards of one of the Children at Play fabrics and some random piecing on my part. I know that this quilt was going to require 5 yards for backing but for some reason I thought I'd just buy 2 yards and piece the back (5 yards is expensive!). In hindsight I'd buy the 5 yards and save myself the trouble later. Besides, I ended up buying just as much by the time it was said and done!

A close up of the fabric. I love it.

And from this angle I decided it was awfully hard to part with. Good thing I don't have a little boy living here!

Ah yes, the sprocket pillows. I made a few of them for various friends (and Logan). I used the Cluck, Cluck, Sew tutorial and they came together beautifully, of course!

A also made another quilt (Made in 2011 No. 14, I think?). I used a fabric line called 'Etchings' which I originally found in Sister's for Mark's Mom's quilt. I liked it enough I bought a 10" layer cake to make another quilt for my sister-in-law, shown below. I sort-of made a disappearing 9 patch pattern - although it is a bit more crazy than that. I put it together using Cluck, Cluck Sew's Apple's quilt for inspiration and using a stack-n-whack methodology. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, it is the best way I can think of to describe it.I quilted this one myself with a random, all over stitch. I thought it looked so nice with my tree in the background.And I almost thought it looked like a Christmas quilt! Good thing there was some grey in it, too.One of my few non-sewing projects was this 'puppet theater' that I made for my dear little friend, Bekah. I purchased the .pdf download from Sarah Jane Studios for the Nutcracker Puppet Theater and cut out each piece (there are TWELVE characters) and assembled them. I may not have designed this but the cutting & assembly still made a handmade gift. And I'm hoping to make one for Allison next year! I really don't think a cereal box ever looked so cute!I also made another quilt top with the fabric I found in Sister's for Mark's Mom. I had intended to finish it myself but after seeing how well the double hour glass came together I decided this quilt needed to go to a professional quilter. This quilt will likely be my Finished in 2012 No. 1. I'll just give a peek for now. It was made using another Cluck Cluck Sew tutorial for the double hour glass.

I also made my very crafty little sister a pair of customized scissors. I actually made her two pairs using this tutorial. They turned out okay, but I learned that this craft ideally uses multi-colored paper with a small pattern on it. I made another pair for my friend at work, Karlee, and they turned out great, I just didn't get a picture. Oh well, live an learn. I figure this way Brittney will always know which scissors are hers around the church office!

Finally, I made a pair of tree pillows. The one above used the last of the scraps I had from the quilt I made for my little friend, Bekah. So I gave it to her Mom, of course. And that meant her Mom needed to buy some more matching pillows. And that means I'm her Dad's favorite person right now (kidding, of course! I am good at getting my friend, Jodi, to spend money, though!). And I made the one below for my sister-in-law Hannah. I was a little worried it looked a bit too much like a peacock. But Mark convinced me he would have never thought 'peacock' if I hadn't said anything so I figured I could give it to her. So I did. And she has requested another one. Good thing I have plenty of scraps and Kroon Day is coming soon! I used yet another Cluck Cluck Sew tutorial for this one. These pillows came together super quick & easy!

And that was about it for what I made this year. And trust me, it was plenty! There was one other little pillow for Mark's Mom (made with the scraps from her quilt) but I forgot to get a picture of it. Maybe when the quilt is done. Enjoy the tutorials if you happen to be a crafty person!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

We had a very low key Christmas this year, which was exactly what we needed. We started Christmas morning with presents. Allison & I actually had quite a few thanks to my family which mailed packages. The picture above is one of Allison's favorite presents, it is currently living on her dresser and she calls it 'MY picture.' Apparently this girl likes pictures (particularly when she is in them!).As soon as present opening was done we headed out to church. Allison wore a super cute little outfit, courtesy of Nana.When we made it home it was time for the real playing to begin. Mark & Allison put her new Duplo Lego train set together. Mark discovered, much to his dismay, the play table was not big enough for the deluxe set which he determined Allison 'needed.' It has now taken over my dining room table. Allison enjoyed sending her baking accessories around on the train tracks.We enjoyed a Christmas brunch - french toast. I had planned to make cinnamon rolls but it just didn't happen this year. Mark had a lot of music practices at church and a flooring job he was wrapping up so our time getting ready for Christmas was very limited. We decided french toast was easy (and yummy). Perhaps cinnamon rolls will come out for New Year's.

Both mark & I had the 26th off as well as an observed holiday. Mark took a quick run up to Fry's first thing in the morning to buy some computer parts. He spend the day playing with the train and building a new computer. I'm now finally up and running on the new computer, whew! Allison tagged along and 'helped' as much as she could.And I did manage to get a picture of our tree in the background. I want to try for one more before we take it down but for now this is one of my favorite Christmas pictures.The weather around here has been particularly dry and we finally got out do enjoy it! Allison asked for a bike ride. We assumed she wanted to ride her little bike but when we got in the garage she insisted on a Chariot ride so we all got on our bikes and went for a ride. Which allowed for plenty of tire pumping, much to Allison's delight.And we ended the 'holiday' with a dress fitting. Allison is going to be a flower girl in Mr. Brent's wedding come March and we tried on her dress. We put Cinderella on the t.v. to distract Allison during the fitting and I think she got a little too into the dress fitting. She did not want to take the dress off! Now all I have to do is find some fabulous red shoes to go with the dress! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well.

Our December - The First Half

2011-12-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

We've been doing some Christmas themed things around our house but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write of them....partially because we had some computer issues which required a format and re-install so I'm re-learning how to do somethings as well as getting photo shop back up and running. Here is a quick glimpse at our December so far. We have been doing Advent candles. Although typically on Monday nights instead of Sunday nights, it has just worked better that way. Our first Advent Sunday we had pancakes for dinner - I think that may be a new tradition.

We went and picked out a tree. From a tree lot. Mark wandered around looking for a tree for quite awhile (he's on the picky side). We really would have loved to go cut our own tree but Mark has a flooring job to finish in December so our weekend time is tight. We went out on a weeknight to get a tree and then out to dinner.

Allison has been playing with her little nativity set. Mary & Joseph move closer every morning (she loves finding them) and Baby Jesus will show up on Christmas morning!

We decorated our tree (on the day after we got it). Allison had a lot of fun decorating it this year and she loves her 2011 ornament....

Curious George! She loves Curious George so I thought it would be a fitting ornament.

And Mark & I have been eating a few of these, peppermint brownie sundaes. They are so yummy! Too yummy for little girls of course. I haven't done any Christmas baking to date - too busy sewing but this has been keeping us plenty satisfied (along with an ample supply of peppermint hot chocolates thanks to a collection of Starbucks gift cards from work!).

Finished in 2011 No. 12 (a.k.a. why I've been MIA)

2011-12-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I finished another quilt this weekend. This is probably the biggest quilt I've made on my own (including the quilting), it is for a full-size bed. I made it for my nephew Logan, made using Sarah Jane's 'Children at Play' line. And I love it. I'll share more details on this later (along with what feels like a zillion other handmade Christmas presents) when I get a chance to take more pictures and after gifts have been given. I just didn't want the blog world out there to think I had completely disappeared.

The End of the Season

2011-11-29T21:21:00.001-08:00

Well, 2011 was certainly not the greatest football season for Oregon State. There was some success, however. Our girl became a true Beaver fan. She will frequently say 'Go Beavs' and she thinks any semi-athletic activity on t.v. is football. When she thinks that she automatically says 'Go Beavs.' Mark is trying to teach her about basketball now. He's hoping for a better season to enjoy as a Beaver fan. And he plans on taking her to a few games. Good thing we finally convinced her wearing her Beavers dress is a good thing, even if it isn't pink!

Holiday Season

2011-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

All three of these kiddos were wearing red on this particular day so we snapped a picture, don't they look like they are ready for Christmas? I love these three and I enjoy watching how their friendships keep growing. Each time Allison plays with Logan and / or Bekah she seems to grow up a little bit. I also love the holiday season and all of the fun activities that come with it (this picture was taken just before we headed up to our snow adventure). I'm hoping to enjoy every moment of December - especially with a two-year-old around who finds it all so exciting.

Black Friday

2011-11-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

We skipped out on the Black Friday shopping. I contemplated some online shopping but all of the items I wanted eventually sold out. Before I bought them. Instead, Allison & I spent some time that morning at the park. It was a very rare day around here; we woke up to blue skies. We couldn't stay inside. Allison loved getting to play at the park. Even if all of the equipment was wet. And we came home and enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It really doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Snow!!

2011-11-26T08:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we took a quick trip up to a local recreation area to capture a family Christmas photo for our friends, the Wagner's. Since we were up in the snow we decided to play for awhile. It was a much needed break from the overcast gloom we find in the valley. The sun was shining and there was a nice white cover of snow. Janelle & Logan tagged along with us since Jon was working.

All three of the kiddos did great. They enjoyed the snow as much as the adults. I don't think I heard any whining or complaining out of any of them. Even though Allison's mittens were soaking wet after the first 10 minutes. She just stripped them off and continued to play (I went out and bought some better mittens the next day). The kids loved the sledding, which was mostly done by being pulled by an adult, the snow was too wet and not deep enough for true downhill sledding.

We're hoping to get many more trips up to the snow this winter. The dose of sunshine was so worth it. And it worked out better than we expected to run up there after church, we still had plenty of time to play.

Entertainment

2011-11-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

We decided it was time to teach Allison to play the Wii. Ours actually sits idle more than we'd like. And with the rainy weather we have through the fall and winter (and spring!) we decided we needed some active-ities we could do indoors. So far the bowling was a hit. Especially since I beat Mark! But MarioKart was her favorite. Unfortunately she tended to zone out in front of MarioKart, though, so we'll be limiting her time with that game for now. I'm hoping to track down a copy of 'Just Dance Kids' like the game Allison got to play with cousins Ella & Savannah this summer. It is pretty cute watching a 2-year-old play games!

Biking in the Rain....

2011-11-20T21:12:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday was a bit wet, a bit cold and a bit windy. I should probably not be surprised that we found no one else at the park when Allison & I headed over. She rode her bike to the park. She was very excited to ride her bike to the park....

First she checked the swings. They were all wet. I was not really surprised....

Little Miss 'Cheese'

Contemplating if any of the playground equipment is not wet....

I guess we can pretend play 'store'.....

And then eventually head home. She has been obsessed with pockets lately and was really excited to discover her jacket had some. She did not want to ride her bike home because she wanted to keep her hands in her pockets. That meant I had to carry her bike home. With my hands outside of my pockets. It is a good thing she is cute!

How to Eat an Apple

2011-11-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

According to my computer I took this picture on Halloween. I don't have any fun or fancy Halloween pictures. She did get to go trick-or-treating at the courthouse while she was at daycare. And at home she got an apple (a very yummy apple from the Farmer's Market). She ate it in true 2-year-old fashion, lots of little bites all over. I'll take that over candy any day, I suppose. I don't think she even knew she was missing out on anything.

Christmas Quilt Project 2011

2011-11-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

My friend, Leslie, drove down from Seattle so that we could work on our annual Christmas quilting project for the year. We actually started these last winter, doing all of the text applique. Then we pieced them together. They are Christmas card wall hangings, each of the green branches is actually a pocket to tuck Christmas cards in. We used our (ample) collections of Nancy Halvorsen fabrics to make these....in fact we had plenty for our friend Heidi to make one with us (minus the applique). Now to just put these together and finish the binding...then perhaps mine will show up on my 'Finished in 2011' list. And what will we be working on next year? We're planning on place mats & a table runner.....

Leaf Collages

2011-11-06T16:55:00.001-08:00

I took all of the leaves Allison & I collected on our leaf walk and 'pressed' them between the pages of a big book. I then pulled out my 'Four Seasons of Fun' book, which was a gift from my friend, Mel, and followed the instructions for making making stained 'glass' leaf collages. My friend, Leslie, happened to be visiting for the weekend so she made one, too. We dressed ours up more than the book suggested with frames made from construction paper. Here was some of our crafty fun:

First we cut out our construction paper frames, two for each collage and then cut two pieces of wax paper just smaller than the size of the frame.

Allison loved the cutting of course, especially since I had found a pair of kid safe scissors I let her use (note - they said for ages 4+ so I don't let her play with them unless I'm with her).

Then we each selected our leaves at the pile, taking turns selecting one at a time. Once we had picked all of our leaves out we placed them between two sheets of wax paper which we then placed under a towel and ironed over on high. The ironing melted the sheets together.

We glued the frames together around the collages...and I taped them in the window. They definitely brighten my day. And Allison likes to show them off to any visitors we may have.

Leaf Walk

2011-10-26T21:57:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I took Allison on a 'leaf walk' we went around and collected a variety of fallen leaves from our neighborhood. Now they are securely stashed away in a book being pressed for another project we will hopefully get to soon.

She used her freshly decorated McDonald's Happy Meal bucket to collect leaves....and for several days afterward she wouldn't leave the house without it. Just in case we would find some leaves I guess. Or a stuffed kitty. Or a sock. Yes, I have found untold treasures in that little bucket. I think it will always be my favorite McDonald's Happy Meal 'toy' ever!

An Afternoon at the Park

2011-10-22T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, we had a great weather week last year. And the light in the fall is just special. I'm sure there is a scientific explanation for why but I don't really care about why. I do try to make the most of every minute of the great light I can. And not just for taking pictures! It is so much fun to play at the park on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I'm not the only one who thinks so, either.

Uncle Tills Round II

2011-10-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Allison & I made it to another one of my cousin's soccer games (we're enjoying having him close by). This was actually a really exciting game - they won 2-0 and Tills almost scored a goal! They also beat the team who is 3rd in their league (they were 4th) so they are hoping to be positioned better to make it to playoffs. I was thankful it wasn't raining. Allison had a great time. She even cheered a bit, much to the amusement of the crowd in front of us. Especially when her cheering became commenting on the dirtiness of the players (I mean dirt on their uniforms, not unfair playing!). It was pretty cute. Mark came for the second half as well and let Allison wander around with him, which she loved! Hopefully we'll catch at least one more game before the season is up. And after the season hopefully we'll get to see more of Tills, too!

Allison's second time to one of Tillerman's soccer games - and she got another happy meal. This one actually turned out to come with a useful toy - more on that later. Regardless, I think she's going to begin to associate Uncle Tills with chicken nuggets!

Play Date

2011-10-19T20:15:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Allison & I headed up north just a bit to visit with our good friends, the Moody's. Judson is about the same age as Allison and was very excited to have a friend over to play. Allison was very excited to see and even sort of 'hold' baby Cooper. Cooper was just over a month old (I think!). She is the one I made my purple quilt for this fall. And of course, while we were there I practiced taking pictures. I can't pass up a chance to take baby pictures, especially when the baby isn't very mobile! It was a typical foggy Oregon fall day so I ended up converting most of the indoor pictures to black & white - I was using a really high ISO setting and the grainy-ness looks better with black & white in my opinion.

Eventually we headed outside (much to Allison & Judson's delight). We bundled Cooper up and stuck Allison's old pumpkin hat on her. Doesn't she make a cute little pumpkin?

And we got Judson in a few pictures, too. Of course, he had already been playing around so he was a little wet but he still obliged. And he gave Cooper a sweet kiss.

And Allison & Judson played and played....

All around us.....

They are a pretty cute pair! We hope we'll get another play date soon!

Our Yellow Tree

2011-10-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

The fall is my favorite time of year. Perhaps because it feels so fleeting. Just about a week ago the tree out front of our house was turning yellow and just starting to loose it's leaves. Now it is nearly bare. I'm glad I made Allison pose for me before the leaves completely disappeared! I love the color of this tree, especially since all of our trees are different colors in the fall.

She was giving us a big cheesy grin. We were bribing her with her water bottle!

I think she was pleasantly surprised to have a leaf flutter down by her!

We're getting some fabulous fall weather this week and we're doing our best to make the most of it (yes, that means photo ops!).

Glamour Girl

2011-10-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

This little girl of ours is turning out to be quite the character! I never know what is going on in her mind and why she loves certain things. On one particular Sunday afternoon she wore her pajamas for her nap (that makes some sense, I suppose) and after her nap her outfit continued to improve. She grabbed her sparkly headband, then a necklace from her Nana the day before, then her favorite sparkly light-up shoes from Gammie. And don't forget the stickers Nana gave her the day before. Yup, that's my girl and that is her style. And I love every bit of it. Even the pink tu-tu she wore to daycare today!

Potato Stamps

2011-10-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we finished our last activity for our 'Jesse Bear What Will You Wear' book. We made potato stamps and stamped designs like the one on Jesse Bear's kitchen floor. The stamps were easy to make, I sliced one large baking potato into thirds and then carved a circle, square and triangle into each third. I bought some inexpensive washable ink pads from Amazon and we stamped away! Mark had to do most of the work of helping Allison while I took pictures. I think he might still be a bit bitter about it, but I'm pretty sure deep down inside he loved it. I'm thinking we may be making some Christmas wrapping paper this way. We ended the night with a much needed bath time.

In the picture above she had just said 'I bite this' and I think she liked my reaction to that statement! Thankfully she learned pretty quick it wasn't a pleasant thing to bite!

Allison and the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had my 10-year college reunion and was having fun about 60 miles away. I left the camera with Mark since I knew he & Allison were going to be meeting up with our good friends, the Wagner's for a Pumpkin Patch trip. It was Allison's first trip of the year. She went again on Tuesday with her daycare Toddler class. We heard more about the bus on that trip than the pumpkins and I have yet to see pictures but I can't wait. Anyhow, here are some of my favorite pictures from Mark & Allison's trip last Saturday. I really don't know what is going on in these....which makes it even more fun to look at them! Enjoy!

This is the pumpkin Allison actually came home with. I think Mark has a rule about her being able to carry her own pumpkin! I also heard a rumor of her trying to sit on hers like Bekah did hers...but I'll leave that for Jodi's blog.

Balancing Act

2011-10-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time for a bike riding update... When I look through pictures on our computer I find lots of pictures like the one above - I'm always trying to capture Allison's latest & greatest riding on a camera. And it is hard! What you can't see above is how she picks both her feet up, sticks them straight out and weaves around. It is pretty darn cute. And we are very proud of her ability to balance! As you can see below she takes her riding very seriously!

We try to get out for a walk or ride in the evenings when it is dry (and sometimes when it is wet!). Tonight was a gorgeous fall evening so we went around the block. The most significant thing I noticed tonight? It is about time to raise the seat on Allison's bike. She is growing so fast! And her latest trick from tonight? Trying to stick both her feet up on the cross bar of her bike when riding. She didn't quite fall trying it tonight but she and her father had a little talk about going faster when attempting tricks. I think it is sinking in....I heard 'I go fast' coming out of her mouth several times tonight. Gotta love every minute of it!

And yes, I know, we forgot her helmet tonight. I feel a little bad. But she does ride on the sidewalk and her 'fast' is still quite slow so we didn't worry about it.

Fall Hymn Sing

2011-10-10T19:14:00.001-07:00

The worship pastor at our church does incorporate the occasional hymn on Sunday mornings but I realized Allison wasn't going to really learn the old hymns well if she didn't hear them a bit more often. So we started a quarterly 'Hymn Sing' this month. We invited a handful of friends over and Mark put together a collection of well known hymns. We sang them. Allison & the other kids danced and ran around. We're not sure how much they absorbed but we will keep trying! I enjoy having the opportunity to sing some of my favorite songs as well. We're looking forward to our future quarterly gatherings. Here are some pictures of Allison dancing....

And Benji Boy playing with the remote...he actually was probably the best behaved kiddo of the night. He sat rather quietly on his chair. Way to go Benji!

And to wrap up the evening I made Nanaimo Bars from scratch (and learned all sorts of history about the Canadian Nanaimo bar which I then repeated to my Canadian co-worker the next day, much to her amusement since she already knew all about them!). I used this Nanaimo Bars III recipe from AllRecipes.com (I used vanilla pudding instead of custard powder). They were fantastic! And I pulled out the Hot Apple Cider recipe given to me by my dear friend Myra who now lives in a climate that is much too warm for hot cider. Here is her recipe, it was quite the hit. I skipped the rum, it was a hymn sing after all! That and we don't have any around here.

Myra's Hot Apple Cider

2 qts Apple Cider
3/4 to 1 c. Lemon Juice Concentrate
1 c. firmly packed Brown Sugar
8 whole Cloves
2 Cinnamon Sticks
3/4 c. Rum (optional)

In a large saucepan combine all ingredients (except rum). Bring to boil. Reduce heat & simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove spices and add rum just before serving (if desired).

So Jodi, Mel, Claire & Cara Lynn, I can now say you have the recipes you asked for!

Uncle Tills the Soccer Star

2011-10-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

On one of the last days that actually felt like summer around here Allison & I headed to a soccer game my cousin, Tillerman, was playing in. It was a beautiful day and Allison thoroughly enjoyed playing in the dirt with the other kids. She was quite warm by the time the game was over and I did not pack enough water!

She did take a few breaks from playing in the dirt to clap and cheer for 'Uncle' Tills.

And she was pretty fascinated by him at the end of the game, especially his ice pack. At daycare they have little ice packs they get when they have 'owies' but this one was huge! It made quite the impression on her.

Yup, this girl, loves her Uncle Tills! The camera caught her just as she was starting to smile so she looks half asleep. She was TIRED after this game - all of the running around, playing and cheering wore her out. We look forward to a few more games before the season is over. But we'll likely be huddling under umbrellas (or playing in the mud) for the rest of them.

Jesse Bear Party

2011-10-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

This fall I purchased the 'Before Five in a Row' homeschooling preschool curriculum to make sure I had plenty of ideas of activities for time with Allison. I've also been trading in my Amazon gift cards for lots of children's books from the curriculum. The first book we 'studied' (I use the term 'studied' very loosely) was Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? We had fun reading the book in the evenings and looking at the pictures. Eventually I scheduled a 'Jesse Bear' party with Allison's new friend, Annie, from church. I don't actually have any pictures of the girls at the party because we were busy doing activities but here is a glimpse of what we did. I had all of Allison's stuffed bears out to play with and Annie's Dad, Jeff read them the book.

Then we let the girls dress their own Jesse Bears (I cut them out of really thin cardboard and used my fabric scraps). They were both more obsessed with the glue than the thought of making clothes. At this point I was bummed Bekah had her school party and couldn't join us, I know she would have put together some fabulous outfits!

And our party snacks, gummy bears, mini Teddy Grahams and home made sugar cookies cut into small bears (I made cookie sandwiches out of them with frosting). The girls also 'dressed' (decorated) some butterfly sugar cookies...apparently I don't have a big bear cookie cutter...good thing neither of the girls cared! We're looking forward to more adventures inspired by books in the months to come. And Allison (and I) is thrilled to have a new friend Annie (and her Mom, Tana) to enjoy books with her!

Growing Up

2011-09-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

When we were in Alaska Allison discovered how to crawl out of her pack-n-play. Once we were home she realized she could also crawl out of her crib. At which point we decided it was time to be done with her crib. Sort of. We turned it into a toddler bed. Allison loves it. She is actually quite content to play on her bed now. I've also slowly updated her room a bit from when she was first born. Here are some of the updates....

Her big girl bed with the fun new wall decals. They are not nearly the quality you get from Uppercase Living, but I loved the colors & designs in these decals from Target (and the price was hard to beat!)

A new laundry tote and a floor pillow I made. You can't tell but the pink fabric has little orange owls on it. Mark really likes this pillow, he even requested it. He's come a long ways from being rather annoyed with my first floor pillows.

I changed up the wall art. More from Target. Target is such a wonderful place!

And the rocking chair where we read lots and lots of stories. With a very special quilt made by my dear friend, Melissa.

Ah yes, Allison & I on her bed. She loves taking pictures with the self timer. In her room there weren't many options to set one up so I ended up sitting on her bed. It is quite small!

Finished in 2011 No. 12

2011-09-27T20:28:00.001-07:00

I finished another quilt last weekend, this one for a very sweet & tiny little girl named Cooper, born just a few weeks ago. I saw her briefly on Saturday when I dropped this by. I used the same pattern I used earlier this summer from the Cluck, Cluck, Sew Blog. And now I really need to get my machine in for it's yearly maintenance so I won't be posting about quilts for awhile. We can get back to regular programming like a certain 2-year-old and her crazy adventures!

I used a fabulous purple fabric for the backing and binding. All of the other fabrics were selected to coordinate. I have about a 1/2 yard left over and I'm dreaming of what I can do with it!

I did a very basic machine quilting pattern - just straight lines across the quilt with a beautiful purple & green variegated thread.

Finished in 2011 No. 10

2011-09-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately. My poor machine is over due for it's yearly maintenance but I'm trying to wrap up a few projects before I take it in. This project was a quilt for my friend, Sara, and I just finished it last weekend. Sara lives on a farm and loves it! They have cows and chickens and who knows what else on their farm. And Sara had a baby girl just about a week ago. I found this Riley Blake fabric collection online at fatquartershop.com, and bought it in a 10" stacker (note - this is a very economical way to make a quilt almost no scrap at all!). I then cut up the fabric using a good ol' stack-n-wack method and pieced it all together. I love the patchwork feel of the quilt, especially since it has a nice homey farm feel. I quilted it using a random pattern with pink & green variegated thread. I also washed this quilt before giving it away, I love the nice crinkly feeling of a quilt after being washed.

I backed the quilt with a really soft red and white polka dot flannel. It is seriously one of the softest flannels around. So here is to hoping baby Corina gets lots of snuggle time on this one!

Finished in 2011 No. 9

2011-09-21T19:25:00.001-07:00

This quilt was a project. Not because it was particularly difficult or complex but because I wanted to do it just right. Last summer I found a fabric that I loved. It is the light blue fabric with the big red/orange poppies on it. I bought over 2 yards from fabric.com. I then proceeded to look at different patterns (and buy coordinating fabric for the patterns) until I finally found this quilt pattern in the Winter 2011 edition of 'Quilts & More' magazine. Unfortunately this pattern is not available online but they have plenty of others available at the online magazine. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite sources for quilting inspiration. Anyhow, I eventually picked out all the fabrics I wanted for this quilt.....it ended up more blue than I had originally intended but it came together well. I had enough of the different coordinating fabrics left-over to piece together a back. In some ways I think the back is my favorite part! (And I still had enough left to make another quilt top but that is for another post!) I'm planning to hang this quilt initially. Either in the living room or master bedroom, I'm still deciding. I'm sure we'll use it some day but for now I wanted it to liven up my walls. It is quite large, 70x70 inches.

Since it was so big the quilting took me a long time. First I had to decide how to quilt it. I knew it was going to be too big to do random all-over quilting (and I couldn't settle on a thread color for that anyhow). I ended up using three different types of quilting (and yes, I haven't trimmed all the threads yet but I'm still going to call it 'done'):

First I did free-hand spirals in the center of each of the white setting blocks. This was inspired by the quilting in the pattern I was using. I did not quilt the white 1/2 squares around the edge, I may go back and do them someday, for now I couldn't decide how,

Then I did straight lines that criss-crossed through the big blue squares. These were probably the easiest,

And finally, around the outer border I did straight lines approximately 3" apart. This required lots of starts & stops, for which I was very thankful to have an automatic tie off and an automatic scissors function on my sewing machine. Whew!

Summer Heat

2011-09-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

The first week in September we finally had some hot weather around here. I am normally not a fan of hot weather but I actually really enjoyed the week of heat. I should add, it was still moderately hot, I don't think it was above the mid-90s around here and it never hit 100 - whew! We managed to get out and enjoy the sunshine quite a bit. We have to before the clouds move in. Allison really enjoyed some pool time. I'd sit with my feet in the water while she splashed around. It was fabulous.

We also took a few trips to the park. The late evening was perfect, nice and warm and light and so much fun. Allison has been playing a little 'store' game with the keyboard on one of the play structures. I have no idea what she is trying to sell us but it is pretty cute.

And what would a trip to the park be without a drink from the water fountain?

Have I Mentioned..

2011-09-17T19:52:00.001-07:00

That I love this girl? She makes me smile!

Labor Day Hike

2011-09-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Our whole family was excited to have a three day weekend and we spent Labor Day together as a family. We headed out fairly early on an adventure to beat the heat. We hiked up Bald Hill.

At the top I found a nice shady area under a tree to take some family pictures.... We tried to take a 'grumpy face' picture and Allison had a fabulous smile. Gotta love those 2-year-olds.

Once we hiked back down we pulled Allison's bike out to let her ride around a bit. She was very distracted by the blackberries on the trail. We had a hard time keeping her moving. About the only way was to promise to keep her well stocked thanks to Daddy's picking. She cracks us up! And she isn't the only blackberry lover in the family....so far this summer we've had two fresh blackberry pies and a batch of blackberry jam made!

An Indoor Saturday

2011-09-12T19:54:00.001-07:00

Although Allison is a bit on the young side she has had a lot of interest in using the bathroom lately. Well, for months actually. I finally caved in and decided we needed to give her a chance to try out 'big girl underwear' for a day. I chose the Saturday of Labor Day weekend since it would only take up 1/3 of my weekend rather than 1/2. After a quick trip to the Saturday market we came home, put the big girl undies on and loaded her up with salty snacks and juice! It was a big day. For both of us. Allison was successful about 50% of the time. About 100% of my patience was used up by the end of the day. I was soooo thankful for some extra absorbent training pants from my friend, Jodi. We still have a long ways to go, but she has actually been going to the bathroom more often lately when she asks to sit on the potty. That is a big step forward in my book. We'll get there sooner or later!
We spent the day finding all sorts of activities to do inside where we could be close to the potty. I pulled out our 'Memory' game and Allison loved making matches. We also played with play dough, watched movies, colored lots of pictures and ended the day with a football party with Mr. Brent (who was a really good sport for putting up with Potty Training Day 1 for an evening!).

I did it!

Camping

2011-09-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

We spent the last weekend of August camping with family and friends in Central Oregon. It was fun (although Mark likes to remind me it was also a lot of work!). We enjoyed spending time together as a family and with friends, spending time outdoors and eating all sorts of special treats. Here is a brief snapshot of what our weekend of camping was like:

We rode our bikes down to the Diamond Lake resort. Mark & Allison explored the docks. We would love to go back and spend more time, renting a boat, fishing and playing bumper boats of course!

What it looks like when the Booth, Bronson, Curtis and Wagner families arrive at the resort!

Our time at the beach was cut short due to an incoming thunderstorm. The storm actually missed us, traveling northwest instead of due west. Regardless, we scratched our dinner plans and headed for the nearby pizza parlour for dinner!

Logan missed the beach time - he was so tuckered out he fell asleep in his Chariot!

Our girl surprised us by going in the water! She is usually pretty timid but on this day she went straight in, all the way up to her shoulders.

Baby Zeke and his cowboy bath. He isn't really a baby anymore but he is the youngest!

Jodi had a fun little craft for the girls. They went out and collected random pieces of nature...

And glued them to black construction paper. Bekah took her craft very seriously! Allison & Emma enjoyed it but didn't have much to show for their efforts!

And of course, we had a campfire, complete with s'mores thanks to Miss Sam. Allison had her first lesson in roasting marshmallows compliments of her father, a master roaster!

Nothing quite like a campfire with silly friends!

The girls went on several bike rides together. Jodi called them the campinground bike posse and it was quite fitting. Emma (on the right) is fantastic at riding her Strider bike, which made Allison want to ride her balance bike more. Since we've been home she's been riding almost daily and has definitely improved (more on that in yet another post!). Nothing like a little peer pressure to get a girl inspired!

And of course, we ended our camping adventure with a huge ice cream cone from the camp store. Yummy! We can't wait for next year. Although it is a lot of work (and sleepless nights with a 2-year-old who apparently doesn't like sleeping bags) the memories and time with friends was definitely worth it!

Crater Lake

2011-09-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

At the end of August we took a family camping trip with some good friends down at Diamond Lake, which is very close to Crater Lake. None in our family had ever been to Crater Lake. In my case I consider it excusable since I didn't move to Oregon until college but Mark was born & raised in Oregon! Since we were so close we decided we had to go. We were so glad we did. It was a beautiful day.

The lake is so blue! I know everyone says that about Crater Lake but it is still something amazing to behold. The sky was blue, too. Not a cloud in sight (until later that day, but that is for another post!)

There is a rock wall around all the viewpoints. You aren't supposed to go over it. Our little girl loved walking on it a little too much for my comfort. We finally had to lay down the law and stop letting her walk on it.

Of course great places are even better with friends along. Allison adores Becca and Emma and had so much fun playing with them all weekend. Do you think three girls could get any cuter?

We had a picnic before we headed out to drive around the remainder of the loop. Allison loves her 'appa jus' especially on a bright sunny day. Allison fell asleep so Mark & I were able to enjoy the drive and views all the way around the lake. We've already decided we're going back next year with my parents in tow. With all the biking we're pretty sure they'd have a great time and there are many more areas we want to explore around the lake.

Around Alaska

2011-09-09T21:53:00.001-07:00

I have completed all of my blog posts for the big events in Alaska. And I still had a handful of pictures that are little snapshots of our time in AK that I thought were worth sharing. We really enjoyed our vacation this time around. It ended all too quickly....but then again vacations always do!

Allison stomping around in Grr's shoes!

Heading out with Auntie Brittney!

Pretty girl in the AK Fireweed!

Mom's beer battered halibut. One word: Yum!

Allison & Grammie on a walk to meet her neighbors, the sheep.

Story time with Grr & Elmo.

Alaskan Bush Flight

2011-09-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Alaska was quite the experience. My parents decided they were going to help Mark get out and experience Alaska in a new way this trip and had a short list of activities we could try. As it turned out we had a beautiful day and a long-time family friend, who is also a professional Alaskan Bush Pilot who had a break in his schedule so Mark was able to go on a sight-seeing flight. I think it was Mark's favorite Alaskan experience yet (except maybe getting married in Alaska!). We drove up to Sheep Mountain, where our friends, Matt & Sam spend their summers along with their 1-year-old daughter, Alli (a.k.a. Alaskan Alli on this blog). Matt took Mark on an adventure - they landed on two different glaciers and saw the areas where my brother, Keeton, goes for his NOLS trips (Matt does their food drops). He saw a herd of mountain sheep and too many other things to mention. And yes, I do mean a herd, Matt said he'd never seen so many in one clump! Here are a few favorite pictures from the day:

I believe this is a view of the plane when they landed by/on one of the glaciers.

Flying over a glacier.

On a glacier.

Looking down a hole in the glacier. I've been on glaciers in the past but this was Mark's first experience. He thought the ice was pretty amazing!

The Alaskan Alli is one tough cookie. And she eats just about anything. See that leaf stuck in her toes? Just the product of walking around barefoot....

But oh so convenient for...

A nice afternoon snack!

The girls enjoyed sliding down the bank. I tried to get a picture with the nice mountains in the background but I couldn't compete with the excitement of a nice bank of dirt & rocks.

A bye-bye hug for the Alli's!

To the Zoo!

2011-09-05T20:54:00.001-07:00

Auntie Brittney wanted to take Allison to the zoo while we were in Alaska. We managed to have a perfect day - dry and partly sunny but not too hot.

Before we made it to the zoo we stopped at The Lucky Wishbone, a 50's diner (not a 50's style diner - it really started back then!) famous for fried chicken. Mark had never visited the 'Chicken on the Bone' restaurant before so we decided it was definitely time. It was Allison's first trip, too. Brittney was happy to be there to help her color her pictures!

Mark dropped us off at the zoo and he ran off to Kincaid park to play disc golf (a crazy difficult course!). We wandered around for a few hours - Allison loved having Auntie Brittney all to herself!

The animals were pretty active on this particular day. You can barely tell but in the picture above Allison & Brittney are watching a wolf. Many of the animals were active that day, we even watch the tigers wander around (just not the snow leopard, we were bummed about that!

The perfect way to end a trip to the zoo - with a Cheetos snack!

Alaska Sewing Project - The Uptown Jacket

2011-09-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I saw a pattern for an 'Uptown Jacket' and I have been obsessed with it ever since! I don't have much experience sewing clothing so I bought the pattern & fabric (including the one on the picture of the pattern!) and packed them up to Alaska where my Mom could help me make it. I was particularly concerned as this pattern required some gathers to be sewn in. We had a big Kroon women's sewing day while I was in Alaska. Aunt Pam & Rachel came along with fabric to make a jacket for Savannah. And Anita stopped by as an honorary Kroon. I loved the result of Allison's jacket, pictured above & below. I still need to finish the top stitching on her sleeves and add the button and button hole, but it is too warm to wear it here right now so I'm not in a rush. I can't wait to see Savannah's, too! The jackets are fully reversible although I'm pretty sure Allison will be wearing the green on the outside, the lining doesn't have any interfacing so it doesn't quite lay down the same. The pattern turned out to be easier than I expected and I would highly recommend it!

Puddle jumping in her new jacket!

Allison & Savannah at their first Kroon Sewing Day!

This is what Allison looked like at the end of our sewing day. She wore a dress my Mom had made for her (Ella had a matching one!). She was wearing capri leggings with a ruffle at the bottom. To keep her warm Mark pulled her socks up to her leggings. Then he put her toddler Keen's on her and her winter coat (with the competing pattern on the outside!). And my Mom finished the look by putting her crown from Auntie Hannah on her. Yup, she was a sight to be seen. And she was well received by Anita for dinner that night!

The Bonfire that was Rained Out

2011-09-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

For the third year in a row we managed to visit my friend, Naomi, and her family for dinner while we were in Alaska. I requested more dogs - and she was happy to acquiesce to my request! Unfortunately it rained that evening after being clear most of the day. We were a bit disappointed but made do. Mark & Joel finished up the roasting by themselves (and I think Joel even heated up a few more inside).

The kids did get to play outside for a little while. I think Allison was really disappointed she didn't get to play longer, there were lots of fun yard toys to explore.

Eventually Allison & Theo (4 months apart) decided they were tired of playing in the rain and wanted to come in. Like any good mother I ran to get my camera and take a picture before letting them in. They were confused to say the least. Mark was even more confused as he watched them incessantly knock on the door from his vantage point at the fire. At least we have another picture to document them as 2-year-olds!

And I'm sharing this picture because I have no pictures of my time with my friend, Carrie, who happens to be one of the best photographers around. We spent our morning checking out thrift stores for photo props. At one store we found a fabulous stash of mugs and between the two of us we bought most of them. This little yellow mug was left all alone on the shelf, then. So Carrie told me I needed to buy it and fill it with flowers for Naomi. My Mom actually filled it with left-over wedding flowers and I thought it turned out quite pretty. If only there were a Bishop's Attic in Oregon for me to go explore. Of course it wouldn't be nearly as fun without Carrie along (and I wouldn't end up buying vintage wall paper! But that is another story!).

Cousins Round II

2011-09-02T20:51:00.001-07:00

The last night my brother and his family were in Alaska we met up at my cousin Kep's house for some cousin time! In the picture up above are all the cousins - ranging from almost 7 years to about 5 months old. I was impressed with how much fun these kids had together. Allison felt like quite the big girl going downstairs to play with the kids! She is still a little young so we had to go down and check on her a few times but overall she played like a big kid!

My fabulous cousin-in-law Rachel made a yummy dinner for all of us. I love this woman - she is so delightful to be around, such an encourager and I'm always learning things about being a Mom just by being around her. I do really wish we lived closer (I know, I know, Rach, all I have to do is move to AK!). My littlest nephew, Cason, loved Rachel, she could get him to smile so easily. It was pretty cute!

Noah the Frito man. You can't tell, but I'm pretty sure Allison was behind the counter in this picture. She knew who to go to in order to get some treats. He had no qualms about helping her out!

Sweet little Savannah with an extra sweet brownie face. I love this girl. She very cheerfully shared her girly toys with Allison and Ella. Such a good example for my little girl!

Allison was so excited to be holding her baby cousin. He was not so excited but that didn't seem to dampen her enthusiasm!

Ah yes, Savannah's turn to hold the baby. Uncle Kep got in on the action, too. All-in-all it was a fun night of food, playing and laughter. Just what we needed to kick off the rest of our vacation. We were sad to see Ben, Sarah, Cason & Ella leave but at least we were able to see them some!

Cousin Time Part I

2011-08-30T19:47:00.001-07:00

The day after the wedding we headed into Anchorage (again!) to spend some time with my Mom's side of the family. My cousin, Alison, was in Alaska and I hadn't seen her in almost five years so we really wanted to get together. I think we managed to get all of the 2nd cousins in one picture - except Cason - the only boy - who was safely snuggled in a Baby Bjorn during picture time. We gave him a pass this time! We met at a park for lunch.....

My Mom & her sisters - they all live in Alaska.

My cousin, Alison's two girls, Alayna & Autumn. Autumn (the younger one was showing the older one up in my Mom's golf toss game!).

Alayna was organizing a rock race. The race was between Ohio State (the 'bad' guys) and Michigan (the 'good' guys). I asked her about Oregon State and she gave me a blank stare. At least we agree on the 'bad' guys!

Ella Bella sliding...she did a spinning spread eagle face plant on her next trip down....poor kid!

The plushest swings ever! These were like recliners! We think they might be used for kids with disabilities at the elementary school - they had places for straps. All of the girls loved them!

The men headed out for a round of disc golf. Shortly after they left the weather turned from somewhat sunny to overcast and windy so all of the women huddled up by the school and drank hot chocolate & coffee.

Little Miss Autumn - she is super sweet and social! It was fun to get to meet her for the first time.

The BIG Day

2011-08-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 5, was the BIG day. The wedding day! It was also a crazy day. The wedding was at 7 pm so we were getting little girls ready & then entertaining them (and containing their excitement) all day. Since both Allison & I were in the wedding I didn't have my camera out nearly as much as I would have liked but here is a small glimpse of the day. My friend, Lu, came to do hair - and did side buns for both of the little girls to match the bridesmaids.

Auntie Brittney with her girls. I think she enjoyed the attention!

Do you think they could get any cuter?

We made a bit of a mistake in practice...they walked up and down the aisle multiple times (or rather ran). Ella 'got it' that she was supposed to stay up front but Allison made a run for it back down the aisle just after the wedding started. Thankfully my Dad caught her before she made it past the front row! We'll know better for next time when Allison gets to be a flower girl in February at Mr. Brent's wedding.

My Aunt Pam packed us a meal. We were very grateful. This little girl had her schedule really thrown off and were were glad we could feed her and keep her going.

Auntie Brittney and her little date. Yup, he made sure he had some time with her, too!

Have I mentioned these two were a bit wiggly? They kept Auntie Brittney's hands FULL!

Hannah had decorated the lodge with all these balls. I thought they were pretty and I took way too many pictures trying to get a decent shot!

What little girls do at weddings!

By the end of the night I finally made my way to the back of the reception hall and found these three ladies. I love these women. They make an Alaska trip worth the effort every time. I didn't get to see any of them nearly long enough - but I did see each of them in the week following and I was so thankful. God has definitely blessed me with long standing friendships - even though our time is short - we still have a fun with every moment we are together!

Donuts & Dogs

2011-08-28T16:52:00.001-07:00

After our hike in the mountains we headed to 'town' (a.k.a. Anchorage) for the beginning of the wedding festivities with the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went smoothly, other than the wind....which thankfully was gone by the next evening! The flower girls practiced running down the aisle and all was well.

The world's cutest flower girls! All ready to go!

After much deliberation my Mom decided to rent the Hilltop Ski Chalet for the rehearsal dinner which enabled extra decorating and practice time. But that meant she had to figure out something for dinner there...she decided on Donuts and Dogs....very fitting for my little bro!

The Stamoolis clan came and grilled our gourmet dogs. They made it a family affair, all three boys came along including Kaleb, the middle one, demonstrating the best way to eat a hot dog above. They also made some very yummy caramelized onions.

And then it was time for dessert - donuts. Pretty much Keeton's favorite food, I think! Our local donut shop made a lot of donuts and Mom made these donut 'cakes.' I will note -the one that was the most eaten at the end of the night was at the table of the groom & groomsmen!

Kaleb ate his donut and didn't leave a crumb behind. Just a frosting smear or two!

The flower girls with Auntie Brittney. These girls love their Auntie Brittney. And neither is too keen on sharing her!

So, after practicing up and then filling up with hot dogs and donuts we all headed home to get ready for the big day ahead!

A Break in the Mountains

2011-08-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

We took a break from the wedding festivities to have a little adventure. It looked like there was a break in the weather up in Hatcher Pass one day so we ventured up with my cousin and his family. The break in the weather turned out to be just about everywhere except Hatcher Pass but we still had a great time. We were glad we just went that day, we never had another opportunity to go up there!

Kep & Rachel took us on a fun little hike, great for kiddos. Allison wasn't able to do much of it so she rode in a backpack. Uncle Kep even gave her a ride for a bit.

Uncle Teag had just arrived in town and joined us. He & Noah love hanging out as the 'second borns!'

There is a cute little mining cabin part way up. The kids liked running around it. Rachel loaded them up with snacks on the way up and down! Savannah is only a 3-year-old but she was able to hike most of the way up and down. I was so proud of her! Someday when she takes the lead her brothers are going to have a hard time catching up!

Kep & his boys. Both of which are awesome hikers!

Noah slipped at one point and left a long skid mark. I asked if I could take a picture of him with his skid mark. He was a little shy but let me do it anyhow!

Parker is such a mountain goat! He climbs all over the place! Allison was always trying to keep track of him. Here he was walking on rocks in the stream to send pieces of wood down river.

Ah yes, that is our girl, dressed a little goofy for hiking but that was just how the day worked out. I actually didn't have her warm enough at first, when we got to the lake at the top I added several layers. That made her look a little puffy! I don't have many pictures from the top - it was windy & drizzly so we didn't stay long.

Parker the mountain goat slipped and one of his legs landed in the lake up at the top. He had a nice little cut, too. Here he is waiting to have it doctored up before heading home.

It was a fun little adventure to break up the wedding festivities and to give Allison a chance to get outside and run around a bit. And she got to enjoy some time with some special cousins she doesn't get to see very often!

The Beginning of the Festivities

2011-08-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

The main reason for our trip to Alaska was to attend my little brother's wedding. We arrived just in time for the wedding festivities to begin. The morning after we flew in my whole family headed into Anchorage for a 'Bridesmaid's Tea.' All the women in my family & Hannah's family and her bridesmaids met up at a lovely bed & breakfast on the hillside for tea. My Mom tried to find a tea house in Anchorage but struck out. Instead she found this little place, owned and operated by an Irish (or Scottish, I can't remember!) woman. The tea was a lot of fun. Allison still talks about the 'Tea Patty' - even though she's been out to tea this time really left an impression on her.

Hannah, the beautiful bride-to-be - now my newest sister!

The 'savory' platter!

And the 'sweet' platter. My friend, Jodi, and I are convinced the men in our lives would love tea parties if they would just give them a try. How can your turn down a platter like the one above?

Ella and her sugar cubes!

Allison getting some quality time with Auntie Sarah. It had been a long time!

Eventually the girls were bored with the tea party so they settled down to watch a movie. And yes, Ella is taking pictures of the movie. She recently learned how to operate a camera and Sarah finds all sorts of crazy pictures on there now! Including about 30 of the movie Tangled...

Where to Begin?

2011-08-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

We were gone on vacation to Alaska for almost two weeks. I took a lot of pictures in those two weeks. I managed to get the best of them uploaded on Facebook and then have been avoiding our home computer. I've been working on a programming project at work and that means a lot of time at a PC. I figured it was about time I sit down and do some catch-up on the blog. When I was trying to figure out which Alaska adventure to begin with, though, I realized I still had pictures from before vacation that hadn't been put on the blog. So here are some things we did in late July..... My strawberry plants are still producing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since the variety we planted is supposed to produce all summer. This means we're still eating strawberry waffles. We love strawberry waffles in this house!

It just so happened that our local berry farm opened their 'Spartan' blueberries for 'U-pick' on a Friday I had planned to take off with Allison. So we went blueberry picking. I was not prepared for the combat berry picking we observed. Nothing like middle-aged women in their Toyota Priuses making sure they get the best berries! Good thing we were just there for fun and to get some to eat. I had already bought and frozen many blueberries to get us through the winter! You can see my berry bucket above. These berries are seriously amazing. They are huge. And sweet. Like grapes only tastier. Not good for baking but they are a seriously yummy snack food!

Allison started out as a good picker. Then she realized what she was picking and that was the end of putting berries in her bucket, she ate them all. I had to take a picture of her bucket before we left. I did not stage this - she had 3 berries in her bucket. Just like Little Sal in Blueberries for Sal. Pretty cute!

The same day we went blueberry picking we had planned to go to Eugene to visit my friend, Melissa. But I decided we shouldn't do that. I decided this as I was laying on my back in my driveway after my bike, rack, car & garage got the best of me. It is a long story that I'm too proud to share here. I did tell the story to my friend, Melissa, however, and she zipped up to visit me instead. And she brought her cutie patootie, Jonathon along. He played in the pool. And I think Allison thought he was a pet. She liked to walk around the pool and play with him!

And we ended July with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants, Big River. We even took Allison with us. She was very lady-like for dinner and afterwards we let her play in the fountain park. I had forgotten a swimsuit so she played in her skirt. And she was in the water more than she had ever been. I guess putting a swimsuit on makes her want to stay dry. It was a beautiful evening and we are so thankful for pleasant summer evenings to play together.

.....and that is the end of our July. Up next on this blog will be all the things we did in Alaska (there are quite a few!). Hopefully I'll be up to speed before we get to August!

Lil' Copy Cat

2011-07-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I saw Mark out mowing the lawn after work (it is growing like crazy thanks to the cool, wet weather). It wasn't long before I saw a little flash of color following him around...Allison grabbed her new (to her) Cozy Coupe and pushed it around after Mark like she was mowing herself. It was pretty cute! She was a little dejected when she was left in the back yard as you can tell in the top picture.

Tubes!

2011-07-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

On Monday Allison went in to have tubes put in her ears. She has had several ear infections in the past year and more importantly, she has had fluid in her ears almost constantly. Our pediatrician referred us to an ear, nose, throat specialist at her 2-year-check-up after she failed the hearing test we asked for. The pediatrician warned us the ENT specialist we were going to see was conservative so not to be disappointed if he didn't recommend tubes. Well, the ENT specialist gave us two options - have tubes put in or come back every couple of months to have her ears checked for damage. I guess she was a straightforward case for the conservative specialist! We opted for tubes, we wanted her hearing to improve. So, on Monday she had the surgery. I have to admit I was a bit nervous having her put under like that. She was a real trooper, though! The beginning of the morning was a bit rough (no food or drink) and she did not enjoy having us take her pajama's off and attempt to put her in the hospital gown. She wasn't so keen on having her vitals checked either. But once her nurse, Tim, and anesthesiologist, Anna, arrived she warmed up. She left us, being carried by Nurse Tim into the operating room. The procedure was short and quick and we were able to come see her just as she was waking up and protesting the recovery nurse doing anything. In the picture above we were just about to leave. She liked to call the bed 'my bed' but she did NOT want to sit on it. I don't think she really did, either, unless she was under thanks to Nurse Tim!

Summer in the Kitchen

2011-07-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned our summer weather around here has been strange? Cool & wet, both of which are unusual in July. I have been taking advantage of the weather, though, and have been cooking & baking more than normal. On Monday Allison 'helped' me make muffins. She had a great time!

And I've decided cooking with a toddler is quite a bit messier than cooking without.

I have been making lots of freezer jam. Mostly with strawberries from our yard. My most recent batch was a strawberry-raspberry blend. It was really, really yummy. I finally had to move all of the jam out to the garage freezer, it was taking up too much space inside!

Oh yes, and I made cookies. To make Mark happy. And as a side bonus, they made Allison very happy as well!

Guitar Practice

2011-07-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

Allison still loves to have Mark play his guitar. And admittedly, guitar practice is getting more fun now that Allison 'knows' a few songs. And she loves to bring Baby out for guitar practice and pat her knee to the music!

Gathering Together Farms - Round II

2011-07-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

We took our second bike ride of this summer out to Gathering Together Farms last Saturday. Once again, Jodi & I planned this trip on a Saturday so our husbands could tow the kids! We had a strange weekend for this part of the country - it rained and rained and rained. The area around our house was soaking on Saturday morning so Mark & I almost wimped out. Jodi called Mark, though, to give him a hard time, and that got us in gear. We're glad we rode, it was a bit humid but I don't think we were ever rained on....the downpour came later in the afternoon! Once again the food was yummy. And this time around the Booth family joined us. Of course, they out did us all by taking turns running there and back (even though they live closer it is still quite a run - especially on a full stomach!). Hopefully we can get one more ride in before the end of the summer. This time around the flower garden was a bit more colorful....so of course we took more pictures.....

Two super sweet girls!

Bekah and her dandelion. At least she didn't pick the real flowers like someone else's daughter did!

Logan. What can you say? Bekah wanted a picture with him and he was going to have none of it. So he made a nice grumpy face....combined with his football t-shirt...it is the perfect contrast to all the pretty flowers in the background!

And don't let her innocent look fool you - she had just been reprimanded for picking one of the real flowers!

The Zoo

2011-07-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I met my Portland friend, Erica, at the zoo. We brought the girls along for a little adventure. Erica has a Zoo membership so I went as her guest and the girls are both young enough to be free which was a big bonus! It was a perfect day, not too cold and not too wet. It took Allison a little bit to warm up to the animals but by the time she made it to the pygmy goats she was ready to pet an animal. Claire is a bit more adventuresome than Allison, even though she is smaller (and 5 months younger).

I think the girls' favorite part was all the snack eating. Allison ate snacks pretty much the entire time. And their favorite snack? Donuts that Miss Erica brought with her, of course!

Finished in 2011 No.s 7 & 8

2011-07-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

My friends, Natalie & Melissa, helped me make these two quilts. They were shipped off to Florida where they will be waiting to welcome a pair of twins home next month when they are picked up in Bulgaria. Our dear friends have had a loooooong wait for a family and we are so excited that they will soon be a family of four through adoption. We hope to meet little Jonathon and Madison someday, too, but we'll wait as patiently as we can while they adjust to their new home & family. We're hoping these quilts bring them a bit of comfort as they transition. And we hope they get to take them to the beach! They are just so bright and cheery, don't they look like they belong at the beach? I used a tutorial from the Cluck, Cluck, Sew blog to make these (it was super easy) and my Mom and I had so much fun picking out the fabric for these. They are the same except one fabric and the backs. Madison's has a sock monkey theme and Jonathon's has an elephant theme.

To the Beach - Part II

2011-07-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

After some lunch and a little shopping we headed to a nice beach just north of Lincoln City. It was an amazing day at the beach! Not too hot, not too warm and not too windy. We had a great time playing in the sand, building sand castles, walking around and relaxing. None of us really ventured into the water. We learned Allison is a bit fearful of the waves, even when it is just Mark venturing into the waves. I guess we'll just have to take more trips to the beach to help her get over her fear. Hopefully we'll find more days like this!

To the Beach - Part I

2011-07-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mark and I knew we wanted to go to the coast for a day trip this summer. With our weekends filling up we decided we just needed to go, especially since the forecast for this weekend was fabulous. We skipped church on Sunday and headed out early. Our first stop was breakfast (of course!) but then we made our way over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was expensive but fun. Allison really seemed to get into it. Especially if a fish looked remotely like Nemo!

A confrontation with a starfish. I think the starfish won, she never touched it!

Sill girl!

Checking out tanks, looking for Nemo.

The Aviary, her favorite part. She thought all the birds were ducks and was ecstatic to see a baby bird.

What I Hope is the End of My Garage Sale Career

2011-07-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the second (and final!) of two garage sales I was helping to put on. We had the garage sales to help raise funds for two adopting families in our church. I'm happy to say we raised something close to $1500. But it was not without effort! We had countless friends donate things to sell and many friends volunteer time. Mark & Dan spent lots of time running around picking things up in a borrowed truck (thanks Jon & Janelle!) and all of us involved ate way too many quick and easy (read Subway, Little Caesar's, etc.) meals. I do want to say it was worth it. And not just because we got Dan to try on some $2 hip waders! (This was definitely an Oregon garage sale, those hip waders never sold, they would have been the first thing gone in Alaska!) Many people came and shared adoption stories of their own (we met several adopted kiddos!) and some of us were able to provide information about adoption and maternity counseling services to people with questions. Not to mention some needed money was raised for two families. All that said, I'm happy that they are over. Now to just deal with the last of the stuff....... anyone want 'The Music Machine' on a vinyl record?

A Nature Walk

2011-07-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

I would like to say Janelle, Jodi and I took our kiddos on a 'hike' this Friday past but that would be an overstatement. We did get out in nature and walk around, though. We packed everyone up in a vehicle (Pilots are the greatest with seats for eight!) and headed into the mountains to Alsea Falls. First we explored around the falls and the kids had a great time throwing rocks. Then we went for a little walk in the woods which went well until Allison tripped over a roots several times and decided her best option was to be carried. Eventually we made it back to the parking lot and enjoyed a picnic lunch at a picnic table. I wish summer was longer so we could have more adventures like this!

Rock throwing!

Love this silly girl!

And this serious boy, too!

There Once was a Little Boy....

2011-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

With legs that were the epitome of 'lil' boy' with band-aids, socks & shoes (because he hates sandals!)

And who made funny faces when he knew I was taking his picture

And loved to eat cupcakes

With his family! I do love this little boy. Especially because I took two pictures here with the whole family....I captured one as he was saying cheese and one right after his fleeting (seriously it was a fraction of a second long) smile! Gotta get better at timing the trigger finger before thi little boy is no longer little.

Quality Mommy Time

2011-07-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Mark has been working. A lot. Which is a good thing. It also means Allison & I have been spending time together just the two of us. A lot of time. I'm thinking July will be 'Camp Mommy' month - I have all sorts of fun ideas to try - although after just one weekend of 'Camp Mommy' I realize most of my ideas wear me out more than Allison! On Sunday afternoon we spent time having our own photo shoot. I used the self timer on the camera. Allison thought it was hilarious to have me run and jump in a photo with her. And to have me tell her to 'Sit STILL!' so I could focus the camera. We ended up with lots and lots of laughs. And jumping and pillow fighting and just plain fun. Thankfully this time, we were both worn out when we were done!

'Say Cheese'

2011-07-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I attempted to take a picture of Allison playing with Baby. She heard the camera on the first shot and immediately picked Baby up, pointed her to the camera and said 'Cheese!' with great enthusiasm. I think she might be getting better at having her picture taken.

She then got back to business changing Baby's clothes....

Which is very hard work.....

So hard that Baby was left 1/2 dressed on the floor. Poor Baby, good thing she is used to it!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T22:20:00.001-07:00

Signs of Summer

2011-07-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

We have one tomato very close to ripening (it is a sun gold tomato - they are orange when ripe). Although I thought it would never come, summer has finally arrived. And I am incredibly thankful!

Toddler Date Night

2011-07-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

All through last winter Mark had several weeknight engagements every week. Allison and I had lots of quality time together. In May most of his commitments wrapped up and we had lots of family time in the evenings. Now, however, he is back to doing music regularly every other week. This means Allison and I get quality time together every other Thursday. I'm very excited about this time, especially since I'm taking most of the Friday's in July off, so we just kick back and relax. Last Thursday homemade play dough from Miss Claire was on the agenda. We played with it outside where we didn't have to worry about making a mess. I have to say, I love homemade play dough, it is just so soft! Thanks Miss Claire, Allison loved it!

Cupcakes!

2011-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Allison's birthday was almost a month ago. I still haven't really posted much about her party and I'm not sure when I will get around to it. I figured I should at least share one of the best parts of her birthday, the cupcakes, of course. I made these cupcakes & toppers myself. I used short wooden skewers, some scrap booking paper, paper punches and some digital scrap booking software to make these. They went together very quickly one evening. And I still have lots of wooden skewers left so I can continue to do this for many birthdays to come. These were much cheaper than buying a cupcake kit and I enjoyed being able to personalize them. I didn't spend much time decorating the cupcakes then, either, just frosting and sprinkles, add a topper and they were done.

For Allison's pre-school class I ordered cupcakes from my friend, Morgan, at Kool Kupcakes (local friends, you can find them on Facebook!). Morgan makes the cutest cupcakes. I simply told her Allison's current 'favorites' are ducks are monkeys and she ran with it. The duck is made out of yellow Laffy Taffy. Amazing, huh? So there you have it, a little cupcake inspiration for you all!

Projects Part II

2011-06-29T21:54:00.001-07:00

While Mark has been keeping busy with some wood working projects I have been sewing away. I have several quilts in the works to show you soon. In the meantime I thought I'd share a few smaller projects as well, especially since they were all made with free online tutorials and / or patterns. The picture above is of a table runner, made using three fat quarters. My friend, Leslie, told me about this pattern and I used it to make this table runner. It was very quick to put the top together, it just took me a few months to finish the quilting and bind it.

I cut the leftover table-runner fabric out to make a wristlet months ago. Then I bought a matching zipper. And I finally put it together a few weeks ago. This was my first attempt at sewing with a zipper and it was surprisingly easy. I'd highly recommend this tutorial from the Pink Penguin blog if you are interested in making your own wristlet or learning how to sew zippers in.

Finally, I made a 'Sprocket Pillow' after seeing a picture of one with a link to this tutorial on the Cluck, Cluck, Sew blog. This pillow was fun to make and I can't wait to make more. Good thing I have plenty of scrap fabric laying around. I also learned how to make a fabric covered button for this pillow. I picked up an inexpensive kit at Jo-Ann Fabrics and I'm sure I'll be making lots of fabric covered buttons in the future. And this concludes this version of my favorite online sewing tutorials. I'll have more soon, I'm sure!

Three Girls and the Fountain Park

2011-06-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, while Mark's parents were here to watch Allison, we took a lunch break to head down to our local fountain park. I consider myself very blessed to have a local fountain park especially on hot summer days. It doesn't get better than free water activities! Our good friends, Jodi & Bekah met us there and Sophie joined Allison, Mark's parents and myself. All three of the girls had fun, each in their own way!

Bekah would slowly back into a big fountain and get her hair wet. We don't know why. She did it several times. She looked so lady like!

Sophie (the oldest) would run straight through and had a blast!

Allison loves to run around the outside.

And when she feels devious she tries to take a drink. See, she is getting ready!

The cousins posing together! Allison loves Sophie!

The girls with their grandparents!

Adventures in Washing Clothes

2011-06-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try drying clothes outside for some time. Our homeowner's association actually doesn't allow clotheslines so I used some Target gift cards I got at work to buy some racks for drying clothes. I tried them out today. I've decided I need a clothesline (and I've checked with some of my immediate neighbors, they don't mind). I was only able to fit one load on my two racks. I still plan to use them but I'll have to figure something more substantial out.

One thing I do not need is more help. I had plenty of it. As you can tell someone had lots of fun helping me. It was really cute to watch her hang clothes and she was so proud of herself. She was also proud of herself when she found her monkey t-shirt and put it on. Along with her tu-tu from my Mom. And her pink shoes that are too small. Two-year-olds are the best!

Projects Part I

2011-06-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I mentioned a project Mark was working on for Allison's birthday. Well, here it is! Potterybarn Kids & The Land of Nod both had 'doll house' bookcases in recent years and I loved them but not the price tag. Last December I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs. I bookmarked it and shared it with Mark this spring, telling him he could (and should) make Allison a dollhouse bookcase. Thankfully, he took my idea and ran with it. This is one sturdy bookcase! And the trim is amazingly detailed, I could not figure out a way to take a good picture of the trim work on the windows & doors. Mark decided to take this to a cabinet painter he knows to get it painted so it has a very durable paint job. I had originally planned to paint the roof green and perhaps try to 'decorate' it. I've decided to leave it alone for the time being, though, as I don't want to ruin the paint job. I now have a new assignment for Mark - a platform bed with a house shaped headboard. I can't wait to see how it turns out! I'm already dreaming of the quilt to make to go with it......

Lil' Gymnast

2011-06-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Allison finished another semester at our local 'Little Gym.' She loves going to classes there and she learns so many things. At this point she can pretty much do a forward roll (somersault) on her own using a 'cheese wedge' and she loves to swing on the bars (she has quite the grip and can hang there for quite awhile!). She is a bit on the cautious side, especially when it comes to jumping (unless she is dropping from the bars). She could easily walk the beam without assistance but she always wants to hold our hand regardless. We're taking the summer off from gymnastics but we'll plan to keep working on a few things at our local park.

Little Miss Flopsy Mopsy after a monkey jump!

* You might notice the 'Nemo' sticker on her shirt. She got it that day (Tuesday) from visiting an ear, nose, throat specialist. Nemo stayed with her until Saturday morning, when try as she might he just wouldn't stick anymore. She was devastated! Maybe they'll give her another one when she goes in for ear tubes!

Another Year....

2011-06-20T20:00:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I turned another year older. I made sure I made the most of it and declared it my birthday right up until Sunday when I had to let Father's Day take over as the important event to be celebrated. Friday night two of my favorite people (Dan & Natalie) came over for dinner, ice cream cake and a round of games. I chose to play Sequence since my brain was fried from a busy work week. Natalie's brain was tired, too, but we still managed to beat the men, best two out of three! Saturday morning we met up with some more favorite people, the West Coast Wagner family and biked out to a yummy restaurant. The restaurant is located on a large organic farm and they serve brunch, made with food from the farm. Although the words 'organic farm restaurant' may scare you away, the food is actually quite yummy & plentiful. Mark was thoroughly impressed and satisfied. That means something when he biked 20 miles towing a 2-year-old. Jodi & I are pretty sure this is the way to do this activity - bring the men along to tow the kiddos.

Our spring / summer have been very late, cool & wet this year so the flower garden wasn't exactly colorful yet. But we did sit the girls down to take some pictures.

I think Bekah might be one of Allison's all-time favorite friends. She was so excited to hold her hand! Allison had a huge smile in every picture I took!

We rounded out my birthday celebration by calling in some babysitters (who decided to brave Red Robin with a wound up 2-year-old) and going to an adult restaurant ourselves. We rarely go out to nice places so it was a treat to visit The Vault in downtown Albany. Both Mark & I ate Alaskan seafood (that is the best seafood, after all!) and then spent some time in Borders browsing through books and magazines. And that was the end of my birthday celebration. It was a fun one!

Lil' Helper

2011-06-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

Allison's ability to mimic our actions has been improving. It will still be awhile before her assistance can truly be considered 'help' so for now we'll just call it extra entertainment. Here are some of her latest and greatest 'helping' activities..... My friends Melissa & Natalie came over on Saturday to work on a quilting project. I left the project spread out on the floor. Early Sunday morning Allison got very quiet. So I went looking for her. She had pulled my quilting safety pins down from the table and dumped them on the quilt. She was arranging them on the quilt just like she had seen Natalie do the day before. The extra bonus to all of this? Seeing these pictures just makes me love my current quilt project even more, it is so bright & cheerful!

Our strawberries are finally ripening. They have started to produce a lot of berries. I see a lot of berry processing work in my future but I'm not going to complain. On Saturday Allison helped me pick berries and we made strawberry waffles. She loved them. We went out and picked again today. This time I had enough to make a batch of freezer jam and 1/2 quart of strawberry puree (for making strawberry lemonade). If anyone has some good strawberry recipes please send them my way. Or if anyone wants to trade some strawberries for rhubarb please let me know - I still haven't convinced Mark to let me plant rhubarb yet!

Finally, Mark's work is really picking up for the next few weeks. So we spent some time on Sunday afternoon prepping food (cutting fruit & veggies and cooking brown rice). Allison cleaned & tore up lettuce and peeled carrots. I take that back. She attempted to peel a carrot. I'm not sure how far she got before she decided she would rather eat it. So she ran off with it, lounged with her favorite new giraffe and chomped away! We certainly were not going to complain about her eating a carrot!

Just One More Reason to Love Playmobil!

2011-06-11T23:04:00.001-07:00

When Mark & I were first discussing potential birthday presents for Allison we checked current Playmobil offerings online. We noticed a new 'Noah's Ark' set in the Playmobil 1,2,3 style but we became distracted with other ideas and the idea was put on the back burner. Then we visited our local toy shop just before Allison's birthday and saw it in stock in the store. I went back later and in looking at it a bit closer realized it was designed to be used in water. I decided right then & there it was going to be one of Allison's birthday presents.

Both Mark & I have decided it was a very good move. Our little Alli-girl, for all her normal sweetness, has been anything but sweet about bath time for a few months now. We have no idea why as it seems most toddlers like bath time. However, ever since we demonstrated how her new Noah's Ark could go in the tub the girl has loved bath time. What a relief! Now she has a little ritual after bath time where she pulls each animal out and dries them off with a towel and then packs them all away. And we sing endless renditions of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' while she is in the tub rocking the ark around. Someday I'm sure she'll learn the actual 'Noah's Ark' story, for now we're just thankful bath time has become a pleasure again!

The Balance Bike Babe

2011-06-09T19:22:00.001-07:00

Last summer, while my Dad was in town we first saw balance bikes at our favorite local bike shop. Since then we've gone back several times to see if Allison was big enough to ride one. Gradually she got taller and finally, when my Dad was in town, it was time to go get one!I still remember my first trip to a bike store to buy my very first bike, a silver Schwinn dirt bike! It was a special day. As I was growing up every bike that was purchased for me meant a trip to Anchorage with Dad to try out bikes. It was pretty fun to have my Dad along to go get Allison's first bike (even though she probably won't remember the day!). My parents also bought the bike - Allison's birthday present! Pretty special!

She rode the bike out of the store and to the car but once we got home she wasn't particularly excited about it. She would have rather gone for a ride in her Chariot. But we didn't give up.

We took the bike with us pretty much everywhere we went for a whole week. Some days, like the one above, she wasn't particularly thrilled to be riding. She'd rather be looking for ducks!

But she loved 'working' on her bike! Just like Grr (my Dad) did in the garage. On this morning (above) Dad & Mom were getting ready for a ride into town and Allison was sure she was going along. She got her helmet on and pumped up her tires. She was disappointed when they rode off without her. Perhaps that is what she needed, though, because later that day, when we met up with my parents at the park she had her first 'good' ride. Just her and Grr hanging out in the park with no agenda and she gradually got on and started taking longer steps.

By the time her birthday party rolled around she was riding with confidence. She was quite the show off for Nana and Papa. There is nothing quite like a 2-year-old with a tu-tu on a spiffy balance bike!

And by the time my parents left Allison was quite the pro. She still hasn't learned to pull her feet up and just 'ride' but she sits back, puts her weight on the seat and takes long strides. It is only a matter of time before she'll be flying. Until she stops to wave. Or drops down to investigate a troop of ants. In the meantime we should get better at putting her helmet on her!

Busy Week

2011-06-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to get back into blogging soon. We're still recovering from a crazy fun week with my parents & a fabulous 2-year-old birthday party. I did attempt a photo-shoot of the special 2-year-old. She was not particularly cooperative for her mother. Despite her lack of cooperation I did manage one decent shot (although it isn't as sharp as I would like!). I have lots more to share so stay tuned!

The Unplanned Garden

2011-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying spending a lot of time outside this spring. I've been taking on some small scale gardening projects this year. In previous years I decided I was much more interested in quilting than gardening. This year, although I love quilting, it is not something that can be done while a certain little girl is awake so my yard & garden are getting a lot more attention.

I'd like to say that attention is well planned and focused and knowledgeable and experienced but that would not be true. I take random trips to Bi-Mart and look at the different flowers and decide what I want. Then I bring them home and hopefully find a pot for them. I also decided to try to fill in my front flower bed with some flowers. It seemed like a good idea until I started planting. I found that all of my calla lily bulbs had greatly multiplied and were all over the bed....but I had no idea where. So I cautiously dug holes for the new flowers and filled in. There definitely is no rhyme or reason to how that bed is organized right now!

The two plants I did 'plan' on (and actually spend some real money on!) were two tomato plants. We're pretty sure a certain little girl is really going to enjoy picking cherry tomatoes off of these two plants this summer. She's dying of anticipation, can you tell?

Getting Ready for the Big 0 - 2!

2011-05-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have a busy few weeks planned. First, my parents fly in, then we're planning a little 'family' party for Allison's birthday. Mark and I busy working on all sorts of things. I've been having more fun than I ever imagined making fun things for the party! One pack of decorative paper & some digital paper to match and I've been having a blast. I have to make the most of these years when Allison doesn't have opinions about what her party should be like. Mark has been busy, too. He's making a present for Allison's birthday....hopefully it will back from the painter's by the end of the week. Until it comes home and I snap a picture you'll just have to believe me that Mark is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.l.y talented!

Picnic Season

2011-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Spring has been pretty slow in this part of the country. In order to make the most of any dry & somewhat sunny days we've had around here we've been enjoying lots of picnics. Last week we ate dinner in our back yard. Someday we'll hopefully have a real outdoor dining set. For now our camping table and folding chairs works great. Oh, and yes, Baby had to join us for dinner as well. She joins us for most meals!

On Sunday Allison & I were on our own for lunch. I made her lunch while she played on the patio. She came to check on me regularly (the bottom photo). We're working on learning not to push on the screen. And the first photo below? I wanted to post it to show off how good she is getting at drinking out of a real cup. I still only trust her with water in a real cup but for the most part she is pretty good at not spilling. I can't believe how grown up she is looking!

Little Miss Fix It Round II

2011-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our vacuum cleaner needed some help this weekend. In a house with a toddler if you have a vacuum cleaner that needs help you give it your full attention. Even the full attention of the said toddler. Thankfully there was no significant repair required!

Sometimes

2011-05-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

She is just so cute
I can hardly stand it

Especially when she is just

So very joyful!

* Now - if only I can figure out how to get the pictures with the best smiles to come out sharper! I'm guessing it has to do with having to use a slow shutter speed (we're indoors) and when she smiles she's generally moving. Ugh. Life & photography with a toddler!

Family Picnic Round 2

2011-05-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Late last Friday afternoon Mark and I realized we hadn't really planned to make anything for dinner. The sun was still shining so we decided to throw together some sandwiches and a fruit salad and head back to one of our favorite parks. We had lots of fun playing & eating together as a family. And all the running around that Allison did made her fall asleep beautifully that evening! The monkey on the monkey bars with a monkey t-shirt!

Trying to share her fruit salad with me. Then trying to escape with her fruit salad. We do have rules, even at the park, no running off with forks allowed!

Feeding the ducks with Daddy.

Apparently We Do Not Do Bridges.....

2011-05-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Allison is definitely not the most adventuresome child in the world. She is, however, generally willing to try most things. This seems to have been changing recently. We've noticed she has significant fears in the last few weeks, one of which involves bridges. She doesn't really like bridges of any sort. She will eventually cross bridges in playground play structures, but she'll cross faster if we hold her hand. However, bridges over water with cracks seem to be terrifying! Mark eventually had to pick her up and carry her over the bridge above. We're hoping she gets over her fear soon, but for now, we'll take advantage of how it helps 'corral' her to one side of the creek or the other!

Make Way for Ducklings

2011-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love children's books on CD. We have two from the Puffin Storytime Series, one of which is 'Make Way for Ducklings' by Robert McCloskey. I found this book/CD set this spring at a local toy store and picked it up for Allison. We've listened to it several times, it is a fun little story about a duck family finding a place to live in Boston. If you have not read it I highly recommend it.

This weekend we had another family picnic at one of the local 'quack quack' parks. I have decided that Mrs. Mallard (in 'Make Way for Ducklings') would not have approved of any park that Allison frequents for raising her family. Her disdain for a little almost-two-year old interrupting her nap would have been very evident. I don't think these ducks were thrilled with Allison, either, but I'm guessing the plentiful bread crumbs keep them coming back!

I'd recommend clicking on the picture above to enlarge it. Allison's disappointment with the ducks for getting up is rather evident in her expression!

'Come back ducks!'

The poor ducks finally made it to the safety of the bushes in this picture. Mark told Allison she needed to quit chasing them because they needed a nap. Allison was very disappointed!

'Bitty Baby' at Six Months

2011-05-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Five months ago I took some pictures of a very sweet little one month old. You can see my favorite's here. Now he is almost six months old! And he came to visit along with his Mama, who happens to be a very dear friend of mine who I don't see nearly often enough. I take that back, I do see her fairly often, but it is on a television screen as she is a local morning weather woman. But there is a difference between seeing her and visiting with her. It just doesn't happen enough. When it does we do our best to take advantage of every moment. Anyhow, on to pictures, here are some of my favorites of Jonathon at six months....

Jonathon was really a good sport about having his picture taken. Except for a few brief moments. He was really hungry here! Allison kept trying to pat him on his head to make him feel better. I don't think it helped!

Finished in 2011 No. 6

2011-05-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

I would like to put a lot of emphasis on the finished in my title for this post. I've been working on this quilt for a long time. Working might not be the correct word. This quilt has been sitting in my fabric stash unfinished for a long time. How long? Well, for any blog reader that was with me back in 2008 you may remember this post. Yes, I had a majority of the top done back in the fall of 2008. Leslie finished hers in 2009. I still need to sew eyes on the sheep and shepherd but I'll wait until Christmas time. I have grand plans for this quilt - I'm planning on using it as our story time quilt as we read a new story book each evening in December. I'm hoping we have lots of fun family memories associated with this quilt in the years to come. And I'm very glad it is finished. Finally. Because I've already begun working on my next quilt (I wouldn't let myself cut into the new fabric until this quilt was finished!).

The Lady Behind the Black Box

2011-05-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am not very good about making sure I get into pictures with Allison. I enjoy taking pictures and playing around with a camera but setting it up so that I can get in pictures just sounds like so much work! While Brittney was here visiting she had her own camera along on our adventures and she took some pictures with me in them. Now I have some of both Allison and I. Whew - now she'll know I really did exist in her early years!

The thing I notice in this picture looking back at it is all of the standing water between the rows of tulips. No wonder Allison loved playing in puddles. They were everywhere!

Every so Often

2011-05-09T21:41:00.001-07:00

I stumble upon a fabulous photograph - straight out of the camera. I'm finding I shoot in manual mode almost exclusively these days, unless I'm indoors using a flash. And I'm editing photos less and less. But then I had a series of pictures from our recent picnic, the best of which is shown above. I've had a lot of fun with this picture!
First I ran the PW's 'boost' action then adjusted the sharpness just slightly.

To take care of the overpowering pinks and reds I then ran either the 'soft faded' or 'colorized' PW action. I can't remember. Details like this slip my mind. A lot!

And for a final touch I cropped it down. I used this picture when making Mother's Day cards this year.

And I converted to black & white for Allison's birthday party invitations (the colors would have clashed with the color scheme!). I've been using the loaner camera for nearly a year now and I can't believe how much fun it has been!