Life has been so ridiculously full; it’s difficult to even know where to start. So, I’ll start with the most important: family. Or more specifically, cousins! Baby Alise (my brother’s baby) turned one last week and it was a fun, joyous occasion. My sister-in-law, Cheriss, (marketer extraordinaire for an amazing outdoor gear repair company turned working mommy and also a running and hiking buddy for me) did a Hawaiian Luau theme, complete with all Whole30 food for my Mom and I. Together, she and I have been tackling sugar demons, carb crashes and cortisol spikes through healthy, whole foods and have formed a mini support group of sorts. It was super thoughtful of Cheriss to cook extra-healthy for us. The kids seemed to like the food just fine and didn’t even realize it wasn’t traditional birthday fare.
Everyone loves a good water sport and kids are particularly fascinated by pools, water and everything that splashes. We’ve been having a welcome, but crazy and surprising, warm spell in Bellingham. Everyone is a little confused by it. In fact, Lily only owned 2 short-sleeved shirts up until this week. I finally broke down and bought her 4 more when I realized the sun apparently was here to stay. We do fight a sunscreen battle in our house all the time though; Jamisen hates it and, since he’s a true redhead (yup, he really isn’t going to outgrow it according to his genetic panel from 23 and Me), he especially needs sunscreen this time of year.
With the kiddos not in school, Jamisen has been especially lucky to go to all kinds of summer camps to keep him social and busy. His favorite so far was Farm Camp, put on by an awesome non-profit that Bramble Berry is proud to support, Common Threads Farm. This year he learned all about bees and has been particularly excited about honey on everything (yum and sugar!). He also learned the names of many new vegetables. Just yesterday as he was helping me put away groceries, he correctly identified eggplant and a green bell pepper. Our new home has just a small garden – and way too many deer – so this year, I’m going to focus on building a protected garden spot. I’m tired of feeding the deer all of our chard, tomatoes and kale. Just last night, they came and mowed it all down. I was so sad. =(
One crazy thing I agreed to do this year is run a half marathon. I honestly have no idea what I was thinking. I don’t have time to train. I’ve never been a good runner (really – that’s true – this is an essay I wrote in 2007 about my love/hate relationship with running). But, one of my my achilles heels is and always has been that I am inherently social. I like to do things with people. I like to do things in groups. That’s how I’m always getting roped into crazy eating plans (see Crazy Sexy and more recently, Whole30). Thus, the half marathon in September and then another the week afterwards. I’m up to 7 miles at a stretch and so far, knock on wood, am injury free. My running partner is also a businesswoman so it’s fun to take long runs and talk business and balance.
I also recently took a trip to Washington DC to work on the Coalition for Handcrafted Entrepreneurs and the potential ramifications of the Feinstein sponsored Personal Care Products Safety Act of 2015. I will be updating members soon (it’s free to sign up and stay informed) so watch the News page on COHE or your email boxes if you’re signed up for the COHE newsletter for that update. The kiddos had the best time with their cousin while I was gone and played together nicely. Jamisen also learned to lie while I was gone, claiming his sister had used a crayon to color all over the playhouse. When it was pointed out to him that Lily couldn’t have colored the playhouse because she couldn’t reach it, he proudly proclaimed, “She got a ladder.” Um … yeah ….not so much, little one.
I hope you’re having an equally jam-packed summer with lots of craft show success, family fun and laughter galore. Here’s to slowing down, savoring the moments and focusing on what really matters in the end.
Jamison always has the whole outfit and they are so cute!
He always does! I just dropped him off at summer camp this morning and he was in his boots, hat and jacket. I’m really going to need to find a bigger size of that jacket for him soon! =) I even purchased a short sleeve fireman’s shirt thinking that might help him stay a bit cooler this summer but never wears it – only the jacket =)
I’m just curious if you ever got your speech back (from the post above)!
Ah yes, that was a while back – I did end up getting my speech back. If I remember correctly, it was after the individual saw the blog post. =) Thanks for checking in and asking. I love that our SQ community is so caring.