My brother Erik and his beautiful wife Cheriss are expecting their first child any day now. We are beyond excited for them and were so happy to host their baby shower. Cheriss did not want a ‘traditional’ baby shower. She wanted a crafty, DIY, activity-based morning of fun that was less about “guess the new Mom’s circumference” and more about creating. We did a DIY Onesie Painting station, a DIY mimosa station, and an advice station.
Sharing is Caring
“My siblings are my best friends.” – America Ferrera
On a Walk + Tips for Mitigating Risk
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” — Anne Frank
Happy Weekend! We’ve had a chance to get outdoors (yesterday) and even do a bit of gardening (bean bushes). Like last year, I went way overboard on the greens. I have enough kale to open up my own farm stand at this point. I still want to plant squash, zucchinis, cucumbers, garlic and corn later in the year.
Don’t Forget to Play
“Life is more fun if you play games.” ― Roald Dahl
Happy Easter Weekend =) We did an Easter Egg hunt with Jamisen. He was beyond euphoric about the whole concept of sugar. Trying to explain to him why Easter happens was a little tricky. The internet was no help either. I stumbled over an explanation to him but had vastly underestimated the need for an actual explanation. Jamisen didn’t ask one single question about why he was made to get dressed up, carry a pink basket and go find plastic eggs filled with candy. Ah, so sweet: childhood innocence.
New Creative Outlets and Rivalries
One of the joys I have in life is creating; it’s how I got into soapmaking. I love crafts of all types (don’t believe me? My crafty boards on Pinterest have a veritable lifetime of awesome craft ideas for me to try). I knit. I have a flower press. I have newly started gardening. I adore cooking. I rubber stamp. I like to color. And, I now consider myself an expert play dough sculptor.
When I was tasked with developing a 2.5 day retreat for my Entrepreneur’s Organization group (that’s us at the Inn at Langley enjoying an amazing meal cooked by Matt Costello), I jumped at the chance to make our team building exercise creative.
Keep Calm and Try On
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin
Photo explanation: Jamisen is trying to learn Tic Tac Toe. We are focusing on the power of hard work and perseverance as personal traits on the way to success. Right now, he just looks confused =)
Kiss Kiss
“Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.” — Vietnamese Proverb
This week has been such a whirlwind. Chris and the kids got hit pretty hard last week (so, like 13 days ago) with horrific colds. Just when I thought everyone was on the mend, Chris got taken out, hard, by some sort of what I like to affectionately refer to as the ‘Whatcom County Creeping Crud‘ or WCCC. It’s sort of all the pain of the flu without the actual real-deal flu-ness. He stayed home a few days from work but thankfully, he’s on the mend now but we are all looking forward to having a very low key weekend before Thanksgiving happens in just a couple weeks (yes, we’re hosting!).
Life’s a Beach
Rocking Horses on Concrete
It is officially fall in the Pacific Northwest. And, while I’m extremely sad about this (summer is my favorite time of year), it does make some really gorgeous photos and fall activities, like hiking, apple orchards and park time. Ms. Lily is almost 5 months old and she is happier than ever (unless of course, you interrupt her afternoon nap in which case, she doesn’t forgive you for a few hours and shares her frustration by screaming loudly at you).
We went to Whatcom Falls Park this week and checked out the fish (happy, happy fish!) and had a breakthrough! Breakthrough! Jamisen has hated swings, of all types. He never liked being in the baby seat swings, big boy swings, sitting in our laps while trying to swing … nada. But this time, we got him to swing for at least 37 seconds and check out that grin. Whoah! Yeaah, little boy, lovin’ a traditional childhood past time. For all of 37 seconds. But hey, he has to start somewhere.
We also went to an apple orchard. Jamisen loved this terribly unsafe rocking horse thing. I say it’s terribly unsafe because the rocking horse is on concrete. I love that place but was somewhat terrified as Jamisen rocked his little body in an unstable manner over extremely unforgiving ground.
The reason Jamisen isn’t looking at me (and I have 15 photos just like this one) is because he’s staring at the donuts that are being made fresh, right in front of him. Apple Cider donuts, hold the sugar, because Chris is such a conscientious Daddy.
Backyard Bike Ride
“I don’t think that there are any limits to how excellent we could make life seem.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated