kismet art

Week In the Life- Day Two- Food

Only 57 photos today (but in my defense I was on my own with two children under the age of                 2 1/2...but what I did get several photos of today is our love of food at this house and part of the fun of documenting this week is getting some photos of a taste of what we eat all week long and even how it is served:

Ben's school lunch- only one photo needed this week, the only variations will be the treat and possibly a cheese or pb&j sandwich instead of the slice of cheese pizza.

My daily breakfast, Kashi Go-Lean with a sprinkling of flax seed and skim milk, coffee with cream and sugar (to cancel out the aforementioned good for me cereal), and half a grapefruit- again, only one photo needed unless it the weekend and I make pancakes, coffee cake, or eggs and toast for everyone. Lunch today, whole wheat quesadilla with fat free sour cream and locally made organic Emerald Valley medium salsa with a slice of fresh lime, yumm.  The "ladies who lunch", twice a week I watch my friend's 14 month old daughter- having 2 high-chairs is a plus otherwise one or the other is always sneaking food off their friends tray- today they had grilled cheese sandwiches on whole wheat with pear slices, strawberries, vanilla yogurt and water. It's past 3:00 pm, must be time for afternoon tea.

I ran to Target by myself tonight (rare treat) so Dave made PB&J with fruit and yogurt for the kids and fed them early, the two of us had bean and cheese burritos with Anita's Special Rice (Anita was the grandmother of a family I nannied for over 20 years ago who sadly passed away last year, I am so glad to have known her and to have had her teach me to make her special rice, we eat it every time I cook any kind of Mexican cuisine), and Pomegranate Margaritas (thanks Amy for the recipe)- not a usual Tuesday night beverage but after the truck debacle of the past two days we really needed a Margarita!Bon Appetite!

Week in the Life- Day One

96 photos today.  1 page of journaling, a daughter who for the most part ignores the camera, a son who has decided to ham it up and is asking me to take photos of him, more of me in a day than I usually take in a month, a husband who is loving this project.  Here are a few favorites from Monday:

Unfortunately our Monday began when Dave's truck broke down, had to get towed, and ate up a big chunk of change (not a favorite because of the $ factor but a part of our life today)

I found these bottles of Frostie Root Beer at our local Fred Meyer grocery store, this is the root beer of my childhood, my paternal grandmother worked for the Coca-Cola bottling plant and would bring home mixed cases of soda bottles for every holiday, I always went for the Frostie root beer.  Bought one and we shared it last night at dinner, and it tasted just as good as it did when I was a kid.  A see a layout coming... Me, reflected in Emma's mirror, love the x made out of El Torito bull horns on the floor...Ben's newest Lego creation: 

So that's why we have so many dandelions in our yard...Our next door neighbor has a hedge of lilacs and every year he invites me to come over and pick a basket full, I love how our house smells of lilacs and spring right now. 

I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. 

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Lovely birthday, relaxing Valentine's Day, spent today de-frosting the freezer, filling outside bird feeders, weeding, recycling magazines, sorting through paper piles, mowing the front lawn, and vacuuming.  At least I still had these fragrant flowers to soften the blow of easing back into reality.

Artful January

After a couple of days of torrential downpours we have been graced with some unseasonably nice weather and yesterday Ben took full advantage of it.  Damp concrete, some bright sidewalk chalk and a love for all things Star Wars, produced this life-size rendering of Boba Fett.  And today, while I took decorations down in the other room, Emma decided to gather some of my supplies and work on her first layout of the year.  I'm just grateful she doesn't know how to open the glue...yet. (the tree is still up because the 8 year old gave me sad eyes when I mentioned taking it down and the 2 year old has spent the last few days walking around exclaiming "oh no, where ho-ho go?  where snowmens go?")

And now I will continue to spend this day cleaning, putting away the last vestiges of Chrismtas, enjoying the sunlight that periodically streams in through the windows, listening to music, writing down ideas for future projects and gearing up for what I hope is a very artful January.

Happy 2010!

66,666

Quick trip to Portland to visit family- sunny all the way there, the downpour started around noon, just as soon as we parked our car to get out, and didn't let up until after dark.  Despite the rain we had fun playing with the cousins, visiting grandparents, aunts, and uncles, oh, and the Lego store too.  We celebrated birthdays that happened in September and October, and the future birthdays for November. And despite the fact that I took several dozen photos I didn't get a single decent photo (lots of night-time shots with my point-and-shoot, and active kids+ low light= blurry photos.)  Instead I got the above shot of the Portland skyline as we drove home-(I love all the tall buildings and the various pastel colors, especially in that glowy winter light.) missing the rain, again- and no, when I took these photos, I was not the driver.

And even though I didn't get any good people photos I did get my ultimate nerd shot- Dave has always had this thing about watching the odometer turning over to a significant number- especially the 10,000's- he has always told me that it is lucky to see it turn over.  So on our way up I noticed that my van was going to hit 66666- and on the way home I caught it on film.  

And thus ends another exciting anecdote about our life on the road, always a nerdy adventure, but always a fun one too.

Pink Boots

I am so very happy that this past Sunday afternoon turned sunny and slightly warm so Emma could have a chance to try out her new Hello Kitty boots (a gift from Grandma and Papa) for an hour.  She found plenty of puddles and leaf piles to jump in, mud to get stuck in, and finished it off with a round in the sandbox (the lid wasn't on tight so it had a lot of rainwater inside, yuck, but this did not deter Emma...)She found a little rubber duck, he looked thrilled about taking a swim in the sandy puddles. 

Yes giggle-box, it is ok if your duck says "whack-whack"...

This wet visit to the sandbox was followed by a quick play period in a bucket of dirt which was in turn followed by a long playtime in the tub.  Sun is supposed to make a return visit tomorrow.  I better go clean off some pink boots.

Sparkly Pink Unicorns

My friend Jen and I have a long running joke (it dates back to around 8 years ago when our sons were born) about her sons love for all things noisy and my sons love of quieter toys.  Really.  Ben just loves quiet toys Jen.  And every noisy toy you ever bought him he just "pretended" to love.  Really.  He never spent hours making noise with them, running sirens, playing the music over and over and over.  And when he outgrew them I never foolishly took them with me to work (I ran a childcare center at the time) so that I could enjoy the noise for years to come.  

So now that I have a daughter my friend Jen loves to get her super-cute girl girl stuff.  Like beautiful frilly dresses.  Emma, my Lego loving, dirt wearing, puddle jumping, tiny Tom-boy.  The one who loves monkeys and trucks (she plays with Jen's nephew every Tuesday and LOVES his trucks, motorcycles, etc.) Jen loves to girly-girl Emma and Emma loves to let Jen do it too.

So when Jen wanted to take Emma to Build-A-Bear for an early birthday present I, with much confidence, told Jen that Emma would probably pick a monkey or a cat or even the elephant.  As we walked around the store, looking into the bins that housed all the animals, we would occasionally pause to hold up a monkey or a cat or a bear (there were no elephants) and Emma would politely look at our choice and turn away.  She just didn't seem to have any feelings one way or another about any of the stuffed animals in the store.  And then she spied it.  The pinkest, fluffiest, spakliest, star-covered unicorn I have ever seen in my life. She reached out for it.  She hugged it.  She wouldn't put it down.  And when I asked her if she wanted to get the unicorn she nodded, her blue eyes big and solemn.  And so her love for her new friend began.  She stuffed it.  She put a heart inside.  She groomed it at the grooming station.  She held it by the horn and wouldn't let go.  

And yesterday, when Emma walked down the hall after her nap, she was wearing her brother's birthday crown and carrying her new love, Starlight (yes, I came up with the cheesy name) who she refers to as "baby", I had to smile.  And Jen managed to put the sound of a horse inside it's hoof so I can enjoy the sound of Starlight whinnying for years to come.

But I ask you, who could, or would, squash a little girls love for sparkly pink unicorns?

Not I.

Read, Little One, Read

"Go, Dog, Go" is a favorite around here right now.  I think Dave read it to Ben so many times that he doesn't even have to look at the words when he reads it to Emma.  It is her go to book of choice.  It is the book that can calm her down in the rush right before dinner.  I love to see her picking it up and looking through it on her own.  Pointing to the dogs and panting.  Jabbering to the pictures on the pages. Every once in a while letting loose an enthusiastic and loud "go, dah, go!"  I love that she is reaching a point where she will sit through a couple of books at a time.  I love that reading before bedtime is now becoming part of her routine.  I love that she loves books as much as the rest of us.  And most of all I love that books and reading are just another joy that our family can all share.

Gather

Three years ago, when Dave added on this family room, I don't think we realized how much time our family would spend out here.  Originally we were going to put the television, stereo, a couch, and a couple of chairs out there- there is a sliding glass door separating it from the rest of the house and this makes it fairly soundproof.  Then we threw a holiday party for Dave's family, the numbers of which kept growing, until we had to move our dining room table out there just so we would all have a place to sit that night.  And we realized how much we liked being out there.  And because it is a room with 2 large windows, a sliding glass door, and skylights that make it cheery all year round, and because it looks out over the garden we left the table there and it has become our everything room.  Besides our table this room now houses craft materials, 3 large book shelves, a stereo, a desk, a couch.  It is the only room that when we repainted during the remodel that I felt sick after the first coat went on (in the winter light it looked as unappetizing as a jar of baby food).  Instead, after 3 coats of paint, the color glows in all sorts of light.  Our Christmas tree, covered in red, and blue, and a rainbow of other colors doesn't clash with the earthy tones.  And the walls look especially pretty when the room is filled with fall decor like pumpkins, trees, and acorns.  The table in the middle of the room is where we eat, play games, do homework, create, read, talk.  This room is where we escape in the evenings, after the kids are in bed, to talk or hang out, or just slow down. This room is our most used room in our home.  This room houses a little bit of something for each member of the family.  This room is where we gather.

Glow

Remembering the way that lighting candles at dinnertime slows everyone down a bit.  How it creates a calmer atmosphere.  Love this candle, made by our neighbor using a vintage glass Halloween candy container.  Love the vanilla scent.  Love the glow.