Happy Birthday Merica'

What a jam packed July 4th weekend! I kicked the weekend off by running a 10k, the Yankee Doodle Dash, in downtown Everett and crossed the finish line in a little over 53 minutes. In typical "I get really amped at races" mode, I sprinted the first mile and then was dying by mile 4.......still need to work on pacing myself.

My paparazzi was waiting at the finish line.......

and this guy slowed down long enough for a {very sweaty} picture

After the race, we had an early lunch and set up to watch the parade. We waited and waited and waited some more. Grace didn't seem to mind since it gave her plenty of time to work on her roaming skills.....

and running away skills. 

Harrison was happy making friends with our curb neighbors and eating his "orange chips"

I love local parades because you just never know what you're going to see....

acrobatic motorcycle riders...

a group of 44 elderly folks on their scooters....

hipster bike polo....

and lots of fun old cars. I tell ya, something for everyone!!

That evening, we had dinner with our community group and got home just in time for the real festivities {if you could hear me say those last words there would be a hint of sarcasm}. Around dusk it started to sound like a war zone!! Folks around here find great joy in buying HUGE fireworks, from the indian reservations, and having there very own home shows. It was insanity!! Thankfully it didn't bother the kids and, once I popped in my earplugs, I slept like a baby.

On Saturday our sweet friends from law school, Lauren & Andrew, drove up from Seattle to visit. I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo with them but, hopefully, we will see them again soon :) We took them over to Snohomish for dinner and then we grabbed some pie for dessert. Harrison was in such good spirits......I love a happy 2 year old!

We road tripped it to Tacoma, on Sunday, to do some 3 year old birthday celebrating. The weather was beautiful and the kids snoozed.....perfect combo!

So happy to see my sweet friend, Martha {Hey girlfriend!}, and her cute babies. It pains me that they don't live closer because we would hang on the regular.......like live next door so we can have adult beverages and chat about life regular.  Thanks for inviting us to celebrate Bud!

Easter 2014

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Philippians 3:10-12

I love Easter!! It's the time of year, in the PNW, when you know there will be scattered days full of sunshine and, slowly, there will be a transition from heavier coats to exposed toes. It's a day we spend in christian community celebrating the greatest gift.....the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and God's great plan of reconciliation. How could it not be my favorite holiday?

Oh....and let us not also forget the Easter bunny, egg hunts and a delicious spread of food......brisket is always on the menu with our crew {a tradition I totally respect}. I obviously went a little overboard with my bunny duties this year, but the kids expressions are now burned into my memory and, I suspect, this epidemic will happen for years to come.

Sometime before Christmas, I saw on Pinterest the gift philosophy of "something to wear, something to read, something you want and something you need" and I just thought it was brilliant. Harrison's Easter need was a bubble wand.....because all children can not live without a bubble wand. {thus saith the Lord}

Brother also received a tractor shirt, which he was disappointed to find out was not for Easter church service. {It's a Honey Bee Tee if you're interested}

I had the kids buckets about a month before Easter and would pull them out everyday just to look at them......they are just the cutest. {monkey see boutique on Etsy}. 

Oh the joy......I can hardly stand it. Grace promptly threw everything out and started to eat the plastic grass on the inside of the bucket {sheesh}.

......then brother came over to decide what he would claim as his. He was kind enough to leave the sheep but the cup got swiped.  

Since Jody and I aren't brave enough to let H loose at a neighborhood egg hunt, we decided to set up a solo hunt in our backyard......we are smart like that. 

My heart will be broken when he decides that he no longer wants me to pick out his Easter outfit. I felt a little push back this year......he promptly ripped that bowtie off after this photo. 

We made a valiant attempt at posing the kids for a picture but they were all blurry.....every. single. one.....wiggling is our reality.  

Daddy and his little Easter chick......these are the moments I want to remember.

What did I tell you about the spread......our people do great things in the food department. 

Brother finally got to wear that tractor shirt and he was delighted. Side note.....that dog was trying to get away from him. 

We closed out the day with this Easter miracle.......a family photo!! Blessed beyond measure.

Christmas times....

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house......

two kiddos were dressed in Christmas jammies and their parents were drinking eggnog.

{That's how it goes....right?}

Once H & G were tucked in bed, we set out all the presents, filled the stockings.....

and drank more eggnog. Who knew Santa had such an easy job!  

I realize that, in only a few years, Christmas morning will be bananas and opening presents will be a sprint. With that said, I appreciate that our morning moved at a slower pace and it took an hour to open gifts. Harrison loved each and every one of his toys equally, so he set several on the coffee table and did laps. 

We had some freakishly warm and dry weather, so we took my new jogging stroller {Thanks Santa!} for a hike after breakfast.

The day after Christmas was also amazing in the weather department. Harrison was so excited about playing outside and all he wanted to do was "mama tick soccer ball". He was also pretty thrilled to eat his lunch on the steps and play in the dirt......such a free spirit :)

Our halls have been decked for quite some time....

We had some unseasonably warm and sunny weather, the weekend before Thanksgiving, so Jody & I decided it was the perfect time to put up Christmas lights. One strand, led to two strands, led to garland, a wreath and a mini reindeer. The next thing ya know our house was covered in white lights and I was glowing with Christmas cheer.

Here's our house before we flipped the switch....

{Please ignore the orange bucket, we're catching a pesky mole}

and here she is in all her Christmas glory!

I really think it is unfortunate that Christmas lights are frowned upon as year long decor.

I failed to mention that we couldn't find our box of outside lights which meant we had to replace them.....small fortune! Since we spent so much chedda outside, we opted to use our artificial tree inside {Mark my words though, next year we get a real tree!}. Growing up, my folks gave us an ornament every year and I love adding those sweet memories to our tree. I've also continued the tradition with my kids, so we have lots of special decorations. Harrison LOVES the tree and it has been quite the challenge to keep him from running off with those special memories. It is a regular occurrence to find him hiding behind the tree trying to play the french horn ornament.

Christmas has a way of making me a sentimental mess.  I cried like a baby when I hung up the kids stockings.....my hearts delight. 

Oh and here's the ornament we got Grace to celebrate her 1st Christmas.

The picture doesn't do it justice.....it's precious! 

Happy Holidays ya'll!

Christmas Card for the Win!!

It took a few tries......

but they eventually nailed it!

The Burbs.....where trick or treating still exists

Not sure if ya'll remember my Halloween post from last year, but it didn't involve any traditional trick-or-treating. In the city you don't go house to house, instead you go to the neighborhood centers and get candy from the store owners. I suppose there isn't anything wrong with the city way, but I always pictured my kids going around the neighborhood and having lots of kids ring our doorbell. Luckily we moved into our new place right before Halloween and it did not disappoint. Harrison dressed up as a cowboy and we dusted off the ol' horse costume for Grace. Bubba excelled in the receiving candy portion of the night.....that was, until he had a run in with a mechanical spider. Let's just say that he is still talking about that spider jumping out at him. Scarred for life! Next year we will realize that the houses with spiders, skeletons, etc. are not exactly toddler friendly......lesson learned!

The horse costume lives on!

Dress rehearsal for the big night and he was not thrilled

They don't realize this is going to happen EVERY year