The Zaremba Family

Channeling The Inner M.E.

2012-01-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you who had the pleasure of meeting my Grandma C, you may have been told of one of her many aspirations which was to write a book entitled simply M.E., which stood for her initials for Margaret Elizabeth. Great Grandma C, as she is now referred to, was quite a character and she was always up to the most interesting things, or so it seemed to me when we would visit her house. I have so many memories of the things she kept in her cupboards and the how she had come to acquire some of the items in her house. All of those are stories for another time because like Great Grandma C, I could go on for hours telling stories that jump from one topic to the next with no pause in between. One memory in particular came back to me this week when McKenzie and I were making some guacamole to go with our tacos. I removed the pit from the avocado and that started a whole series of questions about what it was and I told McKenzie that a plant could grow from that pit. In my mind a perfect picture was formed of an avocado seed with toothpicks poking out on three sides sitting in the windowsill at my Grandma's house. I knew we had to try it out. I wondered if there was any special instructions or different ways to grow a tree from the pit and what I found on Google was exactly like what I pictured. Though I don't have any pictures of the pit at my Grandma's or any recollection of the pit actually growing into anything I love that I can recreate this memory and use the opportunity to have some fun with my kids all these years later.

McKenzie loves any type of experiment - I'll call it that since I hold no hope that we can actually grow an avocado tree there in our cold climate. Should be exciting to see if it does anything.

Ben wanted to get in on the action but he thought it was an egg. Maybe if it does nothing by Easter it can magically turn into an egg!

Great Grandma C, in one of my favorite pictures of her. She should have had this as the picture of M.E. if she had ever written her book. She looks so young and carefree here but I know she never lost that ability to dream big because she was must have still believed that her avocado pits would turn into something more.

Snow Days!

2012-01-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

Snow is magical all on it's own and then throw in it's ability to alter all the normal routines and force more fun into every moment it stays around and you have a sure winner. We had seven great days of snow last week and we took full advantage of it to sled, drink hot cocoa, make snowmen, and just enjoy it.

Ben sure is a lucky guy to have a big sister who will haul him up the sledding hill. Hopefully someday he can return the favor.

Ben and Daddy made a snowman with the neighbor kids during the first snowfall. I'm just glad that Ben looks a little happier than the snowman. They made another one the next day that was probably seven feet tall.

Perfect ending to any snow fun - hot chocolate with marshmallows! The kids sure acquired a taste for it quickly and demanded it every day.

You can tell how much fun has been had in the snow by the height of the clothes you have drying by the fire. This is exactly how I pictured my fireplace being decorated when we were planning out our new fireplace. Love it!

McKenzie having no trouble catching snow in her mouth since it's coming down so hard. This is only day three of snow so we got a lot more than what you see here. It was amazingly beautiful!

Grandma and Grandpa C were able to make it over for a nice visit and some fun in the snow with the grandkids. Everything is more fun when you're with Grandma and Grandpa.

We stopped to take a picture with a very cool snowman on the way to the big sledding hill in Aunt Kacey's neighborhood.

Aunt Kacey and her two favorite ladies, Kayla and Kenzie on a run down the hill. They got wilder as the day went on and tried out the jump.

Ben had Grandma C wrapped around his little finger and had her riding all sorts of crazy sleds down the hill with him and then somehow convinced her to let him ride back up as well.

It was so much fun to have such a great family activity waiting right outside our door. We enjoyed the snow while it lasted and are now planning our next sledding adventure to use the gift cards Auntie Anne gave us for Christmas for the Snoqualmie Pass sledding hill. Should be a lot of fun to make a day of it and try out some big runs with the kids.

Four, Going On Fourteen

2012-01-17T22:37:00.000-08:00

Today when I was dropping McKenzie off at school she asked me if we ever listened to Justin Bieber. I had no idea how she even knew about Justin Bieber because no we don't listen to his music and if I actually did hear one of his songs I'd have no idea it was him. I love listening to music but I have never been into selecting what I listen to. I'm happy to just listen to the radio or now Pandora and just hope a song I like comes on. Matt likes to quiz me about who signs songs but I rarely have any idea, that's what the Shazam app is for, but that's if I actually wanted to know who is singing.

After I got over my shock at McKenzie asking about Justin Bieber I told her we could listen to some of his music after school. She remember and so I dialed up a Bieber station on Pandora and she found my rarely used headphones and was hooked. I'm hoping it was more the novelty of the headphones that held her captive, I can't be hauling her to Bieber concerts just yet. She was so hooked that we had to agree on a way to share my phone so I could read the recipe I was making for dinner and she could keep listening. So I had a little shadow while making dinner just smiling away at the songs.

This little person continues to amaze me as she learns and expands her world. Who knew she might be a music lover... it's a good thing I'm pretty flexible with what I listen to!

Mom's Room - Keep Out

2012-01-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

As your kids grow older you start to realize that they slowly take over your house and before you know it they know what is in all your drawers and closets better than you do. The one place in our house that I've kept sacred is my office, since I telecommute for work I like to have a very clear line between work and home. I am rarely in my office when the kids are home and awake and the door remains closed. Because of this my office has become a large junk drawer where we hastily stash anything we want to keep away from the kids. Not that this is the right place for these things it's just a convenient place to stash things. Last November I finally decided that needed to change and began to clear out the excess and look for ways to better use my space for the things I love.

McKenzie was kind enough to make me this sign for my office door so everyone is clear who's space the offiec is.

As part of my room revamp I finally painted the walls that have needed painting since we moved in almost eight years ago. I contemplated for a long time and finally settled on a light Tiffany's blue which gives the room a warm cheerful glow on even the most dreary of days. I also moved out some extra furniture and have looking for better ways to store the items that we do want to keep. One of my main goals was to be able to actually leverage my scrapbook supplies at home instead of just when I go to a retreat. This requires good storage and a space where I can leave a project out if I don't have time to finish in one sitting.

For Christmas my Dad helped to build me a scrapbook workstation with a large countertop and two storage shelves below. This is perfect for storing a lot of my supplies as well as giving me a much larger work space to have all my tools reachable when creating pages. I also received some larger storage shelves specifically made to hold scrapbook sized papers which allows me to easily find the things I want to create a page.

I have a ways to go in getting things fully organized but the addition of these two areas to my office has made it possible to more effectively use the space and allowed me to fit more scrapbooking into my daily life. There is plenty of daily tasks in my declutter calendar that will focus me on my office so I'm continuing to take it one day at a time and enjoying each space that I can repurpose or improve along the way. Maybe I'll even consider letting the kids in my office to do a few projects with me this year!

Capturing The Moments

2012-01-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

Since discovering Pinterest, I have realized how many opportunities to capture little moments in my kids lives I have let slip by. There are so many amazing pictures out there that capture all the things you think are just life when they are happening but then you look back and realize how precious there were and that you'll never get that moment again.

One of my goals for this year is to try to capture more of the little things in the kids lives and I also want to practice different photo and editing techniques so this is a win-win area to focus for me.

Here is a typical week night event for McKenzie and I after bubble baths - painting toes! McKenzie loves to have her toes and nails painted I usually don't paint mine but this week I decided to have a little fun along with her. I had seen a picture on Pinterest of a Mom and her little baby with matching toes and decided I wanted to have a similar picture with Kenzie to remember these times. There will come a time when painting your toes with Mom won't be so exciting or will require a trip to the salon to get pedicures so now I have this moment to remember when she was little and loved to sit on my lap and compare toes.

Now is the time to close your browser if you're not a fan of feet!

Mission Organization

2012-01-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Among my many lofty goals for 2012, organization ranks high on my list. I want to have more time to devote to the things I want to do this year, instead of spending extra time running to the grocery store multiple times each week because I didn't make a dinner plan or spending time search for matching socks. I want to spend that time blogging, scrapbooking, reading books, exercising and all the other things I want to fit into my life but can't find the time.

Organization is key to meeting my goal and it's not just organizing a dinner plan, a grocery list, it's organizing our house and maybe my biggest challenge of all, teaching the kids to organization skills so they can fit more fun into their lives too. No one likes sitting down to a good game of 'Hungry Hungry Hippo' only to find that all the marbles are missing. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you take good care of your things.

To kick off my organization plan, I have gone a bit old school and have busted out a clipboard to track some of the basics. I have a monthly menu plan, a list to write down the meals we actually enjoyed and want to eat again, an exercise log and then the all important 2012 Declutter Your Home daily calendar which will help me slowly, methodically get the entire house in shape. I also have been using ZipList on my iPhone and computer to help with the shopping list. I love this app because I always have my phone with me and where ever I am if I think of something we need at the store I just add it onto my list and then I can forget it until I'm at the store and pull up the list. I can also add or search for recipes on my computer and add the entire recipe to the list with one click - so much easier than writing out a list and I can check off the items as I put them in the cart.

Keeping It Real

My ZipList list from my iPhone

As I am moving through my decluttering tasks I'm also looking for ways to use the space I have in my house more effectively. I'm trying to think outside the box and find new ways to make my space more useful to our family and how we live our life. I get a lot of ideas from Pinterest, there are so many DIY ideas on this site which really appeals to my creative side and makes the whole organization project more enjoyable. One major change I made before Christmas was in my laundry room. I had seen a picture on Pinterest of a laundry room with big shelves for laundry baskets and I decided I wanted to have that someday. Then as I was sitting in my laundry room one night folding the mountain of laundry (get a view of it here) I keep in there. Here's a great example from 2009 of my laundry situation...

December 2009

I looked at my laundry room and was really mad at myself for not thinking of having open shelves in there when we did the remodel in 2006. How could I have known how out of control laundry can get when you have two kids? I couldn't so I thought doors on the cupboards were just fine. Then another though struck me - I could just take off the cupboard doors and have the open shelving I was dreaming of. So I did it!

A simple screwdriver and five minutes later I was feeling renewed by my space. Now I can fold the laundry on the counter and the move it into each family members basket to be stored neatly until we put it away in rooms. Before when I would fold the laundry it would stay on the counter with people picking through it each day until it was all basically unfolded again.

With that major victory under my belt I decided to take it one step further and enlist the kids into part of the laundry organization chain. I bought them each hanging cloths shelves for their closets - there are five slots and we work together to pick out their outfits and pajamas for the weekdays so they are ready each morning to get up and get dressed. No more scrambling looking for this shirt or that other sock, now we have a plan and the kids love filling up each shelf. McKenzie has even started back filling as soon as she has an empty shelf.

Here are their shelves in action - ignore the surrounding clutter, kids closets haven't come up on my declutter calendar but they are on there!

So moral of the story is look out 2012, I'm off to a good start and I hope to continue the progress I've made already this January. I'll be posting more of the ways I find to use my space better and be more organized as the year goes on.

Nearly New Years

2012-01-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

At the start of 2011 we were running late with our midnight prep and so we paused the TV announcement of the countdown and then started it up five minutes later. All year I kept remembering that when I was just a little late to things and so this year we made sure to celebrate early with the kids and observe the countdown on time. Already I feel back on track and right with the world even if in the end 2011 was five minutes shorter than other years.

We headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Z's for our New Years celebration which was a special treat for the kids to have a sleepover with the whole family. The kids had a marching band with all the noise makers and then we light off some fireworks to send 2011 off in style.

Grandma Z with Claire, McKenzie and Ben in their New Years hats.

McKenzie and Ben helping Grandpa Z with the fireworks - Ben wanted more, more, more!

Matt woke up on New Years day and assembled the new jeep that Santa had brought to Grandma Z. Ben was so excited for a blue 'race car' instead of having to drive the pink Barbie jeep. The girls were very taken with the blue jeep too until Grandpa took the safety screw out of the Barbie jeep that let it go twice as fast. McKenzie loved cruising even faster around the driveway loop. Here the kids are testing it out before Daddy had finished building it.

Ben taking his big sister for a spin in the new jeep. He must have been feeling wild since he left his bike helmet on for the ride.

Looking forward to more exciting adventures in 2012!

Onward and Upward!

2011-12-31T22:09:00.000-08:00

As we wrap up 2011 and look forward to 2012 I have to say this has been a great year for our family. We've had some amazing adventures and we have tried a lot of new activities as a family and are really looking watching the kids continue to learn and expand their worlds. I see a lot of biking, swimming and hiking in our future for 2012.

I think I'll just install a bench in my front garden so I can sit and read my book while the kids ride their new bikes this next year.

Ben has already mastered the petals on his new bike and he's ready to cruise.

McKenzie, so happy her new bike has brakes unlike her old one that she crashed on. Now we can really ride to the park and back! Can't wait to see her excel at riding and get her training wheels off. That's a good goal for 2012.

Matt and I are keeping our New Years resolutions simple this year - keep up with these kiddos and as always focus on the fun!

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

2011-12-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

The Christmas tree wasn't the only thing we were rockin' around this year, with all of our Christmas activities it seemed like we were rockin' around the clock too. We are very blessed to have so many good friends and family who we are able to share the holiday season with. We hosted our annual friends holiday party and celebrated more times than I can count with our families.

We took the kids to brunch at Emory's near our house for yet another visit with Santa. Santa sang Christmas songs, we had a great meal and then the kids got to sit on his lap.

At our friends holiday party we have Halle 3, McKenzie 4, Kayla 6 and Mikelle 5. So much fun to have so many girls so close in age to play with.

Celebrating on Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa C at Aunt Kacey and Uncle Eric's house. Here is Kayla with a very special gift that we gave her. A fairy that really flies! When I saw this at a local toy store I just knew Kayla had to have it.

Ben and McKenzie trying to leave cookies and milk out for Santa... too bad they kept eating the cookies. Poor Santa! They are wearing their new Christmas pajamas that they found from Santa by the tree before bed.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there... Looks like Santa did show up!

The first view of the family room with the presents!

Kenzie's present pile from Santa!

Ben's present pile from Santa!

Ben shoving presents to get to his new bike! He was so excited that Santa brought him just what he asked for.

Kenzie testing out her new hopscotch rug. She loves to jump!

Ben practicing his sniper moves on us with his new blaster gun. He pulled up a chair in the kitchen and just kept firing on us enjoying our Christmas morning.

Ben practicing to receive his Olympic medal for presenting jumping at Grandma and Grandpa Z's house. Cousin Claire is a little more humble while waiting for her metal.

This was the year of costumes for Ben - finally some boy dress up clothes for this poor guy who's options have been Scooby Doo or a clown when Kenzie wants to play dress up. Now he can be a knight or a pirate to save the princess.

Grandma C and the grandkids ready for more Christmas fun.

A fantastic holiday meal of homemade pizza eaten on fine china with a side of tomato soup. And don't forget the Christmas crackers. Always a fun tradition for Christmas.

The Red Truck Club - finally we had all the trucks in one place. We've been wanting to take this picture for a while. Uncle Eric with his Chevy, Grandpa C with his Ford and Matt with his Dodge.

All in all it was a fantastic holiday season and we were all truly spoiled to be able to share the holidays with so many special people. Now I just have to find places to store all the new toys the kids got!

Dear Santa...

2011-12-30T22:20:00.001-08:00

This year was another great year visiting Santa. The kids were so excited to see him and share what they wanted for Christmas. Getting natural smiles out of them is another story but I'll take the smiles I got over screaming kids on Santa's lap. Ben did give Santa quite a surprise though, I was trying to get them smiling and was standing to the side and said 'stinky feet' which usually gets the smiles going. In response Ben yelled out 'how bout poo-poo'. Then he realized that was Santa he just said potty talk in front of and was quite embarrassed and was forced snuggle in closer to Santa to hide his face for a moment or two. We got back on track after that and got a nice picture to add to our collection.

2011 - McKenzie 4 1/2, Ben almost 3

Pictures from Christmas past...

2010 - McKenzie 3 1/2, Ben 22 months

2009 - McKenzie 2 1/2, Ben's First Christmas 10 months old

2008 - McKenzie 1 1/2 years old, not talking to this guy.

2007 - McKenzie's First Christmas, six months old. Santa and Kenzie both have rosy cheeks!

All I Want For Christmas Is Clean Teeth

2011-12-30T22:05:00.001-08:00

Ha ha... as if that's all he wants. Ben did get that wish during his first visit to the dentist. He did a bit better than I expected during his visit - he actually opened his mouth and let them look at his teeth. Unlike McKenzie who's beautiful smile is lit up with teeth Ben rarely shows his teeth when smiling, talking, eating or brushing. He was very interested in sitting in the chair and he liked trying out all the different tools before they went into his mouth but the funniest part is when the hygienist showed him the rubber glove she was going to put on he took it and insisted on wearing it during the entire appointment.

McKenzie went second and she did okay but because she saw Ben go through all the initial experience with the tools she wanted to have the full show too. All in all we had a good visit and clean teeth for our visit with Santa!

Countdown To Christmas

2011-12-30T21:56:00.001-08:00

In our usual fashion when we do something we do it big. We had not one, not two but three Lego advent calendars going this year. That's in addition to our regular one that the kids got dollar coins in each day to put into our Disneyland jar.

They kids loved opening and assembling the Lego of the day each night with Daddy. This has been the kids first real experience with grown up Legos instead of their little kid ones. The Star Wars set was the most popular because it had spaceships and cool guys like Chewbacca.

The kids are flying their spaceships around ready for action.

McKenzie staging a battle, careful with that light saber!

Ben in the zone with his spaceship.

One great Saturday afternoon in among all the Lego action I had my new Cricut going with McKenzie making paper doll gingerbread men for all her friends at school. This was a fantastic afternoon with the kids, one of those ones that makes you say it's all worth it. Matt and I are truly loving engaging the kids in activities that we enjoy as they grow older and express their own personalities.

D'Lightful Night

2011-12-30T21:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite holiday traditions is looking at Christmas lights. This year we made it out to the Garden D'Lights in Bellevue which was just as amazing as I had remembered from our last trip. I really enjoy seeing the lights when walking through the garden because you can stop and enjoy them rather than being in a car and getting a glance out of the window. It was a bit more packed than the first year we went but I think that was because it wasn't raining. Ben did manage to get wet despite the dry weather by filling his boot up in a small fountain within two minutes of entering the gardens. We got him as dry as possible and kept moving - there was too much to see to be bothered by a wet boot.

Here is some of the amazing flowers they had on display. I can't even imagine all the work that goes into creating this scene.

Cousin Claire, Ben and McKenzie checking out a spider web. New Years resolution #1 learn to us my camera settings so I can correctly capture pictures like this!

Our family enjoying the fun holiday evening together!

Aunt Jennifer and me with the kiddos!

It was an amazing site that I hope to see again next year!

Can't Catch Me, I'm The Gingerbread Man

2011-12-29T23:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it feels like Ben has a bit of the Gingerbread Man in him - always on the move, always with a laughing smile on his face as he runs away. We spent a fun evening decorating a gingerbread house and while McKenzie labored over the house, using all the candy and icing possible, it was like Ben just there to swoop in and snatch some candy and icing and then he was off.

Here's McKenzie making sure each piece of candy is in the proper place.

My beautiful girl so happy to be building a gingerbread house.

Ben up on the counter as usual, helping to rearrange the candy, most right into his mouth.

Love how happy they are in this one, having so much fun together!

Proud of their work, though I do have to say getting a kit that was broken before we even opened it made our house a little less attractive than I would have liked but they kids still loved it.

Elf On The Shelf Daily Adventures

2011-12-29T22:02:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas season we were joined by a new little friend, our Elf on the Shelf. He didn't cause much of a stir last year so he spent the entire off season stocking up funny and wild ways to show us he was there everyday. Here is a recap of all the fun we had with our Elf - the kids have been missing him and asking when he can come back.

Day 1: Our Christmas Elfarrived yesterday from the North Pole. His first adventure was a tea party withPurple Baby.

Day 2: The Elf brings a message from Santa

Day 3: Our Elf needed a little help getting back to the North Pole last night after being touched by Ben yesterday. Santa was able to restore his magic and we're back on track!

Day 4: Christmas came early for The Cougars this year, welcome to Coach Leach! Win or lose even Santa and our Elf root for The Cougs!

Day 5: Our Christmas Elf is really checking up on us this year!

Day 6: Our Elf made a new friend! Now the question is who is the scariest?

Day 7: Our Elf and Jesse, the pet dog visiting us from Ben's class, enjoying some fun before Jesse returns to school.

Day 8: Perhaps our Elf needs us to leave him some food out since this morning we found him eating up all of Grandpa's fruitcake! Yum Yum!

Day 9: Give a Elf a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a Elf to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Yesterday McKenzie said the Elf should eat goldfish not fruitcake and this is what we found him doing this morning!

Day 10: Rub-A-Dub-Dub our Elf's in a tub! I'm just glad it wasn't my toothbrush he picked to clean up with.

Day 11: Today our Elf is just hanging around watching us run from one holiday event to the next!

Day 12: Looks like our Elf is trying to remind us about all the fun we have year round with our family. He's not the first who has been a little jealous of our giant photo button from the fair!

Day 13: Our Elf in his cap has settled in for a long winter's nap!

Day 14: Their underwear were hung by the chimney with care... Wait a minute! Our Elf sure does have a sense of humor!

Day 15: Looks like our Elf decided to help address all our Christmas cards last night. Ben's comment was 'He do your work Mama!' Anyone who does my work can stay all year long!

Day 16: All work and no play makes our Elf a dull boy. Enjoying some fun with Daddy's Xbox today.

Day 17: Today our Elf has some advise for the kids if they want to stay on the nice list...

Day 18: Step right up! You're the next contestant on 'Naughty or Nice?'. Our Elf is really taking his job seriously this year!

Day 19: Our Elf taking his new friend Barbie for a ride in his mistletoe mobile!

Day 20: Our Elf must be dreaming of a white Christmas to have cooked up this idea!

Day 21: Our Elf likes to keep us laughing, today we were all ready to help Santa pull his sleigh after waking up with red noses!

Day 22: Our Elf had an early Christmas gift for us today, hebrought a photo album of all his adventures at our house. Perfect timing sinceit is Kenzie's day for show and tell at school. She is so excited to show herclass.

Day 23: Our Elf is missing his friends in the North Pole. Hegot some inspiration from the Grinch to make himself feel more at home. 'If Ican't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead'

Day 24: A grand goodbye from our Elf today - a whiteChristmas after all . We pulled it off the tree and had a snowball fight! Wewill miss this little guy...

Naughty Is The New Nice

2011-12-28T23:21:00.000-08:00

When I saw the a Christmas card example with the tagline 'Naughty Is The New Nice' I knew that summed up our 2011 pretty nicely. The kids are not really truly naughty they just like to have fun, lots of fun that sometimes turns naughty as they stop listening. We are very blessed to have kids that enjoy each other and run to hug after they have been apart but together they can also cause havoc very quickly. I also thought getting a naughty picture would be much easier than getting a nice one - boy was I wrong. It's nearly impossible to fake a naughty picture. I guess I should have tried to take a good picture and then I'd have more naughty pictures than I could count.

In the end we got some cute ones of the kids and they thought Mom and Dad were losing it letting them goof off and act naughty. We had our cards designed again this year by our friend Jess Caskey, who did a fantastic job of making my vision a reality. I love having the cards designed by someone so I can change little elements to fit my needs.

Here is this years Christmas card for all to enjoy. Remember even if you're naughty sometimes there is always room on the nice list if you work hard enough!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2011-12-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

Last year McKenzie really got excited about helping me decorate the Christmas tree and this year was Ben's year to join in the fun. While the kids lack some of the knowledge around best practices for putting ornaments on the tree they are overall very good helpers and love finding the perfect spot for each one. Thought that might mean there were multiple ornaments on each branch within their reach the tree turned out beautifully as always and no one noticed that Mom moved a few around after bed time.

McKenzie finding the Christmas pickle - she loves to search for it each year. It's like a real life 'I Spy' book just for her.

Ben clowning around in the tree. He insisted on standing on the stool to help decorate. I'm just glad he didn't fall off or knock the tree over.

Silly kids clowning around by the tree!

McKenzie showing off her favorite ornament - a picture of her during her first Christmas.

Fruitcake Factory Open For Business

2011-12-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

Once again McKenzie and I teamed up with Aunt Renee to produce our yearly batch of Grandma Hunter's Christmas Cakes aka Fruitcake. We decided to make a single batch this year but it was still an overwhelming amount of fruitcakes. Here's the first day when we chopped and mixed the fruit. Things seem like they are going fine.

Then the next weekend we mixed the cake batter to blend with the fruit. Classic fruitcake face from McKenzie!

Yes, folks this is only a single batch of fruitcake. McKenzie couldn't believe Aunt Renee had bowls that big.

Killing time while the fruitcakes baked. McKenzie demanded we make her a paper hat. Sadly after many failed attempts we had to look up how to make paper hats on the Internet.

Fruitcake hot out of the oven! It was a great year, no sticking in the pans, no over cooking, everything seemed to come out just right.

So far the reviews have been favorable. Though my only real reviewer has been Ben but he ate it so it must be good, right?!? Again this year he found the fruitcake and just helped himself.

Reality Bites

2011-12-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

Something fun thing we do year round is Skype with Grandma andGranpa C. Ben especially loves to talk with them on weekend mornings andit's so funny to see that he completely does not get that they are not reallyhere with him. He usually starts each conversation with asking Grandpa Cto 'picky me uppie' and both kids end the call hugging the computer. Here isa recent picture that I had to take of the Skype conversation - Ben is actuallytrying to feed Grandma C a goldfish through the computer. In his defense she is acting like she can really eat it.

Love that technology lets us keep in touch even when we don't live right next door.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2011-12-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

We have been busy over the past few weeks with preparation for the holidays. We have been checking off our standard holiday traditions and adding some new ones. The kids are loving all the excitement of the holidays and seeing the decorations everywhere. My favorite is driving in the car at night because both kids will shout out 'I see Christmas lights!' almost continuously as we drive. Ben also adds in the occasional 'Stop the car! I want to look.' just to keep things lively.

This year I've also been big on finding new ways to keep all the holiday decorations from becoming clutter. My favorite so far is the Christmas card display idea that I found on Pinterest. I wrapped an existing mirror in the dining room with some pretty yarn and then have been hanging my cards from the strands. So far the cards this year have been few and far between. This allows us to actually enjoy the cards rather than just having them scattered around. I'll take a new picture soon with more cards on it.

This picture also captures the arrival of our Christmas Elf who visits us from December 1st until he heads back up to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. He watches the kids and reports back to Santa if they have been naughty or nice. Every night he flies back to the North Pole and then returns to hide somewhere new in our house. I'll be doing a blog post about all the fun he's been up to later.

Another new event that we added this year was riding the Santa Train from North Bend to Snoqualmie to see Santa at the train depot. The train was amazing, the age of the cars really told the story of how well things used to be built. The kids loved riding the train and singing Christmas songs. This picture shows the amazing old train and the kids in awe of how big it is.

Ben on the train with Jesse the pet dog from his class at school. He got to visit us for a weekend and have lots of fun adventures with Ben that we wrote in a class book.

Kenzie and cousin Claire spent most of the train ride looking at the window telling us everything they saw.

Ben and Mommy snuggling to keep warm on the train. Makes me appreciate that we don't have to rely on train service in these old cars to travel. I cannot imagine taking a cross country trip with kids on a train.

The three amigos with mixed emotions about their upcoming visit with Santa. I took a whole series of photos where the girls expressions don't change much but Ben's face gets funnier and funnier.

Sitting on Santa's lap! Kenzie told Santa what they wanted. Ben was very eager to get up onto Santa's lap and had to be restrained while the person before us went. Then he seemed to want some alone time, or at least to not have Santa touch his hands.

An attempt at a family photo - again mixed emotions but Matt and I are happy so we'll go with it!

After the train ride back to North Bend we grabbed some lunch and Grandma and Grandpa Z met up with us to head out to find our Christmas trees. We tried a new location out in Carnation this year and they had a great selection of trees. Once again our eyes were far larger than our family room and we had to do some creative trimming to get the tree in but as always it's our best tree yet!

Classic shot of Ben helping Matt cut down the tree!

Here's Grandma and Grandpa Z and their whistling parade after the tree was cut down. Every year Grandma Z brings whistles to the tree farm that get blown when the tree is cut down - the kids loved it!

Holidays are the best when filled with friends and family!

Thankful and Mostly Just Full

2011-12-06T22:53:00.001-08:00

We had another great Thanksgiving weekend this year celebrating first at my sisters house with Grandma C's side of the extended family and then on Friday with Matt's family at Grandma and Grandpa Z's house. It was nice to see everyone and catch up and continue family traditions and start new ones.

We had 29 people this year at Kacey's, just the the perfect amount to give everyone a little elbow room at the tables. I am very thankful that as the kids get older it's easier to let them have a little more freedom so that Matt and I can actually talk to people instead of just chasing them around. It's also nice to have older cousins like Nathan who is so nice to Ben and let him think he's playing video games with him. Someday he'll learn that your not really playing if you're just staring at the buttons on the controller.

Here's the group from one end of the table to the other. We wrote on the tablecloth like always and will be sewing it in sometime next year. After dinner we played some games then enjoyed something new - Minute To Win It games. It was a great way to involve anyone and everyone in games. We have more planned for the family Christmas party, should be fun!

On Friday at Grandma and Grandpa Z's house it was a smaller group of eleven for dinner. When we first sat down to dinner Ben discovered that I had a butter knife on my bread plate which he thought was his bread plate. He's not often allowed to use knives yet so this was very exciting to him. He was so taken by this knife and wanted to show it to everyone and tell them how shiny it was. The knife had to be taken away when it started being accompanied by light saber noises.

McKenzie and Claire also discovered something new to play with. They found Grandma Z's hats and gloves and had a great time being fancy ladies practicing for their tea party that they are planning after Christmas with Grandma Z.

There is so much to be thankful for in our lives - healthy kids, a nice house, friends and family we love to spend time with. We had a great weekend with our families and enjoyed two fantastic meals where we ate way too much but hey that's tradition right?

Enjoying Every Little Thing

2011-11-30T22:39:00.001-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me how the littlest thing can cause so much excitement for kids. We had our first snow of the season recently and luckily it was on a Saturday so we could fully enjoy it! The kids could not wait to get out side and check it out. They were sure they could build a snowman. Unfortunately, we didn't even have a full inch of snow and it was already hard and icy so a snowman wasn't happening.

One of the places that got the largest accumulation of snow was on the bumper of Daddy's truck and the kids had to tell him all about the 'mustache' that his truck had as soon as they saw it. Big time excitement there. Even without the snowman we had a lot of fun crunching through the snow and ice and throwing frozen snow chunks at each other.

After our outdoor adventure McKenzie was still hooked on making a snowman so we settled for the next best thing to real snow - play dough. She loves to create all sorts of things with her play dough and is never ready to put it away when it's time. Ben on the other hand has a very short attention span for play dough and will come and go to other things while McKenzie works away on her creations. Here she has made an entire family of multicolored snow men!

Leaf Me Alone

2011-11-18T22:52:00.001-08:00

While we do hear an assortment of the standard sibling lines about leaving each other alone or a classic for our house "I need some 'lone time". Kenzie and Ben do actually get along very well and enjoy doing things together. Lately, McKenzie has even been getting frustrated when Ben wants to do something besides what she is doing. It's funny to hear her come to me and basically tell on him for not playing with her. One of my favorite lines that covers either issues is 'Work it out please'. Takes me out of the equation and helps with their decision making skills.

This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago when we worked together to rake up all the leaves in the front yard and carted them into the backyard to cover up our garden for the winter. I really should get out and take a picture of the garden so I can have pictures from every season. I already am dreaming up next years garden, I have a drastically different plan from this year forming in my mind. I know whatever I plant it will teach me something new and I'll find a way to 'work it out' because that's how I roll.

Never Lose That Sparkle!

2011-11-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

I love the sparkle that just comes naturally in McKenzie's smile and I hope she never loses it. I look at this picture and it scares me to think that in less than fourteen years she'll be off to college. I am so looking forward to all the fun to be had helping her grow up - I can't wait to see who this girl becomes!

Let's Get Some More!

2011-11-11T22:11:00.001-08:00

The weekend before Halloween we took the kids to a low scare haunted house which turned out to be very fun. They were so interested in all the strange scenes inside but lucky for us the lights were on and all the residents of the haunted house were friendly and giving out candy. The only one that really worried Kenzie was a little boy who in a cage rattling the bars. She wanted to know why he was in there and why no one would let him out.

The kids were so excited to wear their costumes to the haunted house. As you can see Ben was Scooby Doo and McKenzie was Rapunzel, with the long long hair.

On Halloween the kids were so excited to get started on Trick Or Treating so it was a good thing it got dark around six. When we headed out of the house Ben kept saying 'It's dark. It's dark.' Guess we really don't get out much after dark at our house. After the first house Ben had the drill down, they alternated ringing the doorbells or in many cases each took a turn and then Be would like Kenzie do the initial talking but then would say 'Thank you.' immediately followed by 'Let's get some more!'. It was a great time with both kids trick or treating this year.

Here is a good view of the long, long hair. That is how McKenzie refers to her costume - not just Rapunzel but also the hair.

Practicing our door knocking skills - Kenzie is a seasoned professional at trick or treating!

Out with Daddy in his Halo costume in the dark figuring out which house to go to next. I was dressed in my trusty gorilla costume not a great idea for both parents to wear costumes with full masks. Next year I'm thinking a family themed costume is in order.

Scooby Doo and Rapunzel with cousin Claire the Strawberry Fairy - too cute!

Frighteningly Fun

2011-11-11T21:31:00.001-08:00

October came and went in a flash with all the fun events we found to enjoy. Each year we seem to add on one more activity to our list of must do things. This year in addition to our trip to Bob's Corn we also visited Craven Farms for a birthday party. Another amazing pumpkin patch with so much more to see and do. We never even made it out to the pumpkins because there was so much going on in and around the barns. The kids love exploring all their interesting equipment, vehicles and pumpkin scenes. There were so many places to climb. I think the only time they stopped moving was when they were eating cupcakes at the party.

Here are the kids checking out who's driving this old truck. They thought it was so cool that you could look at it and touch it. There were several other vehicles like this around the farm - so cool to kids!

McKenzie cannot say no to having her face painted - she always wants something bigger and more colorful each time. Pretty soon she'll end up with the whole thing painted.

This was Ben's first time getting his face painted. He took forever to pick what he wanted and finally decided on a spider. He was very interested in touching his face so I was glad he had far less paint than McKenzie.

This was also the first year that Ben got participate in carving the pumpkins - the last two years we put him to bed and just carved with Kenzie. He was very excited to get started but then when he actually touched the pumpkin seeds and guts he was less than excited and opted to watch some Scooby Doo instead. Kenzie dug into her pumpkin without any hesitation and did a great job cleaning it out and saving seeds to roast and some for our garden for next year.

Our 2011 pumpkins - from left to right: Daddy's, Mommy's, Ben's and McKenzie's

Lots of excitement about having the pumpkins on the front porch.

I Can Do It!

2011-11-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

This Fall McKenzie started in PreK at school so she is in the same classroom all year with the same kids rather than moving into the next class at age intervals. She has a great group of kids in her class and it's been fun to watch them grow together and hit new stages. Recently, the big thing with the girls in her class is 'Twinkle Toe' shoes which have blinky lights when you walk. We didn't object to getting her the shoes it was the fact that they only came with laces so in order to get to wear her new shoes to school McKenzie has been learning to tie her shoes. It's been an interesting test of will power both on our side and hers to stick with it and get her doing it on her own. Thank goodness for Google where parents can learn good techniques for teaching kids how to tie shoes. We used the 'bunny ear' approach since it seemed the easiest route for now.

We have her practice every time she wears the shoes and she's getting it down slowly but surely. She can do the knot all the time but gets frustrated easily with the bunny ears. She was getting her shoes on one day last week and she started yelling 'I can do it!' so we came to check it and sure enough she did do it! She tied her shoe all on her own. It was an amazing moment because I know she may need some more help but she can and will be tying those shoes all on her own before I know it! Check out that smile - looking forward to seeing that more and more as she sets goals and achieves them in life.

Here she is at school with her friends Meadow and Somer and their matching 'Twinkle Toes'!

Fall Fun With Our Friends

2011-11-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Another Fall another great trip out to Bob's Corn Maze with our favorite friends to enjoy the season and pick out our perfect pumpkins. We had quite the crew this year with Carrie's family, Gina's family and our newest addition to the annual tradition with Rachel's family. There is always so much to see I know we miss half of it but as the kids get older and their attention spans get longer we'll soon be spending longer and longer each year. We have also decided that next year we need to plan our visit in the morning and then head back to our house for more fun since we have everyone together already.

McKenzie is as pink as the pumpkins were orange - she loves looking for her perfect pumpkin!

Ben with his golden coin waiting in line to ride the cow train. We practically filled the whole train up with our group alone.

Kenzie in her cow 'Bob' - she waved at everybody for the entire ride.

Ben and Mom on the cow train - next year he'll be big enough to ride alone!

Taking pictures of the whole group is hard but it seems I made it harder on myself by not standing where they were all looking. Keaton is a lucky man with all the ladies helping to hold him up.

Ben taking a rest while searching for his perfect pumpkin.

Here's our group of barnyard animals enjoying their day on the farm.

Attempt at a family pictures, we always have to have someone clowning around!

Channeling The Energy

2011-10-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Now that soccer has finished for McKenzie and we're settling into the Fall weather it was the perfect time to try something new so this year we picked gymnastics. With the energy level that the kids have and their love of all things that involve climbing, bouncing and jumping it was a perfect choice. That and the fact that they have classes the kids can attend at the same time which saves us from having to entertain one while the other had a class.

We've gone for two weeks now and the kids are loving it! It's always their favorite part of the weekend. The gym has so many great things for the kids to try and learn but by far the best has been jumping off the big trampoline into the foam pit. McKenzie saw the older girls flipping off the trampoline so of course she had to as well.

Ben sticks to the feet first jumping but he has a hard time letting the other kids in his class having a turn.

Ben doing a back flip as part of an obstacle course. I love that his class has the parents involved so we can keep him focused and on course. He loves to try to escape to jump in the foam pit.

McKenzie practicing her balance beam work - we'll have to work on getting those arms out to the sides a little more.

The best part about the gymnastics classes is they run year long but you sign up in six week sessions so we can do the sessions that work for us and take breaks for things like the holidays. Looking forward to seeing all the new skills the kids learn!

From The Ashes

2011-10-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

One year ago today was the day our neighbors house caught fire, I called the fire department and Matt went to make sure the family was out safely. It was a big day in our neighborhood and it's something that has stayed with McKenzie for a long time. If you've spent much time with McKenzie in the last year you've probably heard the entire tale from her viewpoint.

Our neighbors were able to move back into their newly built house in September and we've visited the house throughout the process so it's been helpful for McKenzie to see that progress and for things to be back to normal for their family. October is also fire awareness month with our local fire stations so we had a chance to go tour one of the fire stations near out house. It was a good trip for McKenzie to have some new associations with firefighters and fire trucks. She thinks she might even want to be a firefighter when she grows up, or maybe work in the coffee stand, or the car wash, or fly a plane, or be a teacher, or a million other things.

At the fire station the kids got fire hats, cookies, stickers and they even got to sit in the firetrucks and ambulances. Ben was in heaven with all the buttons these vehicles came with. Love that you can tell Ben is making truck noises as he drives the fire truck.

So excited to be racing off to save the day!

There are so many interesting parts on a fire truck - I hope that the firefighters checked out all the trucks to make sure everything was connected correctly after we left.

Adorable fireman - he loved his fire hat.

Stop, drop and roll. McKenzie learned a lot about fire safety during our visit. Such as great way to expose kids to the safety tips they need to know while sharing something they find so amazing.

Thank you Fire District 7 for creating a great day for the kids and more importantly for always being there when we need you!

#CrushingIt

2011-10-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

The long awaited Crush 2011 post! This year we made it over for the first of the two actual Chelan Crush weekends. As usual we were less interested in the crush related activities and more interested in own plans. We had a great group of eight ladies enjoying the adventure - Annie, Anneliese, April, Carrie, Jennifer, Lynn, Misty and me. It was the perfect number for a low key weekend enjoying good wine, great friends and a lot of laughter.

We did our traditional appetizers, wine and games on Friday night - this year Carrie planned out a series of Minute to Win It games for us to compete in for fabulous prizes. I did take pictures of the games but you really had to be there to truly understand the fun. We also added in something new - we did a craft project to create our unique wine embellishment of the year. Anneliese did the research and found all the supplies to make the favorite embellishment yet - cork earrings!! Misty and I are modeling them at Mellisoni. They were a hit everywhere we went - I think we need to consider Lynn's idea of making extra of whatever our embellishment is and sell it along the way next year.

Saturday morning was filled with fantastic crepes prepared by Jennifer - a definite tradition in the making! We had both savory and sweet crepes so there was something for everyone. While the crepes were being enjoyed we got our crock-pot dinners started and then Carrie did our hair since we all wanted up-do's to highlight our stylish earrings. From there we were off on our wine tour in the beautiful Fall weather. Here is our route through the wineries along with my personal reviews.

First stop was at Mellisoni, we drove there again since we planned to spend more time there than just a quick tasting. This winery has just gotten better with age, when we visited them last year they had only been open two months and they only continue to improve. We had a private tasting scheduled since they aren't open to the public yet. The tasting was held at their fantastic fire pit overlooking the lake and we had all sorts of wonderful food pairings to try their wines with. We actually called and pushed our bus out another hour we were enjoying ourselves so much. Next year our plan is to book a private tasting for Friday night and leave no reason to rush off from the wonderful wines and atmosphere at Mellisoni.

After a quick drive back to the house we packed some of Jennifer's famous snacks for the bus and were off on our tour. The bus was still a great fit for our needs as usual there are as many memories from on the bus as from the wineries.

Second stop was at Tildio Winery, which we have been to in the past but had skipped over for the past few years. It was good to stop in and catch up on their new blends and see how things had changed. We enjoyed their wines and they have some beautiful art inside the winery to go with their views outside.

Next we headed to our Hard Row To How which has been one of our consistent stops over the years. There are so many things to love about Hard Row - from the owners who are on site and actively engage with you while you're visiting, to their great wines which we bought way too much of, to our favorite wine guy Rudy who always has a smile and local tale for us. This is essentially the Disneyland of wineries - they have woven everything they create into their brand and the story that goes along with it. It's so nice to visit year after year and see the stories continue to evolve and grow. They had some fantastic new wines, the Ice Cider Dessert Wine was a personal favorite of mine. We'll definitely have Hard Row on the list for next year.

After Hard Row we tried to go to Karma but they were closed for a private event which was a real bummer since some of the group hasn't seem their amazing wine cave but we always have next year. We next attempted to go to Nefarious which we have been to one other year but they had a sign saying they weren't taking large parties and then when we peaked in they were very full so we headed back to the bus - but first Carrie stopped to taste their grapes.

Tsillian Cellars has been a long time favorite of the group because of its beautiful setting and we remember that time we listened to the Paperboys during Crush and had a fantastic evening there. We don't always stop here since the group has mostly experienced their wines and are mainly just picking up some favorites for home rather than trying new things. It was a great stop this year because they also had a private event going on so we got to taste some great wine and see a wedding take place. Always a beautiful setting for any event!

Our final stop was at Benson Vineyards, which is always a favorite of mine. Their setting is amazing - no other winery in Chelan has the triple threat that Benson does - amazing facilities, view of the lake and my favorite part is that the vineyard is between you and the lake so you get that postcard feeling. As usual the Benson family was on site and so pleasant to visit with. I love when the people who had the dream are there living it!

When we arrived home we were ready for dinner and our chili and french chicken soup were just perfectly done. We sorted wine, ate our great dinner, and then had some more wine and spent the evening calling some of the girls who couldn't make it and singing songs recorded in their voice mails. We played some games and then decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning was our usual get up and get out of town routine. We had bran muffins and chili cheese eggs and then arranged our wine for the finale photo shoot. Unfortunately, in the lessons learned column for this year we need to write - don't just take pictures with one camera... especially someone who's still learning how to use their fancy pants camera. My camera wasn't focusing correctly and I thought I figured it out but instead I just ended up setting it to manual focus which in the end meant little to no focus. I have been so sad about and have been putting off the post - the pictures looked perfect on the camera but when I got them onto my computer they were just blurry enough to be really annoying.

Not to be forgotten are Grandma and Grandpa C and the kiddos who had so much fun together during their weekend that I hardly saw any of them. Kenzie and Ben love spending time over in Chelan being with Grandma and Grandpa C. Another blurry picture which breaks my heart because this would have really been a good one - just squint a bit and it clears right up! Time for me to take the camera class I didn't make time for this summer...

For any regular blog readers who think Crush sounds like fun, don't worry you have missed out on too much to catch up - join us next year for our fun in Chelan because just like Christmas Crush happens every year! Coming soon will be a post where I recap all the previous years of Crush so we have a record of it and can remember how many years we've been doing this. Until next year keep #CrushingIt ladies!

Mikey Doesn't Have Anything On Ben...

2011-10-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Who could forget the Mikey likes it commercials for Life Cereal? Probably everyone because according to Wikipedia it first aired in 1972 and then proceeded to be on air for the next twelve years as the longest continuously running commercial ever aired. The main factor leading to the success of this particular commercial was how easy it was to relate with - everyone has known a Mikey. I never thought I'd have a kid who 'won't eat anything'. I've always thought that picky kids were created that way by their parents and then along came Benny. He really wouldn't eat anything but great news, just like Mikey, Ben is slowing expanding his acceptance of food besides peanut butter, cheese, crackers, pizza and fruit. He will actually eat a steak and some chicken now. When we find a new food that Ben will actually even try the Mikey likes it commercial plays in my mind. I can see the amazement on his brothers face as he takes a bite, just like Mikey if Ben eats something it must be good!

With all this picky eating we've had trouble finding keeping his weight up and all the suggestions from doctors such as putting butter and mayo on his food backfired since he eats such simple foods it's hard to slip in anything extra without him rejecting everything. The one thing that has been a huge breakthrough was finding full fat Greek yogurt. He will plow through a huge bowl of that anytime we give it to him, he especially likes it with cereal mixed in. Greek yogurt is a huge win because it has lots of fat, protein and calcium. All things he needs more of since he also will not drink milk.

Maybe Life cereal should make a remake of that commercial and Ben could be the star. Here's to our picky eater trying more 'Life' as he gets older!

A Phi-Nomenal Getaway

2011-10-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Way back in the Spring Aunt Jennifer, Aunt Anne and I attended a Red Dress Gala for our sponsored by the local chapter of our sorority, Alpha Phi (thus the blog title using 'phi'). It was a great night with silent and live auctions and a nice dinner and lots of great wine. We bid on a lot of things in the silent action and I think we each won one thing that later we were surprised we'd bid on in the first place. Our big moment though was bidding in the live action for a weekend getaway to a house on Orcas Island. We won the action and have been looking forward to this weekend all year long.

It was a fantastic weekend and a nice chance to relax and enjoy the slower pace of island life. We got to ride a ferry to the island which is always a treat to the kiddos. First attempt at taking a good shot of all three kids.

The house that we rented was located right on the water with a nice grassy lawn leading down to the rocky beach. There was lots to keep the kids entertained from rock throwing, hunting seashells, and creating all sorts of structures with drift wood. I could get used to a view like that...

Ben creating a house out of driftwood. I know that look he's giving the camera - it's the one he gets after he says 'Don't do my work.' A common phrase of his these days and trust me he does a lot of work.

Saturday morning the kids and I went into town to hunt for some breakfast treats, I had a nice little bakery in mind for scones, muffins and other treats but instead we found the doughnut section at the local market. Doughnuts are a very rare treat at our house so they were well received by the kids. McKenzie was trying to offer everyone doughnuts and Uncle Chris was a tough customer until she said 'but they have sugar on top!' Sold! Who can refuse sugar in the morning? Not Ben... you can see how pleased he is here but what you can't see is that he was literally running in place in the kitchen while eating his doughnut he was so crazy from the sugar.

After breakfast we spent some quality bubble time in the backyard - lots of fun was had by all and we burned off a little of the sugar. Another attempt at a picture of all three kids.

We went into town to visit the farmers market after breakfast and strolled through the downtown area which was very cute. I would have loved to go in some of the shops but with the kids it's hard to stay cooped up. We did stop for a second breakfast / brunch at a great little restaurant & bakery (which wasn't open earlier). Claire and McKenzie are enjoying being big girls with their orange juice and meals actually ordered off the menu just for them!

Another shot of Claire and McKenzie being so cute sitting in a wagon on the street corner. They are wearing their new art aprons that Aunt Jennifer got them at the farmers market.

Next stop was Mt. Constitution, which is a hike that Matt and I did at sixth grade camp back in middle school. We actually hiked it as kids but this time we just drove to the top and then went up to the watch tower which McKenzie was sure was Rapunzel's castle.

On the drive back down we stopped to do a little hiking to see some waterfalls and got decided to take a group shot. Classic! This one will go down in history as one of those great family shots you remember through the years. Who decides to climb out on a slanting long over a stream with three small kids?

McKenzie and Claire going off road on the way back up - they did really good walking like bears on the entire log.

Sunday morning was all about cleaning, packing and getting in line for the ferry. The kiddos got to see an amazing amount of jelly fish right down at the docks by the ferry.

It was a great trip, so much fun to explore another area around the great Northwest and expose the kids to different places and things. The real highlight of the trip was that Aunt Anne and Rich watched all three kids both nights so that Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Chris, Matt and I could go out to two great dinners! We're already planning for next years Red Dress Gala - wonder what we'll bid on next???

Mini-Me

2011-10-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

If I ever wondered where these kids get their daredevil ways I now have my answer. Yes, they both have on their bike helmets but as far as I know if you're going to have a two year old riding on your bike with you they should have their own seat. Needless to say Ben thought it was the best thing ever to ride Daddy's big bike around.

{ Father and Son at 12:30 PM }

{ Father and Son at 1:30 PM }

Ben loves to do anything his Daddy is doing!

Following The Leader

2011-10-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Our September adventures took us out to Gig Harbor for an open house at Matt's cousin Pam and her husband Steve's new house. Not wanting to miss out on a chance to explore while we headed out with some extra time before the party and ended up stopping at Kopachuck State Park. It was a great mix of hiking and beach for exploring.

Here are the kids doing their version of hiking, which really means running wildly along the trail until they are tired or trip on something. If we can keep one of them moving they will both usually keep going. They hate being outdone by each other.

Down on the beach they were trying to jump from rock to rock - poor Ben was attempting to jump distances he had no hope of making so we had to distract him with something better than jumping off rocks.

We had them pose on this rock to get their picture taken - so cute!

Here's what the rock really looked like - they loved climbing up on that big rock. Luckily no one jumped off this one.

Our intense little guy hauling sticks around on the beach. He loves to find the biggest stick possible to move around.

Kenzie trying to decide which rocks where her favorite to add to her every growing rock and shell collection. My purse weighted ten pounds more than when I hiked down since she kept putting in just one more.

The park had a beautiful view and we had the beach all to ourselves - it was a great spot to spend a sunny morning!

We stopped at a bench on our hike out and got our picture taken - it's so nice to get a picture of all four of us! Exploring with these two never gets old.

The Flying Zarembas

2011-10-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

No, thank goodness the kids haven't taken to the trapeze yet but they are well on their way. We were invited to a pool party at one of McKenzie's soccer teammates house after a game and the kids put on quite a show. Kenzie and Ben were the first kids in the water and they insisted on going in with a splash - Ben went off the pool slide and Kenzie off the diving board. Matt and I weren't even in the pool but they did have their floaties on. As the other kids slowly got into the pool, most with full life jackets clinging to parents, Kenzie decided to take it up a notch.

We are not even sure where she learned this, Matt told her it was okay to dive from the diving board since this pool was deeper than the gym pool where diving is not allowed. The go ahead to dive turned into her doing flips off the diving board. The other parents were amazed and so were we!

Kenzie must have done twenty flips off the board and would have kept going but we decided to call it a day before things got any wilder. Maybe she'll become an Olympic diver - who knows! We are looking forward to more diving practice next summer at Grandma and Grandpa Z's pool which was being renovated this summer.

The Great Outdoors

2011-10-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

One of the key things Matt and I want to ensure our kids keep as they grow up in our world of video games, cell phones and other technical gadgets is a love of being outdoors. We have been looking around for local hikes to take them on and we discovered that Lord Hill Park is very close to our house and offers miles of hiking. We had a rare weekend day free in early September so we packed up a lunch and headed out to enjoy the day.

The kids loved the hike at first with Ben running wildly along the path yelling 'run, run, run, jump' and doing just that as he narrowly missed tripping on roots, rocks, and all sorts of obstacles in his path. He is nimble like a cat which is very lucky given the rate of speed he chooses.

When we stopped for lunch we tried to get the kids to pose for a picture in this cute little clearing but what we got instead was stinging nettles.... you can see in this picture Ben is just discovering that something is hurting his legs. Kenzie managed to walk right through them unharmed but Ben got a few bumps but didn't seem to care after I rescued him from clearing. You have to be tough if you're going to play outside!

We ended up hiking about two miles which I think is pretty good given we didn't carry the kids at all. They did pretty good on the way out but on the way back having some treats to use as incentives to get them moving helped. The most exciting thing we saw was horses - this is a horse park as well as a hiking park. We probably saw ten different horses on parts of the path with us.

Here's Matt and the kids taking a break on a bench - love seeing their happy faces as they enjoy some great family time hiking.

It was a great way to spend a sunny day and we will definitely be returning to Lord Hill Park in the near future for more adventures - maybe we can make it three miles next time!

Labor of Love

2011-10-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

The title really should be Loving Labor Day but since my blog is slipping further and further away from the present moment I will keeping trying to catch up because to me this blog is a labor of love. I enjoy documenting all the adventures of our family and capturing all these little moments that would be gone if I left it up to only my memory to retain.

For Labor Day weekend we headed out to Uncle Ron and Aunt Bev's cabin by Rimrock Lake that we had visited in June. This time we were joined by Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Chris, Claire, Aunt Annie and her boyfriend Rich. We had quite a time finding places for everyone to sleep after some very active wildlife drove those who were enjoying the great outdoors back inside.

The kids loved playing down at the lake and in general just being together. Trying to get three kids to smile at the same time for a picture is no easy task. No amount of coaxing could get them to stand still or at least do the same silly thing at the same time.

Another attempt to capture these three - something other than the camera had their attention.

Exploring down by the lake - notice Ben has a coat but no pants on, that boy has his priorities straight. Gotta keep warm but still be able to wade in the lake.

Ben trying out his new running shoes - he thinks they make him faster but in reality he's just fast to begin with.

Kenzie waving from spot as king of the mountain!

Beautiful shot of Claire on the hillside behind the cabin.

The drive home through Mt. Rainer National Forest was amazing - the views of Mt. Rainer made the long drive worth it. Rare shots of Matt and me when we got out of the car while the kids were sleeping.

Life's Not Fair

2011-09-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

That's what we found out this year at the Fair. Some of us were tall enough to go on the big rides and some of us were not.

The good news is Ben was tall enough to go on all the little ride if I went with him. He is 36 inches just at the cut off for going on rides with adults. Kenzie is 42 inches which meant she could do all of the little rides by herself AND she could go on some of the really big rides with me.

As always we have a fantastic time at during our yearly visit to the Evergreen State Fair - lots of fun rides, animals and of course the fair food to enjoy!

Ben and me on our first ride of the night - he was so excited! He kept yelling 'Mommy, we're flying' He even did 'No Hands' for a few loops. Ben's favorite ride of the evening turned out to be the House of Mirrors - he thought it was so funny to run through there, even when he hit his head several times. He did not like Mommy to go on the big rides with Kenzie and was quite sad each time he saw us pass by him on the big rides.

Sweet Kenzie on the Merry Go Round - one of her favorites! She loved all the rides but especially loved the two big kid rides she got to go on with me - the Ferris Wheel and then a really fast crazy ride that was almost more than I could handle.

Kenzie, cousin Claire and Uncle Chris - enjoying the Bouncy Buggy ride. Uncle Chris gets another vote for Father of the Year for getting on that wild ride!

A visit to the fair isn't complete without some face paint - Claire and Kenzie were thrilled with their choices of a unicorn and a heart with a rainbow.

Looking forward to next year already but I need to come up with a new plan beside me going on the big wild rides with Kenzie. Maybe it's Matt's turn!

Super Sliders

2011-09-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

As Labor Day was fast approaching at the end of August thefact that we had not made our annual trip to Slide Waters in Chelan keptnagging at me. With Matt occupied at thePAX convention in Seattle the kids and I made a quick trip over to Chelan tovisit Grandma and Grandpa C and check the waterslides off our summer ‘Must Do’list. We headed over after McKenzie’ssoccer game on Saturday morning and headed straight to the lake for theafternoon.

McKenzie continues to amaze me with her confidence in thewater and her never ending energy. Shewanted to swim out to the dock in the swim area so I headed out with her andshe swam the entire way right next to me with her floatie on. We then swam over to the other dock, back toshore and then repeated the entire journey in reverse. People on the dock were amazed at how well shewas swimming and asked her how old she was. She said ‘I’m four and I’m a swimmer.’ Too cute!

The next morning Grandpa C and the kids washed my car – win,win, win – Grandpa likes the car clean, I like the car clean and the kids lovehelping! Grandpa was being brave givingthe kids control of the hose. McKenziedid pretty good but Ben mainly just hosed down Grandpa and then laughed andlaughed.

Then we were on to the main event – Slide Waters! Each year taking the kids is more fun thanthe last. This year McKenzie was able togo on almost all the rides by herself and Ben loved sliding on the big slideswith Grandma.

Rare shot of Ben sitting on the slide correctly, when hewent down the littler slides by himself we’d catch at the bottom comingheadfirst on his tummy, lying sideways on his back every way except sitting onup like he was suppose to.

Totally Unprepared Were We

2011-09-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

To face the cold and snow that we experienced on Mount Baker during our visit to our neighbors cabin. We were also unprepared to capture the beautiful sites since I forgot both our cameras at home. We made do by picking up a disposable camera at the gas station but in my heart I know it cost us many beautiful shots.

Me in my shorts and my flip flops in the snow!

This summer we have been exploring the vast state of Washington as much as possible. When our neighbors offered to let us borrow their cabin near Glacier we jumped at the change to explore. What we didn't do is research the weather conditions which resulted in us vacationing in rather cold weather without warm clothes. We each had one sweatshirt, Ben was the lucky one who had long pants and I only had packed my flip flops - not even any real shoes. Despite our poor clothing choices we managed to have a great time and saw some amazing sites.

The cabin was fantastic - it had a great loft where the kids could play. It is decorated year round for Christmas which was actually very fun in August. The kids loved seeing Santa all over. There was a fantastic pool that we swam in and a big playground right below the cabin next to the river. The real fun though was getting to see and play in snow in August.

Matt and the kids above Mount Baker ski area. It was Brrrrr!

Trying to sled in their shorts - too cold!

Due to the cold climate and our lack of warm clothes we spent a lot of the time exploring in the car. Below you can see the kids and me on the side of a hill above a big land slide. We drove deep into the mountains on a service road until we came to this slide and then finally we decided to turn around and head for paved roads and cell service.

It was a great trip and we will definitely try to get back out that direction to continue our adventures - next time with the right clothes!

No Fear

2011-09-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

To say our kids are adventurous is a serious understatement - they have no fear. At least not when it comes to physical things. They will climb to the highest heights, jump into deep water without anyone near by, yell to go faster on the fastest ride and just generally test any boundary they come across. Luckily for them and me they are as nimble as they are wild so they don't often cause much harm to themselves.

Here are just a few of their recent adventures that left them wanting more and left me begging them to slow down and keep their feet on the ground.

Ben at a recent trip to Silver Lake near our house, I thought the kids would just wade in the water so I didn't pack my suit or their life jackets. I realized my mistake when a little five year old girl said 'Wow... your baby can swim?' He's touching in this picture currently but was not the least bit concerned about continuing to do so.

McKenzie at the playground at Silver Lake park, with her you never know where you'll find her on the playground but she always finds her way down again.

This picture is taken at the kids school. The teachers said they couldn't believe it when she climbed up this giant umbrella. She had told them she could so they said let's see and sure enough she did. To give you some perspective on the height, Matt is in the side of the picture and she's up higher than his head.

Ben during our August trip to Chelan on a jet ski with Uncle Eric - he just wanted to go faster and then he became the only person on earth to ever fall asleep on a moving jet ski. These kids just run until they drop.

Good thing Matt and I don't have any known heart conditions with these two around - if they are this extreme at four and two I can only image the things we'll witness as they get older. Let the good times roll!

Kicking It

2011-09-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

With summer drawing to a close McKenzie has started her first soccer season and is enjoying the active pace of the game. Soccer wins over t-ball at this point since you're not always waiting for it to be your turn to bat or for someone to hit the ball near you. In soccer you can always be moving to the ball and working to take it away from the other team - much better than standing around.

McKenzie's team name is the Sharks - because they are blue and fast. She has the same coach as she did for t-ball - we really appreciate that coach Julia works on the kids staying focused and learning rather than just on winning. We are looking forward to spending Saturday mornings on the sidelines cheering her team on. She scored her first goal during the first game of the season and we can't wait to see more!

Warming up for the game - she has her hand on her head like a shark fin, which also helps her to remember not to touch the ball with her hands.

McKenzie is number 11 - I need to work on getting a good picture of her standing still and also on improving my action pictures. Good thing I can get my practice in while the kids are young.

Ben of course is insanely jealous and wants so badly to play soccer with his sister. When the coach asked at the last game for a volunteer for goalie, Ben was right there in the crowd waving his arms and shouting 'Pick me! Pick me!' Next year little buddy... next year...

All Because Two People Fell In Love

2011-09-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

In August we helped Grandma and Grandpa Z celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with a family dinner at our house. We had a fantastic dinner, some good laughs and the kids loved having cousin Claire over to play. Looking forward to many more fun adventures with the family as Grandma and Grandpa Z get to watch the grandkids grow up. I can't wait to compare this picture with one from their 50th anniversary.

Leader of the Pack

2011-09-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

This summer we have been spending most Wednesday evenings down at the Mill Creek Town Center enjoying a leisurely dinner at one of the great restaurants and then hitting up The Forum for some live music and dancing. They have had quite a good selection of music, we have heard everything from an 80's tribute band to swing & big band to funk blues. The kids love dancing so this is a great way to get some energy out while enjoying some great music.

One of the evenings Ben just wanted to run instead of dance so Matt took him off on an adventure and McKenzie and I stayed to dance. I enjoy dancing as much as the next person but McKenzie's dance style right now is a lot of spinning wildly in circles which makes me quite dizzy so I was thrilled when this gaggle of little girls showed up and let McKenzie take charge. They just hung on and enjoyed the wild ride that McKenzie took them on. She absolutely loved having all those girls to swing around and I loved sitting calmly in a chair enjoying the music.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

2011-09-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

At our house you never know who will show up, especially when we're playing in the backyard before dinner. We have found that frogs and crawdads make lovely centerpieces at our dinner table and are welcome guests.

For her birthday McKenzie received a bug catching net, a critter box, a magnifying class and some binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa C and we have been putting them to good use. We always practice catch and release with anything we catch since the last thing I need is a frog escaping inside the house.

McKenzie admiring the Mama and Baby frogs we caught

Mama frog!

Ben trying to figure out what the heck we've caught! Crawdads sure are strange looking creatures.

It's such a great experience to be able to find this much nature in our own backyard! Makes us appreciate the stream even more.

If You Keep On Dancing You'll Never Grow Old

2011-08-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

Grandma C recently had a major milestone birthday but you'd never know it watching her run around having fun with the grandkids. She is always up for having some fun with the kids and they love having fun with her. We were over in Chelan earlier this month to celebrate her birthday had our usual share of fun.

Our big summer trip wouldn't be the same if McKenzie didn't somehow charm a praying mantis onto her hand. She is probably going to grow up to be some sort of bug scientist. She loves little critters!

Here's last years catch!

Ben spent most of his time in a bucket of water in the yard. Good thing he has that inner tube so he doesn't get wet.

Grandpa took all four kids out in a raft made for two just to keep things interesting.

And of course we need to take our annual photo of the G's and their grandkids! This years picture is an instant classic.

{ Summer 2011 }

{ Summer 2010 }

{ Summer 2009 }

And of course we had to visit Lake Chelan Winery for some fantastic BBQ and lots of running around. Happy birthday to a very special lady who proves you're only as old as you act!

Picnic Perfect

2011-08-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

For the past two years Aunt Renee and Uncle Nick have treated our family and my sisters family to a fantastic picnic dinner down at Picnic Point in Lynnwood. They haul in all sorts of food to please our wild crowd and then the kids get to run wild on the beach while dinner is being made.

View down to the picnic from the bridge over the train tracks

Our four explorers on the sea serpent they caught

Nathan auditioning for the next karate kid movie

Princess Kayla sitting by the water

Kenzie climbing to the highest heights!

Ben, moving. All my pictures from this trip are of his backside as he was off to do his work exploring the beach

A fantastic night spent with good company in a beautiful setting - looking forward to next year already!

With Silver Bells, and Cockle Shells

2011-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

Time for a check in with the garden. My version of 'Mary, Mary Quite Contrary' reads:

McKenzie Mary, Quite Contrary

How Does Your Garden Grow?

With Enormous Plants Out of Control

And Nothing Staying In Its Row.

Good thing plants are pretty forgiving and you get to redo it all next year. I certainly have learned a lot from my first little garden. Let's revisit my list of what I planted then have an update of how that item fared:

Seven tomato plants - Thriving, almost falling over with green tomatoes, we have harvested ~10 ripe sun gold
Broccoli - Two of my four plants bolted, I didn't know I needed to pick the broccoli when it formed a head and a majority of it floured and then had to be pulled out. I needed to research when to harvest sooner.
Carrots - These had to be pulled out due to extreme overcrowding and being blocked by the giant radishes and broccoli pants that were too close
Radishes - As mentioned above, I had to remove the radishes, which were very overcrowded and somehow grew to be three feet tall. I still need to do some research into what happened there.
Peas - Once I staked the peas they did great and we ate about 30 pods but the plant isn't producing anymore so not sure what is going on. I will definitely plan more peas next year.
Beans - I didn't realize I had beans that needed to be staked until they had crept into other sections of the garden but I was able to stake them up and control them a bit. We just had our first bean tonight. There are probably more but the pumpkins are hiding them.
Lettuce - I had six lettuce plans which was way too many, one would have served it's purpose for us. The lettuce has been removed since they just kept getting taller and were starting to block light to the tomatoes.
Cucumber - These died early on, probably due to lack of water.
Pumpkins - Thriving is an understatement for the pumpkin plants. I may not need to take the kids to the farm this year if we get as many pumpkins as we have flowers right now. The real issue I think will be space. I should not have planted the entire pack of seeds since they all grew.
Chives - The chives are doing good, through we have not eaten any of them. I need to really consider all the herbs that I planted and ask myself what I really use in cooking.
Oregano - Same status as the chives, neglected but growing.
Basil - These died out early from lack of water and I think cold temperature. Next year I'll wait longer to plan the basil outside. This I would have used!
Thyme - Same as the chives and oregano.
Dwarf sunflowers - These are the one thing that that didn't grow despite the entire pack of seeds I planted.
Sweet Peas - My favorite childhood flower, they are blooming and smell great! Next year these could grow somewhere else in the yard and not take up my garden space.
Mixed flowers - Those that can fight back the overpowering sweet peas are blooming now. This is another item that will find a new home next year.

Many lessons learned - all valuable in my journey to enjoy my outdoor space and teach the kids about growing our own food. Hopefully I can remember some of this next year!

My crop of broccoli for the year - so much better than from the store

The bolting broccoli - pretty but wasted

When The Cat's Away The Mice Will Relax

2011-08-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

McKenzie recently went on her first overnight to Grandma and Grandpa Z's house - all by herself. She had a fantastic time. It was hard to comprehend all the fun they fit into 24 hours. Here is a partial list of the things they did:

- Driving the Barbie Jeep
- Brushed the cat
- Cutting and gluing
- Learned to play tic tac toe
- Watched a movie
- Read books
- Baked cookies
- Got a band-aid for a minor scrape (Mom requires actual blood)
- Explored Grandpa's worm bin and brought some home
- Fun, fun and more fun

It was a nice change to have only one child for a night. After dropping McKenzie off we were able to cheer Ben up - he really wanted to stay with his sissy, Grandma and Grandpa. We headed to Ixtapa's and had a somewhat quiet dinner. Ben is a pretty good dining companion without someone to egg him on. His only issue was with the food, he's way beyond being the guy who orders the American food at a Mexican restaurant. When the waitress came to take our order he said 'I want pizza.', we ordered him chicken nuggets and fries. After that every time the waitress came to our table, even after his dinner had been served he would ask quite loudly, 'Where my pizza?' Sorry guy no pizza here.

Saturday morning I heard Ben wake up at his normal time and so I waited for him to come to my room to get me but a miracle happened and he just fell back asleep and slept in until 9:30. It was such a treat for me to get up and enjoy my morning all by myself. After he woke up we headed out to Starbucks for breakfast where Ben put on a show of alternating dancing and telling people 'That is hot.' when they got their coffee.

The afternoon was spent outside in the backyard playing in the pool where Ben discovered he could go potty outside. Unfortunately he doesn't distinguish between number one and number two when he says he has to go so we had a very unfortunate accident in the backyard. Luckily I have a scoop for the dogs...

It was such a great day to spend quality time with Ben, knowing McKenzie was having so much fun as well. Looking forward to McKenzie's next visit to Grandma and Grandpa Z's maybe even more than she is!

Second Annual Entiat Escape

2011-08-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row Gina has been gracious enough to host our family and Carrie's family over at her families house in Entiat for a weekend made of memories. This is the kind of weekend that dreams are made of, six adults, six kids, lots of good food, laughter and sunshine at Lake Entiat. Here's the link to last years adventure.

The whole crew down on the new dock that Gina's family put in this past year.

The best part of getting together with friends like this for a weekend is getting to know the other kids personalities and seeing them all play together. Check out these pajama wearing kids enjoying an evening Popsicle. This picture is how every summer day for kids should end.

Halle - 3, McKenzie - 4, Mikelle -5, Atticus -3, Kaden - 7 and Ben -2

The kids all played very well together but their energy was amazing - it seemed to multiply by having extra friends around. Everyone slept a bit better this year - the dream is to have a kids tent someday where they can all sleep (or not sleep) away from the grown ups!

Here's Kaden the fearless leader of the group. The kids were still going strong on Saturday night as it was starting to get dark so we decided to have races in the grass to wear them out. Kaden was the fastest guy around, he even beat his Mom!

Mikelle blowing bubbles by the lake, love her smile in this picture it really captures what a sweet girl she is.

McKenzie racing by the lake, another picture of how you should remember your childhood summers. Running barefoot racing the last rays of sunshine.

Halle Kay, she wins the award for most intense racer. Judging from the competitive nature of this crowd over a simple race we are going to have some serious athletes out of this group.

The three girls all played so well together - it's nice that they are so close in age and in intensity. Both Carrie and I warned each other that our kids could get a little feisty so in the end we just sat back and let them be kids and it all worked out.

Atti the amazing bubble boy! He sure loved having a big boy like Kaden to hang out with all these girls around.

And last but not least, Ben, what can I say, the guy was doing his own thing. He fell in love with the kayak at first sight and tried to take it out in the water all by himself. We did take him out several times and if he couldn't get one of us to 'row my boat' he was content to be in the boat doing his fishing even on land.

It was an amazing adventure with such a great group of people that we're so thankful to have in our lives. Looking forward to next year already! Here's the our gang of towheads on the couch. Below is last years picture of all of them - scary how much they have grown! Next year we have to convince Sarah it's worth the trek out so we can have the Fab Four back again...

Ticket To Ride

2011-07-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

McKenzie and Ben are lucky to have someone as special as their Great Aunt Renee in their life. She is always up for an adventure with the kids and this summer she made one of Kenzie's wishes come true for her birthday. Aunt Renee took McKenzie for a ride on a bus which is something McKenzie has always wanted to do. They rode the bus to a bookstore where McKenzie was suppose to pick out a birthday present. After getting Aunt Renee to agree to buy not only her present but a present for Ben, Kayla and Nathan too they left and road another bus to lunch of McKenzie's choices. She picked McDonald's and could not believe Aunt Renee let her have her very own ice cream cone! It was an amazing day for our sweet girl and once she talks about frequently.

Buying the tickets, not sure why her hood is up she never wears it that way but I guess she was feeling she needed to look tough on the bus.

In her seat - ready to ride!

Enjoying her very own ice cream cone - that Aunt Renee sure does spoil her!

I was lucky enough to be a little girl with a very fun Aunt Renee and I'm twice as thankful that my little girl gets to have her as part of her life too!

Practice Makes Perfect

2011-07-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

As we geared up for our yearly trip to Entiat to camp we decided to do a practice run in the tent in our own backyard. Let's just say we need a lot of practice to get this whole sleeping in a tent thing down. We made a whole day of getting ready, the kids loved having the tent and airbed out in the backyard to play in all afternoon.

After dinner we got our pajamas on and started a campfire in our fire pit. This was the first time the kids have been up for a fire at our house. We ended the evening with 'smores and promptly added eating 'smores neatly on our list of things to practice.

We even found some exciting wildlife in our yard that we hadn't see before. I spotted this giant crawdad in the creek when I went to cool off my 'smore roasting stick. We had no idea there were even crawdads living in our creek let alone one of this size! He's right in the middle of the picture and to give prospective to his size that is an alder leaf in the lower right hand corner. Those pinches could get a little toe no problem.

After the fire died down we decided it was time to attempt to sleep in the tent together. Everyone had their spot and we laid down but Ben would not simmer down and finally Daddy had to take him inside to his room to sleep. That left McKenzie, me and the dogs out in the tent so we all snuggled up together and had a great night camping in the yard.

Looking forward to scheduling our next practice session of sleeping in the yard. That was one of my favorite things to do in the summer with my sister when I was growing up. Wonder if that orange pup tent we had is still around?

More Boom Please

2011-07-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

This year was the first 4th of July that Ben will probably remember and what he will remember is his Daddy made things 'boom' for him. We had our usual gathering of friends over at our house to celebrate and blow up the neighborhood. The weather cooperated and the kids were able to run wild in the backyard while the adults had a chance to kick back and relax a little.

We even broke out the kiddie pool for the first time this year! Here is McKenzie, Ben and Atticus playing in the pool.

Patriotic Atti waving his flags! I have a whole list of things to do differently next year and one of them is to buy the kiddie favor type stuff when I first see it out after Easter instead of waiting until July to try to find Red, White & Blue stuff for the kids. I need to have a secret storage place where I can hide all my seasonal things from the kids.

Ben and his flag, he spent most of the afternoon sitting on this little picnic table that he shoved off of the patio so he could sit next to Matt and light off fireworks. After each one he said 'More boom please' and how can you say no to this face and those manners?

While Ben did experience more of the 4th of July than usual, he did not get to stay up for the big fireworks. Next year might be his big year to stay out after dark and really experience a show. He was so happy just watching sparklers and roman candles during the day that we called it good and send him off to dreamland.

Once the sun went down the temperature cooled down significantly and the girls felt the need to bundle up for the big show. Cousin Claire and McKenzie ready to watch the show.

The girls wanted to get into the action this year and asked see some of the fireworks being lit. The best part was watching them race back to the driveway when Matt told them to run as he lit the fireworks. They were fast!

Another goal on my list of things for next year - learn how to take the perfect sparkler picture. I know it can be done and I will capture it next year!

The house all decked out for the holiday! Love seeing the front yard project from last year continue to evolve and grow with the seasons.

I'll Follow The Sun

2011-07-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

"One day you'll look to see I've gone.

For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun."

-Lyrics by Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Based on the weather forecast that pretty much guaranteed that it would rain the weekend before the 4th of July the kids and I did follow the sun. Our path led us across the Cascade mountains to Grandma and Grandpa C's house in Chelan where we spent a fun filled sunny weekend.

We made it over on Friday night in time for 'First Friday', which in Chelan means everyone heads downtown for family friend activities. The theme was "Celebrating the Red, White and Blue with Rodeo Round-Up" so I dressed the kids up in their 4th of July outfits and we headed out to have some fun. The first activity we came to was lassoing.

Ben was more into trying to drag off the steer head and bale of hay that he caught with his rope.

McKenzie listen very patiently and got a lesson from a cowboy on how to work the lasso. She was able loop the rope around those cows!

The second activity was making sock horses - Ben's horse was half finished when he jumped on and rode away. His horse reminded me a lot of him... it just kept going and going.

Saturday we spent the day down at the beach where the kids played in the water, built sand castles and just enjoyed the sun! Kenzie and cousin Kayla building sand castles.

Friend Claire, Kenzie and cousin Kayla having a group hug - too cute!

Grandpa and Uncle Eric also dug a giant piece of driftwood out of the beach area and everyone had fun floating on it. I would have loved to see the tree that this piece of wood came from.

My two little monkeys in the tree before dinner at the Lakeview Drive In.

After dinner we went up to Tsillan Cellars Winery to hear one of my favorite bands, The Paperboys, as they put on a fantastic concert. They always have a great family friend show and the kids love to dance to their music. The winery has an amazing setting with outdoor waterfalls and a small river around their stage area. The kids were amazed by the koi fish that they had swimming in the water. They were so cute looking over the edge of the bridges at the fish swimming by. I love in the first picture how Ben has is leg over Kenzie's like it's keeping him from falling in. Lucky for the fish the owner of the winery made an announcement about how there were three piranhas in with the koi so the kids kept their fingers and toes out of the water for the most part.

Once the show started Ben was up and dancing after the first three beats of the music. He desperately wanted to dance with the crowd right in front of the stage but every time we danced our way up there he would say 'Too loud' and hold his ears then he'd crash down on the blanket once we got back to our spot and take small break and then be up again ready to go. We also got to see a firework show after the concert so it was a day to remember for these kiddos!

Life must be nice when you have a Grandpa who will cart you around on his shoulders when you get tired!

Sunday was another sunny day and we got out the new slip-n-slide that Kenzie got for her birthday. The kids loved it and had no problem posing for action shots for my camera! It's so funny to see how small the slip-n-slide is. Thinking back to my childhood it was twice as wide and maybe three times as long.

Extreme sports seem to be in this groups future! McKenzie diving in for a long run, cousin Nathan blasting his way down the slide, friend Micah fighting to stay on the track and Ben most likely just slipped on the slide and fell into this position.

Overall, it was a great weekend and one I look forward to repeating throughout the summer. And yes, the song lyrics at the start of this entry were a threat to the Northwest, let's get the sun shining around here or else we know where we can find it!

A Summer {Day} To Remember

2011-07-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Someday looking back at this years entries I hope I question how every entry seems to include some reference to the poor weather and think that it can't have been as bad as I am describing. So far this summer has consisted of a handful of decent days and too few of those golden perfect summer days we remember to tide us over through the gray and rainy Winter and Spring.

We did have one perfect summer day not too long ago and lucky for us it was also cousin Claire's third birthday party at Magnuson Park in Seattle. This was our first trip to Magnuson and we figured there would at least be a playground to play on but it was ten times better than we imagined. The picnic shelter that Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Chris were hosting Claire's party in was right on the shore of Lake Washington and there was a kiddie pool right next to it. It couldn't have been more perfect for a summer party.

Being unfamiliar with the park we didn't plan for water activities and didn't bring our suits and that is how in three minutes of our arrival at the party Ben went from being dressed for a birthday party as shown below to being the baby who was running through the park wearing only a saggy diaper.

After his first dip in the lake we were forced to remove his clothes and let him run wild. He was so interested in the baby pool before they filled it up - he just knew that spout had to do something! He was one happy boy when they finished filling it up.

The birthday girl, Claire, enjoying the pool so much she ate her lunch while playing in the water.

There were so many fun activities for the kids to do - it really was a perfect party to enjoy the sunny day. Auntie Anne was painting faces and McKenzie got two of her favorite things - a rainbow and an ice cream cone.

Kenzie also gave hula-hooping a try and what she lacked in skill she made up for in effort! She was determined to figure it out.

This is one summer day we will remember no matter how many more we get!

It's A Classic

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

Who doesn't have a childhood memory of a sunny day spend playing with a red radio flyer wagon? The wagons of today have more features like seats, buckles and cup holders but in the end it serves the same purpose of fun for all who are riding or pulling.

Notice that in all that fun the wagon never even moved but the kids never stopped moving. I love that the pictures include their shadows moving with them. I hope that they will remember days like this spent together having fun as they grow up - I know I will remember!

Rub A Dub Dub...

2011-07-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

Two kids in a bucket... this is a backyard 'pool' Northwest style. The weather has been too cold to break out even the kiddie pool but the kids didn't let that stop them from having some fun with water in the backyard.

The only thing that McKenzie wanted to give Matt for Father's day this year was a 'water squirter'. I found these fun water tubes that did the trick and also weren't too hard for the kids to figure out how to use. Here they are loading up on water before watering the plants. Luckily they aren't too much into squirting each other yet!

The View From Here

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

It's amazing how fast life changes and how the things that are important to you change along with life. Having kids really makes you step back and appreciate the little things in life like finding the perfect bubble gun. I cannot tell you how many different types of bubbles, bubble wands and guns we have tried out in the last four years but I think we have finally found our winner!

McKenzie got the 'Turbo Bubble Blower' for her birthday and it has out performed all our previous bubble contraptions. It's simple enough that the kids can use it themselves and it puts out an amazing amount of bubbles using normal bubble liquid. Now we just need to more so we don't fight over the one we have!

Two happy kids chasing bubbles in the backyard!

Ben attempting to catch a bubble...

Dancing With The Stars!

2011-07-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

We have been practicing for McKenzie's big dance recital since last September so we were very ready for the recital when it finally rolled around. We had a dress rehearsal on the Wednesday before the show and McKenzie did great getting up on the big stage and dancing. I was a little worried since she told me on the way that there she didn't want a rat to bite her. Seeing the Mouse King bite the girl in the opening of the Nutcracker really stuck with her and she was sure a mouse would bite her on the stage. Once we over came that issue she was ready to shine!

I couldn't believe the number of kids and acts that were in the performance, it was really impressive. McKenzie's class was act 32 out of 38 which is a long time to wait for little girls but they all did fantastic. The rehearsal really made the actual recital seem even more exciting since it meant that more people would get to see her perform what she'd been working so hard on.

Here's her costume that I was waiting to reveal - I was hoping it would be very fun and frilly for these little dancers and boy did I get my wish. Here's our beautiful dancer in her full costume!

Looking serious before the show. The girls had to wait patiently backstage while all the other acts went which can be hard for little girls who are missing their nap times but the girls did amazing. I was just hoping that there were no tears or nose picking.

This was taken during the rehearsal when we were allowed to take pictures / video. This is the end of their routine to Old McDonald.

McKenzie with her flowers from her adoring fans - Grandma Z and Aunt Jennifer who were so supportive to come spend an afternoon watching her performance!

Within minutes of getting into the car she fell asleep in full costume still clutching the flowers from her fans.

Grandma Z has always had a picture of Aunt Jennifer with her ballet class from when she was 3 or 4 in her bathroom and for years I have admired that picture and how cute it is as an accent to the room. I was really hoping that I might create my own version of that for one of my bathrooms but I'm not sure the color of McKenzie's costume would work in my house so perhaps I'll try the black and white version!

Here's the full routine that I taped during the dress rehearsal. Love seeing that little girl dancing her heart out on that stage! McKenzie is in the back row on the far right.

Go Tigers!

2011-06-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

In addition to ballet this year McKenzie has been playing T-Ball through the local YMCA. At the first practice the coach asked the team what they wanted their team name to be an suggested they think of things that are fast. The team came up with Tigers, unfortunately the YMCA didn't assign colors based on team names and so McKenzie's team color is maroon.

Here's McKenzie leading the pack during warm ups for their first game. We have a great group of kids and a really great coach who's main goal is to have the kids learn the game while having fun which is so important at this age.

McKenzie during her first at bat. She had a great hit and then ran off towards first base! It's such a joy to see your child participating and enjoying life! Go Tigers!

Fabulous Fours!

2011-06-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

We survived the wondrous ones, the terrific twos and the tremendous threes with our McKenzie and now we're on to the fabulous fours! Each age with McKenzie just keeps getting better and better as she expands her world and discovers all the new things she can do. In our usual style we couldn't just settle for a simple celebration - it's not everyday your sweet girl turns four.

On McKenzie's birthday she woke up to a birthday display on the kitchen table - presents, flowers, a birthday crown and a cake with rainbow sprinkles! Here she is showing us how old she is.

Our princess checking out her birthday cake - she is just excited about the sprinkles at this point! Wait until she sees what Mom has on the inside!

Blowing out her candles and making a wish! Good thing she has been practicing all year for this...

What kind of birthday would it be if your brother didn't swipe some of the frosting while waiting for Mom to cut the cake?

The reveal! A rainbow cake!!

She was so excited when she saw the inside - she had asked for a rainbow cake and I had seen the perfect thing on my friend Dana's blog and I knew I had to figure out how to make it. Dana sent me some easy directions and off I went creating a rainbow cake to make McKenzie's birthday complete - how did we ever live without the Internet?

We also deviated from our normal birthday dinner and took the family to Chuck E. Cheese's for a night of family fun. The kids loved it - Kenzie actually understood how to play the games and win tickets - Ben was just so excited he was allowed to push buttons, lots of buttons!

And what do you get for a girl who has everything? The birthday gift she was most excited about on her actual birthday was the prize she picked out at Chuck E. Cheese's. A blow up chair for Flat Monkey - now he can relax in style when he visits Barbie's house. Life is good!

For her friend birthday party we had a joint birthday with cousin Kayla who turned six this year at Jump Planet - our favorite jump house gym. Both girls invited friends from their schools and it was a great crowd of wild jumpers. I tried to take more pictures but it's nearly impossible to get a good shot of kids on a bounce house. A big thank you to Grandma C who spent the entire party literally running from place to place with Ben as he jumped his little heart out.

The birthday cousins blowing out their candles on their yummy ice cream cake!

Cabin Fever

2011-06-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

The early part of the year always drags on as we wait for the glorious Northwest summer to arrive. This year Spring has even been seeming to lag as we wait for those moments of sunshine that make living with all this rain possible. Any opportunity to escape the normal routine and head off an adventure is a welcomed break especially if there ends up being sunshine involved.

Matt's Grandpa and now his Uncle Ron and Aunt Beverly own a cabin in the Wenatchee National Forest where you can walk down to Rimrock Lake. We made a large loop through Washington on our journey to the cabin and back home. On the way there we took I-90 to Ellensburg then headed South to Yakima and then on to the cabin. On the way back we crossed over White Pass which is just 10 miles from the cabin and drove through part of the Mt. Rainer National Park finally connecting with the civilized world we know in near Enumclaw. We have never really explored this part of the state and the views were amazing.

Here is Rimrock Lake from the beach just across the street from the cabin. The mountains surrounding the lake and the overall size of it were unbelievable.

Aunt Bev couldn't believe the kids were in the lake since it was sunny but not terribly warm during our visit but as usual when there's water there is no stopping them from going in. The water was 'Brr!' according to Ben but he just kept going in.

The kids also didn't seem to mind walking on the sharp gravel that made up the shoreline - maybe their little toes were frozen and they couldn't feel the sharp rocks.

Our little nature boy standing on the shore gearing up for his next venture into the water.

Kenzie taking a break on some driftwood - showing off her pale legs that are badly in need of some sunshine!

Here's where the kids slept at the cabin - they thought it was so fun to have a slumber party but whoever invited them seemed to forget to tell them about the slumber part... they stayed up late and were up early!

A favorite spot for these two - sitting on the firewood box watching the birds and chipmunks on the front porch. They spent most of the morning there watching the wildlife - so much better than television!

Ben hiking up the road to the cabin - one of those trees behind him to the right is the famous tree that Matt and his family hit in their car and resulted in Matt's stomach scar.

Here's a flashback picture of Matt at the cabin when he was probably around seven sitting so patiently waiting for a chipmunk to come get a peanut.

We had a wonderful trip - it was just the breath of fresh air and change of scenery we needed to tide us over until the sun is shining at home!

Practice Makes Perfect!

2011-06-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

We are nearing the end of McKenzie's ballet class and are in frenzied preparation for the big recital. When I originally signed her up for ballet I figured it was a couple of months and then a performance of sorts in front of the parents. Boy was I wrong... we have been diligently dancing our way through every Saturday morning since September and are preparing for a grand finale show at the Edmonds Center for Arts. I also didn't realized I was signing myself up to be a stage mom. I knew there was a costume and that I'd have to brush Kenzie hair and make sure she had clean tights on but I was not prepared for the detailed instructions I received.

Hair is to be curled in ringlets, half up, half down. Eye liner is something I can opt to use with the required lipstick, mascara and blush. I'm not much into make up myself so all this is taking some getting used to. I had to do some trial runs with the hair and makeup to make sure I was able to pull it all off for class picture day.

Here's McKenzie on one of her practice hair runs - testing to see if curlers were going to work or if I needed to buy a curling iron. Thank goodness I saved the hot rollers I received for Christmas in high school - they finally came in handy!

Finished product! Beautiful curls to go with the headpiece for her costume. I'll save the big reveal of the whole costume for after the recital but as you can see from the colors here - it's bold!

It's fun that there is an element of participation for me in the kids activities - keeps me learning and expanding my own world! From this experience I have confirmed that I'm not cut out to be a stage mom but I will enjoy this little venture while it lasts.

How Does Your Garden Grow...?

2011-06-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Our garden is growing out of control... I am learning a lot with this first experience in gardening! Lesson one for the season - if someone is so dedicated to gardening that they gather and package up tiny seeds and ship them all over for others to buy, they probably have grown these same plants before and are telling you to space the seeds out for a very good reason.

As you can see I have crammed too many plants into the far end of the garden but they are all thriving despite the cramped situation. The poor carrots and radishes that I planted from seed are the worst - I simply didn't believe that they needed the space the package indicated and then to further justify need to dump the entire packet of seeds into the small space that I had I told myself that perhaps all the seeds wouldn't grow. Each and every one of those tiny little seeds seems to have grown. I'm working on thinning them out now.

I have lost two different types of plants due I think to lack of water - my cucumber plants dried up and died and my basil plants wilted down to the ground and withered up. I even kept the basil inside for a week and a half longer than the other plants but perhaps not long enough. I'll have to do some more research before I attempt either of those again.

Our first crop from the garden has been lettuce which is growing quite nicely. We have been having fresh lettuce everything possible. Time to plan a nice big salad so I can use more of it up! Kenzie and I finally got around to staking up our peas and sweet pea plants this past weekend and they are climbing higher with each day. I can't wait until the sweet pea flowers bloom - those were my favorite as a child.

I plan to keep documenting my gardening lessons as the garden grows so I remember for next year!

Three Little Monkeys

2011-06-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Having fun at the zoo... We recently spent a fun day at one of our favorite places, the Woodland Park Zoo with one of our favorite people, cousin Claire. The kids loved running along together from one exhibit to the next. It's always interesting to see what animal and/or animal activity holds their attention the longest. On this trip it was our old friends the orangutans. Other favorites were the elephants, penguins and the giraffes.


Here are our little monkeys just hanging around!

Ben making a new friend - he did not want say good-bye to this friendly guy.


Stair steps: Ben 2, Claire almost 3, Kenzie almost 4

Ben wore his tracksuit to the zoo and was often jogging along through the exhibits with one of us chasing along behind him. The girls opted for more of a life of leisure and found a way to share their ride.

A stroller made for one - perfect for two cousins!

Ben moving in for a hug on a big kitty!


Two cuties taking a break to watch the elephants.

Always a great way to end a fantastic zoo trip!

Looking forward to many zoo trips this summer to enjoy the animals with the kiddos!

Take One...

2011-06-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

When McKenzie was 2 1/2 when she went to her first movie, she loved it and enjoyed the whole show. We decided that Ben was old enough to see his first movie at the theater and decided to plan a family outing to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Unfortunately, Ben's attention span did not last as long as the movie. He was too interested in everything but the movie so I had to leave and take him for a stroll while McKenzie and Daddy finished the show. When he started yelling 'My Grandma, My Grandpa' I knew it was time to go. He often yells at the elderly and I'm just lucky he decided he liked whatever Grandparent he saw. If he doesn't like the Grandparent he sees, he points and yells 'Bad. Bad Grandpa'.

Just like making movies we'll be going on to Take 2 at a future date.

Enjoying some popcorn at the show.

Parenting: Science or Art?

2011-06-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

McKenzie will be turning four in less than two weeks and she still loves her afternoon nap. She will sleep most days for two plus hours in the afternoon. She has always loved to nap when she was almost two we finally had to wean her off her morning nap with what we termed a 'controlled' nap. She was allowed to fall asleep in the morning but only for half an hour that way she would take a good afternoon nap. With all this desire to sleep you'd think the evenings would be easy but she fights bedtime with everything she has. This is where the question comes in - is parenting science or an art form? Let's explore...

Science According to Wikipedia these are the elements of scientific method:

Characterizations: My child won't go to sleep at night and won't stay in her bed. This happens almost every night. She needs just one more thing... no two more things...
Hypothesis: Maybe she is getting too much sleep during the day. Perhaps she is overly tired. Could she be trying to drive me crazy? Is she being paid off by Grandma to pay me back from similar behavior when I was a child?
Predictions: If I try a shorter afternoon nap she may be tired at bedtime. An earlier bedtime might keep her from being overly tired and will let her drift off to sleep quickly. If this keeps up I will possibly go crazy if I'm not already there. If I find that Grandma has wished this on me she'll be sharing a room with McKenzie next time she comes for a visit.
Experiments: Test all of the above and then test every suggestion you learn from other parents and the internet.

The experiment part is where the true job associated with parenting comes in... when every day you are preforming a new experiment to try to find that one little element you can alter to change the game and keep your child doing what you want them to do. Matt and I are always strategizing new plans to get McKenzie to stay in her room at night. Here are a few of our recent attempts: taking away a baby doll every time she gets up, giving her a silly band in the morning if she doesn't get out of bed, and my new favorite reading to her from 'Little House On The Prairie' which to a child is not all that exciting since she is used to picture books. I must say while reading the long chapters of the book does settle McKenzie down a bit what I really leave with each night is a strong desire to know why Pa and Ma did not publish a companion book that talked about parenting - they just say 'bedtime for little girls' and Laura runs off to bed. In my dreams. Now let's give art a chance...

Art According to Wikipedia art is defined as 'the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.' We certainly do use our imaginations when trying to come up with new things to try and the aesthetics of our environment do increase when my child are safely snuggled in their beds for the night.

In the end I believe that parenting requires a finely tuned sense that allows you to join arts use of skill and imagination with the scientific knowledge gained from forming your hypotheses, predictions and executing your many experiments. And still some nights you get to put your child back in bed over and over until she has no more dolls to sleep with and some nights you end up with this...

Party On Wheels!

2011-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

For some reason we have missed every birthday party that Kenzie and Ben's friend Atti has had during his three long years of life. Knowing our love of birthday parties we just couldn't let him get off without celebrating with us too. Atti had never been to one of our favorite places - The Country Village so we decided that was where we needed to take him to celebrate turning three!

The kids played on the playground, chased ducks, rode the train, fed chickens & geese, danced on a stage, ran wild through the boardwalk and generally drove their mothers crazy. It's good to have friends who can relate to the ups and downs with kids so you know they aren't judging you when your child gets a sliver in their hand and screams for the entire five minute walk to the car.

Here's Atti and McKenzie throwing the duck and geese their food when it was clearly within their reach already and they were choosing not to eat anymore. Gotta love little helpers!

A rare moment of peace while the kids were 'reading' a brochure on a drift wood chair. Love how seriously they are all taking it. I think maybe they were actually plotting an escape route or something.

The birthday boy riding on one of the merry go rounds that are spread around the village. I can't believe he's three already - time really does fly!

We ended the outing with Atti opening his birthday present in the back of my car since the sliver had caused us to wrap up the fun. What a good friend Atti is to let his friends open his birthday present!

In the end a good time was had by all and the sliver only stayed in for another two days after McKenzie decided she was going to keep it. Luckily for us she finally let Aunt Kacey take it out.

Mama's Masterpieces!

2011-05-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I got to spend an amazing weekend filled with good company, wonderful meals, relaxing strolls on the beach and best of all free time to do one of my favorite hobbies - scrapbooking! Here are some of my latest pages since I rarely if ever take my books out to show people all my hard work it's nice to have the ability to share what I've created! I was able to create 14 pages and I even slept in both mornings so I consider it to be a successful scrap weekend.

** Yes I know 'splish' is spelled wrong... I got a bit crazy at the end and there is no spell check in scrapbooking! Next scrap night I'll fix it...

***************************************************************************

Share some of the Masterpieces in your life! Directions here.

McKenzie Mary, Quite Contrary...

2011-05-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row."

Our McKenzie Mary being quite contrary after I asked her to smile!

In an effort to be a little greener, live a little healthier, and give the kids a hands on learning experience we have planted our first ever vegetable and flower garden this year. In the past I have grown tomatoes but they were located in an area that didn't get enough sun so we never really got to fully enjoy more than a few each season. This year Matt build a raised garden that will get full sun for most of the day and will give us just enough space for a nice little garden. We have planted the following items:

Seven tomato plants - mostly cherry variety
Broccoli
Carrots
Radishes
Peas
Beans
Lettuce
Cucumber
Pumpkins
Chives
Oregano
Basil
Thyme
Dwarf sunflowers
Sweet Peas
Mixed flowers

Probably more than our little garden can really sustain but we're learning and so far we've had a lot of fun working on our garden. Due to the late Spring - so late I'm not really sure it's actually arrived yet we used starts from the local nursery instead of seeds for most of the items we planted.

McKenzie knows all about what it takes to make plants grow - dirt, sunshine and rain. We're definitely getting enough rain to make the garden grow - hopefully they can live on the little sunshine we have been getting. I'll update on the garden as it grows!

Ben is not so much into gardening as he is into jumping... I spent my time planting the garden split between actually planting and making sure he didn't break his bones while jumping off our patio wall into the yard. Boys will be boys!

Hand Prints on My Heart

2011-05-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

"My dirty little fingerprints
I've left on every wall,
And on the drawers and table tops,
I've really marked them all.
But here is one that won't rub off,
I'm giving it to you,
Because I'm thankful for a mother just like you!"

That was the poem that accompanied McKenzie and Ben's hand print art that they made for my Mother's Day gifts this year. I loved receiving these special pieces of art because they both were so excited to give them to me. McKenzie really got Mother's Day this year and was very excited about a special day for me. She gave me her hand print art dozens of times throughout the day which was very cute. Ben actually seemed to know that this piece of art was special and he would open up his card and say 'My Hand.' while patting first his chest and then his hand. Then he would hold his little hand up to the card and show me it was in fact his hand.

Before I was a mother I thought little hand prints were cute but never all that special and now I know how fleeting these tiny hand prints are and how fast the kids are growing up and how special capturing these little moments really is.

Our Mother's Day activities this year were pretty much a repeat of last year and if we never do anything different I'll be one happy Mom. On Saturday night we went to the Mariner's game with Aunt Kacey, Uncle Eric, Nathan, Kayla and their Grandma Jill. We actually made it to the seventh inning stretch which is a new record for the kids. We treat events like this as if we're just going out to dinner and there happens to be something exciting going on as well. There is no point in even paying attention to the game with two small kids on the loose.

Ben was a very excited fan at the baseball game and loved yelling about anything and everything. He also enjoyed the music which must have been playing just for him to dance.

It was when this face came out that we knew it was time to wrap up the evening and head home.

On Sunday I got to sleep in which is a rare treat and then I came downstairs just as the french toast was leaving the skillet. We then surveyed the weather and decided to try for our morning plans despite the clouds. We headed down to the Mukilteo ferry and walked on for the short journey over to Whidbey Island. After a short play at the park near the ferry terminal we took our damp kiddos back across the sound to Ivar's for their fantastic Mother's Day brunch menu.

One of the things I love most about Mother's Day is that we actually for some reason remember to ask people to take pictures of us. Despite the cloudy day sunglasses would have helped us out!

Note to self, next year take your family picture not facing into the wind.

Our future discus champion winding up to send something back to the sea.

McKenzie was very focused on picking up all the shells on the beach.

Perhaps Ben will also be training for the long jump or the javelin throw. He loved throwing he could manage to pick up into the water. Too bad his Mom didn't pack extra socks or his rain boots.

Despite the spotty weather we managed to have a great time! Nothing is going to shadow the smiles on these three.

This one might classify us for the 'Akward Family Photos' site - not sure what's up with all our different facial expressions but it's a keeper!

Go Big Or Go Home

2011-04-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

We made the most of our Easter weekend and had more fun than any one should really be allowed to have. Our weekend was so jam packed with activities that the kids were at a whole new level of crazy by the time Sunday evening rolled around.

Friday's light itinerary included playing the backyard followed by a play date with Gina and Atticus at the Mountlake Terrace pool where they had open swim and than an Easter Egg Hunt in the pool. The kids loved all the pool toys that were out during the open swim. The favorite was floating mats that stretched across the pool that they could walk on and then jump into the water. I could not keep them off it even though it required McKenzie to jump 2 plus feet from the edge of the pool to get onto the mat. My children are destined for extreme sports and I'll be along for the ride, holding my breath all the way.

Here's McKenzie preparing to gather the eggs from the pool. Such a fun activity for the kids!

Ben preparing for his favorite pool activity - jump!

After swimming we all came back to our house and met up with more friends - Rachel, Keaton and Katie and Cody for a pizza and cookie making party. In total we had five kids three and under - four of them boys! We sure did have some fun but I also learned some lessons like don't bother picking up before a play date and to have premade food so I could concentrate on the fun. We started off with some treats for our friends just in case there was any doubt that we weren't going to get enough sweets over the weekend.

Here's the crew minus Keaton who McKenzie insisted on holding as much as possible. Cody is 2, Atticus will be 3 in May, McKenzie will be 4 in June and Ben is 2 - he is only 25 days younger than Cody and might possibly be 25 pounds lighter. These two are complete opposites in size but very similar in their sweet personalities.

McKenzie and her favorite little guy Keaton - she was holding him and told Rachel that she could babysit. She is 3 going on 16 I guess!

Photo Courtesy of Gina

Ben was so excited to have friends over to play in his room that he got a bit out of control and turned into 'The Dumper' and his friends barely made it out alive after he dumped two huge bins of Legos and GeoTraxs on them.

Photo Courtesy of Gina

Once we finally settled down from our fun night the kids had a great night of sleep and actually slept in a little on Saturday morning. We then went to McKenzie's ballet class and then out to enjoy a wonderful sunny day at our favorite park - North Creek Park or as Kenzie calls it 'Pink Park'.

McKenzie practicing pumping by herself on the swing - such a happy day for a Mom when your child starts to do things on their own. Especially if you have to run across the playground to catch your other child who is trying to jump off of various parts of the playground equipment.

Ben climbing everything he could find then yelling for me to 'Look' and 'Jump?'

After lunch and naps we headed out again to meet up with our friend Kim and her dog Muki to play some ball. These two can't get enough of Muki and luckily for them she's handles all the attention very well.

Another good night of sleep after all that fun in the sun and then it was Easter morning!! The Easter Bunny hid eggs all over our house starting on the stairs. Here's the kids opening and eating their eggs as they found them.

McKenzie finding the Easter Baskets - I couldn't believe it took them so long to find them. They were sitting on the dining room table.

After we found the baskets we got dressed and headed out for Yakima to visit Great Grandpa Z with the rest of the family. Here's McKenzie, cousin Claire and Ben ready for the egg hunt!

Too cute McKenzie with her basket of eggs.

Little man trying to shake an egg out of a tree since he couldn't reach. He tried everything to get that egg out, shaking, climbing, jumping finally his sister came and got it down for him - so sweet!

Ben and McKenzie taking a break from the hunt - McKenzie is yelling 'We love Easter!' We do love it and can't wait for next year when we have even more fun than this year.

Double Take

2011-04-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

When you have two of anything it's hard not to notice the how different they are especially when you are comparing two people. For all the million things that are different about McKenzie and Ben there are a million things that are the same. One of the things they do share is their love of trains in any shape or size. There is nothing better to them then spending a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Country Village riding the train.

If nothing else as they grow older I can always show them this moment in time when they were completely on the same page at the same time just being together.

Getting Ready for the Bunny!

2011-04-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

In our typical fashion we are gearing up for Easter with our practice egg hunts, our explosion of stuffed bunnies, chickens and lambs and of course dying eggs! This year Ben actually got to participate in the egg dying process. His contribution was shouting 'blue' over and over again while dipping his fingers into the blue vinegar egg dye cup then licking them repeatedly. Lovely doesn't even come close to describing it. McKenzie on other other hand was quite the seasoned veteran at dying and we only lost three eggs in tragic accidents with the floor.

We are very much looking forward to the Easter Bunny's visit and have lots of Easter fun planned!

Our beautiful eggs which we want so badly to look at and hold every day... we'll see how many make it to Easter!

Living The Dream...

2011-04-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Each Winter and through the long endless Spring while we wait for the reward of Summer to show up sometime in July Matt and I discuss moving. There are many reasons we think about moving most of them weather related. In the end our reasons for staying are not ones that can be picked out of a towns statistics or a weather forecast. We stay because of the friends and family we have near by and how much we appreciate and enjoy their company. However this does not make us give up our list of reason we'd want to move. One of our big move discussion points is always the desire to have a pool at our house that we could use longer than the short summer season here. The happiness I see in my kids faces when they are in the water makes this a must have item.

About a month ago we discovered the next best thing - we joined Columbia Athletic Club in Mill Creek. We have been members of the local gym for a few years and have enjoyed it for Matt and I but the kids were not allowed to swim there and we have tried to fit in other local pools schedules into our weekend time around naps and other activities but we always felt rushed. The 'jum' as the kids call it has open family swim available all the times we could actually use the pool. We have been going swimming with the kids every chance we get and we are loving it.

Ben has turned into quite the swimmer these days with this help of his 'puddle jumper' life jacket he can be a free agent in pool and just kick his little self all around. This life jacket is seriously a life saver - it makes it possible for one of us to take both kids to the pool by ourselves and actually get in a few worry free moments to relax ourselves.

McKenzie continues to advance her swimming skills - she also has a 'puddle jumper' life jacket that we bought for her before Hawaii. She is also confident enough to take it off and practice actual swimming and has been going underwater with her Daddy to pick up some dive balls from the bottom of the pool. So looking forward to swim lessons this summer and watching her swimming continue to blossom!

We are still looking forward to the Summer since the 'jum' has an outdoor pool as well and then we'll really be living the dream!!

Rainbows Out of Rainy Days

2011-04-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the kids is their eternal optimism. They seem to be able to turn any situation into something fun. Last Saturday it was typical Northwest Spring day which called for morning sprinkles, mid day showers and afternoon drizzle. My first thought on seeing the rain in the afternoon was that we'd be stuck in the house for the rest of the day with nothing to do. Luckily the kids came up with a much better way to spend the afternoon - using their new umbrella! What could be a short five minute trip to the mailbox turned into almost a hour of fun. Mind you this same principal can work horribly against you as well. Any normal activity that should take you five minutes to complete will take you at least half an hour if you have the kids along.

Here we are heading out - the excitement of umbrellas was over the top! Ben though has not mastered the umbrella - he doesn't grasp it's purpose and holds it over his shoulder. McKenzie on the other hand was all about not getting rained on. Love that Ben has a little 'get up an go' in his step. He loves to try to skip.

Serious umbrella user - balancing his need to use two hands and his desire to hold my hand while walking with the umbrella. In the end I got to hold the umbrella and he ran free.

McKenzie strolling along without a care in the world about getting wet since she has on rain boots, a rain coat and her umbrella.

Ben discovered a nice puddle and did some serious splashing! McKenzie was having none of it - she might get wet she told me. Imagine that.

Ben did get wet but he loved every minute of it!

Benny's Buttons

2011-04-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Our guy Benny loves pushing buttons on anything, anywhere, everywhere, even better if the button actually does something. He loves to get his hands on the remotes, Wii controllers, computers, car key fobs, a landline phone is pure heaven with that lovely dial tone just waiting for the push of a button. You name a button and he's pushed it.

We had that in mind when we made his Christmas list last year. He received many Benny approved items that included buttons. One of his favorites is his own little laptop 'puter'. He loves to tote it around and push the buttons to his hearts content. Lately he's been making little makeshift desks out of things to put his 'puter' on and I found him in the laundry room the other morning happily working away.

He's was probably trying to hack into our wireless network to trade some stocks. He's still cuter than the E Trade baby any day!

Daddy's Girl

2011-04-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of my all time favorite pictures of McKenzie was taken when she was two months old and just starting to smile. She was practicing one of her favorite activities even to this day - waking Daddy up. I have the picture on the wall upstairs and this weekend she was telling me about it when we were in the car. She likes to talk about when she was a baby. She said 'remember when I was a baby and I was supposed to be in a picture with Daddy smiling?' She tends to throw in a 'supposed to' when taking about the past for some reason.

Later that afternoon Matt was laying on the bed watching the kids playing in the landing and McKenzie decided to recreate the picture. She was very exacting including making Matt close the curtains since she felt that it was dark in the first picture.

Still cute together even almost four year later. She really is a Daddy's girl! Hopefully she will retain her love for her Daddy as the years pass and also her tolerance for having her picture taken for my sake!