Family
17
Tomorrow this fella and I celebrate 17 years of holy matrimony. Golly. We were babies! As I was looking for a wedding photo to scan, I found a book of advice written to me by women whom I respect and who have been married decades. It was a blessing to peruse their words and have the experience and confidence to nod my head, yes, yes, oh no way, yes, yes. If I was to add my advice to the book, here’s what it would be. Don’t try to measure your relationship to anyone else’s. Seriously. Don’t. There is no one who wins at that game. And frankly, you don’t know what goes on behind…
Tips for Visiting the Dominican Republic
We had the pleasure of visiting the Dominican Republic over Christmas. It was a real hardship, but someone had to do it! Don’t hate me right now. 😉 If you are from the United States and planning a trip to the Dominican Republic, here is some useful information we discovered during our visit. Beach at Catalonia Gran Dominicus La Romana near Bayahibe 1. Currency It was unclear before we left how much currency we needed to exchange into Dominican pesos. Most sites recommended having a mixture of US dollars and Dominican pesos – especially small bills for tipping. We ended up exchanging $100 before we left the U.S. and received…
Happy Christmas!
From our home to yours, Happy Christmas! Thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog! It gives me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings that make me slightly uncomfortable, but also really grateful. 🙂 Photo Credit: Meg Davidson Photography I’m going to take some time off to spend with my family while the kids are on winter break. I’ll be back at it after the first of the year. 2016 here we come!! Share this:
Cooking with Kids. Did I Survive?
There is a noticeable difference between 2nd and 3rd grade. I don’t remember this from my own experiences in elementary school (maybe I blocked it out?), but I have noticed it with my oldest now in 3rd grade. Yes, the work is harder, but the biggest difference is the expectation of the student. It’s all about personal responsibility and building independence. Ding, ding, ding! Those are some parenting buzzwords you can take to the bank. Except that independence thing…my babies can stay home forever. Kidding! So, so kidding. They are going to need that independent trait so they can get rich and buy me that home in the south of France.…
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween, my pretties! Only one more day until my children get to dress up and get free candy from strangers! I can never decide if I want them to: a) get candy that I enjoy and will pilfer when they are asleep (aka the parenting tax) b) get candy that I am powerful enough to resist This year we made our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch. This one at Washington Farms is our favorite. If only they let the adults bounce on the jumping pillow. Doesn’t it look like fun? Why hasn’t a gym opened yet with jumping pillow fitness classes? Hmmm…maybe I should open one of those. I’m soaking…
Columbus Day
Happy Columbus Day! The kids have the day off from school, so I’m taking the day off to spend it with their sweet little faces. Like this one… And this little guy who lost his first tooth in this picture and then lost his second tooth just a few days ago. Handy Husband has been traveling a bunch lately and we’re happy to be spending the day with him too. On his travels he’s brought back some interesting things. Like ketchup-flavored chips from Canada. Oh, and roasted chicken-flavored chips too. Canadians get all of the interesting flavors… I’m so happy we get an extra family fun day! Maybe we’ll find…
Labor Day
We’ve had a long 4-day weekend. We did some of this… But, I promise, the only one who passed out on the floor was this one. I’m going to soak up one more day off with our happy little family and be back to our regularly scheduled awesomeness on Wednesday. I’ve been doing some crafting and can’t wait to share it with you all! P.S. If you are interested in the kids’ Berg pedal cars, we got them on Amazon and LOVE them. P.S.S. The green blanket is the Chamois Stroller Blanket from Pottery Barn and it’s my go-to for baby presents. *affiliate links in this post* Share this:
Ode to Summer Vacation
Here we are, last weekend of summer vacation. The kids are excited to start Kindergarten and 3rd grade. I’m excited for them. It’s just that the Kindergarten milestone is a doozy on a mama. Especially since his “firsts” are my “lasts.” I don’t even want to think ahead to when my daughter goes to middle school. No sirree. We spent most of July in Oregon learning how to drive a tractor… ….and teaching Grandpa that you really can jump from hay bale to hay bale. Whether or not he thinks you should is a different matter. Those hay bales did conveniently disappear one day… We cooled off at every splash…
Happy as a Dog in a Field of Cows
I’ve spent the last two and a half weeks happy as this dog playing in the field. No joke! I slept in my old childhood room. It’s much classier these days – no posters on the wall. I soaked up time with my family. How do my nieces and nephews grow so fast? How am I old enough to have nieces and nephews? Stop the madness! I squeezed in as much time as possible with friends. What happens on girls night, stays on girls night. Also, true friends are rare and should be cherished…especially since they have so much dirt on you! Now I’m headed home. I’m happy about that too.…
Caption This
This might be my favorite photo of me EVER. It totally beats all those pictures of me in 3rd grade with a mullet. Thanks Mom. The expressions on these girls’ faces? Priceless. You know you’re doing a good job as a parent if your kids alternate between amazed and embarrassed beyond belief by your antics. I’m trying to settle on a way to caption this photo. I was trying to teach these girls how to do one of those “jump high in the air” photos. I’d say I knocked it out of the ballpark… on so many levels. Don’t be surprised if this becomes my Christmas card. So, if you have an idea…
