Ash Mash

watermelon pops, a moth's tombstone, and eyeball stew!

2010-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

There is never a dull moment around here, I tell ya! Just when I think the creativity can't get anymore creative, one of my girls comes up with something that just blows me away! Last night, together they brought me a "mommy and me cookbook" that had some yummy homemade popsicle pictures in it with a quick and easy recipe ~ so I promised them we could make them. Well, first thing this morning they wanted them for breakfast, but somehow I managed to redirect them and hold them off until after mass. (whew!)

As we were making them, they both wanted to fill the popsicle molds with different liquids. I allowed them to try apple juice, coke zero, water with a squeeze of lime, and our watermelon mixture. I drew the line at caramel syrup and beer. (they didn't want to put them together, however, I still had to draw the line somewhere or we would have run out of molds before we got to putting in our homemade stuff!) Maybe I should have suggested the caramel and beer combo and maybe it would have been a hit and then maybe we would have needed to market them and then maybe we would have become local popsicle celebs. hmmmm. Crazier things have happened, right?!

Anyway, this isn't the creative part of my post.... it's still to come, after these quick photos......

The next thing to report is that we have an official resident bug rescuer in our house this summer, and Holland is her name-o! She does come complete with a little sidekick-bug-rescuer-wannabe-helper so I can't complain because now I don't have to be the assistant! Anyway, in just this last week, she rescued a moth with a broken wing, captured a caterpillar at audobon park, dug around in the mud for a couple of roly polies, and then today she caught a dragonfly bare handed!

As she was nursing the moth back to health, it somehow took a turn for the worse (i.e., got squished) and died. She insisted on a funeral, and she made all the arrangements herself! She buried "frisy" (pronounced "frizzy") the moth in a play pie tin covered with sand with a rock headstone that she decorated all on her own! Here..... see for yourself:

Cute, huh? (and quite creative, too ~ remember that was one of the main points of this ridiculously long post)

Well, since we are speaking of creative, I saved the best for last...... EYEBALL STEW....... (and I don't really have anything to add to that - it kinda speaks for itself!)

And to think I have missed a whole year of this sort of thing by not blogging. : (

I'm back though so stay tuned for more ashmash tales to come!

last day of kindergarten

2010-06-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

just a few months ago, we were walking holland to school for her first day of kindergarten, and now here we are driving her to school for her last day of kindergarten! (it's funny how things change over the course of a year - we were so eager to walk to school every day at the beginning of the year, and i am embarrassed to say that we drove 90% of the time, and we only live about 5 blocks away). pathetic, i know.

she has had a wonderful year at school and she really loves going. she absolutely adores her teacher, and will miss her terribly. we were saddened to hear a few weeks ago that 6 of the teachers at her school, including her kindergarten teacher, were let go due to financial crisis and decreased enrollment. not good.

i will just leave it at that.

so on a much more pleasant note, i introduce to you our very own-soon-to-be-first grader.......

a couple more birthday shots!

2010-06-06T22:55:00.001-07:00

my june bug turns 3 and the return of ash mash, the blog

2010-06-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

My oh my! Where in the world do I even begin? (I guess I unintentionally took a year off!) I have been thinking for the last few months that I would like to start the 'ole blog back up again, but it was sort of overwhelming to try and pick a random date. As the months and months without blogging stacked up, it seemed impossible to pick up where I left off so after giving it more thought, and letting more and more months stack up, I thought it would be appropriate to just literally pick up where I did leave off - Dylan's birthday. So without further ado....

Happy Birthday, my little june bug! And hello long lost blogging buddies!

Our birthday celebration started a little early this morning! Holland woke up at about 6:30 this morning, and ran over to Dylan's bed and jostled her around a bit telling her to "wake up" "wake up". Holland reported that Dylan kinda groaned, shouted "no", rolled over, and pulled the covers over her head. So then, Holland quickly and energetically reminded her that it was her birthday (she couldn't just let her fall back fast asleep, you know! After all, it was her sisterly duty to get her up and ready to celebrate).

Holland told us that Dylan just heard the word "birthday", kicked off the covers, and jumped eagerly out of the bed!

By this time it's about 6:4oish and I hear a set of pitter patters coming down the steps. Holland was dressed in her school uniform and Dylan was dressed in her birthday girl shirt and mixed matched pants that were sitting out on her bedroom floor. Holland quickly rushed Dylan into the kitchen to see the birthday presents and balloons that the birthday fairy had left, and I kinda rolled over, glanced at the clock, and wished this wasn't happening quite yet! I did somehow manage to get Dylan to come into the bed with me for some "birthday cuddles", but this only lasted until 6:52, and then the party got started!

All in all, it was a good birthday -

chocolate chip muffin top with candles, birthday song, zhu-zhu pet accessories from holland, new sandbox toys, new gardening tools, a Diego DVD, balloons all over the place, birthday tutu, a ribbon to follow all through the house to unveil the beautiful new dollhouse filled with furniture, mini bday photo shoot, a mobius "hungry caterpillar" reading and art activity, lunch at dylan's favorite restaurant with grandma & grandpa (the noodle express), more presents (webkinz pelican, bird stuffie, a lemur stuffie, a new baby doll, and some bday cash), back home for some sandbox playtime, out to fishtrap lake to try out the new swing set grandpa built, cookies and ice cream with more candles for dinner, walk to the lake, playtime in grandpa's boat, back home again, bedtime reading of excerpts from bedrest boutique, a reading of last year's favorite book (brown bear, brown bear) followed by lots of birthday girl cuddles and snuggles.

I seriously can't believe my baby is three! I have been telling her jokingly for weeks that she needs to stop growing and that I am so sad that she is not a baby anymore. This is usually followed by a fake pouty lip and silly wail of a cry from me, in which she replies, "I can still be your baby". "I can always be your baby".

And then I say, "seriously?" "you can still be my baby even when you are a big girl?" and she says, "yes, I can still be your baby even when I'm a big girl!".

I then hug her repeatedly, squeeze her tight, swing her around, say "oh good! I'm so, so glad you are gonna be my baby", and then we both giggle with delight!

Those words have been music to my ears for months now, and they help soothe the sting of her growing up so fast. Unfortunately, tonight at bedtime, she was short and to the point when she broke it to me.....

"Mommy, I'm not your baby anymore because now I'm a big, big girl". (at least she waited until the end of the day to tell me!)

Apparently, I didn't listen close enough to our verbal agreement - it was only until she was a "big girl" and now that she's three, she's entered the "big, big girl" phase - so the deal is off.

she's not my baby anymore.....

(sniff sniff)

Dylan at Two

2009-06-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

When you wake up in the morning, I never know what to expect. Some mornings you wake me up by standing in your crib and shouting "mooooommmmay" "daaaaaaaddday", and then other mornings you wake up and play quietly in your crib with your stuffies and your blankies. You line up whichever stuffies are currently in your crib, and you carefully tuck them all in under your favorite cozy blankies. Sometimes I can hear you singing them songs over the monitor or giving them lots of loving. Then there are the mornings when I go into retrieve you and you have thrown out all of your dear stuffies and blankies onto the floor, and you are just standing there waiting to be retrieved. I just never know what kind of morning it's gonna be!

You are incredibly sweet when it comes to looking out for your big sister. If you get a snack, you insist that Holly gets one, too. If you get a drink, you insist that Holly gets one, too. When you and Holland are rough housing with daddy and playing "one for the money", climbing up his legs, or being swung all around to high heaven, you make sure that Holland gets equal amounts of turns. You tell daddy, "Holly's turn, daddy. Holly's turn." And when you both are in the bathtub, you insist that Holland gets a bucket of water dumped over her lathered up hair, just like you!

When Daddy or I return home from work, you insist that we take our coat ("toat") off immediately and stay awhile! You say, "toat off, mommy. toat over dare, mommy!"

One of your favorite things to say right now is "No Funny!". If daddy or I laugh at you at what you think is not an appropriate time to laugh then you point your little finger at us, and yell, "no funny, mommy. no funny". Then we just laugh louder and we get more finger shaking and more yelling!

You are really developing a love for music and you have been for a few months now. The only problem is that you acquire love for songs, one song at a time, and then you only want to hear that song - over, and over, and over, and over again. Seriously, you would listen to the same song 30 or more times if I let you, and the reason I know this is because Grandpa did let you!! Your first favorite song was the "hello song" from your music together CDs, and other favorites include: "Zoom Zoom Driving in the Car", "My Friends Tigger and Pooh Theme Song", "Song in My heart", and the most worn out of all (the grandpa song) is "Baby Beluga".

Your favorite TV shows right now are Dora the Explorer, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and the Little Einsteins.

You love school, and every morning (m,w,f) when we are getting ready, I will say (in a sing songy way), "who wants to go to schooo-ul?" And she shouts, "I do, I do!" while doing a tippy toe balerina dance in a circular motion and chanting "too-ul, too- ul".

You also love water. You always have and I'm afraid you always will. You could stand and play at the sink for hours. You especially love it when I give you a cup or two of water to play with in your kitchen area. When I turn the water on for you to brush your teeth, you like for it to come out of the faucet with a pretty strong force. I tend to have just a little bit of water flowing out, but you immediately tell me, "Louder, mommy. Want water louder!".

On school day mornings when we are driving to school, you eagerly await driving through the tunnels (the freeway and train underpasses). You have a little routine to say, "Mommy, tunnel tumming (coming), tunnel tumming!" Then when we pass through it you shout "TUNNEL!" "TUNNEL!". And then once we are a block away, you say, "all done tunnel, mommy. want other tunnel".

You are in a phase right now in which reverse psychology works wonders on you! I think we have gotten you to eat whole meals by saying, "Don't you take another bite. No, no, no Dylan! No more bites! Noooooo! Don't do it!". And then you laugh hysterically, slyly open up your rmouth with a little sneaky grin, and hastily eat more bites and insist that we say it again. "uh-den Mommy, uh-den!". or insist that we go around the table. "Don't you eat that salad, Daddy". "No, no, no Daddy". "Holland Olivia, no more bites for you either! No, no, no......" And the cycle continues. We also use this reverse psychology for getting you to say "Ahhhh" while brushing your teeth. I do remember this phase wearing off with Holland so I'm sure our days are numbered on this one!

At night time when I am putting you down, we have a routine of rocking in the rocking chair and singing songs. I use to have a set playlist that I would sing - the same songs every time. You have outgrown those songs though. I think you started to lose interest a few months ago when you caught on that they were actually aiding in the process of you falling to sleep. There were a couple of months of you fighting the sleep process, but now you have fallen back into a nice, little routine. The basic rocking and singing is the same, I just never know what songs I will be singing. You like to tell me which songs you like to hear. Some of your favorites right now are: "the ABC song", "Five Green and Speckled Frogs", "Old Macdonald", "Goodnight Song that we adapted from the Hello Song", "You are My Sunshine", and the "Rockin' Up and Down in the Rockin' Chair Song". I usually sing a variety of songs or variations of the same song, adding characters like Pooh, Dora, Mickey, etc and then I give you a warning. I say, "Okay, Dylan, just one more song and then crib". You do an exceptionally good job with this. Usually immediately following the stipulation (one more song, three more characters, etc), you sit up, point to crib, give kisses, say, "I love you, Mommy", and then get all nestled into your bed with stuffies tucked under each arm, bottom in the air, and blankie covering your head!

Such a delightful, girl! Thank you Dylan Grace for putting a smile on our face! : ) (taken from a line of daddy's birthday song for you)

All Done with One!

2009-06-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

happy birthday, sweet, wonderful, amazing, dylan grace!

(more birthday blogging to come, but first we must celebrate the day!)

"ten reasons holland loves CBCC"

2009-06-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

Holland had her last day of Preschool at the Community Building Children's Center (CBCC)last Friday, and needless to say, I was a mess. She started going to CBCC when she was about 2 1/2 years old, so she has been there for 3 years. We have adored every minute that she has spent there, and we can't say enough good things about it. The school is based on a school in Reggio, Italy, and it is just like no other! The philosophy of the school is that it is one part school, one part home, and one part museum. And the set up of the school is just that - there are parts that feel like a school, parts that feel like home, and parts that feel like a museum.

Anyway,the main reason for this post is to share a little book that Holland and I put together for her teachers as a "i'm going away" gift! The name of the book is
"10 things I love about CBCC". I asked Holland to name all the reasons she loved her school, and then draw a picture to accompany each one. It was pretty priceless to hear her responses. Here are some pictures of the finished project:

"I love CBCC because my teachers let me make

butterflies with paint and stuff."

"I love CBCC because we go on nature walks"

"I love CBCC because I have good friends and they share!"

"I love CBCC because we get to roll down hills on our nature walks!"

"I love CBCC because we have a good community."

(sidenote: "what does that mean, holland?"

"I forgot what it means, you will have to ask my teachers".

"Oh yeah, it means teamwork and friends!")

"I love CBCC because we get to recycle, and that helps us save paper."

"I love CBCC because we get to dance!"

"I love CBCC because we get to make arts and crafts,

and we get to put moon sparkles on them!"

"I love CBCC because we get to play freeze tag outside!"

"I love CBCC because Theo & I play polar bear,

and we pretend the climber is an igloo!"

Public Announcement

2009-05-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

I interrupt this blog to make the following public announcement:

Holland has officially declared she is NOT into princess dress up anymore!

She and I spent the day, yesterday, cleaning out her room and rearranging her furniture. As we were deciding what to leave upstairs and what to shuffle downstairs, she made the big announcement.

It went something like this:

"Mommy, I want to tell you something".

"Okay, what is it darling?"

"I'm not really into my princess dress-up anymore. I think we should donate some of my dresses for other little girls".

"That's a great idea Holland. I was thinking though that we might save them for Dylan because I bet that when she turns three, she is going to go nuts about dressing up- just like you did, and most of these dresses are from Grandma and that makes them special. So why don't we save them and then when Dylan isn't into them anymore, we can donate them."

"Okay, mommy". "Let's just move them to the basement and save them for my sister."

A few minutes later, she was telling me that we could move "this" and we could move "that" to the basement because she wasn't really "that into them either".

And then she stopped dead in her tracks and got a puzzled and very concerned look on her face.

"I was *just* into them at Christmas, Mommy." And she paused....

"What is happening to me?"

(this made my heart sink a bit because my baby is growing up and this was her first realization that she was changing. she had such a worried look on her face as she was trying to process that she didn't really like something much anymore after it had been such a huge part of her life)

I told her that this was normal and that she was growing up and her tastes were changing and also that she was going to have lots of different interests over the years. I also pointed out to her that all of her friends that had gone onto Kindergarten weren't really into dress-up anymore either.

"Like, Lindsey?"

"Yep, like Lindsey. And probably Sylvia, and Elise, and Annika....."

I then followed it up the discussion with this question:

"So, Holland, what are you into these days?"

In which she replied,

"I am into littlest pet shop, webkinz and beanie babies. That's about it."

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

Another year, another photo shoot

Lilac Garden at Manito Park

Click here to see more about our tradtion

There was only one lilac tree that was partially blooming this year so we didn't get all the color that we usually get. They weren't in bloom last year either on Mother's Day, and I made the mistake of trying to wait for them to bloom before we had out photo shoot. Well, what ended up happening is that we were waiting and waiting and then we forgot all about it so as a result, we don't have what would have been Dylan's first year of joining our tradition. So I decided that from here on out, we will have the photo shoot no matter what, and it will be fun to look back and see just how differnent each Spring can be. Hopefully, we won't have too many without the blooms because this means we have had a long, drawn out dreadful winter!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to you all!

Snail "Ho-tail"

2009-05-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

We have a new pet at our house, and Holland has designed quite a snazzy place of residence for it.

It's a snail, and it's living in a "ho-tail".

have any of you ever heard Holland pronounce the word "hotel"? for some reason she has the most southern draw on that word that you can possibly imagine, and that's the way it comes out "ho - tail").

Anyway, she was quite delighted to fill the little fairy swing up with dirt so the snail could play, then she filled the fairy bathtub up with water so it could bathe, and of course a "ho-tail" just wouldn't be complete without a cozy bed to sleep in after a long, hard day of playing!

So here you have it....

THE SNAIL HO-TAIL

New Summer Doo

2009-05-06T18:54:00.001-07:00

One of my least favorite every day activities is brushing and fixing Holland's hair. It is always on ordeal - she screams, she whimpers, she protests with every stroke of the brush. Somedays she screams, whimpers, and protests louder than other days, but no matter what, she screams, whimpers, and protests - making it an unpleasant experience for both of us. There are so many mornings that we are in such a hurry that I can barely get it brushed before I am rushing her out the door, so I decided I wanted to try a cute cut with little maintenance. A cut that has layers and body and will for the most part not require much attention. We both want her to grow her hair back out again, but it has been requiring too much daily pain --so for now, we have settled on a cute summer doo, and we'll re-visit growing it out in a few months! I must say, it is pretty stinkin' cute and the best part is that so far we have had less screaming, whimpering, and protesting. We aren't quite
scream-whimper-protest free, but there is definitely less, and that's all that matters for now! : )

A Few New Masterpieces

2009-05-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Check out some of Holland's latest art here.

Playing Catch Up

2009-05-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!

Anyone there?

It has been entirely too, too long since I have posted on this here blog, so I am attempting to play catch up over the course of the next couple of days.

Wish me luck! And, thanks for continuing to check in from time to time....

Ashley

Double No-No!

2009-05-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

The other morning, I was giving Dylan some directions to do something, and she looked straight at me, pointed her little finger directly towards me (in its cute, little upside down position), and said,

"No, No Mommy"

"Double No-No"

As opposed to Holland at that age who would get told something was a "no-no", and she would reply, "That's not a no-no, Mommy - it's a yes-yes!"

Teigan's Baptism

2009-03-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

What a special day this was! My grand niece, Teigan (yes, I'm a great aunt) and her father, Dustin (my nephew-in-law) were baptized on the same day. They were baptized by my brother-in-law who is Teigan's grandpa and Dustin's father-in-law. Teigan looked absolutely gorgeous in the dress that her grandma (my sister-in-law) made. (Got all those in-laws straight?)

It was such a wonderful day to be a part of, and here are some of my favorite shots of the event.... (I especially love the one where Teigan looked up at her Grandpa as soon as she heard his voice as he was blessing her and sprinkling her with water).

Give me a "G".....

2009-03-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Opposite Day (or opposite year as the case may be)

2009-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Just trying to get a cute picture of Dylan today... I should have known better than to ask her to look at me! It's time to pull out all the reverse psychology tricks that I learned when Holland was this age. Works like a charm - until they figure it out, of course!

Grandpa's Irish Girls

2009-03-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!
(thanks for the shirts, grandma and grandpa - they were a BIG hit!)

Puttin' Her Style On

2009-03-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted an ensemble post in a while or written about my struggle with letting Holland express herself with fashion and such, but this conversation brought it all flooding back, and was just too good to ignore.....

"Holland, go get your socks and shoes on, please"

"Mom, I don't want those socks and shoes, I want to put MY style on".

"Your style?" What's your style?"

"It's silver shoes and pink socks"

"And, um...."

"shiny necklaces" she quickly adds, as she's reaching into her top drawer to pull out some accessories to add to her ensemble".

"And blow dried hair" she says, as she does a little hair flip while catching her reflection in her mirror.

"Oh yeah, and polka dotted sunglasses" (the ones that caught her eye as she was closing the jewerly drawer!)

"And barretted hair"

"And...."

"Okay, Holland I get the idea!" "Go get your silver shoes!"

And now you can get the idea.....

New Tutu

2009-03-05T15:35:00.001-08:00

(thanks, mary!)

Daily Dancing 3

2009-03-04T21:49:00.001-08:00

HA!

(he should know that my camera is always within reach!)

Ten.

2009-03-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

1. Dylan is 21 months old today. If I do the math correctly, that means she is just 3 months away from being 2. How does that happen? I mean, seriously at this rate she will be starting kindergarten next week.

2. Dylan absolutely adores her big sister. She calls her "Holly", and she is always looking out for her. If she gets a snack, she gets one for "Holly". If she gets paper to "doll" on(Draw), she gets some for "Holly". If she gets "apuhdoo" (apple juice), she gets some for "Holly". If she gets her hair washed in the bathtub, she wants "Holly" to get her hair wet, too, and if Daddy is swinging her around or throwing her on the bed, she stops each turn and makes sure "Holly" gets a turn, too!

3. The other day, Grandma came to visit and she said something along the lines of, "I can tell you have been teaching Dylan more words, Holland. Every time I come to see you, she has more words". I chimed in and said, "Yeah, she's been teaching her words like P - O - O - P ", and Dylan got a big grin on her face and shouted "POOP!". She's a genius, I tell ya! Already spelling!

4. Dylan loves Pooh and Mickuh (Mickey).

5. Dylan enjoys drawing, just like Holland. If there is a paper and pen out, she is demanding to draw. Her favorite thing to draw is a snake. She scribbles a big, swirly line on the paper, and yells, "Mommy! nake! nake!"

6. She is starting to get very opinionated in the car about what music she wants to listen to. She will immediately protest each song with a loud, screeching squeal and full blown tantrum if it isn't too her liking. It just so happens that this is every single song, except one. She only wants to hear the "hello" song that they sing at her Music Together class in the toddler room. That's it. One song. Over and over and over again. I'm surprised Jonathan hasn't burned a CD with 15 tracks of "Hello" - that's something he would totally do! (and I wonder why I continue to be chopped liver when he's around!)

7. Dylan is just tall enough that her little head is at the same level of all of our tables. You know what that means - lots of head bonks.

8. Dylan's favorite things to do are: go to school, read books, dance with Holland, play with babies, stand at the sink and play with water, swing in daddy's arms, cuddle with grandpa, read books with grandma, talk on the phone with mimi, tease mommy when she's trying to steal kisses, refuse to say "carmen", eat snacks, play with bodie, put piggy tails in her hair and then pull them right back out, climb the stairs, splash in the bathtub, eat scooby doo push ups, try on every one's shoes, sneak into holland's room when she's not here, make art in the art studio, play with "maya" (jeremiah), and "rocky" (roxie), look out the window for ava and teagan, help mommy clean with "wipeys", turn the lights on and off, make us smile, keep us laughing, and steal our hearts. She especially lasts that last one!

9. Zucchini is one of her favorite foods.

10. Some of her nicknames are dilly mcgilly, dylan mcgillan, punkin poo, sweet pea, baby girl.....

Faces of Hope Exhibit

2009-02-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

I have been letting the 'ole blog slip by the wayside these last few weeks, but I think it has been for good reasons. I have had a ton going on, but one of the main things I've been doing is preparing for my first ever photography exhibit.(gasp)

I had all of the photographs from the "faces of hope" calendar made into 20 x 24 gallery wrapped canvases so that we could intersperse them with facts about autism and make them into an exhibit. The Isaac Foundation is sponsoring the exhibit to help get their name out there more, but mainly to help increase public awareness about autism and it's ever increasing prevalence. Our hope is to have them on display through out all of Spokane for the remainder of the year. So far, we have them booked through July and are just waiting to hear back from a few other places for confirmation.

Today was the day that I put them on display. They are making their debut exhibition at the Community Building downtown, which is a building that hosts all non-profit organizations, and it is also the building that houses Holland's preschool. It is a gorgeous old building that has been restored and it gets quite a bit of foot traffic. While I was setting up today, at least 5 people stopped and commented on the photos, and then inquired about autism. I was kinda shocked at some of the questions that were asked, but it was neat to be able to answer them and know that this is going to reach a lot of people who seriously have no idea about the facts about autism and just how many people are affected by it.

I left there feeling good. It makes me very happy to know that my photographs can be such an integral part of increasing awareness to our community.

We are going to host an open house in April for Autism Awareness month so I will keep you local blog readers posted of all the details so maybe you can join me in this journey of spreading the word!

Until then, here are a few "sneak peeks":

Belated Valentine Message

2009-02-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Ten for Daddy.

2009-02-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

Today is Jonathan's birthday so I asked Holland to come up with things she wanted to say about her daddy, and this is what she came up with....

1. I like it when he lets me have chocolate chip cookies.
2. Daddy is letting me go to the "hotel dogs" with him today for his birthday.
3. He took me to Dutch Brothers yesterday after school.
4. I love to play hide and seek with Daddy.
5. I like it when me and Daddy go out into the flower patch in the summer time and sometimes pick flowers. (I mean the one at Manito Park).
6. I like it when me and Daddy watch TV together.
7. I think he is the greatest Dad in the whole wide world.
8. I want to tell people that my Daddy is greater than a flying eagle.
9. I want to remember that Daddy bought me a pet shop toy one day.
10. My Daddy is really great and he never kills anyone!

And she followed it up with this verbal message:

" XOXOXOXOX "
"I *heart* u".

Project Runway

2009-02-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Holland found this hat earlier this year, and I couldn't pass up buying it. I have a love/hate relationship with it though. Part of me thinks it is ridiculously cute, in a New York/Los Angeles-runway-sort-of-way, and the other part of me thinks its absurdly obnoxious, in a London/Paris-runway-sort-of-way! What do you think? You can be honest! (I do know one thing for sure - her ears and her head have never been so warm!)

Feb 4, 1960

2009-02-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ted and Ursula went across the state line

for a wedding and a Valentine!

Happy 49th Anniversary!

Ten.

2009-02-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

1. Dylan is 20 months old today, and fast approaching the terrible twos! She is definitely trying it on for size, and unfortunately it fits! Basically, this means she is at the instant gratification - i-want-it-and-i-want-it right-now-and-one-second-is-too-long-to-wait phase! This is especially fun at mass on Sundays.

2. We've had temperatures in the high 30's over the last week with lots of doses of sun, and it is amazing how much if feels like Spring! I keep going out without my jacket or coat on because the sun is so deceiving, and then I am quickly jolted back into reality. The high 30's are just a few degrees above freezing. Duh.

3. Jonathan and I have been going to ALL of the home Gonzaga games, and I have been loving it. I totally missed out on that sort of experience with college, and I just love to watch the students. My favorite student fan wears a bright red spiked wig with his face painted royal blue. This would have been soooo up my alley had I been a college student at a place like Gonzaga. We are going to a charity auction next week, and know there are tickets being auctioned off for seats that are two rows behind the Gonzaga team. I am DYING to get those tickets!! (and I secretly wish I had the courage to be all crazy and decked out, but the reality is only the students do that). Bummer.

4. Jonathan and I are starting to look at kindergarten programs for Holland. I'm not sure how we got here so quickly, but we're here. I got teary-eyed when we walked up the sidewalk to our first prospective school, and I had a lump in my throat the whole time we were taking the tour. Silly, I know, but that's just the sap in me. Can you imagine what sort of mess I will be in on her actual first day?

5. I am really eager for Spring to come so I can get outside and do some fun photo shoots. I am not really enjoying the inside the house/black backdrop shots. I want brick walls, peely paint, wheat fields, flower gardens, princess dresses, and radio flyer wagons! Now, I just need some clients who want the same things!

6. Jonathan's birthday is next week on Tuesday. Yikes. I better get planning! (I do have a babysitter arranged, but that's about it).

7. I subscribed to the kids Highlights magazine for Holland, and we got our first issue in the mail this week. I have such fond memories of running across these magazines when I was a kid - at the library, and my doctors dentist's offices. I thought they were the coolest thing! We sat down the other night and went through about 1/2 of our first issue, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. She was really good at the hidden pictures pages, and I showed her the art/poetry publication pages, and she is very excited to send in some of her art work to try and get it published! Speaking of her art work, have you checked out Stacks, lately?

8. We bought tickets to go to Chattanooga in April. We will be gone for 8-9 days the week of Easter. I am looking forward to visiting as a couple of my close girlfriends from high school who are there haven't even met Dylan, yet. That's so crazy to me! We will also go to Franklin, NC and Rabun Gap, Georgia deep in Appalachia to visit some relatives. We are looking forward to the porch time. Front porch, back porch, screened in porch, side porch - we don't care - we'll take them all! There is nothing quite like porch time, especially in Appalachia!

9. I sat down with my sister last weekend and had a 12 hour tutorial on quickbooks and miscellaneous tax stuff with her. I learned so much and realized just how much I don't know about running a business! After we crunched all the numbers, it didn't look too bad - which was very encouraging. I was only "in" business for 3 months and I was totally surprised at how many clients I had in that time. I am looking forward to drumming up more and more business, and making a bigger go of it! So, for all of you Spokanites..... send me your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors, yourselves.....

10. I started going to the YMCA last week for the first time in months and months and months. I was kinda embarrassed to check in because it has been *that* long. I only have about 10 weeks before the trip to Chattanooga and I am really wanting to loose some weight before then. I am hoping that I can start my Bloomsday training with my Moms in Motion team in a few weeks, but I still haven't managed to get my heal thing under control. It is just so infuriating. ARRRRGGGGG. If anyone knows of any end-all-cure-all remedies, please pass them on!

Happy Tuesday!

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-25T21:32:00.001-08:00

I was tagged twice on facebook to write 25 random things about myself, so I thought I might as well share it here, too!

1. I was born in Key West, Florida (the Conch Republic), and that means I'm a "conch".

2. I wanted to be a garbage man when I was little! I use to sit and watch the garbage man out the window! I also wanted to be a piano (so I've been told).

3. I jumped out of an airplane at 15,000 feet!

4. I was accepted into the Peace Corps in 1998, but got engaged a few months later.

5. I love to cook and entertain, and I throw a kick-ass Mardi Gras Party.

6. I don't know how to use saran wrap. (It never sticks for me).

7. I recently started my own photography business.

8. I like to tuck my socks between my toes.

9. My spices are alphabetized.

10. My husband and I fell out of a canoe at our wedding reception in Lake Union in Seattle, WA.

11. Mustard makes me dry heave.

12. I got married in Italy by Father Don Giovanni!

13. I miss Cracker Barrel.

4. I had a dog named "super dog" when I was little.

15. My husband re-wrote the words to "Brown-Eyed Girl" for my 30th birthday.

16. On a volunteer trip to Mexico, I drank tequila with some nuns who ran an orphanage.

17. I realized not too long ago that I don't have enough "beach" in my life, and I hope to change that.

18. I have driven across the country, coast to coast, three times. Once with my girlfriend, Michele, and we flipped a coin each time we came to an intersection to decide which way to go. Once with my girlfriend, Heather, and we started out in Chattanooga and decided to take a little detour to Boston, before heading to Seattle! And lastly, I drove 12,000 miles with my husband on a 4 month road trip in a Subaru Loyale, shorty after we were married. I would like to do it again sometime - either on the back of a harley or in an RV! (probably an RV, now that I'm a mom!)

19. I collect two dollar bills.

20. I can't dance.

21. I ran my first 1/2 marathon last year, and I am going to be training for another one this spring. (assuming my heal injury of 6 months goes away).

22. My favorite city is New Orleans.

23. Jonathan serenaded me on the beach in Italy while were on our honeymoon with a guitar borrowed from a beach bum!

24. I am extremely competitive and have a hard time with "family fun game night". : )

25. I have a tatoo.

Look Who's Waiting Today!

2009-01-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

see the original waiting /5:00 p.m post here

hello, sweet girl!

2009-01-17T21:35:00.001-08:00

Daily Dancing 2

2009-01-16T23:26:00.001-08:00

I introduced Holland to a new song this week -

"Dancing Queen" by Abba!

You probably could have guessed that she LOVES it!

(and Dylan LOVES anything Holland LOVES!)

click here for "daily dancing" pic.

Tonight's "Bedtime Business"

2009-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

Each night, Jonathan and I switch off girls during "bedtime business". (We actually borrowed that term from Blues Clues, in case you are wondering!) Anyway, tonight was my night to put Holland to sleep as Jonathan put Dylan to sleep.

We have a routine that goes something like this: pajamas, warm milk, brush teeth, night-light on, read book, night-light out, cuddle.

Usually during the cuddle time, I set the timer on my sports watch, and then I leave the room once the timer has gone off (I think the timer is more for me than Holland, because inevitably, if I don't turn the timer on, I find myself asleep in her bed hours later!) So, tonight was just like any other ordinary night. I intially set the timer for 5 minutes. The timer beeped, and Holland held me tight,and asked me to stay for a few more minutes. I re-set my timer for 3 more minutes, and started to rub her back. Three minutes passed and the timer beeped again, and once again, she groggily asked me to stay. I knew she was about to be "out", so I stayed for my last 3 minutes. This time when the timer went off, it actually startled me, and I think it startled Holland as well. She slowly rolled over. She was visibly in a "on-the-verge-of-falling-asleep-dazed-state" when she muffled,

"Mommy, that timer took my thoughts away, and I was thinking about something wonderful".

"Oh! I'm sorry, sweetie. What were you thinking?"

"I'm not telling", she replied (almost whispering), as she nestled herself back into her pillow and bunched up blankie.

"Okay, sweet girl. You don't have to tell me - I hope you get your thoughts back though, and have sweet dreams!"

"Night-Night. I love you."

5:00 p.m

2009-01-13T22:45:00.001-08:00

Watching for Dad to Come Home

Birthday Kisses for Mommy

2009-01-11T15:51:00.000-08:00

Making A Wish

2009-01-11T15:46:00.001-08:00

The Perfect Birthday - the Short Version

2009-01-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

Special Breakfast

Spa

Candles

Aromatherapy

Serenity Room

Fire

Hot Tea

Shopping

Cocktail

Peacock Lounge

Make -up application

Cards

Presents

Flowers

Gozaga game

Rose

Wine

Fondue

A Perfect Birthday - the Long Version

2009-01-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

Woke up - Holland wanted to give me Birthday spankings right away

Went downstairs and had a flower shaped pancake with a candle in it waiting for me

Holland helped me blow out the candle

Checked my email and had a ton of Facebook birthday messages

Got a birthday phone call from my mom

Went the the Davenport Hotel (a very old and famous (refurbished) hotel in Spokane)

Valet Parked

Got myself a Chai Tea

Went downstairs to the Spa Paradiso

Had my hair colored and styled

Waited in the "Serenity Room", sat next to the fire with a glass of cucumber water

Flipped through a magazine

My Estetetician came and got me for my eyebrow wax

Relaxed on a massage type table as she waxed my eyebrows

Left the Spa as I had over an hour to wait for my massage

Walked to River Park Square

Tried on a couple of shirts and bought them

Scheduled a make-up application at Nordstrom

Walked back to the Davenport

Sat at the bar at the beautiful Peacock Lounge

Ordered a Mojito and Cougar Gold Cheese Dip

Answered and received a couple of birthday text messages from two of my girlfriends

Went back to the Spa Paradiso for my massage

Changed into my plush robe and slippers

Went back into the "Serenity Room"

Made a cup of peppermint hot tea

Read an article or two in a magazine

Was escorted to my Massage room

Candles, Enya playing, Aromatherapy, Lavender Massage Lotion

Fell into a deep state of complete and utter relaxation

Walked back into the ladie's lounge and got dressed

Retrieved my car from the Valet

Drove back to River Park Square

Had my make-up done by a wonderful make-up gal

Looked at my self in the mirror - smiled!

Drove home

Opened up cards and presents

Holland bought me 3 pieces of jewelry from Claire's

Tried on my new earrings

Checked my email and once again had a ton of birthday messages on Facebook

Had Jonathan shoot a mini photo shoot with me and the girls

Got Dressed for my date with Jonathan

Went the the Gonzaga/Portland game (Zags won!)

Drove to the Melting Pot Fondue Restaurant

Sat at the bar with Jonathan and had a cocktail

We were escorted to our table

A Rose was waiting for me in a vase

Ordered some wine

Ordered our fondue courses

Drank some wine

Cooked our fondue courses

Got too full for chocolate fondue

Corked up the rest of our wine

Drove home

Listened to a couple of birthday phone messages

Checked my email and had more facebook birthday messages

Thanked Jonathan for a wonderful day

Retreated to bed

Victory!

2009-01-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

The barrier that Jonathan has built.... and rebuilt...... and rebuilt.

Apparently, there's just no use. Boden is victorious every time!

Ten on Tuesday

2009-01-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

1. Woke up to big, fluffy snowflakes this morning and watched them to turn to big, slushy, wet flakes as the day progressed. Our record breaking snow if now going to be record breaking flooding. I drove around a little bit today, and there is already standing water all over the streets. It's suppose to be 40 degrees tomorrow. I think I'll get out the raft!

2. I set up a new blog for Holland today. She is such a prolific artist so I thought she could use her own space to showcase her work. I was considering have "stirrings in the studio" be a regular post here on ashmash, but instead you can find her art here. I am working on putting some of her previous work on there so you may check back periodically to see how far she's come in her artistic skills.

3. Dylan is talking up a storm these days! She is starting to put two words together, and she is in that phase where her vocabulary grows each day by about 15-20 new words. This is my absolute most favorite age for language acquisition (excuse the speech pathology terminology!). She has quite the vocabulary, too. Words like: peacock, mermaid, mustard, unicorn, pajamas, sweater, lie down, etc. Did I mention "mine" and "no-no"? Those are two very BIG favorites!

4. We were having trouble keeping Boden in our yard so we sent him away for a week! We hope he got some good social play time as we got our backyard set up with barracades and a new "doggy trolley" - a 60 foot leash line to roam the yard with - or to swim in our yard with, as the case may soon be!)

5. ffffffxxz vb yq46mmm g,ommuhjcx b\\vvxfsm/8n That is a message from Dylan. She is sitting on my lap as I am typing this post. She doesn't like it when I work on the computer usually, and she will grab my hand if I reach for the mouse, and she'll say "no,no", "mommy, up".

6. Jonathan got up at 4:30 on Monday morning and went to Gonzaga to get faculty tickets for this Saturday's game. It's my birthday, and we actually have a date planned so I am super excited about it. I am spending the morning at the spa for a massage, and a couple other services! Yay for me, and yay for my husband for giving me the gift certificate for Christmas. Thanks, babe!

7. I am having a difficult time getting back into the mindset of getting back into shape. I have been so discouraged since my heal injury (that isn't going away), that I am just sitting around doing absolutely nothing. I want to run Bloomsday, another 1/2 marathon, and a few more 5 or 10ks this spring, summer, and fall. I just need to figure out the motivation thing. Anyone with ideas on how to beat the winter/couch potato/computer junkie/slushy belly blues?

8. Our good friends, Scott and Jami, had their first baby this last weekend, and her name is Addison Mae (how sweet is that?). I went to the hospital to meet her, and she is absolutely gorgeous! I don't get baby fever very often, but when I do, it's usually the brand spankin' newbies that get me, and boy did she! I just didn't want to put her down, and I had to make myself leave! Congratulations, Scott and Jami! She is beautiful! I can't wait to see her again, and next time it will be with my camera in hand!

9. Just got quickbooks for my business. I have NO idea what to do with it! I need to file some sort of quarterlys at the end of the month. Yikes. Don't know what that means! I guess I better study up!

10. I started this entry earlier today and had to stop writing so we could go pick Boden up. We brought him home, and we stuck him in the backyard to see if Jonathan's rebuilt barricade would do the job this time (before hooking him up to the "dog trolley"), and guess what? Not a chance. He was out in no time! He's a smarty, I tell ya!

Happy (late) Tuesday, Friends!

Stirrings From the Studio 2

2009-01-04T21:11:00.001-08:00

"flower on scrap"
by holland
medium: fine point marker

"pink skeleton"
by holland
medium: magic marker

"abstract"
by holland
medium: tempura paint

&

"sisters in the studio"
by jonathan
medium: paint in the plastic jars, whatever they are

the big christmas surprise

stirrings from the studio

See Jon Sled

2009-01-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is the sled run that Jonathan built in our front yard for Holland and her neighborhood buddy, Aiden.

He's just "testing" it out...... AGAIN!

Daily Dancing

2009-01-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is a scene that you can pretty much be guaranteed to see (or participate in, depending on what you level you choose to be involved) on any given day in the Potter home! Holland is dancing through out the house, and Dylan is ever so intently watching her fanciful moves. It's all in the footwork, you know!

I bet you can just imagine what happens next.....

The Year's Highlights

2009-01-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Rang in the new year in Oceanside, California

Visited Disneyland, Legoland, San Diego Zoo, & Safari Park
Ballet lessons for Holland
Art classes at Corbin Art Center
Attended lots of Zags games
Volunteered time for the "Taste of Hope" charity event
Went on a date to the Todd Snider concert
Celebrated Easter at the Abbey
Holland became a member of the "no cavity" club
Dylan sits up for the first time
Dylan crawls
Took girls to the circus
Celebrated our 9th anniversary
Took multiple trips to Seattle
Attended Gabrielles's graduation
Took a family trip to Disney
Saw High School Musical Live
Dylan took first steps
Dylan said first words and hasn't stopped talking since
Ran in Bloomsday with Carmen & Rick
Took Salsa dancing lessons
Attended Chanda's wedding
Holland sang a solo at a music performance
Saw Beauty & the Beast Live
Celebrated Dylan's first birthday
Jonathan hosted a Bob Dylan birthday show on the radio
Started autism photo shoots
Ran in the Cherry Pit Trot with friend, Mary
Holland started playing soccer
Got a new dog
Went to Johnny Lang concert on Silver Mtn.
Girls took swimming lessons

Planted a fairy garden with Holland

Trained for 36 hour relay race
Ran in Spokane to Sandpoint 190 mile relay
Volunteered time for Isaac Foundation Golf Tournament
Hosted summer outdoor movies
Went to Guemes Island for a getaway
Met our new niece, Teigan Jean
Ran Iron Girl Race in Seattle (with an injury)
Started Ashley Potter Photography
Flew to Italy for a wedding (sans kids!)

The girls stayed with grandma and granpa for a week
Attended the Essencia Bakery's Grand Re-opening
Got a fancy new camera lens
Saw Peter Pan Live
Saw Alice and Wonderland
Dylan learned how to do "fancy feet"
Bought Season tickets to the Children's Theatre
Produced "2008 Faces of Hope" calendar
Celebrated Holland's 5th birthday
Went to Seattle for Thanksgiving
Cancelled our trip to Chattanooga

Opened up a facebook account
Made Gingerbread houses at the Davenport,
and watched Gingerbread house contest
Went to Madeline's Christmas
Celebrated Christmas with mom and Westcotts
Went sledding on sled that Grandpa built
Fell asleep after the ball dropped in NYC

Bye, Bye 2008 - You were a good year!

Speaking of Ten.

2008-12-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

1. Snow. Snow. Snow. That is our life these days. We have between 3-4 feet of snow at our house, and there is more in the forecast. It is totally crazy. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like it. The snow is piled up so high, we just have a narrow passage way in our driveway. We barely have room to get out of our car and walk around it. The snow banks are so high in our backyard that Boden keeps sneaking out and into our neighbor's yard. He can just jump right over there fence. It is seriously unbelievable!

2. Speaking of unbelievable....Jonathan and I bought each other the same Christmas present this year. It was a set of wireless speakers that we can use with our Ipod, our projector to watch movies, our TV, etc. etc. etc. I opened mine first and just chuckled, and then I let him open his so he could chuckle! It was pretty funny.

3. Speaking of chuckling and being funny....Holland was so incredibly funny this year about the presents she bought for everyone. She gets to go to a little store called "santa express", and shop with an elf for anyone on her list (No parents allowed). We get to tell the elves how much money she can spend, and they make sure she stays within budget. Everything is priced from .50 cents to $7.50. Anyway, she begged us all to open her gifts on Christmas Eve for our "open-one-gift-on-Christmas Eve-family-tradition", and she could hardly contain herself. She was dancing around the living room saying, "you're gonna love it",{insert happy dance} "hurry up and open it (fill in the name of whosever turn it was)",{insert running around, jumping up and down}, "just open it", "you won't believe it", {dance, dance, dance}. It was absolutely priceless, and definitely one of the highlights of this year's celebrations!

4. Speaking of celebrations..... We celebrated Christmas, Hannakuh, my niece's 19th birthday, and Shabbat, all in one week this year! My niece, Gabrielle, is a wannabe Jew and has been for quite some time. She has always been intrigued with Jewish traditions, and has celebrated Hannakuh for many years so this year she was at our house for the whole week, and asked us to celebrate with her. It was nice to be introduced to a different tradition and to take the opportunity to explain to Holland how there are many different faiths and belief systems. She goes to school with a couple of friends who are Jewish so I really wanted her to learn how important it is to respect others and their differences. She got a kick out of playing Dreidel!

5. Speaking of getting a kick.... I am getting a kick out of Dylan each and every day. She is just a crack up, (most of the time). She wasn't a crack up tonight when she refused to go to sleep though. Anyway, she loves to tease these days and she will take off running when I try to give her a kiss and shout "no", "no", "no" and giggle the whole time. She also loves to bounce and jump, although she hasn't quite figured out how to pick her feet up off the ground, so her body does the action of sqatting, and then she quickly raises her arms waaaaay up high, and then she squats back down again, and repeats these actions over and over again, all while looking so incredibly proud of herself. Occassionally, she will get slightly airborne,and she just lands right on her bottom with feet straight out in front of her! You probably need to see it to get the full picture, but I have a pretty vivid visual as I am typing this, and I'm the one that wants to preserve the memory so that's all that really matters, I guess!

6. Speaking of preserving memories..... I haven't preserved any memories in the form of scrapbooking in over a year. Poor Dylan doesn't even have a scrapbook to speak of (second child syndrome). I even have a couple of pre-made ones that I made while on bedrest, but I haven't put a single thing in them. Pathetic, I know. I am hoping to get back on track a little bit as this New Year is rolling around. I don't know if I will do the same sort of scrapbooking that I did for Holland, but I do love telling stories, adding pictures, and preserving the wonderful memories. I just need to figure out a system that works for me.

7. Speaking of a system that works for me.... I am hoping that the quickbooks system I just ordered will work for me. I am so NOT a business person, and I really need to get a system into play with all this photography business that I've been doing! I've heard it is super easy to use, and it has quite a few features that will simplify my current, convoluted (no rhyme or reason) system that I have not even totally set up, yet!

8. Speaking of having a few features, I got a new grill, griddle, and panini press combo (that I asked for) for Christmas. It has interchangeable plates that are pretty cool. I have always LOVED paninis, and I have been kinda on a little panini kick since our trip to Italy. Yum-o.

9. Speaking of our trip to Italy..... we had gnocchi for dinner tonight. It was delish.

10. Lastly, speaking of dinner tonight.... Holland asked me (over dinner) when she could get her ears pierced, which was not too long after she had asked me if she could color her hair(while riding in the car earlier today), which was on the heals of going nuts over a poster of Troy, from high school musical, that she saw at the dentist office today! Nice, huh? I tried to redirect her to the snow each and every time! : )

Happy (almost) New Year, Everyone!

Stirrings from the Studio

2008-12-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

As the new year is approaching, I am wanting to have some more consistency in my blog, and one of the ideas that I've tossed around is to have at least a couple of ongoing threads. One of these threads will be posts regarding Holland's new art studio. You can expect this thread to have posts of funny stories, Holland's art work, photos of Holland creating masterpieces, favorite art supplies, art reviews, etc.

Today's post will be a piece of artwork that Holland made for her Grandma for Christmas. It is entitled, "Angels". (with an upside down G, no less!)

Medium: scultping clay and art play foam

It's A Wonderful Laugh

2008-12-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

I absolutely adore the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life", and I look forward to watching it every year. And every year, I cry and cry like I've never seen it before. This year I was hoping to watch it with Holland and take it down to her level. I wanted to tell her how we never know how many people's lives that we may be touching, and how important it is to live life wonderfully by being kind to others, and having good morals, etc., etc., etc. It was going to be such a special memory for me watching it with her for the first time! (that's kinda how my fairytale mentality gets me in trouble!).

So, it's Christmas evening, and we project the movie onto the wall above our fireplace. Holland immediately runs right over because she is a movie junkie and will watch anything and everything she has an opportunity to watch.

She notices right away that it isn't in color.

She says, "Mommy, is this whole movie grey?" "How do you even know if it is daytime or nighttime?"

She watches for another minute or so, and then she runs off. "I don't think I want to watch this movie, Mommy."

And just like that she's gone. She doesn't even try to sneak a peek the rest of the movie. (That has NEVER happened!).

I guess it will probably be a few more years before my special-family-fairytale-christmas-movie-night happens. And until that day comes, I will just enjoy the wonderful laugh!

The Big Christmas Surprise

2008-12-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

Jonathan and I decided to do something totally different for Holland for Christmas this year, and it was a HUGE hit. We were dreading the influx of more, more, more when we are seriously trying to have less, less, less. We are still recovering from the big multi 5th birthday party celebrations in which Holland acquired more stuff than any child needs in their life time! Anyway, after discussing our options of what to do for her, we decided we wanted to put together something that would create an experience or a whole host of experiences. We decided to put together her own private art studio! We spent countless hours cleaning out this little room we have in our basement. We took 3 trips with a crammed full van to the local value village to donate who knows what. We re-arranged some furniture, we painted the room, we put in a floor, we hung up some of Holland's art, we filled up a desk full of art supplies, we put a book rack in there full of books about art written for kids, we put some blank canvases on the wall for free exploration, we bought lots of other art supplies for her to unwrap, put down a splat mat, and then let her go to town. She was tickled. She told us "this is the best Christmas present, ever". She immediately sat down and started exploring. She also told us, "I don't like it, I just LOVE it!".

Here are some pictures of it.....

Sense of Wonder

2008-12-25T13:59:00.001-08:00

My Darling Dylan!

2008-12-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

Snow Storm 08!

2008-12-25T13:32:00.001-08:00

It has been snowing nonstop since last Thursday here in Spokalou, and we are buried! Apparently, we broke a record for the most snowfall we've ever had in a 24 hour period, and that was about 19 inches or so. And it has been snowing ever since! I'm not sure what the total accumulation is at our house right now, but I know that when I step into it, it comes up to my thighs. Seeing how I am from Tennessee and all, this is quite an experience for me! Every year, I learn knew things (or I am reminded of things that I forgot) about living in a snowy winter wonderland. Here are a few of the things that I have learned this year:

1.I learned the term "high center". I had never heard that before, even after living here for 8 winters. Last year, I learned what a snow berm was.

2. Kids need water proof gloves in order to play in the snow! I forget this every year when I am buying gear for the season, and then inevitably Holland freezes her hands off when she goes out for the first time!

3. Pushing a grocery buggy (that means cart for you non-southerners) is NOT easy in a parking lot full of snowy, icey chunks and ruts.

4. All Wheel Drive is the only way to get around town. Thank goodness for ours!

5. Cute boots don't always mean warm boots!

And the Winner is.......

2008-12-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

The winner is a long, long, long time blog reader - (like back to bedrest boutique days), and guess what? this is the first time she has ever left a comment! Congratulations, Chasity! I can't wait to do a "real" photo shoot with you and your beautiful family! See..... commenting isn't all that bad, now is it?!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my first ever giveaway! I think I sold 14 or 15 calendars these last couple of days, and a total of 20 or more this week from my two blog posts. Keep the orders coming in! If you know of anyone who would like to purchase a calendar, please send them here! I will be getting in touch with all of you who committed to buying one and setting up plans for delivery! Thanks again so much!

XXXOOO

5 more to go

2008-12-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

I need to sell 5 more calendars for the contest to be valid! If you have read my comments, Michelle M's purchase doesn't count because it was the day before the contest! I'm trying to drum up MORE sales here, folks! Hurry and buy a calendar or get your friends to so I can proceed with the contest! Chasity? Jen F? EWU long time lurkers? Mary? Go now and leave a comment that you want one! : ) XXXOOO

First Ever "AshMash Giveaway"

2008-12-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

If I can sell at least 10 Faces of Hope Calendars through this blog by Friday evening at 8:00 pm (pacific time), then I am going to give away an Ashley Potter Photography package. I will give away a free photo session, an 8 x 10, 5 x 7, and 8 wallets. This is worth approximately $100- $125.00. The recipient must be local, and by local I mean Washington state. I do a lot of traveling throughout the state throughout the year so I'm sure I could work it out to be in your area at some point over the next year! If you want a calendar, please leave your contact information and the number of calendars you want in my comment section, and I will personally deliver them to all you local Spokies! The calendars are only $10.00, and chances are whoever you are, you will have an excellent shot at winning! If you are not local and you just want to contribute to this wonderful cause and be a part of my first ever giveaway, then you can buy a calendar here or here.

Whoever leaves a comment will be put in the random drawing for the photo package - you don't necessarily have to buy a calendar to be put into the drawing, although it would add a nice touch!: )

Thanks to everyone who has already purchased a calendar!

Faces of Hope Calendar

2008-12-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

The 2009 Faces of Hope calendar is now available for purchase, and I am going to try and solicit some sales here on my blog! This calendar was a labor of love for me, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been such a big part of the project. For those of you who aren't familiar with what I am referring to, let me get you up to speed.

Most of you know that I am a pediatric speech therapist that works primarily with children with autism. Most of you also know that I dabble in photography and recently opened my own photography business. Well, this last spring, I decided to join two of my passions and volunteer to put together a fundraiser photography calendar of photos of children with autism from our community. The end result is the 2009 Faces of Hope calendar.

The fundraising portion of the calendar is for a local non-profit organization called the ISAAC foundation who provides therapy grants for local families of children with autism. So many of our families spend thousands and thousands of dollars each year on therapy so this is a way that they can get some relief from a portion of the financial strain. The Isaac foundation was started after Isaac Lytle, a three year old with autism, passed away in his sleep due to an undetected heart disorder. The family took the memorial funds and started this organization, and they already have given out over $25,000 this last year.

If we sell all of the calendars then we will have close to $10,000 more dollars to put back into the therapy grant funds. So, this is where you come into play! For just 10.00, you can be the proud owner of a calendar full of photographs of children with autism and also be the a very proud supporter of an incredible charity that is doing amazing things for families with autism.

Who do you know that would enjoy this calendar? a teacher? a special ed teacher? a therapist? someone who loves children? a family member with a child with autism? a friend with a child with autism?

You can purchase the calendar here, or you can leave me a comment with your contact information, or you can email me at: ashley@milestonespllc.com

Thank you so much for supporting this cause!

Guess Who's 18 Months Old?

2008-12-02T22:29:00.001-08:00

(that's kinda the way I feel about it, too!)

Tonight's Ten; or in other words "randomocity"

2008-12-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

1. I got out the Christmas decor this morning, and slowly put things up here and there around the house. Although, it's feeling a little forced this year. I think partly because we still don't have snow on the ground, and it just doesn't feel very wintery or Christmasy. It's just a little over three weeks away though. YIKES!

2. I am not looking forward to all the stuff H & D will acquire over Christmas, especially on the heels of two family birthday parties and a huge (27 total) friend birthday party for Holland. I seriously don't want her to have that much stuff, and I think this year she was totally overwhelmed. I have found a couple of partially opened packages that have just been abandoned in random places. This says something. I am really struggling with how to handle it. We have bagged up bags and bags of stuff to donate, and other bags and bags of stuff to toss. It just keeps coming though, and the worst part of it all is that I feel like she doesn't have a sense of appreciation for things. Everything is RIGHT NOW and JUST BECAUSE so when she does get a "special" gift she doesn't quite know that it's special. I've got to come up with a plan, but I'm not sure what it's going to be. I am totally open to suggestions!

3. I have five photo shoots scheduled this weekend! Yippee. I kinda feel like my friend, Mary, except that she schedules 5 in a day!

4. My "Faces of Hope" calendar is finished and ready for order and delivery! We have 1000 to sell so if you are interested in buying one or giving one as a gift, please let me know! I will personally deliver it to you, or put it in the mail! I am pretty proud of the whole thing, but I must admit it was the drive and passion of my friend, Holly, the founder of the ISAAC foundation, that motivated me. I had offered to do something similar for another group in the area and there just wasn't any enthusiasm about it so I let it fizzle. I'm so glad that I did because for one, I am a much better photographer now than I was then, and for two, I really, really believe in what the ISAAC foundation is doing and I am so glad to be a part of it.

5. Dylan is going to be 18 months old tomorrow. My Oh My! Where does the time go?

6. I received an email yesterday from someone who found my bedrest blog after doing a google search. She wrote to me about her situation and told me how encouraging my blog had been. She thanked me for telling my story so candidly and leaving it out there for others to read. It was so refreshing to hear that people are still benefiting from that whole ordeal of mine! I have received quite a few emails and messages over the last year 1/2 from people who have stumbled upon Bedrest Boutique, and I continue to be shocked at their responses. It's nice to be reminded that we may be touching lives even without realizing it.

7. For the last four years, the bottom of my Christmas tree has just been a wreck! Holland has taken ornaments off and put them back on again since she was a toddler. Last year, she was a little more elaborate in her taking them on and off as she would work them into her "stories" that she continuously creates and narrates. I would find the ornaments in random places interspersed with princesses, stuffies, and playmobil figures. I was looking forward to this year being a little different, and hoping that I could talk Holland into leaving the tree be, but I forgot about Dylan. So I guess the cycle begins again.....

8. I'm so excited for Zag basketball! They are ranked number 5 this week after winning the Old Spice Tournament and beating Tennessee. I felt somewhat like a traitor when I cheered for them instead of the VOLS, but I'm realizing more and more each year that my southern roots are getting shorter and shorter.

9. Holland was playing "baby Jesus" tonight which meant she was Mary and she and Joseph were having a baby. She informed me that she had the baby all swaddled up, although she wasn't using a boy baby, she was using a girl baby instead. When I peeked inside the swaddling clothing (actually a swaddled furry, winter hat), she had a groovy girl playing the role. I didn't say a word!

10. Facebook is a crazy,wonderful, weird, and freaky world of long lost connections. I had a message this week from a boy that I went to a prom with twenty something years ago! I didn't know the boy, but he was from a local preppy all boys school and I thought it would be cool to say I had gone to the "McCallie Prom". I was a hostess in a restaurant and this boy and some buddies came in one night and were having dinner. They were kinda flirting and he wrote a check the box note on a cocktail napkin asking me to go the prom. I'm pretty sure I said no that night, but must have given him my phone number anyway. Needless to say, I ended up at the prom with him. We didn't dance a single dance. I think we walked around the grounds of the facility for a few hours and then left early. I am afraid I was a terrible date. (who am I kidding? I KNOW I was a terrible date). I have often felt bad about the whole deal. I was so totally shocked when he sent me a message this week. What a crazy cyber world we live in. So, I did reply to his message and I even embedded a sincere apology. I don't totally get the facebook etiquette thing though - so now what happens? It's too weird, really it is.

At Just Five Years Old, She Has......

2008-11-29T20:11:00.001-08:00

been to 12 states
ridden on a camel, an elephant, and a pony

fed a pelican, lamas, goats, horses, and chickens
built sandcastles on numerous beaches

counted the rings on a tree

made a fairy garden

watched a meteor shower

watched butterflies emerge from their cocoons

ridden in a convertible

sailed on a catamaran along the Na Pali coast

seen belugas, orcas, humpbacks, and dolphins
flown on an airplane multiple times
flown in a helicopter over a canyon in Hawaii
been to Disneyland 3 times

seen the Grand Coulee Dam

been to the top of the Space Needle
become a big sister
scored her first goals in soccer
performed on stage at her ballet recital
learned how to play a few notes on the piano

played around with harmonicas, recorders, guitars, and drums
become a dog owner
flown a kite on the beach
ridden on a ferry boat
screamed on a roller coaster
spent the night in a monastery
dressed up as a bunny, a purple dinosaur, a puppy, Belle, & Padme Amadelia
sang a solo at a music class program

been to an impressionist exhibit
written a few poems
illustrated and authored numerous books
ridden the conch train in Key West, Florida
ridden in a limousine
composed a few songs

learned some Spanish

begun learning to swim
attended numerous live theatre productions
seen a Broadway production of The Lion King (in Spokane)

splashed in a waterfall

hiked on a mountain

camped out

gone sledding

caught several fish

ran a few children's 50 yard dashes

etc.

Birthdayisms

2008-11-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

I have heard some pretty funny stuff these last couple of weeks leading up to Holland's birthday! I have been trying to write them down, but I know I missed a few. Here are some of my favorites though -

Holland was telling me about something she wanted for her birthday, and I said to her, "I think that would be a good present for Dylan to get for you".

She responded, "Are you kidding me, Mom? Dylan doesn't have any money she only has one lucky penny!"

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

We sent out 15 birthday invitations to Holland's birthday party and we also invited all of her friends in her class, which is about 14 kids. I seriously only counted on 10-15 friends coming, but as I already reported, we had 27 kids at her party! Anyway, as we were talking about it one day, she said, "I wonder why all these friends are coming to my party. They must love me or something!"

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

Then after the party, I think we were talking about all her friends again, and I think she must have been overwhelmed with all the attention, presents, and activity from the party. She said something like this, "Mommy, I'm gonna make a little bit or 2 or 3 of my friends stop loving me, but not my boyfriends."

Huh?!

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

As we were preparing for the party, she told me, "Mommy, I want all my boyfriends to sing "happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo" because it's funny and they love to sing that one!". I want them to sing regular happy birthday first, though!

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

On the drive home from her party, she informed us, "That was the most funnest birthday party I've ever been too!"

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

Then just randomly, totally out of the blue, she said, "One day when I get bigger, can I go to Antarctica and see the icebergs and stuff?" she paused then exclaimed, "I know! How 'bout for my sixteenth birthday?!"

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

Birthday Loot

2008-11-22T21:13:00.001-08:00

Birthday Bash Guest List

2008-11-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Holland made this birthday party list a few weeks ago, and along with these guests, I allowed her to invite her school friends. She has 14 kids in her class so that was quite a few invites going out. I decided to go ahead and let her invite that many kids, because I thought we would only get about half of them to come. Well, today is the big bash, and we currently have 27 RSVP's! We were still getting them last night. We are having her party at the Spokane Elite Gymnastics facility because we attended a couple of parties there this year and it was a big hit! There are trampolines, trapeze bars, balance beams, high bars, and even a big zip line!

This party goes against everything I have ever said about birthday parties for my kids. I swore I would never have character plates and napkins. Guess who we're having? A combination of Ariel and Spiderman! They're the new Hollywood couple, didn't you know?! I also swore I wouldn't have a party with more kids than I can handle. Well, the 27 RSVP's kinda speak for themselves, however that doesn't even mention all the toddler siblings that will be toddling and crawling around. I think I have counted at least 6 or 7 of them (including her toddler sister)! I have even said I didn't want to do a party at the party facility type places, and well, you see where that got me.

I guess I have always wanted to be the creative domestic mom that has original parties at her house with homemade crafts, baked goods, and fun themed activities (a pirate/princess treasure hunt, a fairy garden tea party, etc.) You know, the types of parties that Martha Stewart must have thrown for her daughter!

I think my problem is that reality is setting in. The party facilities are fast and easy and it takes the pressure off of you. And the bigger the guest list, the more fun the kids have. (theoretically) The character plates and napkins are what all the kids want and expect. So, how could I deny all that, and plus I am suppose to be "embracing" this sort of thing. It is my word for the year after all! So as I sit here and ponder why I didn't ask the kids to bring art work or letters for Holland instead of gifts, I am going to be thankful that she has 27 friends who are coming (with gift in hand) to celebrate her and all her wonderfulness!

Tune in later for a more in depth report and probably a couple of pictures, too!

Ten.

2008-11-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

1. I had a visit last week from my mom and one of my nieces from Kentucky. I hadn't seen my neice in almost five years, and she just turned 18, so you can imagine how much she has changed in that period of time. It was so great to see her, but it made me sad that we are so far away. I seriously want to do a better job of keeping in touch with her. I have totally dropped the ball on that one. I think I got scared when she and her siblings turned into teenagers, I just didn't know how to relate. I got to do a photo shoot with her one day that she was here so look for those pictures later this week!

2. We have finished our "faces of hope" fundraiser calendar for the Isaac Foundation. We are just waiting on the production of them to be wrapped up. we will be selling them for $10.00 a piece almost ALL of the proceeds will go into the therapy funds for giving out scholarships to local families. If we sell them all, then that will be $10,000! How cool is that? If you are interested in ordering one for yourself or for Christmas presents, just leave a comment here or get in touch with me and I will make sure you get a reserved copy! They might go fast, you know?!

3. Dylan is at such a fun, fun age right now. She is really starting to imitate everything we say,in addition to acquiring her own little repertoire of words! I absolutely adore this phase. I guess it's time to clean up our language again! ; )

4. Holland is turning five in a couple of weeks. I can't believe my baby girl is growing up so fast. I know, I know - that's so cliche. It's so true though!

5. I've been selling a lot of the gallery wrapped canvases to my photography clients. They are so, so cool. I don't ever want to part with them. I just want to hang them on my walls even though they aren't my kids or my family! Holland likes them too - I had a big 24 x 30 canvas on our wall of the Goins family and she was so bummed when I took it down. She said, "I love that picture, mommy. I think we should keep it on our wall!"

6. We bought Boden a heating pad to lay around on all day, and he hardly moves from the thing! It is under our steps in this little closed in area that claimed for his abode. He is getting bigger and bigger these days, and he is learning to follow these commands: "sit", "lie down", "stay", and "get on your bed".

7. I am secretly dreading the birthday present component to Holland's birthday party. It seems like all I do is weed through her stuff. I am constantly getting rid of things, and now we are going to get a whole influx of toys, stuffies, and who knows what else. I did tell her that we were going to have to get rid of some stuff to make room for the new stuff, and she promptly went into her room and started collecting a pile of rejects. She ended up with two paper grocery bags full of stuff. Not bad, huh? We just need to do it a few more hundred times!

8. I am enjoying our extended fall her in the Inland Northwest. We are still coasting right along into the middle of November without any snow and not even in the 7 day forecast! That is wonderful! We had such a long drawn out winter (getting snow in April and May) that I still haven't recovered! I do plan to do some winter sports this year though. I have said for the last 3-4 winters that I want to learn to cross country skii, and I just found out that my moms in motion team is going to have a couple of lessons in January. Can't wait for that!

9. I still haven't gotten over my heal injury so I haven't been for a run since August, and I am seriously missing it. I keep saying I'm gonna just take off on a run and see how it goes, but I'm having a hard time finding the time. Maybe this weekend.....

10. We have some new neighbors that live two houses down and Holland has gotten to be really good friends with their five-year-old son, Aiden. (He's the one that's influencing the star wars and legos phase that she is going through right now). His parents came over the day to drop Aiden off for a playdate and we invited them in. And three bottles of wine, lots of parenting stories, and a pizza and breadstix order later - we have a new set of neighbors that we now call "friends". Such fun!

That's all for now!

A Birthday Cake for the Birthday Girl

2008-11-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Holland did this drawing on Jonathan's tablet laptop tonight. She did another one right before this and accidentally deleted it -- and Jonathan was a lot more upset about it than she was. To her it was no big deal to just dash off another one. While he was putting Dylan to sleep, she slid a note under the door that said: 'DAD WIL YU PLES SAV" -- i.e. Dad, will you please save [the picture of the cake I just drew].

You're Not a Bachelor Anymore

2008-11-06T10:34:00.001-08:00

Dear Sweet Husband,

Thank you so much for taking the initiative to do a couple loads of laundry. However, I prefer that my panties and and other girly garments are not washed with the towels.

Lovingly,

Your Sweet Wife

P.S You're not a bachelor anymore!

Dylan's Baby

2008-11-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Dylan has found a constant companion - her sister's baby doll, Annabelle. The only problem is that Annabelle isn't much smaller than Dylan so she is pretty heavy to lug around! She has a pacifier and bottle that she will latch onto and make sucking noises, and she will also coo, cry, and giggle. I think this means her head is full of hardware which makes her much heavier than the average baby doll.

Dylan often wrestles with her and gets easily frustrated, but she just keeps at it! She wants to love her, feed her, groom her, and cuddle with her. She wants her at the dinner table, in the car, and often times will take her into her crib with her.

It is all very, very sweet.

(Until the pacifier pops out and Dylan can't get it back in, or until Dylan drops baby Annabelle on her toe and screams for 10 minutes, or until (last but not least)Holland suddenly decides after two years that she is interested in babies again!)

Oh yeah - for those of you following the penny story - it has been retrieved!

Birthday Poem for Grandma

2008-11-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

I love you, Grandma
with my heart
To find a little
angel tart.

footnote: angel tarts are "little pop tarts that angels eat"

So Long, Wonder Women

2008-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

We had quite an interesting mix of costumes at our house this year for Halloween. Holland chose Wonder Woman a few weeks ago, and was incredibly excited about it. When she first got the costume, she didn't want to take it off. She played in it for hours and hours. Every time someone came to our house, she would race into her bedroom to put it on and show it off.

Meanwhile, as her love for Wonder Woman was growing strong so was her love for Star Wars. (We have slowly been making our way through the series). She informed me that next year for Halloween she wanted to be r2 d2 , the year after that she wanted to be Yoda, and the year after that she wanted to be Darth Vader (even though the boys at school told her could ONLY be Princess Leah).

I was out shopping yesterday and I ran across the Padme' Amidala costume (that is the queen - princess leah's mom, for those of you who are not familiar with star wars) for 50% off so I decided to buy it for her so she could have it to play in. There is new neighbor boy named Aiden, who loves star wars,that she would love to impress! I had barely gotten it out of the bag yesterday when she snatched it out of my hands, tore the tags off of it, and begged and pleaded to wear it instead of Wonder Woman. Needless, to say we had a last minute switcharoo.

So long, Wonder Woman, you're lasso has been replaced with a lightsaber. And just like that - Wonder Woman was no more..

As far as other costumes are concerned, there was Jonathan who always pulls out his scary ape mask every year. It makes most kids cry! It is just so ugly, and it kinda freaks me out. I think it is his facial hair that makes it look so freaky, but then again there is also the jumping around ape dance that he does! I'm not sure which one is freakier.

Lastly, there was a cute, little sock monkey who refused to keep her hat on - which was basically the whole costume! I couldn't resist this costume though because it was just so different than anything I had seen before. Dylan made a very cute sock monkey and here is the proof:

Highlight of the Day

2008-10-30T20:40:00.001-07:00

Dylan swallowed a penny.

Ten.

2008-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

1. Italians sure know how to live. They drink lots of wine, walk lots of places, and take lots of siestas. Oh! How we should follow their lead, don't-ya-think?
2. We stayed here one night. Central Tuscany. Amazing.
3. We went to a traditional Catholic Italian wedding and celebration. It was fabulous. After the ceremony, there was a huge celebration (just like our wedding receptions, only bigger and better!) There was a long table with mounds and mounds of meats, cheeses, crackers, breads, and various forms of Italian antipasti. We were totally full before we were forced to partake in a traditional 7 course sit down Italian wedding dinner! That was followed by an evening of lots and lots of dancing and lots and lots of grappa.
4. We learned about an Italian tradition of the friends and family members making "rhymes" for the bride and groom. This was in place of our traditional toasts. Very fun.
5. The music played by the DJ was almost ALL american classics! We heard: "I Will Survive", "Space Cowboy", "Dancing Queen", "Summer Loving" (from Grease), "Surfin' USA", etc. It was a kick, and so many of the Italians who didn't even speak English could sing a long every stinkin' word!
6. One of my favorite part of the trips is that we re-met someone that provided us with a special memory on our wedding day, 10 years ago. I have told the story a million times about a woman who was at our ceremony who had brought a little baggie of rice and threw it at us as we were walking out of the church. This was so refreshing to us because it is such an American tradition, and there we were thousands of miles away without any family, much less American traditions to speak of. Anyway, we were in the middle of telling this story when Jonathan looked at the woman across from us and said, "wait a minute, were you at our wedding?". And sure enough - it was her. Wow! I had always longed to meet her again and tell her just how special her small gesture had meant to us. Needless to say, after all the wine and grappa consumption, I think I probably told her time and time again over the course of the evening!
7. We went to this wonderful, amazing, incredible medieval Italian village nestled deep in the rolling hills of Tuscany. What a treasure it was.
8. We met this photographer in a little shop and bought a couple of photographs. (I didn't have any luck getting into his actual website, I'm not sure what's up with that).
9. We also bought a piece of art from this artist. The piece we bought isn't on this site, but it is a long vertical painting of a Tuscan hillside with a winding path and villa. It is sooooo cool.
10. Lastly, for those of you who know about the Dylan saga - I just want to report that she is all better now. Feisty as ever. She had a rough time while we were away with a terrible stomach virus and a double ear infection. She was inconsolable for hours and hours at a time and would not eat or sleep. I ended up trying to come home a day early, but it took me 40 long, long hours to get home. Quite a journey, I should say. When I got home, I got the cold shoulder for at least an hour! She would not look at me and would avert her gaze and bury her head away from me every time I tried to talk to her. It took me hours and hours to get any sort of smile or giggle. She's a feisty one, that girl! All is well now, though (except that Holland now has the terrible stomach virus).

Arrivederci!

Our Own Private Italy

2008-10-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

Jonathan and I had quite an experience with our photographer and our private photo shoot. We had decided to go to the Superga which is where we took all of our wedding photographs without film in the camera, but then we changed our minds and just had some shots taken in a couple of nearby Italian villages. The challenge was that our photographers (a husband/wife team) didn't speak one word of English, and of course, Jonathan and I didn't speak one word of Italian. I threw out a few Spanglish/Italiano phrases and hoped they could decipher the message, but we pretty much were resigned ourselves to using gestures, hand signals, and illustrations! Nonetheless, we had a fun afternoon being in front of the camera which never happens, and we ended up with a few shots that we will always treasure!

At one point during the photo shoot, we were able to decipher that our photographer wanted to take us to one more place. He said some Italian jibberish that ended with emphasis on "castelo". "CASTELO".

OH!, I thought. He wants to take us to one more town. One more village. One more castelo - that must be the name for these little provinces. Castelo, of course!

And then we drove up this long dirt drive way lined in tall cypress trees, an olive orchard, and a private vineyard. And there in the distance was a "CASTLE".

DUH.

Something happens to your brain when your thrown into a situation like this one - you just loose all intelligence and common sense. How could I not have derived the word "castle" from "castelo" ??

Too much wine in the afternoon, perhaps.

La Dolce Vita

2008-10-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the first round of Italy pictures. We had a wonderful trip, and are already looking forward to our return, although it may be a while. I don't have the energy to write in detail about the trip, so for now here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Ciao!

2008-10-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

I am off very soon to catch a flight to meet my husband in Italy for a little week long get away!

Don't expect a post while I'm there......

xoxoxo

Ciao!

Notes for Grandma and Grandpa (i.e: Distractions for Dylan)

2008-10-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

As our trip to Italy is fast approaching (in exactly 56 hours from now), I am starting to get more and more worried about being away from the girls for so long. Jonathan and I have only spent two nights together away from Holland (and she's about to turn 5). The two nights away from her was this summer when she went to Fishtrap Lake with Grandma and Grandpa - a whoppin' 25 minutes away! I have spent 4 nights away from her when I have been away at a conference, and I think Jonathan has spent about the same amount away, too, but never both of us away at the same time. I have only spent one night away from Dylan.

So, as you can imagine I am starting to worry. I know everything will be fine, but I want to make sure Grandma and Grandpa are well prepared. Dylan is mainly who I am concerned about. Holland can go into movie marathon mode with some microwave popcorn or papa john breadstix and be just fine. Dylan, on the other hand, may need a few tricks, you know, some song and dance. Some hype. Some hoopla.

So I made a list of sure fire distractions for Dylan in case she is totally upset and inconsolable. These are things that we have discovered will redirect her. They will distract her. Console her. Comfort her. Possibly even trick her into believing she's having a fun time and isn't actually missing her mommy and daddy.

Here goes.....

1. Running water - turn it on and let her splash and splash and splash!
2. Anything with a lid - she will repeatedly take it off and put back on again, and she is so proud of herself for this one.
3. Bodie.
4. Microwave popcorn.
5. Holland's jewelry box.
6. Pushing buttons on the dashboard in the front seat of the car.
7. Basket of diapers - she will take them out and chuck them one by one across the room.
8. Baby Annabelle.
9. Sing Old MacDonald.
10. Let her open up the drawer of bath tub toys.
11. A "Dream ride" in the car.
12. Holland's burps.
13. Read her a book or two. Or three.
14. Kitchen drawers.
15. Grandpa's wallet.
16. Cell phones.
17. Go for a walk outside.
18. Purple puppy.
19. Playing piano.
20. Coins and Holland's bank.

These things pretty much should do the trick. Either by themselves or in conjunction with others. If those things don't work then you may just be in trouble. You may need to call her mommy and daddy in Italy and have them board the next plane! Hopefully, it won't come to that!

Good Luck, you guys. (I really do think she's gonna be fine!)

Dieci. (Ten.)

2008-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

1. I am leaving for Italy on a long flight all by myself in less than 10 days. and I am in shock! Jonathan and I are traveling separate because he was giving frequent flyer miles to use, and he also needs to be there for "best man duties". We also thought it would be best for me to be gone a few days less because of the girls-left-at-home factor, and lastly, it's really not a bad idea for parents to fly separately when going away without kids. That's not something I really like to think about, but God forbid if something were to happen - I would hate for my girls to be without both of us. Not a happy thought, I know, but it is something I have occasionally (and quickly) pondered.

2. Still on the Italy subject - I have tons of stuff to do before the trip. I need to load up my video Ipod with some tv shows and movies, buy a charger that will work on the airplane, buy some jewelry for my "little black dress" for the wedding, buy a wedding present, wash and pack my cutest, hippest clothes, make notes for grandma and grandpa, edit some photo shoots, shoot a couple more photo shoots, go to costco for some groceries, thoroughly clean our house, write a couple of reports for work, and that's just my list for today!

3. Since Italy is fresh on my mind, I might make this a whole post about Italy. We'll see how far I get!

4. I can't remember if I mentioned in an earlier post or not that Jonathan and I have lined up a photo shoot for ourselves in Italy! How wonderfully cool and amazing is that? When we were married there ten years ago, we were in Italy without a photographer and without family members. His friend, Ron, who arranged our wedding and who is now getting married himself, took us up to this gorgeous, old stone basilica and took some b&w (film) photos of us in our wedding attire on our wedding day. Jonathan was swirling and twirling me around, picking me up, and whispering sweet nothings into my ear all while being captured on what I thought was film in our camera. Yep, that's right - what I thought was film! Two days later, I discovered the camera was empty. No film. No negatives. No images. Nada. Needless to say, I was LIVID. And, I haven't ever gotten over it. So I have insisted on 10th anniversary pictures in the same old, stone basilica sans wedding attire, but hopefully the same swirling and twirling! A few sweet nothings wouldn't be too bad either!

5. The first few days of our trip will be in northern Italy, near Taurino or Turin. This is close to where we were married. Then the rest of our trip will be in Florence and Tuscany. We absolutely adored Florence when we were there before so we decided to go back. We are renting a car this time so we can go rolling through the hills of Tuscany. Windows down. Hair blowing. Breathing in the fresh air. Taking in all the sights and sounds.

6. Since Jonathan's parents are staying at our house for a week, it has pushed us to do some long, long overdue projects. Our bedroom has been in terrible need of de-cluttering and re-organizing so we have been chipping away at that. We have also needed a new toilet in our upstairs bathroom which is in our bedroom, and Jonathan replaced it this last weekend. The pantry has been reorganized and the refrigerator cleaned out. We have even been working in the basement to get our play area back together as well as getting the rest of the basement in order. We had some seepage problems earlier this year and we haven't ever fully recovered from that chaos. And before that there was already chaos and before that chaos there was even more chaos, so you can imagine the state of our basement! Anyway, the point of all that is I think we should have his parents stay here more often!

7. We got out our Italian language book "Italian in 10 minutes a day" and have been thumbing through it. I think all I really need to know is: vino rossa, proscuitto i melone, grazie, and ciao!

8. When we were there on our honeymoon, we averaged two bottles of wine a day! Every time we had lunch, we had a bottle or a carafe of white wine and then when we had dinner we had a bottle or carafe of red wine. This is what all the locals were doing. When in Rome....... right?

9. I hope we don't spend as much money on our phone calls home as we would have spent on airline tickets for the girls!!

10. *sigh* La Dolce Vita

Ciao!

A Birthday Message from Holland

2008-10-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

Holland and I went to one of her girlfriend's birthday parties today. As we were wrapping her present and signing her card, I asked Holland what she wanted her message to say.

She responded with this:

Dear Sophie,

Have a polka-dotted birthday, and slide down a twisty slide if you ever feel unhappy.

I *heart* you,

Holland

Wow! What a fun message! I want a polka-dotted birthday when my birthday rolls around, and I seriously hope to remember to slide down a twisty slide the next time I am feeling unhappy! I have no idea where she came up with this, but I'm so glad she did!

Evolution of a Photo Shoot

2008-10-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here, Mommy! Take a picture of me backwards!

Okay, I'll turn around, but I'm NOT going to look at you! Hmmpff!

Oh! Alright! How about some silly faces!

Here's a quick, 1/2 of a smile - you better hurry!

Wow! This *is* fun, mommy!

Guess Who's Trying on Princess Shoes.....

2008-10-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Urban Family

2008-09-28T10:37:00.001-07:00

So I drug my family downtown to a fun, urban, future photo shoot spot yesterday to see how pictures would turn out. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but it was fun to play around. I am very excited about doing some client photo shoots in this area. I only used two spots and there are about 7-8 spots at this same area that would be GREAT for photos. So what do you think? Do we pass the urban family test?

Boden - 4 Months

2008-09-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

37 pounds, and all caught up on his shots
he goes NUTS with plastic water bottles or two liter bottles
loves to steal something to chew on, and then run from us
sleeps inside every night
is outgrowing his night time crate
adores holland and dylan; he loves to chase and lick them
has learned to "sit" and "shake" on command
buried his new kong and we still haven't found it
he cleans the kitchen floor from all of dylan's drips and drops
takes daily walks with jonathan
has started to eat kleenex

(thanks to dylan feeding him one through the crate)

goes nuts when we drive up in the driveway

has broken our lock on the fence from jumping so hard into it

loves to dig and dig and dig

chases squirrels

loves to have his tummy rubbed/scratched

likes to ride in the car

loves to play tug of war

likes to fetch (but only a couple of fetches)

He's a pretty good dog, that Boden!

Super Soccer Kicker

2008-09-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know who has been more excited about Holland playing soccer. Her? or Me? I played soccer in high school, college, and I've also played on a couple of adult leagues. I seriously wish that I had started at a younger age because I really love playing. It's such a great game. We have both been counting down the days and today was the first game day! Holland came walking up the stairs this morning at 6:45 with her soccer ball in her hands. "I'm ready to play soccer now", she exclaimed!

Okay - she wins. She may have been a tad bit more excited because I just wanted a couple more hours of sleep at 6:45! Soccer game or not.

She told me yesterday, "I am excited about a million, Mommy".

Yeah, that's probably more excited than I am!

Anyway, we were having a discussion at breakfast this morning and I was attempting to teach her about sportsmanship. You know - telling her the whole spiel about it's not about winning or losing, it's just about having fun. (as you can imagine, I was fumbling to get those words out because most of you know - I personally believe in my heart that it is ALL about winning!). She ever so nonchalantly said, "I know Mommy. I want the other team to win anyway."

"You do??" I said (trying not to sound accusingly)

"Yeah".

"Why do you want the other team to win?" ("I gotta hear this", I thought!)

"Well, I want them to have fun."

"Oh! that's so nice of you, Holland", I said (however, not really believing what I was hearing!) I actually turned to Jonathan and said, "Is she my daughter?!"

A few seconds passed and then she came up with this....

"But, Mommy, I have the super soccer kick so I'm probably gonna win anyway!"

Whew! That's more like it!

And so she did - or so their whole team did, I should say. They won: double digits to zero! And one of those double digits was scored by Miss super soccer kicker, herself! Go Holland, Go!

"Mommy, I Made You a Love Letter"

2008-09-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

translation: dear mommy, i love you in my heart. holland

September 16, 1998

2008-09-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

10 years ago today, Jonathan asked me to marry him.

And, what I am about to share with you is shocking!

Mr. Romantic, Mr. Writer/Poet/Painter, Mr. Renaissance man proposed to me in a very unique way!

No, it was not with a sky writer while strolling on the beach hand in hand at sunset.

Nope, not over the scoreboard at a Mariners baseball game.

Not a hot air balloon while sipping wine and savoring the view of the gorgeous country side.

No. No. No. He didn't write me a lovely poem or paint me a gorgeous piece of art.

On top of the Eiffel tower? Not even close. The Space Needle? Not there either.

It was pretty plain and simple.

No fire. No wine. No candles. No cuddles.

No profession of his endearing love for me.

It was .......... over the phone.

Yep. that's what I said - the phone.

And, furthermore, he first proposed "hypothetically".

Can you believe it?

Shocking, I know.

Absolutely, incredibly SHOCKING.

And you know what the best part of it was? I didn't think a thing about all of those crazy fairytale ideas that I had fantasized about for so long.

All I could think about was Yes! Yes! Yes! Absolutely without a doubt, Yes!

Happy Proposal Day, Babe! Thanks for asking!

I love you!

2008-09-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

Check it out, y'all! (click)

Another Car Conversation

2008-09-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Holland and I were driving down the road, headed to one of her classmate's birthday parties, and out of the blue, she asked,

"Mommy, where did Daddy find you before he married you?"

So we carried on a lengthy conversation about mine and Jonathan's dating days. She kept suspensefully asking, "And what happened next, Mommy?" "What happened next???"

And so the story was told......

A Surprise Email

2008-09-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

I just received a super surprise email from Tracey Clark, who is the founder of Shutter Sisters. I have been visiting Shutter Sisters blog off and on for about 6 months now, and I absolutely LOVE it. It is a group of women photographers/writers who rotate days of the week to post inspiring photographs, and written related pieces.

A few months ago, there was an announcement that they were going to put together a photography book entitled, "Daily Click" to showcase a variety of their blog reader's daily clicks. They have a flickr group that you can upload your shots to, and they will periodically post pictures from this photo stream on their blog. Anyway, I knew they were putting together a book, but I forgot all about it until I stumbled upon a blog post that was making a last call for votes on pictures to be published in this book. As I scrolled through the pictures that were selected for possible publication, I found one of my very own pictures that someone had nominated. WOW! I was incredibly surprised and honored to be among such other amazing photographic works.

I quickly pressed the back button numerous times to get back to the post about the contest and it's details. Shucks! I had missed the deadline for voting. BUMMER! I would have had all my family and friends vote for my picture! I then proceeded back to all of the entries and started looking at each picture and how many votes they had. Mine was ranking right up there with those with the most votes! Unbelievable!

That was months ago.

So today, I checked my email and there sat an invitation for me to submit my picture for publication. It had been chosen! How cool is that? It 's super cool because it was all done without me trying to manipulate my vote count with the votes of family and friends! Other photographers and a whole host of "wannabes" chose it. Very, very cool!

I will keep everyone posted as to when the book is available for purchase. If you are interested in photography at all, I think it will be quite a selection of inspirational shots!

You may recognize the shot as I have posted it here before, but here it is again:

Ten - A Day Late

2008-09-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

1. Oops! Yesterday got away from me and I forgot to post. Actually, it looks like all of last week got away from me, and I forgot to post. Sorry about that. I have some good excuses, I think!

2. One of my good excuses is that I went to Seattle for a "girlfriend getaway" with my friend, Mary. I must say, there is nothing quite as refreshing as a quick, little kid less trip with a girlfriend! We had a wonderful time. We shopped, and shopped, and shopped. We even managed to shop for ourselves (which both of us have a hard time doing). We stopped midway through the day for an afternoon Asian pear mojito to rejuvenate ourselves, and then continued on our shopping way. We had dinner at a wonderful, Spanish tapas restaurant in the university district, stayed up late talking and looking at photography stuff, and finished the getaway with a quick irongirl 5k/10k run around greenlake. We have committed to having these getaways at least quarterly! We may have to decrease (or even eliminate) the shopping part of it if we want to convince our husbands to let us do it again though!

3. I have a ticket to Italy, and the trip is just about 5 weeks away. I am so excited! I am a little nervous about the girls being away from us for that long, but I am seriously hoping they will rise to the occasion. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa?! I figure Holland will totally be fine, and if Dylan has a traumatic experience, she's too young to remember it. Right?!

4. I have finally picked my photography logo, and now all I need to do is have some marketing materials printed up! I am super excited and very nervous! I have two clients scheduled, and at least 7-8 more that need to be scheduled. That's not too bad of a start!

5. So I have jumped on the facebook bandwagon, and it is pretty addicting (as is everything else online). I seriously didn't need another computer time waister. It is such a fun way to re-connect though. I have reconnected with long, long ago friends, ex-boyfriends, co-workers, friends of friends, etc. The only weird thing is that I have been having facebook dreams! I am dreaming about different circles of people from many, many phases of my life ago, and it's kinda weirding me out.

6. Dylan has adjusted quite well to being in the toddler room at Holland's school. She was so cute on Monday when I dropped her off. She climbed up the stairs, sat next to a cute, little guy named Jeremiah, and leaned into his cheek for him to give her a kiss. She did this over and over again! I haven't ever seen her initiate too many kisses, especially to non family members so I wonder just what is going through her sweet, little instigator mind!

7. Holland is starting soccer in a week 1/2, and I can't even wait. I brought home her socks, shin guards, cleats, and a new ball the other day, and she just went nuts! She was running and sprinting and dashing around showing off all of her "super soccer kicks" which actually look more like cheerleading herkie kicks! (click here if you don't know what a herkie kick is!). I had no idea she would be so excited about playing, but she has asked my just about every day how many days are left until she gets to play "for real". I think it might just be time to dust off the 'ole video camera OR upgrade to a new one! (just kidding, babe!)

8. Boden is getting so, so big. He has been coming into our house at various parts of the day for short periods of time. We are trying to get him use to being in the house since winter is just around the corner. I think it is going to be a harder transition for me to get use to him being there than anyone else. Any suggestions as to how I will cope?!

9. We are having a really great week as far as weather is concerned. I hope, I hope, I hope it sticks around for a few more weeks. I absolutely adore fall, but I'm just not even close to being ready for what comes after fall. I don't even want to say the word! I actually cringed when I wrote it a minute ago in the blurb about Boden!

10. I just tried to go back and post the herkie video, but I was having trouble. So, who did I call? My very own-personal-tech junkie-resource librarian-hubby. He certainly comes in handy! Thanks, babe!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Speaking of Ten.

2008-09-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

1. It seems like it has been a few weeks since I have posted a "ten" post. Actually, I am surprised that I have even posted anything at all in the last few weeks. We have been crazy busy with the end of the summer wind down. Now today, as Jonathan went back to work, I am suddenly feeling depressed that our summer is officially over. We had such a long, long winter that in my own, little, fairytale world I totally expected a super long summer to compensate for the dreary, drawn out winter we had to endure. Fall is definitely in the air - maybe, just maybe it will linger on.

2. Speaking of lingering on, my heel pain is not going anywhere. I went to a doctor and also a Physical Therapist, and I got an official diagnosis of plantar fascitis. This is when the fascia in your heal becomes very tender and you actually have little tears in the tissue. It is very sore to touch, and it is hard to bear weight on it. I have been resting it for two weeks, but I attempted to go to running practice last night. I can hardly walk this morning. Not good. I talked with my coach and she said it can be 6-8 weeks (at least) for soft tissue injuries to heal. She suggested to just take a break, and was really against me training for the 1/2 marathon. I am very upset about this, and I'm now quite sure how I am going to handle it. I am definitely going to need a new outlet.

3. Speaking of outlet, we went to the premium outlets in Marysville last week. I did some serious power shopping in just about two hours! Holland was my main focus as she was in need for some fall clothes. I found quite a few deals, and now she is set for school to start.

4. Speaking of school starting, Dylan is going to start "school" tomorrow in the toddler room at Holland's school. We absolutely adore her school, and we are very eager for Dylan to follow in Holland's footsteps. However, I am a little worried about Dylan starting so young. Holland had a whole other year at home before she started. I am sure she will be fine, I think it is mostly mommy guilt that I am feeling. (You know, the whole second child gets the short end of the stick theory). Holland is going to be very close by and she will be able to go in and help out with Dylan if she is upset. She has been waiting and waiting for her to come to school so she can show off her big sister skills! Jonathan also works close by so he can go in and check in her from time to time. Since she is going to be there on MWF, this means that I will currently have Fridays to myself.

5. Speaking of having Fridays to myself, I am going to try and book some fall photo shoots on those days. I am hoping to shoot some fun family shots for fall and also even start taking some Christmas card shoots. If you live in the area and are interested in having me do a photo shoot then let me know! I have recently found an online photo lab that so many professional photographers use (thanks to my already-well-established-photographer friend, Mary). They do an amazing job so this means that I will be able to offer seriously professional work!

6. Speaking of offering seriously professional work, I hired a graphic designer online to make a logo for "ashley potter photography". She sent me the mockups in an email, and I am very excited about them. I might have her make business cards and some other marketing items also, but I haven't decided about that, yet.

7. Speaking of marketing items, I have completed all of my photo shoots for the Isaac Foundation autism fundraiser calendar. I had my brother-n-law, who is a photographer, help me narrow down my first set of "contenders". He was full of praises and had some very encouraging words for me. I was starting to freak out that I didn't have calendar worthy photographs, but he was begging to differ. I think when I really look at individual photos and not look at the whole photo shoot then I discover some real gems. I am going to have (my previously mentioned) well- established-photographer friend, Mary, help me look at the photos also. We are hoping to get the calendar put together in the next month so we can get it printed and start marketing it for 2009. I also want to put a collection of the photographs on exhibit somewhere in April for autism awareness month.

8. Speaking of the month of April, Jonathan and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary that month. We were suppose to take a trip to Italy to revisit the church we were married in and celebrate these amazing ten years. However, we are feeling like it just isn't feasible to get a family of four over there with the current state of the economy and also the current state of our finances. It looks like we are going to get to go in October though because one of Jonathan's college buddies (the one who arranged our wedding in Italy) is finally getting married himself. Jonathan is going to be the best man. Another one of their college buddies gave Jonathan his frequent flyer miles to get to Italy as a wedding gift to the college buddy that is getting married! Jonathan was going to just go by himself, but his parents graciously offered to buy me a ticket AND keep our girls for a week! I was initially very wishy washy about it, and I'm not sure what that was about. A week in Italy without children - can there be anything more appealing?

9. Speaking of without children, my sister and her husband are officially "empty nesters". They just dropped off my niece at college this last weekend. She is going to attend Jonathan's old Alma Mata, Whitman College. Today is her first day of classes so I want to wish her well..... Good Luck, Gabrielle! You are going to love it!

10. Speaking of loving it, we went to a Lucinda Williams concert this weekend in Riverfront park, and we absolutely loved it! She was great. I hadn't heard much of her before the other night, but had gotten rave reviews from my sister and my cousin! They both came over from Seattle with their husbands in tow and we had a wonderful weekend! We are looking forward to more weekends together!

Happy Tuesday!

Boden Chews up Everything

2008-08-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

We are on our first official family trip with Boden in tow. He is a pretty good traveler so far, however I keep forgetting about the chewing up factor. We have had a few casualties on this trip, and I feel like after the first casualty, I have been pretty proactive. Obviously, that's not the case! As to date, here's our running list:

1 pair of Ashley's sunglasses
1 Creating Keepsakes magazine
3 colored pencils
1 of Holland's headbands
1 piece of plastic that covers some nuts and bolts in our car
1 sheet of stickers
3 or 4 smiley face stickers from that sheet
1/2 of an abandoned donut
part of a plastic grill cover at a friend's house

and he started to nibble on a pair of the wireless headphones that go to our car DVD player - that would have been big trouble for him! I'm so glad I noticed those when I did.

I think that is all for now. Hopefully, there won't be any additions!

Oh! the joys of dog ownership!

Baby Teigan

2008-08-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

We drove over to Yakima this weekend to meet our "gran niece". Can you believe that Jonathan and I have great uncle and great aunt status? Pretty crazy, I know. We are much, much too young for that. However, we are truly delighted to welcome baby Teigan into our family! She is absolutely beautiful! Here are a few of my favorite shots of her.....

I interrupt all this race talk to bring you these.....

2008-08-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

Here I am, In ALL My Fairy Glory

2008-08-17T22:19:00.001-07:00

runner 10
"costume contest"
fairy costume
4.0 miles for this first leg
streets of spokane
one intersection after another
not another runner in sight
strange looks from drivers
stranger looks from pedestrians i had to pass
construction site - breathing in dust and freshly poured asphalt
onward through the public park
still in fairy costume
ran past a wedding ceremony (hee hee)
still no other runners in site
103 degree weather
no shade, black asphalt trail
scorchin' heat
not enough water
looking for my family to cheer me on
family at starbucks getting a snack
feeling bummed
wondering if there were really other costumes out there

wondering if my family was ever going to show up

wondering how much longer i had to run

wondering: what was i thinking??

seriously, it was a fun, fun race, and i am so glad that i did it.
however, I am way too tired to write a full report at this time!
more to follow....

Race Day

2008-08-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking??

It just so happens that "what were we thinking" is the name of our team, and it couldn't feel any more appropriate than it does right now - 4:45 am on race day after a sleepless night. However, I imagine it will ring even more true as we head into our second leg in the middle of the night, and then again on our third leg as we are on the homestretch, but yet still so far away!

I had a very restless night. I'm feeling anxious, excited, overwhelmed, under trained, sleep deprived, and a little bit giddy. A weird surge of emotions. (the 4:45 a.m factor might be partly to blame)

Stay tuned for a full report.

Let the race begin......

Things to Pack

2008-08-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last day 1/2 packing my bag for my little adventure that I am about to embark upon. I seriously had no idea what I needed so I have been making a list over the last week or so. Here's a glance as to what all needs to fit into my bag:

*running shoes (complete with flower embellishments for my costume leg)
*2-3 pairs of extra socks
*2 short sleeved running shirts
*1 long sleeved running shirt
* sports bra type running shirt
*2 pairs of running shorts and 1 pair of running pants
*extra "underroos" (as our race director put it in a mass email)
*a little running pouch for carrying my cell phone for my whee hours of the morning leg
*sports watch
*Ipod to listen to during my down time
*reading material (people magazine - brad/angelina family photo shoot! , a novel, catalogs)
*heed enhancement powder, gel, and recoverlite drink
*trail mix, bananas, granola bars, other misc. snacks
*car/travel games to play for when our van is "off" duty
*pillow, blanket, towel
*small grooming kit in case we stop and take a shower
*breath mints and gum, toothpaste and toothbrush
*car cell phone charger
*costume - flower petal tutu, head wreath, fairy wings, fairy flower tattoo, etc
*water bottle
*camera
*cash
*printed directions for each of my legs so I don't get lost (especially in rural Idaho farm land)
*extra comfy clothes for when I'm not running
*pictures of my girls (and probably Jonathan, too!)
*trash bags (because that's what I signed up to bring!)
*race manual

and lastly, I can't forget: energy, lots and lots of energy!

I think that about covers it. I might need a slightly larger bag though!

Midsummer Day's Run

2008-08-12T21:34:00.001-07:00

Here is a sneak peek at some of my costume items! The rest of the costume won't be revealed until race day which by the way is in exactly 57 hours and 10 minutes from now!

Hoopla Schmoopla

2008-08-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had one main complaint about running the Spokane 1/2 marathon - not nearly enough "hoopla" for me. If I'm gonna run 13.4 miles for no real apparent reason, other than putting my body into complete and utter shock after being on bedrest for 5 months, then I want song and dance. I want cheerleaders all along the route. I want costumes. Bands. Dancers. Musicians. People in wigs. People doing jigs. People eating figs.

You get the point.

Hoopla is what I want. Lots and lots of hoopla.

Now what is striking me as sorta funny is that I have this big 190 mile relay race coming up next weekend (exactly one week from today), and from the sound if it - there is going to be lots and lots of hoopla. There are 36 legs for 12 runners to run. One of the legs is a wig contest, one of the legs is a costume contest, one of the legs is a night time leg with a bright lights contest. There are also team spirit awards, and best decorated van awards. Hoopla, I tell ya!

So what's the "funny part?", you ask. The funny part is that my leg got changed a couple of weeks ago to the costume contest leg, and now I'm feeling a little less hoopla might be just fine! Hoopla Schmoopla. I am so stressed out about it, and I don't know why. This is seriously right up my alley. At least it use to be right up my alley.

Something has changed as I have gotten older, and I'm not sure I like it. Years ago, I would have jumped up and down and begged to get the costume leg. I would have been ecstatic about it, so much so that I would have picked out the loudest, craziest, and wackiest costume ever!

So, what happened?

At what point in my life did I make this shift and will there be point in my life in which I make the switch back? I think it all has to do with the whole "comfortable in your own skin" phenomenon. I am totally comfortable in my own skin around my life long friends (meaning the ones that I had years ago who knew me when I would have begged for the costume leg), my family, or in a situation where I can be totally anonymous. The problem is that my every day life doesn't include any of those things. I have dear friends here in Spokane, but they don't really know that side of me. My family isn't close by, and they wouldn't be running the race with me anyway, and of course, I can't be totally anonymous.

So, what am I to do?

I'm thinking this will be a good therapeutic exercise for me. One that will force me to call upon my old self and bring her to the table (or to the race, as the case may be). One that will get me to ask - what would I have worn say 15 or 20 years ago?

Hoopla Schmoopla, my ass! I'm gonna get my groove back.....

Wish me luck.

any ideas?

Poem for Dylan

2008-08-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

Dylan Grace
Fair of face,
Rosy lips and dancing hips,
Sparkling eyes,
They tell no lies,
The depth of you, our gift our treasure,
Poems and Wordles try to measure.

Love,

Grandma

14 Months

2008-08-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge

A wordle for Dylan,
as she turns 14 months!

Make your own "wordle" here.

New Running Shoes

2008-08-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I was in dire need of some new running shoes. I have been complaining about sore feet, tender heels, and tired legs for the last few weeks of my training. I talked with my coach about the heel thing, and she took one look at my shoes and gasped! I immediately went to my local running store, and got fitted for a new pair, because in two weeks these shoes need to take me here, and then three weeks later, they need to take me here, and then about 6 weeks later, they are going to need to take me here (just the 1/2 portion).

That's a lot of running! I have been working towards earning that "runner" title. I probably should have earned it after completing last year's 1/2 marathon, but I still didn't feel confident enough to identify with other runners. I think I am well on way to earning it by now though, what do you think?!

Mary, I think this means I am committed to the Leavenworth 1/2 since I have now written about it. Are you in?

And, She's Off.....

2008-07-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

she swaggers

she totters

she stumbles

she wobbles

she wavers

she tumbles

she walks!

Mommy Bedtime Playlist

2008-07-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Something I want to rememer....

Jonathan and I alternate girls each night during bedtime business. While I am putting one down, he is putting the other down. And then the next night, we switch. When it is my turn to put Dylan down, we have a little bedtime routine. I make her a bottle, grab her soft and cuddly blankie, and rock her in the rocking chair. While I am rocking her, I sing to her, and I have realized that I have a little "playlist" that I sing each time. I don't stray from it. It's the same songs in the same order, every time.

1. I love you, Dylan
2. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
3. Tell me Why
4. Great Big Star
5. ABC song
6. The Earth is Our Mother

By the time I get to the last song, she is pretty heavy lidded, and usually asleep. Occasionally, I will go back through my playlist a second time, but not very often.

Tonight was my turn with Dylan, and she didn't even make it all the way through the playlist because she was so incredibly tired! That may have been a first!

As far as my Holland routine goes, it is pretty much the same each time, too. She gets on pajamas, brushes her teeth, and picks out a book. We have been reading a variety of different chapter books to her, so if we are in the middle of a chapter book then that is the one she will pick. I will read her a chapter of our book, a fairytale from our fairytale anthology, or an all together different story book- whatever she is in the mood for on that particular night. After I read to her, I set the kitchen timer for a certain amount of minutes for "cuddles", then when the timer goes off, I leave her to venture into dream land on her own. I usually tell her to have "sweet dreams", and then I also tell her "night-night sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite". In which one of us will continue it by saying, "don't YOU let them bite" and then we act like we are taking a big bite out of each other (complete with bed bug bite sound effects).

Then we laugh hysterically.

A great way to end the day! : )