Finishing Up the Year 2009

Wow, I can't believe that it's the end of another year, much less decade...can you? It seems like just yesterday that I commenced working on my Project 365 scrapbook, and started taking a photo every day. It's still a work in progress but I've been looking back in it and fondly remembering moments and days that I would otherwise not have in print. I have decided even though it is a big commitment, and I may not finish it in a timely manner, but I will do a Project 365 for 2010. I considered doing a 52 photo version, but it's so hard to decide on a favorite photo for the week, so I just made things easier by ordering a Becky Higgins kit called "Project Life", check it out here. I actually ordered two in the hopes that my younger sister Lyne, who just recently became a scrapbooker will join me. So far so good. Anyone else doing this?

I also have resolved to make a few changes in my life for the new year. Hopefully all for the better. I have already taken a step towards being healthier by going back to the gym and working out with a trainer once a week. I plan on supplementing this with other workouts, classes and WII training. I recently gifted myself the new Yoga for our WII and have yet to find time to try it out. I plan on eating a lot healthier too. No more second servings when I am full, a lot more veggies and a lot less starch. We'll see how that goes...

In the organizational part of our lives I hope to finally re-arrange my scrapbooking room so that it is functional and I enjoy my time in it, not feel pressed upon by all my stuff.

I also plan on getting a birthday calender up and running in the first part of January so that I will not fail to mail out any more birthday cards and wishes. There are some other small things but I won't bore you with the details.

This upcoming week will be extremely busy as we are in the final stages of finishing our rental units. Just some countertops, a few electrical fixtures, doorbells, etc and then they will be ready to rent out. We are heading to IKEA, yet again, for some office furniture to finish off the downstairs offices, so that our bookkeeper will finally have a place to work. I plan on packing up our little bit of Christmas decoration that I did manage to put out prior to the holidays. I didn't realize how much that stuff really means to me until I saw my Mother-In-Law's Christmas tree. It kind of gave me a lump in my throat that we did not have one this year. Oh well, I guess there's always next year...

Oh and I wanted to thank everyone who so thoughtfully sent us Christmas Cards again this year. I did manage to squeak mine out just before Christmas and was amazed to hear that most of them even arrived before the holidays, even in Germany.

We are heading to Seattle to celebrate the New Year. I am looking forward to a nice evening out with my family and a fun start to 2010.

Happy New Year!

Pre-Christmas Shenanigans

The weekend before Christmas we attended the annual Christmas party one of our largest clients puts on every year. It was held at the Skagit Casino again. Some of you may recall the disaster last year where the whole hotel was evacuated at around 2 AM due to a broken/frozen pipe. Not so much fun. This year however things went off much more smoothly. The band was a bit late so dancing with the "PopOffs" did not commence till well after 8:30 PM and some grew a bit restless. The open bar helped a bit. LOL

We had a lot of fun and danced the night away.

The day after we watched the Seahawks get their butts kicked and had Troy and Ashton over for an early gift exchange since he had to go back home to his Mom's for the holidays. Grace & him played together for the afternoon and had a blast.

Christmas in Winthrop

Since my parents ended up spending the holidays in Montreal visiting my Grandfather, who had broken his leg just recently we decided to head east. After numerous discussions of when we would leave, (my hubby thinking as early as possible ie: Tuesday morning, when in fact I had Tuesday all booked up!) we ended up departing Bellingham on Wednesday at around 10:30 AM, which for us I must add, is quite a feat. With cooler, six-pack of wine, numerous bins of food, a huge cardboard box of presents and our suitcases we headed toward Winthrop. Of course there was a stop at the bank to get some cash for the road, a swing by Starbucks for the mandatory latte & scones and a quick detour to our mechanics place to drop off Adam's truck so it could be serviced over the holidays.
We arrived in Winthrop and immediately everyone went into Vacation Mode. Martin stopped answering his phone every five minutes, Adam was playing computer games, Grace hauled the contents of Grandma's toy box all over the living room floor and I went into last minute present production and wrapping. We were expecting Martin's sister Michelle and her boyfriend Jack, as well as my sister & brother in-law Melanie & Matt with their two boys Oscar & Riley. Grace was beyond excited to see her cousin Oscar and to play with him.

Grace did feed the reindeer again this year. She was so cute, called Grandma before we left to make sure she had everything to put into the Reindeer Food. Turned out it was a good thing, as Grandma was all out of tiny marshmallows.
We did a lot of unwrapping on Christmas Morning, playing games & cards, eating lots of good food and had a blast in Winthrop.

In Full Christmas Preparation Mode (NOT!)

GASP!

Normally we would be ready for Christmas around this time of the month, of course. But this year it's just not been going our way.

Well, until today that is...

Why do you ask? Well, we have not gone to cut down a tree this year, and my husband informed me yesterday that we will not be doing so this year... Apparently he is just too busy with work and I will just have to deal. It's nice to know that family takes priority for him, NOT! Well, I have tried to have him pick up an already cut tree somewhere but again that is hit and miss. So far only misses. Will keep trying, even if I have to drive the John Deere across the street to the tree farm myself. Didn't know it was so hard to find good help? LOL

Today though I found some small miracle in the form of a trip to the mall. What on earth do you ask is so miraculous about that? Well, for one a premium parking spot right out front of my favorite store. No line, (YES absolutely no line!) at the Verizon Wireless store. Not a single mother & child waiting to sit on Santa's lap for photos. A smiling girl sitting on Santa's lap and a perfect photo to show for it afterward. I found everything I was looking for at Victoria's Secret, in my size, and color, and even got a cool tote FREE with my purchase. Someone pinch me...I must be dreaming! At Gymboree the whole store was 30% off and with the coupon we got from Santa (apparently he gifts adults too, at least at Bellis Fair!), we received an additional 20% off our purchase.

All this has left me wondering why I have been avoiding the mall like the plague lately. It was quite pleasant and I noticed a bunch of brand-new stores that I had never seen there before...I hope this was not a one time deal...

Anyway, back to Christmas. I do have most of my gifts purchased and plan on wrapping soon as my curious daughter already had one in her hot little hands asking innocently "Whats this Momma?". I do also have a few decorations out and about our home, making it a little more bearable to be so far behind in my preparations. Plus Grace & I managed to whip up a batch of Sweet Potato Spice Cookies this Sunday. YUMMY!

Give-Away

One of the talented instructors of last year's fabulous scrapbook retreat "Inspiration Unlimited" is having a wonderful giveaway on her blog. I instantly fell in love with the creations she is showcasing. Go check it out : Tammy Mitchell's Blog.

Been busy starting more blog posts, but not finishing them. Now that the volleyball league is back to semi-regular hours I do not have the urge to blog at midnight any longer. What's a girl to do?

I will try to squeeze in some time between my workouts, Christmas decorating & shopping and all the other crazy stuff that's been happening in my life.

Hope to see you soon.

November Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I must say I am starting to feel the withdrawal of not receiving my usual scrapbooking magazines in the mail. I really miss Simple Scrapbooks. What were they thinking when they discontinued this magazine? Really? I have also read a few books this month. Seems like it's been quite a while since I've had one that was noteworthy... But I did squeeze in the fairly new Nicholas Sparks entitled "The Choice" which is his usual twisty turny style but on top of it this one really makes you think... I also read a couple which I really had to force myself to finish. You know when you get past the point of no return and have to know what happens next? They were "Spandau Phoenix" by Greg Iles and "The Black Path" by Asa Larsson. I look forward to the release of Dean Koontz's new book "Breathless" next month.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month? Seems that with the holidays approaching, work picking up with the temperatures dropping, the start of football season and just being a lot busier we are not watching as much TV this month as we have in past months. We are still loyal viewers of "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", and my personal favorite "The Biggest Loser". I have been waiting to watch "True "Season 1 since I've requested the first two DVD's from Blockbuster, but have not found the time to do so. We did watch some BlueRay movies on our new player, including "The Taking of Pelham 123" which I thought was quite good. I would have to give a so-so rating to "Angels & Demons" since I am a big fan of the books, and the movies just don't live up to the books. I also wasn't thrilled by Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal", it just seemed a little contrived.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
I started going back to the gym to work out regularly this month, but this time with the help of a personal trainer. Her name is Charity and she works at THRIVE Fitness in Ferndale. I know it's a drive to go all the way out there for a workout, but it's worth it. The first week she worked me out, I was at the gym on a Wednesday and by Saturday I was still sore and hurting. Grace took a class through the local YMCA that she lovingly referred to as a "dance" class but was actually more of a "keep-the-kids-moving-till-they-wear-out" kind of deal. I tried to get her enrolled in a ballet class with some neighbor friend's kids but the class was unfortunately full. We'll try again next year...

Well, as you all know November is the time for turkey, family and all that. Even though we had two invitations from friends to join them for Thanksgiving we decided to forgo that and instead have some friends, family & neighbors over to our house. My parents even drove down from Canada to celebrate American Thanksgiving with us. Canada has their Thanksgiving early in October. Grace had a blast dressing up in her new sparkly dress and dancing around the house. We are still finding glitter in the most interesting places.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?
Martin & I had a weekend away without Gracie in Seattle this month. I had surprised him with tickets to see the "Trans Siberian Orchestra". Which neither of us really knew much about. Our seat mates at the Key Arena were raving on about it and highly recommended it, saying this was their third time there and they planned on going again next year. We were both pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic show. I even managed to shoot a few decent photos, despite the lasers & strobe lights.
We stayed at a boutique hotel in downtown called the Max and had dinner at the Space Needle Restaurant. Despite horrible rainy & cold weather we had a great weekend away.We also had Chris & Verena come and stay at our place for a night. They came out for dinner and then helped us stain the shop & apartment floors the next day. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
We took a trip to IKEA in Renton on a Wednesday to purchase our kitchens for the apartments & the shop. I believe we broke a record for most items purchased at one time. The cashier actually had to check out the first part of the order because the till quite working at a certain number of items. We ended up with 2 receipts and a total of 129 & 113 items combined, and about a dozen carts of stuff. This still left us with numerous out of stock items which we had to get on a second & third trip. What a nightmare. But it all resulted in three beautiful kitchens.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
About mid-way through the month Martin called and made me an appointment at the Doctor's office for my insistent headaches. It was getting to the point where i had a standing headache for a week, and couldn't function properly any longer. They drew about four vials of blood and did a bunch of tests without any results. Now they are wanting to send me in for an MRI...not sure about that.
We all managed to stay away from the flu, including H1N1. **Knock on Wood**

What were my accomplishments this month?
I accomplished some clean-ups around the house, not that you'd notice. But it did feel good to get rid of the Halloween decorations before Thanksgiving. LOL

What Does One Do...

when the hubby and kid are asleep and you just came home from a very late volleyball game to find them both spread eagle in my bed?
Update my blog of course. LOL

I know I have been horrible with keeping this puppy updated, but when I looked at it tonight I noticed that I had no less than 5, yes FIVE, posts that were started and some even ready to post. I have no excuse as to why they did not get published earlier. I guess I've just been avoiding this blog ting... Well tonight I took the blog by it's horns and added some photos. So please enjoy the update. I promise to do better....but don't hold me to it. You know it's Thanksgiving this week and I don't know yet how many people I will be feeding...much less have I gone shopping. Aaaaahhhhhh the joys of the holiday season.

See you around!

After the FAIR....

We did visit the fair this year, twice. Once with Martin who stupidly booked a fishing trip during them time we had planned to attend a concert at the fair. Men! What more need I say?
So we took Grace to the fair so she could fleece Dad out of some cash before he left. We saw Ben's trailer that his old shop teacher had entered into the fair and it had won two blue ribbons. Too bad he wasn't there to see it...pretty cool. Of course the fair wouldn't be the fair without some good ole' junk food, rides and some cute animals.

Miss Grace was lucky enough to get to go to the fair a total of three times this year, as her auntie Michelle wanted to have her along with some other kids for an evening there. And then I took her along with Oma & Opa who had come down to enjoy the Foreigner Concert with us. Apparently this is my mother's all time favorite band and when I heard that they were playing at the Lynden Fair I bought tickets right away. since Martin was away I ended up with three extra tickets and had our friends Bob & Sabrina tag along with Sabrina's sister. We had a blast.

Back from our Family Vacation

We spent a week on a family summer vacation in the Roeboat cruising around the San Juan islands and Vancouver Island. This time there were no major injuries, although we had issues with the boat again... This time it was a pump/electrical thing and we took on some water. Nothing too bad but Martin did rig something to pump out the water before replacing the faulty ones. I guess part of the deal was that the battery drained and we ended up pulling up the anchor by hand due to this problem.

Of course we picked the worst week to do this, weather wise. I was hoping for some sun and packed a ton of tank tops, bathing suits and cute sundresses. We did manage to go swimming at Poets Cove with Gracie followed by some dancing at the pub there.

We also stopped in Nanaimo again and lucked out this time. They had a scheduled showing of the Snowbirds over the harbor, so we took our dingy out and had front row seats to the show. It was awesome, and I even managed to snap a few good photos of the whole thing.
For the last two nights Martin decided that we had enough of roughing it and booked us into the fabulous Majestic Inn & Spa in downtown Anacortes.

We cleaned up and relaxed, Martin & I had massages at the spa, we had some wonderful food and took a walk through downtown, checking out all the little stores and boutiques. I highly recommend the restaurant "Adrift" downtown. We had some salad there the first night, and both Martin's & mine were fabulous. As a matter of fact we were so amazed by this little restaurant that we returned there the very next morning for an equally fantastic breakfast.

Playing Around with Digital Pages

I am a paper scrapper through & through. I don't think that I'd ever quit totally and become a complete digi scrapper. However, the process intrigues me and I love playing with digital images and putting stuff together.

Here is my latest:

It's a freebie layout from Jessica Sprague, who's starting a free digital photo editing course on Monday and I can't wait...

Following in the path of greatness...

scrapbooking greatness that is.
Both Ali Edwards & Cathy Zielske have recently used this format to blog, and since I am way behind again, I thought I may just steal the idea and run with it.

TODAY June 23rd, 2009

Outside my window... It's sunny but windy, I'll have to remember to grab a sweatshirt.
I am thinking... about all the stuff on my to do list, and how none of it is getting done, cause I'm blogging.
I am thankful for... having a beautiful house to call home.
From the kitchen... tonight will be some kind of fish with veggies. I'm trying to empty out the fridge & freezer.
I am wearing... blue shorts and an old volleyball tee with the sleeves cut out.
I am creating... more work for myself...oh well.
I am going... to pack up Grace in a bit and head into town. Have a few chores to do before heading to the park for some volleyball.
I am reading... the new Dean R. Koontz novel "RELENTLESS".
I am hoping... that we can work out our vacation schedule so we can go camping with my family this year.
I am hearing... the background music to Hidden Expedition: Amazon, a game I have paused on my laptop, and my daughter humming and bouncing around all over the house.
Around the house... things are clean, but there is laundry waiting to be folded, a bed in need of clean sheets and a scrapbook studio that is slowly emerging from the "STUFF". (Beware of "STUFF" it tends to grow like a weed and cover every surface, nook and cranny. It is hard to get rid of)
One of my favorite things... fresh fruit in my turquoise bowl on our new dining room table.
A few plans for the rest of the week... maybe a date night with my hubby, a crop and Saturday I have a bridal shower to go to. It will be my first ever, I have no idea what to expect. HELP!

It Feels Like Summer...

...and what always comes with summer?

CAMP that is...

How would you like to register for Creating Keepsakes summer camp? It's gonna happen on July 13-17 and if you click here it's totally FREE. How cool is that?

Here’s some of what's in store:
Chances to win
FREE daily online classes Inspiring creativity challenges
Exciting tips and techniques
And more!

I signed up & hope to see some of you there...

Monthly Round-up (and NO! I do not mean the bug killing kind...)

WARNING!!! Extremely long blog post!





I read many different blogs, some involve scrapbooking, some organizing (though you wouldn't know it if you saw my home!)LOL, some about cooking, and much, much more...
One of the blogs I read is Katie the Scrapbook Lady and she recommends to do a reoccurring round-up at the end of every month to allow you to scrapbook your memories easier. So I thought I would give that a try.
Here are her prompts for a monthly round-up:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Well, besides my usual scrapbook publications (Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, Scrapbook ETC) I bought Woman's Day, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Good Housekeeping & a special issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors entitled "Studios". I am a self proclaimed magazine junkie and would buy them all f I only had the room to store them. LOL I also have to note that 2 of the above mentioned scrapbook mag's are going out of publication, which is a real bummer cause Simple Scrapbooks was one of my favorites.

I have also read a really good book this month. Seems like it's been quite a while since I've had one that was noteworthy... It's called "Book of Lies" by Brad Meltzer. Check it out if you're looking for a good read...

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
We finished watching a lot of reality TV series that we had gotten hooked on over the fall/winter months. Such as "Survivor", "American Idol", "The Amazing Race", and we just started watching the new season of "The Bachelorette". What makes this season so special for me is the fact that Jillian comes from the town of Kelowna, where I spent the college years of my life and where my family still lives today. I can't wait for the show where she gets to take them home to show them around Kelowna, it's so fun to see how they portray a town I know well.

I've also been trying to catch up on TIVO'd episodes of "LOST", I find that I enjoy this show way more when I can watch several episodes one after another.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends? (I decided to add my own category in addition to this called "Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?")
I started going back to the gym to work out regularly this month. As part of that I joined a new bootcamp called "It's A HOOT Bootcamp". The girls that run it are great and the best part of it is that we exercise outdoors. I love it, even when the weather wasn't all that stellar to start with. But I also signed up Miss Grace for the kid's part of the bootcamp and this means that she got to join me outdoors at one of Bellingham's fabulous parks and she exercised with the kiddos. What a great idea! If this sounds like something you would like to check out please feel free to look up their website and let them know I sent you. There is even a coupon I can send you for a free session if you just want to try it out once... Let me know if you want it, it's good till the 19th of June...Hope to see you there...

Grace also started her T-ball league through the local YMCA. I wasn't sure what to expect, since soccer seemed to be a "take it or leave it" thing. But it seems that Miss Grace is quite enamoured with T-ball and can't wait for her next practice/game.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?
As a family we made two trips this month.

The first weekend of the month we headed out to the San Juan's in the Roeboat. The first night we anchored off of Sucia Island and had quite a bit of rain. Actually an island local said it was the worst rain storm he had seen in 20 years. WOW! The next day we headed to Friday Harbor and had an awesome dinner at an Iranian restaurant. It pays to try something new every once in a while!

The last weekend of the month we headed east to Winthrop to visit Martin's parents. We took Becky her long awaited chicken coop, losing some pieces along the way, but finally managing to get it all finished and ready for some chicken to move in. Grace & I had a good time visiting the Farmer's Market with Grandma Becky.

In between the two we had our friends Stan & Ginger from Alaska stay with us over Mother's Day Weekend. I cooked up a yummy Sunday brunch and afterwards we took a nice walk down to the river with everyone.During the week of the 14th Grace & I decided to drive up to Kelowna to surprise my parents with a visit. They were soon to be celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary and we wanted to do something special. Besides, Martin & Adam were off to visit Ben, the aspiring NAVY Seal of the family in San Diego, where he is stationed during his training. While in Kelowna my younger sister Lyne & I hatched a crazy idea to set up my parents for a surprise family photo shoot. It turned out to be a great idea. The photos the photographer we got totally last minute turned out amazing. He was a guy who had taken pictures of Lyne's friends' wedding. His name is Stefan Matis, go check out his website.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
I finally did the "Pay It Forward" drive thru thingy. You know, the one where you pay for the person behind you in line.
It was kind of a cool feeling to gift someone I didn't even know and make their day. You're welcome lady in the green Volvo, it was my pleasure.

I also finally finished the "Grandparents" frame I had been working on for a bit now. And during our Memorial Day visit to Winthrop to see my in-laws it was delivered. I think it was a hit. Thanks Julie for making me look good. LOL

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
I've been waiting to get some window coverings for my scrapbook studio. Coveting anything Pottery Barn I knew that waiting for a sale was an absolute must...well, I got lucky and the curtains I had been drooling over were part of their last sale. I ordered them straight away and also snagged some cute lamps for my office too. Can't wait to put them all up...hopefully hubby will squeeze me into his busy schedule sometime soon.

Another, very unusual purchase, was made while visiting Winthrop during the long weekend. My friends Troy & Aubrey are getting hitched in July and Martin had wanted me to get a nice new dress for the wedding. There is this awesome store in Winthrop called the "Courtyard Quail" and I spend money there every time we go to Winthrop. It is a cute boutique that sells all kinds of cool clothes, accessories and such. They also have a home decor store in Winthrop and branches in Leavenworth and somewhere else I can't remember right now...

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I have had some popping in my lower back when exercising, but think that's just from being a bit rusty and starting to exercise more again... Martin has been having trouble with his arm, he seems to think that he pinched a nerve or something and has been getting massage therapy for it.

During Grace's T-ball game on the 30th I was stupid and did not put my sunscreen on before the game.
When I remembered it was already too late and my shoulders and back where burnt pretty bad.

What were my accomplishments this month?

This doesn't really ring any bells with me...? I guess getting back to exercising regularly. That's a biggie. Dragging my sorry butt off to bootcamp and the gym...

What were my disappointments this month?
Disappointed that I still have a mile long to do list, and am not getting as much accomplished as I feel I should...

Anything else noteworthy to include?
Also getting rear-ended twice in one day should qualify under this category, shouldn't it???

All right, I apologize, this post has taken on gigantic proportions. But I must say, we did a lot more stuff this month than I had originally thought. What a great way to look back and summarize everything you think is noteworthy. I love it and will try to do this every month from now on. Beware! I think that I will change some of the topics though, and add on some I feel need to be in there...so stay posted.

I also had my last day at Treasury, at least for the summer. It was soooo hard to say that. I miss that place.

Ooooh and volleyball at the park has started up again. It was so nice to play outside on the grass. I hope to make it out there more often this year...

So I apologize for the long post, but I think that I may actually try to do this every month. It made me realize how much more we had done in a month than I actually thought... I plan on changing some of the questions to things I feel are more relevant to me and my scrapbook style, but all in all I think it's a great idea.

Winthrop Visit

On decidedly short notice we decided to head east for the long weekend and visit Grace's grandparents in Winthrop. We were planning on leaving late afternoon, but as usual with the lack of planning on Martin's part we ended up departing our house after 7 PM. This resulted in a hasty dinner on the road, part of grandma's chicken coop flying off the back of the truck and a lot of heartburn (from the bad Asian food we ate on the run!).

We did lot's of walking into town while in Winthrop. Had to visit the fabulous Rocking Horse Bakery, I highly recommend their scones, but my absolute favorite is the chocolate croissants. Second only to the one I had at a small bakery in Paris. My favorite scones are the apricot/ginger ones, yummy! We also sampled some of the ice-cream at the local sweet shop, where co-incidentally Grace's cousin

Alannah worked over the

weekend. Here I highly recommend the Mocha Almond Fudge, it's divine. LOL

Of course after all that food one gets tired and needs a ride on Daddy's shoulders...

The weather for this long weekend was fantastic and I had impulse

bought a slip-n-slide for Grace. Who can say no to that when it's for sale right there in the grocery store with the bread and stuff I was buying anyway??? I tell you those merchandisers are evil!

Grace ended up not quiet knowing what to do with the slide

and ended up walking up and down modeling her swimsuit like on the runway. It was quite entertaining...

We also visited the Farmer's Market with grandma. They had some really cool booths and we bought some huge radishes, a shelf for grandma's stereo, some divine pound cake and we missed out on getting some awesome looking cherry pie by just a smidgen. Too bad, I bet it was delicious.

Just A Quick One...

since I am so far behind with my blog....again.

This is where I found Grace the other day...

She was so quiet I had to check on her, cause you know what that normally means....

They are either asleep or up to no good. Well neither was the case this time. She had found her Dollar store book and was intently practicing her letters.
What a good girl.

BIG Scrapbook News...

My friend Margie, whom I have taken several amazing classes from, is breaking free and starting her own business with her girls. It's a scrapbook kit club appropriately called "The Girl's Loft".

Please go check her out...she's doing a give-away on her blog right now....

Mother's Day Walk

We had company over the weekend so a traditional Mother's Day was not in the cards for us this time. Normally we visit one of the our moms and surprise her.This year we did nothing like that, but instead stayed home.  I cooked up a nice brunch, including Asparagus/Brie Eggs, Bacon, Fresh Fruit, some wonderful Blueberry Pancakes and much more...

Our friends from Alaska Stan & Ginger had fun and it was great to see them again.

After brunch we cleaned up, got our rubber boots out and headed down to the river.  

Grace had a blast throwing rocks and taking off her boots to play

 in the sand with her toes. 

 She was a bit reluctant to have her photo taken, but with some

 pleading and blackmail I managed to get a few good photos...

T-Ball, a first for our family...

Since we had tried Soccer in the fall and it didn't really seemed to be "it" for Grace I thought we'd try something else in the Spring.  So enter the YMCA T-ball league...

We signed up, showed up and are now a shirt-wearing, mitt-toting, ball-throwing member of the Lime Green Team.  

Our first practice was interesting as we did not have a glove yet. Thankfully on

e of the kids' moms had brought extra and Owen was gracious enough to let her lend it to Gracie.  

So in the rain, on the muddy field we had our first T-ball exper

ience. 

After it was all said and done the coach said he already spotted a star on the team, Gracie

 would make a great infielder since she let no ball go past her and even beat some of the much bigger boys to the ball. She also can throw quite a bit better than most of the kids on the team.  She's been walking around glowing ever since and when you ask how T-ball went she says: "I'm the star!"  Too cute!

There's been no looking back since...we immediately planned a trip into town and acquired a new, shiny pink baseball glove including a pink 

matching ball. With only two practices (we missed one due to our family weekend getaway to the islands!) we had our very first game this weekend.  

I couldn't believe how many people showed up and even 

grandparents, dogs and extended family were there with lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets. 

We ended up playing against one of our friend's daughter's team, Taite. She is also four, but stands 

almost two heads taller than Grace.  It was a lot of fun to see the girls, their baby brother, and of course their parents, Simon & Beka. 

Since it's a YMCA league they don't actually keep score, have outs or such.  Everyone gets a turn at bat and it was quite interesting to see the different reactions and interpretations of the kids.  Some ran to the wrong base, others didn't run at all, one kid turned right around after touching first base and went back to home plate...you never knew what would happen. Martin said it seemed like every kid needed a one-on-one coach...