Whew! It's finally done!

I finally finished my new website for my photography business.

It took me a looong time to finally finish, but it is done just in time to enjoy the long weekend!

I wanted to "give back" to my clients by giving them bigger images to view in their slideshows and also by updating the site, which I had failed to do on a regular basis for the past two years.

I think it is just great - simple, but gets the job done!

What do you think?

Check it out HERE.

And have a great long weekend!

Poor Baby...

My poor baby.

She's been sick the past few days and it just breaks my heart to see her not feeling well.

One night, she woke up with the chills, shaking and with a really high fever. Now, I have dealt with high fevers before in my years as a nanny, so they don't scare me - but when her little body was shaking and her heart was racing...that made me really nervous. Just when we got calmed down, she threw up ALL over me.

I thought she was on the mend, but then tonight on our way to the last day of Sawyer's co-op preschool class, she threw up all over her carseat and herself. Pobrecita, bebe.

On top of all of it, she's got 3 molars making her gums swell like mountains and 2 incisors threatening to do the same.

It's a little hard to tell if her symptoms are just the flu, or complicated by the mega-teething. Neither of our kids have been bothered by teething...but my instincts tell me this round of teething is what has made our girl soooo sad.

I'd say the past 3 days have been the worst of her life, yet.

My usually smiley, giggly little monkey (I just love it when she wears her brother's hand-me-downs, like these pjs) is just not up for jumping on the bed. Soon, I hope!

The ONLY consolation of having a sick child is that they let you hold and cuddle them ALL day long, which makes for some sweet moments. I love to sing to her and stroke her pretty hair, and her cheeks. My little monkey...

feel better soon!

A little bit of adventure!

Saturday was our day for a date.

Note: not a date night. Date night can be overrated, I think. I mean, dinner and a movie? How boring!

So, we had a date day! Or to be more accurate, an afternoon date. That's because for this date, we wanted to do something adventurous, something we had never tried before, something we had to try in daylight.

We finally climbed the pinnacle at REI.

I suppose it is a slight lie to say it was completely new to us, because Jacob did take a rock climbing class years ago when he was an undergrad at Utah State. But it had been a while!

And me, well, I have done some very spur of the moment bouldering when it was required of me on certain day hikes, but really that is about it. And one time I scurried up the haystack on top of Mt. Si, only to freak out on the way down (my great pal, Brian King, saved me by going down first and basically giving me his hands to step on until we reached a safe spot - never will forget that!)

Anyway...we wanted to try climbing - being roped up and all that. I made Jacob go first...

Then, it was my turn!

About 3/4 of the way up my route, I decided to look down.

Oops.

All of a sudden I had a flashback to the time I stood on top of a wobbly tree (50 foot high, that is) and had to swing my arms and jump for a trapeze - it was one of those trust-building camps I was attending with my adventure/outdoor therapy class in grad school. It was awesome - and SUCH the BIGGEST adrenaline rush as my knees shook and I tried to balance on the wobbly tree enough to jump for the trapeze. Anyway...FLASHBACK and that adrenaline started pumping through me again!

I could feel myself tense up slightly, so I took a couple of deep breathes. My problem isn't climbing up - it's just when I look down and realize how far I've made it up that takes me by surprise!

So, I pulled myself together and looked up.

I noticed there was a big bell at the top and all of a sudden I had a new wave of determination come over me: I wanted to ring that bell - I wanted all the people shopping the Anniversary Sale to hear that bell ring and note that someone made it to the top!

So I did it! I put my trust in "T" the awesome girl below who was holding that rope tied to my waste (or something like that) and I rang that bell and then belayed down the pinnacle.

High Fives all around!

We each did a couple of routes.

We had SUCH a wonderful time on our date!

Nothing like a little adrenaline rush and some cheering for each other that makes for a nice afternoon out.

We stopped in Ballard on our way home and brought some Vietnamese food home to share with our kidlets. If you like Thai Sandwiches - check out the Monkey Bridge. The food rocked!

We kind of rocked, too!

pun fully intended!

Hooray for fun dates and a bit of adventure!

hello, sunshine!

the past three days have been teasing us...

because it's almost been like summer,

yet we know it won't last

(as every Seattleite knows, summer in Seattle doesn't officially arrive until July 5th)

nevertheless

we took full advantage and rolled with it!

we had our inaugural beach day

with some of our favorite friends.

not that we don't already spend lots of time at the beach

but today,

we sported our swimming suits

and showed off our glowing white bodies

all with lots of pleasure and joy

basking in the warm, sunny weather

barefeet in the sand and water.

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

oh, how we love our Matthews Beach!

i used to go night swimming here - all through college

(and well beyond)

and i used to bring my nanny kids

and now i bring my own. I LOVE IT!

two bathing little beauties...

Aspen and her bestie, Ruby

these girls are at such fun ages!

While us girls were hanging out,

their big brothers were running back and forth between

the beach

and

the brand spankin' new playground

we ended up staying 5 hours

and skipping naptime

(because on a day like this, all rules go out the window!)

we even drove the Mickie D's on our way home,

and I let Sawyer devour a fudge sunday in his carseat

while his sister passed out from our long day at the beach

(I devoured a fudge sunday in the driver's seat, just so you know)

okay...so...i know i shouldn't make a habit of posting nude pics on the web...but...

my friend, Allegra, and i BUSTED a GUT laughing

when we saw this naked boy running across the lawn,

pushing his dumptruck along,

just like it was totally normal to run around naked pushing dumptrucks across public beaches and playgrounds. no hesitation, peeps. (i am happy he's so comfortable in his own skin!)

apparently, he needed to pee...

so he shed his clothing, peed on the lawn

(who needs a bush when you have a huge, open lawn?)

and then ran on his merry way - leaving his clothes behind.

this happened not only once, but twice.

and i know i shouldn't encourage it, but

my-oh-my i am gonna hang onto these photos for the future

(doesn't every kid need a couple of embarassingly cute photos that their parents can use as blackmail at some point?)

yes, today was one of the best days of our lives.

i just LOVE these kinds of days!

hope ya'll had a good one, too!

Now, GO SEIZE THE WEEKEND!

The Bubble Man

On Friday we found ourselves at the beach near our house.

I know we will GREATLY miss having the beach so close by when it comes time for us to leave Seattle (one day).

Anyway...

It was a rather blustery day,

but no one minded the breeze - because the sun was out!

and guess who else was out?

The Bubble Man.

He did lots of bubbles for his eager crowd of infants and tots, and a few other little games of entertainment as well. He said he didn't have any pictures of "Catching the Rainbow" so I did him a favor and snapped a few. (note: I snapped these while holding my big heavy camera in one hand and a wiggly Aspen in the other, so bear with me!)

I will send them his way and see what he thinks!

This photo just cracked me up.

p.s. do you love her new wellies or what? I had the hardest time finding some to fit her petite tiny feet yet - I finally found a size 3 from this random company in the UK. cute!

And this one just made me smile.

The weekend was relaxing.

We did a lap around greenlake

and hit up the park, as well.

We also hit up U-Village

the train table

and a sale at the GAP

I got Sawyer's birthday invitation sent off to my lab to print,

and also finished designing his coop preschool's "yearbook". I can hardly believe the boy will be 3 next month!

whew!

Oh.

and we finally bought seeds for our garden!

I know, it's a little late to plant,

so be it.

We're gonna give it a go!

The week is off to a great start -

at Nature School this morning we walked in the wetlands at Magnuson Park and saw some cute fuzzy little ducklings,

tadpoles, and frogs.

Fresh air is always good.

Here's to a wonderful new week!

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day Weekend.

There was a lot of splish splashing at family swim time

(and floating down a lazy river, which was perfectly lazy and just what I needed!)

I got my semiannual haircut - and with it, a little head massage

(I do love Habitude/Aveda Salons)

oh.

and I finally ordered those Hunter boots I've been wanting to wear to tromp around in the mud and at the beach for quite sometime.

Not to mention...

my kids saw their first Disney "princess" movie.

(Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!)

Sawyer has been pretending to be a horse named Max ever since.

Aspen hummed, sang and twirled along (who knew it would start so young?)

This morning there was...

A perfectly delicious breakfast made by Daddy

The cutest little hands traced on a homemade card from the kids

A perfectly designed card by Daddy

A gift certificate for Jamba Juice (I told him not to get anything)

and Fresh Flowers on the table, too.

There was a lovely church service

and a luncheon for all the ladies afterward

plenty of great conversation

and then a nap for me after church

even though the kids missed theirs because we stayed too long at the luncheon.

And then, there was home made Brooklyn-style pizza, and

a stroll on the UW Campus,

where Daddy attempted to take some pictures of

me and my babies.

It was a very challenging task

But he did get some.

Trying to get a photo with a 1 & 2 year old is

DIFFICULT.

(I think Daddy now appreciates the job I do photographing young families with children who run away from the camera, just a hint more than before).

Thanks, Jacob. For getting me in the picture!

It is the only thing I want, every Mother's Day...

just a few photos of me and my children.

They (along with their Daddy) are truly my Dream Come True.

There is so much more I could say about this day, about my own mother and the women in my life who have touched me so very deeply. Bearing children perhaps makes a woman a mother in the technical sense...but being a mother is so much more...and some of the women in my life who have touched me the most have never born a child, yet they possess some of the most tender, mothering hearts I have ever known.

My heart goes out to those who don't feel like celebrating today.

Someday, your time will come. I truly believe it will.

Happy Mother's Day

Momma's Takin' Us To The Zoo...

We have a membership at the Woodland Park Zoo and we love to go. There are weeks in which we sometimes go at least twice, in fact! But for various reasons, we haven't been for a few weeks, so we were excited to be going today.

Almost every time we are in the car trekking the 3 miles up the street to get there...I can't help but sing a bit of Peter, Paul, and Mary because it makes me happy and gets the kids clapping and singing and excited to go.

Today, we were extra excited because Aunt Kaitlin, Alyssa, and baby Xannie came up and went to the zoo with us!

The weather was absolutely perfect...and we all had a blast!

It was cute to see Sawyer and Alyssa walk around the zoo holding hands and laughing at each other and having a great time.

We saw a lot of animals, but the only one I got a picture of was the peacock. He spread is feathers and shook them at us - quite a sight to see!

We also made a stop at Zoomazium just in time for "Shake, Rattle, and Roar" where they play fun music to move and groove to and provide shaking music makers for everyone to use. Sawyer and Alyssa decided they not only wanted to shake and dance - but they wanted to add some percussion as well!

They had fun pretending to "feed" the baby elephant (with dirt, nonetheless). Alyssa was so cute. When I asked her what animal she wanted to see the most (I may as well be a tour guide at the zoo by now, I have it down pat :) she said "the komodo dragon". And so we did! Personally, I thought the nearby Meerkats were much more cute than the big lizards, but who am I to judge? The kids quite enjoyed those big lizards!

And the cute baby sisters.

Aspen just wants to be a big girl now. She wants to walk and run everywhere. She says "ha" (hand) and holds out her little hand to grab yours and pull you along wherever she wants to go. She also loves to shake her head "yes" or "no" and has taken to saying "yeah!" as she shakes her head yes (as in "Aspen, would you like to share an ice-cream cone with Mommy and Sawyer?" --- shaking her head up and down in the cutest way imaginable "Yeah!"). She is saying quite a few words now and it's so fun!

And as a side note, she had her 15 month check up this week and is a whopping 19 lbs! (10th% for weight, and 25% for height). She is quite petite. But she sure has a big grin!

Thanks to my sister and her two cute girls for spending the day with us as the zoo.

We really did stay all day!

Running Through Fields of Flowers

Saturday, I have to admit, started out a little bit "gray". We were originally going to go to the zoo with my sister and her sweet little family, but it didn't work out due to illness. And then we found out Jacob had to work all day Saturday to meet a big project deadline coming up next week. Oh yeah, and we forgot it was our turn to clean our church building - so getting out of the house took longer than anticipated. I was a little grumpy I was feeling sad that all of our plans seemed to fall through and also that Jacob, who works so hard for our family, had to go spend another Saturday at work. Instead, I should be grateful he has such a good job - but, everything else aside, I was just bummed.

I decided I wanted to go have fun even if it was just going to be me and the kids so I decided to take a little road trip up north to see the last day of the Tulip Festival. Last year, they had topped off the flowers by the time we made it to the festival. This year, however, they had a late bloom so the fields were all in full bloom! It was a little bit cloudy when we got there but the sun came out and we ended up staying 3 whole perfect hours out in the fields of Tulips!

The kids had a BLAST (as did I).

Sawyer ran up and down rows of Tulips (I tried to keep him on the path...) and Aspen wanted to walk even though she tripped through half of the trenches and the uneven ground (good thing our BOB stroller has shocks, I tell ya!) And I pretty much just struggled to keep them both within arms reach while juggling the stroller and my big ole' camera. I so badly wanted a "perfect" picture of my two children in the fields of flowers...but it just wasn't happening! Especially with Aspen, who just wanted to walk walk walk or grab onto my legs or hand to steady herself as we went along.

At one point, Sawyer decided he would hold her hand and walk along with her. How darling is that?

We found a little spot right across the path by the field, sort of wild grass/weeds and we laid down our picnic blanket. I didn't even care about naps at this point - the kids were having a great time and I figured they would sleep in the car on the way home. They love having picnics, so they were really excited. I never really asked anyone if it was okay to have a picnic and didn't even really think about it until we were the only ones in there, with an awesome view, eating out pb&j's in front of hundreds of people and millions of Tulips. No one seemed to mind. If anything - we became another sight to see! Sawyer and Aspen would get up and dance around and eat and passers-by would gush "oh my goodness, they are soooo cute!"

I agree.

I love this image below. These 3 cute teenage girls kept trying to get all these different pictures with fun poses of themselves in the flowers. We had fun watching them. And their little point and shoot just wasn't quite fast enough to get them in the air...so what did I do (could I even help myself?) I offered to take some of the three of them. They were very happy about it!

...and then...there were bubbles!

We also brought the bubbles the kids got for Easter.

Can you say heaven?

I mean, honestly, a picnic amongst the Tulips, sunshine, relaxing with absolutely nothing rushing us, and bubbles.

Okay, this is random but Sawyer hadn't used the potty since 10:30 that morning...and when I took him to the honey bucket he was like "gross no way!" (can you blame him?) so he held it all the way until 4pm when we made a pit stop on the way home. I think it's safe to say the kid has good bladder control! (thank goodness - I was wondering if I was going to have to sneakily take him out in the fields somewhere if he couldn't hold it any longer...)

These last few of Aspen made up for her not wanting to sit by the Tulips for a photograph. Tulips or Weeds? Well, it was really the bubbles and her brother that got her grinning...

and I just love these sweet photos of my girl.

Perhaps next year Daddy will be able to join us and we can finally get the "perfect" picture amongst the flowers - with all of us. Then again - what is perfect anyway?

Our day was!

It ended even more perfectly -

We had a date night out.

So, even if some days start off a little gray - isn't it nice to know they can turn to sunshine and end up being perfectly bright?

I hope you all had a sunny weekend, too! Here's to a new week!