My Girl Gretchen!

Our tops....
...and our bottoms! Gotta love it!

Sophia the helpful baking assistant

I'm just sitting her being good...plotting my next moment of destruction! :)

So these are really the last of the Seattle pics...I know it's taken a while to get them all out, but I couldn't be finished without a shout-out to Gretchen and our shoes! Anyway, I met Gretchen a couple years ago on a business trip to Denver. Some of you may remember this fateful trip as it is the very one where I contracted my almost deadly case of scabies during my 8th month of pregnancy! Okay, so not so much deadly, but I almost went mentally insane, let's just leave it at that!

Anyway, there I was on this trip hugely pregnant, tired, and slowly becoming swollen from all the sitting and altitude, when Gretchen arrived! Yay!!! She quickly became my friend, as we are frighteningly similar, and the rest is history! It was totally great meeting her, it was like we just 'clicked' (doesn't that sound romantic! ;) Anyway...people thought we'd known each other for years and our friendship was just beginning. We had some crazy adventures that week, for sure! Well, because we're half a country apart our relationship thus far has consisted of emails and phone calls and I was so happy to see her again! Plus, she finally got to meet that little baby with whom she spent so much time! Haha! She was quite a trooper as we dragged her to all the best places in Seattle like our favorite diner dive and the mall!!! We also helped George make scones, which was a big success and then we managed to have some kid-free time for dinner. As you can see we made some very stellar footwear purchases! Seriously, these shoes are fantastic! They were on sale for a bargain price, what's a girl to do! All in all it was a great day and much more fun to catch up in person!

Seattle Snapshots

One of the rare times Ash was still enough for Sophia to pet him

This trip to Seattle was definitely our most low-key one to date. We had a great time and mostly just hung out doing "normal" stuff. Zoe ran around with her friends most of the week, Steph and Jonathan worked and George, Sophia, and I did our thing. The whole family was a huge help to me during the week and Zoe is so responsible and trustworthy when it comes to leaving her in charge of Sophia. We all enjoyed each other's company. Both the kids are growing up so much and Zoe is preparing for high school.....AAAAAAAAH! As always, I left sad and ready for my next visit but I was happy to be home with my husband once again. It's not so much fun to vacation without him! I wished they lived closer but I do love Seattle (I could totally live there!) and always have a good visit...so until next time!

Birthday Fun!

The birthday girl!

Aunt Cathy and two wiggly party princesses!

opening presents is so much fun..too bad Angela didn't have any help! :)





On Saturday Sophia's cousin, Angela, turned one year old! I can't believe how time flies! Thankfully Sophia had recovered from her illness and was ready to partake in the festivities. She really needed it too! She had grown extremely restless over the days and was ready to burn some steam. Sadly, I missed the party because my darling daughter spread her virus my way! Charlie was instructed to be my photog for the day and he got some cute shots.





Thank goodness for grandmas, because my mom has been an angel taking care of Sophia yesterday and today! Charlie is really hanging in there too! I haven't left the house in virtually 8 days and I'm getting a bit restless too! I feel better today though and hope to be up and at 'em tomorrow!

Snow Bunny

Finally outside...yay!

wait a minute...it's kind of cold out here

Stop torturing me and take me inside!!

All for a few pictures? Was it worth it, Mother?!


So we had an In-Like-a-Lion snowstorm this weekend and it was really the first good snow that Sophia has experienced. With her being sick all week, we weren't sure it was a great idea to take her out but she was very restless. And, when Charlie went outside to shovel, she was beside herself that she couldn't go too. Soooo, I bundled her up and took her out. You can see how well she enjoyed herself! She outgrew the snow boots that she hasn't even worn yet and would have nothing to do with the sled, Charlie even fashioned a little bunny hill on the side of our lawn, but no-go. Aaaah, there's always next season...too bad the snow suit won't still fit.

Flowers and Chocolate Really Do Make it Better

These strawberries were about as big as my hand!

Another bouquet? This one looks slightly more edible!

A close up of each 'flower'

The daisies are pineapple rings that have been dipped part way into dark chocolate with the centers made from a ball of cantaloupe, with sprigs of grapes as the garnish!



The face of the Flu...

Sophia says Booooooo! to the nasty old flu

So yesterday Charlie and I celebrated four glorious years of marriage! He had taken the day off with the idea of celebrating in style! Oh so many plans, and oh, so many changes! Sophia is still sick. Yes, count the days, we're now going on day 5 of this terrible bug. She is still quite cranky and tired and has vomited at least twice each day since Monday. Today, however, we're keeping our fingers crossed and out mouths closed. She has a bit of an appetite, but nothing major. So far she's enjoyed soup, yogurt, apple sauce and water. I'm ready for her to be back to normal. I do feel like a terribly selfish mother, but it's hard to deal with this sort of cranky, sicky, grumpiness for so many days in a row. I know she's sick and I truly feel for her, but it's wearing me out. I know I sound horrible, but like I said, I'm ready for recovery!

Charlie did surprise me yesterday though with some treats! Traditionally we have always celebrated our anniversary by getting each other something from the "traditional wedding anniversary" list. Four years is commemorated with flowers and fruit. Hmmmm, flowers and fruit, that's easy for me, not so much for Charlie! I toyed with the idea of a Hawaiian shirt, but he's got quite a few and it's no fun to get something that you can't use right away (especially when 2 inches of snow is expected for tomorrow morning!), so I opted for a pie. My original plan was to bake him one myself but little miss Sophia did not allow for such things this week, plus with whatever germs we've got floating around here, I didn't need to present them to him via dessert! So I had Tippin's make a very delicious strawberry rhubarb pie just for him! This is one of his favorites, and my first attempt at making it was a serious disaster, so it's just as well!

He got me a dozen, beautiful red roses and some very delicious treats from Edible Arrangements. Okay, so I've seen commercials for these things on TV and I seriously thought they were cheesy, but honestly, it was about the cutest thing I've ever seen! I was absolutely giddy over it! The fruit is very fresh and juicy, the chocolate is yummy and even the vase is a keeper! He also threw in an order of chocolate covered strawberries that I've had to restrain myself not to devour all at once! Although, we wish it had been under better conditions, at least we spent the day as a family! That was truly what I wanted and enjoyed every minute with my darling husband! I am thankful every day for him and our family and it's nice to know that no matter what life brings us, we always have each other! I love you, honey!

Pacific Science Center

Sophia was 'helping' Zoe play the game!

George VS Zoe in a very curious game of vertical tic-tac-toe



The Butterfly House

Sophia was fascinated by the rows upon rows of butterfly chrysalises, it was fascinating!

Observing without touching...? Perhaps a first for her!

A butterfly landed on Zoe (near arm on sweatshirt) and stayed with her for quite a while!



Toddler Room

building with blocks while inside a block, how novel!

making sweet, sweet music!

The three of us spinning the barrel in the water

The PCS was a good afternoon. It kept us busy and occupied on a cold and blustery day and I can't ask for more than that! The kids had seen many of the exhibits before, but we were all intrigued by the Lucy Exhibit (no pictures allowed). It showed the progression of species discovered in Ethiopia and glorified Lucy, the link between orangutans and apes, who walked upright. It was interesting for sure and I recommend checking it out if it comes near you!

Playground Party Animals!

As we all know, Sophia lives and dies by the park. Luckily, they have a park just a block from their house. Plus, there was another park nearby that had been recently renovated and was the absolute coolest! They had all kinds of fun climbing structures and swings that I'd never seen before. They also had the tallest slide Sophia has ever braved, probably about 15 feet or more??, and she absolutely loved the thrill of the ride, er...slide! So, forgive the million and one park pics, but there were so many cute ones!

Here's a zip line that looked so fun Steph and I even had to try it out!

George was more than happy to help us fly from end to end!

This was a huge hit! It's a bucket type chair that spins and spins all the way around and mysteriously you don't fall out of it!!

George was quite the trooper and hit the park with us every day. He is such a good playmate to Sophia and was a big helper for me too. Every morning Sophia would wake up and ask for 'Georgie? Georgie?'