New Life

What bunnies and chicks have to do with the true meaning of Easter, I don't know. But the egg is a different story. Just as the egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in spring celebrations, early Christians also adopted it as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, traditional Orthodox Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ.

In our family, we tend to go a little crazy with colors and patterns:

For my son we started with brown eggs and did a tie dyed effect, swirling the colors together. I think it makes them look like a reptile's eggs.

My daughter is all about the pastels! Starting with white eggs, she loaded on the colors and used a paper towel to create texture (as she proudly holds out her own creation).

Dyeing the eggs was a delightful family project, as was having the kids hunt for them. But I also think it was a valuable opportunity to talk about new life. The new life that we have been given through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Cold Feets, Hot Treats

It's surprising that since I live in the high desert, last night was the first significant snow fall this season. And that means the kids were begging to go out sledding. Technically, there wasn't enough snow on the roads for a good morning of sledding, but that didn't stop us from having some fun!

A daddy's job is to pull the sled when there is insufficient snow.

A walk in the woods is perfect for making bootprints.

Even if it is cold outside, one can always avoid those pesky sister cooties!

One good sled down the hill was worth the effort ...

... even if that means you fall down and go BOOM.

Then probably the best part of an hour in the snow is the homemade hot cocoa that the kids helped to make!

Homemade Hot Cocoa (from the Hershey's 100th Anniversary Cookbook)

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

In medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa and salt; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve with marshmallows, sweetened whipped cream, or for a minty treat ... candy canes!

Enjoy!

La Mer

It is FINALLY starting to feel like Autumn around here and I love it! I am also grateful that we had a chance to enjoy some truly spectacular weather at the beach earlier this month. Here are some highlights of our weekend:

Our maritime adventure included meeting a mermaid, building sandcastles, Mo's clam chowder, barking sea lions, camel rides (yes, you read that correctly, camel rides ... for free at the beach), cloudless skies, pinky-orange sunsets, the quintessential beach house, and lots of fun and laughter with Meemaw and Boppa!

Picture Perfect

For months now I have been suggesting to my husband that we take some family portraits. I prefer to have spring portraits and fall portraits, but this year things got so busy in the spring and summer, it didn't happen until yesterday. It was a beautiful day and we made a commitment to go for it.

We are big "do-it-yourself" people. We have had professional photographers take our family portraits before, but we didn't like them. In fact, we didn't proudly display them anywhere because of our great disappointment. I'd say we have these "professionals" to thank for forcing us to buy a decent SLR and start experimenting with photography. To be fair, there are photographers out there that do a phenomenal job of capturing a moment and producing gorgeous pictures - and they charge accordingly (as they should). But, alas we are cheap and creative and just do our own thing.

We are pleased with the photos we took, but there were quite a few obstacles to get us these shots:

1. My daughter always seems to have some ugly fake tattoo on her bare arms when we take photos. I don't know why, but it works out that way. A lot of Photoshop work was required to remove the martial arts graphics from her forearm.

2. The location we chose was beautiful and worked well for taking photos, except we had to go off road to get there. Plus the structure we were shooting from had bird poop EVERYWHERE, not to mention bees and grasshoppers.

3. Kids are virtually never cooperative. This time it was my daughter who was acting like an ornery five year-old. She was mopey and constantly complaining. But she looked beautiful!

4. Lighting can be unpredictable. It helped greatly that we were standing under a roof and with a flash and umbrella it kept the lighting even. In just a short time the sun did creep into our space and we had to change our positioning.

Here are the fruits of our labor:

These pictures captures our kids' personalities and (thanks to matte photo paper and my Epson printer) we do have these photos proudly displayed in our homes.

Saturday In The Park

The last couple of days, a certain song has been playing over and over in my head: Saturday in the Park by Chicago. It just seems like a very fitting song for my day at the park with family I had this last weekend.

Now, I don't recall there being a "man selling ice cream" and it was the 11th of July instead of "the Fourth of July", but it was a "real celebration"! It was great fun meeting up with my mom, my two sisters and brother-in-law. There was picnicking, playing, smelling of the roses, laughing and chatting. Since members of my family are spread out between Oregon and Colorado, it is a rare treat to come together. It is my hope that the next time we gather that everyone could be there. We just need more reasons to celebrate, that's all!

It was warm and overcast on this day, which made for ideal conditions to take photos, walk around, play with ladybugs, and wear sandals and shorts. Unfortunately, my son got some gravel in his sandals (as seen in the lower middle image).

Here my sisters and I pose (silly, and then serious) for a rare photo of the three of us. And yes, we are related though we look so different!

A wonderful family portrait (and very lucky that everyone was smiling)!

Ah, it was a good day indeed.

She Says "Totally" Way Too Much

My daughter threatens to give her aunt a smooch!

My little sister. Well, I have two so I should say my littlest sister. Except she isn't that little - today she turns 25. Needless to say, I am in shock, but mostly because that just means I am now truly old. While I am reeling from that concept, here are some things that make me think of her:

Duracell / "totally" / coffee / Bon Jovi / hangin' with the niece and nephew / long red locks / dimples / more coffee / Denver / fun jewelry / blue Toyota truck / mad barista skillz / C & C Music Factory / music editor / "... Adorable" / "Good job Gee, good job!" / American Dream Pizza / music editor / "Where did you get your red hair ...? / watching The Sandlot ... about a million times! / holding my newborn daughter

Happy Birthday to you little sister, I love you!

My son seems quite happy perched in her lap.

Sweet Bear

My daughter had her birthday yesterday. Her 5th birthday! I cannot express my joy, sadness and complete awe at how fast the last five years have passed. I'm sad only because she is growing up. And while she is becoming a very lovely lady, part of me yearns for the days when she would fit in my arms, sit contentedly in the grocery cart, and say things like "bapee" which meant apple and "leeleelella" for Cinderella. I miss the days when she would let me put her hair up in pigtails - now she has specific ideas as to how to style her hair. But much to my joy, she still wears princess dresses and fairy wings!

I love you baby girl. You may have received many gifts yesterday, but you gave me the best gift of all the day you were born ... the gift of motherhood. I am so proud of you, you will always be my "Sweet Bear" no matter what age you are.

All tuckered out after the company picnic. I think this would make a perfect print ad for Graco!

She waited patiently with me for a wedding to start. While pink is her favorite color, I think she looks amazing in blue.

I love the combination of the pigtails, sundress, and frog tattoo!

She is always up for an adventure.

Princess dresses and fairy wings are staples of her wardrobe.

A very beautiful five ... sniff, sniff ... year-old.

The Maverick of Crook County

"Maverick" a heroic size bronze was unveiled on Saturday, April 25, 2009 in the Prineville City Hall Plaza.

My father-in-law is a sculptor; and quite an accomplished one at that. His pieces range in size and materials, and have been installed in many states across the U.S. He has two pieces that have been dedicated to the city of Redmond, Oregon: one a steel eagle made of found objects, and the other a life-size bronze of a horse and rider with a yearling cow. And this last weekend I had the great privilege of witnessing the unveiling of his bronze piece "Maverick".

It was all so exciting. Although the weather wasn't the most desirable for being outside as it was overcast and very windy, there was quite a good turn out. A lot of people were there who wanted to see this gift to the city of Prineville, Oregon revealed.

With tarps covering the sculpture (actually two separate pieces), there was an air of mystery. After many festivities, the anticipation was building as family members and friends (including my husband) prepared for the unveiling.

The first tarp came off to reveal a heroic sized stallion. This unbridled horse is the maverick, and is pursued by a master horseman. I thought the wind in the maverick's mane and tail perfectly demonstrated the blustery weather of the day.

Foolishly, we forgot to bring our hats, so wrapping a sweater around our son's head was the perfect solution - if not a little funny looking!

This is a telling shot of the crowd as the sculptor talks about his piece. The Crook County Courthouse stands proudly in the background.

The horseman in hot pursuit.

It was a wonderful day and I was honored to be there. I enjoyed reconnecting with family over victuals, and the sharing of photography tips. I can't wait to see what this talented sculptor will come up with next!

Maverick and Iceman

The Top Gun Fighter Pilot Cousins!

I have one cousin ... and I don't know her. She is seven years older than me and there has never been a common ground for us to relate with each other. So it is a precious thing to see my children playing with their cousins! I love to hear the giggles and watch them interact. My son is only three months younger than one of his cousins and we like to dress them up like twins and start snapping away with the camera. They both have blond hair and blue eyes, but their personalities are very different. It is my hope that they will be friends as they grow older.

We spent the last weekend with family ... a lot of family! And it was so special for me to see a reunion of sisters, brothers, daughters, cousins, aunts, uncles, sons, and in-laws. Coming together to celebrate an amazing achievement is a beautiful thing.

There is more of this story to tell ...

Easter Blessings

My amaryllis came into full bloom today. A perfect day for new life!

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! I tried to teach my daughter this saying and how we celebrate Easter because Jesus is alive in Heaven. Pretty heavy stuff for a four year-old, but it's important to know none the less.

Today has been a day of blessings. The blessing of joy on the kids faces when they discovered what the Easter Bunny left. The blessing of praising and rejoicing our King. The blessing of togetherness as we dyed eggs and hunted them. And the blessing of decent weather so I could go a little camera crazy and take tons of photos. What a good day.

I guess I went a little overboard photographing eggs. But what can I say, they are so vibrant and they hold still!

These jewel toned eggs were achieved by dying brown eggs instead of white. I just love the deep colors.

Happy Easter!

It Was Just Beachy

After seeing our new nephew, the second leg of our vacation began ... we went to the Oregon Coast! I had been nearly three years since I had seen the Pacific Ocean so this trip was long overdue. We stayed at Surftides in Lincoln City, which is right on the beach. We chose to be economical on this trip so we opted for the least expensive room, and that meant one king sized bed and a partial ocean view (in other words, a small strip of the ocean was visible over the rooftop in front of us). We also took a cooler packed with sandwich makings and milk and it was a godsend! I don't even want to imagine all of the fast food or expensive food we would have had otherwise.

Here is a list of memorable things that happened on the trip:

- warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby of the hotel

- the salty air

- sharing a bed with our daughter, who despite her young age, snores like and old man

- flying the kite in perfect beach weather

- microwaving Easy Mac and forgetting to add water (imagine the smell of burnt, dry pasta!)

- drinking "Three Buck Chuck", or the Charles Shaw wine from Trader Joe's that only costs $2.99 a bottle, from the hotel mugs - classy!

- stunning sunsets

- watching our son sort of freak out when introduced to sand

- eating sugared cereal as a special vacation treat. Mmm, those Golden Grahams were as good as ever!

- going to a yarn store that took up the bottom story of a house. The yarn was gorgeous and tempting, yet I didn't buy any.

- eating at Mo's. You can't go to the coast without making a stop there. I even ate clam chowder and a bite of my husband's fish 'n chips despite my aversion to seafood. I am very proud of myself.

- making sand castles

- driving along to coastline and admiring the cute little cottages and not so little vacation homes that over looked the ocean.

- going to the hotel swimming pool. Unfortunately it wasn't very warm.

- the kids took a bath and my daughter made a bubble tiara for her brother and called him a "boy princess".

- my daughter's first tooth came out. The Tooth Fairy managed to find her way to our hotel and left some money.

- wearing earplugs to drown out the sound of my daughter's snoring, only to be thwapped in the face repeatedly - she is a very restless sleeper.

- driving down Highway 101 to Newport in the typical coastal weather - overcast, windy, and drizzling.

- having a massive headache due to the weather; just call me a human barometer.

- going to the Devil's Punchbowl and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

- driving along Newport's historical bay front and seeing that things have changed very little over the years.

- getting home safe and with very minimal whining from my son.

The kids, happily getting sand up in their britches.

A wonderful moment: Daddy teaching his girl how to fly a kite.

I think my son enjoyed his first trip to the beach because it was okay to get dirty!

Yeah, I'd say we all had a great time ... especially my daughter to is begging to go on vacation again ... she likes to stay in a hotel ... she likes to sleep with Mommy and Daddy!

I'm glad to be home.

Oh, Baby!

A brand new baby - is there anything sweeter? I think not! The birth of a baby is a great way to bring family together and nothing makes me swoon like the scent of a baby's head or a sleeping cherub face. I am so grateful that I got my baby fix this last weekend when I went to see my newborn nephew.

This little guy sure did keep everyone is suspense as labor started, then stalled, started back up, slowed and then it sped back up! I am in awe of my sister-in-law who spent over 24 hours having labor pains and contractions, gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby boy, and was up and moving around shortly after his birth! Amazing!

Here are some images from the first leg of our vacation. Also pictured are his older sisters and brother (oh, and his Aunt Kelly is in there too):

My nephew was born on March 28, 2009 at 6:19 pm. We hoped to be up in Portland by the time he arrived, but since he had plans of his own, we were probably eating dinner in Bend at the time. We did make it to the hospital by 10:00 pm and I was stunned at how little he was. He also looked so much like his older brother but with darker hair. What a handsome little guy!

My Sweet Baby Boy

Today at exactly 7:31 pm, my son turned two years old. I can't believe that two years have passed by so quickly, and that cute little lump that used to lay about and stare at the world is now saying things like "wow" and "that" at the world. He flirts with women at the grocery store, he can always make his sister laugh, and his giggle is the cutest thing you will ever hear.

I love you son, and I am so proud to be your mama.

Just hours old: March 13, 2007

I call this his Zoolander "Magnum" look.

I love this photo and the look of absolute joy.

Very serious ... and very handsome.

The famous impish grin.

The comedian and the flirt: that smile says it all!