stepping out on their own

College is such an exciting time for all those involved. Exciting for the parent as they watch their child embarq upon the adventure and exciting for the student who is stepping out on their own and making adult decisions like what classes to take or what snack foods to keep in the dorm room for those late night study sessions. Parents worry about the decisions they will make, the people they will meet, the grades they will get and so much more.

Recently I was lucky enough to get together with Megan, Mary Beth and Ashley the day before they all headed back to college for their sophmore year. These three would make any mother proud and reassured. They work together to be an amazing support system for each other, encouraging each other to buckle down when necessary, to enjoy life always and to be kind and love others in all that they do. We had an amazing time exploring Pike Place Market and downtown Seattle. Thank you girls for letting me share a little time with the three of you and capture a little bit of your relationship. Best of luck this year and in your future.

1st day

I have come to the point in my parenting life when my oldest doesn't want me to take her photo on the first day of school. As we arrived at school she all of a sudden became super embarrassed and wanting nothing to do with having her photo taken. I of course was taking them anyway and take them I did.

At first it was a struggle, but eventually I was able to snap a photo of both of them without any visual signs that they didn't want me there.

I have two beautiful girls that I am so proud of and I can't wait to see what the year is going to bring. It is so amazing watching them become the independant beings they are. What a joy to be a parent.

a trip to the general store

There is nothing quite like a photo shoot of a 1 year old and Bekah was a fabulous example of why. I met up with her and her mother for an afternoon photo shoot in the quaint little town of Port Gamble. We had a wonderful time. From our trip to the general store . . .

to watering the flowers . . .

Bekah was a joy to photograph.

three blind mice?

We grow up with nursery rhymes. We all know them but don't remember how we learned them. I remember reciting 'three blind mice' as a child and even reading it as an adult to my girls. I always felt sorry for the mice. The mean old farmer's wife who cut off their tails; She deserved to be ran after, didn't she? Well, I began to rethink this logic last night as the girls were shrieking on their top bunk and my husband was hunkered down on the floor by the bottom bunk trying to find one of the sneaky little devils that had been brought into the house by one of our feline members.

At first he wasn't sure he believed there was one in there. He was sure the girls were over-reacting. But then he saw it and he was instantly on a mission, as if letting the mouse win would somehow define him as a father. We couldn't have that now could we? Of course looking back at him hunkered down throwing blankets everywhere and lifting mattresses, I am not sure what exactly he thought he was going to do if he saw it. I think he may have had visions of snatching it with his bare hands. . . right! That would have happened. I wonder if he envisioned it biting him after that?

Turned out that thing was faster than lightening. It didn't take long for my husband's quick wit to set in though. As he was tossing blankets he yelled out to me . . . OK, so I was hiding in the other room. . . "Grab the vacuum." Yes, we resorted to the vacuum. Helpful in multiple ways - suction is faster than those darn things can run, it has a long bar so we didn't have to actually touch the thing, and the most important reason of all that it was the perfect weapon is that it wouldn't kill the mouse. Our girls would have no killing.

With vacuum in hand we were poised by the door waiting for it to try to escape, and try it did. In one swift motion the vacuum bar came out and mouse was sucked into the vacuum.

Daddy - 1, Mouse - 0.

on our way to being 'old macdonald'

If someone had told me years ago that I would have a farm, I would have told them they were crazy. I wanted to be a city girl; live in a high rise, have a job as an attorney in some tall building, dinner parties and late nights out with friends . . . . not exactly how it turned out and I am so glad. Loving my life on the farm for sure.

I love being able to get out into my garden and see the results. I headed out there the other day with my iPhone to play around with my instagram ap. Loving the depth of the results. So much fun. I will definitely be playing around some more with this.

Now our farming doesn't stop at the garden, oh no. Last year we decided it was time to add chickens to our family and add chickens we did. We now have 8 lovely hens and 1 rooster we could quite possibly live without.


And our family of hens wouldn't be complete without Lemon Drop, and all of her feisty glory.



Not only is having a little farm fun because of all that our girls are learning and the stress relief we get by working in our garden, but it allows us to share the overabundance with family, friends and even those we do not know. What an amazing thing we are able to teach our children!

signs of life

I have been holding back. Not wanting to come right out on my blog and say it. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why. Everyone knows it. So here goes. This summer, the good 'ol Pacific Northwest has left a little to be desired in the weather department. I will jump on the "gorgeous place to live" bandwagon, but it has been a difficult one to ride this spring/summer. Last night I exclaimed to my husband in response to him telling me it was our friends' anniversary, "No, that is in July." Ooops. I guess I hadn't looked at my calendar lately.

Once I came to accept the fact that we have probably seen our summer, I decided it was time to focus on what the highlights have been. By far, the brightest highlight of this season has been our two baby hummingbirds we have been blessed to watch grow from little itty bitty babies to full fledging flying birdies. It is amazing. I am not sure what more glorious sign of spring life there could be than watching two baby birds take flight for the first time. I was like a proud mama giggling with glee as the they took off and flew towards our porch. These photos don't really do them justice. The next is about the size of a silver dollar and about 3/4 of an inch high. So tiny. Opportunities like this remind me of why we live where we live. Love it!

Janet Evanovich

I decided to take a break from non-fiction books. Actually I decided to take a break from any novel that I had to put too much thought in to read. I needed something light and airy that would make me laugh. I was able to find that in Janet Evanovich. Her novels are a little quirky, but definitely funny. Are they for everyone? Definitely not.

At this point I have read all of her Stephanie Plum series, all of her Full series as well as select others she has written. One of the difficulties with her novels I find is that if you haven't read previous ones in a series, it would be difficult to fall into later books as they all tie together. Even some of her separate series connect in some way or another. That said, they were the perfect solution for what I was looking for.

I am currently finishing up the last of her novels written with Charlotte Hughes in the Full series and am then moving back to some more advanced pieces of literary work. I may actually read Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time. Stay tuned to hear what I thought.