fun times with cousins

Some of my favorite memories are the fun times when all the families would get together and I got to spend time with my cousins.  Both my parents come from bigger families and although I don't see a lot of the extended family anymore (other than on Facebook), I very much enjoyed these gatherings.  There was just something about getting to hang out with the cousins that I loved.  I have been thinking about these memories a lot lately as we have been planning and preparing for an upcoming family reunion on my mom's side of the family.  A reunion that almost all of that side of the family will be at. It will for sure be amazing.  I will make sure to post photos of the extravaganza with all of you. :)

The mother of a past classmate of my daughter's asked me to do some photos of her girls with their cousin and I automatically was super excited about the idea.  Remembering fondly my experiences with my cousins, I was eager to help capture a few moments with these three that they would be able to look back on as they got older.

Thank you girls for being such great models for me. :)

another beauty playing dressup

Knowing I was going to take some photos of the girls in my mother's wedding dress, I shared the idea with a friend of mine and she fell in love with it. Hanna was such a sweetie to photograph.  So full of energy and fire. I loved it. You could definitely tell she LOVED to play dress up - Years from now she will also LOVE looking through these photos remembering the fun she was having.

stepping back in time

I have to admit that I am sometimes a Facebook stalker.  Especially when it comes to seeing all the fabulous ideas that some of my photographer friends come up with or share on their pages.  This last January, one of the amazing women I follow (Roxsey Photography) did a photo shoot with her daughter in her wedding dress and I immediately fell in love with the idea.  After asking if I could snag the idea, I got to thinking about how I would want to do something similar with my girls. With the idea now planted I had to figure out how the logistics would work.  My wedding dress is a lot; full skirt, very long train, full length sleeves, and all together very heavy.  Knowing that I wanted to shoot the girls outside in the gardens at Fern Hollow, I just wasn't sure it would work well with my dress.  Then, after talking with my mom, I realized that a much better idea would be to capture them wearing her dress.  A dress that 35 years ago she wore when she married my dad, their papa.

As soon as O stepped into the dress it became an extension of her personality.  She felt at peace in it and even talked of wearing it when she got married some day. :)

The entire time E had the dress on she was constantly aware of where it was and wanting to make sure it wasn't getting dirty and was still very pretty.  So very fun to be able to take photos of the girls in their grammy's wedding dress.  I know that years from now they will cherish these photos s much as I do.

newest addition to our farm

19 years ago if you had told me I would one day have chickens I would have told you that you were completely out of your mind.  There was no way I was going to live in the country, let alone have farm animals. Proof that you never really know where your life will take you. 

We recently added to our brood of hens with 6 new little beauties; 3 Americanas and 3 Rhode Island Red/Rhode Island White.  We enjoyed them so much as cute little babies but they are already growing so fast and have been moved out of their heated area into their interim coop until they are big enough to move into the main coop with our other hens. Button (my parents' dog) has been with us a lot over the last month.  She thought they looked quite delicious and wants to be next to them every minute she is outside. 

O loves them HUGE, as she does every kind of animal there is.  (She even tries to rationalize with me how slugs are wonderful too as long as they aren't in the garden. We have agreed to disagree on that one.) 

They have outgrown all their baby feathers and are well on their way to being egg producing hens.  What will be our next addition to the Kopperskogen I often wonder. Robb votes for goats but I am still standing strong with a NO to that.  I guess we will see how that turns out. :)

whipping the yard into shape

Without putting it off anymore, and with an intense desire to get our yard whipped into shape.  Using the word yard is probably a gross understatement.  When I refer to our yard, I am actually referring to our 4.7 acre piece of property and getting it whipped into shape is quite an undertaking.  That said, I wasn't about to put it off anymore.  With gravel ordered for delivery, lists of needed materials made, and invite for work party sent out, we started to amp up for the weekend.  As the weekend got closer, the more excited I became. There is something to be said for getting out and digging in the dirt.

Saturday started with sticky bun breakfast ring, fresh sliced strawberries and scrambled eggs fresh from the hen house.  I first came upon the recipe for the breakfast ring on pinterest  it turned out to be very delicious and so easy to make.  It was super easy to make two of and have available for people when they arrived to help with the work party.  Everyone loved it and it has now been added to the recipe box as a must do again.

It wasn't long after breakfast, with the kitchen all cleaned up, we headed outside to get started.  Our to do items included building 100 feet of cedar fence, putting in a new 15'x2' flower bed in front of the chicken run, spreading out 10 yards of gravel over the driveway as well as spreading it around the coop, rototilling all flat un-treed areas and getting it all ready for grass seed, planting all the planters and getting our garden ready to be planted just to list  few.

There is something to be said for snapping on some garden gloves and digging into a big bag of potting soil. The biggest decision was choosing a color scheme by far but after finally deciding on purple and white I was able to come up with some good choices and am excited to see what comes of the plant selections I made.

Friends of ours, Paul and Cheryl, came over and gave us a hand which was much appreciated.  There is definitely prayers of thanks to be said for friends that are willing to get dirty helping you work in your yard.  While Cheryl and I were busy planting flowers her husband Paul was helping Robb to get our fence in. 

Just seeing the fence there (even though all the fence boards are still to be put up) I can't help but smile.  I love that we are going to have a fence there.  YAY! YAY! YAY!  It is going to be so awesome to be able to look out into our yard and not have rusty old cars as the first thing we see.

an afternoon walk

When it comes to exercise on a regular basis, my schedule looks a lot like a roller coaster ride.  I go through periods of time when I am good at making the time followed by periods of time when I have no desire to make the time.  Winter is the hardest for sure.  Wet and cold weather, dark early, I just want to come home read a book and cuddle by a nice and toasty wood fire. 

I should probably give a little bit of background.  I love the outdoors.  I love water skiing, snow skiing, hiking, going on walks, heck I have even completed a half marathon when I set my mind to it.  I have always enjoyed getting exercise more so when it is masked by some kind of activity.  I am not the type of person to look forward to going out and jumping on the elyptical and going to town.  In fact, I am easily persuaded to do something else.

So, over the years I have had to find a way to solve this problem. Regular exercise is super important.  I have been trying hard to find things I enjoy doing First, I love taking cardio kickboxing classes from Steven at Poulsbo Athletic Club. Second, I love walking home from work.  It is approximately 4.5 miles and I enjoy walking it.  I especially enjoy it when I have  walking partner.

I encourage everyone to get out there and discover what they enjoy doing when it comes to getting exercise.  It is important that we take the time.  It teaches our children how important it is to take care of  ourselves.  A lesson best taught through example.

a day at the estuary

Living near family is so wonderful when you have children. My husband and I both work full time and are unable to volunteer in our girls' classrooms on a regular basis.  Instead, we try to attend all the field trips that we can. When we can't, our girls have their "peoples" (as my oldest calls them) that they can turn to. 

Over the last few months my oldest has been raising chum salmon with the rest of her grade level in preparation for a trip to an estuary in Poulsbo where they planned to release the salmon. As soon as Olyvia found out about the field trip she wanted to take her daddy. Due to multiple constraints he wasn't able to make it work.  Instead of letting this drag her down, Olyvia went to find her Papa.  She knew he was the next best thing to having her daddy there.  With a smile on her face, a few eyelash blinks and a huge hug she asked her Papa if he would come on her field trip.  How could he say no?

It was so heartwarming to watch the two of them head down with her class.  Once down to the estuary, the class gathered for some discussion about salmon before heading to the creek to release them.  It was a proud moment to see her really in her element.  She loves learning about nature and this was no different. 

She did an amazing job following directions and releasing her little fry out into the stream and her Papa was so proud watching her.  What an amazing blessing to me as a mom to have extended family around that can be there for her at these times that are so important to her.