tulip farm

Martha and I struck a deal with the kids - if they frolicked in the tulips long enough for us to get some good pictures, they could hit up the trashy carnival ride fun. It worked! I couldn't help but think about all the the times we'd been there before so I added a few shots from 2005-2009 at the end of the post.

sweet friends at the tuplip field

easter love

We had a fun Easter. Ems was talking a mile a minute the entire day and E was happily alternating between his new army men and working on a video game he and his dad are inventing! I was knocked out with a chest cold so I only had to show up for the good parts, shuffling my way back to bed in between photo ops. Hope your day was full of bunny ears and chocolate too!

happy birthday gretchen

We celebrated our friend's birthday at the local Italian haunt. We are getting ready to go to Mexico with them in a few weeks so the kids are getting comfortable and chatty with each other.

Check out this dessert tray. It was happily INSANE! We even licked the chocolate writing off it!

E now eats a double kids meal of pasta - super grower!

she's a star

Em is not the girliest girl on the block but this morning she channeled her inner starlet and made her appearance on the stairs like this . . .







E requested her autograph, and she was happy to oblige. If you click on the picture to blow it up, you'll see E titled the page "V.I.P."

sweet girl

Em loves to get her hands on my ipod. Her most frequent request is Dora or Signing Time (sadly, I have both on there to get through long car rides). But she's
developing her brother's taste in music because of our nightly dance party. Her new request - Brass Monkey a la Beastie Boys.

more girl fun

Ems and Tall House, Double Cup were in heaven over the weekend at our brunch - it was a real girl fest! It was tough competition getting to pry Baby Delia out of Jeff's arms but eventually Ems got her change to hold her. I love how pleased Em looks.

macrina bakery celebration

Our latest cookbook celebration featured the Macrina Bakery Cookbook. Marf, Auntie Brooke, and I literally stumbled upon this clever, sweet, rustic bakery on our George Michael Seattle excursion. Weeks later I ran into their cookbook at Powell's and picked up one for each of us as a remembrance of our weekend. We set out to create a great brunch with each of us making something from their book. Marissa and Ken joined us and the result was fabulous! The menu included:

Roasted Mushroom and Fontina strata

Rocket Muffins

Jammers

Black Forest Ham and Romano biscuits

fresh fruit & bacon

Mimosas, Bloody Marys, Stumptown Coffee

We joked that we should have provided nap beds for all guests. What a meal! I love Marcina's approach to baked goods - lots of use of molasses, whole grains, jam, and fruit. It's a not to be missed stop in Seattle.

Next up, we tackle the Naked Chef.

park time

Just a few shots from our sunny days at the park. Love, love, love Portland in the "spring."

poncho? oh yo!

I found a stash-buster pattern for a poncho in a new knitting book so I hit up my yarn piles for anything blue and whipped this baby out in two days. Now that I see in on Ems I see some adjustments I need to make, but I appreciate her patience in letting me get a photo. She wore it for a total of 35 seconds before throwing it off and announcing she would NOT wear it to school because she wanted to show everyone her shirt. Part of me is happy just getting the photo.

Channeling her inner model.

new friends

My delight in the new year of 2010 is a new friend! yeah! The lovely Marissa, her husband Ken, and their sweet baboo baby Delia. Marissa is a teen services librarian, newly arrived in pdx and an utter soul sister. gemini, reader, mama.
Em is in love with Delia - "my baby" she calls her. We took the girls for a walk this weekend, appropriately swaddled in pink.

knitting projects

I've been working on a handful of knitting projects at the same time in 2010. This was the week for finishing up.

First - a sweet Irish Hiking Scarf in KnitPicks City Tweed. It's a special secret gift for a West Coast cousin.

Next is a chain mail crocheted scarf - Heart and Sole sock yarn. This is a special secret for a Midwest auntie.

pedicures and post-bath time

I've got both E and Em on the pedicure train - all I had to say was "pirate blue" and they were all in. I love time with them right after their bath. They are all fresh and sweet and damp. When they aren't drying their wet toenails, there is lots of jumping, dancing, and cuddling.

And of course, movies.

the princess and the movie

Taking some inspiration from her cousin Addie, I took Ems to her first movie - The Princess and the Frog. We went to our local McMenamins theater pup - so we got to lounge out on a couch. It's the same place that Evan saw his first movie - March of the Penguins. Em even wore a headband for the occasion (she usually won't stand for anything in her hair).
When the popcorn and tootsie roll were all gone, it was time to go. We made it through 90 minutes. Not bad.
Here is Little Miss with her gigantic tootsie roll. She held it all the way to the theater.

what are we up to?

Remodel fever has taken over our home. We are redoing the kitchen from top to bottom and possibly putting on a new front porch (pending lots of city permit approvals). So our weekends are full with meetings, trips to the design store, and me walking around measuring things. So far, I am fond of our contractor - I can only hope it lasts :) And all of the design elements are coming together quite well. Demo isn't until April so we've got some breathing room. But if you invite me over to your house, know that I'm going to question you about vents, soffits, hoods, and btus.

crazy hair day

E rocked crazy hair day at his school. We forgot it was late start day and he had to start the morning at his afterschool hangout. He was a bit worries the older kids wouldn't be so into it, but it turned out EVERYONE had done their hair - hot pink pigtails, fauxhawks, and even some army men tied to barrettes. Love school spirit week!

still knitting

I am still the knitting girl I've always been -just less so evident on the blog. I've been making some secret presents that I couldn't post - can't wait for them to make their way to their intended.

But here is my latest project - very fun mittens that have a lovely, frilly fringe. They are super colorful and silly. Not sure if they are for me or a friend - using KnitPicks Telemark Yarn - one of my favorites.

bath babies

It's hard to get E to agree to a bath with his sister. I like it so both are done at once and we have more time to play on school nights. He prefers his grown-up, and more importantly, private, showers. But I convinced him into one and got a few sweet pictures.

lost weekend, lost camera

So it's official. I've lost my camera. Somewhere between Dec. 26 and Dec. 31. The sad thing is I think I've lost it in my house. I kept thinking it would show up as we put away decorations, tidied up, etc but no. I can admit it's gone. So on to order another one and get back to blogging.

Luckily, my friend Lisa brought her camera with to the beach when we shared a getaway weekend with our kids!






We spent the weekend in Manazanita and lucked out with a pretty, sunny day on Saturday. So sunny and inspiring that the boys went straight for the waves!

I love this one!