Post-Christmas Family Hike

Paradise Falls

The day after Christmas we joined Julie (one of Dave's sisters) and her family for a little day hike.  Heading east is a fun hiking & mountain biking park called Paradise Valley; it's only about 15 minutes from our house, but it feels like you are much further away.  Plus, the terrain is quite easy with very little elevation gain - which is especially nice for little legs.

Nothing screams hiking success for a kid like finding the perfect walking stick.  Both of our kids did that:  not surprisingly, Emme found a 5-foot stick that she adored, but which posed an incredible challenge to hang on to for such a little lady; Benjamin hunted for and wielded six perfect sticks... and nearly took his cousin's eye out in the process.  I think Benjamin rates a hike successful if he manages to get 1) absolutely filthy and 2) soaking wet.  Check, and... super check.  Our merry band traipsed through the beautiful red alders, muddy "rivers" and sky-scraping Evergreen trees for over hour before the littles got thoroughly worn out and started melting down.

It was a pretty chilly day - and of course, I didn't dress my children appropriately (and Emme dressed herself) - so the big thermos of hot apple cider than Aunt Julie brought warmed up those frozen little fingers and bellies just right!  All in all, it was a fun outing where we got our bodies moving and enjoyed some of the best fresh air the PNW has to offer.

See Ya, 2014 - & Hello 2015!

“And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” ― Meister Eckhart

For the first time in ages, the house is quiet and I have some time to write.  I found this little nugget of time while Dave is out on his annual ice-climbing trip, Emme is actually taking a decent nap (thank you, pneumonia) and Benjamin has earned some screen time with his favorite video game.   Normally, any free moment such as this, I jump onto the computer to catch up on work because I am ALWAYS BEHIND.  But alas, today is a holiday, so I'm taking a break!

Before I start in on all of the New Year hullaballoo, I wanted to take a quick look back at 2014.  Let's just get it out of the way and say it - I am absolutely stoked that this year is over.  It's been a rough one.  But there have been some good moments that have made the rough ride worth it.  Here we go:

january

My 40th Birthday - so many fun celebrations, I couldn't pick just one photo!

               

february

Our one snowstorm of the season - yep, we went sledding on a Sunday morning!

march

Emme's first trip to the Woodland Park Zoo

april

Marchant Reunion - Easter at Lincoln City, OR

may

Memorial Day at Deception Pass Park

june

Co-hosted Rochelle's baby shower

july

Willis Tucker splash pad

august

This one is a TIE!

Riding the Train at Remlinger Farms with Grandma Julie

AND...

Manzanita, OR with Ady, Grandma Julie & Grandpa Frank

september

First Day of School (Pre-K)

october
Swan Trails' pumpkin patch

november

Emme's Big #2

december

Leavenworth at Christmas-time

So, yes, we had a very busy year full of fun activities and great people, all for which I am so grateful.

  To celebrate NYE last night, we opted to stay in; in fact, the kids were in bed before 8, as was Dave! I stayed up on my own, cozied up on the couch and started chowing down on a yummy ice cream sundae while watching "Edge of Tomorrow".  My party of one didn't last long, though!  Shortly thereafter, Emme woke up (she's fighting sinusitis and viral pneumonia), followed by Benjamin, who awoke from a nightmare.  And thus, two sleepy kiddos snuggled up with me and we rang in 2015 like wild and crazy party animals.

As to the New Year, I am on the fence about writing down resolutions this year... mostly because I stink at keeping them for any length of time.  I did stick to last year's resolution of getting the gym more often.  Now I just need to balance that with some better eating habits!  Anyway, I digress.

Thus, rather than going the resolution route, I came across the hashtag: #olw ("one little word").  People have been choosing a word that is going to be their goal for the new year; a word to focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as each day rolls by.  I thought that sounded like a more reasonable and realistic thing to work on in the months ahead -- or maybe it's so vague that it's going to be a heck of a lot harder!  Nonetheless, I want to make some big changes in my life, to myself, to my environment - so maybe this will be the jumpstart I need.  Without further ado, here is my ONE LITTLE WORD:

To grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

We'll see how it goes - wish me luck!

A Walk in the Park

Lowell Park in Fall

 

As a reward to Benj for staying dry all day (including at preschool), the kiddos and I piled in the car to celebrate with a late afternoon trip to one of our favorite parks, Lowell.  Sweetening the deal, I had leftovers slated for dinner so we could stay even longer.

And boy did we savor this beautiful afternoon!  Swinging our hearts out in the filtered sunshine of a mid-October afternoon.  Flying head-first down the big green slide, with magic wand (stick) and unearthed treasure (rock) in hand.  Kicking up bark in our wake as we push the merry-go-round at warp speed.   Carefully making our way across the vast chasm on our trusty blue bridge.

It was such a treat, such an awesome day.   It was one of those perfect days that you see in the movies.  

The movie moment ended promptly when, walking to the car (read: dragging the kids, kicking and screaming from their beloved park), Benj informed me he pooped.  When we first got there.  Over an hour ago.  I was so busy chasing after both of them and making sure neither plummeted to their death from a gutsy highwire act, I didn't notice.  

The magic was officially gone.   

I'll spare the details of the gruesome aftermath, and oh my, yes, it was gruesome.  Just sit on this little nugget to fully appreciate my predicament and a little glimpse into the story of my life: I ran out of wipes.  Gruesome, folks.

Someday, I'm sure I'll look back on this and laugh - maybe till I cry - but man, not that day.  Nope.  No laughing.  Not on that picturesque, 65-degree October afternoon.  You may wonder what it's like to have a child who is still struggling to potty-train at five.  While we are making baby steps every day, I can assure you it is most definitely NOT a walk in the park!

Night Owl Librarian

hello blog; it's midnight, six months later, and time to write.

Wow.  This life.  It's crazy.

My usual routine is wake up, run around like a chicken with my head cut off ALL DAY LONG, get all of my people to sleep, and then start my second life.  Oh, and occasionally I slip in a few hours to sleep too.

Tonight, as I was working I had an epiphany.  I actually have two lives.  By day, I'm a wife/mother and  at dusk, I'm a night owl/librarian.  Many times, the two lives cross.  That's when the madness really begins to settle in.

But anyway, that was my epiphany.  I have a crazy life, which often sends me to the brink of my sanity, but I love it just the same.   As for us, here's the latest and greatest:

Emme - about to turn 2, going on 15.  She's totally become our little Miss Bossypants, as of late.  Equally enamored with Gru & the Minions, Mickey & the gang, and the Frozen sisters.  Can usually be found sporting a tri-pigtail hairdo, dragging the combo of a dolly, blanket and binky everywhere she goes, dancing like a diva to "Happy", getting some good air with her hoppy jumping, and eating everything we give her - as well as random bits off the floor.  Loves milk, nuggets, all kinds of fruit and anything with sugar.  Sprinkle donuts and any kind of juice are two of her all-time favorite things.  She laughs like a hyena, but in an adorably, wild way.  And she has suddenly become quite the talker - people besides me can even understand her now!  

Benj - he is quite the kiddo.  His pediatrician told us (at 2 days old), "this one's going to keep you on your toes".  Truer words have never been uttered.  His 5 years have been - well, to be honest - a chaotic, nonstop and often joyful learning experience for us.  The kid. still. loves. trains.  Like love-loves them.  Favorite ice cream is a toss up between mint chocolate chip and "fruity sherbet".  He totally adores his sister, when he's not pummeling her.  Learning to ride a bike; slowly, but surely he'll get there.  Almost, almost potty-trained (this topic could encompass about 50 blog posts, but anyway.)  Pre-K starts in a couple of weeks; he still on the fence if that's a good thing.

Dave - is amazing.  He has had quite a year.  Last summer he rode the STP (Seattle-to-Portland) 210-mile bike ride in about 10 hours... months later, we found he accomplished that with a broken rib!  This July, after months of preparation and training, he took some of his Young Men up Mt. Baker.  One of the boys's mothers told me the experience was life-changing for him.  So, yeah, that's pretty awesome.  So proud of him for making such a difference in people's lives.  He's also our consummate clothes-folder, dish-doer, lawn-mower and guitar-playing dynamo.  In the last few weeks, he's experienced some significant health challenges and while those physical issues have been difficult, he still does things to make me smile.  

Me - With everything going on in our crazy life, I'm surviving... but thriving too.  I've found it's incredibly easy to get down in the dumps when life continually pummels you with a bushel of lemons.  But I found sources of sweetness along the way that have made me realize that my life is beautiful. Lately, I've ramped up my prayers.  Namely, praying for other people - so many I know are struggling with very heavy loads lately.  With my 'two lives', I get few hours of sleep.  Down the road, I'm going to find a way to squeeze in more because you know, I've realized I really love to sleep!  Catnaps have been a happy medium in this wild, wild world of mine. Also, I've been woefully bad about reading my scriptures, but in the last few weeks I've been making amends.  It may mean listening to them while doing dishes or driving in the car, but random words or stories will jump out at me and remind me that this life is a blessing - and a Test.

Other random things:

•  Books I'm Reading:  "Gone Girl", "Five Days at Memorial" and "My Story by Elizabeth Smart" (I've found the last one particularly compelling)
• Fun Places We've Been This Summer:  Hiking in Paradise Valley (pic at left); a gazillion trips to area parks; the library; Manzanita, OR; and Benjamin's idea of heaven - Remlinger Farms.
• Coolest Discovery:  the best chocolate-chip recipe ever.  Seriously.
• Major Accomplishments:  getting Benjamin out of diapers.  I should win a Nobel Peace Prize for this.  It's been an epic battle.  I've researched.  I've experimented.  I've gone back and done more research.  Hours of my life spent in the pursuit of training someone to successfully use a toilet.  Sounds crazy, but I'm giddy at the thought of not having to change a 5-year-old's diaper. Also, I sang a solo in church a few days ago.  Yes, you read that right.  Me.  Solo.  Me.  Mind-blown.  That little accomplishment was my version of summitting Everest, folks.  It's the little things that matter most.

Life is indeed beautiful, and oh, so sweet.

"Find out where your joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy, is to miss it all." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Hot Fun in the Wintertime

And all that jazz...
(otherwise known as the super-duper long post that takes forever to put together because I've waited so long since I posted.  Drat drat drat.  Anyway, enjoy!)

A Lazy Sunday Morning

 Emme's wearing her new whale jumper (which I adore) - and checking out our engagement pictures.  Love this kiddo.

Work Birthday Bash

Had a delectable array of berries for our yogurt parfaits with my department at work.

California Omelette? Yes, please!

The delicious food from Sawmill Cafe made for a fun (and lively) way to kick off my birthday with the kids and Grandma & Grandpa Marchant.

My Big, Fat 40th Birthday Bash

Surrounded by some of my favorite people on the planet, we had the most AMAZING Mexican fiesta buffet and best karaoke celebration EVER!  Turning a year older (especially when hitting a big milestone) can be kind of hard.  But man, this birthday, and most especially this party, totally rocked.  Saying I loved this party would be putting it mildly.  It was such a great night and an awesome memory that I will put in my pocket for a rainy day... it was that kind of awesome. 

My Birthday Fun Continues...

 Riding to Edmonds to spend the day with the Goodwin grandparents while we spent the day snowshoeing.   Big Bonus: the kids were totally stoked to hang with them and it allowed us to do something we used to do but haven't done in a long time - snowshoe & enjoy the beauty of the outdoors - together!

Snowshoeing to Source Lake

Beautiful drive up I-90 to Snoqualmie Pass.

Setting out at the trailhead at Alpental... who's excited?

View from the lake; Dave gazing up to a frozen waterfall climb; me getting snow in my eyes while trying to take a selfie... but loving the beauty of this winter wonderland.

The steep, slide-slipping pitch (totally thought I was going to eat it, but didn't - yay me!); catching a glimpse of some blue sky through the trees; frozen falls on the way home - gorgeous.

And it's ClaimJumper's for the Win

After a fun-filled day in the mountains, we came home, changed and headed to feast on awesome food at ClaimJumper's.  The smallest thing on the menu happens to be these baby red-velvet cupcakes, which they give out as their free birthday goodies.  My take?  Cake was kind of dry and flavorless & the frosting wasn't very sweet, but then again, I'm not a huge fan of red velvet - and I'm a cake snob.  Still, a lovely evening out alone with my Dave!

Kiddo #1 & Kiddo #2

I had promised Benj that we would make a train cake and decorate it this week.  Alas, only the cake got made (because of the insane cake below); still both kiddos were happy.  Kiddo #1 got to play with his edible train & coaches, while Kiddo #2 got to gobble up the leftovers.  Of course, CAKE = Happy People!

Death By Chocolate... no joke.

It was Super Bowl Sunday.  The Seahawks were playing the Broncos (and we WON).  But it was also still the weeklong celebration of Moi, so not surprisingly, I made a cake.  The cake consisted of three layers of deep chocolate cake (Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe - except I accidentally used heavy cream instead of buttermilk... which turned out to be one awesome mistake, btw); three layers of "Death By Chocolate" dark chocolate mousse; topped off with whipped cream, whole strawberries and chocolate ganache drizzled on top.  No frosting was needed on this baby.  And although it was insanely rich, it was mind-blowing-ly good (yeah, I know that's not a real word)!

Haug Homestead Park

Took a jaunt to a local park in the middle of our not-so-deep winter.  Coats and hats were required, but we fed the ducks an inordinate amount of freezer-burnt bread (so yummy, I'm sure), scampered all over the playground, made stick piles and generally ran around like crazy people.  It was another lovely day at the park with my little people.

(unknown) Park near Hospital

Grandma Julie needed a ride to get some tests at the Prov-Everett cancer center, so we took advantage of yet ANOTHER sunny, cool day and discovered this little park in north Everett.  Benjamin's favorite thing was digging in the dirt and Emme was obsessed with our patriotic ball - or "BA!" as she likes to call it.  Thankfully, after only 20 minutes there, grandma called saying she was done; although it was a fun little park, it's situated right next to Port Gardner and the bone-chilling wind was blowing extra wild that day so I was happy to scoot everyone back into the comforts of our warm car to go pick her up.

~Aloha Emme~

Otherwise known as the various stages of Lei Destruction.  Our neighbor brought this over as a thank-you for turning her heat back on while they were flying back from Hawaii.  I took this picture below before "LD" officially began... it's obvious that Emme is not happy with me for delaying said-destruction.  

Let Them Eat Cake!

These are the leftover chocolate & cream-cheese frosting cupcakes from the Mexican fiesta.  And yes, I let them eat them for breakfast because I'm cool like that.

Fa-fa-fa- Freezing!

Another outdoor adventure led us to Willis-Tucker park.  The week of my birthday was crazy cold, compared to the rest of our winter.  We went on a nature walk (Emme had zonked so I was carrying her in the Ergo - which she slept in the WHOLE TIME.  Awesomeness!)  So, it was basically a Mommy-Benj date, where we walked around checking out the frozen pond, collecting ice-chunk specimens, discovering mysterious things called stumps in the scary woods and making snow angels in the sandbox.  Perhaps it was wishful-thinking, but funny enough, it actually snowed this same evening... a lot!

We Finally Got Snow!

This was last Sunday (Feb 9th). 

I love everything about all of these pictures...

but I especially adore the Daddy-Benj snow angels.  

Valentine's Day

Dave was headed out for a Scout camping trip this weekend, so I stayed up extra late to make him this silly card (with sayings like "I love you like Sheldon loves his spot."), a Valentine's Mad Lib at the breakfast table and a little love note for his vest pocket while he was out in the snowy wilderness.  

I asked Benj what he wanted for breakfast and he said pancakes, so I made these whole-wheat aebleskivers which turned out so good!  Everyone gobbled them up.  

Dave took off with the boys around 11am and we were still having breakfast, which was the perfect lazy way to spend Valentine's, in my opinion.  After doing a bunch of random stuff around the house, we headed to Willis-Tucker again for some play time before our Valentine's movie party with the cousins.  We grabbed a Hawaiian pizza on the way home, which both hungry kids quickly devoured.  Then, Lucy & Alice joined us for popcorn and Wall-E, Benj's go-to selection for any popcorn movie party!  Dave showed up in the time for the movie; sadly, a heavy rain had ruined their igloo-building plans so we got to have him back for Valentine's afterall!  Luckily, neither of the girls had seen Wall-E - and I think everyone really enjoyed it.  Fun times, fun night of memories.

Dave's Birthday Cake

Dave isn't a big fan of the hullabaloo of weeklong birthday celebrations, but I still wanted to celebrate him and his big day so that he knew how much we love him.  Plus, Benjamin was begging to help blow out the candles on a cake.  So I whipped up this beauty before church last week.  Our SIL Aubri showed up in time to snap some pictures and partake in this deconstruction of a Boston Cream Pie.  The french vanilla filling really made the cake - even I liked it!

Egg White & Veggies 'cupcakes'

A big fan of the savory breakfast, I made some of these this week.  I may tweak a few things in the future, but they were fun, easy and quite tasty - plus the small size made them easy to toss in my mouth as I was driving to work at o'dark thirty this week!

Random Shot of the Week: "You are Not Alone"

Silly Em Pictures

She has started mugging for pictures.  I think it's so stinkin' cute, but I'm biased, I suppose.

Tambarking

Had an absolute blast at Tambark Park this week.  I didn't take many pictures, as I was running around everywhere with the kiddos.  We slid, swung, spun, ran, tossed rocks in the creek, did jumping jacks and even ran lines in the astro-turfed sports field.  Storm clouds were threatening but we lucked out again with some pretty decent weather as we took in some fresh air and sunshine!

Another fun month under our belts.  But how is it possible that we are only about a week away from March 2014?  Crazy. 

My little spiritual blurb: Lastly, I listened to this conference talk while I was putting away groceries today.  Elder Ulisses Soares talked about being meek and lowly of heart.  This section of his talk really resonated with me; becoming more meek is something I want to work on in the days & weeks ahead.

Being meek does not mean weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth, and self-control.