June Album: pre-vacay

Summer is over in real-time (blogging in September), so I’m a little sad to be reflecting on what an awesome time we had anticipating it… plus we were looking forward to our big road trip in late June!  So  here it is: June before the vacay…

 

 

The biggest news before we left was that my wish finally came true: after 7 years of staring at this old, ugly siding, we finally got it removed!  Hallelujah!  Underneath is a beautiful original wood siding that was covered longer than it wasn’t covered. 

BEORE:

  

AFTER:

And the BEST news is that we found a surprise window that had been covered up for 60 years. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here’s Matthew, revealing it from the inside once we figured out where it was.  Who would cover such a beautiful window?  What a fantastic treasure, waiting to be discovered.

   

 

(This month of September, we’ve finally added trim to the inside, and it completely changes the living room orientation.  Trim was also added to the outside, and I have been selecting exterior paint colors!  Yippee!)

In other news, Dean graduated from kindergarten!  I treated him to ice cream on that last day.  We were both so proud.

  

Oh, and we got head lice.  Right before we left for vacation.  Father’s Day arrived sometime between the the combing of Fiona’s hair for lice from 11pm on Saturday and the combing of my hair until 2am.  Yes….  Colorado and New Mexico, here we come.

May Album: is it summer yet?

May happened.  It was quick.  We traveled to Seattle for a baby shower, and we visited Uncle Lou (“uncko Woo” Leo says).  Lovely, hot, unexpected weather.

Then Matt’s parents came to town and gave us a date night out!  We went camping at Silver Falls.  Time to try out the ginormous tent that we bought - which is awesome….  Camping by ourselves gets a solid two thumbs up.

    

      

And we tried out Portland’s new Fields Park!  Went to see “Cinderella” at the Children’s theater and followed it up with an evening in the Pearl District.  Another two thumbs up.

Pacific Northwest in May 2013 = summer is just around the corner.  Or is it here already?

April Album: Epiphany

During April this year, a few things happened.  I turned 36!  Whaaaaa?!  I don’t want to think of this as more than halfway.  But it kind of sounds like it. 

Tulips quickly replaced daffodils, and spring is officially here.

I celebrated a girls weekend in Seattle!  It was fantastic.  Just four moms and a beautiful weekend (albeit, it did rain) in Seattle.  Shopping, dining out, dining in, drinking wine, getting our toes done.  We rode the Seattle Great Wheel, which sounds silly, but was kind of awesome. 

   

Saw this awesome sign at Pike Place Market – I had never noticed it before…

Wandered into this crazy amazing umbrella store in which you can RENT vintage umbrellas.  And they were not short on selection.

Visited the Olympic Sculpture Garden, a place that always inspires me to think BIG about tough spaces, especially where it involves leading people to a waterfront and incorporating art.  I was rambling and pointing up at the slope, talking urban design blah blah about how and where this kind of idea would work in Portland, when who should appear?  My former urban design professor and mentor from UW!  So great to finally run into her after all this time.  She was exactly as I remembered her.

 

 

Here is the woman who told me years ago when I asked her about my career and when on earth I was supposed to think about having kids, “there’s no good time to have kids”.  Which was kind of freeing, in a way...  I reminded her and told her that I have three!  Kids!  She was genuinely surprised...  It amazes me how much influence she had on me.  It made me a little sentimental.

And during my time away from home, I had this epiphany.  I need to spend more time with my three.  So, starting in July, I will return (after 9 months of full time) to three days a week.  Phew.  The decision was not difficult to make, but I didn’t expect it to be so hard to digest what it means for my career and who I am…  but after 36 years I guess I can still discover things about myself that I didn’t know.  Like, I like to work.  But I need more time to spend with these sweet peas.  So here’s to another birthday and lots and lots of Mommy time.

  

March Album: Leo turns 2

It is August.  We have had some amazing weather this spring and summer, and so my computer has been wildly neglected!  Because, really, isn’t blogging for winter?  Also, I confess that for at least a month between February and now, I misplaced my camera.  So I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.  Which means lots of pictures for me to upload, since I honestly don’t remember much of what happens in this fast-paced house of ours unless it is recorded digitally.  And I like to look back and remember from time to time…

So let’s start by appreciating my new album cover for this mini-band that Matthew and I created.  We have written a few songs, such as “Fiona and Dean, it’s time to get clean”, but alas, there’s more work to do…

This month, we celebrated Leo!  We got out the streamers (that stayed up until Mother’s Day, of course!) and Dean made Leo a poster with a train, an elephant, and a butterfly (the things that Leo loves).  I remember the exact contents of the poster, because yes it is August, and in fact, it’s still hanging up in our living room, with Dean’s “happy birthday Leo” written in crayon.  Probably time to take that down, we’ve been saying for months.

   

For Leo’s birthday, I tried making “Tres Leches” cake, since Leo is a lover of all things dairy.  Topped with berries, since Leo is also a fan.  It was a hit.  And quite filling.

    

    

    

Leo received a wooden train set, something that he still gets a kick out of, I am happy to report.  Now we are into building bridges and tunnels and the station for our “Cretaceous time period” (Dinosaur Train reference).  Nothing is cuter than hearing a 2-year old say “Cretaceous time period”. 

Happy birthday, sweet Leo!

    

Also in March: a welcome first sign of spring.  After planting only tulips for years and years, this year I got smart and planted daffodils also, since they bloom much earlier.  Plus I love the yellow.

And Easter arrived, which means cascarones.  The kiddos love dying eggs and cracking them on each other’s heads.  Who wouldn’t love that? 

   

   

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!