Sunday, May 30, 2010

the springs.

nathan was pretty disappointed yesterday when katie woke up crying at 5 am from an ear infection....it pretty much put a damper on our hiking plans for the day. after a visit to the ER yesterday morning, a couple doses of antibiotics, some pain meds, and lots of rest, she was feeling quite spunky this morning and we decided to make a go of it. we drove up to the Olympic Hot Springs in the Elwha River Valley. Nathan and Austin had been there several times before, as their scout troop does about 2/3 of their camping in the Olympic National Park, but the rest of us had never been and i've always wanted to see them. it was a fairly easy hike (albeit soggy, it sprinkled the entire time). no worries, we all had rain jackets and hiking boots. oh. except for me, the idiot in tennis shoes, trying to keep my feet dry as we crossed several streams. yeeaaahh. i actually managed to keep them pretty dry most of the day.

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crossing cougar creek

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the littlest hiker

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(he didn't make it the whole way)

one of the highlights of the day for me were the deer sightings....twice we spotted deer right off the trail. they were pretty brazen too, although i'm sure they are probably used to all the hikers.

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three at once!

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fam on bridge over boulder creek

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moi on bridge

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probably my fave POTD (pic o' the day :) they are standing in a stream under a HUGE old growth tree that had fallen.

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a pretty lil' spot where we sat and took a snack break.

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ironically, i didn't get *one* pic of the actual springs....although we did stop and stick our hands in them (and the kids played in them a little) it was a pretty busy day up there; all the pools were full (several with skinny-dippers that we tried to quickly herd the kids by LOL)

thanks for looking!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

confirmation.

today austin was confirmed in our church. a pretty big rite of passage, and the culmination of the last 3 years of dedication and hard work (not only on his part, but also by our wonderful youth pastor jonathan, the small group leaders, mentors, etc). all the confirmands had to write a faith statement as their last assignment, and austin wrote a sonnet, which pastor jonathan quoted part of in the service.

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his entire confirmation class.

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our wonderful (and goofy at times!) pastors, Pastor Bill and Pastor Jonathan

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during the ceremony

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note my kid: the only one without a suit or sportcoat. obviously, we didn't get the memo. ha.

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his proud fam....minus Nathan who was at Wilderness First Aid for Boy Scouts. obviously, sam must've said something funny and katie was mid-sentence. ah, well.

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with great-gram.

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CONGRATS, austin!

Monday, May 17, 2010

more aprons!

katie had a birthday party for a classmate this past weekend. i took this apron that i previously blogged about and appliqued an "a" on it to personalize it for the b-day girl, and then gave her a heart-shaped cupcake pan and cookie cutter to go with it. i put it all in a coordinating drawstring bag that i made to match the apron. i think it turned out cute and katie said she really liked it :)

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i made another apron for *another* girl's b-day we have coming up using this tutorial from the talented Kymy and i think it is my *most* favorite apron ever. i LOVE how it turned out!

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here it is on sam--i made the smaller apron which is supposed to be a size 2-4. next time i will make the ties longer so it can be tied in a bigger bow. Kymy actually called for longer ties but i just cut selvage to selvage figuring it would be long enough.

and here it is on katie.....

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thanks for looking!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

trivet and coasters, and an apron.

this is what i made my mom for mother's day....such a super easy, quick project with cute results! my lovely friend ashley held a class at her house for making these out of tiles. i LOVE the stampin' up set that i used....wish i had taken pics of the other coasters now, but in addition to the dragonfly there was a bird's nest, a seashell, and a peacock feather. we stamped the tiles and then decorated them using a variety of methods....i used one of the stampin' up blender pens with chalk to color in the details, and then used a stamp pad and a sponge to shade the edge of the coasters. then spray 'em with some sealant, slap some felt on the bottom and voila! quick, easy and thrifty gift! now i want to make myself a set with a monogram.....

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i also whipped up a little girl's apron the other night for a birthday party we've got coming up (we've actually got THREE little girl birthdays in the next few weeks, better get sewing!) this was my first time making my own bias. it wasn't too bad, especially since i didn't technically cut it on the bias, as i didn't have to round any corners. i like how it turned out....we are going to pair it with a little set of stainless steel pots and pans as a gift!

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ETA: my friend ashley has pics of some of the sets we made including mine over at her blog; thanks for posting ashley!! :)

thanks for looking!

Monday, May 10, 2010

through the years.

today, my eldest is fifteen years old. i can hardly believe it has been that long since i first gazed into his sweet newborn face as a new mommy. here is a look back at him....(and excuse the quality of the early pics....they were pictures of pictures.)

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happy 15th birthday, austin. you enrich our lives, bless our family, and can make your mother laugh like no other &hearts

Sunday, May 9, 2010

mother's day weekend.

we had a uber-busy weekend....austin's birthday is tomorrow but we celebrated yesterday so my mom and gram could be there as well. they came down saturday and austin picked Famous Dave's for his birthday dinner.

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emo-austin @ dinner (and don't worry, i'm taking him for a haircut tomorrow!)

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all of us at FD's (minus nathan, he had duty)

we came home after dinner and had cake. it was a store-bought carrot cake because the cake i attempted to make him was a catastrophe. i baked it for the longest time the recipe called for and it still came out raw and gooey in the middle. blech.

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today we woke up to a beautiful mother's day....it was warm and sunny and gorgeous. we all went to church and then attempted to go to lunch. first we tried the Yacht Club....where they said they couldn't seat us til at least 4 (it was 12:45 at the time). okay. onto the next option. we called the Boat Shed to see how long the wait would be there. they could not get us in PERIOD today without a reservation. ach. so then i called Anthony's, where they said if we hurried they could seat us out on the deck. hallelujah. we scurried over there and had a FABULOUS lunch with some of the most beautiful views around.

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all the mommies at lunch :)

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this may well be my fave POTD (pic o' the day :) this seagull was sitting on the roof where we were eating and as i went to take his pic, he flew off. i like how it turned out.

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mama's day lunch @ anthony's.

after lunch we came home and relaxed/played outside and enjoyed the pretty weather.

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me and my silly bunch.

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me and my babies &hearts

thanks for looking!