First fist bump

Today was a great day, because the kids and I decided to have a picnic at our favorite park. All was well until I realized that the the bottle of orange soda Dominik chose at the grocer on the way there had a bottle cap requiring a bottle opener.  We were not prepared...there was no bottle opener in sight.

I asked all the picnicking families I could see if they had one we could borrow, but came up empty-handed.  Finally a gentleman walked by and I proceeded to ask him in desperation.  He took the bottle from my hand, placed the edge of the cap at the edge of the picnic table and pushed down. The cap popped off!  I thanked him up and down and in return he put out his fist for a bump.  And that is the story of my first fist bump.  Thanks to  the kindness of strangers, we got out of a jam today and Dom got to enjoy his soda at the park.

Family outing on the Sound

I am thankful today that my mom and dad treated a bunch of us and our kids to a trip to Blake Island to explore Tillicum Village and the state park there. The views were spectacular...Mount Rainier from one point and if you turn your head to the left a Seattle skyline with Space Needle and all.  The Native dancing and story telling was fun, and the salmon lunch was a treat.

It was kind of my folks to invite us...we really enjoyed ourselves!

Know when to hold em'

My kids have discovered the endless joy that is possible when you have a simple deck of cards, and a little spare time. I bought them each a deck, and so far Brent has taught them poker, and I taught them one of my favorites, crazy 8s!  Looking forward to many more hands dealt during family time.

Like Mother, like Daughter

Alice has been a lover of garden flowers since she was teeny tiny...she often wants to pick our flowers and give them away to those who she cares about.

I think its great and I encourage her to do this as a token of gratitude or friendship...because really, what better gift is there than a handful of fresh picked flowers?  The last few years Alice has had her own flower bed, and this year she chose to plant dahlia bulbs(my personal favorite).  They are blooming beautifully...here you see her dinner plate yellows.  Stunning!

It finally hit me.

So after getting home from overnight camp fun in Fall City, our neighbor asked the kids over to play in their yard for a while.  I had three hours of undisrupted time to unload my mind, unplug, and find a completely relaxed state. It finally dawned on me that I am officially on vacation for the next 7 days.  Yahoo! Thankful !

Backyard Camp Out

Every summer my parents host a camp out in their backyard...several tents, lots of family, campfire with hot dogs and s'mores.  The kids run around in the dark with flashlights and are always amazed at how brightly  the stars shine when we aren't in the city.  I am thankful for the chance to see family from near and far, catching up on the latest and greatest.

Sneezes & Beeses

A tree just outside our front door is loaded with pollen every July...which means every bee within a 10 mile radius is busy slurping up the good stuff.  Thankful that this lone tree is doing its part in the pollination process...but not thrilled with all the sneezing attacks happening in our house this month.  Dominik hit a record of thirteen sneezes in a row this afternoon!

The 3 Little Pigs

Dominik's reading scores have been below grade level and luckily he was invited to a state funded summer reading camp this summer.  All day for three weeks...so we were thrilled when Dominik not only attended without complaints, he loved it!  His skills have really improved and we were all pretty proud that he was chosen to be Narrator #1 for the camp production of Three Little Pigs.  

Dark and wet

It rained all day today...and contrast to the warm sunny July we have been having, it seemed especially grey and drippy out there. In my office I decided to turn the overhead lights off and create a cozy atmosphere.  Thankful for ambiance  to work by.

Simply popcorn

Sometimes all ya need is some microwave popcorn. Tonight was one of those nights. Thankful I had some in the kitchen cupboard.

Feeling fortunate

With the devastating wildfires happening around this state, I feel very thankful that my home is not anywhere in the path of fires spreading faster than the firefighters can keep up with.  I worry for the folks who are displaced, evacuated, and in fear of losing their homes, livestock.  I hope for all the wildlife in the path of the fires a safe escape from harm. I mourn for all of the vegetation lost only to have to start again from mere seedlings.

I am grateful to be safe and wishing a quick end to the raging fires.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I am nothing if not a huge fan of repurposing items to keep them out of landfills.  I am especially a fan of not having to shop for and try to afford super cute summer shoes. My dear friend was emptying her closet of shoes that weren't working for her anymore. I was thankful to be on the receiving end of that situation.  Simply wonderful !!

Just him and I

Tonight I was so grateful to have a babysitter so Brent enjoy each other's company over a nice Japanese dinner and a stroll on the waterfront.  We do not do this nearly enough, so tonight it was special.

I made it!

This is one week that deserves to be over! Thankful that it is finally Friday.

15 wonderful years

Brent and I got married 15 years ago today. It was a very low-key casual  affair at a nice park on Lake Washington. We were surrounded by many friends and family and were blessed to have our dear friend Burton Curtis as our officiant. Today I am so thankful for all the fantastic memories Brent and I have made since that day and for all the adventures that are still to come.

Survivor

Up until a week or so ago I had only seen one Survivor show...the first one, many years ago. Alice has discovered old seasons of the show on Rocu and we have been watching the crazy, drama-filled shows in the evening as a family.  We love trying to figure out the players' strategies and we yell at the tv when people act like fools.  Good times!

Elusive Finches

I have tried for weeks to get a snapshot of the sweet finches that feast upon our bird feeders  hanging from our porch.  I will have to settle for a photo of the lone feeders just dangling.

I love it when I am out there sitting and they fly up, land, and then gorge themselves!  Once I stand up, with a camera pointing at them they disappear very quickly.  Elusive, they are! Thankfully they always come back when their bellies are empty.  I fill these two feeders once a week!  Grateful to have a chance to do our part to make things a little easier for these winged friends.  Bon Appetit!

Cats in bed

Tonight I am grateful for the cuddling of our cat, Midnight as I settle into bed to sleep. I don't have the heart to ignore him even though It's a warm and humid night...sticky sweaty cat hair love.

Resourceful?

Its been hot this week and by hot I mean a high temp of somewhere between 85 and 93 degrees.  Dominik loves the sprinkler I just bought and I have to admit a couple of jumps through that water really does cool me off  too!  Today when he asked me if washing his hair outside under the sprinkler counted as a shower I had a weak moment and gave my permission. Next thing I knew I was handing him a bottle of shampoo. Well his exposed areas got clean anyway...better than nothing.  Grateful for kids who always tend to make my parental role interesting.

Sisterly love...

The older my Alice gets the more I love her personality and sense of silliness.  This morning I woke up, made coffee and turned on my laptop for some mindless surfing.  This Word doc popped up immediately...

Grateful for my daughter's humor and her playful, sneaky ways.  

Ace is the place...

Being a true Pacific Northwesterner, I have always held out hope that Big Foot (or Sasquatch ) really did exist. I imagined him hiding out getting a good laugh at the humans that live only to find some kind of proof...somewhere that he is alive.  Well, today I am grateful that we can finally put this question to rest. We had a Sasquatch sighting just outside of Ace hardware...on Sprague and 12th in Tacoma.  Strangely, he was wearing an Ace employee apron, which made the sighting even more mysterious.

Greens for the buns

This summer after dinner, Dominik and I go for a stroll around neighborhood picking dandelion leaves and any clover we spy. When we get back we treat our rabbits to their very favorite food...and they get very excited. Thankful for the time with my Dominik on these warm & sunny evenings.

Practicing Trust in Myself

I believed in myself today, and it made all the difference.

Thankful for those moments of success that turned an okay day into a great one.

What did the Honeydew say to the Watermelon?

Cantaloupe tonight, my father's got the car.

Watermelon means summer and the sweet juicy red goodness is like nothing else on earth.  I love to eat it morning, noon and night and sometimes I have to wear a bib because of the drippy juice factor.  

Grateful for watermelon !!!

Back at it

After having a full week off from work, I dragged myself back in today to face way too many emails in my inbox and a payroll to process.  I was dreading it...didn't sleep well last night.  The day turned out to be pretty fantastic, to my surprise!  I forgot how much I like what I do. I felt super productive and by noon I was caught up with all the fires that needed to be extinguished.  Thankful that  bouncing back from vacation today was not painful at all.

One-of-a-Kind

The four of us went to our favorite park today to ride bikes. I was glad to run into my friend Jenny down by the pond watching the ducks. I had not seen her since she was crowned Miss Wheelchair America this time last year. She has been traveling non-stop speaking out about the needs and rights of disabled individuals...it was great to hear her stories.  A motivational speaker, Jenny is such an inspiration to folks who feel limited by their physical challenges. She has accomplished amazing things, including a Masters Degree and is still so young. Born with only 3 partial limbs she skateboards, surfs, dances, and she also sings beautifully.  Recently publishing a children's book, she is now working on one for teens.  Jenny makes her rounds to the schools here in Tacoma to talk to the kids about growing up different...with an anti-bullying message. 

So thankful for folks, like Jenny, that make a positive impact wherever they go.

If only...

Lately I have felt that my children are growing up especially fast, and I am having a hard time keeping up. I had a fantasy today that I could go back in time and spend one day with them when they were much younger, if nothing just to jog my memory of what it was like to care for a one-year-old and a three-year-old at the same time.  This is the age they are in the photo below...2007.
At times it seems caring for them was so much harder back then, yet there are definitely days when I would disagree.  Some things never change...and that is a good thing! Thankful for the parenthood journey, and the inevitable growth along the way for each of us.

Birthday Bike...Take 2

Dominik's birthday gift this year was a new bike...he had been looking forward to it all year!  He rode it every day for a few weeks, until it was stolen from our porch during the night.  He was heartbroken, and we were out of cash!!

Well, Brent worked some overtime since then and today Dominik got a replacement...that he loves even more. We have learned that locking bikes on the porch is no longer an option.

Sometimes you have to be grateful for life's valuable lessons.

Change is good

We have lived next door to the same family since we moved to Tacoma 14 years ago.  We got along just fine, kept an eye out for each other's houses and chatted it up occasionally. Our kids are close in age and have played together a lot since they were babies.  

Last summer we attempted to discuss with them the unfair way their daughter was treating Alice. There was some "mean girl" stuff going on and we approached the parents.  We were not well received, and for an entire year now our neighbors have not made eye contact even once...blatantly ignoring us. Their daughters have spread lots of rumors about Dominik & Alice to the other kids on the block. 

Needless to say, I was thrilled to see this sign go up in front of their home a few weeks back. It is time, time for change...and I am grateful as today the family moved out. We won't miss the negative and hope with the next family we live next to there will be less drama.

28 years

Brent is many things...a super great dad, a really hard worker, a smart guy,  and my very best friend and husband.  As of yesterday, he has been clean and sober for 28 years. For this, he has my respect, true admiration and pride.

Grateful for the best partner anyone could ask for.

Memory Lane

Today I had the chance to drive out to my old stomping grounds where I grew up, Snoqualmie Valley.  I drove through the towns of Snoqualmie and Fall City... On the roads I drove as a teen so many times to and from school, that even today I still know better than the back of my hand.  I managed a visit with an old chum, Cynthia, who has been my friend since my family moved to fall City when I was 13 yo. She and I were friends in Middle School, High School and landed at WWU at the same time, walking together during college graduation. It has been a few years since we have had the chance to see each other and catch up amidst the crazy life of work and parenthood.  Today we gabbed and gabbed...picking up right where we left off.  Thankful for friends today.