So what do you guys think? Do you think Payton liked it? I think not! What a horrible mother I am:) I just had to get my Santa photo (the same Santa every year for 6 years now). My poor baby. At least she stopped as soon as I picked her up again. All for the sake of tradition:)
And then there was Reese, the 1st year she was actually excited! She told him everything she wanted:) And everything her Daddy wanted too:) My sweet girl!
Merry Christmas...

So my camera seems to beon the fritz:( So much so that I can't even get the pictures off of it. So no new pics...Just wanted wish everyone Happy Holidays!

My sweet little Man...

This is going to be my idea of an obituary, so if you are feeling emotional, this is your warning!

Yesterday Jason and I made the hardest desicion we have yet to make. Our sweet little man Jack had just gotten old and it was his time.
A little over 10 years ago, I was driving on a dark road in my hometown and had to swerve to miss two little beagles. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw two more cars do the same. I decided to pull over at 11:00 at night and both dogs jumped in my car. Since there was a boy and a girl, I called them "Jack and Jill". I tried desperately to find their owners to no avail. I found the little girl a home, but "Jack" just seemed to stick. Jason and I dating at the time, decided to "co-parent" him from two homes!
Since he was our first child, we had him be our ring-bearer at our wedding, and was never far from our side. He was even gracious when we decided to bring another dog home to keep him company since I was then working a full-time job. Little did we know, he could have cared less if he had someone to play with. We really got the puppy for ourselves! We were always trying to get him to be a "dog". We would throw balls for him and he would look at us like "Why did you do that you idiot, now you have to go get that thing!"
But he was the best big brother to all our girls, Bella, then Reese, then Payton. Never growling, never barking, just there to love on and be loved.
I Love you Jackson Brown! You will be in my heart forever...

Without further adew...

Anouncing our version of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell...

We went to a wonderful Halloween party at our friends Steve and Jodi's on friday. The guys are always trying to figure out creative and funny costumes to out-do eachother. I have had much fun the past couple of weeks making our costumes. There is nothing like fitting your husband for a dress and tutu:)
Enjoy:) It is not too often you get to see men dressed up as Tinkerbell. Isn't he sexy???

October fun...

What a fun and festive month.

Reese had orange day at school thursday, so I whipepd up a skirt from some orange felt that I had on my desk (thanks for the idea J)

Can you believe that I can get pigtails in her little hair? Reese was born with enough for french braids it seemed, so I have been waiting patiently for Payt to get enough to do anything with! It was so cute and she loves having her "did"!
(Don't mind the part, you try getting it straight when your 16 month old is eating and really interested to what you are doing to her back there:))



And some serious pumpkin carving fun. We waited till it was a little late and if you look closely, Payt was a little sleepy with her bunny and thumb in mouth:)



Stay tuned for some serious costume photos. J and I went to an adult costume party lastnight and there was much creativity!
We hope you all had a wonderful and safe Halloween...

Ellie's outfit

Our sweet neighbor and friend Eliana is turning 5 tomorrow! Reese went to her party on Saturday and had a lot of fun. I am really into making people's gifts right now, so I decided to whip up this dress, pants and hair flower for her. This was a BIG 1st for me. It was the 1st time I purchased a pattern and sewed something from it (the pants). So much easier then I had worked it up to be. I guess I was just intimidated. I bought the pants pattern to fit sizes 2-8 so my girls will be wearing them for years:) If anyone wants them, just let me know...I think I will be much faster now...Happy Monday everyone...

What is up with us...

So the last month or so have been a whirlwind! Reese has started a new year of pre-school (the last one before the BIG kindergarten next year:() Both girls are taking swimming lessons, and Reese started playing Soccer! My Wednesday's have been hell-ish, but my girls are busy, happy and experiencing lots of fun stuff.




Here is Reese at the Pumpkin Patch just yesterday with her class. How much fun we had at Terry's Berries, an all Organic Farm. We got some MONSTER pumpkins that we will be busy carving this weekend.



My lovely dinner with two of my BEST girlfriends, Jodi and Heidi. I truly love these two so much!






Reese and Sadie at their 1st soccer game! We were so proud of her:) She HATED her 1st practice and wouldn't let go of my leg. However, Saturday she got out there and had fun the whole time! Granted, her and Sadie were holding hands on the field and dancing, not to mention that they had to goalie at the same time, but "Oh so much fun" was had!

Reese's 1st day of school with her Daddy and I



I have caught Payton climbing all sorts of stuff now, including this slide! This one makes me happy, she was so proud of herself. The little Monkey...

Payton's new fashion statement! This is what she looked like when I got her up from her nap:)

Reese and her little girlfriend Ellie that lives accross the street. I caught the two of them coloring oh so nicely:) That can be rare sometimes:)

Happy Halloween Everyone and Fall too (although I am one of those who begrudge Fall, sweaters and REAL shoes. I am already longing for my capris and flip flops. Spring anyone???)

Payter's Post

In making sure that I post about the girls equally, I came accross this video that I took of Payton the other evening after her bath. I love this girlie with everything I have. She is nothing but a joy to have around with her constant smile and happiness. It exudes from her and is contagious! (Please pardon her nakiness, I think it is one beautiful little tiny body:))

My morning conversation...

Every morning at about 7:30, my day begins like this:

I feel some small, warm and snuggly being crawl in bed beside me. Hair tickling my nose and deap breaths. After 5 minutes of so, I start to hear (whispered)
"Mom, Mom, are you awake?"
"Yes sweetie, I may not want to be, but I am"
"Mom, I love you"
"I love you too honey"
"Mom, do you know that you are my best friend?"
"Thank you sweetie"
"No, like REALLY, my VERY best friend, and I am going to love you FOREVER!"

Who needs an alarm clock? I just need my Reesie coming in every morning to rouse me. No matter how my night ended (sometimes it is very difficult to get the girls down) the slate is wiped clean every morning.

"I love you too Reese! You are going to be my sweet little girl forever:)"

Check out my peaches!

Last weekend, some wonderful girls and myself got to escape from Mom-dom and went to Lake Chelan. We were able to eat, sleep, drink, sun bath and chat to all hours. It was a much needed and much enjoyed weekend...
On the way home, the girls that I was riding wih and I decided that we needed to take advantage of the fresh fruit stands. I picked up a box of peaches and started canning for the first time. So, far, so good! I will have to wait a few days to finish them since they were not all ripe.
Thanks Maria for spending your morning teaching me the ins and outs...

As summer comes to an end, I am enjoying the fruits (or veggies) of my labor! I can now say that I have successfully gardened. However much of a novice as I am, I planted, grew and ate from my own backyard! What an accomplishment for me considering I never had one inkling of an interest in gardening I must admit.
When Jason came to me last winter and said, "I want chickens and a garden", I thought he had gone off the deep end. I am a girl who enjoys the finer things in life and will gladly admit that I am high maintenence. I guess that he has finally worn me down. It has now been years since I have purchased a pair of designer jeans or had a pedicure. I am not sure if it has more to do with me changing as I get older, or the fact that I am BROKE not working:) Oh well, I will gladly accept my hippie status. Just don't think I am giving up Make-up Jason!!!
Cheers to my sunflowers...

Girls night '09

My parents being the ever gracious and giving people that they are, let me host a small girls night on the boat last Friday night. We all brought food, drinks and our ever flowing sense of humor to share with eachother. I am blessed to have such a great group of girlfriends that can come together from all different areas of my life and have such a great time together!
Here are a few shots from our night...just a little taste of our drunken debauchery
(I edited some of the more risque shots:))

I do love them, I do, I do, I do

This morning I decided to load the girls up and go to one of my favorite stores, JoAnn Fabric. I thought I went in with my guns loaded so to speak. I had snacks, water and my Ergo. I strapped Payton on and went it. Little did I know that neither girl were going to cooperate. Reese wanted everything she saw and threw a fit over not getting any of it. Payton was just crabby and scratching my neck and yelling at me. So after 5 or 10 minutes of HELL, I left empty handed (My Husband will be pleased). I called Heidi on my way home to complain. I confided that 2 kids is very difficult sometimes. I wouldn't give up either one of them, but 1 kiddo was a sinch! I told her that at one point I was standing in line and accidently said out loud to the girls, "I am going to sell you two to the highest bidder." Granted two Mommies in front of me thought it was hilarious, I was mortified! I really do love and adore my girls, but every once in a while, can they not just cooperate? Long story short, I was humbled this evening while making dinner. I was standing in the kitchen and got to witness this...

These two love eachother so much. I guess I can go to JoAnn's another time:)
And here is one of Payton's "after dinner hair"

Crab, Crab and more Crab...

I had to share this picture with you! On the last day of our trip, we were able to crab and caught 12! So, needless to say, we had our neighbors over and ate crab for 4 days. I was also able to freeze some meat. Here is our crab cakes that I made (for the 1st time) and also some lovely Yukon Gold potatoes from our garden. Yummy!!!

Circa 1980

My Beautiful blue eyed girl wearing my t-shirt from when I was one. How cute huh? My Mom kept ALL of my baby clothes for me. I went through them and kept a few things and this one of them. How funny huh?

San Juans 2009

Every year my loving and wonderful parents share their beautiful boat with Jason and I and allow us to take it to the San Juan Islands for a fantastic trip. We look forward to it all year. This was our first time taking it with 2 children, and although it was a little less relaxing and a little more stressful, we had a wonderful time. We are so lucky to spend a little time in the beautiful islands in our own backyard! There is a never ending amount of beauty up there that even left Reese staring out the windows for more.
The boat is mored in Olympia, so on Friday we left and just headed to the Tacoma waterfront. They put out a log boom and put on a great air show, street fair and have fabulous fireworks. Since the weather was so great, is was the perfect way to spend the 4th. We were able to anchor right in front of The Ram, and dinghy into shore to go the street fair. We made Reese's day when we found some pony rides and then finished with letting her stay up for the firworks! 11:00 is even late for me these days, she was tuckered:)
Anyways...here are some of the pictures! Enjoy, it is good to be home!!!