o christmas tree

hunting for our christmas tree has become one of my favorite things we do all year long. as you might imagine, the tree farms in the pacific northwest are plentiful and beautiful.  last year we discovered "keith & scott" tree farm, and we were so enamored we went back again this year. one of the blessings of being far away from home and traveling during the holidays is that we get in the christmas spirit much earlier now. we used to wait until mid-december to get our tree. now we're out the weekend after thanksgiving to get the tree. bob & kaye have been here for thanksgiving the past 2 years and have been able to join us on our christmas tree hunt. last year our tree was really fat - big, round and beautiful. this year our tree is really tall - 12 ft. tall! i love that our house can accommodate a big tree. last year gavin was in the baby carrier and brooke was more interested in the campfire and hot cider than she was looking for a tree :) this year gavin and brooke were both on the hunt with us, and they both had a great time. gavin also got to participate in the decorating of the tree this year. the kids had a lot of special ornaments to put on the tree this year, including "woody & buzz" and "jessie" - gifts from grandma and grandpa.  gavin hung his right on the tree, but brooke wanted to keep her special ornaments in her room "up high" where no one could bother them. it took about a week, but i finally got them on the tree :) tomorrow the tree will come down before we travel to cincinnati for the holidays. i'm already looking forward to next year's tree.

Bob Bob

gavin has a new favorite word and a new favorite person: bob bob! a couple of weeks before kevin's parents came to visit for thanksgiving, gavin started saying "bob bob" whenever we would talk about "ta ta bob" (brooke's name for grandpa) or see him on the webcam. that was my first clue. then bob bob showed up at our house, and the rest was history. gavin is just naturally drawn to his grandpa. he loves him. big time. there are few things in life sweeter than seeing your son with his grandpa. they were best buds during the two weeks grandma and grandpa were in town. gavin was always sitting on his lap or yelling his name or playing with his bob bob. i'm not sure who enjoyed it more - gavin or bob, but gavin is still talking about his bob bob every single day. tonight we walked in the house from outside and gavin said "bob bob. bubbles" because, yes, his bob bob got all bundled up and went outside in the cold to blow bubbles with him. bob bob also taught gavin how to play zingo, how to mix cookie dough by hand, how to pick out a christmas tree, how to go sledding, how to enjoy some good old whipped cream straight out of the can... gavin taught bob bob who "pink" (the singer) is, how to play music videos on the computer and how to navigate mommy's iphone :) they have a special relationship, and i'm excited to see it grow.

our thanksgiving in pictures

thankful

i have so very much to be thankful for... health, family, friends, 2 wonderful children, an amazing husband, a beautiful home, a great neighborhood, the opportunity to live in a beautiful part of our country, 5 adorable nephews/nieces and the great fortune to be home with my children every day.

even though i miss my family dearly, i am so thankful to wake up and see this

and on the next morning, this

i have a quote hanging in my house that says "wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants" (by esther de waal).

i feel very wealthy. i feel very blessed.

over the hills we go...

laughing all the way.... what fun it's been to have so much snow here in seattle! just in time for grandpa bob & grandma kaye's arrival. they walked in the door to the excitement of the kids getting dressed in their new snow suits, and before they could even put their bags down they were bundled up and running out the door with the kids :) this was gavin's first time playing in snow. he wasn't sure about it at first, but it didn't take long and he was all grins and begging for "more!" brooke and gavin both really loved sledding and trying to build a snowman. the temperatures are in the teens and low twenties so the snow should stick around for at least a few days. more fun to come... more pictures, too :)

19 months

the stats:  28 1/2 lbs. (75th percentile), 37" (off the charts - although i think they mis-measured by an inch:)

what's new:  gavin is starting to build towers with his blocks now in addition to loving to tear them down. he can do a somersault all by himself. gavin has become quite the show-off. at gym class and at home, he always wants to have everyone's attention. he yells "mommy" or "daddy" until we look his way. he even yells "daddy" during the day when he knows daddy is at work :) he just gets so excited to show off his mad skills that he can't help himself! he's more engaged in play than ever before - when he's quiet, and i expect him to be up to no good, i often find him sitting by himself playing with something very intently. he loves tv a little too much. we have to play the CMA Music Festival on our DVR just about every day at gavin's request. he loves his music, and he LOVES to dance. gavin also has a big sweet tooth. he begs for a sucker just about every day and loves his halloween treats. he loves juice so much more than brooke ever has. he calls all juice "gatorade" (which sounds something like "eye-eye"). gavin also loves all condiments and gets the ketchup and mustard out of the fridge all by himself when he sees me cooking a hot dog :). gavin gets impatient at red lights and yells for me to "go!" i remember so clearly brooke doing the same thing around this age. thanks to his big sister, gavin has learned to expect and ask for stickers or stamps whenever we go to any kind of store, and he loves to show his stamped hands off to everyone. gavin has become my big helper in the kitchen and loves to cook and bake. he gets out the measuring cups and then goes straight to the spice drawer... :) gavin is also learning how to clean up - he will often go into the pantry to get the broom after we are done eating. he even moves the chairs out of the way to sweep! i've also seen him go to the sink and grab the towel to wipe up his spills. gotta start 'em young :) gavin loves babies - real and pretend. he's very sweet to all of his stuffed animals - putting them "night night", giving them kisses, talking to them... today he even asked hippo if he wanted a snack :) gavin loves reading christmas books and knows that santa says "ho ho ho." i can't wait to see his face when we go to see santa this year.

a prince in training

more halloween fun...

woody & jessie

toy story crept into our lives slowly, about 2.5 years ago.  i remember not liking it at first.  i wasn't so sure that i wanted my sweet little girl watching that terrible "sid" and all the mean things he did to his toys. i guess after many, many viewings, i came around. now, the characters feel like an extended part of our family. for christmas last year we bought brooke a talking "woody" doll. i was so excited for her to open that toy on christmas morning. this past spring when we heard toy story 3 was about to be released, i went out and bought toy story 2. it has been on a continuous play loop in our car ever since. brooke and gavin never tire of it. it's amazing. toy story 3 is the first movie that i took brooke to a movie theater to see. when all the toy story 3 characters hit Target, brooke had to have a "jessie" doll to go with her "woody" doll, and ever since then there's been a lot of talk about cowgirls. i think brooke might have said she wanted to be a cowgirl for halloween, and that's when we had the idea that brooke and gavin should go as "jessie" and "woody." that was many months ago, and i can't believe brooke didn't insist on being something else by the time halloween rolled around. i think there was some talk of princesses and mermaids, but i reminded her that she and gavin were going to be the best cowgirl and cowboy around :) and they were...

in early september i started searching online for costumes. all the costume shops were selling cheap one-piece jumpsuits w/ fake boot covers for the shoes, etc. i just couldn't do that. jessie and woody deserve better :) so, i started piecing the costumes together. real cowboy boots, well-made hats and adorable little belts with big cowboy buckles all came from an online country-western store. when they arrived, i knew we were on to something. i found a woody accessory kit online that included the vest, sheriff pin and red bandana. the rest was a bit harder... i bought button-down white shirts for both of them and a yard of cow print fabric. i dyed woody's shirt yellow along with an old t-shirt of mine to use on jessie's shirt. i used a red fabric paint pen and a yardstick to draw the pattern on woody's shirt. then i cut yellow t-shirt fabric out and glued it to jessie's shirt at the top and the cuffs. i used red puffy paint to create the design on jessie's shirt and red yarn for the trim. then i cut and glued the cow print fabric to an old pair of brooke's jeans. kevin helped out by taping red yarn to a band that we fit inside of jessie's cowgirl hat, then i braided it and added a yellow bow. having the woody and jessie dolls here really helped us duplicate their look! the costumes turned out even better than i had hoped.

i think i fell in love once i put the costumes on brooke and gavin.  i couldn't believe how perfect they were. brooke's eyes lit up when she saw her costume. she went right to the hat with the red braid. it was by far her favorite part of the costume. gavin cried for the first 15 minutes of having his boots on, and i thought i was going to have to resort to gym shoes. but he came around and wore them like a champ (despite the fact that they were too big). i couldn't get over how great gavin did in his costume. he never tried to take the hat off or the bandana off. he went right along with it. brooke raced door to door yelling "trick-or-treat" at the top of her lungs with her hat falling off her head and the red braid bouncing along. gavin trailed behind, trying to do his best to keep up. he carried his little pumpkin and put each piece of candy in it. he was excited to get suckers and had to eat one right away. brooke was excited by all the candy but particularly liked the skittles this year. gavin loved the halloween decorations and was not afraid of the spooky music pouring out of houses; however, there was one scary costume that sent him into hysterics until the nice boy took off his spooky mask to show gavin that he was really just a normal boy underneath :) gavin really loved seeing pictures of ghosts and wanted to give them all a kiss :) brooke and gavin both enjoyed handing out candy at our house and seeing all the other kids in their costumes. we all sat outside huddled together for about an hour and a half before we called it a night.

it was without a doubt the best halloween we will ever have. it will be the one we talk about for many years to come.

one and a half

gavin,

you are looking and acting more grown up each and every day. your daddy recently coined the term "get out of my way, i'm growing up" to describe you at this stage. it's perfect. you're expressing your independence in so many ways. you love to get your own water now. the routine goes something like this - select cup, pick up stool and move it to refrigerator, stand up on stool, place cup under spout, push lever, out comes water, hand cup to mommy, get down from stool, hold cup with 2 hands, grin from ear to ear after every drink :) you are constantly moving your stool all around the kitchen to reach things, watch mommy and be in the middle of the action. you want to sit in a "big chair" more than your high chair now. you love using big utensils and are actually very good at it. you insist on doing and having everything your sister does whether it's coloring or having a snack. i love how you look up to her.  brooke loves it, too!  you're saying more words and speaking them more clearly. you shorten "mommay" and "datty" to "mom" and "dad" when you need something or want us to look at something. you say it loudly and with such a sense of urgency, which you must have learned from your sister. it's very cute.  you understand everything we say and are very good at making connections.  you can point correctly to all of the objects in your "first words" book, and you know a lot of animal sounds. you love routines, and you expect certain things - like watching "TT" (Thomas the Train) during breakfast. you prefer to sit on your floor and read bedtime stories now vs. rocking in the chair with mommy. we just got your hair cut for the third time. you keep touching your hair and waiting for me to say, "gavin, did you get your hair cut? you look sooo handsome!" you agree with me every time :)

three words/phrases you utter most often include "help me," "that," and "mine." you are going through a phase where you are very territorial around other children. at Little Gym you will yell "mine" as soon as another kid approaches. i'm working hard to teach you to share, and you cooperate most of the time. you are generally a good listener, and you usually obey your mommy (at least for now!). you are also going through a phase where you love tormenting your sister! for the past several months, brooke has been hitting you, pinching you, kicking you, etc. when she thinks no one is looking. well, you're finally starting to fight back. you push her away when she invades your space, and you chase her around with brooms, plastic golf clubs, etc. the unfortunate thing is that you hit her with them. naturally, she screams which makes the whole thing even more fun for you. i'm also working hard to teach you that we don't hit others and to keep golf clubs and brooms on the ground!

before i had kids, i used to think that parents raised girls to like girly things and raised boys to like boyish things.  i've learned from you and brooke that so much of this is innate. with very little influence from us, you naturally have a love for all things "boy." you love rocks, garbage trucks, diggers, balls, trains, tools, etc. when you see and hear a motorcycle pass by, you appropriately respond with "whoa!" you love to climb and jump and race down big slides. you recently went to a 4 year-old's birthday party with giant inflatables, and you kept up with every one of the big kids. you climbed the highest slide all by yourself and did not hesitate for a second, not even at the top when you had to slide down a very big slide. you are a daredevil, but you are also strong and coordinated so you don't usually get hurt (thankfully!).

you have a wonderful spirit. your smile lights up our world. you are outgoing and easy-going. you adapt to pretty much any situation, and you make yourself at home wherever we are. even though we don't see our family often, you know them, and you love them. we had a wonderful visit with family in Cincinnati in September. you slept in stella's nursery and played with all of her toys. you were so sweet with her - talking in a little baby voice and calling her "baby." you were also very rough at times and grabbed everything out of stella's little hands. it was fun to see you with pierce because the two of you are so close in age. you loved playing and painting pumpkins with jackson and joey, and you even got to meet your new cousin, chase.

you are my sweet boy. i love you so much.

love,

mommy

cupcakes

who doesn't love indulging in a good cupcake every now and then? even better when it's an ordinary wednesday afternoon, and you feel like treating your kids to a cupcake "just because." the fact that i have the freedom to do this in the middle of the day on a wednesday is even better than a good cupcake! way better.... yesterday i took the kids to cupcake royale. it's seattle's original cupcake bakery, and it was our first time there. i loved everything about the place, and i couldn't help but admire their awesome branding.  it's pretty impressive. we had a coupon for "buy 3, get 3 free" so we chose an assortment of cupcakes. brooke chose vanilla with pink icing. i chose carrot cake with cream cheese icing for gavin. he ate almost the entire thing :) brooke usually eats the icing and nothing else, but this time she ate the cake off the bottom and left the top and the icing. the cupcakes are that good! unfortunately, i had come down with brooke's stomach bug and wasn't even well enough to enjoy a cupcake with the kids. not to worry though, the instant the nausea wore off i dug into the cupcakes we had brought home :) the chocolate cupcake with salted caramel icing was out of this world. 

a truly happy birthday

out in the woods on a cozy little farm, the chickens roamed free. people gathered. champagne was poured. chefs were busy preparing our meal. winemakers mingled. the anticipation was building... for what turned out to be one of the most unforgettable nights of my life.

we were seated at a long row of picnic tables in the greenhouse. just as the first course was served we could hear the pitter-patter of rain. the room buzzed with conversation, ours included. we were seated in between 2 families - to my right was a mother, father and their grown son - to my left was a grandmother, her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. by the end of our 4 course dinner they felt like old friends. they were some of the nicest and most interesting people i have ever met in my life. and we were reminded once again what a small world it is. i heard a woman three down from me mention cincinnati. turns out she lives in cincinnati and works for Luxottica. we'll be on the same flight to cincy on monday. when talk turned to cincinnati, the grandmother beside me told us that her granddaughter lives in cincinnati because her husband is the librarian at Miami University. the woman next to kevin has a best friend that lives in cincinnati and is a nurse at Children's Hospital. yes, it is definitely a small world.

the food was divine. the wine was plentiful. the conversation was rich. it was a perfect birthday dinner. i had this great feeling through the entire evening that i was exactly where i was supposed to be. and if that's all my day had been, i would have been a very happy 35 year-old woman.

but there was more...

my day started with brooke coming into our bedroom and exclaiming, "happy birthday, mommy!" she must have awaken thinking about it because it was the first thing out of her mouth at 6:30am. so sweet. kevin went out for doughnuts, then he and the kids put candles in them and sang happy birthday. brooke and gavin both helped me blow out the candles. i finished the morning by getting my brand new iphone 4 up and running :) i even used the new "face time" feature to call my sister. so cool! then i was off to the local nail salon for a little "me" time :) the sky was blue, and the sun was shining. i arrived home to homemade birthday cards, a happy husband and happy children.

... and that is all i could possibly wish for.

cookies

last friday was a good day. the kids and i were out of the house by 8:30am. we went shopping at Target and Old Navy. we had breakfast at one of our favorite cafes. we went to the park. i prepared dinner. gavin napped. brooke and i played. when i looked at my watch, i had a hard time believing it was only 3:00pm. we had done so much, yet there was still so much of the day ahead of us. so, i decided to bake. brooke took off for hanna's to make cookies so i thought i'd let gavin have his first experience helping mommy make cookies. he was very interested in the whole process, standing right next to me on his little step stool that he carries all around the kitchen to make sure he's a part of the action. he loved watching the mixer, especially as i added new ingredients. he got out his own spoon and asked for a bowl. i gave him some chocolate chips to put in the bowl, and he stirred them up. he loves to pretend to cook. he examined the chocolate chips and then plopped one in his mouth. yum. he was happy. when it came time, i put the big bowl of batter on the floor and let him dump in the bag of chocolate chips and help me stir them in. you can tell from the picture that he was thrilled. it was a fun way to pass the afternoon for both of us. we made orange chocolate-chip cookies for the first time, and they were sooo good.

chelan

we spent labor day weekend at lake chelan in eastern washington. chelan is well-known around these parts, and several people we know have 2nd houses there. the climate is so different from western washington - they're known for getting 300 days of sunshine a year!! makes sense why people living in seattle would want that :) it's a great vacation spot because it has most everything you could want - sun, water, sand, mountains, golf, good wineries and good food. we love to travel over labor day weekend because it's a great way to celebrate our anniversary (6 wonderful years!!), and this anniversary was extra special because we celebrated with our children. one of the cutest things about our trip was the fact that brooke called it "SHY-LAN" :) a couple of "firsts" also occurred on this trip - brooke went kayaking for the first time with her daddy, and brooke and gavin played putt-putt with us (well, sort of...). the kids loved it. we loved it. there's just something so special about family vacations. i love being in such close quarters for a handful of days - everyone in one hotel room. it's lights out when the kids go to bed, so kevin and i get plenty of sleep (a key ingredient in any vacation of mine :) i love eating out. i love discovering new things. we saw tons and tons of orchards on our trip. i don't think i've ever seen an orchard before. there's so much fruit that is grown in eastern washington. everywhere we looked we saw green and red apples on trees and fruit stands on the side of the road. we saw sea planes and sailboats. we built sand castles and splashed in the water. we played games and swung the kids in the air. we smiled and laughed and loved.

photo book

Click here to view this photo book larger

about once a year shutterfly gives away free photo books, and i stay up late the night before the promotion ends to get my photo book done :) this year it wasn't so hard since i had all of these great photos of brooke from her dance recital.  thought i'd share the book for everyone to see even though you've already seen the pictures.

gram

i still celebrate you on your special day, in my own quiet way. usually with a glass of wine because you sure did love your chablis. one glass and you were so tipsy. that's one of the things i remember about your later years, when i was old enough to have a glass with you. but it's the memories from my childhood that keep you alive in my heart throughout the year. i bake peach crisp in the summer and with every bite it's like you're right there with me. i keep a jar of maraschino cherries in my refrigerator. i love driving through the mountains. i look for seashells on the beach. i know to keep some lumps in the pancake mix. i love a good card game. i play christmas carols and love christmas eve more than christmas. i scream and yell at the tv during michigan football games. i love peonies. i wear the initial of my married name around my neck. i take my children to the library. i believe in myself.

thank you for being such a major influence in my life. you were everything a grandma should be and more. you live on in me.

happy birthday, gram.

preschool

brooke's 1st day of preschool was last tuesday. it was raining. kevin was out of town, and the kids and i slept in until 8:00 am so the morning began with a rush. brooke likes to take her time eating her breakfast and watching the morning shows on PBS so getting her out of the house on time was just not going to happen. gavin was supposed to have his first class at The Little Gym at 9:15, but i quickly realized i should just forget it and relieve a lot of stress. so, we did. i got everyone fed and dressed and even got to take some pictures before heading out. we picked up flowers for brooke's teachers and placed them in the homemade vase that i was up way too late making the night before :) brooke was very excited to be in her new classroom. she had a great first day and came home skipping while yelling "brooke had a lot of fun today!" when any other adult asks brooke about preschool she likes to tell them "i'm in preschool, then next year i'll be in pre-K and after that Kindergarten!!!" the girl knows where she's going. i just wish she'd slow down....

having a moment

brooke starts preschool tomorrow. she's been "in school" since she was 18 months old, so tomorrow should not be a big deal. but it is. brooke moving from the "young preschool" room to the "preschool" room feels like we're turning a corner. brooke's transitioning from "little girl" to "big girl," and i know there's no turning back. it puts a lump in my throat. yesterday we took the kids shopping, and we bought brooke a new outfit for school. we bought a 4T dress. why does 4T seem so much bigger than 3T? is it because it's only 1 year away from 5T? today i took her to get a haircut. as i stood there telling the woman how i wanted her hair cut, i had a moment. a moment where i knew that in the very near future, i will no longer be able to tell someone how to cut brooke's hair. brooke will want to be in charge of her own hair just like she already wants to be in charge of her own clothes. so i savored the moment... of being in charge, of taking care of my little, big girl.

16 months

the stats: 25 lbs. 2 oz. (50-75th percentile), 34 1/4" tall (greater than 90th percentile)

words a stranger would understand: mommy, daddy, rock, walk, ducky, bee, uh-oh, owweee (as in "something hurts"), woody, baby, tickle tickle, milk, book, more, me

words mommy, daddy & brooke understand: airplane, water, thank you, hat, brooke, bunny, choo choo

favorite foods: blueberries, hummus, yogurt, honey bunches of oats cereal, beans, peaches, strawberries, grapes, bunny crackers, pasta, fig newtons, corn, broccoli, peas, smoothies, ketchup

things gavin loves: trucks (especially the garbage truck and UPS truck), diggers, rocks, water, walks, computer games, music, books, Elmo, Thomas the Train, blocks, bath time, playing "this little piggy" with his toes, the garage, wagon rides, bike rides, climbing on everything, the park, Curious George, Toy Story 2, blowing bubbles

firsts: sign language, apple juice, ice cream, doughnuts, time-outs, turning lights on and off, reaching the counter top, unlocking the back door, turning the dial and igniting a stovetop burner :(, a ferry ride, a haircut, class at Little Gym

what's new: gavin started signing the other day! all of a sudden, he decided to start using the sign for "more" and "please." he also holds his hands in the air to say "where'd it go?" gavin can point to his eyes, ears, nose and mouth and also points out things in his books. this weekend we were driving in the car and kevin said, "who had fun at the pancake breakfast?" and brooke said, "me!" and then we heard gavin say "me!" so cute. he's growing up so fast. he's stronger and more daring than ever, which means he totally has his way at the park. little jungle gyms, big jungle gyms... doesn't matter.  my boy is all over them.  climbing up steps, ropes, bars; hanging and swinging from bars; sliding down slides; running across bridges.  he wants to do everything his big sister can do, and he pretty much does. when he wakes in the morning, he calls for mommy and/or daddy. when i put him to bed at night he grabs my face with both hands and gives me a big kiss :) he also gives me a kiss whenever he knows he's in trouble! speaking of trouble... gavin is testing the limits these days and thinks everything is a game.  his favorite is "let's see if mommy will chase me...."  or "i know i'm not supposed to do this so let's see if i get in trouble...."

angelina ballerina

as a mom, just about everything your children do is cute, at least to you. but, really, there can't be much in this world that is cuter than a little girl doing ballet.  last week brooke went to "angelina ballerina" ballet camp.  she went for 2 hours each day for 5 days and loved every minute of it.  4 weeks ago brooke barely knew who "angelina" was, but boy how that has changed!  when grandma & grandpa were in town, they bought brooke an angelina ballerina doll (pictured above). that was the start of it... followed by the watching of the dvd that came with the doll, which has now become a daily ritual in this house. brooke has memorized every word to every song and dances along with angelina right in front of the computer.  gavin thinks it's so exciting - he insists on being in his high chair, pulled up to the computer so he can take it all in :) brooke has since discovered (thanks to mommy) that angelina has a show on PBS so it is now on the DVR and being replayed at this very moment. there's an angelina movie coming out this fall, so you better believe we'll be at the theater on opening day :)

makeover

whoa! what a change my blog has undergone. google has been prompting me to change my blog to one of their new "designer" templates, but i have resisted until today. i had to play around a lot to find something that wasn't totally boring and still suited me. while i like the design & colors, i'm not sure it's great for a blog. too much going on? too hard to look at? comment if you think so. if i (or you) can't live with it, then i'll just have to redesign again :)

before. during. after.

gavin got his first hair cut yesterday @ 15 1/2 months old.  he doesn't have a lot of hair, but the hair he does have was getting a little scruffy.  i didn't expect this to go well.  it started with tears and a death grip on me.  i pretty much had to force him into the chair.  the fact that it was a tractor, and he could "drive" didn't matter one bit.  the sucker that the man tried bribing him with didn't matter either. and then, what i didn't anticipate... the clippers.  sent my boy over the edge.  the noise, the invasion of his personal space... not happy.  once the clippers were put away, he settled down a bit.  i was able to capture his attention with the Thomas the Train behind him and Nemo on the TV screen in front of him. then when it was all over, he lost it again.  "save me, mommy!  save me."  i hated seeing him so upset, but the end result was definitely worth it.  i can't get enough of his handsome little head.

two personal favorites

love, love, love these.  soon they will be blown up and added to our walls :)  i think the picture of gavin is the best picture i've ever taken.  it inspires me to keep taking pictures.  the picture of brooke so perfectly captures her expression after throwing a water balloon.  it screams summer, and it is so brooke.

these are pics i want to look at over and over again.

soccer girl

brooke is 4 weeks into her first soccer experience, and she is just as excited now as she was that first day.  maybe even more so.  she can't wait to put on her soccer shorts and shin guards.  she listens so well and does the drills to the best of her ability.  she's learned how to do "little kicks" and "big kicks."  she can "stamp" the ball and "pass" the ball to her partner.  i don't know a darn thing about soccer, but i know that i love to see my girl out there on the field being all sporty.

a little walk outdoors

i love where we live.  there is so much beauty that surrounds us.  a couple of months ago the kids and i took a little walk along the ridge that follows the golf course.  we searched for flowers, saw deer and a bunny rabbit, admired the mountains and enjoyed the fresh air.  there's not much more we could ask for.

hair cut

one day this week brooke asked if she could do some stickers. we got out paper and stickers, and i suggested she take the scissors also. as usual, brooke sat quietly at the kitchen table and did her "art" while i was busy doing something in the kitchen. she finished, went outside to play, kevin came home, i was cleaning up the table for dinner and that's when i saw it - strands of brooke's hair. i couldn't believe it. when brooke came inside, we had a little conversation:

me: brooke, how did strands of your hair get on this placemat?

brooke: i cut them with the scissors.

me: why would you do that?

brooke: because that's what the lady and the man do when i get a hair cut.

me: true, but do you know that the lady and the man went to school to learn how to cut hair? did you go to school to learn how to cut hair?

brooke: yes.

me: gee, i must have missed that phase of your life.

brooke: smile.

me: don't ever do this again. you won't like the way it looks if you do.

thankfully, you can't even tell where she cut her hair. a little experimentation, no major disaster :)