I’m officially deciding that for me to complete the 30 Day Photography Challenge, it doesn’t matter that I actually take the photo on that exact day. It’ll just work better for me that way. Plus, I don’t feel as much pressure…who needs pressure with something that is supposed to be fun anyhow, right?  I had grand plans today to photograph the Seattle Space Needle, but we had a mishap (mishap = puke) and I totally forgot about it. So I used an old (old = two days) image.

This post is kind of all over the place, but most of the images are from our trip to T-Town to visit Brian, Darcy & Dexter. The last time we were there it was summertime and we let Mags run in the water park practically nudie. This time we were all wearing our sweaters, but February was playing games with us and let us sit outside on their deck for majority of the afternoon.

I’ve really missed having some family photos taken of us lately and was hoping that I could use Darcy’s eye to capture a few, but Maggie had other plans. She was more interested in the ducks and dogs than posing with a cute smile. I had to let it go, which I find challenging at times.

There are few things in life that I love more than a good plan, so I struggle sometimes when something I’ve got on my mind doesn’t go my way. I sometimes see this come through in Maggie’s personality and I feel sorry for Barry – that he has to live with double planners. (double planners = bossy people)

Darcy did grab my camera and snapped a couple shots…none of which are great, but depict the situation pretty well. I was intent on trying to get Mags to take a photo on a stone bench, Barry was minding Syd and trying to convince me to forget about it, and Maggie was practically jumping into the duck pond. So it goes sometimes.

The rest of the evening was splendid. (splendid = running out of diapers and sipping on wine) The men had to make a heroic trip to the corner store to pick up some diapers after we discovered that Maggie really used the last diaper that we’d brought.  Bad planning on my part, I suppose.  Ironic for the girl that loves a good plan, right?

This whole weekend was an absolute pile of goodness. I love weekends like this and we’ve been pretty low key for a few weeks, so having a jam-packed weekend seemed to feel just right. On Friday Maggie and I met up with Cole and Caroline to see what the newly remodeled aquatics center was like. It did not disappoint. It was AWESOME and we’ll go back again for sure. Maggie has been in the water quite a bit, but this was the first time that I felt like she was really pumped up about it, it was if she’d turned into a fish.

Saturday we met up with Krista and Lance and had brunch at their house, which for some reason I’ve held onto the wrong address and it took us a while to get there. All in all, it was fun to let the kids play and the adults talk. At one point Krista and I were upstairs with the kids while Lance and Barry stayed downstairs talking. Krista and I are so similar in our loudness and the dudes are way more laid back. We were shrieking, laughing and being not quiet while we played with Will & Mags.

The men, on the other hand, had a quiet calm conversation that we couldn’t hear from the top of the stairs. It was a serious conversation and they both took turns talking, never interrupting one other. So unlike Krista and myself. Girls will be girls. Can that be the excuse.

After we left the Hoffman household, we headed over to Brian and Darcy’s for the evening. I may or may not have eaten too many pieces of shrimp and sipped a bit too much wine while at their house. Sometimes that happens when we’re all together…the shrimp and wine combo is killer.  So much fun though.

We didn’t watch the Super Bowl today, instead we went to the beach. (The above photos are from last week and our attempt at a self-timer portrait…photos from this weekend to come). We thought we were clever by going to the beach, but every other little family that didn’t want to watch the Super Bowl was there too. It was still fun.

And now.

We’re about to enjoy a delicious dessert to cap off our weekend. Pictures to come from the photo challenge, etc.

Ta to the Ta!

Before I go any further, I implore you to watch Maggie’s latest jam session on the harmonica. Last night Barry and I were sitting with her in the front room and she stood in the middle of the room just stomping her foot and playing her harmonica while we clapped along. She was rocking out and stomping her foot super hard, I had to try and record it. The video is a very toned down version of what she was doing minutes before, but the transition into the computer room meant she lost a little steam. Still funny though…at least to us.

We’ve been having so much fun here now that the snow is melted and our regular routines are back in full swing. Maggie has developed into somewhat of a boss (not sure where she gets that from…must be Barry) and is very, very specific about how we play games with her. Lately Barry has transformed back into Captain B-Nut and they rush up and down the hallway making all kinds of noise. Mags especially likes to run by the mirror to check herself out. (Side note: how cute is Barry? So cute. Best dad ever.)

Last night Barry and I sat on the kitchen floor while she ran circles around the kitchen and hallway. For the first part of the game we accommodated her bossiness and worked with her to say “excuse me” when bustling by. Once she figured out what ‘excuse me’ actually means, she kept saying it to us and the dogs, except it sounds like ‘new me,’ a perfect compliment to her version of thank-you, which is ‘nee-new.’

Eventually though we got bored with her telling US what to do (make sure our legs were stretched out, eyes closed, backs against the cabinets) so we started to throw her for a few loops by switching positions, singing and even kissing, she isn’t a fan of us kissing, but I suppose most kids don’t like to see their parents kiss, right? At first she was really sweet about us not doing it exactly how she wanted, but towards the end she really wanted to restore order to the game. Of course we appeased her.

I feel extremely  cheerful today…perhaps it is the sun peeking through the clouds or the fact that I have book group tonight and get to see some friends. Maybe I’m feeling good about finishing Maggie’s first year photo book (hallelujah!) and can move on to her next one. Yesterday in a fit of needing a change, we reorganized furniture in our house and Maggie’s room. Things here are in constant flux, but the changes feel SO good and fresh. Bring it on, Spring!!!

In these past weeks I’ve been bustin’ my tail to finish Maggie’s book, I’ve found myself looking at tons of old photos and I’m going to try hard to keep  myself from sharing a billion of them, but some are just too good to pass up. (See above image to get my drift.) Since tomorrow is February, my favorite month, I’m going to do a 30 Day Photography Challenge. Since there aren’t 30 days in February, I’ll have to swing into March, but that seems like a great transition.

Alrighty. Did you watch the video of Mags jammin’?  Hilarious stuff around here, folks.

I love it, but then I hate it too. The snow just isn’t giving up and I’m no longer thinking that we need to move to Montana because I’m pretty certain that there is more snow there than the twiddly amount I can see out my front door. I haven’t driven in almost a week because last year when I drove in the snow/ice I eneded up running into a pickup truck stopped in front of me. I had Maggie in the car and it was pretty scary, even though we were all fine.

That has meant that when I have the urge to strap Maggie into her car seat and skate over to somebody’s house, I decided that the backyard will do just fine and if we’re really crazy a walk around the neighborhood. I hate feeling like such a weather wimp. Then I remember that the news said it might be “impossible” for people to drive and that anywhere I could go is wholly unnecessary. So we’ve stayed home and I’m learning to embrace it.

Chaya came to visit the other day and we’ve dug out most of the Christmas presents that got stashed away for a day just like today. Tomorrow we’ll probably set up the basketball hoop from Greg and Linda, that’ll entertain us for who knows how long. Maggie doesn’t seem to mind being home…heck, she probably has a better deal out of it because she gets some one-on-one time in a major way without the distraction of a trip to the grocery store or other errands.  (That said, Maggie’s story time and music class we started with Caroline & Thomas are things I’d rather she didn’t miss.)

Cora gave Maggie a bunch of stamps for Christmas and we were able to use them and Maggie fell in love with pushing them onto the paper. The girl has a knack for making sure the ink gets pushed onto the paper, check out her face! I had a very hard time containing my laughter and by the time Chaya came over Maggie was practically a stamping expert. If you need anything stamped, Maggie’s your girl.

Besides stamping, Maggie has been assisting Barry in various tasks outside…..like wiping snow off the car I never drive and hitting snow off the bamboo that I hate with a stick. Yesterday we spent far too much time outside making a movie about Barry hitting snow off a tree in our backyard. In a strange way I hope you get to see it, but it probably wouldn’t make your life any better if you do.

So we’re surviving the big snow of 2012. I was informed today by Maggie to be quiet (imagine her curly head and index finger like a librarian shuuuushing me) because her baby was sleeping. I had to laugh because I totally get it, the need to be quiet when you’ve finally got your babe to sleep. Mags is such a good mama to her babies, I keep finding them swaddled around the house and earlier today I found one of her babies “reading” a book that Maggie had propped up.

I love it. I hate it. The snow really is beautiful and we’re fortunate enough to have a warm, warm home and lots to entertain us while we watch the flaky whiteness fall from the sky. I love the taste of fresh snow. I love the sound of snow….or the way it makes me really listen. I’m not going to make a list of what I hate about the snow, but I will say this: I’ll be glad when the roads clear up.

We also went downtown Edmonds and walked around and I used an old pickup truck to balance my camera for some posed photos. I’m always thankful when people are accommodating to my wonky ideas, especially when they turn out!

We wore our jammies to the park the next morning on Christmas Eve and watched Dexter and Sydney play fetch. Afterwards we walked back home and had a breakfast fit for kings and queens. Again, we discovered that Maggie and Brian equally like pancakes and eggs. 

]]> http://www.hbadventure.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/christmas-eve-eve/feed/ 2 http://www.hbadventure.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/merks-t-man-party-hbhq/ http://www.hbadventure.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/merks-t-man-party-hbhq/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:45:56 +0000 hannah http://www.hbadventure.com/blog/?p=7264

My December dream came true the other day when Charlyn and I made plans to have our kids make sugar cookies.  Since it didn’t quite work out the last time I decided to call in the reinforcements and it worked out just fine and dandy. All that rolling, patting and marking that Maggie has done sure paid off.

But then she noticed that Cameron was nibbling on a cookie and the girl just went for it! She was practically taking spoonfuls of frosting by the end of it, but at least she had fun. Aside from the fact that Maggie ended up hitting (OMG!) Connor, it sure was a great visit. Both boys are so kind and gentle with Maggie. I noticed that Cameron stopped calling her Baby Maggie and I’m wondering if he now thinks of her as a BIG GIRL.

They got to run off some of their cookie-making steam by running around outside while we cleaned up and shuffled cookies from the oven to the cooling racks. I yelled a few ‘hold onto her hands’ and ‘go help Maggie’ from the doorway, but I think Cameron secretly liked being in “charge” and Mags liked running with the big kids.  I probably could have toned down my order and cut the apron strings, so to speak, but my BABY insisted on wearing her 3 sizes too big cowgirl boots outside and I didn’t want to see her take a nose dive. Such fun and I feel a tradition starting…

In between the Cookie Making Extravaganza and Thomas’ visit, we squeezed in a few visits from Grandpa Miller &  our friend Christina and even went to visit Sue (a.k.a. Ish) and 3G. Phew.  By the time Thomas, Deneva & Lara arrived at our door, Maggie was in full-on excited mode. Days ago we’d wrapped Thomas’ present and she’d been itching to give it to him.

What she wasn’t expecting was for Thomas to take her down WWF style (Barry says it’s WWE now, what do I know?). I tell you, there was something in the air today because as excited as Maggie was, Thomas was right there with her….until she started doing her ultra high-pitched screaming. T-Man does NOT like that and never has.

The gift exchange went off with a bit of confusion (maybe Mags was confused about the WWF/WWE take down?) about what to do with the gifts. Thomas tried to open a gift for my mom, one that I don’t think he would have enjoyed one ounce and Maggie thought the box WAS the gift.

After the gift opening, which lasted all of five minutes, the two little chickens ran wild around the house and Deneva, bless her, kept checking on them when they’d be in another room. I suppose Lara and I are of the ‘if we can hear them they’re alright’ school.  Devo did discover them having a party with the origami balls and glass vase in the kitchen. And by party I mean throwing them everywhere and hauling the glass vase from one place to another.  This year Thomas/Maggie gift exchange was much more crazy than last year, I can only imagine what it’ll be next year!

With the exception of maybe one or two people, there probably isn’t really anyone interested in seeing how we made Maggie’s Christmas card this year. It was a fun project to do, but I’m thankful that we don’t have to do it on a regular basis. I’d had an idea in my head and what we ended up getting was pretty close to what I’d imagined.

I picked up some extra tall wrapping paper and we taped it to the wall. We originally were going to try and do a whole family shot, but with the amount of space that we were workig with along with my camera that isn’t remote friendly, we decided to stick to a Maggie only photo.

Barry wasn’t opposed to being a test subject, however. Isn’t he cute? And now you know where Maggie gets the cheese-ball smile.

While we were setting up the wrapping paper, Maggie was entertaining herself in the other room trying to ride her bike in boots. The girl loves boots, I can not say that enough. We tried to convince her that she’d have better luck riding the bike without shoes, but she wasn’t into that. We brought her into the photo shoot room and she was ALL about being a test subject with Papa, cue the cheese-ball smile.

After changing her outfit and fluffing her locks, Mag-Pie was ready to work her magic.

But she kept wanting to touch the wrapping paper or the lights, which is totally understandable because it isn’t every day that we’ve got our wall covered in Ho, Ho, Ho paper and insist that she stand directly next to plugged in lights.

But I think she did pretty good.  I only wish that I would have thought to take pictures of Barry behind me and beside me. My Man was a clown and Mags ate it up. Again, cue the cheese-ball smile.

We tried to get her to hold the chalk board, but it was slippery and she was too busy laughing at her Papa to concentrate on holding it.

After a few more cheese-ball smiles, Maggie decided that she was done and proceeded to cross her arms in protest and announced that it was nap time.

The other day I was feeling pretty proud of  myself because I cleaned out our linen closet, the guest room closet and both bathroom drains that had been giving us drainage problems. I even wrapped more presents. Maggie helped throughout it all, enjoying being part of the process. I jokingly told Barry that I’d have to charge him for the plumbing problem and that we (Maggie and I as a team) don’t come cheap. At one point she was chewing on a granola bar loudly in my ear while yelling “YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!”

We fixed the problem(s) and I can safely say that it’ll probably happen again in a few months unless I shave my head and Barry stops shaving his face and that ain’t happening, people! But really, I found myself thinking about this whole stay at home gig and how much I love it. I really love it, but it isn’t full of sipping on tea and reading books together all day. There is a whole other side to it (grocery store trips, horrible naps, spilled everything, laundry, etc.) that makes it challenging to find authentic time between it all sometimes.

For the most part, I think we do a pretty good job of it….the authentic part, I mean. Sometimes other things fall to the wayside. Like last week we went to visit my grandparents and abandoned our house that was practically in shambles. We brought lunch of left over chili and cookie dough to bake. I had visions of Maggie pressing the cookie cutter into sugar cookie dough on my grandma’s kitchen table. That SO did not happen. The dough that I’d made turned out not to be great so I scratched that idea and made snicker doodles instead. Sugar cookies can wait until next year, we’ll stick to play dough for now.

But the magic of the trip over to my grandparents was everything else that was going on. Cora and Izak were there helping to set up Christmas. My grandparents love Christmas and their house transforms each year with each nook and cranny full of little vignettes. Maggie was in heaven listening to the annoying songs of my grandpa’s prized toys and petting the beards of the santas on the little bench. Seeing Izak put some more lights around the pond only reinforced everything that she thinks she knows about Uncle Izak and Christmas lights.  She also got to help Cora string lights (and listen to my grandparents each state their case for blinking or non-blinking lights) around the tree.

After spending a few hours we returned to our home (still in shambles, but who cares sometimes, right?) with a gifted snow globe and a Sugar-doodle cookie for Papa. That evening after we changed into our jammies, and picked up the shambles from previous activities, we took the snow globe out of the box to see if it was as beautiful as it was back at 3G’s.

It was.

But then we did some puzzles and the state of our shamble-like house returned.

But since I wear the hats of mama, plumber, professional organizer, and chef, why can’t I wear the hat of a wrecking crew too?