The Sprouffskes • Life on the Farm

Sugar Magnolia: 2000-2012

2012-02-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been sad ones on the farm.

Since Maggie was diagnosed with a fast growing tumor in her leg last fall, we knew that our time with her was nearing its end. Maggie, a purebred Akita, was the watchdog of our home, a constant companion to Jonathan when he was in law school and living by himself on the farm. I was never a fan of big dogs (thus, my six pound maltese pomeranian poodle, Viper). But if there was ever a dog to change my heart, Maggie was the one.

She had giant paws. Giant as in enormously huge to the point that the FedEx and UPS guys always thought she was a puppy and hadn't grown into them yet. She would have been a 200 lb dog if she had! When Thomas was just a few weeks old and Maggie was transitioning into a "Mama Bear" dog to protect her new Wee Ski cub, she took on two boxers whom she thought were threatening Thomas.

Akitas have two thick coats. They love the cold and aren't fans of heat. We would often find her sprawled on the tile in the kitchen, where it was chilly and perfect for summer lounging. When it snowed, she was in heaven. She'd run and play and bounce around outside for hours on end. We would find her sleeping in the snow. Sleeping.

We spent an obscene amount of money diagnosing an autoimmune disease in her skin -- finally ending up at a canine dermatologist in north Seattle. The diagnosis gave her comfort in her last years because we finally knew how to treat it.

One of the best lessons I learned from her was a calm perseverance. She detested doctors, the vet, and taking pills. Never once did she snap at me or growl. She paced when she was nervous. And in her last weeks, as the tumor in her leg continued to bend her bone, she never lost composure. Even on my best days, I am not that patient or willing to 'offer it up'. But she always was. And she always loved us. All the time.

Little Eddie Ross (just 7 years old) gave us the best gift when he told me he needed to rearrange our deck last summer. He moved her bed right in front of our bedroom door on the deck. She loved her new spot and we decided to keep her bed right there. We could see her easily at night (especially helpful when the coyotes were close) but great peace of mind when I was by myself with the boys. We were able to celebrate Christmas one last time with her (check out her size next to John Paul!). We were snowed in together for a week and she kept watch over us when the whole farm was dark.

On Monday, she pushed away her bowl of food. I found her dog bones untouched next to her bed. And in my heart, I knew it was time. I called the vet to see if there was anything else we could do for her. At 11 years old, having lived with an autoimmune disease and surviving cancer, she was a medical miracle for a giant breed.

Yesterday, Thomas and I sat on the deck with Maggie. He was frustrated that she didn't want the bones he was offering.

"Hey, buddy. Papa and I talked to Jesus."
"You did?"
"Yup. He said that Maggie did a really good job watching over us here. He said we should be very proud of her. He asked if it would be okay if she came and watched over him in heaven, as His dog. He needs a good dog up there."
"Really?"
"What do you think? Do you think Jesus would like having Maggie as a dog?"
"She's a good dog. [patting her on the nose] You're a good dog, Mag-dy.."
"We should share her with Jesus and not be selfish, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, Mommy. Jesus would like her. It's ok, Mag-dy, your owie will feel better too."

A little while later, I was in the kitchen, cleaning up breakfast. I heard Thomas start yelling.

"Mommy! It's SNOWING!"

I thought he was kidding as I glanced over to the thermometer. 39 degrees outside. And I kid you not, snow was falling. Heavy snow was falling.

I started sobbing, because that was a message from God to this sad Mama Ski. It would be okay. It was the "Maggie version of a Noah's rainbow". I ran outside and shot a few last photos of her as she watched the snow softly falling.

It lasted about fifteen minutes before it slowed, but gave Maggie one last chance to walk through it.

And it gave me peace on a day that was filled with sadness.

Saying goodbye at the vet was unbelievably difficult for me. Jonathan, my steadfast rock, took her for one last walk outside. And on our fifth Valentine's day together, we said goodbye to our sweet Sugar Magnolia.

Dogs are an incredible gift from God...loving and kind, trusting and strong. And often times, the epitome of how we should love. Pure, unconditional love.

My favorite images of her are from the very first day I shot her on the farm, back in March 2007. Nearly five years ago.

I pray that she's found Viper and they are running together again.

We love you, Mags. You were a sweet, sweet gift to us.

From the boys...

2012-02-14T06:16:00.001-08:00

Quick Takes: The Restoring Order Edition

2012-02-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Seven snippets of life right now, in no particular order.

Seriously loving finding our routines again.
In the midst of the power outages, yes -- plural, being away last weekend for the incredibly successful Mega Event Experience, we are getting back into the normal flow with naps, adventures and normal, ordinary life.
We've had beautiful weather the past few days.
It's so difficult to realize that two weeks ago, it was treacherous out here. Dangerous, cold, icy, and tree damage everywhere you turned. The past few days have had bright, beautiful sunshine with crispy cold evenings. We headed to the park today to burn some of Thomas's energy, and it was 28° outside. So yes, he was in snow pants, but he was happy. If we've learned anything in the past few weeks, it's that HE DOES NOT LIKE HAVING COLD LEGS AND FEET.
Thomas is very into "powers" right now.
Each morning, he tries different things to see if they work. Clearly, we've not had any homeschooling lessons on the whole principle of electricity. On Friday night, the power went out AGAIN just as I was getting ready to bake our dinner into the oven. I wrapped up the fish and slid it into the freezer, and left the potatoes on the stove. The house alarm automatically triggers when the power goes out, so Thomas called Jonathan to tell him, "Papa! Powers off! Powers off! Help!" while I disarmed the alarm. I started to cry and brought John Paul back to the bedroom to feed him. Thomas crawled up on the bed with me and handed me the remote, "It's okay, Mommy. Let's watch Brother Francis." And then he realized the tv didn't work again. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MOMMY? WHERE'S THE POWERS?"
Still dealing with fears of the night.

The power outages definitely didn't help with this. His current roster of things he's scared of: cia-tees (coyotes), monstas, dragons and dinosaurs. We find ourselves with a Wee Ski in our bed each night. "I scared, Mommy. Cuddle." Thomas does love the surprises that came from Auntie Liz last week -- a Wee Ski-sized headlamp and a stash of glow sticks for nighttime. Such a sweet, sweet surprise! But tonight, I loved what I found on the webcam when I logged in. Lights blazing in their room, Thomas had crawled into the crib w/John Paul and they were both sound asleep with big brother's arm around little brother. Hopefully, this will be the first night he stays in his room the whole time.
Fun, fun Relay stuff going on right now.
Planning for the Blarney Blast, speaking at the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum kickoff tomorrow night, and finishing up the details and follow up from a fantastic training weekend w/the top events in our division. It's an incredible honor chairing the workgroup for the Mega Events -- the best of our Division. We had rave reviews from the Mega Event Experience that we held in Seattle last weekend...so glad for major successes following the frustrations that surrounded our power problems!! One of my favorite moments was seeing Reuel Johnson (the national VP for Relay For Life) dancing on the purple screen to Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback" -- things I never thought I would see. I had a blast with Anna and Carrie and Linda and the rest of the usual suspects.
Love being back in the kitchen.
Jonathan flew to California last week, and while he was gone, I made every lemon dish I could think of. How I married a man who doesn't like lemon, I'll never know. We had lemon-glazed carrots, lemon broccoli, citrus mahi mahi, eggs benedict, greek lemon-chicken soup, and lemon ice cream. All whipped up in the kitchen, a few with the help of my Wee Sous Chef. Yesterday, we had a very quiet day at home (at Jonathan's request) and watched the Superbowl with french bread mini pizzas, tequila lime chicken nachos, and popcorn. Low key and perfect.
I love Thomas's quotables. I need to start writing them down.
Until then, soak in the joy on his face on the plane at the park today. It's been a long day, and tonight I've been on my own since it's poker night for Jonathan...so I'm ready to crash. So looking forward to wee-early-morning-rising again!!

SNOW BLISS: Also titled: Before the ice storm

2012-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

I tried to upload these before the power went out...ahh, if I'd only known!

You could also call this post "When Snow Was Fun Before It Turned Our SkiWorld Upside Down". Photos post-ice-storm to come later.

I took this photo just after jumping up and down with excitement. I may have teared up with joy. We hadn't had real snow in more than a year. It was so early that the only light was from my million-watt mini UV bulbs on the front porch. SNOW!!

What an idiot I was.

After the sun came up...

John Paul slept through this adventure outside. He was cozy and warm. So was Jonathan. Thomas and I headed out to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape. If only Clark Griswold was here with us to enjoy it.

Thomas is STANDING UP in the snow:

Right in front of our front porch, under the eave.

The major task was to check on the chickens. We could hardly see them from the house.

So I pulled out the sled (by using the garage door opener! Wow! It opened when I pressed the button!) and Thomas jumped on. We trekked out to the chickens.

And this was what we found after clearing some snow. The Eglu seriously became a sweet little igloo for them...the water in their dish and the ground on the run was not frozen.

The baby douglas firs. That fenceline is at the front of the property, right by the mailbox. I now know the meaning of the word "snow-capped".

Zeus the generator, the composter and the propane tank. Yes, as Dan Ireland stated, that generator could power half of Africa. But only when it's already wired into the house. Which it wasn't. And for which I am incredibly grateful that Jonathan didn't remind me incessantly about it, since it was my fault. He could have launched into "I told you so" a million times, but didn't. And that's why I am a lucky wife.

But, really, when you have good weather, wiring in the generator isn't as high on the priority list, you know? Lesson learned. The electrician has already ordered the transfer switch for the house. Getting installed shortly.

Off the deck. This ended up freezing into an ice crust so when Thomas threw bones out to Maggie, they skidded across the yard. Mommy had to go get those for our poor sweet dog.

Snow-capped. Snow-capped. Now I know.

And one last one of my sweet Wee Ski, throwing snowballs at me.

This concludes the "I love snow" portion of the blog. More pics to come next week.

Survival skills of a tired mommy

2012-01-25T10:27:00.001-08:00

We're sitting in the Starbucks parking lot in our car, borrowing their wi-fi.

I'm getting pelted by leather shoes, toddler size 8 from a Wee Ski who doesn't want to sit in the car. But this mama needs a break.

We had power for a sweet, sweet eight hours.

Eight, count it, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Eight blissful hours after being our for 144 hours on the farm.

In those eight hours, I deep cleaned and bleached two fridges, freezers, cleaned the bathrooms, ran four loads of wash, a load of week old cloth diapers, two loads of dishes, bleached the kitchen sink, tossed the food we lost from the fridges, made a tasty delicious dinner with roasted everything, celebrated our snow-packed-and-still-frozen-a-week-later meats and seafood, moved them to our sparkling clean and cold-again freezers, gave both boys baths, took showers, and climbed into bed to rest.

And then the lights turned off.

Again.

I am so grateful for how hard PSE has worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes. I just wish that my intense wish for snow hadn't turned into a freak snowstorm turned ice storm turned windstorm over the course of a week.

Thomas reached for the remote this morning and when he realized it didn't work, he said, "mommy? Where's the powers? It's broken again! Are you kidding me?"

So we packed up our toothbrushes and headed early to St. Columban for Mass. They have running water, heat and a brief respite from the stress having a toddler and infant in a cold, dark, waterless house.

I prayed for grace, patience, and crazy fast response times from the crews, just one more time.

And then I looked at both my boys and thanked God that we were all in one piece, safe, and healthy, and with fresh baths from the night before.

It will be okay.

Especially after we get Zeus, our generator, wired into the house. :)

McGyvering it up in Rainier

2012-01-22T11:50:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry we have been off the e-grid...it's because we have actually BEEN off the grid.

From an email I sent on Friday...
We lost power on Wednesday and it hasn't come back. After our snowstorm, we had extensive ice and just between the end of our road and our house, the power lines are cut 4 times. More than a quarter million homes in our area are out. Thankfully, we have a wood stove: providing heat, a way to cook and melt snow for water. That's our only source for water right now.

Jonathan had the 'come to jesus' reality talk with me. Our power is most likely not going to be on until mid-next week, if we are very, very lucky. There is incredible ice damage everywhere here, every major road out of Rainier is blocked due to trees fallen and power lines down.

They days are long right now -- I hauled firewood and shoveled snow for several hours today. Am so grateful that we have heat, there are thousands who don't. Thomas helped with firewood today, and he was so tired he fell asleep at the dinner table, fell off his chair and split his chin. He had some ice cream (see below) to feel better. :)

On the upside? Our sweet neighbors let us all shower today, we got to the town store and picked up diapers ( damn cloth diapers without a washing machine!), and there was literally free ice cream for the taking with the store freezers down. We stashed our free find in the ice on my car, far from the dog's reach. And if we hit 120 hours without power, we can apply for a $50 credit from PSE, so we've got that going for us. :)

And yesterday...
The fan belt in the 4runner shredded yesterday. Thankfully, just a mile from home and AFTER the major snow had cleared. AAA was only doing short run tows right now, so we had it towed home and will hopefully get it into the shop on Monday. We did get to go burn some energy at Capital Mall and have a hot dinner in town.

Today...
After Mass was cancelled at 8 am, we headed south to Centralia for a hot breakfast and to browse at the outlets. We are fueling up, charging our electronic devices and getting some supplies before heading back. And "stocking up" may have included a stash of yummy smelling goodies from Bath and Body Works to cover our "power's out scent".

All in all, at times it's been tiring balancing an infant, a crazy energetic toddler and our 100 lb dog who doesn't like the crazy weather changes. We have been blessed to have enough snow to make gallons and gallons of water for us and Maggie to drink, and hot meals on the wood stove. We have heat from the stove and have played lots of games by candlelight. It's been good for our family to be disconnected, even if stressful at times when reminded of our pending projects and work.

So grateful for those working to restore our power and those around us. Hope you're warm as well!

For the love of all things white and frozen

2012-01-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

The blog post title is a tip o' the hat to Stella, who refuses to ever Facebook or blog about anything weather related. It's my own personal joy to do so, since I know it drives her nuts. Here we go...

THE SNOW FINALLY ARRIVED!

We have all been under the weather this past week, finally starting to get back on our feet over the weekend. We kept the boys in except for a few brief moments for both of them...and then headed out today into the snow. Jonathan had some work to do at the office, so we packed up the four-wheel-drive sleigh and headed into Olympia. Inspired by Amelia over at Tales of a Mountain Mama, we began with a brief adventure around Capitol Lake. A mini-trip away from home, but not far from help if we needed it. :)

[By the way -- Amelia has a ton of great ideas and goodies over at her blog on how to get your kids into the outdoors. You should check it out!]

It was a good first adventure. The boys were bundled and had snacks and hot cocoa at the ready (thanks, Amelia!). John Paul was amazing and even went to sleep around the lake...Thomas, on the other hand, reminded me that I need to grow in patience. We ended the mission a bit early with a rescue call into Papa, who swooped in with the 4runner sleigh on the other side of the lake after Thomas shut down. And when I say "shut down", I mean "screaming, taking off his clothes in a snowstorm, won't say a word but just wails" kind of shut down. And yes, sweet John Paul slept through all of that.

So we'll need some more layering clothes for Thomas that he can't get off, some hand warmers, and a new plan of attack for our next snowy adventure.

It also made me super grateful for all the places on the farm that we can hike to and still be close to home! :) We'll master this yet!

The boys at the beginning. You could hardly see the Capitol. I'm a little nervous about the March For Life tomorrow and how well the boys will do... :) I may just put John Paul in the single Bob and carry Thomas in the sling! :)

Thanks, Occupy Olympia, for trashing Heritage Park. We're the 99% who like to use it, and it's fenced off until it's decontaminated, cleaned up, and restored because you guys were selfish. Way to practice what you preach.

/off my soapbox.

On the drive, love seeing the baby douglas firs on the farm...the wind is taking down all the snow on the south side of the trees. A nice little Jekyll & Hyde effect.

Home sweet home. We have virtually lived off the wood stove since the chimney was swept last week. A big pot of water steaming off on top of the wood stove, filled with mulling spices from Penzeys. I'm going to finish up a few design projects and head into the kitchen to make some tasty delicious bread, soup, and enjoy having Jonathan home on a rare weekday.

Snow, I love you, even if Stella hates you.

Twelve on Twelve.

2012-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Twelve snippets of my life right now. Because I think that's about all I can handle.

December was crazy busy, joyful, at times heartbreaking, and full. We celebrated my dad's birthday with a fabulous surprise party, had a very successful retail season on the farm (weekends were nuts!), learned how to adjust to life with two Wee Skis during the holidays, and spent a ton of time together as a family. Jonathan even took a rare, full day off (the day after Christmas) which we loved having together.
My Uncle Tom (married to my mom's only sister, Darcy) passed away suddenly a few days before Christmas. Mom, John Paul and I were able to find airline tickets to get us back to Iowa for the visitation, funeral and home early Christmas Eve. A whirlwind trip in 55 hours with four flights, and more than 400 miles on the road. My cousins and aunt have been on my heart nonstop, and am so grateful that they have years of great memories to fall back on as they adjust to a new normal. I had the privilege of being able to lector at his funeral Mass, which meant the world to me.
I am so glad that I kept January's calendar relatively quiet, because it holds the 'overflowing' part of 2011 in it. Thomas has been fighting a fever the past few days, and his nightmares at night have returned. Thanks to the great power of Facebook, my friends gave me a ton of ideas on how to overcome them...so we started by blessing his room with holy water (I read the blessing, he sprinkled everything in sight), gave him a special Cars blanket that protects him from monsters at night ("Lightning gets them") and a small flashlight to look for monsters, and talked a lot about how Jesus, the Holy Spirit and his guardian angel are always with him. I know it's awful to say, but it's a sweet change from his 100 MPH insanity when he doesn't feel well. "Mommy, will you cuddle? I scared of cia-tees (coyotes) and monstas (monsters) are in my rooomer (room)." His fever dropped today under 100.
There hasn't been a spare moment anywhere. Thomas has not wanted to sleep (see monsters above), so most days he's refused an afternoon nap. The morning he was most sick, I turned around in my office at 5:10 am to find him standing there, wide awake. "Papa and John Paul sleeeeeping. You want hot chocolate coffee?" Most of my normal 'work times' have been set aside to comfort him. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world...so I'm working on dissolving my "mommy guilt" as I work late at night. It actually hit me that I am not so much a 'stay at home mom' as a 'work at home mom' -- which both shocked me and made brilliant sense at the same time.
The Mommy Police. I struggled a bit with this last month. I had a rare anonymous comment from someone in Everett who chastised me for "lying to my kids about Santa and his minion, the Elf on the Shelf". At first, I thought it was a joke, and then I realized that this person truly thought that I was selling out Jesus for the commercial side of Christmas. And then I was equal parts amused and annoyed. [Sidenote -- when offering "advice", have the courage to sign your name. If you don't, you seem like a snarky holier-than-thou person who doesn't truly have the courage behind their conviction. Which I'm sure you're not, because I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.] I do appreciate that Anonymous was concerned for the boys and their eternal salvation, but seriously, these boys go to Daily Mass with me, love Jesus (as best you can as an infant and toddler) and LIVE ON A CHRISTMAS TREE FARM. If I had it my way, I'd celebrate Christmas year round. I relish the fact that I can say "Merry Christmas" to each one of our Sprouffske Trees customers and feel warm and fuzzy knowing that something we grew is helping thousands of families celebrate Christ's birth. Santa originated from St. Nick (a little fist pump for our Catholic saints), so yes, my anonymous friend, we do talk about Santa.
/off my soapbox
Where's the freaking snow? We have been waiting and waiting and waiting, and it's not here yet. We found a sweet snowsuit, hat and mitten for Wee Ski 2.0 at Animal Crackers, brand new from LL Bean -- for $9! So of course, Thomas found it and put it on for one of our walks. Welcome to my life. Good thing John Paul is still fitting into his blue bunting ($8 at the Creme Brulee consignment sale!) and it keeps him cozy. Perhaps I'm addicted to blue snow clothes with the boys' blue eyes. I don't know. All I know is that I CANNOT WAIT TO SHOOT MY KIDS IN THE SNOW TOGETHER. Finally, the temperatures are dropping and it may come in a few days! Right now, I'm settling for calling the frost on the farm "snow".
Just in time. I had the chimney swept, the heating vent under the house cleaned and our dryer vent scrubbed and cleaned yesterday. Things are in tip top shape now and I'm ready to blaze some fires in our wood stove. And just like that, the temperatures dropped down last night into the 20s. Just in time.
December Daily. I have enough to finish my album, I just need to find the time to do it. I have hardly taken a single photo since the clock rolled into 2012, but that's okay. I LOVE capturing the days of December and I shot tons of things throughout the month. Pages to come!!
Finian Road. Wound down in the final days of December with a newborn shoot (that I'll actually blog!). Lots of design projects are in the works: sweet spiritual adoption posters for St. Charles, projects for Relay (for our team and the upcoming Mega Event Experience at the end of the month in Seattle), Lenten goodies for our parish, and the normal workload that happens at the beginning of the year. It's a love/hate relationship with being busy -- especially with the boys at home. But each day, I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with them AND use my creativity to my heart's desire!
My iPad. An awesome gift from Jonathan for Christmas. Hilarious that Thomas is a whiz at running it, and can pull up PBS Kids and change my music from the spa station on Pandora to his Cars soundtrack on iTunes while I'm in the shower (ugh to that second one). I'm slowly becoming a Mac convert (said while writing on my Dell). My favorite apps? AllRecipes, Pandora, and IMDB. Totally predictable.
John Paul is a growing tiny human. He's eating all kinds of steamed veggies and fruits, making incredible messes, and is crawling like a madman. He's not yet pulling himself up, which is totally fine by me. He's learning how to get on Thomas's nerves, which Jonathan and I find hilarious. The other day as Mass was starting, Thomas burped. After a sharp mommy glare, I hear "scuse me, Mommy." Then John Paul burped (stay classy, Wee Skis!) and Thomas glared at him. "Mommy, he burped. Needs to scuse. Scuse you, John Paul. SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! He's not quiet, Mommy." Oh, child, the irony.
And a few shots from the end of December. Love these. Thomas pushing John Paul in the stroller. I had to hang back a bit when Maggie had to take a break from walking on her bum leg. Thomas picked up the stroller and pushed him all the way home.

And my absolute favorite, as I cherish not having to deal with year-ending tax sales in the market before 1 pm on 12/31 anymore.

I was making dinner and looked out to find Thomas sound asleep in front of the TV, watching the market reports from the day. Ahhh, how times change.

On four years

2011-12-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

Four years ago today, I married my very best friend.

I thank God every day that he gave me the gift of my husband. I am especially grateful to my father-in-law and mother-in-law who raised him. We visited the cemetery a few days ago with a handmade Sprouffske Trees wreath to lay at the gravestone. I thanked them for being great parents to him, which has given him the chance to be a fabulous dad himself. We both teared up a little when Thomas added "BearBearMomSki" to his prayers last night before he was tucked into bed.

I love that Jonathan picked out the perfect Christmas gifts (a sweet tricked-out iPad + new video cam for the boys' room). And we spent the night before our anniversary laughing at the boys on the iPad screen as we watched Thomas and his pre-bed antics.

Do you see his new hiding place in his room? This is how he normally gets out of bed, climbs off the end, crouches down by the piano and sneaks along the base of the piano and comes out the other side. I love that the nighttime vision of the camera picks out his green, beady little eyes. :)

This just makes my heart happy. Thomas climbed in bed to give John Paul a kiss before he laid down next to him for a bit.

On his way out...

And one of our new favorites:

The very first Ski bunk bed.

Jonathan snuck in a little while later to make sure that Thomas wasn't stuck, and found that there were several inches between him and the crib. He just wanted to be close to John Paul and protect him.

I woke up this morning with Thomas and John Paul between Jonathan and me, and thanked God again for all I've been given. Totally love reading this year-ending post from 2006, just a few short weeks before I met Jonathan. Seriously, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just now they have the blessing of 3 Ski boys as well!

Quick Takes: The Week before Christmas Edition

2011-12-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

What a whirlwind.

Seven snippets of right now, in no particular order.

Silence.
Right now, I'm relishing the silence of two Wee Skis napping and the whirr of the computer hard drive. No Pandora, no television, no Netflix online. Just silence. AND IT IS GOLDEN.
Joy.
We had a chance to see the Ross fam last week, and Thomas was in heaven (as always). I adore this photo of him and Angelica together.
Hustle bustle.
I always thought life was busy when I worked at Merrill Lynch with all of the tax year-ending deadlines. Now, running two businesses which peak in November/December with two small ones underfoot, I know a brand new kind of busy with a few parts crazy thrown in. This year, I closed my Finian Road schedule on weekends in December, which was a godsend for my sanity. It also gave me the freedom to be able to support the tree farm with more of my energy. I feel for Jonathan, because at least I get Monday mornings to recover. After a full weekend on the farm, he is back at the office bright and early on Monday mornings, without a break. He's been a champ throughout this season. But we're both looking forward to New Year's weekend!
Contentment.
We had the 12th annual Mausski Christmas dinner at the house this weekend. What started out as brunch in my tiny apartment in University Place in 1999 for my parents, brother, aunt, uncle and one-year old cousin now is a big dinner on the farm with 9 adults and 4 kids. Planning effectively ahead made this year's dinner the smoothest and least stressful we've had, even with a 24 pound turkey (thank you, Costco) and the fullest house yet.
Grateful.
So love that I love Jonathan's family, especially since we are around each other nonstop during the Christmas tree season! They're funny, love sarcasm, and are just generally good people.
Touched.
My mom surprised Jonathan with a new chainsaw after ours was stolen from our front porch a few weeks ago. Theft is not a common problem on the farm (one of the first events in many, many years) so it shook our security a bit. Jonathan was so touched by her surprise and still couldn't believe it when he woke up this morning. Thanks, Mom.
Party Rock Anthem., one more time.
I love this version. Enjoy. :)

Party Rockers: The Wee Ski Edition

2011-12-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

For your Monday morning giggle.

Shot last night, with only a short french-fry nap in the car for the day. Running on adrenaline + russian tea + ketchup. Lit by the bedroom lamp.

December Daily: Days 7-9

2011-12-11T16:50:00.001-08:00

Life right now. Hilarious with the two boys, and feels so incredibly nonstop. We have been working over at the tree shoppe, baking like mad, and working our way through our Advent Activities book.

On Friday night, we celebrated my Dad's 65th birthday with a surprise party at the fave Mauss hangout -- Spiro's Pizza and Pasta in Gig Harbor. It's the place that Jonathan and I had our first date, held our rehearsal dinner for our wedding, and now celebrated Dad's big day. I made a ton of carrot cake cupcakes (his fave) and we toasted him up. It was a great start to the weekend!

Here are days 7-9 of the album...enjoy!

The full album is here.

December Daily: The first five days

2011-12-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

Loving how this is coming together.

Was glad that I read a little December Daily primer on this project...was good to remind me that the pages don't need to be perfect, that documenting what's happening is what's most important, and that it's okay to be busy and still take the time to be creative for myself.

One of my biggest challenges of this season is what feels like the never-ending creative juices flowing...for other peoples' projects. I didn't finish our own family's card until December 1 this year -- and there had been more than 50 boxes of different projects that had arrived via UPS in the previous month. As the crazy deadlines for holiday orders nears, it's so good to take some time for our own family projects.

Without further ado, the first five days of December:

The full album is here.

December Daily: A look back

2011-12-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

It's incredible to think it's already December. John Paul is seven months old, Thomas is nearly three years old, and Christmas tree season is in full swing. In the scope of life on the farm, it's a very busy season...in the scope of this year for our family, life is finally winding down. No travel is on the books, suitcases are being unpacked and put away, and life is returning to normal. Well, as normal as life can be with a toddler and an infant.

I had last year's December Daily album printed at Shutterfly in January, and I loved how it turned out. We kept it out for much of this year. I loved walking into the living room to find Thomas with the album in his hands, turning the pages and pointing out everything he recognized. Having a great snapshot of our life during this time last year has been so much fun, especially to be able to compare life as a pregnant mommy to life with two little ones now. I love that it has the things I love: our family, our routines, slices of our life on any given day, and recipes that I was using.

I started the 2011 album this week. As quickly as John Paul is growing, I don't want to miss a moment of this first Christmas for him, and our last Christmas with Maggie. I'll upload the pages as I go into a new album...but in the meantime, if you'd like to look through last year's album, here it is!

When bad church directory photos...

2011-12-05T14:19:00.001-08:00

...happen to good people.

And to photographers' families, for that matter!

Because, after all, it just isn't a good directory without at least one kid doing jazzhands.

A modern Advent calendar

2011-11-25T16:53:00.001-08:00

After finishing last year's December Daily album and printing it, I remembered why I love FINISHED projects so incredibly much. BECAUSE THEY ARE FINISHED. I love looking back over the month and seeing how it progressed, with little details throughout.

I left it out throughout the year so we could look through it, and I was surprised at how often Thomas picked it up and would look through the whole thing. I think that I'll tuck last year's and this year's (after it is finished) away for next year's Advent as a little surprise. I love the December Daily concept - and can't wait to start this year's album!

When we were growing up, two elves visited our house throughout Advent with little surprises. Named Sam and Max, they often left notes behind in the shoebox where they slept on the porch. Mike and I were too young to be skeptical about the similarities of the elves' handwriting to our mom's handwriting...but alas, that was back in the day when her handwriting was actually legible. :) When we were small, Mike and my's favorite gifts from Sam and Max were often McDonalds' Happy Meals dropped off at St. Charles for our lunches...but I digress. The concept was a special way to celebrate Advent, and coupled with our Advent wreath, it brought the fun and sacred together beautifully.

Back to now. As a surprise for my mom (and my awesome Grandma -- she received a very similar box, different inscription on the inside) and inspired by our Advent elves Sam and Max, I designed an image box for 5x7 images. Normally, this size holds 100 images, so I added a riser to the inside so that the finished box holds about 50 printed images -- the perfect size for two Advent seasons.

I selected 28 images (including Christmas day) to mark the beginning of the Advent season. The images begin in January and progress throughout the year. Most are highlights of things that happened or just fun photos that I love. I printed each as a 5x7 print and slid them into individual envelopes. Each envelope has a label denoting which day it should be opened.

During our daily prayers as a family in Advent, we'll be saying a special prayer for BearBear and BearBearMom, for Great Grandma Bottenfield, Great Grandpa Mauss and for all of our grandparents that we've lost: BearBearSki and BearBearMomSki, Great Grandpa Bottenfield, and Great Grandma Mauss...so not only will the two boxes bring fun joy each day as new envelopes are opened, but all of our grandparents will be on our hearts in a special way throughout the season.

Onto a few photos:

The inside inscription to BearBear and BearBearMom from the boys:

And the stack of envelopes to be used. I didn't seal the envelopes, just closed them with the label...so theoretically, the envelopes could be used again! :)

And finally, the back, with my two favorite little elves.

Once we hit the end of Advent, I'll post a collection of the images used...can't wait!

Aloha

2011-11-23T15:34:00.001-08:00

As I'm writing this, it's blustery, crazy wet + cold, and these photos are making it warmer in the house. At least in my head anyway.

I have been up to my eyeballs in Finian Road projects and deadlines (so excited to sleep in tomorrow morning and not rise at 4 am!), so as things are uploading, I want to share some of my favorite images from our week on Maui.

First of all -- I feel so blessed to be able to continue to go to Hawaii with my family. I've been lucky enough to visit every year for probably a dozen or more years, with the exception of the year we got married (yes, replaced by the "best worst" honeymoon ever to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific: the honeymoon from hell which involved an ungodly amount of diarrhea in a third world country). I'll never choose the Cook Islands over Maui again, trust me.

Anyway, back to the awesomeness of this trip.

Jonathan hasn't taken much time away from the office this year. I think this was maybe his 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th days off? It was so good to be in the same place as him at the same time. And the boys loved it.   And we loved the chance to spend time with my parents -- just relaxing. Mom and Dad, thank you for everything you did to make this vacation possible! :)

We were incredibly blessed that Stella stayed at the house with Maggie, keeping an eye on her as we all adjusted to her tumor in her leg. We would not have been able to relax much had Maggie been on her own...and she adores Stella. It was an awesome gift that Stella gave us for peace of mind. Thanks, Mo Bells!!

I took the boys to daily Mass each day, like we do at home. I came away very grateful that our chapel at home has carpet and not stone floors. Thomas's tantrums ECHO like no other in a big, stone church!

We did a lot of everything and a lot of nothing. Lots of naps and resting. Lots of pool time. Lots of reading. Dinners in and out, and very little computer or TV time which was a good disconnection from the norm for all of us. The boys adored being able to wake up every morning to BearBear and BearBearMom. We adored being able to have a date night and some time for just the two of us.

A few of my favorite moments...

John Paul chilling in his inner tube from Grandma. He was so happy in the pool. I love having little fishies for sons.

The sunset as we BBQ'ed dinner by the beach.

Thomas was in heaven in the pool with all of us. We actually rotated between all of us with him since he had infinitely more energy than each of us. Four hours nonstop until he crashed in bed for his afternoon nap.

A few amusing moments where he was jumping into the pool. This particular jump may have miscalculated his trajectory.

Better...

And perfecting his belly flop.

We'd hit the happy hour/sunset dinners down at Whalers Village. John Paul loved chewing on anything and everything.

Lots of short rainstorms with exceptionally beautiful rainbows. Thomas loved having all kinds of water "on demand" when he wanted it.

My budding two year old photographer took this shot at dinner.

Pool time is the best.

Seriously - this is our life right now. John Paul and Grandpa are headed in the direction we are going. Thomas is headed the opposite direction -- at lightning speed, no less -- and one of us is turning back to find and retrieve him.

A scene from the "really cool free luau" that my mom found. Dad and I both starting drinking when we realized that the musicians behind were lip syncing. Hawaiian Milli Vanilli, eat your heart out.

Dinner at the Ali'i...BBQ'd caramelized onion burgers, pineapple shrimp w/a tomato/avocado salsa and grilled pineapple. So incredibly tasty. Thomas started early.

John Paul napped anywhere and everywhere. Here he is, underneath a lounge chair, on a towel.  Out for the count.

My cousin, Zach, is stationed on Oahu and he flew over for the day with his girlfriend. Trish is beautiful and from Brazil...and John Paul was in heaven with his new Brazilian older woman. :)

And the two of us, off to date night.

One final image of the tattoos that Thomas got the last day on the island. They're finally fading. He woke up yesterday morning and had scratched them a bit during his sleep. "Mommy! Tattoos are broken! I'm sorry, Mommy! I'm sorry!"

So grateful to have this time away. And in the middle a torrential downpour, feeling a bit of the aloha spirit still around.

Keepin' it real

2011-11-18T13:47:00.001-08:00

"Whatcha doing, Thomas?"
"Reading the sports page with BearBear, Mommy."
"Oh. I see."

Quick Takes: Things I'm Loving Right Now Edition

2011-11-16T12:00:00.001-08:00

Seven snippets of life: too long for Facebook, too short for their own post.

Loving being home.|Just one last weekend away for the final Relay Summit of the fall training season...so excited to be able to drive to the Summit in Portland AND get the chance to meet my oldest sister as well! And then I'm home for the rest of the year!
Love being back in the kitchen.I think Jonathan loves this too. Last night, we had his favorite dinner: breakfast for dinner. Pancakes + eggs florentine with crab. The house smelled great, thanks to the apple butter in the crock pot (thanks, Danielle, for the idea!) and mini apple pies baking away (thanks, Noreen!). I froze dinner from two nights ago (turkey & vegetable soup) and the second loaf of cheese & herb bread for a night to come when I don't have time to cook.
Love getting caught up.The week before leaving for Hawaii was insane. Insane to the point of just a few hours of sleep a night, working early and late (before wakings and after bedtime), packing up the fam, taking care of Maggie, three shoots the previous Saturday, and our last Litugical Commission meeting before the new Roman Missal goes live in December -- the meeting 16 hours before our flight left in which I cooked dinner for 8 as well. It was nuts. And I'm glad it's over.
Loved a little girls' night out.I met up with Kate and Sandra for dinner + drinks. Long overdue. Kate gave the best summary of the evening, which I am stealing below. I feel so blessed by their friendships.
Kate DeWeese
A fantastic evening with two of my favorite people in the world. There was laughter, there were tears, there were lemon drops. There were toddler stories, religious discussions, and more laughs and more tears. Today, I am exceptionally grateful for Shelley and Sandra. I feel so blessed to call these amazing women my friends.
Loving my hair right now.I actually don't say that all that often. I have kept it up virtually nonstop since John Paul was in the womb -- it's easier when it's out of the way and he loves to pull it. But recently, I've been inspired by random things -- specifically Pinterest and people sitting in front of me on the plane. So glad Meegan's been convincing me to let it grow out. And I had my best hair of note on the night of our girls night out -- see above. :) Never mind that it's in a bun with a headband right now.
Loving the start of "The Wee Skis: Roommates".They lasted for about five hours together last night before they both ended up in our room...but it was a great start. Thomas loves the idea of his little brother being in his room...though I don't know that John Paul is quite so sure. We're ready to move the bassinet across the tree fields to welcome the boys' newest cousin due in January. Who, not surprisingly, is ALSO a boy. Those Sprouffskes- they have boys who have boys who have boys...
Love getting ready for tree season. Two thousand trees are cut, baled and shipping out for sales across the northwest. Retail sales begin in 10 days!! YEA!

Today...

2011-11-11T15:35:00.001-08:00

Today, I am very grateful for a week away with my family.
Today, missing the Hawaiian sun. Especially as the Washington rain soaked through my clothes.
Today, I love my two sweet boys...even if they are having trouble adjusting to the time changes.
Today, I am a little overwhelmed at being home again.
Today, I am glad that I have no remaining airline travel on my calendar -- at all.
Today, as we got off the plane at just after midnight, John Paul finished his 20th flight.
Today, I am glad for time with my parents who are amazing grandparents.
Today, Thomas has been looking for BearBearMom and BearBear.
Today, I am grateful for this week's pool time, ocean time, and play time as we unpack and get settled back in.
Today, after a half hour of holiday insanity at Costco, we headed to Big Tom's.
Today, Thomas ate his first tater tot and fell asleep WITH IT IN HIS MOUTH.
Today, jet lagged doesn't begin to describe how we feel.
Today, I am looking forward to John Paul's top two teeth to come in.
Or I will go crazy.

Today, the beautiful northwest autumn has given way to wind & rain & the leaves have fallen to the ground.
Today, I'd like a fast forward to winter and freshly fallen snow.
Today, I have unpacked nearly twenty boxes of holiday projects that came via UPS while I was gone.
Today, I have sorted, packed, delivered or shipped as much back out as humanly possible.

Today, I am grateful for those who fight for our freedom. It definitely isn't free.

Happy HalloWEEn!

2011-10-31T05:43:00.001-07:00

From the Wee Skis...

The ferocious dragons spotted on the farm...I couldn't decide which was my favorite, so you get both! Double the Wee Skis, double the HalloWEEnie fun! :)

Our sweet, sweet Maggie

2011-10-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a long, difficult week. Over the past few days, Maggie's gait had gone from strong and healthy, to a slight limp, to a strong limp. On Wednesday, I made an appointment for her at the vet for that night. Thomas and Jonathan took her in.

When they got back, Jonathan handed me her medicine. It wasn't the medicine I was expecting and I didn't recognize it. He said simply, "It's for the fast growing tumor on her femur. It's bending her bone."

The look on his face said all I needed to understand. She had just turned 10 years old last month, which means she's already outlived her expected lifetime for a giant breed. Add in her autoimmune issues (with her fur), and she's a fluffy walking doggy miracle.

We were both very quiet as we realized what was happening. Thomas bounced in, "Mommy! We go to Maggie doctor!"

I know, kiddo, I know.

Jonathan adopted Mags during law school, as she was living in a city that wasn't what you would call 'giant breed friendly'. She adores being on the farm - with room to run and play, bunnies to chase, and coyotes to hunt. They became fast friends as he continued to adjust to life on the farm without his mom...and she watched over him. She transitioned to life with a tiny dog -- Viper -- after a big 'alpha dog' moment between the two of them while Jonathan was taking the bar exam. After that, they were inseparable. When Viper disappeared two years ago, it was Maggie who walked the fields day after day looking for her. She lost a little of her bounce after Viper died.

And she has been an angel with the Wee Skis. Akitas are a Japanese breed, bred to be babysitters. Extremely protective of the house and our family, she has been an exceptional watchdog. I'm never afraid when I'm at home -- even when there are two strangers at our door, asking to come in. One quick growl from them and they've backed up 10 feet from the door. She's beyond patient with Thomas (who favors riding the dog as opposed to petting the dog) and so good with John Paul, watching over him.

Back to right now. The pain meds are helping. We've prayed a lot about what to do -- and know that for now, we're making the right decision. Chemo isn't an option given her age and health, and it would be more for us than for her anyway. She's had a very good life.

Today, we stayed home from the Seahawks game so Jonathan could hang with her. They're curled up on the floor, cheering on the Hawks and taking naps. An ideal afternoon for both of them. Both Wee Skis are sleeping and the house is quiet.

Wednesday night, as I prepped her first round of pills, Thomas walked into the kitchen. "Can I go cuddle Papa? He's sad."

And so my sweet little son climbed up into bed with Papa, and comforted him the way Maggie comforted Jonathan several years ago.

Please keep her and Jonathan and our fam in your prayers. Animals become part of your family, and this sweet doggy is no exception. She's our polar bear + raccoon protector. And she is so very loved.

A few of my favorite images from over the years. No particular order.

Jonathan and Maggie | Christmas Eve 2007

Jonathan and Thomas in the mud

Maggie in her element | November 2010

Giving Mags a bone | Spring 2010

In the fields

With Thomas in the fields | Fall 2009

Praying for more snow | Spring 2009

Watching over Thomas | January 2009

The pups in the snow | December 2008

With her beautiful white coat | Fall 2008

The pups | Summer 2008

Viper is ballsy | Summer 2008

Weekend on the coast | July 2007
(one of my favorite photos of the three of them)

Running from me when I'm calling them | Summer 2008

Chilling on Puget Sound | Summer 2007

And just in time -- my last Halloween card with both of our dogs. I never could talk Jonathan into dressing Maggie up. She does look pretty beautiful here. ♥

We love you, sweet dog.

Autumn in the northwest

2011-10-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a marathon day for Finian Road. I couldn't sleep, so I was up at 2:30 after moving the Wee Ski 1.0 back to his bed and 2.0 to the pack & play. I finished four shoots to ship out Monday morning.

Caught up on NCIS, Person of Interest, and Revenge. All before the boys woke up around 7ish.The day continued with three shoots today with three families that I adore. The first two on the farm - lower fields with a fall look, and up in the sheared tree fields for winter. Then off to Tumwater Falls for the final shoot of the day-- with rich, beautiful autumn backdrops. Jonathan and Thomas met up with John Paul and me, and we finished the day with dinner in Tumwater.

It's been a long, emotional week for us...and this was the perfect distraction from everything. Love these sweet displays of God's fine artistry...full of color and warmth and pure northwest beauty.

One more...

Quick Takes: The Way Up North Edition

2011-10-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life right now.

This is my last weekend of flying to Relay Summits on the calendar.
It's a bittersweet feeling as I love Summit training season: meeting hundreds of volunteers and staff, designing general sessions over the summer and delivering them at the Leadership Summits in the fall, being part of others' journeys as they celebrate, remember and fight back, and getting fired up to Relay for the upcoming season in 2012. At the same time, I love knowing when the traveling season is coming to an end because I really do love being at home. Five years ago, I never would have said that. I loved being on the road. But with an awesome husband and two sweet Wee Skis -- coming home after a Summit is the best feeling. "Mommy! You're home!"
My mom and dad have been an awesome blessing.
Thomas loves the time he gets with BearBear and BearBearMom, and I know that he is having a good time. He prays for them every day and as my mom said last night, "He is so sweet, and a very brave boy." She tucked him in last night and he asked, "Cuddle me, Grandma?" He has played at the park, on the beach, shopping, eating out, playing, watching sports, and chasing the dogs. He's also had a great time the last two weeks as he's spent a few hours at Mike and Kristine's -- playing with Avila while Max slept. I'm really grateful to you all - thank you!
Cuddle time.
This has been a sweet by-product of travel. Thomas had grown out of the cuddle stage entirely, and now he asks to cuddle. It's a combination of having a baby brother who sleeps in a bassinet in our room + my travel. I'll admit, I have a great fondness for the time spent with him when he's wanting to cuddle. I need to soak this up because I realize it's a season, and it too, will pass.
One-on-one time with John Paul.
The adventures this summer and fall have given me a chance to really get to know John Paul on his own -- as his own sweet little Wee Ski -- instead of simply 2.0. We've been able to bond through lots of time in the air (18 flights, so far!) and wearing him nonstop while we're gone. He is blessed with a number of Relay aunties and uncles who are angels and usually goes through a bit of withdrawal when we get home and Thomas isn't quite as sweet as his aunties and uncles. Jonathan has loved the one-on-one time with Thomas -- last weekend, they went to Wolfhaven and to the train station to watch for trains, and played a lot. I love driving under the train tracks on Rainier Road, seeing a train and hearing, "Wow! Papa made that just for me!"
We flew into Anchorage, Alaska last night.
We began Relaying in July in Florida, visited Phoenix in August, Seattle and Denver in September for Staff trainings, New Mexico and Alaska this month, and Portland next month. I'll be honest -- the walk to dinner last night in the chilly Alaskan air was a great contrast to the muggy 100°+ weather in Florida and 107° dry heat in Phoenix! Isn't the hotel beautiful (above)? This is an incredible place to Relay! Linda, John Paul and I had dinner last night at a tasty local spot and feasted on king crab, scallops, prawns, halibut, and apple dumplings. Excited for the Summit kickoff this afternoon for the event chairs and team D chairs, and the full Summit tomorrow with the Alaskan committee members. Those organizing the Summit have been amazing -- kind, hospitable, and genuinely love to Relay. Love being welcomed into the fold!
This child has GROWN.
It's amazing the difference in size since the Nationwide Summit in Florida...he was still wearing newborn onesies and was tiny on my arm. He's sleeping away in a six-month sleeper now, and has the sweetest little roly-poly cheeks. I love that.
Excited to be at home and fully caught up with the summer + early fall Finian Road season. This fall and early winter shooting schedule is crazy busy. I sent a number of projects to print for clients in the past few days before I left, and I will love coming home to boxes on the porch from UPS with beautiful, completed designs that are ready to go! It's been a number of early mornings beginning at 5 and working until the boys get up, and then working like mad while they are asleep in the early afternoon. Finding a bit more order + balance in the process, loving that as John Paul grows and we are all settling into our new groove.

Keep us in your prayers for a great weekend, with no snafus (I'm talking about you, brand new Dell laptop to replace the first that failed), and safe travels home tomorrow night. One last thing I love about Summits? I'm always staying in the same hotel as the Summit -- so I don't need to drive a half hour to an hour to get anywhere! Need to be somewhere at 8:30? I can leave at 8:27. That never happens on the farm! :)

Home sweet home.

2011-10-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

An awesome weekend in Albuquerque for the New Mexico Relay Summit.

Yesterday was pretty exhausting, as it was back-to-back for the General Sessions. First one kicked off at 9 am, immediately followed by the rehearsal for the lunch session, immediately followed by the lunch session, immediately followed by prep for the final session, and finally, the final session. We finished up around 4:30 pm. John Paul and I tucked into bed with room service and a "Real McGee" NCIS Marathon and snuggled in for the night. We were tired.

We got up this morning and headed to the airport at 4:30 mountain time. When we touched down at Salt Lake, I opened my blackberry to find this message from Jonathan:

SUBJECT | Don't dawdle
MESSAGE |

8pm-1130pm. Thomas doesn't sleep because he wants to call John Paul
1240 scared of coyotes
130 same
250 same
340 same
455 same
5-7 snoring
730 I want pb toast
830 IWANTJOHNPAUL!!!
850 IWANTMOMMYJOHNPAUL

Sent from my iPhone

Nothing like being welcomed home to small arms and a giant hug, "Mommy! I missed you!"

On the agenda for the next few days? Lots of swimming, the pumpkin patch, and playtime. We've all earned it.

It's good to be home.

A Wee Salmon

2011-10-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Back in August. When there was sunshine and heat and nothing like we're experiencing now. This adventure is the reason Thomas is always praying for fishies and boats and fishing poles.

He caught his first salmon.

It's a wee salmon, sized for a Wee Ski.

Clearly, catch and release AFTER the photo was taken.

He loves fishing with his grandpa and I loved being able to tag along.

Loved spending time with my godson and sweet younger cousin...who is so good with Thomas. He had just been named MVP at the basketball camp he was at, so there was much fun to be had at his expense. We were just enjoying riding in the boat with him, and didn't hound him for autographs. :)

He is explaining to Thomas about holding on. Which Thomas clearly isn't doing, so Brandon's holding on for him. Obligatory self-portrait while wearing a strapless swimsuit.
Huge concert on the water -- all those little specks? EACH ONE IS A BOAT. There were hundreds of boats out there, and Dead Man's Island was covered in people -- they looked like little ants there were so many. It was awesome. A huge boom from the island to the Kopachuck side, filled with boats and music. The bands played on a barge to the left. So much fun to see.

And now, I feel warmer having looked back on summer and swimsuit weather.

'Scuse me while I go find a sweater and earmuffs.

Quick Takes: The Sleeping Edition

2011-10-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life, in no particular order.

Sleep has been coveted, but somewhat elusive lately.Except for said child photographed above. He sleeps everywhere and anywhere. Thomas and I walked into the kitchen and found him sound asleep in his jumparoo, occasionally still jumping off the ground. The little toys would start playing jungle sounds when he'd move, so he'd wake up, scream a bit, and go back to sleep. The rest of us -- it's been a bit of a constant battle to sleep. Thomas has felt left out, so we find ourselves with an additional Ski in bed once or twice a night. He's got skills though -- Jonathan and I don't even notice his arrival until he's burrowed under the covers and we hear a small, quiet voice, "Cuddle Papa?" He's been revolting against napping including taking stealth reconnoissance missions outside his bedroom while he's supposed to be asleep, so we're taking every quiet moment we can get.
I'm loving two solid weeks at home.In September, we found ourselves in Iowa, at two American Cancer Society staff conferences (one in Seattle and one in Denver). The most amusing and embracing of "the simple life" was definitely Denver, as I pulled into the Seattle airport parking only to discover that I had left the suitcase I had packed for JP and me ON THE FRONT PORCH AT HOME. Working on getting our home back in order, catching up on shoots and Finian Road projects, and preparing for fall. The next month includes Relay Summits in New Mexico, Alaska and our first family vacation all year to finish things off. I am definitely glad for my 'maternity leave' from the Nationwide Leadership Training Team, which means that I am only traveling within our 12 state area in our Division instead of across the country.
Speaking of fall...I love everything about it. While we don't change colors so much on the farm (being that 99% of our green comes in the form of EVERgreens), the evenings cool down and we're getting ready for the day we finally turn the heat on. The chimney has been sealed and I am looking forward to our first roaring fires in the wood stove. Dinners have included warm soups and stews and a few bites of home baked breads and rolls. Pulling out sweaters, boots, scarves and lots of blankets for walks on the farm. Possibly starting a Wee Ski Snow Dance in the fields.
"John Paul is very cute!"Thomas alternates between adoring his little brother and the occasional bout of jealousy. Right now, his favorite saying is, "Oh so cute. Isn't John Paul cute?" Then he colors JP's hands with the purple Mr. Sketch marker while we're sleeping...and I wake up with purple handprints all over me.
A few new faves on fall television.I am loathe to start new shows because of the lack of time we have to watch television...but I am really loving both Revenge and Person of Interest. I also love that I can watch them online so they are up on one screen while I'm editing on the other. Am I missing anything else out there?
Prayers, please.For close friends of ours who were selected by birthparents for their baby boy due in January, for Jonathan's knee (for healing and strength), for my awesome grandma who is looking ahead to a move, for my parents' on their 41st anniversary, and for the health of wee ones everywhere as rumors of whooping cough circulate at the start of flu season.
Oh potty training, how I love you and hate you.
The same day that Thomas successfully used his Cars potty for number 2, I walked into the living room to find him stark naked, proudly peeing on the carpet. I guess you win some and lose some, right?

Art Cards: A giveaway!

2011-10-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of fall, and I need some good color right now. Perhaps in the form of artwork? :)

In Thomas's thank you cards, I had a spot for him to color a picture for the people receiving a thank you from him. With the debut of 2.0, I redesigned the piece to be a standalone card which can be hung immediately, tucked inside a 5x7 card and mailed, or handed to someone special -- whether or not they are being thanked!

I love these 5x5 square cards, so I designed them generic enough (the originals had our names with checkboxes instead of "artist") so they can be used by any young artist, or really, any young-at-heart artist. :)

I have them for sale in the Finian Road Etsy shoppe in sets of a dozen cards...and I am giving away two packs over on Facebook!

How can you enter? Just leave a comment over on the Facebook note!

I'd love it if you'd share your favorite 'artsy' thing to do with your kids. If you don't, that's OK, I'm just all about stealing other people's fun ideas and making them our own. :) Entering the comment will get you entered into the drawing!

Deadline for the giveaway is this Friday, October 7th at 3 pm! :) Two winners will be chosen then!

A few more views below...

And you are WELCOME to 'pin it' on Pinterest!

Pin It

The Seahawks' Home Opener

2011-10-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our first adventure with both Wee Skis at CenturyLink Field. So far, it's been their only win. For the love!

Thomas has his very own Seahawks shirt -- nflshop.com customizes them with names/numbers on the back. And seriously -- I'm never buying another toddler jersey again with a player's number on it. As soon as the cash register rings, the player is traded or released. So we're 12th man-ing it up for now! And this shirt, of course, can be easily passed on to 2.0 when the time comes!

I made three meals in the morning -- breakfast of eggs & toast, lunch of sandwiches and veggie salad, and dinner of turkey minestrone (tossed into the crockpot). There's nothing better than leaving the Field and knowing that a tasty delicious dinner is waiting when you get home!

Anyway -- back to the game!

Thomas and Jonathan on the way in...

In Touchdown City, Thomas took off into the giant blow-up obstacle courses. He face planted right at the end and popped up squealing. "Mommy! FUN!"

He gave the gigantic 12th Man a punch or two, since the big guy wasn't fighting back.

And scored a ride or two or seventeen on Papa's shoulders.

At one point, I ended up with both Wee Skis. How does Thomas get a nap when we're doing all the work?!? Sign me up for that job!

Beautiful Qwest, er, CenturyLink Field. Note that these blue skies were NOT present at the start of the game.

Because THIS is what the start of the game looked like. SOAKED TO THE BONE. John Paul is huddled under my fleece and there is literally water running down my face. It's pouring THAT HARD. JP and I hid out for a bit under cover until the 1st quarter was over. I felt no shame.

And our sweet sleeping Wee Ski. Clearly they are awesome nappers because THEY FELL ASLEEP and slept through halftime, the third quarter and most of the fourth! Thomas has got his "touchdown" and "first down" and "SEA-HAAAWKS!" yell down. Sometimes he mixes up "Sea-hawwwwwks" with his going potty song entitled "poop-daaaaaance", so we've got that going for us.
Here's to a great & dry season!

The first bath for the Wee Skis

2011-09-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

One of them had more fun than the other. Guess which one?

It appears that there's actually a wake behind Thomas from his kicking. Apparently, my talk on "this is your brother's first big boy bath, so be calm" fell on deaf ears.

Oh, wait, he did preface the above photo with, "Baby, don't be scurred. Baby, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The Wee Skis Do the Puyallup

2011-09-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously.

Check out that sweet "thisismyfirsttimeonaride&Idon'tknowwhattodoit'sthemostawesomethingeverIcan'tstopsmiling" face.

Mom and I took the boys to the fair in true Washingtonian style. In the rain.

There was fair food (which was at the same time both AWESOME and UGH). There was lots of shopping by Grandma, lots of impatient yelling by Thomas, and lots of sleeping by John Paul. We broke the boys' duallie stroller in.

It was fun.

Thomas had a few rides courtesy of Grandpa -- who was curiously absent with Papa -- oh wait, wasn't there a Seahawks game on?

Thomas loved the rides -- and made new friends when they were scared on the ride next to him.

Third round -- driving the fire truck. I am about 'fire truck noised' out though. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!

Jonathan and I can't decide if he's a firetruck or a dying coyote. But I digress.

Whoo woo and a toot toot!

Hello, adoring fans. I am here for you. In my firetruck.

Lest we forget that 2.0 was in the house...he had a blast. He qualified for even less rides than the Wee Ski did. They are still a little small. :)

Finished the day off at the carousel. BearBearMom!! Horsies! Look, Mommy!

Of snakes and beet vomit

2011-09-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

"There's a snake in the kitchen, Mommy!"

That was the beginning of the end.

I kept telling myself that Thomas didn't know what a snake was, even though his hand gestures led me to believe there was an eighteen-inch snake slithering through our house and I could not find it.

A few days later, the Wee Ski's concerned message changed. Jonathan got a very stern text message. "Your son: the snake is under the bed."

That night, thanks to my ever-faithful reptile-fighting husband, we learned the snake had legs and was actually some sort of gecko.

THANK GOD.

The past few weeks have been challenging in the toddler/newborn world.

A combination of John Paul needing his own room (away from ours) and Thomas feeling left out in the middle of the night has made for a very cozy bed. Thomas, our once-champion sleeper, finds himself climbing into bed with us once or twice a night. John Paul is nearing the point where he needs to cry it out at night, and that can't happen with us two feet away. Jonathan and I end up sleeping as still as possible, which makes for a very sore morning and wondering if we ever actually went to sleep.

It's definitely a transition time.

The mantra I've been repeating is "this is simply a season in our lives."

Each night became increasingly more difficult.

The end came a few nights ago. I was exhausted and was describing to Jonathan how I was ready to crash as soon as dinner was over, approximately 6:32 pm.

Thomas was devouring his steamed beets -- while very nutritious, also VERY red and staining. Laughing as he started touching everything in sight, Jonathan and I both yelled when Thomas reached out for my white shirt.

Startled, it led to tears from the Wee Ski. Then he promptly threw up all the remaining beets that he had finished. All over the table, the floor, and me.

Which may or may not have led to tears from me. And more tears from Thomas.

He and I climbed in the shower while Jonathan started recovery on the kitchen.

We were both still in tears until he looked up at me and said, "Sahwy, Mommy. Cuddle in Mommy's bed?" Yes, sweet pea. We can.

We focused this weekend on spending time together - whether it was cleaning out the house, eating together or playing. It was a low key weekend which ended with a good night's sleep for all of us last night. I woke up to find both Wee Skis sound asleep (John Paul in the bassinet and Thomas between Jonathan and me) and Papa Ski and I slowly waking to our alarm clocks (blackberry + iPhone).

Balancing my own expectations of life has been difficult of late. What I think I can handle vs. what I truly can handle. On the whole, the transition for our family from one to two children has been good. But for me -- keeping up with my normal pace of life has been a significant challenge. Emails unanswered, calls unreturned. "Mommy guilt" is definitely in full force, and I'm still working on finding the balance to that. My life was busy before marriage and kids...this is an entirely new world of busy.

Restoring order to our home has been a big help in finding peace -- especially with the travel that we've done (and will be doing) this fall. It's amazing how life feels less overwhelming when there aren't stacks of laundry staring you in the face and the unrelenting beep of the dishwasher letting you know it's time to put the dishes away. Or an open suitcase with which I debate on whether or not I should even put it away before packing it again.

It is just a season right now, albeit a sleep-deprived season. And as fast as I say that, another week has escaped us. John Paul is growing, Thomas is maturing, and soon they won't need us as intensely as they do right now.

So yes, Thomas, we can cuddle. The laundry can wait and the phone can go to the machine.

And as soon as you wake up, we can cuddle again.

But no more beets for a few weeks.

The Farmer and the Wee Ski

2011-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Uncle Jerry rolled out the big farm tractor for me, for some shots where Thomas wasn't quite so scared (as he was a bit in Iowa). It's one of the last quiet weeks before travel and fall gets underway.

Our Uncle Jerry is famous for his "not holding the newborns" rule, which he translates to any tiny human under 15 pounds.

It was a big moment when he finally held Thomas...so imagine his surprise when I handed John Paul to him, a few ounces shy of the 'weight limit'.

And this is what they gave me to shoot.

Swoon.

On the Tenth Anniversary

2011-09-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

As with so many people, the memory of "where were you?" on 9/11 is still clear in my mind.

Watching in disbelief as the first tower fell, then the second. Waiting for the stock market that wouldn't open for four days. Working in an office with a New Yorker for a director, who immediately closed the office and sent us home should there be more attacks. Gathering our wits as we faced an uncertain future in our industry with the market closures and the fears that everyone had surrounding our country. Knowing very little except that this was definitely out of our control. Hopeful that God would bring good from the destruction, somehow.

A mix of emotion: anger, sadness, disbelief, retaliation, shock, fear, despair.

Pope John Paul's prayer at the time, in response:

Almighty and merciful God,

You cannot be understood by one who sows discord.

You cannot be accepted by one who loves violence:

Look upon our painful human condition tried by cruel acts of terror and death,

comfort your children and open our hearts to hope,
so that our time may again know days of serenity and peace.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In February 2002, I was back on the east coast for Merrill Lynch at our Princeton campus. I flew my brother out, and together we journeyed to New York to visit Ground Zero. I shot the image above after we waited in line for hours to have a few short moments on the platform for viewing.

It was a very sobering experience, being so close. It was also a place of healing and hope. Messages of love and care were etched in the giant plywood walls erected on the path toward the platform. Someone had left a sweet 'crying doll' along the wall, which left many choked up.

Today, ten years later.

Lectoring at Mass today was a bittersweet experience...as is so often the case with our readings and our daily lives, they definitely tied into the scope of 9/11. (If you're not Catholic, the Sunday readings from Scripture are set on a 3 year rotation, and they are the same around the world. Every Catholic Mass on Sunday uses the same readings - no matter where you are. Just read in a different language, specific to the local area. Each set of readings includes a passage from the Old Testament, an epistle, and a Gospel reading.)

The First Reading | Sirach 27: 30 - 28: 9

Anger and wrath, these also are abominations, and the sinful man will possess them. He that takes vengeance will suffer vengeance from the Lord, and he will firmly establish his sins. Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does a man harbor anger against another, and yet seek for healing from the Lord? Does he have no mercy toward a man like himself, and yet pray for his own sins? If he himself, being flesh, maintains wrath, who will make expiation for his sins? Remember the end of your life, and cease from enmity, remember destruction and death, and be true to the commandments. Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook ignorance. Refrain from strife, and you will lessen sins; for a man given to anger will kindle strife, and a sinful man will disturb friends and inject enmity among those who are at peace.

The Second Reading | Romans 14: 7-9

None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

The Gospel | Matthew 18: 21-35

Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, `Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

Clearly, forgiveness is a strong message sent in today's readings. Often overlooked as a critical step in healing...but significant nonetheless.

At the end of Mass, Father led Adoration and Benediction within a special holy hour in remembrance. We don't normally have either following a Sunday Mass. Essentially, it was an hour of prayer for those who wished to stay, in front of the Blessed Sacrament. The chance to pray directly in front of and with our Lord. There were periods of silence within, and a handful of spoken prayers to guide the hour until Exposition had ended.

Our parish is on the same street as our main fire station. With the 90° today, all the doors to the church were wide open throughout Mass into Adoration. As we finished a prayer for peace, there was a fire call and sirens began outside as the engines and aid cars left the station, headed past the church, and to their destination.

It was a heart-wrenching background to the silence of our private prayers.

For me, personally, there was a definite call to forgiveness in my heart throughout Adoration. Each of the readings struck a strong chord with me. It's all to easy to hear a reading or message and your immediate response might be, "Oh wow, how powerful. "So & so" definitely needed to hear that." And it's always easier to make that infamous "so & so" person be someone other than yourself, know what I mean?

The simplest of change comes at a very personal level. Effective worldwide change only comes about with the softening of minds and hearts as bridges are built and hurts are mended.

Pope Benedict XVI said of today, on the 10th anniversary,

"The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators' claim to be acting in God's name. Once again, it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God's sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere.

The American people are to be commended for the courage and generosity that they showed in the rescue operations and for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future."

My prayer today was to ask for grace in healing the hurts that I've caused or to be able to find forgiveness in specific areas that its needed in my life. Not easy, but definitely worthwhile. And it's what has been asked of me [and probably everyone :) ].

It's not often that I am watching a football game and find myself tearing up. Jonathan, on the other hand, has only teared up at a football game when Walter Jones raised the 12th man flag last year. But this commercial, played during the Seahawks game today, was simple + beautiful.

It's a remake of the original, shown only once on television.

Toddler Mayhem

2011-09-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

I have always adored the mayhem commercials from Allstate. I find the Mayhem guy completely hilarious.

Today, while realizing just how destroyed my house + car are after several weeks of unintentional neglect, it all came together as to why.

Thomas is my personal toddler mayhem.

Upside down

2011-09-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Pardon the quiet here on the blog. A little glimpse into the past ten days:

Two mega 18 hours work days filled with Finian Road and Relay Summit prep before flying out
Four different flights with both Wee Skis + Grandma
Six days with my grandma (the boys' only living great grandma) in Iowa, celebrating the 60th anniversary of her 26th birthday
600+ miles on the road, 200 of them to visit...
The Iowan Skis -- how much do I love that we have family that lives just two hours away from each other in the midwest?!?
Two new teeth for the Wees -- a two-year molar for 1.0 and the first tooth for 2.0
The first time I didn't sit down to a computer for a week in ages
Sweet family time with my mom's side of the fam in Iowa.
The 'readjusting phase' today at home
Unpacking, unpacking, unpacking
Marveling at the incredible progress Jonathan made in our garage over the weekend
Cleaning
Washing clothes
Finding order again.
Waking up in bed this morning to hear "Cuddle with Papa?" and a little Wee Ski climbing into bed with his daddy

Lots of pics to come once life isn't quite so upside down.

The Second Annual RossSki Family Campout

2011-08-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Brunch this morning, on the deck. After the Second Annual RossSki Family Campout on the farm. This year, we went from 4 adults + 5 kids to 4 adults + 7 kids. And it was awesome.

We hit 5 pm Mass last night at St. C's, with all the kids in tow. They were amazing together. This morning we were so grateful for that decision, after everyone was light on sleep and the kids were powered by pure adrenaline. We sat down to eat just as Mass would have began, and marveled at our brilliance.

The older boys (including Sam, Eddie, Jonathan and Ed) camped out in the lower tree fields of the farm at the campsite. The five littles (including 16 week old John Paul and 6 week old Abigail) stayed up at the house with Crystal and me. It was an adventure putting them to bed last night -- thinking Thomas was a little crazy excited to wake up and find two other kids in his room -- so it's safe to say that at one point last night, there were four kids asleep in bed with Crystal and me. Just grateful Maggie the dog was at the foot of the bed and not in bed with us!

And I love the text I got from Jonathan early this morning. He woke up in the tent and heard rustling outside...peeked out only to find two of our cows grazing in the campfire. And when they heard him, nearly two dozen cows hustled out of the woods and back into the tree fields. You'll notice our zero gravity chairs + campfire right next to the tent!

The three oldest littles woke up bright and early, so I hustled them out so Crystal and Abigail could get more sleep. They decided to go a little Avatar on themselves...check out Angelica's handiwork with the black Mr. Sketch!

Thomas was, as always, in heaven with the Ross kids. We do think he may be growing fonder of Lucy, and may have inherited his dad's penchant for older women.

That's okay. Angelica and John Paul can still connect if John Paul and Abigail don't hit it off! :) We had a tasty spread of baked french toast, chicken sausage & egg bake, fresh fruit, applewood bacon, and juice boxes. So many juice boxes.

Little Eddie was begging to take the John Deere out for a spin. We're glad the keys are somewhere inside. :)

Early this morning, when I was prepping the pork for the crockpot for tasty delicious pulled pork for lunner (Mom, that's lunch/dinner), Lucy took one whiff and said, "Aunt Shelley? That smells like dead body. Is that a dead body?"

We all earned naps today -- Ed and Abigail crashed out together on the deck.

You know what I said about Thomas being in heaven? Still there.

We are so blessed by the Rosses and their friendship. Love this tradition and absolutely love them.

Tonight on the farm.

2011-08-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

This was an awesome sight.

We were busy making dinner. Thomas and I washed the beets, I cut the greens from the beets and sliced the beets. I cut the stems from the greens and gave the stems to Thomas with one request: "Please go feed these to the chickens".

"Yes, Mommy, I help."

He's famous for 'freeing the chickens' a la Free Willy...so I added carabiners onto the eglu run latches. Thankfully, he hasn't figured out how they work yet. So whenever we give treats to the chickens, we always cut the treats up so they'll fit through the holes of the run and we don't need to open the run door.

I gave him a few minutes and then in mamarazzi mode, I grabbed my camera and snuck out into the front yard. He was so focused he didn't even notice me.

"Here, chitchen....Eat the stems....Tasty delicious....Chitchen! Come back! Here you go....Share, chitchen, share! Here's some more....Tasty delicious, chitchen....Good job, chitchen."

I was so proud of how he did all on his own. It was so sweet seeing little Farmer Wee Ski taking care of his animals.

Never mind that he pulled Maggie's tail on the way in as she was drinking her water.

Part of Dr. Furhman's "Eat to Live" is varying your veggies so you have all kinds of various nutrients. This is not easy for me. I like what I like. But I think back to Jonathan's first comment when I tried my first Eat to Live salad, "Shelley, this is the best salad you've ever made." And that had all kinds of things I hadn't tried before (citrus almond dressing, anyone? Tasty delicious!).

When the Wee Skis and I went to the farmers market yesterday, we loaded up on all kinds of cool produce and veggies that we hadn't tried before. Purple and cream peppers. Four different colors of heirloom tomatoes. Golden beets. Swiss chard. Golden raspberries.

And tonight, we tried the beets. I sliced and steamed the beets themselves and sprinkled with a bit of sea salt. They. were. amazing.

Jonathan snagged one off Thomas's plate and heard, "Papa! Mine! NO!"

I sauteed the beet greens with a bit of Penzeys seasoning, and they weren't bad. Texture like wilted spinach. Taste a little sharp, but I can work with it.

I sliced the heirloom tomatoes and added just a touch of sea salt. No other way to eat a fresh heirloom tomato. Just naked with salt. SO SO good.

We split some turkey burgers, sans buns, and Jonathan's response?

"I love beets. What took you so long?"

And finally, I give you my happy-as-a-clam-even-though-he-has-his-first-ear-infection John Paul. Don't you just want to squeeze his wee cheeks?!?

He's feeling much better after his first round of antibiotics and some good rest today.

We are ALL looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Quick Takes: The We Made It To Monday Edition

2011-08-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life, in no particular order. Too long for Facebook, too short for their own blog post.

Love this image of John Paul.
He is grinning all the time. Thomas's current phrase about him? "Cute baby. He's so cute, Mommy."
Finally had a good night of sleep.
It had been more than a week since I had slept well. Friday night had me up six separate times: three for each boy. Yesterday, we woke up to all 3 Ski boys feeling snuffly. John Paul and Thomas were at the end of not feeling well, Jonathan at the beginning. But thankfully, after a very long morning, Jonathan let me sleep for three whole hours, uninterrupted. It was heavenly. We both slept much better last night.
I've survived one week without any diet soda.
This is actually a pretty incredible feat for me. It's also been one week since I've had any fast food. The initial withdrawal from caffeine was pretty intense, but it's been much better since then.
I started reading Eat To Live in Arizona.
After watching Dr. Fuhrman on PBS and listening to Linda's research talk on weight and nutrition and exercise and cancer, I had never been more convicted (see above). I downloaded the book to my Kindle and Jonathan borrowed it to his Kindle reader on his iPhone. An awesome read, and makes so much sense. Together, we lost ten pounds last week as we began adjusting our lifestyle. More on that later.
We've had tasty delicious popsicles in the heat.
Fresh watermelon popsicles, peach popsicles, plum popsicles and orange popcicles. Thanks to the VitaMix, they've all been fresh fruit popsicles. Thomas is in heaven. I'm in heaven as long as he eats them outside.
Loving vegetables this summer.
Last year in cooking school, I took an entire class on tomatoes. It was awesome. I picked up some ripe heirloom tomatoes, and sprinkled just a hint of salt on the slices. Heavenly. Raw and juicy and tasty delicious.
Excited to get back into our routine today.
Realizing that travel really messes with everyone's internal schedules. Looking forward to a low key week and the second annual Rosski Family Campout next weekend!

Reason #28493582

2011-08-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

...that Thomas likes it when I leave town!

He gets to ride a camel with BearBearMom!

You can tell what he did when I was gone based on what he prays for now at night.

"BearBearMom. AndyGina. (the dogs) The boat. BearBear. Fishies. My fishing pole. And Papa."

We've definitely had an adjustment week as I got home. John Paul or I picked up something on the flight home, so we've each had a cough & mini-cold. Thomas's hit early yesterday morning, with him walking into our bedroom around 3 am, "Mommy, I'm snuffy." If he is anything, he is an incredibly adorable sick kid.

Last night he was up 3 separate times -- more water, a new washcloth, and to leave the door open. He's sleeping now (as are the other two Skis), so I'm praying that they'll all be asleep for several hours. We have a long overdue day ahead of family fun time. Yea for beautiful, sunny & warm northwest summer weekends!

toasty, toasty musings

2011-08-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

It's 101 degrees outside my window right now.

I realize I don't pay as much attention to specifics on some things these days -- I just learned I'm in Tempe and not Phoenix. Three weeks ago, I stepped off a plane in Texas and thought that Dallas-Fort Worth's airport had changed dramatically since I'd been there last. Then I realized I was in Houston.

And I laughed. Three years ago, in the BWS (Before Wee Skis) era, I rarely missed a beat on anything. Multitasking was not only easy, but expected if I wanted to conquer the world.

Now, multitasking seems to make everything take longer. Much longer.

While the transition from 1 to 2 Wee Skis has been smoother than from 0 to 1, I'm finding that I need to remind myself that I do need extra time and lowered expectations.

For someone who is off-the-charts Type A, that can be challenging.

I've been focusing on a few mantras, if you will.

Do it now.

Let things pass through your hands only once.

Finish what you're working on first.

And Jonathan's favorite: don't have too many internet windows open at the same time.

The past week has been insane. I had my first migraine on Saturday night since I left ML two years ago. We had two picnics over the weekend. The last few nights, I've been up until 1 am or so, up to feed John Paul around 4 or 5, and up for the day around 6 or 7. I've been working nonstop on a number of projects that will unveil this weekend for the Great West Division Regional Summits -- a sweet opportunity that I treasure because I get to use all of my gifts. But the final crunch time is always exhausting.

I was blessed with some very sweet moments this week: glamping (Mom, that means "glamour camping") with Stella, Amy and Lindsay on the farm. We had salmon, roasted corn, mountain dew apple dumplings and Stella mixed up some s'mores martinis. We sat on the deck, played cards and laughed. Both boys went to bed at 7 that night and didn't awaken for hours...and Jonathan had poker night with the guys. It was just what we all needed. Lindsay helped me make progress in my office for a few hours, and Mom came down on Wednesday to take Thomas on an adventure so I could finish projects before leaving today. When I checked in tonight, John Paul (or Juan Pablo if we're feeling south-of-the-border or Johannes Paulus if we're feeling a little 'namesake-y') had some quality time with his Auntie Linda so I could run across the street for some snacks for the room. We had a fabulous non-Relay visit when I got back. Love her.

And today...things were calm. Early to meet Mom, early to the airport, down the 'family security line' without waiting, early pre-boarding and no one in the middle seat, an incredibly calm baby on the flight, free inflight wifi and a hot meal en route.

About as close to perfection in flying as it comes.

And then, while changing John Paul after landing...the phone rings from my parents' house.

"Shelley, we have a problem. Thomas locked himself in the bathroom a while ago and we can't get him out. I don't know what to do."

Well, something had to give!

He did find his way out after both Jonathan and Mike reminded Mom and Dad of the 'hole next to the lock' that you can pick. Whaddya do?

Anyway, during the calm of the flight, I read.

When I flew to Orlando a few weeks back, I read Ice-T's memoirs. A surprisingly good book. Loved his 'daily game of life' at the end.

Balanced his book out on today's flights with the latest Catholic Northwest Progress (I swear, this was nearly the very best issue I had ever read), the latest Whole Living, and my Google Reader on the inflight wifi.

As I close my toasty, toasty musings for the night, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite "Daily Game of Life" quotes from Ice-T. Some of the ones without the f-bombs and all. Thoughts on life, from a gangsta.

As a sidenote, I found my use of the word 'gangsta' increased exponentially after reading Ice. He definitely increased my vernacular as I read. Though some of the words I have yet to use in normal the daily context of our life on the farm. I'm working on it. You just don't find many gangstas cleaning out the chicken poo from the run while you're two year old turns the hose on you. But I digress.

You just never know what you'll find here at Life on the Farm, eh? :)

Anyway, back to the Ice's daily game. Enjoy. Quote him. I know I will.

Life isn't about the material things you own. There's no luggage rack on a hearse. It's about the exceptional experiences you have.
It's not about being mad at everything, it's about being really mad at the right things.
Sometimes we choose to reject good advice because it's not what we want to hear. Remember, medicine doesn't taste good.
No man can be great alone, no matter what he thinks. You're only great when good people speak of you in high regard.
Never confuse popularity with respect.
My personal fave right now: Slow motion is better than no motion, and low profile is better than no profile.

And with that, I'm heading to bed.

Just one more sleep until the fall Summit training season begins!

Peace out, yo!

Not to be taken for granted.

2011-08-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

This image is significant to me.

Looking back to April 2008...Jonathan and I had been married just four months. We decided that even as four-month newlyweds, we were open to having kids. One of the beautiful things about Natural Family Planning is that with charting, you are able to better understand your cycle and when you're fertile...as well as when you're not. It helps you both become pregnant as well as helps you understand when to abstain when avoiding a pregnancy is desired.

Two weeks after our discussion, the Wee Ski 1.0 was conceived.

He was born the following January: just after our one year anniversary. He missed his due date of January 4 by four days. He must have felt that his BearBearMom needed her own birthday so they didn't need to share.

When he was eight months old, we started talking about a second child. It was September 2009, just after I 'retired' from Merrill Lynch after 13 years. In the midst of using up the last of my awesome benefits from Merrill (read: squeezing in every possible medical & dental appointment I could come up with before the benefits lapsed on 9/30), I had a very challenging appointment with a doctor who was filling in for my normal doc. The details are here, but it was then that we began trying for #2.

Assuming that because we were open to life, I was charting and knew when I was fertile, that Wee Ski 2.0 would be on his way soon. For Christmas, we put a 'duallie Bob' on our wish list from my parents, because of course we'd have a second child soon and we'd need it on the farm. My mom actually shopped during the REI 20% off sale and picked up one for us for Christmas, and we were thrilled when we opened it.

But there was just one problem.

There was no second child to fill it.

As time went on and we were unable to become pregnant, it became a reminder in the garage that of our inability to conceive. I picked up a single Bob and hid the duallie away. I was irritated with my smugness that it would be easy to conceive again, simply because it had been the first time. Trust me, never again will I take that for granted. Never.

Over time, I was both frustrated with God as well as ready to mentally 'move on'. So when the chance to take Thomas with his future betrothed, Angelica, came along, we took an inaugural stroll through the fields to our Ski family campsite.

Little did I know that I was barely pregnant at the time.

A few days later, I found myself before Mass at confession with Fr. Nick (and a Wee Ski who loved pounding on the walls of the confessional, scaring all the old ladies at Visitation). I laid it all out there (more details here) and gave it up to God.

It's always difficult to speak in terms of "His timing" when it doesn't coincide with our own plans for timing. I definitely didn't see it at the time, but each disappointment continued to shape my heart and soul for becoming a mom again.

Back to today. 587 days after receiving the duallie at Christmas.

I packed up both boys for the short walk to the mailbox for the mail.

John Paul's still a little small to be in the stroller without the infant insert...so we took one short ride.

Seeing both of them inside -- together -- reminded me of how very, very precious life is. How it should never be taken for granted...and how in His timing, our lives are always changed for the better...even if that timing is much longer than anticipated.

And I find myself with a very grateful heart.

Life right now...

2011-08-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

...is never boring.

So grateful that we're shooting family while Thomas is going through his "throwing giant rocks in the air right by his head phase".

The Week in the Life

2011-08-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

Serious joy. Like fireworks exploding happy joy.

I captured 7 days worth of our life - some behind the lens, some written. The images are all sorted, categorized and ready to go...the words are in my handwritten notes and on Facebook.

The last few days have been intense -- working on a dozen projects for the fall training season for Relay For Life due in the next two weeks, planning a ministry fair for our parish, two Finian Road shoots in beautiful summer weather + finishing up editing last month's shoots, having awesome family time (at the Rainiers for fireworks night, with Kevin + Heidi, and with the Rosses), and celebrating John Paul's baptism yesterday and hosting a brunch afterwards.

At times, I wish we could duplicate ourselves so we wouldn't ever have to miss anything. But that would be an incredible amount of laundry and I'm not willing to make that commitment. :)

I'm so glad to have a week frozen in time right now...so when things calm a bit, I can pull together the scrapbook of our week for A Week in the Life. I love looking back on blog posts from Thomas's early days, and having a book in hand with those days for John Paul would be so much fun a year from now...five years...ten years.

Today was quiet. I worked every moment that the boys slept, and have been checking stuff off the to-do list like mad. I am so blessed that both boys are incredible nappers, and love to sleep. As long as we stick to our bed/naptime routines, it doesn't matter when the naps happen...because they go down like clockwork.

When Thomas was up, we played soccer in the yard, hosed lots of things down, and had some downtime together. Monday mornings are usually 'recovery mornings' from the weekend: cleaning the kitchen, a few loads of laundry, getting the boys back on a nap schedule, and finding order again. I used to dread Mondays, and now they're one of my favorite days. Funny how things change over time.

Tonight, I had a stash of pecans that I wanted to use up...so we had pecan-crusted mahi mahi and carrot rice (with pecans instead of peanuts). Both were new recipes, and were incredibly delish.

Looking forward to a week of early mornings to continue finishing up projects...so I'm heading to bed now. Sweet dreams!

Week in the Life: Tuesday

2011-07-27T04:55:00.000-07:00

And today...the first photo of me for the Week in the Life project!

Today's images are downloaded, sorted and renamed. Today was a frustrating day (gotta keep it real, now!)...from a two hour oil change (with a scheduled appointment, no less, and a service associate who is clearly single without kids), getting rained on with both boys while on a walk to keep Wee Ski 1.0 from terrorizing the dealership, John Paul's teething, and finding a mountain of to-dos that seem to multiply like wet gremlins.

I found myself prioritizing and re-prioritizing today.

There were definitely highlights -- Thomas still being a joy after two hours at the dealership, Thomas's pure joy at a hot dog + coke + smoothie after Costco, playing outside when we got home, and finding his way to my office after his bedtime for 'just one more sip of water'.

A few moments from today:

Before walking out for the mail. John Paul was not happy to be done with lunch.

Thomas's very meticulous way of closing the mailbox. And he ALWAYS lifts the flag, mail inside or not.

Our beautiful "wild grasses". :) It's all in an effort to keep a sustainable yard. Of course.

Turkey cheddar burgers with tasty delicious homemade garlic buns. Guess whose burger this was? A hint? It's a very small bite taken out.

Don't fool yourself -- this sweet handholding led to pinches from 1.0 to 2.0. He may be out of the running for Big Brother of the Week.

Week in the Life: Monday

2011-07-26T04:45:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to this year's Week in the Life ever since John Paul was born. Looking back to when Thomas was wee, it's making me realize just how quickly time passes. I adore having Thomas's first month book to look through, especially with all of the details -- most of which I've now forgotten. I would love to have a book of our ordinary life right now, with Thomas as the Little and John Paul as the Wee.

:: MY PROCESS ::
To help this project succeed, I decided to follow Ali's advice and shoot/journal this week, and start scrapping next week. If I tried to do it all in this week, the chances of finishing the book (well) would be slim since it's a crazy busy week.

In addition, I printed out the PDFs to jot down journaling throughout the day. I also picked up the 12x12 layered set to scrap these up next week.

Every night, I'm downloading my cards and sorting the images. Picking out the ones I love, copying them into a new folder and renaming them w/the time the image was taken (just to make it easy later). Each morning, I'll pull a few of my favorites from the day and blog them, but save the majority for the upcoming weeks when I scrap them. I love realizing little things right now:

I need to shoot myself more.
Thomas is mimicking everything that Jonathan does. Everything. Some of my most heartwarming images are of Thomas doing his 'best Jonathan' -- reading the mail next to him at the kitchen counter after dinner, reading books on the sofa before bedtime, and reading a golfing magazine while using the bathroom.
Having my camera out has helped capture little things as they happen throughout the day.
I love our family's relationship with meals...and can't wait to document what we're preparing and eating right now. I think I'll add in some recipes and images as well, since our tastes change over time.

These were my favorites from Monday.

Early morning when Thomas realized that baby John Paul was home from Florida and awake. JP2 is happy about the hug so far.

But not so much anymore. :)

Thomas was so proud of helping me with the plants outside this morning, until I realized he had helped one of the entire dill plants right out of the pot and into the house. We replanted and watered together.

Can't wait for the rest of the week!

The 2012 Nationwide Summit

2011-07-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Settling back into home after a whirlwind four day adventure to Orlando, Florida.

John Paul was an incredible little Relayer this weekend. Fabulous on the flights, chill during general sessions + breakouts, and loved all the peeps he was able to meet. He had an incredible number of aunties (and even a few uncles!) who held him, bounced him, and rocked him throughout the weekend. We were both in heaven.

Thomas stayed with Mom and Dad for a few days, and then came home to Jonathan on the weekend. I had a few sweet things to come home to:

ME | Thomas, did you miss Mommy and Baby John Paul?
THOMAS | I had a good time with BearBearMom and Papa.
Jonathan finished a bunch of projects on the house -- finishing up my bathroom vanity, fixing the washer, finding an amazing weed whacker to take on our blackberry bushes, keeping the house clean, and giving The Wee Ski 1.0 a great boys' weekend. I loved logging into Facebook to see them checked in at the Amtrak station, where Thomas could watch trains FOR HOURS.

Anyway, back to Summit.

In a nutshell: the Nationwide Summit brings together 500 Relayers from around the world (9 countries, including the U.S.!) to convey the vision for the upcoming year and to motivate everyone before we head back home. Some incredible speakers, experiences, and moments throughout.

I was so grateful that the Great West Division made it possible for me to attend with John Paul. You don't often hear newborn cries at a conference (also the reason why there were no changing tables in the bathrooms), and so it's definitely out of the ordinary. But it was a gift, and I truly appreciate it. I found it hilarious that a number of people only know John Paul as "The Wee Ski"...and that's how he was introduced to everyone!

We got a big jump start on the final prep for the Great West Summits this fall, and it was an awesome weekend. A LONG LONG to-do list prepped on the BlackBerry on the flight home.

A few of my favorite moments:

John Paul and John David (J.D.) crashing out on the floor together at the very end. Both Wee Skis love J.D.

John Paul and his "virtual Auntie Angie". I SO loved getting the chance to catch up with her, it had been three years since we were in the same place at the same time. The last time, it was in St. Louis at a Fundraising Forum and I was pregnant with Thomas and she was about a year ahead of having her son. Now, there are three boys between us. I love that we have been able to keep up with one another, even as our paths cross much more frequently in the virtual world than the 'in real life' world!

Getting to see Judy, Brian and Nancy all at the same time. Last time that happened? Celebration on the Hill, 2006. If you've followed Nancy's journey, you'll know she has worked for the American Cancer Society for years, heading up the National Corporate Team Program. (She definitely had a hand in my being selected to be featured in the National Workplace Giving Campaign at Merrill Lynch back in 2006!)

A year ago, she was diagnosed with lymphoma and not only fought back successfully BUT RAN MARATHONS while doing so. She looked radiant, even after a whirlwind few days at Summit. She's an awesome photographer and an incredible inspiration to everyone around her. SO loved catching up with her!

Auntie Carrie, who made it possible for John Paul (and subsequently, me) to be able to attend. I remember a year ago, chatting into the wee hours of the night about life, family, and wishing that it wasn't so hard to have another Wee Ski...not knowing I was a few days pregnant at the time. She surprised me with a sweet little care package from Fargo, ND -- with things I love -- a local cookbook for my fam, a Relay onesie for John Paul and shirt for me, and some cool little themed goodies from Fargo.

Linda, Heather, Mark and Michael
There's a good chance Auntie Linda was teaching John Paul how to flip someone off on the plane if they complained about his crying... :) I love her. She was so good to him. Linda and Heather are coordinating a number of videos, and I got the chance to be the "American" in a sweet video of International Relayers saying 'thank you' in their native languages. So there I was, with my Pacific Northwest non-accent, surrounded by Relayers from Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and South Africa. One of these things is not like the other... Mark just returned to the US following a worldwide global volunteering adventure chronicled over at Aspen to Nepal. Michael is our 'multimedia geek' from the South, but with Great West now. I could listen to his accent ALL DAY LONG. He worked with the online Relay initiatives and he's hysterical.

My Nationwide Leadership Training Team gals, with Carrie.
Michelle from New Mexico, Angela (I brought the Connolly's Crew tee over for her, since we added her name as a survivor this year), and Mary, from Eastern Washington.

Ron, bravely wrestling the gator. A hilarious on-site fundraiser from the Mid West Division on Friday night. Words just don't do this photo justice.

With Lisa, my co-facilitator from the Mid-South Division. She and I trained together when I was just a few weeks along with John Paul, and I learned an INCREDIBLE amount of Southern goodness from her. She's also the one who put a hairpiece in my hair because "it just wasn't big enough to be southern hair without it'. So good to see her again!

A super funny Relayer from the United Kingdom, dancing to the Silent Storm -- the silent disco set up by International. SO INCREDIBLY FUNNY. I hope that we can set this up next year at Relay!

Heidi and Kara from the High Plains Division. John Paul was in heaven with these two.

Mimi, Lisa and Kelli. I hadn't seen Mimi since she visited the Tacoma Relay for the 20th Anniversary. It was so good to actually hug Kelli in person!

And the Great West crew before heading out to dinner on Saturday night. You should have seen the looks that Jennifer got when she was carrying John Paul, as she is seven months pregnant right now. It was awesome.

So good to go, but so good to be home. And now...to start checking things off my follow-up to-do list before our call on Thursday... :)

Swiper, no swiping!

2011-07-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks, every time a bright red strawberry popped up on the vine, it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Well, most of it anyway. Every berry was still attached at the top to the vine.

And I found the culprit the other night, as I leaned out the sliding glass door.

I saw the Wee Ski 1.0, squatting down next to the strawberry pot. He slowly and methodically took a bite of each big berry, leaving a little still attached.

At least he's eating local.

Thomas Tames the Bear

2011-07-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Because I know I'll be missing The Wee Ski 1.0.

I love downloading cards and finding new-again moments. I forgot I shot this last weekend. There are some hilarious moments with my parents and the digital camera on the same card, but those will come next week. I promise. They're classic already.

In the meantime, check out this clip I love of Thomas, playing with the bear that Mom and Dad brought back from Alaska. And yes, he had played for about 15 minutes already with it. :)

One word: Simplify

2011-07-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

I had big plans for my garden this year.

We were going to rototill all of the yard up, plant grass, add in raised beds for planting, and have a beautiful lawn for Thomas to run through. (And solve the problem of the little bastard mole that haunts the farm and creates incredible havoc in the grass, but that may be asking for a miracle.)

All while in my third trimester and one of Jonathan's busiest quarters on record.

You can tell by the beautiful yellow flowers next to the deck (aka: weeds) that it may not have gone as planned. There's a good chance I can lose our 100 lb dog or two-year-old son in the field if I'm not paying attention, they disappear into the four-foot-tall daisies. It's a little like our own Field of Dreams, except Shoeless Joe isn't walking out of our daisies. Shoeless Thomas is.

I decided all I could handle this year was my herbs on the deck. Whatever produce I wanted 'fresh' I could find at the farmers' market or Lattin's.

And even with the herbs, I decided to scale way back, and just pick up a few plants. Herbs I knew I would use this summer: basil, stevia, parsley, chives, oregano, rosemary, dill, cilantro, sage and pineapple mint. About a third of what I normally plant.

Simplifying as much as I could.

Just one of each, except the basil. I picked up 3 of those, because I always kill them. Figured the odds were better if I started with more.

I've been amazed at what's happened. Even with the crazy, cold weather, everything has grown like mad. My parsley has grown tenfold since planting, to the point I am looking up recipes that use "a ton of fresh parsley". The dill has been out of control: which is awesome with the fresh Alaskan salmon from Dad. I am cutting back like mad so the plants don't go to seed, and saving the herbs in the fridge in damp paper towels.

A significant bounty from humble beginnings.

When I was planting everything into the deck pots, I found two plants from last year that somehow survived NOT BEING WATERED FOR THE ENTIRE WINTER. Since they were on the covered deck, they only received rain during heavy winds + rain. That's it. There was a speck of green in each of my 3 chive plants, and one tiny chocolate mint leaf (tiny = 2 mm). I decided to see if I could revive them, and with a little TLC, they're all growing back.

It's been a little surreal to see how well things grow -- even thrive -- when you scale back a bit; narrowing your focus and not spreading things so thin (or packed so tightly in the pot). Or when you devote a bit of attention to things that are nearly dead and they find life again.

In this year of a toddler + a newborn, it's been a great lesson for me.

A very tasty delicious edible lesson.

I'm getting ready to leave for Orlando, Florida to the Relay For Life Nationwide Leadership Summit. It's my first Summit in 8 years that I've been to that I don't have much responsibility. I'm not leading any trainings (a first in six years), I don't have an official role with the Division (beyond planning the General Sessions for our Summits this fall) and I simply get to attend. John Paul is flying with me, and will be attending his first Summit at two months old. (He'll beat his older brother by four months -- Thomas was six months when he attended his first Leadership Summit in Arizona).

I realize at this time in my life - when both boys are small - that simplifying makes our family life easier. It makes me a better mom, a better wife, a more faithful child of God, a better entrepreneur, a better volunteer.

It's not always easy, especially when I have to choose between things that I would love to be part of...but in saying no, my 'yes' becomes more valuable.

Refocusing back to my family, keeping our lives as simple as possible, has given me a chance to grow in ways that I needed to grow. Where my sense of self-worth isn't defined in what I produce, how much gets done on the house or in the yard, or how much I am "needed". It's given me the chance to be reminded that my self-worth is found simply in that I am a child of God.

And when I'm feeling overwhelmed, it's helped me to sit down outside, in the midst of Thomas's toys and bubbles and cars, and smell the fresh herbs + berries on the deck. Reminding myself that in this season, slowing down + simplifying is just what is needed.

And everybody was kung fu sleeping

2011-07-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better than a soundly sleeping Wee Ski, hands frozen in air. Second best? Seeing his tiny little feetsies crossed. I love that his older brother comes over to point out his toes, "Mommy? Piggies! Wee wee wee!"

That time with BearBearMom and her 'this little piggy went to the market' must be sinking in. :)

I love this kid.

2011-07-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

We took down Thomas's crib last night and Jonathan transitioned it into a toddler bed. Jonathan made a 'landing zone' out of big pillows for him if he rolled off, but he stayed in bed all night.

The Wee Ski slept a full 12 hours without any pressure to climb out at 5 am to wake us up with his accomplishment -- as he did ALL last week. There's a chance I teared up a bit when I peeked in this morning and saw him face down, sprawled across the bed, sound asleep.

Powered by a banana smoothie and leftover popcorn from the drive-in, he headed outside to play in the sun.

Loving this slow mornings in the summer, sunshine or not!

All aboard!

2011-07-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last month, Mom and Dad invited us to a very special railroad adventure. Since Thomas is ridiculously crazy about trains right now (he was high for days after we drove to the Amtrak station and let him watch trains roll in and out from the comfort of his carseat)...this was an awesome treat.

Jonathan and Thomas joined up with Mom and Dad at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe. They had scheduled that particular weekend because it was also civil war re-enactment weekend. On the ride out to the re-enactment, the 'players' in the re-enactment were dressed from the Civil War era. Never mind that BearBear (Grandpa) bought Thomas a treat for the ride: the very neat and never messy Cheetos cheese puffs. There's rumors that there were a few re-enactors with small orange handprints on their clothes. We cannot confirm nor deny that.

Thomas waving to the folks on the train with him during the ride.

Everyone thought that the re-enactment was great until they realized that Thomas would be seeing people get shot, just before it began. And not knowing what to expect, Thomas watched with intensity and as the players started shooting, he stood up and yelled, "Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me!" He laughed as it continued. It's not uncommon to hear him yell "Don't shoot me!" in the house when he's pulling out the laser tag guns.

Thomas dressed up with a few boys.

Tuckered out on the way back from his long day of fighting.

He had an awesome time. I love that there are a few Santa trains around Christmastime...so we may just head back!

Quick Takes: The Random Edition

2011-07-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life right now: too short for a blog post, too long for Facebook.

Freshened the blog up a bit.
It was long overdue, but I'm on a blue kick right now (could it be having two boys with incredible blue eyes -- of which neither Jonathan or I have?). If you're reading this in a reader, click on over to see! There's even a new SKI favicon (Mom, that means that when you look in the upper left corner of the webpage, next to the web address, you'll see a tiny little "SKI" next to the address.) And the background? An image of Mt. Rainier (blurred) that I shot last year.
Thomas has a two-year-old-style love affair with cows. He doesn't say the letter "C" very well yet -- so everything comes out as a "T". "Mommy! Lots of tows! Tows over there! (counting them) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 50!" Clearly we're teaching him the value of compound interest. He's been very excited as it's haying season, and we get to see our cows all over the farm. He often asks for more tows while we're driving. I've been known to take a different route home just to see more cows. I am a sucker.
I shouldn't have mocked The Shining yesterday.
Or maybe I shouldn't have smugly said that the Skis will sleep well last night. At three a.m., I woke up to tiny little hand putting an empty water bottle on my nightstand. "Mommy? Thirsty." I had just fallen back asleep after feeding 2.0, and I about jumped through the ceiling. Jonathan just snickered and went back to sleep.
For the days when I'm feeling overwhelmed as a mom: Mother of Six Priests and Four Nuns Dies
An incredible piece on a mom of 15 children from a small town in India who passed away at age 94. She raised them in a tree house (to fend off attacks from wild elephants and jungle beasts) and from her 15 children, Mrs. Elizabeth Anikuzhikattil gave the church 6 priests (including 1 bishop) and 4 nuns. Somehow, my stress of Thomas's incredible energy that doesn't stop during Mass pales in comparison. :)
Fruit flies, I'm coming after you! I made this trap yesterday and it's AMAZING. Amazingly gross, as well, but it seriously does the trick. Now my ripe bananas can ripen in peace before they become the world's tastiest banana bread.
Cathy Zielske tweeted this yesterday about John Paul and his baby scrapbook...squee!

There's a good chance I woke up Jonathan in the middle of the night to tell him that. His response as a good manly man? "Who?"
I'm back in the kitchen for meals -- yea!
We had dinner at the table every night this week (except poker night on Monday, but we still all ate here, the guys just ate outside on the deck). Back into meal planning and it's been a huge blessing to cut down on trips to the store + costs. This week, we've had steaks, lots of roasted veggies including asparagus, carrots and broccolettes, chicken nachos, greek chicken wraps, corn casserole, and my favorite seasonal dinner: lobster with garlic scapes and portobello mushrooms in a garlic butter sauce, over rice. Tasty delicious. Tonight? Either fajitas or pizza rolls. One of the big helps has been my 'feeding the fam' notepad from Finian Road (of course) -- check back for a giveaway next week!

Just in case it's needed....

2011-07-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Last October, during "Ski Scary Movie Month" on the farm, I made the bad decision to select "The Shining". Watching it led to a screamfest in the middle of the night (led by me, then Jonathan, then Thomas) after Jonathan spooked me in the doorway when I was up rocking Thomas in the rocking chair in the middle of the night. It was not our finest hour on the farm.

So suffice to say, if you've seen the movie -- and especially this clip from the movie which is really quite freaky, so watch at your own risk -- you can understand why I was so relieved when I saw how Thomas packed up his big wheel to ride it around the house.

All the vitals -- two puckies (one for him and one for baby John Paul), a banana, and a good old-fashioned bottle of holy water.

Fear not -- we'll all sleep well tonight on the farm.

Letters to John Paul

2011-07-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I never really finished for Thomas was his monthly letters. As the 8th rolled around each month, I remembered to shoot him, but would procrastinate on the journaling + letter to him. As time moved on, memories from that exact month faded. He has an awesome first month book which is finished and in our living room. And ironically, his last "monthly letter" spread that I have uploaded is from July 2009 -- his six month letter. Maybe I should just rename it the Monthly Letters for the First Half of Your First Year?

One of the big challenges was that I had originally used one template and wanted to continue using it, but I never customized the changes, so each month I was rebuilding it from scratch. (Talk about a de-motivator in wanting to continue something!)

So this round, I want to keep things simple (in keeping in line with my one little word for the year: simplify).

And though I never blogged it, I did John Paul's first monthly spread just after he turned one month old. And I just finished the two month old spread.

For this round? I'm just continuing his 'baby book', though I won't use the same template (as I did in Thomas's monthly letters) nor the same kit as earlier in John Paul's baby book. Each month will look different from the previous month, so that it won't ever feel like it's something I 'have' to do. It won't all match (which would normally bug me to no end), but in the big picture? IT WILL GET FINISHED. :)

So far, I'm keeping it simple by using templates and sampling the colors from the images themselves.

Here's the first two spreads. Specs for the scrapping are beneath. And as always, you can click on the pages themselves for a larger version to read the journaling.

The specs:

TEMPLATES | Adapted from Cathy Zielske's templates. From "One Month Old" comes the Layered Template No. 83 (adapted to an 8x8 spread) and from "Two Months Old" is Layered Template No. 86 (also adapted to an 8x8 spread) and Story Guide No. 05B (questions adapted to this spread for a two-month-old). I'm pretty sure his entire book will be filled with Cathy Z's templates BECAUSE I LOVE THEM THAT MUCH. They can be used in so many different ways. Swoon.
FONTS | Avenir, using different weights.
WORD ART | "first memories" from Ali Edwards Simple Celebrations Baby Elements.

12 of 12: A Cold Summertime with the Wee Skis Edition

2011-07-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Life with two little Wee Skis. One is two years old, one is two months old.

I love the 12 of 12 -- 12 captures of life from one day. This is my 23rd edition of the 12 of 12 on this blog...dating back to the original edition here more than 4 years ago in April 2007. At that time, Jonathan and I had been dating for a month and a half. He would propose less than 2 months later.

Seriously, time has flown by.

For an interesting comparison, here is Thomas's 12 of 12 when he was the same age as John Paul is now.

8:04 am | The Wee Ski 2.0 sleeps.
I love how peacefully he sleeps. I moved him up to our bed as I was cleaning up our bedroom.

8:32 am | Banana protein smoothie.
Heavenly. Ironic that it's served in a Mt. Angel Brewey pint glass! Thomas loves smoothies, "Mommy? Smoobys today?"

8:33 am | Toast with tayberry jam.
I heart Johnson Berry Farm. You want to know the best easy dessert ever? These brownies topped with raspberry sauce from Johnson Berry Farm. Tasty delicious.

9:51 am | Flowers.
I love fresh flowers. They're in the bathroom and on the kitchen table and I LOVE WALKING PAST THEM.

11:10 am | Stuff on my kid: Wee Skis style.
Seriously, how can you not love the gorilla tucked in with the Wee Ski 2.0? Thomas snuggled up the gorilla to John Paul while he was sleeping. Little does John Paul know that the gorilla dances and sings "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter. He's in for a rude awakening one of these days!! And this may be the first photo I have of the Wee Ski 2.0 smiling. Swoon.

11:11 am | A dancing Thomas.
Dancing to the aforementioned "Hot Hot Hot".

2:48 pm | A quiet break on the deck.
After a three hour work session while both boys are sleeping. I pulled the laptop out onto the deck, in between the rain sessions. Even with the rain, it is incredibly beautiful during the summer out here. Feeling so blessed, especially for a few quiet moments to myself.

3:10 pm | My beloved sage plant.
Clipped off a bunch for sweet potatoes & sage, wrapped in proscuitto for poker night on Monday. I made a mistake last year and planted dwarf sage, so I'm so glad to have a big, healthy sage plant this year -- no dwarf-sized leaves!

3:35 pm | A Grumpalicious Wee Ski. Post nap.
He still wakes up wanting to be held. I secretly love this, because he never cuddles unless he's sick. He's always ALL OVER THE PLACE. So I'm soaking up his wish to be held for as long as he'll let me. Unless, of course, I need to feed his brother, and I get this face complete with tears.

3:36 pm | A bonus image entitled, "Oh, the agony."

3:44 pm | One of my favorite images of the boys.
Taken after nursing and the Wee Ski 1.0 calmed down. Oh BlackBerry how I hate you for not letting me save this image, so I took a photo of the phone with my camera. Next best thing.

4:15 pm | Chalking it up.
With his easter chalks and a special 'big brother' big box of chalk from his cousin Avila.

6:10 pm | Chicken nachos.
One of Jonathan's favorite meals right now, and incredibly easy. Tostitos scoops, chicken from the rotisserie chicken from Costco, white beans, pico de gallo salsa and Mexican cheese baked to melting.

To see other 12 of 12s from around the world from today, visit Chad Darnell's site here.

The Lord Giveth, and He Taketh Away.

2011-07-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Friday night was a big night for the Skis.

It was the first night that John Paul slept six hours in a row.

Six glorious hours. Jonathan and I both woke up with sore muscles from sleeping in one position for so long. IT WAS THAT HEAVENLY.

And of course, as we were smugly laying in bed around 5:30 am, marveling at how good we felt after six amazing hours of unbroken sleep, we heard it. The small thrilled little voice.

"Hi Mommy!"

That was NOT the voice of a sweet two-month-old who was far advanced for his age in linguistic ability.

It was the voice of our two-and-a-half year old.

WHO HAD JUST LEARNED HE COULD CLIMB OUT OF HIS CRIB AND WAS STANDING PROUDLY AT THE FOOT OF OUR BED.

Jonathan and I would have kept him in his crib until his 18th birthday or when he left for college, whichever came first. The Wee Ski 1.0 can climb up anything -- John Paul's bassinette, the sofas, up into the 4runner, our "tractor" (aka the lawn mower) and Jonathan's "motor-tractor" (motorcycle) -- but because he still slept in a sleepsack and couldn't separate his legs wide enough to climb, he never knew that he was able to escape his crib.

And just like that, after 912 days of him waking up in the same exact place we put him down, life changed. Each sleep or nap ends with his joy that he can get up and out on his own, and him running in, "Hi Mommy! Hi Papa! No more nap!"

Thus endeth our sleeping until we want to go get him up.

Yesterday morning, he got up to look for us, and we heard him head right out the front door without even stopping in our room. He must think we have wild parties in the yard while he's sleeping. Clearly. All the fun happens when he has been trapped in his crib. If only he knew that before he gets up, we get up and ride around the deck naked on our tricycles.

No wait, that's him.

All of our neighbors just breathed a collective sigh of relief.

And God, we see your humor. At least you gave us five minutes to feel like masters of the universe before crushing our sleeping-in dreams!

Lost in translation

2011-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

All I asked: "Thomas, do you want to feed the strawberry tops to the chickens?"

Clearly what the Wee Ski heard when he went to get ready:
"Let's go out in the rain and cold, show our Tacoma Rainiers support (the gloves) and be prepared in case we need to beatdown the chickens!"

And you have our two-year-old's personal attire selection for the evening.

The Scoop on Poop: Our Adventures in Cloth Diapering

2011-07-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest -- this is entire post about diapers. And baby poop. And toddler poopy.

So if it's something that you have no interest, I promise I won't be offended if you sign off now. :)

I've answered a lot of questions lately about cloth diapering (wow, I never thought I'd say THAT five years ago!), so I figured I'd just pull together a post about everything cloth diapers in the Ski world. It's long and detailed, but there's a lot of info inside...especially if you're considering cloth diapering. And I loved reading other moms' blogs about cloth diapering when I had questions as I was starting out.

Diapers have been a pretty big focus over the past few months as we've welcomed a newborn back into the house. Newborns go through diapers at nearly twice the rate of toddlers, so I've been changing a lot of diapers lately. A LOT.

Over the course of Thomas's life, we've spent nearly $2000 on diapers. Knowing that little boys potty train later than little girls, we're looking at the possibility of another year of him in them. Starting again with John Paul means that we have several years ahead of diapers.

Why did I want to make the switch?

Each child moving from disposable diapers to cloth diapers saves about two tons of trash from landfills...so if we're hoping for a big family (which we are), this is one way to help keep our carbon "bottomprint" (heh heh, instead of footprint) smaller.
Cloth diapers help kids recognize when they are wet and can help them potty train earlier. I'm all for that! :)
The financial impact of another round of disposable diapers is depressing. $2000 for each child vs $500-600 for both AND can be handed down to future Wee Skis with good care? Yes, please!
With the newborn diapers, even the sensitive ones, the mesh would stick to John Paul's tiny little man parts and I would literally have to peel it off. With the soft microfleece of the diapers we chose, that's never been an issue. John Paul's never had any diaper rash because of it.
In the big picture, I'm OK if we still use disposables as needed (especially for travel). I'll have John Paul with me later in the month out of town, where we won't have access to a washing machine or dryer for several days...and we'll be flying seven hours each way.
And in the bigger picture...I'm not about to judge any other mom for whether or not she uses cloth diapers. I've seen that there is definitely a group of moms who judge other moms for the choices that they make -- for example, regarding breastfeeding vs formula or cloth vs disposable or whatever else the current hot button item is -- and I'm not interested in that. This is what works for us, and it won't work for everyone. And that is perfectly OK!

I thought about cloth diapering Thomas much earlier, but I encountered resistance from Jonathan. And reasonably so -- I really had no idea what I was thinking about getting into or was asking of him. There was one ill-fated attempt to just convert over to cloth wipes last year and that ended badly. Let's be real - it was a stinky disaster. Poopy wipes with nowhere to go are NOT the way to sell your husband on converting the diapers over too!

At times, I realize I must be a little insane to move two kids into cloth diapers cold turkey at the same time. I just figured it was easier to go "all in" with both of them or not at all. That decision actually helped to solidify the plan because not only was it a larger up-front commitment, but it required some big changes to make it successful for both boys.

This time around, I planned ahead to help make the transition a success. As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Here's a few ways that I prepared:

RESEARCH | I did a great deal of research both on the diapers themselves and the process of washing.
I asked friends who cloth diaper, stopped into our local cloth diapering shop (Simple Cloth) in Olympia, and researched on the web. I wanted to have an idea of the challenges in switching over.
CHOOSING THE DIAPERS | For the diapers, I wanted ones that would take the boys from nearly-newborn to potty training.
With that, I ended up with the FuzziBunz One Size Pocket Diaper. I could use the same ones for Thomas now, and 'pass them down' to John Paul as Thomas potty trained. And all of them can be passed down to future Wee Skis. The FuzziBunz can be used on babies from 7-35 pounds. Three different elastics can be adjusted (each leg + waist). The legs have 8 different size options and the waist has 4 options. John Paul is on the smallest size (about to move up) and Thomas is on the second largest size. FuzziBunz also had a great promo while we were stocking up -- buy 5, get 1 free. We ended up with 36 diapers between the two boys, with a little more than half sized down to John Paul. I actually anticipated moving John Paul into the FuzziBunz around 3 months, but he's been growing like a weed and I really wanted to stop peeling the disposables off his bottom...so he was moved to them sooner.
STORING THE DIAPERS AFTER USE | Using a diaper sprayer and a 'dry pail'.
Newborn diapers and toddler diapers are treated differently. Breastmilk poo is water soluble, so I just slide out the insert and drop both the diaper and insert into the dry pail on the wall. John Paul's diapers are the easiest. Thomas's diapers take a bit more work, but it's not bad. I remove the insert and drop that into the dry pail. I knock any solids into the toilet and use the diaper sprayer to rinse any remaining solids into the toilet as well. The diaper goes into the dry pail and that's it! It took a few times to get the hang of the right pressure (READ: not spraying too hard and covering yourself in wet baby poo) but trust me, you learn quickly when that's the punishment!! When it comes time to wash, you simply take the whole bag into the laundry area, unzip the bottom of the bag, drop the diapers into the wash, and toss the bag in as well. You never need to touch the dirty diapers as they drop into the washer. We have two FuzziBunz hanging diaper pails at home and a zippered diaper tote that goes with us in when we're not home. We also use the FuzziBunz wonder wipes with fleece, and toss those into the dry pail as well. With two boys, I picked up two 10-packs to always have some handy. They're also soft face washcloths for the boys when you need them!
THE LAUNDRY | About the wash...I have never been a fan of laundry. But the prospect of washing diapers every other day (and sometimes every day) forced me to get my laundry plan organized and together (sweet bonus!!). I set up a schedule for what would be washed on which day, and that helped dramatically in keeping things on track. It also helped to ensure that Jonathan never runs out of white tees or dark socks because whites and darks always get washed early in the week. I designed two guides for the laundry area (someday, I'll have a laundry room...someday!) and laminated them. They're hung on the wall with clothespins above the washer & dryer. As long as I keep up, the extra laundry really isn't a big deal.
THE SOAP | Finding what works for the diapers with our well water.
I tested our water at the house. Having a well helps in cutting the cost on water to wash, since we own the water and only pay for the electricity to heat the water and run the machine & dryer. I wanted to know what kind of soap would work best with our water, and I was amazed to find out how soft our water really is. I learned that not only was I using too much laundry soap for normal loads, but I was using too much dishwasher soap, and dishes weren't rinsing well. Cutting the soap for both loads helped dramatically in the final product of normal clothes cycles and dish cycles in the dishwasher. That was a nice bonus! Anyway, I chose Rockin' Green for the soap. They have a number of yummy fragrances, so I started with the sample sizes to test the scents and to see how they reacted with the boys' bottoms. John Paul was always fine, but Thomas broke out in diaper rash a few times from the diapers. When I reduced the amount of soap being used, the breakouts cleared up right away. After all the samples, I picked up a big package of the lavender mint...which ended up being my favorite. They have three options -- hard rock (for hard water), classic rock (for middle of the road) and soft rock (for soft water). We use the classic rock, in smaller quantities because our water is soft. For each load, we use about 2 TSP per load.
DRYING | Line dried diapers last longer.
Washington's wet weather isn't what I'd call conducive to line drying throughout the year...but I'll take it as long as I can (said while looking outside to the first 80 degree days we've had THIS YEAR). I have my ghetto fabulous clothesline (mentioned here) but also picked up a drying rack from Costco that I love. I'll probably pick up another one for the winter to use inside. They have a sale right now in the warehouses, making them about $23 each. Money well spent! When I can't line dry, I toss everything into the dryer on low...but am planning to move the racks inside this winter.
STORING THE DIAPERS BEFORE USE | In the bathroom.We have two JJ Cole tall storage boxes. They are awesome on their own - they fold up and store flat when not in use. They fit right under the counter in the bathroom - one for each boy. Each 11x11x11 storage box holds the stuffed diapers so they are ready to go when they are needed. We also have a JJ Cole diaper and wipes caddy, which holds all the cloth wipes in the big compartment (where the diapers used to be stored).

Onto the fun stuff, what this all looks like.

So I'll start you with a little 'cloth diapering porn', if you will. It's turned out that hanging the diapers is one of the most calming things in the world. Jonathan definitely doesn't bug me when I'm doing it (lest I ask him to help!) and Thomas plays outside near me when I'm out there. Stuffing the diapers later is the perfect before-bed relaxation. And I can't tell you how many people my mom's age remember doing the same thing for their kids a generation ago, and talk about it wistfully. :)

Anyway, enjoy.

Hanging on our line outside...

Drying the inserts on the rack from Costco. This sight just makes me happy.

The rack in the front yard, on the sidewalk. You can tell it's summer because our Christmas trees are soft and fluffy and growing in the background.

The FuzziBunz One Size diapers. We're in Relay season, so I pulled a lavender diaper (sized down to two-month-old John Paul) and a grape diaper (sized for 2 1/2 year old Thomas). You can see how small the elastic can make the diapers so they can be used for both boys...and it definitely gives John Paul a super fluffy bum!

The inserts that go inside. Each FuzziBunz One Size diaper comes with two super soft cotton microfiber inserts (a newborn size and a toddler size) as well as an extra set of elastics. For Thomas, who is a heavy wetter at night, I also picked up some extra Thirsties hemp inserts (I can see my mom rolling her eyes right now -- hemp? Really? Hemp?!?) that are super absorbent. John Paul uses one newborn insert in each diaper all the time. Thomas uses the toddler sized insert all the time, and at night, he gets 'double stuffed' with both a toddler insert and a hemp insert. It keeps him dry all night.

Thomas with the infamous diaper sprayer. There are some funny stories with this, starting with me installing it. I felt pretty confident about installing it after watching this video on YouTube. Little did I know that we had copper pipes and I snapped off the pipe right from the wall. Thank God I had turned off the water first! Uncle Jerry and Jonathan loved making fun of me and my mad plumbing skills after that. They ended up replacing the copper pipes to both toilets in the bathroom and it ended up being a good thing overall, if you ignore my bruised ego.

Secondly, Thomas thinks having a spray gun on the toilet is THE BEST THING EVER. I remember being in the living room when I forgot to turn off the lever to the gun, and I heard yelling, "WHEEE!!! WHEEE!!!" I ran to the bathroom to find the walls soaked and a very proud Wee Ski holding the sprayer. His response, "I help Mommy!" We had some serious timeouts after that and he is now a responsible diaper sprayer user.

I originally wanted the BumGenius diaper sprayer, but you can also get the generic one for $15 cheaper and better reviews! Notice the nearly identical packaging, you're just buying the name!

In the background above, you can also see the hanging dry pails. We have a very unique bathroom layout -- with a large bathroom (with the bath and shower) and a smaller bathroom connected to the larger bathroom via pocket doors. Guests (and my husband) mainly use the larger bathroom, so I didn't want the dirty diapers hanging in there. Though we also change the boys on the giant counter in the large bathroom, the diaper sprayer and dry pail are in the small bathroom so the scent (if there ever is any) doesn't bother anyone but me. It's literally a six foot walk, so it's not a big deal.

Since the door to the small bathroom is a pocket door, there's obviously no door handle to hang the diaper pails on (which is where they can easily hang). I installed a hook on the wall of the small bathroom (reinforced with drywall screws) to hang the pails. Why two? On the photo above, you can tell that the white bag is nearly full (by how stretched out it is). When I pull that bag to wash the diapers, the brown one is right there for the next time either boy get changed.

And Thomas living it up with the diaper sprayer. Do you know how awesome the phrase, "No, diaper sprayers are only for big boys who are learning to use the potty" is? IT WORKS WONDERS. He can help Mommy after he's spent some quality time on his little potty.

Finally, here's the two guides that hang over our washer & dryer. These really were godsends when it came to getting our family laundry organized and on track. Surprisingly, my freakish Type-A tendencies are OK with being flexible with this, because it at least helps keep me on track to make sure everything gets done in a good rotation.

The laundry schedule:

Cloth Diapering 101 -- just in case hell freezes over and I have a laundry angel to come help! :)

All in all, I'm glad we changed over from disposable diapers.

It's not for everyone, but it works for us. And that's a good deal of cash saved that we can save & invest to help put both boys (who should be OUT of diapers by then) through college! :) The retired-financial-advisor in me says that the $2000 saved for each child should be able to cover their college books, at least! :)

And honestly, aren't their little fluffy bums cute?!?

QUICK LINK

Cloth Diapering Made Easy | A quick way to find nearly everything mentioned here in an online shoppe at Amazon :)

Sometimes we all need a reminder.

2011-06-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

I know I need one every so often.

[a blossom from the Rose Garden at Pt. Defiance • June 2011]

Ten on Tuesday.

2011-06-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

This past week has been Nuts with a capital N.
As soon as Relay finished, I headed to pick up dinner for the boys and to take them home to bed. Jonathan headed out with the team to Inferno's for a pizza & beer celebration. And on the way INTO Inferno's, he severely sprained his knee. After spending a few hours in the ER yesterday, he's got a leg brace and is on the mend.
We have amazing friends.
We were so blessed by Chuck and his son Kevin, who brought Jonathan home (because we had both cars already and I couldn't drive him home). Kevin and Heidi came over shortly thereafter. Heidi went into super auntie mode, and held John Paul as I got settled in from Relay. Kevin helped unload the cars so all I had to do was put things away. And finally last night, Chuck and Chris "invited us out to dinner", but with the circumstances, brought steaks over for the grill and made dinner for us at the house. I really needed some help with Jonathan's leg immobilized (and therefore, he is immobilized) and I can't thank all of them enough for their help.
Relay was an incredible experience.
For both Jonathan and me, the least stressful Relay we've ever had. I will admit to starting to cry when I was packing the car up with the boys' stuff and it ended up pouring on me (I could handle a toddler and a newborn at Relay -- but NOT with mud!!). But the skies dried up and it was a beautiful weekend. Our team finished the weekend with more than $42,000 raised, and our family is 94% of the way to our $11,000 goal. We just need $625 more! (So if you have any cash burning a hole in your pocket and you'd like to support us in the fight against cancer -- we'd love it! Here's the link!)
Our Relay shirts were a hit.Finian Road designed the "SuperC" logo, and we used it on a big team banner, our tees and on our lap bead signage. I made a giant batch of lemon white chocolate chip cookies for Jonathan's office last week with little SuperC tags, and burned our 2011 Relay For Life CD with a sweet cover using the SuperC logo. I love that we had kids' sizes this year. And you know what? Our team tent site won 'best tent site' in a year that we didn't go all out. Chalk that up to crazy luck!!
John Paul is growing like mad.
Seriously. Like mad. His face is filling out and our scale at home has him at 11 pounds already. He's going to be a tough little cookie with Thomas as his older brother. He is definitely on a growth spurt -- he nursed an entire 75 minutes more on Thursday than the daily average for the previous week. (I know, I am a nerd) That's three extra feedings.
I am tired.
It's been a long week. Tonight is the first time in a week I've been able to sit down in front of the computer and answer emails, download & begin processing images, and have silence in a room I'm in. The past few days have been full of taking care of all three boys, climbing the laundry hill known as Mt. Washmore, and unpacking/putting away. It's a little surreal to have silence, actually. I am looking forward to the long weekend and having very little on the schedule.
Can't wait for a Week in the Life.
In less than a month. So looking forward to capturing a week in our family's life, with a nearly three-month-old and a 2.5 year old. Time is escaping so quickly and I want to remember how things are RIGHT NOW.
I am loving summer food.
Starting to get back into the swing of things in the kitchen, after John Paul's birth. In the kitchen right now, we have fresh strawberries, asparagus, broccolini, cucumbers and blueberries. I can't wait to grill up some of the fish Dad brought back from his fishing trip to Alaska (either salmon or halibut is on the menu for tomorrow night). I made a tasty delicious garlic/dill/lemon aioli last week for the Copper River salmon we grilled, and I'll probably bring some up tomorrow for dinner in the Harbor.
Thomas is into saying "thank you".
And I LOVE IT. "Thank you, Mommy." "Thank you, Papa." After prompting for what felt like months, he is beginning to say it on his own. And he's a smart little one -- when he wants something, like a peanut butter protein ball, he brings two -- one for me and one for him. "Please, mommy? Peanut butter ball?" Oh yes, sweet child. You are brilliant and especially good at sharing. His other favorite phrase right now, "Oh Mommy!" It is sweet music to my ears.
Did I mention we're 94% of the way to our $11,000 goal?
Just checking. :) Here's a sweet little video about our team. You should check it out, if you haven't yet.

I love this man...to infinity and beyond!

2011-06-26T11:37:00.001-07:00

Grandbabies are good medicine

2011-06-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

The last eight weeks have had very little 'calm downtime'. In the past week alone, not only did I meet my birthmother in person, but my mom has spent the last two days in the hospital.

Mom is on the mend from a complete obstruction in her small intestine which had her in Urgent Care, then the ER, then finally the hospital all within 24 hours. The docs removed the stomach tube today after a much improved x-ray. We're hoping for an uneventful evening where her body begins working on its own again, and that she might be discharged tomorrow. The boys and I had a few short minutes with her this afternoon before heading back across the bridge. Very grateful to see her in good spirits.

It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster over the past 8 weeks...and this Ski is eagerly anticipating the 24 hours at the Relay For Life, where we get to celebrate, remember and fight back against cancer from the track. As crazy as Relays usually are, I am so excited to spend 24+ hours with my husband and boys, and the amazing peeps from his office, who make up Connolly's Crew. Being able to walk the track, snuggle with the Wee Skis, and spend time with people that I adore.

And after this weekend, I'll finally pull together a post about meeting my birth fam -- a gift from my husband and an afternoon that I'll never forget. I promise. And there's even photos. :)

Life Lessons for the Wee Ski

2011-06-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

Right now, there's a lot of growing up that's happening on the farm.

Each of us are taking away new life lessons.

For Jonathan and me, the lessons tend to revolve around 'balancing work & home', 'how to keep your sanity when your oldest dumps a gallon of car washing soap on the car and starts washing it with a dry diaper when you are feeding your youngest', or 'how to graciously accept blame for something that you know you did not do but your wife insists you did until she realizes that she was wrong and she did it herself but you are smart and do not correct her after her realization'.

John Paul's lessons? 'Focusing on how to eat constantly through growth spurts' and 'survive as the tackling dummy of his older brother'.

Lessons like that.

This brings us to the Wee Ski 1.0. The original Wee Ski, if you will, provided you don't count that Jonathan was Wee at one time.

John Paul's peacefulness and calmness (unless he is hungry, wet or tired) is in stark contrast to Thomas. But it reminds us of how fast Thomas is growing up, and to savor every moment.

I watch him flip through Jonathan's iPhone faster than I can. He can pop in a movie and pull up a chair without missing a beat. If he wants water, he pulls a chair over to the fridge, gets a cup, ice and water. He is toting my little Canon around, turning it on and snapping pics without any help.

And it's in this growing independence that we've had to lay down a few lessons in the past few weeks. Among them:

Chickens don't drink out of dog dishes, so stop climbing into the run to put them in there.
A good farmer doesn't take the fresh eggs from the chicken run and take them directly for composting. He cooks the egg first and only takes the shells to the compost, unless he wants the wrath of Mommy.
Sprouffskes don't turn the dog pink with chalk.
Sprouffskes do not scratch their balls with their fork.
They do not then comb their hair with said fork.
Good boys do not run over the dog with their firetruck.
Sprouffskes do not need swords to use the potty.
The diaper sprayer is not a squirt gun and you are not allowed to spray down the bathroom to 'clean it'. That is not helpful. In fact, it is the opposite of helpful.
Sprouffskes do not squat over bushes and "poop" like the dog does. (I suppose this only applies to the two-legged Skis.)

At times, it's virtually impossible to keep a straight face.

Especially on any lessons that involve forks at dinnertime.

And then you double check to make sure you're using your OWN utensils.

Through the eye of the BlackBerry

2011-06-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

I quite possibly have an addiction to my BlackBerry. There's a reason they're nicknamed "CrackBerry". It's my little e-lifesaver.

It holds all of my shopping lists (if I find myself at Safeway, I have a list of everything that we need right now from there...same for Costco, Target and Lowes).
It keeps tracking of John Paul's nursing and I have a favorite to log the nursing time (and diaper changes!) because I am a Type A freak like that.
I surf the web in the middle of the night while nursing 2.0 and have learned that Jonathan doesn't like hearing the latest news from Twitter at 1 am. So I save it for the 5 am feeding. :)
It has a 2 minute timer automatically set up for Thomas's timeouts. He knows that he's out of timeout when he recognizes the timer bell, and it's time to go find whoever it is to say "Sah-wee!"
And of course, it has my phone, calendar, email and internet. But that's so 2008 to only use it for those things.

Oh, and it has a camera.

Not a sweet one like an iPhone, but one that simply captures what is going on right then with a click of a button. Much quicker than my normal shooting with my 'big' camera.

And it's everywhere and anywhere. I keep only the shots that remind me of something I don't want to forget, the rest I immediately delete. I really should do a scrapbook page of these sometime.

Here are a few of my recent favorite photos from the memory of my BlackBerry.

May 18 • 2:25 pm
Driving on I-5, both boys sound asleep. If you only knew how rarely I have perfect silence...you would completely appreciate the beauty of this image.

May 23 • 7:53 am
A very proud big brother.

May 24 • 3:32 pm
Dressing himself. Very into being independent right now. Though I do think the off-the-shoulder thing is a little 1980s. But that's just me.

May 27 • 1:50 pm
Just after naps. My brilliant idea to bring Thomas back to bed with John Paul and me so we could all keep sleeping was a giant disaster. The stealing of puckies and subsequent screaming made for zero additional nap time.

June 4 • 12:25 pm
I was relaxing after a morning of pressure washing and deck cleaning. Sunshine + chair + playing Thomas + sleeping John Paul = perfect afternoon. Until Thomas realized it was much more fun to pour cold water on Mommy.

June 4 • 12:53 pm
He's now realized that he can use the flowerpot and water bottle to pour water. I just keep telling myself that I used to pay big money for vichy showers, now I get them for free in my driveway.

June 7 • 3:44 pm
Driving south on I-5. We do a lot of that. My favorite part of this whole photo of the boys sleeping is John Paul's pucky stuck on a sleeping Thomas's finger. He had plucked it out of his mouth a few minutes earlier. Thomas squealed, John Paul yelled, and then they both went to sleep.

June 15 • 11:52 am
Metropolitan Market. I LOVE THESE WEE SHOPPING CARTS. Better than the racecarts at Safeway. You better believe that Thomas LOVED being in control of the cart and placing everything inside that I handed him. I love that there's a pole to grab onto for me when he gets going faster than he can handle...but I swear, every time I reached for it, "No, Mommy! I help!"

This morning • 7:23 am
Thomas's eye swelled up last night while he was sleeping, following his brush with the driveway yesterday. It didn't hurt today until I cleaned up the scrape (again)...so he's gotten some extra TLC today. His emotion in this photo? Because I paused Madagascar 2 during breakfast to take this photo. "Alekay? Alekay?:"

I love this sweet, sweet boy...even if it takes all my energy to keep up with him. And some days, I don't even do that very well.

Good thing the Wee Ski 2.0's desires are very limited right now: eat, sleep, change diapers, snuggle. Repeat.

On Shiners + Letting the Dogs Out

2011-06-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

THE BACKGROUND
Both Jonathan and I love Thomas's flair for the dramatic: be it singing, dancing, or whatever it is that has his attention right then. I've gotten Thomas addicted to the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song, and Jonathan's got him saying, "Who? Who?" when he sings to him "Who let the dogs out?"

Today at Mass, Thomas was in rare form. He was very quiet, but couldn't sit still to save his life. He was back and forth from our seats to the tabernacle over and over and over. And after communion, I was very grateful that his two-year-old toddlerese is relatively decipherable by us, but not as well by those who aren't around him all the time. Because it was then, in the quiet after everyone else had received communion...that he was standing in front of the tabernacle and asked Jesus, "Who let the dogs out?"

Humility, thy name is Shelley Sprouffske.

FAST FORWARD TO DINNER TONIGHT...
Jonathan: Were you good for Mommy today?
Thomas: Not at Mass.
Jonathan: No? You weren't good?
Thomas: No. No holy.
Jonathan: But the rest of the day you were good?
Thomas: Yes, but not at church.
Jonathan: Did you ask Jesus who let the dogs out?
Thomas: Yes.
Jonathan: Did he let the dogs out?
Thomas: Yes. He did.

Seriously. Jesus should be better about letting the dogs out.

Oh, and the other news on the farm. This photo is a bit misleading, because it hides Thomas's newest addition to his face from this evening.

His first ever black eye.

Driveway - 1
Thomas - 0

All swollen and coupled with two skinned knees and a skinned elbow. He's a tough little kid, but even I was misty eyed as I cleaned up his owies. His tears were overwhelming, for a kid who rarely cries.

I was cuddling him in the big leather chair when Jonathan got home so I could head to our last Relay meeting before the event next week. When I called to check in, Jonathan asked for a surprise treat for the Wee Ski since he'd been so good.

As Thomas says EVERY time we pass the Golden Arches..."Burga? Fries? Coke?"

So fear not. This boy's parents were more upset by the shiner than he was, after the initial shock wore off. Because I'll tell you...kisses on his boo-boos, TLC with Mommy and Papa, and a plain hamburger and fries and he was as good as new.

Well, maybe with a little extra Neosporin. :)

Dinner on the farm

2011-06-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Just after my birthday, we hosted our first post-baby-number-two dinner party.

It coincided with the 34th anniversary of the day I went home with my first adoptive family...except this time, they came home to MY house! We had a casual BBQ and everyone got to meet each other. If you missed it, the original story is here. There were walks in the fields, lots of stories told, and a great deal of laughter. A good family time all around.

From left to right -- me, mom, Linda and Dodi.

Jonathan met my first adoptive mom's family. Below is my fam, with Dodi's son Brett and Linda's husband, Craig. John Paul is chilling in Craig's arms. Jonathan is behind the camera. :)

Brett and Thomas were fast friends, with bug catching and wheelbarrow rides and scouting out chicken eggs.

I loved seeing them together after only seeing pics on Facebook.

One of the things I love the most is that even though we had been family for a short time of a few days after my birth, they are people that I would love to hang out with had our past experiences never led our paths to cross.

I adore Linda's blog (Bellamere Cottage) -- with D-I-Y projects and actual tutorials on it!! Dodi and I have 101 things in common, and she would not only make an awesome older sister, but a great friend as well.

It still amazes me that we lived just half a mile apart for 7+ years and never knew it. But I am truly grateful that God's given us the chance to get to know one another, albeit 34 years later! Here's to the next 34 years! :)

John Paul at One Month Old

2011-06-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Faux hawk + blue eyes. Swoon.

Turns out both boys can rock the one month old faux hawk.

This one month shoot is brought to you by the sponsor, Mike's Hard Limeade.

Limeades needed after two-year-old tries to drop kick one-month-old. Two-year-old settles for throwing grass and trying to eat one-month-old's foot.

Before body slamming Papa. Mommy was amused.

Papa was amused the first time. But not so much after that. :)

Seriously love this snuggly kid.

The Birth Announcement

2011-06-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

Photographed and designed, of course, by Finian Road. :)

The announcements themselves are 4x9, with rounded corners. I adore rounded corners. And I adore long skinny designs (just like our wedding invitations and cards from Christmas in 2009 and 2010). The quote is from Marc Brown, author of the Arthur books for kids.

Seriously loving the color we painted our bedroom, for it became the base color for the card.

I had ordered long orange envelopes and the orange custom knit bowl ahead of time (from Fini Fini Crochet & Knit Creations -- amazing work by my childhood friend Stacey Heim Tull)...and coupling it with the blue of our bedroom walls made this new-again mommy happy.

The dresser that John Paul is resting on in the basket was handmade by his Grandpa Ski when he was in high school at Rainier, many years ago.

SO loved how these turned out.

Pressure Washing Rainbows

2011-06-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

This post is especially for Rich Brownrice, because he'll never believe I pressure washed without seeing a photo.

It should be noted that I am such a good pressure washer that I can even wash away rainbows. And yes, tonight, it absolutely started pouring on me (four different times) while I was working on the driveway. The rain over the past few weeks has been NONSTOP.

But tomorrow's forecast is 69°, Saturday's is 79° & sunny and Sunday's forecast is 78°. Thank you, Jesus!

This was the sweet rainbow-and-a-half earlier this week. There was two sets of the "BIV" (blue, indigo, violet) and it sparkled over the tree fields. It was the only saving grace when I had just put out the diapers to hang dry on the line and the skies OPENED UP WITH A TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR.

As I was pulling them down, Thomas got stuck in the mud in his new shoes when he was running over to show them to me.

For now, I'll just have to remember God's promise to Noah on the ark.

Because soon, we may need to cut down some freaking Christmas trees and build our own SkiArk. Seriously.

Summer, I am waiting for you. I promise to love you forever when you get here. Pinky swear.

On the occasion of my 34th birthday

2011-06-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Happy milestone days just scream to be scrapped. Especially while emotions are fresh and real.

Today, I turn 34 years old.

And as my Facebook status update says right now:

‎34 years ago, I was born.
On my 30th birthday, my now-husband proposed at the Relay For Life.
On my 34th birthday, he told me that he found my birthmother. I can now tell her "thanks" for giving me the gift of life. ♥ ♥
Jonathan Sprouffske, I never thought you could top my 30th birthday...but you did!
I love you so much!

Adding this page to the "2011 Ski Album", of which I have done no other pages for this year. And I am totally OK with that. :)

The digi-specs of the page:

TEMPLATE | 10 Things I Love About My Life from Cathy Zielske. I am definitely channeling my inner Cathy Z right now. Loving uniformity and order and clean white space.
FONT | Avenir Book + Avenir Heavy
BASE COLORS | Sampled from my shirt (the dark blue and light blue). Gradient to the center of the page.

Four weeks old.

2011-05-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

To add into John Paul's first scrapbook.

Yesterday, Maureen gave us a great gift and had a special date with Thomas. They went on walks, played, and she gave him lots of one-on-one time as Jonathan and I snuck away for a date afternoon. Our 'third wheel' was a great sleeper as we enjoyed an awesome lunch sans toddler.

And when we got home, Maureen took this image of the four of us which I just LOVE. It's life right now. And with me with no gray hair. That part is AWESOME, just in time for my birthday!

The second page was later in the day, with both Wee Skis sound asleep on their papa. He is the baby whisperer, because neither will sleep on me like that.

The digi specs:

First page template | adapted from Cathy Zielske's Layered Template No. 79. The original template is designed for 8.5x11, and I adjusted it a bit to fit a square layout.
Second page word art | from Ali Edwards' Simple Celebrations Baby Elements.
Page element | Mindy Terasawa's Tranquility Mini Kit (matches the rest of the book)

A few of my favorite things

2011-05-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

The colors in the latest edition of love stamps
I picked up a stash of these for John Paul's birth announcements and I love them. Will probably scrap a few pages for this year's family album in this color scheme. Especially love the orange + turquoise together.
"Oh, farts!"
I have no idea where Thomas picked up this phrase, because we don't use the word "fart" -- we use "toot". But on the way to Mass this morning, every sentence he said or answer we gave him was punctuated with an emphatic, "Oh farts!" from him. "Will we see BearBearMom?" "Not until later, Thomas." "Oh, farts!"
Our new diaper sprayer.
This weekend, most of our house projects have been a pain. Meaning: we wanted to finally install the curtains in the bedroom, only to find that no Lowes has all the rods we need. No Lowes had any of the bathroom towel racks I wanted, or the filter for our fridge. And yes, when I went to install the new diaper sprayer in my bathroom, I broke the copper wiring clean off the toilet AFTER said trip to Lowes. (Uncle Jerry will probably be getting me the book "Plumbing" to go with the book "Wiring" that he got me for Christmas.) They installed new tubing to the toilet and the diaper sprayer is now installed...and it's heavenly. A little cold for personal use, but perfect for rinsing the cloth diapers clean before dropping them in the dry bag. I just pray that Uncle Jerry's premonition never comes true, and Thomas doesn't figure out that we have a Wee Ski-sized spray gun on the toilet now. :)
FuzziBunz.
I was waiting to start moving John Paul into the cloth diapers, but after sizing down the one-size diapers to absolutely tiny, they fit him. I hate seeing the mesh from disposables be attached to his tiny little bum after a messy diaper. The microfleece is so much nicer to his bottom. He's happy, so we're all happy. And the extra laundry really isn't that bad. I still need to pick up an extra half dozen or so for him, because he's going through diapers at a much faster pace than his big brother right now. Thankfully, that should slow down shortly.
Trixie Tracker.
A sweet online spot to track nursing times + diapers. I realize what an incredible nerd I am, but this is awesome. I only wish I had found it before John Paul was born -- because it's so handy and easy to use on my BlackBerry. Super easy to track how long he nurses, and I already realized that he favors one side. Really helpful to know how many diapers to expect each day as well.
A low key weekend.
We have needed one. We're starting to find the groove with both boys, and we headed back to daily Mass this past week with Wee Ski 1.0 and 2.0 in tow. Grateful for more sleep, for finding a few minutes here and there for myself, and looking forward to my 34th birthday this week. And especially love that my gray hair is all gone, just in time for my birthday! :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

John Paul Emeric: His Birth Story

2011-05-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

Two sweet pages all about John Paul's arrival into this world.

The scrappy specs:

TEMPLATE | Adapted from The Bests Template Plus Pack by Cathy Zielske
PAPER | Tranquility Mini Kit from Mindy Terasawa (used throughout the book)
WORD ART | Bible Quotes No. 01 by Ali Edwards

The Newest Wee-est 2011 Grand Club Member

2011-05-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

John Paul went to his first Relay For Life of Thurston County meeting tonight at 22 days old. He beat his brother, who attended his first Relay meeting at 54 days old...but that was a Great West Division meeting. So they both hold their own records - one for a local meeting, one for the division. :)

He got the best Relay baby surprise EVER tonight. John Paul qualified for the Grand Club with our family (we all got our tees tonight)...and our amazing staff partner Janell ordered the smallest size for Thomas, and a second one for John Paul. She then customized the tee BY HAND into a newborn sized onesie, complete with snaps on the legs! So thoughtful and an awesome surprise after being "out of the loop" for a few weeks!

The first photo is his best "CANCER SUCKS" face, followed by a shot of the back while being held by Papa.

Both boys will be sporting their Grand Club shirts at the end of June at our event!

Six days, five nights.

2011-05-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a long almost-week.

In the last six days and five nights, we have had four doctor's appointments, two outpatient "procedures" for the Wee Ski 2.0 and a crazy nursing schedule designed to help him back on track with breastfeeding. Thomas got to the point that if we had early morning showers for everyone, he simply asked "Baby doctor?" to clarify where we were going.

With Thomas, we loved the nurse practitioner through the same practice, but she had recently relocated back to her hometown in Florida. We were working with a nurse practitioner who we knew, but didn't see frequently.

John Paul was having a hard time gaining weight, and the CPNP and I were having serious debates about what was necessary weight gain and how to overcome his challenges. Breastfed babies don't typically gain weight at the same rate as bottle-fed babies, and she was refusing to allow his circumcision until he was gaining an ounce a day, per "her chart".  He hadn't yet gained weight back to his birth weight and what weight he did gain was coming on slowly.

Add in a vacation for the pediatrician and the impending one month deadline to get the little boy surgery done, it was beyond frustrating that our super healthy little boy was coming in for weight checks (each one with it's own co-pay and cooresponding ride from Rainier to Olympia -- never mind that I wasn't driving yet!) and not getting approved for the surgery.

She recommended pumping after every feeding (every 3 hours) and brushed things off.   I quickly learned that four hours nursing + 3-4 hours pumping each day leaves you sore and cracked and irritated (both physically and mentally). Never having problems like this with Thomas (who nursed for two years), I started to get incredibly frustrated with her direction, or lack thereof.

When the pediatricians from St. Joe's called to check up on John Paul's progress since leaving the hospital, they were dumbfounded at the 'one ounce rule' and told me to find another pediatrician.

Thankfully, after a direct conversation with their office manager, things started to improve. Without any direction from the CPNP, I made an appointment with the lactation consultants at St. Joe's. The nurse took one look at John Paul and said, "Wow, I think he's tongue-tied! No wonder he's having problems!"

Being tongue-tied, or having ankyloglossia, means that the frenulum (or the tissue that connects the tongue to the mouth) is too short. John Paul didn't have a good range of his tongue, and it made breastfeeding very difficult and explained where part of my soreness came from. She was confident that a short surgery, if confirmed by the pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist, would help him dramatically both in terms of nursing and gaining weight.

She gave us a referral and taught him a few tricks to help in the meantime. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces on that day - last Wednesday - the same that Thomas weighed at birth.

Less than two days later, we were up at MultiCare seeing Dr. Erwin, a pediatric ENT specialist.  He confirmed the diagnosis and offered to take care of it then. We jumped at the chance (not have to make the two hour round trip again with both boys? Yes, please!) and a few short minutes later, John Paul's frenulum had been clipped and he was nursing right away.

The lactation consultants advised nursing every two hours. I asked the famous question from the movie Three Men and a Baby: "Does the two hour timing begin when we START feeding or when we END feeding?"

And of course, it meant two hours from when we begin. Since last Wednesday, life with the Wee Ski 2.0 has been in 1.5 hour bursts, with a half hour of nursing between the rest of life, round the clock. We could expand the timing at night to 3 hours. We hung out at home, because every place we go is at least a half hour drive each way...and Thomas wasn't what I would call a "willing participant" in hanging out in the car for an additional half hour while feeding his brother.

It was an adventure this weekend when I was coordinating a wedding at St. Columban, timing his feedings within the schedule of the rehearsal and wedding. The exhausting weekend was capped off last night when I slipped on the tile floor while carrying Thomas, and we both sprawled on the tile. We are both still feeling that today.

So it was the best reward today when John Paul weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces...having gained 10 ounces in 5 days! He is finally getting the hang of nursing, and got his little boy surgery today, on his three week birthday, a week shy of the deadline for the pediatrician to perform the procedure. Mom, Thomas and I celebrated with lunch at Anthony's and John Paul slept peacefully through it.

After his "healthy weight gain", we were advised to let John Paul sleep as long as he'd like at night, and let him feed on demand when he wakes. Honest to God -- what a reward! He's a super sleeper (like his big brother) and I can't wait to not have to wake him every few hours to convince him to eat.

I'm so grateful for the lactation consultants and Dr. Erwin -- if I was still nursing + pumping for hours on end without having sought any additional insight, I would have one foot in the nut house right now!

Super excited to have energy again tomorrow morning after a good night's sleep for all of us! Thank you, God!

The Wee Skis: The Ride Home

2011-05-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

We've been on a every-two-hour nursing schedule for the last 36 hours, which has just knocked me out. Jonathan came home a bit early to mow down the forest we are currently calling a lawn, and he invited his favorite two-year-old to help him to give me a bit of downtime before tomorrow.

So the two-week-old is sleeping in my office with me, and I'm flipping through photos as I'm pulling together John Paul's birth story.

I loved Thomas's sleeper that he came home from the hospital in - the polka dots get me every time. The hat was from the St. Peter's, there's a handful of sweet little old ladies who knit them for the little ones in the Special Care Nursery. I brought both of them to bring John Paul home in..

Each day, they look more and more alike. I have the most amazing photo of Jonathan with his Grandpa Fred (where you'll see the famous blue eyes that Thomas has, and John Paul seems to be getting) and a very similar image of Thomas. In a few weeks, John Paul should be able to match up as well...and I can't wait to get that photo.

The little differences between the two right now: Thomas had much longer eyelashes, John Paul has much longer fingers.

They both have my same gimpy little pinky toes. They both have Jonathan's little nose from when he was small.

And they were both just a tiny bit too small for the newborn-sized sleeper. :)

Chicken poop has super powers

2011-05-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

I know I'm late to the party on this one. But seriously, I had no idea just how awesome chicken poop is to healthy growth. Now I'm seeing the joy of Tacoma's Tagro, but glad it's not 'people poo' in our yard!

The grass in the majority of the fields right now is about 6-8 inches high right now, ready to be cut. In all the spots we've had the chicken run over the past year, the grass has grown back like it's on steroids. The grass in those spots is literally 2-3 feet high. The chickens are in heaven when we pull the run over the grass and they get to munch to their hearts' content.

The Wee Ski is learning lessons each day about how to care for the chickens, and more importantly, how NOT to care for them. Yesterday, he opened the Eglu to find that the chickens hadn't laid yet. Butter, one of the hens, had the unfortunate timing of sitting in the nest at the time. I opened the front door to find Thomas screaming into the nest, "LAY EGGS! LAY NOW!"

His other favorite pastime right now, aside from checking for eggs...driving the lawn mower. Never mind that he has no keys, can't reach the floor, and can hardly turn the wheel, he provides the motor sounds and could literally be out there for hours if we let him.

We're going to need to teach him that mowing the lawn is a privilege that only good boys get to do. That's it!

Has hell frozen over?

2011-05-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Watch out world, the Skis are starting to cloth diaper.

Right now, it's just Thomas. John Paul is still too tiny to fit into the FuzziBunz One Size diapers, but I anticipate that he'll be big enough in the next 2-3 months. Thomas loves them, and loves choosing which color is next while he's getting changed. I'm starting to understand the phrase "fluffy butt", as my previously-no-bottomed-child now has a fluffy butt when he's wearing pants over them.

We've got a stash of the bright-colored FuzziBunz for the Wee Ski 1.0, and a stash of neutral-colored FuzziBunz for the Wee Ski 2.0, just to make it easy for sorting from the laundry. Each has his own basket and there's a basket for the inserts and the cloth wipes.

Today, the weather is beautiful. It's my first full load of wash of cloth diapers...so I'm taking advantage of the sunshine and hung them out to dry on my McGyver'ed clothesline (read: the dog leash, still attached to the dog run, snapped onto the tank on the concrete slab near the generator).

I was going to hang them directly on the dog run, but it's a 200 lb strength uncovered steel cable, and I didn't want the wet fabric to get rusty from the steel. So I rigged up the plastic-covered steel leash and voilà -- an instant clothesline!

I learned this nifty trick from my grandma in Iowa. It's a zero-cost way to hang your clothespins. :) I cut up the gallon jug this morning after we finished the milk inside.

As we were not a clothesline fam growing up, Grandma always took advantage of my excitement to hang stuff on the clothesline when we were back visiting in the summer. Note to self: this tactic could be really helpful in the future with the Wee Skis. She was brilliant.

And for some crazy reason, this white load of inserts hanging in the sun just makes me happy. Enjoy. :)

Right now.

2011-05-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

[this post was up last week, but lost in the great Google/Blogger crash of 2011 last week. found it in my drafts today.]

In no particular order.

LIFE | Seems like at the same time: moving very fast & going very slow. Not driving at all for a few weeks slows the pace of everything. Today, Mom came down to take us to daily Mass, which I have really missed over the past two weeks. And of course, everyone was ready to go when she got here. Until I realized that John Paul's newborn car seat was safely tucked away in Jonathan's 4runner. At court, in Olympia. There were some tears shed as all of our plans changed. I really wish the farm had it's own church. And a grocery store. Or at least a milk cow.

And at the same time, John Paul and Thomas both feel like they are growing and growing up, respectively, so much each day.

QUOTABLES | From Thomas today.

Thomas: BearBearMom? (his nickname for Grandma) Please cut apple for me?
Grandma: Sure, honey. (Procures requested apple, peeled and sliced)
Thomas, engrossed in Mater's Tall Tales on DVD, does not turn around: Thanks.
Mommy: Please turn around to say 'thanks' to Grandma.
Thomas, after turning around: Thanks for the apple!
Mommy (sarcastically, to Grandma): I think he was first saying 'thanks to the wall', you know, because the wall prepared his apple.
Thomas, while not turning around: Thanks to the wall.

FROZEN LASAGNA | Learned that it does not thaw after 30 hours in the fridge. About to set fire to it to get it to finish cooking. It's so good: turkey lasagna with cottage cheese whirled in the VitaMix to resemble ricotta, but cheaper and healthier, with low-carb pasta sheets. But it's not as good when the center is still 29°.

THE BREAST PUMP | Thomas's favorite toy right now. Seriously. Especially when I am using it. He likes to change all the settings and turn it on and off and on and off. Not as fun as one would think, if you are said person using the pump at the time.

NCIS | Loved, loved, loved the episode last night. Even if I was in tears when I figured out who had died. One of the most well-written episodes I've seen. Sad that it was also the writer's swan song as well.

CATCHING UP | I turned on my Microsoft Outlook the other day and it was overwhelming. Hundreds of emails and stuff to catch up on. I turned it off and turned on NCIS. Still haven't gone through emails and have 1000+ items in my Google Reader. And that's OK. I'm online when I can be, and totally soaking up a disconnect when I'm not online. I'll get caught up. With voicemails too. Sometime soon.

THE OLDER BROTHER | He is adjusting well to his little brother. I loved walking out to the living room today after laying 1.0 down for his nap to find a sleeping Wee Ski 2.0, with Tickle Me Elmo next to him. John Paul came home from the hospital with two presents for his older brother: a new Lightning McQueen chair and Tickle Me Elmo. And Thomas is sharing one of those favorite things. He gives John Paul kisses and hugs and asks him lots of questions. And then takes his little brother's pucky for his own.

ADDENDUM TO THE FROZEN LASAGNA | After what seemed like an eternity (more like an hour and a half), the lasagna finished baking. Tasty delicious, even if we all actually aged while waiting for it.

CRAVINGS | Milk. Then chocolate. In that order.

SLEEP | Quite well, though I am exhausted right now from today and plan on heading to bed after feeding John Paul. He eats around 7 pm, goes to sleep, I wake him around 10ish to eat, and he sleeps until 2:30ish when he eats again. Again around 5:30 or 6, when I am getting up anyway. Much easier this go around than with Thomas.

PRAYERS NEEDED | Right now, with the boys' pediatrician. Getting a bit of the runaround on a few things and advice that isn't the best (backed up by the views of the peds at St. Joe's), and it's causing some major irritation on my part as we settle into nursing and John Paul continues to learn about how to eat and grow. Please pray that this gets resolved sooner rather than later. :)

HIS BIRTH STORY | Coming soon. Loving that the boys both sleep for a few hours at the same time in the afternoon...taking advantage of it while it lasts. Should be up in the next day or so! :)

12 of 12: The "Two Wee Skis" Edition

2011-05-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

First 12 of 12 with two little boys. One is two years old, one is nearly two weeks old. 12 peeks at our life at home right now.

7:27 am | The Wee Ski 1.0 wakes up. Usually begins with talking to himself in his bed until he gets bored, then he starts calling out for everyone he knows to come rescue him. He is a happy morning person, just like his mommy.

7:37 am | Taking in a little Sesame Street before breakfast.

9:07 am | Paperwork, paying bills, checking things off my to-do list.

9:11 am | Love the clementine's catch phrase: "Party in your tummy". The Wee Ski 1.0 starts his ritual of polishing off all the remaining clementines but recruits others to peel them for him.

9:26 am | Fully powered by natural fruit sugars, someone's pedal car license has been revoked.

9:45 am | Someone's recovered nicely from not being allowed to drive on the deck until his probation is over.

10:06 am | Mama said knock you out. I have this image in my head of both boys, taken from above. Haven't fully gotten it yet though. But this one makes me laugh.

12:19 pm | The Wee Ski 2.0 in a knitted newborn bowl. A few quick shots before he goes down for his nap.

1:17 pm | 65° outside. No rain. Heavenly and rarely seen in the northwest lately. I set up his water table in the driveway as a surprise after a 3 hour nap. This kid could play FOREVER with water, some buckets or cups and boats.

1:17 pm | This kid could sleep FOREVER in his bouncy chair. He enjoyed his first afternoon on the deck in the warm shade.

1:48 pm | The Easter Egg wreath. I love this wreath, especially with the new house paint. It's staying up until Pentecost (just 50 days after Easter). I will have a much better track record of taking it down after the giant Christmas wreath on the fenceline of our property didn't get taken down until April. But heck, we DO have a Christmas tree farm, why not celebrate it?

5:03 pm | Cuddle time with Papa. This is actually something I am a little jealous of. Thomas adores cuddle time with Jonathan, and actually asks for it. He has never once asked me to cuddle...I love their little rituals together.

See other 12of12's from around the world on May 12 here at Chad Darnell's page.

The Egg Hunter

2011-05-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

"Mommy! Eggs!"

I see the little diaper clad Wee Ski running back from the Eglu. Never mind that he just put his boots on, ran outside and decided to check for eggs on his own. Never mind that he isn't quite tall enough to put the Eglu door back on by himself, almost making our chickens truly free-range. Never mind that he ran the egg inside with the aforementioned boots still on, covered in mud, leaving size five muddy footprints all the way back to the sink.

HE FOUND EGGS ON HIS OWN AND HE DID NOT BREAK THEM.

He's famous for holding up an egg, yelling, "Mommy! Eggs!" and then throwing it back into the nest. Essentially, egging our own chickens' home.

But not today.

We are going to feast on that egg this morning. Sooner rather than later, because I can hear him singing the alphabet to himself in his crib while jumping up and down. Now he's choo-ing like a train and calling out for everyone he knows.

Bon Appétit!

Are you telling me...

2011-05-09T08:07:00.001-07:00

...that he is STAYING?

This is the life.

2011-05-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

At the end of John Paul's first bath.

Relaxed and happy and peaceful.

I mean, doesn't every guy have three beautiful nursing students on hand to give you your first bath when you've never had one? :)

(images shot by the rich brownrice, on john paul's second day in the world, at st. joe's hospital)

Two little Wee Skis all up on the bed...

2011-05-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Meet John Paul.

He's already got a fan club, founded by his big brother, Thomas. When I came back to the recovery room after he was born, Grandma was holding John Paul, Grandpa was holding Thomas, and Thomas said (very matter of factly), "Mommy! This is the baby!"

We're pretty sure that he thinks this child is his. Which is fine, as long as he wants to get up in the middle of the night to change his diapers and feed him! :)

Jonathan and I had an awesome first night with John Paul, where we weren't worried about what was to come in delivery, what would his health be like, and any other unknown that was on our mind the evening before. We were giggling like little kids and I thanked God that I had the chance to marry my very best friend. Jonathan was my rock at this same time with Thomas two years earlier -- the first night of our new son -- telling me that he was in trouble and it was going to be a difficult road ahead but it would be okay. And he was my joy on our first night with John Paul 'out of the womb', as we simply got to enjoy a healthy newborn and learn how to be newborn parents again.

This morning, I am soaking up my last quiet hours in the hospital with John Paul. The prayers of everyone have been felt in incredible ways -- as this birth was the polar opposite of how Thomas's birth took place. We've had the best start to his little life outside the womb. I'd forgotten how much newborns sleep, and have been so blessed to be able to rest and recover here.

Thomas has had a dream vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's -- lots of wagon rides, choo choo train spottings, eggo waffle breakfasts, and playing with the dogs. Mom's retirement last Friday could not have been timed better -- and we have been so blessed that Thomas has been able to stay with them.

For me, being able to wake up and see my son right next to me, instead of having to leave my room for the NICU, has been a blessing that I can't stop thanking God for.

Jonathan headed home last night to get the house ready, and he'll be back today to bring us home. We still can't believe that everyone's doing well enough to come home within 48 hours!

I can't wait to share our family's story of his birth...but first, I'm going to feed him again and then we're both going to nap. So I leave you with this image of our little prince, fast asleep...captured by the awesome Lindsay Brown last night in our room...

Welcoming John Paul Emeric

2011-05-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

We welcomed our second son, John Paul Emeric Sprouffske, this afternoon at 2:14 pm. He's beautiful...and we are all resting and recovering. The Wee Ski 1.0 is having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's. Photos and more details to come!

In the meantime, a little about his birth name.

Just as the road to naming Thomas wasn't easy, the path to the Wee Ski 2.0's name was finally decided last night, on May 1, 2011. Jonathan had full naming rights to this child, and he blessed me and our family with a lifelong decision by honoring Blessed John Paul the Second with the first name to our child: John Paul.

The Wee Ski 2.0 was due on May 1 -- this year, both the feast of Divine Mercy and the date of Pope John Paul II's beatification, where he was given the title of "Blessed" after the confirmation of a French nun's miraculous healing from Parkinson's...his first miracle.

John Paul's middle name, Emeric, is a name close to the Sprouffske family's heart. When Grandpa Ski was a novice in the monastery at St. Martin's, he was given the name "Brother Emeric". Years later, Jonathan was confirmed at the same monastery (where he went to college), and chose the name Emeric. Both St. Emeric and his father, St. Stephen, were canonized together in the year 1083.

The second page of the layout is very similar to Thomas's page in his book.

But I love that there's so much family history in it, and I wanted John Paul's book to have that as well.

You can click on the pages to read the journaling -- it will bring up a new window with the pages larger.

Welcome to the world, John Paul Emeric.

Forty weeks.

2011-05-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

How Far Along: 40 weeks
Size of baby: 7 pounds, 8 ounces (estimated)
What the Wee Ski 2.0 has right now: a very active lifestyle. But not active enough to get him out.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained six pounds.
Maternity Clothes: Picked up a few spring pieces, finally, because I am READY TO BE DONE WITH WINTER AND RAIN. Loving my Lucy pants and will sing their praises FOREVER.
Gender: He's a boy!
Movement: All the time.
Sleep: Mostly two hours at a time...so waking up every three hours to feed him outside the womb sounds like a DREAM COME TRUE. Most mornings, I wake up anywhere from 2-4 am, and I'm up for the day. So I crash around 7:30, just after the Wee Ski 1.0, and try to nap for at least an hour when he goes down in the afternoon. But it did give me a chance to watch the Royal Wedding on Friday and the Beatification today, without feeling guilty for losing sleep.
What I miss: Nothing. I still can't believe that we are actually pregnant after a year. I am grateful every. single. day.
Cravings: Nothing right now. It's a battle of wills to eat enough right now. But we did make a celebratory "we're at 40 weeks!" run to Burgerville today...and I'll tell you...IT WAS TASTY DELICIOUS.
Symptoms: People having no qualms about asking me when I'm due. Then they seem surprised when I say "today", as if he has a timer and comes out of the oven on cue. I WISH.
Best moment this week: Today at Mass. Father Cerrone started Mass with an intercession to St. Gerard Majella (who has been this pregnancy's patron saint -- as he is the patron saint of expectant mothers and safe deliveries) -- for our baby who is due today on Divine Mercy Sunday. He also brought with him a relic of the true cross, and gave the Wee Ski 2.0 a blessing after Mass. The week has been emotional, to say the least, with very little progress toward a VBAC delivery. The Divine Mercy has been of great consolation, as it is all about "Jesus, I trust in you." Never been truer than when my fears and worries about delivery come into play.
Second best moment this week: Right after Mass today, when the Skis headed south to Centralia for a mini-spree before 2.0 arrives. We headed to the park (pics below) where Thomas played like mad in his Easter clothes. Jonathan took my BlackBerry so I could be "fully present in the moment of having just 3 Skis outside the womb". (Does he know me or what?) We ran by the Carter's outlet, and I did the one thing I swore I would NEVER, EVER do. I bought the boys matching outfits. It seriously must be pregnancy brain. And then I bought a second coordinating outfit for 2.0 just so they could be cute but not matching. WHO AM I? And then we topped it off with a Burgerville run before heading home. Thomas sat in the backseat pointing out EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL we passed on the way home. The funniest ones? The giant alpaca farm in Tenino -- he couldn't figure out if they were cows or horses or fuzzy horses. And we all laughed that because we hit the early Mass in Tenino this morning, we were still home before we would have been had we hit the 10:30 in Yelm.
Alrighty...onto some photos!!

Is this not my kid or what with his mouth wide open?!?

Seriously appreciate Kate's advice on where to find little boy shirts & ties...this one even has a pocket square! I LOVE the orange and blue together!

My two favorite boys (at least today!)...

At the helm of his Big Toy ship.

And happier than a clam with Papa pushing him on the swings.

My sweet little sicky.

2011-04-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Friday was a big day.

We went back up to see Dr. McMahon, hopeful for good news about labor progressing. And we learned that we were at the exact same point as we were on Wednesday -- just a centimeter dilated.

So we started to look ahead and discuss the different options if things didn't progress (felt like déjà vu from Thomas's birth). It wasn't my favorite conversation of the day, but there's something incredibly awesome about being able to share your fears and concerns and faith with your doctor, and she can discuss them with you in light of what God's plan is, versus what I want it to be. :)

We tried to run a few errands afterwards, only to have Thomas experience his biggest meltdown TO DATE inside the Nordstrom Rack. Humility, you have not escaped me!

A short few minutes later, he was sound asleep for the 90 minute drive home. He slept for 3 1/2 more hours when we got home, and woke up with a 102° fever.

I'll tell you -- he can be a MAJOR pill when he's upset, but when he's sick, Jonathan and I actually fight over who gets to take care of him. He's so snuggly and cuddly and agreeable and heartwarming. So Jonathan and I tag teamed him as ate dinner and he finally ended up in his sling so we could both eat as he slept. He got my favorite "feel better juice" of 50% orange juice/50% sprite. And then we both religiously washed our hands just in case it was contagious.

Thomas slept for another 12 hours and woke up this morning, feeling 150% better.

And you know when he's feeling good -- his food request list is a mile long. Smoobies? Apple? Burgas? Cheese? Fries? Juice? And if you don't give him enough, he just climbs up to the cabinet and helps himself.

We're all feeling good today after Jonathan slept in, and I got a ton of stuff done before the boys woke up.

And yes, in the photo above, that would be my innie-turned-outie-belly-button under my shirt.

I do SO love Thomas pointing that out every. single. time. he. sees. it. :)

Triply loved.

2011-04-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

It’s often said that adopted children are “doubly loved”. Once by their birthmother who not only gives them life but lets them go, and second by the family that adopts them.

This past weekend, I was given the chance to know that I am not only “doubly loved”, but really, “triple-y loved”.

And here’s the warning for people who complain I make them tear up without warning…this story had all of us in tears. So don’t say I didn’t warn you!

When I was born, I was placed with an adoptive family shortly after my birth. For whatever reason unbeknownst to me, I was ‘given back’ and the attorneys found another home for me. I was placed with my parents now…who the world knows as Tom and Karol Mauss.

Over the years, I have looked into my background to see if I could find my birthmother. In fact, when I worked at Merrill Lynch, one of my clients happened to be one of the attorneys who placed me with my parents. When I asked him about finding my birthmother or anything further about my past, he simply said, “Shelley, adoptions in the late 1970s were meant to stay closed.” As he knew the circumstances surrounding my adoption and my between-the-lines-interpretation heard “Shelley, just trust me and leave it alone”, I didn’t pursue things much further.

For my birthday last year, Jonathan requested from the courts all the non-identifying information about my adoption. I found out where Thomas’s blue eyes came from (my birthmother), and that I had four older siblings (who would now be 43, 48, 49, and 50). I learned about my birthmom’s education, her family, and a bit about why I was given up for adoption.

I had never been able to find anything about the family who I was first placed with.

So two weekends ago, we had just finished a tasty dinner at HopJacks and were home hanging with the Skis on the farm (who Thomas affectionately simply calls "UncleHeidi" -- Kevin and Heidi).

My Blackberry buzzed and I had a message on Facebook.

The ‘reader’s digest version’ of the email?

“My parents adopted a baby girl when I was 5. Based on your birthdate and name, I think that you may be the little girl that my parents adopted for a short while just after you were born…my mom has kept photos of you from the hospital and those first days in hopes to get them to you someday. If you would like them, just let me know!”

It turns out that Dodi (who would have been my older sister, had I stayed in their family) and I had mutual friends (thank you, Facebook, for bridging that gap) who I knew through St. Charles. After she called our mutual friend to double check that I wouldn’t think she’s nuts, Dodi sent me the email.

I woke up around 2 the next morning and couldn’t sleep, so I emailed her back. By 8 am, we had each called our respective moms to let them know that we had finally made a connection. I asked my mom what she thought – and she remembered the last name from the court date when I was just a few days old.

My nearly-almost-sister and I emailed back and forth over the next week, finally making a lunch date to meet at the Old House Café on Proctor on Saturday, with both of our moms.

Finally walking up the stairs to the Café to three big smiles (as I was the last one to arrive), there was an incredible peace that everyone had as we all hugged and teared up.

During lunch, her mom shared the story about my birth…how I was in the nursery at Tacoma General, and she was able to feed and rock me, beginning the day I was born. I came home to their house at three days old. As it turned out, the timing couldn’t have been worse for me to be placed with them on such short notice.

Ultimately, my potential adoptive mom decided that I needed a home that they simply couldn’t provide at the time to an infant with very little warning and without the necessary support any new mom would need who had endured significant change in the previous week.

And it was then that I knew what it felt like to be “triple-y loved”.

This is what my own mom meant when she said, “Shelley, when we were in the courtroom on that day 33 years ago, she and I hugged and cried for both of us. It was because she loved you so much that she gave you back. I can only imagine how difficult that was for her.”

We all sat at the table in tears. My mom recalled being at work at Tacoma General when my dad called, telling her they had a day to decide if they wanted to adopt "a little girl who had no prenatal care and had been previously placed but needed a home immediately". The next day they found themselves in court, meeting the parents I almost had, and then meeting to bring me home in the ‘famous pink outfit’ that I came home in. And I finally have a picture of it, from before I came home to my forever family.

I understood more fully why my mom always taught Mike and I to pray for especially for all of our moms, especially on the big holidays (Mother’s Day and our birthdays). Though they weren’t "in" our lives at the time, it was because of them that we had the chance to be a family.

Some of the parallels are incredible. My almost-sister and I lived a half mile apart in the north end for 7 years. Both of our moms both battled polio as young children. And all of us never forgot about the ‘other family’ out there, even though we didn’t know them.

It was one of those moments where you could absolutely see the hand of God at work in all of our lives…how each decision led us to where we were right at that moment.

As an almost-due mommy, knowing how it took us nearly a year to get pregnant and how painful it was to have test after test come back negative…to imagine trying & waiting for a child…only to receive a child and make the most selfless decision in the world to give her child back out of love…being able to meet my nearly-almost-mom was a moment I wouldn’t have traded for anything in the world.

And the joy of finding a nearly-almost-sister who we now affectionately call “my sister, separated at birth”. I am so grateful to you, Dodi, for finding me. And am so grateful for the chance to get to know you and your mom.

Many in our world would see my birth experience as a “doubly unwanted child”.

But really…I am so very, very lucky.

I was (and am) triply-loved.

Take me out...

2011-04-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

Love the new Cheney Stadium. We picked up season tickets again this year for the a selection of the fireworks nights at the field...with Chris & Chuck, the DeWeeses (including Wee DeWeese, the Wee Ski's BFF), and Dave & Kristi. Thomas broke in his Rainiers gear (thanks, Grandma!) and after loving Papa's hat (which he gladly shared with Wee DeWeese), he talked his papa into a little one of his own in the team shop. Jonathan taught Thomas to yell "Play ball!" and we ALL loved that he could be as loud as he wanted!

Chuck, Jonathan and John got a suite tour of the brand-new suites, complete with a round of beers on the house, so they were happy campers. It was Thomas's latest night out -- EVER -- but he was a trouper. And by the end of the evening, we were very, very grateful for the fleece gloves given to all the season ticket holders. It was COLD. It was also a little surreal to think this was the only game we'd have just one child 'on the outside'. But Thomas was a young Rainiers fan as well, so he'll be able to help break in his brother. In fact, Daniel and Thomas both look quite a bit different than they did at their first Rainiers game!

About halfway through, we had a surprise when the brand new owner of the Rainiers, Mikal Thomsen, sat down next to us to catch up with the folks on the other side of us. Kate immediately recognized him. We were both a little Tacoma star struck.

Excited for the season ahead, for tailgating, much-shorter-commutes-home-than-from-Safeco-Field, and good fam time at the Stadium. Play ball!

The Divine Mercy Novena begins today!

2011-04-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today is Good Friday. The only day of the year that Mass is not celebrated because today commemorates the passion and death of Christ. Stations of the Cross and the Veneration of the Cross, together with a communion service, are the highlights.

Last night, Thomas and I attended Holy Thursday Mass. Despite nearly 39 weeks pregnant with a toddler in tow, who is refining his 'terrible twos' tantrums each day, it ended up being a beautiful Mass. Especially after we moved to the vacant cry room and left the lights off. I lowered my expectations of a toddler past his bedtime and was grateful that we had this chance to be together, just him and me, before life changes pretty dramatically in the next few weeks.

One of my favorite moments was at the end of Mass, when Father Duc removed the Eucharist from the sanctuary. The procession led directly past the cry room. After reminding Thomas that Jesus was coming by (and wouldn't appreciate puckies being thrown in defiance), he climbed up to the window and held onto the ledge. There wasn't anything but a simple "Wow, Mommy" that left his mouth as Father processed past with the Eucharist. Thomas stayed up against the window until he couldn't see him anymore.

This week has been particularly challenging with Thomas testing his boundaries. My patience has been shorter than usual (chalk that up to the nearing due date) and we've both had moments where we just sat down in tears. One of my favorite older gentlemen at daily Mass always reminds me, "It's just good that you bring him here. Don't worry about the rest. God will take care of that."

Those moments during the procession remind me that it's all worth it as he begins to grasp the significance of what we believe.

And I know that I have definitely needed God's mercy during my most frustrated moments with my sweet two-year-old.

When I worked at Merrill Lynch, one of my favorite holidays was today, because the market always closes on Good Friday. There aren't many American governmental offices that close to recognize truly religious feasts (besides Christmas), but this was one day in the United States in which our industry does just that. I do miss that.

Today on Good Friday also marks the beginning of the nine-day novena that ends just before the Feast of Divine Mercy, one week after Easter. The Feast of Divine Mercy was instituted by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000, for the second Sunday of Easter each year.

The devotion to the Divine Mercy is simple. It's that God wants us to know that he loves us -- no matter how great our sins. There's hope for everyone. His mercy is greater than the worst that we've done, and He wants us to trust in Him. I love this simple ABC to explain it:

A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.
C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

Each day of the novena focuses on a different group of souls.

DAY 1 (Good Friday) - All mankind, especially sinners
DAY 2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests and religious
DAY 3 (Easter Sunday) - All devout and faithful souls
DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him
DAY 5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren
DAY 6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
DAY 7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy
DAY 8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory;
DAY 9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become lukewarm.

The novena itself is found here.

This year's novena is particularly close to the Skis' heart as the novena is also the countdown to the date of the Wee Ski 2.0's estimated arrival on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1. It's been no secret that I've been especially praying for a safe and healthy delivery (especially after Thomas's not-so-smooth entrance into this world). And with the novena, I'm praying especially to be able to truly trust in Him, especially with the birth of our next son.

If you're praying the novena as well, I would really appreciate prayers for us as well. ♥

Wishing you a blessed Good Friday.

Quick Takes: The Spring is Coming Edition

2011-04-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life right now, in no particular order.

I am officially on pre-maternity leave right now.
I blocked out two weeks before 2.0's estimated arrival to finish all the Finian Road projects that are in the works. After 11 shoots in the past three weeks (including 5 during a 'final 30 hour weekend blitz' on Friday-Saturday), it's time to sit down and edit like mad. And I am seriously loving the mix of wee ones in that 30 hour blitz: I shot a newborn, 3 month old, 6 month old, 9 month old, 2 year old, 3 year old, 4 year old and 5 year old. So grateful that the crazy schedule didn't bring 2.0 a bit early! Sneak previews galore this week on the blog and Facebook (you should like us!).
Loving the signs of spring right now.
Daffodils, buds peeking through the ground, warmer temperatures. No longer simply a forecast of "rain + 40°" day in and day out! Muddy farm, I can feel your sting leaving me!
Beautiful Palm Sunday Mass yesterday.
With a procession at the beginning from the Parish Hall, and beautiful music with a violin during the Mass. Thomas went to his first "Children's Liturgy of the Word" yesterday with his sweet 9-year-old friend, Cheyenne, and loved it. When he came back, he handed me all his goodies and said, "Wow, Mommy!" He's still a little young (you're supposed to be 3 years old), but Cheyenne is the best 'big sister' to him. I had the chance to hear the Gospel and the homily without focusing on Thomas, and it was a beautiful start to Holy Week. We'll ignore the 'kicking off of his boots down the center aisle while we headed out the door as he was screaming" during the Eucharistic prayer. Just chalk that up to the 'terrific twos'. :)
I love my husband.
He got up early yesterday and went to the 8 am Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter's in Tenino. Afterwards, he did all the grocery shopping for the week for us, with a list sent to his iPhone. While we were at Mass at 10:30, he spent a few hours on my office: cleaning it out so we can eventually get 2.0's dresser moved into the closet, his newborn clothes hung up and a bed moved in there. It was all a surprise, topped off with flowers for the kitchen. I slept for a good part of the day yesterday, recovering from Friday and Saturday, and slept nearly 10 hours last night. I am a lucky, lucky wiffie.
The 2011 Shoot to Fight Cancer has raised $950 so far!
We have 87 tickets left, with just under 2 weeks to go. Don't miss your chance for tickets -- more details here!
I am finally getting back on my feet in the kitchen.
SO GLAD. After 3 weeks of no energy, using up a number of meals that had been in my freezer for 'post baby arrival', it feels so good to be 'back in the apron'. Jonathan and I celebrated the chickens' return to laying by using a up a dozen-ish eggs to make homemade egg salad sandwiches (on homemade portuguese sweet bread, no less!) for lunch yesterday after the Wee Ski went down. When I cut my crusts off and cut my sandwiches into cute little tea sandwiches, it felt just like afternoon tea. Tasty delicious. Capped it off with a few fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. SO loving making a big batch of cookie dough ahead of time and freezing individual cookies in the freezer for a quick "11 mins at 375° snack" when we want it!
Really looking forward to Holy Week.
This Lent, as with most Lenten experiences, never goes the way originally envisioned. I loved this short article from Life Teen: "So, You Ruined Your Lent". I started reading this Holy Week edition of the Magnificat, and I am very grateful for this week to prepare for His death and Resurrection. Especially with a toddler who is constantly teaching me about humility as a parent and reminding me of what's really important in everything. Wishing you a beautiful Holy Week as well. :)

Thirty seven weeks.

2011-04-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

How Far Along: 37 weeks
Size of baby: just over 6 pounds
What the Wee Ski 2.0 has right now: a very active lifestyle.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained five pounds.
Maternity Clothes: Loving my stash of Old Navy comfy shirts + Lucy pants. I am a walking advertisement for them. And fleece vests. Especially with our indecisive weather systems -- rain, hail, snow, sleet, then sun.
Gender: He's a boy!
Movement: All the time. Especially at night.
Sleep: Moving off the NyQuil and cough syrup, so I'm actually up more at night again, but that's totally OK...since it means I'm getting back on my feet health-wise. I am being as cautious as I can to keep my activity low key as my body recovers from my back & cold...because my cough definitely reappears when I do too much. Thus, most of today is spent on the sofa or in my office chair.
What I miss: Nothing. I still can't believe that we are actually pregnant after a year. I am grateful every. single. day. But that said, I'm excited to no longer be asked if I'm carrying twins.
Cravings: Nothing right now. It's a battle of wills to eat enough right now. Since I was sick, eating did not sound good...and this week is the first week in nearly a month that I've started really cooking in the kitchen again. I can't believe how much I missed that. But we've got a new stash of meals in the freezers right now, and I'm feeling better about getting prepared for his arrival after nearly a month of laying in bed and sleeping.
Symptoms: Feeling large and sometimes in charge. If I'm not wearing a maternity shirt, my belly pops out and Thomas loves pointing it out. He especially loves bringing our Shrek DVD to me, pointing to the not-so-svelte Shrek and saying "Mommy!". Nice, kiddo.
Best moment this week: The first round of non-stress tests at the doctor. I had to do these weekly for 2 months w/Thomas, and I am loving starting just 3 weeks before his estimated arrival. It's definitely a different ball game with a toddler though...see the pic above. I get hooked up to the monitors, lay back on the table, and seat Thomas just above my head. His little legs wrap around my ears for 15 minutes so he is relatively confined. If he was on the ground, he would be running through the hospital looking for the next fun thing to do. He took photos with my BlackBerry (we're going to have some lessons later for him on how to shoot a pregnant woman in a flattering position), styled my hair (smooth and sleek BEFORE he touched it), and then he feasted on frosted animal cookies from the nursing staff and a cup of water. That wasn't so bad until the very last minute when he thought it was hilarious to spit them out all over me while he was giggling. 2.0 is doing well and had great results. After the past week's frustrations, it was awesome to come away from the doc with great results. Yea!!

Happies

2011-04-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been an adventure, no doubt. Tonight's homily at Mass was just what I needed to hear -- especially about how things don't always come easy or conveniently, and there's a lot of grace that can be received as life doesn't go exactly as planned.

That said, there are a number of little happies that surfaced over the past month.

Thomas painting masterpieces for Jonathan.
He no longer enjoys finger painting, he's all about the brushes. I wanted to use some handprints on one of the paintings for Jonathan's birthday, and Thomas wanted nothing to do with it. Just paintbrushes for him now. He was so proud of his work, and keeps pointing to it each time he sees it. I flattened the prints after they dried and framed them for Jonathan's birthday.
My love for our Keurig.
We don't have instant-hot water at the house, so the Keurig was used creatively when needed. For my 'recommended by everyone and their sweet, dear old grandmother' sore throat healer, I mixed honey and lemon juice in the bottom of a big mug, added hot water from the Keurig, and an instant steamy lemonade was made. So good on your throat. Also made perfect hot salt water solutions for gargling. Since I don't drink coffee, finding sweet new uses for the Keurig makes me happy.
The Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier.
Jonathan and I picked this up before our weekend in Seattle. It steamed up our room beautifully, and we hauled it up to Seattle. With the crazy air conditioning in the hotels, it saved my throat from drying up. Super easy to clean and uses the same inhalant that Thomas's cool mist humidifier uses.
Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soaps.
Granted, the packaging on the stuff is a little nutty. If you're bored in the shower, you can read it and be amused. But in all honesty, this stuff has taken over my shower. I used to have a dozen different soapy bottles, and now I use just three of these: Thomas gets the baby version (without fragrance). His skin had been breaking out, which I all but ruled out every food allergy possible, and it turns out that it's soap that dries him up. These are fabulous. I shave with the citrus orange and keep a little bottle of tea tree soap in the shower as well.
Finding a sweet, inexpensive solution to our toilet seat problem.
A few weeks ago, Thomas cracked one of the toilet seats in our ever-so-creatively designed 2 bathrooms-in-one. This was a big problem because it was the throne I normally use (Jonathan and I are a little territorial about this kind of stuff) and when you get up half a dozen times at night to go and you pinch your sweet little cheeks on a broken seat, you swear LOUDLY. A LOT. It's always bugged me that the other seat didn't match the color of the toilet (white / almond), so I replaced that seat with a new one that matched the main toilet that everyone uses when they visit, and moved the non-matching white one to my little bathroom that had the broken seat. I know this is incredibly nerdy to be happy about, but it was a $15 fix that cleaned up one of my big bathroom pet peeves. Thanks, Wee Ski, for cracking the seat!
My sweet child and his habits.

Sleeping with Paul the Doll, his baby, every time he naps. He tucks him in and makes sure he's warm, and then goes to sleep next to him.
How he throws away his banana peels when he steals bananas from the fruit baskets. How he brings me a banana when I am not out of bed yet, peeled and ready to eat.
"Knock knock! Who's there?" He doesn't know anything further in typical 'knock knock' jokes, but these 2 phrases are enough to keep him in stitches to the point he just says them to himself and breaks down giggling.
How he says "Sar-wee" in the sweetest, high pitch voice when he knows he's in trouble. It makes it that much easier to immediately forgive him for whatever he was doing, like writing on the suede pillows with ballpoint pen.
I realized how hard it was for him for several days when I couldn't pick him up because of my back. At least half a dozen times today, he stopped me, put his arms up, and just said "hug". Yes, sweetpea, I'll give you a hug. As many times as you want.
He plays hide and seek, even if you don't know you're playing with him. When the whole house is silent for several minutes and I didn't hear the house alarm beep when he opened a door (a Godsend, by the way), chances are he's curled up in our bed under the covers, waiting to be found. He's not big on diversity in his hiding places, so it's important to act really surprised when you do find him. At least if I want to keep him hiding in the same spot!

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Raging Hacking Diseased Animal

2011-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's safe to say that the past three weeks of this pregnancy have been among the most challenging. Out went March, in came April.

Just before St. Patrick's Day, Thomas got a cold, which he generously shared with both Jonathan and me. The day after the Blarney Blast was spent with us huddled under blankets, fighting to stay ahead of the raging bug. Not much in terms of fever, but the coughing was insane. We picked up an extra humidifier for our bedroom, which was fantastic for helping soak our throats while we were sleeping.

I had been on the 'down low' for several weeks, only leaving the house for vitals and staying down as much as possible. I rescheduled two newborn shoots because I just didn't want to expose anyone to anything.

Finally, we were all beginning to feel better as Jonathan's birthday approached (my April Fool's husband!!). A month or so earlier, I had planned a surprise mini-staycation for him. Originally planning to go to the Tulip Festival, I booked two nights in downtown Seattle at the Westin, and the three of us were having our last vacation with just the three of us. Excited to be somewhere that we didn't need to drive anywhere. We could just put on our shoes and walk to wherever we wanted to do.

Celebrating his birthday was so much fun -- lots of sleeping in and 'family naptime' -- exactly what he wanted for his birthday. The Westin upgraded us to a beautiful view room on the 24th floor (thank you, Wee Ski for being so charming, and Jonathan, for having a birthday). Thomas painted him two works of art for his office.  We had a fun dinner on his birthday eve at the Cheesecake Factory, since his actual birthday fell on a Friday during Lent, and we both wanted Chicken Madeira. :) Thomas and I went swimming in the hotel's pool, and gave Jonathan a little extra nap time. Just what we all needed. R&R for everyone.

On Saturday, we moved a few blocks away to the Hilton, for a 2012 Relay For Life Summit Planning training. The Seattle Hilton had, by far, the best hotel service I had ever experienced. When we checked in and Thomas was in his "I'm ready for a nap so let me show you what a stinker I can be" mode, the hotel staff asked if cookies and milk might help. They sent up an entire tray of cookies, several milks, fruit and water...on the house. When I passed by the front desk, coughing, I was given a bottle of water and cough drops. Awesome, attentive service.

Jonathan and Thomas had some fun papa/son bonding time while I was in the training, and I realized that the more I talked, the more I coughed. Everyone was so gracious with my hacking. Seriously. I sounded like a man and it was BAD.

Upon arriving home Sunday night, I slept a great deal over the next few days as my cough intensified again. The final straw? When the knots in my back from coughing finally **had it**. Last night, after one awful outburst, my back 'went out' and I found myself in so much pain that I couldn't move.

I had never experienced anything like it.

And it was one of those moments that I was very grateful to be married to an EMT. I feel very blessed to have "my own, personal 911".

The Wee Ski dutifully brought me the phone and I called Jonathan at his office.  When he heard me sobbing, he immediately got in the car and headed home. 35 minutes later, he walked in the door to a very scared Wee Ski and a very in-pain wiffie. I am very grateful that he is my rock. He scooped up Thomas, calmed him down, and took him to the bedroom as he changed. Popped him in his crib and turned on Sesame Street. Was able to get me into a hot shower (clearly, he is an excellent negotiator with a crazy, hormonal pregnant woman) and helped me into bed. Hot water with lemon and honey, rotating hot pads, towels for my tears and a Safeway run for extras. Without complaining and without a negative word. At least from him. There may have been complaining and negative words from someone else. :)

He helped me get my favorite Physical Therapist (Liz Brownrice) on the phone and she helped me game plan what needed to happen next.

I could barely use my left arm with the pain in my left, middle back, and was learning how to do everything slowly and deliberately. Two words that are rarely ever found in my vocabulary.

I stayed in bed for nearly 20 hours straight.

Jonathan handed off the 'morning shift' to the Wee Ski, who brought me bananas in bed, and took out my empty Gatorade bottles to the garbage as I finished them. When I finally got up around noon, he proceeded to run to the bathroom, strip down and said, "Sower?"   Clearly, we both needed hot water and time to be 'normal' again. He figured out how to get himself into the bathtub since I was unable to pick him up.

Coughing is now exceptionally painful, so I've gone to great lengths to avoid it. And when I can't, the phrase "offer it up" keeps coming to mind.

Pregnant mamas on bedrest have a brand-new appreciation from me. I can't even imagine.

We headed north to Grandma and Grandpa's, where I got some much needed help with Wee Ski care, and had an incredible massage in the Harbor to begin working out my back. Being able to use my left arm again was pure heaven.

For someone who thrives on being independent, this has been a very good lesson for me in accepting help graciously. Learning that being prepared doesn't always mean that everything will happen as planned.

Jonathan is always so good to me. Liz gave me calm, rational advice as I cried on the phone. I got to listen to Thomas's screaming giggle as Grandpa gave him a bath tonight. I watched him chase Grandma around the house as he squealed with joy. And after a super-strength prescription from my doc tonight, finally, my back is relaxing.

We're staying up here in the Harbor tonight, giving Jonathan a well-deserved night on his own. He won't have to awake every hour to me or worry about keeping Thomas off the bed when I'm in it.

I keep thinking that in a few short weeks, this will all be a faded, distant memory. Jonathan reminded me over and over of the nights that I spent in tears following a negative pregnancy test, and that there is a greater plan in all of this.

I would really appreciate your prayers for these last few weeks, for healing and peace as we get ready for the Wee Ski 2.0's arrival.   For a safe birth and delivery.

Oh, and that my first words to him aren't "cough, hack, hack, hack." :)

The 2011 Shoot to Fight Cancer is LIVE!

2011-04-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Relay For Life team (Connolly Tacon & Meserve: "Connolly's Crew") is off to a fabulous start -- with funds that I mailed off a few days ago, we're just shy of $20,000 in funds raised!

For the last three years, I have donated a photo shoot from Finian Road and raffled it off to benefit the American Cancer Society. More than $5000 has been raised from the tickets sold for the Shoot to Fight Cancer.

I introduce this year's Shoot to Fight Cancer.

A photo shoot with your fam from Finian Road + the digital negatives + two beautiful gallery-wrapped 16x20 canvas of your two favorite images from the shoot...all while fighting cancer at the same time!

And this year, the new addition to the prizes are the addition of a second prize and third prize -- so there will be 3 winners this year! The second prize winner wins a $250 gift certificate to Finian Road, and the third prize winner wins a $100 gift certificate to Finian Road!

With the exception of the cure for cancer, I can't think of a sweeter deal.

Tickets are $25 each, and there are just 125 tickets available. Great odds for a prize package worth $850!

100% of every dollar from every ticket goes to support the life-saving work of the American Cancer Society...saving lives and creating more birthdays by helping you stay well, helping you get well, finding cures and by fighting back.

You can use the shoot yourself, or give it away as a gift (and you would be the best gift giver EVER!).

Here's how to buy your tickets:

Go to our online website for the Relay For Life.You'll see a very cute video of the Wee Ski showing off his Grand Club shirt at a Relay Regional Summit last fall.
Click on the blue "donate" button under our names.
Enter the amount you wish to donate under "select gift amount": $100 buys you 4 tickets, $75 buys you three tickets, $50 buys you two tickets, and $25 buys you 1 ticket. And you can always buy more than 4!
Follow the prompts to complete your donation to the American Cancer Society.
We will receive a notice that your donation has been made and your ticket stub(s) will be in the mail to you within 48 hours. It will go to the billing address for the credit card used to pay for the ticket.

Our goal is to sell out the tickets before the end of the month...so don't miss your chance to pick up your tickets!

Also sweet to note -- each ticket has a coupon for 15% off a Finian Road shoot or product, good through August 31, 2011! So really...every ticket wins something! :)

The drawing will be held on Saturday, April 30th at 6:00 pm, Pacific time. The winner will be announced on the blog that evening, just after drawing.

Good luck!

Quirks and Quotes: March 2011

2011-03-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

This has been an incredibly long, difficult week. Balancing being 9 months pregnant with the worst dry heaving cough has sapped what little energy I have left after chasing the Wee Ski around. Trust me, it is not a pretty sight.

So tonight, I took a few minutes to pull together some of my favorite 'quirks and quotes' from this month. No better way to refocus my energy on joy than exhaustion!

I picked up this sweet template from Cathy Zielske with the theme of "Quirks and Quotes". Realizing that a lot of the Wee Ski's snippets of life make it to Facebook but not here, I pulled together this page of right where he is now. Two years old, a little tornado of energy and sheer joy. You can click on the page to view it closer.

And then I look through the rest of our "family scrapbook" (click the image above), and I realize that I haven't scrapped for our family in nearly a year, besides the new book for the Wee Ski 2.0.

Add that to my to-do list! :)

Quick Takes: The Recovering from the Blarney Blast Weekend Edition

2011-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Seven snippets of life right now, in no particular order.

The Wee Ski 2.0 and I have been battling an awful cold the past few days.
It explains why we were so exhausted on Sunday and why I hardly got out of bed for the past few days. Jonathan and the Wee Ski 1.0 have it to a lesser extent, so we are definitely an amusing, whiny bunch when we are all together. I will say though, that Thomas is going to make an incredible husband some day...as I literally laid on the couch the entire day today and he brought me Gatorade, crackers, and let himself outside to play in the yard when he had had enough 'vegging out'. There is seriously NOTHING BETTER than him sitting down to you, handing you a cracker, and whispering, "Mommy? Here." Then he snuggles up to you.
Viruses are lame when you are pregnant.
There's nothing I can take, no magical antibiotics to make me feel better (pregnant or not, dumb virus), and I just have to do nothing. I honestly don't think I have "done nothing" since 2.0 was conceived. But when I realized that I was tired enough to not even care, I knew I was in the right spot. With four blankets, hot tea, tasty low-point baked potato soup, no blackberry and no laptop. Just Adam Sandler on Sesame Street and the Wee Ski cheering for Elmo.
Speaking of baked potatoes...
We had our Blarney Blast this weekend. SO MUCH FUN. An awesomely fun event held at the Worthington Center (upgraded from the Grange -- yea!!). A baked potato bar, drinks, a silent auction, and a celebration honoring Jim Connolly, as we presented a special award to his family from our team. And we raised just shy of $16,500! That should move us up a few fundraising club levels! So proud of our team, and all of "Connolly's Crew".
Loved how my extended Relay family helped out.
We received 2 Longaberger baskets from Ann Wheet (on the Nationwide Leadership Training Team with me, she Relays in Illinois), an awesome Washington-themed Letty's bag from Kathy Cina (who Relays in Beaverton, OR), a giant tank of helium + balloons from Stephanie Miller (who Relays in Tacoma) and our award was engraved with help from Patty at Tags Trophies (who Relays in East Grays Harbor County). Relayers are an incredibly giving bunch, and I am so grateful!
You know what? I don't have any blogging left in me. So it's now just four-ish snippets of life right now. :)

Quick Takes: The Cleaning: Simplified Edition

2011-03-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Next month's Real Simple arrived in the mailbox today, and I immediately picked it up to leaf through. The colors got me first, I just LOVED the 'springy-ness' of the hues on the cover. And the 'spring cleaning shortcuts'? Swoon.

Falling in with my theme of 'simplify' for the year, I am pulling together seven snippets of how life has simplified around here since the beginning of the year. Some are lessons I should have learned long ago, some are ways that I'm keeping my sanity of cleaning out the house while being 8 months pregnant and chasing down the dirt tornado that is the Wee Ski 1.0.

My daily routines have been crazy helpful in 'keeping order' (as opposed to constantly 'restoring order').
I fully credit the FlyLady for finally getting my daily 'chores' written down and pulled together...and credit Finian Road for the cute checklists that make me happy on a daily basis. I've been able to go easy on myself on the days that I don't check everything off, but it also helps me to notice things that I put off routinely (like starting the dishwasher at night before heading to bed). Being around the farm 'full time' has taught me how important order is to my sanity, since it's both my 'home' and my 'workspace' for Finian Road.
I think I have finally mastered the Ski Laundry Monster.
I credit the routines above, 'the soak', and realizing that often, I prefer to pound out three loads of laundry instead of one each day. I really enjoy the days off from laundry while knowing that everything is taken care of. Keeping just one laundry basket for clean clothes and immediately putting the hampers away after dumping things into the washer has helped force me to keep the 'flow' going. And getting things put away immediately has been a huge help. I thought it was hilarious this morning when I was hunting down blankets and towels to wash, because my cleaning checklist said I needed to. I had to stop for a moment and double check that I was really me. I am really hoping that my laundry reward sometime this year is a remodeled mud/laundry room. That would be heavenly. Especially if I finally convert over to cloth diapers with 2.0. :)
I think I have also finally mastered the Ski Housecleaning Monster.
Especially when I was working full time + after Thomas was born, the Merry Maids were my BFFs. I had no shame in admitting that, and one of my favorite days to come home was Friday afternoons when everything smelled sweetly of orange oil and clean floors. But as life settled in with Thomas and I was clearing the clutter in our home, housecleaning became easier because there was simply less to care for. In my '2011 Sprouffske Family Binder', I have a page just for housecleaning (or as the FlyLady calls it, "Home Blessing"). I printed it on photo paper in the colors of the binder (because I am a Type-A freak like that) and dropped it in a page protector. Each week, I check off the tasks with an orange dry erase marker. And occasionally, the Wee Ski colors on it. He wants to get his checkmarks in too.
Putting away things right after using them is a good idea.
I know, not rocket science. But I'm not perfect, and I can't tell you how often I would walk past something out, and leave it there, intending to 'get to it later'. And over time, it would blend into the scenery and then I wouldn't see it anymore except for the fact that I was now out of counter space.
Being proactive with planning ahead has made little things go much more smoothly.
When I get big boxes of diapers, I immediately pull the packs out and put them on the shelves where they go in the bathroom. But before putting them away, I take scissors and slice neat cuts into one end of each, so you can pull out a stash of diapers with one hand without having to tear open the bag with both hands. Let's be real...when I'm out of diapers in the diaper organizer, I usually realize it during the world's worst #2 mess and I only have one free hand for fear of unleashing the mess all over the bathroom. For planning ahead -- I also love pulling Thomas's outfits together onto the bathroom counter before he gets in the shower, so when he is done, I immediately dress him (or Jonathan does on weekends) and he's good to go so he can play while we're still getting ready. I know, again, this isn't rocket science, but it took me two freaking years to switch up that order. So I'll soak in that joy for a little longer now.
I love how Thomas loves helping.
He honestly cheers for himself ("yea! yea!" while clapping and stamping his feet) when he's put away something on his own, or he cleans the windows on his own (currently his favorite obsession -- Grandma Mauss would be so proud). I'm working on being patient when I don't hear the spray bottle and realize that he has soaked my pant leg, because clearly, there's a stain he's trying to get rid of.
Super big fan of buying in bulk at Costco.
Having been a member for nearly 15 years, I sing their praises on a regular basis. But all of our household 'staples' are purchased in bulk and I love it. I decant cleaners from the giant bottles into small clear spray bottles (found here) and they stash neatly under the sinks and in the weekly cleaning caddy that's stashed under the sink in the small bathroom. And Thomas has a bottle of just water for when he wants to go to town with spraying. Outside. :)

If you've got "cleaning: simplified" ideas that you love...I'd love to know what they are! I'm a big fan of the fact that most of the best ideas are begged for, borrowed or simply stolen. :)