1907 Dexter Ave N.

Crazy...

XO

A lovely few days with this little guy...

In which Zo (and Lambie) stop to smell the peonies...

Happiness is big construction equipment...

Luke was pretty excited when some big construction trucks showed up the other day. He couldn't wait to get outside and check things out up close. Just watching was fun but when one of the guys turned the controls of the cement pourer over to him...well, the pictures speak for themselves. :) So sweet for them to indulge a four-year-old... :)

XO 

Grace in small things, May 23, 2016

1. Bike rides and dandelions...
2. A bald eagle sighting this morning...
3. Lovely play date at the botanic gardens...first time we've been there this year...
4. Zo (in tears): "I'm going to miss you when you go away to Seattle with Papa." Me: "Oh sweetie, I know, but we can FaceTime every day." Zo: "But we can't hug and kiss and snuggle on FaceTime." Me (pulling her into my lap): "Well we'll just have to have a lot of extra of that in the next few days, won't we?" (She's also scared that I'll decide not to come back...)
5. Friends who are always there for me...

Strawberry Park Hot Springs, Spring

Kids and I went for the first time yesterday...it's on;y 20 minutes from our house and sooooooo beautiful...what a good time we had...can't wait to go back...

Grace in small things, May 21, 2016

1. Sis picking a million dandelions for me on our morning walk (and love the "unicorn horn" hairstyle she's insisting on every day...)
2. The carnival with the kids...so fun...they were fearless even on the Ferris wheel...next year we'll get wristbands and ride to our heart's content...
3. A whistle pig sighting on the way home from the carnival...we pulled over and let the kids get out of their carseats and watch the little guy eating grass...it's like a safari around here more days than not...love living in a place that's still so wild...
4. My husband emptying the dishwasher and taking the dog out first thing so I could relax a bit more than normal this morning...
5. Date night tonight...and a nice night to walk downtown...it's finally feeling like spring around here...

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 20, 2016

1. The first trip to "The Beach" of the season...and yep, that's still snow in the background, can you believe it? Windy and a little cool, but we still had a great time...
2. Zo coming into bed this morning to snuggle...even if it was before 6 AM...
3. Shortest/easiest visit to the cable company ever...seriously things got resolved in 5 minutes...I love small towns...
4. Visit to the dentist this morning for the kids and gosh, they go out of their way there to make it fun/not scary. Zo was upset she had forgotten her Lambie, but was OK once I told her I'd hold her hand the whole time. Luke waltzed away with the hygienist and did the whole visit himself without me, charming everyone in his path...
5. A chat with my best friend about next weekend's plans...so excited vacation is almost here!!
6. Getting to talk with my mom and my dad this afternoon...
7. Finally feeling like everything is truly going to come together at the Junction house...it's going on the market Monday...
8. BBQ here with friends tonight...fun to entertain and such nice people... 

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 19, 2016

1. This picture is from yesterday...but lovely (if muddy) early-morning walk through Rita Valentine Park...first of the season...so delightful...
2. Finally packed up all my winter stuff and got my closet organized for spring/summer
3. Everything moving along with the Junction house, slowly but surely...
4. Busy work day...but everything's getting done...
5. Luke and Zo putting on their Elsa and Olaf towels as capes after baths tonight and playing "Super Elsa" and Super Olaf." They made me the villain and kept freezing my heart, but whenever I wanted a hug they just changed me back into Mommy and hugged me...

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 17, 2016

1. Daddy having the kids help him change out lightbulbs after dinner...
2. Gorgeous walk with the dog early this morning...the river continues to rise...and the birds here in the spring are so amazing...I've never been a bird person but there are so many of them and so many different kinds...really big ones, and reds and yellows...fun to be out amongst them...
3. Really liking Tuesday Story Hour lately...and the playground after today was fun...
4. Beautiful pink sunset this evening...although I'm told I missed most of it while I was getting the kids down...
5. Lots of reading and snuggle time with the kids today...they are a little hit-or-miss lately with reading...nice when it works out...

XOXO

Junction + Glenwood

My husband and I took a quick kid-free trip (they stayed with Grandma, it worked out great) to Junction to do a number of house-related things as we're hoping to sell the house in the next few months. Nice to have the time alone, even though we were working. So many memories in this house...I remember sitting on the stoop before we got furniture, playing cribbage in the evenings. Friday night we got some beers and sat on the stoop of our empty house once again...sad to be selling it, but life is taking us to other places, other adventures...

We spent the night at my mom and dad's, and got a look at my mom's beautiful garden, just getting started for the season, and my dad's fruit trees, which are going to be so productive this year:

And then a quick stop in Glenwood for Saturday night...I love Glenwood...we stayed at the Antlers and I went to the vapor caves and we had beers in the courtyard at Hotel Colorado and then walked across the bridge to downtown and had a lovely meal at Co. Ranch House...

Short trip but fun to get away...

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 12, 2016

1. Kids running circles this evening around what they call the "tree house," and this gorgeous little window close by...
2. Wine and oysters last night with a lovely new friend of mine here...must get out and do things like that more often...it was so nice...
3. Saw the ospreys this morning on my walk...they are so magnificent...and there was a frost last night and everything the sun had yet to touch was covered in this beautiful sparkly white...
4. Luke and Zo coming into our bed early, early, but so warm and sweet and snuggly, it's OK to lose that sleep when I get to be with them like that...
5. Luke, talking about me being away for a couple days and the fact that we'll FaceTime: "But Mommy, we can't hold hands when we FaceTime."
6. Luke and I taking Newton the dog for boarding...he (Luke) really needed some alone time with Mommy this afternoon, grateful that I could give him what he needed...
7. Zo asking nicely if we wouldn't mind bringing Lambie back from Grammy and Papa's (Lambie is her favorite stuffy, and she sent her home with Grammy on Monday, much to everyone's surprise)...
8. Fun play date at the park this morning...really enjoying spending time with the mom friends I've been making...
9. Got through many, many little work projects today...everything was so smooth and easy, which is rarely the case...
10. About to have a little porch time with my husband and then bed...so sleepy...I so need a good night's sleep...

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 10, 2016

1. Dinner's "carrot ribbons" (the only way the kids will eat carrots) becoming carrot mustaches...
2. Nice morning at the library...lovely to see the kids sharing and being kind to others unprompted...
3. The beautiful orange and yellow and white tulips my husband gave me for Mother's Day blooming all over the living room/dining room
4. All the help we're getting trying to make the sale of our Junction house come together...hugely appreciated...
5. Didn't set an alarm this morning (I've been waking up VERY early to work before everyone else starts their day)...but then again, the kids were in our bed by 6:30 AM...but they were so snuggly and huggy and sweet that it was totally OK...
6. Kids trying to help me tonight by doing the soapy part of their bath by themselves while I put away laundry...they used 3/4 of a bottle of baby wash on each other...but it's the thought that counts, right? :)

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 9, 2016

1. Some time with my mom and dad first thing on the tail end of their Mother's Day Weekend visit...so lovely to have them here...I had such a nice Mother's Day...
2. Lots of time with my sweet little ones this morning...
3. I've been so busy with work for the past few weeks...but things are finally settling down and I am getting some room to breathe...
4. Heavy rain and snow and thunder and lightening today, with some glorious warm sun thrown in for about an hour late this afternoon...
5. We're getting closer to having some picnic tables and chairs in our park area out front...will be so nice in the summer...

XO

Emerald Mountain, Mother's Day

Playground

Grace in small things, May 5, 2016

1. Nice long walk just me and the dog this morning...Hilltop to the train depot by the library and back...
2. Kids playing "cows," this morning, which involved scattering blocks all over Sissy's room and then riding their hobby horses around with leashes and rounding up the block and putting them back in their pen (aka the wooden tray the blocks came in)...
3. Kids "helping" to install a blind in the dining room...
4. Green leaves on Emerald Mountain...and everywhere else...all of a sudden, literally seems like overnight...
5. About to go have a margarita on the porch with my husband. :)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 3, 2016

1. Kids watching our antique table (from Santa Barbara days) getting locks put on it, finally...
2. A picnic on the grass at lunch, 60 degrees and sun, Zo's pink-and-green monkey blanket blanket spread out, plastic red-and-blue plates brought out from the house for the kids. Luke lounged back on me, stretched out and sighed and said, "Sometimes it's so nice to just relax!"
3. Kids jumping down the bottom 2 stairs all at once, and Luke showing Zo how to flap her arms super fast up and down like a bird to get the distance she wanted
4. Saw 2 huge osprey building a nest on a platform on top of a telephone pole right next to the river on our walk early this morning...so cool...
5. Quick and easy bedtime, for once...

XOXO

Grace in small things, May 2, 2016

1. So I don't know how the wearing of underwear on the head thing got started, but it's pretty dang cute...
2. Snuggling in Zo's bed and then Luke's tonight reading stories--"The Little Mermaid" and "Ice Cream Dreams"...
3. Have started the process of selling our Junction house...feels good to make decisions...
4. A walk with my husband this morning...a lot less snow than a week ago...and about to go out and have some porch time together...
5. Nice talk with my Dad this morning...and some interesting things from him in my email inbox today...love the links and articles he sends me...always thought-provoking...

XOXO

Daddy's hat