So many squishy faces...

In 8 days I will get to squish all over these sweet faces!  My cousin Lauralyn is getting married down in LA and Daniel and I will be heading down there for the festivities.

In the above picture Asher is on the left and Cody is on the right.  You can already tell they are going to have tons of fun when they are older.  Asher belongs to my cousin Mary Beth who is sisters with Cody's momma Eva-Karin.  They are both older sisters to Lauralyn who is getting married on June 1st.

Here is Eva-Karin with all three boys.  Her oldest Ethan is on the right.  He is about a year and half younger than Daniel but I have a feeling they are going to have lots of fun together. 

Ethan

 

I had to include this picture of little Cody coming home from the hospital.  This has to be the cutest "coming home"  picture I have ever seen!  

My only Squishy Face who will be missing is my sweet Charlie.  My brother and his family live all the way in Alaska so it was much harder for them to be able to make it to the wedding. 

 Charlie

And of course I can't leave out sweet little Adaryn.  At this point she is my only niece.  

I have to say I think I've got a good collection going!  :) 

Taggy...

Where would a little boy be without his taggy blanket?  Daniel wanted to work outside with my dad and I in our gardens but he wanted to bring his taggy too.  So my dad stuck it in his back pocket.  :)  A friend made this taggy for Daniel when he was about 5 months old and it has never left his side.  The edges are fraying and the tags are showing signs of wear.  Even when he is grown I will still have this little blanket as a keepsake from his little boy days.

 This forlorn look is when I told him it was time to go home.  He loves working with Grampa in the garden.

 

 He moped into the house to get his things. :)

 

And this spawn of Satan beautiful moth was on my parents' front porch.  Daniel refused to go out this way, he took the back door.

 

My dad put his hand up next to the spawn of Satan beautiful moth so you gauge the size better.  Daniel said it has sharp wings.  :)

Earthen Vessel Shoppe Blog!

Feel free to stop by my new blog specifically for scrap booking and card making!  Lots more posts to come!

Earthen Vessel Shoppe: Welcome!: I decided to start a separate little blog for my paper crafting and Etsy shop .  I thought perhaps those who want to visit my blog Earthen V...

Spring windowsill...

Here is my kitchen windowsill at the moment. My lilacs are in full bloom along with my columbine and I bought some living basil from the store. I love having flowers I can go and pick from my yard whenever I want. Later on in the summer the lilacs and columbine will be replaced with my blue hydrangeas and various roses. The little picture is of Daniel and Daisy on a hike in Glacier.  Daniel is holding Daisy hand. Daniel was 2. I love that picture.

Spring happenings...

Well, I figured it was time for another post since it's been almost two months since I last posted.  I am glad to get back to blogging.  I have a few plans for my blog and my Etsy shop coming up soon.

The above picture is of the pond on my parents' property.  My veggie garden plot is right next to it so I have a lovely view when I am working in my garden.  Sadly though as summer gets closer the pond will dry up until fall comes around again.

To get my garden ready I removed all or most of the gravel that had been between the beds.  I purchased a yard of organic compost and incorporated it all in into the soil.  I bought some straw to put between the beds. Daniel helped me spread the straw around and he thought it was the funnest job ever.  He did such a good job of making sure the straw didn't get in the beds. This is a trick my mother-in-law uses and I really wanted to try it this year.  Eventually when I put my beds to rest at the end of the fall the straw will be a little more broken down and I will turn some of it into my beds.  So far I have planted onions, garlic, kale broccoli, lettuce,carrots, fennel, beets, bush beans, zucchini, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkins and potatoes.

We've had some amazing weather the past week.  Daniel and Daisy spent quite a bit of time in the sprinkler and slip and slide. 

Nothing like the pure happiness of a little boy playing in the sprinkler.

And here my sweet little niece Adaryn now 2 months old.  Time sure flies!  I love squishing her all up and I don't get to do it nearly enough.  :)

Happy spring everyone! 

She's here...

...and she sure is a little sweety pie!  My sweet little niece Adaryn arrived two weeks ago today. 

 

 She smiles all the time just like her Momma and Daddy! :)

 

  Love her to pieces!

Charming...

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Happy weekend everyone!

Waiting for spring...

 

I just purchased an 11X14 print of this picture I took in Glacier at Logan Pass this past summer.  I took it on a little climb we did up Mt. Oberlin.  I can't wait to head there again this coming summer for our annual trip. I framed it and hung it in my kitchen.  

 

This is the time of year when I really start longing for spring and the mountains.  (Well actually, I'm always longing for the mountains.) My little tulips are sticking their heads out of the ground, my blueberry bushes are getting little tiny buds and it's time to prune my lilac and rose bushes.  I already bought my veggie seeds for this year and when the weather is a little bit warmer I will start digging in my garden and get the beds all ready for planting when the time is right.  I have been saving my pennies so I can buy a truckload of good compost (and I do mean an actual truckload) for my garden.  My soil needs some good TLC. 

But even more exciting than spring is my sister-in-law Ruhiyyih who is expecting her sweet baby girl any day now.  Her due date was on Friday so now we wait to hear that she is heading to the birthing center. This Auntie can't wait to meet her first little niece!  I promised not to text her a million times a day asking if there are any changes.  :)






 I am going on walks with Daniel outside at least once a week.  Even if it is threatening rain I dress us appropriately.  Being out in the woods or some other pretty place is so refreshing for the soul.  Plus it tuckers Daniel out enough that he will actually sit still for more than 30 seconds. :)  I also want to keep him used to getting outside and walking since spring and summer mean lots of hiking and camping for us.  Our little walks are so fun and I treasure this time with him.  Our walk last week was in McCormick Woods.  They have lots of lovely nature trails and I found a nice loop that took us about an hour to walk. 


Today I am organizing my craft closet and then I am going to start scrapbooking prints I ordered of our vacations this past summer.  I find it hard to do any kind of crafty project until my closet is organized. 

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone!

Theler Wetlands...

Daniel and I took advantage of a sunny day on Wednesday and headed out to Belfair and the Theler Wetlands on the lower Hood Canal.  They have lovely nature trails to meander in and explore.  Even though the sun was out it was COLD, about 35 degrees.  (All you who live in the mid-west or Alaska, no comment!)

These lovely little winter walks are some of life's simple pleasures.  Plus having a sweet little boy talking to you the whole time has to be one of the sweetest moments for his Momma.  :)

Sledding at Paradise...

We took a little family trip up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier last Thursday for some sledding and to spend a day in the mountains.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I was so glad we actually got to see the mountain. 

Daisy had fun!

Daniel and Daddy on the kiddy slope.  Daniel wasn't too fond of sledding but I'm sure he'll grow out of that.  

 The Tatoosh Range

We were only there a couple hours and the clouds started rolling in.  A ranger said they were expecting freezing rain so we (and everyone else) decided to head out.  It went by way to quickly.  For me it was like taking a tiny nibble of some decadent dessert and it only leaving you craving more.  I am already counting down the days to spring.  But I have to say I do love winter though.  The cozy rainy, cold days just make me feel warm and content. 

Aaaaaaaaaaand...my hubby surprised me with a new camera yesterday!!!  The camera I've had is 8 years old now and in technology years that's pretty much ancient.  I dropped it for about the hundredth time on Thursday up at the mountain and one of the switches stopped working, a very important switch.  I accepted the fact that I would probably have to just try and work with a very broken camera for a while.  But yesterday my hubby came home from running errands and told me to close my eyes, it didn't even cross my mind that he might have a camera for me.  And there it was, my shiny new camera!  It is about half the size of my old camera, takes HD movies and is 16 mega pixels.  My old camera was 4 mega pixels.  I can't wait to start playing with it and post some pictures!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! My first New Year's resolution is taking a week off of Facebook and blogging!  That sounds like a pretty easy resolution to keep.  :)

I hope everyone has a blessed New Year!

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Warmth...

 I am picturing a warm fire with a cast iron dutch oven hanging over it with hot soup and being surrounded by all my family. 

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White Christmas...

We enjoyed a white Christmas!  

Merry Christmas...

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Starbucks ornaments...

My Starbucks store is having a fun little Christmas competition.  One of our partners put together little packets that have several little Starbucks items.  You grab a packet and use at least one item from it to make a little ornament.  Then bring it back, hang it on the little trees we have and then customers and partners can vote on them.  And customers and partners can both participate. 

This last Saturday a few of us girls got together and made our little ornaments.  We had so much fun!  I felt like I was back in grade school working on an art project. 

My ornament is the one on the bottom left of the picture.  The dome lids cause a little glare in the picture so it's hard to see that it has a little Christmas tree in it with a little deer figurine and lots of white glitter for snow. 

Sam made a little Santa shoe out of a Starbucks Christmas sample cup with a bell on the bottom. So cute!

 Erin made this cute little Christmas tree out of a sleeve! 

A cute little snowman set in an ice dome lid covered in glitter. 

This ornament took up one whole side of our little tree!  She's a ferry with a little sample cup and coffee beans glued all over her. 

Plus I had to add this picture of my store this morning.  It was snowing pretty hard when I left for work at 5 this morning.  This picture really doesn't show how pretty it all was, snow is always better in person.  :)  (Thanks to Kharla for running outside on her break and taking this pic for me!)

Tomorrow I'm heading over to my friend Hannah's house to decorate Christmas cookies and let Daniel run around with two of her boys (she has three boys with a fourth on the way!!).  Daniel is really excited to get to play with Billy and Bo.  He and Billy are only 3 months apart. 

Can't believe Christmas is less than a week away! 

Happy Wednesday everyone!