A Little Catching Up to Do

Just so you don’t think I’ve entirely forgotten about the blog, I thought I might post a few of our recent (or not so recent) events.

First, here is one of our nightly events. I’m so grateful to have a wonderful husband who is such an involved dad.

Jeff loves being a dad.

He reads to the kids every night. He is an engaging story-teller. They have such an elaborate bedtime routine which includes bath-time fun, “wee” - a crazy ride where Jeff wraps them up in their bath towel and swings them around. It beats any roller coaster, let me tell ya! Book reading, made-up stories (like the adventures of peanut butter monkey floating down the chocolate river), tickles and snuggle time. Wow – it’s exhausting just writing about it. No wonder they whine and cry when Jeff is working and mom has to put them to bed.

My birthday – so it was a while ago, but while I’m bragging about Jeff and no one is here to stop me, I’ll share how Jeff made my 31st birthday unforgettable!

It began the night before when Jeff told me he had scheduled a vacation day for my birthday – so I could have a day off! That alone would make any mommy’s birthday. But wait; it gets better. I woke up to a yummy gourmet omelet breakfast. After dropping Ethan off at preschool, Jeff drove me to a surprise destination - a salon, where I had my first pedicure that also included a foot scrub, soak and massage. We went home for lunch, picked up Ethan and drove to downtown Seattle to to go shopping at the Nordstrom flagship store. On the way back, we picked up some cupcakes at Trophy Cupcakes (a gourmet cupcake shop) and dinner at a Thai restaurant – my favorite!

As a perfect surprise, Jeff bought me a new wallet – something I desperately needed, but didn’t have the time to think about. I can honestly say it was the most perfect day, thanks to my wonderful husband and kids. Thanks, family!

Autumn Recipe

I know it's been a while since we've done a decent post, but between morning sickness (which lasts ALL DAY) and selling our condo, we've been pretty busy. I just had to share one of my favorite fall recipes. We had it tonight and it renewed my love for the delectable butternut squash!

Butternut Squash Bisque

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced carrots

1 butternut squash

3 cups vegetable stock

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk or evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Slice squash in half and place flat side down on pan with tin foil. Add a little water. Roast squash for 35 minutes at 375° F.

2. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil under tender.

3. Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.

4. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return to the pot, and stir in the milk. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve warm.

The Simple Life...

On August 7th we visited the South 47 Farm in Redmond, Wa to get a taste of the simple life we've been missing out on while living in the city. It's a u-pick farm with tractor rides, a petting zoo, crafts and a bean pole maze (the smaller version of a corn maze). We had so much fun! It wore the kids out too!

Ethan feeding the pigmy goat.

Sienna feeding the alpacas.

The tractor ride. Ethan loved it, Sienna cried and tried to get out the whole time.

Out in the field picking squash - Sienna examining the yellow squash.

Ethan found it more efficient to uproot the plant while picking the squash.

Ethan exploring the bean pole maze.

The bees on the sunflowers - such a different reaction between boys and girls. Sienna giggles while Ethan yells to scare them away. In case you were wondering, bees are not scared away by yelling at them.

Sienna loved the sunflowers.

Such helpful children. Ethan and Sienna collecting little orange flags that help remind visitors to stay out of the corn. Yes, I did put them back:)

Sienna turns 2!

On August 3rd, our little angel turned two! The night before, Ethan helped me make an ice cream cake - perfect for the hot summer weather!

The cake was super easy...thanks to the ice cream bars!

My parents sent Sienna a little teddy bear for her birthday - which she instantly loved! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Ethan and Sienna reading books in Ethan's room. Ethan has really been a delightful 4 yr old, and a pretty great big brother.

Ethan's Growing Up!

On August 3rd, Ethan wanted to make a robot costume.  So Ethan and I put our creative juices to work and made the best robot costume we could with materials around the house. During the process, Ethan was pretty excited. He put it on and began to run around, making robot noises. When he stopped and furrowed his brow, I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I don't look very cool." I had to laugh because (well, he was right) this was one of the first times he had shown some awareness of social norms. I guess the days of running up and down the grocery store isles in his Superman pj's are coming to a close, but I'm excited that my little guy is growing up!

Diamond Lake -finally!

We had so much fun at Jeff's family reunion at Diamond Lake at Newport, Washington!  Spending time with family that we hadn't seen in a while was so wonderful. The time away from all the responsibilities of daily life was so refreshing!  Thanks Mom and Dad Carlsen for organizing it.

Our first day was cold and rainy; thank goodness for the Wii!

Jeff and Riley on the Sea-Doo

Julie in the kayak - so relaxing!

Enjoying some time in the sun and the coveted Capri-Sun

Jeff and Sienna on the wave runner - it was a short, slow, put-put ride, but a ride, none the less!

A sunset visit from the geese

Ahhh, Family Home Evening: what better way to get a bunch of kids to be reverent than to put  the "answers" in balloons and have the kids pop them! May not be very reverent, but it was fun.

My favorite part of the evening was when Ethan said the opening prayer and thanked Heavenly Father that Riley was there to play with them. Ethan had so much fun playing with Riley and still talks about him. Riley, thanks for being such a great cousin! Brenna, you spent so much time playing with the little girls too, pulling  them around in the bike trailer and keeping them happy! You are both great and we're so happy we are in the same family!

Jeff's photography skills -nice!

Jeff's wake-boarding skills- nice!

My wake-boarding skills - not so nice.

My tubing skill were better

Jeff and Ethan on the Sea-doo! Ethan is one lucky kid to have Jeff for a Dad; Jeff is lucky too...

Sienna trying to give Amilie a hug. Notice the fear in Amilie's eyes.

The hug

Jeff and Sienna on a boat ride!

Happy Birthday, Zoe!

Sienna loved the lake.

On the last day she got used to the idea of the life jacket - finally!

Ian and Ethan playing

Snuggling

The Columbia River on the drive home

The End!

Forest Park Animal Farm

On July 10th we went to an animal farm that was next to a water park.  Between the two, everyone had a blast, but Sienna especially loved the baby goats. Lucky for me, the park also included a special anti-bacterial hand-washing stand for little kids.

Sienna feeding the goat wood chips. I'm sure the goat loved it.

Sienna trying to ride the goat.

After careful observation of goat behavior, Sienna quickly decided she was not about to be at the bottom of the goat pecking order. This is actually a picture of Sienna head-butting a goat. I'm not kidding. It was pretty quick and she hit the goat rather hard. I laughed in amazement but was a little unsure whether to be proud of her or maybe take it as a hint that we should go (since I don't want her head-butting other kids).

No hard feelings. They resolved their differences and became friends.