A Birthday to Remember

Not sure how this party will be topped! Our friend Jonah was celebrating his 10th and we were on the invite list. How luck are we?
Here's a sneak peak at what we got to do:
Yup! Kangaroos! At the party! Hopping around the yard! And there was a baby Wallaby! It was the softest thing I've ever felt in my whole life.
The kids always love visiting Jonah and we look forward to his birthday parties every year but honestly? Not sure how they are gonna top this one!
I've posted all the pictures to my gallery...feel free to check them out.

Spring?

Thanks so much Ann, I have loved watching this plant bloom. It gives me some small hope for warmer temps and sunnier days.

10 on the 10th

So I was poking around on line and checked in on my cousin's ever growing family, then over to AK's blog to see if she's posted any new knitting projects (love the hat!!!), then over to T to see how her second work week is shaping up (must be a busy one...), had to of course check in on Amy to see if she's posted any news- I know she just got a cute hair cut...but nope, nothing new yet...one day she'll have time to post (or Scott could guest post.........) and on and on I went through all my Internet friends, just to check in. Everyone seems to be doing well in this new year. Then I popped over to Orange Poppy to see how her life is as a mother of 2 young boys when I read about her new goal. She's going to take a picture every hour for 10 hours on the 10th day of the month. Brilliant! I'm joining up. It'll help me focus on my picture taking and allow you a new view into our daily lives.
Wanna join us?

Christmas is the Time

To watch your children light up at the thought of going downtown to see the carousel.
To remember being a child. To remember believing.

To enjoy every moment of the season.
To be with good friends.

Happy Birthday Easter Bunny!

Hey Tania,
Happy Birthday...it's time you stop sucking your thumb...it's a hard habit to break but I have faith in you...you can do it:
Miss you and love you,
Jen

Shopping

a friend of mine just opened her esty shop. if you're in need of some very special jewery please check her stuff out. i have some earrings and a beautiful, beautiful necklace from her. she's very talented.

her shop

This camp out was brought to you by

John and Jill who let us borrow their wonderful tent
and my mom who is a quilt maker. without all her wonderful quilts we would have surely been ice cubes by the end of the first night!
and Ann-Krestene and all her years of camping knowledge and cook-out fun
and by friendship.

So Much to Say

We've been up to a lot lately...
I've tried to re-make Pinkberry here:
(not nearly as good...but ok.)

We went to that lunch time concert in the park that I mentioned in the previous post...the weather was...well, take a look:But the show was just great and well worth the few rain drops.

I changed my hair, yet again. It's a process, still a bit orangey-yellow but it'll get there:
Hazel was in a wedding over the weekend. Kathie came by to make her hair oh-so-beautiful:
(also a process.)
Hazel had to be at the chapel and hour and a half before the wedding...she's not so good at waiting:
She made it through the wedding just fine...no tripping, no falling...but she let it all hang out afterwards during the picture taking time:
The reception was nice...all she really wanted to do was dance, dance, dance:

Today we had a bit of a family reunion. My grandma Mid came to town with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudia so my Aunt Emma and Uncle Ken brought them all over for a nice family dinner. Kat and Justin and Emma's son Benny rounded us all out for a Reynolds dinner. We broached such topics as boils, hives and scabies...it was great fun!
So now we face another week of summer. Will the sun come back? It's been raining like Ca-razy...especially for the summer...ahhh...Seattle.

Ode to Amy

The hardest part of visiting with Scott and Amy is not the first day there…it is not even the day I come home. The hardest part is always, always the third day home. By the third day I start thinking about funny events I could share with Amy. I remember songs…that song…that high pitched wooing…sleepless...that song that I bought off stinking iTunes today. I start thinking about how Amy will laugh that infectious laugh of hers when she hears that I spent money on that song.
I begin wishing that instead of sitting on my couch alone watching bad TV that I was maybe sitting on the couch that she designed watching bad TV with her…listening to her scoff at the judges decisions…Dancing With the Stars was never as good as it was when I watched it with her. Watching TV together knowing that one of our lovely daughters will eventually emerge from their beds requesting a kiss or a drink or an announcement that they've peed on the ground rather than the toilet...you know, the usual. Just having that other body there to experience the frustration of motherhood throughout the day makes it so much better.
Oh how I wish we lived closer...an not in a place where the temps reach 101!

UPDATE:
DEAR AMY HAS INFORMED ME THAT IT IS NOT "DANCING WITH THE STARS". THE SHOW IS ACTUALLY CALLED "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE". AND YES, I WATCHED IT LAST NIGHT!

Guess what I got?

did you think i would neglect you on this the day of my birth? no my friends (and family) i am here, loyally blogging away to inform you all of how i spent my day.
this morning my family woke me and sang happy birthday to me. trey took the kids to school so i could walk the dog and get ready to go out to breakfast with 2 of my girl friends.
ann and rachel took me to a nice little neighborhood restaurant that i had never been to...i'm so glad we went and can't wait to take trey there some weekend. after dropping ann back off at her car rachel and i set out to do some shopping downtown. there really is something to be said about going downtown in the middle of the week...there was actually room to walk on the sidewalks and i didn't feel claustrophobic in the shops...
after our little shopping excursion i dropped rachel off and picked trey up for a quick coffee break then headed home to let the dog out and play with my birthday gift. not gonna tell you what i got just yet...you'll have to wait.
the weather turned pretty nice by the time i made my way to the school to pick the kids up with tank. tank and i practiced his sitting at every crosswalk and keeping up with me as we walked towards august and hazel. at this point i simply have to suggest picking hazel up and tank is ready and running for the door. it's very sweet watching this family accept a new member.
with the kids in tow we headed home. august was a bit upset because i suggested that he start his homework when we get home (something he has NOT started yet) so that he can play his DS on friday.
now we wait for trey to come home so that we can have a nice birthday dinner at my favorite indian restaurant here in seattle.
you wanna know what i got?
well.
a few parents sent some money for my birthday so we combined that and got....THE CAMERA I WANTED!!!
it's a Nikon D40. i love it. thank you, thank you.
here's some much missed pictures of the day:
the gals.
the boy.
the girl.
the tank.

thanks.

Poppy Artistry

my friend Marg has started a new business here in Seattle. check out the updates on her website...you may even find a picture of me:
http://www.poppyartistry.com/index.html

body parts 101

nothing to report really...the weather is perfect today...maybe even a bit too warm...it's 82! august has been riding his bike to school these sunny, warm days while hazel and the dog and i walk ever so slowly behind.

oh my goodness. our next door neighbors are over playing with the kids. they have 2 girls, one is 7 and the other is 4. they are very sweet. they played in the backyard for a while and are now in the living room trying to playing with tank. the younger girl noticed that tank has some spots under his belly and then noticed his "coochie". she asked if indeed it was his "coochie" and i asked if she meant his penis. she looked at me rather confused so her older sister said "yeah, his penis...or it could be his pah-gina."
yup, his penis or his pahgina.

oh, i would post a nice picture of the kids playing outside or better yet, examining tanks nether regions but...no camera...

Thank You Ladies

i have many ladies to thank for tonight's dinner.
Ann and Tania gave me the America's Test Kitchen cookbook as a gift. i've made the stove top beef stew from it and am now trying the slow cooker version in my new slow cooker...which brings me to the next lady to thank. Linda, Trey's mom gave me a slow cooker for Christmas. this will be my very first attempt at slow cooking. the kitchen smells wonderful.
moving on, i need to thank Rebecca- my other mother-in-law- for the yummy new brownie recipe. she uses a box mix but puts half the dough down and places two of those giant chocolate bars on the first layer, then covering them with the rest of the dough. oh. so. good.
my first attempt was not so good, i'm trying again. i will not be detoured from this delicious treat.
you'll notice the oven mitt...thank you Erika. last month i hosted a hot pad/tea towel gift exchange. it was loads of fun. everyone brought a gift and a dish for dinner. i'm hosting the second one this weekend. this time we're exchanging socks. who doesn't enjoy a nice pair of socks?
back to the thank you's...
thanks gals. i have good friends and a good family.

friendship

it used to be so easy to make and keep friends. in jr high and highschool you're surrounded by people. college comes and still you're around your peers 24/7, friendship comes easy.
as an adult i have found it much harder to find people who i feel i can build a relationship with,
i have to think of my whole family. the kids have to get along, husbands too. it's just easier that way.
these gals in the picture were my closest friends at one time. tara and becky. both were sporty, i was not. both knew everyone in the school, i did not. yet we were friends. i miss the ease of those friendships.

snow in denver

i'm trying so hard. there has been another snow storm in denver...stinking denver! you'd think they'd be ready for snow...our flight out on the 2nd (yes...we've been here for-ever!)has a layover in stinking denver! i have to be home by the 3rd to deliver some art work to the city center for that reflections exhibit sometime between 9am and noon. i'm really trying not to worry. we looked on the weather site and it says that it'll warm up to about the 40's by tuesday so there is still hope that we'll make it in time...


just hung out with tara again tonight. this time she brought some pictures from our past. i should have asked tara to borrow them so i could scan them in when we got home.
there is this series of 3 pics with me, becky and ellie going to camp all looking relatively okay on the bus ride to our winter church camp. the next picture is the three of us getting ready for the first meeting of the camp. the last is us with the biggest hair ever! it's so funny. we're so proud of the heights we reached.

those were the days.

it's the most happiest time of the year

i've been checking on those reunion websites for a few years now hoping that i'd find a few old friends. today was the day!
i was notified that someone had looked at my profile. i checked it out with little hope that it would be someone i actually knew...but i was so wrong.


we moved to south lyon michigan during the summer of my 7th grade year. south lyon is a small town. all the kids knew each other. thankfully we moved into a house right next door to a girl who was my age. becky was tall and beautiful and athletic. she walked over and asked if i wanted to join cross-country with her. i thought it would be a great way to make friends so i went along with her. becky had a friend who lived down the road a bit and the three of us became as close as girls can be. tara was also beautiful and athletic...not sure how i fit into the mix, but tara, becky and i did everything together.
then tara moved to the next town. it was a sad day. we still saw one another at church but it just wasn't the same. becky got a boyfriend and well, we all know what happens to the girls when a new boy gets involved.

thanks to the internet i have now contacted both these lovely ladies. i'm really hoping to get together with them this christmas.
i'm also hoping to have my camera so i can document the occasion...if i'm lucky i'll be able to find a picture of the three of us in jr. high...that'd be something!