Book Launch & Grandpa Winston Visits

A big thank you to my family for coming out to support my book launch party for Pure Soapmaking and for the support all the way through the book writing process. The event was well attended and it was thrilling to have soapmakers from as far as Oregon come. My parents got me the most amazing flower arrangement (ever). It was larger than Jamisen with multiple Bird of Paradise and a lovely banner (yes, it was big enough for a banner). It was so nice to have Cousin Alise and Erik and Cheriss and Grandpa Winston come to the party too. The book has already sold 12,000 copies so that's super exciting and we're thrilled about the success. 

  

The other day, we were all driving in the car and Lily was jabbering, singing and talking at the top of her teensy tiny lungs. Her teensy tiny lungs have quite a lot of talking and singing noise capacity though, making it virtually impossible to carry on any sort of conversation. Chris said to Lily, "Wow, you have a lot to say." To which Lily replied, quite happily and decisively, "I have a lot of power!" And then, fell asleep no less than 42 seconds later.

 

Jamisen received this awesome NASA space suit from Uncle Weston and Aunt Anna for Christmas and he very much enjoys dressing up in it. It's amazing; he's almost outgrown it!

Grandpa Winston visited for dinner and we loved having him visit. He has a large capacity for reading and the patience of someone who has raised 8 children.

The kids enjoyed being extra silly with him, showing him their bouncy house and building blocks with him. Grandpa Winston was there for full bedtime routine, including the always fun 6:45 to 7:30 time period of brushing teeth and 'But, I'm hungry' delaying tactics. It was great to have his gentle support during that point in the night and the kids loved having him visit.

Our little silly kiddos are way into making forts out of anything and everything. They made a 'fort' by draping a blanket over Lily's Pack 'n' Play crib (still her preferred bed of choice) and designed a very elaborate game involving multiple entry points, steps and ways to dive into the fort.

This is Lily's favorite teacher, Jana (pronounced Zjhana) from Hillcrest. Lily has gone from crying and dreading being dropped off to running into teacher Jana's arms and barely even acknowledging that we're still in the room and walking out. It's such a relief to have her loving school and being delighted to be there.