On Snow Cones, Wizard Costumes & Rubber Sheets

We've enjoyed the last of summer with much squealing, laughter and joy. For the fourth year in a row, Bramble Berry has taken over the Bellingham Bells Game. The kids love it because there are cookies and this year, there was even a bouncy house! Happy kiddos.

Training is going well for the half marathons. My friend Patrice is super pregnant. She'll be over 8 months by the time we do our run for real, assuming her baby stays inside her belly for long enough to finish our two half marathons.

 

Patrice (the diabolical friend that got me into running long distances) just gave us an awesome box of dress up clothes that Jamisen is loving! They're just a little too big for Lily but Jamisen is embracing his flair for the dramatic with dresses (or is that a wizard costume ) and pink high heels. They also have been enjoying snow cones at the farmer's market which is basically sugar water squirted over shaved ice. The people at the farmer's market are making a small fortune and good for them for being ingenious at their choice of products to ensnare passerby. 

 

I know that every other blog post talks about how creative the kids are and that's because, well, they are. They both are embracing all things tactile, arts and craft related. Here, we made play dough from scratch and then overlaid a clear plastic mat on different scenes so the kids could sculpt things that were scene appropriate. What you are looking at in the photo is eggs, donuts and bacon for the breakfast scene that is under the mat. Jamisen also made a whale card that he is proudly displaying. 

The kiddos still fight going to sleep nightly and that remains a stressful hour for all of us but mornings are so fun. The kids wake up happy, rarin' to go and just adorable. Lily loves her footie pajamas (hand-me-downs from Aunti Anamarie) and I'm dreading the day when she grows out of them. Jamisen is struggling with either willfully not getting up to go to the bathroom (and really, the bed is really comfy so I get the desire to not go to the bathroom in the middle of the night) or sleeping right through his walnut-sized bladder bursting; either way, he's generally naked in the mornings before we see the evidence of his wet, bloated night underwear. We'll get there ... I have faith.  But for now, we're thankful for waterproof sheet pads and giant pull up (padded) night underwear.

Lipstick. You're Doing It Wrong.

A) This is a glorious photo. Jamisen, you had a happy childhood. Look at this smile. Please quit billing us for your therapy. B) This is a horrible photo. Deer, you are stealing my plants and my happiness by eating all of my garden. Prepare to be thwarted next year when I put up a fence no less than 12 feet tall.

Jamisen loves dressing up. Here, he is wearing a skirt of clear green gauze and a hat of square. He looks a bit like a geisha, no?

 

In addition to dressing up, Jamisen also loves his music (so so so much!). Here he has Chris dancing a jig to his string band jamboree CD. He has since moved onto Bruce Springsteen (last week) and Michael Franti (this week). We are all grooooovin' to the message of love, peace and acceptance that Michael Franti has to share. I did get him the latest Josh Groban show tunes CD and he proclaimed, "Mamma, I do not like this CD" after previewing it (and this after thanking us for his Michael Franti CD in a sincere and thoughtful fashion). Allllllrighty then. Duly noted. No show tunes for this kid at present.

We have enjoyed the most amazing weekends at the lake this summer. The kiddos love the beach and Chris has dragged five hundred million bags of sand down to the beach so there's an actual beach for them to play on. A) Best husband in the world B) So sweet.

 

We have a dear friend (Lynn) that has a lake house on Lake Whatcom and she invited our kiddos and their bestie, Sasha, over for a play date. The redhead in the photo is Nanny McKenna who has loved our kiddos for four years. The adored the beach and the amazing floating thing. They also loved the snacks that Lynn served and have basically demanded a similar spread at home ever since that fated play date.

Little Lily had quite the fun time with my lipstick drawer this weekend. She's all girl. All mischief. All the time. Thank goodness this is all going to be over soon (right? I mean, this behavior cannot possibly continue into her teenage years. Right!????).

The Mortification

Much to the chagrin of every business friend I have and dearly love, I recently attended a fundraiser for Governor Jay Inslee and even more galling, did the 'ask' for him The 'ask' is the part of the program that is deeply uncomfortable for most attendees; the part where someone (in this case me) pulls at your heartstrings and sense of responsibility to ask you to give more money than you were planning on to help elect (or re-elect) the candidate in question. As horrifying as it is to my staunchly Republican friends (and family), I was honored to give a small speech talking about Gov Inslee's commitment to family planning, education and transportation infrastructure in Washington state.

Miss Lily ... oh my sweet sweet little Miss Lily. That look on her face? That is the look of pure mischief. The look of someone that knows she has gotten away with something and gotten away with it in a big big way. My dear friend Jody has two grown adult daughters. She ... likes? No, she tolerates children. She does have a soft spot in her heart for Lily or rather, she DID have a soft spot in her heart for Lily.

She invited Lily and I up for a lovely evening at her gorgeous Chuckanut home, behind a gate (a gate with crystals inlaid in it) and horses on the property. It was a lovely night with an incredible view and gorgeous sunset. We enjoyed some amazing Italian wine and talked while Lily examined all of Jody's crystals, tapestry and generally was the sweetest, most polite toddler that ever did live.

 After about an hour, Lily climbed up onto the high back chair by the bar area and started looking at the fish and playing with things on the counter. And, no sooner had I gone over to protect Lily from falling off the high barstool when she SHOVED (with all of her might) three (THREE!) wine full wine bottles over and off onto the floor. One glorious bottle of French Bordeaux broke all over the carpet. Jody and her boyfriend Jim James were gracious and cleaned it up and insisted we stay for dinner (in hindsight, we should have left). No sooner had I sat down to an amazing stacked caprese salad, grass-fed local bison burger on a toasted sourdough bread then we hear ... what's that? A bullhorn? We were utterly confused until we realized that Lily had found Jody's panic button and pushed it. Of course, the police couldn't get past the gate (oh, that gorgeous crystal inlaid gate) and had to hike over a mile up to her home. Where they had just arrived to save us from certain doom. With a bullhorn. To make their presence known.

It. Was. Mortifying.

Lily and I left shortly thereafter. We did go back the next day on a pilgramage to deliver a hand written apology note from Lily (that's her, creating the apology artwork - we did water soluble markers and sprayed water on the markers to make an actual watercolor), beautiful crystal soap from me and an amazing bottle of wine to replace the one that Lily had broken. 

 

I have not actually been so embarrassed as a parent in my four short years of being a parent. I pray that this is the worst mortification I will have to face as a parent but suspect otherwise. 

Jamisen took private swim lessons this summer and loved them. I'm trying to continue them for the school year but it's more difficult than you would think between two working parents and two nannies that refuse to get in the water with the kids.

My bestie Patrice and I went to a Kelly Clarkson concert in Seattle recently and it was loads of fun. We danced the night away and marveled on our good fortune and luck . Thank you UPS for the privilege. =)

We love Beets, Slow Cookers & Ice Cream

Soooooome little elf climbed up onto the counter and got herself caught in the slow cooker. She is such the little impish happy girl.

As I write this, the kids are eating beet popsicles. Really and truly. They are eating beet, lemon, cabbage popsicles sweetened with a raspberry juice and a tinch of simple syrup. They even know it's made from beets and they're delighted!

The kids continue to love reading. They will sit for up to an hour reading. Lily's attention span is less than Jamisen's but if we're reading a book she really wants to read, she'll read it over and over again. Her favorite book in the entire world right is a book about diggers, those magnificent earth moving machines.

The kids continue to get the bulk of their calcium from ice cream (joking; they really get it from kale). Chris and the kids have started this adorable and sweet family ritual of taking the double stroller down to Fairhaven (a good two mile walk) and having goldfish crackers at the train coffee shop and then, gelato at the ice cream store. It's about a 5 mile loop and the kids love it.

When they go to the gelato stand, the key is to get lots and lots of sprinkles - and, a cone. The kids get the ice cream on a cone and then end up eating it out of a bowl.

We hope the weather holds so we can head out on a few more awesome urban hikes. Quality time together as a family makes our hearts happy.

Water Fun, Birthdays & More Camp

Yay! Baby Alise is one year old! How did that happen?! The kids loved playing with her gifts and were so excited that Uncle Erik and Aunty Cheriss had cleared out the entire downstairs to make a Hawaiian Aloha Theme.

Even Sammy participated with a festive neck wrap of awesome.

One of baby Alise's presents was an outdoor play structure. The kiddos loved it and were thankful Alise so thoughtfully turned one so they could play in it.

We hosted the annual FSE Family Picnic at the lake cabin. It was a lovely party and really well attended.

Chris set up this awesome pool complete with a shower and a slide. The kids loved it, even baby Alise who wobbled over and tried to fall face first into the pool.

 

The girls are growing so fast. Lily adores baby Alise and asks about her frequently. Alise is still at the age and stage where she sits there sweetly as the older kids steal her toys but that will soon change. We'll see how much the kids ask about playing with baby Alise when she is no longer a feeder for all the cool toys.

Jamisen loved his summer camp at the Waldorf school and really thrived in that system. He made new friends easily, participated in the activities and was self-directed about gathering his stuff for each day.

Hospitals, Ice Cream & Baboons

Jamisen recently got some seriously quality overnight time with Mom and Dad ... and no little sister! He's been doing this "thing" with his eyes. Three different pediatricians/family docs have viewed the videos and so far we have two votes for Absence Seizures and one vote for Focal Seizures. Both are mild forms of epilepsy.

So, off we went to Children's for two days of testing. They were not on consecutive days thanks to some ball-dropping at the referring physician's office so we got to drive down twice to Seattle over a three day period. For one of the tests, the EEG, we got the last hotel room in town (literally, the last in town suitable to bring a small child to - apparently boy-band extraordinarily One Direction was in town and the entire town had gone completely mad) which is why Jamisen is sleeping on the floor. We had to keep him up until midnight which was a bigger challenge than you'd expect. Thank goodness the pool at the hotel was open until 10 p.m.

We can't speak highly enough about Children's Hospital. The centralized record system was amazing; everyone knew Jamisen's name and what he was there for and the staff read the same notes on the same computers.

Jamisen's first appointment was for an MRI. It was not a pleasant experience for anyone present (including Jamisen) to get him anesthetized. He fought us horribly; it was so traumatizing. I sobbed after it was done. And, then wandered off to get Starbucks since we had to play the waiting game. 

When he came to, he was super wobbly and didn't have great muscle control. He also seemed pretty sleepy.

He couldn't hold his juice box up that the Nurse's gave him, but, he insisted he wanted it anyways.

We got Jamisen's results from his MRI two days later and it showed that other than a stuffed sinus cavity, there were no abnormalities. That was expected but still a relief.

We took Jamisen to the zoo, courtesy of the hospital's kind program of making kids feel at ease about their visit. He loved all of the animals, despite being somewhat groggy from his busy morning.

Jamisen was super excited to come down a second night because he knew it meant ice cream for him. The second day test, his EEG failed to catch any abnormalities either so we're left playing the waiting game to see if his symptoms increase or lessen. At the moment, they're getting less and less, day by day, for which we are very thankful. We're also thankful for Grandma Faiola for staying multiple weekdays so Lily had early morning and late night childcare and to Grandpa Faiola for helping us navigate the strange paperwork and medical orders.

Another Week, Another Camp

 

Summer is amazing; friends, family, sun, outdoor activities and excuse to eat chips and s'mores (helllllo lake time!). Our neighbor Cecile recently threw a dooooooozy of a party and invited us, and the kiddos over. Super generous of her, right?! She even had a DJ (!) and a top-notch caterer (mini chocolate mousses, fresh donuts from the fryer, smoked salmon smoked on premises ... you get the picture).

The kids were totally dressed appropriately until about 8 p.m. - when I went and put Lily in her PJs. I know you're shocked but, I did not dress her like Hugh Hefner for the entire party. It's just that the party was SO fun and they were groovin' to the tunes so I just didn't want the party to end for them (and trust me, neither did they). She had been wearing a totally appropriate adorable girly girl outfit (though Jamisen was in his fireman regalia all night). They were so cute on the dance floor. And, we even got compliments on how well they were behaved. NO JOKE! Multiple people complimented us on our children's behavior. Seriously, a parenting high.

Weekends are for family time ... and marathon training (more on that later). We have been loving our summer routine of Farmer's Market + outing. They were recently introduced to shave ice (i.e. SUGAR SUGAR SUUUUUGGGGGAAAAAARRRRRRR!) In addition to the SUGAR, the kids have been particularly fond of the water - whether it's at Lake Samish or here at our "Whoah, can you believe this is here in our town!?" Blvd Park beach. They play in it for hours (!). Now, we just need to teach them to swim.

Jamisen and I do lots of art projects and Lily is getting into the fun now too. Here, we did water colors and then put different grain sizes of salt onto the paintings to see how the different crystals affected the watercolor differently. Then, we turned them into thank-you cards.

Jamisen has been going to a new summer camp every week. This is fun for him because he makes new friends and, gets to push himself beyond his comfort zone weekly. It's a whole new camp, new teachers, new location, new habits and new rules. Best of all, it's new toys and projects (!)

He did two weeks of Farm camp this go round and loved the chickens and the bees (a lot!). Tonight, he ate two helpings of string beans that we grew in our own garden ... probably as a direct result of Farm Camp. It's amazing to see him blossom with healthy food since he understand where it's coming from. And, it helps that we have a very aggressive garden!

I've started treating the kiddos to homemade ice cream for breakfast. Well, I mean, not ice cream. But they think it's ice cream. I make a huge fresh batch of stevia-sweetened yogurt two days before and then strain it so it's rich and thick. Then, morning of, I pull out the ice cream maker, toss some berries and the yogurt into the ice cream maker and the kids feel certain they're having ice cream for breakfast.

They can hardly stand it - the process takes about fifteen minutes and they watch it the entire time. Auntie Sharon got us an ice cream maker years ago (!!) that gave up the ghost last summer so we have a new compact Cuisinart one that works pretty quickly and produces delicious frozen yogurt. I mean, eh hem, ice cream.

Ah yes, the half marathon training. So there's a very stupid part of me that wants to do a marathon. I've done 9 miles now and it was  ... (oh man, God is going to strike me down for saying this) ... easy (ducking). So, there's part of me that wants to do the full 26.2 miles. Which is dumb. Studies are very clear that this is not a smart idea for a lot of reasons ... but anyways, running is going great. Chris is being supportive with my long runs and is cheering me on (literally, this last 9 miler, he tracked me on his GPS and showed up 2X in the car with the kids to give me water and give words of encouragement; it was the best boost ever!!). Also, did I mention I hate running? That's right. HATE IT. Give me a gym and weights any day. I HATE RUNNING. So, there's also another vote against actually doing a marathon. Currently, I'm signed up for two back-to-back halves with girlfriends and when that's over, I'm pretty sure my running career will also be over (famous last words?).