A custom portrait of my kids from Colleen Hackett who runs the Etsy shop, Sparrowsfeather.
Dear Potty
Dear Potty,
I really would like to be your friend, but I am afraid I like my Mickey Mouse diapers too much. Every time my mom would put me on the big potty I would say, “No No No” and would act upset until she let me down. Then one day she came home with the floor potty. I immediately knew that I needed to go once in the big potty just so that she knows that I’m doing this on my terms. My babies really like the potty though.
Thanks,
Kennedy
Zampano Tank | Misha Lulu
Kennedy’s 1st Masterpiece
A few months ago, I started taping a large piece of paper on the coffee table for Kennedy to draw on whenever she pleased. What I found was that if I left a few crayons on the table, she would draw on it intermittently throughout the day. After a few weeks of that, I decided to cover the whole coffee table with one piece of paper, and leave it there for a month and have it framed. We had needed some sort of art in our living room, so this worked out perfectly. The only caveat is that we weren’t going to treat it as something sacred. While she did the drawing part, I still put my feet on it, put my overflowing coffee on it, and generally pretended as though it wasn’t there. Below are the progression photos through each week.
Week 1: I thought she made a surprising amount of progress the first week, with pretty uniform coverage all over.
Week 2: She continued to make progress here and there, but without as much zeal as she has the first week; however, I did manage to spill a few cups of water and some coffee. Go Mom!
Week 3: I think this photo appears like it should be before the last, but that is just because of all of the water and such that we spilled on it. I don’t think I have spilled that much in my whole life.
The end result:
The Making of the 2014 Christmas Card
We really were not sure what we wanted to do for the Christmas card this year. I browsed Pinterest boards and nothing really struck me with that “ooooooh yeah” feeling. Since my deadline was quickly approaching, I decided that I would warm up a little hot chocolate, sit her down in front of some lights, and see what happens. The rest is history. Below is the play-by-play of our Christmas Card shenanigans, from Kennedy’s perspective:
Hot Chocolate with puffy white things! Great! Why no straw, mom? Odd. Mmmmm. Whoa wait… What!? What is she doing? She’s not going to have me hold this completely by myself. But, I’m a kid! NO WAY! So… very… heavy…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ick! Wet! Warm! No. No. No. MOOOOOOOOOOM!!
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
Oh my God! Get it off me! Away.! Shoooooo! No… Don’t want!
Daaaaaadddddy! Moooom is laaaaaaaaughing!!!! Daaaaaaaaaaaad!!
I’m sooo alllllonnne.
Shattered. I am … wait… what’s that?
Is that a…love pillow of deliciousness?
Are these stay-puff!?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Dave’s Pumpkin Patch – West Sacramento, CA.
Today we headed to Vierra farms to explore Dave’s Pumpkin patch and find some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. While the farm was busy, the parking situation was a lot more smooth than some other places we have been previously. Kennedy loved digging through the large sandboxes filled with corn and feeding all of the farm animals. Many of the activities were either geared toward slightly older kids or incredibly busy, so we did not participate in many of the attractions. By the time we got to actually hunting for a pumpkin, Kennedy was less interested in picking out the right one, and more interested in finding the nearest tree to fall asleep under; let’s just say it didn’t go exactly as planned, but it was still a worthwhile trip. We managed to juggle a few pumpkins and a whiny-tired lady to the car without incident, and she was fast asleep before even leaving the parking lot.
A Good Day Overalls | Little Orange
Berkeley Aquatic Park – Berkeley, CA.
So, I know we went Disc golfing last weekend, but we had so much fun we wanted to go again. This time we headed to Berkeley where it was a nice (almost chilly) 73 degrees. Actually, it was cold enough to where we ventured through worlds most lame intersection to Target for a few sweaters because the shade and wind had a little bite. Of course, as you can see from the photos, my two weather testers failed because we obviously didn’t need them and will be returning them today.
This course was fun, but there were definitely a lot of opportunities to go hunting/ lose your disc (-2). The course stayed along the waterway, which created a pretty and sparkly backdrop to it all. On the way there we finally tired the Dutch Bros. and while it was good, it was just good. But, we’re not foo-foo coffee drinkers either, so maybe that’s with the hype. Kennedy really enjoyed the cups though, so kudos there. The trip ended with Kennedy forcing kisses out of her brother, and Nivek reluctantly giving in and trying to avoid them. Oh tweenagers, don’t you know these are the best of memories.
Auburn Regional Park – Auburn, CA.
Matt use to play a lot of disc golf with his friends. Neither Nivek nor I had really ever played. Since our Sunday morning was thwarted by football picture day, we opted to keep our Sunday closer to home and headed to Auburn District Regional Park for some disc golf. Overall, we all had a great time. Matt asserted his manly dominance. Nivek whined about the trees jumping in front of him. I learned I am profane when it comes to Frisbee flinging, and Kennedy was a trooper… A filthy, snotty, beautiful trooper.
See also:
Exhibit A: The first photo was taken with my phone right before we left.
Exhibit B: The last photo was taken right after I got her out if the car at home.
Keep it classy, Kennedy.
Texting with the big kid
Lake Almanor, CA.
We woke early Sunday morning, grabbed our coffee and hit the road. Usually we don’t drive quite so far for our Sunday road trips, but since this included some pretty great friends, babies, and a cabin on the lake, we were all in. It took us about 3 hours to get there; the roads were surprisingly clear and the babe slept like a babe. Our friends (Mcrae & Mark) were at breakfast when we arrived so we unloaded the car onto the porch and headed up the side of the hill to this pretty sweet tee-pee that Jeremiah “the strong” and Mark made the day before. After about an hour we brought all of or stuff inside and Mcrae and I settled into and afternoon of chatting and babies while Mark and Matt opted to gain a man-card by fishing on the lake. Eventually, the boys returned with 3 trout, dinner was made, the babes were in bed and we played “Cards Against Humanity” late into the night. In the morning Mcrae made coffee and breakfast, and we slowly made our way to the car and back home. It was a perfectly simple and satisfying weekend.
Jumpsuit | Cotton Bottom
Mt. Judah / Pacific Crest Trail – Truckee, CA.
When we woke up this morning, we really didn’t have a plan as to where we were going. After eating pancakes and hearing about the earthquake in Napa, we knew that we would not be heading in that direction for our Sunday trip. This, of course, ultimately led to last minute stress and crankiness on my part; it was Kennedy’s nap time and she wasn’t about to let that fact go unnoticed… and we still hadn’t a clue as to where we were going. With a quick google and a grumble, we loaded up two kids and two dogs for Mt. Judah with zero expectations. It really wasn’t until half way there that I realized we weren’t going to South Lake Tahoe, and that we might actually have a good time… and I needed to drink more coffee.
Kennedy snoozed the whole way. Phew. We arrived around noon and were immediately taken by how green and beautiful it all was. We parked just up the street from SugarBowl Resort, and walked back toward the Pacific Crest Trail. The beginning half of the hike was a long zigzag up the mountain. It really doesn’t take long before you want to pull out the camera. The views were beautiful, really. You would have no idea that the state was in droughtville. Kennedy spent most of the trip on my back, until Henry decided to poop out. Normally Huckleberry is the fatso of the group. This time Henry was panting heavily right off. I think the high altitude affected him more than the rest of us. As you can see, Matt ended up carrying a baby this time too. We wandered until about four when we decided to head back toward home.
Our trip ended with a few burgers from In-N-Out (and a grilled cheese). It was one of my more favorite hikes that we’ve had. Even though I wasn’t expecting much, I would really like to go again. Definitely recommend.
Harem Pants | Sweet Lucy Jack
