Wedding Painting

The sister of my blog bud Mary (Mary is also a real life bud) just got hitched. Clearly sis is cool like Mary, because her wedding looked very sweet and hip. It was in an empty lot, in the rain...and her man wore a kilt. I like all of that. But my fav part was this painting. Each guest was invited to paint a square. I think it turned out so cute. What a fun thing to have.

Mona

Perhaps we have an art history major on our hands. Little WKF really loves this Mona Lisa picture that we hung. He likes to be held up to her so he can point out her eyes and ears and nose and hair...



He also loves this book, which includes a picture of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Now this is Lisa.
Lisa is one really cool lady. She is O's Papa's wife (and Sylly's Mama). WKF thinks she is pretty great (we do too). Generally, WKF is pretty good with names. But for some reason he will not call Lisa "Lisa". Instead, she is "Mona". I think it is really going to stick. Since the trip he has been talking a lot about "Mona". As we look at pictures, he is quick to point out "Mona".

We love you Mona!

Funny Confession LVIII

I'm diggin' this song and can't stop singing it. Who's with me? Anyone?

Silly Uncle Sylly

My kids have lots of uncles. Uncly Sylly (O's dad's youngest son) is a special one...because he's little just like them.

Here is Sylly with his Papa by the lake

Sylly and WKF really had a great time together in Tahoe

The boys were always happy to include SweetP as they were playing

Uncle Sylly moved his carseat into the minivan for the week, we loved it

Sylly was so good with SweetP

WKF was working hard to keep up with Sylly...running sprints and jumping off of rocks (un, deux, trois!):

Birdie's Babies

Why would I learn to sew when Birdie is so good?? If you are struggling to figure out which one is for SweetP, here is a hint.
Sorry for the poor photo quality, this was taken with a phone. I can't wait to get see these lovelies in person. Is she good or what?

We Love Uncle AF

Here are a bunch of reasons why Uncle AF is pretty rad.

P loves to be held by him.

He just refinished this amazing truck, all by himself. I wish I had a before picture...it was just an old rusty box, no engine, no interior, no nothing. And now it sparkles. It is so cool. In fact, watch for it in the PBTeen holiday catalog. They did a shoot with it while we were in Tahoe - how cool is that?He let WKF drive it!

He has a ski lift in his yard

He also has a cool xylophone which the kids loved

He hosted a crepe breakfast while we were home, he made the crepes and they were delicious

The only person in Tahoe more rad than Uncle AF is his beautiful girl AH...

WKF loved playing soccer with this uncle...

Oh, 1 more reason he's rad: when we got hitched he was best man and as a wedding gift he let us live in his house in Squaw Valley (without him) for an entire ski season (Jan, Feb and March). We took 3 months off of work and did it up. We snowboarded every day for 3 months...it was ridiculous...so fun.

One more camping post

I forgot to mention that the boys slept in until about 8:45ish while camping. That fresh air really knocked them out. I kept peeking in through the mesh window of the tent. WKF was so cute...butt in the air, nuzzled into the corner of the tent.

This was on the way home...he played so hard in Tahoe, he was wiped.

Glasses?

My eyedoctor swears my vision is perfect. No glasses needed. But...I really want these. What does she know?

I Need A Helping Hand

O and I both have a hard time finding our wallets and keys as we are dashing out the door. I sorta think we need one of these helping hands, right by the door to hold onto the important stuff for us.

Happy Campers!

Here are some shots of our camping adventures. We drove from PDX to Tahoe (and back) and camped halfway (near Ashland, OR) both directions. Ashland was a fab little town and I'd like to spend more time there someday (perhaps for the festival).

She didn't sleep much, but she woke up happy.

She loved eating outside.

WKF loved exploring.This was our campsite. Gorgeous. My favorite part, the trees!

The whole time I felt as if we were camping in this Van Gogh painting (Olive Trees With Yellow Sky and Sun 1889).

We especially loved this one red tree in the middle of the other trees. I should have taken a close up of the red bark, it was so cool...especially in the sunlight.

All night I kept thinking that Van Gogh could have done some good work from this campsite.

Perhaps camping brings out the artist in me? Maybe I'll dust off my brush.

This is another tree we loved checking out

The trees in the moonlight.

Camping success. I'll do it again, as long as we pack the Beautyrest and stay in Van Gogh paintings.

Sweet Dreaming Baby

If you read any other mama blogs, I'm sure you have already seen these pictures and checked out this link. If not, you should go check out this link right now. How fun are these pictures? How creative is this mama?

Beautyrest

Thanks for all the camping well wishes. We totally survived. O went above and beyond to make sure that this was a positive experience for me (and for the kids, obvs). He even outfitted the minivan with a mattress, so that P and I could have our own fullsize bed (once we folded the seats up), while O and WKF slept in the tent. The mattress worked out awesome, it was such a great idea. But, I giggled every time I looked at the mattress because it was covered in the word "Beautyrest". Camping was super fun, but I didn't feel very beautiful or very rested.

I am tres tres optimistic that camping will get better and better if we keep at it. SweetP didn't sleep well at all...and so I didn't either. But she and I had a chat and we committed to keep trying. We had lots of fun. Here is a shot I took from the bed in the morning.

There are lots more posts to be written about camping and our super fab Tahoe visit. Stay tuned.

Mondo Croquet World Championships

I'm catching up on news and blogs after a (fabulous) week away from home and technology. It seems we missed some exciting Portland things while we were on vacation. The Tour de Coops AND the Mondo Croquet World Championships?!

What is Mondo Croquet? It is croquet with bowling balls and sledgehammers. Hmmm...

Tour de Coops

As I have blogged about in the past, urban yard chickens are a big thing in Portland. This past weekend was the Tour de Coops, a fundraiser which allowed ticket holders to tour backyard chicken coops around the city. We were not in town and so we did not attend, but I think that this urban-chicken-keeping thing is so interesting.

Even the Mayor keeps chickens...and his coop was on the tour.

Top photo from here, bottom two from here.

O's Bday is Today

Call him, text him, hit him up on facebook...let him know you love him. It's his birthday!!!!

I'll be celebrating with him and our gorgeous babes for the next few days...but I'll be back online soon!

Happy Birthday E & M

Today we are in Tahoe for O's bday...which is awesome!

However, we are missing the bday party in Portland for these gorgeous twins! They are TWO! Happy birthday E & M!

Vanillawood

After reading this article, I had to know more about Vanillawood. I am loving their work.

This photo says to me: "SKF, you need to bring some dogwood trees inside. Like, right now." This one says: "SKF, your kids are so super cute (you know that already) so why not plaster them onto drawers like this. Oh, and while you are project-ing, install a chandelier like this one."

This one says: "SKF, I may not be your style...but I know you dig me." Which kind of reminds me of how O swept me off my feet...

Photos du Jour

Its never too early to start cooking! Let's hope SweetP takes after her Papa!
Neighborhood s'more fete. This was WKF's first fire. Would have been his first time roasting a marshmallow, if we had put one on his stick. He was just happy to hold a stick over the fire...so we left it at that.

WKF has really been digging this birthday bike lately.