chicken not so little

About a year ago, an artist by the name of Cheri Christensen and the owner of the Howard Mandville gallery in Kirkland stopped at our home and asked permission to take photos of our chickens.  All of Cheri's work is from photos she has taken herself.  This was a random stop for her as she was here for an opening of her work at the gallery and was touring our neighborhood for possible photos for upcoming work.  Small world story: handy husband's parents actually purchased one of her paintings a couple of years ago.  So, you can imagine the delight when the introductions were made in our driveway.

We just found out that Cheri painted a picture of one of our chickens and it is currently on display at the Howard Mandville gallery in Kirkland.  It is titled, "Come Rain or Come Shine". Our hen has made it big!!  The picture was taken of her in our pumpkin patch after a downpour of Seattle rain. Wouldn't you know ?  She's the one that is pesky, intrusive, arrogant, and always right there wondering what you are doing.

Oh, how I would love to have this hanging on our walls.  It's out of our budget so I better get to work on my own painting skills!

Here it is.

Here she is in our garden...she's the one on the left.

above and beyond

I go above and beyond my job as a Mom when I let the oldest two of my pack of raccoons paint.  It's always a special treat when I get up the nerve to pull the paints off of the shelf, get out the easel, and let the kids go to town.  It just makes me nervous thinking about what could go wrong-the situation can get ugly so darn quickly.  I never venture far from these two when they are painting.  In fact, you can usually find me just a few feet from them with ample warm washcloths in hand-ready to wipe up those handprints that have found themselves out of the "safe zone".  Notice the kids are sans clothes-let's just say I've learned my lessons.

Picasso is pooped out. Time for a nap.  

goal setting

I was recently reading about goal setting.  Studies show that if you set goals and write them down, you will become more successful at reaching and attaining those goals.  Maybe that's the problem.  So, in the midst of this crazy life of ours that seems to push everything aside that pertains to "me, myself, or I", I'm going to write down my first goal.  It was easy to come up with it as it's something I've wanted to learn and experience for years.  Forget the fancy spa, a luxurious tropical vacation, and a menu, I want to go fly fishing.   Maybe it's the fact that my dad had me out in the woods when I was just a young thing: hunting, horse-packing trips, fishing, etc.  Being "away from it all" and "in the mountains" just makes me feel good. The breeze rustling the leaves on a crisp fall morning, a beautiful river, the backdrop of mountains, and the methodical motion of casting all appeal to me when it comes to fly fishing. 

This picture is taken on the Snake River in Jackson Hole-my dream fly fishing location and most favorite place, ever.

My goal is to have a picture, just like these above, with me in it by 2013.  Let's see.

snug as a bug

Sweet baby Graham finally has his own room.  Ok, let's be honest...he takes naps in his own room but Mommy isn't ready to part with her baby quite yet.  Having him on another floor is entirely too far away as far as I'm concerned. 

Love you, my sleeping angel.

Big stretch-imagine the cute squeaking noise he makes while he stretches...it's adorable.

His first nap in his own room.

Sweet dreams my baby Graham.

lions, tigers, & bears.....oh my!

What will $4 buy you?  Two large bags of zoo pasta and endless minutes of creative and quiet time for the kids.  I found these on sale the other day and thought they would be perfect for art projects.  Grace loves threading the animal shaped pasta onto baker's twine to make necklaces and bracelets.  This girl has unbelievable focus and fine motor skills.  This is not considered play time for her....there is a task at hand.  William is content dumping the pasta from cup to cup, taking a nibble, dumping some more, shaking his new noise maker, nibbling a bit more, and then throwing giraffes and elephants into Koby's bowl....he loves to share.  It is moments like these that I truly see their individual personalites shine and how William is all "boy"...much more physical, using all 5 senses,  and less focused on the "end goal" but just enjoying the process. Whereas, Gracie is methodical, fine-tuned, and pays strict attention to detail.

I love our new barstools with backs (key words: with backs).  The barstools we had prior to these didn't have backs and we'll just say there were numerous accounts of injuries from falling.  I bought our previous barstools 3 years ago with my Pottery Barn discount for $120 (total), just sold them for $110, and purchased our new ones on Craigslist for $60.  What a deal!  The kids spend copious amounts of time there while I prepare meals.  I revel in their antics and our conversations.  Someday, they will sit here all grown up- doing homework, inhaling dinner so they can quickly head out again, and we'll probably dicuss college choices here, as well.  Sniff sniff. Right now, I'll enjoy wearing my zoo animal necklace.

concentration

it takes a village

.....to help the village idiot. 

The past month has been unbearable and "over-the-top" challenging, to say the least.  I have the best friends, family, and neighbors that have gone out of their way to help me.

How about the neighbor that brings dinner a couple times a month "just because"?  How about the same neighbor that takes Gracie on a walk with her grandchildren or calls me from Costco, PCC, or the post office to see if I need anything?  How about another neighbor that has been searching for a helper for me through some friends at the Northshore School Board because "you can't do it all yourself, honey"?  How about my brave friends that plan play dates with me and my pack of raccoons?  It's surely not the calmest of play dates but the "tag team" effort of a group of Moms ensures that I get these kiddos to the park..  How about the sweet friend that helped me get started on sewing some curtains for my laundry room?  How about the other sweet friend that left 2 of my favorite chocolates from "Oh! Chocolates" on our gate?  How about the friend that plays "wood fairy" for the kids and leaves a gift or two hidden in the yard with gold fairy dust sprinkled around?  How about my Mom that watched the kids while the horse vet was here.......or when she camped out at our house a few hours so I could clean.....or when she watched the kids so handy husband and I could go to happy hour at Ruth's Chris?  Two burgers with loads of fries and 2 beers for $20?  I'll be back. 

Point being: it takes a village and I'm so grateful for the village I live in.  You are all so wonderful!  Thank you. If it wasn't for your help, my kitchen would always look like this (and so would my mind!).

should we be worried?

To his defense:

summer 2010