Fall. Again.

Autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors of the changing leaves. We left Oregon just as the last leaves were falling from the trees and I was saddened, thinking that we wouldn't experience that again. Two months later, the leaves are changing colors here in the Valley of the Sun and even falling from the trees. I got TWO autumns this year! While it isn't quite as magnificent, it's still beautiful and Bryce still gets to play in the leaves. Yay! Brian captured a few pictures this week that I just had to share...




I think we may just end up loving it here...

A Hiking We Will Go

Brian loves to be outside. Bryce loves to be outside. So they're often outside together while I get things done around the house. Or go shopping. Or nap. Whatever. Last weekend Brian took Bryce to San Tan Regional Park. It's about 15 minutes from where we live and I hear they had a pretty good time. Here's a few shots of the boy from their adventure.



*Don't forget, you can always click on the slide show to make the pictures bigger!

Moo-ey Christmas

There's a dairy farm about 10 minutes from our house. While the smell leaves something to be desired, it's a super fun place to go when they're having an event. Every Fri. and Sat. night in December they are hosting a "Moo-ey Christmas" complete with a petting zoo, hayrides, Christmas tree sales (from Oregon), hot cocoa, apple cider and s'mores at the fire pit. It was a perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit and spend time together as a family. Bryce experienced his first s'more and home-made apple cider while there. After our trip to the farm, we stayed up late to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Now, we're ready for Christmas!



*oh, the fabulous farm is Superstition Farm. Check it out if you're in the area!

Giving Thanks

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. Because of him, I am able to be closer to more of my family and Bryce is able to enjoy a bunch of cousins. I just wish all of our family was able to be nearby. Especially Brian's family.

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving fun, which Donna graciously hosted at her home.

Chocolate Pudding

The other night Bryce ate all of his dinner and was rewarded with a bit of chocolate pudding (something that isn't normally in our house). When he was finished...


Bryce: "Mom, some more chocolate puddin'?"

Mom: "Um, no. I think you had plenty."

Bryce: "Ummmmmm. How 'bout vanilla?"

Catching Up: Part 3

Almost caught up...

We made it to Arizona on the 22nd of October. Donna was kind enough to let us stay at her house for an entire week! Thanks again to all of the Hanchett family for putting up with us. I especially want to thank Jake, who gives up his bedroom each time we visit.

On the 29th, which was Luke's 1st birthday, we enjoyed some trunk-or-treating with Donna's family. Due to his current train obsession, Bryce was a train conductor. It only took him a couple of minutes to catch on to what was happening. He happily went from car to car saying "trick-or-treat." I guess that part clicked because after we got home he would say "trick-or-treat" when he wanted some candy from his bucket :)



We moved into our apartment on the 30th. I am so thankful that Brian's company moved us. It was so easy with three guys schlepping our stuff around. All I had to do was give directions. One guy even helped me unpack the kitchen. Although, it wasn't the greatest help because I had to rearrange everything later. But, at least he got rid of some boxes and packing paper in the process. Holy cow- movers use A LOT of packing material. I couldn't believe how some of the tiniest things were wrapped and wrapped and wrapped in paper. What a waste.

We went back up to Donna's to celebrate Bryce and Luke's birthdays on the 31st. We had so much fun enjoying the day with family we used to hardly ever see and Bryce is definitely enjoying his cousins. He often asks about Zach. And Jake. And Baby Luke. And Sarah. And Britton. And Tristan. And Camden. You get the idea. Heck, he even asks about Donna's dog, Cody.

Catching Up: Part 2

Between Oregon and Arizona there was a lot of driving. Luckily, our route took us through Reno so we could visit Brian's family. Since it was so close to Bryce's birthday, we had a small celebration at Bryce's great-grandparents house. Thanks so much for the gifts and the hospitality. We're so happy we were able to spend time with you. Here are some photos of our fun...

Catching Up: Part 1

Where has the time gone? I've gotten so behind on blogging, I don't really know where to start. Hmmm...

Something pretty major happened in September that I failed to mention. We sold our house. It was pretty crazy, really. After two weeks of zero interest we went on vacation to Victoria and came home to an offer. It was a bit of a tumultuous ride due to our buyer’s lame-o agent, but we closed in mid-October and headed for the Valley of the Sun. I’m not quite as sad as I thought I would be. After all, this whole move was my idea so I better be happy, right?

We’ve been enjoying the glorious weather, trips to the park, the train park, the dairy farm, and the library. We’ve enjoyed spending time at Donna’s and having mom and dad visit. We look forward to Denise finishing school so we can spend more time visiting them! We enjoy discovering new places every day. Being in a completely new place is quite fun. I just wish Brian was here more to discover those new places with us (due to things happening quicker than we anticipated, he has been traveling quite a bit and will continue to do so until MARCH! Ah!)

I do miss Oregon, though. I miss Dianna and her clan. I miss the Beals. I miss the kids at Hazeldale who really taught me how to be a teacher. I miss my friends. I miss how it smells after the rain and I miss driving by familiar places that have been a part of my life for the last 20 years...But, I'm thankful for this new stage in our lives. I'm thankful for all the excitement that being in a new place brings.

That's a start. More later...

Canada, aye!

Yeah, I'm lame. It's been ages since my last post. However, I have good reason for the lengthy delay- we've been crazy busy. I'll get to that later, though.

A few months ago Brian and I decided that we should take a trip to Canada while we still live so darn close. Despite the fact that a vacation with a toddler isn't actually a vacation, I'm so happy we went. It really is gorgeous there. In fact, I was reminded of one of my favorite places in New Zealand. Nelson. Beautiful!

We spent most of our time walking around the city and the huge park near our hotel. We did manage to make it up to Butchart Gardens, which is ridiculously expensive, but gorgeous. I'd love to go again when our restaurant choices aren't so limited by what Bryce will eat, or when our schedule doesn't have to revolve around nap times and bedtime. Overall, it was a great vacation that I'm so thankful our family was able to go on together. It was actually our first family vacation, with just us.

We took hundreds of photos. Of course. Here's just a small sampling of some highlights. I'll have to add more later. Perhaps Brian will put together a slideshow of his awesome pictures from Butchart Gardens.

Six Years Ago Today...

I married my best friend. He is the perfect mix of strength, kindness, charm, humor and intellect. I couldn't ask for a better partner in life. He is so supportive and encouraging. Every time I felt like quitting grad school (it was pretty tough with an infant) he pushed me to continue. He had more confidence in me than I had in myself. It was only with his help that I was able to accomplish a major life goal. Here's a flashback...





I had to include this one with Jake in the pic (far right), it's his birthday! Happy Birthday Jake!!!





I love you, Brian. I look forward to sharing all the adventures life brings our way, with you. Here's to many more happy years...

Mmmm. Meatloaf.

Meatloaf. You either love it or hate it. I found a crock pot recipe the other day and had to try it out. Yummy! Even Bryce liked it (which is pretty darn impressive for our herbivore).

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons dried minced onion (I used about half of a fresh onion)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 3/4lb extra lean ground beef and 3/4 lb lean ground turkey)
• **I added some summer squash into the mix. Great way to sneak in some veggies!**
  
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well (mixture will be moist.) Shape into a round loaf; place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon over the meat loaf. Cook 15 minutes longer or until heated through (I transferred it to the oven for these last few minutes). Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

This is, of course, super juicy. If you don't have one of those fancy inserts (I don't) you can criss-cross tinfoil to create handles. They made it super easy to pull out the loaf and transfer it to the oven.

The recipe was taken from here, at Allrecipes.com.

Grandma Jeanne's Visit

We were lucky to have Brian's mom visit in August as well. She was only able to stay for the weekend, due to her busy school schedule. We are so impressed that she's made it back to school and so close to being done. Way to go, Grandma! We're very proud of you. Bryce really enjoyed spending time with his Grandma and looks forward to her next visit. He loves the super cool farm block set that she surprised him with. Thanks, Grandma! Here are a few pictures of their fun.

Hanchett Family Visit

I'm seriously behind in August happenings and need to catch up before the month ends!

Donna and her clan made it up to Oregon a few weeks ago to go camping with Mike's family. We were happy to be able to spend a couple of days with them before they headed home to AZ. Our fun included a trip to the Children's Museum and dinner at Dianna's house. Bryce really enjoyed playing with his cousins. I just wish we had been able to spend even more time together!

3 Little Words

make my heart melt. I. Love. You.



Bryce just started saying this each night before bed, unprompted. It's magical. Seriously.

A Long Journey. Done.

August 12th was an amazing day. I spent the morning at PSU in my last class. Yup. Last. Class.

I received this:


in April, just after I completed my student teaching. While my cohort members were taking the final required class for a Master's Degree in April/May/June, I was making up for some lost time with Bryce. I really needed a few months off to truly enjoy just being a mom. Not a student. Mom. Now, I'm done. It's hard to believe I started school when I was 4 months pregnant and now I have a 22 month old running around.

I don't have my diploma yet, or I'd include pictures of that, too :) Apparently those take a few months to print out. But, it is offical. I have a Master's of Education. I'm just so happy that I made it through the program, despite all times I wanted to quit. Man, quitting looked really good during those late night feedings...

What's For Dinner?

There is some of this yummy goodness in the oven as we speak. This is currently my favorite recipe, since the veggies are in season (they might just be in your garden, too). Mom, this is the one I was telling you about... All you quinoa-haters should give this a try :)

Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing

What you need:
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2-4 zucchini (depends on the size of em)
1 can cannellini beans (we like white beans better)
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan (gotta be fresh!)
4 tablespoons olive oil

What you do:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, combine the quinoa and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. (Hint: Soak the quinoa for about 10 minutes prior to cooking, then rinse. Soaking helps it to cook evenly, and loosens up the outer coating of saponin, which can give a bitter taste if not removed.)
• Meanwhile, cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Arrange in a large baking dish, cut-side up.
• Fluff the quinoa and fold in the beans, tomatoes, almonds, garlic, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and 3 tablespoons of the oil.
• Spoon the mixture into the zucchini. Top with the remaining tablespoon of oil and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake until the zucchini is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Simple, right? Let me know if you try it!

Bryce's Ark?

Bryce loves to play with animals. I think at some point we'll have a farm/zoo in our house, but right now we just have a few horses, an elephant, and giraffe. Brian was having fun with the camera the other day and just snapped a few black and whites. They're pretty cute, so I thought I'd share :)

Fun with Daddy

As I mentioned in my last post, Brian is a fabulous dad who loves to take Bryce out Daddy/son adventures (which gives me time to work on the house, do homework, or just relax). Here are some pictures from their last trip to the zoo and Children's Museum (two of our favorite places!)

Berry Picking

Bryce loves berries. Whenever we go over to nana's house he runs straight for the raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever is ripe and ready to eat. Ok, a lot of the time he goes for the not-so-ripe fruits as well :)

Since he loves it so much, we've taken him berry picking a couple of times. I thought it was about time I add the super cute pictures to the blog. Notice the 4th of July t-shirt, that is his official berry picking tee. Nice and dark, so the juices don't show, also a bit on the small side :)



*I want to say a huge thank you to my wonderful husband, who takes Bryce on these adventures without me so I can get things done around the house, sleep in, do homework, or just have some alone time. It's super refreshing to be able to sleep in on the weekends! He took Bryce to the zoo this morning, I'll get some pics of that up soon...

Neglect

Yes, this poor blog is being neglected. I've been keeping busy with Bryce, applications and my final class that started this week. Things should get a little less crazy in August...

Advice from Bryce

"Don't touch the poopies!" said Bryce, as Brian changed his dirty diaper this morning.

Pretty good advice, for anyone.

Sunriver

Our first trip to Sunriver was with my family, just months before we got married. We fell in love with it immediately. 2005 started our tradition of going down for the Pacific Crest weekend, which is full of races and family fun. The last two years we have been lucky to have Brian's family meet us there. The vacation was a bit longer than usual, as Brian had more time off work and I wasn't in school.

This year had its ups and downs with Bryce. He really enjoyed the tree-lined paths, biking, the stables, the parks, the pool, everything Sunriver has to offer. However, his sleep schedule was really messed up. He was also fighting an illness, which made things even more difficult. I think we learned that it's hard to share a house with a group of people when you've got a toddler.

Brian ran the half-marathon, finishing with a 1:27:25. That's 2nd in his age group and 15th out of 1400 runners. Wow! Brian's dad, John, ran the half too. Super impressive. I ran the 5k with Bryce in the stroller. We won't talk about my time (slow-I am NOT a runner). I think it may be the last year pushing Bryce, man he's getting heavy. My arms and upper back were so sore the next morning!

Overall, we had a lot of fun. We're thinking about going back in September to celebrate our anniversary with our little man. If you've never been to Sunriver, you should go :) Here are a few shots from our trip:



We sure missed Grandma Jeanne. But, we understand how busy she is with school (I do better than anyone!) We are so proud of her and look forward to her visiting us soon.

Father's Day

Gosh, it's been a while. I didn't intend on taking a blog-cation, I just got wrapped up in life. Instead of catch you up on everything I thought I'd just focus on the highlights of the last few weeks.

We celebrated Father's Day a day early by taking my parents out to Sauvie Island for the Berry Jam at Krueger's. They have the most amazing BBQ and strawberry shortcakes. I enjoyed the best veggie burger I have every had as well as the yummiest corn on the cob in the world. Oh, it was so good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

In all the years mom and dad have lived here, they've never gone out to Sauvie Island, so we were super excited to take them. It was a bit early for fresh, local produce at the farm markets, so I think we better head out there again so mom can see all the glorious veggies and fruits that we enjoy every year. Here are a few shots from our fun day (remember, clicking on pictures makes 'em bigger).





Bryce loved the corn on the cob, too.


Check out those clouds. It started pouring while we were there!


I hope my hubby enjoyed father's day. He is an incredible husband and father. Without him I would never have been able to make it through grad school. I am so lucky to have such a supportive and loving partner in parenting. Bryce adores his daddy, too. We love you, Brian!

Boom Boom Pow

A few weeks ago I was surfing radio stations with Bryce in the car. All of a sudden I hear a frantic "Boom, boom? Boom, booms?" I was racking my brain trying to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. Having no clue, I went back to changing stations. Then I hear Bryce in a much happier tone say, "Boom, Booms" and I realize he's talking about the song! It was Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow."

When we got home that day, and pretty much every day since, he asks for "Boom, booms." When he's throwing a fit, the song actually calms him down. It's pretty funny, really. On Friday Black Eyed Peas just happened to be on the Today show's Friday Concert Series and thanks to the magic of Tivo, we can now put it on the tv any time his heart desires. We caught some of his dancing magic on video, for your enjoyment...




P.S. I'm not sure what this whole falling over on purpose phase is... He even does it while we're out on walks now! Crazy boy.

Strawberries

After Bryce's nap today, we thought it would be fun to see what goodies the nearby farms had to offer. It's early in the season, so we weren't expecting too much. We just couldn't resist the U-pick at the first farm we visited. The strawberries were too inviting so Bryce, Brian, Mom and I headed into the fields. Bryce was in HEAVEN! I don't think he's ever been so focused on one thing for so long. He just picked and picked and picked, oh and ate.

Since we hadn't gone out with the intention of picking, we didn't bring our camera to document Bryce's first U-pick experience. Thankfully, a very nice mama saw Bryce being adorable and offered to take a few pictures for us.









We walked out with probably about a whole flat worth of yummy Hoods for only $16.00. We usually pay about $14.00 at the farmer's market for a half-flat, so it was so worth it. Too bad even 5 hours later, my allergies still haven't recovered.

Cookie-ish-healthy-cookies

I'm on a foodie roll lately :) Which is funny, since I don't particularly enjoy cooking. Actually it's not so much the cooking, but the cleaning up that I despise. Anyway, I was searching for a cookie recipe the other day with a limited number of ingredients. Since I don't cook/bake, I rarely have much in the pantry. I stumbled upon this little gem from allrecipes.com. It's a super yummy HEALTHY banana cookie. I emphasize the healthy, because it truly is. If you're looking for something sugary or chocolatey, this is not the treat for you. For us, it's perfect! The best part is Bryce digs it and I don't mind giving it to him because it has no added sugar. That's right. Zip!

What you need:

* 3 ripe bananas
* 2 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What I added/changed:

-subbed raisins for dates
-subbed natural applesauce for oil
-a drizzle of honey
-flax seeds
-cinnamon
-nutmeg
-unsweetened coconut (tried this with 1 batch tonight. Not bad!)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (the recipes calls for 350, I went for 325).
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in oats, dates, oil, and vanilla (and any other ingredients you fancy). Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet (those silpat sheets are perfect).
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown.

The recipe says it should yield 36 cookies. Obviously, it totally depends on your cookie size. I tend to get around 28-30 cookies.

These turn out quite moist, not the typical "cookie" texture. So, they're simply cookie-ish. Also, they keep the shape they're baked in so form them accordingly. I'd like to play around with other ingredients soon. That will require a trip to the grocery store though...

Quinoa = Yum

Bryce is practically a vegetarian. He hasn't liked meat so much since day one. I could definitely handle being a vegetarian- I hate touching/cooking the meat of birds, cows, pigs, etc. Ewwwwww. The only person standing in the way of our total conversion is a meat-loving-daddy.

So I am constantly trying to find yummy, protein-packed dinners sans any furry, hairy, feathery animals. Tonight I made quinoa and topped it with a sauteed mixture of whatever I had in my fridge. That happened to be a sweet onion, asparagus, fresh parsley (thanks momma!), and tomatoes. Oh, and of course some EVOO! It was super yummy. Brian even loved it. You should try it :)

p.s. Next time (after a trip to the market) I'll add some summer squash. Eggplant would probably be fabulous as well.

Warm Weather Food?

I'm so not a cook but I was doing pretty good the last few months with my crock pot. Now it's just too hot for my favorite crock pot foods. Soups just don't sound good when it is a very muggy 86 degrees. In fact, not a whole lot sounds so great on these warm weather days. So I ask, What do you make your families on days like these? Give me some ideas, please. Even better, do you have any favorite recipe websites?

And to my lovely sisters in Arizona and Texas where it gets much, much hotter- I better get responses from you!

And On His Farm He Had A...

 

Old MacDonald is one of Bryce's favorite songs at the moment. About a week ago, he began filling in the blanks when we sing it. Most of the time, Old MacDonald is just a horse farm :) I love to hear his cow's "moo," pig's "oink" and especially his horse's "neigh." He is just so much fun right now!

Just Cute

 

Bryce vs. H2O

A little something to make you smile...

Weekend at the Beach

A couple of weeks ago, Betsy mentioned that she wanted to make a trip to the Aquarium in Newport. The beach house is about 20 minutes away in Waldport, so I offered it up for a weekend get together. I hadn't seen Betsy since just after Bryce was born and I hadn't even met Matthew yet, the newest addition to their family. Between her husband's school schedule and Brian's on call rotation, we were able to fit it in on Mother's Day weekend.

We drove down on Thursday evening and pretty much went straight to bed after our arrival. Traveling with an 18 month old is exhausting. We spent a short time at the beach on Friday morning as it was crazy windy and a bit chillier than I had dressed Bryce and I for. After Bryce's short nap (getting him down was a battle- I think we're a little too used to cuddling in the recliner as a pre-nap activity) Brian took Bryce to a sandier beach for some fun which allowed me some quiet time. Enough to finish another book :) The Brady family arrived that evening. We didn't stay up too late. It's funny how beach trips change once you throw children into the mix!

We enjoyed the Aquarium on Saturday morning. Bryce ran around crazy, with daddy chasing after him. Will that boy ever slow down? Back at the house, Sean and Bryce had fun playing together- it was super fun to observe the sharing or lack there of, and the boys working it out, or not.

Here's a few highlights from the trip...

Bryce is 18 Months Old

I can't believe our little monkey is already a year and a half old! Time has gone by so quickly. We headed up to Jenkin's Estate to capture Bryce on his very merry un-birthday.



And, yes. I chopped off my hair.

Our New Favorite Place

Thanks to our lovely friend Alana, we've been able to enjoy the Children's Museum free-of-charge (love those guest passes). Last Saturday I decided that Brian should see what the place was all about, so we headed down there and walked out with a pass of our own. We all had such a great time, we went back on Thursday evening. Twice in one week, not bad!

The slide show includes pictures from both visits. You'll notice Bryce's hair is considerably shorter in some of them :) We finally went to one of those kids hair places. Bryce loved sitting in the airplane while the lady snipped away. She did a really good job. The pics at the museum don't do it justice, as it is post-nap hair. Lovely.

Tulip Festival

Last year we drove to the Tulip Festival on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. I emphasize drove because we spent more time in our car than we did tip-toeing through the tulips. Silly us. Since we hadn't gone before, we didn't see anything wrong with making the trip on a weekend. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. My memories from that day include listening to a fussy 6 month old, repeatedly asking Brian "are we there yet?" and really needing to go to the restroom with no bathrooms in sight (that's what happens when you spend so much time hydrating, thanks to nursing). I think it took us just over 3 hours to get there last year. On Friday evening, it took just a bit over 1 hour. Phew.



The flowers were gorgeous! Bryce had fun, but he didn't do much tip-toeing :) He did really enjoy poking tulips with a stick though. Good times. There were a few things at the festival for the big kids- jumpy houses, an enormous slide, rock wall, and a trampoline-harness contraption. The only thing that looked Bryce friendly was a pony ride. I wasn't really sure if he'd enjoy it after the carousel ride at Seaside. However, 'horse' has become his new favorite word, so we decided to give it a shot. He didn't look too thrilled during the ride...but when it was time to get off, he said "no, no, no!" I guess he liked it :)

At the Park

The weather is amazing today. Seriously. Amazing. So we headed to our neighborhood park before lunch. I thought I'd share a few pictures. Really, what else is this blog for???



I'm still working on taking better photos and editing them. Anyone have any tips/tricks/book recommendations? The editing part is probably the trickiest for me. Right now I just mess around with Picasa, but I'd love to take advantage of Photoshop. Every time I open it, I just get overwhelmed...

Daddy's Hat

Bryce loves to wear his daddy's hats. I love it when Bryce wears Brian's hats. Especially this one...


*Don't forget: You can always click on pictures to make them bigger :)

The Monkey's First Trip to the Coast

It wasn't a particularly nice day on Saturday, so I'm not exactly sure why we decided to make a trip to the beach. For some reason at 11:00am it sounded like a good idea:) So we quickly got ready and were on the road at noon, just in time for Bryce to take a lovely nap (I'm so glad he's over his "No, I won't sleep in the car" phase).

It was amazing to see Bryce's excitement over every little thing: the bazillion sea gulls, the sand blowing around his feet, broken sea shells, the ocean (or O-sun, as he likes to call it). Of course it was incredibly windy but that didn't seem to slow him down a bit. I can't wait to take him on a beautiful sunny day. And yes, those do occasionally happen here.

Here are a few shots of the beach:



Some fun (???) on the carousel:



P.S. A while ago I was reading my friend Betsy's blog and she had a picture of her son in an adorable Cookie Monster hoody. Since Bryce is OBSESSED with Elmo at the moment I of course emailed her to find out where she got it from. Being the savvy shopper that she is, it was purchased long ago from a resale shop. I was totally bummed by this news...fast forward to Friday. I was visiting my favorite neighborhood kids' resale shop and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw an Elmo hoody! Wahoooo! Bryce was with me and immediately starting shouting "Elmo, Elmo" when he saw it. It was a steal at only 5 bucks- it looks as though it was hardly ever worn! Yay!

The Zoo

Last weekend we were enjoying some unusually warm weather in Portland, so we headed to the zoo. I'm so glad we managed to get our buns out of bed early and in line just as it opened- by the time we were leaving at 11, the place was PACKED!

Bryce's favorites were the Sun Bears, elephants, birds and giraffes. I have a feeling we will be going to the zoo quite often in the next few months! Good thing we bought the darn pass :) By the time we got home it was t-shirt and shorts weather. I just had to include some pictures of Bryce enjoying the sun in our backyard.



P.S. Just in case you want a close-up of Bryce's adorableness, you can click on any picture to view the full-size Picasa slide show.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my super cool big sis! Hope you got my msg today Devina!

What a Saturday Night

Yeah, so Saturday nights aren't nearly as happening as they were pre-Bryce. Nonetheless, we had a super fun night. We bought a fabulous shelf for Bryce's room at Costco (wahoo, right?) then off to Burgerville for dinner because it was too late to go home and cook.

Guess what's right next to Burgerville? A brand spankin' new Petsmart. Guess who's obsessed with birds at the moment? Bryce. Petsmart (birds) + Bryce = happy kid. I just happened to have the camera in my purse so here are a few pictures of the happy kid.











It was actually pretty darn hillarious. He was laughing hysterically at the birds- I wish I the video camera had been in my purse to capture the giggles.

Love This Company!

I bought a pair of Pedoodles for Bryce a month ago. On Monday I noticed that part of the sole was partially detached from one of the shoes. I was a bit miffed as they were not exactly cheap. Expecting a long list of requirements, I sent a quick note to the online help center to find out what I needed to do to get a replacement. The customer service rep simply asked for a picture of the shoe and our address. I was a little stunned. I thought for sure I would have to rummage up the receipt, the box (which I knew didn't have) and mail the darn things back to the company. I couldn't believe all I had to do was take a picture. So, I emailed this to the rep as we spoke:



On Friday (a mere 4 days later) a brand spankin' new pair of shoes arrived in our mailbox. Sweet! I will definitely purchase more products from this company, knowing that they take such great care of their customers.

My new favorite thing...

It was a severely neglected wedding gift. In fact, I can probably count on my hands the number of times I pulled it out of the pantry in the last 5 years. This month, all of that changed. I discovered its amazing ability to effortlessly cook really yummy food. I just wish I had found my love at the beginning of my student teaching, rather than during the last month.

I picked up this at Costco



and have had such fun trying out the recipes. So far our favorites include a couple different lentil soups/stews and a butternut squash/sweet potato soup. The other night I even made a hot fudge cake that was delicious! Brian was shocked when he discovered I made a cake that didn't come out of a box.

So if anyone has any superb recipes they'd like to pass along, please do! Or, if you have a favorite slow cooker recipe book, please share the title. Oh, and just let me know if you'd like any of the above mentioned soup recipes.

What a fun morning!

Student teaching is finally over, which means I don't have to spend all of my free time doing homework and writing lesson plans. I now get to do fun things with my little monkey, like go to the Children's Museum. Our friend Alana has a family pass and invited us along. Riley and Bryce are only about six weeks apart in age so it's super fun to get them together. We can't wait to go again. Thanks Alana and Riley! Enjoy the slide show!




Brian came home for lunch and took some pictures of us as we were heading upstairs for a nap. Bryce was in his pre-nap-super-silly mode.

Ouch!

So I'm in the kitchen and I hear a "No!" followed by an "Oh crap," a strange crashing/scraping sound and then screaming. I run into the living room and find Brian picking Bryce up, outside...

Today turned out to be lovely, much better than the lingering winter weather we've been enduring. In order to more fully enjoy the weather, we opened the sliding glass door. Apparently Bryce decided to hit the screen. Brian was sitting right there on the couch and told him "no." Being the stubborn monkey that he is, Bryce hit it again and managed to pop the screen right out onto the patio. Thus, he ended up outside, face down, on the patio. Here's the result:

Of course, he's still smiling! This was his first real scare-momma-to-death moment. I'm so glad he just has a few scrapes. It could have been worse. We definitely learned our lesson and we'll only open the door a crack from now on!

Oh and yup. That's dog hair stuck in the Neosporin on his cheek. Lovely.

Blogger? Really?

Okay. I succumbed to peer pressure. I started a blog. Heck, I can't be technologically outdone by my mom! What I'll post about, I'm not exactly sure. Most likely, it will be all about the boy. This boy: P.S. Happy St. Paddy's Day!