December 2016

December was a good month!  Here are a few of the latest happenings in our family.

<<  December is my husband's off season.  All year I look forward to having him home more around Christmas and this year did not disappoint!

<<  We spent many days at our favorite beach on Whidbey Island.  We just need to move over on the island already.  As usual, it boggles my mind how my boys love walking barefoot, even in 30 or 40 degree weather.

<<  Burl (8) grew even sweeter than he already is.  AND grew to look even more like his daddy, lucky kid.

<<  Bodhi (5) grew to be an ever bigger stinker than he already is.  I'm just crossing my fingers and praying he'll eventually outgrow his challenging stage.  Thank goodness he's so cute.

<<  Ozzy (4 months) has dimples that just keep getting deeper and deeper.  He's a chameleon, we're not sure what color his hair his.  One minute it looks reddish, the next it looks brown.  Time will tell.  He's such a sweetpea.

<<  We took the boys snowboarding and they both picked up on it so quickly.

<<  And just to keep things real, two of our four senior dogs are becoming incontinent.  It's such a challenge.  I've never felt maxed out with my pets before, but I'm definitely there now.  They are 15 and 16 years old!

<<  It's an honor to be the Mama of this little family of mine!  They all are teaching me so much love and patience.  I'm one lucky gal!

End Of Summer

A few pictures I took of my babies last week on a walk at one of our favorite beaches.  School starts this week, and I sure am going to miss them while they are gone during the days!  I have so much fun with them!

Expired Kodak film, Canon AE-1 Program

Meaningful Christmas Decorating

Decorating for Christmas is so much fun with children!  When my husband and I were first married, my mother-in-law gave us a box of decorations she had been buying for my husband since he was a baby.  We instantly had a whole set of meaningful Christmas decorations, it was so thoughtful!  I started doing the same thing for my boys.  I've been buying them quality, handmade ornaments from countries of their heritage.  The majority of their heritage is Swedish (from my husband's side; our last name is Ek, which means Oak), English, German and Polish.  We also have Spanish, French, Russian, Irish, and a dash of Mali, Western Asia, Polynesian and Iranian.

My favorite Christmas decorations are handmade in Germany.  I'm particularly fond of German Smokers, I find them so charming!  One of my favorite Christmas treasures is our German-made Sherlock Holmes Nutcraker.   I also really love Scandinavian ornaments.  Seattle has a rich Scandinavian heritage, so I'm fortunate to find little Swedish or Norwegian trinkets in local thrift and antique shops.

I've also added some American handmade ornaments to our collection.  I absolutely LOVE the ones I chose this year, they're from a local woodworker, Stumpdust.  They are high quality, adorable and so unique.

I don't buy anything plastic, resin or mass-produced in China.  Quality is definitely an investment.  Our Christmas decorating started out small but each year gets a little bit bigger and a lot more meaningful.

Cold December Days

One thing that has surprised me about my kids is how comfortable they are in shorts and t-shirts.  They both love going barefoot and it's a struggle to get them to wear coats and sweatshirts.  These photos were taken on recent visits to the beach, when it was FREEZING!!  They are such goofy boys!

November 2015

A few things:

::  The longer I live in Seattle, the more I appreciate how lucky I am to live here.  It really is such a beautiful place to raise a family!

::  I've been listing some vintage finds in my Etsy shop.  You can find my Etsy shop ::here::.

::  If you're not already following me on Instagram, here's the link.  I post regularly there.

::  This dress :: 

::  This song ::

::  This cookbook ::

::  This article ::

Happy Monday, Friends!!

10-9-2015

When you spend enough time down at the shore, you're bound to see some pretty amazing things.

Like watching the release of two orphaned seal pups.  They were rescued earlier this summer, and are big enough now to be released.  It's was so spiritual!  (I joke, but it really was).

The crews from PAWS and Coast Guard Auxiliary forces to make this release possible.  And I was honored to have my boys there to observe.