Joren 16 months

Joren is learning to talk. This age is really the funnest age yet! I love his little gibberish mixed with baby signs mixed with a few real words. He is so sweet. He LOVES dinosaurs and calls them dies and says it all day long. He can find a "dies" on a billboard 4 miles away while we are driving. Eyes like a bat I tell ya.
Joren is fearless. He loves the playground. He loves to climb on things. He likes to eat his food standing on his kids size table; dancing. He hates to sit in his high chair. He would rather eat on the go. He has little patience for eating.
When we go to the park we have to be very vigilant. More than a few times he has bolted to the nearest mud puddle. Yesterday Paul took the kids to the park. Eirik hurt his hands so Paul was helping him. Paul said it took Joren all of 10 seconds to run to the mud, get stuck and fall face first into it. He was drenched in mud. When Paul brought him home Joren was naked but so excited to "tell" me all about what happened. He is so annimated, pleasant and fun.
He started saying "Hi" the same way Eirik used to say it with a sweet drawn out low, high, low cadence. It is so cute and he says it to everyone.. ALL DAY LONG!
He knows so many words but he will only say Hi and Die all day long! He can say basketball, but won't. He communicates very well though.

I got this giant dinosaur encyclopedia that Joren loves. He always wants to read that book over every other book. Reading is one of his favorite things. He often grabs a book and throws himself in my lap. He loves to do the baby sign for milk and book.

I love taking Joren to story hour at the library. Lots of kids are tentative at story hour around all those older kids, but not Joren. He wants to be right up front sitting on the teachers lap or grabbing her books and doing all the activities with all the big kids. He wont' stay by me or on my lap. He likes to explore the whole room and interact with all the kids. He loves the parachute and loves to dance. He recognizes the songs and is learning all the actions.

He's a big tease. If there is something he knows he is not supposed to do, he will wait until you are looking and then do it with this sly little smile on his face. He loves to sit by the toilet and wait for me to look at him and that's when he will start to put his hand in (while he is watching to make sure I see him.) Then he giggles and tries to hide from me. He also loves to play in the trash. It drives me crazy!! He loves to pull everything out of the cupboards and drawers. He's a big mess maker. I love it because he really entertains himself well. He is easily diverted with new activities to keep him busy. He can make all the messes he wants to as long as he is exploring and enjoying himself. He's not a whiner (yet) and he goes to bed very well. He loves his naps. He sometimes plays in his crib for a long time before he wants to get out.
He plays really well with Eirik. I'm amazed by his sword fighting abilities. Those light sabers are about as heavy as he is, but he has no trouble with them. The other day we had one of Eirik's friends over. The friend said, "Eirik I am hiding from Joren, I don't want him to see me." Eirik said, "Joren is my brother, you shouldn't hide from him! He's not bad!" The friend continued to try to stay away from Joren and Eirik decided he would rather play with Joren than his friend. Later Eirik told me, "I protected Joren. I'm his protector and brother."
I heard all of this over the monitor and it made me so happy. They really love each other.

St. Patrick's day party at Erin's house

He's my rough and tumble tank with a big smile and a constant great big HiiIIIiiii!!!
I XXXOO him.

Eirik 3 years old

For Eirik's 3rd birthday we were all sick. :( So.. we had a little party with the 4 of us. Eirik got a soccer ball, a guitar and a few other fun toys and great gifts from grandparents. We waited a week and then had 2 friends over for cake with blue frosting and raspberries.

Eirik is a spitfire as always. Yesterday he said, "mom play with me, it's your job!" He never ceases to amaze me. He can quote chapters from movies and learns songs after hearing them 2 or 3 times. Yesterday we had a conversation that went something like this. "Mom, I only like hotdogs, chicken and pizza and starfish. I just bit off that starfish's face, here I will glue it back on. All better. I only eat fresh starfish. Not soggy ones, only fresh."
He's always cracking me up like that. Today he said, "I hurt my hoof and it became invisible. If I run in a circle it will become visable again and turn into a tomato plant. If I eat the tomato my hoof will regrow." Then he pretended to pick and eat the tomato and then spit it out because it tastes bad.
I didn't know how early bathroom humor started and I was ... shocked.. when I heard Eirik ask me, "Mom, do you like pink?" Me: "sure" Eirik: "then do you want to see my penis?"
seriously people, he didn't learn that from Paul and I.. how do kids learn this kind of stuff??
The following list is from way back in December; better late than never.
Eirik had never had an accident at night before so the first time it happened he was overwhelmingly distraught. I woke up to him screaming, "Mom, what do I do NOW??? What do I do now??" I quickly comforted him and said, "It's ok, we just change your sheets and PJ's and you can go back to bed. It's not a big deal." So naturally the next accident he had he cheerfully said, "It's ok mom, I just change my pants and it's no big deal." Luckily he is a quick learner and has not had an accident since.
I also loved how when he first saw Star Wars he insisted on calling it "Star Whores" for several months. That really made me laugh.
Eirik quickly learned Jingle Bells this Christmas. However, he insisted on changing Blitzen's name with Spirit because his favorite Spirit horse had to be in the song. When I asked him what happened to Blitzen he always said, "Blitzen got bit by a werewolf, Spirit will help Santa."
One day someone told Eirik he had a great vocabulary. He replied, "I guess so, actually I talk ok."
His cousin asked him "What's your mom's name." Eirik: Melody, but I call her Mommy, but when I was a baby I used to call her Momady."
Eirik loves to measure people. He holds up his tape measure and always confidently tells you that you are 60 lbs. When you ask him how much he weighs he always weighs 1500 lbs, and he runs 40 miles per hour.
For our Christmas talent show he learned the Pledge of Allegiance and Deck the Halls. He really loves to show off the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm sure if you know him you have heard him say it.
"Mom, you have to give me and Joren lots of milks. If you don't, you are breaking the law. If you break the law the policemen will come for you and talk you away from your kids. So you gotta give me milk.. NOW!"

On the way to church I kept saying, "wow, isn't it cold!" and Eirik said, "Here mom, I will blow my warm breath on you and it will heat you up!"

He is working through all these feelings that he has all the time and one day he said, "sometimes I'm just a bad guy and I don't say my prayers"
He told me that he needs a hovercraft and asked me where to get one.
He won't take off his cowboy boots to sleep or anything and he won't wear them in the snow because he doesn't want them to get wet.
He wears his Luke Skywalker shirt EVERYDAY

The other day he had a runny nose and he said, "I think ants are eating my nose. They smell food so they are eating my nose."
Later, he told me, "I was in the fridge and the food was talking to me and it told me to eat this (pronounced zis.) (referring to the cream cheese).

This one is for Grandma and Grandpa:
Eirik: "I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about Utah and I had a dream that a Pegasus flew me to Utah and I went downstairs with the magic and I saw Grandma and Grandpa and I said"HEY, I love you guys!, and I gave them a big hug."

Eirik: "Mom, when we move next, let's move onto a big ship and sail the seas and see the jellyfish and sharks and whales and starfish.
Mom: "that sounds fun, but how would you go to school?"
Eirik: "Easy, you just take the ship to land and you go to Kindergarden."

Mom: "Hey Eirik and Joren, aren't you so glad it snowed again?"
Eirik: "Yeah!.. huh? .. wait.. NO! I just like Satan, I don't like Heavenly Father because he made the snow." (Please don't hold that against him HF.)

Michigan or bust

I'm pretty late in posting this but it's big enough news to post, even late.

Paul officially got a dermatology internship spot at Southshore hospital, 3 minutes from our house!

We feel very blessed. We are counting down the days (42) until Paul's big, exciting

Medical School graduation ceremony on May 16th.

I got Paul's cap and gown in the mail last week and I know for a fact that I was way more excited than Paul. I was never even so excited for my own graduations. When I look back over the past 5 years that have brought us to this point, I can really see the Lord's hand in all our journey. When we first decided to go to KCOM we were deciding between this small DO school in the middle of ... nowhere... and two MD schools; one in CA and one in OR. Paul went to all the interviews and came back feeling like KCOM was the place. He loved how family friendly it was and how great the spouses organization was (SAA). At that point I had no idea how important these things would be to me and I wanted to stay west. I thought Missouri sounded awfull. Thankfully my husband was eagerly looking out for me. The people and the environment in Kirksville were so good for me and my growth, and it was a place where Paul could really excel as well. When it came time to match for rotations we were matched to our 6th choice. We had prayed about our choices and neither of us ever felt like we really got an answer initially but when we were given the chance to renegotiate our choices, we both felt very sure that we should try to go to Wyandotte. Michigan was really my last choice but I knew it was where the Lord was directing us. The day we moved in a bunch of guys from church showed up to help. One of the guys happened to be one of Paul's second cousins. He was finishing his last two years of his dermtology residency. He ended up being very instrumental in helping Paul decide to go with dermatology and helping him get published, and at the right meetings so that now we get to stay here for at least another year. You know how on sitcoms if there's a guy that all the girls covet and think he's oh so dreamy, he's almost always a dermatologist? Yeah, He's my man. =) We are so glad we get to stay. We have made such good friends here and despite how crappy Michigan can be (winters, potholes, wind, layoffs) we still really love it and we're praying that we will get the residency spot available at the same hospital for the 3 years after his internship.

32 years old and not a bit ashamed..

I looked in the mirror this week and realized that I look older. I am wrinklier, saggier, less symmetrical, and yet.. I look a bit wiser. The thing I really noticed is that I just can't get away with wearing teeny bopper jeans anymore. It makes me look like I'm trying way too hard. :) The good thing is that I'm finally comfortable in my skin. That's what 32 is supposed to feel like right? I finally know how to laugh about embarrassing things and blow off other people's opinions when they don't really matter, and be glad to be who I am. I'm so happy to know what I stand for and to not be a bit ashamed. So 32 is good. Much better than 23. 23 was a ROUGH year.

So this birthday has been a delightful one. Getting over winter.. slowly day by day, degree by degree has worked miracles at improving everyone's mood around here. AND, We got the pleasure having my sister Katie come out for a couple of weeks that happened to pass over my birthday!

Paul took me to my new favorite restaurant in our area Ashoka Indian Cuisine. It was incredibly delicious and we had enough leftovers for 3 whole meals. I talked Paul into buying a Bose IPOD Dock off of EBAY. We got a steal, and then he surprised me with a new Kitchen Aid. I have been mixing everything by hand for a few months since our hand mixer we got for our wedding broke. I've been getting some new muscles, but I'm so glad to have a mixer. So I got S.P.O.I.L.E.D. and I love it. I had a very special friend drop off this delectable delight. She knows me and knows what I like the best. (White chocolate mousse tort) Yes you read that right! Thanks Erin. You are amazing!

And to top off all that excitement, we had Zach and Arrin and their 4 kids visit overnight. We borrowed a Wii and the fun was immense. Thanks Christina for being so generous!

Thanks to everyone who called, sent cards, gifts and visited. You made me feel so loved this birthday. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

You're crazy if you don't follow my link

Dude. .This is my RAD brother!
It's a commercial filmed by Steve Olpin. It's going to be on Fuel TV next week.
I know, you are all seriously freaking jealous that I have such a cool brother. I know I would be if he were your brother! Dave, you totally rock and roll and shake my boat. Love you!

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 -

Tadpoles in the Sun

 

 

 

 

Today the sun came out for a few hours. We almost didn't want to acknowledge it knowing how fleeting it is and how sad it will be to see it go, but we couldn't help it. The kids got naked and drank their milks in the sun pouring in the window. It was still 20 degrees outside, but it felt great through the glass. Does it get any better than this?

A few midnight words for thought

Condensed thought

Fewer words

Lovely truth

You’re my calm

I’m my storm

*

Killed my houseplants

Yelled at E

Played sick to escape

Missed the appointment

Wretched weakness

*

Penny pillows

Blessed monotony

Order in chaos

Control amidst waves

Stacks of solace

*

Feb. 22

Bright sun, 10 degrees

Controlled numb

Pestering tease

*

True blue pacifist

Red hot warrior son

Daily battle rages

Tonight mom won

*

Day off

Trip to nature center

Skipped naps, 10 degrees, no lunch

Enthusiastic father

Nervous tentative mother

Extrovert optimist

Battles introvert realist

Great fun was had

Success in every fingertip

My lover

*

The guilt of motherhood ransacks my day

“let them be children”

I hear the voice say

“not in the living room”

“too much TV”

“don’t eat that candy”

“keep your shirt clean”

agency He gives us

I don’t know how Father Lets us

*

Farm house

Chicken coup

Goats to milk

Chores to do

Work to provide

Hayloft for sleep outs

Teepees, forts, treehouses

Bike to neighbor’s

Land with water

We’re dreaming

Bigger, simpler and wider

*

Good mail

Rare and scarce

Good e-mail a daily truffle

*

Angelina’s turquoise earrings

Chunky yellow shiny beads

Chocolate velvet lux draperies

Grass green handbag and accessories

Elegant woodcut Moroccan screen

Coy filled lily pond in atrium

Paul Ferney painting in my den

Moving out of a condominium

World lust wraps me in its silken “need”

As I cringe at my impending greed

*

I keep buying great clothes

But I always just look like me

*

I stopped reading into what he says

Life is much less complicated

*

A sparkling kitchen

Lasts long enough to take a drink

Then there’s a cup in the sink

- never done-

*

Like a teeth barred wolf

Protective of my little den

Afraid to let even reality in

That innocence

Those sweetest eyes

“I want a piece” the big world cries

I want to fight

I want to win

I want to hide them from all the sin

To trust the Lord

trust the world

trust my boys

Help me Lord

Reef Relief

One of the things that has been keeping me sane through this long long winter is this gorgous coral reef inside our house! I had no idea when Paul decided to get into salt water tanks how much I would love it. On Paul's day off his favorite thing to do is to go to the fish store and pick out a new little animal to bring home.

We now have:
3 pulsing zinnias
2 leather
4 mushrooms
4 zoes
1 candy corn
1 texas trash
2 sps's
1 frog spawn
1 green grass thing
1 pink bush thing

2 clowns (Zeet and Zot)
1 tang (Doobee)
5 Cromos
1 pinky.......
1 blood shrimp
1 flame scallop
tons of crabs and snails

We love our little guys! We love the smell of salt in the middle of winter in Michigan. We love looking forward to warmer days. Yeah- Salt water tank!

Valentine's Day 2009- my titles are so boring!

I think everyone needs a valentine's tree. This is my rendition.
Don't you love the classy XO XO neon?? I do. :)
This silver card holder was a great find at the Kirksville clean up. That means I found it in a pile of trash in front of someones house, and I love it.

These photos are my way of saying Happy Valentine's day to all of you out there. I hope it's filled with lots of love for each of you. I told Paul that if he loved me he would plan something wonderful for V-day this year. Is it wicked to use that kind of shameful persuasion to get what you want? Is it even worse if you tell him that the day before Valentines day? Well, bring on the wrath. We deserve a date. I have gone overboard the past few years doing all kinds of valentine's surprises for Paul, and girls.. seriously, what a waste of time! We all know what men really want. They don't want heart shaped hamburgers or heart covered pillowcases or hearts all over the inside of their cars.. that just embarrasses them (or so Paul says). So this year, I'm making Valentine's easy. And you all know what I mean... and he can plan the date this year.

I'm loving up my sweet tadpoles this week. Eirik got the paint out and painted this entirely on his own. He wanted to paint a deep blue sea for Joren since Joren LOVES fish and water so much. Isn't that so sweet! He said he would give it to him as soon as he woke up from his nap.

It's 1:00AM and over the baby monitor I just heard the cutest giggle from one of my dreaming children. That's one of those moments that make life fun. Another one happened this week. Eirik was "helping" me make dinner.. (translation: not helping) and Joren was playing happily in his room. I could hear him growling with all his dinosaurs over the monitor. Suddenly we heard the cutest angel voice confidently say "Eyeick! Eyeick!" I guess Joren learned to say his brother's name and was calling him to come play! We all ran to the bottom of the stairs to see if what we heard was real, and Joren had come to the top of the stairs to call his brother again. Mind you, Joren has not yet said Mom or Dad, but he was calling for his brother! Eirik excitedly climbed the stairs to see what his brother wanted to show him. Paul and I cried and jumped up and down in happiness. Bless that little Joren. He is so sweet. That was a week ago and he has not said Eyeick since, but they have been playing together so much. We are so glad we listened when the spirit told us that Eirik needed a brother right away!

Another great thing that happened this week is that I finally finished all three of my pillows I have been working on and I think they turned out really great.

This leaf pillow was an idea I really lifted from World Market. (Thanks World Market.. I love you.) I was with Kristen (of course) when she said, "we could make that" and then she found a jacket at a thrift store later that day with this nice wool, and then she gave me scraps of her green fabric.. and voila. The sleeves of that wool coat turned into a cute little bag for Eirik too. That wool jacket was a great $4 investment.

And here is the penny pillow I mentioned in a former post. This little project was such a lifesaver. I have sort of an anxious personality and need to stay busy. Stitching and stitching and stitching is really relaxing. I liked having this project to work on while my kids were in the bathtub or while I sat by their door at night while they went to sleep, and they liked it too because I can interact with them and still keep my hands busy. I had to force myself to stop working on it once they went to sleep though so that I would have something to do the next nights. I was so sad when I finished that I immediately started another one and it is almost done. I might be on to some little money maker here.. or maybe just a really fun time waster. Anyone want to buy one? You can choose the colors. :)

And this pillow is sort of my little baby. I fell in love with the pillows on Koko Company and they were so inspiring I thought I would see what I could come up with. Of course mine is way different than any of the AMAZING pillows on that site. I mean seriously, aren't they great? Anyway, I got the orange and grey chintz fabric as a birthday gift last year. (Paul took me to Joannes and waited in the car for like an hour while I picked out a gift for myself. Isn't that awesome?) And the felt that matches exactly is from a scrap pile in my mother -in-law's basement. Cool huh! The french knots were an idea from my friend Peggy. I think it tuned it really cool. I want to make more... lots more! This design turned out a little more predictable than I anticipated. My next one will be much more abstract I think.
I let my kids drink their milks while laying on it a few minutes after this photo and Joren threw up about 2 inches from it. So, enjoy the pillow in pristine condition because it won't last long in my house.

So Happy Valentine's to everyone! We love you!

PS. What is up with everyone loving blue and white and dainty vintage prints? Doesn't anyone else love 1970's warm earthy colors anymore?
What's the deal. Am I the only one? Cause I'm not changing. :)
I don't care how cool you all are.

Joren at 13 months

Poor Joren,
He hasn't had a post about just him in 6 months. I guess it's because he's so dang awesome, I feel like I'm just bragging when I talk about him. But this is for his record. I feel like he's my little great secret and if I talk about him too much I might jinx it or something. He loves to play with his toys. He wakes up and plays in his bed for at least 1/2 hour. I stock his crib with all kinds of new toys all the time and just listen to him on the monitor having a great time. He has his little dinosaurs growl at each other. He jabbers to himself. He is a great eater. He loves food. He's not very picky. He loves his bottle and can hold it himself.
He only really cries when he wants a bottle and I haven't been listening to his requests. He bites me when he is hungry, and the kid can BITE! He won't cut it out, but it is kind of cute. He loves to pull everything out of the cupboards and drawers and explore everything. He loves fish. He smacks his lips like a fish whenever he sees one. He loves to watch our fish tank. He learned to walk on Christmas eve and he is cruising now. He seems like such a big kid. He's a good climber. He's super easy to be with. He's chill, easy going, easy, easy, easy, cute as a bug and so lovey. He goes to bed easy, loves his Binky, usually wakes up once during the night for a milk, but sleeps great. He likes to nap for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. I know, don't hate me.. I told you it was good. I just know Heavenly Father knew what I could handle. He knew if he sent me 2 like Eirik I wouldn't make it. Eirik and Joren are perfect for each other. They don't fight about anything (cross my fingers.. yet). They don't really play together a lot, but they love to be with each other. I think when Joren starts to talk more, we will have a whole new world open up to us. He just doesn't really care about talking yet. He can make the sounds of a dinosaur, bear, tiger, owl, duck, elephant, and fish. He can say duck, disaur, and done... and onguard that's about it. Oh I almost forgot, he says "onguard" and he is great at sword fighting! He's just busy doing everything else, and believe me, we have enough talking happening in our house, so we love his quiet content sweetness.

Eirik at 2 years 10 months

My sweet husband was a little ashamed of my antagonism in my last post about Eirik. I do feel bad about baring my frustrations to the world. I told Paul that I was planning to post about all the great stuff about Eirik next and he said, "well, do it quick.. " so, here it is.

I love collecting these little bits of things Eirik says because he always sideswipes me with how clever and attentive he is.

(on a day when he had a runny nose.)
"I think there are ants eating my nose. They smell food so they are eating my nose."

Eirik's first poem:
"I know,
Roses are red
That is my bed
and this is my head!" Jan 28-09

"Dad, go away, if you don't I don't care, I'll stick you in my underwear."

"I was in the fridge and the food was talking to me and it told me to eat this (zis)." (cream cheese)

"You can call me Rockstar."

Mom: "Eirik, What are you doing?"
Eirik: "I'm on a magic carpet for a rock star. I'm never coming out."

"Play with me mom, it's your job!"

One night I made barbecue chicken, honey baked beans and cornbread. Most of you know how hard it is to get Eirik to eat anything so when he said, "Mom, your a good cooker!" it totally made my night. To top it off, the next thing he said was, "Dad, will you teach me to low board tomorrow?" Dad: "you mean snowboard?" Eirik: "Yeah, skateboard on snow?"
For me and Paul, that was one of the best nights of our lives. :)

"Sometimes I'm the bad guy and I don't say my prayers."

The monsters are not in my head, they are just in my bedroom."

"Come in my jeep. When you push all these buttons (lots of sound effects) it turns into a DINOBOT!"

Eirik told me today that he needs a hovercraft and asked where he could get one.
"I can't go exploring without my headlamp."

"Did you know horses are better than cars? They don't need gas."

"mom, I totally don't want to take a nap!"

Eirik was convinced for all of December that Land Before Time was "Land Before Island". We tried to correct him a lot, and finally one day he said, "Everyone is saying it WRONG! It's Land before ISLAND! Say it with me .. LAND BEFORE ISLAND!"
When we came home from Utah, Eirik said, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Grandma and Grandpa have a basement. We need to buy a basement mom!"

Eirik keeps talking about his little sisters (plural! ahh) He named one of them Jolie Ann. I told her that we are planning to name our next daughter Juniper Gayle. He said, "ok, and the next girl will be Jolie Ann. We were at the dollar store later that day and he saw these hair bows that he liked. He said, "mom, when Juniper Gayle and Jolie Ann come, I will buy them these presents."
At a truck stop on the way to Michigan there were archade games. Eirik said, "dad, do you have some money?" I could see how that moment was just the beginning. It reminded me of how at 1 1/2 years old Eirik demanded that we got to the mall and asked if we had any gum. (how did he know what gum was?) And that story remind me about 2 months ago we were in Cleveland by the college campus. Eirik saw a group of girls jogging in sports bras and short shorts. He said, "why are those girlas (that's how he says girls) in their swimsuits?" I said, "they are exercising." he said, I think those princesses are beautiful." (Yikes, should we be a little bit worried?)

Tonight I taught Eirik how to put olives on his fingers. He thought it was so fun he said, "Mom, I love olive fingers. Thanks for teaching me this. " Then we gave them names and did a little puppet show with them. When we were down to the last 2 olives, I dramtically ate mine and Eirik's little bottom lip quivered, then stuck out in the saddest most heartbroken sob. He was so sad that I had eaten Olivia!

When I am cold he loves to blow his warm breath on me to warm me up. He also likes to use his hands as a hat on my head to keep me warm outside.

He is a great helper, so thoughtful, and kind. He loves to do things by himself.

The other day he said, "mom, I brought you these flowers so that I could make your day."
and the best is when he says, "do you know I love you?"

He is a delight, and I'm sorry for my tirade on him last week. I'm just learning to ride his roller coaster and enjoy the fun instead of getting sick. :)

I want to end this post with this great quote about motherhood.

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president: "I have a testimony gained from pondering and studying the scriptures of a plan of happiness given to us by our Father in Heaven. That plan has a part for His daughters. We have the female half to take care of, and if we don't do our part, no one else is going to do it for us. The half of our Father's plan that creates life, that nurtures souls, that promotes growth, that influences everything else was given to us. We can't delegate it. We can't pass it off to anyone. It's ours. We can refuse it, we can deny it, but it's still our part, and we're accountable for it. There will come a day when we will all remember what we knew before we were born. We will remember that we fought in a great conflict for this privilege. How do we meet this responsibility? We daily put our energies into the work that is uniquely ours to do."

Kristen comes to town!

I got lucky enough to have my friend Kristen come stay with us
for the week with her little cutie Rhoda.
It's rare to find a friend that is so easy to be with that you genuinely love every minute together (even non-stop for a week) and are sad when they go. She's one of my best creative inspirations. She has this fearless approach to making things that really gives me confidence. She's always saying to me, "we could make that." and we often end up doing it. This time we worked on this outdoor mat project that we started a while ago.. This one started when she saw my post about this Anthropologie rug that I was wishing I could buy. She called me up and said, "we could make that." And we did!! (Of course it's not quite the same, but I'm pretty happy with the results.
Kristen is cracking up in this picture because I asked her to hold the spray paint for the shot and then we both realized how dumb that was since we weren't really spraying inside with a baby right there..

This gives you an idea of our oh so technical execution.
We got the plain colored mat from Ikea for cheap... (i don't remember $10 or something like that). Then we drew up a stencil, cut it out and pinned it to the mat. We spray painted for the colors that we had the right color spray paint for, and we used cheap craft acrylic paint for the other colors. It's a bit tricky getting the right parts of the stencil on for each different color, but it didn't take that much time, and it was so fun to do.
Thanks Kristen! Now we just have to finish yours!
And we started these penny coin pillows. I have always loved these and now I know how to make them. finished photos are yet to come.
While Kristen was here, I had a great time cooking and one night while we were eating Kristen said something about how fancy the food was, how fancy it was to sit next to a beautiful salt water aquarium and how nice the music was. Then she said, it's better than a fancy restaurant. Her perspective made me really sit back and think about how good we have it. While it's negative 10 outside, we're with family and friends, cozy, eating well and making penny pillows. It doesn't get better; at least for January.


We miss you already Kit! Eirik cried when he woke up and you were gone. (so did I)