some recent Etsy faves!

Etsy Buy Handmade marykf20 ~~two posts in one night, i'm on a roll~~

DMB

has come and gone....and thanks to the overwhelming amount of "special" smoke blowing through the amphitheater i'm sporting a few less brain cells...good times were had by all at the Dave Matthews Band concert! Thanks Katie & Adam, John & Anne, and Ivy for a great night!!

5

sometimes you just need a break

from the car that is. 
can you guess who this is trying to get into a bag of cheese crackers???
we spent the day in the tri-cities and took our sweet time coming home. our stop for ice cream and an impromptu photo shoot was much needed and these little monkeys couldn't have been happier.

So I was finally able to get some pics posted from my big 10k race I completed this past weekend. Katie & I finished the 10k, my time being 1:04, and my mom walked the 5k with Teags. This is whole race was basically for Teagan as almost a year ago while she was at Children's Hospital Seattle I remember wandering through the hospital reading the hospitals' most recent newsletter. It had pictures and results of the 10k race and then there were pictures of patients and their families and at the time I told Justin that next year I would be completing this race for T. I did it! 

I know this sounds all corny and sappy like but as I was running all I could think about is how almost a year ago we could have lost our sweet T bear. When the status of her life was on an hour-t0-hour basis and we had no clue what her outcome would be. As my legs were getting tired I had visions of almost every single little detail of her hospital stay including the lame almost year old magazines in the pumping rooms, or the pomegranate tea I would get from the cafeteria, or the smell of the soap in her NICU room, it was like it was yesterday that we were there... So as I set out to complete more races I hope those memories stay fresh and in my head as they served as fuel for my fire and helped me cross that finish line. 

My goal for the next 10k in September will be to complete it in under 1 hour. After that I'm on to the Leavenworth half marathon and help me God on that one! 

Thanks again Ash for all your encouragement! 

more details about this past weekend's events in the morning as right now i'm off to bed.

love this site!~

10

recent events that have made me happy

1. I joined the brand new Golds Gym in East Wenatchee. I may be a gym snob but after working out in such a cool environment I DONT CARE! It's fabulous, high tech, clean, close to my house, on the way home, and each piece of cardio equipment has it's own ipod docking station!!! 
2. I also bought myself 3 months of personal training! I am finally going to get my butt in gear (with the help of W.) I have three upcoming runs in the next few months as well as a 20lb weight loss goal. I'm sure i'll be bloggin' all about it because for me the more people who know the more accountable I am. 
3. Justin, Koren, and I had such a great time boating this past Sunday. A bunch of our friends met up down at one of the beaches along the river where we all took turns watching the kiddos and partaking in various watersports! I had fun showing off a bit but Monday morning I was paying for it! 
4. BOTH KIDS HAVE BEEN SLEEPING NOW FOR TWO HOURS!!!!!!! 
5. I'm slowly but surely getting caught up on my editing. I only have FIVE sessions to go, well six after a belly session tonight. It makes me happy to see my business growing but also a little hesitant as this was always going to be such a part-time venture for me. 
6. The whole family is heading to Seattle Friday afternoon and I get to make a stop at IKEA. 
7. I am re-styling Teag's room and her new sheets came yesterday from Babystyle....I wish I would have used these colors from the beginning but such is life and they are now making me happy! 
8. I have ran a total of 8 miles this week and it's only Tuesday. My goal for the week is 20, not including the 7 I'll be running Saturday morning. 
9. T took a couple of steps on her own last night. Very quick and unstable, but still it's a big moment. 
10. Koren is such an amazing big brother. It makes me the most happiest mom ever to see him playing with his baby sister and actually enjoying her company. He has really been into showing her around the house lately and all the fun (trouble) they can get in to! 

just another day in with two silly little monkeys

(click on collage to view full image, silly blogger cut's off my sweet cheeks)

baby motrin or a margarita

up till now T has been sporting only her bottom two teeth. well today the top two are breaking the gum line and life is plain miserable! she is normally such a happy baby and a wonderful sleeper and i think for the first time in almost 8 months i had to rock her to sleep tonight. does anyone have any great tips for teething because if we have another day like today i'm going to be making margaritas for breakfast! 

what should i blog about next?

siblings

this makes me happy. 

meal planning

it's my new thing! 

well not really new, i've dabbled with it seriously a few times before but now i'm really trying to incorporate it into our lives! It is so difficult for us to all be together at home in the summer due to various sporting activities but i'm hoping that we can at least manage three meals this week. 

to include: 

Pizza! My favorite 'take and bake' has to be California Pizza Kitchen and pretty much any toppings they offer. Runner up would be Papa Murphy's Artichoke & Bacon. yummm. 

Turkey burgers with gruyere cheese and a few other sides. I'm thinking salad with pecans and cranberries or a fresh fruit bowl. 

I bought some super-rich whole grain pasta at Trader Joes awhile back and i'm hoping that when I add yummy pasta sauce and turkey meatballs Justin & Koren wont know it's good for them. For desert is a scoop (or two) of Blood Orange gelato...i've actually already had a few scoops of this and it's pretty tasty. I really just liked the packaging and I think next time i'll go for a flavor that's not quite so sweet like maybe a pistachio or mint. 

Well wish me luck with feeding this family because more often than not I put my menu aside for a chicken soft taco at Taco Time and call it good :) 

Just wanted to wish everyone a fantastic weekend! 

ten.

1. Last week was a bit insane and I seemed to be all across the state. I was fortunate enough to spend time with two great friends all in one week! Thanks Aliya & Ashley for being such wonderful friends even through we are miles apart. 
2. Thursday was the Green Bluff Cherry Trot & Pit Spit. Koren took part with Holland in the Tot Trot and had a wonderful time although he was even more concerned with losing his firefighter hat. 
3. here's a pic

4. I, thanks to Ash, completed the 4 mile run! It was such a great, great feeling to cross that finish line 40 minutes after starting. I was very much unaware of the fact that the last mile was all up hill!! In 3 weeks i'm off to Seattle for the Children's Hospital 10k. 

5. After the race. 
6. I received my birthday present this morning and man was it a good one! I had my house deep cleaned by Faith Steps cleaning service and let's just say there is no way I could have ever done what they did! My bathtub is so sparkly cleaned that I almost don't want to use it. Thanks again babe you are the best! 

7. Does anyone else realize that I use a LOT of exclamation points!!!!! 

8. Yesterday Justin & I spent the afternoon waterskiing, playing softball, going for a run, and learning how to use our new Wii Fit. We both can barley move this morning. I just have to give props to the the Nintendo people for coming up with a video games that actually gets kids (and us parents) off our butts! Koren busted out some mad moves with the balance game and J & I got a big kick out of watching him ski the slalom course. 

9. I have been taking a lot of photos of Teagan lately because I'm afraid any day Teags is going to get up and start moving right out of the shot. So i'm not favoring her over Koren, i'm just enjoying looking into those big blue eyes while I can. Like this. 

10. 

It works!

So I was surfing another blog this morning (thanks Julie H.) and noticed she made a comment about Blogger making some improvements and that the video feature was now working. So I went through my archives of post and picked this one out just to "test" the system. The results: IT WORKS! YAY that makes me happy :) The video is almost a year old but none the less it's a video on my blog and that's what matters! Have a great weekend everyone. 

Something seems to have happened...she is no longer that teeny tiny little baby who loved to be swaddled and held. Suddenly she is an almost-toddler. She is crawling, and climbing up, and babbling, and screeching, and trying to chase after her brother. Her hair is even blonder and her eyes are even more blue. My sweet sweet baby. 

I just wanted to give a shout out to my brother Donnie & sister-in-law Hilari! It really is fun having you back in the state! I look forward to spending more time with the both of you.

what to do when it's 94 degrees out

toss on a couple of cute bathers and head to the nearest body of water! 

10:30pm

1. With Koren going to Seeds now Teags and I are left with 4 hours each morning to clean, edit recent photo sessions, work on upcoming "projects", but what me mostly end up doing is blog-surfing, shopping, watching reality tv re-runs, and having impromptu photo shoots. 

2. I've got my running gear on as I sit here and type and i'm thinking that as soon as I'm finished with this I'll get my butt out the door and go for a jog so that T-Bear will actually snooze a little. 

3. After picking up K from school we'll be heading to the Hunter's for a little baby shower planning meeting for you-know-who...I love parties! I love even more planning parties! As K would say, "that makes me soo soo happy!" 

4. I think Justin & I have finally come to the conclusion on a new car. Most likely J will spend the next 2 months trying to get the BEST deal...if it were me we would have driven over yesterday and handed off the keys to the Jetta and been done with it. That's why him and I are  a great pair, i'm not sure we would have a roof over our heads if everything was up to me :) 

5. I must, must, must get my house organized. It's driving me crazy that everything around seems to be so misplaced. You would think with all this kid-free (well K at least) time that I would have it done by now....oh why am I such a procrastinator. 

Alright, Teagan is now officially screaming her head off. I guess nap-time is just not happening today. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

The less routine, the more life.

 ~amos bronson alcott

rolls for sale

and will require a LOT of butter. 

JUST IN: Teagan has figured out the crawl. Well sorta. She does it the "t" way, as in backwards until she gets to where she wants to go then she'll put her legs up in the air and spin around on her belly like an upside down turtle until she has anchored in what she was going for. Pretty much anything her brother is playing with, like the puzzle above. 

104 degrees

was the current temp at 4pm today. ouch, that's just a bit too hot for me. I'm such a winter kinda girl that this heat really makes me uncomfortable. 

Friday & Sunday we spent a few hours each down at the river. Koren & Teagan don't realize how lucky they are that we can go from our house to the beach in 15 minutes. That's one of the reasons why I love, love, love Wenatchee. 

Saturday Koren had a day at Papo's house and Justin, Teags and I went to Seattle for a bit of shopping and searching. Searching for the perfect couch and car. We didn't find either. Kinda of a bummer but we just need to go browsing again, soon! I did score on some stuff for the kiddos as well as Justin but it was almost too hot to even shop. That's right you heard me! Too stinkin' hot! 

Another busy week with lots to post! Check back soon. 

(sorry about the crummy pics, my point and shoot camera stinks)

I've been tagged

My dear friend Ashley tagged me yesterday to post 6 quirks about me that you might not know. 

These are the rules: 

The Rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

1. I'm a nail biter. Big time. I've tried and tried and tried to stop, but it's really just not going to happen. If you haven't noticed by now I have ridiculously small & fat thumbs, and the fact that I am unable to let even the littlest nail grow above flesh just makes matters even worse! 
2. I'm absolutely addicted to the internet. Seriously, if I have to feed Teags in the middle of the night I'll run down and check to see if anyone has posted anything interesting on their blogs or for some crazy reason sent me a 3am email. Is there a rehab program for this? 
3. Probably one of my most bizarre quirks is the fact that if my feet are bare I cannot stand, or even think of another persons bare feet touching mine. Justin will try this out just to torture me and it almost brings me to the point of vomiting. Can't handle it. At all. 
4. I horde cash. It's silly but I'll never use all the cash I have in my wallet at one place. If it means that I throw down a $20.00 and debit $10.00 even though I have another $20.00 bill in my wallet...I always have some crazy justified reason for this, but I can't come up with it right now. 
5. I have a few "mama" quirks and here's a quick rundown on a few: 

• character clothing is almost forbidden. unless it was from a special mimi for a special occations and will be worn to that special mimi's home
• no pj's are to be worn out of the house, we have too many articles of clothing that need to worn
• I watch K color in coloring books because it hurts me to see him color outside the lines (yes, I know he's only 3)
• the Wiggles are banned from any television in our home-long story

6. I am always early. NEVER late, and if i'm late that I'm really having a bad day. I'm sure I inherited this trait from my dad.

Alright friends, I wanna know your quirks. Katie, Pauline, Libby, Sara, & Melissa you've officially been tagged!

4 years ago today

I married my best friend. 

3 months after that we were pregnant with Koren. 

3 years after that, along came Teagan. 

In between all that we've lived in two cities, had two houses, one apartment, and lots of laughs. 

We've traveled a bit. We've landscaped a lot. We've had very trying and scary days. 

I can only hope this next year of marriage will be as great as the last 4! 

I love you Justin, like the moon loves the stars:) 

oh yeah, i'm also enjoying a great birthday today thanks

 to my wonderful friends and family. 

ten on tuesday

1. I think this post will be, again, a bit random. It's fun to chronicle what i'm doing on a daily basis for my own sake, so i'm sorry if your reading this and getting a bit bored. I have really enjoyed blogging and if any my friends and family would ever get on the bandwagon i'm sure they would enjoy it too! 
2. This one's for Ivy: Koren has delcared his love for your daugher, Irelyn. He told me last night that he loved her and wanted to marry her. Now this makes me laugh, because seriously, they have played together like twice! We stopped by Seeds this morning and the first thing he asked was if Irelyn was going to be there...ahh she must be his summer crush. 
3. This morning I made the dreaded WalMart trip. There were a few essentials that I absolutely had to have and Wallyworld was on the way. We are trying to purchase the Wii Fit program and of course every store in the Wenatchee Valley is sold out. So if ANYONE sees it somewhere please let me know. Thanks. 
4. I have a ton of photo editing to catch up on before this Saturday which is another wedding and even more editing time added to the stack. I used to dream of being this busy and wonder if that day would ever come and now i'm booking Christmas card sessions- in JUNE! I'm blessed to have some great friends who in turn have great friends that pass my name and business around. Thanks guys, you know who you are! 
5. Teags and I just got finished baking a cake! That's right you heard me, and from SCRATCH! I'm not drunk, i'm not crazy, just ambitious. Baking is something i'm plain not good at, BUT I figured i'd give it a shot. Rachel Ray had a recent recipe for a golden cake and yummy vanilla frosting. So right now the frosting is ready and the cakes (2 9inch round) are cooling. Tonight I'm going to fancy them up, take a pic, and force everyone to try a piece. I'll let you know how it goes :) 
6. Koren and Justin just left to go deliver some rock to Shane & Hanna's place. Koren was excited to ride in the "big" truck with dad...I'm excited to have a sorta-kinda quiet house. T is busy playing at her learning table. It makes me think back to when Koren played at the table for hours. I'll have to dig up an old photo here sometime. 
7. Well I didn't make it to ten as our Papa Murphy's pizza is ready to come out of the oven. I'm off tomorrow morning with my mom, Sara, and Barb to the Solcice day spa and boutique hotel for a day and night of pampering and fun! 

Dad's Day 2008

We decided that since the weather was cooperating and we couldn't take the boat out (because Justin hurt his back golfing) that we would take a mini road trip up to Lake Chelan for the day. Koren has been in love with the beach scene ever since our trip to California so he had a blast. I believe Teags was pretty impressed as well by the way she giggled every time the water would rush over her toes. 

When it was time for T's nap we headed home so that Koren could still enjoy the sun in his back yard pool and slip&slide. My greatest memory from Father's Day 2008 has to be that of Justin trying to show Koren how to run and slide on his belly down the slip and slide....oh I wish I had a picture...

mmm mmm good

I have a million photos of the kids, thought I would mix it up a bit :) 

a fun recent purchase of of etsy, I think the flower is almost as big as her head. 
Koren helped me with dinner tonight, well sorta. 

I just got done making Rachel Ray's smashed red potatoes (with bacon) and barbeque chicken and now i'm waiting for J to get home from yet ANOTHER round of golf. I told him this morning that by the amount of golf he's been playing lately he should be walking on to the PGA tour soon.