Feeling ducky?

A project 7 years in the making. Yesterday I finally decided I was going to do it! We've wanted to do up the kids bathroom in duckies since we bought the house 7 years ago. All we had was a bathmat, but that's the direction we were going. 5 or 6 years ago, we bought the paint. 3 or 4 years ago, we bought the little decals. A couple years ago, we added the shower curtain to the collection. 2 months ago, Jeremy bought a towel rod set to go with it.

Yesterday, Liah and I set out with a purpose. Paint the bathroom! She did all the corners and edges that were within her reach. I spray painted the organizer blue. Addy and I bought some towels yesterday, and last night I embroidered ducks on them with my snazzy embroidery machine. (have I mentioned I love that thing??)

Welcome to our ducky bathroom!

Isn't he cute?

I cut a sponge in the shape of a square to match the decals on the tub and sponge painted squares on the wall, then put the plain ducks on the blue squares.

My kids are sooo excited about their "new" ducky bathroom!

Goo-goos and gucks

Two years ago today, this little guy came into my life. All I knew about him two years ago was that I loved him with all of my heart. Two years later, I love him more than I ever knew was possible. This little boy has brought such love, happiness and comfort to my life. He is such a happy boy and so full of personality. At any given moment, he can be found with his cute little hands full of as many goo-goos and gucks as he can carry (that would be choo-choos and trucks, for all of you who don't speak fluent Addison). Also at any given moment he can be found soliciting a kissy from his mommy. Or requesting a song on the piano. And another song. and another song... The way his bright blue eyes lit up as we sang him happy birthday, his cute little cheeks blowing out those candles... oh, how can you just not love this kid?

Happy birthday little Addison! I am so blessed to be your mommy!! I love you!!!

Don't let the sun go down on me...

Jeremy and I flew to Alaska on Thursday afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa Meredith flew out from Virginia to spend some time with the grandkids. They were here for a day before Jeremy and I took off. Since Addison had only met them once before (back in November), I was worried how he would react, but he took to Grandma and Grandpa immediately, and even wanted them over me. I was relieved yet hurt a little at the same time, not gonna lie. ;)

Why Alaska? Jeremy has been traveling there for work for a few years now, and I've always wanted to go. He seems to always end up there on summer solstice. I've heard of the sun being up at midnight, but I had never actually experienced it. It is bizarre!

Here is the view from the plane as we flew in at 9pm...


...and this is midnight! (Friday night) The only reason it looks this "dark" is because of the storm coming in...


...which I ran in the next day. My sister ran this race last year and she said it was absolutely beautiful, so I've been itching to come up and run it ever since. It is called the Midnight sun marathon. Since this coming Saturday (yikes!) is my 1/2 marathon in Seattle that I'm running with my sister, I opted to only do the 5.6 mile race this past weekend. I thought 2 half marathons a week apart was a little much. When I went to pick up my race packet on Friday, I felt like a geek asking for my "5-mile" packet with all the hard core marathoners and 1/2 marathoners walking around.

Me before my race...

...crossing the finish line, cheered on by my best friend...

...and after the race holding my finishers pin. Kind of funny, there was a 1.3 mile kid's race as well as the 1/2 marathon and full marathon. Everyone that finished those got a medal... and then us 5 milers got a little pin... wasn't helping my "feeling like a geek" factor... lol

And not that I was crazy fast, and I didn't "win" the race like my girls asked me, but I ran my fastest ever, so I was proud of myself. If I can keep that up this weekend, I'll beat my time from last year for sure! Plus, the view was beautiful.

Jeremy and I also did some shopping and sightseeing. Here we are at the largest chocolatefall in the world.

At this shop, we also found the funniest book. I need to look it up on Amazon. Well it is probably only funny to people in my family. We grew up watching the Marx Brothers, which sadly no one seems to know nowadays. But they are ridiculously hilarious. I got a lot of my roommates into them as well.

...same shop, why not take a picture with oversized stuffed bears for no reason? That's what I always say. Added bonus: creepy old guy working the counter that won't stop smiling and staring at you. Yeah. We left right after that. :) (I am pretty cute)

Across the street was this fabulous restaurant we ate at. It was so good! Aren't we so cute?

This is downtown Anchorage at the "Ulu Factory." Jeremy has been obsessed with Ulu knives ever since he first visited Alaska. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Either way, this time we got him one. So maybe I won't have to hear so much about them anymore. j/k. Love you Jeremy. :) Naturally, he also had to test out the sled in front of the store.

What is with Alaska and the Marx Brothers? I don't know. We would have eaten here out of principle, but once we looked at the prices on the menu in the window, we didn't eat here... out of principle. lol... but pictures are free! (in case you can't tell, it is called the "Marx Brother's Café" and I'm pretty sure the password is "swordfish")

Also downtown, apparently every year on summer solstice it is a huge deal. There was an outdoor market that we walked around. I saw this sign at one of the shops that totally cracked me up. My sister and I used to say this all the time.

Sometimes, you just need to hug a creepy bear.

While we waited for our 1:45am flight home, we drove around to see some of the sights. I was bummed that it was so windy and overcast! But it was still beautiful.

This is "Beluga Point" where you can spot beluga whales!

...unfortunately, the only ones we spotted were diving out of the cement.

We got back to Tri-Cities at 8:40am after having no sleep. I basically hadn't slept in 3 days though, so why not stay awake one more? That daylight at nighttime has got to take some getting used to. It just felt like taking an afternoon nap. I kept waking up every hour certain that it had to be morning. Only it was 1:30, then 2:30... Needless to say, Sunday afternoon, I totally crashed. The sight of darkness Sunday night was never more welcome!

Jeremy's sister Jessica, her husband Jared and their baby Lukas came up this weekend too! They came from Northern California. It was so fun to see them! It was like an impromptu Meredith family reunion. Only Justin and Jana were missing. :(

Here are little cousins Addy and Lukas "driving" Liah's Jeep. They are so cute together!

Grandma has fallen in love with Skippyjon Jones. My kids LOVE having stories read to them, so it all worked out.

Yesterday, we went and saw a train and the kids got to climb around on it. They had a blast.

Lukas!

Emmy in her new Alaska hat...

Emmy and Sean...

Liah...

...and of course, Grandpa!

Here are Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids:

Grandma and Grandpa left this morning, much to the dismay of Liah and Emily. It was nice to have a visit. It has been a while!

Now time for aunt Lorie to come!

Sometimes...

...after a long day of Kindergarten, you just need to kick off your shoes, curl up and take a nap in a laundry basket. (aka "boat bed")

I wonder if they make them in my size?

Talent Show!

So today was the school talent show and both my girls participated. They did so well! I'm so proud of how brave they were to stand up in front of the whole school and perform. I've literally been having nightmares and losing sleep over this going badly and scarring my daughters for life. Fortunately, I was the only one with the anxiety.

First off, this morning, Emily wanted "rockstar hair" and Liah wanted "superstar hair." Well I just gave them cute hair, and they felt like rockstars and superstars all day. Seriously, it boosted their confidence level immensely. They were struttin' around the majority of the day. It made me feel like a good mom anyway.


Here is Emily after the talent show:

...and Liah (she wanted to wear "her 80s style")

...and my little cuties together:

Here is little Emily's performance. Just a little disclaimer before you watch. They hadn't set up the piano properly... yet. So the music teacher had to come and fix it while I was playing, and Emily didn't hear the sound for a second so she thought the song had stopped. She didn't forget her words. Other than that hiccup, the performance was fabulous. She did such a great job! I am so proud of her to stand up in front of that many people at age 5 and sing like that. She did tell me after that "she felt embarrassed because there were so many kids!" But my mother heart is beaming with pride. She did say it was fun though, and she is LOVING all of the attention she is getting from random people telling her she is amazing.

Okay anyway, so here it is:

Oh, and one more comment, Seany is sitting next to Jeremy who is shooting this video, and well, Sean thought he would join in for the very last note of the song. It is especially hilarious because he is off about one half-pitch. Awesome. But fortunately, no one there heard it, but all of you will!

And here is Liah's performance. She did so well, too! She has also never performed in front of an audience this big. She was so confident. I'm so proud of her!

I'm so proud of my girls!

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So my strawberry creation of the day was strawberry pie. I absolutely LOVE this recipe. So, so good.

You know what makes great playdough? Real dough. Emily played for the next solid HOUR with the unused scraps of pie crust. Here she is "making herself." Doesn't it look just like her? I'm pretty sure it also has "rock star hair."

Here is my pie: (or should I say was...)

Doesn't it look delicious?? Well it was.

p.s. My brother and his wife just had their baby boy tonight! Welcome to the world, baby Alex! I can't wait to meet you!!!

Is it summer yet??

Last Friday, I went on Liah's field trip with her. Oh she was so excited. They're learning about "habitats" right now. We went to the McNary Wildlife Reserve. Here she is taking a closer look at a leaf that retains water... (I can't remember what the plant is called) She is just soaking up everything she is learning. And she is upset that school is ending next week, because "SHE LIKES TO LEARN!!!"

This past Sunday I was feeling rather domestic, and decided to try my hand at a few things. First I made homemade chili in the crockpot, made from dried beans and everything. Then I used my dessert shell pan and made cornbread in it, making cornbread bowls. I thought it was rather ingenious. Then of course, filled with the chili, topped with shredded cheese and crushed crackers. Brilliant? I thought so. Then I made these beauties:

I used the same dessert shell pan, only I made brownies in it. Then after those were cooked, I flipped it over and baked cheesecakes in the cup part (clever? I thought so, too). Then after those were cooked, I put a cheesecake in each brownie shell, then I made a strawberry glaze from fresh picked strawberries (from my backyard), and topped it all off with a fresh strawberry. They were delightful. The only thing that would have made them better is whipped cream, but alas, I had none. Next time, Gadget, next time.

Speaking of strawberries, they are in full swing in my backyard:

I love my little helpers. They LOVE to pick strawberries. And they're even really good at only picking the red ones. I'm so proud.

Even Addy joins in the fun. Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

Here is Emily helping me wash and cut the tops off of 5 cazillion strawberries. It is way more enjoyable to do this with company. I'm glad Emmy is old enough to help with it now.

One of Sean's favorite snacks is something he calls "strawberry syrup" which is simply a bowl of cut-up strawberries, mixed with some sugar. Then you let it set for about a half hour, and voila! You have strawberries and syrup. It is also fantastic for strawberry shortcakes.

And of course, let the endless making of strawberry freezer jam begin. I love strawberry season!