a night away

For Christmas, my parents gave us a gift certificate for Hallmark Inns, so...we cashed it in last night & spent out first night away from Finn. Memaw & Papa watched Finn for us - such a nice gift!

We arrived about an hour before sunset & had enough time to explore the beach before dark.

The weather was perfect! A slight breeze but totally clear, sunny & a little bit warm. :) Not typical Oregon Coast weather, especially in February!

Hallmark Resort Newport

Watching the sunset from our room

We ate dinner at Georgie's, their on-site restaurant

View from our room at night. I think that light in the distance is from a boat. When I showed the picture to Kenton he asked, "How'd you get the sun in that picture?!" Silly Kenton. :P It was 9pm!

Our view in the morning. High tide.

We ate breakfast at Georgie's too. They have a system that sprays water on the window to wash away the sea spray. I thought it looked really pretty.

After breakfast, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium:

We were greeted by a very friendly seeming Sting-Ray...or Manta Ray? I didn't pay enough attention. :\

Tide pools

Rock Fish

Amazing colors!

Scary, big crabs

Passages of the Deep

This reminded Kenton of a video game he played recently (Bioshock)...creepy!

In front of the otters, who were too sleepy to play. But we did see some speedy seals & sea lions!

After the aquarium, we went to the outlet mall in Lincoln City so that I could spend way too much money! (Sheesh!) I guess we were on vacation, right?

This is what we found when getting Finn ready for bed tonight. :) We don't know who did it (a superman tattoo, in case it's too hard to see), but I suspect it was Memaw...

Finn did great for my parents. He went to sleep well & slept for 12 hours last night! Then he had a 3 hour nap today. I guess that sort of makes up for how crazy, busy this boy is. But I will admit, he spoils us with how well he sleeps. And I am so thankful that he slept well at Memaw & Papa's house. What a good boy!

We sure missed him & were excited to give him his souvenir - a tiny stuffed manatee (of course!) that straps to his wrist, from the aquarium gift shop. :) He seemed amused.

As we were driving home tonight, I received some very exciting news from my college roommate, Lauren. She & her boyfriend of 6 years, Tom (He & Kenton went to high school together in Alaska), got engaged on Valentine's Day in Maui! So exciting! Congratulations, Tom & Lauren! We're so happy for you both!

workers

Working in Ronan's store. :)

We spent the morning at Ronan & Griffin's house while Daddy helped Uncle Josh work on their new house. They installed a window (or two?) & then started prepping for the siding. I think... I was busy playing with the kids. :)

Working on the attic window.

Watching the dads work.

Griffin on the Kawasaki Powerwheel! Ronan's a master on this thing, but Griffin does pretty well too. Ronan was a bit concerned that Griffin wasn't wearing a helmet. :)

at work with mama

What a special day. Today was a low pressure day at work for me (I'm caught up with paper work & didn't have any meetings), so I took the rare opportunity to bring Finn to work with me. My co-workers/friends Becca & Jacque are often requesting his presence. Not a week goes by without me hearing, "When are you going to bring Finn to work again?" It's not real easy to have him with me, but I do love that they want him there. He's definitely my favorite kid, so it's great that they enjoy him too. :) Plus, they keep him entertained so that I'm actually able to get work done. He was super excited about all of the fun toys & activities at my school! He especially liked the tunnel, slide & trampoline - all great things for my busy boy. (Finn stayed in his jammies all day today. Not a typical day, but it worked.) :)

With Teacher Becca, who is battling with Jacque to be his favorite. :)

My amazing team: Matthew, Becca, (Finn), Jacque, Tamy & Angie

Angie is our wonderful supervisor for the morning class & Head Teacher in the afternoon class. Until this year, I worked as her assistant. This year, I am the Head Teacher in the morning class. Matthew, Becca, Jacque & Tamy do an amazing job assisting for both classes. Which basically means they run the show while I frantically try to collect data on the kids & keep ahead of my paperwork & meetings.

They rock & are so good at their jobs. It's great to work with talented people who continue to inspire me to be a better teacher. They teach me new things all the time & I am always impressed with their individual talents & gifts. Plus, the kids love them! What more could I ask for? We are a great team, which is a large part of the reason why I love my job. I don't think I could work somewhere else, after my experience at Howard EEP. (Kenton designed the EEP website, by the way. He says it's a work in progress. I say it's beautiful!)

I have been learning so much this year & attempting to retain so much information. It's definitely a different job than being an assistant. But I really do enjoy the challenge. I couldn't do it without Angie's guidance & my amazing team (or my wonderful childcare - Memaw + Mummi & Pappa - so great for us & fun for Finn). I feel really blessed that I enjoy my job so much. The balance between being a mama & working outside the home feels right. I don't want to give the impression that things aren't hard sometimes or that I never come home frustrated or exhausted. It's not perfect, but it's right.

Random side note: I added pictures of Finley's room to the "my creations" photo album to the left (for people who haven't seen his room). I didn't do anything new to his room, these are just the photos of how we (I) decorated before Finn was born. We are hoping & praying that we'll be able to sell our house in the fall. So some distant family & friends may not get a chance to see his cute, baby room before we move. We're going to stay in Eugene, just looking for a house with a little more room.

My random side note is getting long, but I feel the need to explain myself. :) It has always been our plan (since we purchased our house) to sell in 3 years (if possible) in hopes of moving closer to the neighborhood where I grew up & the schools where I attended. Three years will be up in October of this year. This is our starter home & we are praying that the market will hold steady in Eugene so that things work out. Apparently, Eugene's real estate market hasn't been hit quite as hard as the rest of the country. We're praying... :)

valentine's day + more Finn

Kenton did well. :) He surprised me, for one (which is hard for him to do), & he got up earlier that me (also hard for him to do) to make me breakfast in bed. A "French" breakfast in bed, like we ate most mornings when we were in France. It was very sweet & I felt spoiled. What a guy!

More adventures in self-feeding.

Daddy did surprisingly well with Finn getting so messy, considering the combination of creamed corn & spaghetti looked less than appetizing all mixed together. :\

Action shot!

Getting cleaned up before taking a bath. :)

Finn really enjoys helping Daddy with the Nerf darts. He could play this game forever. He helps load them up & then retrieves them from all corners of the house. Very sweet bonding time with Daddy.

More helping with the darts.

Finley likes the park = Mama likes the park

We dragged Daddy out of the house after he'd been cooped up for 3 days with the stomach flu. Actually it was his suggestion to go on a walk...I'm just not sure that he was ready for playing at the park. But I am all for anything that keeps Finn as happy as he is while playing outside. He looked so cute sporting cousin Cohen's sweater & Mama's hat (by Finn's request).


I don't think I've ever met a baby/kid who likes to wear hats as much as Finn. He brings us hats & asks for help to put them on. Plus, he'll actually wear the hat for quite a while, especially if it's keeping him warm.


Saying "Hi" one of the kids playing at the park. I have a very social son. He is getting a little more timid, but still says "Hi" to most people that he sees. Sometimes it's a very quiet "hi" that isn't always heard by others, but I always hear it & it makes my heart warm. :) I can't wait to hear what else he'll have to say as he figures out more words...

new favorite blog

I added a link to one of my new favorite blogs, on the left. Click here to check it out. I don't know much about this lady (Kal Barteski) but I found a link to her blog through Ali's blog & have really enjoyed her art. Plus, she cracks me up. So if you're needing some non-scrapbooking inspiration, check her out. She uses all kinds of stuff (paints, pencils, oil pastels) on all kinds of stuff (envelopes, bags, chipboard, magazine pages). Fun! :)

words

I've been wanting to make a record of Finn's words for awhile now. His vocabulary is growing so much lately. Everyday he tries to say a new word or starts using a word spontaneously. It's amazing to watch & such a fun stage for Kenton & I to experience with Finn. He's such a blessing to us.

FINN'S WORDS AT 15 MONTHS OLD

Perfectly Clear: uh-oh, Mama, Dada, Papa/Pappa, bubble, ball, no, yeah, hi, ow, yay, go

Tries to Say: apple (bapple), yellow (lellow), hello (lolo), bottle (lolo), banana (nana), milk (mio or something?), hat (hah), blanket (different every time), thank you (yah you or yeah yeah), up (buh), help (bel), cheese (ees), cracker (cacka), hot dog (dotda), hot (hah), snow (no)

He tries to say names too, like Sadie, Ty-Ty, Memaw (my mom), Mummi (Kenton's mom), Becca. Sometimes he says them perfectly & other times he just sounds like he's imitating my tone (when I asked him to say Jacque's boyfriend's name, Stu, he said "Woo"). :)

He also makes the "correct" noises when I ask him what a dog, monkey, bird (caw caw), elephant or airplane "says". He nods yes & shakes his head no...but sometimes he gets confused & shakes his head no when he means yes. :) He brings me his shoes or coat (if it's within his reach) when he wants to go outside & walks to the bathroom when I ask him if he wants to take a bath. He's kind of a genius. :P

I am really looking forward to nice weather so that we can play outside more. Finn loves to be outside & can explore forever. We are going to get lots of use out of our neighborhood park! I am looking forward to playing outside without mud everywhere!

productive saturday

I love it when we get to check off tasks from our to-do list. Today we were productive! Kenton & his dad replaced the burned out headlight in our car & changed the oil - two tasks that seem to take forever for us to get to, but really don't take very long. Finn & I played inside with Grandma Outi while they worked. It's a little tricky trying to keep Finn happy without his Pappa close by. He really loves Pappa! We managed but Finn was super excited when the guys were finished. :)


Then, while Kenton & Finn napped, I got to do yard work! (I actually really enjoy this; weird, I know...) Most of my spring bulbs are poking up & a couple of my crocuses are already blooming. I love this time of year. I know it took a lot of work to plant my bulbs...but that was months (or years) ago. By now, I've forgotten the effort I put into planting the bulbs & they just feel free. I never knew how much I'd enjoy gardening or even flowers until we owned our home. It's fun for me to try & make our yard/house look nice on the outside. I can't wait for the rest of my bulbs to bloom...

superbowl sunday

We went to Jon & Amy's house to "watch" the Superbowl. Mostly, we just lounged around, visited & ate snacks. The kids are really starting to enjoy each other. It's cute to watch them play. Finn was enjoying following Macey around. He also liked going up & down their two steps to the tv room. I checked to see how Finn was doing at one point & he was sitting with Ethan, looking at books. Pretty cute. We were pretty amazed at how well he played & entertained himself. Getting bigger...

Ethan & Finn
They took turns playing with my lens cap & taking bites of apple slices. :)

back at it

I haven't scrapbooked in months. But I had a chance to get back into it this weekend, while Kenton played games with a friend. It's so nice to get some pictures together & pages done. Here are my 6 pages. The lighting was pretty bad, so they look more yellow than they should, but you get the idea.

Page 1 journaling says: We did our best to be supportive of Carolyn & Jesse's decision to join the Peace Corps. We knew how much we'd miss them & didn't really want to say goodbye. We spent the whole day together - lunch @ Sweet Basil, swimming @ their old pool, games at our house. We were sad but excited for their adventures in Azerbaijan!

Page 2 journaling: enjoying Carolyn & Jesse's (former) pool :)

Page 3 Journaling: At the end of April, Finn's Great-Grandparents came for a nice, long visit! They stayed with Kevin & Outi (they even took a trip to Utah to visit Sharon). Marylee & Lew are hoping to move to Eugene to be closer to Finn...and everyone else too. :) We're so blessed to have family coming to us! The Gulicks were here until Mother's Day. It was really nice!

Marylee & Lew were able to move here after all & it really has been great having them so close!

Page 4 journaling: We enjoy bath time. Naked time is super fun too! Nothing cute than a naked baby! But Finn all dressed up in his church clothes is pretty hard to beat. Such a handsome boy.

Photos we took when Finn was 6 months old. He's almost 15 months old now!

I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

I let Finn splash in the puddles today. It definitely wasn't my original intention. I was hoping to just walk around outside with him. We had worn out the inside of the house & were looking for something new to keep us busy. But he went straight for the puddles & as soon as he made his first splash, he was hooked!

So we went back inside to get his rain boots - these were Kenton's when he was little. I guess Nokia is a Finnish company & they made rain boots in the '80's, not cell phones. Go figure! :)

Finding treasures!
(Finn's new green coat match his green eyes perfectly!)

Rocks are fun to throw in the puddles!

this morning we woke up to...

SNOW!

Finley didn't know what to think of all that snow! Nearly 3 inches, but it was still coming down hard! We had over-slept for church (whoops!), but Kenton attempted to make it there anyway. He made it out the driveway, but decided it wasn't the wisest thing to do. The road was covered with inches of snow! So we bundled up & got ready to play!

Our street in the background, covered in snow. You can just barely see Kenton's tire tracks, where he stopped & backed right up. :)

Quite a different experience at the playground than we had last week.

Our little house with so much snow! So pretty.

Tackling Daddy.
We went out to play a second time when Mummi & Pappa Henry came over.

Finn was getting pretty cold & tired at this point.

Some of the snow flakes were really big!

After Finn's nap, we walked to Golden Garden ponds (very near our house). This was our third time playing outside today! It had stopped snowing & we were able to stay pretty dry. We brought our sled & found some fun hills.

Blue sky peaking through the clouds.

Yay for snow! We were so excited to get so much. We always consider ourselves lucky if we get to see any snow in Eugene. So today was a wonderful treat! And Finley loves the snow. He calls it "no"...at least, I think he's trying to say snow. He could just be telling me no. :\

number 70

This is my 70th post on my blog. Crazy. Here is a random group of photos from the last 2 days:

The Coffee Cake muffins that almost made me cry.

They ended up being delicious! The best tasting thing in a long time, according to Kenton. :) Pretty amazing, considering how badly I thought I had messed them up...

I made them for a foot pampering (Arbonne) party I hosted this morning. Lots of people were able to make it & we had a nice time. I can't wait to try out my new "stuff."

Trying on Dad's shoe. :)

So proud of himself for being able to walk with such a giant shoe on one foot!

Making a fort with Daddy. Finn was interested in the flashlight!
(Blurry shot, but you can see Kenton's face just past Finn's left shoulder.)

Edited: Kenton asked me to post the actual recipe on my blog so that we would have record of it forever...in case Martha ever decides to remove it from her site. :) So here's the recipe:

Jumbo Coffee Cake Muffins

• FOR STREUSEL
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• FOR MUFFINS
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Prepare streusel: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prepare muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two jumbo 6-cup muffin pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture just until combined.
4. Divide half the batter among muffin cups; top with half the streusel. Cover with remaining batter; top with remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

ear infection

So sad. I knew he wasn't feeling well when he let me hold him for an hour. He's never that mellow. We have a very busy boy who rarely stops moving. But he was all cuddles. He wasn't sad as long as I was holding him & he was holding my cell phone (while it played music).


I did manage to get a few giggles out of him though. Bonks on Mama's head are always funny! Finn is feeling much better today. He still has a cough, which hopefully won't disturb his sleep tonight. It's pretty heart breaking to hear him coughing in bed & to not be able to do anything about it.

Finn's new word of the day: hippo ("ippo") :)