looking for new minimalist running shoes

here is a link to a shoe giveaway .. I get an entry for posting it on our blog and I am cheap so here goes

http://www.runningandrambling.com/2010/12/vivobarefoot-neo-running-shoe-review.html

you know

you know it's been a while since you blogged when you almost forget your pass-code.

i have a confession: i am an addict. a big one. to knitting. i picked up knitting last year for the third time in my life. this time it's sticking. i think the kids help. it's fun to knit stuff for them (but more fun for me) and it gives me needed mama time. knitting is easy to pick up and put down. knitting just a row gives me satisfaction. now, the down side to this is i knit whenever i have a free minute. i still do the dishes, hang with kids, occasionally clean, converse with the outside, etc etc. but in the past in my spare time i would do other things, like blog.

you would think my knitting production would be huge. HUGE. but it is not. because i am not a fast knitter. especially right now knitting the sleeves of my first sweater. for me. i thought i was almost done, until i got to the sleeves. and last night i cast on for a hooded sweater for kai. he is my hoodie - meaning he loves to wear anything with a hood. this goes with the age i think.

this year he's been into magic, weaponry, being secretive, all things suspicious and dangerous. poor boy, i bought him some black fabric about a month ago to make him a black hooded villain cape to go with his sword. i haven't taken the fabric out of the bag. why? knitting.

so, bottom line is i'm not sure where this blog is going. but i do know my kids are super cute, fun, and full of surprises. so i leave you with my favorite pictures of them over the past couple weeks.

{finger knitting}

{nose being sucked by baby}

{napping}

heavy on the zaiah photos.... only because many with kai were very, very blurry.

needing a change

hello. so i'm going to change the purpose of this blog. i've never been big into new year's resolutions, but one thing i've chosen to do this year is learn how to use our camera better and to play around a bit more. i could sit hours in a book store and drool over photo books. no words, just photos. i love them. i love all kinds of photos. usually the imperfect.

so, starting sometime soon i am turning this blog into a kind of photo journal. with no words, or minimal words. this is to help me document what i'm playing around with. believe me, there will be a lot of imperfect photos. i'm starting at the beginning. first, i need to start with reading the nikon guide book - yep, never have.

i will set up this site so you can be notified (all 6 of you ??) via email when i post. it could be very infrequent, or it might end up being daily. who knows. my goal is to take at least one photo a day.

i will post soon about how to sign up with your email to be notified.

cheers.

(for family: no worries, i have a feeling many of the shots will be of the little ones.)

to NC

(aunt lizzie above)

christmas at home

the holiday's are cooling down. the house is on it's way back to normal. we returned last night from our road trip to south carolina and north carolina. grandma and aunt lizzie departed today back to oregon.

kai says his favorite moment during the holiday was playing with uncle andy's lionel train set - hmmm, no surprise there! zaiah says her favorite part of the holiday was getting a baby house (doll house). daddy's was playing games (yes, that was definitely a theme this year: family games) and aunt sally's pies (she does make the best around). my favorite part was seeing snow in north carolina and watching kai run on uncle andy's tread mill. seriously, i wish i had a video of it. and, of course, spending time with family. it really was a joyful holiday.

so, here are some moments at our house.

our attempt at an easy variation of gingerbread houses ..... with graham crackers. not so successful. but the kids had fun anyway, i think. honestly, i've never had much success with gingerbread houses. they always tend to lean, or fall. not sure what the tricks are to the beautiful ones i see on display and in magazines.

what would a christmas holiday be without gingerbread cookies.

notice zaiah in the below photo licking all the toppings off her mat.

the night before christmas:

the cats are surely enjoying the chairs from aunt lizzie.

next post (soon) to be our NC and SC photos from the holiday.

happy happy new year!

peaks from the week

(i'm pretty sure he will never let me take down the 5's from his party.)

measuring and recording the growth of our paper white flowers:

and this makes me smile. a knitted hat for my friend's newborn. so small and cute.

a little celebrating

the other night we had a couple neighborhood families over to celebrate Kai's birthday. He wanted a tie dye and art party, with a fire pit dinner. so that's what we did. since there wasn't a crazy number of kids here, the art in the house went pretty smooth. the weather turned out really great for some outdoor fun too.

we set up our long table for a collage project. each kid received a plain piece of wood and could add whatever they wanted - paint, buttons, fabric, ribbon,cotton, etc.

the kid's art table was set up for painting rocks, and also general art stuff - crayons, markers, scissors, pencils for drawing.

preparing the art tables before the party ....

and, of course a fire pit picture. i love these, even though they're dark and often blurry. (need to bring out the tripod.)

yesterday was his celebration at his school. i really like how the montessori school acknowledges the child's birth day.

and i think now the week long celebrating is over. on to december! christmas .... already!