Kitchen Oranization

My awesome husband recently reorganized the kitchen, lucky me! He's been in bread making mode as of late and was inspired to get the cabinets, counters, and lighting in order. I love the result! What woman doesn't like an orderly kitchen?? He seems to do most of the cooking as of late anyway, so more power to him.

We recently added utensils to our crocks. Most of our spoons and large utensils disappeared in our move, which was about two years ago. It was time!

The espresso maker's new home is on the end of a counter so milk can be steamed. We stocked up on Monin syrups, yummy! I love having my own barista.

Pretty window sill sitters.

Ron wired and installed the old porcelain light from my grandparent's farm. This corner of the kitchen is officially finished.

My lovely tea drawer. It's come in handy these days during cold season.

Ron installed this new red light above the sink and it matches the vintage green one.

Organized counters!

Signs of Spring

Believe it or not there are some early signs of spring happening here on the northern California coast! I used my new camera for the first time last week and recorded the new blossoms and blooms amidst the sunny day. I think my mom chose the right name for me. I feel very much at home and alive in these springy like days. Here are some pics from my camera's first "test drive." I think she fared well...

Our flowering plum tree is bursting into beautiful bloom

Ornamental Kale. My camera has a zoom, yes!

Someone wanted pics taken of him too.

Out on a stroll through the Arcata marsh I found these beauties wading.

Early Spring how I love thee!

Dance Milestones: First Pointe Shoes

At long last Sarah got her first pair of pointe shoes! This is a huge milestone for a ballet dancer, and Sarah has worked hard for almost 5 years for them. Her class got to go on pointe last semester, and she was held back because her teacher thought she wasn't ready yet. Finally, the day came and she can say she is officially a pointe dancer. I'm so proud of this girl!

Nothing is prettier than brand new satin pointe shoes!

Practicing at home on our wainscot mini barre

Beauty personified

Breaking in the pointe shoes

Untying ribbons

T'was The Night Before Christmas Holiday Ballet

Sarah's annual holiday dance production "T'was the Night Before Christmas was quite the show for her this year. She was in a total of 6 dances and had the most dances of anyone in the show, which is over 200 people! She danced the roll of the sleeping child, which was her first special part. She danced with the sugar plums and assists with that class as a student helper. She loves doing it and enjoyed dancing with them on stage. Then she got to be a cat, which has been a dream of hers for a few years now. This was for her student helper class. Her ballet class did a beautiful dance to the song "Holly and Ivy" and she was an ivy. The girls dance in pairs, and she was with a Holly. She just started taking Latin dance this year and their partner dance was called "Cider and Spice." She was "Cider" and I helped make the skirts and the Spice tops. Then she was "Night" for her modern class. They did a beautiful dance to an instrumental version of Silent Night. Then she was also in the finale, phew! She did two shows, had two dances back to back with a super quick change, and did a wonderful job! I'm so proud of my girl!

Sleeping Child

Cat

Ivy in "Holly and Ivy" - ballet

Cider in "Cider and Spice" - latin

"Night" - modern

Fall Dance Shoot

Every year Sarah's dance school puts out a calendar. This year I thought it would be fun to take some outdoor pics of her. We ended up doing the shoot in our yard and took around 80 pics! These were some of the best. Her teacher ended up choosing the second one down for March, which is one of my favs. Isn't my ballerina beautiful?!

Beginning of School Year and Fall

Justin started pre-school this year! The first day was rough, (a lot), but after a few days he loved it and wanted to go every day, even on the weekends. He is learning so much, making new friends, and is even starting to read and write! What a big boy!

I decided to be bold and make the kids' Halloween costumes this year. Wow, what a big undertaking. Especially when one twelve year old orders, "An Alice In Wonderland" costume just like the one she wore in the movie, sigh. I did my best, and was happy with the result!

Justin wanted to be "Super J" so I designed and made him a special Super J cape which he still wears around the house so he can fly and do super hero moves. Every boy needs a cape!



Sarah turned 12 in October and in honor of the big day I made a Happy Birthday Banner. I was inspired by Tracy's beautiful banner and didn't realize how similar our banners were until I went back and looked at hers. I guess great minds think alike! :)

Re-cap Part2: Camping and Oregon

We went to North Bend, Oregon to visit my mom's family in July:

Here we are at the beautiful Shore Acres botanical gardens.

Sunset Beach, OR

We went camping a few hours from home and ended up in an "environmental camp." It was a hike to get there, but we were camped right near a creek and it was awesome!

The kids had so much fun!

Coming Out of the Cave

Hello Dear Friends! It's been a while...a long while since I've been here. Many factors have played into my five month hiatus: The starting of school, the holidays, Sarah's winter dance performance, and my annual winter hibernation mode.

I recently discovered that I have SAD, or Seasonal Effective Disorder; what a strange sounding condition! Living as far north as I do I don't get enough sun in the winter, or in the summer even depending on the weather conditions for that matter. This summer we didn't really have a summer since we were either fogged in or clouded in most days. When winter hit I felt like a bear going into hibernation mode. I wanted to sleep and eat all day which isn't good for the mind or the waistline. Then every day felt like a monumental task, and everything seemed so over whelming. Right around that time I started taking Vitamin D3 supplements and noticed an improvement in my energy and mood immediately. This got me thinking about the sun, our lack of it, and what I could do to remedy the situation. Then I remembered that my aunt who lives in Oregon uses a little light every day in the winter to boost mood. So I got one, it's called a "Sun Box" and you can order one off of Amazon.com for around $80-$200. It produces special rays that mimic sunlight. You sit in front of it for 15-30 minutes per day and it tricks your brain into thinking it's summer. I just started using it and am noticing a big difference already. I also joined a gym and am starting to work off the hibernation padding. :) Hopefully this year I will become my old productive blogging self!

I also got a new camera finally! My old one broke in the summer and I realized that I am very dependent on pictures for blogging. Really, how can you blog without pictures, right?! So I'm going to attempt to do a speedy wrap up of the past 6 months.

This summer we went camping, visited family in Oregon and had an amazing vacation in Lake Tahoe with my parents and brother. My dad rented a vacation home right near the lake and for a week I soaked up the sun and felt like a queen. We used to vacation there when I was a kid so it brought back great memories too. Right at the end of summer we took a trip out to Boise, Idaho for Ron's Grandma Delphia's funeral. She was an amazing lady who lived to be 96 years old!

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Boise, Idaho

Lake Tahoe