Leavenworth.

It was a random Saturday morning a few weeks ago.  And I was dying to get out of the house and go somewhere.  We didn't have any plans and I had absolutely no desire to just sit around, do some laundry and play in the playroom.  I wanted an adventure. 

So, somehow I convinced Matt that we should just drive to Leavenworth!  I had seen one of our neighbors by the mailbox on Friday night and he mentioned they were going there for the weekend.  So, I thought....well, why don't we just go for the day?!?  And (being the nice guy that he is - and not wanting to listen to me whine all day if I was stuck at home) Matt went along with the idea.

So, we packed up the kids and a bunch of food and got in the car. 2 hours later and a good morning nap for Lucy and we had arrived!  The drive over the pass was beautiful.  The west side of the state called for clouds and rain all day but we were blessed with sunshine and a warm winter day.

Our first stop was at a bakery, of course.  We were trying to make it a somewhat frugal day so we opted to get a pretzel the size of Texas and share it.

And let's be honest, the kids devoured it and I got a small bite of a smashed piece of Lucy's leftovers.  But, it was still delicious!

Then, we were off to explore. Well, we went across the street to the large sidewalk and found snow (hey, I said this was spontaneous and frugal so we were working with what we could find).

The kids loved it!  Even though the snow was really just old muddy ice that had been shoveled off the streets weeks ago Carter thought he was summiting Mt. Rainier.  

We probably spent 20 minutes just playing in our little snow heaven.

Even Lucy was brave enough to walk on the ice.

 Then we realized that was kinda lame and took off for a real adventure.  We walked down to Waterfront Park and found this gorgeous snow-filled trail that we could just wander through.  Carter ate snow and Lucy explored, her first real time walking in soft snow.

At the end of the trail was the beautiful river.  Carter was convinced he saw a crocodile (still loving all things Peter Pan) so we ended up turning around and going back.

 After a quick lunch in the car and about 20 minutes of people watching we decided to walk around the block a few times and landed in this cute little gingerbread house.

 Both kids got a special treat!

We spent a little more time wandering around and then decided to head home (and timed both kids' naps with our drive so we had silence for 2 hours - glorious!).  It was such a fun, random day and I loved it!

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Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day was a good mix of traditions, a simple normal day and a few new traditions thrown in for some extra fun.

The morning started with a few self-portraits.  Carter likes to take pictures himself when he sees the camera sitting out.

 Not bad, at least he got both of us in the shot!

Then it was cookie time!  Yep, it was only 9am but I figured I'd give him sugar early so he'd have all day to burn it off. Every year we make heart shaped sugar cookies the night before Valentine's Day.  It started a few years ago when Matt was in a cookie contest at work.  We've used the winning recipe ever since!  Except this year we couldn't find the darn heart-shaped cookie cutter so we settled for some nice butterfly cookies instead. (I'll never understand why Carter smiles like that everytime....he thinks it's normal to scrunch up your nose as much as possible!)

Then we took the extra cookies over to our neighbors.  Carter was so excited!  Of course, they weren't home and he was determined to sit and wait on the front porch all day until they returned.  Thank goodness I convinced him a surprise Valentine would be much more exciting.

Matt's mom loves to buy the kids holiday shirts each year.  I really wanted to get a picture of both kids together in their new outfits.  I just love Lucy's little heart shirt.  This was the best I could get.  

 Carter was so sweet and gentle with Lucy and really just wanted to give her a hug.  She wanted nothing to do with it.

 They look thrilled.

 Finally, Carter got his reward for all that picture taking.  Pink milk!

And we ended the night with our traditional homemade pizza.  Usually we use fresh dough and fancy toppings but this year we went cheap.  It was still delicious and made for a perfect end to a lovely day.

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beautiful.

Carter discovered a new word recently: beautiful.  It was the sweetest thing when it happened too.  One morning, after getting much less sleep than desired, feeling like my jeans were tighter than they should be and watching my face break out like a 13 year old girl he randomly walked into our room and genuinely said, "Mom, you are so beautiful and nice. I love you."  It melted my heart.  Suddenly I didn't care about the tight pants and tired eyes.  I knelt down, gave him the biggest hug and was so proud of my sweet son.

But then, the next day, he walked in again.  This time it was, "Mom, this is such a beautiful bathroom.  Thanks!"

Hmmm.....

And this weekend when entering Costco on a busy Sunday afternoon: "WOW!  What a BEAUTIFUL store!"

So, the word still remains but might not be as sweet and genuine as the first time he used it.  Oh well, it still makes me feel like a million bucks when he says it about me. 

 And completely unrelated.  Matt bought me (well, the kids) popsicle molds for mother's day last year and I had yet to use them.  So I whipped up a mixed berry/greek yogurt/flaxseed/OJ/spinach smoothie and poured it the molds.  Carter loves his "special treat" and has no idea that its healthy!

And he loves to never, ever, ever wear pants.

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beating the winter blues.

Even though this has been a relatively mild winter we've still had our fair share of foggy, cloudy, dark, cold wet days.  So, to keep our spirits happy we've stayed busy.  

On a random sunny (but very cold) Saturday Matt quickly picked up about 12 pounds of dog poo in the yard and the kids happily ran outside for some baseball practice.  Lucy was our ball girl.

 And Carter hit about 50% of the pitches!  So proud of our boy!

 I've been trying to discover new, healthy comfort foods.  This was our favorite: cheese tortellini soup with spinach and tomatoes.  So delicious, simple, hearty, everyone loved it and it made enough for 4 dinners!

 Carter is still loving Woody and Buzz Lightyear.  It's a daily occurrence in our house to fly to "infinite and beyond" at least 20 times a day.

 We went to the zoo on another cold, but sunny day.  I love having the zoo only 30 minutes from our house with a great family membership.  Lucy loved watching Carter on the carousel and Carter just adored the gorillas.  We sat there for over 20 minutes watching them eat, run, climb and poo (his favorite part).

 The mini trampoline was the best purchase we've made in a long time.  An easy, indoor way to get out the energy on those wet, dark days.

 And lots of fort building.

 Lucy finally has enough hair for pig tails....or at least I like to think she does.  Now if only I could convince her to keep them in.

 We attempted a pinterest-inspired noodle necklace but after realizing the penne pasta I bought was too narrow for our yarn I quickly converted it to a "snack" necklace using pretzels and random cereal.  Carter loved it and spent over 20 minutes eating it while on a nature walk through the neighborhood.

 Lucy is always willing to help clean the house with Yoshi.  She adores the dog. And...yoshi puts up with her too.

 Laundry basket storytime is one of our favorites too!  Who would have thought sitting in a silly basket could bring so much joy.  It's the little things in life.

 We babysat our babysitter's kids for a night so they could go out for a few hours. The boys are only 2 weeks apart in age and the girls only 2 months!  Little best friends who love to play together.

 And then, every once in a while, I get crazy and pull out the finger paints.

 Don't worry, it's non-toxic and she only tasted a tiny bit before realizing it wasn't that tasty at all.

 We like to snack.  And Lucy is getting so good at feeding herself with a bowl and spoon.  It's messy and fun and she loves it!

 So, that's how we do winter in the Vance household. It's definitely not my favorite season and I'm already planning to plant a spring garden, pull out the outdoor toys, fill the sandbox and run through a sprinkler.  But for now we'll continue our inside playtime.

 And discover how to do new things like this!

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from the mouth of a child.

Many people have told me that year 3 is really hard, even harder than 2.  Well, Carter has only been three for a little over a month but so far I'm loving it!  His behavior has been less crazy, he's listening, more independent and saying the funniest things.  Just so i don't forget them later, here's a few funny conversations from the past few weeks.

Me: Carter, you are such a good brother, always watching Lucy to protect her.
C: Mom, Lucy isn't the prospector, she's Lucy!  (from Toy Story)

While working on the difference between the words "he" versus "she"
Me:  What are you?  A boy or girl?
C: Boy, so....he!
Me: Yep!  What's Lucy?  Boy or girl?
C: Girl, so...she!
Me: That's right.  So, is Daddy a boy or girl?
C:  Mama....he's not a boy!  He's a Daddy!

While playing Candyland:
C: There are 4 colors: red, green, yellow and blue. And 4 people in my family: me, mama, daddy, lucy.  That is my whole family!  Wow!

C: Mom, who bought this shirt for me?
Me:  I did.
C:  Thank you mom.  Who bought this book?
Me:  Daddy did.
C:  Thank you Daddy.  Who bought Lucy's head?
Me: Well, I made her head when she was in my tummy.
C:  Haha...no, really mom. Who bought it?

And not to be outdone by her brother.  Lucy has been quite the chatterbox herself!
Newest words:
Mama
Dog
Dis (this)
nigh nigh (night night)
Daddy
Yes
Aby (baby)

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a scary hairy adventure.

This past weekend was supposed to be my special day to get away.  And, well...I guess I succeeded in that.  Just not the way I intended. Let me explain.

For any mom out there, you know those days away from the kids are few and far between.  Don't get me wrong.  I adore my kids, love them to pieces and am so incredibly grateful for my husband getting a job that allows me to be home more with them.  But, it's nice to have a day away sometimes.  I haven't had my haircut in quite some time and planned to drive up to Bellingham for the day to have some girl time.

I woke up on Saturday morning really tired and not feeling great.  But, I assumed it was because Lucy was up early and I hadn't had any coffee yet. I just ignored it, ate a small piece of toast and drove up north.  I actually felt much better once I got to the hair salon.  Amy, my wonderful hair stylist, started foiling my hair as we caught up on life from the past few months. She moved me to another chair to let my color set while she saw another client.

I settled in with a good magazine, sipped away on some water and just relaxed.  And then it hit.  Something just didn't feel right.  I started to get a little shaky, dizzy and just uncomfortable.  I figured I was getting low blood sugar from not eating much that morning and embarrassingly stood up to ask for a snack.  Well, standing up just caused the dizziness to escalate and I started to lose my footing and began seeing spots.  Somehow I made my way back to the chair, but that's all I remember.
I woke up (I was told about a minute later) with a sweet old woman slapping my hand telling someone she thought I had diabetes (haha!) and having some orange slices put in my face to eat.  I was still dizzy, really disoriented, sweating like a cow and numbness spread though my arms.  I heard Amy talking to the 911 dispatcher and finally started to realize what had happened.
About a minute later 3 male paramedics came in and hooked me up to check my vitals.  I heard someone say I was very pale (and somewhat greenish) and just "didn't look good." The paramedics called for back-up and said I needed to go to the hospital.  I was alert enough by then to get super embarrassed.  I still thought it was from low blood sugar and felt silly having to go to the hospital, where many of my friends work.  And, I still had foil in my hair!  Luckily, Amy spoke up and asked the paramedics if she could wash my hair before I left.  She didn't want the color to sit in too long and wanted me to look "cute" before I went.  Haha...only a hair stylist would be concerned about my hair in the middle of a medical emergency.  The men were so considerate and even though it was a bit strange to have a girl hooked up to a blood pressure cuff and oxygen saturation while getting her hair washed, they just went along with it.
2 minutes later I was sitting in an ambulance (probably the most expensive ride I'll ever have....not looking forward to that medical bill) and asking to call Matt to let him know what happened.
I was rushed into the ER and had fluids just dumped into me via IV.
I honestly thought I would only be there for an hour or so, have a friend drive me back to the salon, finish up my hair cut and drive back home.  Little did I know I was extremely dehydrated and my blood pressure refused to rise above 85/45. Bloodwork was taken and a CT scan was ordered.  4 hours later I was diagnosed with dehydration (duh) and pneumonia (what!?!).
Now I have doctor's orders to rest, drink fluids and stay home from work for a week.  This is not an easy task.  I am a mom, a busy mom.  I rarely sit down, I love to be productive and I love to be active.  I am so blessed to have wonderful friends, in-laws and a babysitter who all came to the rescue to help us out.  Lesson learned:  listen to your body and take care of yourself.  Otherwise you'll end up in the ER with wet, partially colored hair and a very memorable story to tell.

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