House tour

Our formal dining room, our kitchen, our craft room, our desk, our entryway. :)

The most coveted spot in the house, the window seat.

My tiny, hallway kitchen that still manages to turn out some seriously good food. We love keeping things simple and not having a lot of kitchen gadgets and extra stuff.

Truman's kitchen, recently moved so he could be closer to me while I cook.

DIY: Homemade spices. Easiest craft project ever.

Our favorite outdoor spot, perfect for finding frogs and salamanders in the pond.

I have been meaning to post some indoor photos so I could always remember the way our house looked when Truman was a toddler. Our house is small by American standards - 1300 square feet - but we really love living in a small place. We do not collect a lot of stuff and we think hard before we buy stuff. We also end up being in the same room a lot, the only escape is into the cedar trees - no man cave, craft room, or bonus room in this little spot.

Truman's vegetable garden

Carrots, onions, cilantro, and basil

Peas

First and only peas



I grew them myself!

This is Truman's first garden. He planted all the seeds himself and has been very diligent with watering. He was quite proud when I showed him he had a few peas on the vine that were ready to eat this evening. 

Making decisions

Lately, there have been a lot of forks in the road.

That is to say, that I have been making some big decisions. Decisions about work, and life, and balance.

Let me back up for a moment and tell you that I am very good at making decisions. I am very good at listening to my gut. I don’t hesitate around decisions, because I am always listening to my gut.

But lately, I could not make a decision to save my life. And when I asked the Universe what to do, the Universe was silent.

So I started asking everyone I knew what I should do. My mentors. My family. My closest mom friends.

And I came away with a lot of advice, but never an answer.

My dad reminded me that my choices were not right or wrong. That they were just choices. And choices have consequences. And either way, I would live with the consequences.

And I was dramatic. I cried a lot. I even cried during the workday, which is something I believe one should never do.

And then I was finally forced to make some choices. I was reminded that I can’t have it all.  

And then I drove home, pulled in the driveway, and my little boy smiled and ran to the car. He told me about his day in bits and phrases. He did a big jump on the porch steps to show off his skills. And the sun set and the day ended. And tomorrow, there will be more choices. More consequences. More smiles from a little boy.

What are we up to?

Truman

• Building "nests" with my good couch cushions
• Talking about having his "buddies" over to play
• Learning to fall asleep without one of us in his bed
• Telling me that he WILL NOT be going back to preschool in the fall

Mairead

• Picking blackberries and making crumble
• Recovering from that one time I did Crossfit like two weeks ago
• Getting excited for football season (Nothing beats small town high school football)
• Waiting for our dear friend Susan to welcome her new baby this week

Jason

• Asking me to stop saying, "School's almost here! Better think about cleaning your classroom"
• Splitting enough wood for the next two years
• Taking care of our yard and adjusting our ski chair
• Buying a new dishwasher (woot!)

Franco

• Barking at neighbors, while trespassing in their yards
• Putting up with Truman's antics just long enough to snatch a hot dog out of his hand
• Remembering the good ol days

Can I handle two obsessed anglers under my roof?

A walk in the woods

Jason has been painting a neighbor's house this summer, so Truman and I have ended up with a lot of one on one time during the weekends. This Sunday we skipped church to take a walk in the woods. He kept handing me his sticks to carry, and by the end of the walk I had enough wood to build a fire. I figured he forgot about the sticks when we discovered a tree to climb on, but oh no, when we got back to the car he could not believe I had left his sticks behind.

Toddlers are so funny. So sweet. So fickle. So demanding.

Our favorite Truism right now is the, I WILL DO IT MYSELF followed by HEEEELP ME.

My other favorite Truism is hard to capture in writing, but essentially Truman will say something like, "I need cereal!" and I will respond, "How do you ask nicely?" And instead of saying please, he will use a tiny voice to say, "I need cereal." So precious.

The Best of the Blotter

I had this fantastic book idea - a compilation of the best articles from Bainbridge Island's police blotter. And after a little research (a five minute web search) I realized this would be the most boring book ever. Not a whole lot is happening around these parts. But occassionally there are ones that make me chuckle, here are a few:

9:56 a.m. A resident on Eagle Harbor Drive discovered his mailbox had been damaged over night. Someone covered the mailbox in tomato sauce. Nearby the box was a broken jar of tomato sauce. The resident told police that his mailbox was completely destroyed.

(Completely destroyed?)

12:03 p.m. A man reported that his car was damaged by an unknown person on Lynwood Center Road.

The word "meow" was scratched into the paint on the passenger door of the vehicle. The owner of the car told police that he housesat for his ex-girlfriend's family last year while they were still together. The family's six cats had escaped while he was watching the home and have not been seen since.
The man told police he gave the family money for the missing cats but they wanted more. He added that he has had problems with the family ever since. He had heard from his ex-girlfriend after he discovered his damaged door, and she told him that it was damaged by her new ex-boyfriend that she dated right after him.

The man requested that police do not contact his ex-girlfriend or her family but that he wanted to report the incident.

(Meow. hahahaha. How threatening.)

5:21 p.m. Police responded to a report of an ATV being driven on Hemlock Avenue. When they pulled over the ATV, the driver said that he didn't know it was illegal to ride an ATV on a public roadway. It was discovered that the driver had a suspended license as well as a warrant for a DUI. He was also under house arrest in Pierce County for being a habitual offender. Police arrested the man and made arrangements to transport him to Pierce County.

(Sweetie, why take the car when you can take the ATV?)