8 Years

Kenny and I are celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary today. We just past our 12 years together mark earlier in the month.

It is always nice to take a moment and remember that fun and sunny day we celebrated with friends and family.

Here is a little photo walk down memory lane.

 

 Who's BMW was this?? I don't remember?

 

Since our wedding we have sadly lost Kenny's Grandma Janet and his Grandpa Booth. 

We are blessed that they both were able to be there and celebrate with us.

It felt like a wedding full of little cousins. 

Since then many more have arrived. 

Of course looking at Kenny and I, we've aged, 

but seeing these little people and how much they've grown since then is amazing.

 (Conner, Eli, Carolyn, Anna and Garrett)

It is always nerve wracking to plan an outdoor wedding in Western Washing. 

Yes, it was July and yes it was in Sunny Sequim, 

but you just never know when the rain or clouds may arrive. 

We were thankfully blessed with a gorgeous day.

There was a lot of yummy food.

I don't remember eating any of it.

Looking at the pictures certainly makes me want a plate full. 

I do remember the cake being super yummy 

and that I ended up with just a tiny piece and really, really wanted more. 

Little Taylor Ann (she isn't so little any more)...

every time I turned around she was holding on to the tips of my wedding dress. 

So sweet. 

Cousin Brent made sure we all had fun on the dance floor!  

Wow...8 years ago feels just like yesterday and light years ago all at the same time.

Happy Anniversary, Kenny Booth!

Menu Monday

Shane starts swimming lessons this week. They just so happen to be at 5pm, which means dinner making becomes challenging when we return home at 6pm with bedtime at 7:30 and two cranky hungry kids running around.

This is what I hope to be able to make this week.

Monday -- Ravioli's (I found some GF ones at Safeway!!)

Tuesday -- It's our 8th anniversary and we never ate the steak from last week. For our anniversary dinner we'll be having: Steak, potatoes and corn on the cob

Wednesday -- leftovers

Thursday -- Pancakes with peaches

Friday -- Broccoli Soup

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- Hamburgers (we didn't have those last week either)

Polished Up

You may have noticed that Preserving Life's Moments got all prettied up recently?!

I was feeling the need to change things up, so I headed to Etsy and found Tasha over at My Cute Lobster. She has pre-made designs and does custom graphic and design work as well. I loved her prices and her customer service was awesome! She shuffled through my random thoughts on what I wanted, designed it and listened to the changes I wanted to make. The BEST part, she put the template into my blog, saving me TONS of time and frustration.

If you are looking for some graphic design work, I would highly recommend My Cute Lobster.

I was not paid for this post. I just wanted to spread the work about a great business I found.

A Picnic

We have a lot of "picnics" at our house. They often don't include a blanket, basket, ants or the outdoors. Some times they do, but often we just eat our "picnic" up at the counter in our kitchen.

What the heck am I talking about...well below is one of our many picnics. That is what we call lunch at our house on many occasions. A selection of food offered in a muffin tin, on a plate or some other fun kind of divided container.

This week Shane had a couple play dates at our house. Both days they were here during lunch time. I gave the kiddos options for lunch. Do you want a sandwich, noodles or a picnic. Every time (even the guest who really has no idea what I'm talking about), screamed PICNIC. Just the word to everyone sounds fun.

On these two occasions we did spread out the blankets and they feasted outside on the deck.

These picnic's never seem to loose their luster at our house. I like that I can use what ever I have on hand.

Some of our favorite picnic items are:
*rolled up and sliced lunch meat (Costco has the best nitrate free lunch meats)
*fruit (apples, raspberries, bananas, blueberries, grapes)
*yogurt
*cottage cheese
*sliced string cheese
*pickles
*olives
*veggies (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red/orange/yellow peppers, broccoli)

I often don't put a carb in there 'cause they snack on carbs a lot during the day, but if I need to fill a spot crackers or popcorn work great.

These little picnics are endless with options and make a boring lunch fun. Especially with a friend outside in the sunshine.

P.S. Don't forget the toothpicks.

Media, Journalism, Politics and The Zimmerman Case

My Husband is what I'm going to call a modern political activist. He spends time reading blogs and other sources out there on the internet regarding current events. He's been known to email senators and congress people letting them know how he stands on issues or his concerns. He is knowledgeable and educated on many topics. He learns facts and makes his own opinion from there.

We don't always see eye to eye on topics, but I know that he will provide me with the facts. Then from there we can discuss something.

The Zimmerman case has got him all spun up. I get daily reports on things that the media has said or new information that he has gained. I don't live under a rock (almost but not 100%), so yes, I've heard and know the basics about this case. The sad thing is though do I really know the "facts"?

Unfortunately, the media isn't providing us with the facts anymore on any current event/situation, human or political. Not just the Zimmerman case. Instead of telling us the facts, where we can then make our own opinions. Media is spinning a story, creating images and putting ideas in our heads.

Journalism is defined as: writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.

Whoa People!!! Did you read that. I didn't make that stuff up. I took it straight from the dictionary. 

The media (radio, television, newspaper and magazines) are not journalists any more. They are story tellers. They aren't representing the facts! The media wants to make money, so if a story is created, that will sell. Facts don't always sell or make money. 

Kenny made me watch this video the other day. I'm not as passionate about the Zimmerman case as he is, but I wanted to be supportive so I watched it. 

I think we all should watch it. Not just because of the Zimmerman case. Because it touches on so many other things going on in our society that we need to step up and say "hey, this isn't okay". It's not okay our media sources aren't giving us facts, it isn't okay that our government spins tails out of false information. 

Give me stats, give me the facts. From there I'll draw my own conclusion. It might not be your conclusion or my neighbors conclusion, but at least we can use our own brains and decide on what we believe using facts. 

Watch this video and then make your own conclusion. Don't let the media make that conclusion for you. 

Wordless Wednesday {Sunbather's}

Menu Monday

I've been on hiatus from Menu Monday for months now. I think when our family switched to 2/4 people eating gluten free I kinda lost my dinner mojo. I'm trying to rally the troops and get back on the dinner menu plan.

This week on the menu:

Monday: baked chicken and rice (a FAVORITE in our house...best chicken EVER!) 

Tuesday: BBQed salmon and watermelon

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: white chicken enchiladas (I use corn tortillas to make these gluten free) and cantaloupe

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: BBQed steaks

Sunday: BBQed hamburgers

Cup Painting {Guest Post}

I met Randi, of Sowdering About, in my Mom's Group. We have a variety of things in common including that we both love crafting and blogging. When she was looking for guest bloggers to feature for her Kids Summer Craft Camp series, I jumped at the chance. It also made me get my butt in gear and find some new craft activities for the kiddos.

Hop on over to Sowdering About and see what Cup Painting is. It may just inspire you to grab the art supplies and start crafting...even if you don't have any kids at home. 

4th of July {2013}

We spent our 4th at Kenny's Aunt and Uncle's annual gathering at their house. The sun took a bit to come out from behind the clouds, but by the time everyone arrived the sun was shining. Making the day even more fun while in the pool or on the boat.

Turns out that the little girl who said "NO Swimming" that morning 

didn't want to get out of the pool after she decided to try it out.

She had a cheesy grin on her face the whole time she was in there. 

Shane did great in the water. 

After just a few minutes, he hopped in and was happy as can be. 

Though he is convinced he can swim, which he can't with out a life jacket on.

This is Brody, Adalyn's new best friend. 

When she wasn't in the water she was following puppy Brody around.

Shane hanging with cousin's Anna and Brooke in the pool.

Adalyn quickly learned she liked to jump into the pool. 

Both kids rode out in the boat as well. Adalyn was loving it until we got out further on the choppy lake water. We hit a big swell and that had her in tears. The whole way back she kept saying "Me stay with Daddy." She had chosen to come on the boat with me and half way though very much regretted that choice.

Shane enjoyed his boat ride, but choose to not go out on the tube this year. Last year he did, so I was surprised he held out this year.

I had called Adalyn a fish at one point. She then started calling herself "Fish Adalyn". Pretty darn funny.

We let Shane stay up and watch fireworks this year. Just a short walk from our house we can see firework shows all around Lake Washington. He kept saying how "glittery" they all were. Then a couple went off right over our head and that killed the fun for him.

Another great 4th of July under our belt, full of fun, friends, family, food and fireworks.

Summer, Flip Flops and Sunshine

I made these wood blocks a few months ago when I was catching up on unfinished projects. I stashed them away in the garage with all the other holiday decorations. I stumbled upon them when I was getting 4th of July stuff out.

They make me smile every time I see them. They were a pretty simple and straight forward project. They sum up my feelings on summer perfectly...

Water, Water and More Water

With the warm weather we've been in and out of the water around here the past few days. A few things I've learned:

1. My kids LOVE water balloons. Why? I'm not totally sure, but I know I get the wettest out of either of them. The amount of time it takes me to get one all ready to go and the amount of time it takes them to pop it doesn't equal out so great. But we've spent hours and used up about 200 balloons in the past 3 days.

I either get a bunch made in the bathroom or make them one at a time using the hose. I stay drier doing in the bathroom, but the kids love taking turns as I make them with the hose.

2. Shane will do about anything to go swimming in Lake Washington. So far he has been twice, once to OO Denny and once to Juanita Beach. He still refuses to put his head under water, but jumps right in and "swims" away. He can't swim and wears a life jacket, but right now we are just happy he is enjoying the water. He spent many years very cautious around it and still hasn't pass level 1 in swimming lessons. Maybe this summer he will!!

3. My kids stare at the kiddo pool in our backyard and don't seem to know what to do with it...until a friend of Shane's came over today and showed them. Finally, they were playing in that thing like kids are suppose to!

 

  On your mark get set...go....and jump!

4. Put the hose on the slide and that is lots of fun. Put out the slip and slide and no one touches it. The concept seems pretty similar to me. My kids aren't having anything to do with the slip and slide though.

5. A hot tub also works well as a pool. We went to a friends house yesterday and she turned down the heat in her hot tub and put a bunch of hose water in it. Shane and his buddy Noah had a hoot in there! I had to drag them home to put the girls down for a nap, but I'm pretty sure they would have stay in there all day long.

6. All this summer water fun makes my two kiddos worn out at the end of the day. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good because you would think they would crash at bedtime (sometimes they do, but not always), bad because for the last hour or two before bed they are piles.

Summer Adventures

Summer is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest. It arrived early this year...now we just have our fingers crossed it will stay until September.

We've doing our best to take advantage of the awesome weather + summer vacation.

This past weekend we took the kids to East Montlake Park near the University of Washington for a little walk adventure. It's the little area you see in Lake Washington when you are driving on the 520 bridge. We were greeted by a puddle of water, which was then followed by a muddy patch, which then turned into a whole long muddy trail.

We plowed ahead, making the best of it. Mud can't hurt ya, right? and Shane was lovin' it. At one point Shane took a step into a puddle and ended up waist deep in mud. He quickly got himself out with an amazed look on his face and couldn't stop talking about the leg he lost in the mud.

Adalyn rode pretty, either on my back or Daddy carrying her. I think the only mud she got on her was a little splash on her forehead.

Here are our feet after the walk:

It really doesn't capture the full mess we all were. I in flip flops and the one wrong step Kenny made.

We saw a blue heron up really close (Shane LOVES those birds), a turtle, a HUGE bald eagle hanging out on a tree, jumping fish, big boats, and kayaks and canoes. A fun summer adventure!

The weekend before that we explored Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. This was a beautiful park with lots of areas to explore. The play ground is currently under construction, which didn't make the kids to happy at first, but we were able to distract them with the dog park. We didn't bring our dogs with us, but the kids had a blast watching all the other dogs play in Lake Washington.

This coming weekend we plan on hitting the tide pools at Richmond Beach with the Seattle Aquarium Beach Naturalist program. 

So many parks and fun places to explore and with a short amount of nice weather we need pack it all in.