mr. fix it

he's got a lot to learn from daddy, but he is a quick learner!

care package

thank you aunt laura and uncle tony for the cool gifts from thailand!

fog

we took a beautiful foggy lake wilderness walk this morning. i much prefer the sunshine, but it was still such a moody beauty!

reptile zoo

we had a fun family adventure day on this rainy saturday.  we started off at the reptile zoo in monroe, which was awesome!  and we even got to "pet" a huge snack and alligator.  then we had lunch in woodinville at a cuban cafe.  and ended the day at molly moon's for ice cream!

semester break

it feels like we JUST came back to school after winter break and these kids have had SOOO many days off of school in january.  today was semester break and so we went with our buddies to the snoqualmie brewery for lunch, the northwest railway museum, the train depot for a scavenger hunt and lastly to the snoqualmie falls and cafe for an end of day warm me up and treat.  

cookie pie

i have made this incredible "pie" in the past and loved it then, but i made a few tweaks to the recipe and i am obsessed!  

first off, this recipe comes from one of my favorite food bloggers, whom i have made many of her recipes and they go right into my own cookbook of tried and true recipes.  this one is no exception, although her original recipe calls for a buttercream frosting, which i have done, but it was too sweet for us.  we enjoy it warm out of the oven with ice cream.  so HERE is the recipe for reference.  

opon shopping at trader joes, i found this bourbon vanilla paste and was excited to make the perfect dessert using it.  the cookie pie popped into my head and i knew that would be a winner!

the only tweaks i made to the recipe were to brown my butter and use this bourbon vanilla paste.  it comes out excellent every time.  my secret is to put it in the oven when you sit down to dinner and by the time you finish, it will be ready to come out and cool.  we like it best served warm with vanilla ice cream.  

8 years ago...

jarad and i left on the most emotional, unpredictable and courageous adventure.  we made the hardest decision to move and start our life and family in a new state with NO ONE but each other.  being away from my family will never be easy, something that feels familiar and the goodbyes never hurt less.  but 8 years later our roots here in WA get deeper and deeper and the sense of connection and community is something i never felt in any of my many other addresses.  i feel at home and at peace here and i love the opportunity it provides us to live out our best life.  

lake wilderness with mt. rainier in the back

v-day watercolor practice

i love painting hearts 💕💕 💕💕

cold day warm laundry

banjo says chilly weather and warm laundry is a good combo!

weather day

inclement weather day 2. luckily we have great neighbors and we've been taking turns at our houses feeding and entertaining the kiddos. today was our turn and the kids played a candy cane game where they wore the candy cane on a string around their waist and had to hook it to a jar full of candy canes on the ground without using their hands. we also played some valentine's day bingo and did some valentine's day themed play dough! the kids had fun and the moms are tired.

finished

a great puzzle for the kids! they finished alongside jarad in two days. this was ryder's first time doing a large puzzle.

puzzle

1000 piece lego minifigure puzzle day 2, they may even finish it this evening?  

carpool

banjo loves coming with me to pick up afternoon carpool!