5th Anniversary

Being married 5 years isn't long, 

but it also isn't short.  

It is a substantial book; 

Not quite War and Peace, but longer than your average play. 

It's quite beautiful like some lovely illustrated cookbook; 

It still has its original dust jacket, but maybe it's a little faded

or a little torn here and there.  

Tyler and I took Violet to the Sheep Shearing festival for our anniversary, which was much more fun and much more romantic than I know it probably sounds.  On a farm somewhere hidden in the suburbs of the East side, we sat in bleachers eating a blue cotton candy, with our child, and watched sheep after sheep get spring haircuts.  It was sunny, and the hay was yellow, and Violet in her little red coat got to feed a border collie a biscuit.  

And somewhere hidden in between honeycombs, ruminants, 4H children, and tractor rides, Tyler and I got to hold hands and laugh a bit at what 5 years of marriage can amount to.  

Don't worry, we did manage to arrange for a babysitter latter in the evening (thanks, Brecca!) so that we could go out to dinner and celebrate without the exuberant (but demanding) company of our 3-year old.  A special thanks to Ivar's for helping us out with an extra special meal for our extra-extra special celebration.   

Clams in garlic fennel wine sauce

Alder-smoked Halibut with purple mashed potatoes and spring peas.  

One of the best meals I have ever had.

Creme Brulee

The old married couple

This day was beautiful; the life we have made together, 5 years later, is my dream come true.

*photo courtesy of Pyramid Focus Photography*

Big Dreams

For Violet's birthday she received a beautiful book titled "Me...Jane".  Have you heard of this book?  It's a gorgeous children's book about Jane Goodall as a little girl, and how much she loved animals and the outdoors from an early early age.  She goes to sleep at the end of the story, and dreams of helping the animals in Africa, and then wakes up one day to "find that her dream had come true".   The last page shows a photo of her, all grown up, with a chimp, living her childhood dream.  

Every time I read this book to Violet a part of me swells with tears/happiness/hope.  As a parent, you want so much for your child to grow up and live out their dreams.  Not only that, but you want them to do it with ease.  

Violet turned to Tyler the other night after reading this story and said "daddy, I want to help giraffes when I grow up".  When I put her down to sleep in her bed, she looked up at me with those huge brown puddle eyes and said "I am going to dream of painting with my new paints".  

These big-little childhood dreams, I want them to stay in her head as long as she can manage to hold them there.  It's so easy to let a dream fly away as the reality of life sets in through the years.  

Somehow I've lucked out-- and managed to make my dream of being a working artist play a permanent role in my life, although it hasn't been easy, and recently I've taken a hard fall; pushed down by a big bully.  It's difficult to navigate your childhood dream through an adult world littered with banana-peel companies, who will eagerly slip you up, and exploit your talents, just for a few bucks.

  

I wonder if Jane, all grown up, and working with the Chimps, ever wished she had taken a more simple route through life.  Worked as a checker in the corner store, instead of climbing the trees of Africa to look at Monkeys.  

I'm sure she had her low moments when her dreams were shoved in her face by external forces, but that never seemed to stop her from returning to doing what she knew she was put on earth to do.  

Huh.  

Anyway, enough about Jane Goodall.  

But in light of a few professional weeds I've had to pull recently, I thought I would share with you today some of Violet's latest artwork.  These are pieces that have for one reason or another just been completely inspiring/humorous/meaningful to me not just as her mother, but as her working mother.  

Enjoy!  

Testing out every single color in her new paint set with little test strokes.  

A mommy (large grey circle) holding a baby (small grey circle in the middle of mommy's face), and a green daddy in the rain.

A Giraffe.

A mommy with socks and earrings (this picture was made for daddy).

 Thank you cards.  She is dedicated to writing these herself (that's why it is taking us so long to send out birthday thank you notes, if you are waiting for one :) It's incredible to watch her dedicated little hand form the letters of the alphabet.  The top one (blue) is one of the first ones she wrote.  The lower one (red) is one of the last ones.  Amazing. 

Zumba

As you may recall, about a month ago we joined a gym.  (Click Here to read about it).
Anyway, I thought I would give you an update....

We've been going to the YMCA 2-3 times a week, and it is awesome.  Incredibly awesome, actually.  A wonderful addition to our life, and I can't believe we took so long to join.

The day care for Violet is fantastic, with two different large rooms, one with a huge climbing-slide-thing, and the other with toy kitchens, trains, balls, games, art tables, etc....  The teachers are golden, and Violet seems to enjoy herself every time we go.  We get an hour and half of childcare each day, no extra fee, so it is well worth it.

Tyler has been enjoying all the machine-type equipment.  And he and Violet go swimming once in a while in the beautiful pool that has an ultra-shallow area for the tots.

Me?  I've gotten addicted to Zumba.   Yes, Zumba.
What is Zumba?

Well, according to the Zumba website, it is the class where you "ditch the workout and join the party".  
And, as weird as that sounds, I have to admit it's kind of true.

Zumba, my friends, is this very fun, very high energy dance workout class that is all set to latin salsa inspired music.  No step boards, no counting sets, no weights or large rubber bands.  Just very very fast and high energy dancing.  And it's way way fun.

As I was Zumba-ing today, I thought to myself: This is funny.  It really is like going to a club.  Or going dancing.  But nobody here is 25, and there is no booze, and most of us have kids upstairs in daycare, and there are zero guys.  And it's 8:45am.  And I'm wearing my sneakers and sports bra.  And yet, I'm having just as much fun-- in fact MORE fun-- than I used to have when I used to go out dancing in the years before mommydom.    
Also, it's kind of like joining the cast of a broadway show, and getting to be in the chorus of dancers.  Dream come true?  Yes, a little.  There are about 100 of us in this huge gym dancing, synchronized; very focused very fun.  


So, anyway, that's Zumba.  Just thought I'd share.  I'm never ever going to make myself go running again.  I hate it.  I hate it so much that every second I am doing it I am wanting it to be over.  I used to breathe in step to the rhythm of "I*hate*this*".
Well, now that I've remembered how great of a workout just dancing for an hour can be, and how FUN it is, and how much I look forward to it every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday--- I can feel good, tone up a bit, and have way more energy without dreading every second of it.

If any of you ever want to join me to try it out, just let me know.  I think I get a few guest passes a month.  Don't be intimidated!  The class is filled with all sizes and ages of people (the gym is next to an old-folks home, so really there are some oldies but goodies in my class).  There are new members all the time, and everyone is so focused on their own steps and arms and bodies that no one will even be looking at you when you mess up or fall down or turn the wrong direction.  

Birthday and Easter

We have welcomed an unexpected guest; Mr. Sunshine.  He sat with us in our grassy strip today while Chowder rolled around in the driveway and Violet watered the dandelions.  I planted the tiniest garden ever; two strawberry plants and one primrose.

What a pleasant afternoon to reflect on the fabulous chaos of Violet's birthday, and Easter.  

Ok-- here's a quick summary....  

This was the first year that we had a real "kids" party for Violet, and as luck would have it, she enjoyed herself!  With both sets of grandparents, and around 10 small friends along with their mommies, we had a grand wild time.  

The next day was another little get together, with family.  Grandparents again charmed her through the day, along with uncles and aunts, and a few cousins.  

It never fails to amaze me how wonderfully caring and generous everyone is around Violet's birthday.  It is an incredibly amazing thing to see your child so loved.  Really, it's more than we could ever have hoped for.  

   

In heaven with GrandmaGrandpaSprague

Moving on-- With my parents here through Easter, we took a much needed holiday with them at the island.  Thank goodness for parents, and for islands.  Tyler and I have had a lot on our minds and plates lately, and the clarity that comes with a few nights on the island is incredibly cleansing.  Also, more hands to help with Violet--  everybody wins.  

Easter was fabulous.  We went to the Bunny Bounce at the zoo-- something that Violet has been looking forward to All.Year.Long.  In fact, if it hadn't been for the Bunny Bounce flyer on the back of her zoo magazine, I'm not sure we would have gotten through potty-poop training.  The only way we could get her to sit on the pot long enough for it to happen was to read about the Bunny Bounce.  

Eventually she memorized the thing, and so lately she has been reciting it to us as she does her deed.  TMI?  maybe.   

In short, the Bunny Bounce was a great big deal this year, for many reasons.  She got to pet a bunny (highlight of the year), and find basket-fulls of little plastic eggs.  Also, we got to watch a Sloth-Bear rip apart a meat-filled paper egg and an easter basket. 

Then, back to the island.  More fun with the grandparents, and delightful beach walks.  

Here's something:  My daughter, now 3, can suddenly draw with a stick in the sand.  So she covered the shore with smily faces as Tyler and I watched the seagulls float by.  

Violet's sand drawing.  

Our kingdom.

Dream Home.  Great view; Great price.  :)