Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter!

On yet another beautiful afternoon in the Pacific Northwest, I decided it was time to pull out the BBQ again.  Mommy was off having a ladies night out with friends, so Daddy decided it was time for some salmon grilling.  I added some garlic alfredo pasta and spinach to round out the meal, and was preparing to have a fight on my hands with my daughter.  As always we’ll make her try at least one bite of whatever we put on her plate, but I was shocked when not only was there no fuss or fight, but she said she actually liked it all!?  As per our agreement earlier in the afternoon since she ate all the salmon, I also BBQ’d her up a hot dog with the requisite ketchup.  Since she was such a trooper at dinner, she got spoiled with two big frosted cookies for dessert.

Can’t post one without the other…

Container Gardening v1.0

I am not exactly sure what I was thinking and I definitely don’t know what I am doing but I figure if I don’t give it a try I will never figure this thing out. What the heck is she talking about you ask? Container gardening.

Kate has gotten to work in Tim and Lisa’s garden for the last couple years and she has always enjoyed growing carrots, lettuce, beets, etc. Now that Kate has moved on to school and won’t get to do Tim and Lisa’s garden, we decided to give this thing a try this season. So here is my call to arms for all of you gardeners out there–I will take any help you are willing to offer.

My set up so far… Three beautiful containers (from bottom to top): (1) 3 Early Girl tomato plants, (2) Various herbs: thyme, garlic chives, parsley, (3) only sugar snap peas so far but planning to add some golden beats and carrots. The containers are in our backyard (south facing) and are exposed to full sun all day, except the one closest to the house (container 3) which is in partial shade in the late evening. The containers themselves can drain and are currently stocked with a good layer of gravel for weight and drainage, then a mix of moisture control potting soil and coffee compost (probably a 1 part compost to 20 parts soil ratio).

Anyone who is familiar with gardening, especially in the Pacific Northwest and wants to give any tips on watering, bugs, etc.–please feel free to comment away here or send me mail.

Wish me luck!!

Jacob’s Second Birthday Party–Actually Parties…

Jacob spent his actual birthday with all his best buddies at Tim and Lisa’s, so party number one involved brownies, special guest stars Daddy and big Sister, and the really cool stuffed birthday cake.

    

The second party happened on the weekend so that we could get together friends and family to celebrate. Jacob was lucky enough to have Grammie, Bapa, Gma Roo, Auntie Amy, Aunt Tricia, the Kilty clan, Aaron and Kim, the Ngyuen clan, and his family to join in the fun. Here’s Miss Julia at dinner.

Then after dinner we opened presents. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Kim gave Jacob an excellent t-ball set and all the kids decided to play. Jacob took the first at bat since he was the birthday boy. Then we have Brenna and Kate taking turns.

    

Then we moved on to singing and cake. Jacob decided on an Elmo party so his cake is graced with Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster.

     

And finally, the moment he’d been waiting for, eating cake!!!!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Jake’s birthday this year.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jacob!

Two years ago today Peter and I were blessed to welcome into the world our second child, Jacob David Giffin. Today I just want to wish him the best birthday a two year old can have!!

Here’s the birthday boy as he woke up this morning! And then with big sister getting his happy birthday wishes right as the day began.

Random Jake-ing, Part Quatre

My boy certainly has found his voice. The thing I find so adorable and amusing is how much he likes to argue with himself. Case in point, this evening he found Pete’s Cubs hat unattended and decided that he would steal the hat. Now since his Dad wasn’t around, he actually wasn’t “stealing” the hat from anyone. So he created his own drama and argued with himself over the theft. “My Hat! No, Daddy’s Hat! No! My Jacob’s Hat!” I just thought the little bugger looked cute in Daddy’s hat, dirty face and all, so I thought I’d share the visual.

The Tooth Fairy’s First Visit

It seems Kate has decided to power up her slush fund–she’s lost two teeth in two days and was recounting before going to bed, “Maybe the Tooth Fairy will bring me 2 pennies. Or 2 nickels. Or 2 dimes. Or 2 quarters. Or 2 dollars. Or 2 ten dollars. Or 2 twenty five dollars. Or 2 fifty dollars. Yeah, that would be good.”

So while we don’t think the Tooth Fairy will bank roll $100 for her first 2 teeth, we think there will be a visit tonight. Here’s Kate showing off the first tooth gone.

Then the second tooth.

And showing off the collection.

Lego Batman Rocks!

Kate has always loved to watch us play XBOX. She never even shied away from pretending to play along with whatever game Dad was interested in at the time. But she has finally joined in the fun and is playing for herself. What is her first game of choice? Lego Batman. For those of you who’ve never enjoyed the Lego Game series, it is a lot of fun to play and watch, and Kate is picking up on all the fun quickly.

Here are Kate as Batman and Dad as Robin. Then Kate and Dad deep in thought planning their next moves.

    

Jacob in His Element

As we approach Jacob’s second birthday we thought it would be fun to observe him in the wild environment we like to think of as his home away from home, Tim & Lisa’s. I’ve always felt I had a good grasp on what my children did all day at Tim & Lisa’s, something like–eat, play, rest, diaper change, eat, steal toys, read, play, rest, diaper change… But on the rare days that the kids get to enjoy going outside, I’d never realized the added fun and complexity that introduces. And so without further ado, the pine cones.

Now I hear many of you asking, “Did she say pine cones? The photos certainly look like pine cones, but really, pine cones?” And to that I must answer, yet again, yes this is Pete’s son. He loves to “be up” (his version of clean up) and have everything in its place. Which, for Tim & Lisa’s back yard means the pine cones must go.

And after a work-a-day filled with pine cone clearing, finally a rest with Gavin and the trucks. It looks a bit stand-offish to me, but who’s to say they aren’t just hamming it up for the camera.

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

The kids got to kick off the Easter Celebrations this weekend with our annual Easter Egg hunt with the crew: Jacob, Kate, Blake, Kendal, Brenna, Juliana, and Yvette. There were many eggs to be had, excellent food, and more than a few Abercrombie Kids jokes made about Jake’s Easter outfit. For the second time since we started this event, we were blessed with a gorgeous, sunny morning for our festivities. So without further ado, I will let the photos do the talking.

Kate and Jacob, all dressed up and ready for the fun.

      

A great shot of Yvette and her mom, Jacqueline.

The crew waiting to descend on the yard once the Easter Bunnies were done “hiding” eggs: Kate, Brenna, Lori, Kendal, Blake, Juliana, and Yvette.

And now, hunters in the wild stalking their prey. Eggs are cunning in their ability to obscur and blend in but little girls with baskets are fierce predators due to determination. Kendal and Yvette especially are champions again this year on the sheer number of eggs found. I think I may have to start a pool next year…

And then we have Jake, admittedly a bit confused as to what this whole scene is about but loving being out in the sunshine.

And the group post hunt–barely hanging on to the needed patience to not tear into their eggs while their parents force them to pose for the photo opp: Blake, Kendal, Yvette, Kate, Juliana, and Brenna.

Kate and Jake wish you a happy sunny day!