Spring Break 2010

That was the phrase uttered dozens of times by my husband. It was his response to why he set his alarm for 4am on our departure date, how he had energy to drive, why he persisted in planning a hike on a freezing day, and what he was so excited about... "Spring Break 2010, of course". The phrase was a bit of an exaggeration. A play on the fact that we will likely not have a true Spring Break for many years -at least in the sense we once knew it. There are some definite disadvantages of experiencing school/college/grad school spring breaks for 23ish years and then entering the work force. Spring breaks may just be four-day long weekends, like our trip to Portland and the Oregon Coast this past weekend, for many years. We're not complaining. Really ;). It was a wonderful trip and I will take any day spent hanging out with family that I can get!!

Not everything went smoothly. The weather didn't cooperate with our plans. We did not stay two nights on the Oregon Coast (major power outage). Clara did not get to wear her ruffle blue swimsuit and swim in the hotel pool (again, power outage = closed pool). We did not get to go shopping in downtown Cannon Beach (you guessed it, power outage). I did not even touch the ocean (my fault on that one). BUT, we did get...

Quality Everett/Clara time...

These next two pictures were taken 5 seconds apart -no joke!

One great meal at Mo's...

A beautiful hike...

(sidenote: no. we do not have a family attachment to a teddy bear. My mom, the classic Kindergarten teacher, took the class teddy bear "teddy B" for the weekend and had to document his experiences. ;))

And lots of great time playing games, trying to get Eth to stop watching the same Real Madrid soccer game over and over, eating too much good food, making sure Clara didn't destroy Everett, watching Everett make adorable faces, and doing all the little things we do when we're together. It was a great Spring Break 2010. Honestly. I love being with family and miss them (Leah, Dev, Lariss, Everett) already. And one more picture near Multnomah Falls on the way home...

Three Years...

...three very different birthdays.

#25. The beach. Australia. Unforgettable.

#26. Pregnant. Very big. Parent-Teacher Conferences (pic in Leavenworth the weekend after my bday)

#27. Simple. Claranator. Coffee & Balloons. (And a nice dinner date with my husband)

Life has changed a lot in the last few years. God is faithful. I am thankful.

Exchange

We've put the orange and black bows away in exchange for the blue and gold. The tiger colors will be back in time for volleyball season, but right now we are huge panther fans.

"Go Uncle E" says Clara...in between bites of puffs & cheerios.

And one of the latest with cousin Sophia. They have no choice but to be "best friends" ;).

The Hair

I have always had an enormously thick head of hair (thanks, mom). It was affectionately dubbed "horse hair" by a good friend because of my pony tail's resemblance to that of a trotting mammal. If you've felt it you know what I'm talking about. I donated it to Locks of Love once and I'm sure they were able to make about six wigs from it (okay, may be more like three). It's kind of ridiculous. Really.

Anyways, for the first twenty-six years of my life it was straight (mostly). It was pretty much stick straight in high school and college -except for a few months when I went to the beauty school downtown and decided to perm it. That was my freshman year of college. It was a bad decision (It's the only hair-cut I've actually cried after). If you knew me then and never knew I had a perm, it is not a surprise. I'm sure I wore my hair up for a few months after that. But besides that brief moment of insanity, I have been a straight-haired girl. Sure, I had a wave or two in the back, and I had to straighten my hair to achieve that smooth, glossy look, but I always wore it straight.

But then I had a baby. I started noticing that my hair seemed especially thick & poofy once dry (I had been hoping and praying for the post-baby fall out I had heard about). Also, straightening it became even more challenging. Alas, I went to my hairdresser. And she confirmed it. My hair is now curly. Or really really wavy might be a more accurate term.

Yes. This is me taking a picture of the back of my head in the bathroom mirror. Classy, I know!

Since we're discussing hair here, I just had to document the Claranator's hair growth. It's a little uneven to say the least! She's got a nice little "euro-hawk". And that's the exact term that her pediatrician used last week. Ha! She has plenty to spare on top, but the sides? Not so much.

This one here especially highlights the contrast...

There you have it. Mama's gone curly and the bambino has a skunk-do! Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Everett, We Love You!

We made a quick trip to meet our nephew this weekend in Portland. Everett David was born February 1st so he is 5 weeks old today! All along we were planning on heading down to Portland to meet him the last weekend in March. This plan, however, assumed he would be on-time or maybe even late. But he was two weeks early. In baby time, a few weeks is enormous. They change so fast! So even though we'll be heading back to Portland in just three weeks, we had to see him sooner than that. We're only six hours from Portland after all. We changed a few of our weekend commitments and made it happen. I'm so glad we did! Everett is absolutely precious and perfect in every way ;).

Hooked on Bows

I have been considering selling bows for some time now. I have gone back and forth and back and forth and back and forth about the decision. On one hand, I have the supplies (a bit of an investment getting started), and I have more time & energy than I would if I were working outside the home. On the other hand, my bows are far from completely original (many people make bows and are far more talented than I am!) and I've never imagined that I'd really have a business like this. But, I have been encouraged by a few friends to just "go for it". So I am.

I have officially started a bow blog. I have just one post. It may stay that way for a long time. Of course the Claranator has about 500 bows. Or more like 60. I can't sell that many yet. It's way too overwhelming. So I have just a few options. We'll see where this goes. Here is my new blog:

http://hookedonbows.blogspot.com.

Highly original, I know. I had the use the "Hook" yet again. I always said I married into a good name. It worked out well for me as a teacher in my pirate-themed classroom. It's one of the advantages of having a last name that is a noun and a verb! I really couldn't have done much with Vaughn :).

So there you have it! If you have a little girl in your life who may need a bow or two, you now have a source (if you didn't already:)).

And just for fun, a tribute to the bow queen herself. I am sad to say the headband stage may have officially left us (for a while, at least). It takes her about -2 seconds to wrip headbands off her head. The "directly in the hair" approach has been much more successful as of late :)!

The progression of bows since birth...

Wow. That's a lot of pictures ;). Kind of a "10 month review" of the little lady's life!