Nutshells

Hello and how-do-you-do? I’d like to welcome you to my brand-spanking-new home-on-the-web. Come on in, have a look around, and get comfortable. It’s a bit sparse right now, but I’ve got plans for this space.

This is my home. These are my kids. This is a typical day. Crazy dance-party in the living room, making a mess, doing some crafts, so.much.pretend. Playing, exploring, laughing. learning. The best thing in the world is having best frenemies living under your roof. It’s also the worst thing in the world, depending on the stage of frenemy-ness that is occurring at any given time, but generally speaking and most of the time, it’s the best thing in the world.

We have had the Summer of Fun and Epic Times this year. It all started when I left my business and became, all of a sudden, a stay-at-home-slash-work-from-home mom. Instead of going to work 4 days a week, I was home, with kiddos, all.of.the.time. We spent a month in the Great State of Montana, at my folk’s place, and my sister and her kiddos were there too, icing the cake of fabulousness. We did lots of laughing, playing, swimming, exploring, riding in the ranger and just plain visiting.

Soon after we got home from Montana, we went camping on the Oregon Coast with good friends. It was chilly but fantastic, and we ate toasted marshmallows, climbed trees, slept soundly all snuggled in together, got filthy and splashed in the cold, cold Pacific.

We sat around the fire, sang camping songs, walked on the beach and made new friends.

After a week at home, we headed down to Coos Bay for a fabulous weekend with a favorite aunt and uncle. Walking the dog, chasing the cat, exploring tide pools, eating fresh crab and big lollipops. Laughing, running, splashing once more in the ocean.

We went to a beach that was the most perfect beach. A small hike down, protected from the wind.

We picked blackberries in their yard. We had so much fun.

And we’ve had countless amazing days here in Portland. The mister found a play structure on Craigslist that is perfection. We’ve done lots of meeting up with friends. Heading to the Gorge for the day. Picnics in parks. Playgrounds galore. Movies and pizza on the couch at home. We are so lucky.

The summer is not even over yet. We still have a big camping trip planned. We still have school to get ready for – kindergarten for the big-little and preschool for the little-little. A major house project will begin in less than a month. The sun is still shining, the days are still long, and we have much exploration still to do.