Monday, April 30, 2012

The Messy Truth

Fact:  Before having Genevieve, Drew thought that newborns could crawl and had never held a baby.  He had NO IDEA that newborns are actually larva.  Poor guy.

Almost four years later, I'd say he's looking like a natural:


Just when I feel like I have a grip on the home economics and take pause for an end of day glass of wine our abode gets blown out again with lip gloss smears on the couch and toys everywhere.  Messy and fun these girls are:





Quote of the Day

Drew:  You're such a hard worker.  If you die I'll have to replace you with two wives.
Me:  Thank you?

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Compromise

Conundrum:  The girls both want it.  Only one can have it.  

Sibling freak outs be dammed!  This limited patience mama was tempted to throw the pink princess bike into the outgoing tide of the slough today.

Solution:  Left to their own devices, they figured out a way to share the joys of pink mobility:


Peace!

Bikes and Bouquets

My fashionista went on a bike ride this morning:


And came home with this bouquet of fragrant mystery flower:


Here's her monoprint from her adventure yesterday to Kris Ekstrand-Molesworth's studio in Bayview:


The sisters are really in to measuring things with their fingers right now and declaring measurements.  Here, for example, they are demonstrating how big a cow probably is when its born:


Clothing optional after 6 p.m. at the Vallees:


Little Sister has discovered bike riding and says, "mo bi! mo bi!" persistently until someone agrees to rickshaw her around:


Happy Sunday!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Divide and Conquer

Drew woke up this morning feeling like Super Dad.  After cooking us breakfast he took Genevieve on a bike ride to the playground, then on to an artist studio tour and grocery shopping.  They've been gone for three hours, Marguerite has been asleep for three hours, I've been in my garden for three hours.  That's a trifecta afternoon if you ask me.

My garden is exploding in Spring glory and makes me feel proud of the work we've put into it over the past 5 years.  I finished weeding up front and can't believe what once was gravel now looks like this:









Baby is up.  Carload of Costco is here.  Back to it!

Friday, April 27, 2012

The Swing Shift

I have a limited amount of seat time available in a day what with these whirling dervish girlies I'm responsible for and all.  Blogging is my favorite use of my sitting quota, but has recently been eclipsed by the contract work I'm doing from 9 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. most nights.  I'm tired, but not in the same way working away from home made me tired.  Tired without being frazzled is alright with me. 

Here's the only picture I took today.  The girls playing "mama and baby" which involves lots of laying around and pretend napping.  I need to take a chapter out of that pretend mama's book:


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Bleeding Heart Vallee

bleeding heart
n.
1. Any of various perennial herbs of the genus Dicentra, especially the Old World D. spectabilis, having arching clusters of pink to red or sometimes white, heart-shaped flowers.
2. A person who is considered excessively sympathetic toward those who claim to be underprivileged or exploited.
 
Genevieve is the proud new caretaker of eight bleeding heart blossoms.  She gently rescued the broken stem from the rain and dirt and brought it inside to shower it in tender loving care.

My sweet bleeding heart and her D. spectabilis babies:


Quote of the Day

Me:  I really need to find some time to get a haircut.
Drew:  Maybe when the children are older. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Two Uninterrupted Hours

That's right, two whole hours of uninterrupted time with my sweetie.  We left the girls at home in the capable hands of friends and zipped up Chuckanut Drive to the Oyster Bar.  We (I) talked non-stop, laughed, reluctantly shared bites, and had a top notch state of the union. 

Coming home to the clamor of my daughters sealed a perfect day.  Here's my colorful ragtag crew from our morning out and about:





Lucky in love I am.

Quote of the Day

Me:  Daddy and I are going out to dinner tonight.
Genevieve:  What are you going to wear?
Me:  I'm not sure, maybe what I have on right now.
Genevieve:  No, you need something fancier, and something that makes you look less like a man.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Juggling and Rain

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear" a wise man once said (actually it was an old boyfriend of mine who espoused such wisdom, better remembered as a fictional wise man).

So gear we donned (Well, not Genevieve.  She "doesn't believe in raincoats.")  and went on a rainy day mud making adventure:





Once we were cold and wet enough we came in to make oddly colored cupcakes:



After a morning of juggling preschool shuttling, conference calls, grant writing and naps it was just the afternoon we needed.  Happy rainy Tuesday!

A Historical Event

Marguerite woke up out of sorts and needed some quiet time with me upstairs to get better oriented to this day.  Genevieve knew it was a preschool morning and was antsy to get the show on the road.  For the first time in this Vallee family recorded history, she took matters into her own hands and made herself breakfast.

This is what the kitchen looked like when I came downstairs:


Evidence of a bowl and spoon grabbed, cheerios poured, greek yogurt spooned.  I'm still in awe of this milestone. 

Monday, April 23, 2012

G Filter and Bee Stung Lips

Genevieve and I did some weeding this morning out front, and a certain three year old snagged my camera and started snapping away.  At first I gave her the "G, you're not supposed to touch my camera, especially when I'm wearing this awful head band and these gardening clothes and only got four hours of sleep last night" look:


Then I got curious about the world through her lens.  Plus, it was keeping her busy and letting me garden.  Win win.  Here's the G filter:

strawberries!

old Monroe

gardener moon pose

Genevieve's favorite car





Poor Marguerite got a bee sting on her finger.  I felt like it was my fault because just this morning over breakfast I took this photo and was thinking about how beautiful my brown eyed girl with her bee stung lips is.


10 minutes later I heard an "owieeee" that made me come running and found a stinger hanging out of her finger.  Here she is showing off her swollen finger:


Genevieve has decided she no longer wants to be a tattoo makeup artist and has switched gears to being a veterinarian:


A veterinarian who wears Hawaiian themed tourist get ups.

Quote of the Day

Genevieve:  If I don't have something buttery to eat soon I'm going to freak out.
Me:  I know how you feel.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Night Shift

I scored this big beauty for the courtyard garden.  I'm going to plant my mock orange shrub in it and see how that goes. 


The girls have entered into a new phase called hide from mama long enough for her to really panic and run around frantically looking for us.  Fun.  Marguerite has also figured out how to take off all of her clothes and diaper the moment she is out of my sight.  This is where I found the hoodlums after dinner:


 Marguerite has discovered the magic of a camera and asks in Marguerite language for me to take her picture so she can look at it on the camera and say "Baby!  Cute!"




I'm settling in for the night shift - the only realistic time I have to focus on writing a grant proposal for my current contract job.  Second wind, please visit, I'm ready.