Gettin' Crafty

Oh yes I did. I jumped on the bandwagon; creating flowers out of fabric. Only, I didn't go BUY fabric, I chopped up some old shirts we had around the house. Clem's snowflake shirt had a cup of hot cocoa dumped down the front of it this winter. It's toast. Plus, I had a gray shirt that just looked sloppy.
A few snips and several glue gun burns later:
Voila! A cute flower headband for my delicate flower.
And since I couldn't feel my finger tips anyhow, I went ahead and did a second one with button flowers!

Three and a half

Our baby is no longer a baby. She's a big kid and, boy, does she have some strong ideas of her own (our little Scorpio).

Three and a half is a roller coaster ride. We rejoice and cheer her independence, intelligence, language (FINALLY!) and helpfulness. We love watching her little personality develop--she can get everyone around her laughing in no time. But then we have the desperate times (she doesn't nap)--clothes being the #1 issue around here lately. Twice last week while we were literally walking out the door to go to our schools, she stripped down to her underwear, proclaiming all of her clothes were unworthy of the day.
But I digress, this post is meant to savor all the incredible, tender moments we want to hold on to. Three and a half is more fun than I could have imagined. We love all the Clem-isms she's come up with:

*She and Cam both love to drink unflavored Seltzer water. Clementine calls it "Spicy Juice," which makes so much sense to me. But she also calls Band-Aids "Lollipops." This I do not get.

*She loves to check things out from above. She still loves for me to hold her as I start the laundry, while Cam BBQ's or while we're taking a family walk. I will always hold on to her own little phrase "I'll hold you, mama." I hope she requests this for a long long time.

*While she does have one stuffed animal she's particularly attached to, her bed is filled up with Boo Boo buddies (soft ice packs) as her comfort objects. I don't know how she came up with this.

*Lately, in the middle of everyday life, she'll say something like "Mama! Turn the music off...I love you." I love the "Love yous" we're getting lately.

*She loves dinosaurs. So. Much. We bought these three dinosaurs at a garage sale last year and they are, hands-down, her most played with toys. They go in the sensory bin, the vegetable garden, the rock path, and the grass. She can play with these guys for hours.

*She takes roll all the time. "Grandpa's in Mexico, Nolan's with Sissy, Daddy's at home..."

*Everyone is her best friend and everything is her favorite.

*She's been making up a lot of her own songs (see the video "Our American Idol") and loves to belt them out. She also loves to dance. Her favorite moves are Beyonce's.

We love this little girl and are having so much fun at 3.5.

Sea to Ski Parade

Bellingham's annual Ski to Sea festivities have been underway this weekend. On Saturday we went to the Grand Parade downtown. Clementine and I went a few years ago when she was just a wee little Bellinghamster. This time, I think she enjoyed it more because she's older and because Cam came along!
We got there an hour early and found that most of the prime spots had been claimed. People are so serious about this parade that they brought chairs, tarps, tents and canopies. We brought only a picnic (and our pop up chairs).
The picnic was over pretty quickly, so, while we waited, Clementine entertained herself with a bag on her head.
Then the parade began. There were cops on motorcycles doing tricks in formation, lots of colorful flags and, my favorite, lots of MARCHING BANDS!
Clem liked picking out the enormous horses that pulled carriages through the city streets.
THEN---Cam got in on the action! Usually, he doesn't come to things like this with us because he hates (people) crowds. But, when a live action stage coach heist rolled by, the actors were drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
He handled it like a pro, not swearing at anyone.
There were all kinds of entertainment during the parade,
Clem loved the rainbow flag.
But she says her favorite thing from the parade were the drums. Love that girl.

This May weather has been totally ridiculous. We've had several backyard projects going at once with more interruptions than I can count. (Can you see the hints for the backyard projects in these 1st two pictures??)
As soon as the rain lets up, we are outdoors fast as lightning.
We have been out back playing a lot of basketball.
SCORE!
Here's Clementine's newest "character" she brings out. He's called "Mean Guy." She growls and bares her teeth and says "Mama, I'm a mean guy!" In her world, mean guys are usually Pirates but they are sometimes wrestlers or guys who don't use manners.
Then, just like that, she's "Princess." Princess preens and flutters her eyelashes, holding her hands close to her face in unnatural positions inspired by the movie Enchanted. Princess always has with her a magic wand.
Here's Princess, the damsel in distress.
Inevitably, we are stuck inside all weekend with deluge going on outside. We scramble for things to do before the cabin fever epidemic hits.
Yesterday we made bath paints with shave cream and food coloring. Then took a 45 minute bath in the middle of the day.
The artiste at work.
Here's hoping that June might bring some sunnier days that let us play outside more often.

Our American Idol

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year I asked Cam for the following: 1.) the chance to sleep in 2.) my favorite meal (brunch) 3.) some new fun pictures of Clementine and I (because I'm always the one holding the camera 4.) a puppy

I got to sleep in until almost 10:30, then Cam made me Eggs Benedict and afterward we went exploring around Larrabee. I guess 3 out of 4 isn't too bad!

Here we are checking out whole, empty crab shells,
and a drippy cave.

Then we snuggled up for our photo shoot.
Only to be distracted by a boat going past.
A really nice stranger walking past took this picture. It's my favorite of the whole day. I love it! That's all this mama needs this year: a great reminder of my beautiful family having a great time exploring together.

Recently

Recently the weather has been totally unpredictable. When cooped up indoors, we play endless hours of dress up! Clem is ALWAYS the ladybug (completing the outfit w/ hot pink 80's prom shoes).
But the sunflower fairy rotates. Sometimes it's my turn, often it's Cam's. I love that he's willing to play sunflower fairy with her.
Keepin' it real.
While the rainy weather has me buggin out, the plants are loving it! We just finished mulching the front yard,
and putting in this year's bed (which Cam requested be 1/3 carrots this time around).
And I spy with my little eye the first two purple lilacs EVER to grow on this little plant. I thought I'd killed it several times but here come some blossoms. Finally!