Things I Love Thursday

It's certainly been awhile... 

Here's a doozie.

• Watching my dad discover the Oregon Zoo with my girls. I grew up going to the San Francisco Zoo with my dad!

• Geneva's expressions. Today I made the girls raviolis with a ricotta cream sauce for lunch. Piper (who is so much like me in taste) loved it. Geneva (who is so much like Greg in taste) was not a fan... Geneva took two bites and declared that she had tried it and it was NOT good. I told her she needed to eat some more. She asked, "how many bites?" I told to eat what was on her plate (not much) until there were only two bites left. She sat at the table diligently working her way through her "task." Grandma Lulu was over and visiting with us during lunch. Finally, Geneva ate all but two bites. "You did it," said Lulu. "Yeah," replied Geneva, "I was really looking forward to being finished with that!"
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Thank you to Simone Wells who bought it for me on her last visit to Portland. It was so good. Now I have to see the movie!
• Family golf. I've just started taking lessons (so much fun) and we bought Geneva a set of clubs for her birthday--she has her first lesson tomorrow and she's so excited. We try to get to the range whenever we can and we all have a great time. Plus, the clothes are really cute too. Kidding! (kind of...)

• Having two dedicated time-slots during the week just for ME. Yay for great babysitters!
• All the fun we had at the West Linn Old Time Fair with our neighbors and friends. The rides were rickety, the cotton candy was sticky, the carnival grounds were dusty, and the weather was HOT. It was perfect.

• That my garden is finally blooming and presenting lots of lovely little morsels... photos next time!
• Looking forward to spending time this weekend with Rusty and Staci at the TCC Member-Guest Tournament. Cheers to new traditions!
• Unplanned super-cuteness! Here are Geneva, Campbell, and Piper sporting their matching pink dresses. Obviously, I dressed mine the same this day... but how sweet is it that our friend Campbell was wearing hers too!?

• Homemade sweet and sour mix. Or better yet, margaritas made with homemade sweet and sour mix. Dangerously delicious.
• Self portraits--especially at the beach on a sunny day!

• Little girls who go to bed at 7:30pm and sleep until at least 7:00am and sometimes 8:00am! I was so reluctant to give up our daily nap routine. Then I did it. It's fantastic! It really opens up the whole day and extends the heavy sleeping at night! Geneva struggled in the evenings for a couple weeks, but now everyone is great. They will still snooze a bit after a big morning... but it's not a requirement. I really can't explain it... but it's lovely.
• This little face:

• The kids' show dirtgirlworld on Sprout. I love this show! If you have a little girl between the ages of 4-7, you must check it out. It's a little "different" than the average animated series... You'll see...
• Ellipses... just ask my friend Gretchen...
• Putting Papa Clyde and Grandma Debbie to work refinishing our patio furniture during their visit to Oregon earlier this month. The backyard looks FANTASTIC! Thanks for "crackin' the whip" Mom!

• How every time (like right now) Piper sees a picture of Papa Clyde she gets so excited for me and says, while pointing, "Look Momma! It's your daddy!"
• Geneva "Ninja" Jones and her ability to kill flies in our house. She's got skillz.
• The first couple sunny soccer evenings we had this year. So cute. So fun. 

• The fact that our sunny soccer evenings are finished for the year. Let's face it, two solid hours in the sun from 5:00pm-7:00pm is just too much for us to maintain for very long... especially after the first 1 1/2 sessions when Piper decided she just wasn't interested in actually participating. 
• Taking my dad to his favorite brewery, Rogue, for his birthday. When they move here (not soon enough) we can go there all the time!

• Looking forward to our multi-family vacation in SunRiver with the Bills Family, the Stewart Family, and the Rathjen Family who are all driving up from California! We head out on Tuesday... I'm so excited! My husband Greg, Rusty Bills, Ben Stewart, and Dave Rathjen are great friends from college (though, Rusty dates back to Junior High). They all married fantastic women and now have beautiful families. Between us, there are seven little girls and one boy varying in age from 2.5 to almost 7. Keep your eyes peeled for a future post!
• Sister Silliness

• Piper's speech difficulties. I know, it's probably frowned upon to take pleasure in the fact that our child doesn't make the right sounds sometimes... but she's going to grow up and grow out of this so soon--I just want to enjoy her being "little" while I can. For example, instead of saying "sprinkles and sparkles," she says, "fwinkles and farkels." It's priceless. I actually try to get her to say "sp" words as much as possible. Wicked; I know.
• That summer has finally hit the Pacific Northwest! I thought this spring would kill me. Everyone always asks about the wet winters up here... I'm telling you, it's not the winter that is so difficult. It's the spring! You get a tease of what's in store for sunny, warm days and then, boom--10 solid days of rain again. Usually this lasts for a few weeks... this year it felt like the rain lasted forever! I am so happy for the sun and the mild temperatures--keep in mind, I spent 15 summers in Sacramento. I do, however, miss those incredible rainbows in the backyard!

• The fact that my Canon PowerShot SD750 took a dump. I know, sounds crazy to be rejoicing in this fact; however, Greg and I have been forever talking about upgrading to a SLR and haven't yet pulled the trigger. Now we are able to use the Canon Loyal Customer Program to recycle our broken camera and trade up for a new camera. Instead of getting another point-and-shoot pocket camera, we're taking this opportunity to get a "big daddy" at a super discounted price. It's supposed to arrive on Monday. Hopefully I can figure out how to turn it on before we head to SunRiver! Many thanks to our good friend Scott Stater for all the expert advice we've been tapping over these contemplative months!
• Weeds "Putting the Herb in Suburb" on streaming Netflix. Ok, so we're like 6 seasons behind... no problem. There is a special joy in being able to watch 2-3 episodes in one sitting. This is a great show!
• The way you can see a little of what we have in store with this one when she gets a little older... Thanks for the warning Geneva. (She reminds me a little of Nellie from Little House on the Prairie.)

• Looking at a picture of myself when I was about four and seeing Geneva's face (minus the blue eyes and mischievousness behind them). I always thought she was Greg's twin. 
• This picture of the girls:

• Finding the silver lining of having my husband work out of town more and more these days, which is catching up on the shows he doesn't watch with me: So You Think You Can Dance, The Good Wife, The Closer, Glee, Vampire Diaries... I could go on, but it only gets more embarrassing from there. Really.
• Watching the girls progress through their swim lessons. We're going into our fifth week. They each have a 30-minute lesson, four mornings per week. Now both can swim about 10-15 feet on their backs and swim forward, getting one breath in before they want to stand. All these lessons have resulted in my absence from the gym (because of the time conflict for all my group fitness classes I love) but it's been worth the trade off to see them so successful. And the three of us have really nice tans despite the 80 sunblock. 
• The other result of working hard in the pool on a sunny morning:

• Making my bed in the morning. Many of you who know me are probably scratching your heads right now or re-reading that previous sentence for clarity. I know. I'm not sure what happened or why I started on this little ritual but it's been going on now for a couple weeks and I really enjoy the process and the result. Hmm... just thought I'd share.
• This little photo of The Pipes which was taken at Geneva's preschool graduation and their end-of-year "Festival." It speaks volumes to her personality.