Family Photos by Yan

There are two purchases I once viewed as luxuries but I now see as absolute necessities: weekly flowers from Trader Joe's and family photos from a photographer you really love. One makes life more beautiful each day and one helps you to remember how beautiful your life has already been.

I don't even get that guilt pain in my stomach anymore when I buy either one of these any more (admittedly, the family photos take a little more planning and saving). We just find a way to do it and we don't look back, like buying toilet paper. But pretty and exciting toilet paper. (Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy.)

So when Yan mentioned that she'd be in Southern California for a few days, I jumped on it with reckless abandon. The whole session was dreamy as usual, even though Solomon, our good-natured, ball of sunshine, had a bit of a raincloud over him that day. Still, she got some amazing ones of him as well. I won't share all 76 here, even though I'd like to, but below are a few of my favorites. 

As always, a million thanks to Yan, who I refer to as my "life photographer", always followed with, "because I'm going to have her take my photos for the rest of my life." And I mean it. 

Good Housekeeping Blurb

It's not every day the editor from Good Housekeeping magazine calls me on my cell phone for an interview while I am at Michaels, with both of my feral children, looking for magnets and puff balls so I had to share our little family pic and quote in this month's issue. 

We were under the impression it would be at least a half page blurb, but it looks like Brad Paisley stole our thunder. I'm okay with that, Brad seems pretty cool. It was fun to talk about what a great dad and husband Jared is for a few hours. I would've talked for a few more, if they'd let me. 

Naturally, the photo credit goes to my girl Yan. 

Lovely Lu.

Sometimes the light hits my children's eyes and their baby skin just right and all I can do is stare.

And every once in a while I'm able to capture it. The daring but sweet look in her eyes, a confidence in her posture that is almost unsettling coming from a four year-old, and her wild hair that she refuses to let me tame.

Even though I have a lot less to do with all this gorgeousness than I'd like to think, it still makes me proud to be her mama.

Motherhood Feature

This week has been a little too hectic to write a proper post here, but I did write a semi-coherent one over at the blog of a good friend and owner of one of my very favorite restaurant/hangouts in Provo, Utah, The Awful Waffle. They are doing a month long feature on what motherhood means and, seeing as that is one of my favorite topics, I was pretty excited to contribute. Check it out here if you'd like to hear about me crying in the fetal position and feeling like a failure. There is a silver lining, I promise.

I pulled out these old pics from Yan for the post and I can't get over this sweet one of Solomon (even though he is covered in spit-up - such is the fate of my babies). 

"Hoppy" Birthday, Solomon.

Apparently these birthdays just don't stop. Solomon turned two a couple of weeks ago and, although it's always a little sad for me and all of my children's birthdays are accompanied by my customary panic attack about everything I didn't teach them in the previous year, it was a perfect day.

I had him all to myself that morning while Jared went surfing and Lucy played with cousins, so I made him an enormous stack of pancakes with two candles on top. He'd eat the top pancake, replace the candles, say, "HOPPY!" to himself until he'd wished himself about 13 "hoppy" birthdays and his belly was full.

We met up with family at our favorite park near our house and I threw together a vegan picnic. We've been trying to eat a lot healthier lately so I thought this would be a fun experiment since Solomon's favorites are fruit and hummus any way. I can't speak for all of the attendees, but I thought it was filling and delicious.

The kids played with the ducks and fed the fish, while watching for turtles in the water and almost falling in the lake every other second. Solomon blew out the candles on the darling cake his sweet cousin Emily made him and opened presents, stopping to play with each one for ten minutes before moving on to the next.

Solomon loves boats and just about anything that moves so we rented two paddle boats, raced them around the lake and threw corn out for the ducks while the sun set.

It was pretty dreamy and I was grateful that I was just sitting and watching my sweet, little boy instead of racing around (like the crazy mom that I usually am) the whole party making last minute banners and icing cupcakes.

This is the part where I conclude and say something cliche about how he "may be growing up but he'll always be my little boy", but -- well, actually it's true and as hard as I'm trying to think of something more original, that's all that comes to mind. That, and that he's just such a good boy. He's a wild adventurer always carrying around a stick and making gun noises, but he's kind and sensitive, always the first to say "sah-wee" and the first to offer a hug, even if he was the victim and not the perpetrator.

In short, it was a very "hoppy" birthday and I'm a lucky mama.

Best Children's Classic Chapter Books

When my daughter was almost three I realized that when she was falling asleep at night, I could read her just about anything and she would quietly listen, mostly in an attempt to get me to stay in her room longer. Tired of reading Sheep in a Jeep five hundred million times in a row each night, I decided to try reading chapter books to her that I previously thought were too advanced. 

We started with Charlotte’s Web and when I discovered that she actually understood it and enjoyed it, we continued on to A Little Princess, The Doll Shop Downstairs, and almost all of the Roald Dahl books. She didn't pick up on every story line and I would edit as I went or stop to explain words, but she picked up on enough of the story to enjoy it. 

When Solomon was around 18 months I realized that he was listening in as well, and it's now become our little bedtime ritual to either read a few chapters or listen to the audiobook. Some nights they'll fall asleep in the middle of an exciting chapter and I'll find myself reading by myself for the next hour. 

We've read so many chapter books now that I can't keep track of them any more. I'm amazed by how much Lucy will remember from each story, how much her vocabulary has grown, and to see her incorporate the stories into her pretend play throughout the day. My nerdy, English major heart bursts every time I think of it. I'm the first one to tell you that I'm not always a super stellar mom so it feels very satisfying to know I'm sharing this important part of my life with them. 

I wanted to share some of my favorites for those of you who need a break from Green Eggs and Ham and maybe previously thought your child was too young for. Again, I think it's all about the timing and, of course, editing out any parts that might bring about a fear of monsters under the bed or witches in the mirror (not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything...). 

I love mixing it up with an audiobook every now and then, as well as rewarding them with the movie after we finish the book. If you fear that the book is too long then get an abridged version so they don't lose interest. I've also downloaded a ton of these books that are in the public domain for free on to my iPhone from iTunes. Then I can turn out all the lights and read straight from my phone.  

Best starter books: Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, Mary Poppins
Best Starter Audiobooks: Favourite Beatrix Potter Tales, Charlotte's Web, Olivia Audio Collection
For the Girly Girl: Pollyanna, A Little Princess, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (abridged version), Nancy Clancy, Matilda,
For the Boy: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Jungle Book, James and the Giant Peach, The Tale of Despereaux,
For the Adventurer: Swiss Family Robinson, Little House Series, Magic Treehouse Series, Peter Pan, Chronicles of Narnia series

Preschool homeschool & the best curriculum books ever.

Have I ever mentioned that, at heart, I'm a super nerdy, file folder and curriculum book-hoarding, wanna-be elementary school teacher? Because I am. And having children has surfaced that suppressed desire in a dangerously dorky way.

The good news for you is that you can get a brief synopsis here of the best books and activities for your little ones instead of wasting exorbitant amounts of money and Saturday nights (Jared banned me from filling out my teacher's weekly lesson planner while watching movies together) wading through all the junk out there. If you don't have small children then...you should probably be shopping J.Crew's spring line right now instead of reading this boring post.

Let's get to it. Below are my favorites with a little note as to why:

1: 2: 3: 4: 5:

At the end of the week I'll post on our favorite classic children's chapter books we have been reading together along with corresponding activities, films, and audiobooks. You may have thought your preschooler would only sit still for Dr. Seuss, but I'll give you the best beginner chapter books that your little one will love (and you'll find a little more interesting than reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" for the 1,000 time).

Okay, enough nerdiness for one night.

Dockside Yacht Lodging

It wasn't my birthday. Or his birthday. Or our anniversary. So I was 99% sure that when Jared told me had a surprise for me last Thursday it was to see the Hobbit in 3D. (A film I was all to eager for him to go to with his brothers while I watched the kids.) I was beyond surprised when he told me he found a private yacht to stay on for  the night in the San Diego Harbor. I was even more surprised to discover it was the same price (if not less) than staying in a hotel.

We had been tossing the idea around with Jared's family of buying boats and living on the California coast next year for fun. I know that doesn't sound like fun to a lot of people, but it sounds like a dreamy adventure to us. Since we'd never even slept on a boat overnight, Jared wanted to test it out before entertaining the thought any more + work in a little getaway. Basically, he's a genius. And his mother is a saint. She watched the kids for us overnight so we could relax and enjoy a much needed break.

As soon as we got to the marina where our little yacht was anchored, I was totally enchanted. Everything about it was dreamy, it was way roomier and brighter than I had anticipated. Even though we had internet and cable and downtown San Diego was only a couple of minutes away, as soon as Jared plugged in our iPod to the speakers that played Fleet Foxes all around the boat while we relaxed on the deck, I felt like we were on our little island. 

We hung out for a little while, listening to music and watching the other boats and birds in the harbor before heading to the Gaslamp district for dinner. 

Thanks to Yelp, we found ourselves in an (uber-hipster) new Italian restaurant called Cucina. It was crazy delicious, especially because we are cutting back on dairy right now but allowed ourselves to indulge for the night.

One more shot of that cheese.

We picked up some treats on the way back to the boat, hung out at the hot tub at the hotel the yacht rental co. is connected with (you can even order room service from the hotel) and watched movies and... 

pretended to drive the boat. More than once. (Also I forgot to bring a sweater so I had to pick this one up, but didn't realize I forgot to take the tag off until I looked at this picture. Dork.)

The next morning we woke up to this and, again, hung out while watching the fish jump in the water and the fog covered harbor. I felt like I was in a Dickens' novel (besides the lack of orphans and rich uncles). 

We had a quiet breakfast, soaking up every last bit of our little vacation before heading home. 

Naturally, I found some great lighting in our bedroom that had to be captured. Which led to me forcing Jared to join me. Which led to a ridiculous amount of bad/ridiculous pictures being taken. 

Like this one. 

And this one.

 And this is the best one we could get.

Thanks again to Chaluim over at Dockside Yacht Lodging who helped us out and started this little business. While this is not a sponsored post, I love spreading the word about cool little businesses. I can't wait to bring back Lucy and Solomon for another stay. SOON.