Week 8: The 365 Day Project

Day 58: I cleaned out Caden's closet and he found this guitar. He started rocking out right away.

Day 57: All weekend I was at a big consignment sale my friend put on, the Bumps & Babies Fair, selling off all of my little boy clothes and gear and our new business Pinwheel Lane set-up a boutique table. It was a busy weekend!

Day 56: Caden's favorite snack....POPCORN or what Blake calls Pop Pop!

Day 55: I love when I catch my boys reading in our comfy corner chair. It also makes me giggle when Blake picks out No Potty! Yes Potty!

Day 54: SNOW!!!! They ran to the window all day to watch the snow come down.

Day 53: He loves his new whole milk yogurt!

Day 52: One our drive home from Bellingham we took Chuckanut Drive. Such beautiful views!

Week 7: The 365 Day Project

This week was full of SO much! My friends and I launched Pinwheel Lane, it was Valentine's Day, the boys had a night with Grandma and Papa G and Grandma and Papa Ferg came to visit so Pat and I could take a little weekend up in the Bellingham area! It flew by!

Day 51: We went on a Brewery Tour at Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham! Very educational, great beer and good food!

Day 50: We had a nice dinner out where we got to sit and eat and not rush out of the restaurant. It was so nice to not be on a time schedule

Day 49: Grandma Ferg brought Caden a book of mazes that he finished in one night!

Day 48: We had an evening event at work! When it was over my co-worker Curtis and I tried to see if we could make mini-Hendrix float!

Day 47: Blake found Caden's flashlight! It has quickly become a favorite toy!

Day 46: Blake got a sticker card from his Valentine Laurel! He loved it!

Day 45: Happy Valentine's Day! Caden got a LOVE maze from me!

My new venture...Pinwheel Lane!

You might already know, if you are friends with me on Facebook, but my friends Ashley, Tami and I have started our own little party decor business. We have already had 3 actual sales since launching on Monday and we are in conversation with quite a few addtional clients. It is amazing how fast word of mouth is helping us spread the news about our business.

We are all working moms who were just looking for a creative outlet. We couldn't be happier with the work we are doing and can't wait to see where this venture takes us!

Our etsy site: http://pinwheellane.etsy.com/

Our Facebook (please 'like' us!): https://www.facebook.com/Pinwheel.Lane.Parties

I have also added a little etsy box to the left of this page...so you can always find us here!

Check out some of our party packages! We do custom work too...so just email us at pinwheel.lane@gmail.com with your vision and we will make it happen!

We are also going to take orders and show off our goods at the Bumps & Babies Fair next weekend. More info here: http://www.bumpsandbabiesfair.com/

Week 6: The 365 Day Project

A whole week of using my camer in manual mode! It was challenging at times, my color and light isn't always right, but I am feeling more and more confident with my camera. It has become such a fun hobby. I also can't believe that I am on day 44 of this 365 day project. Where is the time going? I am glad I am able to capture these moments!

Day 44: Caden just being his usual expressive self. This was his Zombie face!

Day 43: Blake loves being included in all the big kid activities. He got to go with Caden to Emerson's birthday party and he LOVED the long trampoline and spending time with his buddy Emerson.

Day 42: You rarely don't see these two together! Amber and Blake are the best of friends!

Day 41: The greatest welcome home -- bath night!!!!

Day 40: Day two of my time away! I found a little cafe in La Conner to hang out in -- free WiFi, great coffee and even better scones. The perfect way to work for a couple hours inbetween visits.

Day 39: I had to go away for two nights and I left this note, along with the spare change that I had in my freshly cleaned out purse! He has a Disneyland Fund started in his piggy bank.

Day 38: Caden and I were laying on the rug and Blake walked over with his raisins. He looked like a bigger peanut from this perspective. And Amber was waiting for him to drop her a treat!

Week 5: The 365 Day Project

This week was fun for me cause the last two days I was using my camera in full manual mode! Ack...it is like taking the training wheels off. I took a class on Saturday called Mamarazzi Camp that Stacey Atkin gave (http://www.staceyatkin.com/) at her home in Puyallup. We got to do some excercises and it really helped me feel a little bit more confident playing with my settings. I just need to practice, practice, practice!

Day 37: I love when they play together and they smile! Sometimes, well many times, there is crying and "no" involved :) The fun of learning to share. So moments like this we treasure!

Day 36: On the weekends we try to get the boys outside, at least a little bit, if it is not raining. Some time on the playground and on their bikes is good for them!

Day 35: I hadn't taken a good photo all day and this photo at the end of the day just made me laugh. I looked over to grab my Blue Moon and it looked like the dino was trying to drink it. The fun of having toys lying around.

Day 34: Blake LOVES to twirl. It is how he dances :) So he twirls and twirls and then he falls down laughing.

Day 33: Caden got to go to a basketball game with Daddy so Blake and I did bathtime. It was so strange feeling to only have one boy in the bathtub of bubbles. We were having a great time!

Day 32: I had to work a long day so I knew I wasn't going to get a photo of my cute little men, so I decided to take a photo from the top of my nemesis...the .5 mile hill I climb on the weekends at the beginning of my run.


Day 31: Caden likes to sleep with a bunch of critters. A penguin, his bumble bee pillow pet, his frog from Nana, his monkey from Papa and his Mr. Bear. He also got a special treat from Grandma Peterson a new green and seahawk fleecy blanket!

Running Goals.

One of my best friends, Jen Fung, made a New Year's Resolution last year to run 365 miles in 2010. Well she achieved her resolution and made a new one for 2011 and I decided to use her as my inspiration to set my own running goal for 2011. I decided to try to run at least 30 miles in each month of 2011. At the end of January I am proud to say that so far I have met my resolution. I ran 36.4 miles!

I have also signed up for the 10k at the Mercer Island Run as a member of Team G-Unit so I need to get myself training for that distance. So at least 3 mornings a week I wake up at 5:15am and I run on our treadmill. I am mainly working on stamina and speed since I only have 25-30 minutes before I have to get the boys ready for daycare. I try to run 2-3 miles. On the weekends I take on distance...and am up to 4 miles. Here is a glimpse at my route.

I run through my neighborhood and over to Sky Island and head up a .5 mile hill. It is killer and at the top I am so happy to have made it. Here is the view on the way up!

Here is the view from the top looking back down!

Then I run through sky island! There are beautiful views of the valleys and rolling hills so it is a great run!

I stop at the Park n Ride and pause to take in the view of Mt. Rainier and then turn around and head back through sky island, down the hill and back through our neighborhood.

Next weekend I need to try 5 miles....

Join Team G-Unit!

GOALS

Team Members Running and Walking: 55 or more

Donations: $1200

T-Shirts Ordered: 80 or more

Yep...it is that time of year again! Can you believe it? This will be the fourth year that Team G-Unit will take part in the Mercer Island Rotary Run for Colon Cancer Prevention. The early sign-up date/cheap registration is until Monday, February 7th. Remember there is a 5k run and walk, a 10k run and a half-marathon option.

More information is here: http://www.mercerislandhalf.com/.

**Please remember to Join a Team and to pick Team G-Unit...we want to be the largest team this year instead of the second largest team!

For those of you new to the team my dad, Galen...lovingly referred to as G-Unit, has been battling Colon Cancer for 4 years now. He has underwent 6 surgeries and countless sessions of chemotherapy and through it all has remained amazingly positive and courageous. I hope we can all handle challenges the way he has! This event lets us honor and support the fight that he is going through and celebrate the spirit he has each day! He now has "undetectable" Cancer and his doctors are really astonished at where he is and the fight he has waged and that wouldn't be possible without the cutting edge research that the UW Medical Center and Fred Hutchinson were doing.

We will have team t-shirts again! They are $8 if you would like to order one! Please email me at team.gunit.cc@gmail.com with how many and what sizes you need.

If you can't run and would like to donate to a good cause you can also do that here: http://www.active.com/donate/preventcc2011/teamgunit. Our goal is to raise $1200.

We hope to see some of you in Mercer Island on Sunday, March 20th! Please feel free to copy and paste this message and send to your friends, family and co-workers! Our team is open to all...people who know us and love us and people who just want to support a good cause!

Love,
Melody (Galen's daughter)

We have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47893301026
We are on Twitter: @TeamGunitCC

Brotherly Love

So my 365 Day Project is taking up most of the time I would dedicate to updating this blog with countless photos of the cutest little men that I know :) So here is just some photos of my boys being boys. They are starting to play and interact so much more than they did before. I am loving watching their relationship develop and grow into a true brotherly bond. Blake copies everything his brother does and says...which can be super cute, but also a little troublesome depending on what it is. But overall they are good boys who love each other a lot and you can see that in how they look at each other.

Week 4: The 365 Day Project

Day 30: We play A LOT of games while Blake naps. Too many small pieces and too many things he can "mess up" while he is awake. This day Caden was winning EVERYTHING.

Day 29: Crab Feed! Yummy, yummy!

Day 28: Blake felt the powdered donuts were finger licking good. I think that donuts are his new favorite food!

Day 27: He was out! I turned on the lights and he didn't even stir. I ran down to get my camera and came back up and he was still sleeping. Let me get this picture of him...looking like an angel!


Day 26: I didn't get home in time. The boys were already sleeping...so the next best thing is to take a photo of the Starbuck's cupcake I had picked up that day. So pretty and tasted even better.

Day 25: We met up with Dad to have an early dinner before he had work-related functions. A mid-week dinner out is very rare for us.

Day 24: Boys will be boys! Sometimes they get so much enjoyment out of playing with each other and I love when I hear laughter pouring out of their play room!