iheartfaces: smirk

looking back at last year's marker incident, i came across this smirk. perfect for the iheartfaces photography challenge:

could she be funnier?

she fell off a chair smack on her head. poor thing. i saw the whole thing. she was just trying to get down and her foot got stuck on her way down. she agreed that a band-aid would make it feel better. the bump/bruise was higher up on her hairline but she insisted on applying it on herself right where she did!

one morning my sister took natalie with her to take the kids to school. jammies were fine for the quick trip. on the way home there was a change of plans and they stopped at the grocery store. when jen took her out of the car she had these slippers on her feet. my sister thought they were the craziest thing she'd seen and wondered where she got them. but in the store they went. when natalie got home and was walking around i was like, "what's on your feet?" nat: "swippers." "what?" "swippers." i thought they must be a colorado thing and they were either one of the kids or jen just got them at the store for her. finally we both were cracking up asking where she got them and natalie said, "MY CARSEAT!" they are the armrest cushions to her carseat. we were laughing soooo hard!!!

it only takes one quick unattended moment for this to happen:

which is nothing compared to this a year ago:

she walked up to me to show me her hands covered in marker. and her forehead was obvious of course. so i got her washed up and then pulled off her clothes and wah-lah! there it was all over her belly too!

third bday pics

natalie had her pictures professionally taken for her third birthday. 

we bought the session with a groupon!

celebrate!

 here's how my super-great birthday went down:

lunch at lucile's. LOVE this place!

beer-mosa: new belgium sunshine wheat and fresh squeezed orange juice

a pat of butter for natalie. (gross!!!)

eggs sardou: creamed spinach, gulf shrimp, poached eggs and hollandaise;
served with grits and a buttermilk biscuit

scrambled egg and beef po'boy: grilled beef, feta cheese, avocado, tomato, cilantro, and chipotle mayo;
served with potatoes

 my sweet baby girl who sang happy birthday to me. precious!

 

 

then we took all the kids to the library.

 pedicures!

 jen and i went to the rustic oven in old town for some much needed adult girl time.

we had a red wine flight and crab cakes to start.

Jumbo Blue lump crab cakes drizzled with an avocado lime sauce.

then the stuffed poblano pepper. UH-MAZING!

Shrimp and crab stuffed Poblano pepper, rolled in blue corn tortilla, served with a spicy tomato salsa, and topped with an avocado crema.

fresh peach goodness!

thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes! it has been a great year and i look forward to another wonderful one with all the special people in my life!

i was there!

tracy sent me these pictures after seeing my minnetonka orchard post because she said i needed proof that i was actually there. thanks, trace!

31 things to do before i'm 32

 happy birthday to me!

(it might be my birthday but i probably don't need an extra-large picture of my face! ha ha! oh well, when i'm 50 i will think i look good in this picture! although i'll probably regret being in the sun so much. whatever!) 

i created this list about a year ago of things i wanted to do/accomplish by this time this year. so i'm updating what i've done but not knocking myself for what i didn't complete.

1. finish this list!
2. take a photography class - unfortunately i still have lots of questions!
3. do an athletic event - i didn't actually register for a race but i can run a 5K which is an improvement!
4. volunteer with HALO
5. bake bread - i baked raspberry scones.
6. do a bible study
7. get out of credit card debt - but we have a plan!
8. get a massage
9. get better at saying no! - i'm not perfect but i'm improoooving! and i do have specific instances of when i had opportunities to say yes but said no! woohoo!
10. read more books  - the hunger games, little bee, food rules, crazy love, the kite runner, half the sky, the help, kids, parents and power struggles
11. make cards  - did this with courtney at the lakehouse!
12. bake and decorate a cake - i baked a super yummy rum cake (that did not require decorating) but it crumbled out of the pan. tasted delicious but looked terrible.
13. grow my hair out - only got trims this year. probably only three to be exact!
14. get pregnant
15. bake cinnamon rolls - i want to make Pioneer Woman's recipe but it makes a zillion and i just don't want to eat them all myself! i haven't needed to serve a zillion people yet. or a quarter zillion because we will all eat more than one.
16. go on vacation  - my goal was a getaway with just JR but i'm thankful for the several vacations we got to go on as a family!
17. paint something - i thought surely i would have spray-painted something by now!
18. go to DC
19. do a photo session for someone
20. go to a museum
21. sew something  - a hole in JR's shorts. i'm surprised i didn't take a picture - i was that proud! well i probably didn't take a picture because it looked like crap BUT it worked and JR was happy. my goal was to sew SOMETHING - not become a professional seamstress! AND i did sew some super cute yo-yo's this past weekend so i think i'm on a roll! i need to find a cute fabric shop in minneapolis!
22. no internet for a week
23. host a girls' night
24. go on a date night - we had dinner and saw the movie "date night."
25. try one new food/recipe every month - i have no idea if i did this or not. i got super lazy over the summer. we basically grilled and ate pineapple. ???
26. get a make-up tutorial - i still want one because i'm clueless but i haven't worn make-up in minneapolis unless i've gone out which is RARE. i love no make-up!!
27. fingerpaint with natalie
28. whiten my teeth - i think i did this three times but i need to do more.
29. take a yoga class  - courtesy of groupon and maya yoga
30. get life insurance  - i hope we don't need to redeem this anytime soon :)
31. browse antique shops   - more fun for me now than it used to be! thanks to all the blogs i read! :)

kiddywampus

this post is out of order but before we left minneapolis, we had a playdate at kiddywampus which is an adorable art space in st. louis park. we painted and played in the back art room but there are also rooms for just playing and a great toy store up front. i was able to find the perfect gifts for my niece and nephews ages 7-14 who we were going to visit in colorado! and i didn't want to come empty-handed after i heard that my 8 year-old nephew said, "i love when aunt kristine comes to visit. she always brings me stuff." which i don't. but since he said that i didn't want to let him down! anything to keep the little guy happy!

now, i'm not mormon, but i do love this message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

 (sorry the video link wasn't working right so i'm just including the link so you can copy and paste.)

10 on 10 :: September 2010

i took my pictures (or had my picture taken) on the tenth but am late posting them!

the idea is from here.

Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.

9:00 :: start the day with some ink

 

10:00 :: go for a walk

11:00 :: loving the fabric we got yesterday from "mama said sew" and brainstorming craft ideas

12:00 :: trampoline jumping!

1:00 :: lunch

2:00 :: crafting!

3:00 :: picking the kids up from school

4:00 :: more crafting!

6:00 :: dinner

8:00 :: butterfly kisses at bedtime

another great day!

see august's 10 on 10 here.