Hot Dog Car!

Richard Scary, how can I thank you for the hours of entertainment?

Back to Work

I completed my Postpartum Doula training at Bastyr University's Simkin Center and got CPR certified. I did all the required reading and finished breastfeeding training. I've got a business license and a website (visit it here) and business cards. Next, I had to find a client! I was referred to a family that was a perfect fit for me and a great example of people who need a postpartum doula. A wonderful couple from Seattle who have had some post birth complications and a partner who ended up needing surgery (details have altered to protect identity).

I've been able to do evening-night shifts, the witching hour for babies, and that has been a good fit for my family. I leave after dinner, DH puts the kids to bed and I put in most of my hours while they are asleep. It isn't exactly a smooth transition, the Princess grips my leg and begs me not to go and Butters has told me repeatedly he hates it. But, really, it's only a few nights a week and they are with their dad, so how bad can it be!

It feels good to help a family and it feels good to help my family financially. I've got a lot of balls in the air: pesticide free park, Snohomish County democrats, Master's, doula, but so far things are all coming together, although the house is a bit messier. To make things even better, we had 3 solid days of sunshine and we were outside for hours on all three days. I can see a fun summer on the horizon!

Painting

Same paint dot markers, same type of canvass, two vastly different paintings! See if you can guess which one is by Butters and which one by the Princess.

Snow!

Snow day, no school, sledding with friends and lots of hot chocolate.











Butters didn't want to go down the hill after the first time. E jumped up and said, "Again!" She went down it around 6 times, he did it twice. Then, last night, we got around 3 inches and Butters finally enjoyed sledding, it was dark out and he rolled down our backyard and couldn't get enough of it.

Ballet

This was going to be a post with pictures of Princess E dancing all around the room in her ballet class.

But during the parent observation day, she decided against participating. She one of the youngest in the class, and that day, it showed. She usually hangs on the teachers every word and has a great time. On this day, the parents walked in and her face dropped. She told me later, "I didn't do what the teacher told me to do."







Strong willed, that girl. Something tells me this could be the last photo from ballet!

We Made That!

The kids and DH made this to send to Grandma.

I made this play tent for the table. Inspired by this one (click here), but not as nice since my table is 89" long! I hope to go back and add windows.

We made this for my mom's birthday. The center needlework is by my grandmother who had put this on a dress for my aunt. The fabric was my grandmothers, so I used it to make a boarder. The frame is made by DH from purple heartwood. That amazing purple hue is the natural color of the wood!

School Yes and No

School is going great for this little lady, you can see where she wrote her name in the photo. And, she can make a perfect snowball, I'm kidding, DH made the snowman with a snowball maker. E loves going to school, and she catches on fast. She is actually jealous that her brother gets to go and she has to drop him off and pick him up but doesn't get to stay.






Butters is her opposite. He has relented to attending school, but his class is so big, I worry I am doing a disservice to him. There are now over 30 kids in the class and only one teacher. His handwriting is full of bad habits. It's so hard to know when to jump in and demand more. So, I went ahead a wrote a letter for the principal and had the parents sign it. I'm asking for an update on what is being done to improve the learning environment. I don't even know how his teacher can walk down the hall with that many kids!