Our Latest Project

Whelp, I guess I was getting a little ahead of myself on that last post, wasn't I? We're having a baby, due in October! So it'll be a while from now before we start having true "lasts" of anything. Hopefully I'll get better about posting here. Between the early pregnancy icks and my Facebook obsession, this little blog has been sorely overlooked. I hope this finds everyone well and ready for Spring...goodness knows I'm ready for some sunshine myself!

The Last First Tooth Lost

Just before school started I took all three kids to the dentist for their twice a year check-ups. After taking Zöe's x-rays, the dentist asked me if she had any wiggly teeth. Wiggly teeth?!? I assured her that she didn't (couldn't possibly!) have any wiggly teeth. Because even though she's tall and savvy and sometimes acts older than she is (that third child, I tell ya'), she's still only 4 1/2. She's only 4 1/2! The dentist sweetly showed me the x-rays and pointed out that there were no roots (none!) under her bottom two front teeth. She assured me that this was normal, that each child is different, that they all lose teeth at different times. And sure enough, the wiggles started shortly thereafter.

So for the last few days one of them has been really wiggly. It's hurt Zöe to eat, it's bothered her at night, it would even bleed sometimes if she wiggled it too hard or for too long. Yesterday we made her tooth fairy pillow. I made a bunch of them long ago, for my boys and the boys of some dear friends.I was super excited to make one with Zöe and she definitely didn't disappoint. She's a girl, you know, and girls care about these things. I'm sure there are boys out there who care about these things too, but mine did not. So I enjoyed every minute of this creative process with my girl. She chose her fabrics, thread colors and buttons, drew and cut out the tooth shape, drew the face (a vampire! I embroidered it...), drew her name (again I embroidered it...), and sat on my lap while we stitched the whole thing together. It was amazing. And I think the end result is fantastic too!

So tonight she'll nestle her tooth down in the little vampire pocket and wait for the tooth fairy to come. She's hugged me over a million times today, whispering thanks for taking her tooth out without it hurting (so easy! it was ready...), thanks for helping her make the pillow, thanks for being her mom. And I've hugged her over a million times back, whispering thanks for being my Zöe with such excitement, enthusiasm and joy. Today was the last first tooth lost in our family. And I gotta tell you, it makes me sad. I'm just not ready for this little girl to get big.




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The Meegan Blue Quarterly

*Hey! Just for fun: remember last year? And the year before?*


Okay, so I guess this blog has become a Quarterly. Posting every three months or so seems to be the best I can muster. I've decided that I'm just gonna' pretend that's the way it's supposed to be. And if I can magically pull it together on a more regular basis then I'll do a little jig. I have been posting photos pretty consistently over on Flickr. And I've been visiting this site daily, having a blast connecting with old friends and keeping fresh with everyone's happenings. Quick bits of sharing is absolutely where I'm at right now. If you happen to be a fellow Facebooker, let me know!


We had a really awesome summer, which flew by way too fast. Even faster than normal. And now we're back to the insanity of the school schedule, trying to juggle soccer, piano, martial arts, and homework. I'm tired already! Seriously. Both of the boys absolutely adore their teachers and are eager to go to school every morning, so that is mighty helpful when it comes to getting out the door. If we can stick to homework and piano practice right after school, and limit play dates to Fridays and Weekends, then I think we'll be okay. At least we'll make it through soccer season, anyway.


And this is little Miss Zöe's last year of preschool, sniff. She doesn't start for another week still and the wait is killing her. That girl is dying to see her beloved Teacher Amy. I'm finding it very hard to wrap my head around the fact that next year she'll be in full-day Kindergarten. Like, I kind of have to force myself to not think about it. It makes me feel better to promise myself that we're going to make the most of our time together this year. Given Zöe's current range of interests I'm seeing lots of crafty projects on our horizon. Sounds like fun to me!

Happy 4th of July!

My dad put these two photos together for me. He took the one of Zöe last week and it totally reminded him of one he'd taken of me so very long ago. I think I'm a bit younger than Z in this photo, but I love the similarities. More than anything I love those striped OshKosh overalls that were my favorites. And the dandelions? Those are Zöe's favorites, so I guess that must run in the family.

So our decorations are up and the mortars are ready (shhh...don't tell anyone...we trekked to Washington State for the good stuff). Thankfully Eric is as big a nut as I am when it comes to blowing things up, so we're already rubbing our hand together in excited anticipation. Come on over if you have nothing planned tonight! You'll be glad you did!

We're Swingin'

We're finally in full summer mode around here! It took a while for the weather to cooperate, but now it's all good and the forecast is nothing but sunshine for the next seven days at least. Horray! It's just in time for my Favorite Week Of The Year, which begins with my birthday (July 1st) includes firework fun on the 4th and ends with our anniversary (11 years!) on July 6th. This year there are lots of extras sprinkled in there. One goodie is tonight's exclusive showing of WALL•E for friends and family, organized by my brother and his awesome company. We're counting the minutes!

So yeah, summer mode. It totally rocks. The kids are up and playing outside (sometimes still in their pj's) first thing in the morning. We're at the pool every day for the entire afternoon, and when we come home they play outside even more. The kids all have the sweetest freckles running across their noses. Max just learned how to ride his bike. The ice cream man jingles through the neighborhood frequently, and we always make him stop. We're playing tennis (a sport I'd forgotten how much I love) and soccer (a sport I've always loved) and wallball (a sport I'm not sure if I love). And when we're hot, tired and in need of a break we retreat to the basement and play Guitar Hero. Yes, I totally hog it. And yes, I am a Goddess of Rock. I'm also embarrassed to admit that my arms are, ahem, sore from playing. I recently finished the greatest series of books and I've just started another. And I've actually been doing a little sewing. Photo proof can be found here. My house, however, has seen cleaner days. But such is life, right? I keep telling myself that anyway...



And lastly, in celebration of my parents 40th Anniversary (I love you guys!), we recently spent an unforgettable day in a place I hadn't visited since my childhood. The Enchanted Forrest. It hasn't changed one single bit in the past 20 years. I can't even begin to describe it, or do it justice for that matter. It's part "theme park" (I'm using that term very loosely), park fairytale land, all unique. It is pure Oregon: quirky, fun, beautiful and strange. I highly recommend a visit to anyone living here, or passing through. It truly will enchant you, and if you have kidlits they won't want to leave. Mine would have stayed in the Indian Caves (yes Indian, I'm tellin' you this place is like no other...) all day.

That's all for now. Enjoy the sunshine folks! I'll try to pop in on a more regular basis. But you know how it goes...

Well, Helloooooo There!

Hi! How are you? Good to see you! Krikey, it's been a while. Were you beginning to think that I'd stuck you forever in Jack Skellington's world of Halloween haunts? I sure was.

A big "thank you" goes out to Cookie Magazine (really, truly, thank you a million and one times) for getting me back into action. (Scroll down the page to see one of my photos in a post on Reading Nooks.) And thanks to all of you (you know who you are...) for your gentle (except when you called me your sorry, lame-o blogger friend) but persistent nudges back in this direction. Nothing was wrong. I just seemed to have lost my virtual voice somehow. And even though I've kept quiet tabs on everyone else this whole time, it feels very nice to be back.

As for the photo? It was from our crazy school sock-hop event. This is only our second time attending, yet each time I've been completely blown away with the thorough 50's-ness of everyone's attire. And the dancing? Wow. The PE teacher makes sure that the kids know how to do all of the dances, from the monster mash to the hand jive and everything between. And the kids actually dance, the whole time. Sweaty, crazy, fall-asleep-the-second-you-get-home dancing. Fun times, Fonz!

This is Halloween, this is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night!

What a day full of Halloween-ness! It began with the very last costume parade at school (sniff sniff) which my dad kindly filmed for us. Thanks dad!



In the evening, after a pizza dinner with family and friends, we trick-or-treated our picture-perfect neighborhood. The weather was amazing, the leaves were crunchy, big groups of kids and their parents roamed the sidewalks. It felt lke something out of a movie.


Batgirl did an excellent job of keeping up with all of the big kids. And she didn't even flinch when the two teenage boys opened their door in full, scary werewolf costumes. I wanted to run away, our little friend Claire nearly mowed me over in her hasty retreat, but Zöe just stuck out her bag and chimed "Trick-or-treat!"


The Hooded One (the dark and dangerous character from Jack's favorite graphic novel series Bone) had a great time. I made his cloak and he was very happy with it, except we both wished that the hood covered his face more. But that's okay. He played the part well and scored a ton of candy.



Link had the best Halloween ever. After working long hours on Jack's cloak, I thought there was no way I would get to Max's costume. We found Jack's Darth Vader costume from last year and he was pretty satisfied with going as Darth. But at the last minute I felt that my middle child needed to get what he wanted. So after two nights of 3:00 a.m. bedtimes it was done. Max was so excited! He tried it on, looked in the full-length mirror, and burst into tears. He's usually very timid about dressing up, so I sat down and told him that it was okay (and I really meant it), that he didn't have to wear it if he didn't want to. But through his heaving tears he said, "No mommy, I'm just (sob) so (sob) HAPPY!" So I burst into tears right along with him. Those late nights were definitely worth it.


After trick-or-treating, it was over to my brother's new house, then on to my parents for a big fun Halloween gathering. What a perfect evening! As always, more photos can be found over here. I hope everyone had a great time, too. Can you believe it's now November? Sheesh!