A Silly Knitted Self Portrait

It's been months since I've done anything crafty, and almost a year since I've done any knitting. But I was inspired by a woman on the airplane to pick up my gigantic Wilma Flintstone (size 19) needles to make a scarf. And what a scarf I made. I used brown chenille together with a fun eyelash yarn of browns and greens. The pattern is basically two rows of knit stitch, with a triple yarn-over, and then I don't even know what it's called. My directions were verbal, so I just did it and it worked. It makes these cool sections of the scarf where the yarn is long and loose (in an organized fashion) between the rows of knits. It knitted up very quickly thanks to the big needles and the pre-historic wooly mammoth acting as my skein outside of the window. I was so excited to have a completed crafty project that I put on lipstick and took this self-portrait (in front of my new dining room curtains) at 1:00 in the morning. I think I was just a wee bit wiggy.

So My Dad Has Something New To Read

Actually I've been itchin' to write something anyway, but first and foremost I am a dutiful daughter. I don't want my dad to spend another minute checking-in on my dumb old boring blog. So dad, I love you, here's something new!

Hooray it's Fall! Oh, but it really is all about the clothes, isn't it? There's nothing better than when the air becomes crisp and we can once again wear courduroy, herringbone and tights! Actually what's better is buying it for Zöe instead...cheaper, smaller sizes, better colors. This photo perfectly illustrates Zöe's obsessive fascination with the car. She can spend forever sitting behind the wheel, pretending to drive, pushing buttons, flipping blinkers, making car sounds, and checking herself out in the vanity mirror. Given how hyper-excited I was to learn how to drive, I think Zöe may have inherited the gene. For now I'll just be happy buying stripey tights and butterfly barrettes.

In other fashion news our house has had a serious haircut. If you check back to the first photos I posted (Sand, Salt Water and Tomatillo Green) you should notice a gigantic change...you can actually see the house! I've also included a photo of my favorite feature: a sweet covered side porch which sits to the right of the house, off of the living room through french doors. Max and I had our first lunch "al fresco" last week and it was lovely. We had a delightful time laughing at the antics of the local squirrels. My grandmother was a die-hard animal lover who went through 20 pound bags of peanuts on a weekly basis to keep her squirrels fat and happy. After she died the squirrels went away for a while, but when we moved in they started coming back to check us out. Eric has been filling our feeders and while they're not as well supplied as before, they seem to be happy and are certainly as silly as ever.

This last photo is for my good friend Rebecca, who is just beginning the packing and moving process with her family of three little ones. I guess the purpose is just to show that nearly a month after move-in: a) we've decided to incorporate the "U-Haul Look" into our interior design scheme c) it is widely believed that there may actually be a fireplace behind all of those boxes, and c) we're gettin' there, and you will too Rebecca!

Max Man Ray

Boy is it nice to finally be back online. The move is complete but the work is far from done. At this point anything that distracts me from the enormity of the tasks at hand is a welcome diversion. While on a walk the other day with Max and his best girlfriend Anna, Max set up this surreal vignette and asked me to please take a picture. He helped me set up the shot and then took a few of his own. The whole series is really one of my favorite photo sets, ever. It's exactly how I have been feeling lately: very much upside down, with my legs flailing in the air and my head stuck in pipe. I know that things will right themselves soon enough with some physical, mental and emotional elbow grease. But for now I'm just going to try my best to enjoy how everything looks from this angle.

Vader Baby

I snapped this picture as we were headed off to pick up Jack from school today. Did you know Darth Vader had an infant son named Norman? Contrary to popular opinion he's actually a very good father. Almost all of his friends are girls, so he's quite in touch with his feminine side. Starbucks is one of his favorite haunts, where he can always be found leisurely sipping a Horizon chocolate milk and munching on a donut of any variety. He's a friend to all animals great and small, and loves to snuggle anywhere, anytime. He makes absolute sure Norman is well cared for night and day (except when he's thrown to the ground from the limbs of a giant rhododendron.) He bathes, comforts, and nourishes his baby. But most of all he protects Norman from vicious attackers whenever they are in battle. And from what I've observed there have been no limbs amputated by light saber, whatsoever.

New Beginnings

Today was Jack's first day of First Grade. This picture is hilarious and perfectly represents Jack's state-of-being as of late: I'm trying not to smile because I don't want to, but I can't help but smile because my mom is such a dork. He had mixed emotions about today, and I clearly remember feeling the same way when I was a kid. He was excited to see his friends, to get to know his teacher, and to be a Big Kid. But he was sad to be leaving home for the whole day. He and Max had a five minute discussion at breakfast about being best friends, and about how much they love each other. And from the minute we got back in the car after dropping Jack at school Max has been like a lost puppy. He's aimless, wilted, and flopping around on he floor like a fish out of water. I've been hugging him lots, but I think he'll be glad to start preschool next week. With one more week to go until we move I haven't been the best mom around.

Work has begun on The House. Yesterday they started by ripping up the carpet on the basement stairs, the main stairs, the main floor hallway and the upstairs hallway. The main floor hallway has the same beautiful mahagony inlay as the living and dining rooms, but I never knew it because it was covered by carpet. That was an exciting find. They've sanded the entire upstairs and are ready to seal it. They'll begin the downstairs rooms tomorrow. I love hardwood floors, and I've really missed the look and feel of it these past few years that we've had carpet. Jack informed me that he prefers carpet like our house has now, but I had to inform him that he learned to crawl and walk on our hardwood floors in LA. So there! We finally agreed that hardwoods with rugs is the perfect combination. These floor guys are good and they're making good progress, which is important because the timing will be getting critical next week!

Sand, Salt Water and Tomatillo Green?

We just came home from a great extended weekend with my parents at a beach house in Gearhart, Oregon. This is the fourth year in a row for our Gearhart getaway, and we always find ourselves in awe of the beauty and splendor of the Oregon coast. Jack is a complete beach nut. Come to think of it he has been in love with the ocean since he was just a toddler at Manhattan Beach when we lived in Los Angeles. He would sit for long periods of time just pushing his cars and trucks through mountans of sand. Now somehow he has come to associate the beach with being nude.
Within seconds of hitting the shore his clothes are in a pile at his feet and he's off like a gazelle running over the dunes, through beach grass and into the waves. We're not exactly sure, however, how this habit will translate into action when he becomes a teenager. Perhaps we should be worried, but for now it's a pretty amazing sight. Max is a bit more reserved than Jack when it comes to nudity, but he loves the beach equally. Running through flocks of resting birds seemed to be his favorite bit of action. Although snuggling in the chair with me and eating yummy snacks was one of his highlights too. And once again, Zöe may perhaps be the wildest of all. She has no fear and would wander into the waves and swim to Atlantis if someone weren't holding the back of her shirt. She face-planted into sand and water with nary a pause, oggled horses and dogs, and happily ran through the rain. Her nickname for the trip was "nature's child." I think it suits her.

The only bummer of the whole trip was that it was necessary for us to leave early and take care of some pressing business here at home. We need to pack our boxes because two weeks from today we're moving! We have sold our house and are buying my grandparents house in the Laurelhusrt neighborhood. The excitement level around here is pretty intense and emotions (on every level) are running high. It's actually a pretty amazing story. Thirty-one years ago my grandparents were babysitting me and brought me with them to look at a beautiful house that they were hoping to buy. I remember my gorgeous grandmother leaning close to me as she told me that this was our secret and that I needed to do my best not to tell anyone until the time was right. Somehow my four-year-old mouth kept the secret (much to my mom's amazement) and I always felt extra-special that I was her co-conspirator in such a grand plan.
The house became a castle to me, as the backdrop for decades of happy memories. Holidays of every sort were celebrated there with Aunt and Uncle, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents. Their home served as an anchor for all of us, the place where we gathered together no matter where life was taking our individual family units. Since the passing of my grandfather several years ago and my grandmother just this Spring, I feel so honored and fortunate that I can attempt to carry on the tradition of this great gathering place. It's twice the size of where we live now, double the bathrooms (two instead of one!), with a great 1950's knotty-pine party room basement. My parents sacfrificed an enormous amount to make this happen, and for that I'm forever grateful. So now we get to make all sorts of exciting decisions such as: Tomatillo or Pressed Leaves green? We're having the floors refinished, a new roof, paint, tree-trimming and so on. I'll be posting lots of before-and-after photos in the coming months. But for now it's just Playstation2 for the boys, Teletubbies for Zöe, and packing for Eric and me.

Happy Birthday Dear Eric, Happy Birthday To You!

My first thought this morning is that we need to get more pictures with daddy in them. I think this one is about a year old. After that my thoughts venture into birthday territory...how lucky we all are that 37 years ago our Eric came into the world! What an amazing man we have in our lives. Jack loves daddy because he's happy all the time, and loves to snuggle. Max loves daddy because he makes our house "full of laughing." They both love that he's silly, chases them, jumps around, and makes gross sounds. Zöe loves that he feeds her all the yummy foods she loves, and takes her for adventure walks outside in the backyard. I love Eric for all of those same reasons (except the gross sounds), and for the three children who expressed them. I love Eric for making our lives full of fun with enthusiasm, energy, and light. Happy Birthday to Eric, and Happy Birthday to us. Today we celebrate our good fortune that you were born!

Chop Chop

Last night at Salon 77, Mandy cut 14 inches off of my long, long hair. What a liberating experience! I haven't had it this short since seventh grade, and other than that I think 1992 was the last time I even had it slightly above my shoulders. So, hooray for a new 'do. I am loving the feeling of shortness! This morning when I stepped on the scale I was four pounds lighter, literally. Now I know my hair couldn't have weighed that much, but I'm taking it as a good sign.


I've been busy making dresses to sell at Art in August, which is this Sunday. My friend Holly puts together an amazing garden party/crafty show every summer with a dozen local artists. I was so happy with the dress I made for Zöe last week that I decided to make more. I figured out how to increase the size and I bought some great fabrics, so I've been able to make seven so far in three different sizes. I have two more ready to sew in an even larger size. In the end I'll have four sizes total with 10-12 dresses in all. It's been fun, but I think I'm getting a little weary. Yesterday I took my sewing machine into the shop because the thread kept jamming and getting all twisted up around the bobbin. I was certain that I had a big problem on my hands. Boy did I feel a like an idiot when the guy showed my the problem...I simply had it threaded incorrectly. I must be getting tired, because threading it is something I can normally do with my eyes closed. My feeling of stupidity was quickly surpassed by my relief that the machine is fine and I can keep on sewing.

Better Than A Barbie

Actually I never had a Barbie, Skipper was the only fashion play doll I was permitted to own. It just so happened that I liked Skipper better anyway, so that worked out nicely for my mom. But in the end, my little Dottie Z: The Living Doll totally takes the cupcake. She walks, she talks (in her own language even!), she smiles, grins, laughs and cuddles. But even better, she's a running, moving, climbing, twirling girl body just perfect for dressing-up. We'll worry about all that awful teenage-girl stuff later. Last night I finished the first real dress for Zöe that I've ever made. I'm so excited! I've been turning the pattern idea over in my mind for a few weeks now, and it came out exactly as I'd hoped. The thought of hems and finished edges (armholes, neckline) was intimidating to me, so I used the serge stitch on my sewing machine for all of the "raw" edges. It was much easier and I really like to look. The fabric is all cotton; the stripe is by Michael Miller, and the dotted fabric is called "soft spot" by Alexander Henry. I purchased both at the one-acre-large Fabric Depot. There is a vertical opening in the back at the neckline with a hook-eye closure, and a little pocket on the front of the apron. I've got some great 1930's vintage reproduction fabric, and I'm itchin' to make another one already!

All About Teeth

I FINALLY finished the tooth-fairy pillows that I sold as auction items for the Preshcool way back in March! I made one for Jack when he lost his first tooth, inspired by a pillow my friend Rebecca made for her son Parker. I'm happy with how they turned out, especially since I'm very new to the "sewing thing" and it's been a while since I made the first one. The tooth itself is a small pocket, sewn tightly enough to securely hold the homeless chomper until that lovely fairy whisks it away to tooth-land. It's big enough to hold a folded certificate of some sort, coins, paper money, diamonds, raisins, or whatever the fairy fancies as adequate payment.


We were able to use Jack's very own tooth pillow once again last night, as he lost the second of his top front teeth. It was wiggly beyond all wiggliciousness, but he still wouldn't let me "take it out." (We are unable to use the phrase "pull it out" without inspiring Jack to try and glue his loose tooth back in with peanut butter.) As he was getting dressed yesterday he pulled his shirt over his head, and the thing just popped out and rolled across the floor. If you ask me, that little central incisor was trying to make a break for it. It must know something about that tooth-fairy that we don't know. What could it be, I wonder?

Dementors and Bludgers and Muggles, oh my!

I finally finished reading The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber. At almost a thousand pages, that in itself was no easy task. I really liked it. Set in Victorian London and centered around the life of a 19-year-old prostitute, the characters are amazing and the descriptions of period costume, habits, and social stations are fascinating. It's a simple enough story, rather hard to imagine that it could cover so many pages, actually. But it rolls along at a good clip, and is told with such depth and detail that it's easy to become immersed. A few of the lesser characters and their plot lines drag a bit, but not nearly enough to cause boredom. It's easily made up for by the unbelieveable lives of the more key characters. A good read! Soon I will be moving on to Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, as I begin yet another adventure (this time about a lesbian music-hall singer) into the steamy underbelly of Victorian London. But in the meantime I must read the new Harry Potter book The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. A new Harry Potter never fails to deliver a solid, fun, and exciting read.


In other news, we're in our second week of swimming lessons for Jack and Max. They're both doing great. They love playing the games and they're comfortable in the pool, but they're not keen at all on getting their heads underwater. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to begin lessons. Zöe and I join the boys for free swim when their lesson is over, and we all play in the pool together. Today the boys made great advances in submerging themselves all the way up to their ears! Woo hoo! I think they're inspired by their little sister, for Zöe Dott is emerging as the true water-baby of the family. She floats on her belly with only a little support underneath, and spends most of the time with her face IN the water, blowing bubbles and drinking the yummy pool juice. I think I'll start her with some parent/child lessons in the fall.

Underarm Alarm!

Editor's Note: In order not to offend the sensitive nature of our gentle reader, there will be no photo accompanying this story.

Early this morning I was still half asleep, cozy, warm, and thoroughly enjoying my morning snuggle with Jack in our bed. Since the boys are such early risers, this extra few minutes of relaxation once they come downstairs is my favorite way to get things going. However, the day was quickly encroaching; hungry kids and cat would soon need attention, and the aroma of coffee was begining to stir me into motion. Still lying down, I reached up my arms for a good long stretch. Jack quietly gasped, then lightly grabbed the strap of my tank top. "Oh Mommy, " he said tentatively, closely inspecting my armpit, " I'm afraid you're getting...Man Hair!" My loud guffaw threw him into a fit of giggles. But truth be told, he really was very, very concerned, the poor lad.

Run Hit Wonder

Eric and I had a big outing without the kids this weekend! My folks babysat all three on Sunday morning while we participated in Nike's Run Hit Wonder with our friend Holly. It was great! My old army wound (a broken ankle from six years ago) has been bothering me lately, so we just walked the 5K race. It's just as well really, because there was a band every mile which made it fun to stop, look, and listen.


The event culminated with a finish line concert on the field of PGE Park by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Because we were one of the first 4,000 to sign up for the race (it ended up drawing over 10,000 people) we had "field access" to the show, which was fun. It was odd to hear such a hard rockin' band at 10:30 am. on a bright, sunny morning, surrounded by healthy running-types all clad in orange. But the show was great, especially since I'd forgotten how many good songs she has. Party-on Wayne!


Jack, Max, and Zöe had a great time with my parents. They went for ice cream, played in the park, bought a new game for the Playstation 2, stopped at McDonalds and set up a new Tiki-Soaker water toy in the backyard. No wonder the kids are always pushing us out the door when Nee and Obby come over to babysit. Now that I'm looking at the list of our activities as a side-by-side comparison, I think the kids had more fun hands-down. Sorry Joan.

Change is Good

This is just to let folks know that I've changed the settings on this blog regarding "Comments." It's now possible to leave a comment whether you have your own blogger account or not, by clicking on "anonymous." You can leave your comment and sign your name to it as you wish without a blogspot username. I absolutely LOVE comments, so please keep 'em coming!
And since I just can't bear to post without a photo, here's one of Zöe sitting on the glider in our backyard, curls and all.

The Sno-Cone Zone

Somehow we made it through six years of parenting without our kids indulging in such a simple, classic treat as the sno-cone. It's most certainly not that we are against sweets, ice cream, candy, or the like. Au contraire! More likely it's that our boys are pretty picky, even when it comes to "fun" foods. I recently begged Jack to try some Reese's Pieces because I knew he'd love them. I know, that was pretty stupid wasn't it? But I tell you, the kid is disturbingly suprising. He totally spit them out in disgust.


Thankfully, Zöe Dott is our prize-winning eater. There's nothing she won't try and very little she doesn't like. It's so much fun to giver her new foods and watch her investigate, sample, and attack with delight. Maybe I'm more mellow about choking/messes/etc. this third time around, maybe her personality is just a little more daring, or maybe it's a combination of both. At any rate, I guess for now we'll just have to settle for one out of three in the adventurous eating category.



Today after soccer all of our friends went over to the cute little sno-cone stand by the swimming pool at the park. I thought for sure my boys wouldn't be interested, but they were. Even after Jack learned that they didn't have chocolate flavor, he decided to try one anyway (strawberry and cherry mixed). He was very pleased with his experimentation, as was Max. Zöe was just happy to have something sweet and messy to dump upside down onto her shirt. I'm sure we'll be having one again tomorrow. Now we just need to work on getting the boys to try a hamburger, macaroni and cheese, or a turkey sandwich. Maybe if we put it in a cone?

Bend it Like Beckham

It's been all about soccer around here for a few weeks now. Jack completed two weeks of an all-day soccer camp, and this week he and Max are participating in back-to-back classes at the park. They are both really into it!


At the moment, however, we only own one pair of shinguards and one pair of cleats. So we do a major switcheroo of sweaty foot gear from one kid to the next in the few minutes between their classes. Poor Max gets the sweaty seconds. I guess if Max is going to play in the fall, we'll need to get him his own gear!







Zöe has been getting out there too, kicking the ball around with the big boys. She has no qualms about toddling out onto the field in the middle of practice to try and kick the ball, which usually causes a cacauphony of giggling from the serious, big-kid players.



This Saturday is a big Portland Timbers match vs. Sunderland AFC of the English Premier League. Nike hid 50 soccer balls around downtown Portland yesterday morning, each worth two free tickets to Saturday's game. I loaded up the kids before soccer class and we scouted around a bit, but were unsuccessful in our searching. It was very exciting, though, and I must say it felt a tiny bit Willie Wonka-ish. Although clearly I'd rather have a Golden Ticket to Wonka's Chocolate Factory over stupid old free soccer tickets any day. As we evidently have neither, we'll have to be happy with the Dairy Queen ice cream we had on our way home from the park. Fair enough.

Birds Behaving Badly

We have visitors in town for the next several days. Grandma Barbara (Eric's mom) and her fiancé Cannon are visiting from Cincinnati. So we took them to the Oregon Zoo yesterday to ride the cool train and see some animals.

Our very first stop was Lorikeet Landing which is always Eric's favorite. You buy a small cup of nectar, step into the aviary, and within seconds you become a human landing zone for the hungry lorikeets. It totally gives me the creeps, but the kids get a kick out of watching dad covered with birds. Yesterday, however, the birds were on some serious crack. One bird unloaded what seemed like a cup full of pee right onto Max. This is the kid with the dramatic flair, who remembers every tragic, scary, embarassing, sad or frightening event that has ever happened to him in his four and a half years of life. He crumbled into tears, ran out of the aviary, and has promised us all that he will never go in there again for all of eternity. Another bird tried to make a nest in grandma Barbara's hair, and a third one ate a hole in Cannon's straw hat. There were peckings, poopings, and pluckings practically every step of the way. People were perplexed and partaking in loads of anitbacterial wash as they fled, screaming from the place.

At least all was made better in the evening when we had a lovely engagement party for Barbara and Cannon at my parents house. Lashings of champagne, cake and ice cream with fresh raspberries, soothed our lorikeet-rattled nerves. All is now right with the world.

Vintage Vandals

Zöe Dott and I had a Big Night Out yesterday evening. We went to the opening of Vintage Vandals at Savage Art Resources. It was great! My mom did an amazing painting for the show, and there were so many fun pieces to look at that we had a great time. Zöe was the only kid there and she was loving the attention. She was a spectacular stair-climbing, twirling girl!

Me and my kids

This is from our day at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Going left to right are Zöe, me, Jack, and Max.