Peck Life

Weekending

Ahhh, a low key weekend. Between the dreary rain and colds we are all trying to fight off, it was one of those weekends where the pillow seemed like the best spot. We did, however, manage to not be completely lazy! There was dinner with family, banana bread making, a bit of thrifting, and many challenging hours spent dealing with Sky’s tantrums and poor sleeping.

Do you think he’s teething? I can’t tell. Not only is he sick right now {oh my gosh the snot!}, but we have started to transition him to a big bed via a mattress that’s on the floor of his bedroom. The ratio of bad to good nights is about 50/50 so I’m still trying to figure out if it’s his cold or this new sleeping situation. When he’s not being cranky and totally hysterical, he is a very very sweet boy. In between the spurts of 2-year old ishness, were many snuggles and silly play times, book reading, and of course, throwing a handful of bouncy balls ALL OVER the house.

On Saturday morning, Sky slept until 9:15 am. A world record I think? All this morning free time allowed me to make banana bread with the rotting bananas that had been sitting on our counter all week! Whoo hoo! I used this recipe from our America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.

Saturday afternoon we stepped out to go visit grandma, grandpa, and GREAT grandma! We ended up at Chinese food for dinner where Sky was actually pretty well behaved, thanks to the toys and endless supply of cheese-its and craisins while we waited for the food to arrive.

{Emily: scarf/marshalls, sweater/don’t remember, it’s old!, jeans/american rag, boots/ office via top shop. Sky: fleece/REI, jeans/osh kosh, shoes/etnies}

{linking up with Mandy at Harper’s Happenings}

Sunday was mostly a lazy day at home with the exception of an early evening goodwill drop off. I had 3 huge bags taking up space in the garage! We did a cruise through the store and while there were a few cute things {like the pyrex below}, we walked away mostly empty handed. The big score was a toy caterpillar excavator truck that was nearly brand new and working. It matches the backhoe we already have! Sky spotted it right away and carried it around the entire store, stopping to play with it whenever there was a little break. I get a little freaked about all the germs and grime but our local goodwill is fairly new so it’s not too bad. Definitely need to some wipes and soap when you’re done though.

And so, the weekend comes to close. As I type this, I’m eating giant peppermint patty hearts. They are pink inside….for Valentine’s day…oh such a good way to end a Sunday!

Weekending: Hot and Cold

Sometimes, life plans your weekends for you. In our case, it gave us a sick baby with a 103 temperature, 8 inches of snow, and a virus-infected computer. I'm wondering if it was the universe telling me to slow down? I get antsy when I'm not feeling productive but I’m going to decide, right here and now, that snuggling my boy all weekend was enough. It was productiveness in its truest form, being there when someone needs you. We watched Bob the Builder at 3 am, read too many books to count, ate donuts and soup with lots of oyster crackers, snuggled to even more TV, watched the snow dump down, and visited with Grandma and Grandpa {on Saturday as the fever was presenting itself for the first time}, all while ignoring most of the household chores, minus dishes which just need to get done.

The snow started early on Saturday and was off and on all weekend. After Sky woke up from his nap on Sunday, he was begging for "boots" and "sled" so we bundled him up and walked the neighborhood. Josh pulled him in the sled and all he could say was "again!", "again!". He LOVED it. It was snowing too hard to take the new camera with me, boo! I’m dying to try out some snow pictures with it!

One walk in the snow and that was our big outing for the day. Sky was beat and we spent the rest of the day loungin’. Lily {our dog} seems to be his new best bud. He'll come over to her and go "Hey Lily! How ya doinnnn?" It's so dang cute. Sometimes she acts annoyed but I can tell she loves him – she sleeps in his snow sled for crying out loud!

Weekending

It’s hard to believe we had date night #2 all within a two week span, but, it happened. Friday night, we joined our group of close friends for dinner at Earls and more drinks at Lucky Strike {where I realized I really am getting old - what loud music!}. We always have the best time! Almost all of my pictures were too dark/out of focus but we spent most the evening eating, drinking, and laughing. It's such a great group and I can't WAIT for our trip to Suncadia in January!

It's amazing to me how much downtown Bellevue has changed. I remember when the high rise buildings didn't exist. Bellevue Square was the only thing. When I was little, we used to drive all the way to JC Penny and "The Bon" to buy clothes. This was before Redmond had ANYTHING and was just giant fields and pastures for the hot air balloons. Crazy!!

For dinner, I had chicken tacos - which were yummy but SPICY!!! Coming from somoene who loves spice, I could barely taste anything since the hotness was so overpowering!

On Saturday, we hung out at home, had breakfast with Malia since she stayed over to help with Sky the night before, and then Sky and I had some together time while Josh went to work. We watched Charlie brown Christmas and listened to Christmas tunes while playing. Sky loves his play-doh now so we rolled balls over and over and then he would mash them with his trucks. He also played with a giant bag of buttons (they were big and he was supervised!) for over 20 minutes! He loves to put them in his back-hoe and then dump them out. Boy stuff I tell you! I also managed to finish up the favors for his party, some fabric Christmas bags, and get a load of laundry done, amazing!

I thought Sky might enjoy helping me wrap presents; my attempt at trying to be productive while home alone with him. But, after he ripped the roll of wrapping paper apart and wouldn’t stop running with the scissors, I gave up and put everything away. To make up for it, he says “ho ho ho” anytime you mention Santa now. It’s pretty adorable.

On Sunday afternoon, we went over to my grandma’s house to visit. Just before heading out the door, Josh put his scarf on Sky and we snapped a few pictures. GOSH my kid is cute.

At grandma’s Sky helped arrange all the little statues under her Christmas tree. He was a good helper! One of his other favorite activities at her house is to push around her walker…all over the house. His steering ability is actually pretty impressive! My dad made homemade hamburger soup and corn bread. Sky’s response? num num! That was followed up by almost an entire drumstick ice cream cone. It doesn’t happen that often so I let him indulge. When he was all done he decided to wipe his chocolate ice cream face all over my mom’s shirt, hahaha, so affectionate.

Before we left for the evening, my grandma and I were FINALLY able to play our long-awaited game of Scrabble. You see, we've been trying to get a game in for a few months now but between get togethers filled with other activities, trying to wrangle sky, and it just getting too late in the evening, it's been put on the backburner. I LOVE scrabble so i'm happy to have someone else to play with. It actually went faster than I remember so hopefully we can squeeze in a few more games over this holiday.

Weekending

There is lots of planning a plotting going on right now. With Christmas and Sky’s birthday on the horizon, my mind is in overdrive with ideas; things to make, presents to buy, crafts to create…my weekend brain felt full of lists and although nothing was put into action, I feel like I accomplished my mental plan for the next few weeks. Outside of my brain, we had family time. A Saturday spent in snowy Leavenworth, and a Sunday lounging at home {although Josh did let me venture to town alone for groceries!}. When I got home, Sky wanted to read stories in the bed so that’s what we did, and then we both fell asleep. It makes me look forward to “big boy bed” days a little more. How was your weekend?

First Frost

Last Friday, November 4, we had our first official REAL frost. It was 32 degrees exactly when I decided to slip on my rain boots, and tromp through the crunchy yard first thing in the morning to snap a few pictures. I love the way the ice crystals form on the plants when they still have some of their leaves!

Has it frozen in your neck of the woods yet?

Rain rain go away....

Here's our laundry room sink at the moment:

 I know we live in the Northwest….and I know it’s normal to get rain…..but C’MON! This is the 6th straight day of non-stop down pour! Everything is flooded, our backyard is practically a lake, everyone is going crazy, and the garden wants to get growing! I was really worried about the peas I planted about 2 weeks ago (on a rare non-rainy day) but I checked yesterday and they have actually sprouted!!!! There is light at the end of the tunnel! I have no idea if the potato starts we planted are going to survive – eek. This past Sunday, even though it was freezing cold {and raining}, I could resist getting some plants on a trip to Sky Nursery with my friend, Krissy. Let’s hope they stay alive long enough to get planted!

In other news, over the past few months….I have become more reliant on my morning coffee. It used to be that I would wake up all chipper and drink my one cup {with half creamer, let’s be honest} while I checked my morning email. I didn’t require it…it was just nice to have. This was all before we had Sky. These days….the day itself is harder. There is no more leisurely morning email checking - there is a lot of busy baby to care for and we are on duty 24/7. I NEED that coffee. I was always a one-cup gal but lately…especially on weekends, sometimes it takes 2 cups to muster up enough stamina to chase this boy. I probably should stop. But, it’s cold and RAINING….

Random

Oh, time! Where does it go? Seems we've been extra busy and extra tired lately. Josh and Sky have both been sick with the crud. Here are some bits of random from the past week!

 

We finally watched The Social Network {our netflix DVD that had been collecting dust!}. Check it out!

 

I tried a mexi-coke. It's slightly different than regular coke because it's made with REAL cane sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup. You can get bottles at Costco. :)

 

I used some leftover paper and my beloved twine to spruce up these tulips:

 

I'm taking a publisher design class tomorrow. I have a fear of trying new things so I'm a little nervous but it should be fun to meet some great gals and learn new tricks!

 

I got a dwarf honeycrisp apple tree and some organic yukon gold potato starts for my birthday! The tree is already planted and the potatoes will get going in the next month, kind of exciting!

 

One of Schuyler's favorite things right now is playing the piano at Grandma and Grandpa's:

Daylight savings has been an especially rough adjustment this time, 3 days later and we are still trying to get back to a normal schedule.

 

I'm determined to get going on our 2010 {and the last 2 weeks of 2009} photo book. I've always used Picaboo but I'm thinking of trying something new - maybe Blurb or MyPublisher.

 

We made cookies {meaning Josh baked and I supervised}- chocolate chip cookies with oreo inside! They were a w e s o m e.

 
 
 

Valentine's Day Inspiration

I don't normally decorate for small holiday's like Valentine's Day or even Easter. We don't really have many cute decorations and by the time I get them out, it's time to put them away. I'm sure this will all change once Sky starts coloring me beautiful pictures. However, let's pretend we win the LOTTO and we have a darling house where we can spend free days at home {because we don't have to work} and there is extra cash lying around to change up the house throughout the year. If that were true, here are some things I would add to celebrate this sweet little day. I LOVE! PS - do you like my "mood board"? I did it all by myself!

 
1. Mercury Glass Votive Holders {West Elm}

2. Heart Pillow {Room and Board}

3. Love Pillow {Etsy}

4. Madison Mirror {Restoration Hardware}

5. Work of Art Print {Etsy}

6. Rug {Overstock}

7. Throw Pillow {CB2}

8. Red Lamp {Ballard Designs}

9. Mercury Glass Vases {West Elm}

10. Duo Gray/White Velvet Pillow {CB2}

11. Wool Blanket {Atlantic Blanket Co.}

12. Fainting Sofa {Urban Outfitters}

Books to Love

Lately we've been reading a lot of books to Sky. By far, some of the best are written and illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa. This woman devoted her life to Children's books. She died at the age of 90 almost 10 years ago. I had her books when I was little. In fact, one of the books we read at least once a day {"Baby Animals"} is MY copy. Thankfully, it's still in good enough shape to use today. I always thought she was a long lost author. Turns out, I was wrong. She's pretty popular! I found "10 little babies" at PCC of all places! They had an entire display of her books. One stroll through the kids section at Barnes and Noble and there are many more books for all ages with her gorgeous pictures…I can't wait to read them all to Sky when as he gets older. My next purchase will be the "A to Z Picture Book" because the illustrations are just too adorable.

If you aren't familiar with her books, I would highly suggest checking them out. They are just the BEST!

Pondering a Playroom

Our downstairs basement is one big open room. Currently, it is home to the TV, entertainment center, and couch on one side and….randomness on the other; a bookshelf, some chairs, an old wood chest, pictures that still need to be hung on the wall - you get the idea! I really want to give Sky a spot to spread out. As he gets older (and the toys accumulate) he needs a spot to call his own! Not to mention the downstairs is much “safer” – carpet instead of hardwood, no stairs to fall down, limited breakable items. We already have some trofast storage from Ikea, a small chocolate storage ottoman, and a cute kids rocking chair that we painted blue. I'm thinking....a cute rug, lots of floor pillows (that are washable), more storage, and art cable, a renovated toy box (from the old wood chest we have), maybe a funky lamp, an easel, perhaps a low activity table? The possibilities are endless! I'm guessing this will all depend on what Ikea presents to me next time I visit. :)

Here are a few pictures that are really inspiring me at the moment: