Family Camp 2012

Last weekend we were suckered invited to join our church's annual Family Camp in Pinecrest. It was a somewhat last minute decision, but we're so glad we went. Our church 'rents' out an entire campsite and  there are hundreds of tents, cabins, RVs, and pop-up trailers all over. It was their tenth year doing this summer-time tradition. Ezra was in absolute heaven: dirt and kids twenty-four/seven. Every boy's dream. 

It was our first family trip as a family of four...we've definitely slowed down our travel this season compared to when we just had Ezra. I'm going to attribute that to our rough year and not because we've added another. ;)

The first night was way rough with Theo...just not use to the new space, noises and tent-sharing arrangements. Could also be from the tooth that broke throw over the weekend?! Either way, we definitely took turns napping during the day. The second night was close enough to like every other night that we woke up feeling good. The days were full of friends, encouraging conversations, yummy food {all provided for}, a trip to the lake, hikes and the like. Stuff memories are made of. 

Some of those moments I captured...

Mel's Wedding

I've been such a bad family historian lately! It's so sad. But I'm here, have some time before dinner, and ready to post finally!!!

The first event on my camera is Melanie's wedding so I'll start catch up there. :) I helped her with decorations and some set-up. It was a hot hot hot afternoon, but no less filled with love, excitement and happiness. The wedding took place on her cousin's country property in the flatlands of Vacaville. 

Some simple, bright and homemade details...

It was so fun being a part of Raymond and Melanie's day!

Glitter And Gloss Craft Day

A few weeks ago, I got to leave the boys in good hands {W} and spend SEVEN hours crafting with some fabulous girls. Spoiled, I know! I pumped extra for T the days leading up to the event and was actually quite nervous since this was the first time he'd be taking a bottle. Thankfully, he was super chill and went with the new program. And I got to craft...for SEVEN hours!

Check out more of the great girl time event from Heather via Glitter and Gloss blog.

IG ::Sharing the Love::

Those who know me know I kinda love Instagram. Kinda alot. It's basically the improved twitter since it's a feed of pictures with captions, although I never did twitter. It's a little peek into whatever the person is seeing, eating, buying, cleaning out of the carpets from their kids, etc...you get the idea. Even better are the fun filters and the square size. Truly, Instagram is so square.

Not too far into my discovery of this fun app, I started to venture beyond friends and family that I knew. It was kinda scary but I liked their style and taste so I thought it would fun to enhance my feed a bit. I started with bloggers I follow and it kinda spread from there. Now there are a few favorites that I pretty much love every single picture they post and they are quite inspiring. Yet they have no clue who I am or maybe even that I'm following. Maybe it's their photography, style, products they like, or ideas they share. 

Wanna know a little trick? If I see something I like, I take a screen-shot so it's saved into my photos. Maybe it's a paint color they used to paint their living room, or a new product they just bought, or a latest DIY project that I want to show W. And another trick I use to find new people is the "Following" section in news. It shows you who loved or commented on others' IGs. I've found a few more random people to follow from that.

So here are some of my "you don't know me in real life" IG-ers that I personally love along with a few of my favorite pictures. I found as I was making this that I'm 90% vintage and only 10% modern, preppy or classic. Guess I'm drawn to the whimsy, old, and hodge-podged. All that to say, these may not inspire you, specifically, but perhaps it'll just be an encouragement to use IG for inspiration. Find people who share things you love but take it up a notch.

I'm gonna get that 10% over now... ;)

IGer: Glitter Guide

She's got expensive and glamorous taste. And every once in a while there be something she shares that I could potentially put on a wishlist. ;)

On to the 80%...

IGer; Cubby Graham

Just started following him and can't even tell you how I stumbled upon him. But he does great things that make you wonder how come your iphone doesn't get shots like these. He does have a waterproof case which allowed for that first picture. I also learned about the trends of photoidgrams and ollograms..which uses that small extra lens for a special effect.

IGer: Miss Sew and So

Australia based with a cuuuute cottage house. She does great beach pics too.

IGer: Denise Bovee

IGer: Kirsten Rogers

Big following of over 9,000 people! She's a photographer by trade so you know her pics are going to be great. She also homeschools her kiddos so its fun seeing their daily adventures.Truly beautiful everyday living. It was hard only picking four.

IGer: Joy Prouty

So I've left my favorite for last. She's also a photographer by trade in Southern California. In fact she posted about a garage sale she was having and it killed me to watch the feed that day and the days leading up to it. Would have loved snagging some of her vintage finds! She gets asked all the time if the pictures she posts are taken with an iphone. They are hard-to-believe good. And her love of farm life and wide open spaces make my heart skip a beat! And with over 3,500 pictures, she keeps her followers happy with all her artwork!

So, do you follow anyone whose "follower" numbers triple or more the number they are following?! Anyone whose pictures you look forward to seeing? Perhaps you found a few more to add to your feed if you use IG. 

{disclaimer: don't worry, Mom. I'll show you how to use it again soon!}

Circle Garland Tutorial

I became a circle garland fan with our dining area re-do. I'm finally getting around to that tutorial. For this garland, I used felt but the one hanging in my house is made of paper. Both are great mediums to use. Obviously, felt is much more durable and hardy than paper. But the steps and outcome are the same.

I started with tracing lots and lots of circles.

Cut, cut and more cutting.

Into stacks.

Next, I worked out my pattern...

 Then dumped them into bowls...

Almost good enough to eat, eh?

Seriously, love felt.

Time for assembly! Basically, I just fed the felt circles through the feed-dog and the foot; making sure to keep the foot down the entire time. Once it catches, it moves through on its own. Continue to feed the felt through and adding each new circle until it catches. Don't worry if a few stitches pass before the next circle catches, the spacing won't matter in the end.

I kept my bowls close so I could just grab a new circle fast and feed it through. The biggest pain is keeping up with the pattern and getting circles in fast enough.

And out comes the garland on the other side.

In no time at all, you'll have a super long garland...

Ready to hang up...

or wrap up for transfer!

Easy way to add some whimsy to a room or party!

9 months

Lots of babbling and talking..we swear {Ezra included} we've heard you 'say' actual words like "clapping" "talk" "hi" "bye"...weirdest thing! Those Swenson boys sure know how to talk! ;)

LOVE bath time with brother

Surprising us with light hair. Still got dark eyes.

Pushing up onto your knees...exciting--yes...but also scary because that will mean I really have two kids now. Two that I'll have to run after soon.

Have four teeth..three on top, one on the bottom while working on number five

Love "real people" food and grab at ours aggressively

In the 80th percentile for height, 10th for weight...I just have slender babes, I guess, what can I say?!

LOVE LOVE LOVE to clap. It's the sweetest, most adorable thing I've ever seen. And you'll actually do it on command. 

Finally starting to transition out of swaddling for sleep. We've now just got your bottom-half still in there

Snuggly, sweet, lovable and so so happy!

His Hair

So it's no secret that we like to keep Ezra's hair somewhat on the longer side. ;) I love his white blonde hair even if it's turning more toward the yellow/dirty blonde color. I figure when else can a boy get away with wild, untamed hair? Perhaps as a teenager, but then it's more on the stinky side and not so much on the sweet. ha!

Last week I noticed he could no longer really see through his bangs. So, I grabbed some scissors and we sat outside while I trimmed them a bit. Then I thought I should probably take it up just a hair on the length too since I was already at it. Several minutes later I realized I had completely miscalculated just how much I had trimmed. Then there was the whole frantic flurry of trying to save it {which we all know just makes it worse}.

My job {Before}...

 
The following day my parents took E and {what do ya know?} ended up at Sports Cuts. ;) There, they cleaned up my hot mess and had him looking much more adorable in no time.

Their clean-up {After}...

My little guy is looking and seeming so much older these days!