Snapshot Workshop

A few days in to Ashley Ann's SnapShot workshop and I'm kinda obsessed. Not only is her teaching and feedback excellent, but I'm loving the collaboration aspect of it too with the others in the class. And what's nice is that pretty much everyone is on the same field. So encouraging and so challenging. 

It's funny how some things start to click. Like when we need to share about our relationship with photography. I remember walking along Sunset Blvd near my apartment in collage with my mom's old dslr and taking pictures of flowers, front doors, and fences. I even got some of my film rolls printed and framed. I had no clue what I was doing, but I loved it. I've always loved the art behind photography: the elements of composition and story-telling. I'm just so thrilled to finally learn some of the technical. 

Here's a bit of what I've been working on... 

Here's to brighter and crisper pictures that require less editing. ;)

TWO Cool For School Party

Theo's birthday party was over the weekend. I had no idea until Sunday morning that it was also the kick-off of football season. Duh! But everyone came and loved on our little butterball. He is the sweetest; he showed so much gratitude and delight the whole time. 

I went with a "school" theme for Theo's second..even though he's a loooong way off until he'll be crackin' open the books. But with the new vintage desk in their room and the giant school map waiting to be hung up as inspiration, I just went with it: paper airplanes, lined paper, a globe, number two pencils, books, and apples.

I kept things real simple by just serving a handful of snacks and just focused on dessert. W is master dessert maker so he made the cupcakes and frosted them, per usual. He made a slightly larger cupcake for Theo.

For a guest book, I made cut-out apples for everyone to sign.

And put his baby book out viewing.

Vesper got her share of being passed around during the party. She was a good sport. When she got tired, into the carrier she would go.

Opening presents was by far the best entertainment. Theo would get so hooked on one gift that he would completely ignore my suggestions to keep going. And Ezra was having the time of his life watching all the new gifts Theo was getting. I'm pretty sure he must have figured out that he would be playing with them too eventually. But I was grateful for his awesome attitude either way. {He may have mentioned more than once that he got a little something too by way of his Thor costume...}

And I'm so happy to report that he kept that birthday crown on the entire party. He sure knows how to make this Mama happy. ;)

He may have needed a little help with blowing out the candle but certainly not the eating part. 

Happy second birthday, Butterball! You are totally TWO cool.

Field Trip Fridays

My girlfriend, Rita, has five kids.

 That she also happens to homeschool. 

Every May she sets aside Fridays for field trip type outings and invites others to tag along. 

So, tag along we have!

Our first outing was to Ardenwood Historical Farm. We saw all the animals including baby goats and free-roaming chickens, like the one Rita's holding.

Then off to Sunol Regional Park for a mile loop hike and playing in the creek. This one was a bit of a challenge only because Theo was playing the "Mama's boy" card and wouldn't let others carry him for long or go into the hiking backpack that a friend brought. So I carried two kids for much of the mile. And Ezra did the whole loop with the big kids without a sweat. That guy sure has some major endurance.

We hit up Sulfur Creek Nature Center next. Which I had never even heard of before. It's a rehabilitation center for animals so there were some really cool ones like hawks, vultures, several owl species and coyotes. They also have a "animal lending library" where you can take home a pet for a week with all its essentials to get your pet-fix without long-term commitments. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me!

And this week we're headed to Shadow Cliffs for hiking and beach time. And the best part is its usually deserted during the week so we'll get the whole beach to ourselves!

Rita only schedules field trips for this month, but I'm hassling her to keep it up. There are so many fun things to do with kids around here and its always more fun to do it together. Especially when I can commission someone to watch Theo while I nurse. That kid is constantly seeking out a way to get injured. It's been fun pretending we're a homeschooling family and getting to join the co-op field trips!

Celebrating William

This past weekend, we hosted a graduation par-tay for W. It being October and all...not really graduation season, I got a bit creative for the little amount of decorations I used. Since he's going to be an accountant, I went with the money theme to help boost the festive-feel.

Amongst the candy dishes, I included some "Smarties" too! Mom borrowed a robe for him to wear.

And Mama Judy flew in for the weekend to celebrate with us! So proud of her son!

E was a huge hit {surprise, surprise!} He got to meet some long-time family friends for the first time. It's times like these that I'm grateful for his mild case of stranger/separation anxiety {so far}. Definitely a people person, that kid! Here he is with Annette, my mom's friend since grade school.

Hanging with Mel Mel (above) and Donna (below)

Teri and Robert sandwiching Sabrina {who's 1/4 of my parents' European traveling team.}

 The lovely and creative Margaret, who did my beautiful wedding decorations and center pieces. And the fabulous Miss Diane. Love that woman like a grandma...she's known me since I was 6!

My girls and I...also known as E's favorite aunties.

A word to the wise, never leave your child with 'older-more-mature women' who are in the same room as cupcakes!!! Ever! They'll think it's funny to give him sugar in amounts you won't be happy with {Ahem, Mother!!} A few bites won't hurt him, but let's not get carried away here. Thankfully, he was so busy the whole evening that he worked out whatever sugar was in his system by bedtime. Auntie Linds definitely helped; after all the guests were gone & it was clean up time.

The Swenson family felt loved, blessed, and cherished that evening. And very very exhausted! W & I hit the sack around 9:30 and woke up to our E alarm clock around 8am. Guess the evening tired him out too!

Homework Assignment!

Everyone meet Mr. Stanley...

Our lovely and super articulate niece, Amy Linnea, sent him all the way from Indiana. She's in the 2nd grade this year and is doing a kind of geography/pen-pal project with her class. We're so excited that she selected us to represent her Californian Swenson family and host Mr. Flat Stanley until January. That's when we have to send him back via snail mail to his classmates with all sorts of bay area information, pictures, and any other fun stuff we want to stick in there. 

My 5th graders did a similar project to learn about the 50 states. We sent out composition journals to someone they knew and asked them to write about their state and town. That person was then required to send it off to someone else, hopefully in another state. Much like a chain letter. Along the way, we asked those involved to send postcards from their area. We'd look up the areas on a map & read the postcards to the class. It was really cool. I wish I did something these projects when I was in school. One student got a whole package from Hawaii full of all sorts of goodies!! The hope in the end was that the last family to get the journal close enough to May would send it back to our class. Then the student would have a journal full of state travel, information, pictures, postcards, etc. that they could keep. Who knows what kind of interest it could spark in students to travel and check out other places. Or just broaden their view of the world and how other people live by just a little bit.

We are just sooo excited to have some homework!! We hope to post more about Mr. Stanley and his adventures while staying with us. We're ready to show our guest a good time in the San Francisco Bay Area! Just have to make sure Stanley doesn't get any drool or teeth marks on him...you know, keep him in a safe place, away from tiny hands!

He's Done!

W finished his last final on Thursday evening. He is an official graduate from Hayward with a BSBA in accounting. Three years in the making. I'm beyond proud of him. 

He was never the kid who 'always' knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. When we started dating, he had lots of different experiences and skills, but never really found something that seemed to stick. I asked him what he wanted to be and he simply replied, "A father." He got his culinary degree but found that the restaurant business was no family business since the busiest times are nights, weekends, and holidays. He was a youth pastor for a time but struggled to provide for his bachelorhood and burned out really quickly without formal education. When we met, he was working for a company that prepared skin sample slides for dermatologists. Basically, he cut skin into thin slices and sandwiched them between plastic bits. 

Before I met W, I had a list. A list of requirements I was looking for in my spouse. Some of which were non-negotiable, some that were just plain fun 'what-ifs'. One non-negotiable was having graduated from college. My extremely practical parents have always wanted what's best for me and knew how important education is to providing for a family {with a quiver full.} So I've grown up with that instilled in me. I wanted an equally yoked man in important areas of my life. A man I could have hardy intellectual conversations with. Someone I could easily respect and follow even when the going got tough. Meeting W ruffled those education perceptions a bit. He had lots of life experience and wisdom beyond his years and schooling. His tender heart, maturity and solid character spoke much louder. But I knew practically speaking it would be easier on us in the future to finish school. Naturally, my parents were a bit hesitant about W at first. When he asked for my hand in marriage, he promised both my parents and me that he would complete school. 

And yesterday, he fulfilled that promise. So as any good wife and son would do, we made sure he had a full stomach to work off of before his last final. A sort of pre-celebration, just the three of us. We headed to the infamous Val's Burgers right by school to load him up.

We order two burgers, onion rings, and two chocolate shakes.

Of which, Ezra got his first tastes of a milkshake! History in the making, people!!

hmmmm, this looks like some yummy business...

just letting the taste buds marinate...

so this is what you've been keeping from me all these years days...I'm on to you guys...

But we've really discovered Ezra's absolute favorite food item. It's something that he will actually protest loudly about if you take it from him. And he sucks and eats at it as if we've never fed him.

Dill Pickles!

You can't even see it, he's all over it!!

Oh, yes, I almost forgot. We ordered a side of ham too...

So, it was a fantastic, delicious celebratory meal. We were wonderfully stuffed and W took his final with some good food fuel! That evening, we went over to my parents for a celebration dinner with sister, Linds. I could visually see the weight lifted off W. It's nice to have my hubby back from the pits of stress and finals. 

And who knows what the future holds. He will take his C.P.A. exam soon as well as job hunt with the few leads he has. But this piece of paper will open some big doors for him. And for that, we are thankful.