Soooooo... I have been hearing about some blog friends having trouble with leaving comments on the blog. Boo! Everyone knows the comment are the reason I do this! I think I fixed it so please give it a whirl and see if it works. Pretty please, I don't think you even have to sign in anymore. Just lemme know so I can sleep tonight ;)

Halloween 2007

Just a little photo motivation for me in the midst of a very harried weekend. Agggh, we are having a lot of "Make it work," moments this Halloween!

it's fall, y'all

 And here is the proof; mad decorating, crafting and mostly treat-eating going on around here. (Gotta store up for winter, what are the Holidays without a little extra muffin top?)

Doughnut Hole Acorns
Book Pumpkin
And these marshmallows made THE best crispie treats.

 Back to working on four costumes for the big night next week. Parker is going as the Joker, Kaleb as Halt from The Ranger's Apprentice, Aden as a Dementor from Harry Potter, Collin as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. There! It is in writing so they can't change now. (why do they always try to change it last minute??)

  I'll be back with all the photographic evidence, have a Happy Halloween!

Oh Canada

Squeee! We all just came off a major high from a visit with Kelly and his boys. The older boys went to the Seahawk's game whilst I got the pleasure of entertaining Collin and Baby Kiel. So much fun packed into a few days. We all have a good times hangover. (6 dozen Krispy Kremes anyone?)

The Museum of Flight

  I am loving the fall routine we are working into. Work and school throughout the week have everyone ready to get out on the weekend. We had one week left on our Science Center pass and I remembered we can visit the Museum of Flight with it for free. The boys were pretty into it, especially Parker who prides himself on being under-enthused about everything.

 Collin was a little manic, pushing all the buttons faster than the exhibit's recording could respond. I just appreciate being at a place in the parenting game where that does not irritate me anymore. In fact, I laughed about it. (If you know me very well, this is HUGE.)

day at the beach

 Here in Seattle, we have just had a record dry spell. Something like 80 days! (It is raining now, though) This saw us at Alki Beach a lot more than planned during September. Fun memories in this beautiful place we live. Now excuse me, I'm off to load up on Vitamin D.

back at it

Look at me go! Back at the blog again, with a new favorite quote:

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”

― Ralph W. Sockman

And an Instagram collage featuring a visit with me parents, a pedicure with Rhiannon, and wheeling a chicken coop down the road!

year 5

This was the period I label "The Farm." Matt and I escaped the 'burbs to occupy his grandfather's home on 37 acres in Weiser, ID. (An hour outside of Boise) 

Totally freeing. We moved as I was recovering from mild postpartum depression.

Our boys roamed the property. The land was not farmed so tall grass abounded, perfect for little boy's games. Matt, resident extrovert to the max,  paced the dirt road looking for some neighbor to chat with. Friday night high school football games, he soon found, were the spot for that. 

 We lost a beautiful community at Grace Chapel when we moved so we plugged into one another. Family game night started. We caught the Dave Ramsey bug, making financial plans for our future. And date nights stretched into overnight visits at the grandparents for our boys.

I was figuring out what my job "homemaker" meant for the first time. I had space and time to learn those things out of the city. It was a pace that suited me better than Matt. Though he enjoyed the long commute to decompress from work. The jump from 2 kids to 3 had hit us hard. We were out numbered. I think the country life gave us a chance to recenter and move forward as a family. Life in general felt less reactionary and more proactive on the farm. 

good fortune

  What do you think? Sound accurate? Have you guys cracked open any good fortune cookies lately?

trash the dress

 A dream of mine just came true. 12 years later, Matt & I did a "trash the dress" photo shoot. I squeezed into that same wedding dress and Matt got all gussied up as well. It started when I saw this link on Design Mom a few years ago and we did it!

  The emotions of that day came back, too. A lot of stress and "why did I think was a good idea?" But Matt was solid. So great. He took my hand and he said we are doing this to remember. The wedding day, the early years, and so in 12 more we can look back at how far we've come. 

   I was worried about it all but he was right. The future me will be so glad we did it. And the thing is, I actually had fun. That's right. Fun. A word Mrs. Aubrey Archuleta does not concern herself with. I lay on the beach with my love and thought, "this is so fun."

   It helped that some of the world's most awesome people were the photographers. Tyler and Courtnay of Tyler Phillips Photography are just the bomb.com. One of the biggest concerns for me was meeting them for the first time and trying to explain our ideas to them. It was so silly to worry. They are so warm and easy to work with and yet, really professional. They are an amazing team and I had total faith in them within the first few minutes of meeting them.

  Okay, onto the good stuff with just one last note. Thank you, Mom. For buying me the dress that was just a little out of our budget. Thank you for going with me to those awful wedding dress shopping excursions when I had no clue what I wanted. (we could just throw in high school dance dress shopping here, too) Because all these years later, I had a nice dress that I still liked and did not look like an 80's prom.