A simple thanks.....

America the Beautiful.....

To all that serve our nation with unwavering faith and bravery past, present and future~

Thank you! Your service does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

God Bless you ALL!

Sweet Baby James

Great things come in tiny packages- welcome little one! I was so excited to finally meet little baby James!!! His parents are friends of ours and I shot his parent's wedding last summer!

He is welcomed by his awesome big brother & sister

And even tho I wasn't sure it was going to work out ( me- & my weird-o insecurities about being indoor with the studio lighting)... we got a great family shot! They are a good lookin bunch, huh?

It was great to see them today- Cathy & Corey- you do great work!!!! ~ can't wait watch him grow!!!!

Rhubarb Crisp

Mmmmm.... my rhubarb crisp is super yummy and super easy! It is based on the basic recipe from my good old red & white Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook that I've had since i was a kid! I've switched it up and at the request of many this weekend- I'll give you the low-down. :) Enjoy- and think of me when you make it! xoox Didi

I make mine in a Pyrex glass 9x13 pan.

10C chopped fresh rhubarb tossed with 2C white sugar & 1/3C flour

******

Mix these dry ingredients together in a LARGE wide mixing bowl.

2C regular rolled oats

2C Packed brown sugar

1C all purpose flour

1tsp each ground nutmeg, ginger& cinnomon. (you can also try 1/2 tsp cardomom, but I'd eliminate the nutmeg if you do- wonderful but intense flavors...)

Stir with a fork until combined.

***

Add 2 sticks of butter- melted to the above mixture until combine into a coarse mixture and all the dry is absorbed.Take half of this mixture and press into bottom of pan.

Layer on the rhubarb/sugar/flour mixture. (all of it!) Press down into pan.

****

Cover with remaining crumble/struesel mixture and press down.

Bake @ 375 for about 40 minutes until gold & bubbly. Please resist the urge to dive in- you WILL blister your mouth......

Let rest for 20-30 minutes and serve with vanilla bean ice cream and Enjoy!

Baby Blue

Ok- I have a new love...... it's this incredible blue poppy.... I spied this when I was at Sunny side Nursery yesterday shopping for plants with my girl Dr. Nicky and I just HAD to have it!

It seems frivolous to purchase a poppy plant- singular that at it's zenith- right now- and will only have a few more blooms- and then it's done for the season.... BUT- it's so amazing- I just had to have it! It will come back again next year- and hopefully I can harvest seeds from the pods once dry and have more next year. But I'm content to enjoy it's beauty for today. :) So I thought I'd share- Enjoy!

Here's the link to Sunny side if you want to check them out. Great selection, easy to find, easy parking and very helpful staff! :)

http://www.sunnysidenursery.net/

Smile and go play in the sunshine!

Sweet Summer Sundays

Ahhhhh....... Summer Sundays......mmmmmm

Can you hear the birds singing and the frogs croaking? The soft breeze making my wind chimes hum and the smell of freshly mowed grass......mmmmmmm I love summer!

Our close knit group of neighbors has been some yard working fiends this weekend. We've gone plant shopping and dirt/bark hauling, weeding, planting, mowing and pressure washing. It's been a bevy of activity! And then, last night- we had a little progessive dinner and had cocktails and rested our totally exhausted bodies... we've earned it- and our yards look awesome!

Stay tuned for more pix of the yard.:)

Field Trip

Wow!!!! What gorgeous weather this week! I LOVE it!!! Life just seems to shift into over-drive when the weather turns nice. Onika's class had their big spring field trip last week to Blake Island, located in the Puget Sound- just outside of Seattle. The day couldn't have been more beautiful! It started off grey but burned off to be a spectacular blue sky- and an awesome cloud day!!!!

We rode on the Royal Argosy Cruise ship around the sound. We ferried over to Blake Island- but didn't get to get off and explore the Island this trip. It was under renovation.. (insert sad face here...). They had each floor of the ship dedicated for different activities tho... We had story telling, crafts, native dancers and meals each on a separate floor. It worked out well.

Oni on the top deck of the ship with the Space Needle in the background.

I just love our Seattle skyline -

The kids working on the paper versions of the NW Coast Native dance masks.

"Lo" as she likes to be called. She was our storyteller and drummer.

Salmon on display

The dancers letting the kids try on some of the masks and costumes.

Some of these masks weigh as much as 50 pounds!

The dancers make the blankets, masks and regalia.

It was such a fun experience for the kids- if you are looking for an activity this summer- that would be a learning opportunity as well as a fun outing... you should check them out!

http://www.tillicumvillage.com/blakeisland.html

Have a great day!!!! xoxo D

Simply Beautiful.....

I love this portrait of Cindy- I met her while I was at Auction for the Cure event, "Who let the Girls Out!?!" on Saturday. I was captivated by her amazing smile and sparkling eyes. Who needs hair when you're this gorgeous????? Seriously! :)

I wish her luck in her on-going treatments~

Who Let the Girls Out???

"Hello? Your husband called, and he said to buy whatever you want......" *****The Divas and their helpers/bestest gal-pals. L-R Tam, Trish, Nicky & Andrea****

That was the greeting on the back of our auction cards last night at the ladies night in..... Who Let the Girls Out was a benefit auction for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day that my girls Nicky & Trish are participating in later this summer.

I eagerly purchased my tickets in advance, as did 49 other lucky folks. All proceeds go the the nearly 2K that each participant needs to raise in order to take part in the 3-Day event. A huge rally of support came from local merchants and specialty businesses. There was an adorable barista, pulling coffees for everyone, fab deserts by a local restaurant and some super talented chocolatiers, massages by four, count them four massage therapists, a couple of aestheticians doing brow & lip maintenance, the lovely ladies from Scentsaria lavishing love and hand massages, and several vendors with absolutely fabulous wares who were donating product and proceeds. Not to mention the absolutely fabulous gift baskets- some worth $400!!!!! (a gift certificate for a session with me was paired with some fab scrapbooking tools and a certificate to a local frame & gallery shop!)

Everyone looked gorgeous- and had a ma-va-laous time!

Miss Cindy was there too! She's a para-educator at our kids' school. I kept falling into her amazing eyes and brilliant smile as we talked last night- she was kind enough to oblige me and let me take her portait. She's absolutely stunning- and proves once again.... that "Bald IS beautiful!" A kind and gentle spirit- bravely fighting the good fight. Keep it up sister!

I had so much fun working and playing last night- well done ladies- well done! :) xoxo D

She Could go all the WAY!!!

And... they're off! Yesterday, Oni's team got to play a rec league game at the brand spanking new YMCA in Shoreline- wow- what a beautiful new facility! What we didn't realize until time to play- is that we were playing a combo 4-5-6th team.. and we're a 3rd/4th grade team... and some of their older players- seriously- were almost as tall as me!!!!!

****And for purely selfish reasons- wish we played all of our games here- look at all the natural light in this gym- no flash necessary!!!! (Man I'm loving this new camera too- much better/higher ISO!)*****

Oni and the coach's daughter studying the floor. She told the coach that she likes not starting for the first few minutes- "It gives me a chance to study the other team first.." (Ron & I looked at each other like- are you serious? Who are you??? And what have you done with OUR child....?) But apparently- it worked for her yesterday!

Now- granted- Miss T on our team is petite- but holy LORD! Look at how much bigger these other girls were!!!!!

The girls played more "together" yesterday than they've played all season so far- it was awesome to watch!

Little Sam- small- but dangerously fast- she'll slide in an swipe the ball before you even realize she'd been there!

Don't mess w/ T!

Emma swims in w/ some screen help...

Oni is all over #14... or is that her twin #11?? Hard to tell... and hard on the court for Oni- trying to figure out which twin she was guarding!

Now, watch carefully here.... Oni's guarding her well- then Carpe deim.... ONE.......

TWO......

THREE!!!! Mine! ***That's MY girl!!!!***

Emma with a little defensive block & tackle for Tegan- HOLY crap that other girl was big!!!!

Ok- brace yourself.... sister got enough off a rebound- that she got fouled! So here she is setting up to make her first 2 of this AAU season- and her first ever game free-throw. And it was perfect- nothing but net!!!!!

****and then she and I looked at each other and put up 5 fingers..... I owed her five bucks.... and she smiled all they way back down the court!****

Oni- working and running harder than we've ever seen her- daddy took her before we left for new shoes- are you all sitting down??? now they are a smidge big- but not really.... a MEN'S 8.5!!!!! That's the equivalent to a ladies 10?????? Time to measure her again I guess.... she and I will be trading shoes in no time!

***Side note- just measured her- she's grown 3/4" in the last month!****

She's getting faster and lighter on her feet! I love the stop action on this shot- she's up on her toes.

What a joy to watch yesterday- the girls needed that win. Now pray for us today- we've got a double header against two really tough teams... Stay tuned for film at 11!