Glimpse of Spring...

I can't even begin to describe how desperate I was beginning to feel to have some warm sunshine on my face and to see some plants beginning to sprout out of the dirt.
I was able to achieve both of of these 'urges' in the past week or so.
I have spent some time in my flower beds and garden getting things spruced up for an upcoming photoshoot to be held at my home
{I'll do another post of my flowerbed progress soon}
and I got a good dose of sunshine this past weekend during a visit to the 'in-laws.'
Jas took Friday off so that we could surprise his momma at her school
(she teaches 4th grade) and meet her students and introduce ourselves and our {crazy} little girls.
They love it...A and Had are treated like mini-celebrities; from the gals in the office to her class of kiddos...we were recognized quick and often
{A get's a little apprehensive by the attention and Had 'basks' in it}

But before we were able to leave town, I went to meet the mom of a friend of mine who past away 6 years ago.
Billy was an incredibly special friend/person and touched the lives of thousands...
No Really...thousands!!
He was the mascot for the Seattle Mariners, the Mariner Moose, and therefore entertained thousands of people on a regular basis.
He had such a warm heart and energetic pressence about him...and had a huge heart for kiddos with special needs.
Anyhow, cut to the chase, I rallied some friends of mine to help me to create a gift basket to be raffled off at the upcoming Billy Stocking Memorial Swim Meet in which athletes with special needs compete and get to participate in a variety of really fun activities.
Here is the basket that I presented to his mom, Denise.

Isn't it fun and bright...and filled to the brim with the necessary items to bake beautiful cupcakes.Anyhow, after that, we piled {literally} into our 'crammed-to-the-gills' car and headed to Moses.

Either this picture is proof that it was in fact warm and sunny there or that Had was as desperate as me to 'soak up some rays.'
In fact the answer is BOTH!!

Isn't it true that kids don't really need a lot of toys???
They are satisfied and content with a pile of rocks to throw and a body of water to throw them into...
Whether it be a small mudpuddle or a lake...
they'll throw rocks for HOURS!!!

I [love} Had's profile...
Jas says she's shaped like an 'S.'

And Big Sissy, A.
Oh My...if these poses continue to come so natural for her...
we're gonna be in some serious trouble.

At A's request, she had to pose with 'Skylar,'
her hound puppy.
(pretty sure she got left behind in Moses, cause we can't find her now that we're home)

Had pretending to be a puppy and
DIG-DIG-DIG!
She was F.I.L.T.H.Y.

And what do you do when your pants are filthy dirty and you still want to play outside
(and you're ONLY TWO and it's still acceptable)

You ditch your pants and go 'nakey.'
(again only if you're still young and public nudity is acceptable)

We spent a good portion of the weekend playing games!
A is getting to that fun age where she really enjoys games and being competitive.
Here she is playing 'Farkle' with Oobie.
{sidenote-he had just finished doing this funny tribal dance-complete with war whoops)
(and while I hate to admit it...his dice rolls were much higher than everyone else's).
Oobie won this round by rolling a 5,000 point roll...
(that's half the total points necessary to win-Lucky Duck)

Grandma Jill picked up another game on a shopping trip called
'Hedbandz."
A's new favorite...you wear an incredibly attractive blue plastic band on your head and put a card on it (without knowing what it is) and then through a process of 'yes/no' questions you try to figure out 'Who You Are?'
VERY age appropriate for her...except she tends to peek when she puts her card on her head.

Uncle Howard was a TOTAL TROOPER and played a few rounds with her...
he's such a turkey.

The other reason for the trip was because Jas' little brother, Uncle B, is turning 30 in a few days and we were having a surprise party for him.
There was drama that ensued...I'll share more in a moment.
I don't need much of an excuse to bake and decorate cupcakes.
On the left...'turtle' cupcakes
On the right...the best lemon cupcakes EVER!

The plan was to have B, Jas, Oobie and two of B's friends to head out for a round of golf...
so I decided that a mini golf course would be perfect.

It turned out as good as I was hoping
{or at least I think so}.

Mr. B and family couldn't leave their home until 6:30pm on Saturday night, putting them in Moses around midnight or so.
This would have been the case had the clutch in their car not gone out 2 hours into their drive.
UUGGHHH!!
And since the party was a surprise, his wife, B, was having a hard time convincing him that they should borrow her brother's car and continue on with the trip...
at one point he had decided they were going home for the weekend.
UUGGHHH!!
So Miss B had to spill the beans and tell Mr. B that there was a party waiting for him in Moses the next afternoon.
Miss B's brother was so generous and gracious that he and his wife drove to meet up with them, brought their car (for B and B to borrow to continue on their trip) and they brought their truck and towed home the car with the burned up clutch.

Long Story Short:
Uncle B and family arrived in Moses around 3am Sunday morning...
B and boys made their 9:30 tee time
and we got to enjoy a BBQ in his honor.

Happy Birthday to one of the best uncle's around.
We love you and are so glad that we got to spend a little time with you and your
'growing' family!

Here our girl's are doing their darndest to avoid the inevitable...
LEAVING.
As Jas and I were saying our goodbye's..the girls ran into Grandma's room and snuggled in for
'just one more book'.

Had a wonderful weekend...
ENJOYED some sunshine
ENJOYED family game time
ENJOYED visiting with extended family
ENJOYED the drive home...the girls slept :-)

Too Big...Too Fast!!

Alright...I have a confession to make...
I {do not} want my girls to grow up!!!
It seems as though each stage that we enter upon is such a great one that I want to stay there forever
(and the older they get, the older I get, and the more gray hair's Jas gets).
Try as I may, the girls are in fact getting older, thus bringing us to more fun activities.
Case in Point:
A's First Dance Recital.
She began taking lessons at a local church a few months back one night a week with her bestest bud from school.
It is a total crack up to watch...ten 5-6 year olds trying to find their {rhythm} and look so cool while doing it.
Anyhow, after sitting through 10 weeks of rehearsals the big night had
FINALLY
arrived.
I quickly invited my Aunt Shawna to join us for a 'french-braid' party.
(have I mentioned yet that a pony tail is about as fancy as this momma gets.
Lucky for me...
I have an aunt who more than makes up for my inability to 'do' hair.

Secretly, A loves it when she gets her hair done by anyone else but me.

SURPRISE OF THE NIGHT!!!
Jas' mom and dad suprised us by making the 3-hour drive over to watch their first granddaughter in her first recital.
This meant so much to all of us to have them share part in A's special night.
My heart welled up so big when I answered the knock at the door that night.
They are sure special people...and my girls are blessed with wonderful grandparents...
on both sides!

Had took FULL ADVANTAGE of them and their laps.
It is sure hard to get a picture of this busy little girl that isn't blurry...
she DOES NOT STOP MOVING!!
Honest...she is a little 'goer.'

How cute is my little 'robin?'
It is hard to tell, but she is even cuter with her {picket-fence} smile.
Two missing on the bottom and one incredibly loose one on top.

Here they are...
What do you call a group of robins?
A gaggle??? A flock???
I don't know...but they sure are cute!

TA DA!!
Here is my little chick-a-dee spreading her wings and getting ready to
{dance}.

In the meantime, while all of the 'birdies' were stretching their wings...my older brother, Rar (a lifelong nickname), and dear friend, Margee, were chumming it up together.
Pretty Cute!
We were also blessed with the pressence of a dear neighbor and my mom, NiNi.
A had her own cheering section.

While performing, A had the most serious look on her face...not once did she crack a smile.
She was very concentrated on the task at hand.

And just like that...the show was over.
Take your 'bow.'

Oobie Doo (another crazy nickname) presented A with tulips in her most favorite color, PURPLE!!!

Jas and I were so proud of her and her accomplishment...
made me think ahead to graduations...YIKES!!!

She sure is a pretty special little girl.

Of course, not to be outdone...
here's lil sister, Had, sporting A's bird beak/hat.

This girl will do anything for a laugh.

As soon as she decided it wasn't fun being a bird anymore, she took the strap off of the beak and decided that a mustache was much more {her style}.
CRAZY GIRL!!

I can only imagine what this one will have in store for us at her 'recitals.'

We followed up the recital with a trip to DQ for some Peanut Buster Parfaits, Blizzards and Ice Cream Sundaes.

What a fun night this was for the Skaug Family....
Full of Smiles, Family, Friends, Memories and Laughter.

{my disclaimer}
I tried to attach video of A's performance to this post...but I am not 100% sure of how to do it...so be on the lookout in the future for it...

Day Well Spent...

As if I didn't have enough going on in my semi-crazy-busy life,
I was recently approached about taking on a new adventure...
and it involves two of my favorite things:
plants and people.
(I'll share more later as details emerge)
A definite perk to this new project was getting to attend the
Seattle Flower and Garden Show
in Seattle last Friday.
I called up one of the sweetest lady's I know and asked her to join me for a day of
flowers, vegetables, plant seminars, display gardens and inspiration.
(essentially a tease of spring but inside a giant convention center...
which is good because I think the high for last Friday was 32').

I took a lot of random photos of anything that interested me and caught my eye.
Here are a few of my favorite plants that I saw.

This particular is a Sedum and is called
'Baby Tears."
I love how dainty 'she' is and 'her' fresh green color really drew my attention in the display that she was in.

This plant is also a part of the Sedum family...
and while the other was small and dainty,
this one was monstrous and mammoth.
It was about 4 1/2 feet tall.

This was an incredible, white wisteria tree...
and while this picture does not do it justice,
mark my word, it was I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E!!

Oh, and I think I have yet to share that the majority of my favorite plants almost always have white flowers.
I love the contrast that white flowers have against whatever shade green their foliage is...
they really stand out in a garden.

On the contrary, this one is a hellebore and was such a deep purple it was almost black on the underside

(which, if you're familiar with hellebores, you know that the underside is their 'face')

And they bloom in the late winter providing a much needed notion that spring is on it's way.

This is a tiny, little fairy garden display that a local nursery had created.
How cute is that?

Oh, and the plant on the right hand side of the garden is a
"Baby Tears."
Sure do love that chartreuse color.

Now among having a vast array of unique and beautiful plants,
there was also some very fun and creative gifts to purchase.

I instantly fell in love with these little goats.
They are about as cute as they get...
but at $35 a piece, I just couldn't do it...
but they were C.U.T.E.

Again, forgive me for this not being the best of pictures, but you get the idea.
They are 'turtle tables.'The theme of this years show and display gardens was a
Storybook theme.
These tables were a part of the
"Wind and the Willows" garden...
as were these hand-blown cattails.One of my favorite booths was this man's:

He is the designer and builder of the most amazing and one-of-a-kind
outbuildings.
This, for instance, is one of his chicken-coops.
Only problem:
it cost over $3200.00

Worth every penny if you've got the cash...
only problem...
I DON'T!
{this sold within the first hour of the show's opening}

But it IS right up my alley,
and I DO have a crafty hubb.
Needless to say, I am now on the lookout for
dilapidated barns that need to be torn down
so that we can design and build our own.

He also created and built these fun 'cold frames,'
which is a great way to start your plants early and protect them from the frost and crazy winter weather.

This building was a part of another display nursery;
Christianson's Nursery
(I'll be visiting soon).I am amazed that they build these displays,
only to be deconstructed a few days later after the show is over.
I {LOVE} this bike!!!
Especially since it has their delivery service advertised on it.

Another great and original idea that I was drawn to was this
'retired' shipping crate 'reinvented' into a potting shed/playhouse.

Do you love it?

I DO!!!
But I already have a potting shed that I love...
so maybe someday.

I did good and resisted almost all of my spending temptations...
with a few exceptions.

THIS!!
I do love me some peonies!
And look...
it's white to boot.It'll be a few seasons before she actually blooms,
but it will be SO WORTH THE WAIT.
In the mean time,
I bought this cute little primrose to set on my mantle.
We need a little spring in our home.

And look at all of the blooms coming...

A part of my attending the show was to listen to a few different seminars in a variety of different topics.
I think I sat through 6 of them...
5 of them were FANTASTIC
and I took LOTS AND LOTS OF NOTES!

Now I must get to organizing them :-)
I am eager to start this new project and I am really looking forward to meeting some new people in the process. I am also {beyond} eager to get into my own garden and flower beds and utilize some of the new techniques and ideas that I learned.
***Actually, I spent a few hours yesterday in my front flower beds,
cleaning them up.
rearranging them,
planting my new peony
and daydreaming of warmer, sunny days to come***
{did I mention it was raining yesterday while I was out there...I must be desperate for spring}