Ben's 30th!

(Baby Ben 1981)
Happy 30th Birthday to a wonderful man! We love you so much Papa!

Welcome Autumn...

It was in the 90's here, on this firat day of Autumn.

My dragon tails hit Portland...finally

For the past several years I have had the grand idea of selling my handmade costumes in Portland. Between Art School and a new baby it never manifested itself until now. Yay! I have the tails out now in a cute children's boutique, and have several more appointments in the next few days. Going around selling my goods is so NOT MY THING. I wish I could just hide out in my sewing closet making stuff and leave the marketing to someone else. I guess I am just shy, but once I have the hang of it I am sure it will be great fun. Having to bring my little tornado along with me will make things even more exciting. At least kids are the main focus of the businesses I will be going around too. Hey, maybe it will even help, add to the charm.
I have totally burned through my corduroy stash, but I can't wait to get sewing again soon (hides the credit card). I added polka dots to the new smaller tails and I think they look even better that way, more whimsical.
I decided to try and sell locally for a while rather then on my Etsy shop. I just feel like I am drowning in a sea of creative people on there and I don't know how anyone could possible find me. I have had heard such wonderful things from the folks here in Portland that It just makes more sense to focus locally for the moment. Plus with Halloween right around the corner this is my time of year baby.I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch as they say,so I will have to wait a few days to let you know where you can find my tails .
Wish me luck, I will get back to you soon.

A Gift.....

Look what the Faeries left for Sophie to find after her first day of school. A tiny chair. It was hard to photograph because those faeries sure are good at camouflaging.(Click image for a larger view) I don't know how Sophie even spotted it. The note written on the bark reads:

Dear Sophie, We hope you have a magical first day of school.
Love , the Faeries.

One last summer adventure

Today was Sophie's last day of summer vacation and I simply couldn't stand the idea of spending it in the city. I had originally hoped to make it out to Lost Lake since we hadn't been there since I was pregnant with Solomon, but the weather was really cool..., too cool for a mountain lake. So we drove down to Silver Falls State Park.
It has been almost 10 years since Ben and I came here the first time on our first trip together, and my first trip anywhere, really. I was 19 at the time. I remember I was so tired that I could hardly make it back up the trail after hiking around the South Falls. I was very newly pregnant with Sophie then, and very, very tired. We had made a huge detour just to see a waterfall(we missed the 30+ waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge somehow!!). I was too sick to really enjoy it the first time which was a HUGE bummer because I had been waiting to see a waterfall all my life.
When I was little, I was obsessed with waterfalls. I fantasized about them,had dreams about them, drew pictures of them, and wrote stories about them. I thought they were magical places. But I believed they only existed in the real world in Hawaii. I had no idea that someday I would be living in a state pretty much drowning in waterfalls. The only thing missing from thoes childhood fantasies are the unicorns. I am hoping to have a goat someday,.... and that's close enough.