Adventures of an Artist, Wife and Mom

Dear Avery (The One About Sexual Assault)

2016-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Avery,

This is the first Presidential election that you've actually been aware of in your short life, and it's been incredibly awful. Last week the Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was left red-faced when a previously recorded audio tape surfaced in which he was heard talking about sexually assaulting women. Some might argue that he was just bragging to a TV host, Donald Trump himself called it "locker room banter", but that's all bullshit. As a rich and powerful man, Donald Trump honestly believes there is nothing wrong with taking something from a woman that he has no permission to take. As his victims have come forward over the last few days he has denounced them as crazy, disillusion, or in one instance "too ugly" for him to have sexually assaulted. Like I said, it's bullshit.

My first real taste of unwanted sexual attention was in middle school. I thought I was chubby and ugly (a boy in 5th grade told me my clothes made me look pregnant and I felt fat for years after that). In reality I was tall, slim, and pretty. Even though I couldn't see what I truly looked like because of my distorted body image, a group of boys in my Spanish class certainly took notice. One day one of them tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was "wearing panties". As the most naive 8th grader to ever walk the halls of Jason Lee Middle School, I remember being completely taken aback by the question. The four of them crowded in behind me and I could tell they were laughing at me as I turned around to glare at them. The boy who'd tapped my shoulder looked me in the eyes and asked "Have you ever seen Basic Instinct?" I was immediately embarrassed because I hadn't seen the movie (no 8th grader should've EVER seen that movie), and my cheeks grew hot. "No." I snapped, knowing I shouldn't even give them the satisfaction of an answer. But the boy grinned. "Too bad." He replied. "We were thinking you if turned around you'd make a good Sharon Stone." I rolled my eyes in response and went back to my work, but was mortified for reasons I didn't understand until a friend of mine explained to me after class what they were referring to. See, I was wearing a cute knee-length dress that my mom had made for me, and that gave them the idea to sexually harass me in the middle of Spanish. I wish I could go back and punch them all in the face.

The following winter I was in Seattle with a friend and her family. I was a freshman in high school, and still as naive as ever. Being raised as an ultra conservative Christian girl meant I was often taught very misguided lessons at church about girls causing boys to have sinful thoughts because of the way they dressed. I was walking down the sidewalk with my friend as her parents walked in front of us. We'd been shopping downtown, and were heading toward F.A.O. Schwartz to look at toys. It had rained that morning, but it was getting warmer and I slowed a little to tie my blue and gray sweater around my waist. As I did I got separated from my friend, but I could see her just steps ahead of me. As I sped up my pace to catch up with her, a white man who was probably around 20 years old and dressed like a thug, appeared in the crowd going the opposite direction. As I made eye contact with him his expression changed - I will never forget the look on his face when he saw me - "Oh yeah, baby." He growled as he reached down, grabbed his crotch suggestively with one hand, then lunged at me. It all happened in mere seconds, but to this day I can still remember every detail about him, what he was wearing, how he walked, how his voice sounded, and how terrified I was. I dodged out of his way before he could grab me, he came so close that I had to turn sideways and nearly ran into a brick wall before running to my friend who was in the middle of the crosswalk. She looked over at me not realizing I'd even fallen behind. "We need to catch up to my parents before they lose us!" She joked, completely clueless about what had happened. I felt so ashamed and scared that I couldn't even speak. I remember repeatedly looking over my shoulder wondering if he was going to come after me. But he was gone. I hardly said a word for the rest of the trip, and I couldn't sleep for days afterwards. I wondered what I had done wrong to make this random guy do something so sexually aggressive, and continually wished I just just kept my sweater on because maybe my khaki pants and white t-shirt were too suggestive by themselves. They weren't.

I never told anyone about either of these incidents until years later, and when I did talk about them, I was very flippant about what had happened. Like these things hardly mattered. But they mattered. These moments shaped how I thought about myself, my self worth, my views on sexuality, my views on feminism, my views on male privilege, and my views on sexual misconduct. I told myself repeatedly that incidents like these (and there were others) didn't matter because I wasn't actually sexually assaulted. I should feel lucky because I had never been raped or abused, I had amazing parents who taught me to love myself, and I was only being dramatic about what had happened.

But I should have told someone.

I would want you to tell someone. I would want you to fight. I would want you to run screaming to me, or Dad, or the police/your teacher/the principal/your boss...whoever you think will fight for you and with you. You do not have to put up with anyone making sexual jokes at your expense, snapping your bra straps, grabbing you on the street, or anything else this world might throw at you. A boy in your class recently trapped you in a corner and tried to kiss you. A friend of yours helped you get away and you told me about it when you got home. I was very proud of you for speaking up, and your teacher handled it immediately the next day. But what happens if there isn't a friend around? What happens if you're alone with a boy who won't take no for an answer? You FIGHT. You defend yourself with every fiber of your being. Because the only person who has a right to your body is you.

I'll do my best to remind you of your worth, and the importance of your place in this world. Because you are worth more than your body. You are worth more than what a boy thinks of you. And you deserve respect from every single person you come in contact with. You are just as important as anyone else.

And you are loved more than you will ever know.

Love,

Mom

Junior Achealogist

2016-07-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Avery and her friend, Ava, participated in a Junior Archaeologist dig at Fort Vancouver National Historic Reserve. They were able to dig within the walls of the Fort with archaeologists from Washington State University and the National Parks Service. For these two dirt-loving little diggers, they were were complete heaven for two hours. The archaeologists dug holes and buried "treasures" between layers of dirt. The first items discovered were things like number 2 pencils and Legos. The second layer of items they found were older objects like mugs and coins from the 50's, 60's and 70's. The bottom layer included actual artifacts from the Fort that were found in past digs. The kids had to dig up these items, clean them, and then write down their findings while determining the age of the items and whether they belonged to the Fort. It was actually very neat. At the end they had to choose a favorite item and present it to the group, then they all received pins and awards certifying them at Junior Archaeologists.

The Fort does Kids Dig! events every July, and they are free for children 8 and older (adults pay the $5 park entrance fee). You have to reserve your space ahead of time and it's totally worth it. Such a great experience!

The End of Softball

2016-07-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday marked the end of softball. Avery really enjoyed it, but I wouldn't exactly say it was her sport. It's not that she wasn't good...in fact I think she could be really good if she had the drive. You could just tell that while she did like it, it wasn't anything she wouldn't give up for something else (like volleyball, or gymnastics, despite the fact that she'll most likely be around 6 feet tall). Anyway, it was definitely fun to watch her play, and of course she loved getting to play with her best friend, Ava. Here are a couple pictures from her last game.

On Thursday Avery had her end of the year softball party. I came down with some sort of devil stomach virus that put me out of commission for three days, but Erik covered the party and Ava's mom, Karie, covered the picture taking. She sent me this adorable collage including Avery with her trophy and "Outstanding Arm" award. Way to go girls, and way to go TIGERS!

Last Day of 2nd Grade

2016-06-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Second grade officially ended today and Avery came home with a handful of awards, a big grin, and completely ready to start her summer vacation. We are so incredibly proud of our sweet girl and all of her accomplishments this year. She woke up everyday determined to work hard and be at the top of her class. She received the Perfect Attendance Award, a Year Long Self Manager Award, her class All Around All-Star Award, and was honored at the assembly for her school-wide spelling bee performance. What a way to end 2nd grade! Here she is on her first and last days of school...I sent a baby into 2nd grade and I'm heading into summer with a much older 3rd grader!

Here she is getting her perfect attendance award from her principal...

...and her Perfect Attendance Award speech...

Here she is getting called up for her Year Long Self Manager Award...

...and being honored for the spelling bee.

Did I mention how proud we are of this girl? Because we are UNBELIEVABLY PROUD, and we are so honored to be her parents.

Spelling Bee

2016-06-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

One day as I walked across the playground at school, one of Avery's classmates ran up to me and excitedly started telling me about their class spelling bee. "We all stood in a line, and I came in second!" She said. "And can you guess who won? AVERY!" The first thing that struck me was how happy this little girl was that Avery had beat her, something that would have been hard for my ultra-competitive spelling bee winner to do if someone had beat her. The second thing that struck me was that Avery was going to have to compete in the school-wide spelling bee with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. I walked across the playground, looking for Avery, and found her warming up to do cartwheels with her friends. She nonchalantly told me she had won the spelling bee, shrugged her shoulders about the going up against the older kids, and let me tell her how proud I was before she went back to recess.

As the big spelling bee approached, it turned out to be the same day as a class performance in music that all the parents were invited to attend. So, either Avery wasn't nervous about the spelling bee, or she was too busy to be nervous. She sang her little heart out as a chrysanthemum (which I thought was totally ironic as chrysanthemum is the word that helps Anne beat Gilbert in the spelling bee in Anne of Green Gables), then she took off her flower crown and headed to the spelling bee.

And Avery was phenomenal. She was incredible. She lasted SIX rounds, and eventually misspelled ATMOSPHERE from the 8th grade word list! And the best part was the school live streamed the event so our family and friends could watch it from work or home, and they all sent the cutest texts cheering her on while it was happening. She seemed relieved when it was over, and when I walked her back to her classroom her whole class erupted in cheers. She's 7. And she's amazing.

Can you believe how nervous they all looked in that first picture? And here is the video of the spelling bee...man, it was intense! And, I mean, Avery is barely 8 years old. And she was AMAZING.

And Then She Turned 8

2016-06-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Avery,

Today you are 8. And what a crazy, exciting time in your life! Tomorrow you will compete in the school spelling bee; you have been accepted into the Highly Capable Program through the school district; you are in the middle of your first softball season, and man, you are pretty darn good for your first time on the field. You have a softball tournament and your 8th birthday party this weekend, the end of school is a week away, and you might just get that perfect attendance award you've always wanted. You are incredible, do you know that?

You've grown so tall, and look so much older all of a sudden. You are intelligent, competitive, hard-working and driven. When you set your mind to something, you will do it, and you work to be the best. You take pride in never missing a spelling word, scoring the highest on math tests, winning the class spelling bee, and working hard on special projects. These were never things we asked of you...you just set high standards for yourself and work hard to achieve your goals. I don't think we really understood how your mind worked, or just how smart you were until this past year. The clarity of your gifts and abilities has given us a new appreciation for what you can achieve. I want you to know that Dad and I don't take lightly the responsibility of raising a gifted child like you...and even if we make the wrong decisions, they were made after long discussions and out of a complete and unconditional love for you.

You were a gift from the day you were born...from the first moments after I found out I was pregnant. Dad and I wanted you more than you will ever know...a little girl with Dad's eyes and my smile. We got those things and so much more. We got you, beautiful, smart, tall, strong, independent, opinionated, and curious. We got the perfect, infuriating, wonderful mix of the both of us, and we couldn't be more honored to be your parents.

Happy birthday to our sweet girl...here's to watching you grow. I hope you feel wholly loved today and always.

PTA

2016-05-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in the PTA. Like, I don't just attend the occasional meeting and help out where I can...I'm on the board of the PTA. I'm the PTA Secretary at our school, finishing up my second term, and I'm the newly elected Vice President. My younger self would be appalled, but I actually really enjoy it. It has it's ups and downs, and can be crazy hectic at time, but I have made the best friends through the PTA. So, when I was given the Outstanding Website award from the Washington State PTA, I was able to go the State Convention with some really awesome women...our newsletter chair, Brianna (who also won an award for her newsletter), and my partners-in-crime, co-treasurers Karie and Teddy. Considering we had to wake up at 3 am (the day after the PTA Carnival) and drive 4 hours to Yakima (Yakima?! YAKIMA?!) it was a pretty great weekend! We didn't know what awards we were getting until the awards ceremony that night, but we ended up taking home the silver level Award of Excellence for the newsletter, and the gold level Award of Excellence for the website! So much fun!

Let's Go Tigers! (In Which Avery Plays Softball)

2016-05-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

I grew up playing softball. I played on a tournament team until middle school, when I decided that soccer was more up my alley. It wasn't, but my friends were playing soccer and softball was at a traumatically competitive level (in 5th grade we finished 3rd in Washington State, and won every other tournament we played in). I left the life of softball behind and had a great time playing mediocre soccer. Plus I was a good track athlete and a decent basketball player, so I had those to carry me into high school.

Avery was never interested in softball, until this year. She desperately wanted to play, and I tried everything to talk her out of it. "Are you SURE?" I asked about four hundred times before filling out the paperwork and paying the fees. I knew what softball was like and didn't necessarily like the idea of throwing Avery into the lion's den of parent coaches and intense, high pressure tournaments. But she desperately wanted to play, and she is...on the same fields where I use to play. She's pretty happy with it. It's still intense, although the real intensity starts in the U10 league. Avery can move up with her team next year, or continue to play down in U8 since she's still 7. Who knows what she'll decide by them. (Mostly she just wants to be a gymnast. She'd probably be the best 6-foot-tall gymnast ever by the time she got to high school.)

Anyway, here she is walking to her first game, which was immediately rained out. And a couple snaps from a game where she hit the ball straight to center field.

Here is her very first hit:

And her very first (RBI!) double:

And an Instagram snap from her very first practice. I love watching this kid play ball.

Spring Break and a Trip to the Market

2016-04-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

Our spring break was a disaster. Avery got our of school on Friday and started throwing up at 5 pm (two hours into spring break). She continued to throw up non-stop (and I mean NON-STOP) for 2 days...I have never seen a kid so sick. She hadn't fully recovered until she went back to school 9 days later. One day when she was feeling a little better we went to the book store, and at one point she had enough energy to climb up into our big flowering cherry tree, but other than that her spring break was shot. (The cherry tree, however, had quite the week...look at those blossoms!)

So one weekend after spring break we decided to take a little trip down to the farmers market with Avery's friend, Ava, and her mom, Karie. We bought plants and guacamole, the girls got a bag of fresh powdered donuts, and we had the best Mexican food at Woody's Tacos. It wasn't quite the trip to Seattle we had planned for spring break, but it sure took away the sting of not getting to do anything.

Plus it's always fun hanging out with these cuties.

The End of the Psycho Dogs

2016-03-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

Basketball came to an end just in time for softball to begin. Ha! Did I say just in time? Um, no. The two sports overlapped for a couple of weeks in March that had me running all over town like a crazy person. I was shouting things like "Do you have your cleats?!" on the way to the gym, and "Grab your basketball!" on the way to the field. To be honest, I don't really mind the chaos, but I'm sure glad when were down to one sport. Here are some pictures from the last BASKETBALL game...how cute are these Psycho Dogs? Next year they have to play separately (boys and girls), but it was sure fun to watch our girls hanging tough with the boys.

There was also an awards night where the kids all got special awards from their coaches. They ate pizza, ran around the restaurant like hooligans, and had the BEST time. Here is a shot from Instagram of Avery with her "Bet you can't shoot over me" Award...Dad and I are really sorry about those freakishly long arms and legs.

P.S. Did I mention that while basketball AND softball were going on Avery also had volleyball camp? Well, she did.

Beep Beep, Look Who's One!

2016-03-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Ezra, turned one last week and had a Little Blue Truck themed birthday party. My Mom outdid herself with the cake(s), and my sister outdid herself with the food and decorations...everything was unbelievably cute. Plus, the star of the birthday party just happens to be the cutest little one-year-old to ever roam the planet. I just love this kid to pieces. To go from that day not long ago when we all rushed to the hospital desperately worried and unsure of Ezra's safe arrival, to this joyous party filled with the pitter patter of little feet and cake smeared little hands...it's such a miracle, all of it. We're just so lucky to have this little guy in our family.

Let's Go to the Beach!

2016-02-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

On President's Day weekend my family headed down to the beach. My parents were gifted a few nights at a beach house in Netarts Bay, so we all spent the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing. Well, we did eat a ton of amazing food, and we did drink a lot of wine. And we did manage to see the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way home. But mostly we did nothing and it was fantastic. So, here are a few snap shots from our stormy trip to the Oregon Coast. (Just look at those cute cousins!)

Highly Capable Little Girl

2016-02-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

Over the last two weeks Avery has taken the HiCap test for the District's Highly Capable Services. Erik and I received a letter in November informing us that Avery had been selected to to test after doing so well on her iReady scores at the beginning of the school year. The thought of moving Avery away from her friends and into a Highly Capable program isn't something we're very excited about. We know she's outstanding in reading, writing, spelling, and math. She whizzes through unit tests, spelling tests, benchmark tests, homework and all of her classroom work. She's very smart. Each year of school has brought a clearer understanding for Erik and I of just how smart she is and the responsibility we have as parents to not let boredom overtake her love of learning.

Because in all honesty, Avery is bored. She wants to know why should she show her work when she can do math in her head. And why should she study her spelling words when she scored 100% on her pretest? And one of the worst things to come out of this school year is Avery repeatedly saying "This is a waste of my time." We never want school to feel impossibly hard, but we also don't want Avery to be so bored that she considers the work to be a waste of her time.

So we allowed her to be tested for a program that could potentially rock her little world, or perhaps it'll be the best thing that's ever happened to her. Either way it'll be awhile before we get the results...now we just sit and wait.

Avery's Art Show

2016-02-18T22:50:00.000-08:00

This year Avery had two pieces of art in the District's Elementary School Art Show at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. Her first piece was a watercolor and Sharpie mixed media painting titled Lizard, and her second was a paper collage of a sugar skull titled Day of the Dead. We were able to celebrate our little artist at the art show reception on Tuesday, and Avery proudly showed her artwork to anyone who asked. We are beyond proud of our wonderful, creative, amazing little girl.

Avery's Awards

2016-02-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

While it's no longer a surprise to us when Avery receives an award, we're still elated whenever one of these orange Self Manager Awards comes home in her backpack. We know that Avery is very smart, and we know she's driven, competitive, and extremely hard-working. But we also know how important it is to recognize her efforts in the classroom and make sure her love of school and her desire to learn continue in the years to come. And even though I haven't been great this year about documenting her accomplishments on my little corner of the internet, we absolutely treasure these pieces of paper, and couldn't be more proud of our little girl.

An Antique Trunk

2016-01-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago, Erik and I were heading out to his parents house when he spotted a sign for a barn sale. Erik loves a good bargain (and riffling through other people's things) so we dropped Avery off at his Mom and Dad's house and headed out into the country. We found a wonderful old barn filled with tools, fishing poles, furniture and countless little knickknacks and antiques. I'll admit we were both in heaven.

About the same time I had been endlessly searching for a cedar chest on Craigslist for storing all of our blankets. They were all over $75 and I never ended up finding one I liked. Of course at the barn sale there happened to be a whole wall of trunks, all different shapes and sizes. Most of them had "sold" signs on them, but one in particular caught my eye and I pointed it out to Erik. Since there wasn't a price on it, he encouraged me to ask how much they were selling it for. I refused, telling him it would be no less than $100 since it was beautifully detailed and much more interesting than any I'd seen before. Erik was determined to get me the trunk, so he asked barn owners how much they were selling it for. When they said $20, my jaw dropped open and I begged them to hold it for us while we made a mad dash to the nearest ATM to get a nice, crisp $20 bill.

The metal work was dull and rusty, so on the way home I promised Erik that he wouldn't have to do a thing to restore it, and that I was going to clean it up myself. Turned out that Erik was just as excited about the trunk as I was, because within minutes of pulling into our driveway he was sanding and cleaning our antique trunk himself. It has been in living room ever since housing all of our quilts and afghans. It's so unique and beautiful that I can't believe I almost left it sitting in that barn. I'm so lucky to have Erik in my corner.

She Shoots, She Scores!

2016-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

I could watch this video over and over (and I have) because I'm just so proud of this girl. When I was her age I loved basketball, but I was also pretty timid and would have never taken the ball to the basket against a court full of boys. Nothing stops this girl, and I will never get tired of watching her try new things.

Avery Scores! from Stephanie Seley on Vimeo.

Snow Day!

2016-01-06T17:33:00.001-08:00

On Sunday our little corner of the earth turned white. Unlike most of our snow days where I'm glued to the weather reports, waiting with bated breath for the snow to begin, this snow fall came rather unexpectedly (at least to our family). And then on Monday, the day we were supposed to return to school, we had a snow day. And when I say "snow" day, I actually mean "ice" day. Freezing rain had turned our beautiful blanket of powdery snow into a giant sheet of ice. But that didn't stop Avery from being outside at 7:30 am on Monday morning, especially eager to stomp around in our icy yard. So here are some shots from early Monday morning...right before hot cocoa and a marathon of Doris Day movies. A perfect "snow" day.

Goodbye 2015

2015-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

In 2015...

Avery got a bunch of awards; the Seahawks won the NFC; I turned 34; our nephew was born; Avery went to volleyball camp; we went hiking in the gorge; we went to the beach; Avery swam; we pulled weeds at Sacajawea; we went to a Mariner's game (and then two more); we bought a tent trailer; Avery turned 7; Avery saved for another American Girl doll; we went to Seattle (a lot); Avery and Grandma made a quilt; we planted a garden; we camped in Central Oregon, hiked the Obsidian Lava Flow, saw Crater Lake, hiked Smith Rock, went to the top of Lava Butte, and had snacks at all the best breweries; we harvested vegetables and berries; we camped at Deception Pass, fished in the sound, and saw Lake Campbell from the top of Mt. Erie; we went to the Sprayground in Tacoma; we saw Monet, shopped at Powell's, and ate at Island Cafe; Avery started 2nd grade; Avery earned a medal at the Castle Rock Bike Challenge; we hiked Siouxon; Avery swam; we harvested our apples; we celebrated our 13th anniversary; Avery was voted student council representative; I got a (permanent!) job at Avery's school; we carved pumpkins; I made a Wendy costume; Avery started basketball again; Erik turned 36; we cut down a Christmas tree and built gingerbread houses; Erik and I went to a Seahawks game (courtesy of the Seahawks); we rode the Santa Sounder; and we had a very merry Christmas.

And we loved each other. A lot.

The Story of a Seahawks Jersey

2015-12-30T16:12:00.002-08:00

Erik likes Jon Ryan. Jon Ryan is the punter for the Seattle Seahawks. I mean, Erik likes a lot of the players, but he's talked about Jon Ryan quite a bit since he threw a touchdown pass during the NFC Championship game in January. It started out as a bit of a joke, but it turns out that Jon Ryan is pretty rad and Erik kind of loves him. We even went to a Mariner's game over the summer, and Jon Ryan came out and kicked a football into the crowd. Erik was pretty excited about it. And when Erik couldn't decide on what Seahawks jersey he should get, he half-jokingly said he should get a Jon Ryan jersey. So guess what I decided to get him for his birthday?

It didn't work out exactly like I'd planned. Did you know that Jon Ryan's jersey isn't very easy to find? Also, did you know that there are websites that call themselves Official NFL Pro Shops that are actually peddling fake merchandise? I didn't. I finally found an "Official Seahawks NFL Pro Shop" website that carried Jon Ryan's jersey, and it seemed like a perfectly legitimate online store, so I ordered the jersey. A month and 37 emails later, I received a package from China with the most terrible jersey I had ever seen. I demanded my money back, I filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission, and I wrote to the Seahawks to tell them someone was using their Pro Shop name illegally. None of it made much difference. The fake Pro Shop refused to return my money, the FTC couldn't do anything, and the Seahawks offered their regrets at my misfortune and forwarded my email to their legal team.

So, that was that. Or so I thought.

In early December I got an email from the Seahawks Assistant Director of Fan Development. He asked me to call him, so I did. We talked for a while about the fake website, and eventually about Erik being such a big fan and whether he'd been to a game before. I told him that I was able to take Erik to the Veteran's Day game last year. He told me that his department plans the Veteran's Day games and asked what we'd thought of it. I told him it had been amazing. He asked what unit Erik had served in. I told him he was in the 82nd Airborne Division and then the 671st Engineering Company. "Was Erik 11 Bravo?" He wanted to know. "Yes he was." I told him. Turns out he had been 11 Bravo, too. And they had both served in Iraq at the same time.

He asked if we'd like to go to the Seahawks game on the 20th, and told me that they wanted to make that Jon Ryan jersey for Erik. I profusely thanked him and told him that I never imagined that they would do something like that. He said they loved taking care of their veterans and he was honored to give Erik the tickets. I couldn't believe it.

Two days later a FedEx truck pulled up and handed me two tickets, food vouchers, and a Seahawks military coin. Needless to say, Erik was pretty surprised.

So we went to the Seahawks game against the Browns on December 20th. The weather was perfect, they Seahawks won, and we had the BEST time. (Note: There's our boy Jon Ryan running out of the tunnel in the second picture!)

And right before Christmas the wonderful staff at the real Pro Shop overnighted Erik's Jon Ryan jersey to me so I could put it under the tree.

I honestly can't say enough about the Seahawks organization or how wonderful they all were. They didn't have to do anything, and instead they went above and beyond for one very deserving Army Veteran. So thank you Seahawks for making Erik's day. And thank you Jon Ryan for being awesome.

And thank you Erik, for your selfless service to our country.

Photos From Christmas

2015-12-29T21:40:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve is always pretty relaxed around our house. Erik is always working, delivering those last minute USPS packages and Christmas cards, and Avery and I hang around the house cleaning and getting ready for Christmas. This year Avery received her first "real" Christmas dress, so she was pretty excited when I told her she could wear it to the Christmas Eve service with Grandma and Grandpa. After the service we ordered pizza and watched Elf until Erik got home, and then I forced Erik and Avery to take a family picture. They always cooperate...eventually.

Avery has never woken up before 7:45 on Christmas morning, and this Christmas was no exception. We're pretty lucky in that regard. We are usually waiting for Avery to get up. We opened our presents, had coffee, and leisurely got ready for our day.

I made a breakfast of egg casserole and monkey bread and took it to Erik's parents house for brunch. I didn't end up taking any pictures of Avery opening her presents because we were Skyping with Erik's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, so there were a lot of things happening. But after presents Avery snatched my camera and I found these gems on my memory card today:

In the afternoon we headed to my parents house, where my entire family was gathered. This only happens every other year, so it was nice to see everyone and have everyone in the same place. It was Ezra's first Christmas and Rylee's second Christmas (but first Christmas with us), so it was fun to watch the little ones open their gifts. And Avery got the sweetest handmade doll clothes from my mom and a beautiful silver locket from Aunt Sandy and GG (Avery's great aunt and great grandma). She loved all of her gifts, but those ranked among her favorites.

It was the merriest of Christmases in our little world.

The Bunk Bed that Love Built

2015-12-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

One day last November (yes, LAST November, as in 2014...this is a judgement free zone when it comes to how long it takes me to post things), Avery asked Erik to build her a bunk bed for her American Girl doll. One of the things I love about Erik is that he teaches you how to do something...he doesn't just do it for you. He told Avery they could build one together, and that very day he looked online at some plans and then took Avery to the garage to start sanding the wood.

Erik put most of it together, because using a jig isn't the easiest thing for a 6-year-old, but anything Avery was able to help with, she did herself. Like using a sanding block to prep the bunk bed for painting.

And what 6-year-old doesn't love to put on old clothes and get messy while painting?

The finished product couldn't have turned out any better. Plus, my mom custom made the most adorable bedding, complete with little mattresses and a matching throw pillow for Avery. (So much talent in one family...how'd I get so lucky?!)

So that's that's the American Girl bunk bed, and Avery absolutely loves it. But the credit belongs to Erik, who never misses an opportunity to teach our daughter, or to show her how much she is loved. Because Avery is so very loved...and so is Erik.

Christmas Cookies

2015-12-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure if this year's Christmas cookies were EVER going to happen, but I ended up staying up late to make cookies last Thursday and got them all done. It helped that I made the shortbread and Chocolate Chip M&M cookies ahead of time, so I really didn't have too much to do. Below are the links to the recipes I used (there are some cake batter cookies hidden under the peppermint sugar cookies, and I didn't use a recipe for the peanut clusters, but they are similar to the one linked below). Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies / Traditional Shortbread Cookies / Cake Batter Sprinkle Cookies / Peppermint Sugar Cookies / Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge / Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Gingerbread Silliness

2015-12-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

On Thursday night we built gingerbread houses. I hot glued mine together and then covered the glue with frosting. Erik insisted on making his the "real way" and we watched it nearly crumble under the weight of his decorations. But in the end the only thing that really mattered was using as many sprinkles as possible...oh, and getting Molly in our family picture. We rocked those gingerbread houses.

Christmas Moments

2015-12-13T11:35:00.002-08:00

Every year since we moved into our house we've visited the same tree farm. We traipse through the mud on the sloping hills, inspecting every Noble to make sure we find the perfect Christmas tree. Erik usually tells us that they all look the same, and it won't matter which one we pick. However he's also the one who vetoes the first two or three trees that we point out in favor of one that he picks out himself. He likes to feign indifference, but he actually loves going to the tree farm. He runs around with Avery, hiding behind trees, faking injuries by pretending to slip in the mud, and trying to make us giggle in every family picture.

He cuts down the tree and hauls it back up to the car, and when he brings it into the house it instantly smells like pine needles and Christmas time. We decorate our tree with colored lights and ornaments that bring back memories of life's little (and big) milestones, and then Erik lifts Avery up to place an angel on the top...an angel that his great-grandma made for him years and years ago.

One of my favorite verses in the Christmas story is Luke 2:19, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

These are my treasured moments, each and every one of them.