Day 59: How...Kreative

February 28

We drive past this shop twice a week on our way to the dance studio.  The dresses in the window display aren't terrible (well, the little girls' dress is), but the display itself leaves a lot to be desired.  It kind of looks like a dry cleaner's.

Dy 58: Fail

February 27

Darn it.  I was doing so well.

Day 57: Best Booth Sale Ever!

February 26

(Cookie sales are over in two weeks, and then I swear there will be no cookie-related pictures for the rest of the year!)

Here's our setup on Saturday night at Safeway.  How can you possibly resist those cookies (or the ones they're selling)?  While it wasn't the most successful booth sale we've ever had (although at over 70 boxes it definitely wasn't bad, either), it was, at least for me, the most fun.  Vicki and Shelbie are both spunky and full of life, and it was the first time my co-leader Erica and I have ever done a sale together.  The four of us made a good team - we had a blast.

Day 56: Shopping Cart

February 25

During Lexi's dance class, Ellie loves to hang out in Whole Foods Market.  She likes it not because of the fresh, organic, local foods, but because of the child-sized shopping carts.

Day 55: Snow Day!

February 24

This is all it takes for the city of Portland to shut down.  Not that we were complaining...

Day 54: Cookie Monsters

February 23

Goofing off while selling cookies at Fabric Depot.

Day 53: Hopes and Dreams for Baby Mateo

February 22

The girls' principal and his wife (who also works at the school) had their 1st baby at the beginning of February.  He arrived 14 weeks early.  He's 3 weeks old now and doing okay, but it's still going to be a long and bumpy ride.  It's been truly amazing to see and hear about the outpouring of love and support from the school and the community.  These are poems written by one of the 4th/5th grade classes, full of the students' hopes and dreams for Baby Mateo.  They're beautiful.  Even though they weren't written by Vicki's class, I still love to stop and read them whenever I walk by, and I get choked up every time.  I, too, hope and dream and pray that Mateo can grow "strong like the king of the wild", and that his "heart beats like a bongo drum".

Day 52: Trillium Lake Snow Hike

February 21

Our good friends invited us to join them in what we hope will become a President's Day traditon: a snow hike around Trillium Lake.  We love it there in the summer and now we love it in the winter, too!

Day 51: Good Books

February 20

Two of my all-time favorite books.  Re-reading good books is like visiting old friends.

Day 50: Ballerina Girl

February 19

Lexi modeling her costume for her ballet recital.  The recital doesn't take place until June, but they get the costumes early just in case things don't fit right.  Lexi would probably wear this every day from now until June if she was allowed.

Day 49: Cute Cookie Sellers

February 18

Vicki and Shawna (who is dressed as a Samoa cookie) after a great first booth sale of the season.  Together they sold 73 boxes in two hours!

Day 48: Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum!

February 17

Maybe it's just me, but I see a field of boulders surrounded by tall grass.  It makes me think of Lord of the Rings just a little bit.  Really it's just the mossy playground at the girls' school.  Gotta love Oregon.

Day 47: Cookie Booth

February 16

We start booth sales this weekend, so we spent our meeting today practicing.  The first step was to set up the booth.  We were given these great display tables, and it took these 5th graders significantly less time than me to figure out how to put it together.

Day 46: Cookie Entrepreneurs

February 15

We delivered cookies to Chris's office today.  It's great that they let us set up shop in a conference room every year.  The girls managed to sell 12 more boxes while we were there!

Day 45: Treasures

February 14

While sorting through the pile of papers that was in our "to file" stack in the kitchen (we watched "Hoarders" for the first time this weekend and I have been horrified into action) I came across some lost treasures.  Here we have a picture of me with Ellie when she was about 9 months old.  For some reason in this picture she reminds me of my nephew, Gavin.  Above that is a picture of the time Vicki's kindergarten class got to shoot the principal with silly string because they collected the most box tops.  That's a drawing of me done by Lexi when she was probably about 4 (my hair was longer then.)  And the Starbucks gift card is from 2006.  Good thing they never expire!

Day 44: One of Them is Happy About This Picture

February 13

We had dinner at our friends' house tonight.  Sam, who is Ellie's age, is in love with Lexi.  Lexi is not so much in love with Sam.  This picture pretty much says it all.

Also, as a side note, Ellie let Sam convince her to climb inside their dryer.  And shut the door.  And I didn't get a picture of it.  I am so disappointed in myself.

Day 43: Cookies!

February 12

I wish I'd been able to get a better shot.  This is not even a fraction of the cookies being distributed today.  I took 50 cases home with me - that's 600 boxes!  My other troop had 174 cases - 2088 boxes! - which, thankfully, did not go to my house.

Day 42: Bubbler

February 11

Getting a drink at one of the iconic Benson Bubblers.

Day 41: Foggy Morning

February 10

Keeping her balance outside the school.

Day 40: Girls' Movie Night!

February 9

Back when Chris was going out of town on a regular basis, and life was slightly less busy, the girls and I would have a girls' movie night when he was gone.  We watched movies he wouldn't mind missing and had a fun, easy dinner that was okay to eat in the living room.  We haven't done it for a while because life is busier and he's been traveling less, but the stars aligned and tonight we ate nachos and chili-cheese dip and watched Muppets From Space.  Life is good.

Day 39: Maggie the Magnificent

February 8

This is Maggie.  She's a counselor at the girls' school.  I am totally not making this up.  She works with her human, Miss Natalie.  We hold our Brownie meetings in Miss Natalie's room after school, and Maggie occasionally ventures out of her kennel for a little love and attention (although after a hard day at work, she's just as likely to stay in there and enjoy the solitude.)  Yesterday at our meeting, we made friendship bracelets.  The girls could make as many as they wanted as long as they gave some away.  A few of the girls decided to give some to Maggie, and you can see them on her paws.

Our school is awesome.

Day 38: Popcorn!

February 7

Popcorn seemed to be the theme for Christmas presents our family received this year - both Chris's sister and my sister and brother-in-law gave us gifts that included it.  Consequently, we have a LOT of popcorn in our house right now, along with an awesome, party-worthy popper, so the kids never get tired of it for a snack.  Good thing it's pretty healthy!

Day 37: Enntering the Wild Zone

February 6

I discovered this sign while walking up the stairs tonight.  I assume it's referring to the girls' bedroom.

Day 36: Technology

February 5

Found all of these while de-cluttering my bedroom.  Some of them actually still work, although none of them are staying in my house.  I'm not sure why we ever needed four Walkmans, though.

Day 35: Holding Hands

February 4

I love being a mom.

Day 34: Keeper of the Keys (and the Time)

February 3

Vicki's Lego Hagrid, faithfully guarding the alarm clock that never wakes her up.

Day 33: Locks of Love

February 2

One of my Girl Scouts, Cherry, decided she wanted to cut her super long hair and donate it to Locks of Love.  My co-leader happens to be a hair stylist and offered to cut it for her, so we made it a Girl Scout event at our meeting today.  Cherry looks super cute with her new shoulder-length bob, and she's done a great service for other kids.  I'm so proud of her!  We have a truly awesome Girl Scout troop.

Day 32: Samples!

February 1

We love Costco.