Wishing you all a Merry Christmas filled with love, light and happy memories.
John, Ryan, Finn and I are enjoying the surprise snow and lighting candles. Presents are wrapped, dinner is cooking and Santa is on his way…đ đŒ đ
My Year In Pictures: December Week 2
A week filled with Christmas preparations and winter weather make for a merry and bright set of images today.  In typical Pacific Northwest fashion we’ve had our first SNOW freak-out, lit up the short and gray days with plenty of bright lights, enjoyed peppermint mochas and spent a little time shopping online.  The snow may be gone but we know it’ll return so in the meantime I’ll listen to Seahawk football, fold my laundry and watch Ryan and John put up our outdoor lights so everything will be colorful and cheery when we come home tomorrow. đ  How are you spending  your weekend?
Iâll be back with a new post in a few days but if you donât want to wait please join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If youâd like to learn more about any of the images but you donât follow me on these accounts please feel free to click here for IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You donât need an account at either place to view my photos, everyoneâs welcome.
A Surprise Every Day: Shaking Up December With Hipstamatic (week 4 – the Christmas edition)
In the few hours left before our New Year’s Eve countdown I’m here online to recap a 7 day stretch that was filled with Christmas.  We spent last full week of the month surrounded by festive displays, holiday decorations, good food, and family.  Next week will bring a fresh start and end of the year recap but today let’s slow down and look back to where we were 10 days ago.
Sunday started with our annual walk through Downtown Seattle to see the holiday decorations and visit Pike Place Market.  Our last stop of the morning was at Beecher’s Cheeses for their amazing Macaroni and Cheese before driving over to the Pacific Science Center for our IMAX 3D showing of Star Wars.  Ryan was beyond happy and later said this was one of his “best ever dream days.” đ  Monday brought us back to reality but after dinner John delivered a nice Gin & Tonic with a straw so I could continue to work on an Etsy project while sipping my cocktail.  Tuesday you have a glimpse of our Christmas tree and Ryan’s 1st Grade holiday ornament next to my tiny disco ball sparkling in the lights.
Wednesday’s photo is a close up of the Santa Mail Box in our town plaza and on Christmas Eve I had to snap a photo of Ryan’s awesome “Believe” shirt.  Friday afternoon we took a walk along the waterfront at Sunset before sitting down to Christmas dinner and Saturday morning we were on the road to my Parent’s house for a fun weekend filled with family, plenty of food and more presents.  All in all a great week!
I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable New Year’s Eve and a fantastic start to 2016!
Each photo was taken with my iPhone 6 using Hipstamaticâs âshake to randomizeâ function then posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens, filter and flash used.  For variety I continue to add new lenses and filters so if you want to try Hipstamatic but are unsure how to start let me know and Iâll do my best to answer your questions.
The Little Things
Ryan is an enthusiastic collector of little, quirky things and his hands are never far from tiny objects ready for a quick touch during the day. This habit and the inevitable pile of stuff on every flat surface in his room causes more than a few arguments when it comes time to clean but our compromise of a series of boxes and baskets usually gets us through at least a monthly dusting.
Ryan asks for a Christmas tree in his room every year and my typical reply is that we could get a small one but what would he put on it for decorations? This is usually the end of the conversation but last weekend John and Ryan walked in the door with a big box and huge grins on their faces. Together they bought a 4 foot tall, pre-lit aluminum tree and proceeded to decorate it with all the bits and pieces stashed in his drawers, boxes and baskets.
I have to agree it’s a fun way to show off some of his treasures and where else will you find a silver tree decorated with an assortment of zombies, monsters, aliens, dinosaurs, key chains, wind-up hopping lederhosen, plastic snakes and Speed Racer’s Mach 6. Does anyone else remember this show? We have the old TV series, the new movie and of course the hot wheels cars…
Wordless Wednesday: 12-18-13
Black and White Tuesday: 12-17-13
We spent a fun few hours in Seattle Sunday afternoon watching A Christmas Carol at the ACT Theater and walking through the city looking at the holiday lights and decorations.
I enjoyed our time together away from the usual weekend routines and I think Ryan’s favorite moments were “high-fiving” Scrooge at the end of the show and sharing a bag of fresh, hot donuts with Dad while walking down the street.
A Word A Week: Track
Even though Ryan growing up before my eyes he is still small enough to enjoy bringing out his Polar Express Train Set. The tree lights up and bells chime when the train pulls into the station and last night Santa took his important place on top of the present car. Â
Posted as part of Sue’s fun challenge – A Word A Week: Track
Northwest Frame of Mind 