Spring is finally here!

We have had an exceptionally cold, rainy winter this year with temperatures 25% lower than normal. :( It's hard to live in the NW when my little boy wants to spend all of his time outside. We were so thankful to finally see the trees budding. Spring is really beautiful in the NW. I love the cherry blossom trees!

We finally had some decent weather this week that actually made it into the 60's! We took Dominic to the pirate ship park and he had a blast!

Domnic on the big boy swing!

He loves the sand!

Into mischief...

One afternoon as I was putting dishes away, my little guy successfully managed to take out all of the screws out of our dinning room table! Dom turned this into a teaching lesson and Dominic spent a half an hour putting them all back on (with a little help).


That same day I came into the kitchen and he had all of the fingerpaints out from a cupboard and was squirting them onto a dish on the floor and started dipping his fingers in to paint. Luckily I came in just in time. So I used his creative energy in painting with apples on paper instead of all over our kitchen! He is a clever little guy and keeps me on my toes!

Dominic loves to sing!

Dominic loves music...playing the piano, singing and dancing. He is a budding musician. And he has rhythm too. This is a little song that he burst out with one day!

Reading

Dominic loves to read books and be read too. One day he decided to read to his bear. He was reading the book "I love you forever" and rocking the bear. It was adorable!

Below is a video of him reading

Birthday Weekend

We spent my birthday weekend with my parents and uncle Bob at the Oregon Coast in a really beautiful beach house. It was a typical Oregon weekend weather wise with a few breaks of sun. It was cozy watching the storms roll in from the warmth of the house. We had a beautiful view of the ocean!
We made it to the beach once during a sun break. It was pretty cold but a beautiful walk on the beach!

Dominic loved playing in the sand!

Dominic's first wakeboarding lesson with Daddy! A future pro!

Birthday dinner...red wine, dark chocolate cake and beautiful flowers from Dom :)

Dominic with Grampy and Grama

Spring Break

It's hard to believe that it is already spring break! While our condo was being painted, we headed up to Lake Cavanaugh to spend a few days with my parents.


Dominic helping to bring wood into the house.

On a walk with Grandma.


Great Grandma and Great Grandpa came up to the lake for a day. They were very entertained with Dominic's endless energy!


Dad used to carry my brother and i like this when we were little. Dominic loved it!



Visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

We left the lake and headed to see my grandparents for the afternoon.


Grandma would always read to me growing up. It was fun watching her read to my baby!




Breakfast with Grandpa and Teri
We ended our spring break week with breakfast at a really cool place in Portland with George and Teri.

Three generations of boys!


Walking around Portland

Sleepytime

This is how Dominic sleeps every night...with a giraffe ("jar" as he calls them) in each had and his "who bear" (dog and bear) right next to him under the blankets.

Cupcake storytime

Every week we meet with my good friend Kristin and her sweet daughter Susannah (she is 6 months older than Dominic). We take them to the cupcake shop for storytime every week where they hear a story, do a little craft and eat a little cupcake and Kristin and I get to catch up. I love our playdates!

Sunday School

Dominic loves going to Sunday School! He looked so adorable this morning with his little Bible under his arm that I had to take a picture. He loves singing and dancing to his "Jeje nay" (Jesus music) and reading his "Bibo" (Bible) and talking about "Jeje and Go" (Jesus and God). He loves to pray and thank God for things every night before bed. Most nights he thanks Jesus for Mommy, Daddy, Wu (Ramsey), Tinny (Dustin), and anything else he encountered that day. He also knows that Jesus loves him and wants him to obey. Sometimes he will asks to pray that Jesus will help him to obey! He has such a sweet little heart. And just tonight at bedtime he said that he loves Jesus!

Making Strawberry Jam

Dominc was a big helper when we made jam a few weeks ago. I decided to try an experiment and make 3 batches of jam...one with white sugar, one with honey and the last with sucanat (an unrefined sugar that is below..really healthy). We were also making freezer jam which is SO MUCH EASIER than canning. I just boil the sugar and mixed strawberries with pectin, let it set on the counter for 24 hrs in a plastic container and then put it in the freezer. It's that easy!
Dominic had a great time eating, mashing and stirring the strawberries.

You can see the difference in color based on the sweeteners we used. The one Dominic is stirring is made with white sugar, the one to the right in front is made with honey and the one to the left of that in front is made with sucanat.

Below is the suacanat mixture. It is slightly brown in color as the sugar is unrefined and unprocessed and has more of a molasses taste...definitely not as sweet as sugar.

Once the jam was ready to eat, Dominic helped me make a loaf of bread. This is our family's favorite recipe and lasts only about a day and a half when I make it. This is the main bread that we eat.

And finally, Dominic is eating the final product...homemade bread with homemade jam. After tasting all of the jams, our family decided that we actually like the one made with sucanat. It is not as sweet of a jam and you taste more of the strawberries because it is not overpowered by the sugary taste!