Finn's first skate

Tyler and did a little shredding on Monday. Taking advantage of the beautiful spring weather we are having.











Woah buddy! He's ready for some air!

Snowed in!

I came to DC for work and have been stranded for several days because of the snow. A few highlights.

Memories of summer

I am just getting around to developing film from this summer and before. Here is another installation of good stuff that was hiding away in dark film canisters just waiting to be revealed. A few shots of Finn's Great Grandma Mary Jane who we visited in South Carolina. On the beach there, just me and T. And, there's actually a photo of me! That never happens unless I really stage it! And, finally a few pics of Squam Lake in New Hampshire where we spent a week with T's Grandpa and parents and other family.

Tiny tiny guy with wings

I just finally scanned this film from when Finn was tiny. My Mom made him this darling little onesie with angel wings and this is the photo shoot we did of him wearing his special outfit. Mom--I will make you copies of these, I promise!

A package!

Finn has gotten many gifts from so many of you. And until recently, it was usually Tyler and I oohing and ahhing and tearing open the paper. But, today he got a package from France and he's big enough now to sort of have his way with paper wrapping. In fact, as you may have experienced with little ones, they don't always get beyond the paper.



OOH! It's a doudou for napping! Nice work, Tifenn. So sweet and cuddly.



Yea! And a book about DIYin' my stuff. Another score.




Woops! And Finn sure devoured the note that came with the package.



Also enclosed is a paper fish that inflates when you blow into it! I can't wait to do it. I might save it until New Year's Eve or something. Maybe Finn will understand a little better then. Thank you Tifenn! What a treat.
Oh, and I can' forget the darling carpet Finn is laying on. That came recently from his cousin Boston and his Aunt Lisa and Uncle Andy. It's a world map. All Finn has to do is roll over once and he is a world traveler!

I've been published!

I took a large format photography class while in Landscape Architecture school. The main project (which I think I have blogged about before) was to use historic photos from the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition taken on what is now the UW campus and try to figure out exactly where they were taken and rephotograph them. The result is a then-and-now type comparison that, when taken in as a whole set of photos, is a pretty cool picture of how the campus has transformed since the fair.

Anyhow, the majority of the photos focused on buildings, but I found this cool one that looks out from behind the track hall, over Union Bay Slough and out onto Laurelhurst. It's a landscape shot. I don't think I found exactly the location that the original photo had been taken but it's a good scene-match. You can read the old blog post I did about this by clicking here.

The book came out and my picture is in it. Near the back. I think John put it there on purpose because lots of people pick up books, then flip the back, run their finger along the pages and let them flip to the front. I think he wanted people to see my picture first!

I saw the book for the first time at Elliot Bay bookstore and I was at the register when Tyler brought it up and said, "Hey Susie, it's your picture!" The lady at the counter was nice and got excited like me and we all giggled. And then I asked if she wanted me to sign some copies and she said, "No thanks."

Here's a link to buy the book.

Happy Halloween!

I'll be staying home with Finn and a few friends on Halloween, but he'll be dressed in his glow in the dark ghost onesie. This shot, however, has something really halloweeny about it to me. Kind of zombie-Addams Family-esque.

Tyler has been cooking up an idea for an art piece on the bike path near our house. He went out on a really beautiful evening recently and took a bunch of photos of this spot, adjusting the shutter speed and aperture to let in as much detail as possible. The photos make the bike path look like a dreamy summer evening.



Jennifer turned 30 recently and I made party hats for her surprise party. Finn was a reluctant model and might have contributed to the design flaw all that hats had--the strings to hold them on were choking everyone!

Here's Finn in Command Centra--as Mat and Becca used to call this.

Tyler discovered a really good distractor and potential teething toy--an apple with a bite taken out.

Woah! The afterburners on roof outside our window caught on fire. It happens from time to time, but this one was big enough that the fire dept. was called. Of course, no one was hurt and no harm was done, but it sure was a good show. And, boy does our fire alert system work well!

Here's Finn in a jacket his grandma made him and a super cozy sweater onesie from Melanie. He's lookin' like a hipster in the making!



I used the very last of the beef I bought last year from Carman Ranch to make beef stock and then beef stew. It turned out great and I have a tub frozen that I will probably eat in a few weeks. That beef is awesome. I can't wait for this year's shipment. I am really gonna work on my pot roast technique this winter.

Flexi-quilt Construction Kit

I did it! Well, my Mom helped me (thanks mom!) ad I finished the little fabric shapes in time for Art Walk. It's silly that I don't have more photos, but I took lots of pics with real film and they are still in the canister waiting to be sent away and developed. But I've got this here photo that another artist posted on facebook of the little guys so that'll just have to do for now. I named it the Flexi-quilt Construction Kit (Thanks Justin Gitlin for the name brainstorm!). (And while I'm on this parenthetical thank you journey, thanks to Tyler for building the shelves in hall and thanks to Alana for hosting the show and thanks to Tonia for giving me the idea to use Timtex so the little pieces would stay stiff and thanks to Finn for being small and inspiring me to make kid's toys.) End parentheses: I think might make little Kits up and sell them on Etsy for fun. (Thanks Noal for the Etsy idea). I better end this now. Goodnight blog-post with by far the worst grammar and punctuation ever.

Another hat!

I am really starting to carve out a niche with this hat stuff. This one went to Miss Olivia Skye Lakeman, a fetching red-headed 2-year old with a come hither kitty face! And she hates hats. BUT, she loves flowers. So, I was really tricky and made a flower pin that I put on it and I think she's coming around. This one is made from two pairs of kids shorts from the Goodwill.