Pre-Easter

We both have to work Easter this year so I decided to put together a pre-Easter celebration on Palm Sunday. We all know I'm big on traditions and Isla's at the age where we can really begin to start some fun annual activities. I like the idea of keeping bunnies and egg hunts and baskets and fluff separate from Easter Sunday so that we can make sure our kids are raised understand the real reason we celebrate Easter. But I'm still trying to figure out a balance between what we will make a part of our family and what we will leave out - not an easy task! This year Isla and I did a special little project earlier in the month and created our own homemade set of Resurrection Eggs. It's been a neat way to teach Isla the story of Easter.  

 I let her paint an egg carton pink and hopefully we'll pull it out every year and count down the 12 days to Easter while recounting Jesus' death and resurrection. We also spent an afternoon dyeing some real eggs for our Pre-Easter breakfast. Isla loved the half and half approach and did a great job!

 The girls were delighted to see some special baskets waiting for them on the front porch when they woke up. I neglected to discuss with Graham whether we were going to be an Easter bunny family or not (he grew up with the Easter Squirrel) and he went ahead and told Isla that the baskets were from the Easter Rabbit. Isla spent the rest of the day running to the front door, trying to get a glimpse of said Easter Rabbit. Oops.

Isla helped me make their little "baskets" out of supplies we had lying around the house earlier in the week.

 Emma loved her little wind-up hopping bunny 

 And the girls immediately went to work making a nest out of the Easter grass for their little bunny and chick.

My house is now covered in Easter grass 

 

 After naps, we went outside to do an egg hunt.

 Isla hunted for the both of them and Emma filled her bag with dirt. 

 

 Emma suddenly grew very interested in the eggs when she realized there were SNACKS inside! Cheerios and mandarin orange wedges - every kids' dream! Honestly, my kids couldn't have been happier. :) 

We closed out the day feasting on roast lamb, tomato bread salad, sauteed potatoes and zucchini, and Resurrection Rolls (which were a miserable failure) with friends. Twas a great day!

Tourists in our own city

I love celebrating our anniversary! So far I think we are 6 for 6 in pulling off a getaway each year come March (thanks to the help of loving grandparents and friends these past 4 kid-filled years!) We've never ventured very far from home (well, except for year 1-Italy is pretty far...) In fact, usually we just play tourist in our own city which has turned out to be really fun. Every year I leave the weekend feeling rested and refreshed and grateful that this man and I are best friends. We really do enjoy each others' company! This year we traveled all the way across the bridge to SEATTLE.  

 We started out midday on Friday and went straight to our very favorite weekday lunch spot near Pioneer Square. If you have not yet experienced Salumi,  you must find an open weekday to do so. Their sandwiches cannot be beat. I ordered their spiciest option-smoked paprika salami with Gorgonzola-and Graham had the mole salami with mozzarella. They served their meats on delicious crusty bread with a pesto spread and onions and peppers. The place is TINY and if you are lucky, you can get a seat at the communal table but the food is so worth the wait and the tight squeeze. 

Random raccoon art outside Salumi

 After stuffing our faces with Italian goodness, we proceeded a couple blocks over to Cafe Umbria for some chocolate and pistachio gelato (long live Italy!)

Graham "surprised" me and booked us a weekend at Hotel 1000, a gorgeous hotel right on 1st Ave. He doesn't believe me but at some point he said the name of where we were going out loud but I tried to act super surprised nonetheless. The room was super swanky with a clear glass wall into the large soaking tub (it fills in a straight stream from the ceiling!)

It's tradition-Graham always has to break in the bed this way:

 Our room was on the 10th floor and had this wonderful water view!

 Upon arrival, I was handed a rose by the valet and Graham, a glass of champagne.  

  Graham had exciting dinner plans in store for me which involved walking the 2 blocks from our hotel down to the ferry terminal and scooting across the water to Bainbridge Island. I must say, I love the Seattle skyline with the new wheel!

 He took me to Hitchcock which has been on my restaurant bucket list for a while now and keeps getting written up in magazines. They pride themselves in serving local, organic dishes with handmade charcuterie and craft cocktails. YUM! We arrived just in time to order 3 of their regular dishes for half price off the happy hour menu:  a big bowl of Castelvetrano olives swimming in rosemary-infused olive oil (seriously, where have olives been all my life!?), a plate of baby greens with Danish blue cheese and pickled shallots and a duck liver and quince parfait (pictured in the center) served with flatbread. Graham had is new favorite drink-an old fashioned Manhattan-and I went all crazy and ordered an orange San Pellegrino.

We followed our heavy appetizers with a brined and wood-fire grilled pork chop served with roasted potatoes and apple puree. So good. A few weeks ago at MOPS, I was given a "how well do you know your spouse" quiz put together by John Gottman so much of our dinner conversation revolved around making sure we know each others' current hopes and dreams and stresses and challenges (it may sound mechanical but it was really a very lovely talk!) By this time, we were both stuffed and happy and we made it out of there for $48 flat. Mighty fine for fancy food if I do say so myself. Our sail back into Seattle provided us with this gorgeous view (as well as the free entertainment of watching some early high schoolers figure out how to tease and flirt...)

 After a night of good, solid sleep, we kicked off day 2 at Sweet Iron Waffles where we sipped Stumptown Coffee and dined on fancy waffles.

Graham ordered a savory one with prosciutto, creme fraiche and green onions. My waffle was literally swimming in nutella. Yummmmmm.

 Graham had hoped to get into the SAM art museum for free (he always has tricks up his sleeve) but it turns out the special deal he'd found was only applicable on the first weekend of the month. Being that we are too cheap to spend $40 at an art museum, we proceed on to Pike Place for some Saturday morning browsing.

The flowers this time of year are AMAZING! When we were planning for our wedding, we actually talked about getting our flowers from Pikes the day before the wedding and doing sort of a take-whatever-they-have sort of deal. It was fun to be there on what would have been the day before our wedding 6 years later to see what our bouquets might have looked like. I don't think I would have been disappointed!

 What this girl needs is her very own Shamrock plant!

 It took us a while to work up an appetite after our heavy breakfast but after spending some relaxing time reading back at our hotel room, we popped downstairs to the hotel restaurant Boka for a burger and some truffle fries (I blame pregnancy!) I'd actually been wanting to come to Boka for these famous fries for quite some time but had no idea it was paired with the hotel. For the record, the fries were worth it!

Graham told me to pick an activity that I'd been wanting to do for a while but that I couldn't do easily with kids. Believe it or not, I chose shopping (unlike me I know but it turns out my body is different AGAIN this pregnancy and my other maternity pants don't fit right...) So off we went to the Gap! I bought the first pair of pants I tried on and even found a sweater and some leggings. And we finally found Graham his very first pair of sunglasses. EVER!

Graham really scored with his restaurant picks this weekend! For dinner, he took me to The Whale Wins, a newer place in Fremont that has been getting rave reviews. We were thrilled to walk in and get a table with no wait. The sun even decided to pop out and provide gorgeous lighting for our meal. 

 We ordered roasted beets with sheepsmilk feta, served with a parsley hazelnut relish. It was SO good. The restaurant was mostly white with navy and white accents-a combination I love. The plate our water pitcher rested on is the same pattern my Grandma Wilson used to have. It brought back such warm memories! Next we had a roasted king oyster mushroom gratin with cream and breadcrumbs. It was so rich and delicious. Graham is on a mussel kick and so wanted to try their mussels with curry and potatoes. After a few attempts at eating them, I think I can make an official statement now: I do not care for mussels. 

 The waitress informed us that their roasted mad hatcher half chicken was one of their top selling items so we went ahead and tried it. It was served with a parsnip and rutabaga puree and preserved lemon. I felt like we needed to order the chicken because we never, ever order chicken and everyone should do it at least once. Now I can say I've done it and I do not feel the need to do it again. It was a deliciously flavored roast chicken but honestly, a chicken tastes like chicken. There were so many options on the menu that we can't wait to go back and try some of the other dishes (we've already decided what we will order!)

Following dinner, I got a real hankering for a peanut butter milkshake. The concierge back at our hotel (who was also pregnant) understood the urgency of my request and made it happen in less than 20 minutes. I love hotels like this that can pull off anything and everything!!! We opted to close our evening by seeing a movie (another activity it's hard to do with kids!) 

What a fun, perfect, relaxing weekend! I'll close with this beautiful picture of sunset from our room with the wheel all lit up for the Sounders game.

6 Years

Today we celebrate 6 years together as man and wife! Oh how I adore going back and looking at pictures and reliving this very special St. Patrick's Day. 

I might be just a little bit biased but I thought the day was absolutely perfect. We invested a lot of time into creating a meaningful ceremony and the musicians were phenomenal!

We had such a blast with our friends and family and bridal party of FOURTEEN!  

 Each and every one of these people who stood up beside us as we made our vows played a very critical role in the development of our relationship. 

   I can't help but think how YOUNG we look in these pictures. We were young and naive but SO HAPPY.

And do you want to know something? We still are. Maybe not as young and certainly not as naive but we most definitely continue to be SO HAPPY.

I've spent a lot of time pondering our marriage over the past few months. Our church just finished a series on relationships and each Sunday I left bursting with gratitude for the man that I get to call my husband. Our relationship hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. Could two people possibly be more opposite? Add 3 years and 7 months of graduate school and 2 1/2 children and it sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

We've certainly faced our fair share of challenges but (praise God!) they have only served to bring us closer together. Oh and we've had a lot of fun too. Honeymooning in Fiji, a 1st anniversary trip to Italy, a family trip to Mexico, a babymoon adventure in Kauai, the life-changing arrival of sweet Isla, a 3 week trip to France with Bebe in tow, lots of miscellaneous other trips both near and far, delicious cooking creations, and then Emma made us a family of four, another family trip to Mexico and then a week, just us, in Napa.

 Our days are full and our margins are minimal right now but as this post goes live on the blogosphere, I am savoring a weekend away with my man to celebrate this wonderful marriage of ours. We know a lot of you out there have been praying for us and we feel it. Our marriage is where it is today as proof. We work hard on our relationship but let's make sure we give credit where credit is due - without Christ as the center, this amazing marriage just would not be.

A very happy anniversary to my husband and my very best friend! You light of my life every day and I am so thankful I get to wake up every morning next to you. If we've packed this much adventure into our first 6 years together, I can't wait to see where the next 6 will take us! I love you. 

Spring "Break" (what we've been doing)

I promised to try to do a "catch up" post but now that I have the opportunity, I am at a loss as to where to begin. Let's start with the good news: SPRING BREAK IS HERE!!!!! Graham took his final on Thursday night after long hours of study and I am happy to announce he passed with flying colors! The man is a genius. I don't think I can ever say that enough.  
His "break" will be short (a weekend) but super sweet because we are spending the weekend alone together in celebration of our anniversary.  I think the last time we spent three consecutive days with each other was back in Napa in September so this feels like heaven!

(As an aside, I just love this picture of the girls sending Graham off to school. Isla took it upon herself to always make sure Daddy had a drink for class or clinicals. They would stand eagerly at the door, waving until he pulled away. You can't see their faces but I feel like their admiration for their father is visible even from the behind. Sweet girls!)

A lot of you are vaguely aware of the drama that was last quarter. I will spare the rest of you all of the nitty gritty details (mostly because this platform is not the space to do so). In short, Graham's preceptor arrangement for winter quarter fell through. He is required to obtain 500 clinical practice hours (167 hours/quarter) working under nurse practitioners this year in order to graduate. No preceptor = no hours = no graduation. Needless to say, we spent some excruciatingly frustrating and extremely stressful weeks in conversation with the school about alternate options, all the while, watching the possibility of a June graduation date slip further and further away.

Honestly, I would never wish a situation like this one on anyone. We experienced every raw emotion imaginable and we were all over the map (just ask our kids - no "good parent" gold stars for us that week!) Looking back now, I don't know that I've ever been prouder of Graham. He asserted himself in a way I'd never seen in our 9 years together (as his wife, I think I have the right to say so: it was HOT!) and tackled the situation with firmness and grace. In the end, the only solution offered was for Graham to travel twice a week to Port Hadlock to obtain hours in the primary care setting. (I use the word "travel" instead of "commute" because, when it takes a person 2 1/2 hours each way to get somewhere-including a ferry ride-I define that as a trip!!) Of course the answer wasn't that "simple." His available weekdays to go to Hadlock did not align with his preceptor's work shifts so Graham pulled some strings at work and was able to adjust his master work schedule to accommodate the Hadlock dates. Praise the Lord for a supportive manager - she literally saved the day! When he called her in crisis, her words were "Graham, we haven't gotten you this far to let graduation slip away now!"

Sooooo, the last 2 months of our lives have been a complete whirlwind! Graham's been working a lot of weekends (every Saturday and every other Sunday) to avail more week days for the Hadlock trips and so us girls have had to make some adjustments. We've all really, really missed him as he hasn't been home during the girls' wake hours ~5 days out of the week. It's been a crazy quarter (I don't even want to tally our gas/ferry bills or the number of vacation days Graham had to take from work to make this all happen) but we are SO grateful that he was somehow able to obtain 160 of the 167 clinical hours required!! Beginning next week, he'll be working with an oncology nurse practitioner on Capital Hill (Seattle has never seemed SO CLOSE!!!) This is him dream placement so we're all thrilled. He'll be working with her during his spring "break" to help make up for the hours lost but at least he'll have one week without class!

On another note, he had a preliminary interview for an oncology nurse practitioner position a few weeks back and the job sounded like a wonderful fit. It would be based less than 2 miles from our home (WOW) so we would love it if it worked out. He received word last week that he was a prime candidate and that they will be contacting him shortly (it's a new position so they are still ironing out some kinks). We are hopeful that the do but whatever the case, it is promising to know there are NP jobs in his specialty field out there.

I think it's safe to say we are back on track and I have a graduation date of June 9th, 2013 marked in PEN on the calendar. 85 more days to go!!!!!

Kraft Mac n Cheese, Little Caesar's Pizza and Raspberry Limeade

And Indonesian instant ramen. And rich, salty pasta dishes. And spicy Asian food. And buttery microwave popcorn. And just plain salt for that matter. Yes, these are a few of my favorite things right now. You see, there's something we've been meaning to tell you. (And no, it isn't that I've given up my nutrition ideals for Lent.) 

Baby Crozier #3 is in the making!

This little bundle is due to arrive on October 8th and we couldn't be more excited. If you've been wondering why I've been a bit absent on my blog as of late, now you know one of many reasons. We've had a lot going on over here and I'm hopeful I'll get back on the blogging train soon to fill you all in. Graham told me the other day "I feel like God is whacking me over the head with a two by four, trying to teach me something big: Life is hard. But life is precious. We just never know what tomorrow may bring and so we need to live in the  present." Life is going to be pretty wild with three babes barely four and under but we feel so richly blessed to be on this journey together and can't wait to add one more! (The girls are pretty excited too....)  

Emma's "Half Birthday"

Ok technically there is no February 30th (I still can't believe I let this happen) so we've chosen the last day of February as Emma's designated half birthday.  Last Thursday we celebrated with pancakes, candles, lots of singing, crowns for all (Isla's idea), and a trip to Coldstone for some half  birthday ice cream.

 Emma had fun :)

Isla chose pink and blue (cotton candy and strawberry - yum?) 

 Emma loved her candle and I think she now expects us to sing to her every time she sees a flame.

  Isla helped me pick out the perfect half birthday present: a doctor kit so she can "check people out."

 Emma's been allowed to play with it a couple times but I think her big sister might be getting more use out of it....

  A very happy half birthday to my sweet second born!