KCB Photography » Personal

Bowie Tuesday: The Great Divide

Kelly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:30:31 +0000

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to have lived closer to 1810 instead of 2010. Then, I ponder the luxuries of say indoor plumbing or electricity and I doubt the glamorized version of pre-paved street days that read very much like Pride & Prejudice in my head. Needless to say, Mike and I would not be having the same commuter car showdown in 1810 as we do in present day. I feel confident that the choices between wagons did not hold a candle to today’s automobile options. The cool factor probably determined more by quality springs and literal horse power and a lot less on horsepower and say, navigation. Man alive, there is much to compromise on in this decision process. Perhaps we should just return to bike riding and close in our radius a bit. Or not, I’d miss my friends and Costco trips would be incredibly beasty. Surely the answer is just waiting in the next lot with our name written in block letter on the windshield. That would help. There is no hard line decision in our future, but I thought I’d share two of the options that have been put upon the table and let you guess the backer of each choice. Just to be clear, this is to be our commuter car. Good gas mileage, safety & frugality being key components, or so I thought.

Wagon #1

Wagon #2

hmmmm…..

Bowie Tuesday: It is what it is

Kelly — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:19:05 +0000

Okay, I’m just going to say it. I let my self image insecurities rob me of Bowie Tuesday last week. How lame is that really? Didn’t stop me from eating a pretty dog gone wonderful Gorilla ice cream cookie treat, but it did put the breaks on my blog post. After returning from Chelan I was looking through some of the family photos Rylee took for us. It was a bit of a rushed affair since I had put off the task til Rylee was literally loading the car to leave and there was no way I was going to convince Landon & Addison to get out of the pool for a photo. So we compromised and took pictures in the pool. In bathing suits. Turns out, no surprise to myself or woman anywhere, that I don’t particularly like pictures of myself in a swimsuit. And when I say I don’t like them, I mean that after looking at them for about 3 seconds I shut my computer and decided Bowie Tuesday was cancelled for the week. After a week of reflection, self talks and commiserating with friends I have decided to be brave, throw pride to the wind and just put it out there. I also decided to start running again. You never know where the motivation will come. Here are our 2010 family photos, soon to be added to our collection on the wall. If nothing else, it’ll make you smile.

Sundquist Thursday: All Things Orange

Rylee — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:34 +0000

So I opened Nadia’s diaper this morning to find her little hiney stained orange. I’m not sure Who made all easily digestible beginner foods orange – squash, carrots, sweet potatoes – because they stain everything. Clothes, bibs, and as it turns out, baby bottoms! I’ll spare you the diaper and just show you the cute end of the orange fest.

Bowie Tuesday: Annual Bowie/Sundquist vacation part I

Kelly — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:53:28 +0000

The time has come upon us once again. Time for the third annual Bowie/Sundquist Chelan vacation. Landon has been ‘counting the sleeps’ since the end of June, anticipating the trip with enthusiasm equal to Christmas morning. The joy is rooted in time spent together relaxing and reveling in the sunshine, slower pace and more legos than Legoland. Days spent with early morning walks (some of us still in jammies), swimming and the company of family and friends. Pretty much a whole lot of my favorite things. I may even be able to finish a whole book, a girl can dream anyway.

New tricks come in all shapes and sizes.

Dinners are fabulous to a fault. A group effort with scrumptious results.

A little Summer Vegetable Potato Salad thanks to Erin Youngren’s Recipe Sunday. I love a good new recipe that I can add to the box as a keeper.

Put Your Hands Together for Sundquist Thursday!

Rylee — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:00:57 +0000

BIG NEWS at the Sundquist house: Nadia can clap. She knows her newfound talent is pretty special. I came in when she woke up from her nap, and she clapped. It seems that many small things in life can seem a whole lot bigger when filled with the applause of a 6 month old. Mommy sat down – hurray! Nadia spit up all over the carpet – Encore! Daddy’s home from work – extra claps for that! However, the most appropriate use thus far of her hand-clapping praise was the very first time I saw her do it. We had just finished potting the last plant and sweeping away the final debris from our backyard makeover project, and I looked up from my dirt covered gloves, and there was my baby girl, smiling and giving me a big round of applause.

Here’s some before:

It won’t win any awards, but it’s clean, usable, there’s potted plants that are actually alive, tiki torches, and a marked absence of weeds. Here’s the after:

Bowie Tuesday: The Perfect Cut

Kelly — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:30:29 +0000

Some purchases are thrust upon you out of sheer necessity and you can either choose to embrace it and or grumble. I’m not much of a grumbler, so when Mike informed me that our mower (the one I bought last year mind you) had given up the fight and would cost more to fix than it was worth, we packed up the kids and headed to Home Depot. We are now the proud owners of a brand spanking new Honda mower with all sorts of snazzy features that I will probably never really truly appreciate since I think I’ve mowed the lawn a total of four times in the ten years we’ve been married. However, anything new and shiny in a box is pretty fun and worth a moment of family celebration. Needless to say, our lawn looks fabulous.

Bowie Tuesday: Summer day

Kelly — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:30:39 +0000

I’m not sure why it is, but summer seems to be saturated with memory making moments. The day’s are longer, the world is larger because we spend so much time outside, the grass is greener, we play harder, we eat more popsicles, and we spend more time with friends. I love to watch my children make their own memories. I wonder which ones will travel with them well into adulthood. I pray that it will not slip by too swiftly and that I will gather up each and every giggle, smile & big squeeze.

MSNBC

Kelly — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:32:11 +0000

Sometimes opportunities arise and you move forward not even realizing the full scope. If just feels right. Back in May we received a call from an organization called Wish Upon a Wedding. They are the first non-profit wish granting organization providing weddings for couples facing terminal illness. It was Wednesday and they working feverishly to create the first event for the Seattle chapter the following Sunday. We agreed, only understanding where we were to be and that we would be volunteering to photograph a wedding. What an incredible blessing it turned out to be. Shelly & Jay have a remarkable story, and thanks to the tireless efforts of Wish Upon a Wedding, the final chapter was a grand celebration for their wedding. Their wedding was a stark reminder of why we marry. To be joined to the one we love, for better or worse in sickness and health. Never before have those words held such meaning for me. Rylee & I were honored and so grateful to have been a part of Jay & Shelly’s day. We’ll post additional pictures next week now that we have the green light, but for now you can read about their story on today’s MSN.com page. It is so nice to see an organization with such a big heart making the headlines, a little more of that would go a long way. Click here to read the full article.

Sundquist Thursday: Homemade Baby food!

Rylee — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:27:34 +0000

Lately I’ve felt a lot more like Amelia Bedelia and a lot less like Betty Crocker, but I did manage to bring out my inner do-it-yourselfer by making Nadia some baby food. It isn’t hard – just steam or roast the vegetables, then puree them until they’re smooth. Nadia loves the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and peas that we made. Her favorite though is pureed white peaches. I think it tastes like a yummy smoothie (I try anything I have her try), so I don’t blame her for licking the bowl clean. I love how bright this food is.

Sundquist Thursday: Adventures of the Gastronomic Kind

Rylee — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:34:14 +0000

Sitting with support. Check.

Does not thrust tongue out when an object is put in mouth. Check.

Stares at food with a reverence and curiosity reserved for REALLY cool things. Check.

Solid food, here we come! We have officially started trying out some solid food. Nadia loves sweet potatoes, squash, peaches, carrots. Nadia hates pears, rice cereal, and sometimes carrots. Life’s an adventure, and we’re taking it head on! Nadia gets to have adventures with food; David and I get to have adventures with the stinkier, solider surprises that the new foods create in her diaper. Here are some photos of her very first experience with eating from a spoon. I have my dear husband to thank for half of these.

P.S. It’s not quite midnight, so it’s still Thursday!

Please ignore the bad hair. It’s in recovery mode currently after the post-baby balding.

Daddy’s turn to feed her. It’s always good to start with a kiss. I think he just tries to butter her up so that he’s her favorite.

She has such a martyred look on her face.

It’s a good idea to end with a kiss to. I think that’s a good way to do anything.