block castle

happy face

I found this drawing on my desk when I got back this afternoon from an art docent training. Love it!

Partners With Youth: more info

I wanted to point out that you can divide up your pledged donation over the course of the year, so we are personally pledging $10 a month, which I think is quite affordable, but it makes a huge impact by the end of the year.

Also, you should know that 100% of our Y's full-time staff and Board of Directors have already given to this year's annual campaign, so we are all in it together!

YMCA Partners With Youth Campaign!

I am getting the word out in every way I can... so you may have heard...

I was asked by our YMCA to campaign for the annual Partners With Youth donor drive.

We have been members of our local YMCA since 2009 and Zoe attends the branch preschool at the Child Development Center full-time. I am a Y volunteer, excercise there while Zoe plays in the Kid's Zone, and Pete & Zoe play in their pool. It is so much more than a gym though.

 My main reason for supporting this organization is that I feel like the Y has become an extension of our family. The staff is supportive, concerned, and kind. I have met other moms & families who have become great friends and playmates.

 The Y has created dozens of programs for the kids & families in our community that provide fun/enriching/educational/nutritious activities, childcare, classes, and camps. The Partners With Youth donor drive directly supports these activities by providing financial assistance to families who cannot afford them. A ballet class, a week at basketball camp, or a month of childcare can make a huge difference in a child's life, especially if the child is disabled or if the family is facing financial challenges.

If you are able to donate & help me reach my $750 goal, please go to my donor drive webpage.

Donate at least $25, and as a thank you for your generosity, I will send to you 3 handmade cards that I have designed especially for this campaign that are perfect for Valentine's Day [or any time you want to send some love]. You can see the 3 cards at:

www.truehandcards.com/blog/

Please donate at my YMCA donor drive page [Sara Hartman] and THANK YOU!

 Sara Hartman's Donor Drive Page

a package arrives

This arrived from Uncle Doug & Aunt Tammy. Thank you!

I will get some better pictures sometime.

A giant map of where Uncle Doug's train goes.

Zoe pointed out where Aunt Tammy lives, in the middle of Iowa.

A shirt with a flamingo who's mouth opens!

mickey mouse land

"Mom, I wish I could go to Mickey Mouse Land."
Well, we can't go today.
"Yeah. That makes me really sad."
You'll have to ask Uncle Doug to take you.
"Yes! That's a good idea! But Uncle Doug lives far away..."
You're right.
"But how do we get there?"
We would take an airplane.
"To Mickey Mouse Land?"
Yes. And to see Uncle Doug.
"M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!"

We have never talked about DisneyLand or told Zoe about it in any way, but I think there are enough Disney commercials on tv & she watches the Disney channel and Disney movies and there is always the castle and the fireworks before every show.... she was suspecting that there was some place that we could probably go see, and now the pink hat confirms it. When she put it on she said that she could wear it to Mickey Mouse Land.
The truth is, we all want to go. Does anyone else want to start planning an expensive vacation with us?

from the archive

I still can't find the picture I'm looking for, but these are good too.

it's melting

It has finally stopped snowing. Now it is pouring down rain. There is going to be so much water around here. All of the storm drains are covered with a foot of snow. I'm glad our house is on a hill.

We tried to build a snowman, but it wouldn't stick together, so we just piled up a snowblob and Zoe found things in the yard to decorate it with.

More sledding on our street.

Being stuck in the house meant that I finished some projects, like sewing this nightgown for Zoe. [And I painted the stripes on the wall]

snow walk

always bring a unicorn and a penguin.

mom! my mittens taste like popsicles!

sled

We finally got to use the sled that I bought last Winter!
Zoe has been thrilled all weekend with our snowy weather. She told me that I could put the Christmas tree up. We have put on our warm clothes and gone outside about every 3 hours. It is warming up and melting a little now, but I think there is more snow in the forecast for tomorrow.

snow day!

old macdonald

playing the pi-nano

happy new year!

Hello 2012!
We rang in the new year by going to bed before 10pm. I have had a headache since yesterday afternoon, with the exception of a few hours today. There is a [literal] pain in my neck that I think is causing it.

I thought I had some photos of Zoe to show you and I was upset when they didn't appear on my SD card and then I remembered that I used a CAMERA WITH FILM while we were at the beach today so I don't have digital photos. I want to get a negative scanner and scan my black & white film and use my Cameras With Film [CWF] again without having all of the pictures printed. There is just something special about the images when they are imperfect. It seems more real sometimes.

I do have these from last night. I made a birthday cake for the New Year as an excuse to make a chocolate cake. It was pretty good, but it went into the compost today because it wasn't so amazing that I needed to feed us all chocolate cake for 3 days.

For Christmas, Constance gave me a gorgeous copper Eiffel Tower cookie cutter!

And Amazon gave me an Amazon Fresh delivery truck cookie cutter with one of my orders:

I have been to Carkeek Park 3 times in the past week. It is a lovely park, just about 10 minutes from Zoe's preschool next to Puget Sound.

Click on these to see the pretty details - especially the ferns growing on the tree.