Down the Hatch

First Bite

2012-01-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick update on what we've been doing to keep ourselves busy this winter. Mac is no longer going to preschool since it was his least favorite thing and I figured why pay money to make my child miserable. Mac's been on a costume kick lately so he decided that he needed to be a headless horseman. This is what I came up with from our fruit snack box, and Mac added the orange paint.

After a dry winter we finally had our second big snow storm and Mac was loving it.

Mac's flair for fashion never ceases to amaze.

Here we are Great Harvest playing with the toys. Half of their toys are broken and seem too young for my kids but whenever we go there they act like they've arrived at Disneyland. Maybe it's the presence of toys and cookies in the same location that is so thrilling.

We've been trying to get little Lach to pack on some pounds since his doctor says he's not gaining enough so we decided to give him his first taste of solid food. He loved it and really gobbled the rice cereal down, unfortunately right after feeding him we discovered that the cereal contains soy so we need to hunt down a non-dairy or soy option for his next meal.

The boys working on their rocket ship.

Birthdays and Costumes

2012-01-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

Mac has discovered a love of watching Chinese lion dancing videos on youtube and was adamant that he have a costume of his own to dance around in. So with a little help from a trader joe's bag, some straws and left over foil tape from my show, Mac was in heaven.

Hamilton's more minimalist lion.

Behold, this is what six hours of amateur cake decorating will get you. For Mac's second birthday he got a Thomas cake and so in true little brother style, Hamilton decided that he wanted one of Thomas's passenger cars for his cake.

Not the best picture in the world but this is Hamilton after receiving his first sizable hair cut from Grammy Nicole. I am still morning the loss of his long curls.

Hamilton's first trip to Sky High for his birthday. He jumped non stop for 30 minutes and loved every minute of it.

And finally enjoying a nice birthday cup cake on the ride home.

Show Time

2012-01-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a look at my show that opened this month at the Saranac Art Projects. And here is a write up on the show for more info.

The big day arrived

2011-12-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics from our house on Christmas morning. Mac and Ham both went to sleep early on Christmas eve, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa, who they had been tracking all day with Cameron on Google earth. They proceeded to sleep in until 7am on Christmas morning which is completely unprecedented (I honestly cannot remember the last time Mac has slept in past 6) bringing holiday cheer to all.

Mac marvels in the fact that his Thomas toy is also a pillow.

Trains were the main event for toys and both boys were very excited about the new tracks.

This is an odd picture, but I figured I'd show the sad vegan cookie I put in my stocking since I can't eat dairy any longer and was therefore denied my usual Godiva Christmas.

Lachlan was mystified by it all but enjoyed having his brothers crowd around him trying to help him open his gifts.

Crazy Boys

2011-12-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

The boys were starting to go a little stir crazy this winter so I was able to pick up a trampoline on Craigslist which has really helped to get out some wiggles.

Mac has been a really great big brother to Lachlan. He calls him his "buddy bud" and is always happy to chat with him and give him a kiss.

I walked into Mac's room after nap time to find him hiding in his pillowcase. Hamilton has given some really passionate cheese exclamations for photo's lately.

Mac wearing most of the contents of his costume box.

Holiday Happenings

2011-12-14T12:21:00.001-08:00

Early Winter

2011-11-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

Goings on

2011-11-08T19:14:00.001-08:00

Halloween day started out with a bang as poor Hamilton fell off his chair at Great Harvest and his chin landed on a toy train. Grammy and I raced over to the doctor's office with the boys and Hamilton was all smiles by the time we arrived. Unfortunately the smiles quickly disappeared as he was strapped down and stitched up. Quite the traumatic experience for mom and Ham!

Later that night we did a little trick or treating at our church parking lot.

Lachlan received a baby blessing at church last week and the familia came over for a little lunch afterwards.

We took a trip to Manito Park with Grammy to enjoy all the fall leaves before it gets to be too cold.

Hamilton is quite the animal lover and was ecstatic to find a kitty at Aunt Dana's Halloween party.

A few pictures from Cameron's work party which is always fun.

At Mac's preschool Halloween parade he decided he was tired and so laid down to take a rest half way through.

Lachlan made one cute train conductor albeit with an extremely large hat.

Fall festivities begin...

2011-10-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

For the first time since we've had children it seems like the holiday's will be a never ending kid extravaganza without much effort on our part thanks to family events, preschool and church activities. The boys are excited to debut their Thomas the Tank Engine outfits (which much to my joy were $10 at a garage sale) tomorrow at Mac's preschool parade. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can control three crazy boys once their full of Halloween candy, we'll see.

pumpkin picking

2011-10-18T14:01:00.001-07:00

The good news is that Mac is getting a lot better at writing his name. The bad news is that we discovered this by looking at the dashboard of our car.

Last Saturday we took a trip to Walter's Fruit Ranch to pick out some pumpkins and play in their enormous sandbox full of dried peas. As you can see from below Mac took the rule about no throwing peas very seriously.

When we first started looking for a pumpkin Mac was unimpressed an declared that, "This place is dirty and cold". Grammy would be so proud that her love of cleanliness has been passed down through the generations!

Poor Lachlan never seems to get a good photo these days, he's either sleeping, eating or in his car seat.

Here's an ode to Hamilton's crazy hair, I can't get enough of this mad scientist look.

And finally pics from our trip to the park. Hamilton discovered a love of hanging from the bars and proceeded to hang for about three minutes, impressing all around.

Out on the lawn

2011-10-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

With Grammy away spending her vacation on an actual vacation this month instead of enjoying the luxury of the Hatch basement I'm trying to do a better job of getting day to day pics of the boys. Lachlan is opening his eyes quite a bit these days and much to my amazement I actually have a blue eyed child, hard to believe. In the grand tradition of mom blogs, Mac has been saying some pretty funny things lately, for example this exchange from today in our backyard while he was pretending to make soup with rocks and leaves and water:
Mac: "I'm blowing fire onto my soup to make a wish"
Me: "oh, what are you wishing for?"
Mac: "my soup"

I caught Lachlan in a very stretchy mood.

Apple Pickin'

2011-09-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

Our little song birds

2011-09-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Fall on the Farm

2011-09-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the annual Hatch family fall party and pig racing extravaganza. First up is little Lachlan who was really well behaved and spend most of the party bundled up in his car seat snoozing.

This picture of Hamilton should help explain why there are large blue stains on his face in all the subsequent photos.

Mac enjoys a pony ride with a nice chocolate cupcake smile.

mas photos

2011-09-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

per grammy's request, here are some new pics of the little guys.

Grammy Visits

2011-08-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my mom's visit. It was so wonderful to have her and Cameron around to help with the transition to three kids. My recovery has gone so well and I really can't believe how easily things have gone so far taking care of the boys myself. Prior to delivery I think I was mentally preparing myself for some type of apocalyptic chaos so by comparison it's been pretty smooth sailing.

Three Amigos

2011-08-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Lachlan Scott Hatch has arrived!

He was born Wednesday at 1:30, weighing 8lbs 6oz and 21in long.

We are enjoying having him home and so far the big brothers have loved giving him kisses and picking flowers for him so let the fun of having three kids begin!

Videos for Grammy

2011-07-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Alas gmail seems to allow less space for attachments these days and thus all the readers of the blog can now enjoy these quick hello to grammy nicole videos.

Summer Pics

2011-07-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't been the best about keeping my camera handy lately so here are a few pics to tide over the grandparents and I'll work on being a little more diligent about capturing what's going on around the Hatch house.
The first two pics are from the 4th of July BBQ which was great fun. Mac and Cameron road on the the boat and went tubing and Hamilton had a great time digging in the sand and eating chips to his hearts content.

I love this picture because it captures Hamilton's generous nature. He's always picking random debris off the ground and bringing it to me.

Cool and Clean

2011-06-26T17:50:00.001-07:00

Today has been a bit of a stressful one. Thank goodness for the discovery of Mac in the bath with his sun glasses on to make me laugh and temporarily forget how exhausted I am.

2011-06-18T15:49:00.001-07:00

My good friend Sarita stopped by for a visit and earned the distinction of being the best house guest ever. We played with the kiddos, visited Hatch farms, ate some Trader Joe's goodies, and had nice long talks which brought me back to the good ol'Wellesley days.

Mac's 3rd birthday started off right with a Thomas filled box from Grammy Nicole.

Next on the Birthday docket was a carnival themed joint party with Mac's best pal Lucy Hawkins.

And finally the fun continued on our family vacation to Galveston, TX to visit with Grandpa Scott, Marcela, Craig and Sean.

Good Times in UT

2011-06-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

We took a marathon two week vacation to Utah to visit with Grammy, Grandpa and the occasional trampoline jumping uncle Evan. My mom is a saint to host these crazy boys for two weeks (and their occasionally cranky and tired mother) and though Mac was pretty home sick by the end we took advantage of every activity we could find so we had a lot of fun.

This first pic is pre utah but Ham was looking too cute not to share. The best mother's day gift ever, flowers plus knowing the boys have learned how to weed the backyard. We stopped on the drive down to UT to check out a tractor dealership in ID, surprisingly no staff came out to offer us assistance.

Ah the joys of IKEA!

I was so impressed with the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was really kid friendly, entertaining and the ultimate selling point being that both boys were free.

One of several trips to indoor trampoline places. The boys had a lot of fun and got to see their Uncle Evan in all his trampoline flipping glory.

The boys hiding in a cave at the aquarium which was fun but overrun with elementary school kids on their end of the school year trip.

And finally the completely overpriced (8.50 for a one year old!) children's museum at the Gateway Mall. Luckily the boys had a complete blast which softened the blow of shelling out all that cash somewhat.

Hamilton had a hilarious obsession with the corn oil in the fake supermarket and proceeded to clear the shelves of all the bottles.

The dress up area was also a big hit though a bit of a workout for me having to help them change costumes every five seconds.

Easter Week

2011-04-25T13:14:00.001-07:00

Our egg masterpieces: Monster eggs and eggs with letters.

Mac smiling before his first day of preschool, alas the smiles faded as we arrived and he discovered I wouldn't be sticking around for the class.

Hamilton was also pretty excited for the trip to preschool which was a small miracle considering his hatred for car rides in general.

The egg hunt at our church was a lot of fun. I feel like I've entered a whole new world attending primary activities for the first time. I came away thinking that it takes quite a women to plan an activity for 90 children.

Hamilton enjoyed picking up a bucket of eggs and then one by one returning them to the grass.

Easter morning with the requisite bed head. Upon discovering his Mater lollipop Mac said, "I'm am so lucky to have this!"

Hamilton with his slicked back church hair. I am sorely deficient in boys hair grooming skills. Poor Mac and Ham either look like they just got out of bed or they're selling used cars.

My Boys

2011-04-08T20:29:00.001-07:00

Mac and Hamilton are at the farm for a few days while dad does ski free week and I attempt to clean the house for the first time in weeks. I'm missing my boys and looking forward to their return tomorrow. Speaking of boys we're expecting Hatch boy numero 3 on August 7 so we're looking forward to fielding our own little league team in about five more years :)

The Return of Grammy

2011-03-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

After an extended absence Grammy Nicole finally returned to Spokane to relieve me of stress and add some excitement to the boy's lives.

The fun never ended with daily trips to random kid's play places.

Poor Hamilton is fated to be photographed in dirty bibs throughout his early childhood, darn that excessive drooling.

Mac was thrilled to take some big-boy only trips with his friends Bernie and Landon while Grammy stayed home with a sleepy Hamilton.

The picture above is a little hard to see but it was quite funny as Mac and Landon spent the first twenty minutes of their time at the trampoline place running back and forth on the mats.

Grammy helped facilitate a bit of a reconciliation between Mac and Hamilton. I'm pleased to discover that Mac has moved from hitting his brother to yelling "no please hamo!" any time he comes near and Hamilton has stopped bursting into tears any time he is left in a room alone with Mac, ah the joys of siblings!

Mac's favorite daily pastime is making dinosaurs out of clay and toothpicks.

Hamilton's favorite pastime is throwing balls onto the foosball table. I was about to banish the obtrusively large and seldom played game to craigslist when Ham discovered it a few weeks ago and now appears that he can't live without it, much to his father's joy.

inspiration here i come!

2011-02-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

i've revived the daily dose o'danielle blog after needing a pick me up from the winter gloom and being inspired by a talk with a great friend (thanks sarah!). Here is the link. The formatting and design is still a work in progress so don't judge me too harshly.

Jumping for Joy

2011-02-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

As a result of being stuck inside most of the winter, Mac has taken to jumping off most items of furniture in our home. With this in mind we ventured out to a trampoline activity center last Monday and Mac experienced pure bliss for two straight hours.

Hamilton wasn't a happy camper once he discovered that he would be denied access to the trampolines and I spent most of the trip trying to convince him that sitting at a table with mom and eating Pirates Booty was just as exciting.

New Year New Show

2011-01-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

My first show at the Saranac Art Projects finally arrived after much stressing out and worrying that things wouldn't come together. The opening reception was a lot of fun and it was really wonderful collaborating on this project with the very talented Emily Hawkins. At this point in my art making life I think a collaborator might just be essential to snapping me out of my mommy haze and getting me working again.

Mac helping himself to the first twinkie of the night, and alas not his last.

Fall Travels

2010-11-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

In no particular order here are some family pics from this Fall.

Mac rediscovers the joy of playing with leaves while Hamilton discovers the joy of eating leaves.

Our annual pumpkin carving extravaganza with the Hawkins Family. Next year we hope to up the ante by having actual pumpkin carving tools!

Even with our rudimentary tools we managed some unique looks and most importantly some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.

This year we moved on from the supermarket pumpkin to the actual patch.

Mac often claims he no longer needs to nap but this photo says differently.

IKEA silverware=front yard toys.

Again with the leaf eating, Hamilton cannot be stopped. As a bonus he keeps my floors spotless.
The marathon drive back from Utah included important pit stops for pickle eating.

A little Dairy Queen.

An important phone call at Carls Jr.

I relived the glory days at a Provo High volleyball game with my former co-captain Meikel (aka muckaluckaboomboom), Suzi-lou, and Kae.

Meeting up with Mom and cousin Nicki at the park for lunch.

Adventures in Utah

2010-09-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here's an update of our trip to Utah so far.

It all began with the marathon car ride which went so much better than I expected.

We started off the visit with a trip to the Bean museum at BYU. Mac was slightly afraid of the larger animals but eventually found a diorama of a train which occupied his attention for most of the visit, eventually bringing him to tears due to the fact that the train would not move.

For our next adventure we went up to Sundance for a little hiking.

Mac struggling to flee another photo op.

On our way down the mountain we encountered a bit of drama as Mac raced down the hill at breakneck speed.

Which inevitably led to a tumble and sent grammy racing to the rescue.

And after a few good hugs all was well.

Ah the odyssey of the hair. I have been unwilling to properly cut Mac's ever growing hair these two years, however after Cameron found him with a pony tail it was decided that the time had come. First up was the home cut by grammy which looked good albeit a little shaggy.

So it was off to the professionals and with a steady supply of suckers (3 in all for a 5min. hair cut) Mac sat through his first real cut.

And the results are one big boy. I can't believe how much older he looks without the long baby hair. I do miss the long hair though, so it may be another to years before we cut again.

And most recently my good friend Amber and I took the kidos to the Thanksgiving Point animal farm which was great fun.

the more the merrier

2010-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

now that this blog has settled into a bit of rhythm, a new post about once a month with cute pics of the kiddos for our target audience grammy nicole. i decided to try a new project to keep me a bit more in tune with the world outside of changing diapers and making dinner. so without further ado here is my new blog with drum roll please....daily updates, shocking i know!

running in circles

2010-08-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

Spokane cross country runners had better watch out because Mac has officially started training.

End o'summer fun

2010-08-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a some pics of the boys over the last few weeks.

Mac has become quite a shoe thief and takes every opportunity to wear Cameron's shoes around the house and occasionally outdoors.

Ever the dramatic young man, this is what awaits you if you deny Mac his elmo snacks.

I had to scramble at a red light to take this pic, but how could I not capture the little man perusing the back to school sales like a pro.

The fun never ends for the Mac-bud when Grammy Nicole comes to town. We end every visit with Grammy by begging her to accept a permanent residence in our basement.

Mac and the cousins go for a spin in the mini model t.

Ham enjoying his first camp out at the farm.

Happy Happy Happy

2010-07-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Mac has been one joyful little man this summer. His dreams of running around all day in the dirt are finally a reality thanks to the nice weather we've been having. I try to take him up the Hatch farm once every week or so since it is basically a kid paradise right now. All these trips have got me thinking that if we do stay in Spokane long term I should just embrace the pastoral and move our fam onto a farm with a few goats, cows and chickens. I've been researching artisan cheese makers in the US since if I must have animals roaming around my house I should certainly have free gourmet cheese right?
And finally Mac has been quite the discerning linguist, meaning he generally refuses our requests to try saying any new words. So Cameron and I were thrilled to discover this weekend that he can now say "happy". There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child downstairs playing with his trains saying, "happy, happy, happy" over and over to himself, good times!

Cameron and I celebrated our fifth anniversary on July 2nd with a delicious dinner at the Luna Cafe and checking out a gallery opening. Luckily Cam's puffy eye was not the result of a domestic dispute but merely a killer mosquito bite.

Lucy picking strawberries while Mac spent his time breaking up clumps of dirt in the strawberry patch.

Birthday Boy

2010-06-17T21:54:00.001-07:00

The Mac-Bud is officially two years old, my how time flies! His birthday was low key (aside from my crazy adventures in cake baking) and lot's of fun. We celebrated on Saturday by heading to the city water park in the morning with our friends the Hawkins. I wasn't sure how interested Mac would be in getting wet but he had an absolute blast. Then we had cousins and friends over for cake in the afternoon and Mac enjoyed opening one precious Thomas the Train gift after another, courtesy of Grammy Nicole, and was on cloud nine.

Summer Travels

2010-06-10T12:56:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from our recent trip to Houston and the Hatch farm.

We made a quick stop at IKEA upon arriving in Houston to pick up a train set to see Mac through the week.

Mac lounging around in weather appropriate attire, Houston during the summer is pretty intense.

Hamilton got his first taste of Mango.

Poor little Ham melting at the zoo.

Mac loved our beach trip to Galveston.

Ah the joy of trains!

And finally here are a few pics of our day trip to the farm with Mac and cousins.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-05-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

The front is finally painted! Now on to the yard....

Mac's love for the Thomas DVD cases knows no bounds. He takes them to the park, demands to sleep with them and luckily has stopped asking to take them in the bath as well.

Mac and Lucy at Manito Park

Mac says his goodbyes to Grammy

Mac and Miles go for a spin

This pic perfectly captures my little Ham, always smiling and always drooling.

The last week went by in a whirlwind of activity. First Grammy drove in for a visit and arrived last Saturday much to Mac's delight. The weather is finally cooperating and Mac was able to visit the park everyday with his Grams while I finally finished painting the front of our house, huzah!

Then on Friday the Boone family came over from Seattle to stay with us for the weekend and run in the Windermere Marathon (the boys) and Half Marathon (moi). Janetta and I have been friends since junior high (she reminded me that we first met in French class when I offered her candy by saying that my mom said I should share it with people, sounds just random enough to come from me) so it was great to see her again. We also introduced Mac to his new buddy/sparing partner Miles. The race was a learning experience for Cam and I, note to self train more so you don't get passed by elderly women who can run while talking on their cell phones :) All in all it was a great week and we hope to have many more visitors come stay at the Casa Hatch!

Easter, etc

2010-04-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

As per granny's repeated requests, here is a large assortment of the grand kids looking suitably adorable and more often in Mac's case slightly goofy.

Who needs a double stroller when the storage compartment of a single stroller will do just fine for toting large toddlers.

Hamilton continues of the trend of our masculine young men in their pink bumbo chair.

We got a membership to a local children's museum which contains both of Mac's great loves, elmo and fish.

Mac loves painting and at the moment Jackson Pollock seems to be his biggest influence as he loves to splash the paint on and most of it ends up on the floor.

No matter what we make with the play dough it always ends up as a mustache on Mac.

Trying on dads running gear.

In an attempt to thwart my dressing of his little brother, Mac decided to try and eat Hamilton's sock.

Easter morning with it's accompanying case of bed head.

boys, boys, boys

2010-03-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

We've been keeping busy the last few weeks with visits from Grammy Nicole, Hamilton's baby blessing, finishing our basement and trying to maintain sanity with a toddler still stuck inside the house for the winter.

Mac's hair was getting quite long, which I love, unfortunately it was growing longer in the back than front leading to unfavorable comparisons to billy ray cyrus and that Russian male figure skater, so I finally broke down and gave the little man his first sizable trim.

I stumbled upon Mac having a nice afternoon read under his changing table.

Hamilton has become quite the charmer these last few weeks with his big smiles, cooing and letting Mom sleep for six hours in a row.

Mac intently scanning the blank inside of the Nemo DVD cover.

Dad and Mac jammed on the new harmonicas provided by Grammy Nicole.

Hamilton flashing a nice smile to Grandpa Willie and Grandma Sue at his baby blessing.

And finally Mac showing Grammy the joys of having him bounce up and down on you while you try to hold the baby, a joy which is afforded to me almost daily.

My Man

2010-01-29T22:46:00.000-08:00

My Boys

2010-01-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

New Years Arrival

2010-01-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

We had a very exciting New Years Day!

Hamilton Lee Hatch was born at 9:40pm, weighing 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long

He made a much quieter entrance into the world than his older brother and much to our joy has been a really sweet mellow little man so far.

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-27T19:05:00.001-08:00

Here is an epic photographic journey through our Christmas Day festivities, complete with pics of all Mac's gifts for grandma's viewing pleasure.

Mac mounts his wheels for the first time. This gift came courtesy of the nice man on craigslist who just wanted it to go to a good home and that happened to be right in our price range.

Mac's love hate relationship with the train set begins. He will laugh with glee one moment only to be in tears the next foiled by those darn magnetic train cars.

The power wheels is located in our snug living room and since Mac can't reach the pedal he entertains himself by climbing in and out of the car every few minutes.

Looking fun in the face and not backing down.

Mac and Cam at Grandma Patty's party where we finished up the day visiting with family and eating large amounts of pasta salad. Overall it was a great relaxing Christmas and though we missed seeing Grammy Nicole we're hoping she'll be driving up sooner rather than later to visit Grandson number two.

At long last

2009-11-11T12:53:00.001-08:00

We are in the home stretch of our house project and should be moved in by next Monday, fingers crossed!

Trick or Treat

2009-11-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Mac's Halloween adventure began Friday afternoon at Cam's work. It was here that Mac discovered the joys of going door to (office) door and taking candy from strangers. Initially he found just as much joy in taking candy as he did in depositing what he had just received in the next office and starting over again. Eventually I did allow him to eat a piece of candy and at this point he smartly began to hoard his loot.

Here he is in his last-second home-made Bam Bam costume, dropping off his treats with Mom. We dressed up as the Rubbles from the Flintstones this year, mainly do to the fact that cavemen outfits require very little sewing and/or hemming.

At this point I don't think he'd even eaten any candy, instead he was enjoying a natural high from the spinning office chair ride.

Saturday morning Cam and I worked on the new house a bit and took some time to play in the leaves with Mac.

Then it was off to the ward trunk-or-treat where Mac got to hang out with his buddy Javin in his very cute and more weather appropriate monkey costume (note to self: the next time it's 40 degrees on Halloween avoid small cavemen costumes).

And finally to ensure a fussy-free Halloween car ride to Aunt Dana's house that night Mac was finally able to enjoy the fruits of his labors.

Farm Boy

2009-10-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Mac is officially a lover of the farm life, (that is once he gets over his initial displeasure at being deposited there by his parents for a long weekend) trucks, tractors, (mini)cows, (mini)horses, dirt, chickens, cats, you name it and Mac loves it.

After the fall party at the farm, Mac and Lucy enjoyed a nice drive around the supermarket, while their parents enjoyed waiting a half hour for a supermarket sandwich slightly less.

A classic shot of Mac's joy at being held by grandpa Hatch. They happen to be good buddies but for some reason Mac takes a good ten minutes to warm up to him each time we visit.

And finally some shots of our family stroll around Manito Park on Sunday.

The house rises from the dust...

2009-09-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

Mac and I recently returned from a late summer vaca to visit grammy and see old school friends. Upon our arrival home we discovered that we have some semblance of a new home standing in place of the enormous hole in the ground that we had left behind. Here are some pics of the vacation and the beginnings of our new home.

The Dunster Funsters Reunite in Deer Valley

Mac preps himself for a nice dip in the (not)hot tub.

He takes a moment to consider the situation...

And then decides he wants no part of it.

Lest you think I'm some crazy mom who dunks my kid or tosses them in not knowing how to swim, he's been in pools dozens of times and I was holding the silly little man the whole time. For some reason he decided that it was more fun to have mom continually take him in and out of the tub and when that ceased he let me hear about it.

Oh the joy, Mac discovers an electronic tractor in Park City.

Dad also deems this to be an excellent toy and suggests that we find one on ebay for the backyard.

These next two are a pre-vacation pics of Mac after he decided to try drinking dirt out of his bucket.

Finally the new front door is finished (minus paint).

Making way for the new house.

Digging a hole for the new house.

And finally the beginnings of a new house!

Farm Land

2009-08-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend up at Cameron's parents farm for a mini family reunion. We ate like kings thanks to Grandma Joy and the plentiful supply of fresh pork products on hand; ham, bacon, ribs, you name it we ate it. Mac loves the farm more and more each time we visit. This trip he conquered his fear of riding the mechanical horse, played in the sandbox for hours with his cousins and just ran around until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

The little puff of smoke in the distance in this shot is from the tractor that Mac got to ride for the first time with his Grandpa Jeff.

Mac deciding he wants a closer look at the cows and ending up loosing his shoe into the pen.

The Hatch homestead.

Once owned by an Amish family but now complete with electricity and indoor plumbing, thank goodness.

And finally what better way to cool off after a long dirty day on the farm than a nice bath in the great outdoors.

No help needed, thanks

2009-08-11T08:35:00.001-07:00

Mac has officially rejected any parental involvement with his eating. Yesterday he took charge of his spoon and probably got about 1 tbsp worth of yogurt in his mouth, but looked so happy doing it that I couldn't deny him the joy. Lunch with a fork and pasta was much more successful so I'll just have to avoid any runny foods in the near future.

In with the new....

2009-08-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a little frumpy and style free lately so I finally made the dreaded hair appointment and low and behold it actually turned out really well, huzzah! Here's a quick pic taken outside the casa after the cut (and yes that is a lovely green port-0-potty off in the distance accenting the front of our property, we keep it pretty classy in this neighborhood).

And here's the only slightly less successful self portrait taken a few moments before.

Goings on

2009-08-01T08:09:00.001-07:00

Mac and his buddy Lucy have both officially joined the world of walkers and are loving the new found freedom. This week they took turns pushing each other on a neighborhood stroll and loved pushing and being pushed equally well.

This Friday we went up to the farm for raspberry picking with cousins and friends. I've been counting down the days until we could come stock up and enjoy some delicious raspberry pie. Mac was in heaven with all the animals and even took a trip into the mini cow pen to check things out.

Ah the many joys of having a tractor in your side yard! Mac has been provided with hours of entertainment and enjoys nothing more than walking through the dirt pointing at the tractor and looking for rocks and sticks.

And finally on Evan's last weekend here we took a trip to a small lake in Idaho to cool off from the extreme temps. Mac's two great loves, water and dirt, were in abundance so he was all smiles (until the car ride home when mom started playing with his hair).

Familia

2009-07-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

We've been hanging out with family a lot lately which has been great and Mac can't get enough of his cousins or the potato chips and popsicles which usually accompany these get-togethers.

All the Hatch grand kids looking like quite the adorable motley crew.

Mac enjoying singing Yankee Doodle for the hundredth time that night, it never fails to bring a big smile.
Today we met up with the cousins at the park for some water fun and a picnic. I love seeing Mac interact with his cousins and they're all really sweet with him even when he steals cheetos right out of their hands.

House Redo (Round Two)

2009-07-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here's Mac looking amazed at all the work that was done on Friday.

Once upon a time this was the front of our house. A plain beige box, coloring akin to a subway restaurant and most importantly no front door, homemade architecture at its best.

As of one week ago we are now the proud owners of a real front door! No more babysitters/friends/pizza delivery men walking around the house trying to find the door, huzzah!
This is our second lot which when we arrived was a bit of a wheat-filled no mans land. We've decided to build a new house on the lot and rent out our current place. So the first step was to address the trees.

The tree men doing their thing.

And finally our poor pine trees. For all the tree lovers out there don't worry we still have plenty of pines left and these particular ones were on their last leg with a lot of dead branches and a fungus, so sadly it was their time to go.

Our lovely old garage which sits on the site where our new house will be located. My little bro Ev will be single handily taking this apart this week.

And our new garage at the back of the lot. I decided that since our house was just going to be a simple cottage I wanted a dramatic color, so red it is.

Our wonderful volunteer Uncle Lerin who came by at 5am to help break stuff down.

Art, etc.

2009-06-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

My first show in Spokane just opened up at the Transit Authority building downtown. It was a mad rush to get everything up but I love the space and it feels nice to finally engage with the art community here in Spokane. Here' a link to more photos: www.daniellehatch.com/2009/trapped

I showed my MFA Thesis work along with my new work, "Trapped".

My great friend Emily helped me install it all in one morning, no easy task considering all the ironing that was involved. However the installation gave us a few ideas for performance pieces we'd like to do in the future that involve ironing in public places.

And finally a few pics of Mac and I during one of our daily trips to the park.

May/June

2009-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

The birthday pals

The big race

Out and about in San Fran and Sunnyvale

The amazing linguist Laura McPhee

Last month came and went in a big blur. We had so much going on that it was quite hectic but luckily we managed to fit it all in and not go completely crazy. Much of my time was spent calling family and friends to come watch Mac so I could finish up my new sculptures in time for the show at the STA on June 5th. I've definitely used up all my family babysitting requests for the year, but luckily everything was finished just in time. I used fiberglass and a whole lot of bondo for this project which are both light and sturdy materials but smell quite awful and toxic when you're working with them so I'm not sure I'll use them again in the future. I especially owe a big thanks to Cam's dad Jeff for reliving his old taxidermy days and teaching me how to work with the fiberglass.

About a week before my show opened I used my superior planning skills and decided I should take a week long trip to Utah and San Fran with Mac. Mac Stayed in Utah with my Mom over the weekend while I flew to San Fran to run a half marathon with my buddy Sarah from Wellesley. It was so fun to see Sarah and Britta again and the race went perfectly (no chaffing this time!).

When we flew back to Spokane Cam and I had a few days to finish things up and then my great friend Emily helped me install my show Friday morning and the opening was that evening. The next day was Mac and Lucy's joint 1st birthday party and it was lots of fun. Emily's in laws were nice enough to host the party since they have a pool and the kids had a blast splashing around. To balance things out the plan for the upcoming month is to lay around for long periods of time staring off in to space (no doubt Mac won't be game for this but it's nice to imagine none the less).

For the Love of Houston

2009-04-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a quick trip down to Houston to celebrate my dad's 50th. It was wonderful to see family again and I fell in love with the place. Here are some reason's why:

Seeing siblings play with Mac

The Menil Collection

beautiful art and architecture, plus oil money = no admission fee :)
I've never been a fan of Bulldogs before but Brutus changed my mind.

The Houston Children's Museum
Mac was in awe and loved every second of it

Marcela's cooking

Reminding me of the joys of fried plantains

Little Pals

2009-04-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

The weather has been all over the place lately, from hail to rain to snow to bright sunny days. Every chance we get it's out of the house to the park to enjoy the fresh air and avoid a mental collapse from being stuck inside all winter. Mac is just standing up by himself and loves to watch all the big kids play around at the park, while he quietly munches on leaves and other equally tasty things he finds lying around.

Here's Mac and his best buddy Lucy at Manito Park. Taking in (though perhaps not yet loving) their first high school track meet.Mac and his buddy Javin braving the bitter wind.Still getting the hang of the swing.Easter fun with the cousins.Kimbal sporting the classic dragon bunny look.Our tasty Easter breakfast: raspberry bread pudding, easy to make and delicious, definitely a new family tradition.And finally when Mac's been silent too long he can usually be found doing one of the following things.

March Madness

2009-04-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

March came and went so quickly and with my laptop out of commission it was a month off-line, which in our home means that I only checked my email once a day on Cam's computer and limited myself to watching Lost online once a week :)
Anywho here's a quick recap of March:
-Another trip to Utah to visit grammy, highlights included a visit to park city, my mumbai birthday celebration with dinner at Bombay House followed by Slumdog Millionaire (Cam's boycotting the film due to NPR's unending adoration of it, so it was just Mom, Ev and I, and along with NPR I highly recommend it), a wonderful lunch with Sue, her g-ma and Amber at Pizzeria 712 (fun fact of the lunch, sue's g-ma gave birth to two of her children on her kitchen table while living in Iran, crazy crazy), being able to run outside in the nice warm Utah weather (warm being anything over 30), and finally a bizarre but ultimately fun trip to my highschool to give a talk about my artwork to Mr. Rees class.
-Mac now has two teeth, his first ear infection and is crawling all over the place bumping into things, yet in spite of all this he is more fun than ever and can always bring a smile to our faces.
- Cam started his new job at NextIT and is loving it so far. He has discovered an unending flow of comedy at this new job due to the bizarre things that people type into Sargent Star on goarmy.com. We also finished out the city league volleyball season with his former co-workers at VESI and made it all the way to the final game before coming up short, however upon discovering that we still received tshirts we were pretty overjoyed.
-I had a great bday lunch with all my sisters-in-law at subway. I believe we set some sort of record by sitting in the little place for at least 3 hours, but the time flew by with good conversation and no kids!
-And finally I officially decided not to enroll this fall in the masters of architecture program at WSU. It was a very tough decision and one that I really didn't want to make. For the past few weeks I've been a big mess trying to figure out how to make this work and once I admitted to myself that there just wasn't time in the day to do it all (at this point at least, perhaps I'll try again in a few years) I felt infinitely more calm about things. And I owe a big thank you to Cam for supporting me through all of this self-inflicted mayhem. And as a gift to Cam now that this crazy chapter is over I've decided to detox our lives of financial stress by taking control of our finances via the dave ramsey system, wish us luck :)

Cam and Mac downtown after a nice lunch.

Mac enjoying his first taste of spring.

Ah the joys of teething crackers. And the joys of munching on small rocks.
Grammy introducing a third generation to the wonderful world of gellatto.

Mac was endlessly fascinated by grammy's cat.

Ah Utah mountains!

And finally nothing better than strolling along while munching on your toe.

Mac Moves

2009-02-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

Our little man is officially crawling and loving every second of it. Cam and I on the other hand are frantically trying to baby proof our home which includes figuring out what to do with the seemingly hundreds of wires that Cam has installed for the sound system and his computers. If anyone has suggestions for how to cover these up and/or keep a little guy from chewing on them let us know. So far my attempts at a firm "no no" don't seem to do much except make him smile.

An Ode to Mac Hats

2009-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

The Classics (tv that is)

2009-02-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

I was feeling nostalgic the other day so I decided to see if some of my favorite childhood shows were on youtube, and low and behold i discovered these two gems.

My reaction to seeing these shows again for the first time in over fifteen years? Definitely mixed, i still think they had great premises, who doesn't want to be able to stop time or have a robot for a sister, however the writing is more than slightly painful and thus i owe my mom for sitting through these things with me :)

Tightening the Belt

2009-02-02T09:23:00.001-08:00

The recession has hit the Hatch family hard, thus we've been reduced to participating in two-for-one night skiing on Mount Spokane. Being the savvy individuals that we are, Cam and I decided that a nice night of snowboarding took precedence over attending a free class on debt reduction. We'll see how this innovative economic strategy plays out over time :)
And a quick Mac update: He's just over seven months and is on the cusp of crawling. He enjoys munching on cereal and laughing with his dad. He's also started mumbling "dadadada" for long periods of time, so I'm hoping "mamama" is next.

Frosty

2009-01-22T09:13:00.001-08:00

Admittedly I'm not a good photographer but I wanted to share some shots of the beautiful frost covering our front yard. I don't remember seeing anything like this during my winters growing up in Utah. All of our plants, trees, fences, etc are covered in long white crystals. It's quite enchanting and almost makes not being able to see the sky for days bearable.

Christmas Pics

2009-01-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

Snow Day

2008-12-20T13:01:00.000-08:00

After three days of being stuck in the house during the snow storm (over 24inches in 24hrs!), Mac finally ventured out to experience his first taste of snow. His reaction to the snow was a combination of ambivalence and cold cheeks, but hopefully it will grow on him over time.

Mac was pretty thrilled with his first xmas present, from Lee and Leni. He loves to grab paper and crinkle it up in his hands, and so being the thoughtful gift givers that we are Cam and I have decided our gift to him this holiday season will be all the wrapping paper under the tree.

Mac Sits and Plays

2008-12-12T10:46:00.001-08:00

Grandma has been patiently waiting for new pics of the little man, so here they are....

Mac playing with his best pal Lucy, who was very good natured allowing Mac to take every toy out of her hands and slobber on it.

Nutella...it's been too long!

2008-12-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Mac and I met up with Emily and Lucy for the ultimate in breakfast sweets, the banana Nutella crepe. I don't think I'd had Nutella since my time in Italia and it was a splendid reunion!

And a big happy birthday to Cameron who turned the big 3-0 today!

Ma and Me

2008-11-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today it was particularly misty and atmospheric so my mom and I decided to embrace our inner renaissances fair participant and take some ethereal shots in my front yard. Hopefully we cemented our status as the oddest folks on the block.

The Turkey Trot

2008-11-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

We braved the bitter cold Thanksgiving morning to start off the day with a nice three mile run around Manito park. It was a lot of fun and Mac did really well wrapped up in every blanket we own. There were what seemed like hundreds of people of all ages at the park and starting the day off with a run helped to alleviate any guilt about eating mass quantities of food later in the day. We're definitely going to make it a family tradition.

baby bamboo

2008-11-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

My friend Tatiana from UCSB bought Mac a great little outfit by Kicky Pants (http://www.kickypants.com/) and I have fallen in love with their fabric. Their clothes are made out of 90% bamboo and it is incredibly soft and it absorbs moisture better than cotton (which is great for my drooly guy).

Ahh, to travel....

2008-11-12T08:34:00.001-08:00

This morning I've spent too much time snuggled up in my pj's looking at random design blogs from france and italia and it has made me nostalgic for a nice cioccolata calda and the beautiful architecture of firenze.

Here we are enjoying the best (and thickest) hot chocolate in the world.

My favorite italian man, my wonderful professor Filippo Caprioglio.

My favorite italian home, Palladio's Villa Rotunda.

And finally the beautiful countryside, 17th century buildings, and new modernist structures all side by side.

Cameron's commentary

2008-11-05T06:47:00.001-08:00

Cam asked that I post this pic as an accurate representation of his post election sentiments.

Halloween

2008-11-01T16:48:00.001-07:00

Here we are in costume at Aunt Dana's party. I find it amusing that this was Mac's first Halloween costume considering neither Cam nor I are really into football. But Mac was a good sport (no pun intended) and seemed pretty happy in spite of being stuffed into his costume with loads of scrap fabric around his head.

sleepy mac

2008-10-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Mac and his friend Lucy had a fun sleepover while Emily and I went to our landscaping class.

He also had a nice nap while I went for a run today at the park.

homemade halloween

2008-10-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Poor Mac has been in and out of this football costume today while I try and sew the crazy thing. I went thrift store shopping to buy cheap fabric and am pretty happy with how a pair of brown womens capri pants have been transformed into the little man's football costume. I'm definitely going to have to put in some padding though so we'll see how that goes, more pics to follow....

Fall Colors

2008-10-21T17:04:00.001-07:00

I'm really enjoying this autumn since we've missed out on fall weather the past few years in CA. A few days ago we woke up to find the tree in our front yard a beautiful bright yellow.

Weekend with Grammy

2008-10-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

My mom flew into town for the weekend and we had so much fun visiting and were sad to see her go. Not only is she one of my best friends but you've got to love having a house guest who can't stand to see dirty dishes and takes it upon herself to tidy up :)

Here are Mom and Mac on a stroll around the neighborhood.

Mac looking happy in spite of the fact that his hat is a bit too small for his large Hatch head.
Mac sporting his new well fitting hat.
Enjoying a good book in his diaper.
And finally defying gender norms in his new pink bumbo chair which we couldn't pass up on at half the regular price.

Fall at the Farm

2008-10-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we headed down to the farm for a hobo-themed fall party. The hobo festivities included cooking our food on a fire in a wheelbarrow, eating soup out of a can and everyone coming home smelling like pig, courtesy of the pig race in the front yard. We had a great time and can't wait until next year when Mac can get in on more of the fun.

4 Months

2008-10-09T14:11:00.001-07:00

Mac will be four months old tomorrow and I can't believe how much he is growing each day. He's really starting to interact with people. He loves putting things in his mouth, especially his fist, and he gives a big smile whenever I sing to him and bounce him up and down. We're so lucky to have the little guy in our lives.

Tagged-6 Quirks

2008-10-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

My friend Emily tagged me so here goes, six quirks:

1) I'm double jointed in my fingers so when i point at something my finger points up.
2) From years of fencing and playing volleyball my right arm is definitely slightly larger than my left.
3) I don't know many baby songs so I've been making up new lyrics to songs i do know when I sing to Mac, my favorite so far is Bob Dylan's 'The Diapers (times) they are a changin'
4) I'm not sure if this counts as a quirk but I've never eaten a pickle or any other pickled vegetable, i'm not one for brine.
5) I love walking through and scanning the shelves of a library and flipping through random books that catch my eye.
6) I've probably seen the six hour A&E Pride and Prejudice about 20 times, but in my defense I did stop short of joining the Colin Firth online conference at Wellesley.

Ok, I tag my madre, Es, Patty and Jen.

Halloween Prep

2008-10-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

It has finally cooled down a bit today so while I did some yard work Mac got to test out his back up Halloween costume.

Mac on the move

2008-09-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

He's got the grunting down now he just needs to figure out how to move those legs

the painting continues....

2008-09-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a before shot of our exterior trim . For some reason the colors made me think our home looked a bit like a subway restaurant.And after a lovely Saturday spent up on the roof painting the trim we have something admittedly slightly generic but overall a step in the right direction.

-additionally we're currently in the process of trying to bring the grass back from the dead, wish us luck!

to uniform or not to uniform....

2008-09-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Just to catch everyone up, last year I decided to wear this dress (ok to be honest i made five identical dresses to save on laundry costs) every day for nine months. I went into this experiment feeling a bit apprehensive as I've always liked fashion and have been known to enjoy a good shopping trip. However much to my surprise I ended up really loving the experience, not having to worry about what to wear, not feeling marketed to by clothing ads, or like the clothes i wore defined me, strangely I ended up feeling more like myself in the uniform. Soooo...as i was standing in front of my closet a few days ago spending too much time deciding what to wear only to end up in jeans and a white t-shirt I began to contemplate the idea of creating another uniform for myself. The decision to wear the dress was prompted by a remark made to me by a professor in grad school and so I've begun to mull over ideas for what could inspire my next uniform in terms of style and duration of time I'll wear it,etc...but so far I'm at a bit of a loss so I thought I'd open it up to suggestions from family and friends since you'll be the ones who have to see me in the thing ever day. I'm open to all suggestions so let's hear 'em!

Tummy Time

2008-09-16T20:35:00.001-07:00

The many faces of tummy time, as per the norm he starts off happy then goes through a range of emotions and ends up deflated.

3 Months

2008-09-10T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here's what Cameron came up with this morning to honor our three months with Mac.

Sad/Inspiring

2008-09-09T20:30:00.001-07:00

Here's a link to an article in the new york times about a girl I went to high school with. Her and her husband were in a plane crash and people have begun raising money via their blogs to support her. It's pretty amazing to read in this article about how her blog was a source of inspiration to so many.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/fashion/07burn.html?ref=style

New paint...

2008-09-09T10:21:00.001-07:00

One room (or wall) at a time....

2008-09-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Our house saga began with just getting into the place and now that we're finally here the fun continues with fixing up our little work in progress. Here are a few before and after pics of what we've done so far.

Here's a pic of our living room before (as furnished by the previous renter), it was essentially a small beige box.

And after our week of designing, sawing, installing and painting we finally have our fabulous new built-in bookshelves to add some much needed character to our little room.

Here's the before pic of our bedroom (once again not our furniture), notice the lovely pink carpet which was not only notable for its color but also the lovely odor of the previous tenants dog :(

And the after pic of our bedroom with new paint, curtains, and floor. The paint color was a bit of a mistake as it ended up a bit too close to the color of margarine for my taste but overall still an improvement.

Here's the room in progress....

And up next, a front door, stay tuned......

Mom and Mac

2008-09-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

It was so wonderful to have my mom come out to visit over labor day weekend. I miss her and love seeing her with Mac. Here they are on our Sunday stroll through the Finch Arboretum.

Thanks Aaron and Winona

2008-08-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

for these great bunny ears! Cameron and Mac don't seem to approve but they definitely brought a big smile to my face

farming and skating

2008-08-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Alas Ev's visit to spokane has come to a close but we had a great time with him and i think we definitely achieved our goal of making spokane seem as exciting as possible.

Ev checking out a pig and a pen of African porcupines at the farm.

Cam and I both got to feel like old farts taking turns hanging out with Ev at the lovely skate parks of Spokane.

Lake time

2008-08-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

In our efforts to help Ev feel better about a possible move to Spokane, Cameron's brother-in-law was nice enough to take him wakeboarding after we picked him up from the airport.

Here's Mac expressing his feelings about another trip on the boat.

Ev enjoying the cries of his favorite nephew.

little man

2008-08-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

our poor little guy had to endure sitting on the mini couch for his parents enjoyment, he looks pretty unimpressed but since he had on his new sweater-vest it had to be done

He sleeps!

2008-08-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Finally the boy has begun to take regular naps and only wakes up about once a night, halellujah!

More Mac Pics for Grandma

2008-08-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

The many faces of our little guy.

swellesley reunion

2008-07-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Cam and I took a break from our grueling month long vacation and drove over to Seattle to visit with my good friends from Wellesley.

Mac made a new friend, little Laura McPhee.
Sarah, Britta, Camron and John formed quite the rock band, alas my own attempt at taking over the microphone netted me a lowly 33% which I believe more than validates my years of lip-syncing in church.

Britta holding Mac and the perfect shot to show off his little chicken legs.