erica danielle

We are now garden people. Here’s a little raised bed. Matt helped us plant lots of stuff and now I can’t wait for fall when well *hopefully* have lots of good stuff to eat!  xo. edc. 

I love when kids find something they’re obsessed with. Lucy has “baby” Olle had his blankets, my nephew has these little stuffed robots he calls robi, and Sigge loves his blankets so much. I love watching him crumple them up and bury his face into them. To find comfort in something so small makes me wish I was still a kid!  xo. edc. 

Last night was the perfect night for a bonfire and sunset watching and today was spent out on the lily pad alllllllll day. First cousin sleepover at the cabin in the books!  xo. edc

Slightly out of order but we had a fun Father’s Day! We celebrated on Saturday so we could give Sten the WHOLE day. I made quiche and grabbed a couple donuts, we went strawberry picking, we got a couple more projects done on the kitchen and then we put the kids to bed and ordered San Pedro’s nachos. It was a really fun day.  Sten is the parent who can fix things, diffuse high tensions, explain tricky words and big questions, makes going to the cabin feel like we’re going on a world class vacation, always kisses us goodbye, cheers the loudest and loves us all really really fiercely. So thankful he’s our guy.  We made freezer jam with all our strawberries and in November when I’m spreading really runny strawberry jam on my toast I’m going to be really glad I made a huge mess in my kitchen and allowed my children to “help” make jam.  xo. Happy FD Sten! 

Our first date out since March 6th! We went to LoLo to get a cocktail before Mary’s birthday party. It felt so strange sitting at a restaurant. But it was awesome. A perfect patio sit with Sten.  xo. edc. 

I never updated after our last eye dr appointment at mayo a couple weeks ago.  Lucy’s seeing 20/50 out of her left eye (cataract eye) and 20/20 out of her right.  Dr Bothum said we can start tapering her patching and stop on her birthday in September and then re-assess in November at her next appointment. Even through the mask you could see Lucy’s GLEE!!! We will have a huge patch party to celebrate!  Lucy continues to amaze us on how unphased she is by wearing a patch everyday. We are thankful for the ways it’s strengthened her eye and given her such a amazing vision.  Her appointments to Mayo are a special thing to me. I love the long drive and our tradition of going to Panera afterwards. I love spending time one on one with Lucy!  We are proud of you Lucy girl! xo edc.  

Tuesday was hot and sunny and perfect for outdoor pools and sprinklers and tons of friends. I’m  pretty sure it was a 3 popsicle day :) Sigge got in the water at big C on Wednesday ! What a little buddy! All the kiddos jumped off the boat and I floated out so far into the middle of the lake it took me almost a half hour to get back to the beach!  Today was spent doing a little of this and a little of that... We got our kitchen island in!! Yahoo! Just the lower cabinets to paint, backsplash on and trim and we’re done ✅  xo. edc. 

Sten made up this term called “weekend worthies” and it refers to really unhealthy snacks that we eat on the weekend. He picked this ice cream up on Friday night and it reallllllly hit the spot. And now I’m spending the next 3 days doing a juice cleanse. It’s the perfect time since I’m not training for anything and I’ve been eating poorly. I’m on day one. I really hope I can make it all 3 days. This is: kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger root, apple, lemon.  We went downtown on Saturday and walked the pier.  We colored today and I’m getting really into drawing birds. It’s been too long since we’ve had the markers out! I feel like we spend 90% of our days in swimsuits.  Sigge was happy and content for a long time with Playdoh. This kid never sits for long so it was a real treat! Olle and this HAT! Such a little stud!  1/2 way through June already. The time is going so fast!  xo. edc. 

Decided yesterday  would be as good a day as any to do my marathon. Proud that I did it despite not training since March. I went out too fast, didn’t have enough water, was completely alone for the entire 3.5 hours, was hot and the course I chose was hilly. I had many factors going against me, but it feels SO good to be done and not have to think about a virtual marathon again.  I’m chalking this marathon up to a really great learning experience: 1. You have to do speed work in order to race a marathon.  2. Never assume you have enough water when you’re solo and there’s not a cloud in the sky and it’s in the 70’s 3. Eating healthy 4 days before the race probably isn’t long enough.  4. Run the mile you’re in! At mile 4 I was thinking about how my last mile was going to be going straight up hill, it totally got into my head.  5. Don’t sign up for a virtual race again.  6. DON’T go out too fast. This was my problem at Boston too. I completely hit the wall at m...

Sten went fishing with a buddy Sunday/Monday so I packed up the kids and headed to big C for our first overnight. After I got Sigge down and put a VHS 📼 on the tube TV for Lucy + Olle, I meandered outside to listen to my book and watch the sun. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I love these quiet moments more than anything right now. I crave the solitude and the escape from it all. That has to say something about my current mental state 🥴....  Besides having some alone time, one of my favorite moments from the over night was heading down to the beach after dinner to enjoy ice cream sandwiches. I wish I had an after picture because what you’d see is a naked Sigge baby, and 2 big kids swimming in their undies. I luckily had my swimsuit on, so I was catching Sigge as he flung himself into the water off the dock, then laugh, and do it over and over again. xoEDC.

I naively thought that when coronavirus was finished there would be this grand re-opening and everyone would greet each other with hugs and we’d mark the occasion by lots of gatherings and we’d be able to tell our kids that the virus is over. Instead, I feel like life is *sorta* normal but the virus is definitely not over, we’d never greet people with a hug (and maybe never will again) and the largest gathering I’ve been a part of are our Friday nights with a small group of close friends. 10 adults and 12 kids. All kids are 7 and under. They run around, and everyone has a buddy to play with, they argue and fight one minute and then gang up on the parents the next (they could absolutely overtake us 😳)... we all bring food and time just kind of slows down on Friday nights. I feel really thankful for this group of friends. This stage of life and parenting has worn me down to my bones some days but On Friday’s I feel a reprieve and it’s so so great. As summer gets busier I know we’ll mi...

There are limited words I have for what is going on in the world right now. It feels so insensitive to blog and say happy things about my life when there is so much pain going on around us. My heart is breaking for the injustice still happening in 2020.  I pray that our world looks different a year from now. It feels so extra crazy that all of this rioting and protesting is happening in the midst of a pandemic. At this point I feel like I am holding everything as if it is a feather and could blow away at any moment. Nothing feels concrete. I’ve let go of a lot of expectations and have been trying my hardest to live in the moment with those around me. So I guess that’s where I’m at. Not doing a great job of being anything except a mom. We’ve been sitting on the front porch a lot.  Swinging while holding a football which take a lot of skill  Taking naps on mom after playing outside in the sun all day.  Having the time of our lives at our friends ...