December 15: A Day in the Life of Darlene Seltzer

December 15: A Day in the Life of Darlene Seltzer of Studio Seltzer on Etsy. All photos taken with iPhone.

December 15th was a Monday and would normally have been a full workday for me, but my office at Oregon State University was closed to allow the mental health counseling staff to participate in training in Portland. The rest of the staff were offered the day off, but some, including myself, elected to work for half a day to complete a couple projects that are challenging to do during normal operating hours.

Preparing to make the nectar of the Goddesses.

I'm so proud of my son who loves Kindergarten and is always very excited to start his day there.

My family usually drops me off at work, but today I've driven myself, and as a non-parking permit holder, I've parked a few blocks away and am about to head out into the cold rainy morning.

 Lots of trees are still dropping their leaves well into December.

One of our goals for the day was to decorate our otherwise drab looking office for the winter holidays. This is the best we could do on our Dollar Store budget, but we like it.

Candy canes for our clients. Our office provides mental health services to over 700 students each term. Next to photography, psychology is my second love and was my field of study in college.

From the back office, we have a lovely view of Waldo Hall, built in 1907.

Walking back to my car through one of my favorite spots on campus.

Back at home with my favorite little girl. That adorable face works in her favor more often than it should.

Costume change! She hated the ballet class we signed her up for last summer, but she loves to dress up in her tights and leotard.

We went to Christmas Storybook Land for the first time. It's a free event that runs in the neighboring town for a couple weeks each December. As we stood in this spot, my son said, "This is the prettiest place I've ever seen in my whole life! I wish we could live here." I can't argue with that.

Back at home and the kids are performing their nightly clean-up ritual. Thanks to loving and generous family and friends, it often appears that a tornado dropped the contents of a toy store in our house.

One of the local middle schools sells and delivers trees as a school fundraiser each year. Even after trimming off the top of the tree, it's still too tall for the star. We love our festive living room nonetheless. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

A Day in the Life of Claire Carpenter

October 15: A Day in the Life of Claire Carpenter; all taken with iPhone

Up at 5:45 to workout. Love T25 and the fact that it only takes 25 minutes!

Sleepy girl :) 

Sleepy boy. At least he made it off the bed and onto my lap.

Daddy has been sucked into the sleeping too :)

Breakfast before preschool and then Madeleine's urologist appointment up in Portland.

How I love a freshly made bed.

Kids at preschool on this cloudy misty morning. I forgot to take any photos until I was back out in the car.

Two delightfully quiet hours at Starbucks while the kiddos are in preschool. Reading and knitting!

I couldn't bear to make this one black and white. So close to being done with this shawl--the Ashburn Shawl! I love it so very much.

Gorgeously cloudy up in Portland

The view of the Portland Aerial Tram from the 7th-floor waiting room in Doernbecher's Children Hospital.

We got good news at the urologist about Madeleine's hydronephrosis. Her right kidney is doing significantly better so now we can push out the next appointment 6 months! Hooray!

But I was exhausted and distracted the rest of the day until just before bedtime.

Playing with whatever she pleases while brother is at AWANA. Little sister win!

A Day in the Life of Claire Carpenter

July 15th:

We have a family of five living with us right now so each day is much more hectic than I plan, so on the 15th, I kept forgetting to take photographs until after each crazy event--meals, games, bedtime routines--was already over. But I did my best, so here is my best :)

5 cups for 5 kiddos; 2 kiddos not pictured ;)

We live in the Grass Seed Capital of the World, so even in July, grass seed allergy season is still in full swing for me.

Ah, the sinus headaches that these drugs only partially prevent.

Right after we moved in our house last month, I purchased this Shark Navigator vacuum. It is cordless and it is a.ma.zing! I can vacuum the all-hardwood downstairs in less than 5 minutes and the whole house in 10. I love that is cordless and I love any excuse to use it.

Vacuuming after each meal is essential with all of these kiddos.

During naptime I squeezed in some doodling time. Good for the soul.

In the afternoon I baked two loaves of Egg Harbor Bread and started prepping green beans for steaming. Mmmm :)

That evening, the hubby and I headed over to our close friends' house--which also happens to be a sorority house at which they are the house parents--to watch Back to the Future II in the movie theatre basement for some good laughs. I had intended to take many pictures of our awesome good time but of course, completely forgot until we were getting into the car. So here is the front of the mansion in all its awesome and spooky glory.

Other places to find Claire on the interwebs:

- my two Etsy shops (Studio Claire and January Sun Yarnworks)
- and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

A Day in the Life of Claire Carpenter

This year, June 15th was not only Father's Day but graduation weekend at the local university and only the second day in our new house. Suffice it to say, life (and my house!) was a bit chaotic. I only managed to snap a few pictures of my day, which I suppose is itself a comment on my busy-ness!

After breakfast, the kids and I settled down for some reading. Because of the move, I'd only left out a few of our books, the current most important one being Cinderella. This was our third read-through of the morning :)

My littles: Benjamin (4.5) and Madeleine (2.5)

To make up for the loss of books, we checked out stacks and stacks of library books. (Nothing makes me quite so nostalgic for childhood as the feel of a crinkly library cover.)

Not even the half of it!

Inbetween reading and playing and cleaning, I emptied boxes.

This is our stack of boxes waiting to be broken down. As soon as the stack goes away, more boxes instantly appear....

After naptime, Benjamin headed out to the back patio for grapes and milk in the warm Oregon sunshine.

As a reward for all the unpacking, I allowed myself a few minutes to work on our mantel. It's still a work-in-progress but it makes me happy every time I see it. I bought the Louvre poster in Paris 13 years ago and I can't imagine ever having it far from my everyday.

Pretty hydrangea blossom from our new yard.

We also took a moment to take pictures for Father's Day. A happy tiring day :)

Silly happy kiddos in front of our new house!

The father of my children and love of my life.

You can find more of me in a few places:
- my two Etsy shops (Studio Claire and January Sun Yarnworks)
- and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram