random phone picts

I love my iphone but it's making me a bit lazy with picture taking. It takes great pictures outside, okay pictures with good indoor light, and bad pictures all other times (even with the flash). My first choice is to use my phone and if it takes a bad picture, I have to decide if it's worth finding my camera to take it again. And since I still don't have a flash for my SLR, I haven't used that camera in a long time. All this to say - I've been taking a lot less pictures lately and it's not cool. I need to reevaluate my camera situation and get back to photographing the radness that is my life. : )

A few random picts from my phone...

I love living close to an Old Spaghetti Factory. Not only do we never have to wait for a table, but we get the best seat in the house (on the train) fairly often.

Mason didn't skip a beat - he jumped right into the first puddle he saw. : ) And jumped, and jumped. Andrew has never really been a puddle jumper, so it was fun to see Mason jump right in.The last time I put a quarter in one of these rides, Mason got freaked out (we usually just play on them without paying to make them move). But today, he loved it!

Andrew thinks these rides are boring but really wishes they were fun, so we tried again. Still boring. : ) But it's a good picture of his new fireman rain boots. It's impossible to find rain boots that fit his feet. We hit up about 5 different places before finding these ones - and these aren't perfect but I'm done searching.

Mason has reached the stage of tower building!! I have a picture of Andrew doing this exact thing. So fun.

The end.

yum!

I just had this sandwich and it was delicious!! It's avocado salad w/pepper jack. I toasted french bread and used full fat cheese which I'm sure made it even yummier. : ) Thanks again, Pinterest!

Ingredients:

Chive Spread
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
Salt and pepper, to taste

Avocado Salad
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
Squeeze of lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or basil)
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 slices whole grain bread or 4 small mulitgrain tortillas
1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
2 to 4 slices lite pepper jack cheese

In a small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, gently toss together the avocado, tomato, cucumber, lime juice and basil or cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Spread the chive-yogurt mixture on all four bread slices. Divide the sprouts between two slices of bread, and top with avocado salad and cheese. Cover with the remaining slices of bread. (If using tortillas, spread the chive-yogurt mixture on the tortillas, and top with cheese, avocado salad and sprouts. Roll, and eat.)

Makes 2 large sandwiches or 4 small wraps

no more tiny toilets!

He did it! He earned his Build-a-Bear for giving up his tiny toilet!

He picked this dog - a dark brown version of what Andrew has.

He was very excited (and hopefully proud of himself) when his dog was all fluffed and put together. He didn't quite get the concept of giving him a name and kept saying he wanted to name him Rock, which is Andrew's dog, so we tried to help him out a bit. Then it sounded like he said Rocket, so we went with it. The boys now have brother dogs named Rock and Rocket. : )

we have a boat!!

Other than the quick trip he took back in January (in the snow) today was our first time out on Matt's new fishing boat. It was a perfect day.

Mason wasn't sold on the whole deal. He was fine as long as he was on my lap, but he was still a little nervous and didn't care for the life jacket. By the end he was laughing, so hopefully we start at that point next time.

The sun was out and it was fairly warm (for a March morning). We had hats and warm boots on and it made it very comfortable for the 2+ hours we were out there!!

Matt taught Andrew how to drive the boat.

Just a little proof that I was there too. : )

What a fun day!! I hope this makes for some great memories for our boys!!

infatuation

On Thursday we watched Haylen for the day. The boys were infatuated with her!! I expected Mason to like her but I was surprised by how much Andrew enjoyed having her here. He even told me he wants a baby sister (he's out of luck, but it was adorable).

Leslie told me that Haylen would enjoy watching the boys play. Mason didn't skip a beat - he sat down for breakfast and asked me to move her so she could watch him eat. : )

She took a four or five hour nap and it drove the boys crazy. They kept checking on her to see if she was awake and both got excited and asked if they could hold her again when she woke up.

So cute!!

Poor girl didn't have much personal space while she was here. : )

beat the bridge, for real this time.

I realize I've said it before, but this time I'm serious! I have signed up for Beat the Bridge (to beat diabetes). It will be my first time doing a run and it's an 8k. It feels like a bad choice for my first one, especially since right now 2 miles is the furthest I've ever ran, but it's for a great cause and I think it's the push I need to really do it!

I'm excited to be part of Team Zane. Zane is our sweet little friend who was diagnosed with diabetes a little over a year ago, at age 3. If anyone would like to do the run with me or make a donation to the research to find a cure, just go here and sign up. It's easy and it'd be awesome to be able to support my friend and her family in this small way.

This is the first time I've ever really challenged myself like this. I've never signed up to do something that at the time of signing up for it, I can't actually do. I have to train for it. I've never trained for anything in my life. I'm excited and a little freaked out because I want to be successful and I know it's my own fault if I'm not.

Last night while I was trying to decide if I wanted to do the run or just play it safe and do the walk, I looked up a training plan for an 8k to see what it looked like. It couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it! The first week starts with 2 mile runs (which I can do - it wears me out, but I can do it) and is an 8 week program (there is 8 weeks and a couple days until the race). It was too perfect to not do it. I have no goal set for how fast I finish, but I'd be very excited to actually beat the bridge and to finish without having to stop. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress and on the race.

Let's do this!!

happy first day of spring

We didn't do anything very spring-like to celebrate the first day of spring, but we did have a pretty fun day. Here it is, Instragram style (I can't stop using Instagram!!).

For some reason, my boys love sitting on the kitchen counter. I rarely let them do it, but when I do, it's always awsome. Today we had breakfast on the counter.

Then we made English muffin pizzas for lunch. I always forget how delicious those suckers are! (As you can see, we also decided to enjoy the whole morning in our pj's).

Then it was time to get ready for Lego Club. I offered to bring treats, thinking I could easily come up with some robot-themed snack (the theme for this meeting) to bring. Boy was I wrong. I Googled and Pinterested (is that a word yet?) it with no luck. So I decided to go this route. Matt's mom nailed it - I should've broken a pretzel in half and put it on top like antenna! But instead, this is what I made. I thought it looked more like an owl, but I heard from friends who also saw a pig or dog with a stick in it's mouth. Whatever, like everything I make - it's the thought that counts. : ) (Also, for the record - I wanted to use regular Fruit Loops but Andrew liked these crazy 8's, so that's what we went with. I'm sure it would've made all the difference.....).

Then we headed to the store to try to find a couple pairs of shoes for me (my two main pairs are so old, my feet get wet when it rains ... sad story, I know) and some rain boots for Andrew. We struck out for both of us, but Mason ended up with a pair of boots and wouldn't put them down because he loved them so much. Anyway, I included this picture because we also went to DSW (a huge shoe warehouse) mainly because Andrew loves it there!! It has wide isles and for whatever reason he has fun and has convinced Mason that it's fun there too. So I shop while my boys play - it's pretty great. (This was the closest picture I took related to that story).

I sure hope real spring gets here soon. I'm really looking forward to a trip to the zoo soon!!

Rock needed a bath

I decided to pull out the big guns to get Mason to stop using his tiny toilet and told him he could earn a Build-a-Bear if he'd use the regular toilet. He looked at me and said "okay" and hasn't asked for the tiny toilet since! So we marked off his chart and on Sunday we were planning to get it. But when I called Matt on my way home, he told me Mason pooped in his underwear!! He has only done that a couple times, both were in the first week of potty training. We decided we couldn't get him a bear the day he pooped (even though that wasn't how he earned it, technically)it just didn't seem right. But Andrew was really excited to go give his dog, Rock, a bath, so we decided to go, but not get Mason's bear. He didn't really know that we were supposed to be going that day, so it was kind of a non-issue. And I think our plan worked. Today, he not only stayed dry (which he does as long as I am paying attention) but he told me he needed to go AND went at our friend's house and used a public bathroom. He's on fire!!

Back to the title of this post though... Andrew loves his Build-a-Bear dog. He earned his for learning to stay in his room all night. I think he was just a little older than Mason is now so I'm hoping that Mason finds his to be just as cool as Andrew finds his to be. Andrew was very excited to bring Rock in to give him a bath. The top picture is his reaction after Matt showed him that the air dryer really blew out air. He thought it was pretty awesome. And I loved that he was so excited about something that didn't make him seem grown up. : ) It's the first time I've been able to say he's 'only' five. Five feels so old to me most of the time.

rain boots

Mason has been extra rad lately. He all of a sudden has so much personality and is turning out to be a really funny kid!

Today he got his first pair of non hand-me-down rain boots and he is in love! He went to his room to pick out his pj's and came out like this. : ) He knew he was being funny and when we laughed he got a big smile on his face. He loves making us laugh.

Seeing him in just his boots made me think of a sweet poem 'I will buy you rubber boots' that my cousin, Vera Kate, wrote. I love it!

I will buy you rubber boots,
and I will let you wear them whenever you want to,
even when it isn't raining outside.

I will hold your hand when we cross the street,
and I will jump with you from one wide white line to the next,
even though it takes longer that way, and there are cars waiting.

I will teach you how to bake,
and I will let you lick the spoon every time
even though I worry that the raw egg might make you sick.

I will build a life for you --
And I will teach you, even when I'm tired.
And I will play with you, even when I'm sad.
And I will provide for you, even when I feel like I can't.

I will buy you rubber boots, my love,
and I will let you wear them whenever you want to.

good advice

If I was asked to give advice on what I think it takes to be a good mom, I would basically quote this article. Here is my narrowed down version: 20 ways to be kind to your child.

Tell your child:
1. I love you to the moon and back.
2. if I could pick any 5 (or 2...) year old in the whole wide world, I'd pick you.
3. thank you.

4. Play tag.
5. Pretend that you are super ticklish.
6. Try showing your kid that you can do a somersault or handstand or cartwheel.

Read:
7. your favorite childhood book to them.
8. the book they love that you're not so hot on.

9. Listen to the Lego description and think how important it is to your child.
10. Ask them what their favorite part of the day was.
11. Show your child how to do something instead of banning them from it.

Take time to:
12. watch a construction site.
13. allow your child to help you dump ingredients in the bowl.
14. walk places together.
15. do a task at your child's pace.

16. trust that your child is capable.

Delight your child:
17. by surprising them.
18. by making their snack into a smile face.
19. by sitting on the floor with them to play.

20. Give a smile when your child walks into the room.

happy birthday, Kai

We had a blast celebrating Kai's 6th birthday on Saturday! It was Andrew's first time at a trampoline party and he loved it!

leprechaun treasure hunt

I didn't really do anything for St. Patrick's Day this year, but I think this picture of our little leprechaun treasure hunt is cute, so here it is...

trifecta

I found myself with a free day on Thursday, so I packed up and headed to B'ham. Here is a recap of our day through my new favorite app, Instagram.

It worked out perfectly for me to eat at 3 of my favorite places while we were there. I usually can't fit them all in when we visit, especially when it's just for the day, but the stars aligned for me this time! : ) And to top it off, my parents treated me to it all!

biggest fan

We submitted this picture to Campus-U-Tote-Em's biggest fan contest and Mason won!! : )

class of 2025

Andrew is all signed up at Woodside Elementary and ready to start his school career in September!

add that to his birthday list...

...a backpack, not a dog.

Mason has realized that backpacks are pretty awesome. He asked to bring one to our friend's house today and he chose his doctor kit backpack. : ) I think it's time we get him his own little (normal) backpack.

Nope, still not ready for a dog. But I love that our friends have them for us to visit!

Andrew asked for the mustache glass. I figured it was so he could have a picture like the one I took of Mason. Done!

entertainment at its finest

On the way into work I put this little guy on my dash board in an effort to get Mason's mind off the fact he didn't bring a superhero with him. I had no idea it would be such a hit! It made them both laugh and we watched him dance and fall the whole way to school.

I tried to get a picture of them laughing, but I was also driving, so it was a little tricky. So this is what I got. It's not really what I was trying for, but I love it. Not only is it my cute, daily view, but it also shows the remnants of their spiky hair. : )

lego club

Andrew's friend started a Lego club for a little group of 5 year olds that Mason gets to tag along to. His ability to follow instructions at the last meeting completely surprised me. They collected these pieces one at a time. They were told to get one red one, one black one, etc. Then she said to get another one of each color (not specifying the colors) and Mason did it. I love that one of the pieces he chose was a Lego guy body. : )

One of the moms is going to make them all Lego club badges : ) One kid wanted spiked hair in his picture and by the end, every single kid had spiked hair.