still having fun

May 16, 20121 Comment

So, let me tell you, you don’t want to get shingles.

Thankfully, I think I have a mild case.

However, I think the fact that they are on my head and neck make it a bit more painful.

And, it’s not really fun going to your kids preschool field trip with what looks like a big old hickey on your neck.

I’ve spared you all from the photos.

I think I posted a couple on Instagram (maybe Facebook), but otherwise I’ve tried to stay on the “down low”.

Anyway, Ryan really stepped in once he returned from business travel last week (after also helping out when his mom was here for a week).

He took the little guy to school on Friday and then Lala and I went to the Mother’s Day Tea at the preschool.

He’s a little tea pot…

The 4’s…

I’m not sure if he even sang…

Oooooh, he did sing…just missed the hand movements on this one.

Pulling it all together…

for the BIG finish!!!

{by the way, he and the cutie next to him were partners for the play and held hands all they way through their “Chicken Little” skit}

What else have we done?

Set up an outdoor bed for the kids to rest in…and play with the iPhone’s and iPad.

Real men play with pink iPads.

Letting Ryan deal out the discipline…Lala wasn’t thrilled about timeout.

Watched while Ryan played with the kids at the playground.

They are both capable of so many new things on a playground.

He couldn’t do this alone last summer.

And, she just wants to keep up with him.

And, I’ve just let them goof off while I sit and watch in the backyard.

Now, I am off to bed.

I hope to have a Spring yard and garden tour up on the blog by then end of the week!

Also, I gave the teachers their gifts at the Mothers Day Tea…they loved them!

home is…still having fun while I am on the mend.

{sunriver} take one

April 14, 2012Leave a comment

sunriver

April 14, 20121 Comment

I’m in Sunriver with the mommies from friday playgroup.

It snowed last night.

I’m not sure that the girls will be biking today.

home is…time with good friends.

an early spring walk in the burbs

April 9, 20121 Comment

So, I want to blog about our awesome weekend, but I need more time than I have tonight.

We’ve had some incredible spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest and we’ve been out enjoying it.

Our tulips are blooming and I couldn’t be happier about how our new landscaping is looking. We get daily compliments from neighbors.

We’ve had to use ladders for multiple projects lately and our monkeys are quickly learning how to use them!

And, after dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Something that Ryan loves to do with the kids.

Lala brought her baby and Bobo brought his “weapon”.

There were new decorations in a tree in the neighborhood that the kids were fascinated by. I am not sure if they are there to scare the birds away (it might be a cherry tree) or just for fun. Either way, the kids liked them!

He was attacked by a bad guy and I had to save him.

Yeah, good mommy moment…too busy taking photos on my phone…”Hey, she fell down!”

But, if I hadn’t been taking pictures, I would have never caught this moment, right?!

Baby girl was fine.

She’s tough.

We live in the burbs. We only need to carry a nerf gun for protection.

But, leave it to Ryan to make sure we are safe.

And, we got home and the monkey wanted to climb…barefoot.

This guy has no fear when it comes to physical activity!

home is…a beautiful spring day.

photos from m{i}phone

April 8, 20121 Comment

It’s been a while.

Why don’t we catch up…

home is…lots of fun thrifting, playing, creating, and spending time with people we love.

breaking the rules

April 6, 2012Leave a comment

Yesterday morning I took a trip to Goodwill with the kids.

Usually, if they follow my rules, they each get to pick out a toy.

My rules are stay close to mommy, no running, and stay quiet.

They are usually VERY good at following these rules.

Yesterday was no exception, and they each found a toy.

The little guy found a Batman action figure from 2003…I hated to open it because it was new in it’s packaging and worth at least twice as much as we paid for it, but his happiness was worth ripping the packaging open once we got home.

Baby girl liked a little car with a pig in it. While she was riding in the cart and holding her car she realized that it actually made noise and drove on it’s own and wanted to get out of the cart.

She immediately put it on the ground and let it go.

Oink!

ZOOOOOOOOM!

It raced down the aisle.

And, she raced screaming and giggling after it!

Breaking all my rules.

I have never seen her so happy about something.

She and the little guy set it on the ground and let it go again.

Oink!

ZOOOOOOOOM!!

I tried to keep them quiet as an employee looked around the corner to see what the noise was about.

She said, “I love to hear children’s laughter.”

So, I let them laugh.

And, run.

We were on our way towards checking out, anyway.

Baby girl screamed and giggled every time the car drove away.

This was one time that I didn’t mind them breaking my rules.

{Although, I think I came back to haunt me later in the day when they thought breaking my rules was OK when we were at the veterinarian learning how to give Hobbes his insulin injections.}

home is…sometimes breaking the rules is worth it.

spring break is here

March 26, 20123 Comments

And, so is Meme!

My mom is visiting for the week.

Yipee!!

The weather is supposed to be rainy.

We’re going to do some crafting, some shopping {thrifting}, and some hanging.

So, I may, or may not, be blogging.

For now, I will leave you with some of my finds from recent thrifting adventures…

Yahtzee…from 1961.

A beautiful globe…

And, a metal toy top…

home is…a bright and happy spring break (even if it’s grey and rainy)!

so lucky

March 18, 20123 Comments

Oh, it’s been a week.

The good news is that right now everybody is resting.

This guy has been really sick…

emergency vet sick.

We’ll find out more when we go to our regular vet tomorrow morning.

I’m exhausted.

I was up 3 nights with Ben when he was sick…including Saturday night from 1 am on.

The good news is that we all slept through the night last night.

Ben is no longer vomiting.

I had a few hours to myself last night when the kids were at our health club for a party.

I got some things done around the house (one of which was cleaning up my craft closet).

It snowed for brief periods today…and was sunny…and rained…and was just cloudy and cold.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Despite all the rough stuff going on, we still managed to have some fun last week!

Spring is trying to show up around here…

So we play outside whenever we get the chance…even if it is snowing!

And, my friends have been amazing offering to help me out with Ben or the kids while Ryan is traveling.

Thank you all for your prayers, positive energy, and offers to help.

Did I mention I am…

home is…a little luck.

early morning

March 13, 20124 Comments

I’ve been up for 3 hours with my oldest.

He’s 12.

His name is Ben.

He wasn’t our first baby.

He’s our black lab who has been with us since March 2000…before we were married!

Poor little guy has been in and out of the rain and snow about 20 times in the last 3 hours.

His tummy is bugging him.

Taking care of a sick pet is like taking care of a sick infant…they can’t tell you what hurts.

So, you just keep them comfortable the best that you can.

The first couple of times I got up with him I was frustrated.

He sleeps downstairs, so he walked on the wood floors at the bottom of the stairs and barked…letting me know he needed to go out.

Up and down I went.

By the 3rd time I realized that he really wasn’t feeling well.

I set up shop on the sofa downstairs.

Made some coffee.

Turned on the early news.

I don’t get quiet time in the house very often.

I don’t get time to watch the news in peace very often.

We don’t get snow in Portland very often.

I don’t know how much longer Ben will be around.

I’m enjoying my time with him this morning and hoping he feels better soon.

For now, I’ll just be here for him.

Watching the news.

Watching the snow.

Enjoying my coffee in peace.

home is…taking care of sick babies.

{batman room} piecing the puzzle together

March 1, 2012Leave a comment

The little guy loves Batman.

Last year he received a huge plastic tub of matchbox cars from our next door neighbors. In it there were two Batmobiles, which quickly became his favorites. He took them everywhere…even slept with them at night.

I told him about Batman and soon his love for anything Batman grew.

He declared his 4th birthday a Batman birthday, has said he wants to be a Batmobile driver when he grows up, and wants to wear a Batman shirt or Batman colors (blue, grey, black and yellow) everyday!

So, I decided to grow his room up a bit from the “Go, dog. Go!” theme to a Batman theme.

I’ve collected Batman decor since last summer and slowly but surely have gotten some of it done.

It is still a work in progress, but close to being finished.

When it is done I will do a full room tour, but for now I wanted to show you the main piece of artwork and how it came to be.

I have loved all the Batman themed items that Pottery Barn has carried for the last year, but didn’t want to just put together a Pottery Barn Batman room.

About a month ago I took a quick trip to the mall by myself and found this at Pottery Barn Kids…