Musings

Matt wanted to do something special as a family on Saturday. So we bought a new tv. (We were going to anyway- it is just odd that this could be classified as "doing something special as a family"). I also had no idea that a new tv could make 2 little boys dance around the living room like fools while their daddy tried to figure out how to plug it in. It was quite the scene. Actually in retrospect, the way it made us feel to finally be able to afford the new tv we have been wanting for several years now is something pretty special. Thank you Feds for the child tax credit!

"Daddy will never find me in here!"

We were visiting our stuff that lives in Everett already.

This photo was taken yesterday. Happy Spring Everyone!

As promised...Our Easter Tradition!

We started this because weather in Washington is not always "permitting" and I don't really like taking the boys to the public Easter Egg Hunts because you just never know what kind of "junk" they'll come home with... At this point in the year we still have Halloween candy in reserves and I just don't want to add to it! So I came up with this idea:

We start by taking pictures of various hiding places around the house...

Then I print the pics in wallet size and put them into large plastic Easter Eggs and place the Easter Eggs in successive, corresponding hiding places.

We start Easter morning by giving the boys an egg. Their smiles are priceless because they already know what's up! They open it and head off on their Easter Egg Hunt!

Each egg leads them to the next of course until finally:

Success!

They reach their final destination and find a huge Easter basket full of goodies, including a new bionicle for Isaac, new crayons and a curious george toy for Max, and a few outdoor toys for both

Happy Easter my sweet boys! Hallelujah, Christ Has Risen!!!

Droppin' by to share some pics and an update...

Easter was lovely! We started our day with our annual Easter Egg hunt (it's another Easter tradition for us- this one intentional- and so fun! I'll post details later) Then off to church to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection! On Sunday evening we headed down to Mukilteo to Matt's Aunt & Uncle's house for Easter dinner with the family- where we had a wonderful time catching up and just enjoying each other's company! I haven't had a chance to d/l the pics from Easter so I'll share a couple of pics from Max's first driving lesson instead.

Accidental Tradition

Tonight Isaac and I made my favorite Easter treat. I think this makes it a tradition as this is the 4th year that we have made these for Easter. This is the first year that Isaac was wrist deep in the sticky goodness of my bird's nest cookies with me. I didn't mean for them to become a tradition... I just really like them!

On a side note: Nathan you probably have all of my blog readers thinking that some wierdo is looking at pictures of my kids and offering to read them bedtime stories. So just for the record ladies: "international"= yes, "wierdo"= probably, "stranger"= not exactly- he has actually read Isaac a bedtime story in person before- and Nathan I would love to have you come read to him again- we both enjoy giggling at your funny accent. Whenever you are in the neighborhood :o)

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Well, how lucky you are if you don't own the book. I mean the Dr Suess one. Every time he picks that one out for a bedtime story I groan on the inside (possibly a bit on the outside too). It is sooooooooo long. I might fall asleep reading it- or if I am lucky- he will. Oh by the way, the picture has nothing to do with the title- I just liked it.

Double Date

What I learned tonight:

That Denise has excellent form- and when she says she is going to "kick our butts" she means it! (Whether she knew it or not!) Oh and she gets up really fast when she falls on her butt- it was almost like it never happened!

That anybody can bowl better than me. Anybody.

That I can gauge bedtime by how well my husband bowls.

That Jim can throw a bowling ball over 20 mph.

Oh yeah and my husband is a wimpy desk jockey (but I love him anyway).

Kidless in Seattle

I was gone all weekend on a MOPS retreat weekend in Seattle- I had no internet- nor any desire really to find internet! We had tons of fun shopping, eating out and watching movies- all without kids!

The whole group of us posing in the hotel lobby before heading out on our last day of shopping! (I am the one in purple)

My girl Steph posing in front of a Hummer limo. We were on our way back to the hotel where we changed into our jammies, brewed some decaf and hunkered down with a yummy slice of Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and watched "Dan in Real Life" with our friend Christine. That was definitely my favorite part of the whole weekend! My second favorite part? We went to a place called Sephora that sells only beauty products and there are aestheticians wandering around helping people choose colors and products etc... they encourage sampling colors and such so I decided I wanted to find a fun new eyeshadow color. My friend Karen told me to get something that looked "sassy" so I went for it. The guy sat me down and picked out some gorgeous colors for me and then proceeded to apply them step by step- showing me exactly what he was doing the whole time. When he was done I definitely looked sassy! This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice! My eyeshadow color really highlighted my eye color. I went back to the hotel and changed into something more "fun" and fixed my hair into a flip. A mini makeover is always good- and the best part is I know how to re-create the look that he gave me!

It was tons of fun and really relaxing - but of course I missed my guys! When I got home they were at the park so I decided to meet them there. I captured some sweet pics while I was there. Hi mom! Isaac peeks around a corner to cheese for the camera...

Such a big boy already! Hmmmm....what to get into next?

My handsome men! I am so blessed!

Lovely Day

It was a beautiful day today! Sunny and warm and wonderful! Spring has been teasing us for weeks already- I can't wait! I was out all day working in my garden and I just had a wonderful time getting all dirty (that's the little kid in me)! There is something about clearing away all the fall leaves hiding under the plants and clearing out the dead stuff from last season that just makes me feel happy. It is a fresh start. Boy am I ready for one of those!

Today I finally started my final project for my staging certification! A friend has graciously agreed to let me "makeover" her living room for the assignment. I was supposed to start it already- but we have all had colds for the last couple of weeks and I figure the last thing she needs is a bug floating around her family of 8! Anyway, almost there- it's only taken me 2 1/2 years (program was designed to be completed in as little as 9 months)! Something about getting Matt through his senior year and being a mom, etc...We also enjoyed a visit from our every-Wednesday-guest- Isaac's best friend Caedmon. These 2 are just ridiculous together. Today at lunch we enjoyed a classic PB & J with some "fishy crackers". Apparently at some point one of them (I am not sure which) declared that the fishies are going to dance on stage (their heads) and thus the fun began! See, ridiculous I tell you...

Even the baby knows that fishy crackers are best in your mouth- not in your hair!

Have a good Thursday everyone! Matt comes home tomorrow night! WooHoo!

MOPS!!!!

Man I love spa day! I just have to say thank you to Allison again for introducing me to MOPS (1) and for taking me for the first time on Spa day (2) 4 years ago (can you believe it has been that long?)!!! MOPS has blessed me and my family in so many ways- I can't even begin to list them all!

In case you couldn't tell- I had a wonderful day at Spa Day! I won a massage, enjoyed my free coffee and won 1 of the huge spa day giveaway baskets! Let's just say I have lots of fun stuff to garden with now- and just in time as we are cleaning up the yard for Spring and hopefully a quick sale! Every year on Spa day I have done well- and this one was no exception- the Lord knows when I need a lift! Because what I have won each year corresponds perfectly with something in my life that is in need of a little extra attention.

I also had a little bit of a personal boost come my way today. I have been watching a (new)friend's little boys for a couple of hours on Mondays while she is hospitalized and on bed rest with some serious pregnancy issues (the boys have other caregivers lined up throughout the week). I am so honored that this couple is trusting me with their precious boys to start with- but today she asked her close friend to pass along an extra special thank you to me because I seem to "get" her boys. I can imagine that would be great for any mom to know her kids were in good hands but especially when she is not able to be here herself. It felt good to know that I seem to be doing it right! But honestly- I am just humbled that they are trusting me- a veritable stranger- with their boys and though I can't ever fill their mommy's shoes- I pray that I can at least continue to be a positive and fun influence for them while mommy is away! They are 2 very sweet little boys that have been thrown into a bit of a "funk" at the moment and anything I can do to help them keep "being kids" is first on my list.
If you don't already know her and her situation- and you are the praying kind- please say a prayer for Aumony and her family today. He is listening!

Moving out...a little at a time

So today we went and played with my friend Aumony's twins for a couple of hours. It is funny what a difference a couple of years can make. They are exactly 2 years younger than Isaac and watching them play is like a flashback to how Isaac used to play- but the crazy part is- I didn't even realize that Isaac had grown out of the things they do! Like the "peepee" dance... or the mimicking... or the changing activities every 5 minutes or so. We didn't even get through 15 minutes of Curious George before they were up and on to something else!

We left this afternoon with Matt's car loaded to the gills with kids and boxes and headed for our storage unit in Everett. How silly is it that I am SO excited to see our stuff "living" in Everett!?Could we please just get on with this? We also switched cars (Matt took our SUV full of stuff this morning) so I could have my shiny truck back! The rain has left her a bit dingy on the outside already, but she sparkles on the inside still! I have officially re-instated the no food in the car rule -though I have no misconceptions about how long that might last of course. I am optimistic- but not overly so ;o)

Ok, off to bed- MOPS tomorrow! Woo Hoo! Spa Day Baby!

Trying something new...

Bedtime= blogtime - I am hoping perhaps if I set a certain time of day for this it might get done more than once every 6 months! Only on non-bath nights though...

First of all the most important news of MY day: My truck is all shiny again! As you can imagine 6,000 miles of eating on the road and living out of the truck with 2 small children will take it's toll on the interior of a vehicle. It was...well...gross. The detailer insists he has seen much worse but I'm not so sure. So for Valentines Day I asked Matt to get my truck detailed. Not to mention it got a new windshield on Wednesday- pretty exciting I know! So it is almost like driving a new truck. She's still my Sheila though! (Yes I named my truck- or rather she told me her name- and don't mess with me- it is not weird! )

Then we had to go pick up our new Armoire for our bedroom. We got a screamin' deal on it! It matches our dresser we got a few months ago and when I saw it I had to have it! We were going to buy it eventually as it seems more practical to wait until we move to do so...but we bought it for $500 less than it costs at a retail furniture store! How could we pass that up? So into storage it goes until moving day!

Speaking of storage: we rented a unit down in Everett close to Matt's work- so at least some of our stuff has moved down there...I suppose that's a start!

Ok good enough for now- this should occupy you through at least 4 sips of your coffee in the morning Missy! (You know who you are!)

Flashback to Valentine's Day

Valentine' Day 2008: The boys started their day at Miss Karen's house where Isaac made homemade Valentine's cupcakes for the 4 of us. Then we came home to a Valentine's Day Picnic- complete with a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. It got a little over-cooked while we were busy playing chase upstairs (oops!). Still tasted like "love" though! We had our picnic on the living room floor (an occasional special treat in our house- dinner on the living room floor with a cartoon on the tube) - we enjoyed watching Meet the Robinson's together and then off to bed. Then Matt came home from work and we enjoyed a quiet candelit dinner together. All in all it was a lovely evening with my 3 favorite Valentines!

Heart-shaped Pizza-well done.
Valentine's Picnic
So proud of his pink Valentines' cupcakes! He decorated them himself too- his of course had the most sprinkles!

It seems like I am always behind

I am gonna rant for a minute. I usually reserve this blog for sunshine and roses, but today that is not my mood at all. Soooo....

All I ever seem to be doing is playing catch up. I am behind on my homework, behind on my blog, behind on my scrapbooking, behind on cleaning my house, behind on my business plan and the list goes on. Just thinking about it all makes me want to run away from home!

It's not laziness. I never sit down- I don't even watch TV anymore. (Could someone please tell me what's happening on Grey's Anatomy? And who won the last Biggest Loser?) I am always working on something- but nothing ever seems to get finished. I desperately need to cut back. But where? What responsibilities could I possibly drop? I suppose I just need to approach it all differently- but how?!? Anyone have any suggestions?

Ok, rant over. So now I think I'll share some pictures of my sweet boys!

I stood them up against our blackboard and drew their outlines and set them to work coloring them in! (Bought me some time to cook dinner!)

Isaac is drawing his "guts"- his words not mine...isn't that nice?