Jen's Graduation! and other things from our week.

i finished jen's graduation video! it was fun to make and so easy! it really takes hardly any time at all. i still have a lot to learn though.  it was so special being there to celebrate!

up next. a couple videos of the boys this morning. lucas was so happy just jibberjabbering to himself

                                       

                                    
so i tried, though not successfully, to capture it on camera.

we walked to farmers yesterday...two interesting things to notice...1. caleb's asleep. 2. caleb's in the back. he failed to take a nap yesterday which resulted in the stroller sleep (he was in bed for an hour quiet but since the door was open i knew he never went completely to sleep...an hour later he got out of bed with a poop....darn poops always screw up the best intended naps! though i was proud of the quiet time! cause you know long after naps are gone...quiet time will take their place!

look at lucas' toes. he just curls them around and around happy as a clam!

so i have two interesting updates. one. i have been meaning to mention all week that we are officially cable free! i guess i keep forgetting because it hasn't really impacted us so much. at least for me. we watch our favorite shows on hulu (greys', the bachlorette, and make it or break it) okay. those are my fav. shows and dave likes to watch two of the above. it ends up saving us about 50bucks a month which adds up. plus i was just kinda over having tv! i let caleb watch a show while i put lucas down for a nap in the morning, and if he really is out of sorts after his nap he can watch a show. i'm actually pretty anti the tv and would like to eliminate it completely for caleb. i love that he can't just turn the tv on anymore and really there was just so much bad stuff on tv that i'm glad it can't be  turned on anymore! dave watches his sports on espn online and we spend quiet evenings reading, watching our shows online (streamed to the tv) baking, blogging, or just spending time together. i'm glad we went against the grain. i know a lot of other families with young children who don't even have a tv in their home....my cousins were in shock when we said we had no cable! lol. as in...they just couldn't believe we only had cable to begin with and not all the other fancy stuff. Up next I really want to down grade my phone...you know...maybe i just really want to be amish and live on a farm!! you think i'm joking.....

lastly. i think i'd rather spare you this story, but it was so disturbing that i must share. i decided the backyard needed a good hosing down of spider webs...and just a good lil clean of caleb's toys. i used to do it so much more but these days it doesn't happen as much as i'd like....everyone knows how ocd clean i am..i was proud that i had been letting the backyard clean go a lil bit...after all it is the backyard!! but this story just goes to show how good it is that i do clean!! i was hosing down caleb's toy bucket (a huge pink toy tub) when low and behold a gigantic (larger than any i have ever seen!) mother of all black widows starts crawling down the outside of the basket!!!!! guys. i think i stopped breathing!! my dear friend came to the rescue...she has gotten us out of other binds as well....she's that friend you call whenever you're in a hairy situation! she killed the spider for us. i stepped on it! ew. and dave will be spraying the premises tonight! this is the second time i've come face to face with my biggest creepy crawly fear. i mean, hello, she was on my child's toy container! (it was the outside of the basket holding all his toys but still!) his toys!!!! that was tooo close for comfort if you ask me. i'm so grateful i found her before caleb did. i really don't even want to imagine what would have happened!!! ug!!!! i'm still traumatized.... can ya tell?????? i really don't mind bugs...but black widows are a whole nother kind of scary when you have small children! especially the fact that she was so close to his toys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! okay. i'm stepping off my soap box now. the boys are fine (i'm still breathing into a brown bag) but really they are fine and that is all the matters! and it is good to know when hubby is away i have a very calm and rational friend just around the corner who can come to my aid in 5 minute's time!! friends are such a good good thing!!

this has been a week. quite a week. oh man. i'm seriously counting down till july 3rd when we'll be packing up the boys and hitting the road for oregon to do some camping with family! i'll have hubby time for almost an entire week and it'll be so much fun with the boys! plus...we have our new tent that can house 9 people! lots of room to grow :) haha! i tease...mostly.

happy almost friday!!!

all of it.

so i made a little beach video. can you tell i'm loving my new video discovery? and since i love the beach so much....
i thought i'd better post a nice picture or a nice video before i go on my soap box....indulge me for a moment?? or two....if you don't care to hear my sob story....just watch the video :)

i had myself a lil pity party walk today. all by myself. while my oh so amazing and ever so supportive hubby took over bedtime duties....the boys were already in bed....just not completely asleep yet (post swaddle free wake up and toddler tantrum...you know...he was there to endure the tears...while i snuck away). he really is my knight in shinning armor. so....even with all his help...sometimes....i feel.....
so completely.utterly.beyond all get out.exhausted! why is this so hard? they never told me it would be this hard!!! motherhood. parenting. full time 24/7. all day. everyday. did they tell me and i just didn't listen??? probably. this is hands down. the hardest thing i've ever done in my entire life. ever. raising two boys. being a wife. a mother. it is certainly the most rewarding, the most fulfilling too. while i wouldn't change it or them for the world...i still have days, moments, daydreams, where i wish i could be my carefree, college girl self. nothing to worry about-but.me. oh those days. how about my carefree newlywed days where i was just living on love? now i'm living on dirty diapers, toddler tears, bedtime battles, no's in my ears, up in the night, twice a night, early mornings, restless nights, worries, sickness, and all that comes from mothering two little boys. i have a whole new respect for my mom and dave's mom and well...every mom for that matter! how did they do it? four kids! three kids in three years? oh my lanta!! they are amazing. truly. dave's grandma had ten kids! does it get easier? i mean...it has since sweet as can be lucas entered our world and these two lil boys stole my heart with their sweetness in the way they are together. but still-i'm tired. i'm tired of never truly getting a real break. of feeling guilty when i do. of never being off duty. of all hours of life with little ones that revolve around dishes and dirty diapers and tantrums and laundry and so much more. this was what went around my head-all on my walk. as i struggled with my thoughts and muddled through my tears. i had a nice lil chat with someone much wiser and All Knowing. He kindly lifted me. He kindly warmed me. The rays of sun reflected on the mountains. The fresh air filled my lungs. The tears that silently fell were wiped away with His hands. He Held Me. He told me. "It'll be all right" He whispered in my ear. "Look." "look at what i have given you, look at all that I have given you..." and He showed me....the birds that flew in my path and lifted my eyes up toward Him. The strong legs that walked in the fresh air that brought me to Him. The man he gave me to wed. Who keeps me strong when I am ready to fall. And the two sweet boys He gifted to me. Because He knew, that they were here to teach me. To make me wiser and stronger and braver than I ever thought I could be. And he whispered that He'll hold me through it-tears and all. Happiness and sadness, joy and fear, laughter and love. The hardness is what grows us. And I'm simply growing-and it hurts sometimes.

I really like this song. It came on while I was running today and it couldn't be more fitting for how I have been feeling.
http://youtu.be/1sdK0BgqSIg

sillies and sleep.

first off. here's a video of these sweet boys of ours playing together ever so nicely. lately caleb's been a bit...how shall i put it?....bossy? lucas this and lucas that...'no lucas!!!' "mine lucas!!!' push and a knock on over....lucas takes it like a champ of course, and i have flashbacks to a video of myself at the same age...acting ahem...the same way. we're working on 'wait a minute please lucas' and other such things....still. the sweet moments of the boys together happen far more often than the 'not so sweet' moments. i love how they interact together. i know i'm a bias mama..but they are just so sweet. and moments such as these make my heart bubble on over.

next up. sleep. oh sleep. sleep and tantrums...the two things i struggle most with in motherland. be proud! be proud. we are officially as of last night swaddle free!! we were planning on breaking it once and for all ( i know we've said and tried it before...but) the fact that lucas was getting too big (and sadly they really don't have any bigger sizes!) and we were done with our travels for a bit....were two things..but the biggest thing that finally got me to buckle down and stay strong was the fact that yesterday morning i went in to find lucas hanging out on his tummy! hello. he finally rolled himself over in the swaddle...so we kissed the swaddle good-bye for good. and you know what? we were ready...but so was he! this time around the go downs were good...the wake ups the same as usual....he was really ready to be done. he's happy with his lil lovey and handmade by great-grandma blanket. he holds on tight to those and nestles and sleeps and whew...i am breathing a sigh of relief. i'm proud of myself for trying! i didn't give in for naps today! dave does bedtime and nighttime so when i'm alone sometimes i cheat :) (i have in the past) but i didn't today! i'm feeling much better now. as for caleb...door open situation remains interesting...he goes down quiet as a church mouse but now wakes up at night if we close the door...so we leave it open all night long...and he waits until his mr.sunshine light comes on at 6:50 to get out of bed and come find us! it is so much easier to negotiate things at this age...most of the time!

 and then... there are those other times. what started out as a nice walk around the neighborhood....

ended in toddler tears...lots of them. he wanted to go this way...we had to go that way. we give lots of choices around here...(and plenty of two minutes till we do this...scenarios!)do you want to wear this shirt or that shirt....left or right? strawberries or blueberries? milk or water? backyard play or inside play? we try and let caleb have control but with choices that we can control...to a point. but there comes times where no matter what..a very frustrated toddler goes into melt down mode...in the middle of the street...two blocks from home. and there's just not much you can do about it when you have an infant strapped to your chest and a bike and a helmet. and the hot sun on your face....a block of trying to walk with him kicking and screaming proved pointless...it ended with the toddler in the ergo..the baby on the hip...the bike dragged behind...some sweats...and one really tasty knock you naked brownie after the boys went down for a nap...see..this is why i have 15 lbs of baby weight stuck around my belly!

knock you naked.

thank you once again pioneer woman for this beauty of a pic and beauty of a dish full of delish-ness!

right here-knock-you-naked-brownies cause it is tuesday. but-really feels like a monday-even if it is only a four day week-getting back into the swing of things with my lil fellows is hard without daddy, or nani and papa, or aunties....so caleb and i baked...lucas napped...and the sweet aroma cured our 'home without daddy' blues.

def. good to have a lil helper on hand to unwrap each individual carmel candy!

moving on to this cutie. i finally captured his babbles on camera! not an easy feat i tell ya. he likes to stop his chit-chat as soon as i pull the camera out-or big brother likes to ham in-or i don't have the camera anywhere near when the moment happens. but this morning the opportunity presented itself and i took full advantage! i'll never forget the first time i heard those sweet words of ma'ma. last weekend in church (during the quiet part of course!) music to my ears. i love my sweet boys and their precious words!

and lastly...some more pics of jen's graduation! i can't wait to finish off jen's graduation video with these super nice quality pics that were taken on jen's camera (by a super amazing mama with a baby in the ergo, capturing all the big moment's of jen's day!) oh wait...that's me! haha. love ya jen :)

 miss graduate and her super supportive bf.

 can i have those beautiful red colors! go csun

 the family pics.

 jen's future in-laws. haha! i tease....kinda....

 sisters! i think i need a pair of those red shoes

 and the two lil cuties who were champs waking up with the birds and cheering on their auntie all day long!

way to go jen!!! and did i mention miss graduate has a real world job now?!!! congrats jen! we love you.

okay. happy thoughts for a tuesday. back to my real world boys! one sleeping angel and the other post-nap toddler who needs his mama's cuddles!
oh and maybe i'll eventually get to the loads and loads of laundry threatening to take over my house...and dishes too...hm... i think i'll just go cuddle with my grumpster who took way too short of a nap today!

Jen's Graduation!

so this is a work in progress still! I need the rest of the pictures i took from jen's super nice camera :) but here's a glimpse of one fantastic college graduation for one amazing girl!!!

Happy 9 Months Lucas!

Happy 9 Months little man!! you continue to be such a sweet easy going baby. You are so full of smiles and giggles from the time you wake up till the time you go to sleep. You love watching the world around you. You have just started saying da'da and ma'ma. Music to my ears! You also love to say ba'ba and jibber jabber through the day with your new sounds, and boy do we love to listen to you! You adore your big brother and watch him happily whenever you are awake. You have become quite the eater and enjoy trying whatever we put in front of you. You sure do love those finger foods. You have started putting your hand up for us maybe trying to wave? or be silly? you just enjoy this new thing you've discovered and it cracks us up. You reach up towards us and then giggle away! We love you so very much Lucas!

garden glory

our garden is in bloom. dave's been tending to it everyday with the boys. and it is pretty exciting to see the fruits of their labor!! caleb loves to water the plants, lucas loves to watch, and dave loves to wander around tending, weeding, watering, and caring for his plants! i love to watch the three of them together out there working away :) today was the first day we got to try out some veggies that have grown. the peas! caleb and lucas love peas, so imagine their delight when daddy handed them one fresh off the vine :)

peas fresh from the garden

zucchini

budding nectarine and peaches

carrots

peas

we are growing some watermelon, rasberries, blueberries, beets, and tomatoes too!

lucas' first taste of watermelon at a friends birthday party. he loved it!

the latest go-down development....we told him he can have the door open only if he stays in bed...as you can see today he didn't heed our words....the magic of the door open and quiet go down was lost tonight :( i'm hoping we can get it back! but little mister is quite insistent on sleeping on the floor with the door open (which might not be a problem except for the fact that he is a super light sleeper and wakes up if we move him...soo...this scenario isn't going to work). pretty cute though with all his friends...he also was holding tight to my shirt pleading 'don't leave mama! don't leave'. ouch that hurts the heart a lil. they sure know how to wrap us around their fingers!! i didn't give in...but it sure is hard to resist this little cuddle bug of mine!

home sweet home

we're back! deep sigh of content. rain clouds and thunder opened up for us a warm wet welcome. i'm ready to hunker down for the weekend and enjoy just the four of us again. it was a crazy but fun week. dave did much learning at his conference. and two sleeping boys greeted him in the back seat on our long drive home from a week apart. i have plenty of pictures but for now i'll just leave you with a few and a couple funny videos...i'll be up and running again next week after a weekend of recovery!!

the college graduate!! we had so much fun celebrating! and let me tell ya...there was a lot of celebrating! i have so much to share...but i'll have to wait. let me just say that once again the pioneer woman was a hit with a delicious sangria recipe, a red velvet cake, and a chocolate sheet cake! we were all in  food heaven. i have a ton of pictures and videos from her big day and i'm hoping to put them together in a video.

next up...this cutie. happy as a clam at the seashore the entire trip :) wild hair and all! boy do i love those dimples, almost as much as the spiky hair!

lately caleb has been saying the darnest things. i think he's at that age...the age where the stuff out of their mouth is just hilarious! at least to us it is....so anyway here are a couple videos of this little toddler of ours. in the first he's singing the abc song. and in the second he's sneaking frosting off his carrot muffin (brunch at panera after jen's graduation) of course miss graduate herself is the one who caught caleb sneaking frosting off his muffin (we have a video of jenny sneaking butter from the butter bowl when she was about the same age)

i'll end on one final note for this weekend....there is yet another thing caleb takes after his auntie in (although if she happens to read this she might get embarrassed  that i blabbed about it) there was a pea incident at nani's house this week....i can spare the you the gory details but basically not only does caleb like sneaking frosting...he likes sneaking-and sticking- peas up his nose-apparently. oh man. leave it to a two year old to not only say the darnest things. but to do the darnest things!!! pea up the nose ended well...we were at urgent care hanging out for a couple hours and well past bedtime but caleb was happy as can be till the dr. stuck his pliers up his nose! let's just say....i think the pliers alone were enough to traumatize him into not sticking anything else up in places where they don't belong!!! oh caleb...you surprise us everyday! and in case you were wondering how he is like auntie jen yet again?...she had a fondness for rocks....up her nose... (although they never got quite as far as caleb's pea)...she liked picking and places them from her jelly shoes to her nose...sorry to end on such a randomly gross note...at least i am not posting any green nose pictures (which i actually don't have...but if i did....)

okay so lastly, here a few more random

pictures...

this is what we'll probably be doing a lot of this weekend...

 catching up on some zzzzzs

 he still makes my heart skip a beat ;)

 both boys snoozing meant mom and dad got some quiet alone time together after a week apart! on our drive home....

one more thing! we finally (or actually my mom) finally solved the crying to sleep problem...no more tears=leave the door open (as long as caleb doesn't get out of bed) a quiet go down all week at my parents and it worked like a charm tonight at home! hurray finally! we just close the door once he goes to sleep so he can't find his way down the stairs (at my parent's house) or anywhere else for that matter....i also like the fact that i can sneak in a kiss and see his sweet sleeping self before going to bed for the night ;)

interesting...someone was having a lil photo shoot!! i didn't take these pictures :)

 happy friday all! sooo exicted for a long weekend with my boys ;) hope you all enjoy your weekend!

a snuggles kind of day

 big brother reading to lil brother

 cuddles on mom and dad's bed

betweenbrothers

i was inspired last night when i watched this beautiful ballerina and the video her mama made for her. make sure you have tissue handy if you watch it. kelle from enjoying the small things
(one of my fav blogs) included a tutorial which was so easy for me to follow that i thought i'd give it a try. there are a lot of things i would like to fix up...it is a work in progress :) if you're interested check it out! it was fun to make and now i'm excited to make a few more and hopefully get better as i go....her video is quite amazing! mine needs a lil help...but hey i figure it is a good starting point and i can only get better as i go right? these are some of my favorite clips and pictures of the boys together :)

happy almost friday :)

**it happens....

sorry guys. i don't cuss...normally...but i think i can get a free bee today. so...**it happens. Literally! for those easily grossed out you might want to skip this post entirely. so caleb's been napping great and going down for bed great! now that we made his nap early he's going to bed by 7 and sleeping in till well past seven! yay! anyway....we did a lot of outside play this morning and a walk on his bike...me happily thinking to myself, he'll def. take a good nap today (he's been doing 2-3 hour naps everyday the past couple weeks, i've been having to wake him up even). he even did his pre nap dump...i thought wow! we're def. on the right track today! my hunker dorry self was pleased as peaches (especially since daddy wasn't able to come home for lunch today). things were going well. both boys were quiet by 1 so i went and laid down ( i could still hear caleb pitter pattering around in his room...but i figured he'd eventually nod off) i woke up a half hour later (my usual pm snooze time) and thought i'd blog a little. all of a sudden caleb was at the door...strange...i figured he'd been playing for a bit and would go back to sleep-or he'd fallen asleep already and taken a really short nap (30 min cat nap ;( the worst)). i figured i'd let him stay in till his usual time 2:30 and then i'd go get him.....it got quiet for another half hour and then he was back at the door so i went in and got him. it'd been his usual 2 hours.

brace yourself (or actually) i wish i could have! i walked in and it reeked! seriously reeked. which it normally does after a poo...but  something felt diff. about this reek. like it had actually gotten on something. i went further into the room to investigate....and this my friends is a true glimpse into motherhood at its finest. "what do you do all day?" they ask... they wonder... i used to wonder myself sometimes..back in my carefree college girl days. oh how those seasoned mothers must have laughed. nope...until you're in the daily to do...you won't fully understand the sacrifice, the extending of yourself beyond all you ever thought....and you'll def. never imagine some things you'll find yourself doing...like today....never once did i rosily picture motherhood as knees down on floor, hands scrubbing brown carpet, poo smells surround me, naked toddler next to me, and bag full of brown, curtains stained satin, and blinds broken with chunks of **it. it happens! oh...yes..it happens. never underestimate the power of a quiet toddler my friends!
needless to say the next half hour was spent giving a smelly toddler a bath to scrub poo stained hands. it was spent scrubbing stained poo carpet from muddy poo footprints...and it was spent washing on hot curtains and sheets and little baby doll who all came to the sad fate of poo (should i even mention the fact that sheets were already washed on monday!)

all you can do in situations like this, when the **it hits the fan...is to clean up the mess...and move on.

to most...this pictures looks like a perfectly cleaned room. it looks clean and fresh and cute (if i don't say so myself) but look closely...notice the missing poo stained curtains and blinds? most would never know...
but now you know. you know the entire story behind this picture i took today. i now have a great excuse to go to target and get some new (not broken from little toddler hands) blinds. and that really is probably the only good thing that came from all this hullabaloo....well and maybe a clean toddler and carpets.

soo....that is what we do all day...we clean **it and it keeps us plenty busy :)

please feel free to share you're most glamorous motherhood moments with me today. i could use them!

apron in the kitchen and a graduation

we're here. i guess i haven't been inspired much lately, inspired by anything but the oven that is. the baking bug has its hold on me and every single day during lucas' morning nap caleb and i whip out the cook book and bake. let me just say...this is strange...for those of you who know me, i'm not much of a cook or a baker for that matter. but like i said, the baking bug has its hold on me. blackberry cobbler, oatmeal cookies and banana chocolate chip muffins were our morning creations this week. dinner time was almost as fabulous...or maybe its a tie. chicken Florentine and enchiladas thank you pioneer woman. oh and my expanding waistline thanks you too :)

so here's a few pictures to show what we've been up to this week....

lucas loves meal time too. can't you just tell the way his face lights up with a dimply smile and his toes rests easy on the table

marisa never fails to put on a great toddler art group. this was the first one caleb actively participated. we talked about what he'd do if he was nervous (give mommy hugs) and so it was a pinch free hour! thank you marisa! you continue to inspire.

enjoying the sunshine this week,

so, my favorite dinner of the week thus far...chicken florentine i actually melted on the spot and it tasted of the restaurant goodness variety..i started the process...hubby finished while i went on my run...so maybe he added a touch of something else? whenever he's in the kitchen the food tastes better...explain that one to me...

chicken Florentine. photo credit goes to pioneer woman recipe found on her blog right here

this was the most healthy recipe we've yet to have of hers. it actually included veggies! haha.

so here's the cobbler recipe. note to self..bake it..then send some to work with hubby..then freeze the rest for a later date..otherwise, it'll be half way gone in one afternoon and you'll be having to run around hollister forever to make up for those poundage's you just put on!

blackberry cobbler delish. photo credit again goes to pioneer woman.

so farmers is tonight...fresh fruits and veggies. just in time for us to whip up something good for the weekend. speaking of weekends....

 i'm so excited i just might pee in my pants. my sister jenny is graduating! 7 long and learned college years behind her! i couldn't be more proud. this is a girl who has always inspired me. she took the road less traveled. after starting out in nursing school at a private college she realized nursing wasn't what she really wanted to do, being true to herself, she changed majors and applied to several other school to do art. this girl has always been the creative and funny one in the family. she's always had an eagle's eye, seen things first on all our camping trips, the first to point out something spectacular. she got accepted to csun where she has spent the past 3 years? majoring in art. while she is an amazing photographer, all the good photos on the blog are credit to her :) her real love is graphic design. i know she'll continue to pursue creative endeavors. i am so proud of her and honored to be at her graduation bright and early tuesday morning! the entire family will be there with pots and pans, ribbons, balloons, two little boys who love their auntie more than words can say. this is such a huge accomplishment! we're so proud of you jenny! 

and i am just so excited to being whipping up some delish stuff for her party with my mom this weekend. pioneer woman cookbook in hand there's going to be plenty of mouth watering stuff to celebrate!

way to go jen!!! can't wait to celebrate with you in a few days :)

is it the weekend yet? i am so ready for it!

Happy Mothers Day

To all the mamas out there! Especially the special ones in our life. We love you! click here
for a sweet video for moms! oh and make sure you have some tissue handy :)

and to my little men. thank you for making me a mama. i love you both so very much and every single day with you is such a complete joy to me. You each bring such goodness into my life and you teach me everyday. i feel so blessed to wake up each day to your sweet kisses and hugs, to see your smiling face. to tend to your tears. to be able to play on the floor with you silly, read books, sing songs. i treasure all our moments together. i hope you both know how special you are to me, and how proud i am to be yours.
love, mama.

and to my hubby. you make me feel so incredibly special every single day. you do things around the house before i even ask, you provide such an amazing example to our boys, you make me feel so loved and cherished. because of everything you do for me, every day feels like mothers day! i am so blessed. thank you for being my support and encourager. i love you always.

 hope everyone had a pleasant weekend! and that every mom was pampered on her special day :)

divinity

let me start off with this picture here...even though this divine food touched my lips at the end of the day...i thought it'd be a great way to start this post off :)

recipe for this heavenly breakfast treat found right here be prepared. you just might melt on the spot from the pure goodness of it all. i'm glad i didn't make them myself or else i'd know what was in the them and then i'm not sure i'd enjoy them quite as much..gotta give credit to my sweet hubby! as you can see we're on a pioneer woman baking spree. trying out a couple of her dinner recipes next week. is it kinda sad that i actually enjoy grocery shopping now? between rachel ray, pioneer woman, and having it be a saturday afternoon post-nap family affair...well let's just say we make a big to do about it, fun times. pretty sure the grocery store might be on caleb's top five favorite places to go.

so since it is kind of obvious we've been indulging in a few um..not totally healthy treats we took a nice long walk this morning to help balance all those extra pounds out. haha. not sure it made an inch of a difference but it was nice to have a good long walk as a family. usually caleb's on his bike and lucas is in the ergo on our family walks so this was great cause both boys sat happily for almost an hour as we walked to the downtown goodwill store (i think it is called hazels?) and mama got herself a book to read :)

and then we just spent the day playing. lots of backyard play. and i'll have to take a pic of the garden cause our (well...dave's) hard work is paying off. veggies are growing! and he had a lil helper today. in overalls handmade with love from grandma. they were so cute together working hard out there while i got to go on a run....and....wait for it....5 mile run in 50 minutes! never thought i'd see the day that i would run more than a mile...let alone 5 miles! wow. thanks to my running partner. we're a good motivational team i think. we push each other well and at the end i got a good gust of steam that took me flying to the 'pretend finish line'. hoping to do 6 miles next saturday. we ran two huge hills to boot. okay...i'm going to get off my high horse now...poor dave's been listening to me go on and on all day about what a great feel good run i had. but he's been pretty sweet about it. him and caleb are a good fan club. lucas too, he wiggles his toes and gives me big smiles whenever i come home. can i say it one more time? it felt pretty good running that 5 miles today!:) i'm done now...moving on....backyard pics.

playing and hanging out in the backyard this afternoon while dad made his special pasta delight, packed with some pretty scrumptious fresh seasonal veggies. maybe i can have him do a post about it with the recipe...:) i feel like i've been talking a lot about food lately?...hm....

caleb's really figured out how to ride his bike solo now (helmet was about to come on! don't worry dad). and please excuse the busting diaper! just try and focus on those cutie chunky thighs.

lucas seriously watches big brother all the time!

hanging with my lil guys.

yep...in case you're wondering..those are my 3 dollar super sale Adidas shorts! :)

and attack of mama's hair. they are all about it. and dave felt the need capture this lovely moment on camera.

 love them. and i love tender scenes like this. heart squeeze.

and lastly. made these last night. yum. yum. yum. give your sweet tooth a treat, you won't regret it. trust me! recipe is right on over  here. thank you to pioneer woman. again.

and thanks to my hubby.

he's a keeper and i'm oh so glad he chose me :)