Story Telling

i have a story to pass on to you that was passed on to me.  the boys light up when i tell it to them.  always at night.  always whispered while snuggled in bed.  it makes them feel...of immeasurable worth.  i tell it to them often. 

hey rowan!

guess what?

if all of the little 3 year old boys 

in the whooooole world

were lined up in ONE loooooong line 

that line would stretch on and on and on for miles

well

mommy would walk that line 

up and down

for days and weeks 

until i came to you!

and of all the little 3 year old boys
in all the world 

i would pick you!

every time.

QUIP O'THE DAY
i LOVE avocados. i sometimes just pop one in a bowl with a little salt and pepper and eat the whole thing.  "healthy fat" right?

What We Did One Day

jon has been training to run the horsetooth half marathon.
it's a series of CRAZY hills and it's not for the faint of heart (or the novice runner).
we've dropped jon off at the start a couple of times to have a go at conquering it.

while jon did his thing, we had an hour and a half to kill.
since we were in the mountains already, it only made sense to hike.

then swing through the fish hatchery on the way to our rendezvous spot.

jon's run ended at our favorite rock throwing spot.

the fellas are all feeling the outdoors thing a bit more.
less whining about traipsing through the great outdoors means more traipsing through the great outdoors in our future.
assuming our summer will consist of more of these adventures, we decided to start "adventure jars" to fill with memory rocks from our traipsing times.

jelly jars, spaghetti jars, stickers, googly eyes...

good times.

QUIP O'THE DAY
i don't drink milk or eat eggs.  Just don't like 'em. You can't make me try.

With a Lollipop

most of the time the two little boys take baths during the day.

i especially love to give them long (really long) warm baths on chilly snowy days or during the late morning when sun light is pouring in through open windows.

i usually sit on a bath towel on the floor.

they usually have a bevy of toys and brown water from all of the different colors they've added.

it's my favorite time of the day.

QUIP O'THE DAY
i love vintage cars.  i want a beetle, a VW van, a woodie wagon, a jeep, a...

Monkey Surgery

our kids are way into their "stuffies"  they each have a blanket (blee-blee, baba, and nigh-nigh  respectively), an animal, a large pillow pet, a small pillow pet. those are just the ones they sleep with. allow me to introduce you to one such friend - monkey:



he's a very well loved fellow finn acquired on a trip to florida when he was 5 months old.  he has traveled by car and plane, gone out to eat, ridden in shopping carts and slept close to finn for over 3 years.



aaaaaand it shows.



monkey needed surgery.





we chose red thread.  embroidery thread.  so it'd be big and fat and look all "stitchy" :)



not neat, not perfect.  exactly the idea.



rowan's stuffies all gathered to help monkey feel better. (we taped up all his boo boos with bandages so he wouldn't hurt)





puppy needed bandages too.



mmmm-uh!

Sprinklers

simple joy.



sunny fun.



umbrellas in rain.



turtle shells too.



silly & goofy.



love to get wet.



splash & get sprayed.



hide & have fun.



simple boy joy.

Suds

i let them live.
i let them play.
i let them make a mess i have to clean up.

it's way harder, but it's not forever.

the pictures are self explanatory.

Teddy Bear Birthday

did you know that teddy bears had birthdays??
i, for one, was only recently enlightened to the fact.
we of course had to celebrate.



every party needs a cake.
so the boys and i set to work.



finn and jack designed it all on their own.



they admired it.
and waited for it.



not everyone waited so patiently.
sneaker.



we were having a playdate with some friends so teddy invited their bears to come along.
we went to the dollar store to buy a bag of balloons.
each boy was able to pick out one package of party favors there too.



we pumped up balloons and decorated lunch bags for the favors.



isn't it as much fun to plan a party as have one?!?!?
it should be :)



every bear gets a special bag.



we had also made party hats for the boys and their bears from newspaper.
the party favors were mini notebooks (jack's pick) and gold coins (finn's pick).
pirates broke out.
that seems to be happening a lot lately...



we sang happy birthday to teddy's.
and ate food coloring, i mean, cake.



the birthday bears at their picnic party.



pop on...



pop off!



happy birthday teddy!
til next year!