evens it out {a bit}

It is no surprise to anyone that I am fully outnumbered & live in a sea of testosterone. With Samuel due in less than 2 weeks, it'll be even more so.

But enter Lucy, Ethel, & Buffy. Today our sweet friends gave us their loves: 3 chickens.

And I realized tonight that there is finally a few other girls around here. =]

10 on Tuesday: found the camera! =]

1) Not a very good picture. But! It will serve a purpose... Here you go, Mom: 30 weeks =]

2) We lit a few fireworks on July 3rd with friends; I love the kiddos reactions =]
3) We are in another transition: 1/2 way into bumping beds (as Z calls them)
Z sleeps on the bottom, J sleeps on the toddler bed & we slide the spare mattress out each night so I sleep well knowing there won't be a thunk in the middle of the night =]
4) The boys traded in their hard-earned money for new studly glasses =]
5) The pesky gophers moved into our yard bringing fear that my cute little plants would be eaten. It might be ghetto, but the boys' holey pool got nominated to save them =]
6) A new fence (with 2 gates) has been added to the back of our yard bringing security to ourselves & our belongings =]
7) A little more slipping has been going on =]
8) J is working on growing & is back to taking a nap most afternoons leaving Z & I with a little one-on-one time =] I've been trying to do special projects with him to keep it special & one of the projects was making laundry detergent. I am trying it out this week & will give you the thumbs up or thumbs down later =]
9) We went for a hike! C came home from work early on Sat & threw us into the van for a little outdoors time. It was beautiful =]

10) C & I often joke (somewhat sadly & frustratingly) that we haven't completed a project on this house yet. Well, I am happy to report that yesterday we did! The living room is now complete do to this:
We no longer have a light bulb dangling without a cover =]

when the rain comes

Well, when this current storm rolled in yesterday, my allergies flared up once again... & I was barely snapping back from the last rain :{ So. I'm wondering if it's time to once again take Claritin? Anyway, I can't take a bath to ease the body aches so I'm doing the next best thing: rice pack =] Why can't I take a bath? Because my wonderful hubby has been working all day long trying to plumb the utility room in order to bring in the washer & dryer! It's so exciting to think- especially after by the time I got my clean & dry clothes back to the house today, they were all wet from the downpour :( So. While I wait eagerly for the announcement that the house is back in service, let's look back on the week, shall we? =]

My bag-obsessed boy in my sunglasses and sporting my new purse (looking mighty studly I might say!):

Thursday is our garbage day here. There for a little while the boys lost interest in this weekly affair but J has resurrected the obsession recently so in honor of that we colored a pic of one:

and also oogled as they took away our undesirables. Speaking of, in my Sunset magazine, a family was featured that literally threw away a handful of garbage a year. And they aren't hoarders, either =] I found that very interesting...

Thursday we also took advantage of our last bit of sun for a while by zooming Tonkas down the sidewalk:

and also working on the new flower bed (I think I bit off more than I can chew... anyone care to help take out the crab grass?)

You know how the boys were pulling objects with their tractors? Well, J took off the string & decided [for the entire day!] to pull me around instead. It was fun & amusing & now that the day is done the string has mysteriously disappeared :}

So today. Today we went to the boys' first "mommy left me at a birthday party"- can you believe it? I'm still not sure I'm ready for that but it happened. And they had a blast =] So much that J fell asleep in the car, didn't budge when I carried him inside in the rain, & he laid zonked like this for 3 hours. Can someone say "much needed"?

So while J did that, Z & I played for a while until he, too, was ready for rest =]

Okay, so now that that's done & the water still isn't on & my rice pack is getting chilly, I guess I'll just resort to resting myself & climbing into bed =] Luv ya~

{life} x ten

1) Even though it's fun, making brownies with two boys isn't relaxing =]

2) Zeke finally pooped (if I may be so blunt) in the potty! And so he earned his sunglasses =]

3) And then the next day he had to give them back for going in his pants :(

4) Call us silly, but we enjoy going to the "poor man's zoo"... a.k.a Petsmart... just for a look =]

5) Ever been to Lake Isabella? Yeah, me neither. But I reserved this family of four a camping spot there for two days this Father's Day weekend. It was to be a surprise but I guess 3 days is my limit on secrets =] I. am. so. excited! =]

6) I was making biscuits. Then distracted to another room. I came back to Miah taking over =] (note the step stool he's using)

7)Friends are fun to be silly with =]

8) I made a rhubarb strawberry crunch the other day. Yuuuummmy! But it was the last of the rhubarb my parents brought down. They also brought down a plant, too, but so far no sign of life :(

9) Yay! Zeke "earned" his sunglasses back today!

10) A little thought on potty training: wow! So. Much. Laundry. and I find it somewhat funny that all morning long he's had accidents- no pee in the potty- but he can manage to poop in the potty for the first time in a week. How's that?

May 31 {because}

{last part of B&W fun!}

Because I'm blessed with a great friend who sells Tastefully Simple & she gave me a box of yummy Apple Cake Mix (which also makes an amazing cherry crisp) & because my parents grow rhubarb in MT and lovingly smuggled some down for us... we enjoyed a fabulous rhubarb cake for breakfast... one I'd love to have again =]

Because my m-i-l wanted to have a morning with the kiddos, I went north on a just-me shopping trip... to a place I hadn't been since Zeke was a baby... it was oh so fun to meander. And because I was blessed with a gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond, I was able to splurge in a fun shop =]

Because Grandma has lots of flowers to water & it was a beautiful day, my boys enjoyed their time in Grandma's backyard tremendously.

cinco de mayo- {1st SM farmer's market}

{part 5 of BW fun!}

With the SM's farmer's market being 2 blocks from our new house, it would be a shame for me not to go. Yes? So with the boys, Grandma, & a few friends in tow, we walked over to check it out. It was great! We came home with lots of beautiful strawberries, an unidentified veggie (don't ask!), & some locally grown honey I'm hoping will help with my allergy problem. Overall, it was a great excursion & I look forward to doing it again next week =]

the good, the sad, & the exciting

The good? We met up with friends this weekend, walked along a lake path, & played a moment at the beach =]

The sad? We released our turtle... we loved him & miss him but with the upcoming move, the last thing we wanted to do was build another pond- bigger than the one we have now. He didn't hesitate a moment, just ran right in. Goodbye, old friend. Enjoy your freedom =]

The exciting? We went to Home Depot last night & picked out possible inside paint colors for our new home =] Lovin' it! AND! We've just been informed of our 4th and hopefully last close of escrow date: April 5 =]

the highlights

Zeke: "Mama, my nose hurts" Me: "why?" And then he rattles off some story that I really wasn't understanding. Fast forward a few hours. We're sitting around the dinner table eating & talking about the day & then Zeke says again: "my nose hurts". Charles says: "He was sneezing alot today" (Zeke 'worked' with Char that day) And so I ask again: "why does your nose hurt?" And Zeke answers: "Rock nose".... to which Charles says: "he was playing with some rocks today".... "did you put a rock up your nose?????!" Out comes the baby booger sucker & after a few tries:

Unfortunately, he didn't learn as the next day he also put a corn kernel up his nose which was also taken out by the baby booger sucker...

Zeke posing for Papa right before sticking the rock up his nose...

Yay! Char's 4th & 5th grade worship team started last week... off to a good start!

Jeremiah after enjoying yogurt (bottom half of face) & ketchup (top half of face) at lunch:

Zeke is terrified of the vaccuum and last week I just didn't want to deal with it so I got the little version out for him to use while I did the real deal- he loved it so much he wouldn't give it back.

We are blessed to have friends that cook, clean, & serve at the Good Samaritan Shelter every month and last month we were able to join them for the 3rd time along with our 4th & 5th grade kids from church. It was fun as always =]

A few mornings ago I got Bubba out of his crib & then went back into the kitchen to make breakfast. It had been a while since I'd seen him so I started the search & found him on our bed waiting patiently for Papa to awake:

which happened a few minutes later: