Jack says

"Mom, will I turn into a grown-up right before Sara does?"

Whew.

It's been a busy couple days and since I have over a hundred pictures to go through, I'm going to start with a recap and then do the full dish later. I catered a lunch for 50 on Thursday, ran home and dumped the dirty dishes and then headed to Coeur d'Alene with Jack and Ed for Sam's rehearsal and dinner party:

We got home late that night (Jack was pumped to miss bedtime by a good couple hours). The next morning I super quick cleaned the house (someone somehow forgot to do it on the usual day) and then headed back to Cda for pictures:
Ed and Ava showed up in time for the wedding (so much more later) and then we headed back home late that night so we could wake up in the morning and get our Henry fix:

before heading back to Cda for the Coeur d'Alene 1/2 marathon:

We came home to a house empty of food but full of dirty laundry so after a busy day of putting things (somewhat) back in order, I am now tackling the pile of dirty linens and wineglasses that have been in my garage since last week. ugh.

However! at 2:00 this afternoon, I plan to have my little monkeys in bed and, for the first time in three weeks, I am going to sit on the couch for at least an hour and not move a single muscle, except maybe my page-turning finger since I have a stack of books calling my name.

Handsome Jack

and his buddy Sam

Sam (on leave from the Navy in this shot) was the ring bearer in our wedding thirteen years ago:
And now my Jack is going to be in Sam's wedding this weekend:

And he is thrilled. Thrilled. He loves Sam and talks about him on a regular basis. He wonders how old he is, and what his girl's name is and will they dance at their wedding, and will Sam think he looks handsome in his tux (how could you not??) and will Sam live here again? We have been counting down to the big day for some time now and now he has his tux out, his shoes ready and he is ready for it!

School's Out for Summer!

First Day:

Last Day:

Ava's wearing her honor roll medal...Jack's too young for honor roll but it did occur to him that "preschool might be the easiest school he does." ya think?
We followed up the awards assembly with haircuts and then lunch out:
And then Jack got a shot of me with my girls:

Ava spent the afternoon at a field day with all her buddies but from the time she got home till dark, the two of them were super busy bees in the backyard soaking up the freedom.

Happy Summer!

Superstar!

The kids have a day off from school and since Ava's always the designated entertainer, she made them maracas out of paper cups and napkins. But the dance moves are all (totally) original.
I mean Jack's face...what can I even say?

I think I forgot to mention

that our house is for sale. But you can only buy it if you promise to love it like we do. So many good things have happened here...three of my babies came home from the hospital to rooms decorated just for them, two of them learned how to walk on these floors that Ed laid piece by piece, I've washed countless loads of their bitty clothes and made hundreds of pbj's here on the counters we tiled next to the wall we've measured their crazy growth on, two learned how to ride bikes in the driveway, two helped lay the brick patio, and there is a flower garden in the back carefully tended by their pudgy hands. So much good. But we're ready to move on...this is the second longest I have ever lived in a house--the longest was when I lived in this exact house in jr. high and high school. And if this house isn't just right for you, you can try this one!

Grandparent's Day!

Last week was Grandparents' Day at the school so we were treated to all kinds of school goodies--class plays, programs, poems, and a special hands-on project in Jack's class--making a potato head that will eventually grow grass for hair.

Handsome Jack.
Grandpa came to help! (Jack is so proud)

The mob in one half of the room.

And the rest of them (can you count the other photographers in here?). And can we say Jack's teacher deserves an award for this...and all the other days she teaches these goofy kids!

My Jack with his potato head.

Then we headed to hear Ava's class do an impressive recitation full of facts I could never remember and then they showed their dioramas and read the essay they had written to go with them...in front of a TON of people. Ah, the bravery of an eight year old:

Later we did lunch out, then dinner out, then back to the Open House and then finally the Spring Concert. whew.

Tasty, eh?

This has been one of those weeks. We put the house back on the market, the kids are finishing up the school year, and I have a wedding tomorrow but I have to take a quick break from slicing and dicing to post about my sweet Henry. He is just a deliciously happy baby. He sat on the counter here for well over an hour while I made garlic croutons for 300 and sliced veggies up to my eyeballs (Paula tried to stop by for a minute and got roped into helping)

And then I took a break to pop him into bed and ended up playing with him for 45 minutes cause he is just so darn cute!

I mean Seriously! I cannot get enough of his cute face.

Found this taped to the bathroom door when I woke up

I love this girl.

Oh Jack

Yesterday was a miserable rainy day (after a gorgeous Wednesday) and the troops were restless. So I loaded them in the car, stopped for a chai for me and a breakfast cookie (I know I've mentioned this before but breakfast cookie? genius.) for the kids and headed for Costco. Halfway there Jack says, "Mom! For a second I thought I forgot my shoes!" Me: "Jack, did you forget your shoes??" "Actually, I think I did." "Jack! We can't shop at Costco without shoes!" "I know, right?......the good news is that Ava left a pair of flip-flops in here. She probably did that just for me in case someday I forget my shoes, huh?" Which actually is just like her...and a little like him.

So Jack hit Costco in a pair of pink flip flops, which I do not have a picture of. I do, however, have a picture of my new pink shoes that my Jack picked out for me (he does love me in girly stuff) and some mint green polish that my two favorite blog readers (that would be Ed and Ava) picked up after reading my recent praise for Sally Hansen:

Forget Spring, Summertime...I am ready!

Who says dollhouses are just for girls?

He takes out all the furniture and then the army guys come in and repel down and blow stuff up. good times.

Some big boots to fill

How cool is this?!

Ava's first major class project: a diorama of the early settlers. The only requirements were that it had to fit on this 12" square board and go with an essay she had written. I wanted to do paper mache but Ava poo-pooed that idea because she really wanted to have a girl washing clothes with a washboard in the river. And I have to say it turned out WAY better than I expected! My major contribution was shaping the girl out of modeling clay (and I don't feel too bad about that since some kids are using legos or playmobile people and I know they didn't hand-make those themselves, right?). Ava sat down yesterday and sketched it out and made a list and we headed to Micheals for the modeling clay--the rest of the stuff I surprisingly had on hand. My sister and I use to make covered wagons to play "Little House on the Prairie" out of butter boxes and a tp roll so I showed Ava how to do that. She loved all the painting and I have to say I am now a big fan of modeling clay--it was fun!
The basket of apples and baby in the basket were all part of Ava's vision and she even made the little washboard out of foil. See her cute braided hair and the red tissue paper for the fire in the fire pit? And she was very specific that the girl had to be kneeling to wash the clothes and she wanted her in a green dress with a pink collar.

I LOVED this project...so much fun with my creative monkey! I feel like modeling clay may be my new favorite toy and a lifesaver later this summer.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I like mother's day. It's my kind of holiday.

This year we started with flowers and cinnamon rolls, thanks to Ed and Ava who were busy working away while I slept in and then Ed had to come and get me before the kids, hiding in the dining room, exploded from all the excitement. Then church, where Henry made the day by falling asleep in his car seat (that never happens.ever.). We were hoping the sun would come out by lunch but it did not so we had an indoor picnic and watched some golf instead. Then I spent a good chunk of the day doing the most motherly thing I know...helping Ava make her first ever diorama (so much more on this later!):

Later I took these two monkeys to Starbucks for Frappy Hour (1/2 price frappucinos all week from 3-5 for you locals) where Ava bought all the treats herself. Big stuff.
(Could there be a better way to spend the day?)

We hurried home where Ed made some mac 'n cheese for the kids and then the babysitter came to play (yay for the kids, yay for us) and Ed and I went for a yummy dinner at one of our favorite places. The kids were sleeping when we got home but both Ava and Jack tottered out to say one more "happy mother's day" to me.

Full house

We had the whole family over for dinner Saturday night. My parents have a big enough table to fit all of us...we do not. So we put the grown-ups at the table and the kids wherever else we can fit them!

To the park:

Need a bigger teeter totter, eh?

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I can hardly stand

all this

delicious

sweetness!

He is one sweet baby.

(more) too fast

Henry, one week:

Henry, yesterday:
And that blur is his fat little hand trying to grab the camera!

Confession

I vary rarely (if ever) put my babies on the floor. Thus, a houseful of late crawlers! But I just cannot do it, it bothers me on so many levels! Not the least of which is the fact that there is always someone ready to pounce on them. But Henry's edging up on eight months old and while he loves to roll around (only in his crib of course), he would way rather lay there sucking his thumb then try to get up on all fours. So, in an effort to get me and Henry to grow up, I put him on the floor yesterday and guess what? Jack came a -runnin'. He's handsy but he wouldn't actually squish him...Jemma however is a different story!

What to do...

when the weather is nasty? Put your sister in a pillow fort

and protect her from your grumpy mom who, while cleaning the laundry room again, found a pile of (expensive) dog-chewed lincoln logs. Side note: our dog is old and usually well-behaved but she loves to chew linclon logs when Ed's out of town...I can tell she blames me and she'd probably spit them at me if she could! For some reason she's always been a wood-chewer, never a shoe or bone, just a nice chunk of wood will keep her happy.

Time for some whine

So I went for my first post-baby 12-miler this morning and I.am.pooped. And annoyed. It's been frustrating starting all over this time around. And today was so windy, I actually stopped by the gym mid run and did two miles on the treadmill till my ears stopped ringing and I could head back outside. The only good news is that I got my long run out of the way a day early so I have time tomorrow to do all the things I need to do and then on Sunday I plan to do nothing. Here at this house, on Mother's Day, the mother doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do and while that usually only involves two things, wiping bottoms and emptying the dishwasher, I'm still looking forward to it!

Peach Sangria

I've had a bunch of requests for this one, so here it is:

1 bottle white wine
3/4 c peach schnapps (I use closer to the whole bottle)
6 T frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/4 c sugar
1 lb sliced white peaches (you can add other fruit but I wouldn't! Don't mess with the peachy goodness of this)
club soda

Dissolve the sugar in the lemonade, add wine, peaches, and vodka. Refrigerate at least a couple hours (overnight is good). Add club soda (maybe equal amount) just before serving. Warning: this stuff is potent...enjoy it. :) Make some today and pretend it's summer!

Too fast!

I was looking for a pic in my folder and got this one instead:

There is nothing like finally meeting the sweet baby you already love!

Bloomsday!

Ed and I were up at 5:00 on Sunday and on our way to Spokane to run a 12K with 55,000 other people. We've had a crazy cold spring but I have to say this may have been the hottest Bloomsday I've run...and I've run a lot of them! Ed was trained to run it in well under an hour this year and he was signed up with a corporate team so he could have had a head start and missed all the madness but he was nice enough to move back and run it with me instead. Bloomsday is one crazy packed (and hilly!) run!

I forgot to get a picture of us pre-race so here we are post race, post lunch, courtesy of our Red Robin hostess :)

Ballet!

Ava had a ballet recital this weekend and I have to say the years of ballet are finally paying off. I loved it! I loved the music and the choreography--we watched the video the other night and she seemed so grown up!

We loved it Ava!

Jack

Jack and I were taking a walk the other night and he was holding my hand and jogging so we could be "side by side" and he says, "mom, I hope I'm never too old to hold your hand!"

Two thumbs up

For Sally Hansen's "Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear" nail polish. This stuff is amazing. It went five full days without a single chip--and it was a crazy busy five days. And it's like 3 bucks. You can thank me later.

For "The Voice." One of the greatest shows ever. I'm not really a reality-tv girl and I absolutely hate American Idol (gasp) so believe me when I say this show is so good. It's like watching a concert in your living room. These people can sing and anyone who can get up on stage in front of a live audience (and a million people at home) and then sing to four music superstars who have their backs to you really deserves to be watched. Side note: the last two weeks have been awesome but I've seen enough tv to know that doesn't always last so watch those old episodes first!

For the Royal Wedding. Loved it. Watched bits all day Friday and then dreamed about it that night...multiple times...like Will and Kate are my close buddies. Loved the pomp and circumstance in the Abbey, loved when she said, "are you happy?" in the carriage after, loved the patriotic people waving their flags. Good times.

Happy Tuesday!

So it's May. And I'm still running my heater full blast, the wind blew so hard last night our power went out, and I can see my breath when I take the kids to school in the morning. It is officially the coldest spring on record (according to our friendly weatherman) and not one single day in the last month has hit average temperatures. It's enough to make even this born and bred Pacific Northwester glum. However! when you have this ridiculously cute face to look at, things brighten up a wee bit, eh?