Playing catch up. or road tripping. or deep thoughts

Seriously, it's August?
This means it is going to be 110 degrees at my house today.
This also means the little crazy people we like to call "our boys" around here will be inside this afternoon because it's too.dang.hot. to be outside. Unless they're swimming.

So, I was thinking about all of the things I should have been writing about these past couple weeks, but somehow I've been remiss in my blogging. I've started working out hard core {4 inches gone off my hips and waist, boo-yah!}, I've begun learning how to meditate {amazing stuff} and we've gone on a road trip {14 hours each way. I am superwoman}. I was stressing {apparently one of my favorite past times} about how to fit all of this in on my blog and make it fun and interesting and readable and all that stuff when I had this thought:

It's not about playing catch-up.

Deep right?!?!?!
Well, I thought it was.

So, instead of playing catch-up with you, I'll just share some of my favorite pictures from our trip.
{What's this trip I speak of? Driving from central California to Washington to visit beloved friends and family. We left on a Monday morning at 2am, arrived on a Tuesday afternoon around 1pm and drove back that Friday night at 10pm, arriving the very next day...which was Saturday if you're able to keep up with my ramblings, at 1pm. Long trip. Great trip. Loved it. Would take a road trip with my crazy family again any day}

I LOVE this! The classic "let's try to take a cute picture.....but wait! a duck!!"

Once again, love this. There was no duck involved in these pictures though.

This picture just says "joy" to me

Saw this iconic sign, grabbed hubs by the shoulder and said: "look! Grey's Anatomy!" Ridiculous, I know.

On our way to the zoo. Elliot is holding hands with his cousin Chloe while she sits in her stroller. So adorable..

Camel Ride!!

Happy happy happy.

 So, there's the extent of my catch-up.
And I'll leave you with this very pertinent thought:

"In rivers, that which you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes. So it is with present time."
—Leonardo da Vinci

 
 Thanks for stopping by!!!!!! I love your comments!!

 

When they grow up

It's funny that one of the writing prompts from Mama Kat's pretty much world famous writer's workshop this week is about what you think you're children will be when they grow up, because the hubs and I were just talking about this!

We'll start with the youngest, and that would be Caleb.

Caleb is adventurous. He is very independent. He loves to tear things and bite things and hit things and throw things. He is fearless this kid, nothing fazes him. He has a great sense of humor and loves to repeat any sound he hears. He is also pretty dang large for his age. He will be 1 in 13 days (ahhh!) and he has been wearing size 18 months for the last month or so. This boy is thick. Not much in the way of chubs on him (unless you count his adorable thunder thighs...which I don't, because they are so darn adorable). Caleb got the nickname "Moose" when he was just 3 months old because of his size. My dad frequently refers to him as the future linebacker of the family. And we pretty much agree. When Caleb grows up, I can see him being a sports guy. He's got the attitude and the size that's for sure! Such a great boy. Love him more than he'll ever know.

Now on to Elliot.

Elliot is smart. Very smart. His vocabulary rivals that of a 4-5 year old (he'll be 3 in June). He puts together sentences like no other 2 year old boy I've ever heard. He loves to read. He loves to draw. He loves to DANCE! Seriously, this kid can't keep still if there is music on, sometimes it looks like his body moves without him actually willing it to. It's pretty awesome. He is tall and thin and has a great throwing arm. He has an amazing memory and will repeat things that he heard days before for the first time. He loves to run and play, especially with his dog. He loves to cuddle. He is a little on the timid side when it comes to trying new things that look a little daunting but will throw himself around and "rough-house" like nobody's business. When Elliot grows up, I see him being an artist of some kind. A musician or a dancer or an actual paint on paper type. Such a great boy. love him more than he'll ever know.

It's amazing to think that I am responsible for these little men. That the things I teach them are the things that shape them. Such a big responsibility. I am so amazingly blessed to be their mother.

Have a great day and thanks so so much for stopping by!

cheap thrills

I LOVE dollar stores. I had never been in one until I moved to southern California in 2001. My best friend, who I was lucky enough to be roommates with, introduced me to the wonderful world of dollar stores and I have been a customer ever since! My local Dollar Tree has tons, I mean TONS, of home decor stuff. Yes, it's not the same quality you'd get at Pier 1 or Cost Plus World Market or Pottery Barn but when you have 2 boys under 3, why would you want that awesome expensive stuff anyway? You wouldn't, trust me.

So, I hit up the Dollar Tree every 4-6 weeks or so to get some festive decorations (read: window clings) to match whatever holiday is around the corner (I went a little crazy with the Easter/Spring window clings, who can resist cute bunnies and flowers and bugs?) When I was at the Dollar Tree a few days ago, I also found this totally awesome wall sticker and I just HAD to buy it. For a buck?!?!? I didn't know the Dollar Tree had such cool wall stickers! Maybe this is a new thing??

I put it on the bedroom wall in the boys room

I love it.

As you know, I love quotes. As you also know, I don't like spending money. In other words, I totally scored! And the fact that I put it in the room my boys sleep in (ok, they don't sleep in there all the time) is even cooler to me.

Have you found any smokin' deals on cool stuff lately? I'd love to hear about it =)

Have a great day!

Thrifty Thursday: Forts!!!!

It has been raining for quite a few days in a row here, which means we've spent a lot of time inside....too much time. I was struggling with Thrifty Thursday today because I REALLY wanted to get out of the house (even just a drive would be fine with me!) but decided I needed to stick to my guns and pull off a totally fun, thrifty day. And I totally pulled through =)  This is Thrifty Thursday FORT EDITION!

from this

to this!!! (yes, that's a cat on top of the fort)

Elliot thought it was awesome, therefore, it WAS awesome.

We took little breaks from the totally awesome fort to watch the birds. Elliot is obsessed with feeding the birds, and I must say, for $1.97 (the price for a bag of bird seed) it's a really really good way to keep a 2 year old busy!

here come the birds! 

So, Thrifty Thursday success once again! What do you do when it's raining outside to keep everyone happy (including yourself!)?

Thanks for stopping by! I LOVE your comments!!

Hope, and my sons.

Mama Kat's writing prompts: April is National Poetry Month, write a poem about Hope.

 
I have two young sons
I hope they know
That I really love them so.
(something fierce I tell ya)
See, someday they'll grow
And be big and strong,
and one day they'll bring
another girl along.
(and she better be worthy of them, or else!)
And that girl,
if she's the "one,"
will take the place
of this old Mom.
(a sad day, but inevitable...)
I hope hope hope
when that day comes
I'll be strong...and won't hang on.
Cause someday they have to grow....

I just hope

that day
doesn't come
too soon.

Silly Saturday

Elliot (my 2.5 year old) says a lot of funny things. I am constantly being told he has a huge vocabulary for his age.....and let me tell you, he does. One of the all time silliest things he has said (and yes, I write all these things down because how fun is it to look in a book and laugh your buns off at the things children say? I mean, who DIDN'T watch at least one episode of "Kids say the darndest things?") is:

"Whoa, look at those big buns!" (While walking behind his daddy, of course there is the obligatory butt pat as well.)

I find this hilarious for many reasons.

1. My hubby is 6'3 and 180.....he has no buns to speak of
2. I say this to my hubby all the time jokingly, obviously Elliot thinks it's hilarious which means I'm hilarious of course
3. I'm the one with the big buns in the house....but Elliot obviously hasn't caught on to that yet :)

Thanks for reading! I love your comments!!!! Have a great weekend!!

Thrifty Thursday: A house full of sick-o's

Yes it is Thrifty Thursday.
Yes I am staying home all day long and not spending any money.
Yes.....I am sick. Sick sick sick. And so is my 2.5 year old and so is my 10 month old.
So, Thrifty Thursday actually comes in quite handy on a day when I would rather not get out of bed (but since I'm a mom, I have too) let alone off the couch (and the dang sun just happened to come out today, so now I'm feeling guilty for having a "movie day" inside when it's not even bad weather outside)

I normally like to do projects on Thrifty Thursday. Something to keep us all entertained while we are home-bound...but today, I'm not feeling like doing much of anything (besides write this....oh, and changing a million diapers and wiping a few noses continually) so I thought I'd share a project I PLAN ON doing in the next week or so.

It's actually a contest on THIS blog to make a t-shirt for a boy. Since I just happen to have 2 boys laying around here (they actually are LAYING around here today thank you very much) and I have discovered how cool it is to make them t-shirts (see this entry from a previous Thrifty Thursday) I am totally giving it a go and my mind is racing trying to think of super awesome ideas (good thing we get to enter 2 shirts in the contest!)

Alright, I'm going to go take a much needed break, but I would love to leave you with this quote (cause that's what I do.....leave you with quotes.....and provide you with a ton of awesome random information)

"Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action" -Benjamin Disraeli

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a healthier day than I am!

Silly Saturday: The silly sayings of a little man named Elliot

While deep cleaning my kitchen, I was listening to my 2 sons make a complete mess of the living room and of course, listening to the random silly things Elliot my 2.5 year old says to his little brother Caleb, who is 10 months. This is what I overheard:

"Caleb, no! That's MY firetruck!"

(Caleb: calm and quiet, allows Elliot to rip the firetruck out of his hands)

"Caleb, you can't play with that, it will make your bottom hurt."

Yup, that's them, in all their silly glory. You know what else I heard Elliot say the other day?

"With my mind. On my money. And my money. On my Cabies."

(We call Caleb "Cabies" on occasion...)

If you want to see some really silly sayings from a little girl named Ruby and a silly boy named Kiefer, who just happen to be my niece and nephew, you should check out my sister's blog (which she never updates and hasn't updated for awhile....*cough cough* *hint hint*)

Have a great weekend!

One Super Awesome Thing

Fact: I am a mother of boys.
Fact: There aren't a ton of blogs out there with crafty ideas targeted towards boys.
Fact: But THIS awesome blog dedicates a month to "Celebrate the Boy" every year and I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!

I have been ooh-ing and aah-ing over a lot of their projects the last few days and I really wanted to share this one, mainly because I want to make sure I can find it again when I get around to doing it!

It's making an adult size sweater into a child size sweater, and it's ah-mazing!

Seriously, I'm going to do this.
It's going to be one super awesome thing for sure!

Balance or Responsibilities or Realism or.....life?

You know, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. I mean, I'm responsible for a whole heck of a lot! I have these 2 little boys relying on me to teach them so they can grow up to be honorable men, that's a big responsibility! Not only do I have that responsibility, but I am also responsible for making our house not just a house-but a wonderful, comfortable, happy, {clean}, lovely, orderly home. Yet another big responsibility! Add in the responsibilities to teach piano lessons to a group of {great} kids and drama to a bunch of {troubled} teenagers......oh and don't forget teaching a lesson at church once a month to a bunch of {special} women who I worry all know more than  me....and before you know it, I start to make myself feel kind of inadequate as a woman/wife/mother/sister/daughter/friend.

 All of these responsibilities {which I have chosen with open arms by the way} can really be overwhelming at times, and that is where the special word BALANCE comes in.


Do you ever walk into someone's house and it is ALWAYS clean? No dust, no toys on the floor, no 2 day old veggie something-or-other crusted to the top of the dinner table where the toddler sits, fresh flowers{sigh}, super cool decor.... How does this make you feel? I'll tell you how it makes me feel: like I'm not doing something right. Shouldn't I be able to have a perfect house too? Well, here is where my A-HA! moment {special thanks to Oprah for that one} comes in: comparing  myself to others is not any way to live.


To further illustrate my point, a few quotes {because I LOVE quotes}

So my point? Balancing my responsibilities and looking at my life realistically is really the only way to go. I read this post over at the Mean Mommy Academy blog earlier today and thought, "man, this is so awesome!" {hence this post}

• My house may not be clean 100% of the time, but my kids will always be happy and entertained.

• My weight might not be budging much on the scale at this very second {yes, I am that concerned about it I say *second*} but I'm active and energetic

• My cooking skills may not be that of a professional chef, but they're a whole  heck of a lot better than they used to be

• My kids may still sleep in my bed occasionally....but I love the bond we share and know in a few years it will be tough to get a kiss from them in public

And I could go on and on.....and on.....and on......

But guess what?!

It's ok!!!  

That's right, I said it. It's ok not to be like those women in the 2-page spreads of Better Homes & Gardens that you know were staged just to take the photo. It's ok to not be as skinny as all those "Hollywood moms" who probably hate having to diet all the time because we all look at them and think, "gosh, she looks great for having a kid last week!" It's totally ok.

Totally.

So keep on keepin' on, and remember:

 

Valentines day in a house full of boys

I have always loved love, therefore, I have always loved Valentine's day. I remember buying flowers for a cute boy for Valentine's day when I was in elementary school (if I remember correctly, he threw them in the trash) and always insisted on giving out Valentine's to everyone, even if I didn't particularly like them. I always loved poetry, movies, books...pretty much ANYTHING that has anything to do with love. "A hopeless romantic" is what I labeled myself at a young age. As I grew, I happened to find an adorable 15 year old boy who also loved love (he had a book under his bed titled "1001 Ways to be Romantic"). I met him at an audition for a play, he was singing a Frank Sinatra song for his audition piece ("I've Got the World on a String" to be exact) and I fell head-over-heels in love with him.

 Fast forward 7 years later and
 he is now my husband :)







So, we have now been married for 4 years and have a 2.5 year old boy and a 9 month old boy....not to mention the 3 year old welsh corgi (boy) and the 5 year old cat (also boy). Hubby-man has always been good at being romantic and has showered me with creative hand-made gifts like:

• A large candle that he glued the words "Light of my life" 
• A vase that says on the outside "100 reasons why I love Emily," with 100 pieces of paper inside
• An awesome hand-made card, complete with stick figure drawings!
• and of course, flowers, which I'm a total sucker for.

Now that we have little boys running/crawling around, I want to instill in them the fun of Valentines day. The cookies, the cards, the games, all the fun stuff that comes along with being a child on Valentines day. I know it is still 10 days away, but I've definitely got it on the brain and want to make it a special day for ALL the boys in my house.

Someday, (not soon of course!) I want my boys to grow up to be the type of men their dad is: romantic, creative and thoughtful. What a job for me! But I will relish and enjoy every second.