Back to School!

Not for us (thank goodness! We still have a few weeks to go!) - but the office staff at the boy's school was back at work starting yesterday...so we baked up some apple cupcakes to take in to the principal and secretary (and anyone else that happened to pop in). They turned out awful cute, didn't they?

Echo the Gecko

Andrew's 8th birthday gift arrived a little bit early. This is a baby crested gecko - just a hatchling (a few weeks old, maybe). He's awful sweet, terribly cute and eats nasty crickets. Andrew is crazy about this new pet - he takes incredible care of him and is very attached (quite literally - I have to tell him to set the poor thing down before he loves it to death!)











Matthew is much more squeamish about the new reptile (and dozen crickets) sharing his room...but he's a good sport. He even has his own plastic 'gecko' that does tricks.

We've been out...

I have a slew of pictures to share one of these days (maybe after my final?) but for now...a picture from each of my latest adventures...

A wedding with my handsome guy...


And lots of pool time with my little sweeties...


Stay tuned...loads of Black Butte vacation pictures to come!

Risk

Just hanging out in BB. Have tons of pictures and stories to tell, but will save it for home once we are no longer on vacation. :)

Location:Black Butte Ranch

Skinny Dip

There's nothing like an after dinner skinny dip in the summertime. There was something going on between Matthew and the drain plug, hence the gush of water between his legs!

Cool Kid

Andrew woke up, decided to get onto the computer and look on YouTube. He found 'how to make a paper gun' and worked on it almost all day. By bedtime, he'd created this monster (and used a whole roll of tape!) I was so proud of him for being so resourceful, creative and independent. I can't believe my baby is about to be 8 years old! This momma is proud. :)

Stock Up

Gatorade was on some super sale today! Plus, Murphy's Law says that if you're fully stocked on Gatorade and Saltines, nobody will get sick! Ready for a fun, sunshine and family-filled weekend!

Mo' River

Loving this river! Nothing beats living a block from the river and being able to carry your kayaks and canoe down, hopping in and paddling for five minutes in either direction to a private, sandy beach. Life is good!

Tie Dye

It's a crafty summer. The boys and I tried our hand at tie-dyeing the other day. Each boy did 2 shirts - they turned out so perfectly! I was especially grateful for our back deck and picnic table for a work area, because this is a messy project!

Here's my cuties, hard at work...



Showing off their masterpieces after visiting Grandma Jean and Grandpa OB. Silly boys!

Water

Auntie Mel and Maisha came over to play yesterday...Uncle Jon joined in a little later for water fun. They managed to get the canoe, kayak and two kids down to the river (sans Mom who was doing homework and Maisha who was taking a siesta) - impressive! When I went down to let them know dinner was ready, the boys were all smiles (and soaking wet!) What fun for them...they're so lucky to have awesome aunts and uncles!

They're baaaa-aaack!

My babies are home - safe and sound. That makes me one happy momma! They wanted to explore their (newly cleaned) room before venturing out into the yard. Once there, they had a hayday picking (and eating) blueberries. Yum!




The carrots aren't quite ready yet, but we couldn't resist the novelty of pulling freshly grown carrots out of the damp ground (since it's rained ALL day here - yes, on July 17th!)


We all shared the carrots at dinner - taquitos and homemade pico de guaco - YUM!

I'll sleep so well tonight with all three boys tucked in close to me. <3

Not a good day...

I got sick a few days ago. Couldn't breathe. Scared my sweet guy. He took me to urgent care. Urgent care sent us to the ER. After several hours in the ER, it was determined I would live. Something about chest wall pain/pulled muscles/hyperventilating. The barf bag had nothing to do with barf. Ironically, it had to do with helping me rebreathe co2 - when panicked, it's common to hyperventilate. The funny thing about this is that when someone has a puke phobia, handing them an eme-bag probably won't help calm them down!

I'm totally fine now. Still...not how I planned to spend a gorgeous Friday afternoon. At least they let me leave my shoes on so I had something sparkly to stare at all day.

Taste the Rainbow

Missing my babies an awful lot these days. They're on an extended visit with their father. I'm trying to use my time wisely - homework, workouts, wedding planning, relaxing :)

Yesterday, we had a BBQ at Endurafit (Mike's gym) - I was in charge of the healthy stuff. I whipped up some cucumber yogurt dip and this beauty!

Transformers

Our cutie pie boys have been obsessed with playing Transformers ever since Babah took them to the movie. They play inside, outside, through meals, bathtime - Matthew even fell asleep on top of a couple the other night (and that's NOT comfortable!) They're visiting their father for about 10 days - I feel a little bit empty without them, but it'll be good to catch up on homework, housework and reconnect with my sweetheart.

This is totally a face that I make. My little mini-me. :)

Even at 7 years old, this kid has THE softest, most kissable face! (But don't tell him I said so - it'll embarrass him!)



$7

This is what $7 will do for two little boys on a hot day...





Best floaties ever! I plan on taking study breaks floating my tan on in the next couple of weeks. :)

Nails

Oh...boy? :)

Mom does her nails a lot. Can you blame them for wanting in on the action? Baba was a great sport...while he didn't consent to having his digits painted, he did praise them for their efforts! (It probably helped that they were using jet black polish instead of glittery pink!)

Happiest 4th!

This was such a fantastic 4th for our little family. Eastmoreland parade with cousins, BBQ and fireworks at home with friends and family in the evening. Such fun!




The boys wanted to help me with my nails. Yeah...this stayed on all of about 2 minutes (it was thick and never would have dried anyhow).



Laura brought decadent cookie bars...the boys decorated the brownie cake (and did a mighty fine job, I'd say!)



Yes, we were all scared.



The haul. It took 2 hours to set them all off!



My boys :)

Ouch

This is what happens when you continue your sword fight after sunset. ("My brother whacked me with a stick", he says. It was very much an accident - poor Andrew felt so awful!)

Lucky for us, John Evans was right there and gave Matthew some great doctoring. He fabricated the world's smallest ice pack and uncle Jon taught him how to pack a bloody nostril. It just wouldn't be a holiday without an injury.