criss-cross applesauce.

The big bro taught the little bro a very important lesson this morning. One that Pax will use for many years to come. Holden was proud. It was cute. :)

climber.

The first one is no biggie. So he's standing in a chair. A chair that does not have all 4 legs on the floor. But still, what's the big deal? A boy's got to be able to reach his books. So you do what you have to do.
This second one he's standing on the handles of his rocking horse in an attempt to push buttons on his noise maker.
Sorry for the poor quality. Both pictures were taken with my phone.

But I can't seem to keep his feet on the floor. And he's NOT a coordinated fellow so I'm not sure what his reasoning is for being our little daredevil.

Father's Day 2011

Our day included:

~scrambled eggs and strawberries
~church
~lunch at home
~long naps for 2 boys
~phone calls to our dads
~gifts for the daddy of this home
~dinner at Red Lobster
~homemade blackberry pie for everyone
~bedtime for 2 boys
~house cleaning for 2 adults

Not too exciting, huh? Jeremy did get to play golf yesterday. And I'm positive he knows how much he's loved and appreciated. We made sure of that.

for Father's Day

I think my 2 little boys have a pretty incredible daddy. And as time passes he just becomes better in his role. I know he works hard at it. I've watched him grow as the boys have grown and changed. Regularly, I see him strive to show patience, to discipline correctly, to remain calm, to encourage and lift up and to be a fun daddy to 2 rambunctious little boys. And as blessed as Jeremy and I are to have our sweet boys, I think that one day these boys are going to realize what a blessing their daddy has been in their development. God had a magnificent purpose when he chose them for us and us for them. However you look at it, it's all the same to me.
And even though Jeremy has given his boys some big shoes to fill,
I have to believe that because of his example, they will also be wonderful fathers to their own babies one day. :)
Jeremy, you're a terrific daddy! I love learning and growing in this journey right along with you. Thank you for making us the priority when everything else tries to squeeze its way in. Your boys will see and appreciate this consistency and effort one day. I can see it and appreciate it now. We love you so much!

turtle.

Today the boys played with play-dough. I knew I would be cleaning floors duing naptime, so it seemed like a good time to bust it out and make a mess. Holden loves to play with play-dough. And it has somehow become a treat because we don't do it every week. Kind of like bubbles. Sometimes it's just not worth the mess to me. I know, bad mommy. Pax just like to nibble the play-dough, taste it and then make a sour face. And then repeat. And repeat. And repeat. It's exhausting. :) As I was working on keeping it out of Pax's mouth, Holden kept saying "mommy, I'm making a turtle." To me it looked like he was rolling a worm or a snake. I'm not even sure if he has seen a real turtle in the last 6 months. (Remember, we are not zoo people. And by we, I mean me.) But I do remember that my mom and Holden played with play-dough several months ago and she made a turtle. So I'm positive that's where this came from. So I kept responding with something like "Oh, you are? It kind of looks like a worm to me." He kept playing and soon it was time to pack it up so the boys could eat lunch at the table. So as I approached the table to help with clean up, I noticed this:
By golly! He had really made a turtle all by himself and just set it aside. He truly is a genius! ;) I didn't take a picture of Pax's creation, so just imagine a lump of blue play-dough with teeth marks all in it.

hot, but happy.

Hot. Man, the Texas summer heat is just that. HOT! I'm not really sure if it gets hotter every summer (global warming, maybe?) ;) or if it's me getting to be an old woman that can't take the heat. Luckily most of our outdoor days are spent in the cool water and during those times I barely notice the heat. So that's my little tidbit on the hot.

Happy. We are in this great stage as a family. I think I talked about this not too long ago. Oh yes, I briefly mentioned it here. Soon after that post, Holden frightened me by reminding me that he was almost 3 and ready to kick it up a notch. :) Just when I think I have it all figured out and I can do this parenting thing on my own, God quickly reminds me of my need for Him. It usually ends up with me on my knees in tears confessing that I can't do it by myself. That's where my heart was here. I'm never making that mistake again: believing that we finally have this parenting gig figured out and in the bag. Ha. I don't think I ever verbalized that or even necessarily thought about it on those terms. I just wasn't relying on God like I should. My actions in parenting weren't being directed by Him. And eventually it all blew up in my face. I feel like that's the pattern of my life. When things are good, I forget my need for Him. Unfortunately, it often takes trials for me to return to brokeness and humility. . . where my heart should always remain. Why am I just now realizing this? I have no idea. So things are good now with our new 3 year old and almost 2 year old. Not because of our parenting skills. I'm not dumb enough to believe that ever again. But because of the grace of God. His help. His guidance. His work through us.

Now onto what has made me so happy! My little family. Holden and Pax can fight, boss and tattle like brothers. But the other part of the time they are playing so well together and act like best friends. They laugh at each other from across the dinner table. They tickle. They wrestle. They chase. They have dance parties. Pax loves to ride on our backs, play airplane, dance to music and do somersaults across the floor. He talks alot and says many words, but Jeremy, Holden and I are the only ones that can understand what he says. He has a language all his own and it doesn't include many consonants. I love that when Pax asks for milk by saying "uck", Holden knows exactly what he wants. Holden understands his language. I love that now I can have complete conversations with Holden. It's amazing. And cute. The things you talk about with a 3-year old . . . I absolutely love our chats. Holden loves to be my helper, play with his cars, play outside and most importantly in any body of water. And my Jeremy. He's just been a rock-star husband and dad over the last couple of months. I'll leave it at that because he's humble and wouldn't want much said. Life is really really good. Which I know means God has been gracious to us and I'm grateful. But here I sit on the receiving end with a full heart. Sometimes feeling like it's going to burst open. I've just been soaking in these blessings (my 3 guys) and noticing how they make my life extra-joyful. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a fairytale. It's just that good!

Chocolate Protein Smoothie

I randomly threw together a smoothie several weeks ago. And it just happen to taste AMAZING! Like a chocolate milkshake! To tell you the truth, I don't remember the last time I had a real-deal milkshake. So maybe to most people it won't taste exactly the same. But I thought it was delicious. And so healthy!

After months of reading some nutritional blogs (may fave being the Fitnessista), I started freezing bananas. I was finding that you can make some pretty incredible, healthy "desserts" with frozen bananas. For instance, banana soft serve. It really taste so great. And pretty much the only ingredient? Bananas! Crazy! Who comes up with this stuff?! So now, I ALWAYS have peeled bananas in my freezer. Always. So that's how this little smoothie came together. So here it is:

1 cup almond milk - unsweetened almond milk is 35calories/cup and has a thick texture. Not like watery skim milk. It also has a great nutty flavor. It's also great in coffee because of the unique flavor. But you could use any kind of milk you wanted.
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (or you could use vanilla. But oooooh the chocolate . . .)
1 frozen banana

Since the banana starts out frozen, it really gives the smoothie that thick icecream texture. One day I randomly added frozen blueberries wondering if I had ruined my shake . . . I mean smoothie. :) Almond milk+blueberries+banana+chocolate? That just sounds crazy. But since I had seen the Fitnessista post crazier combos, I gave it a whirl. And to my surprise, it was a hit. Go ahead and try them. Tell me if you like it. My guess is that you won't be disappointed.

recent pictures.

We're off to a busy summer. Busy in a good way. Out and about a whole lot more. Spending more time with friends. So for now, I'll just share a handful of recent pictures.

let's bowl~let's bowl~let's rock-n-roll

We had a fun little double date last night with our friends Noe and Lauren. A friend had offered to watch the boys a couple of weeks ago and I sure wasn't going to turn her down. So Lauren and I began planning our fun evening. We eventually decided on some Tex-Mex and then off to bowling. Now if you know us really well, you know I've always hated bowling and Jeremy has always loved bowling. Isn't that how it normally works? :) The reasons I've always hated bowling are:
1) I stink at it.
2) I feel like I'm on stage with my booty facing the crowd. (I realize "the crowd" isn't watching me, but I have never liked the idea.)
3) I stink at it.
4) The shoes look stupid.
5) I stink at it.
6) It's smokey. Bleh.

Jeremy is good at bowling. He puts a perfect little spin on the ball and comes away with many strikes and spares. So he loves this little game. But we hadn't bowled in YEARS! At least 4 years. Yikes! (Wii bowling doesn't count.) Talk about out of practice. But don't worry about my self consiousness for reason number 2 listed above. Last night, I got over it. In fact, at the start of game number 2, I found my winning technique. It's called the granny bowl. I'm sure you've seen many 5 year olds bowling in this manner. Booty to the crowd knocks 'em down everytime. I may never bowl like an adult again! I broke 100 for the first time ever with my granny bowling. Nice. And just a couple of pictures from our evening: So this is a funny little picture. Noe had to grow a "stache" for a little acting tidbit he's involved in. Yep, we're friends with a celebrity. :) You may see him on television soon! But he didn't know about our little paper stache's hidden in my purse (completely Lauren's idea!). So after his first bowl, he turned to face us, and we all had our matching stache's held up to our faces. It was probably only funny if you were there. But it makes me laugh just remembering his expression. And if you still think sporting a mustache is cool, sorry for completely offending you with this portion of the post. ;)

It was a fun night with sweet friends that I'm so so thankful for!

sprinkler time.

I pulled out a new sprinkler yesterday for the boys to play in the water afetr naps. Holden received 2 different sprinklers for his birthday and I whipped out the easiest one. Holden LOVED it since he loves all things water. Pax played in it some and then went on to baseball and golf and then back to the sprinkler. He likes water. He just isn't obssessed like his big brother. I can't imagine summertime without these water days. I might love it just as much as Holden.

Fun Weekend

Last Friday morning, we headed to Houston to visit some old college friends. Kristy was one of my college roomates and Jeff was also a friend of ours. Oddly enough, the pair never dated in college. But the evening of our wedding, their romance began! And they married exactly 1 year later. We spent our first anniversary being part of their wedding. Crazy little sidenote that I wanted to share. We visited them once while they were living in SanDiego. And sadly, we haven't seen much of them since that time. With their recent move to the Houston area, we knew that we would have to take advantage of the closer proximity and also meet the newest addition to their family. They now have 3 little girls: Aubrey, Adalyn and Avery. The drive was just over 4 hours. Not bad at all. Here are a few pictures of our time with our friends.

Jeff and Kristy, thanks for having us. And we're looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

water park is open!

Last week I took the boys to the water park for the first time since last summer. Last summer had it's challenges in that Pax couldn't walk, so I was always carrying one and at times chasing another. This year *should* be easier in that Holden is a better listener and understands better how to follow rules. No more chasing, I hope. And obviously Pax can walk, which should make him a little more independent. We'll see. We've been twice now and I'm learning that Pax just doesn't love it like Holden. Even though his legs work perfectly, he would still prefer to be carried around on a hip. Ugh. I want to say "Go play!" And sometimes I do. But he just wants to latch on to his momma for the most part. So Holden does tons of playing, running and splashing while Pax sticks close to me. If I'm standing he latches onto my leg. If I'm seated he's in my lap or crawling all over me. And occassionally Pax will run around and play in the water or shake his booty to the music. It should be a fun summer. You hardly even notice the Texas heat when your at this place. Even though most of our friends couldn't make it last week, we did get to spend a few hours with Charla and Lila. Holden and Lila are 2 peas in a pod. They seem to both have very sprited personalities and have alot of fun together. And last week they hardly seemed to notice that the water was a frigid temp. It should be another fun summer for my boys!