Wordless Wednesday

Tankini Manifesto

The tankini manifesto.........

A must read and too true.

I confess, I bought my first "skirted" suit this year and while it is a short skirt it makes me feel better when I am bending over and crawling around trying to corral my little monsters. Oh and I HEART tankinis, even before babies I loved them, mostly because I HATE things being tied, strapped, etc around my neck, and I don't use the HATE term lightly!!

Happy Swimming!

R E I.....finally.

We used to, and by used to I really mean before kids-a single income-moving to Alabama, visit REI on a regular basis. We literally had a line item in our budget for REI. Our last visit to REI was during our Seattle trip in October of 2008 so needless to say, we were overdue.

Matthew checking out the canoes at the Seattle REI.

So for Father's Day we surprised Will with a trip to his favorite store. The closest store to us is south of Nashville, TN so on Saturday morning we loaded up and made our way. It is still weird for both of us to drive for an hour or so and be in another state. Growing up in central Texas and driving an entire day to only STILL be in Texas is normal for us. Anyways, we went, we shopped, we got a few things, we tested out bikes, backpacks, kayaks and sleeping bags, we lunched and then made our way home. It was a great day and yet another memory was made.

What is it with my boys and motorless boats?

Front flowerbed makeover

So, we inherited a truly obscene amount of monkey grass when we bought our current home two years ago. Yes, it has taken exactly TWO years, we moved in over the Memorial Day weekend 2008, to get this bed done....but it looks so much better, at least in my not so humble opinion.

While no flowerbed is ever done at our house as the design in my head is constantly evolving. It is a good start and I was able to incorporate the rod iron fence I have been dragging across the country.

Before

After much digging, tree removal, trimming, planting and mulching.......WAA LAA!!



Now, to get to the other 10 beds...that is the real challenge!!

Happy Father's Day Papa Bear

Dear Papa,

I know Mama dragged you kicking and screaming into parenthood but we sure are glad she did. You are the absolute best Papa two boys could have. We love the constant adventure and endless laughs that you are always such a willing part of. We love that you let us "help" you, even when "helping" means that the task takes twice as long and that you might have to do it over again. We love that you are learning to go with the flow when it equates to more smiles or giggles.

Thanks for being....
The leader of our pack
Our partner in crime
The best playmate two boys could ever have
Our tractor operator
Our protector
Our sherpa
and most importantly......

OUR DAD!!!

Mom did good when she picked you out!!

Love,

Matthew and Kimber,
(the two cutest red headed little boys on the planet, at least according to Mom.)

Happy Father's Day - Daddy

I have, by far, the most amazing dad in the world. He has taught me so much, and most of it, unintentionally. You know the saying, DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO, well that is not true when it comes to my dad. My dad is a people watcher....and I got the gene as well but I am not sure he realizes that for many years, he is the person I watched the most, he is the person I aspire to be, he is the person in my life who has had the most positive influence on me. It is funny, periodically when Matthew is in an unfamiliar situation he will stand back and stand with his hands behind his back and simply observe. I always comment to Willie that he looks like my dad to me at these times. Willie looks at me and says, "he also looks just like you".

Things I learned from my dad:

* Never ever give up. If you want something, go after it. Don't let ANYONE or ANYTHING stand in your way.

* Always tell the people you love that you love them. Life is short and we never know when we won't be able to tell them again.

* You, and only you, are responsible for you. Your decisions are yours alone.

* Educate yourself. I do believe that my dad is one of the smartest people on this earth and he has made me a believer in constantly educating yourself and those you love.

My very first horse ride.....

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad a girl could ask for.

Happy 9 Months!!

Today my little man, you turned 9 months old. You are in the 50th percentile for weight and height so it seems the growing has leveled off. It is difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that it took 9 months to grow you....and that time seemed to drag....and the 9 months that you have been in my arms and holding onto my legs have sped by with such...well...speed. You are such a happy camper and people are constantly complimenting you on your HUGE smile and of course your glowing red hair. You make our life brighter every SINGLE day and we feel incredibly blessed to have you.

You LIKE bath time, especially when your brother swims circles around you.

You DISLIKE getting out of the bath before you are good and ready, which is typically AT LEAST 30 minutes after you got in.

You LIKE eating my car keys. We sit through the entire storytime at the library with you happily munching away on my keys.

You DISLIKE me taking said keys away so we can drive.

You LIKE peaches, blueberries, black beans, strawberries, rice, noodles and just about anything that you can feed yourself.

You DISLIKE me feeding you from a spoon. You already want to do it yourself. I literally have to hold down your hands to spoon feed you these days.

You LIKE your brother. It makes me completely giddy to watch you admire him, crack up at him, chase him and yes, antagonize him.

You DISLIKE not being allowed to play Kimber-Zilla with brothers train tracks.

You LIKE Mama.

You DISLIKE Mama getting out of your line of sight.

You LIKE driving the grocery cart...and wiggling out of the straps.

You DISLIKE sitting still.

You LIKE getting up around 5:30 AM.

You DISLIKE being encouraged to sleep any later, especially since brother is already up.

You LIKE drinking from a sippy cup.

You DISLIKE brother taking a nap when you are not.

You LIKE pulling things off the shelves in the fridge.

You DISLIKE being told "NO BABY" a thousand times a day when you are simply trying to play with your brother.

You LIKE smiling and flirting, whether it is with me or total strangers.

You DISLIKE me going outside to take out trash or recyclables, you stand at the door and grunt until I return.

You LIKE going swimming. We do it at least once a week and you love it.

You DISLIKE Mama having to take care of household chores....instead of playing with you.

You LIKE crawling, standing and cruising. You stand for minutes at a time in the sumo stance not holding onto anything and then lightly sit down and crawl away.

You LIKE wrestle-time with Papa.

You DISLIKE not being allowed to play in Muppet's water or eat her food.

You LIKE chewing on E V E R Y T H I N G!

You DISLIKE bananas, it is in fact the only thing I have found you won't eat.

And a few pictures from this month.....

That ever-present huge smile.

Trying to open the blueberries.

Blueberry consumption.

Waiting for mama at the back door.

Wordless Wednesday

Summertime......so glad you are here!!

I hate cold weather, I mean truly despise being cold so the onset of summer is a HAPPY time for me. While I must admit that the mosquitoes drive me insane, I do love being sweaty, digging in the dirt, finding worms, cooking on the grill, mowing the grass and watching my little men enjoy the outdoors.

Potty Training.....Mommy

Somebody pleeeeease tell me that someday, before I enter the nursing home I will be able to go to the bathroom ALONE, truly ALONE, seriously!

Why is it, my mommy friends, who entered mommy-land before me, did not let me in on this secret. They tell you all about sleepless nights, picky eaters, crying babies, temper tantrums...but nobody tells you that sitting on the toilet will become such a public effort.

I must confess, baby number two has been nursed on the potty, don't judge until you've been there! Just this morning the toddler built a toilet paper castle, complete with "soldiers", aka tampons while the crawler tried valiantly to get to the plunger....EWWWW.

What I have yet to figure out is that Dad can go to the bathroom and spend half the day in there and no one bothers him. So maybe I am exaggerating a bit but he DOES get quiet bathroom time periodically.

I am just hoping this is a phase and within a few years there won't be so much interest in what Mom is doing behind closed (I hope) doors!!!

Sex.....and the City 2

I know, the critics are not playing nice when it comes to the latest installment but I chuckled my way through the movie. There was also a fair amount of lusting, the closet, the apartment, the hot males, I could go on and on.

So maybe we are not as young, carefree, energetic or bold as we once were. Maybe we wore sensible shoes and were yawning by 9 PM. Maybe we saw those baby seats in the rearview mirror and just for a moment thought about those sweet people at home awaiting our return, footed PJ's and all. Maybe "sexy" doesn't exactly describe my life but I had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed a night that was all about me!