pink skirts & purple cupcakes for lunch... 

the perfect way to kick off girls' weekend.

more to come on that AND stories from

the boys' big fishing & camping adventure...

i usually abstain from posting unflattering

pictures of my friends... however, today is

ruthie's 30th (!) birthday and i just want to: 

1.)  embarass her a bit and 

2.) tell her that i adore all of her

      tiny (and not so tiny) quirks all 

      at the same time!

love ya, ruth!

xo, t

happy 7th birthday to ethan... 

a kid who amuses & entertains 

us every day! someday, i'll be 

telling people that i knew you

when....

(thanks aunt jamie)

"i love you, mankie"

"awww, mankie"

"you're so soft mankie"

"hayden, give me mankie back!"

"mom, i can't find mankie!"

"can i bring mankie?"

"daddy lets me bring mankie..."

since hayden never had an object of such 

affection, her obsession with "mankie" 

fascinates me to no end. what started out

as the softest pink baby blanket with pretty

little silk appliques has become a grayish, 

tattered, treasured necessity in her life.

there is a "big one", a "little one" and soon

to be a "new one". she sticks one corner up 

her nose, she wraps it over her head like a 

hijab, and around her shoulders like a little 

old lady. i peel it off her several times a day

so we can leave the house, eat breakfast, or 

(dare i say) wash it... occasionally (i 

imagine when it starts to smell really bad), 

she allows me to add it to the laundry. 

someday, i promise to video her response

when i remove it from the dryer and wrap it 

around her.... warm and smelling like my 

favorite scent of bounce. 

positively joyful.

hayden talks about riding in the memorial day parade

with the pontys all year long. this year, court made her

parade debut and rode with megan...

one of my favorite pictures to take each year is this shot

of joel... smiling & waving from his WWII jeep. andy & i 

watched from our lawn chairs, discussing our secret plan

to get court into the marching band instead of the pom 

squad in a few years...

god bless america.

(how court caught a catfish)

thanks to hayden, (my backup family photographer) i didn't have to 

miss court catching her first fish ever! when i called home later, i said 

"i heard you caught a fish, court!" and she replied "mom, it wasn't a 

fish... it was a CATfish!".  apparently cheetos make excellent bait...

yesterday was one of those days that i just

couldn't stop taking pictures... can you blame 

me with these big, beautiful blue eyes?

buy stock in bandaids. 

i can assure you it will be a safe investment...

court & i have had fun watching these baby lilac buds

grow into beautiful blooms over the past month. 

too bad i can't post scratch & sniff pictures... 

they smell fantastic!

mom requested color shots. hope these work...

court loves to water my (very well protected!)

tomato plant.  seems like the cage is a good idea...

andy & hayden found three lucky little bunnies a few 

nights ago. their mama was nowhere to be found, so

they were moved to a safe place. (aka: out of jane's yard

and away from my tomato plant!)

of course, the kids went gaga over them...

court. poppy. tootie pop. pops. buzz. buzzy. buzzy bee. 

courtnee--eey. (if you ask her brother)

how many names does a girl need to describe 

her sunny disposition? i found a few more of 

these that i love. i hope that when i look back 

at them in a few years, i'll remember exactly

how sweet and happy she was right now. 

three is wonderful. 

99.9% of the time.

i am loving the fact that we have a weekend 

at home without a million things to do... 

bathrooms are renovated, 

groceries are gotten,

laundry is folded, 

movies are rented,

naps are taken. 

before the rain this morning, court & i wandered out 

to smell one of my favorite springtime blooms.

i love, love, LOVE the scent of this tree in may. 

now, if only i could remember the name of it....

another adorable addison... she was such a smiley girl 

for an early monday morning!

i have always loved this chinese proverb... it is so true. 

when i was searching for a quote for this post, i asked 

hayden what he thought the definition of mother is. 

he immediately said "love."and left it at that. 

he's so smart.

i am so grateful to have two beautiful, sweet, 

funny, happy & healthy kids who call me mom.

i am so grateful to be surrounded by other 

moms who inspire, support, & amuse me.

i am so grateful.

every day.

happy, happy mother's day.

xoxo, t

I adore this shot of hayden... I don't even think he knew I had my camera out. it shows exactly who he is right now... packers jersey, wristwatch (he can actually tell time!), basketball, big blue eyes (why, OH WHY did I not nail the focus??!!), & his brand new two front teeth. I love the age of almost eight.

three year olds are pretty great, too.... the simple joy of picking every last dandelion, singing along to every Weepies song in the car, declaring that lunch was "super delicious!", screaming "MOM! THERE'S KIDS AT THE PARK!" every morning at 10:30, and licking all of the blue frosting off the cookies. (just to name a few)