family pictures. check.

 my sweet, talented sissy took our family pictures last year. she found cool old buildings and chippy painted doors and took a lot of wonderful shots. but now she's in iowa...which meant we were on our own this year. :(
so on a whim,  we went back to the sites from last year and thanks to our tripod and nana's entertainment behind the camera, we got some pictures.

 after just a couple pics, this huge train came steaming and blowing by and stole everyone's attention. and gave ben the FRIGHT of his LIFE!
he trembled uncontrollably for at least 10 min. and kept covering his ears and murmuring "choo choo, choo choo, bye bye...choo choo...bye bye." it was pathetic, poor boy. but i did get a lot of snuggles...

this one below is last years version....oh ben! be still my heart, i love you so much.

2 of my 3 favorite guys...awww, that chubby little hand!

then we went over to this cool green wall...also one of sister's finds from last year

and one in the street.

 
and here's last year on the same street. little people are getting taller..,

and then we ran out of posed smiles and nice light so decided to let the crazy came out.

or rather it would seem, the parents needed to let their crazy out. :)

 will was definitely keeping his crazy contained...

ta-da! ;)

the end.

birthday buddies

7 years ago i got the best birthday present ever- a little baby boy! And it was a gift that keeps giving- this year i asked for a 7 year old with blonde hair, who loves ninjas, climbs trees and plays with legos....and i got it!

Love this little guy so much and we're both super excited for "our" mud party next weekend.

a mud party...

 the thought came to me spontaneously as i was writing out our summer list this year. i wasn't really sure how, when or where we would do this, or if i reeeeally wanted the mess, but it just felt like the right thing to do so i wrote it up there anyway. :)

and then one afternoon it just happened. out came the hose and puddles formed, sticks started mixing the gooey goodness, toes got splashed and i realized that today was the day! off came shirts and madeline's fancy dress and in they went.

squishing fingers and toes in the fabulous mud...

smiling and splashing...

building canals, dams, bridges and pools...

 throwing out inhibitions...

and looking more and more like amazonian natives...

 then ben woke up from his nap!

oh joy! oh bliss! he could hardly contain himself! his little baby dreams were coming true!

it was a great, great day! we recommend everyone having a mud party of their own...in fact there's talk over here about a birthday mud party for a certain soon-to-be 7 year old. so, so fun.

happily ever after shower

my sister in law and i hosted a bridal shower for my other sister in law, bethany. we all had a great time!

 her wedding shoe- isn't it just like Cinderella?! and lucky for her, she has a teeny little foot to match. :)

my wonderful mother in law and 2 sweet sisters in law (the lovely bride-to-be is in the coral dress).

isn't she cute?! we couldn't be more happy for her!

the big move

sister and i have been dreading this move for months. yet mixed with that dread is confidence that God's best is working itself out...whether the hows and whys are obvious or not. 

i'm grateful for the rare and unlikely blessing of living around the corner from each other for these past 3 years. when we were little we would daydream about living next door to each other (and marrying brothers!).... now, i just have to get used to the rather heartbreaking reality that she's not there anymore.

 

i think it would be an easier adjustment if she had even lived across town...but as it is, we pass by her old house every evening during our walk and i have to remind the kids to not run through "Aunt Deedee's old bushes", not pick "her old lavender", not climb "her old tree"... its sad.  

i have to remember things too: i can't run over to her house to ask her opinion on a new shirt or to borrow chocolate chips and a couple eggs, or a dress for the shower this weekend, or a few of her blue mason jars and white cake plate for a party next month.

or when andrew is flying, i have to remember that she's won't be able to slip away after her kids are in bed to have a little chat, or help me move furniture or craft while we talk out the highs and lows of life.  and when the mornings are endlessly long, we can't walk around the corner and let the kids run around together while we give each other pep talks.

instead we have to be brave and thankful for the time we had to live life so close to each other....and for all the fabulous technology that help make living far away a bit more manageable. 

tonight during a thunderstorm, sophie exclaimed, "i hope our cousins are ok!" and a short time later will commented, "we need to make sure at the end of every letter we write to our cousins that we always say, 'we miss you a lot'."

i love this song we sang at our church a couple of weeks ago. i know its kinda dramatic to apply it to my little situation especially when true and horrible suffering is going on in so many people's lives, but if i didn't believe that jesus cares about the "little" things,  life would feel bleak and sad indeed. so, i thank Him that he does care, and that He is working out a beautiful plan in all things.

p.s. these pics with the letters on them were part of a little ABC book i put together as a going away gift for our sweet cousins. thank you picmonkey for being in business and making editing so easy :)

cinched up backpack

My little nephew just turned one last week. He and Baby Ben are exactly 9 months apart. Andy's sister and i planned very hard to work that out.... hee hee. But we are super thankful for this little guy and have big plans for he and ben to be best buddies. 

That said, he had a party this weekend and i kinda scrambled to think of a gift. 

MADE had just posted a great tutorial on how to make boxed-out totes so i started with that. 

Then i decided he needed his name in felt on the front,  another pocket on the inside and some cheater lining.

Then i wanted to add another color so i sewed on the yellow cinched up tie on the top...

 and BACK PACK straps to the back. Everything was done extremely randomly and probably more complicated that it needed to be but i was happy with the result and can't wait to see a toddling little eric stuffing treasures into his pack soon.

and to get him started i made sure this {most adorable} Eric had a new title to add to his collection of Eric Carle's books.

Now, i have to spend a little time on the star of this post. This baby (i mean BIG boy, sorry joelle! ;) is the most expressive and interesting little guy i've ever known. He is full of fun and sweetness but he also has the most extensive collection of absolutely hilarious little faces. He entertained a group of at least 10 adults at his party for nearly 15 minutes with his expressions alone. And those brown eyes with the longest lashes i've ever seen...well, i guess i've seen some like them on his lovely momma.
Anyway, he's just too much cuteness to take.

We were delighted to celebrate his birthday and even more delighted to have him in our family.

Carol Marie born on May 23

oMy fabulous mother in law had a birthday this week, and i had the privilege of hosting her party.

 I had big dreams for an outdoor dinner, but our crazy CO weather had other dreams. About an hour and half before dinner, i gave in and brought everything inside, just before it poured and kept pouring!

the decor was simple: my fantastic globes from Target clearance a couple summers ago, vintage sheet table cloth (thank you, Sister) Blue ball jars with Irises (than you Sister).
The kids and i planted these little wheat grass plants [below] a week ago. Can you guess where we got the colorful little "pots"??  Spray paint lids!! I knew i would find a purpose for them! ;)

 For the menu we had what were my favorite tacos...i posted the recipe here. I think they might still be my favorite...but they certainly didn't turn out for the party. I'm hoping it has to do with me tripling the recipe or something because they were pretty dry and a little on the tasteless side... and my side rice turned into MUSH...but oh well. These drinks made up for it...until we had cake, that is.

 Non-Alcoholic Mojitos (thank you Sister for use of your jars, oh! and also for the use of a couple of your plates...and a glass platter...AND the mint from your backyard...yep, i think that's all i took from your house) 

**Oh man, i'm going to be a goner when she moves next month. I've been trying to deal with the emotional reality of what life will be like without her 2 houses away but i'm not sure i've thought enough about my dependency on her physical belongings as well! yikes. i might have to grow up and buy my own plates....hmmm

ok, back to the party. So, unlike myself, whatever my brother in law touches turns to gold.  

Case in point this absolutely AMAZING chocolate orange cake he created himself. Complete with chocolate orange mouse and handmade crystalized orange peel. It was the best cake ever.

When i was describing my flopped tacos to my sister, she encouragingly pointed out what a blessing it was that they flopped since consequently the guests probably had ample room for a big piece of this decadent cake. thanks sister. good word. ;)

Here's the birthday girl with her wonderful kids.

 I was so pleased how everyone coordinated with the party color scheme.

Happy Birthday Carol Marie. SO glad you were born! We all love you so much! :)