thursday. off.

let me just start by saying that i had EVERY intention of being productive yesterday. 
when my lovely mama asked to take my boys & my niece for the entire day this thursday and next, i gladly said "yes".  the boys would get some much needed Nana-time, and i would, in turn, have two entire thursdays. off. 

all week long, i have been adding thing after thing to my to-do list.  mostly things that are SO much easier to do without having to lug around two little boys.  two little boys, mind you, who decide they are all of the sudden limp noodles whenever i need to run errands or shop.  thus i end up carrying my 40 lb four year old on one hip,and my 28lb two year old on the other hip, throughout the store.  ugh.

having only 9 days left until Christmas (as of yesterday), and having not purchased a single gift yet.....i had a lot on my list. 

i would run to mall, run to the post office, run to joann's, run to the library, run to the rack (selfishly, to look for new boots for myself), run to fred meyer, run to kohls, work on the mountain of ironing while catching up on the 15 episodes of ellen i have on the dvr,  and the list goes on....and on.....and on.

it all went out the window when my husband asked me to lunch.  we rarely get to spend alone time together, especially during the day.  so when he had a break in his day, i gladly oblidged and joined him for lunch.  we went to beverly's at the coeur d'alene resort and enjoyed a warm bowl of salmon chowder and a dungeness crab melt.  yum.  it was a lovely little lunch date. 

okay....so i suppose i wasn't entirely unproductive.  i did manage to hit up the mall and post office before heading to lunch.  but after lunch was a different story. 

i stopped at home, grabbed a book and headed back out.  i realized that this was my day off....and i had better enjoy it.  so on i drove....to barnes & noble. 

the car ride there was strangely silent.  i don't know that i have driven in the car all alone in months.  there were no fighting kids in the backseat, no "hey victor...hey freddy, let's eat some...spaghetti...hey victor, i'm ready....to eat some...spaghetti...with freddy" (thank you co-op) blarring from the stereo, no kicking on the back of my seat.  it was strangely. silent.  a nice silent.


i spent the next 4+ hours cozied up in the comfy barnes & noble chairs, reading.  peppermint mocha in hand. 


on the car ride home, i found myself humming the spaghetti song.  i was ready to get back to my sweet little boys.  that little break was all i needed to appreciate just how much i truly love all of their noise.

thanks mama, for the lovely day off. 

now to decide how i will spend my next thursday off.....likely, the very same way.

only one month later......

this whole blogging thing is harder to keep up with than i thought! exactly one month later.......i am finally posting again.  whoops.

it's been a crazy-busy month full of apple picking, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, trick or treating, and birthday parties.  oh-so-many birthday parties.  the last 3 weekends have been packed full of birthday parties, saturdays...and sundays.  we are birthday'd out.  after liam's second birthday this weekend, we will finally be done with birthdays.....well, at least for 2 weeks before it's hugh's.  :)


here are some pictures from our busy month:

jackson & his best buddy gavin. 
they are birthday buddies.
they were born on the exact same day... in the exact same year. 
so crazy and fun.

apple picking up at greenbluff

just couldn't quite wait....HAD to chomp into that crisp apple

some friends of ours introduced us to this cute little farm out in otis orchards -- ac starr farms.  they have tons of delicious fruits and veggies....and pumpkins.  and the best part -- it's only five minutes from our house.  much better than the 35-45 minute drive up to the farms in greeenbluff.  especially with 2 excited/impatient on the way there (tired and crabby on the way home) kids.  :)   

the farm had a little harvest festival this day.  they had hay rides, a corn maze, pumpkin launching, and face painting.  so. much. fun!

heading into the corn maze with their buddy luke.  and yes, somehow we did manage to lose jackson at one point...in the easiest corn maze ever.  eek.

love his "CHEESE" face

hay rides are the BEST

 

halloween.

jackson wanted to be a shark...again.  he is so fascinated...scratch that - completely obsessed with sharks.  about a year and a half ago i came home one night from coffee with a friend, only to find hugh asleep on the couch...and my 3 year old watching "the real life story of jaws" on shark week.  ahhh! his eyes were as wide as i've ever seen them, as he sat there taking it all in.  needless to say, i was not happy with daddy and was certain we would have countless nights of nightmares. 

but we didn't.  he never once had a nightmare and is absolutely fascinated with sharks.  now he has books and books about sharks and can spit out facts about all the differents kinds of sharks, where they live, how big they are, etc.  it's incredible.  maybe we have a future marine biologist on our hands. 

so when he wanted to be a shark again for halloween this year, i wasn't surprised.  it still fit, so it worked out perfectly.  liam was a monkey - which is oh-so-very fitting of his personality. 

trick or treating was so fun this year, now that both the boys were into it.  liam just stood at each door saying "treeeeat"  that's right....he didn't even give them the "trick" option.  :)



heading out to trick-or-treat

cousins - with my cutie pie little niece, addie. 
cutest little ladybug.  ever!

saturday at the farmers market.

every saturday morning we visit our local farmers market. we get our fruits & veggies for the week -and usually enjoy a breakfast of yummy strawberry crepes from one of the booths! the boys love filling their little baskets with deliciousness, and are always chatting it up with our favorite vendors, which they now know by name. this last weekend, hugh was fly fishing in montana, so the boys and i decided to go just the 3 of us.  a few weeks ago we discovered a new fruit - which is now an absolute favorite in our house....pluots.   it's a hybrid of plums & apricots and is super yum-o! they're teeny-tiny little things and we usually eat about three at a time each, but they are now a farmer's market staple for us.  liam & jackson typically can not even wait until we get home to bite into them.  :)  so glad we discovered these yummy little fruits!

 

cruisin' through the market

liam - ready to fill his basket



our delicious picks

enjoying our new found favorite fruit - pluots!

where to start?!?

hmmm...where to start.  i am a stay at home mama to two amazing little monsters, jackson & liam.  they are crazy and wild, and oh-so-wonderful.  i married my best friend and am loving raising our little family together.  so here are some daily happenings in our household, and life, as i know it....enjoy!