it's the little things...

every single time i walk past our kitchen, the oozy goo stuck between the oven door & the glass inside haunts me. you know, where the vents are on the top of the oven door, and anytime you let something boil over (ahem...which is never) it seeps down the cracks?

the sunshine coming through our slider seems to catch it just right, making the goo glisten, and look ever so much more noticable. 

i have been meaning to give it a good scrubbing for months.  every time we have company over(no matter how clean the rest of my kitchen is), i can feel people's eyes being drawn in like a tractor beam to the ooey goo.  though i know that is ridiculous...it really does bother me.

although today was a beautifully sunny day, i decided today would be the day i defeat the goo.  besides...the boys were getting along especailly well and i most certainly couldn't pass up the opprotunity. 

in order to actually get to the inside piece of glass (at least on my oven), you literally have to disassemble the entire oven door. now here's where i should have taken my husbands advice. 

whenever he takes something apart, he takes pictures of it step-by-step with his iphone.  i figured i had it covered.  i was wrong.  i got out the drill and started unscrewing.  twenty screws later...i had the door scattered around the kitchen floor in pieces. 

i scrubbed and scrubbed, scraping all the goo off with a razor blade.  it looked marvelous!

then came the putting-it-back-together part.  that...not as easy as i thought. it took me almost two hours to put the darn thing together.  but i did it. 

i can't help but smile to myself when i walk past the perfectly clean oven door.  free from goo and fingerprints...at least for now.  what an accomplished day in the severs' household.  it certainly is the little things in life...

now here's to hoping that one last screw i ended up with, wasn't too important! :)

rewind five years...

five years. 

how could they have possibly gone by SO quickly?  people always told me, "it goes by in a blink of an eye..."  or  "it feels like just yesterday..." and so on.  but oh how very true it is.

tomorrow my oldest baby boy will turn five.  the precious baby boy who was brought into this world by two scared & clueless 21 year old kids.  the same baby boy who turned us into real,
live grown ups for the first time.  teaching us  responsibility, patience, and most importantly, absolute unconditional LOVE.



it truly does feel like yesterday (as cliche as it sounds) that we saw his sweet, little face for the very first time. that i held his tiny, wrinkly fingers in mine.  that i felt the beat of his little heart on my bare chest, as i soaked in the first true moments of motherhood.  for as long as i live, i will never forget those moments.

and now he turns five.  he is becoming a little man.  he no longer needs my help with everyday tasks.  he can get himself dressed, brush his teeth, and get himself a snack.  he in preschool, and will be off to kindergarten in the fall (don't get me started on that one...i am going to be a mess!) he's playing soccer and has friends galore.  he has such a compassionate heart, and is quite the little gentleman. 

and although it is amazing to watch him grow into his own little person, i long for the days of infancy when i, his mommy, was his entire world. 

happy birthday jackson.  i love you so very much. 

i can only hope that these next five years don't go by as quickly. 

the beginning of year 26.

well, it's offical.  i am now closer to 30 than i am to 20.  L.A.M.E.  on monday i turned 26 and am beginnning to feel old.  :)

on saturday my mom took me to a birthday lunch at my most favorite restaurant ever, hay j's.  we had a lovely time eating a delicious meal and chatting for hours.  4 1/2 hours to be exact.  when they started lighting candles and setting out wine glasses for the dinner crowd, we realized how long we had been there!  oops.

she got me a nice, new, sharp rotary cutter, and a wonderful never-been-cut-into cutting mat for sewing!!  woo!  oh she knows me too well.  never before would i have guessed that i would be so thrilled to recieve sewing tools for my 26th birthday.  ;)  hense the "i'm feeling old" thing. 



my actual birthday was on monday. 

our good friend andy olson is the head coach of the spokane shock arena football team, and when he and his wife jessie invited us to join them at the season opener game, we decided it would be a fun way to celebrate my birthday!  and it certainly was!  it's so fast-paced and exciting.  the boys had a blast cheering on the team, and of course coach andy.  :)  and even though they lost the game in overtime, it was an exciting game to watch.  and it doesn't hurt that our kiddos are all friends and got to run around on the field after the game.  in jackson's words, "that was the COOLEST part of the whole game!" 

jackson made a HUGE sign that said "go coach andy."  unfortuately it was so big that he could barely hold it up.  :)

jackson and one of his favortie friends skyah.  skyah's mommy was smart and brought lots of coloring books, markers, etc. to entertain them throughout the game.  smart thinking jessie! next time i will be prepared. 

go shock!

jessie & the cutest little shock fan ever, mr. ayven!  LOVE him!  and her! :)

Cheering on the shock!

and cheering some more.

worn out from all the cheering.  well that, and the fact that it was about 2 hours past his bedtime.  :)

with our sleepy little guys.

buddies.

the whole family.

running, and running, and running some more on the field after the game.  funny how liam got a second wind when it came time to play on the field.  lol. 

needless to say, we had two passed out little boys before we even left the parking lot. 

thanks olsons for an awesome night!  what a fun way to celebrate my birthday.  and hey, at least i have 4 more years until i turn 30 and not <6 months, right andy?!?! :)  love you guys!

heart day.

i am one lucky mama to have THREE amazing valentines! 

we had a day full of heart shaped meals, and lots of extra hugs & kisses from my love bugs.

valentine's day french toast & strawberries for breakfast.  well....technically it was brunch by the time we were all dressed and ready for the day.  ;)

 love these two to the moon and back....

 making their own heart shaped pizzas for dinner

"me?!?  stuffing handfuls of cheese into my mouth when no one's looking?? whatever do you mean?!?"

ta da!  the finished product.  de-lish.

when hugh got home from work, i finally got a chance to hop in the shower....yes, that's right, finally, at approximately 5 pm.  ugh.  and what a relaxing shower it was, as liam pounded on the bathroom door yelling, "out mama, out mama!"  ;)

when i finally emerged from our bedroom, liam led me upstairs to the kitchen table to show me a beautiful vase full of white roses and cards that he and jackson had made for me.  so sweet!  he was SO excited to show me, he could hardly contain himself, which explains the pounding on the bathroom door.  well...at least the more exaggerated and continuing pounding than the usual.  :)

the boys enjoyed their yummy pizza dinner, and while i got the kids to bed, my hubby made a delicious dinner, for just the two of us.  we had our own little quiet dinner date at home.  nevermind the fact that it was close to 9 pm by the time we actually got to eat.  ;)

valentine's dinner.  minus the steaks (which were still on the grill).  yum.

we're not big on doing valentine's day gifts for each other.  mostly, we like to use the day as an excuse to enjoy eachother's company & and have a fancier-than-usual dinner, just the two of us. 

but this year, i thought i'd do a little something for my hubby that i knew he (and really, myself as well) would appreciate. 

my least favorite chore in the entire world is ironing.  i completely & absolutely HATE it!  i would much, much rather do dishes, laundry, dust, mop, or even scrub toilets than iron.  it's.  the.  worst. 

i even convinced my hubby that i needed a new, nice, expensive iron, thinking maybe that would help make the chore easier or more enjoyable.  nope.  didn't help at all. 

when hugh changed careers this past july, the ironing really started.  all of the sudden he had to start actually wearing dress clothes to work.  lame.

i find myself missing his days as a landscape designer when he wore jeans, a baseball cap, and a button down pulled straight out of the dryer, 4 out of 5 days to work. 

i do not however, miss the dirty work boots tromping mud throughout my house.  :)

i always have a heaping pile of "to be ironed" clothes hanging over my dresser.  and i almost always procrastinate until his entire work wardrobe is in that pile, and he quite literally has nothing left in his closet to wear...making me depise the chore that much more--because i know it is going to take me forever to make my way through that pile. 

so a couple days before valentine's day, i gathered up that pile, and dropped it off at the dry cleaners.  when i picked it up on tuesday, i tied a big bow around it and left it in his closet with a sweet little note. 

now he has a closet full of neatly pressed shirts and pants...and the best part is--i didn't have to do it!

a gift for us both, indeed.  SO worth the $2.25/shirt!  well...at least every once in awhile, that is. 

a lovely day for sure with the ones i love!

oh, and someone please remind me next year to have jackson start writing the names on his valentines a whole WEEK before the actual day.  so proud of him for taking his time & focusing to write so neatly.  however, he can only focus for about 3 minutes at a time.  so even though we started 3 days prior to his valentine's party...we were still scrambling to finish them up the day of! :)



i. appreciate. you.

i. appreciate. you.

three little words that are so very important, but are often left unsaid.

when my hubby left for florida last week to visit his grandparents, i knew i'd miss him....but i guess i didn't know just how much.

i mean really, i am the one who takes care of kids, the house, etc. i get the kids dressed in the mornings.  i feed them.  i play with them.  i clean up their messes.  i bathe them.  i get their jammies on.  i help brush their teeth.  i read them bedtime stories.  and i get them to bed.  and then it starts all over again when the sun comes up.  so it didn't seem like it would affect our normal routine too much to have him out of town for a few days. 

but it did.  and after 6 days...my perspective has changed a little.  although i am the one carrying out the majority of the daily tasks in our household, he is doing SO much more just by being there as my support. 

everyday tasks are made so much easier just by having him there.

having him there to keep the boys occupied while i fix dinner (or in the more often occurring instances, while the water is boiling over on the stove, the timer is beeping at me, and the chicken is on fire on the grill!)  i swear i can cook....but without hugh around to keep the boys from hanging on my legs, the later typically occurs. 

having him there to wrestle with these wild monkeys in the family room, while i uninterruptedly load the dishwasher without the "help" of 4 tiny hands.  :)

having him there while i quickly hop in the shower, after lazily deciding to sleep in and not get a shower in before the house awakes.. 

i have found this one out the hard way, after finding little liam standing on a chair at the kitchen counter, stabbing apples with parring knives from the knife block one morning.  eek.  needless to say, our knife block now sits on the floor of the pantry with a child-lock on the door. 

and this week i found this after a QUICK <5 minute shower....

cracking eggs on the kitchen floor.  hey - at least he got himself a bowl. 

besides the egg incident (which was actually pretty cute and so very hard not to laugh at) the boys were actually really well behaved and sweet for me while daddy was out of town.  they played better than usual during the day, and snuggled into bed without much trouble each night. 

the house was eerily quiet after 8:30 pm this last week.  i didn't know what to do with all this time to myself.  i could watch what i wanted to watch on tv, read a book, and go to bed whenever i pleased.  and i have to admit, i thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 nights of this "me" time.  i watched girly movies, stayed up late working on sewing projects, and even took a bath one night. 

but on the third night....i was lonely.  i missed hearing about hugh's day at work (however uninteresting it really was to me).  i missed being "forced" to compromise and watch the ridiculous shows hugh dvrs each week on the history & discovery channel (although there are a few i secretly enjoy...shhh).  and i missed snuggling up in bed with him....even when there's a sneaky little boy who climbs in between us at 3 am. 

so last night when i drove to the airport at 11:00 pm to pick him up....i was totally ready for him to be home. 

the boys both fell asleep on the couch at 5 pm last night after an afternoon of swimming at the y.  typically i would do everything in my power to keep them awake; knowing that if i didn't, they would be up until midnight.  but i let it go.  they hadn't seen daddy in 6 days and were so excited to see him. 

so i let them take a nap...at 5 pm.  and although i am CERTAIN i am going to regret it today around 3 o'clock when they are super crabby and exhausted ---it was totally worth it to see their excitement as we drove to the airport in their jammies WAY past their bedtime to pick up daddy. 



i am constantly reminding my boys to say "thank you".  the "what do you say?"s in our house are recurring. 

but how often am i leading by example -- and saying "thank you" myself?  not. often. enough.

so --thank you, babe.  i am so very grateful for everything that you do for the boys and me.  and although it may seem to at times, it does not go unnoticed.  i love you.  and....

i. appreciate. you.  :)

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!