i love spring.

i love may. not just for my birthday. but for the weather.

and i love gardens.

ever since we bought this house, i have been wanting to create a garden.

but life gets in the way. 

babies are born. we get bit by the lazy bug. 

and here we are, two years later.

but little by little, we've been creating our back yard.

first the shed. 

thank you daddy (and Kristoff)

then a bird bath.

my mother's day present.

and some flowers.

also a mother's day present.

add some veggies and herbs

to go into...

...this raised garden bed.

my birthday present!

i love it.

and i love it even more because daddy built it for me.

he must love me.

got lots of gardening to do.

can't wait.

hopefully i can grow something...

water, water everywhere

the weather has been so nice lately. 

clear, blue skies. seventy-ish degrees.

sunshine.

even better because the boys could spend forever outdoors.

and now that they are old(er)

they entertain themselves!

and it's all about water.

thanks to grandma for the little pool.

they are out there at ten in the morning

spend a few hours in the sun.

come in for lunch.

naptime.

then out there again at four. 

it's been great!

then dinner and a bath.

water, water, water.

water in the morning

water again at night.

they just love to play in water.

bath time used to last maybe 15 minutes.

now, they are in there until their fingers turn blue.

mucus and his fish

everyday i start off with the best intentions.

get out of my pj's before 9.

eat a non-sugary breakfast.

check something off my to-do list.

and be a good mom.

yet it seems that everyday i fail.

sometimes i fail big. sometimes just a little.

but nonetheless, i fail.

because somewhere in between

breakfast, nap time and story time

something, something always falls in the cracks.

and i'll be laying in bed

exhausted from the day, thinking

i forgot to give them their vitamins

did they eat enough peas?   

i should feed them veggies more

why does monkey still have accidents?    

i need to make him use his potty more

shouldn't mucus know all his colors by now?    

i should go over those more

i should. i really should. i need to do more. 

more stories. more puzzles. more veggies. 

so much more.

so tomorrow we start again.

dear boys,

mommy here. asking you, wait begging you 

to please try and get along a little better today. 

i know it's hard to share your favorite toys, 

especially when you both love the same things. at the same time. 

at that exact moment. when you both have to have it. right now. 

and because i'm tired of playing referee aka mean mommy. 

i'm tired of taking toys away when you can't share. 

i'm tired of hearing "mine" when technically it's mine. 

or nowadays daddy's. 

and mostly because i'm tired. 

and running out of ideas. 

and patience. 

and my gray hair is coming in. 

so please please puh-lease try and be good boys today. 

share your toys. don't push your brother. 

and be nice to mommy. 

or else in a couple of years i will have this blown up.  

poster size. 

and this one too.

i've got plenty of 'em. 

so think about it. be nice today.

but don't forget to have fun. 

love you both.

-mommy

part of the club

in the midst of my toddler world, i completely forgot.

not that it was mother's day

but that it was my day.

my very own day for being a mommy.

i'm pretty new to this club, so when asked what i wanted to do

i was at a loss.

i thought that i would enjoy some time to myself, but no...

i didn't want to spend the day alone.

so after a special daddy-cooked breakfast

and a special gift from grandma and the boys

we all hopped in the car

went to the little baja garden center

picked out a bird bath...yay!

then off to home depot

and just for laughs, 

we went to chuck e cheese!

just what i wanted.

a day to remember with my family.

nap hard

not much to report on from our end.

just waiting for the spring showers to slow down.

been working on the back yard endlessly.

daddy is still in school.

and the boys are as energetic as ever. 

work hard and play harder

will be these boys' motto.

and then of course

nap hard too.

this is really how he sleeps.

we'll try and do something exciting soon.

until then...happy cinco de mayo!

toes and all

the people in charge need to think about this.

they need to find a way to make 

the very first warm day here in oregon 

an official holiday.

a take-the-day-off-of-work-and-enjoy holiday.

no sitting behind the desk.

no looking out the window.

and no yard work.

just a go-out-and-enjoy-the-day holiday

because everyone should have been able 

to take off their shoes and socks

and walk barefoot today. 

it was just that perfect of a day.

warmth on my shoulders. the smell of sunscreen. 

and bare feet. toes and all.