Simple Moments

Here are a few of my newest "simple moments."

Enjoying bedtime stories with all of my babies...

Reading this book.

Yesterday I had a day to myself and did this all afternoon.

It was nice to do nothing.

It was nice not to feel like I had to do something because I had free time.

Trust me the laundry is still waiting for me today.

 I love this part of the day.

The boys anxiously awaiting the return of their daddy from work...

Holding hands while walking to the park...

I love to watch the bond that is growing between these two.

What will this picture look like in a few months?

Will it be another brother to pal around with 

or will it be a princess to protect?

 Baby Bear watching the big boys play ball...

Griff dreaming of playing with the big boys...

The boys getting comfy in the bleachers.

I am sure over the years we will clock many hours in this same spot...

 Enjoying the view up close...

Baby Bear bringing flowers to his favorite girl...

Oh how I adore this picture.

Griff picking the perfect flowers for his Momma.

"Mommy, do you love it?"

Baby Bear adding a few more to my bouquet.

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

I must be feeling better.

I have not needed a nap recently

and I have noticed an increase in energy.

I would not say that Stella has gotten her groove back totally,

but it is a noticeable improvement.

I'll take it!  

This afternoon the weather was really pretty.

I loaded up the wagon with a few essentials.

Boys, the guys, Ernie, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and my trusty camera.

As an afterthought I grabbed jackets.

Good thing I did because the temperature dropped noticeably on our stroll.

Baby Bear and Ernie

Griff, the guys, Buzz, and Woody

Trying to divvy up the loot.

 Okay so they only actually stayed in the wagon for less than 3 minutes.

Griff said he needed to exercise and Baby Bear was less than a step behind. 

Exercise of the day?  Speed walking!

 In all fairness I don't get nearly enough pictures of melt down moments.

Trust me.... there are a lot of them.

When we are in the moment it is usually intense and a camera is the last thing that I think to grab.

Here you go!

Griff was having a moment because his brother was taking a turn to pull the wagon.
Interesting to note~ he still said "cheese" through the tears.

Sweet baby

Griff heading over to tell the ducks hello.

Hello...hello... hello.... anybody down there....

 Here is one of my VERY FAVORITE perks of being the only girl in the house.

Whenever the boys see wild flowers they must stop to pick some for their favorite girl.

"Here Mommy I have a flower for you.  You like it?"

Roman with his flowers for me.
He picked an awesome handful of clover for his favorite girl.

Baby Bear kicking up the pace once he saw our house.

I love my flowers from my sweet admirers!

Here is what we collected on our walk around the circle.
Flowers, trash, and lots of rocks. (for hopscotch of course)
Soon enough I will use the picking up trash as a teaching moment.

As soon as we got inside Griff told me I needed glass for my beautiful flowers.

I am so in love with 2 boys...

Family "heart" tree

I love to do crafting projects.

I have been looking forward to working on projects with my boys.

Griff enjoys working on projects.

His attention span is getting better and we are also working on following directions.

Roman is still a little young, but always wants to be in on the action.

Griff loves any project that involves tracing his hand.

He also loves and prays for his family daily.

Yesterday our project involved both.

We made a family tree.

The base of the tree was his hand print.

I loved to watch his level of concentration.

Even more than that I LOVED to watch the pride that he displayed once the project was complete.

*Side note:

Every day when I pick him up from school he immediately pulls out his art project of the day.  He is so proud of his work.  As soon as we get home he gets out the tape so we can display his masterpiece for all to see.  

Here are my little artists as I am setting everyone up.

I tried to do most of the prep work before they got home.  

As I finished up the cutting I gave them each a pair of scissors and glue to play.

Here is Griff intently working on gluing the base of the tree.

See this little guy right here with the adorable smile?

Why is he smiling?

Could it be because he was busted eating glue?

Ummmm, yes that is exactly why!

My adorable artists concentrating on getting everything just in place.

I proudly present to you Griff and his finished project.

Project titled: "I heart my family"

"I heart my family" is proudly displayed at our home.

Please contact me if you would like to set up a private viewing.

Chef Boyar"G" (& R too)

Last night Satch worked late.  I asked G what he wanted for dinner.  Of course he said, "tizza!"  (Duh, and that would be pizza)  

The boys love to make their own pizzas.  Homemade pita pizzas are a constant in our house.  

Why? 

• It is yummy
• It is quick
• It is easy to make
• The boys love to help make the pizza
• The boys equally love to eat the pepperoni
• It is a relatively healthy meal. (wheat pita, reduced fat cheese, sauce and turkey pepperoni)

Here are my little chefs in action helping to prepare dinner.

Step 1:

Assume your position on the counter to jockey your way into the perfect helping spot.  

Step 2:

Place the pita down and spread the sauce.

Never to be outdone.  We always have 2 spoons handy.

Step 3:

Spread a generous handful of cheese on each pita.

It is totally okay to perform a quality check on the cheese by tasting first.

 Step 4:

Shove place as many pepperoni as you can in your mouth.

Any left over pepperoni may be then placed on the pizza.

Step 5:

Mommy places in the oven and turns on the light so we can admire our work!

.....10 minutes later dinner is served!

Party time...

What's up?

We have been busy with life

and my energy level is a little lower than normal.

Lately pregnancy survival has taken the front seat

while blogging is in the back seat.

We have gone to a few parties over the past few weekends.

Here are a few of my favorite party pics!

Griff and some of his favorite girls.

Roman and his new friend.
She took care of him during the party.

Griff looking on as the birthday girl blew out her candles.
He had a firm gentle reminder that the birthday boy/girl blows out the candles.
It sure is tough being 3...

My favorite boys enjoying the party.

Here are a few pictures from party #2.

I didn't have as much fun with the camera because I was flying solo with the boys 

while Daddy was at school.

Do you see this great BIG giant slide?
Okay, now do you see my 20 month old baby
climbing the stairs being spotted by his big brother?
Not sure if this was a great idea, but we gave it a go!

Now do you see my 20 month old going down the slide
while his 3.5 year old brother is taking the stairs down?
Momma didn't raise a fool!

Baby Bear was so proud of himself.

Such a big boy.

Time for cake and Happy birthday!

Hey Lady, can you get me some pizza?

Now everyone knows that a love a good party.

I also love the heart and effort that a mother puts into her child's special day.

Here are a few of my favorite details from both of the parties.

Tie dyed swirl cookies 

Adorable owl cupcakes

Yummy AND pretty cake.

Arrrr..... birthday cake

Awesome cupcakes

Super cool goodie bags